Blog Archives

4/26/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - April 26, 2019

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Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Listed below are links to recorded sessions of online games played under the Gauntlet Hangouts banner and other games organized through the Gauntlet online RPG community. These recorded sessions represent only a small part of the giant selection of games available every week, and anyone can join in the fun! Details on how to become a part of the community are listed at the end of the post.

Star Wars Saturday

Star Warbirds (Session 2 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Blaise, Sabine V., and Steven Watkins
The flying aces of the Green Dragons discover a House Mecetti plot, and one pilot starts a new meme - The Bush Toss!

Star Warbirds (Session 3 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Blaise, Sabine V., and Steven Watkins
The ace pilots of The Guild take down an old legend and face a new challenge. All in a day's work!

TGI Thursday

Things from the Flood (Session 3 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Puckett, Steven Watkins, and Tom F.
It's a long and complicated Friday night for our teens as they continue to track the source of the infected transmission and engage in a range escalating criminal activities.

Things from the Flood (Session 4 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Puckett, Steven Watkins, and Wade Lahoda
The flip of a coin sets the teens' future as they come face to face with themselves and learn that they have two years to leave the city or face...something?

Gauntlet Quarterly

Tales & Things (Tales from the Loop) (Session 3)
Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes, Patrick Knowles, Rich Rogers, Sarah J., and Sherri
The kids use their Saturday morning to plan their exploration of the woods and get ready to face the possibility of "not nice" dinosaurs.

Gauntlet Comics

Project Lycra: Playtest (Session 2 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Jen Kitzman, Joe Zantek, and Peter Mazzeo
Exciting adventures of the Four Winds -- with the game's designer.

Masks: Homefront Heroes (Session 4 of 5)
Jim Crocker runs for Alexi S., Chris Newton, David Jay, Joe Zantek, and Michael Mendoza
The Allied Angels decide on a rescue mission and take a few moments to talk to their moms. Includes a Moment of Truth!

Hit the Streets (1%er) (Session 3 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Agatha, Alejandro, Dr. Jason Cox, and Patrick Knowles
The vigilantes of Staight Estates fight time travelling murderers who think they're saving reality. Broken noses, broken Time Caddies, and broken relationships happen.

Project Lycra: Playtest (Session 3 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Jen Kitzman, Joe Zantek, and Peter Mazzeo
The Four Winds attack a Hirogen spaceship in orbit over Earth, then escape back home to New Gauntlet City to deal with all the fallout.

Gage Valley Wrestling

World Wide Wrestling: Parade of Heroes
Gerwyn Walters runs for Kevin Marshall, Leandro Pondoc, and Puckett
Gage Valley Wrestling embarks on its latest PPV as guest of the tyrannical dictator of the nation of Gauntlentia. Who will come out on top and who will suffer ignominious defeat. More importantly... Who will make it out alive!?

Mecha Monthly

Armour Astir (Session 3 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Rob Ruthven and Zak Soeria-Atmadja
The Prince of Joy comes looking for Lyra Harker whose Patron, Nyarl, have become of interest to Palladium. In response, the Cause dispatches Ka'Naar to infiltrate and destroy the Prince's research even as the scout fears that Lyra might be overwhelmed by her demonic Patron.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Hearts of Wulin: Storm of Falling Blossom (Session 3 of 4)
David Morrison runs for Alun R., Donogh, and Pawel S.
Ming infiltrates Governor Bao's garden party, with the intent of exposing him for his crimes. An Xie is ambushed by a mysterious thief in the hedge maze, while Thoughtful Master Yu Su attempts to keep peace at the party. The evening ends with a cascade of betrayals, and the Yellow Whisper is finally brought to justice by Magistrate Zheng.

Ironsworn: Tales of the Iron Gauntlet Brotherhood
Ludovico Alves facilitates for Greg G. and Max
A community destroyed overnight by fire and ice; reports of children missing. Jarl Blackfoot ventures in search of their long-lost child, accompanied by his adopted nice Randvi Sootborn--the survivor of a similar disaster and forever marked by flame-sight--and hanger-on and wanna-be-warden Kiah Cloverfief. They find themselves steel-riddled, confronted with the demands of their vows and discover a much bigger threat to the communities of the Ironlands.

The Black Hack: Tomb of the Serpent Kings (Session 4 of 4)
Mark Causey runs for Sherri and Stephen K.

Blood in the Arena: I Have Made But One Mistake
Ludovico Alves facilitates for Kyle H., Phillip Wessels, and Walter German
The Flavian Amphitheater has been finally completed, and the one thousand days of inaugural games are taking place. How many will die for the glory, health and good fortune and life of Emperor Titus?

Monster of the Week: Protect & Survive - Winter is Coming (Session 2 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Christopher G., Scot Ryder, and William
Her Majesty's Pursuivants seek to deal with a newly discovered Faerie Pact in a Yorkshire market town.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 1) (Session 1 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Erez, Stephen, Vasilis Liaskovitis, and William
The first group of intrepid monster hunters step into the dark heart of Dark Age Synhamm.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 1) (Session 2 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Erez, Vasilis Liaskovitis, and William

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 2) (Session 1 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Angel Garcia from Hijos del Rol, David Morrison, Leandro Pondoc, and Sabine V.
The second group of intrepid monster hunters step into the dark heart of Dark Age Synhamm. It's an endless wonder to me of where different groups can end up given the same starting point...

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 2) (Session 2 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Angel Garcia from Hijos del Rol, David Morrison, Leandro Pondoc, and Sabine V.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 3) (Session 1 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Alejandro, Blaine, and Jim Crocker
The third group of intrepid monster hunters step into the dark heart of Dark Age Synhamm. And my thanks to all three groups who gave me excellent feedback on this Dark Age hack of Monster of the Week...watch for 'The Synhamm Alliance' later in the year once I've processed that feedback.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Curse (Group 3) (Session 2 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Alejandro, Blaine, Eduardo L., and Jim Crocker

Masks: Evolution (Session 4 of 5)
Ryan M. runs for Lauren, Leandro Pondoc, and Sarah J.
Penumbra calls in his debts, leading the gang back to Tempest Solutions, Inc. Nijah makes a new friend(?) while Lily unlocks her Moment of Truth.

Hearts of Wulin: April (Session 4 of 5)
Agatha runs for Chris Newton, Eduardo L., Gene A., and Joshua Gilbreath
There's a new guy in town but is he friend or foe? More secrets are revealed, people get wounded, and it seems as though the more the PCs find out, the less they know.

Dream Askew: From the Void, Season 2 (Session 2 of 5)
Bethany H. facilitates for Barry, Peter Mazzeo, Saribel P., and Sawyer Rankin
Burton and Ezra steal a car and take Rezzi's son to visit a remnant of civilization. Robyn uses leeches and blades to create beautiful rituals. Lark has the way home buried in their mind, but must use their painfully acquired gifts to unearth it. Rezzi tries to resist his overprotective-dad instincts.

Monsterhearts 2: Reunion (Our Prospects Weren't Good) (Session 1 of 2)
Sarah J. runs for Alex, Barry, Lauren, Patrick Knowles, and Ryan M.
Darcy, Niamh, Marc-Evan, Ravi, and Xander return to Ohio for their ten-year high school reunion. They pregame at the Iron Hook, skulk around their parents' houses, and hang out at the lake, and everyone is totally cool and mature and successful.

Macchiato Monsters: The Lost City (Session 4 of 5)
Richard Ruane runs for Kyle Thompson, Morgan W., Tony H, and Zack
While Pulmia rests in the chapel of the Warrior Maidens, the others lead a small expedition to the shrine of Gorm. The next day, joined by members of each faction, they begin to descend deeper into the pyramid-temple on a quest to confront Demetrius, the priest of Zargon. On the way, Yelnara experiments with some strange spicy powder while Tapay meets the ghost of Demetrius’s betrayed brother.

[DEUTSCH] The Quiet Year: #hambibleibt edition: Die Blaue Jahn
Gerrit Reininghaus ermöglichte eine Session für Christopher G., Frank, und Marco
Protesting the construction of a dam, our community of activists lived in the beautiful valley of the Blue Jahn river, one last year before the bulldozers come.

Masks: Apocalypse Sonata (Session 4 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alun R., Jesse Larimer, and Pawel S.
With the Sonata close to being assembled, our heroes take the fight to Ominus as he lays siege to the planet of Xanov. Graviton learns of what happens when his powers go awry. Solara displays courage even in the face of their planet's doom. Freak makes a fateful decision.

Dream Askew: From the Void, Season 2 (Session 3 of 5)
Bethany H. runs for Barry, Peter Mazzeo, Saribel P., and Sawyer Rankin
The Queer Caravan gets on the road, but can't escape the Institute in their own dreams. Robyn conducts the Dirty Flutter and turns a heckler into a friend. Burton takes Rezzi up on his proposition. Ezra bonds with her traveling companions over death threats and gossip. Rezzi exiles a challenger from within his own gang. Lark takes on more pain than they can handle.

Lacuna (Session 3 of 4)
Robbie Boerth runs for Adam, Arnie, and Stentor Danielson
It's agent vs. agent, as Page has gone AWOL in order to release a "woken" personality from a high security facility. Agent Cooper and Agent Graves are working with Control to intercept. This session has a maximally noir ending. And see 1:35:30 for the last appearance of the Girl from Blue City who has somehow managed to move from the dream world into the real world!

Tales from the Loop (Session 3 of 3)
Lowell Francis runs for John Campbell, Peter Mazzeo, Puckett, and Robert
The kids finally come face to face with the source of these strange, mutated animals and encounter a life-changing revelation about the world.

Urban Shadows: Dresden Files (Session 3 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Blake Ryan, Kevin Lovecraft, and Vince
Their showdown with the Denarian changes the group's goals, reveals secrets, and plants the seeds of future betrayals.

HILT // BLADE: Season 1 (Session 4 of 4)
Darren Brockes runs for Ben Swinden, Jim Crocker, Sarah J., and Simon Landreville
In the season finale, Mel and Ruby grow closer than ever before (even if just by a millimeter) and Ian grows more into his own. There is one more Traveler attack, which pushes the squad to its limit — at the end of it all, Luiz cracks, just a bit.

Rhapsody of Blood (Session 3 of 4)
Shane Liebling runs for Ben Adelman and Mike Ferdinando
The explorers face the dark Incense Knight and make their way through a chapel.

Other Games

Sorcerer: Demons are Social Media Junkies (Session 6)
Robbie Boerth runs for Gerwyn Walters, Jenny W., and Shawn
The characters sift through the bizarre events that transpired at the Barfield mansion, and they begin to realize that there are forces at work which are both exciting and fearsome! Will they be able to harness those powers, and even if they do, will their humanity remain intact?

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts! If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced. To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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4/25/2019

Hack the Planet: A conversation with Fraser Simons

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Today we talk with Gauntleteer Fraser Simons about his cyberpunk cli-fi game Hack the Planet. If you want to purchase the game or just learn more about it, please visit Samjoko Publishing.

Will: Hi Fraser, as a big fan of the Veil and Blades in the Dark, I’m ecstatic to hear that I can finally get my hands on Hack the Planet. Obviously, Veil was PbtA while Hack the Planet is a Forged in the Dark game. How did you settle on Forged in the Dark as a framework for this design?

Fraser Simons: I decided on Forged in the Dark because I knew the concept needed to have a crew of people working together toward a common aim, and Blades in the Dark already provided a great rules framework for that. It also parallels the cyberpunk sub-genre in the design goal of having marginalized, impoverished people in an underworld or sub-culture that defy the law and take back power, along with reclaiming the agency that's been taken away by the system of government and the policing of policies that benefit the 1%. My previous design work didn't have a specific setting like Hack the Planet does. The faction system was ideal for laying out the specific setting elements I wanted to have, while also leveraging xp rewards for the notion of contributing to the culture of a place packed with climate refugees. So while I could detail faction elements, I could also leave a blank space for players to wonder what culture could be like in a superstructure packed full of different people. And reward them for doing it!

David: Do you have an elevator pitch that you would use to describe the game?

Fraser: You play a crew of people who hack themselves off the grid of a corporatocracy and enter a criminal underworld in order to earn a living, subvert the status quo, and expose the ways in which the system is stacked against them.

Will: The game is set primarily in Shelter 1, a technological refuge from the effects of climate change. Do you have a favorite moment from one of your home games that best gives life to your internal vision of the shelter?

Fraser: Interestingly--probably because of the tag line--almost every group I've run the game for seem to gravitate toward really holistic relationships with their environment. Green space is often sparse and cherished because, well, with Acts of God about, it's hard to have a green space that's safe. A group of Cleaners (mercs for hire) called The Constant Gardeners made their base and home inside a dilapidated building that collapsed in such a way as to shield it from outside. Over time it became a community garden and the source of some long-term projects. They repaired some of the surrounding structure to allow for more housing and had a gazebo. Another crew chose to be vice dealers. They developed a drug that simulated being in sunlight that didn't burn. They ran a shop called The Blue Oolong. While running both of these (as well as other crews) I made sure to cross over some of these things. The garden became a thing in one game, The Blue Oolong in the other. The cross-pollination was an emergent thing that really brought the game to life. It sold me on placing an emphasis on the players crafting culture in the fiction and being rewarded for it.

David: You mention players being rewarded for crafting culture in the fiction; can you say more about that? Is it mechanically enforced?

Fraser: There a number of xp triggers the players can earn in a session. There are three sets; one set is if "you expressed your beliefs, drives, culture, or background", which makes it explicit. But to be honest, the game was already doing this and I made sure to dedicate some text to discussing his in the book (as well as the intent behind it). It was already part of the Blades in the Dark rules framework to ask questions and incorporate the answers into the fiction, and a GM naturally asks questions of the characters that would fall under the xp triggers; it's just an additional cookie for answering as a player. The rules drift is in placing a heavier emphasis on playing to find out and internally interrogating how you think a place with these setting elements would present. As a player, you have explicit space in the game to extrapolate cultural elements that make up a part of your own identity as a person, into your character in this near future.

Will: What is your favorite mechanical drift from the core Blades rule set?

Fraser: I like how I've complicated the stress system further. People who play a lot of Forged in the Dark generally have system mastery over the stress mechanics. The addition of a stress track that increases a player's total stress complicate what a player will end up doing with their xp. When they end up doing scores and becoming flush with money, it even further complicates their choices, as they can then also afford to get cybernetics. Spending resources, including stress, to get another action dot. Whether you're playing a short campaign or a long one, the changes to stress are probably my favorite to interact with.

David: What’s the number one thing you hope players of this game will get to take away from it?

Fraser: I hope people get inspired by the pairing of climate fiction with the cyberpunk sub-genre. It would be wonderful if people realized there’s no maps for this territory. There’s room to tell new and interesting cyberpunk fiction that’s prescient and iterative, which doesn’t need to exclude what people continue to job in the space.

Will: Thanks Fraser! I think I speak for both of us when I say that we can’t wait to get this to the table.

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4/19/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - April 19, 2019

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Gauntlet Quarterly

Tales & Things (Tales from the Loop) (Session 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes, Patrick Knowles, Rich Rogers, Sarah J., and Sherri
When weird photos lead the kids out to Tambeau Forest in search of a missing janitor, they have their wildest speculations confirmed as they see, and get to pet, a dinosaur.

Gauntlet Comics

Project Lycra: Playtest (Session 1 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Jen Kitzman, Joe Zantek, and Peter Mazzeo
The first public playtest of "Grown-up Masks with feelz" Project Lycra, with the game's designer.

Masks: Homefront Heroes (Session 3 of 5)
Jim Crocker runs for Alexi S., Chris Newton, David Jay, and Joe Zantek
The Allied Angels take on the monstrous Gorgon Sisters, deal with a very unexpected request for help, a very much expected chewing out, and Miss Moxie brings the house down.

Indie Schwarze Auge

[DEUTSCH] World of Aventurien: Schatten im Zwielicht (Session 11)
Gerrit Reininghaus leitet eine Session für Anna-Lena, Eike K., und Hans
Galotta - Our black magic agents Niam, Boronhilf, and Enan went on a diplomatic mission to arch mage Galotta to discover that the real enemy lies within (or is it Boronhilf?).

Gauntlet League Wrestling

World Wide Wrestling: Battle for the Belt (Session 3 of 5)
Tyler Lominack runs for Gerrit Reininghaus, Gerwyn Walters, Matt Caulder, Ryan M., and Zak Soeria-Atmadja
All I can say is this may be the wildest, most insane session of WWW you are ever likely to see. Watch and enjoy!

Gauntlet Hangouts

Slings & Arrows (Session 2)
Mikel Matthews runs for Larry S. and Rich Rogers
Slings & Arrows playtest. Got some great feedback and got to see some relationships get destroyed.

Scum and Villainy: You're Gonna Carry That Weight (Session 2 of 3)
Gene A. runs for Alex, Asher S., and Jason Mills
While on Mars, KR4N3 and Quip endure the fallout of turning in one of their own and ruminate on their future. Captain Lazarr returns to the crew. An eight million woolong bounty leads to the pursuit of a train, a conflict with rival cowboys, a violent exfiltration, and someone's ship getting blown to smithereens.

Hearts of Wulin: Storm of Falling Blossom (Session 2 of 4)
David Morrison runs for Alex T., David Walker, Pawel S., and Sawyer Rankin
Lin Min and Ming compete in an archery contest. Lian Shang sides with Wei Xiaobao - now suspected of being the infamous Thief Yellow Whisper - against her fiance, Magistrate Zheng. Lian and Ming share an unexpected moment of intimacy. And Lin Min and Wei Xiaobao are ambushed by conflicting desires. Also assassins.

Memento Mori
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex and Kyle Thompson
#sadmechjam - Amidst a roiling conflict, a battle-scarred Mech receives a new Pilot despite being recently shorn one. Though tensions may arise between JMS-92 and their new tenant, Ash, the memories of the long-departed former pilot may prove to build a bridge between the two.

The Black Hack: Tomb of the Serpent Kings (Session 3)
Mark Causey runs for Horst Wurst, Sherri, and Stephen K.

AVOWED
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex
#sadmechjam - The Fearless Commander Victoria Joy and her Beloved Ace Pilot, Gamma Squad Leader Aurora, are at the precipice of war's end. The only thing carrying them through the uncertainties of conflict is the deep and unshakable bond between the two, even as it's tested by the war.

Fire Ships at Midnight
Barry facilitates for Patrick and Peter Mazzeo
The Captain and the Duke offer and accept advice from everyone but the Almighty himself, and lock their sea-unworthy spiritual advisor below decks when visited by plagues.

Monsterhearts 2: Ebon Carnivale (Session 2 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Donogh, Leandro Pondoc, Peter Mazzeo, and Sabine V.
We once again step into the Carnival world, seeing how the family life of the freaks may be fraying just a bit too fast. Mother Tribute shows favoritism with possessiveness to the darling Astoria while showering her with malignant praise. Cecilia develops ice in her veins when she tears at Mother Tribute's control only to perhaps befoul her only chance with someone who could love her. Sammy finally found a place to belong, a place that would accept them for who they really were...but did it? And Rodney starts laying down hooves to pavement, ready to charge through adversaries as he begins to find his own self-esteem.

Masks: Evolution (Session 3 of 5)
Ryan M. runs for Lauren, Leandro Pondoc, and Sarah J.
Solstice makes herself at home, but not everyone's convinced she's reforming--or going to stay that way. Meanwhile, other parts of Phantasm's Reverie's past are catching up. And who IS leading this team?

Hearts of Wulin (Session 3 of 5)
Agatha runs for Chris Newton, Joshua Gilbreath, and Kurt Potts
A lot of revelations happened this session: multiple hidden identities, including could-be villains. A secret engagement between the PCs was revealed. Tears were shed. Fights were fought. Hands were maimed.

Monsterhearts 2: The Institute (Session 2 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Diana Moon, Joe Zantek, Peter Mazzeo, Rich Rogers, and Sławomir Wójcik
We introduce two new students to the mix and start a rough and tumble mess through the school. Mikhail's sister gets him a date...kind of which they blow off in favor of partying with the Partygeist. Sisko gets a date...kind of...but will he stick with it? The Hollow Doll becomes more like her idol who seems to be riling up the entire school to get her way. And the prom is coming up!

Monsterhearts 2: Ebon Sideshow (Session 2 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Alexi S., Darold Ross, and Jesse A.
Welcome to the sideshow, today we see the trickery that Mother Tribute plays as well as introduce a skittish Unicorn into the mix. Rodney, our sweet bull, treating everything like a china shop as he rampages through so many hearts. Sammy finds that belonging is so much harder than they originally thought yet find themselves several unexpected allies. Arden, the new blood, has several good prophecies yet has one thrown back into his face. Only one ticket to watch!

Macchiato Monsters: The Lost City (Session 3 of 5)
Richard Ruane runs for Kyle Thompson, Morgan W., Tony H, and Zack
With help from the returned Yelnara, the party finds the ecstatic rituals of some of Magi of Usamigaras (watched by some very uptight brothers of Gorm), and after much negotiation and some thieving shenanigans, enlists their help recruiting the Warrior Maidens of Madarua to assist them and the Brothers of Gorm in confronting the cruel god Zargon.

Lacuna (Session 3 of 4)
Robbie Boerth runs for Adam and Alejandro
Mystery Agents Cooper and Page go AWOL in Blue City. But if their bodies remain on the slab, they are still in the clutches of Control. They discover that Blue City is more messed up than they first imagined. Some dream personalities are becoming "woke" and aware of their identities as imagined beings.

Masks: Apocalypse Sonata (Session 3 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alun R., Kevin Marshall, Ludovico Alves, and Pawel S.
The Search for the Sonata strands our heroes in a ruined, war-torn dimension about to be used as fuel for the forces of Ominus, beset by duplicitous enemies, not-so-familiar faces and the spectre of treachery in their ranks. Freak fails to meet up with an old friend, Paradox-3 learns of a corruptor in their midst, Solara is faced with the invasion of their people and Bulwark-77 fights for her dying home.

Urban Shadows: Dresden Files (Session 2 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Blake Ryan, Kevin Lovecraft, and Vince
The group ponders how to confront the Denarian as more pieces fall into place. Despite mistrust and uncertainty they head out into the blizzard to confront the leader of the White Court.

Tales from the Loop (Session 2 of 3)
Lowell Francis runs for John Campbell, Peter Mazzeo, Puckett, and Robert
The kids continue to protect "Frank," the engineered frog-toad (?), even as they hear of other weird animal incidents. This leads to them breaking into the abandoned home of a disgraced scientist with dangerous secrets.

HILT // BLADE: Season 1 (Session 3 of 4)
Darren Brockes runs for Ben Swinden, Jim Crocker, Sarah J., and Simon Landreville
The squad overcomes the Traveler encountered last episode. Ian starts to unravel, Mel loses confidence, Ruby gets drunk and Luiz is...doing great.

Rhapsody of Blood (Session 2 of 4)
Shane Liebling runs for Ben Adelman, Jesse Larimer, and Mike Ferdinando
The explorers make their way into the darkness... And discover the dangers of glass, iron, and incense!

Macchiato Monsters: The Gardens of Ynn (Session 1 of 2)
Kyle Thompson runs for Ben Adelman, Gene A., and Jesse A.
A handful of smugglers attempt interdimensional tax evasion into the Gardens of Ynn. Will they survive their attempt at flight, or will they just become plants?

Alas for the Awful Sea: Kingsport 1851, Part II (Session 2 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Bethany H., Darold Ross, Scot Ryder, and Seraphina Malizia
Tensions rise as mysterious forces continue to work on the crews of the Tethys and the Charity; Joe attempts a rescue; Forbes meets a stranger; James struggles to keep order; Charlotte receives a terrifying command.

Scum and Villainy: You're Gonna Carry That Weight (Session 3 of 3)
Gene A. runs for Alex, Asher S., Jason Mills, and Walter German
KR4N3, Dex, and Quip get paid, which doesn't make them the most popular cowboys on Mars. With Gumshen piloting the ship, the crew makes plans to reach the greener pastures of Ganymede. Quip is surprised when he appears on Big Shot as a bounty head, underlining the need for a quick exit. Gumshen dodges the impound. Dex discovers a stowaway. Quip hears from an old friend. KR4N3 meets 1R15. A trip to Limelight Land. Quip hears from an old enemy. KR4N3 finds a hole in the universe.

Other Games

Sorcerer: Demons are Social Media Junkies (Session 4)
Robbie Boerth runs for Alejandro and Jenny W.
Chuck and Dylan are at the mansion of Richard Barfield, and things are beginning to get unsettling. The place is rigged with security cameras, but apparently there is no control room. Chuck successfully deals with some unwelcome guests, but Dylan finds himself in the clutches of demons who have bad intentions.

Sorcerer: Demons are Social Media Junkies (Session 5)
Robbie Boerth runs for Alejandro, Jenny W., and Walter German
Chuck engages the demon thugs, allowing Dylan to escape their clutches. Meanwhile, Shawn gets into the party spirit and creates a scene when he talks to a movie star, causing her partner to do into a crazed fit of jealousy. Sorcerous assaults are in abundant evidence, but our party remains oblivious to the powers that are swirling around them.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts! If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced. To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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4/12/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - April 12, 2019

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Star Wars Saturday

Star Warbirds (Session 1 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Blaise, Sabine V., and Steven Watkins
The rookie starfighter pilots of the Green Dragon squadron take down pirates and dance the night away at a Zero-G club!

TGI Thursday

Things from the Flood (Session 2 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Puckett, Steven Watkins, Tom F., and Wade Lahoda
The teens escape from their pursuers and look into the source of the strange broadcast disc, but real life catches up to them in the form of parents, money, and the police. And it turns out they have not lost the strange white van...

Gauntlet Quarterly

Tales & Things (Tales from the Loop) (Session 1)
Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes, Patrick Knowles, Rich Rogers, Sarah J., and Sherri
In our first Tales from the Loop session we meet our gang of kids and see their problems on display. When the group's troublemaker discovers photos left behind by a missing school janitor, the uncover something truly weird...

Gauntlet Comics

1%er Supers (Session 1 of 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Agatha, Alejandro, Dr. Jason Cox, and Patrick Knowles
A session of character and world-building, in two parts due to tech issues.

Hit the Streets (Session 2 of 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Agatha, Alejandro, and Patrick Knowles
The street-level supers RPG with a new name (it was 1%er Supers) sees The Fist, The Cowl, and Kyron fighting the Quantum Syndicate!

Masks: Homefront Heroes (Session 2 of 5)
Jim Crocker runs for Alexi S., Chris Newton, David Jay, Joe Zantek, and Michael Mendoza
The Allied Angels meet a new friend, encounter an adult hero, and get in trouble at home!

Indie Schwarze Auge

[DEUTSCH] World of Aventurien: Schatten im Zwielicht (Session 10)
Gerrit Reininghaus ermöglichte eine Session für Christopher G., Eike K., Sabine V., und Tina T.
Altaia brennt - After deep and personal discussions about frustrations, saving our souls and facing our destiny, we healed some wounds of the destroyed oracle town of Altaia before covering it in magma and tsunamis.

Gauntlet League Wrestling

World Wide Wrestling: Gauntlet League Wrestling - Battle for the Belt (Session 2 of 5)
Tyler Lominack runs for Gerwyn Walters, Matt Caulder, Ryan M., Sabine V., and Zak Soeria-Atmadja
Bloody Bob and Prof. K Oz intensify their backstage rivalry. The Reckoning takes on a monster and a giant to carve out her place at the top of the card. The Champ brings class, and some much needed good advice, to Bloody Bob. Krull the Viking Barbarian gets embroiled in Bob and Oz's feud and puts the boots to the Prof with injurious results. It's hard to tell if it's more dangerous in the ring or backstage.

Mecha Monthly

Armour Astir (Session 2 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Rob Ruthven and Zak Soeria-Atmadja
The fight for the world against the Princes of Palladium continue as Ka'Naar the Scout and Lyra the Witch find a precious moment to bond before getting thrust into a siege involving snooty fellow rebels, frightened children, ethereal ghost mechs and weapons of mass destruction.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Hearts of Wulin: Storm of Falling Blossom (Session 1 of 4)
David Morrison runs for Alex T., David Walker, Pawel S., and Sawyer Rankin
As the Spring Festival begins in Four Dragons City, the great and the good of the wulin world gather to partake in the celebrations. In particular it is an opportunity for the new generation of warriors to prove themselves. Lian Shang dutifully serves her family in ensuring the festivities proceed smoothly. Red Lotus Ming rescues a friend from unscrupulous gamblers. Lin Min learns a costly lesson about the power of fortune. And Wei Xiaobao's entanglements with the law catch up with him.

The Black Hack: Tomb of the Serpent Kings (Session 2 of 4)
Mark Causey runs for Mathieu, Sherri, and Stephen K.

Copperhead County: The Best Brands Heist
Barry runs for Bethany H., Lu Quade, and Peter Mazzeo
Molotov, Chicken, and Ghost take an approach to their job even hotter than the chicken wings at Triple B's.

REV YOUR ENGINES
Leandro Pondoc facilitates for David Morrison
Ozymandius has a legacy to live up to. Cinder wants to be the best in the world. The two are rivals, REAVER pilots in the world's biggest mech competition, striving to outdo each other at every turn, even as their rivalry twists and turns along the way.

Monster of the Week: Protect & Survive - Winter is Coming (Session 1 of 2)
Alun R. runs for Christopher G., Scot Ryder, and William
Two 'Irregulars' are sent from London to a Yorkshire market town by Her Majesty's Pursuivants to tidy up after an earlier mission left loose ends, and are met by 'the only Pursuivant north of Watford'.

Cute Boys Holding Hands
David Morrison runs for Greg G., Peter Mazzeo, and Sabine V.
This is a hack that takes the basic premise of Hot Guys Making Out - a slow burn gay romance during the Spanish Civil War - and transplants it to a grammar school in South Yorkshire at the height of the Miners Strike in the early '80s, heavily inspired by coming-of-age films like Billy Elliot, Beautiful Thing, and History Boys. Simon King is a daydreamer who wants to get out of the small town he feels trapped in, while coming to grips with his sexuality. Jack Winthrop is a brilliant but troubled student, suffering at home as his father spirals deeper into alcoholism. Together we explore their budding romance as they struggle against the obstacles in their way.

Urban Shadows: Dresden Files (Session 1 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Blake Ryan, Kevin Lovecraft, and Vince
Denver catches fire as our White Court Vamp attempts to aid a pyrotechnic patient, while her Wizard, Fae, and Oracle "allies" discover Wintery and Infernal forces arrayed against them.

Dream Askew: From the Void, Season 2 (Session 1 of 5)
Bethany H. runs for Barry, Peter Mazzeo, Saribel, and Sawyer Rankin
We meet our escaped experimental subjects as they prepare for the long, dangerous journey home. Former vice purveyor Robyn has reinvented herself as the Torch. Lark, now the Iris, is learning to control the psychic gifts the Institute forced on them. Ezra's talents for scavenging and ass-kicking make her an ideal Hawker. Rezzi the Tiger looks out for his son and his gang, and gets high with the new Arrival, Burton, who just wants to be down here with the rest of us in the trash.

World Wide Wrestling: LAWW (Ladies All World Wrestling) (Session 4 of 5)
Sawyer Rankin runs for David Rothfeder, Greg G., Peter Mazzeo, and Puckett
In this episode the cast find the tensions rising, the Boss getting on people's nerves, and some Kayfabe breaking the world of LAWW is set on fire, ready to blaze beautifully at the end.

World Wide Wrestling: LAWW (Ladies All World Wrestling) (Session 5 of 5)
Sawyer Rankin runs for David Rothfeder, Greg G., Peter Mazzeo, and Puckett
The finale comes in Hollywood! LAWW is rocked to the very core as the wrestlers throw themselves at the ring and into their final matches. Mythic moments are had and the final match sends the season into a tailspin ending!

Monsterhearts 2: The Institute (Session 1 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Peter Mazzeo, Rich Rogers, and Sławomir Wójcik
Our group gathers together, filling out the halls of this monstrous wonderland with wonderful people and feelings. Nothing could possibly go wrong, especially not Sisko the Dragon getting too close to an alpha werewolf after a heart to heart or Margot the Partygeist (portrayed by the Ferret) misinterpreting her own value when asked out on a date. And heavens forbid that Cassandra the Harpy initiates a team up with benefits to the popular witch. Or I could be lying! Watch to find out!

Monsterhearts 2: Ebon Carnivale (Session 1 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Donogh, Leandro Pondoc, Peter Mazzeo, and Ryan Dziuba
The Ebon Carnivale opens on the heads of Astoria the Unicorn, Cecilia the Harpy, Lyr the Fomorian, and Rodney the Minotaur. Rodney deals with more niceness in a day than he has in a year. Cecilia is that bitch you love who gets shit done. Astoria is getting so overwhelmed and scared at what is being put on her shoulders. And Lyr thinks things are going his way but he could be terribly wrong. How will this all shape up in the coming weeks and will there be a carnival after it all?

Never Tell Me the Odds: Ol' Hallelujah 01
Darren Brockes runs for Bryan, Fraser Simons, and Lu Quade
Corona, Atlas and Armand are hired by Syzygy, nostalgist of the White Market, to recover some alternate dimension memorabilia from a cartel on Eventide, one of the Thirteen Devils.

Masks: Evolution (Session 2 of 5)
Ryan M. runs for Lauren, Leandro Pondoc, and Sarah J.
Nijah, Anya, and Lily face a school field trip, an unhelpful roommate, and an old friend.

Monsterhearts 2: Ebon Sideshow (Session 1 of 4)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Darold Ross, Jesse A., and Steven desJardins
Welcome one and all to the twisted side of Haven, a place that has claws as wicked as any Lovecraftian world. Must be that New England air, eh? Meet Sammy, played by Jesse. Poor dear seems to be going up and down as if they were on a roller coaster! Cheer for Cecilia, throwing barbs and shade like a true monster. A monster with a lot to lose. And Rodney, played by Darold, sweet Rodney. Dangerous, scary Rodney. You're going to destroy so many hearts, but what else will fall before you? Next week: UNICORN DREAMS!

Hearts of Wulin (Session 2 of 5)
Agatha runs for Chris Newton, Eduardo L., Joshua Gilbreath, and Kurt Potts
Our PCs get into a streetside brawl and make moves on the loves of their lives. Multiple people get friendzoned.

Macchiato Monsters: The Lost City (Session 2 of 5)
Richard Ruane runs for Kyle Thompson, Tony H, and Zack
Inside the lost Cynidicea's great pyramid, the party learns of the perception skill (and dart-throwing) skills of Pulmia the Geomancer, the storm-father's appreciation for Denison the Juggler's juggling, and the linguistics capabilities (and marksmanship) of Tapay the kobold. They also run into an old friend being held captive by a new enemy.

Rhapsody of Blood (Session 1 of 4)
Shane Liebling runs for Ben Adelman, Jesse Larimer, and Mike Ferdinando
Our heroes go looking for answers and evil. They find the latter and lose one of their own to it.

HILT // BLADE: Season 1 (Session 2 of 4)
Darren Brockes runs for Ben Swinden, Jim Crocker, Sarah J., Simon Landreville, and Tomer Gurantz
After the shocking change at the end of episode 1, the squad meets their new squad-mate, Ahjo. Luiz levels with Ruby on the best spot in the city and Mel goes for a run...the Vanguard catches up. Ian and Ahjo bond over the legendary tales of Sir Panya. Mel has a sobering conversation with the Docent while Luiz takes Ian back to the obstacle course. Then? A many-limbed Traveler forces the squad to come together.

For The Cat
Stentor Danielson runs for Barry, Blaine, Djinn Thompson, Harry, and Kyle H.
Alex Roberts' For The Queen, with a twist: our queen was a cat.

Masks: Apocalypse Sonata (Session 2 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alun R., Jesse Larimer, Kevin Marshall, and Pawel S.
The search for the Sonata begins in earnest as our heroes venture into the Universalis Festival, the greatest music festival in the galaxy. Freak nearly fulfills the dream of being in a British punk band, Graviton connects with a vulnerable drummer, Paradox-3 finds that his allies have a part in shaping his dystopian future and Solara reaches out to home, with dire consequences.

A Cool and Lonely Courage
Catherine Ramen runs for David Morrison, Diana Moon, and Peter Mazzeo
Alex White's story game of the women of the Special Operations Executive!

Alas For the Awful Sea: Kingsport 1851, Part Two (Session 1 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Bethany H., Darold Ross, Ryan, Scot Ryder, and Seraphina Malizia
The Tethys limps into Santiago harbor; Forbes Greenwood and Mason Black join the crew; Captain Goodwin makes a deal with Captain Houston of the Charity; James is promoted; Joe is credulous; a mysterious creature makes its presence known.

Storm Riders!: GRUNTS (Session 1 of 4)
Jim Crocker runs for Donovan, John Campbell, Michael G. Barford, and Rich Rogers
In our pilot episode, we meet the GRUNTS and experiment our way towards a GI Joe-flavored version of Mike Barford's game of 80s TV action figures.

Storm Riders!: GRUNTS (Session 2 of 4)
Jim Crocker runs for John Campbell, Leandro Pondoc, and Michael G. Barford
GRUNTS in SPACE! A new hero enlists to help the GRUNTS defeat the CyberCzar and his sinister Kompu-Kossacks. Two veterans join the fight!

Other Games

Sorcerer: Demons are Social Media Junkies (Session 3)
Robbie Boerth runs for Alejandro, Jenny W., and Walter German
Another session of an off-calendar campaign using the rules of Ron Edwards' Sorcerer. The characters are invited to the mansion of the mysterious Richard Barfield, and they are becoming aware of demonic powers that they don't fully understand.

REV YOUR ENGINES
Barry facilitates for Alex
Bolt put Perishing Fury together with parts from other Reavers in his collective, the Wing Hazards, where steel sharpens steel. Nut rebuilt Eternal Olympus from the frame of xir earlier Reaver and brought a new team, the Extraplanar Gears, to the Showdown to teach Bolt that there can only be one winner.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts! If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced. To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Hangouts games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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4/10/2019

Polishing Your Online Character Keepers

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By Michael G. Barford, Keeper of the Eternal Chime

I’ve been working on a character keeper for Offworlders to demonstrate using Google Sheets for online character keepers. In the Advanced post, we ended up with something like this: https://goo.gl/fhNiZW. If you haven’t been following along, you may want to start at the Introduction post.

As you can see, this sheet is looking pretty barren and drab. Grayness abounds. Nothing is visually distinct. Functionally, all the mechanisms are in place for this car to drive, but it’s time we slapped on a fresh coat of paint and some upholstery.

Initially, I’m mostly concerned with how we can leverage formatting to aid in the use of this character keeper. You can see how I’ve already taken advantage of borders and background fill to organize information and emphasize headings. One glaring thing that this sheet is missing is color. Color is an easy way to visually distinguish our character sheet columns from one another.

The easiest thing to do is color your heading cells a different color for each sheet. Using the “light 3” or “light 2” colors provided in the Fill color tool works well enough. The nice thing about coloring each heading: if you scroll down away from your character name, you can still remember which column belongs to them based on the colors. You can also use colored borders to achieve the same goal with a bit more subtlety. Here’s what my sheet looked like when I added some colors to the headings:

Next, we can look to formatting the text of different cells. Bolding your headings or increasing their font size helps them to stand out amidst a sea of character info as landmarks to navigate to when you’re looking for something in particular. To make these changes across your sheet quickly, you can highlight whole rows by clicking their number on the left, and adjust the format from there. You may also choose to change the alignment of your headings. I prefer to keep things left-aligned in general, but in my Attributes grid I will center those elements:

When you’ve updated your sheet with color, you can then use gray as a tool for a different purpose than emphasis. I’m going to color my Ability description cells with a light gray to communicate that these cells do not need input from the player, and to break up the lines of the list a bit (quick tip: holding the Ctrl/Fn key while clicking allows you to highlight multiple individual cells at once):

A couple of additional changes I’ve made here are worth noticing. First, I italicized the Ability names to highlight them. This creates a hierarchy of headings: the Ability category is bolded, the names of each Ability are italicized, and the descriptions use plain text. If I had bolded the Ability names, they would have blended in with the other heading categories and weakened that structure. Italics allow me to emphasize the Ability names from the descriptions without undermining that hierarchy. Additionally, I have formatted these cells to be top-aligned and to have wrapped text. I recommend formatting almost all of your cells this way, so that all of the information can be clearly seen while keeping the same structure for each sheet. To highlight all of the cells in your sheet, you can click the empty square in the top left where the axes of your rows and columns meet.

In the last article, I mentioned that the checkboxes we added to the Advancements section can be used for conditional formatting. When I click the checkbox next to an Advancement option, I want both of those cells to turn gray and to strikethrough the description text, in addition to having the box checked. To do this, I go to the taskbar and click Format>Conditional formatting. A new rule set-up will pop-up on the side of the screen. I’m going to select the ranges for each of these character sheets individually, so my first section will be B33:E38. For the Formatting style, I will set the background to “gray” and apply strikethrough to the text. Under rules, I will choose Custom formula, and the formula I will use is: =$B33=TRUE

In this formula, the $ symbol in front of the column reference will apply the rules to all columns within that row. Likewise a $ in front of the row reference would apply the rules to all of the rows within that column, and both would have it affect the whole range. When a box is checked, the value is set to “TRUE” - this formula will read that and apply the formatting rules to those cells. These rules are automatically applied for each row in the range this way, so you can select the whole Advancement section to apply them and it will work as intended. It would be nice to cover multiple ranges with the same rule, but unfortunately that $ symbol would apply the rules across each range. That is, if Character 1 checks a box, that will grey out the same Advancement option for all of the other characters’. Therefore we will need to select each character’s Advancement section range individually and adjust the formula accordingly.

We can use a similar technique to override the formatting in the Abilities section if a relevant box is not checked. Way back in the Basics post I left room for five Abilities for each character, even though they only start with two. We can use conditional formatting to gray-out those extra Abilities until they are unlocked with an Advancement. Now, since these rules will only affect one column at a time, we can be a little bit more liberal with the range selection. However, one checkbox will be affecting two rows, so we’ll still need multiple rules to cover each ability for each character. It will end up looking something like this:

Notice how multiple ranges are separated by commas: B20:E21, G20:J21, etc. The custom formula is referencing the first “Get a new class ability” checkbox but automatically applies it as intended for each section. We do put a $ symbol before the row reference so that both the Ability name and description get grayed out. This formula looks to see if the box is unchecked (aka displays FALSE) to apply the rules, so until the checkbox is marked, the cells will be grayed out. You’ll have to duplicate these rules for the other two extra Ability slots; make sure to update the formula to reference the relevant checkboxes. To speed this process up with each new rule, try using the four-square range selection icon and Add another range to select the ranges with your cursor instead of typing them out individually.

I want to try using conditional formatting for one more thing. I also left room for a third Skill on each character sheet, even though most characters will only have two. That’s because the Geek has an ability called Polymath that grants them an extra Skill. I’ll make a new rule, select each of those Skill slots, and use this custom formula: =COUNTIF(B16:B25,"Polymath")=0

This formula looks in the selected range for the number of instances of the word “Polymath”. If there are zero instances of it (like if that character hasn’t acquired the Polymath ability), this formula will be TRUE, and the rules will be applied. I’ll set the formatting style to gray, and presto!

With the style I’ve used for the sheet so far, I think I’ll make the margins a dark color to make the sheets stand apart even more. I went with “dark gray 3” instead of full black:

The last bit of functional formatting I’ll do is mostly a nitpick: I like to delete the extraneous ~900 rows that sit at the bottom of a sheet. It doesn’t really do anything practical but adds a bit of finality to the sheet. You can always add more later if you need them.

There’s a couple more features I’d like to draw your attention to. The first is the Freeze rows option. You can freeze a number of top rows on your sheet by clicking View>Freeze on the taskbar. Try it out for yourself and see if you like it! You can unfreeze those rows without messing with their content. Next is the Hide feature. We talked about how you can hide whole sheets, like your Data sheet, to keep them tucked away but still functional. You can do the same thing with individual rows and columns. This is helpful if you want to hide character sheets. For instance, you have a PC who will not be present for a session in the middle of your campaign/series, or you only have three PCs to start but may need more later. Just highlight those columns, right-click and choose hide. There will be little black arrows near the column headings you can click to reveal them again. That’s another benefit to the IMAGE function: inserting images directly doesn’t allow you to hide them within that space.

And with that, I will call this keeper complete! It accomplishes everything I’ve set out to do:

It collects all the information that the players and GM would want to see in one screen.
It streamlines the character creation process by automating choices and input.
It uses formatting to organize this information in an effective manner.
It leverages the technological capabilities of Google Sheets.

Here’s a link to the completed sheet: https://goo.gl/7z2Jwk

But the fun doesn’t stop there! We’ve really only begun to scratch the surface of what you can do with online character keepers. This sheet is perfectly functional and not-hideous, but it’s also kind of generic. You don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to put your own visual spin on your keeper. Try using a custom color palette or matching the theme of your design to the game. I’ll show you a couple of quick examples.

Here’s a variation on this sheet inspired by Material Design principles: https://goo.gl/WKU3TK
And here’s one made to look like a retro spaceship terminal: https://goo.gl/BWFpqy

I’d like to share a few more awesome examples of character keepers I’ve come across in the Gauntlet. These keepers have been designed from the ground up by their games’ designers. If you want to play around with them and take a peek under the hood, just click File>Make a copy.

Look how @puizlaulo uses multiple columns and merged cells to create grids to his liking for the layout of these keepers. Also check out his use of images and symbols to communicate meaning, aesthetic, and theme:

Digimon RPG: https://goo.gl/EY4qic
Melody of a Never-Ending Summer: https://goo.gl/vRGtFQ
Hope and Despair: https://goo.gl/shFLxi

Be prepared to be blown away by the level of detail in @pawper’s keepers. His Mass Effect sheet is nothing short of a masterpiece, but even the simpler sheet for Colony Farout has some clever techniques: see how he created an embossed effect with colored top and bottom borders? Genius!

Mass Effect SR-X: https://goo.gl/Pbvjbp
Colony Farout: https://goo.gl/oJQVSm
Alone to the Wilds: https://goo.gl/DGXo9K

@nahualrpg does some smart things with this (beta) keeper for Nahual: https://goo.gl/E8RqTa
There’s some automation with data validation, VLOOKUP, checkboxes, and conditional formatting. Notably, each playbook has been given their own column in the keeper, instead of just each character. This allows room for those moves that don’t fit the mold, like the Perro’s Pack, while still maintaining a consistent parallel appearance to each section. If you want to make a more exhaustive automated sheet for a game with more unique playbooks like Masks or The Veil, this might be a good route to take. Also check out the sheet for the Changarro as a good example of how to use Sheets to track other aspects of your game.

Check out the hidden Data tab on Dylan’s World of Dungeons keeper to see how he made the character creation instructions work. Super thoughtful idea and a very clever execution: https://goo.gl/4tMXkX

I’d also like to draw your attention to this game info page that @tgurantz made: https://goo.gl/z6JTmP
Did you know that if you right-click on the sheet name at the bottom you can copy it whole-cloth to another spreadsheet by clicking Copy to...? If you find this info page to be useful, it’s super easy to add it to your existing keepers.

Do you have any more questions about online character keepers? Are you struggling with a particular bit of a keeper you’re working on? Are you proud of one you’ve designed or want to share one that you think is particularly cool? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @michaelgbarford!

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4/5/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - April 5, 2019

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Star Wars Saturday

Star Wars World (Session 3 of 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Alun R., David Walker, Stephen, and Steven Watkins
The conclusion of Tatooine Manhunt! (In two parts because Rich's recording ended unexpectedly.)

Gauntlet Sunday

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 5 of 5)
Lowell Francis runs for Ary Ramsey, Darren Brockes, Patrick Knowles, and Walter German
A second kaiju arises to threaten the land, forcing the Vayu, Starg, and Bastion into dangerous expeditions, but a the Primogen's contact with the heart of the great old tree reveals secrets and changes the path forward.

TGI Thursday

Hearts of Wulin: Song of Sorrows (Session 3 of 3)
Lowell Francis runs for Chris Newton, Christo Meid, Joshua Gilbreath, and Peter Mazzeo
The infatuated and the beloved both suffer as the threads tying our four heroes together twist and fry, revealing deep betrayals and old hatreds.

Things from the Flood (Session 1 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Puckett, Steven Watkins, Tom F., and Wade Lahoda
When the tensions of their lives grate at them, four teens find solace together, but when they witness the kidnapping of a amateur DJ, it leads to darker revelations and a secret deadly broadcast.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks: Homefront Heroes (Session 1 of 5)
Jim Crocker runs for Alexi S., Chris Newton, David Jay, and Michael Mendoza
The Allied Angels (Princess Euphloria, Miss Moxie, Liberty Gal, and Maddie Midnite) cut Latin class at Saint Theresa's School for Girls to stop a runaway armored car!

Gauntlet League Wrestling

World Wide Wrestling: Battle for the Belt (Session 1 of 4)
Tyler Lominack runs for Gerwyn Walters, Leandro Pondoc, Ryan M., and Zak Soeria-Atmadja
We get to meet the roster, see some backstage hostility and alliances, and our wrestlers get it on in the squared circle!!!

Gauntlet Hangouts

The Sword, The Crown, & The Unspeakable Power (Session 4 of 4)
Darren Brockes runs for Ben Swinden, Luiz Ferraz, Mathieu, and Sarah J.
Goshawk asks: what is justice? Savina answers: power is just. Songbird is coerced into a prettier cage and Osada is weaponized, exactly as he was intended to be.

The Black Hack: Tomb of the Serpent Kings (Session 1 of 4)
Mark Causey runs for Shane Liebling, Sherri, and Stephen K.

Apocalypse World: Lost Vegas (Session 5 of 5)
Sawyer Rankin runs for Alejandro, Peter Mazzeo, Rich Rogers, and Sydney
The Harvest is upon our poor players as the Psychic Maelstrom itself makes the displeasure at what has transpired known. The Grotto of Glitz comes under attack but, what's that upon the horizon? Could it be happy endings?

Bite Me (Session 4 of 4)
David Morrison runs for Kyle H., Rob Ruthven, and Wade Lahoda
The pack celebrates their victory over the Howling Wolf MC, but quickly realises the threat to the pack is not over. Colt attempts to smooth over the divisions in the pack. Mac and Ash continue to clash over the pack traditions and Ash's secret. Will the pack survive the threats from within and without?

Hearts of Wulin: Monkey in the Scarlet Court (Session 4 of 4)
Gerwyn Walters runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, and Sabine V.
We reach the conclusion of our story. Reed Sundering Princess marches north to a war to save the nation and leaves Princess Falling Blaze to take down the traitorous Dowager Empress Chen Lin. Can Admiral Le Ho Qin and Mistress Secret Sun get to Princess Falling Blaze before the assassins sent by the Dowager Empress or will the imperial line be unexpectedly severed. It all concludes in the throne room as Chen Lin and Falling Blaze battle over the throne, Lovers return from the dead, the Imperial will is revealed and a Mother shares a moment with her child as she died. The Court is truly painted scarlet red in this thrilling tale of action, romance, betrayal, and vengeance. Welcome to the world of Hearts of Wulin.

Monsterhearts 2: Ballhir (Session 3 of 3)
Ryan M. runs for Alex, Barry, Lauren, and Peter Mazzeo
It's Seán and Róisín vs. Cóemgein and MacDermott. Or Seán vs. Róisín? Or Róisín vs. Cóemgein and Seán/MacDermott? Things are complicated, y'all.

Flotsam: Below (Session 4 of 4)
Bethany H. facilitates for Bethany H., James L., and Jesse A.
Zen and Hallows' escapades have brought hordes of cops to the Below, and Lenny and Jasper want them gone. They find a convenient ally in Starlight, the speaker for an anarchist hive mind. But Starlight goes too far and incites an all-out gang war. As the Below descends into mayhem, Lenny and Jasper try to restore the peace by doing what they do best: scheming.

Microscope: Hallelujah's Reach
Darren Brockes runs for Bryan, Fraser Simons, Matthew Doughty, and Michael G. Barford
The science-fantasy galaxy of Hallelujah's Reach comes alive! Check out following sessions of Never Tell Me the Odds to see the setting in use!

Masks: Evolution (Session 1 of 5)
Ryan M. runs for Lauren, Leandro Pondoc, and Sarah J.
We meet our cast and promptly throw them into the Danger Room!

Hearts of Wulin (Session 1 of 5)
Agatha runs for Chris Newton, Eduardo L., Joshua Gilbreath, and Kurt Potts
Mostly character creation episode where we establish that everyone is lying to and in love with each other.

Slings & Arrows: Playtest for Slings & Arrows: The Community Theatre RPG.
Mikel Matthews runs for Larry S. and Rich Rogers

Macchiato Monsters: The Lost City (Session 1 of 5)
Richard Ruane runs for Kyle Thompson, Morgan W., Tony H, and Zack
Lost in the Nachtmar Mountains in a blizzard, the party finds the missing hobgoblin archeologist she was sent to find, but he’s already dead, but apparently he found the ruins of the lost city of Cynidicea where he hoped to find out about Zargon, the forgotten god.

HILT // BLADE: Season 1 (Session 1 of 4)
Darren Brockes runs for Ben Swinden, Jim Crocker, Sarah J., and Simon Landreville
Ruby, Mel, Ian and Luiz go to school, where Mel shows off her attitude — Ruby almost has a meltdown over it. Meanwhile, Luiz tries to help out Ian's confidence, which ends in a fistfight. In the end, the Docent makes some drastic changes to the squad.

Lacuna (Session 1 of 4)
Robbie Boerth runs for Adam and Alejandro
Agent Chandler and Agent Page make their first venture into Blue City. The mysterious girl appears behind Control during a video chat (see 1:03)...but they must be seeing things. The Blue City can affect you that way...get you to see things that you just know can't be there.

Storm Riders Knightblades! (Session 1 of 4)
Fernando "Dolan" Dolande runs for Alastor, Crom, James L., and Morgan W.
A Light Gathers - The dark hand of treachery has taken over Dunador! With the prince missing, his evil uncle, Duke Kormac, has taken the throne! Only the most valiant of knights can stop this evil. A handful of brave souls, wielding the ancestral blades of power. They are the Knightblades!

Masks: Apocalypse Sonata (Session 1 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alun R., Jesse Larimer, Kevin Marshall, and Pawel S.
OMINUS BECKONS! A Clash tribute concert attended by our heroes is gatecrashed by the forces of the Dread One, looking for a piece of the titular Sonata. Paradox-3 finds a connection to the Sonata and his doomed future, Graviton finds joy in helping his friends, Freak's attempt to blow off steam is rudely interrupted, and Solara learns the joys of classic 70's British punk. The hunt for the Sonata is on!

Alas for the Awful Sea: Kingsport 1851, Part One (Session 4 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Agatha, Alejandro, Eli, and Seraphina Malizia
Oren and his kin try to take over the Tethys during a tremendous storm off of Cape Horn; Charlotte searches for her gods; Carlito battles an otherworldly being; Olivia gets another chance.

Tales from the Loop (Session 1 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for John Campbell, Peter Mazzeo, Puckett, and Robert
In a 1980s that never was, our gang of misfits deal with home and family life, only to have their mundane troubles interrupted by a mysterious visitor.

Scum and Villainy: You're Gonna Carry That Weight (Session 1 of 3)
Gene A. runs for Alex, Jason Mills, Jesse A., and Peter Mazzeo
I think it's time we blow this scene - get everybody and the stuff together - okay, three, two, one, let's jam.

Gauntlet Games Now

Mayor Cat
Stentor Danielson runs for Luiz Ferraz, Noella H, Steven desJardins, and Yoshi Creelman

Check out all the great videos on The Gauntlet YouTube channel and be sure check out the playlists to catch up on all your favorite games. If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Hangouts Forums where new games are announced! To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon at https://patreon.com/gauntlet. All are welcome to play Gauntlet Hangouts games, and Patreon supporters have extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events are announced like Gauntlet Games Now. Enjoy, and everyone have a great weekend!

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4/4/2019

Advanced Techniques for Character Keepers

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By Michael G. Barford, Keeper of the Eternal Chime

I’ve been working on a character keeper for Offworlders to demonstrate using Google Sheets for online character keepers. In the Basics post, we ended up with something like this: https://goo.gl/JR1zS1. If you haven’t been following along, you may want to start at the Introduction post.

This sheet has space set aside for most of the information that a player would want to record for their character. You’ll notice, however, that most of that information will have to be entered manually, or at least copied and pasted over from the digital document. Most of the time, when you copy from a PDF, you’ll also encounter a tricky hurdle for spreadsheets: line breaks. When you paste it into your spreadsheet, if you don’t enter it directly into a single cell, it will spill over into the next ones, and if you do enter it into the cell directly (through the formula bar), you will still have to go back and delete those line breaks, which is a hassle!

In this article we will look at some ways to reduce manual input of character info to increase the ease-of-use of the keeper and decrease the length of character creation. Feel free to follow along with your keeper, or start with the basic one I’m working on and go from there!

I’m going to go top-to-bottom while covering these features. The first function I want to cover is data validation. Basically, for our purposes, this allows us to create a drop-down list for folks to use to pick from a list. For example, in our Offworlders keepers, we can list the Classes we want to have available. In my sheet, I have left an open box next to my Class heading. If you right-click a cell, at the very bottom of the list you’ll find the data validation option. Go ahead and click that, and a SCARY INTIMIDATING WINDOW will pop up. Don’t worry! I’ll break it down for you:

So, here’s an opportunity to make a choice. The easiest thing to do here is to just choose a List from items and type out each Class. But I’m going to go a step further and List from a range. I’m going to create a table in another part of the sheet to list this data. In order to keep this data separate, I’m going to create a second “Data” sheet. At the very bottom of your window there’s a list of sheets, on the left side is a plus icon to create new sheets:

So, this Data sheet will be a bit of a playground for us. We can put information in here as organized or disorganized as we wish, and later we can right-click on the tab and Hide it from the public eye. Later, we can click on the View tab at the top of the sheet and recover it from the Hidden sheets. So why have I decided to use a range of cells as a list instead of just listing the Classes as items? One reason is, if I ever want to add more Classes for players to choose from, I will just need to add them next to my range in the Data sheet.

Speaking of ranges, there’s one more shortcut we can use here. First I will highlight my cells with the Class names in the Data sheet. Then, I will right-click, and choose Define named range. I’ll call this range “classes”.

Now when I create the drop-down list for Classes, in the Criteria box, I can just type “classes” instead of the much more cumbersome and forgettable “Data!A2:A5”. Additionally, when I add those extra Classes to my Data sheet, I can just edit the “classes” named range to include them without having to change every related data validation function. Nifty!

Now I want you to imagine a truly terrifying scenario...a player shows up to your game of Offworlders and *GASP* they haven’t read the rules yet! Okay, maybe not so scary for a game as easy to pick-up-and-play as Offworlders, but nonetheless...the first mechanics-related choice they have to make is revealed as a list for them. They don’t need to go read through the rules to know that these are the Classes they can choose from.

Our next heading to consider is Look. Offworlders doesn’t offer much in terms of suggestions here. To be fair, characters in science-fiction have some of the most potential to appear radically different from one another, even within the same Class. What Offworlders hopes to achieve in this description is, “Anything that will help everyone start getting a picture of your character in their imagination.” What easier way to do this in an online character keeper than with a digital image?

When @greininghaus polled some of our Gauntlet Slackers about the best features of online keepers, one of the most commented-on was the IMAGE function. You see, there are two ways to get an image onto a sheet: clicking Insert>Image from the taskbar or using the IMAGE function. What’s great about the function is that it secures the image within the cell boundaries and maintains a predetermined size. Let’s leverage that capability to change up our Look heading.

First let’s find an image on the internet we’d like to use and copy its URL. Let’s use this piece by Olivia Gulin for example: https://images2.imgbox.com/33/df/iCEREKaC_o.png

Next, clicking on the Look cell will show in the formula bar (that’s the one with the “fx” symbol next to it) just the text we have put in: “Look”. We’re going to delete that and replace it with this:
=IMAGE("https://images2.imgbox.com/33/df/iCEREKaC_o.png")

Yay! A...tiny picture. That’s because by default the image will be resized to fit in the cell while maintaining aspect ratio. Let’s make this row a little bigger so that we can see our image clearer. For now I will resize it to five rows’ height.

Well, that works just fine for us, the illuminated folks who now know how the IMAGE function works. But we don’t want our future players to have to read all of these articles just to use the sheet. How can we make this easier for them? I’ll add a second row beneath the image cell and indicate that the URL should be entered there. Then I’ll edit the function to say:
=IMAGE(B6)

I’ve also centered the image and text, made the URL font smaller, and shrunk the row containing it to make it less intrusive, but that’s completely optional (and similar suggestions will be made in a future post). Sometimes when I’m prepping to run a game I’ll create a Pinterest board to share with my players. They may find some potential character portraits there! If anyone has an image they want to upload, point them to a service like imgur or imgbox.

Next let’s look at the Attributes. You’ll see here that I have chosen to abbreviate these to make them fit together more easily. In doing so, I have sacrificed some clarity, but we can alleviate that by adding a note. Right click on one of these abbreviations and choose Insert note. You can add as much information as you’d like in this note, but I’m content with just defining “STR” as “Strength”. Hovering over a cell with a note, as indicated by the marker in the corner, will show the note in a window.

Now, go ahead and try to type “+1” into a cell under an attribute. You’ll see that it displays just a “1”. That’s because spreadsheets are designed to do math stuff, basically. Now, we could instruct our players to type in =”+1” but that’s a bit of a pain. This is a great opportunity to use the list of items for data validation. Here’s a little trick: we’ll use some Unicode symbols to fool the formula bar into not math-ifying our modifiers. We’ll use the full-width versions of the symbols so they look pretty close. You’ll want the list to look like this: －1,0,＋1,＋2,＋3

Moving on, we have Skills. You know what to do there. Abilities, however, may prove to be a little more complicated. There’s a couple of problems to tackle here.

Firstly, different Classes have different Abilities, so it’s not so simple to create a drop-down list for them. There is a solution, but it will require us to learn some new functions. Before we do, let’s set up a table with each of the Ability names in our Data sheet, next to our Class list. It will end up looking something like this:

Go ahead and make B2:G5 a named range as “abilities”. Now, in Column A, underneath the classes, we’ll make rows for each character on the sheet, like so:

Now we’re ready to learn about a powerful lookup function combo: INDEX and MATCH. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that figuring these out and getting them to work properly can be a little tricky. VLOOKUP is simpler and easier and will work in many situations, but this specific circumstance is a good opportunity to demonstrate INDEX/MATCH. If you want to read more about how these two functions work in tandem, I would recommend you check out this article. In the meantime, we’ll get to work on our formula, starting in cell B7.

Okay, there’s a lot going on here! Let’s try to break it down. INDEX asks for a few things: a reference, which I like to remember as “what I want it to output from”, and then a number of offset rows or columns. To determine the number of offset rows, we’ll use MATCH, which generates a number corresponding to a search key’s position in another range, which I like to remember as “where I want the formula to look”. The 0 at the end makes sure that MATCH looks for an exact match, which we’ll need. You can see from the highlighted boxes which range corresponds to our key names here, and the search key is a reference* to the drop-down list for the first character’s Class (take note that it’s not the C4 cell in this sheet, but the C4 cell in the Characters sheet - we distinguish that by adding the name of the sheet and an exclamation point before the cell reference). So, when we change Character 1’s class to Warrior, this happens:

Cool! ...so what? Well, let’s make a data validation box for one of Character 1’s Abilities and reference that range in the criteria (making a named range like “character1” is easiest). Now, when that player chooses their character’s Class, the list of Abilities will be restricted to those available to that Class. Nifty!

Now our second problem comes into play. As a GM and a player, I can’t be bothered to just memorize exactly what the Hardy or Brute Abilities do, so a rules reference here is handy. We can use our INDEX/MATCH skills here to similar effect! You’ll want to add the description of the Abilities on the same row as their names, in the same order you’ve listed them, like so:

Oh boy, that wasn’t time consuming at all, was it? We can only hope that our efforts will save people time in the long run, perhaps by sharing our work with the gaming community or typing up multiple long-winded articles on the subject. Now that we have our table set up, make sure to give your range a name (I’ll call mine “descriptions”). Insert a new row under your Ability drop-down, and get ready for another formula:

Oh right, that’s what Brute does! So, this formula should look mostly familiar. Let’s go over the differences. First, the output we’re pulling from is different: the “descriptions” range. The row offset stays the same*, but we also want to pull out a single cell’s contents instead of just pouring all of them out. Hence, we add an additional MATCH function, searching for the ability name in our list of those available to “character1”. Think of it like the classic Battleship game, where the first MATCH calls out which row we want based on the class and the second MATCH calls out which column we want based on the ability name.

Okay, now you may be thinking, “Geez Mike, that’s a lot of work to save not a lot of time!” Unless you’re a programmer, in which case you’re probably really jazzed right about now. But you may still have a point. In Gerrit’s slack thread, @GauntletRPG pointed out the downside with these intricate and advanced keepers with all of their automated bits and bobs: they’re prone to falling apart under even light stress. For example, if you want to use an alternate class or playbook, or copy over cells to other parts of the sheet.

Additionally, if there are Abilities that require you to make a choice within them or aren’t otherwise symmetrical (good luck following these steps for Masks’ playbooks, for example), trying to edit those into the cell’s text will require you to copy the cell’s contents, paste them back into the same cell as “values only”, and edit from there. That’s a little bit beyond the scope of technological aptitude that I expect from players using my keepers. If you find yourself in that situation, I may suggest that you just leave your abilities and descriptions in a table format on a separate sheet in your keeper. Players can then just copy the contents of those cells into their character sheets. If necessary, you may need to ask them to paste the text into the formula bar to maintain your formatting.

Now, you’ll notice that those INDEX/MATCH formulas that don’t have Abilities chosen to reference yet return an unsightly #N/A error message. If you want to hide that, you can wrap your formula with an IFERROR function, like this:
=IFERROR(INDEX(descriptions,MATCH(C4,classes,0),MATCH(B16,character1,0)),"")

If your eyes haven’t fully glazed over just yet, there’s one more feature I would like to share with you that’s relatively new to Google Sheets: checkboxes! To insert a checkbox into a cell, highlight it and click Insert>Checkbox from the taskbar. Check out how I’ve used these for our Advancement heading:

You can see here what it looks like when a checkbox is marked, and I’ve also left notes for the XP costs of each Advancement. Checkboxes can also be leveraged for conditional formatting, something I will cover in the next article on polishing your online character keepers.

*As a footnote, I want to mention how handy locking cell references can be when it’s time to copy and paste your cells for new characters’ sheets, etc. Especially since I forgot to do so in the screenshots for these formulas. Let’s say I’m copying over the INDEX/MATCH formula for my first Ability slot down to the next one. We move down two rows, so Sheets automatically adjusts the reference down two rows as well: C4 becomes C6. Handy, except for when it isn’t. So we can lock the reference to that cell so that when it gets copied over it doesn’t move. You lock a cell reference by putting a $ symbol in front of it. So, if we change the reference to $C$4, when we copy it over it will still reference C4. But, what about when we want to copy over this whole sheet to the next column for our other characters? We don’t want to be referencing C4, but rather H4, and so on. In that case, we will change the reference to C$4 - the 4 stays the same, but the column automatically adjusts. Also, all of our named ranges will stay the same. Again, this is usually a good thing, but you may need to change some of those formulas to reflect those changes (references to “character1” come to mind).

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Advanced Techniques for Character Keepers

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