What's goin on...? (thanks Marvin Gaye)

That song just popped in my head when I wanted to make an update post and now will be in there all day. Might as well put a little Marvin Gaye on and listen to the smooth sounds of one of the coolest M...F..ers ever born.

Mmmm...smooth.

Anyway, as fall begins to settle in in the midwest, and the color show starts in the grasses and trees, and the crazy blueness of the sky on a cold morning, I feel the pull of the Workshop of Doom, but even more so I feel the pull of Roleplaying. Fantasy, Post Apoc and SciFi specifically. Fall is the classic High Fantasy Adventure backdrop. And the Post Apoc always feels like a mix of summer and fall.

So as that bug bites and takes hold, I know the BAron and I will be starting up our RPG games that have been on hold for a bit and start again.

I have bit especially hard by trying to see if I like Stars Without Number. A Sci Fi Space Opera game that has some great crunch, if you want it, and a great mix of Old School methodologies and ideology about what an RPG is, and some great new takes on the genre. And the best thing about it is its a Sandbox driven game.

That means that the GameMaster sets up the sandbox and lets the players play in it however they want. Some areas are just plain nasty and if you decide to go in there without the experience or ability to survive, you won't. It also usually means the world is a cruel mistress, and the dice are even crueler. No fudging, no saves by the GM. In fact in many games, all the rolls for combat and saves are made in front of everyone. Its the ultimate style of a neutral GM who loves to world build...Hey that's me.

It has crazy good tools for generating sectors, world, areas, organizations, etc, too. All the sorts of things you need to start filling in to flesh out a framework for your worlds. Great stuff.

One great tool for a GM of Sandbox style SCFI RPG's is this easy to use scenario generator by DWD. This is by the guy who revived the Star Frontiers RPG as a fan effort. He deserved my money for this just for that. But its cheap and unbelievable useful for the busy GM.

 

Its a great tool for making a framework in no time. And its charts so its old skooly like I like it.

I have started a development blog for my anticipated campaign for SWN, more on that when I have some content. Its called The Endless Night.

I may revive my Play By EMail game with the Baron. It was a little bit of work, but it was fun. Hrothgar's Folly.

My other one was a Post Apoc campaign called the The Burning Wastes. It just underwent a facelift and is ready for some great gonzo Mutant Future Action.

Never fear humble readers, I'll still be painting, just sometimes its fun to roleplay, and world build.

Not Roleplaying in the Fall just seems...unnatural. Go enjoy some escapism this season.