Star Crossed Musing

Going by Wallis's reported date of death, the team showed up in 1924 a few days early, trying to get ahead of the time split (which they did). Solomon hung back at the Citadel for a moment/day/ever -- time travel tends to make that sort of distinction meaningless (their player was out). The team staked out her house and started looking for ways to find interference/figure out exactly when the event would take place. Micah starts off with his disguise as a groundskeeper at the Spencer household (she's still married to her first husband at this point). He sees a chauffeur working on the car outside the garage in back of the house, so he wanders over and starts a conversation. He has a pleasant talk with the driver, with the result that he learns there's going to be a party on Friday and the driver isn't needed to stay and wait. He also learns that her husband is gone for quite long intervals and is not terribly close with his wife.  Caroline, in the meantime, pays...

Leaving last session's dinner party, the group heads back to the Citadel for a quick regroup and identity change before leaping forward in time. They return to London in May 1930 at a swanky party that HRH Prince Edward is attending, where in theory he meets Wallis and her then-husband, Ernest Simpson.  Caroline and Jason keep the same personas, and thus are recognized by the people they met at the weekend in the country. Freda in particular seems very interested in Caroline and invites her to stay at her house, determined to find her a suitable husband and keep her around. Caroline, who is likewise interested in Freda, maintains her cool, keeping the conversation open.  Solomon acts as a photographer at the party, documenting and seeing how the crowd interacts. He's the observer, looking for things that might be out of place.  Micah's persona is very much himself, but as a captain after the WWI who stayed in England. He's a fish out of water a bit, but can p...

So after a significant RL hiatus, we picked up at the dinner party, reconvening after tea and rest to embark on the dinner portion of the evening. Things that were learned: 1) Prince Edward is bored and has a roving eye for married women. His relationship with Freda Dudley Howe is waning, and he's getting interested in Lady Thelma Furness. This is as it should be in 1930. 2) Prince Edward thinks that war is awful and should be avoided at any cost. He also thinks he has something to offer England and that the king should be thoroughly in charge, with a lot more power than his father chooses to wield. Also, he really likes Germany. 3) No one has heard of Wallis Simpson. She should be living in London about now with her husband Ernest. and they should meet Prince Edward in a few months at a party in town. 4) None of the women except Lady Anastasia, Lord Mountbatten's wife, seem to have any real affection for their husbands, and Anastasia is much more focused on her life as...

The group goes to the pub to get something to eat. The pub is rundown — not much business. A couple of locals drinking at the bar, talking to the bartender. Everyone in there is suspicious of a bunch of people coming in. There’s a grease-spotted paper menu on the table with some oddly German-seeming foods on the list, along with some more traditional Scots bar food. No flags and such on the walls, just bottles of booze and old pictures and newspaper clippings.  The characters order food (pretzels with mustard and fish& chips) and listens in for a bit. Eventually they make conversation with the barkeep (Solomon tries and fails, while Micah and Jason succeed). They still aren’t sure what’s going on, or even if anything’s going on, but their time-abnormality-senses are going off like crazy. Not long after they get their food, Eddie comes in, panicked, and tells the barkeeper “they got Reg!” Reg, as it turns out, is Reggie, Eddie’s older brother. They are both the sons of th...

So not having run a game in a few years, but wanting to design a couple of Gumshoe hacks, I decided some time back that when our bi-weekly Monday gaming group hit the end of the most recent Promethean story (run by Matt) that I would throw my hat in the ring to run the next game. I really wanted to do Bookhounds of London (a take on Trail of Cthulhu ). The group agreed, albeit with some misgivings, but the more I sat with it, the more I realized that it just wasn't the right group for what I wanted to do with that game -- don't be a Book History scholar and run an evil books game for laymen, is what it basically boils down to. I'd spend my time excited over paper types and whatnot, and they'd be -- well, not as enthused, by and large. So instead I took that back and suggested running TimeWatch, and the idea was met with approval. We generated characters and then last week had our first session, albeit a slightly short one. Characters The characters are as ...

Last week I thought to myself, "Self, you need to do a blog post." In trying to think of what this blog post would be about, I thought that maybe covering stuff that had happened in gaming last year from and by women would be a good topic. The problem, of course, was that I didn't have any data. I made a Facebook post querying about interest in the topic and whether people would help with information, and someone on my list suggested asking what women had been playing last year. I pondered this and decided that a "year in review" survey might be a good idea. I then took a few days of messing with Google Forms and ended up with the survey you see a portion of above. I thought I might get as many as a couple of hundred responses, assuming people were interested. Oh, what a sweet summer child past Me was. On Monday, January 9th, I started sending out the links to it. I posted it on Facebook, G+, and Twitter -- once each. It went live at 4:30 PM EST that day...

So, I really meant to post more in December, truly I did, but then the end of the semester happened, and then I fell and broke my thumb, which put a damper on my typing overall. I just got my cast off yesterday, and it's a glorious feeling. (See pic of my son cosplaying John Bender from The Breakfast Club to embody that emotion. :) ) It's sore, and I can't ask it to do too much, and I have a splint to wear at night for support, but it's so much better than it was. So I have more about game design to post, but I'm going to take a bit to do the obligatory end-of-year post. 2016 seemed like a year of huge upheaval for just about everyone I know. Some good, some bad, but lots of it regardless. My eldest son moved in with us and started his senior year again, for example. He's doing well, but it was an adjustment. My dad had health issues but is doing okay. My car got wrecked (by my son) and replaced with my parents' old minivan.  I had a chapter approved fo...

Okay, so maybe we're doing this in weekly installments instead of daily. That's okay, right? Especially if I'm also writing on my dissertation? 10th: Largest in-game surprise you have experienced I'd have to say in Monsterhearts (2nd or 3rd season) where it came out that Rook was kinda playing us all only. And when Dora left. And when Ginny's brother Bastian died. And when Austen and Briar actually became a couple. Okay, so lots of them. It was a big game for sudden plot twists. 11th: Which gamer most affected the way you play?  Hrm. My ex taught me to play, but I don't know that he really affected the way I play -- he just gave me a space and means to do it, which I don't intend to discount -- it was a useful thing. I think honestly it might be my friend Trey. Trey was the first friend I made RPing on a World of Darkness MUSH, and our characters ended up getting involved -- I was a normal introverted human and he was an 8th or 9th gen Gangrel who w...

Okay, so I was at Gen Con, and it was awesome and super busy and sort of a blur, and at night I came back to my room and fell over, so I didn't post a single thing. I didn't even knit, which if you know me at all is like "whaaaaaaat?" So yes. That said, here's my catch-up post. 2nd: Best game session since August 2015 Oh, good heavens. That's crazy. Um... I've got to say the final session of this season's Rising Waters game, which you can find here . I'm proud to say that despite difficulties and playtesting and all manner of things, my players found things getting wrapped up in ways they didn't expect, with loose ends getting tied up and new cliffhangers being generated. My perennial fence-sitter character finally chose a direction and now we've got new and reinforced alliances to move forward with, and now the focus gets to shift for the next season. My players were really pleased, and they're excited for me to come back to it,...

It's #RPGaDay time again! I like taking part in this for a few reasons: one, I don't see a lot of other women doing it, and I think it's important to be visible like this. Two, I think it's fun. Three, it gets me thinking about aspects of gaming I don't normally stop and think about. Four, it gets me in the habit of daily posting to my blog for a month. :) So let's give it a go! August 1: Do you prefer to use real dice, a dice application or program, or use a diceless system? Real dice. I have a brick of yellow/blue six siders (originally to play Warmachine in Cygnar colors), a regular set of polyhedrals in blue/purple swirl, and a bunch of FATE dice, plus some extra d10s (reflecting the amount of time we spend playing Storyteller games). All of it I keep in an ARU (All Rolled Up) I bought at GenCon a few years ago. It is the best dice conveyance ever.  I've tried using programs before, but I like the kinesthetic experience of dice. Programs ju...

Their registration system is awful, but they've got a cute mascot! So we're back from Origins. Matt covers some of the general stuff that he did as well as the administrative headache stuff we experienced  here in his blog . I'm not going to retread a lot of that, because I lived it once and my stress levels don't need to repeat the experience at this point. I am deeply sad my "All My Circuits: A Tragedy in Five Acts" hack didn't get any players -- I chose the theme for the game to be in keeping with the theme for the con, and it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. Now, that being said, what did we do at Origins? I worked the booth a lot, spent a lot of time I wanted to socialize off in my room by myself, which makes me sad too (stealthy pine nuts, I abjure thee! Cigarette smoke, my bronchitis-affected lungs abjure thee as well!). I didn't get to do anything like as many things or talk to as many people as I wanted to. That said, there w...

So this is related to the kerfluffle regarding Emerald City Tabletop Coalition, OrcaCon & GeekGirlCon, and Chance Daniels. I'll start by saying I am connected to some of these people online via friends of friends, but don't know them personally. You can get caught up on the origin of the story here:  http://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/ FYI, I don't know Jessica personally, though I think we've met at a con once? I follow her on twitter and such because we're in the same community and I hear good things about her work. Reportedly, for the tl;dr version, ECTC removed mentions of OrcaCon from their feed because they viewed it as a "3-day political event that also had some gaming," and Chance stated that they/he viewed GeekGirlCon the same way. OrcaCon, fyi, is a new gaming con held in Everett, WA in January that has an inclusive focus; the theme for 2017, according to their website, isn't dragons or robots or superheroes, but rather "Race and Ac...

Hey! So next week I'm going to be a guest at Midwinter Gaming Convention in Milwaukee, WI, Wed-Sun. Jan 14-17. I'll be doing some panels and running a session of Tragedy, as well as manning the IGDN booth, your source for indie rpgs! Also hanging out and talking and maybe playing in some stuff, not to mention making time to take Matt to the Safe House (shhhh!). If you're going to be there, come by and see us! Also, Oscar nominations come out next week, and I'll start posting about the Oscar movies I've seen again, along with the thoughts about the menu we'll be basing around the best picture nominations. Potential nominees already seen: Creed, Concussion, Mad Max Fury Road, and the Revenant (not counting any animated stuff). Yay for a new year!

Mock-up cover, courtesy Evil Hat Productions Woo hoo! So my group and I were fortunate enough to get into the Dresden Files Accelerated Beta Playtest , which has been a complete blast. Rather than making characters from scratch, we converted the characters from our ongoing game into DFA characters last session.  Before I go into what we ended doing this evening, though, I want to talk a bit about the playtest and the effects the change in system have had. So, to no one's surprise, DFA is based on FAE ( Fate Accelerated Edition ). For those who've played the Dresden Files RPG , you'll know that it's FATE plus some clunkier bits as it tries to encompass the magic and setting and variety of critter abilities within one game. I love the game, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely not the most streamlined system in existence. The magic system in particular was far more complicated in practice than was convenient, and using it always slowed the game down f...

I went to DragonCon and saw a ton of cool costumes. I walked miles and miles, as I stayed in an off-site hotel. I learned that Atlanta has hills downtown. I saw 3-4 whale sharks -- I didn't even know that was a thing, but they're amazing. I watched giant manta rays loop-the-loop. I saw river otters sleeping in a pile. I learned that the flight between CLE and ATL is surprisingly short. I had some of the best biscuits I've had in a year. I watched bits of 300 twice accidentally. I learned how to use my phone as a personal internet connection. I ran a game of Clue: A Tragedy in Five Acts that was called "Murder in the Caribbean." I came home and now I'm going to go fall over. G'night.

Okay, so I fell behind again. Here's the last lap, though, all in one fell swoop for all you patient readers who are, no doubt, endlessly interested in all my RPG stuff. :) Day 28: Favorite Game You No Longer Play Oh man. So... Shadowrun . Shadowrun was my go-to favorite for a lot of years. It was the first game I ever really GMd. I like how the fantasy races let us deal with some of the uglier aspects of human nature head on. I like how the magic gave it just enough fantasy without getting rid of all familiarity (and I'm a sucker for urban fantasy). I liked the cyberpunk aspects of it. I loved the people it introduced me to, many of whom are still dear friends to this day. It was my entryway to the industry, first in editing through my work for FASA Corp., and then through writing as I started picking up bits and pieces in the line. I haven't touched it since I parted freelance ways with Catalyst. Really, the reasons for this boil down to two things. First, I really...

Day 27: Favorite Idea for Merging Two Games into One So, this isn't really something I do, and as a result, I'm not entirely sure how to take it. The closest thing I've done recently, though, is make the pitch to take one or more characters from out ongoing Deadlands game (specifically the scrappy orphan kid who's grown up under the tutelage of the Chinese kung fu master/laundry owner in Colorado) and transport him through the time shifts into Feng Shui 2, potentially taking some other characters along as well or else making new ones. I think it'd be awesome. :)

Day 26: Favorite Inspiration for Your Game So, my favorite source of inspiration, by far, is music. I regularly start my games by playing a song I feel to be thematic in some way -- it works great to get my players' attention, get them in the mood, and let them know the game is starting (thus transitioning them out of chat mode). I have gotten a bit out of the habit with this most recent reboot of the game I'm running -- it's something I should get back to, though. I also tend to use it at the beginning of the classes I'm teaching, if I need a way to get their attention and I can relate it to the lesson. I should definitely do it this semester, though. So yes -- always, always music. (By the way, if you're interested in running Chill , you need to listen to Hozier's album. Seriously, the whole thing. All of it. If you haven't already. OMG.)

So school started and I finished an editing job and... yeah. Also, my corgi decided to chase a buck and suffered some muscle strain, and was the most sad corgi ever for a couple of days. (He's fine now). But yes, I let this get away from me, and now I must catch up. RPGaDay2015: Day 20, Favorite Horror RPG So, for a lot of years, the World of Darkness was like the only good answer to this question. I couldn't have picked a specific flavor of it until these last few years, where it was really Changeling: the Lost . There's a lot of resonance there for me. That said, I honestly have to say that Chill 3rd Ed has replaced it. My favorite thing, bar none, is being a person trying to fight off the bad things. That is the horror game I want, and I want some success to be possible. I wanted Kolchak the Night Stalker, etc. And Hunter sort of did that, but not in the way I wanted. Chill does. And yes, it's kind of a gimme, since my company made it, but seriously: I freaking l...

Following the ghoul battle, everyone went to get cleaned up. Zeke's phone rings, though. It's his mortal, not-informed girlfriend calling to verify their dinner plans.  Ree'sha (I'm spelling this wrong, I know, but I don't have his sheet in front of me) asked if they were still getting together, and whether or not she needed to buy a new dress for his friend's wedding, since she got an invitation but she remembered his friend was a bit odd. Zeke immediately went on alert, as his girlfriend was now planning on attending Uno's wedding when he still didn't have an invite, and from all they could tell, wasn't going to get one. He broke off from the rest of the group and set about getting dinner reservations and getting cleaned up and prepped for what might be a difficult evening. Upon hearing that people were getting invitations to his wedding, Uno starts freaking out. People work on calming him down while they start checking with their own loved one...