A Life Full of Adventure

Now that summer break is here and my schedule is less hectic, I'd like to start a new weekly post...a round-up, if you will, of different interesting things I have read through the week. I hope you find these enjoyable...and helpful as well. Entertainment Chivalry - It Isn't Good Manners  by Rick Stump (Article) Chivalry vs courtesy vs stupidity. Your game may be more fun of you play appropriately. Revised Magic Book Name Generator by David Brawley (Article) Who doesn't like a good random name generator? This one is for that special tome you want to talk about or share with the players. Get your d30 dusted off! Negadungeon by Jack Mack (Article) I like the idea that there is a dungeon you know you don't want to enter. All the signs, hints, and rumors confirm you don't want to, but you must. Your honor/quest/race's survival depends on it. I also like the, tangential, idea that there are things you can release during your adventures tha...

The theme of PortCon Maine 2014 was "All the Cute." Because of this, my friend Ian ran a Star Wars game...with only Wookie, Ewok, and Squib characters. Our characters started out as slaves on a Trandoshan mining outpost, spending all of their day laboring. Things progressed from there: My character was a female ewok named Teek. She was skilled with a blaster (once she got her hands on one), was small (but everyone else was slow), was a pilot, and was NOT the brightest bulb. The game had some mechanics for playing that out, but I decided to roleplay it. When we freed ourselves from the oppressive lizards, we needed a way to get our control collars off. Teek's first thought was to shoot them off. When someone else found keys, she decided that might be a better way. The party needed a route of escape. Teek thought the most clever way out was through the ore processing smelter. Nobody else was willing to brave the fiery inferno of the smelter. At least Teek had wante...

Lirapto are a predatory species originating from a different world. They are extremely violent and self-interested. Lirapto reproduce asexually, and before coming to this planet a hundred years ago would leave their young to fend for themselves after only a few weeks.  Those that survive are tough and emotionally jaded. Even now, the young are still abandoned by individuals and cared for by the community as a whole. Their culture has no concept of pair bonding, sexual relationships, or marriage. Ideas like love and affection are weak and rarely expressed. Lirapto society is completely hierarchical and merit-based. They are highly cognizant of any hierarchical difference between themselves and those around them. They will not even speak to certain individuals if the difference between their social status is large. Because their ways are so alien in general, Lirapto receive -3 to all reaction rolls. The Lirapto believe that their monothei...

My PC Maximillian Morningglory , Halfling Vampire Hunter Magnus  the Pony My companions Udrin Sor-Valdir  - High Elf Wizard (Player absent) Ludovic Hasselhoff  - Human Entertainer NPCs Tegort  - Ogre bodyguard Sir Ortolf Eiche - Magister and Wizard Lord of the Azyr Wind Abelhardt Mullberger  - Journeyman Apprentice ( Previous update ) Brother Dieter went through his preparations (and a few drinks) but had no luck speaking to the dead dark elf. He retreated to an empty room in dismay. The other priests confided to Maximillian that there was the possibility Dieter may be delusional. When pressed, they backtracked, saying he may just be misinterpreting his dreams. Later, Maximillian and Ludovic sat down with Dieter and talked him back into his faith. Because elves do not follow Morr, the Morrian should not have expected to be able to contact the dead elf. The priest brightened and went off to confer with the others. The party spoke to...

Now that summer break is here and my schedule is less hectic, I'd like to start a new weekly post...a round-up, if you will, of different interesting things I have read through the week. I hope you find these enjoyable...and helpful as well. I'm at PortConMaine 2014 this weekend, so this was assembled early. This week was a busy one, so I didn't get through much. Entertainment The Song of Middenheim by Marc Torley If you've ever wanted to run a game in a city (which I have) but feel overwhelmed at all the prep work you'd have to do (which I am), this blog is for you. The only caveat is the posts are extremely long, though filled with value. Welcome to The Song of Middenheim, an online Guide to the City State of Middenheim in the Old World of the Warhammer universe. Events PortCon Maine 2014  (Anime/Gaming Convention) From what I can tell by looking at the schedule, I can play D&D most of the weekend and hit every edition besides 3rd (becau...

The other day I shared some advice I gave to someone asking me for advice on running Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Other people chimed in on Google+. I thought I'd share what they said: Timothy Stone from Another Caffeinated Day : I would add that going into WFRP 1E and 2E the social contract should be set out that your PC may go insane, be humiliated, maimed, or killed. And these thing tell the character's story and most certainly do not ruin the character.... All of this is a balancing act for the GM or the game can become a serial one-shot. Case in point: Morrslieb's Shadows has some great character development with the characters slowly going insane and touching the Aethyer on occasion. The goal nears and a great campaign can be told in the character stories at the end. Maybe grand failure will result, but maybe the world will be spared by the misfit collection of heroes. Goals . WFRP shouldn't just be about barely skilled schulbs scratching through the v...

Someone on Google+ mentioned that he doesn't really know how to roleplay a woman. He usually just sticks with describing her appearance, and then isn't sure how to proceed from there to differentiate his female character from his male characters. I don't shy away from roleplaying female characters. In a list of past characters, 6/26 are female. That doesn't mean I played them well, but I at least tried my best. The poster's final question was this: What techniques can I employ to make female NPC's actually feel like real women without resorting to douchy sexist stereotypes?  What really made the follow-up conversation interesting to me is that it wasn't a talk about male and female stereotypes or gender roles (topics I abhor). There were some handy tips for his question. So I ask here, do you have any tips for this gamer?