Yet RPGs often have a problem with meta-plot. Sometimes, even the sheer weight of meta-plot material can kill a product line. This is roughly what led to the White Wolf  “reboot” of the World of Darkness (Vampire, Werewolf etc.) – they had loads of supplements and source-books that had largely bled (for want of a better word) the creative opportunity for GMs. Wizards of the Coast had quite a history of doing meta-plot resets, e.g. From the Ashes and the Greyhawk Wars series that rebooted Greyhawk for A&D 2nd Ed. Sometimes it is easier to start afresh and might also generate fresh revenue and invigorate a product line I suppose!

Players only appreciate meta-plot when they are active participants to some extent. It also often assumes some prior familiarity with a setting on the part of your players – and that in itself can be hard work for someone new to a particular setting. Here’s some examples.

Babylon 5 RPG setting

Gods, where would you start with Babylon 5 for someone unfamiliar with the series? Even watching a couple of episodes wouldn’t really bring someone unfamiliar with B5 up to speed with 5 years of plot. You’d have to be really hard-core fans of the series to make it work, unless you set it before the formation of the ISA and coming of the Shadows. The sheer volume of plot and events make it inscrutable to anyone who hadn’t watched a season or more!

Cthulhutech RPG meta-plot

You could say that the whole setting of Cthulhutech is one big meta-plot. I’m eagerly awaiting Dead Gods and Burning Horizons for Cthulhutech. One is likely to be a Storybook that features meta-plot and the events of 2086, the other “splat” book for the Rapine Storm faction (a cult of Hastur that purges/scours the earth for the arrival of the Great Old Ones). The Storybooks are interesting in  that it gives your players a chance to participate in some of the major events/revelations of the year as part of the CT meta-plot. However, there’s  a lot going on across the globe and its unlikely that your players would be at the Fall of Juneau or Shanghai. In my own Through the Looking Glass games, I’ve hinted at what’s to come, but can’t really bounce the players across the planet (or space in the case of Burning Horizons!) to a new location every session!

Ashes of Freedom (D&D)

Contrary to popular  belief at ORC, much of the meta-plot for the Ashes of Freedom D&D game at ORC did not come out of any long-term planning on my part as such. It worked as a result and I could tailor the plot toward the PCs actions. Yes, I did have a few ideas for the long-term, but fitting it around the players worked far better. Also as the world was my own creation it meant that I didn’t feel compelled to preserve it, or avoid any events. To be perfectly honest, some of the plot was derailed from the first session so I had to come up with some new ideas quickly!

To answer my original question: is meta-plot needed? No – never let it get in the way. If you want a simple dungeon bash, for instance, you might not need it. Live free, and only use meta-plot when you want to give the game some flavour, or involve the players in some new conspiracy!  Kill off a significant NPC? No problem. The PCs thwart the invasion that might have led to the founding of a empire of a thousand years of peace and prosperity? Oops! The whole party gets wiped out? GMs, it’s your game: you can do what you want with it.

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The RPG.NET forums are especially unpleasant these days. I’ve never liked them as there seems to be a a fairly nasty undercurrent to a lot of the posters there – often it seems its little more than a thinly veiled ego trip for a lot of the posters there. Coleslaw on the Cthulhutech forum (on Cthulhutech’s own site) sums it up thus:

My brief stint at RPG.net can be likened to having to use a porta-potty in August.

The other thing I’ve learnt is not to build expectations – The Secret Fire RPG had a number of problems during its creation, and I think there’s a lot that could have been done differently. I don’t think it was the game itself that raised people’s hackles, more the way it was built up and marketed. However, I’m unlikely to visit RPG.NET again – I’m a member of many other online forums and it’s no loss to me. The signal to BS ratio has pretty much made me give up on it.

Although I’ve a few misgivings about how I’m going to find the time or if indeed I can stick to the deadline, it looks increasingly likely that I’ll be responsible for a chapter on the Demon/Druid war in the first supplement. I’ll also be including some information on the Soul Reapers, TSF RPGs equivalent of Supernatural‘s Crossroad Demons. I’ve got a number of ideas for them, as well as their origin and how demons are really are the Big Bad in the world of the The Secret Fire RPG. Hell, or Infernus, as it is named by the Soul Reapers, isn’t actually the home of Demons. It’s a crossing-over point.

I’ll examine why Demons are fascinated with humans and souls – and why the  Druids hate them so much. As well as the more Faustian ones I’ll also be looking at how the Soul Reaper bargains are designed so that there’s what I’ll call The Catch: it’s not just your soul they want: chaos, misery, pain, and discord will give it a far more seasoned flavour…  For example, a character that wants to live forever? “No problem,” says the Soul Reaper,”of course, I’ll give you the ritual”. The Catch: the ritual requires the death of a mortal every month – and the ritual sends the soul straight to Infernus. Failure to complete the ritual, and the Soul Reaper comes to collect the forfeit…

The Paths of Damnation

If there’s space, I’ll also look at something called the Paths of Damnation: how a mortal can become a Demon Marquis and the powers they wield. I suspect that a few players would love to take this route through a campaign. Its nothing new: it was done in both Realms of Chaos volumes for WFRP and the Book of Vile Darkness for D&D (I recently read that filming of the D&D movie of the same name is currently under way in Bulgaria!). In the past supplement that have dealt with demons or their powers are often held up as examples as “proof” of the corrupting nature of RPGs.

Hopefully we’ve outgrown this. Ascension toward Demonhood (or should that be descent?) wouldn’t be an option for any PCs, but it could make for a fun campaign. The PCs are duped into procuring items for the Demon-Wannabe NPC or are running around trying to prevent their Ascension in the first place. Remember the Mayor in Buffy: the Vampire Slayer?

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YAAR! Or not. In the last week the SOPA and PIPA legislations were pretty much sunk. As is usual for such things there’s two perspectives you can have on this: one is that it a victory for civil liberties and privacy, and that such things are pretty much unworkable. The other perspective is that again heavy-handed  actions by legislators that don’t understand the technology involved have again missed an opportunity to protect people’s intellectual property.

File share sites aren’t going to go away overnight. As soon as a product is released in digital format, it will be pirated. Unfortunately, there’s no way to stop this happening. When the Secret Fire RPG came out, a pirated copy surfaced on the Internet within 24 hours: unfortunately for the dopey git concerned, he’d left his email on the PDF, so I suspect his account with DriveThruRPG was shut down as a result.

I’ve said it before: I don’t condone piracy. Downloading a PDF with a view to buying the hard copy book is very different to knowingly downloading a pirated PDF. The obvious truth is, without product sales, many of the small press games will simply stop producing games or go out of business. Only a handful of companies can afford the legal fees to get sites shut down, and even then, they’re not in the same league as record companies. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done to stop people ripping you off.

One of the creators of Cthulhutech, Matthew Grau, summed up the current situation for small-press games last October on the Cthulhutech website.

I remember a day when a mediocre release of a game book sold 3000-5000 copies, with healthy restock orders. Now, a successful release might sell 1000, if you are lucky, selling through the rest of your 3000 unit print run in three years – many companies print far less. Not only is the industry shrinking, but people don’t have to pay for their gaming books any more if they don’t want to. Unfortunately, unlike the music industry, we are not made of money. It costs a surprisingly large amount of money to develop a well-written and attractive gaming book and the return is not so hot. Without those extra sales, the traditional model of core plus regular supplementation isn’t really viable.

- Matthew Grau, Wildfire LLC

Now, here’s the thing: D&D, Eclipse Phase, Pathfinder and FATE have all released their rules on the internet, either OGL (Open Gaming License) or through a SRD (System Reference Document). These systems largely make RPG piracy minor as everything can be found online, although it does still take place. When you buy the book, you’re usually buying background information, the “fluff”, from these companies. Also, many folks resort to illegal PDFs when they’re unable to source old material – which is why Wizards have likely re-released their 1st edition publications. Although I wonder if any of the artists and contributors to those works will receive any royalties?

As such, I ‘d considered the best way to prevent piracy of the Mandragora: Ashes of Freedom RPG. In short, I’m not: instead, I’ll make use of it. As I’ll be using FATE, which is already OGL, there’s very little that won’t already be out there, either as part of the OGL for FATE or material that I’ll make available on the site. Copies of the rules may crop up on the ‘net, but this could help as a sort of viral marketing, especially if they are quick-start rules.

At one point Wizards of the Coast had their old adventures in PDF form, free to download. Then they dropped it and sold them online. Then they stopped making them available, citing piracy, which only made their products pirated more. Unfortunately the business model of having one form of product for sale just doesn’t work any more: when Wizards dropped their PDF sales, they made a serious mistake in my view.

Simply put: if there’s no reason to pirate your work, why bother? Although I have a few rulebooks in PDF, they’re no substitute for a hard copy version during play! With that in mind, the solution to RPG piracy is pretty clear: make your rules, or any antiquated or dead product, available online. Anyone that then pirates your work is clearly doing something illegal – so you can rain down whatever kind of legal hell if you want.

Unfortunately, RPG Piracy is here to stay, legislation or not. Until the internet becomes a police state – hopefully never – piracy will exist. If you’re a publisher, use it to your advantage.

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I’m still dealing with the concepts involved in the Mandragora: Ashes of Freedom RPG, and it’s taking up a bit of time to do so. I’m currently looking at the concepts for the Noble Houses of the Mandragora, in the Shirr’haim and elsewhere.

The Noble Houses

The Noble (and Imperial) houses are the core government and true power in Mandragora society. In M:AoF, the majority of Mandragora are part of, or affiliated with, a Noble House. These extended families are usually blood relatives or bonded servants – those with noble blood are called Scions. Each house is usually presided over by the eldest females, the Matriarchs. They are the motivating force behind much of a Noble House’s schemes and enterprises.

Building a Noble House

I’d like one of the most important game aspect of the Mandragora: Ashes of Freedom RPG to be the ability to create your own Noble House. It should also help create common bonds between PCs and encourage players to think creatively about how their PCs may know one another. I’m keen to avoid trying to shoe-horn player characters into this sort of thing but it would provide a basic building block for players and GMs to create adventures. I’m planning to create a section on the Renegade Mandragora though (guaranteed that someone will want to play one!).

Scions

Amongst the obvious House characters like the Matriarchs, there should also be a number of roles  like House Warmaster, Captain of the House Guard, Archmagi, etc. as well as a “supporting cast” of other Scions. Noble Houses are very large, often with family members spread across Lonaraban on various schemes, including the army. Obviously the players and GM will have to come up with the ideas for these individuals, but I’d like to provide a basic framework for their creation and maybe even a sample Noble House.

In all likelihood the PCs will start off as lowly Scions at best, or affiliated as Bondsmen through their own family oaths that they have taken (if they do not have a noble background, or belong to the Worker caste for example). This will provide a basic “entry point” for all PCs.

Notoriety – mad, bad & dangerous to know

Most PCs and Noble Houses can get away with certain behaviour – so long as it stays within certain bounds. Notoriety points represents a running total of “bad behaviour”. When it reaches a certain level, there will be a certain response: the PC may be called to task for their actions by PeaceForcers, or the House has to account for its actions in the Shirr’haim.

Whether the House or individual is at fault or not, Notoriety points can lead to a PC becoming public enemy #1. Together with Darkness Points (which I’m tempted to call SoulStain), these can be both hindrance and help to both players and GMs. Notoriety can also be gained by doing the right thing as well – whistle-blowing on a political “smear” campaign, for example: while the PC may have done the right thing, those who instigated the campaign will see the PC in a far from favourable light. Notoriety can also give the character some status – fame and infamy go hand in hand!

Nobility, FATE & Fame

As FATE is OGL, I’ll be planning to make public the section on Noble Houses  or at least the rules for them. FATE already has a generic way city creation process, so it will hopefully add to that section significantly. Fame and infamy will also be made OGL in a similar fashion, if GMs and players wish to use it.

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Ingredients

• Olive oil/cooking oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Basil (fresh or dried)
• Oregano
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes
• 1 tin of tomato purée (or 1/2  tube)
• 12 -24 beef meatballs or 1-2lbs. steak mince
• 1/2 punnet of Mushrooms (button mushrooms are best)
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Penne or spaghetti pasta
• Red wine
• 3-4 Bay leaves

Equipment

• Large saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Bloody sharp knife

Preparation

Splash a dash of oil into the saucepan. Put in on a low heat. Dice the onion, pepper and mushrooms and put to one side.

Peel and dice the garlic cloves and cook until they turn light brown, then add the onion and cook until golden.

Stir in the green pepper and mushrooms.

Add the meatballs to the mix and let them brown and cook through, stirring occasionally. Add the bay leaves, salt and pepper. Make sure that you keep

Dice the tomatoes in the tin – you don’t have to chop them up too much. Add to the mix and bring it to a simmering point.

Add the tomato purée, stirring it into the mix and allow it to simmer.

Dust the surface of the sauce liberally with the Oregano and Basil, and stir in well.

Add a dash of red wine, and taste – give it 30 minutes or so until it starts to simmer – and add any extra salt and pepper to taste.

Boil up the pasta (a dash of basil in the boiling water gives the pasta some zing) and serve up the meatballs.

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As mentioned in my Edinburgh Gaming page, Conpulsion 2012 is Edinburgh’s biggest RPG convention. I’m likely to attend, along with other members of ORC Edinburgh, and might even get around to running something this time!

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Cthulhutech can be quite a daunting game to run, especially if you’re new to running an RPG. The sheer volume of background material can be quite off-putting for a novice GM, or even some more experienced GMs. At the end of the day, it should be a collaborative effort between you and your players.

Before I begin,a disclaimer: Cthulhutech is a pretty dark and disturbing game, and the setting has a number of themes that many may find disturbing. It takes a certain level of maturity to run or play in certain adventures as a player or GM, so reader discretion is advised.

Know your players – choose a facet

The sheer variety of options available to player and GMs means that you (as GM) and your players should try and find some common ground. If your players prefer tearing across the landscape in huge robots and raining down hell, then an investigative game with para-psychics and Tagers probably won’t work for them. Mecha and Engel pilots will also find much of their skill set useless in a investigative game. What I’m saying is: choose a particular style of game, and don’t try and mix them up too much in a long-term game. You can do it, but it can be a bit of a stretch – it’s best to try and avoid more than two or more of Cthulhutech’s game “facets” below (see also Running a test game below):

• Tager – Tager games work best when the entire PC (Player Character) group are Tagers. Those without symbionts are at a huge disadvantage, especially when facing creatures like Dhohanoids. Tagers are hugely powerful, and normal mortals (Mundanes) can’t really compete with them in combat – even less so than Dhohanoid attackers. This works best when GMs treat the games as a sort of unseen war between Chrysalis Corp and the Eldritch Society (similar to the Guyver TV series), known in CT as the Shadow War.
• Private Eye/Government Agency (Mundanes) – mortal characters assigned to intelligence agencies or law enforcement agencies like the FSB, OIS, or GIA. Para-psychics or sorcerors can easily fit into these games – Tagers will tend to overbalance any encounter – and they are the easiest to run for those familiar with Call of Cthulhu and similar games. For military types, mecha or Engels are unlikely to be a part of many of the games in this facet – however, soldiers can be found everywhere in Cthulhutech so they can easily be seconded, on leave (medical or otherwise), or just involved some how using their background. GMs can also find it easier to reveal various aspects of the game such as Para-psychics and sorcerors gradually using this facet, as well as revealing some of the game background and Cthulhutech metaplot.
• Military/Mecha/Engels (MME) are some of the easiest games for a GM to run, requiring fairly simple objectives. The PCs are given their orders and are expected to carry them out, often with the necessary equipment provided. In the case where PCs are simple soldiers, expect to deal with a certain amount of PC deaths: most MME games will likely revolve around battles, and combat in Cthulhutech is pretty deadly! The NEG faces a number of Integrity-scale monsters who shrug off machine gun fire: the Rapine Storm’s Beast allies, Esoteric Order of Dagon (EoD) power armour and mecha, not to mention the Migou war machine. This doesn’t require a huge amount of work by a GM on a setting, but it does require the PCs to work as a team. However, it’s best to keep MME games using PC using powered armour and Engels/Mecha separate from those playing “grunts” – the average NEG soldier has poor survivability in games where Mecha and Engels are used.
• The Weird Stuff – this is one for those players that really love a challenge: there are rules in many of the books for playing some of the other beings: Ghouls, Dhohanoids, and Migou. This requires a lot of co-operation between the GM and players but it makes for a very unique, rewarding game – and pretty much restricts the players to a certain type of game.

Sell it to your players

If your players have played Battletech, the Mecha concept will likely appeal to them, as will Tager games if they are big fans of Anime. If they’ve played Call of Cthulhu, it’s likely that they would also like the chance to “get even” as it were! It’s also worth showing prospective players some of the artwork as it really evokes the game, or directing them toward the Cthulhutech website and the quick-start rules.

Running a test game

When I first ran Cthulhutech I ran a mini-campaign called When the Ocean Wept, allowing me to try out three facets: Mundanes, Tagers, and Mecha. A test game or short series of adventures is the best way to introduce players to Cthulhutech and the Strange Aeon, especially the Framewerk system and Cthulhutech setting. If you have a group of regular players, even better (especially if they’ve also played Call of Cthulhu).

Build PC backgrounds

Building a Cthulhutech PC is pretty detailed (see NPC Lists below), with a large number of Assets and Drawbacks used to add to the PC build. A number of these like Outsider Taint or Hunted, can also create a fantastic opportunity for a GM to create encounters and even adventures based upon these backgrounds, as well as helping a player flesh out their PC background. I’d also encourage players to create their PCs, rather than pick the stock PCs “off the peg” in the books, although you can use these for a quick setup.

NPC lists

Beasts and NPCs in CT are very detailed stats-wise – that can make it very difficult to keep track of during combat, especially with Vitality/Integrity scores. I try and keep lists of stats for NPCs and also break down the Health stats into their multiples to make it easier. Cthulhutech has a large number of sample NPCs – I now try and keep a list of them  (or where to find them) so I know where to get details of gang members, para-psychics, soldiers, etc. It’s also worth creating a stock list of your own NPCs, which you can then use as needed e.g. “Blank” Mecha Pilots, Human Cultists etc..

Build in parts of the game

If your players aren’t aware of, or have access to, a large part of the Cthulhutech background, you can introduce it gradually. After all, much of CTs background isn’t really the sort of thing that a person on the street in the Strange Aeon would know: much of what they see on the news is sanitized and carefully vetted before release to the press. Don’t expect to learn all the rules at once: as GM you may not need to know the rules on Mecha combat if you’re running a Tager game for example. Take your time introducing it to your players.

Prune the fluff

There’s a lot of background to Cthulhutech, possibly too much. Don’t expect you or your players to know it all. Alter the Cthulhutech meta-plot if it doesn’t fit your plans – Scotland has fallen to the Migou in CT canon, but in my Through the Looking Glass games, Scotland is still in NEG hands. Sometimes it helps to reveal small parts of the meta-plot or background e.g.  para-psychics and sorcerors are not commonplace: but if a player wants to bring a PC of that kind into the group that can springboard into other events such as awareness of the Arcane Underground.

Drama points

I dislike the Framewerk Drama Points intently and have found it slows things done immeasurably. Unlike the core rules, I allow players to have one Drama Point, and they can spend it in a similar fashion to Fate Points in Warhammer FRP e.g. if your PC falls off a cliff, you spend a point and your PC’s fall is broken by a tree before they hit the ground; your PC is caught in a an explosion, but manage to hide behind a door, etc. If you do wish to use them as given, I’d suggest that the players can only modify their own rolls.

Books you might need

And finally, I’ve summarised the Cthulhutech range of books and recommended what you need for each facet of game.

Cthulhutech also has a very nice GM Screen that also has some of the game’s fantastic artwork in handouts showing the various mecha, tagers, and beasts from the series. Along with these handouts are some of the more useful charts from the books.

The Cthulhutech core book is obviously what you’ll need as a player or GM and contains much of the background and rules you need to play Mundanes, Mecha or Tagers. The quickstart rules on the Cthulhutech website may be of use to players  as well. There are a number of adventures and story hooks included as well.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: all players and GMs – if you’re a GM, I’d thoroughly recommend getting a hard copy.

Vade Mecum is the companion to the core book and contains lots more information on Mecha, Engels, beasts and Parapsychic abilities, as well as those old Lovecraftian nasties, Ghouls as PC characters. I suspect that Vade Mecum contains the overspill of ideas from the core rulebook. It also includes a couple of adventures for different CT facets.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: all players and GMs.

Dark Passions is a relatively slim volume compared to the other books in the Cthulhutech range, and details some of the Cults in the Strange Aeon, along with details for running games involving cults and Cultist PCs. The hard copy version is quite expensive for the page count (although the material is useful), so I’d go for the PDF version.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: GMs looking to run games focusing upon cults.

Damnation View details the major events of 2085 and also allows GMs to find out a little bit more of the metaplot. In game terms it’s a pretty bleak year for the NEG, although there are triumphs. Damnation View has a range of scenarios for different facets and probably contains enough material and plot hooks for a year of games.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: GMs wanting to run a variety of adventures using the CT metaplot, or use the core background.

Mortal Remains is one of the weakest books in the line and largely contains background fluff and information. It also contains an extensive section on the Migou (Fungi from Yuggoth), and how to use them as PCs. I’m not sure why this is so weak, but I don’t think the Migou’s intentions come across clearly – they should be utterly inscrutable and alien in my mind.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: GMs wanting a bit more background on the Nazzadi and Migou.

Ancient Enemies is one of those books that was eagerly awaited and doesn’t disappoint. It’s a hefty hardback book detailing Tagers and Dhohanoids, and also features rules for creating Dhohanoid PCs as well as some truly awesome Tagers via Metamorphosis. There’s extensive background on Chrysalis Corporation and the Eldritch Society. It’s worth buying for the artwork alone!

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: Players and GMs. Essential for those who want to run Tagers and games featuring Dhohanoids, as well games involving the Eldritch Society and Chrysalis Corporation.

Unveiled Threats is the pretty much a listing of arms and equipment. It’s a pretty comprehensive list of firearms, armour, gadgets and arcane artefacts. There’s some pretty nasty ideas as well that have a significant “Yeuch!” factor.

• Availability: as a PDF and also from Amazon.
• Recommended for: Players (and GMs) who like having lots of cool equipment and other toys.

Conclusion

Cthulhutech is a very detailed setting and the metaplot makes it particularly dense content-wise. hopefully this article helps clarify what you need to do to get a decent CT game up and running!

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It’s been quite a year for me. I’ve blogged far more about RPGs in the last year than anything else. Consequently I’ve trimmed a lot of the dead wood from my blog to make it easier to read, as well as making the site easier to find in both search engines and within the site itself. Hopefully related posts will now show up for some of the blog entries and pages – I’ve removed the BlogGlue plugin I was using as it didn’t really add anything to help find related posts (back to using the revamped YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin). I’m also intending to use the new featured image of WordPress more often as well as making the site a little easier to read.

I’ve already covered events at the Open Roleplaying Community (ORC Edinburgh) within a previous post, but there’s a few things I’ve not mentioned within as they were more of a personal nature.

As I posted, THE SECRET FIRE RPG (then known as Legend & Labyrinths) was playtested by ORC in May. As a result of this, I helped write much of the flavour text (flavour text being the descriptive text used to describe monsters and magic spells/prayers, etc.) for the game as well as participating as a game developer. I’m also hoping to begin work soon upon the Demons part of the first supplement: FRAGMENT I: THE WAY OF TREE, SHADOW & FLAME, and will likely end up doing some more of the flavour text for THE SECRET FIRE. It feels very weird seeing “Bill Heron” in the credits of a published book!

CLICHÉ: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME OF PREDICTABLE HORROR is another RPG we playtested at ORC, from an Edinburgh RPG design studio, Drunken Badger Games. I’m hoping to hear more from them in the future, as the game I ran at ORC was quite good fun – CLICHÉ lends itself well to having a few friends around for some beers without being too hard on the old brain cells!

I also managed to get my CTHULHUTECH: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS game off the ground at ORC, running on a fortnightly basis, with a decent group of players. I’m also preparing a blog article on how to run a CTHULHUTECH game and campaign -  stay tuned!

My Ashes of Freedom D&D game reached the end of its story arc. I’m quite happy with the way it ended, with a doomsday device beginning a countdown and an epic battle in the Hammerfall Pass caverns resolving a number of the story arcs. There’s a definite possibility I’ll be returning to it later in the year, as the setting was popular and we had a great time playing it and running it in my case. The chariot race will go down in legend!

In the personal kudos stakes, my The Art of Winging It article also gained a mention in an article on the Wizards of the Coast website! It’s only a brief mention with a link to the page but it still feels good to see things like this happen!

And finally, work began upon my big project the MANDRAGORA: ASHES OF FREEDOM RPG. I’m trying this as an experiment in self-publishing and will likely be blogging about this a lot in the coming year or so, and hurling some ideas around out there.

So it looks like 2011 was a pretty good year for me RPG-wise. As well as the above I also had the chance to play in a lot more RPGs, including the Dresden Files RPG, 40k Deathwatch, Rogue Trader, and even some Call of Cthulhu and D&D!

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The year started off in a neo-Ice Age with many us either negotiating the icy planes of Edinburgh or trapped in drifts of snow. However, we persevered, both players and GMs alike traipsing through the snow and ice to game! Then in February, disaster struck: the Meadow Bar suffered an extensive fire that gutted the function room where we played, depriving both us and the Edinburgh University boardgame Society (FAQ) of a venue. It’s happened before: Cafe Nero, The Royal Engineers Club, the Three Tuns…

ORC Edinburgh has a history of getting together and adapting, and its definitely one of our strengths – for a community of (essentially) volunteers we do quite well. Thankfully a member of ORC (Deleriad) noticed that board games and the like were being played in Illegal Jacks, a new bar and grill on Lothian Road. It turned out to be an astute choice of venue, with very nice food and a fine choice of music (I might be wrong, but most RPGers tend to be fans of rock music of some kind).

With Illegal Jacks as our new “base of operations,” we were able to run two or more games a week there. IJ made us very welcome there, even to the extent that we had our own table! It gave us the chance to welcome screenwriter and RPG designer George Strayton and playtest his game, the Secret Fire RPG (then called Legends & Labyrinths). Edinburgh’s own Drunken Badger games also provided ORC with the opportunity to playtest their RPG, Cliché: The Roleplaying Game of Predictable Horror as well.

We also said hello to a lot of new members and farewell to others – and also farewell to some  long-running campaigns. Both my Ashes of Freedom game and the New World were wound down, although it is likely that AoF will return later in the year. We’re also back in the refurbished Meadow Bar function room which has much nicer décor now as well, but still run games in Illegal Jacks and Cafe Renroc as well.

By far one of the most popular games to play at ORC was D&D. Love it or hate it, the granddaddy of them all was still going strong. Regardless of your feelings about the game it remains as popular as ever with many new people entering the hobby. Quite a lot of new players are looking to play D&D – some have been influenced by web comics like Penny Arcade or via computer games such as Neverwinter Nights. There appears to be a bit of a dearth of DMs running games though  – however Embracraig is running a consistent game at Cafe Renroc on a fortnightly basis. This new venue proves popular with those gamers who live nearby!

Another old favourite, Call of Cthulhu, returned in the form of the mini-campaign Cthulhu Brittanica: Shadows Over Scotland. This is currently hugely popular at ORC – I may also run some of these adventures next year myself, as well as finally getting my Arunstoun setting completed! In related news, my Cthulhutech campaign (The Damsacus Road) has finally got off the ground in the Through the Looking Glass setting. The wh40k games have all been popular too with the most recent, Black Crusade, starting a new campaign at ORC this December.

ORC also hosted a few pub meets this year: these proved to be hugely successful and gave us all a chance to socialize outside of a game for once. It looks like we’ll be running a few more of these over the coming year – it gave those new to ORC the chance to chat and get to know the other members, old and new.

I think its safe to say that ORC is going to be around for a while to come. We have a pretty substantial membership now, although attendance fluctuates wildly – however this seems to be one of those things that happens these days. If you’re running a game, I’d suggest you get at least six players. That way you’ll also cover any possible absences and still have a fun game!

Anyway: Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Copyright bill at themandragora.com

Some of my most fun games have been run off a few notes and maps, and both myself and the players have enjoyed them immensely. It’s actually quite straightforward to run an improvised game, although you paradoxically need to plan ahead to a certain extent. Make sure that you’ve got a pile of stock NPCs or monsters to use and that you’ve a few encounters that you can throw in to break things up.

Among the improvisation techniques I’ve used, the application of “imminent peril” is probably one of the best. It puts PCs in a situation where they have to keep moving as they are being chased or are up against the clock. It worked very well in my first game of Ashes of Freedom as the group are pursued across Volkrania by the Mandragora, trying to avoid their forces and warn the capital. Encounters with heavily armed patrols and unrelenting attacks meant that the PCs (and players!) had little time to rest. The game was almost entirely improvised – as long as you’ve got the stats for some stock characters/encounters you cam have a great time!

Another of my favourites is the total improv(isation) campaign – all your plot is centred upon the PC actions and their consequences. This can be hugely difficult to plan for obvious reasons, so its pretty heavy work for the GM and can be difficult to run. Take away the toys. PCs thrown in prison or going undercover are not going to have much more than their own wits to help them out. Against the Odds was built upon this premise, with the group being escaped prisoners: no armour, food, weapons, or gear. The players would have to rely on their wits and creativity – particularly since they escaped into an area known as the Hellswamp. I’d planned to make the campaign about toppling the ruler, and creating a resistance force/rebellion.

Superhero/spy games are a great fun to improvise in, where you can wing it freely and give the players free rein as it were. I remember playing in a Marvel Superheroes game many years ago that basically focussed on us opposing the robotic Sentinels (long before the X-Men movies!). Oh, the elaborate schemes we came up with…

Anyway here’s some basic thoughts when improvising:

• Be consistent – treat anything you improvise as part of the game “canon” from that point on. Keep some NPC names and stats pregenerated.
• Let your players create their own encounter -”This looks like a great place for an ambush!” or “There’s going to be undead”
• Don’t railroad the players – gentle encouragement is better than forcing them back onto the original plot.
• Keep your cool – don’t get discouraged or annoyed when the players do something unexpected.
• Adapt the ideas into your game. In Ashes of Freedom, a chariot race originally intended as a background actually provided a number of sessions that were fun!
• Roll with it – enjoy yourself! If your players ignore the dungeon you’ve spent weeks designing and decide to go on an ocean cruise let them do so. Then maroon them on a mysterious desert island. With non-euclidean geometry.
• Don’t be too “out there” with your improvisations – try and keep the flavour of your game intact. Humorous side quests can be fun – in moderation.
• Don’t indulge individual players too much – remember, RPGs are social games.  Give each player enough of their own air time, returning to individuals afterwards.

Copyright bill at themandragora.com