A new decade really begins for some more gaming

Well, it’s after Australia Day and pretty much the end of the silly season where you run into so many public holidays. And this week, I knew that it was time to get off my backside in terms of sorting out my real time gaming group/

Remember where we left off? I had one solitary player but a good place to game that was convenient and accessible. Now, I still have the place but no players.

Online gaming is going well, but it’s an extremely poor subsitute, so I’ve put out several notes to various connections to see if I could get anywhere without advertising. The problem is, if everyone says “Yes” I will have a total of seven players, which is a lot more than I am comfortable handling. I am not expecting them all to come.

The new year has brought new worries, as the old time we used to play (Saturday nights) is now not so viable for my one committed player, so back to the old running around again. I hate my life.

And then, there’s the big battle that I still have to organise for my players, and I have been avoiding it for months. I’m currently torn between going ahead and doing it, and waiting for new developments from my new players so I can integrate them.

At the very least, I need to get down my GM’s folder and dust it off.

Intriguing, but with little substance

Some time ago, I promised a review on the latest and now second-to-last book released by Wizards of the Coast, Galaxy of Intrigue. This is a rather new thing for me, though I would like to do this for all of the books, all twelve of them when they come out when I have a bit more experience in these things.

This is a little delayed as it took longer than I thought it would for a copy to get into my hands, ordering and stuff, but having it is a mixed blessing as I will now explain.

In many ways this book is what I expected and wanted it too be, there are some rather juicy mechanics in terms of talents, feats as well the nine new species that are introduced (or in the case of some like the Neimoidian re-introduced). There are also quite new items such as poisons and new weapons that I know will excite my players if they get their hands on this book. And, last but definitely not least, are the chapters on skill challenges and intrigue-style campaigns that I will devote an entire post to at a later stage.

But what I thought remarkable about this book was what was missing, and by rights it should have been included.

For instance, why is there not an additional Prestige Class for the Noble? They are pretty limited to Crime Lord if they stay with their class, but why not something that say a senator or planetary leader would have taken levels in? I think this is really where the system has failed the Noble class, and for all it’s vulnerabilities it’s attractive to players. And mainly to those who love to roleplay.

The lack of a Noble Prestige class is nothing compared to the big gaping hole in Chapter 5 on “Factions and Organizations” [sic]. Now, a similar chapter is found in most of the books, barring only a few. Along with a description of the group and how it can be used by a GM, there are a number of “stat blocks” detailing the various NPCs and archetypes that can be used in conjunction with the organisation.

Not a single stat block appears in this chapter. Not one! And with all the characters that are decsribed in this chapter I find this, very very surprising. Thrackan Sal Solo, Finis Valorum, Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus (though why Ben Skywalker* and quite a few others are omitted from the Galactic Alliance Guard entry is beyond me), Ta’a Chume (but not Tenel Ka), Ysanne Isard (though I think she is in Rebellion), Jar Jar Binks, Sio Bibble, Nom Anor…it makes me want to vomit! Why were these not calculated by Wizards? It’s a lot more than an intentional oversight here and one that I cannot forgive.

I understand that including it would have made the book considerably thicker, but to make such a promise without delivering is worse.

Aside from this, and it’s a very big aside, I rather enjoy this book. The write up of the planet Nyriaan, done in the style of Point Nadir in Scum and Villainy is a real gem.  Also are the eight mini-adventures towards the end of the book, which I will not spoil and the full adventure The Perfect Storm, which I wouldn’t mind using myself.

All in all, it’s not a bad book as there are some parts that I really, really like. But there’s so much more that it could have been which leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. More of a book for GMs than players, I’d say.

*As far as I am aware, Ben Skywalker is completely omitted from the series as are his cousins Jaina, Jacen and Anakin and many others of his generation. I doubt this will be fixed in Wizards final book, but it remains to be seen.

One jump ahead

It’s taken a few weeks, but my online campaign is finally going somewhere. I’m also starting to get the hang of GMing online. One of the keys to a good game, and many other things, is momenum. The trick with online gaming, as I have found out, is to balance the momentum with your information. Give them enough information to get to the next point on their own, but not so much that you are holding their hand along the way.

Here is what my group has done so far: gotten off the shuttle and into the base, met each other and had their briefing on the misison. And that took the better part of three weeks. If I had been a little more forthcoming in information in the beginning as I am now, it’s possible they would be a little further along, but only possible.

Compare these two scenes, I had my female commander (mistaken for male by one of the players), tlak a bit to the characters as they arrived and then left for them to get acquainted, and I full expected them (even told them) to roleplay their way to wherever they were supposed to go (such as their ship) until the next part of the story started.

Take a look here and track the dates.

I over estimated them, and in the end decided to intervene just to get things moving again. And here is where I made a better decision:

Sergeant Hirry’s comlink is sounding.

Koohi

Just to speed things up, when you answer it it’s Commander Ardanna.

I have made contact with Alliance command, they are ready to start your briefing.

It’s here that I established the difference in the rate of information. Before I was using the methods I was used to at the table, clearly there is a difference needed here that I have to continue on.

We’re still at the beginning, though the PCs have their mission I am going to talk about what they will actually be doing when I am a little further along and have revealed more. It will involve characters and places that I have used in campaigns before, though.

Perhaps by this time next week the PCs will be on their ship, but I’m not holding my breath.

The Force will be with us, always…

If you haven’t heard the news yet, allow me to be the one to break it to you. Wizards of the Coast announced earlier today that they would be not be renewing the license for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game or the Star Wars Miniatures Game. Star Wars.com later confirmed it.

This is not altogether unexpected, but it is still worth to take a moment to reflect what this means for the system and roleplaying within the Star Wars universe.

Firstly, this is not the end. While Wizards will have no more books coming out after The Unknown Regions which is due out this April, this does not mean the system will die. I know people will still play, this sort of thing happens with game systems and people still play them. I know this announcement is not going to stop my online game or the real time one I am trying to piece together at the moment.

There are even advantages to this, rather similar to those who only start to read through a series of books once they have all been published, While they don’t get caught up in the hype and anticipation with fellow fans while the series is incomplete, once everything is done it can be appreciated as a whole.

Of course, it is a disappointment that there will not be any source books to fill the gaps in continuity such as in the New Republic/New Jedi Order era or even to go alongside the MMO The Old Republic in a similar fashion to The Force Unleashed and Knights of the Old Republic books. However, when we look at what we do have and what can be done with it, I think we can sort of seem satisfied.

So, what is the status of Star Wars Saga Edition now that it is ending?

Firstly, we have a cohesive and adaptable gaming system, that is simple without being simplistic.The authors of Saga Edition (and there are many) have managed to create a system that can be adapted for various settings and difficulties (something else that I can get to later) that still captures the feel of Star Wars.

This is a system that, at least from what I have seen, has been widely accepted and used among gamers, and these are the same ones who will quickly spurn a new system for its previous incarnation (D&D 4E for 3.0 or 3.5 for example). I have yet to see any criticism of Saga in this light with comparison with the previous rulesets, though perhaps I am looking in the wrong place. Of course, the West End Game d6 game is an exception.

Secondly, Wizards have given us enough content to cover the entire span of the Star Wars mythos. Yes, I know I am being generous here and there are certain eras that need a little conversion and a lot of homebrew, yet it is possible and workable providing you have the time and inclination. And when you look at the content that we do have, it’s fairly comprehensive.

I can sit down with my players and ask them the big question “When do you want to be in this game?” and then go from there. Myself or my players can pick a particular era for the content, flavour, style of play or a desire to be creative. I can choose whether to stick to canon or allow the players to make their own. For a system from a franchise that relies so much on established characters and set events, there’s a lot of room to move and make it your own.

And we are also going to have the time to do so when you consider things carefully. I don’t think that the Star Wars license is going to be handed on to anyone anytime soon. New editions take years to make and playtest and negotiations with companies licensing take even longer. I’d estimate around three years at least until we are starting to see a new edition, and while it might be handed on to another company, Wizards may just pick it up again. It has happened before.

And finally, the lack of official content means fans can step in and fill the gaps that are left or need to be revised. I have heard today that an unofficial New Republic/NJO era campaign guide is being planned.

So, if you’ll raise your glasses with me, this is the beginning of the end of the official content, and perhaps the start of a much more interesting time in gaming.

Am I too much of a fan?

I was recently browsing Gnome Stew when I by chance came across this article and it got me thinking. I have addressed at length the concepts of canon and gaming, but not in terms of fans and being…well, overly pedantic. How would you exactly deal with what they call “Das Ubergeek” at the table?

I can totally understand this guy’s point of view, I even gave it a name a little way back the canon lawyer, but only dealt with it a little bit in terms of the game and continuity. My solution, as is the solution for a lot of GMs, is to remove the problem completely by not taking the players anywhere near it. Building my own planet and events that can’t be wrong unless I contradict myself.

The source of a lot of outdated knowledge?

However, in terms of knowledge in the Star Wars franchise, the person with the most knowledge at the table is actually me (in most areas, the new Clone Wars series I am rather ignorant of though this is largely Channel 10’s fault). This is due to the EU novels I read, the time I have spent discussing and critiquing Star Wars (I was made a Lieutenant in the Canon Wars) and a funny little thing called the Star Wars Fact File which I am shortly going to pass on to a friend as it was once passed on to me.

So really, I am sitting behind the screen with the knowledge of events, characters et. al in my mind which make some sort of sense and order…and it feels rather limiting. I want my players to feel like the heroes of their own story, but in a galaxy where it seems as if the major events are handled by a comparative handful of people, it seems as if everything big is done and dusted.

I think this was the biggest struggle that I had, and still have with my games. I want to use canonical events as signposts, to keep the game within events that I don’t have to explain and at the same time make sure that the players do not seem like by-standers.

And this is one of the grypes that  Matthew J. Neagley has with playing a Star Wars game, but it seems to me as if his complaints are less about Star Wars and more about bad GMing. One example:

…when the GM dumps you on Garflagle, and expects “You’re on Garflagle” to not only suffice for description, but for you to immediately understand what that means about your current goals, because it was the setting of the third series of Jedi:Rebuked novels, then sighs and rolls their eyes like there’s something wrong with you because you don’t know about the secret catacombs beneath the city that their entire adventure revolved around, there’s a problem.

Now, even when I take my players to perhaps the most iconic planet in Star Wars, Tatooine, I still put in description and outline anything useful or interesting that I want the players to pay attention too. The simple reason is that this is not a message board, this is a story and even if it was completely my own and was writing it on paper, I’d give it some description. It’s just natural.

The same sort of situation could take place in any sort of story or roleplaying game. “You are in the Tomb of Horrors” or “you at Greyhawk Castle”.

Really, if I was in that situation, it the GM shored us up on a planet without much descrption and asked us to take it as-is, then maybe it’s time for the Gm to take a ride in the realms of canon. It’s not nice, but he kind of deserves it.

It may not look like much, but it’s got it where it counts…

Yes, you heard it right, the Level 1 GM is back in the chair. Except, why are all the other chairs empty? Where’s the dice? The screen? The map? The green sludge?

Well, it’s online, that’s what. It’s too early to comment on the game itself as I have only “GMed” it twice, and I am not going to reveal anything as you should know by now that’s not my policy. But perhaps I should make some comments in general about online GMing, I have said a few things about online gaming from the player’s point of view, now it’s time to look at the other side of the screen. At least figuratively.

But first…

You know, I never though that an image could inspire me into a campaign setting, but this one did…sort of. I knew I wanted to start the game in an asteroid belt, as the group is a Rebel cell and the Rebellion is known for its out of the way places. I also wanted a relatively small place to start the game so I could get used to the medium before doing some venturing out.

But then I saw this picture, got to it by way of Google Images, and saw that big asteroid and knew that’s where my Rebel base had to be.

So really, this is where I want to begin, as I have noticed that there is a rather different visual aspect to online gaming not occuring in actual table time. Most of the time, we are hearing each others voices and dice rolls, or at least my voice which is often how I get the GM’s Sore Throat as well as the GM’s Headache. But online, it’s a lot more visual as it needs to be. At the table I can use my voice to create atmosphere, as well as props, music, walk about in-character, but online there’s just the text and pictures, and that is it.

Posting the game rather than telling it is a little more difficult, as I have to take time to make sure my vision of the situation is being conveyed. I need to get everything out there quickly and at the same time not tell everything as I may as well be telling a story.

And I am beginning to think that this is an easy trap to fall into, particularly given my previous exploit. But, when you stop and reconsider it this is the exact same path that I went down when I started GMing. The difference is that not only I know how to thwart it, I have resources I can call on a lot and emulate, like the ENWorld game I am still involved with (the only one still going strong).

But this is pretty much where I have to stop myself, I know the road ahead and while I have revealed one small point about the game (see if you can find it above), that’s all I am going to do. I know the road ahead, I know where I want the game to go. How much I have planned you’ll just have to guess, as I am only going to relate my journey.

Just strap in, you’re in for a ride.

Calling your attacks

Well, this is the last of the ‘Sydney’ posts even though I’ve been back here for about a fortnight. I do have things that I want to move on with and post about later on, so I have to get this over with.

It sounds as if this was a drudge, or at least bad, but what I am talking about is one of the highlights of my visit up there. As well as a discovery that there were two words that I simply wanted to say over and over again.

Hopefully Rich doesn’t mind that, given that I’ve linked back to his original script.

I managed to get to one game while I was up there, Star Wars Saga at Good Games in Burwood and I had to start out at four thirty so I could get there by six. And I was the only one that was on time, and that included the GM.

Honestly, I thought the bad attitude to getting anywhere on time was something just around here. Maybe its just around gamers, I don’t know.

Anyway, I managed to roll up a character then and there, Twi’lek Scoundrel. Now, Scout is usually my favoured class as a player, perhaps even coupled with Noble to get their skill sets. Why the change then?

Well, just one reason: Sneak Attack! It’s one of the Scoundrel’s core talents where you gain a d6 dice if you attack with a ranged weapon while an enemy is flatfooted. I honestly had no idea it was there, must have passed it over on my many flip throughs. It had also escaped the attentions of one of my players who favours Scoundrels.

So, I used it at my first opportunity. I had a blaster rifle with 3d6, managed to catch an enemy flatfooted…

…and I got a Natural 20! 27 points of damage with my bonuses!

There was only one slight problem…I had killed a little kid

So I guess that now I have to tell you a little bit more about the game, and how I think we jumped all over the GM’s campaign (for the record, he told me we didn’t).

Basically, we were on Tatooine to meet some guy at Mos Eisley about supply contracts for some people we were working for. At least, that’s what I think but when I am a player it’s not my job to keep track of the plot now, is it? But it was basically a succession of fights with some rather frustrated players who had not gamed for a few months, at least that’s what I was told by the GM.

First it was stormtroopers, and we totally provoked that attack and I just wanted to roleplay.

Then, it was the kids, though that was really my fault for the above reasons.

And then, Tusken Raiders, which we killed as well.

We finally got to Mos Eisley at about 9.30, 30 minutes before we finished playing, met the guy and then arrived back at our ship to find it had been dismantled by Jawas. Cue me shouting “Broken bridge!” and we were done for the night.

It was fun, but I didn’t get out of the night what I wanted to: more table experience. But it was not really that sort of game. Just a shoot ‘em up frustration let out, and I was actually criticised when I wanted to go against the way everyone was playing.

I didn’t manage to get to a D&D 4E game, though I wanted to and that’s for a whole bunch of unrelated reasons, including me going out to Coogee that same day. Though if my impressions of what that DM said are right, it may have been more of the same.

And I have to admit, that’s not my kind of game. Give me story! Give me plot hooks!

Gaming and the Expanded Universe (Part 4): Into the Future

As I write this on January 7, there are two rules supplements that have yet to be published and to date Wizards have made no further announcements on any more subsequent material. I hope they do, as both of those books are supplements, not era campaign guides, and it has me wondering and more than a little worried.

For all the new ground that Wizards have covered with Saga Edition, there’s a great big gaping hole in what they have not covered: the New Republic Era. Now, I understand that this era has been done to death to the point where even the bones are beginning to rot, beginning right in the WEG days. However, there is new content here with the second half of the New Jedi Order series not covered by Wizards in the previous edition. There’s also the content since then, such as JINO”s Bug War, sorry the Dark Nest Crisis and the so-called Second Galactic Civil War. There might be a bit of hesitancy in covering this time as new content in the form of the Fate of the Jedi series of novels is still coming out and it is a little easier to cover things that have been out for a while rather than what’s current (with the possible exception of the Clone Wars) but there’s no excuse for say, a New Republic era campaign guide that covers from the fall of the Empire on Endor right up until the end of the resolvement of the Outbound Flight Project right on the edge of the NJO era, and then another book to cover the period of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

You wouldn’t even have to go to the latter end of the EU, I would like to see an Old Republic campaign guide that bridges the gap between KOTOR and Clone Wars, and with the interest that lead to the Darth Bane novels I don’t see there’s any reason for it not to happen.

There’s also the as yet unknown live action TV series that will be coming out sometime this year or next if we’re lucky. All that we know at this stage is that it is going to be set in the Dark Times era…which is going to do a few funny things with the already set up Dark Times content as George is behind it.

And then there’s the Star Wars: The Old Republic game, which could have some impact but might not. To be honest I have no idea how much influence it would have, if any at all, and one would have to judge how much influence Star Wars Galaxies had.

Perhaps even these could be covered by a future edition, which I don’t see coming up anytime soon given the way Wizards just announced a whole new slew of content for D&D 4E.

All in all, I am still waiting for Wizards new catalogue when it comes out later this year.

P.S. Galaxy of Intrigue is one of the books that I will be getting and reviewing on here once I do get it, as I am interested in it’s take on skill challenges.

I don’t want you to buy me a diamond necklace

Note to self: when doing anything relating to gaming with kids in future, just stick to playing Munchkin.

Between Christmas and New Year I took a four hour train journey to visit some relatives, a trip that resulted in me getting Rich Burlew’s new book this year rather than last, and I brought out the core rulebook while with my young cousins.

Was it a mistake? Or wasn’t it? Either way, we all learned a few things and I got one of those GM’s special headaches.

When explaining the ways of the dice to the uninitiated, I always say that it’s an adult’s version of a children’s game. Now swallow this conundrum: it’s an adult’s version of a children’s game that children can play with adults.

Okay, I think I’ll give you a minute while your head feels exploding.

Better now?

Gaming for kids is, fortuntately, a little easier to explain. Particularly those who have played computer games (are there any that have not?). I said to them that it was like playing a computer game, but the GM is the game and the players play her…Right that just sounds dirty, I’ll move along now.

The kids got that, they also get and have a lot of fun with dice rolls once I explained penalties and bonuses and they understood the power of a Natural 20.

They also get roleplaying, though these two had a little trouble putting the two together. I seem to recall them doing either one or the other and having to be prompted to make relevant dice rolls. But the roleplaying parts were the funniest, such as a comment that came off the back of a natural 20 on a Jedi mind trick and a Jedi Padawan failing his Deception checks when lying to his Jedi Master.

The strangest thing was, I thought it was going a bit off due to the aforementioned headache, but the next day they wanted to play again. Such is the GM’s lot in life.

Gaming and the Expanded Universe (Part 3): Neither Here nor There

Well, here it is. The much promised third article about gaming and the Star Wars Expanded Universe. This is posted much, much later than I anticipated. I hand wrote it before Christmas while on the train sitting with some very rude girls. But that’s neither here nor there, and this brings me to the article itself.

My rather brief summary on Wizard’s first outing with the Star Wars roleplaying game left us in a sort of transitional phase: picking up the pieces from where West End Games left off as well as adapting the new content that had come out since then and what was currently coming out. Now we move into almost entirely new territory, and with content coming out from all three branches of George Lucas’ holy trinity (his expression, not mine).

Wizards was limited by Lucasfilm as to what content they could release, the last one being in 2004. Shortly after that, the more profitable miniatures game was introduced.

I can’t explain the miniatures game, I have never played it nor am I likely to. However, there is something to be said about the fact that using the miniatures and the various maps is strongly encouraged by the writers of the roleplaying game.

Star Wars is a very character-based franchise, the various films and novels, are centred around the characters. This can also be said of the roleplaying game.

So consider this: most gamers who come to the table and want Luke Skywalker as their character are going to end up in the Great Pit of Carkoon.

So now, where were we?

Like before when Wizards look over from WEG, a lot of things had changed when Star Wars Saga debuted in 2007. Not the least, Episode III which meant the twenty-plus years of the speculations of the fall of Darth Vader and the origins of the Empire were finally answered. The saga was not complete.

In addition to this was the first of the Clone Wars content that was released prior to and directly following the film. This is significant, as before this the only things about the Clone Wars we had were hints from the Timothy Zahn novels as well as Marvel comics of dubious repute. There were also the latter end of the New Jedi Order novels and the various comic series such as Republic, Rebellion, Legacy and Knights of the Old Republic. And there’s also the games, which have moved on quite a bit since the liked of the Dark Forces Saga with Knights of the Old Republic and the various Clone Wars games.

Then there was the second wave of Clone Wars content, but we’ll get to that later.

So, after that long intro, I’ll give you a quick summary of the rest of the article. It’s going to be a little similar to the last one on Wizards, and I’ll look at two specific cases about how Wizards deals with content, one where it gets it right and the other where it gets it wrong.

Cleaning up the mess that is the Clone Wars

This is perhaps the best example of how Wizards managed to get something very confusing right. As I said above, the Clone Wars era has gone from relatively virgin territory to a well-trodden road with ruts and potholes. It is necessary to differentiate between the various “waves” of content that the Clone Wars has. Though to be honest it’s actually not that difficult.

The first wave:

• The Clone Wars comics from the Republic series
• The various novels of the Clone Wars era such as Shatterpoint, Jedi Trial and Labyrinth of Evil.
• The animated television series directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and the comics that extended from this series.
• The Clone Wars video game.

Of course, there are contradictions within the series as well as things that are not answered, but this is nothing compared to what happens in the second wave. This includes:

• The Clone Wars animated television series, including the feature-length film.
• The Clone Wars novels by Karen Traviss, Karen Miller and other authors.
• The various computer games about the era.
• The StarWars.com webcomic.

To date, I don’t think the contradictions surrounding the two waves has been addressed, and they are probably unlikely to do so soon given that they are continuing to churn out content. I think the Keeper of the Holocron still has to be drawn on the subject. But given that there are two differing versions of a story of a small pool of character in a relatively short period of time (approximately three years) the only way that I can see any sort of sense is from a historiographical point of view. But, again, that’s neither here nor there.

So, how does this relate to gaming? Well, I did state in an earlier post how in terms of continuity, it is the GM’s responsibility to accept everything. Or almost everything.

The strangest thing is, this is pretty much what Wizards have done. To look at the Clone Wars Campaign Guide one could almost not be aware that such contradictions exist, and you wouldn’t unless you went looking for them. Wizards takes the period holistically, of course not everything is included but the different sources from different waves are all given equal footing.

But really, I think the problem I have with the Clone Wars is the fact that I read too much on the era. It seems as if the less you know, the better, which looks like the opposite of one of my GM’s mantras. Yet, it does make sense in a way as the aim is to be more creative. Right? Right?

Well, this is the good. Now on to the bad which is so bad as to the point of being absurdly simple.

It’s just embarrassing

I can understand, even sympathy a little, when some content of the EU is omitted and passed over in the various RPG

Introducing Darth Mothma

 sourcebooks. But getting things blatantly wrong to such an extent that Wizards have is just stupid. Such as saying that Mon Mothma was possessed by the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun. And it’s not just the EU that is affected, but even G-Level canon stuff! General Ackbar when Admiral is practically his first name?

Believe it or not, this is actually laziness, where people get things wrong when they can be corrected simply by the reader looking it up themselves. I’ve dealt with it in academic works, but not nearly as blatant as this.

I know this looks like the end, but it really isn’t as will be a (gasp) unprecedented fourth article where I will look at how things will go from here with Wizards.

Oh, and Happy New Year.