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7/31/2019

Age of Ravens: Age of Pirates

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SCALLYWAGGERY
A few months back I talked about my mixed feelings about 7th Sea. I like a lot of it: setting, concepts, story seeds. But the system doesn’t click with how I run. Every time we move to resolution, I fight the mechanics. But now I’ve I looked at two “7th Sea-adjacent” rpgs—both focused on sea-faring and pirates. They adapt two of my favorite core systems: Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark. I have some impressions, but these aren’t reviews. Instead it’s my takeaway from reading both rules, and playing out a little in one of them. I’m excited about both of them for different reasons.

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TIDES OF GOLD
PREMISE
Tides of Gold is a Forged in the Dark game where you take the role of pirates, privateers, or pirate hunters. As with Scum & Villainy, instead of “Crew” you have a ship with its own playbook. You can customize this—for example choosing to have a heavier war galley or a lighter sloop. The early access version on DTRPG and itch.io has five character playbooks, but the designer, Cass Reyfield, has more they’re testing.

MECHANICS
Tides of Gold builds on FitD, but with a significant twist in resolution. It replaces FitD’s d6 pool system with Powered by the Apocalypse’s 2d6 resolution. Your character has 12 abilities and four dots to spread among them. They begin with a default +0 in any ability. Modifiers can affect some actions. The general default results of PbtA are in play: a full success on 10+, success with a cost or reduction of effect on a 7-9, and a failure with consequences on a 6-.
 
However other resolution aspects of the FitD system remain. For example, players may still resist consequences by taking stress. Characters have Anchors which work like vices, but they create “chains” for the character, making them more reluctant to adventure or go to sea. The structure of your Engagement roll is close.
 
If you know both systems, you’ll quickly see how they fit together. You can understand the minor tweaks easily (different types of harm, critical successes). Our group came away split on the system. Some liked the move to PbtA resolution, as it felt easier to run and manage. Others felt eliminating of Position and Effect from the mechanics gave them fewer things to work with.
 
WORLD
Tides of Gold offers a compelling world—it’s loosely defined, but rich enough to play from. The setting has four continents surrounding a great sea. These continents each have one or more distinct empires. Each has a flavor rather than being a full historical analogue (Greek-ish, African, etc). The play documents include a map, basic gazetteer, and bestiary. Your characters' ability and item choices give insight into the setting. But the greater weight of the background comes from the text.
 
In this world, a group of fantastical invaders armed with Renaissance-era technology came to conquer the Iron Age civilizations surrounding this sea. Eventually the local nations won out, driving back these outsiders and adapting some of their technology (ship designs, cannons, etc). Artifacts from the sophisticated invaders still remain—those relics feel more like clockpunk elements rather than full magic.
 
We didn’t get to some of the more interesting aspects like ship to ship combat, downtime, or trade in play. Downtime happens when a ship goes into a port. If you’re at sea when you do downtime, you start to bank up problems that hit when you go to shore. There’s an Odyssey Phase used when your ship travels great distances to get to a new port or target. That has elements which remind me of The One Ring’s journey rules. The Trade Phase includes mechanics for tracking goods cost and scarcity in different ports. You can even manipulate the markets. That’s a cool mini-game worth borrowing for other rpgs.
 
OVERALL
I really like Tides of Gold—I only got a little taste of the play but I dug it. The early access version available on DTRPG and itch.io has more than enough to play from. You get the main rules (240 pages), as well as guides to the world and monsters. 

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RAPSCALLION
(Note: Magpie sent me a free copy of the pdf)
The other game I’d hoped to play, but couldn’t to get to the table this weekend. But a couple of us read through it and gabbed about it for a while. So this is a set of impressions and not a review. But I wanted to give you a preview because Magpie will have printed versions at Gen Con this week.

Rapscallion is their latest ashcan release: a series of small games that act as a preview and beta for a possible larger version in the future. Magpie has put out several of these: Velvet Glove, Crossroads Carnival, and my personal favorite Pasión de las Pasiones.
​

PREMISE
Designed by Whistler (who also did the cover and interior art), Rapscallion is a PbtA game of fantastical pirates. It’s not historical, suggesting a world even more magical and wild than 7th Sea. The ashcan is 60 pages long and even with six playbooks included in the back, it feels like a dense and fully playable game. The game’s text has a distinct voice that adds to the feel. I say that as someone who usually dislikes in-character rules presentation.

MECHANICS
Rapscallion has a lot of the expected PbtA approaches, but adds several sharp ideas. I’ll point out just a few.
  • I like the different “Kits” for characters. Many PbtA games have abstracted equipment—except for maybe some notes for armor and weapons. Or they’ve taken Forged in the Dark’s tact of load-out and picking items on the fly. Here your playbook has a choice of three kits—bundles of odd stuff that say a lot about who your character is.
  • Rank represents your depth of connection to someone or something. It can be with people, your ship, and (I think) organizations. You have Bond equal to rank with them. To aid someone, you spend that Bond to give them a +1 or a -1 to a move. That’s interesting for a couple of reasons. It takes out the Aid/Support move we find in many PbtA games. It means you can’t help someone mechanically unless you’ve already established a connection.
  • Your characters have a damage track (running from 5 to 10 harm across the playbooks). But they also have a unique set of “weaknesses.” These cause a debility with an ongoing effect. Each has a tag or two for how you clear them. For example, some characters have Exhausted as one of their six weaknesses. You can cure it with extended rest, but while in effect you roll Blood with disadvantage. Some weaknesses connect with another new mechanic called Compels. There’s only a little overlap between playbook weaknesses. It reminds me a little of unique conditions from Dresden Files Accelerated. 
There’s more, but I don’t want to dissect all of the rules.

THE WORLD
Like the best PbtA games, Rapscallion submerges its setting into its moves. There’s really only two pages of explicit set up. It tells you this is a pirate game, hinting at a Pirates of the Caribbean feel. But it suggests more high fantasy elements like demons and strange magics. Rapscallions’ setting is also a “world of constant alchemy.” In this case people’s behavior, intent, and possessions can reshape their form and appearance. The casual brute’s fingernails and gums might turn bloody red. The cold-hearted merchant might have an icy touch and frozen grin.
 
And the playbooks offer up many more ideas I want to explore. For example, we have a playbook called the Chronicler. There’s power in words and books—with alchemy inexorably tied to signs and symbols. But the Chronicler can also be a djinni who escaped from one of these books. Likewise, the Captain playbook can have the blood of a Leviathan running through their veins. The Navigator can be a ghost. I love all of the choices—fantastical and mundane—for what they suggest about the world—and how they leave full definitions in your hands.
 
OTHER THOUGHTS
While I really like what I’m seeing in Rapscallion (I’m not even getting into the solid and tight GM section), I came away with a few things I’m less sure about. If you’re looking for detailed material on ships, maritime combat, or life at sea, Rapscallion doesn’t have that. Instead you get a couple of basic moves and mechanics. It makes sense—for a short playable intro, you have to focus on the characters. It does mean the GM will have to spin together new rules for when players dig into that.

I also want to see the game’s Luck mechanic in action. Each session characters gain Luck equal to their Spitfire stat (min 0). They can gain additional Luck through good character moments and certain playbook moves. Luck powers several basic and playbook moves. Sometimes it’s a currency you have to pay. But you can spend Luck for specific benefits, like taking an auto 10+ on the Twist Fate basic move or gaining +1 Forward on a roll you’re about to make. Then you have the Navigator’s special ability. They can bless a crewmate or themselves for a set of three basic moves. When they roll any of those moves, the target gains additional dice equal to Luck spent.
 
I’ve been less and less happy with rolling with advantage in PbtA so that may be why this stuck out in our group’s conversation about the rules. On the other hand what’s really going on here is a question of a resource economy in the game. Historically I’m terrible at assessing that—sometimes because my approach to running differs from the game’s assumption. Sometimes because I can’t see the whole of the gears moving.
 
FINAL THOUGHTS
Both of these games are definitely worth a buy if you like the genre and/or if you’re a fan of the base system. Each offers new and novel takes on the mechanics. Despite being early preview editions, you could easily run multiple sessions of both Tides of Gold and Rapscallion. ​
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For the full backlog of Age of Ravens posts on Blogger see here. ​​

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7/27/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - July 27, 2019

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[Gauntlet Hangouts logo]
​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

Hack in the Black (Session 1 of 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Greg G., Keith Stetson, and Walter German
Rekeene's Roughnecks are sent into the watery depths to retrieve some ancient technology needed by the Rebellion, but they run into the Empire...and the tech isn't quite what they expected.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks: The Best Worst Summer (Session 3 of 4)
Chris Newton runs for Alex, Brock, Pearl Zare, and Vince
Our superteens try to put together the pieces of what they've learned, what they've done, and what the consequences might be. And everybody gets a hangover and a lot of in-flight feels on the way home. But sadly, no cake.

Project Lycra: July Playtest (Session 4 of 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Chris Newton, Patrick Knowles, and Pearl Zare
This is it! The introduction of new team member Genesis! (retailers, please note the premium foil cover option for ordering) The True Colors face Dr. Maximilien and try to foil his attack on QNGC. Later, Eidolon faces Corvid and the two find...common ground?

Gauntlet Hangouts

Hearts of Wulin: The Four Masters (Session 3 of 4)
David Walker runs for Leandro Pondoc, Ludovico Alves, Mikael Tysvær, and Sabine V.
Dandelions in Spring - Where ping asks hard questions of her lover Magistrate Huo. Sable Serpent finally meets Moonlit Raven and is commanded to perform dark deeds. Green Owl makes a new friend and Tiger Eye awaits their trip to the 100,000-year Dungeon.

Ironsworn: Clans of Kriusthos (Session 1 of 2)
Ludovico Alves runs for Christo Meid and Keith Stetson
Disgrace comes to the hunting guild of the Ram's Horns as someone stole their famed hunting horn. Vesna Heart of Oak and Keiran Third-Eye venture into the wild to recover it, only to stumble into a divine conspiracy generations in the making.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Alliance (Session 3 of 4)
Alun R. runs for Alejandro, Robbie Boerth, Sabine V., and Scot Ryder
The characters complete their journey to the royal villa of King Ceretric of Elmet in search of an alliance, developing their understanding of, and relationships with, one another (and in the case of Setia, the Loon, with the Old Gods). The myth of Iamon, 'Killer of the Moonlit Boar' comes in useful, while Tucca the Commoner, gets to discuss matters of trade with the King. Meanwhile, Icenius the boy Pagan Mystic looks everywhere for signs of the Old Gods in the structures of the new and becomes a conduit of portent...

DIE (Session 2 of 3)
David Morrison runs for Justin Ford, Pearl Zare, Puckett, and Walter German
As our friends begin playing, they learn all is not well in the land of Avalon. Sir Reverant, the Knight of Veneration, leads the charge against the Fallen and meets some heroes. Elise, thief and magical hacker, learns more about the world, and sets off in search of gold. The swashbuckling pirate Errol Jenkins pushes his luck and learns a new trick. And Nimue the Dictator makes some new friends.

Slings & Arrows: Playtest (A Comedy of Errors) (Session 3 of 3)
Mikel Matthews runs for Dan Pucul, Pearl Zare, and Vasilis Liaskovitis
Missing the first bit, but the princess goes after her beheading while her actor is after the visiting scholar who's abusing his power. The King takes on the evil councilor while his actor deals with a marriage beyond saving, and the Prince is trying to understand what's going on while his actor is trying to save the Brewery he works at with the help of milkwine.

Uncanny Echo: Suburbia (Session 2 of 3)
Donogh runs for Alun R., Pearl Zare, Puckett, and Steven desJardins
The neighbourhood watch, led by Juney (or is it Oscar?) wonders what happened to No. 15. How Sho (aka Felix from the Heist) obviously knows more than he lets on; but Mia finds the first real lead while sneaking out while grounded.

[DEUTSCH] Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG (Session 3 von 3)
Eike K. leitet eine Session für Christopher G., Gerrit Reininghaus, und Horst Wurst
The finale of our revolutionary endeavor! Yvana, the Worker helps to gain leverage on a shady priest. Nadja Petrowa, the Demagogue, levels up by literally failing every roll in this session, while trying to convince the bourgeoisie of the just cause...and Vasily, The Brute, sets the train of events in motion by striking the priest in the face. They are part of the movement "March of 1 July" (M17), fighting the oppressive regime of the Kharmakovs in Khresht. If you want to know if the succeed, use the timecode in the "descriptions" section. ;)

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets: City Immortal (Session 3 of 4)
Richard Ruane runs for João, Leandro Pondoc, Maria Rivera, and Will B
While Victoria and Allistair pursue Roscoe, Julietta and Otto seek answers on Royal Hill.

Tides of Gold
Lowell Francis runs for Adam Poppenheimer, Alun R., Steven desJardins, and Tyler Lominack
We do a one-shot to try out character creation and some basic play for this Forged in the Dark Pirate Fantasy RPG.

The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power: Consequences (Session 4 of 4)
Gene A. runs for Andrew Hauge, Davey, Jason Zanes, and Joe Zantek
Standor and Virelia arrive in Skathos; Standor makes his presence felt. White Ruin, Rook, and Lady Xanstra reach Skathos by sea, and there is a reunion in the catacombs beneath Conthraxas. Standor betrays Rook. The Bloody Fist looks to end White Ruin, who fights off the Wanderers so that the others can reach the Seal. Virelia discovers the power manipulating the Prince. Standor begets an Evil into the world. Rook's arrival complicates matters. Blood is spilled. Destinies are written.

Heart: The City Beneath: Playtest (Session 2 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex T., Gabriel Robinson, Patrick Knowles, and Steven
In the shadow of the God of Corpses, the blood-fuelled train to the Red Market takes on a new delver and a host of new problems. Serafine learns of a valuable clue to her missing goddess, Maeglin's hunger for the heartsong grows exponentially as the ravening call becomes stronger, Korian commandeers a train all in the name of glory and Calixte focuses on protecting what's important to her, with bloody results.

Then They Returned: PbtA (Session 2 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Julie Rogers, Leandro Pondoc, Puckett, and Robert
In the aftermath of their horrific encounter, the teens try to learn about the sinister gardener's plans only to discover a wider problem and seeds planted within their own ranks.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, 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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7/26/2019

These Games I Love (Part Two)

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​I’m stepping down from The Gauntlet today. I will no longer be the public face of the community. I will no longer co-host The Gauntlet Podcast. I will no longer have a presence in our Slack. I will no longer run games on Gauntlet Hangouts. 

Mind you, I’m not completely backing out. I’m still the owner of the organization. I’m still going to co-host Fear of a Black Dragon, because I love that show too much to give it up. I’m still going to be the EIC of Codex and head of our publishing efforts, at least until I can wind those things down and meet our obligations. 
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​But I’m going to pay someone else to do my day-to-day job in The Gauntlet. And I’m going to vanish from the public TTRPG scene. If you’re reading this, please know I’m not doing this with a heavy heart. I’m doing this as an act of complete and total love. 

If you have read Part 1 of this series, you know that roleplaying games saved my life when I was a little kid. I was bullied mercilessly—to the point of contemplating suicide—and it was discovering roleplaying games that kept me in this world. And ever since then, roleplaying games have always been a lifeline for me. They have been my refuge. 

The Gauntlet used to be my refuge, too. 

I’m very, very proud of what I helped build. The Gauntlet is just an incredible organization. We started from nothing and managed to build the fantastic Gauntlet Hangouts calendar, with nearly 200 sessions per month; the incredible Codex magazine, of which we just published our 35th monthly issue in a row; a range of high-quality, award-winning podcasts; and one of the friendliest communities you’ll find anywhere. And if you’re reading this: please go check it out. The Gauntlet is incredible. 

But it’s not for me anymore. Being in the public hobby is not for me anymore. It has gotten too exhausting. And worse: it’s threatening to kill me. This hobby I love, this hobby that has saved me repeatedly, has become poison. I have panic attacks once every few days related to gaming social media. My heart begins beating furiously whenever I see someone tag me in something, either online or on Slack, because I’m so terrified it’s something I’m going to have to agonize over for the rest of the day. My physical fitness has absolutely plummeted as I spend every free moment hunkered over the computer trying to maintain The Gauntlet. I have no social life. I have no romantic life. And when I look in the bathroom mirror every morning, all I can think about is how I just want all of this to be finished. 

I mentioned earlier that leaving The Gauntlet was an act of complete and total love. And it is: it’s an act of love for myself. But it’s also an act of love for The Gauntlet. My community is simply no longer capable of caring for me. They are no longer capable of seeing me through to the end. And, honestly, they shouldn’t have to. They signed up to play and discuss games, not to deal with my existential drama. My leaving is a permission slip for the community to continue being incredible. 

And it will continue to be incredible. I’m going to make sure there is a nice turnover, that all my institutional knowledge goes with the next person. I’m going to make sure all our daily obligations will be met by whoever that person is. And I’m still doing my few little tasks I mentioned at the top, including wrapping-up Codex.

But I have to go.

​Please know The Gauntlet will always have a place in my heart. 

-Jason, Keeper of the Memory of the Way We Were

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7/24/2019

Age of Ravens: The Many Names of Gamemasters (2019 Update)

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A CAST OF THOUSANDS
Over the last few years I've collected the wide array of the "interesting" names rpgs give to the person running the show. Recently on Twitter Jamila R. Nedjadi of Sword Queen Games asked about everyone's preferred title for the person running the game. They even had one I hadn't had on my list. So I've gone back to to my list and updated it for 2019. 

GM is my preferred term; to me a DM or Dungeon Master, is someone actually running Dungeons & Dragons. That's a matter of taste and experience I suppose (or I'm just plain wrong). If I had to change, I suspect I'd shift over to MC since many of the games I run use that term.

For each of these names, I've listed just one example system, though many of these appears in several games (Storyteller, Narrator, Director). Feel free to suggest any I may have missed!!!

With GM as #1 and DM as #2, here are many others...
Absolute Judge (Mechanical Dream)
Action Guide (World Action and Adventure)
Admin (White Lies)
Administrator (Top Secret/SI) 
Adventure Master (Dragonraid)
Airedale (Knights of the Road, Knights of the Rail)
Al-Rawi (Capharnaüm) 
Animator (Toon)
Antagonist (ΑΓΩΝ) 
Ape Master (Terra Primate)
Arbiter (Archetype) 
Author (Age of Empire)
Authority (Misspent Youth)
Bartender (Tales from the Floating Vagabond)
The Big Cheese (Rat Pack)
Big Mac Daddy (StuperPowers!)
Booker (Kayfabe)
The Boss (Low Life)
Campaign Master (Star Ace)
Cannibal-in-Charge (Cannibal Contagion)
Caretaker (Small Things)
Castle Keeper (Castles & Crusades)
Cat Herder (Call of Catthulhu)
Cavemaster (Cavemaster)
Chill Master (Chill)
Chronicler (WitchCraft)
City Planner (Nightlife)
Commanding Officer aka CO (MASHED)
Consul (Super Dungeon Explore)
Continuum Master (TIMEMASTER)
Control (Agents of S.W.I.N.G.)
Corporation (Merc)
Corpse Master (Rotworld)
Creative (World Wide Wrestling)
Creek Master (Creeks & Crawdads)
Croupier (Fastlane)
Cryptkeeper (The World of Tales from the Crypt)
Dawg Master (Dawg the RPG)
Dealer (Dust Devils)
Dean (East Texas University)
Demiurgo (Lex Arcana)
Director (Night’s Black Agents)
Dispatcher (Ninja Burger)
DJ (Spirit of '77)
Dolphin Master (Everything is Dolphins)
Dorn Keeper (Dorn)
Editor (Pandemonium)
Editor-in-Chief (Rotted Capes)
Engineer (Steamfortress Victory)
Everyone Else (Everyone is John) 
Evil Mastermind (Scared Stiff)
Excursion Master (Excursions into the Bizarre)
Fairy Godmother (I’m a Pretty Princess)
Fairytale Teller (Wiedzmin- trans. from the Polish)
Fate (The World of Synnibarr)
Fatemaster (Through the Breach)
Fixer (Leverage)
Frontier Master (Strange Frontiers)
Galaxy Master (Starfaring)
Game Control (Spycraft)
Game Guide (Pip System)
Game Moderator (Wild Talents)
Game Operations Designate aka GOD (The Legend of Yore)
Game Operator (Legacy)
Game Organizer (Dystopia Rising)
Game Organizer and Decision-maker (Now What?)
Game Shepherd (Spiritual Warfare) 
Game Sheriff (Dzikie Pola- trans. from the Polish)
Gamekeeper (Tales from the Wood)
Gamesmaster (Victoriana)
GeekMod (Way of the Geeky)
General Management (Time & Temp)
Genteel Magistrate (Victorious)
Ghostmaster (Ghostbusters)
Gore Master (Dead Meat)
Grand Master (Witch Hunter: The Invisible World)
Grey Eminence (in French "Eminence Grise" Agone)
Groundskeeper (Bluebeard's Bride)
Guide (Don’t Look Back)
Hand of Fate (The Secret of Zir’An)
Hazard Master (Perilous)
Hollyhock God (Nobilis)
HoLmeister (HoL)
Host (Ironclaw)
Interrogator (InTERRORgation)
Journey Master (Dangerous Journeys)
Judge (Marvel Super Heroes)
Jump Master (Jumpers)
Karma Fate Destiny Master (Refuge in Audacity)
Keeper aka Keeper of Arcane Lore (Call of Cthulhu)
Kennel Master (Woof Meow)
Labyrinth Lord (Labyrinth Lord)
Lead Narrator (Valiant Universe)
Leader (Shadows of Esteren)
Lejend Master (Lejendary Adventure)
Loremaster (The One Ring)
Maelstrom (Maelstrom Dreamers)
Magister/Magistra (Kata Kumbas)
Maim Master (F.A.T.A.L.)
The Man (Starchildren)
Marakame (Nahual)
Market (Red Markets)
Marshall (Deadlands)
Master Creator (The Secret Fire)
Master of Ceremonies (Apocalypse World)
Master of Tales (Cursed Empire)
Mastercyb (CYB: Gioco di ruolo in un lontano futuro)
Mayor (Kobolds Ate My Baby)
Meister (Das Schwarze Auge)
Mission Director (Recon)
Moderator (Blue Planet)
Mutant Lord (Mutant Future)
Mythguide (Aria: Canticle of the Monomyth)
Mythmaster (Mythender)
Narrator (Houses of the Blooded)
Navigator (Mermaid Adventures)
Negotiator (Magicians)
Neighborhood Watch Captain (Dead Scare)
Netmaster (Project Darklight)
Ninja Master (Night of the Ninja)
Operations (Wilderness of Mirrors)
Operator (Qi: Living Energy)
Overlord (Descent)
Overseer (Catacombs)
Owner of Arcane Rules (Pokéthulhu Adventure Game)
Parser (Parsely) 
Playwright (The Play's the Thing)
Pocket Master (Pocket Fantasy)
Producer (Primetime Adventures)
Programmer (Engine Heart)
Project Director (Morrow Project)
Prophet (The Seventh Seal)
Puppet Master (Puppetland)
Q (Star Trek: Alpha Quadrant)
Quest Master (QuestCore)
Rattenmeister (Ratten!)
Realm Controller (Realms of the Unknown)
Referee (Traveller)
Regent (Salem World)
Runner (Rune)
Scenemaster (Non-Essential Personnel)
Seneschal (The Riddle of Steel)
Sensei (Chi-Chian RPG)
Sherpa Guide (Sherpa)
Sholari (Skyrealms of Jorune)
SIEGE Engineer (StarSIEGE)
Skeptic (Dude, Run!)
Space Master (Impulse Drive)
StarMaster (Space Opera)
Story Master (Dungeons the Dragoning 7th Edition)
Storyguide (CthulhuTech)
StoryHost (Enter the Shadowside) 
Storyteller (Vampire: the Requiem)
Superintendent (Panty Exposion)
Superuser (Freemarket)
Talespinner (Crazy 8s)
Troublemaker (Flatpack)
Umpire (Lace & Steel)
War Master (Weird Wars)
Watcher (Marvel Heroic Roleplaying)
Watchtower (Smallville)
Weaver (Tribe 8)
Winter (Wolfspell)
WorldMaster (Adventure Maximum)
Wulin Sage (Weapons of the Gods)*
Zargon aka Morcar (UK) (HeroQuest)
Zombie Master (All Flesh Must Be Eaten)
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*If I were to run Weapons of the Gods, I would require that the players address me as the Wulin Sage at all times.
​For the full backlog of Age of Ravens posts on Blogger see here. ​​

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7/22/2019

Trophy: What's the Point of All These Tables?

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by Jason Cordova

As of this writing, I have run 16 games of Trophy, Jesse Ross’s game of dark fantasy and psychological horror. The purpose of these blog posts is to share the lessons I have learned so you can improve your own experience with the game (and possibly your experience with roleplaying games in general). 

Links to the other entries in this series:
9 Tips for Running Trophy 
Trophy: Notes on Ring 1

You can learn more about Trophy by clicking the image. 
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If you’ve been keeping up with the various Trophy publications, you will know there are a lot of extra tables. Many of these tables don’t have anything to do with character generation (meaning they are not additional Drives, Occupations, Backgrounds, or Rituals) and seemingly nothing to do with the Incursions. What is the point of Thirty-Six Reasons You Know Where to Go in a game that is not about the journey to the forest, nor how to navigate it once you get there? What is the point of Monstrosities of Kalduhr when each Incursion already lists the various Ring 4 monstrosities you will encounter? What are we to make of Thirty Six Remnants of Hunters Past when each Incursion includes plenty of Moments to pepper throughout the session? Why do we need treasure tables when the whole point of the game is the treasure-hunters’ efforts are folly? 

Oh, there are so many answers… 

The events of the Incursion are not set in stone!
I, for example, do not care for Ring 4 in Witchwood as written. Encountering zombie snake-men versions of the dead men in Ring 1 does not feel suitably epic to me. So, I use the Monstrosities table included in that same expansion to roll up a different monster for Ring 4, adjusting for the red and green color theme. 

You might need more material than what is included in the Incursion.
If you’re running for a larger group or over the course of more than 1 session, you might need a few encounters in addition to those implied by the Incursion text. The tables are a great resource for developing those encounters (ahead of time or, if you’re really organized, on the spot). 

Trophy takes place in its own world.
Regular, repeated references to certain geographical features in the Incursions (such as the Naveh river and Fort Duhrin) are evidence that every Trophy Incursion takes place in the same world. The tables contribute many details, explicit and implied, about this world. 

Tables are a space for collaborative world creation.
Related to the above, tables are a pretty great vehicle through which to create a world in a collaborative way. This is true at both the player level (see the note below) but also at the game text level. Each of the Trophy expansion authors, for example, has been able to put their own stamp on the world through the tables included with their Incursion. 

And we have brand-new ways of using tables to flesh out the world of Trophy. Today we kicked-off the first of our Trophy crowdsourcing efforts for the standalone book. Check out the post here and get involved! 

The tables are a great on-the-spot resource for GMs and players alike.
Given the highly collaborative nature of Trophy, players are frequently called upon to flesh out details in a scene or to come up with answers to questions posed to them by the GM. GMs are frequently called upon to flesh out important details on the fly as the result of failed rolls and Devil’s Bargains. The tables are a great resource for getting inspired, and if you know ahead of time what Incursion you’re going to be playing, you can have a few thematically-relevant tables handy. 

Use them for other games! Or for your own works of fiction!
The Trophy tables are largely system-agnostic. Use them for all your fantasy gaming needs! Or for your fiction! (A credit is nice if you end up publishing something official.)

Trophy Gold is coming!
Trophy Gold is a separate game that takes the core rules and philosophy of Trophy, and adapts them to be a more traditional, OSR-style adventure game. The existing Trophy tables will all be compatible with Trophy Gold—a fantastic resource for creating a campaign! 

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7/19/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - July 19, 2019

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[Gauntlet Hangouts logo]
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 Riders (Session 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Keith Stetson, Michael G. Barford, Sabine V., and Walter German
A showdown with bounty hunters on the ice planet of Hoth!

Gauntlet Quarterly

Masks: The Suits (Session 11)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Erez, Rob Ruthven, and Sabine V.
The Suits are coming. Even as our heroes try to take a breather, like a small music sesh, their foes refuse to let them. Serenade learns how to be a role model for their younger sibling, L0K1 defuses a potential cosmic catastrophe and Michael receives some cryptic help beyond dimensions.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks: The Best Worst Summer (Session 2 of 4)
Chris Newton runs for Alex, John Campbell, Pearl Zare, and Vince
Wherein our erstwhile teen heroes confront the perils of victory, European ages for wine and beer purchases, and the strange dating habits of kinda sad adults.

Project Lycra July Playtest (Session 2 of 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, Jen Kitzman, and Patrick Knowles
The Four Colors (aka Eidiolon and the Four Colors) take on Superia at a festival, then they butt heads with the alien group The Consortia, and are challenged to a fight with their thug leader Myrmidon!

Urban Shadows: Coven Prime EX LIBRIS (Session 3 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Chris Newton, Pearl Zare, and Sarah J.
The occult heroes of Coven Prime deal with a Hunter gone bad, Moon Court Assassins, and an attack on the pack.

Project Lycra: July Playtest (Session 3 of 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, Jen Kitzman, Leah Libresco Sargeant, and Patrick Knowles
The True Colors are joined by Fata Morgana in a flashback that brings in the villainous Corvid from Undertaker's Row! Why won't Eidolon give Corvid a chance on his record label? So much hatred!!!

LAOG - Live Action Online Games

Makeup Moments: Captain and Alien
Gerrit Reininghaus facilitates for Pearl Zare
A laog of putting on makeup together online. As theater actors, we only had 40 minutes to get ready before going on stage. And still managed to finally overcome our inhibitions and finally have a date together. Find the game in Codex Glamour 2.

The Election of the Wine Queen
Gerrit Reininghaus facilitates for Noella H, Pawel S., Pearl Zare, and Vasilis Liaskovitis
The drama unfolds when a nasty jury head disappears with the son of his best buddy in a wine cellar for an early crowning ceremony. Find the game in Codex Sunlight.

Mecha Monthly

Too Good To Be True (Session 2 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex, Diana Moon, Rich Rogers, and Rob Ruthven
A mission to take out an ECM node, faced with dropships, exo suits, artillery fire and bad odds?Just another day for Ares Limited. 'Dante finds out that running into enemy fire isn't the greatest of ideas, Nadia remains calm and cool as she pursues the objective, Chuey risks life and limb to help his friends and Tag takes a dropship on with panache.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Spire: The Sulphurous Presses (Session 2 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for David Morrison, Ludovico Alves, Robbie Boerth, and Sławomir Wójcik
SEX! DRUGS! AND PALANQUINS! Let loose upon the street's of Spire, the Jester's Epitaph finds intrigue almost too easy to sniff out. Vellurion tracks down mystery arms dealers, Montpellier falls afoul of a strange professor's activities, Sarge sniffs out a strongarm political group and Dot recruits an eager friend to the cause.

Hearts of Wulin: The Four Masters! (Session 1 of 4)
David Walker runs for Leandro Pondoc, Ludovico Alves, and Sabine V.
Inspired by the Water Margin (and a little of Saban's Power Rangers perhaps!) In which the (anti?)heroes defy the will of Custodian Tian and try to steal something long since lost...

Monster of the Week: Dresdenverse (Session 2 of 3)
Blake Ryan runs for Alun R., Erez, Kevin Lovecraft, and Ludovico Alves
Hunters vs Summer King

Hearts of Wulin: The Four Masters! (Session 2 of 4)
David Walker runs for Leandro Pondoc, Ludovico Alves, Mikael Tysvær, and Sabine V.
The Assassin's Choice - Our rebels break into Governor Willow's Palace and encountered the unorthodox Ping for the first time. Chaos ensues as Green Owl performs an act of defiance, Silver Sable makes a fateful choice and the noble Tiger Eye's courage places them in a dangerous situation.

Eotenweard (Monster of the Week): The Synhamm Alliance (Session 2 of 4)
Alun R. runs for Alejandro, Blake Ryan, Robbie Boerth, and Sabine V.
The characters from last time (with Setia the Loon along as an NPC 'til Scot returns to the series) fall in with a Saxon warrior in search of revenge, after he helps them subdue bandits on the road, who turn out to be linked to Synhamm's nemesis: King Beda of Lindsey...who seemed to be expecting them! From there they travel to the former legionary fort at Danum, now a trading hub, only to find themselves caught up in an effort by Beda to take the town for himself. Note: two-part video.

The Warren: Escape to The Big Green (Session 2 of 2)
Mikael Tysvær runs for Bryan, Horst Wurst, and Steven
The city park is no longer safe and the warren decides to make the dangerous move trough the sewers towards a new home in the big green.

DIE (Session 1 of 3)
David Morrison runs for Justin Ford, Pearl Zare, Puckett, and Walter German
It's Christmas in 2004, in the tiny market town of Keythorpe. For the first time since they graduated four years ago, the former members of an after-school roleplay club meet up for a session. After finishing school, Auley stayed behind in Keythorpe to help support his mother, and now spends his days packing boxes on an industrial estate. His best friend Andrew left his university course to take up a position as an account manager with a large telesales firm down in London, and is enjoying the life of a young professional there. Eddy - Edward - works for an advertising firm, and caught a break with a successful campaign for Norwich's leading energy drinks company. Lil dropped off of the face of the earth after school, but a chance encounter brings her back to the group. Joe - who has been away at university - discovered an interesting game with a tragic background at a carboot sale in Coventry, and has invited his former friends around for a game of DIE... (This session is primarily character creation and worldbuilding, though this is a key part of establishing the game!)

Slings & Arrows: Playtest (Comedy of Errors) (Session 2 of 3)
Mikel Matthews runs for Dan Pucul, Pearl Zare, and Vasilis Liaskovitis
While dealing with a workplace that go under, a colleague who may be inappropriate with grad students, and real-estate client who's a massive pain, they still find time to break out of prison, confront the King and Queen about the counselor, find the doppleganger, and come face to face with a smarter, more capable version of the Prince.

The Clay That Woke: Rise (Session 3 of 5)
Mikel Matthews runs for Diana Moon, Eilas, and Tomer Gurantz
Sent to procure the source of a certain drug, one nameless Minotaur encounters Jaril and Hepias, two Minotaurs who earned their Names in the Jungle. Taken from the dreams of children, in order to find the one who carries the secret language of an ancient time, they must decide if they can go along with their employers or must rebel.

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets: City Immortal (Session 2 of 5)
Richard Ruane runs for Leandro Pondoc, Maria Rivera, and Will B
As summer fest begins, Victoria tries to regain her wits, while the Traditionalist Party senators snub the duchess, and Alistair and Julietta find themselves in an ambush.

Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (Session 3 of 4)
Alexi S. runs for Brian, Jesse A., Kyle H., and Steven
Night falls on London. Phillip Kemp, the Hunter, stalks a masked woman with fiendish eyes. Yeften ibn Idir, the Veteran, talks down magicians and mercenaries to rescue John Dee. Dee's daughter Katherine, the Wizard, weaves forbidden magics to put a scheming coven in its place. And Ariel Oakley, the Fae, discovers its easier to make it into the Tower of London than to make it out in one piece.

The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power: Consequences (Session 3 of 4)
Gene A. runs for Andrew Hauge, Davey, Jason Zanes, and Joe Zantek
The Prince comes under Virelia's influence, but her machinations are complicated with the arrival of Standor at the camp of the Talosian army. Rook and the White Ruin deliver Lady Xanstra to misty Varangia, where they discover a corsair fleet sheltered. Lady Xanstra reveals her plan to the White Ruin, who has a vision of an escaped Forgotten One. Standor makes a pact with the Queen's instrument, Marshal Arkan. Virelia agrees to go to Skathos, even if it means bringing Standor. Rook and Strawblood grow close.

Night Witches: Trud Gornyka (Session 3 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Bethany H., Joey R., Maria M., and Puckett
Two new pilots, a debate on the base about Galya's fortunes, and a liter of vodka in a canteen.

The Veil 2020: Dawn and Dusk Corp. (Session 3 of 5)
Simon Landreville runs for David Hayes, Eli S., Nadine, and Pearl Zare
The characters doubt the Purgatory program. There is a really really hot almost sex scene and decisions are made.

Heart: The City Beneath: Playtest (Session 1 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Gabriel Robinson, Patrick Knowles, Sabine V., and Steven
Deep beneath Spire, the phantasmagorical wound that is the Heart holds many wonders and horrors alike. But diving into it often extracts a toll. As our delvers behold sights such as a biomechanical train, a tunnel of symbols and the corpse of a god, Cauldron is surrounded by regret, Serafine is surrounded by blood, Maeglin is surrounded by temptations and Calixte is surrounded by fools.

Urban Shadows: L.A. Noire (Session 2 of 4)
David Walker runs for David Morrison, Pearl Zare, and Will H
Rose makes a deal with the devil, Lee stands up for his people and Richie gets into more trouble than he can handle - and is bailed out by Gregory Peck.

Hit the Streets Live!
Rich Rogers runs for Chris Newton, David Jay, John Campbell, and Joshua Gilbreath
The defenders of The Knuckle deal with the Whisper Syndicate's aims to push unwanted legislation that will... outlaw super-powers?!? Check out Hit the Streets: Defend the Block on Kickstarter now!

Then They Returned: PbtA (Session 1 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Julie Rogers, Leandro Pondoc, Puckett, and Robert
Character creation and initial scenes for this playtest of a game of teen horror mysteries in the Southwest lead to a missing teen and a terrifying gardener.

Hearts of Wulin: King of Bandits (Session 1 of 2)
Jim Likes Games runs for Dan Pucul, Keith Stetson, Raji Purcell, and Will B
In the shadow of Seven Flanks Peak, the copper miners await a caravan and hope the local assassins' school doesn't make too much of a mess in town.

Hearts of Wulin: My Heart's Reflection (Session 2 of 3)
Gene A. runs for Brock, Kurt Potts, Lauren, and Sarah J.
A wedding to unite two powerful houses brings old friends and lovers to town. The bride-to-be arrives. A misunderstanding at the inn. Jia brings the ousted Moon-Swoon Heart and Yahui to the expansive estate of his clan. Shun feigns illness and attends the party in disguise. Yahui drinks with the bridegroom and finally reunites with his sister, Lei, Shun's lover. Moon-Swoon Heart and Jia discuss obligations. Assassins. Shun's loyalties are tested. One unfortunate death, and then another.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, 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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7/18/2019

Trophy: Notes on Ring 1

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by Jason Cordova

As of this writing, I have run 15 games of Trophy, Jesse Ross’s game of dark fantasy and psychological horror. The purpose of these blog posts is to share the lessons I have learned so you can improve your own experience with the game (and possibly your experience with roleplaying games in general). 

Links to the other entries in this series:
9 Tips for Running Trophy 

You can learn more about Trophy by clicking the image to the right.


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In this post, I want to share some notes about running Ring 1 of a Trophy incursion. These notes are not presented in any particular order, nor are they meant to be “authoritative.” They are simply my observations from running the game. 

A staged encounter
The first thing that jumps out at you about Ring 1 is that its Terrors and Temptations are highly staged. Unlike later rings, Ring 1 is practically scripted. In Witchwood, for example, you’re always going to encounter the dying soldier first, and then you’ll find his companion crushed under the boulder, and then you’ll find the witch pinned to a tree. In The Throne of the Forest Queen, you’re always going to encounter the shepherd, who will always ask you to help him find his 3 lost sheep. 

There are, of course, practical reasons for this staging. Unlike in later rings, there haven’t yet been any Devil’s Bargains or failed rolls to help shape the story, and so this staging helps avoid the “getting started” problem many rules-light story games (most famously, Fiasco) have. But in my experience, there’s more to it than that...

Don’t mess with Ring 1
In later rings, particularly Ring 2 and Ring 3, you have a lot of room to expand the number and type of encounters the treasure-hunters have—you can scale things as needed, and you can adjust the Rings to account for failed rolls and Devil’s Bargains (and I’ll be talking about those things in future posts). But Ring 1, I find, is almost sacrosanct. You just don’t want to fuck with it.

In the core rules text, we’re told the point of Ring 1 is to present easy challenges and easy rewards, the idea being we are giving a fictional justification for why the treasure-hunters keep going. Straight away, you can see that trying to “expand” Ring 1 is kind of pointless. If the challenges are meant to be easy to overcome, adding more of them will simply be boring or redundant.

More interesting, I think, is that Ring 1 presents the players’ first opportunity to interact with the theme and aesthetic of the incursion. It’s essentially setting the table for what’s to come, and if you try to get cute with it—changing things up or adding new challenges—you run the risk of missing this point entirely. In The Flocculent Cathedral, for example, the bandit encounter shows us a lot about the forest to come: they are filthy, but well-fed; degenerate, but enjoying each other’s company. The bandits have learned to live in the Fen, but that life has come at a price. And the way the player characters interact with the bandits mostly tells us something about the player characters: do they mistrust these filthy brigands, despite the fact they pose no real harm? Do they join their celebration, despite the fact they are utterly destitute? 

And this, I think, leads to the critical thing to understand about Ring 1: the point is to see how the characters react. In several runs of Witchwood, I have seen characters 1) try to save the man from death, 2) try to ease the pain of his death, 3) try to convince the man to whisper the secrets of the forest to them, and 4) walk up and slit his throat to end his suffering. In each case, the moment was highly dramatic, told me something about those characters, and flavored the remainder of the incursion.

Ask questions to develop character backstory
As the GM, you should always be asking questions in Trophy. Ring 1 presents an opportunity ask some preliminary questions about the characters, to learn a little bit more about their backstory. In some of the incursions, this function is explicit. In The Throne of the Forest Queen, for example, we are to ask a character how the people they are helping reminds them of someone from home. In The Flocculent Cathedral, the characters will hear the bandits’ shanty and be asked to explain how one of the verses is connected to their background. But even where questions are not explicitly pointed out (or heavily implied) you can take the opportunity to ask your own. In Shifting Sands, Ring 1 doesn’t present, on its face, any opportunities to query the players about their character, but you could easily ask something like “How does this faded, frail warrior remind you of something you have hopelessly pursued for most of your life” or, more simply, “What about this warrior reminds you of yourself?” The point, after all, is just to get the players talking.  A good GM knows even a simple, straightforward encounter is a springboard for asking probative questions. 

Be mindful of whether rolls are needed 
The encounters in Ring 1 are supposed to be easy. This means they may not even require a roll from the players. I try to be mindful of the stakes involved. In Witchwood, for example, if they try to ease the dying man’s pain, I usually make them roll for that, because the failure (and particularly the Devil’s Bargains) could be interesting. But when it comes to destroying the witch, I’m not as inclined to make them roll, because you can’t have the witch spring up and attack them in Ring 1—her purpose is to die—and the real dramatic crux of the scene is answering (and enacting) the question “How do you kill a witch?”, not whether they are actually able to. The only time I definitely make them roll in Ring 1 is if they intend to use a Ritual, which feels inherently problematic, and therefore pregnant with stakes. 

An easy challenge doesn’t necessarily mean there is no danger
And that danger comes in the form of Ruin rolls. There is nothing difficult about the trio of encounters in Ring 1 of Witchwood, for example, but all 3 of them should provoke Ruin rolls. And here you can also rely on what the players give you. In The Tomb of 10,000 Dreams, if a player tells you something about the doppelgänger treasure-hunter that is downright eery or unsettling, make them do a Ruin roll! ​

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7/17/2019

Age of Ravens: 36 Moods for an Alien Planet

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As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri is high on my rpg wishlist. My Sunday f2f group chose this to follow our Urban Shadows campaign. Though I’m not 100% certain, I’m pretty sure I’m going to adapt Mutant: Year Zero for our story of a colony struggling to establish itself on a new planet.
 
As I’m picturing it, the PCs arrive at the planet in the third of three ships. The whole thing has been a desperate gamble from a decaying Earth. The first ship arrived decades ago, the Terraforming team ship The Shiva. Later, just a few years before the campaign starts, the scientific and exploratory team of the Brahma Visitor craft arrived. Finally the PC’s came in the Vishnu Settlement craft.
 
However things broke down aboard the PCs’ generation ship, with political, cultural, and social splits leading to a mutiny as the vessel approached the planet. That triggered a set of cascading failures, leading to random groups boarding colony modules aimed at uncertain locales. Our game takes up a couple of months after that. The colony has just gotten its feet under itself and begun to explore. Characters will face challenges from the environment, other colonies, and internal disputes.
 
Like MYZ, our SMAC will involve exploring areas to locate resources, wreckage, and ancient secrets. One of my favorite bits is the random “mood elements” MYZ offers for when characters head out into these wilds. Using that format, I’ve created a new table of 36 elements for our world.

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36 MOOD ELEMENTS FOR AN ALIEN PLANET 
PEOPLE
  • You find a makeshift structure. Inside you discover evidence that someone from your colony has been outside without permission. They’ve set up a micro-growing or processing center. What are they creating?
  • You locate a module from the Brahma Visitor craft. While it seems to have crashed, it looks like much of it remained intact. Its destruction seems to have come post-crash, with scavengers of some kind ripping out materials. What did they leave behind and how long ago were they here?
  • Someone began work on this area—you can see evidence of plasma cutters and mechanized excavators. But the work seems sloppy and unplanned. They’ve simply torn into the land. Then they either got what they came for or gave up. Either way they left the wounded land uncleared.
  • You come upon a swathe of corpses scattered across the landscape. Their minimalist uniform offers no clue as to which ship they came from. They’ve been dead for perhaps months, showing the strange signs of decay which accompany this biosphere. While they all clearly died of violence, those deaths seem to have taken place over weeks, perhaps months.
  • You find the bones of a DiY Satellite launch pad. It’s makeshift but complete, with solid fuel marks indicating perhaps half a dozen launches. Whoever made this left some time ago—they or perhaps later scavengers stripped out the telemetry and control equipment, leaving a hollow satellite casing with a smiley face sitting on the pad.
  • You discover the remains of a micro-colony, a terraformer portable station scaled to support a team of perhaps two dozen. Only the exterior walls remain intact; the inside has been stripped bare for metal, wire, and tech. In the central area you find the bodies, seventeen of them. They’ve been bound and shot through the back of the head. A loose digital timer puts the execution at almost three years before you made planetfall.
NATURE
  • Fungus of many different hues covers the rocks and formations you move through. Strangely, the material swallows all sound. The noise dampening effect makes your passage eerily silent.
  • A mound of metallic insects shifts across the landscape. It moves in a straight-line, stops, and then the hive turns slightly and continues its forward motion. In its wake you see a trail of crystals perhaps created by a chemical reaction or some other mechanism.
  • A pack of wolf-sized native animals shadow your group for hours. They mostly keep their distance, but from time to time what seems to be a runner or a scout swings closer. When they do, your electronics begins to go haywire, as if their bioelectric field creates interference. Eventually the group moves off without any signal.
  • You come upon a mass of leafless tree-things, enough to form a forest. Stretched between them you see a fibrous, web-like complex of strands. It’s unclear if the netting is fungal, vegetation, or something else. Are they part of the trees themselves or a secondary organism? They don’t seem sticky and many are far enough off the ground that your group can pass through, bending down from time to time.
  • You find an area filled with a twisted combination of native and Terran plants. You see evidence that one of the Shiva Advance craft teams let loose a mutagenic terraforming module here. Intended for last ditch efforts, these attempt to reprogram alien life. The process seems to begun to transform the area, but then ran out. Plants and animals have only half-changed. Many are dead, but tracks indicate some survived.
  • As you move through the vegetation of the area, you leave a trail of floating pollen behind you. Each bump and disturbed branch shakes more loose. The particles float but sink in the atmosphere down to perhaps 50cm off the ground. There they form a bluish fog which swirls around you, seemingly held by the air pressure.

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WEATHER
  • What you first took for a mountain turns out to be a stack of clouds. The lenticular formation looks like three lens-like discs hovering atop on another. They hang over a raised bluff. As you get closer you see the convex clouds slowly spin in alternating directions.
  • In the distance you see a storm and hear the peal of thunder. But the lightning moves strangely--at times forming an arc, at times coming from ground to sky. The colors of the lightning change to—greens and purples, though there doesn’t seem to be any pattern to it.
  • It begins to rain, at first a small sprinkle and then a torrential downpour. The air becomes so laden with water that it becomes difficult to breathe or see. Then it stops. A few minutes later the cycle begins again. It continues this way for the better part of two hours before finally ceasing completely.
  • While the area around seems temperate and warm, ahead you find a frozen body of liquid. The chill extends a few feet out from the lake’s edge, covering rocks and sand in a rime of frost. Sharp spikes of ice poke from the surface of the frozen lake.
  • A sudden storm burst blankets the area with a hail made of salt. As the last of it crackles in the area, you begin to see animals coming this way in search of the concentrated mineral.
  • The wind whistles low and continuously, never rising or lowering, a weird pressure constantly coming from the north. The white noise of it drills into your brain after a day or two. Then it switches direction.
REMAINS (ANCIENT)
  • A sparkle catches your eyes. Moving forward you see where the sunlight glints off of a cut gemstone buried in a small pathway of an artificial stone. More can be seen, spaced at irregular intervals along a snaking walkway partially buried by dust and time. It extends a long way, but without clearing everything, you cannot discern the pattern.
  • Acrid smoke billows from a massive, perfectly circular hole in the ground. The raised crystalline edges forming a lip indicate artificial manufacture. Approaching requires suiting up for heavier protection. Peering down into the hole you see a bubbling dark green liquid. In places you see structures, maybe machines, with only a few bits exposed above the liquid’s surface.
  • The frame of a bridge spans this canyon. In places the metalwork looks ornate, almost ceremonial. But other spots show signs of later, workmanlike repairs with another material. The girders of it appear wide enough to cross on, but the stability of the structure as a whole is uncertain.
  • In the next zone you see a massive sheer cliff. Cut into it you spot a series of regular bore holes of varying size. Some seem to be only a meter across, while others are many times larger. A waterfall pours out from these holes, varying in pressure and speed. The rate of their flow weirdly shifts throughout the day.
  • You move into a valley, realizing quickly it’s more of a trench. Something cut regular, rectangular sections out of the ground—many meters in length and width. Where the wind and elements run through it, the edges have been worn away. But in more protected spaces you can see exact, deliberate lines and angles. Is it a mine? The foundation for a building? A weapon testing ground?
  • Sets of stairs reach from the ground upwards to nothing. Most of the half dozen freestanding stone and metal structure seem built for a being roughly human height. But two have sharply distinct differences: one seemingly built for giants, and the other almost for miniatures.

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EVENTS
  • There’s a boom and then a streak across the sky as another piece of orbital debris enters the atmosphere. When it hits the ground shakes. Then you hear an alien screech cut across the landscape for perhaps ten seconds, stop, blare out again and then die.
  • In the distance you hear blaster fire. As you approach you see an older model security platform half stuck in a crevasse. Threat protocol corrupted, it fires at any movement in the nearby area: wind-borne debris, rain, native creatures. You can make out a scorched ring of death which marks out its range of fire.
  • Far away you spot a sweeping line of smoke. The heat signatures indicate a wildfire of some kind, though how it started is unclear. Strangely you see several of the local animal species moving towards, not away from the conflagration.
  • A brief round of low-level seismic events rocks the area. Ahead you see what appear to be a formation of geysers set off by the event. They release a funnel of steam and liquid and then all stop. Then each releases a large ochre-yellow sphere which floats up into the sky. Caught in the wind, the collection drifts away.
  • In the distance a set of drones sweeps in a V-pattern. They don’t seem to be from your colony. They pass over an area and release a small payload. Moments later explosions tear open the ground below them. The formation circle sweeps once and then heads back in the direction they came.
  • Below the cliffs you see the current smashing the remains of a colony watercraft against the sharp rocks. From the damage, you guess it has been trapped there, half sunk for the better part of a week. The structure is barely holding together and anything of value would have been swept clean from it.
TERRAIN
  • Sand pours like a waterfall from the cliff top. It runs to a sinkhole below. Somehow it keeps pouring. Is it sand or something else? What creates the flow?
  • You see what looks like cascading aurora borealis across the landscape. Closer you can detect swirls of metallic gases somehow held in that state. They move and shift in strange magnetic fields that drift like clouds.
  • The cavernous space you move through is a honeycomb, red rock worn away. By water, wind, or sand? It’s difficult to say. The ground seems dry now, but perhaps it was once an underground river. Daylight comes through from broken segments above, giving you enough light to easily weave through.
  • The landscape’s torn apart, forcing your group to clamber and descend. It take a little while to realize that these are impact craters. You detect no explosive, they seem to be purely mass strikes. It takes a bit for you to get a sense of the scope of it—the field stretches for miles. Some craters are a few meters across while the largest is over a 100 meters. It appears that these strikes have occurred over time, rather than all at once.
  • It takes a bit of mapping and recon of this area to realize what feels odd about it—the way the vegetation grows, the flow of the water, the lines of the hills. There’s a pattern to it, repeated weirdly. The landscape itself echoes that, breaking the region into relatively equal-sized hexagonal spaces. It’s not perfect, breaking down at the edges, but towards the center they before crisper and more defined.
  • The area is marshy ground covered with maybe a meter of water. The foliage is dense, meaning you’ll have to move any watercraft carefully through here. Paddles will work better than a motor. In places you see towers of sunlight. As you move through the wetlands to approach those, you find a raised, dried out area. A great white flowering plant sits on the mound, radiating with heat. Like a solar array it seems to collect light and covert it to heat. 
MY RPG TOOLKIT LISTS
18 Wulin Starters
25 Hooks for Things from the Flood
Someone Goes Missing: Random Journey Event List

Mutant: Year Zero: 36 Mood Elements for The Zone
Mutant: Year Zero: 36 Plots for Roles
150 Colorful NPCs for 7th Sea
150 Details for 7th Sea Scenes
The Fall of Summer: 36 Freehold Threats for Changeling the Lost
Stories from Iruvia: Plot Hooks for Blades in the Dark
333 Names for Blades in the Dark
500 Cyberpunkish Names
Shadowrun EZ-NPC Generator
Magic, Inc Departmental Listing: Office Spatial Distortion
13th Age: 101 Backgrounds​​​

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7/16/2019

It's My Blog and I Can Cry if I Want To

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by Jason Cordova

Another year goes by and The Gauntlet, once again, was not shortlisted for the Diana Jones Award. The fact I care about this stupid award so much is honestly kind of ridiculous. It’s governed by an anonymous cabal, has a terrible history when it comes to matters of race and representation in gaming, isn’t exclusively about TTRPGs, and most gamers I interact with on a daily basis have no idea what it even is. And yet, here I am, pissed off we did not get shortlisted. We didn’t get any ENnie nominations this year, either, making 2019 a big goddamned wipeout on the external validation front.

Days like this are when I have to take stock. I have to remind myself that, despite the fact I crave validation from my peers for the work I have done, I’m never going to get it because I don’t tick any of the “in-crowd” boxes. I’m always going to be an outsider in this industry and I need to just come to terms with it. I need to learn to be content with The Gauntlet’s successes—with the community’s amazing spirit of creativity and play, and all the awesome things that flow from that—and to take satisfaction in the fact that, a few malcontents aside, I have a tremendous amount of support and love from the folks within our spaces. 

But it’s hard. It’s frustrating to work and work and work at something—work that is equivalent to a full time job and that I functionally do for free—and it’s not acknowledged by the wider community, especially when so many people from the wider community benefit from that work. 

I don’t know what the point of this blog post is, other than for me to give a sad sigh of resignation. At least it was short. 

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7/12/2019

Gauntlet Video Roundup - July 12, 2019

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Picture
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 Riders
Rich Rogers runs for Luiz Ferraz, Michael G. Barford, and Sabine V.
A romp on Tatooine as we explore the Star Wars Saturday Morning TV show that never was with a hack of Michael's amazing Storm Riders game set in the Star Wars universe. (This is a two-part video.)

Gauntlet Quarterly

Masks: The Suits (Session 10)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alun R., Erez, Rob Ruthven, and Sabine V.
The Suits are coming. And their methods to target our heroes have become more blatant as they infiltrate the forces of the Dreaming Heaven Choir to strike a blow against our team. L0K1's worst moment is broadcasted to the world, Michael performs even with the eyes of the multiverse on him, SULIT fends off a sword-wielding warrior with panache and Serenade tries to save a sibling.

Gauntlet Comics

Masks: The Best Worst Summer (Session 1 of 4)
Chris Newton runs for Alex, Ben, Brock, Pearl Zare, and Vince
Superteens were created, thrown together, portals were made, fallen through, archaeological sites were damaged, relationships were strained, cosmic energies were tossed about, and at least one otherworldly entity was definitely insulted on film!

Urban Shadows: Coven Prime: EX LIBRIS (Session 2 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Ben Swinden, Sarah J., and Scot Ryder
2 new arrivals shake things up and we return to Coven Prime itself!

Mecha Monthly

Too Good To Be True (Session 1 of 3)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Alex, Diana Moon, Rich Rogers, and Rob Ruthven
War rages on in Caplan IV, as always. In this sand-blasted theatre of war, Ares Limited tries to do what most mecha mercenary companies do and make a buck or two, taking on an abandoned refinery city crawling in exo armor and tanks. Between handsom Tag, arrogant 'Dante, cheerful Chuey and straightforward Nadia, it should be just another day in work.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Urban Shadows: L.A. Noire (Session 1 of 5)
David Walker runs for Caroline Walker, David Morrison, Pearl Zare, and Will H
Even when the city is hot, the hearts are cold. Session 1 of 5 for the first in a living campaign of urban fantasy and supernatural games run in Noir LA.

Dungeon World: Stuck in Jawbone, Playtest 2 (Session 4 of 4)
Bethany H. runs for Adam Poppenheimer, Patrick, Scot Ryder, and Tom F.
Baldwin learns unwelcome truths about some of his friends. Lucien makes a deal that comes back to bite him. Sadhana is a loose cannon who probably shouldn't be allowed near sources of power. Korrin just wants another beer. But before they deal with any of that, they have to survive a showdown with a businessman, an assassin, and a vampire.

Spire: The Sulphurous Presses (Session 1 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for David Morrison, Robbie Boerth, Scot Ryder, and Sławomir Wójcik
HOW MANY GENERALS CAN YOU FIT IN A CARRIAGE DESIGN? A productive fact-finding mission within the Grand Pageant of Commerce leads to a smashing 1st edition from Spire's newest publication, the Jester's Epitaph. Camille brings the life and soul to the party, Vellurion employs subterfuge in the world of fashion, Montpellier schmoozes with a tabloid publisher and Dot's masked nature allows them to collect ammunition against their foes.

Monster of the Week: Dresdenverse-Denver 2000 (Session 1 of 3)
Blake Ryan runs for Alun R., Erez, Horst Wurst, and Kevin Lovecraft

Legacy 2e: Life Among the Ruins: A Dawn Reflected On A Thousand Shards (Session 6 of 6)
Ludovico Alves runs for Kieron, Pawel S., and Scot Ryder
In which we meet the Zoomers, a city sails the sea, we discover the origin of the Sandstorm and the Second Age ends as the dream of the stars is remembered.

Uncanny Echoes: Heist (Session 1 of 3)
Donogh runs for Alun R., David Morrison, Ludovico Alves, and Pearl Zare
The high-wire entry into the SHBC building is the most normal thing of the night. Felix the Techie, Jem the Trigger, Cybil the Architect, & Fynn the Lookout find exactly what they're looking for, more's the pity.

Eotenweard: The Synhamm Alliance (Session 1 of 4)
Alun R. runs for Alejandro, Robbie Boerth, Sabine V., and Scot Ryder
Synhamm is beginning to show signs of prosperity after the lifting of the curse (see the Spring episodes) but then King Beda shows he is not afraid to draw blood in his desire to take Synhamm for himself. The characters become the unlikely emissaries of their Saxon lord to a Celtic King.

Night Witches: Trud Gornyka 1942 (Session 1 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Bethany H., Joey R., Puckett, and Sarah J.
The airwomen get to know their new Duty Station, Trud Gornyka, under cover of torrential rain with mud everywhere. Errant livestock, annoyed forgers, and dying Commanders are dealt with.

The Warren: Trouble with the Grey (Session 1 of 2)
Mikael Tysvær runs for Bryan, Puckett, and Steven
The rabbits starts looking for a new home after the tall ones starts acting strange.

[DEUTSCH] Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG (Session 2 von 4)
Eike K. leitet eine Session für Gerrit Reininghaus, Henje, und Horst Wurst
Once again, we meet Yvana, the Worker who sacrifices her pacifist beliefs for the revolutionary cause, Nadja Petrowa, the silver-tongued Demagogue, whose task it is to convince the leery crowd that the sacrifice of a comrade was for the greater good, and Dragutin, the Professional, the bomb thrower turned explosives instructor. They are part of the movement "March of 1 July" (M17), fighting the oppressive regime of the Kharmakovs in Khresht.

The Clay That Woke: Rise (Session 2)
Mikel Matthews runs for Adam Poppenheimer, Diana Moon, and Eilas
The Minotaurs end up in the Jungle, meet mysterious residents, and face down a Trapdoor snake and her brood before emerging from the depths and earning the names.

Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (Session 2 of 4)
Alexi S. runs for Jesse A., Kyle H., Leah Libresco Sargeant, and Steven
The chase is on as Katherine Dee commandeers Lord Francis's carriage to pursue her father's kidnappers. Lord Francis tries to fly after as a swarm of bats, but gets more than he bargains for. Yeften "the Corsair" takes the diplomatic approach to the Dee situation, while Ariel heads into the Tower alone to finally find the imprisoned Pentecost Jones.

Dark Streets & Dark Secrets: The City Immortal (Session 1 of 4)
Richard Ruane runs for João, Leandro Pondoc, Maria Rivera, and Will B
When a confessor disappears, a scholar is attacked, strange laughter drives people to frenzy, and news comes of a rival senator’s recent real estate acquisitions, the chaos begins.

Night Witches: Trud Gornyka 1942 (Session 2 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Bethany H., Joey R., Maria M., and Puckett
Section C of the 588th experiences its first truly disastrous mission.

The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power: Consequences (Session 2 of 4)
Gene A. runs for Andrew Hauge and Jason Zanes
The Iron Spire burns as Virelia disappears. Rook and her company, the Murder, arrives at the Iron Spire in the confusion, only to find her contact, the Duke of Bax, has been murdered. The White Ruin finds Lady Xanstra and enters into an agreement. Lady Xanstra hires Rook but warns White Ruin that they may have to kill her once her usefulness has run its course. Rook has a vision. The White Ruin forsakes the patronage of the Bloody Fist.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, 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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