The games do indeed go on…

 

I have just wrapped up my run of games at Carnage 11 and prepared my event submission for Total Confusion as well as moving my personal page to a new server.  I am running 5 sessions of my theatrical style Call of Cthulhu games at Total Con this year.  This will be 3 sessions of Rise of the Dead: Part 2 – The Raid and 2 sessions of The Vault.  There is more info on these games in the Theatrical Style Horror Games section of my Game Soapbox website.

 

More horror gaming is in the offing as well.  I am running 2 sessions of the Rise of the Dead scenario at my house this coming weekend and I am presenting 2 sessions of the Pagan Publishing Scenario Devil’s Children, using the same theatrical style presentation at Game Geeks in South Portland in the middle of December.

 

At my house, and a few others too, we are in the process of wrapping up the last few games of NWL Blood Bowl to conclude the first half of the season.  Some games have been recently pushed back to the first weekend in December.  The league has been running well and one of my housemates has been kind enough to take over administration and is doing an excellent job of it.

 

Our group is working out the final elements of our Ars Magica campaign Myteries of Albion.  This is a game that really takes a long time to get squared away and start up.  It is like Vampire the Masquerade with even more to it.  The system is very heavy on the role-playing with a lot of detailed magic options and very heavy on the mechanics to some extent as well.  The basic rules are rather simple but the sheer volume makes for a significant amount of complexity.  It is a story telling system with the characters having Virtues and Flaws that help shape the story.  It is very exciting, albeit a lot of work.  I fully expect to actually be playing the new campaign in December after months of prep work.

 

My next project in the works is Aerodrome , tournament friendly WWI Aerial Combat game.  I, along with several friends, spent a bunch of time making custom aircraft order panels in the shop.  Now the decal labels need to be applied and the model aircraft detailed.  I have enough 1/64^th Model Power models to put out an 8 aircraft flight each of Sopwith Camels, Albatros DIII, Fokker DRI, Nieuport 28, and Fokker D7.  I will need to modify the German aircraft with new paint schemes, number the Sopwiths, and do some decal work with the 28s.  It should be very coo, if it does not get sidelined again by other projects.

 

I am already engaging in the research for another Call of Cthulhu scenario with the working title The Dig for the next convention cycle, which starts next year with Carnage 12.  I just ordered a book that consists of a basic overview of archaeology and I am expecting to research period methods once I have a clue.  That is one thing about the zombie games that it is a tad easier than traditional stories.  Other than character elements and locations there is very little research work needed.  My traditional games usually reflect significant ground work.

 

Other than that I am planning on working the latest Rise of the Dead game up as a monograph and producing a short story based upon The Vault and may do a film treatment of it as well.  I have several friends that have been telling me for years to write some fiction.  I am thinking that I will finally follow their advice.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and have fine day!

Tags: Games Projects Cthulhu Horror Theatrical Aerodrome Convention

I just returned from Carnage 11 in Fairlee, Vermont.  A great time was had by everyone that I spoke to.  As always the crew ran a tight well organized convention and did an outstanding job!  Thanks Carnage staff, many of us know how much effort it takes to run events smoothly!

I ran three sessions of my latest B-Movie Call of Cthulhu scenario: Rise of the Dead: Part 2 – The Raid, as well as a historical age of sail scenario: Latouche–Treville vs Nelson in support of Centuries of Conflict.  I had good groups of players in each of my sessions with some excellent role-playing.  I have posted a few pics of my setup from the con.

I met a bunch of the crew from RPG Bomb and had some excellent chats with a number of the guys from the site.  As always, it is good to run into folks with similar tastes and have a dialogue and exchange of ideas.  The team had a solid presence at the registration area and were kind enough to keep an eye on the Billiards Room when I was not there to make sure nobody ran off with any props.  (Thanks guys!!!!)

As always with Carnage, I met and talked with a diverse bunch of gamers from all disciplines of our wide ranging hobby and had a great time.  One of the best features of this particular convention is the diversity of games and gamers.   The con is gaining numbers each year and the hotel was 3/4 booked, when I registered upon checkout.

I expect to be running at Total Confusion which is February 19-22 in Mansfield, MA.  Provisionally, I am going to run one of my Twenties Call of Cthulhu Scenarios: The Vault Thursday and Friday Night and then Rise of the Dead: Part 2 – The Raid Saturday  afternoon and evening.  I may even try to squeeze in another session of Rise of the Dead: Part 2 – The Raid in on Friday afternoon.

Happy Gaming!

More to come later…

Tags: Carnage Convention Cthulhu Rise Dead

Hi Folks,

Here is my shamless plug for the latest offering I have produced for Chaosium.  This scenario is entitled The Vault and it is a scenario of claustrophobic terror and darkness set in the 1920s.  This is currently avaible as a PDF for download from Chaosium and should later be aviable in print.  It is a full scenario kit including characters and detailed handouts.  It is well suited to PDF format as some handouts are best used when printed on parchement style paper.

I have pasted the convention teaser and the link below:

The Vault a Call of Cthulhu Scenario for 4-6 players set in theRoaring Twenties

Your group of friends and relatives has spent years tracking down an ancient vault secreted on an old family property.  Despite the labor problems with the superstitious locals, the difficulties of excavation, and the years of painstaking research, you are finally ready to open the vault.  The false notions of the locals and the reservations of some of your kin and friends have not deterred you.  After all, what could be dangerous about an old long sealed vault…

http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?cPath=55&products_id=1301

Thanks for reading!

- Andre

Tags: Cthulhu Vault Horror Claustrophobic Terror

Thanks again to Lisa, Kelly, and the rest of the OGC 2008 crew.  I met a lot of great folks, had great players, and had an enjoyable time all the way around!  All three of my sessions were a lot of fun!

Everyone I spoke to had an outstanding time!

Thanks again for all of your hard work and efforts!

- Andre

Tags: OGC Convention

Hi Folks,

I hope that you are all having a fine spring and looking forward to the rites of summer!

I just found that my post apocalyptic monograph Rise of the Dead – The Arrival has been posted as a downloadable PDF for sale on the Chaosium site.  This is a b-movie style scenario set in the near future after a world shattering near-miss by a strange comet.

I know that a few of the site members played this one at either Carnage 9 or OGC 2007.  All three convention sessions were a lot of fun and I had an excllent bunch of players!  (Captain_Khel did a great job keeping one of the groups on track and helping to obtain a highly successful outcome.)

Here is the teaser:

With the strange reports of cult activities around the world, widespread assassinations, the apocalyptic devastation of the earth by a red comet, the tidal waves and fallout, civilization as you know it is in collapse.  At least you and your friends are secure in your mountain camp with your basic needs at hand.  After all, it could not get any worse…

The link is:

http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?products_id=1283

Have a great summer!

- Andre

www.gamesoapbox.com

Tags: Cthulhu Zombie Scenario Plug Monograph Horror

On Sunday, April 20^th, the New World League Blood Bowl cup was taken by storm by the Death Row Posse in a match against the Wild Ones.  This game was a big upset.  The Wild Ones, who are played by one of my housemates, have been undefeated the entire regular season.  In fact, the same thing happened in the prior season.  The team was undefeated in the regular season and then lost in the Blood Bowl.  The Wild Ones coach is by far the most experienced player in the league with well over 400 games played on line with FUMBL.  For those that want to have a look at the stats and other tidbits please feel free to point your browser at www.newworldleague.com.

Tags: Blood Bowl NWL Miniatures Cup

For those of you who may be interested I am presently getting a number of projects ready to launch, some of which I will be running for the local crew and some for the upcoming convention cycle.  The project that is closest to being ready is a collaborative process.  This is an Ars Magica Saga set in the Stonehenge Tribunal (England).  Our group is just in the process of wrapping up the test campaign over the next few weeks and then we will be developing the campaign itself, which we expect to play for quite a few years.  (For those not familiar with this game it is a highly detailed historical fantasy game of wizards set in Mediaeval Europe and beginning in 1220 AD.  The rules are strongly oriented toward character and story development.)  The setting of England in 1220 is very interesting because of the recent passage of Magna Carta and the fact that Henry III is just about to come of age.  The country has been ruled by a regency government for a number of years, so there is a weak central government with a large number of nobles pursuing their own interests at the expense of the country.  (Sound familiar?)

 

Ars Magica is a very cool game that allows the wizards, who are part of a larger organization called The Order of Hermes, to design their own Covenant.  This being a place were they dwell and pursue their arts in the company of companions and grogs (Servants).  The rules allow the Covenant itself to be designed with a variety of features including location, lab space, and a variety of interesting story hooks.  The game is played in a troupe style with each player playing a primary character, a magus, a secondary character, the companion of another magus, and having a pool of grogs available for different players.  This gives some flexibility when different tasks are undertaken.  For example when two magi leave the covenant to investigate the nearby wood and the rumors of the Fey, they will be accompanied by a group selected for their suitable skills from the larger pool.   Later when two different magi are sent to anther covenant to negotiate an exchange of magic related material, they will be accompanied by a somewhat different team and so forth.  The system leads to some great role-playing with each player having a number of characters to try their hand at and provides for some really good medieval stories.

As all of the above elements need to be developed in a group effort it is quite a task.  While the meta-plots can be worked out in advance, most of the key details are created as the characters and the covenant are developed, as each character and the covenant will have a detailed background and a series of story hooks.  As I expect to run it, there will be a number of mundane agents of all stripes working for the servants of the magi and the group will be engaged in a wide variety of concerns with a heavy emphasis on politics and deal brokering.  (It is a bit like Vampire the Masquerade on steroids, at least if the game was played with detailed retainers and the optional agent rules having each vampire spin a web of intrigue.)    In any event it is a fun and engaging process.

 

The other interesting factor that is different about this game then past games is the fact that we are choosing to use software to assist with the management of the characters and covenant.  (As a general rule I prefer games that are simple in nature or as I like to say transparent, but the sheer breadth and scope of this game requires the tracking of a large number of factors making software attractive.)  I am using the Metacreator product from Alter Ego Software (www.alteregosoftware.com) and we are just starting to get our feet wet with it.  There are a number of useful features to the package which include detailed character sheet printouts, detailed spell information printouts, and a HTML and Rich Text summaries.  The summaries and a chronicle of the Saga will be posted on www.gamesoapbox.com, in the Ars Magica area of the games section.  There is not much to see yet, but there will be more to come.

 

In the works are a few other projects that I am more or less working on at the same time.  I am polishing up my Call of Cthulhu Scenario: The Vault for submission to Chaosium.  I will be running this game twice at OGC and then once at Portcon and I have already run it 3 times at Carnage 2007 and I have run it at home or other peoples houses about 6 times now.  I am fairly pleased with this one.  I am in the pre-development/inspiration seeking stage of a new post-apocalyptic zombie scenario: Rise of the Dead: Part Two – The Raid.  I will be running this at Carnage 10, billed as horror mayhem with a metal soundtrack, and then I expect to run it at OGC 2009 and Portcon 2009.  (This is provided that I have a good experience at Portcon this year.  OGC has been great and unless I actually go to Historicon in 2009, I will be there.)  In addition I am just getting back to my WWI Aerial Combat setup for Aerodrome 1.1.  The next step is finishing the control panels for the game, which are a lot like a custom cribbage board.  Once this is done, I will be modifying the models.  The wheels grind slowly but they do indeed grind.

 

Thanks to any of you that actually read my ramblings and self-indulgent writing.

 

Happy Spring!

 

-          Andre

Tags: Ars Magica Cthuhlu Games Metacreator Saga Campaign

I believe that what makes Call of Cthulhu unique, as a game is two fold; a unique atheist perspective and smooth simple mechanics.  Most important is that it conveys the concept that the universe is without purpose.  The universe simply is and full understanding of the mysteries of its existence and formation are beyond us.  We can merely dimly perceive some elements of the whole.  There is no creator.  Things simply are.  It is my belief that, despite the fact that these are works of fantasy, like many allegories the concept is revealed in the telling.  The notion of some simplified good vs. evil reality with the reward of an afterlife is an excellent way to keep ignorant peasants toiling, foolish people voting for repugnant candidates, and control the populace through dogma.  The absence of this black and white simplification frees the player.  As such the milieu created by Lovecraft fits the bill better than anything else I have ever read in terms of illustrating the meaninglessness of things and the need to create meaning for oneself.  One must create one’s own meaning with the peril of having one’s paradigm shattered.

This stark view is what sets the special context for role-playing that is provided by the game.  It is not loot, power, or glory, but the pursuit of the alien, the horrifying, and the inhuman that sets it apart.  It is then this mood, this feeling, the primal fear, like the fear of the dark, along with this unique atheist notion that provides a context to set the players free to be concerned about how they feel, what they will do, what sacrifice they must make, what they will do under stress.  All this is present without the burden of levels (unless you play the cumbersome D20 version), experience, loot, mass melee, and a myriad of petty distractions of typical role-playing settings and rules systems.  The simple Basic Roleplaying System operates in a nearly transparent fashion freeing the player to play their perceived roles unburdened by cumbersome mechanics.  Lovecraft himself felt that it his fiction was about creating atmosphere and thereby evoking horror and mystery.  The key elements of the rules and the setting frame this atmosphere.

The only valid concept of good and evil within the context of the game is the frequently required sacrifice of the player characters to preserve the lives of the masses or at least themselves when possible.  The defense of humanity without reward, without glory, without honor, without any form of compensation, except from your peers who know the truth, is the harsh reality of the game.  The bitter irony that the very folks that have been saved would lock up the player characters or dismiss them for their madness is a vital element.  In fact, like a truly good horror story, the characters are often consumed by a terrifying fate despite their struggles or due to one simple failure to balance upon the razor’s edge.  The very strength of the setting is the lack of any traditional good vs. evil creator mythology and this is what sets the game head and shoulders above most RPGs as a setting that invokes quality role-playing from its participants.

Tags: RPG Cthulhu Lovecraft Levels Roleplaying

In The Works

There are a number of different things in the works, as always.

Call of Cthulhu

I just recently sent a PDF of my first Rise of the Dead convention scenario to Chaosium, if this works out, it will be available for download from their web site.  This scenario is Rise of the Dead: Part One - The Arrival and is played a near future post apocalyptic b-movie setting.

I have had my most recent convention scenario The Vault approved for submission as a monograph and I am very excited about that as well.  (It will take some time to wind through the mill.)  Call of Cthulhu is probably my best game, at least in the short session format.  The theatrical methodology that I like to apply lends itself well to this game.

In the works for the next convention cycle, which for me starts in November with Carnage and then ends in July with OGC is Rise of the Dead: Part Two – The Raid.  This is the next in the b-move zombie series and I hope will be a lot of fun for all.  Work will begin in earnest on this game in mid to late summer.

Ars Magica

We are now playing an Ars Magica test game at the house and it is going well.  In about 4-6 weeks I expect to wrap up the test campaign and embark upon the ongoing game we expect to play for at least the next 3 or 4 years.  It is an extensive system and we agreed that it is best to get your feet wet before plunging in to avoid as many of the inevitable initial errors was we can.  This gives everyone some chance at having a grasp of the game before committing to the character and covenant concepts that they can expect to be married to for some time.  We did not do these years ago with our Vampire the Masquerade campaign and made some mistakes that were fatal to some characters.  Such things as understanding the full in-game ramifications of certain Merits and Flaws is vital.

If you have not looked at Ars Magica, it is an excellent and well thought out medieval fantasy with the potential for strong historical elements.  The game and mechanics are well developed and it is in its 5^th edition now.  The system is published by Atlas Games.

Aerodrome

Soon I will be heading back into the shop to work on Aerodrome.  This is a great fast-play World War I aerial combat game that uses wooden control panels to record maneuver information and plane status.  It plays quickly and uses a simple damage system that makes it ideal for tournament play.

Last year two good friends and I made a number of control panel blanks out of oak.  After much trial and error getting the templates to work right we fabricated the panels.  The next stage is to print and apply decals to the panels to mark the various options and plane data.  Once this is complete, I can then prep the models that I have already ordered.  I intend to present the game using modified 1/64^th scale Model Power models. I intend to judiciously repaint, apply custom and manufactured decals, and use striping tape to differentiate the models.  During this process I intend to acquire a pair of Hotz Artworks 5 inch hex mats and a bunch of stands from the The London War Room.  The fighter models will later be supplemented with 1/72^nd two-seater kits.  The panels will use .22 shells and colored cribbage pegs as markers.  There are panels available for purchase, but there is a production bottleneck and I thought that we could do a good job ourselves.

Once the set is completed I expect to be able to run tournament games for 8 to 16 players.  We also intend to run a campaign game as well.  IT should be a good time and most likely will be completed by the end of the summer.

NWL Blood Bowl

Our New World League Blood Bowl group is about to conclude its 2^nd season.  The data is looking pretty good at the web site I built for it.  For the curious have a gander at www.newworldleague.com. I was just ignobly defeated in my most recent and final game of the season.  I’ll be back next season!

Well, I guess that is all.  I thank any of you who actually read this for your time!

Tags: PRG Cthulhu Miniatures Historical Aerial