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9/28/2018

Gauntlet Hangouts Video Roundup - September 28, 2018

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​Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Don't miss any of the great sessions in the updated playlists and video links below.

Gauntlet Sunday

Urban Shadows (Session 4 of 5)
Lowell Francis runs for Fraser Simons, Joe Zantek, Joshua Gilbreath, and Rich Rogers
Camilla gets the price tag for the ghosts in her head, Hugo zaps a rival, and Sato and Nikoru receive a startling revelation about Kagami's nature.

Tragic Tuesday

Cthulhu Dark: Screams of the Children
Shane Liebling runs for Asher S., Harry, Richard Ruane, and Robbie Boerth

TGI Thursday

Scum & Villainy (Session 4 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Barry, Eduardo L., Josh DeGagné, and Paul
A smuggling job leads to the hunting pavilion of a sadistic noble and a manic escape via hover-loader as the jungle takes its revenge.

Gauntlet Quarterly

Gauntlet League Wrestling Season 3 (Session 11)
Lowell Francis runs for Alex, Chris Newton, Joe A., Matt A., Patrick Knowles, and Tyler Lominack
It's the big Pay Per View -- Throw Down 2018 -- and everything changes!!! Belts, management, employment, gimmicks -- it's all up for grabs.

The Gaunt Marches

Freebooters on the Frontier: Into the Wild (Session 3 of 3)
Horst Wurst runs for Chris Thompson, Christo Meid, and Pawel S.
The Lizardfolk's trap, an island of mold, leeched, the sunken ziggurat, reaching into the fresco’s mouth, the thing inside the iron sarcophagus.

Gauntlet Hangouts

Night Witches: Season 2 (Session 5 of 6)
David Rothfeder runs for Bethany H., Bryan, Donogh, and Horst Wurst
The primary Season 1 cast is back in Night Witches this week as Dasha is caught behind enemy lines with Ira's sister. Hannah and Ira plan a daring but dangerous rescue as Masha is left trying to prepare for a mission with no planes. But death always takes its toll, even for a beloved friend and comrade. Content warning: PC death.

The Mecha Hack: System Malfunction (Session 4 of 4)
Maria Rivera runs for Jason Mills, Josh DeGagné, Leandro Pondoc, and Noella H

Spindlewheel Stories: Breakfast Cult
Asher S. runs for David Jay, Jen Overstreet, Michael, and Ryan Windeknecht

Monsterhearts 2: Once Again, We Return (It Was Never Going To Be Okay) (Session 3 of 4)
Patrick Knowles runs for Alex, David Rothfeder, and Ryan M.
The One With All The Ghosts - Just because you're immortal, doesn't mean you're going to live forever - but it probably does mean you get to stick around until the end of the story. Baldr is called to remember his past, while Hödr desperately tries to move beyond hers. Meanwhile, Faust sends out invitations to Invitation and receives a guest who makes a real Jackass of himself.

The Woodlands (Session 4 of 4)
Yoshi Creelman runs for Asher S., Bryan, Jesse A., and Noella H
Gus, a a brown haired rabbit, shows up just in time to storm the house and rescue Bluebelle. But he came with a request to bring back the team as the Jaguar is back, the one who killed Lily. With a giant predator loose and a rebellion to squash, the team heads out of Ginburry with Thistle, who doesn't suspect the wardens know as much as they do... What will happen when they confront Thistle?

Monsterhearts 2: Kingsport 1692 (Session 4 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Agatha, Darold Ross, David Jay, Dylan R., and Seraphina Malizia
The thrilling conclusion sees divided loyalties, hard choices between two worlds, the reveal of an unexpected sibling, 1.5 proposals, Justice Nyarlathotep, Esq., and unexpected destinies for all our characters.

Undying: Plague Empire (Session 4 of 4)
Mikael Tysvær runs for Jim Crocker, Paul Spraget, and Tina T.
A fiery ending to the story when our characters turn the vampire world upside down with mad ambition for power and the spark that makes the inquisition is made as a result.

The Skeletons (...in Space!!!)
Tomer Gurantz facilitates for Jim Crocker, Noella H, Pawel S., and Sabine V
A disparate crew of aliens, after an ongoing war, are tasks with protecting a strange cryogenic chamber in a hollowed out asteroid cosmic crypt.

Gauntlet Games Now

Digimon RPG
Luiz Ferraz runs for Gerrit Reininghaus, João, Maria Rivera, and Stentor Danielson
A group of kids are spirited away to a weird forest and meet their partner Digimon for the first time, right before darkness rears its ugly head and things start to go wrong.

Other Games

For The Queen
Tomer Gurantz runs for Lauren, Lu Quade, and Ryan M.

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 Google+ Communitywhere 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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9/26/2018

Age of Ravens: Open Table—What the What?

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When I began running for The Gauntlet, it wasn’t the commitment which scared me. It wasn’t managing shorter campaigns. It wasn’t the threat of having to run for rock star GMs and players. 

It was open table. 

Open table means players can sign up for all, some, or just one session of a series you run. To a GM who has spent decades running multi-year campaigns with a stable roster, this seemed crazy. What about storylines? What about relationship building? What about cumbersome orienting of new players? Initially, I ran just two-shots to compensate; tighter games to minimize problems. But over time I’ve moved to longer games, even mysteries with developing plots. Players have changed, come in late, dropped out, and the games have survived. And thrived. 

WORLD OF CANCELLATIONS
Before The Gauntlet I painfully ran some campaigns online. I’d set up sessions, get commitments, and then the game would flake out at the last minute. I had people not show up and not communicate. I had one player push another out, bring a new one in, and then had both quit because their schedule was too tight. And the next day found out they’d actually dropped to join a podcast, but didn't want to tell me. When campaigns did go we’d often have massive gaps between sessions and reset constantly. It was a wildlands without structure or satisfaction. 

The Gauntlet’s approach–calendar, commitment, and open table–makes online gaming less a wilderness. It begins with our dedicated online event calendar. We previously used public online scheduling tools, but they flaked out, cost too much, or lacked features. So Jason commissioned a dedicated tool; a chunk of the Patreon money goes towards that. GMs post sessions on the calendar and then announce them on our Gauntlet Hangouts G+ Community and our Slack. They post events between two weeks and two months out. For the first week, Patreon members at the $7 level get special access to sign up. After that, anyone can–you don’t have to be a Patreon supporter or even a member of the community. You just have to register at the calendar. Even if a game’s full, it’s worth joining a waitlist. In about half of my games, someone moves up from the waitlist to play. Open table also means you sign up for whichever sessions in a series you want.

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LEARNING TO BE OPEN
That open table terrified me, but made me a better GM—more flexible and responsive to the players. I come in expecting PC lineup changes. That means I plan agilely, think big, and don’t sweat swerves. I’ve learned to consider what players actually need at the table. I cut arcane detail and trim system mechanics where I can, but I also consider what kinds of lore and backstory players engage with. Play should build from a short briefing and the session conversation itself. I want to support incoming players, not make them feel like they’re not in on the joke. 

Structurally, open table means I can usually count on my games going off. In two and a half years and 220+ sessions, I’ve only had two sessions dropped due to lack of players. I’ve had more sessions (3) lost due to my own being sick. Two of my favorite sessions--World Wide Wrestling and Urban Shadows—had just two players. If players drop with enough notice, I can usually recruit others. It’s also meant that I’ve run for a ton of different players. 

If you run open table, you have to develop new tools for a frequently changing group. Keep your intro tight, remember to restate safety tools, watch for information overload, and establish structure early. If you have a player only there for a session or two, lean into their hooks. Put veterans who play collaboratively into scenes with newbies early. For example, in WWW the GM builds a card for the session, the order of matches for the show. I want to make a one-shot player’s exposure awesome. So I put them in big matches, play up their character, and pair them with dynamite players. I also make sure to have a “model” match first so they see play before they enter the ring. 

PLAYING OPENLY
Open table has positive effects on the player side. You get the same benefit the GM does—a chance to play with a larger, more diverse group over time. But importantly, you can try things out—if it doesn’t work, no harm, no foul. GMs understand cancellations. You don’t have to explain—just give the most notice and heads-up you can. Open table means that if something’s too much for you, you can leave. 

As a player, you can enhance the open table experience. If you enter a campaign in progress, be open and listen. If the GM has background materials, take a look at those. You're not expected to learn the lore or watch previous session videos, but it’s good practice to check out existing characters and system cheat sheets. Poll the table about the best way to make your character concept work with the existing story. Be mindful, but active. You’re here to play, too—don’t feel like coming in late doesn’t give you a place in the fiction. 

On the reverse, if you’re a returning player, help new players. Figure out ways to connect their ideas and characters to things already on the table. If rules have to be taught, pick one person—usually the GM—to do those explanations. It’s super frustrating for a new player when multiple voices compete to explain a system. On a related note, trim your own player lore. Don’t info dump new players and never make them feel bad for not knowing a story element. Be classy. 

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OPEN TABLE & THE LONG GAME
Last year on the Gauntlet we had a lot of talk about the challenges surrounding longer open table games. One GM asked if they could require that players sign up for all sessions or commit to reading character creation & rules material ahead of time. But we don’t do that. In my event descriptions, I say players are “encouraged to sign up for all sessions.” Sometimes I’ll even say strongly encouraged. Usually I’ll share character spreadsheets and rules summaries the week before a game. But I come in expecting a changing roster and players who haven’t read the material. It’s a nice bonus when that isn’t true. 

In that conversation about longer campaigns, several said it didn’t work with open table. When folks had said Fate games wouldn’t fly on the Gauntlet, I ran a month of them. So I wanted to prove them wrong about long games. So in 2018 I’ve run three longer open table campaigns, called Gauntlet Quarterly. And I’ve seen others experiment with the form as well. 

When I first considered doing 11-13 sessions, I decided I’d need two things. First, I'd take an episodic approach to sessions. For the most part, each would be a self-contained story. Blades in the Dark does this well—usually a session revolves around a single job. World Wide Wrestling absolutely does this—each game is a wrestling show. You couldn’t split it across sessions without losing momentum. Mutant: Year Zero also leans this way with a fresh threat generated each session and a split between zone-crawl and in-camp sessions, though in my long play, that broke down a little and we had a couple of two-parters that required character juggling. 

Second, I wanted a unifying campaign element. In the case of MYZ, that’s the Ark. Players make decisions about how their home camp evolves and carry out projects to develop it. In Blades, the "crew" has its own playbook and gains experience. In WWW, it's the wrestling promotion itself. WWW: International Incident introduces “tags” and “troubles” to describe the organization. The player with the highest audience at the start of the show rolls a move to affect those. It also has continuity from an ongoing roster past non-player and player wrestlers. If I had enjoyed Star Trek Adventures more, I might have run it with the ship serving as a central feature. Other games I've considered--Scum and Villainy, Cryptomancer, Changeling the Lost, Green Law of Varkith, Sigmata, and Rotted Capes—have rules for ongoing and tracked setting elements that provide continuity.

I came in convinced that a longer game needed that. In my head, I imagined wonky fantasy campaigns where the party changed every week, regardless of where they were—on the road or in the dungeon. I’d played in those campaigns, wracked with highly variable attendance. We had a term for PCs popping in and out, “Blue Flashing.” In practice it made you feel detached from other PCs and heightened the artificiality of the experience. For Gauntlet Quarterly, I wanted a through line for the players to avoid those problems.

I think my approach does that, but I’m less sure now I need the crutch. Players come in hungry to find their place. Most play actively, involve themselves, and look to connect their story. I’d steered away from games with tight relationship systems, like Masks: A New Generation. But I think that would actually work, I’d need to develop easy fictional framing (like a larger organization to explain the shifting roster). I’d also want quick & dirty tools to set up relationships—ways for returning players to connect with new ones and pay off connections with PCs who aren’t necessarily coming back. But I don’t need to restrict my game choices for long campaigns. I know now players will work with me to build that narrative. 

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OTHER CONTINUUMS
My take on longer games isn’t the only one on the Gauntlet. Other GMs have looked at open table and figured out how to build continuity. Jason’s Mercy Falls series is a great example—a game broken into chunks with different characters and even different time periods. Go listen to those podcasts. You can hear synergies that don’t require deep lore. I came into the second Mercy Falls series with no idea about the first series and it clicked. Another approach has been The Gaunt Marches on Gauntlet. This has multiple GMs running in a shared fantasy setting. Or look at the one-GM shared universe Rich Rogers has done with Gauntlet City Limits and Star Wars Saturdays. Those games exist in their own universes. References across games act as Easter Eggs rather than required information. But there’s an organic, emergent history there. 

Finally, for the last quarter of 2019 I’m trying a modified approach. I’m presenting my Hearts of Wulin sessions as a book or movie trilogy. In the first month, we do movie one. These sessions should comprise a complete story. In month two, we move forward in time and build lightly on ideas and details established in month one. Players can return with characters or introduce new ones. Like with any good trilogy, I hope to make each month connect but also stand on its own. I'm hoping this structure adds depth to play and makes each month feel complete.

What do you think? If you've played with or run for the Gauntlet, what's been your experience—positive or negative—with the structure?

For the full backlog of Age of Ravens posts on Blogger see here. ​​

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9/24/2018

An Uncanny Trio: Three Character Classes for World of Dungeons

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by Kyle Thompson, Keeper of the Light of the Peerless Star (@wiegraf_) with contributions by Lauren McManamon, Keeper of the Secrets of Quachil Uttaus (@thestraykiwi) 

The default classes in World of Dungeons hew closely to original classes in B/X D&D, but the custom class rule allows players to enjoy much more creative fare. I was raised on the video games of the Japanese developer Quest, and the plethora of class types in those games always used to fascinate me as a child. World of Dungeons has let me express that fascination with its simple and fun class system, and I sometimes spend my free time hacking away at new classes to play with. In this series of articles I will be sharing some of the classes I’ve made.

These three classes are ones I have thought of pairing with the dark Celtic fantasy of the OSRIC adventure The Barrow Mound of Gravemoor. Such strange adventurers as these might be found stalking the bleak swamps and barrows of that land.
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Changeling
Because of its lack of emphasis on combat, World of Dungeons is a game that can reward characters that focus on trickery, and there are few better tricky archetypes than the fae changeling. Use this class to bend words and the world around you to your character’s will, but remember that tricks sometimes get the better of the trickster!

Changelings get Decipher. Choose two special abilities: Pact Sense (You can attempt to recall an ancient faerie pact a creature is bound to), Wild (You can converse with and attempt to command animals), Shapechange (You can attempt to assume the shape of a similarly sized creature), Riddlespeak (When you attempt to confuse someone by speaking in riddles, roll with advantage).
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Death Knight
This design was largely inspired by the Terror Knight class in Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, and unlike the Changeling is very much focused on combat. However each of the Death Knight’s abilities tell us something about their frightening character. This is the sort of person whose use of violence comes at their own expense - and is all the more terrifying for it.

Death Knights get Leadership. Choose two special abilities: Necrotic Strike (You can choose to spend resting hit dice one for one to deal a commensurate amount of bonus damage vs. the living—until your next rest), Duel (You understand the rituals of dueling and can compel any opponent of equal or greater HD to duel you in single combat), Terrifying Presence (You may use your charisma to attempt to transfix any living creature with fear), Unnatural Corpus (You do not require drink or rations to rest).
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Herald of the White
One of the most memorable Celtic goddesses is Morrigan, and this character is meant to be her herald. As a goddess of war and death, Morrigan grants her closest followers the power to thrive off of her domain, and so the Herald is able to draw souls from the war dead or command the carrion beasts who are drawn to any site of battle. The Herald of the White might not be the best dungeon crawler, but they are very effective in overland travel, and can always frighten off enemies with a banshee’s scream.

Heralds get Lore. Choose two special abilities: Soul Harvest (You can attempt to harvest the soul of a creature recently deceased. It provides you with rest and nourishment for the day and tells you one of its secrets), Cry of Doom (You can attempt to use your horrific cry to convince a creature of their impending death), Uncanny Manifestation (When you scout ahead you manifest eerily at the edge of a creature you encounter’s vision), Carrion Queen (You have the respect and veneration of all carrion beasts).

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9/21/2018

Gauntlet Hangouts Video Roundup - September 21, 2018

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​Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Don't miss any of the great sessions in the updated playlists and video links below.

Star Wars Saturday

Misspent Youth (Session 3 of 5)
Rich Rogers runs for Blaise, Noella H, Paul Edson, and Steven Watkins

Gauntlet Sunday

Urban Shadows (Session 3 of 5)
Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes and Joshua Gilbreath
The Fae and the Tainted go to fix everything and nothing goes wrong. Really. Ignore those sirens.

Tragic Tuesday

Cthulhu Dark: Sukakpak
Shane Liebling runs for Greg G., Harry, Robbie Boerth, and Sarah J.

TGI Thursday

Scum & Villainy (Session 3 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Barry, Eduardo L., and Josh DeGagne
The crew extract scientists from a entertainment pavilion past the Guild, but a swerve by the Borniko Syndicate nearly burns out everything.

Gauntlet Quarterly

Gauntlet League Wrestling Season 3 (Session 10)
Lowell Francis runs for Chris Newton, Gerwyn Walters, Joe A., Matt A., Patrick Knowles, and Tyler Lominack
The Kraken returns, backstage politics spill into the ring, a newcomer questionably takes a belt, and an Oedipal tag-team match clears Kent Reid's path.

The Gaunt Marches

Freebooters on the Frontier: Into the Wild (Session 2 of 3)
Horst Wurst runs for Christo Meid, Pawel S., and Sabine V
A false promise of atonement, stealing from the sisters of mercy, the infected hermit, marked by fairies, an ancient bomb, the blood soaked effigy

Funnel World: Den of Iniquity (Session 3 of 3)
Richard Ruane runs for Andrew Hauge, James, Josh, and Tony H
The bear lunges as the demonic forces of the house try to seduce two of the youths to their service. Divided and distraught by the deaths of their friends, they fight to survive the night (with the assistance of a cat).

Gauntlet Hangouts

Undying: Plague Empire (Session 2 of 4)
Mikael Tysvær runs for Asher S., Jim C., and Paul Spraget

3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars: Charlie Sector (Session 2 of 3)
Donogh runs for Ary Ramsey, Brian B., and David Jay
Dropping on Caravaggio, where their scouts have come up blank despite losing some Troopers - no one knows what’s down there...

Dialect: Children of No God
Noella H facilitates for Gene A., Mikael Tysvær, Sabine V, and Tomer Gurantz
We played a community of non-believers surrounded by religion, which ended up being in an ancient Rome type setting. There was a lot of food involved.

Velvet Glove: Energy Crisis
Philipp Neitzel runs for Asher S., Matt Hayles, Noella H, and Sabine V
During the 1970s Energy crisis a girl gang is trying to enjoy a night of partying by the lake.
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The Mecha Hack: System Malfunction (Session 3 of 4)
Maria Rivera runs for Asher S., Jason Mills, and Leandro Pondoc

Digimon RPG (1%er hack) (Session 2 of 2)
Luiz Ferraz runs for Noella H, Ryan M., and Tyler Lominack

Perdition: A Host of Angels in Perdition (Session 2 of 3)
Fraser Simons runs for Darren Brockes, Luiz Ferraz, and Maria Rivera
The host discovers what became of a forgotten angel--Helel--as they navigate their way to the divine weapons.

Night Witches: Season 2 (Session 4 of 6)
David Rothfeder runs for Bethany H., Bryan, Jim Crocker, and Noella H
In which powerful allies are spurned, planes are recovered, men are monstrously petty, and honorable airwomen die. Content warning: extreme sexism, worry about rape, mention of suicide, corpse desecration, and PC death.

Swords Without Master: Remnants: Year 2, Summer
Pat P. runs for Jeff B. and Larry S.
The rogues set out to investigate rumors of a out-of-place beast. Geddy performs before the storm and shows the meaning of brotherhood while Gaon emotionally wrestles with the parallels of his past.

Monsterhearts 2: Once Again, We Return (It Was Never Going To Be Okay) (Session 2 of 4)
Patrick Knowles runs for Alex, David Rothfeder, Lauren, and Ryan M.
The One With The Gallery Opening - After a little light Deicide, the Gods have an immersive artistic experience to pull off. New enemies are made as old friends return, the past is buried as the dead rise from their graves, and everyone submits to the overwhelming power of larping.

The Woodlands (Session 3 of 4)
Yoshi Creelman runs for Asher S., David Rothfeder, Jesse A., and Noella H
Bluebelle, fully recovered, leads the group to Ginburry, only to find it with a new fence, streets desolate, not what Otis remembers. Kendrick, the new leader, is the son of the former leader, Deacon, but he seems to be relying too heavily on his right hand, Thistle...who happens to be one of the two names on Lee's letters.

Undying: Plague Empire (Session 3 of 4)
Mikael Tysvær runs for Asher S., Jim C., and Tina T.
King Aleric and his Visicots army sack Rome while the undead revel in the opportunities this event presents to move up in the social hierarchy.

Monsterhearts 2: Kingsport 1692 (Session 3 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Agatha, Darold Ross, David Jay, Dylan R., and Seraphina Malizia
Tensions rise as Malachi Goodwin, Verity's foster brother, returns to town after years at sea; Verity finds her affection for Malachi continues to be more than sisterly; Mercy's uncle unfolds a grand vision for their people; Fortune does rituals at the bidding of her dark master; and Chastity accuses John Baxter of being a witch.

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 Gauntlet Hangouts games. If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the Gauntlet Hangouts Google+ Community where game signups are announced! To support The Gauntlet and Gauntlet Hangouts, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon at https://patreon.com/gauntlet where $7 and up patrons get priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games. Enjoy, and everyone have a great weekend!

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9/19/2018

Age of Ravens: Gauntlet Lessons

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​In August, I ran 24 hours of Gen Con games. Not in a row–though it felt like that once or twice. I’d volunteered to run for Magpie: Last Days of Anglekite & Green Law of Varkith for Dungeon World, Masks: A New Generation, and Urban Shadows. I went in nervous, certain I’d made a mistake and over-committed myself. I’ve burned out at cons before. But Kate Bullock, who managed everything for Magpie, offered support, encouragement, and organization. I’ve never been part of a better and smoother con event. She showed how professionalism and preparation can enhance the experience. 

I came away from those 24 hours energized, not exhausted. 

Some of that came from great players—a father & son team, an Australian who’d heard the podcast, the young woman who showed me her sketchbook of Masks characters. I felt good throughout—like I had a handle on things. Looking back I realize some of my convention style wasn’t part of my repertoire just a few years ago. They’re things I’ve picked up from playing with The Gauntlet, listening to community conversations, and watching others run. 

I found three techniques that stand out. These may be obvious for those who’ve played with The Gauntlet or maybe they’re common to your groups. But not everyone knows them. I didn’t know them for 30+ years. Each of these sparked an “OK, wow” reaction at least once at my tables. I could tell they’d be using that for their games. 

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1. TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Right away tell players how you structure your sessions. If you’re doing character creation, explain what that involves and how long you expect it to take. Point out bits they can skip or handle in play. I make a point of mentioning if we’re doing relationship questions and how in-depth those will be. Consider talking about how to handle order and actions at the table. For example, I stay simple by establishing we’ll be working clockwise, but that they can jump in or switch things up if they need to. 

If you plan on a break (and you should) announce when that will likely happen. I’ve played too many con sessions where we waited and had to interrupt to request a break. If players know they’ll get a breather it offsets nervousness. Establish how long you plan to run for. I tell them we’ll play until we hit a wrapping point or fifteen minutes before listed end time, whichever comes first. That way they know they won’t have to rush and I’m respectful of their time. For my sessions, I warn in the last 30 minutes, I may push and hard frame scenes to get closure. It gets everyone on the same page. 

The overall approach sets expectations. They see the process and know where they are in it. They know what time limits are and that you’ve thought about those. They can expect you to manage the table. They don’t have to worry this is going to drag on—that a slow player will hold them up. You’ve told them you’ll keep them moving. 

2. ASK PERSONS NOT PARTIES
Before an online session a couple of years ago, someone asked Rich Rogers for GMing advice. As I waited my turn to offer sage wisdom, Rich broke my brain. What he said seemed so obvious—and maybe you already knew this-- again kudos to you-- I didn’t.

Don’t ask the group open, hanging questions. Address questions to a player. This cuts long pauses, awkward glances about who should go first, and the death of forward momentum. Instead you spotlight players and keep things moving forward. 

This even goes for questions about plans, goals, or next steps for the group. You can still ask the classic “what do you want to do now?” question. But instead of dropping it like a bomb in the middle of the table, you point it at someone—“Sherri, what do you think?” or “Patrick, let’s start with you.”

That starts a conversation which can evolve into a discussion. As a GM you can shape this—you might have a sense of who hasn’t gotten a voice for a while, possesses a strong idea of the path forward, or doesn’t like being put on the spot. Your choice of who to ask a question affects the play. It’s a soft technique that works well when you have a good sense of your players. 

When you run online, you have to ask specific people. You don’t have the visual cues that f2f groups use. But even f2f, you can keep the game moving with this technique. I’ve run for the same f2f groups for many, many years–the longest for over two decades. I know them and they know each other so well that unspecific questions can work. Maybe that’s why this advice never occurred to me. But when I shifted and began to direct questions at my home table, it sped things up and added momentum. 

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3. YOU CAUGHT ME EPILOGUING
I ran Masks for my final session of the con. I loved the session, with lots of interesting character moments and an end twist built on a throwaway player comment. But what made it awesome wasn’t me. Wasn’t me at all. 

As usual I gave each player a chance to narrate what happened with their characters after the story—and every single one knocked it out of the park. They crafted brief scenes that showed who their characters were and how they’d changed: infected by the final battle, closer to their pseudo-parent, willing to be who they were, rejecting an identity given to them, reconciling with a distant family. 

Holy shit they killed it. In those moments they completed existing stories, opened up new ones, brought their head canon to the table, and provided emotional closure for the session. 

At a campaign or one shot end, let players briefly narrate what comes after the last scene. I don’t know exactly when I first saw this in a Gauntlet session, probably with Rich again. At first it seemed like a cute trick—but the more I experienced it, the more I realized its power. The unspoken horror of one-shots, con games, and even short campaigns is this: we’re never coming back to these characters. This is the only bite at the apple they’re going to get. 

Most of the time you can frame the question openly—what comes next…what do we see on-screen about your character’s future? Players have full authority to narrate that story. If, and this happens rarely, two characters’ resolutions conflict, have them negotiate. Usually players can find a satisfying story in their own lane. If two PCs’ have opposing goals then aim for a dramatic ambiguity at the end. 

You can frame this in several ways. In one Dungeon World session the party grabbed the MacGuffin artifact as we ran out of time. The epilogue became an escape montage, giving players a chance to show off and dramatically mow through their opposition. For our Masks session I asked them to describe some panels from a future issue. For Pasión de las Pasiones online I had them narrate a bit from the “Next Time On” teaser at the end of the episode. 

Tying back to my second lesson, when you ask for epilogues, toss the spotlight to specific players. If you’re coming out of a chaotic situation, throw to the person who seems to have the best grasp on events. If possible, call on veterans before new players so they can model the process. If someone hasn’t gotten as much spotlight time, make them first or last—setting the stage or tying things up. The last player to give their epilogue sometimes has the opportunity to tie threads together. Consider giving that to a player who has been active in all sessions or has played well with everyone’s stories. 

Sometimes it’s hard to admit I haven’t always been an awesome GM. But learning new tricks doesn’t mean your old games weren’t good, just that they’re going to be better. ​​
For the full backlog of Age of Ravens posts on Blogger see here. 

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9/17/2018

Codex Volume One

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The Gauntlet will be launching a Kickstarter campaign for the Codex Volume One Hardcover on October 2nd! Our goal is to produce a beautiful, collectible hardcover book containing the first thirteen issues of the Codex RPG zine. This post contains a breakdown of everything you will find inside. ​

Codex - Blood
Before we could begin publishing Codex in earnest, we had to convince ourselves we could do it, that we could produce great content, beautifully packaged, on a regular schedule. Codex - Blood is a test issue, and not officially part of Volume One, but it will be included as part of the hardcover collection. It contains:
  • A striking cover by Dirk Detweiler Leichty. 
  • "A Violet Crown, Steeped in Blood," an Austin, TX-based campaign starter for Urban Shadows. 
  • "Five Blood-Soaked Magic Items for Dungeon World." 
  • "The Blood Trancer," a compendium class for Dungeon World.
  • "Three Dozen Bloods and Their Uses."
  • Seven original interior illustrations. 
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Codex - Chrome 
This is the first official issue of Codex Volume One. Keeping with the “chrome” theme, it has features for cyberpunk and for weird science fiction. This is one of the few issues that uses multiple colors on both the cover and the interior. It contains:
  • A beautiful and strange cover by Dirk Detweiler Leichty.
  • “chrome_rot.exe,” a campaign starter for The Sprawl RPG. 
  • “Nineteen Science Fantasy Elements for Dungeon World.” 
  • “Three Dozen Pieces of Cosmetic Cyberware.” 
  • Eight original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery. 
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Codex - Ectoplasm
This is when we first started to be a little playful with the theme of each issue. “Ectoplasm” implies ghosts, and there are plenty in this issue, but we also used the theme to feature a new playbook for The Sprawl RPG. This issue includes:
  • One of the coolest cover illustrations Dirk Leichty did for Codex.
  • “Huge Problems in Little Shanghai,” a Monster of the Week mystery.
  • “The Ghost,” a playbook for The Sprawl RPG
  • “Thirteen Haunted Magic Items for Dungeon World.”
  • “Three Dozen Signs of Ghostly Habitation.”
  • Eight original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Starlight
This issue stands out as being absolutely crammed with amazing material for a wide variety genres. The adventure starter/dungeon included in this issue is the one that has been featured in the short actual play segments of the Discern Realities podcast. Inside:
  • A fun, “editorial” cover by Dirk Detweiler Leichty
  • “Café Luz Estelar,” a starter for the Malandros RPG. 
  • “Ex Nihilo,” a science-fiction Lovecraftesque scenario.  
  • “The Temple of the Peerless Star,” a deluxe Dungeon World adventure starter. 
  • “Three Dozen Signs the Stars Are Right!”
  • Eight original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Dark
This was the first issue that contained an original game, the extremely creepy Called larp by Wendy Gorman. It also features my (somewhat) famous Pizza Time! horror scenario that has been played and run by many Gauntleteers. Inside:
  • A striking cover illustration by Dirk Detweiler Leichty. 
  • “Called,” a candlelit demon-summoning larp.
  • “The Conjuration,” a Final Girl scenario inspired by the films Insidious and The Conjuring.
  • “Pizza Time!”, a Chuck E. Cheese’s-inspired Lovecraftesque mystery.
  • “Plunged Into Darkness,” superhero scenario for the 6d6 system.
  • “Three Dozen Seedy Taverns.”
  • Five original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Love
This issue is a robin’s egg-blue dream; one of the most visually beautiful we have ever produced. The features in it are great, but the look of it is just “Wow!” It is the first issue that uses color to tell a story, a technique we have maintained to this day. Inside:
  • A beautifully stylized cover by Dirk Detweiler Leichty.
  • “Stops Along the Journey of the Owl,” a Lady Blackbird supplement.
  • “Temor, God of Love and Pestilence,” a collection of custom moves, magic items, and spells for Dungeon World.
  • “Bogville,” a deluxe Dungeon World adventure starter.
  • “Three Dozen Fantastic Places to Take a Date.”
  • Five original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Yellow
This is our famous Carcosa-inspired issue. Fun fact: this issue is our consistent bestseller on DriveThruRPG. People just love their weird, art-infused horrorscapes! Inside:
  • A wildly artistic illustration by Dirk Detweiler Leichty
  • “The Society for Vegan Sorcerers,” an original LARP.
  • “The City of Carcosa,” a Dungeon World adventure starter.
  • “The Search for the Yellow City,” a scenario for Cheat Your Own Adventure.
  • “The Yellow Planet,” a collection of elements for Dungeon World.
  • “Three Dozen Forbidden Texts.”
  • Eight original interior illustrations. 
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Iron
This was the first issue without original cover artist Dirk Leichty. It is another DriveThru bestseller, and for good reason: it features our first OSR scenario and our first original tabletop game (the previous original games were larps). Inside:
  • A gorgeous cover by Vandel J. Arden.
  • “The Gates of Cold Iron Pass,” a grim OSR scenario.
  • “Wind on the Path,” a game of samurai duels.
  • “Four Dwarven Shrines,” a collection of elements for Dungeon World.
  • “Three Dozen Tempering Trials.”
  • Six original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Madness
For a long time, this was our free issue, and it’s the one that really put Codex on the map. Its striking mix of both serious and fantastical features related to mental health is challenging and risqué. Ten years from now, this issue will be viewed as a classic. Inside:
  • A dramatic cover illustration by Claudia Cangini.
  • “Asylum City,” a Dungeon World adventure starter.
  • “Rituals,” a Powered by the Apocalypse minigame and supplement about living with obsessive compulsive disorder.
  • “The Madness of Cú Chulainn,” a new story game of Celtic myth.
  • “The Madness of Legends,” a bit of frippery, Powered by the Apocalypse.
  • “My Female Hysteria,”a scenario for Cheat Your Own Adventure.
  • “Three Dozen Great Old Ones.”
  • Six original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery. 
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Codex - Time
This issue continues the dynamite mix of real-world and fantastical features that started with Codex - Madness. This one contains no less than three original games, a first for Codex. Inside:
  • A grim cover illustration by Vandel J. Arden
  • “Timegasm,” a LARP about time travel, legal wrangling, and incest.
  • “Reset,” a mystery game for two players inspired by the classic neo-noir, Memento.
  • “Turning,” a universal tool for dealing with vast time-spans in any RPG.
  • “Overlooked,” in which you play as an android hated by humans in this dystopian RPG.
  • “The Iron Tyrant,” an adventure starter for Dungeon World.
  • “Three Dozen In Medias Res Starters.”
  • Three original interior illustrations.
  • Custom graphics and layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Neon
This is one of the rare multi-color issues of Codex. In addition to all the normal features you would expect to find at this point in Codex, it also has the winning entries of the 2017 200 World RPG Challenge! Inside:
  • A dazzling cover by Vandel J. Arden.
  • “Tonight Only! Soundcheck Presents…”, a battle of the bands larp. 
  • “Solace,” a starter scenario for The Veil RPG.
  • “Mechanical Oryx,” a 200 Word RPG Challenge winner: Post-apocalyptic robot deer.
  • “Route Clearance,” a 200 Word RPG Challenge winner: Card-based military camaraderie.
  • “Memories,” a 200 Word RPG Challenge winner: Bittersweet nursing home stories.
  • “Four Dozen Neon Lit Business Establishments.”
  • Nine original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery. 
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Codex - Crystal
With the exception of the recently published Codex - Asphalt, this issue is the largest we have ever produced. It is absolutely overflowing with amazing stuff. Inside:
  • A fantastic cover by Vandel J. Arden.
  • “Heroes and Crystal Kingdoms (HaCK),” a JRPG version of The Indie Hack.
  • “Trepallidic Parasites,” in which crystalline spores infect your Dungeon World campaign.
  • “Keepers of Antarra,” an original storytelling game.
  • “The Faceted Order,” a supplement for Dungeon World and OSR campaigns.
  • “Guardian Stones,” a collection of magic items for Dungeon World.
  • “Three Dozen Rumors of Crystal Falls Township.” 
  • Six original interior illustrations.
  • Custom graphics and layout by Oli Jeffery.
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Codex - Joy
The final issue of Volume One is all about happiness and celebrations. It features a ton of new Codex authors, many of whom would continue to write for us in Volume 2. The beauty and diversity of this issue is off-the-charts. Also: Gauntlet Daddy!
  • “Bunk Beds,” a truth or terror larp about a kids’ slumber party. 
  • “So You’re Becoming a Dragon,” an original larp in which dragons and puberty are brought together at last.
  • “The Kawaii!!!”, a new playbook for Apocalypse World.
  • “Seven Celebrations,” which features festivals, fetes, and fancy for Dungeon World.
  • “Gauntlet Daddies #001.”
  • “Three Dozen Attractions at the Carnival of Dreams.” 
  • Eight original interior illustrations.
  • A custom layout by Oli Jeffery.
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9/16/2018

The Thing Going on with Me and Ross Cowman

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by Jason Cordova

Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not like bringing this kind of negativity into Gauntlet spaces. There are many instances where people say negative things about me or The Gauntlet, or they actively try to blacklist us from gaming events, and I simply do not respond because I value the positive energy in our spaces more than I value "setting the record straight." Also, as a public, queer PoC in the ttrpg industry, I will lose the argument if the person on the other side of it is popular and white. As the principal organizer of The Gauntlet, I have to keep all those things in mind when making decisions about when to respond to things and when to let things slide. As such, 99% of the time, I let things slide. 

And so you should know this is not easy for me to write; I gave it a great deal of thought before deciding to do so. 

A few days ago, Ross Cowman sent me an email expessing his concerns about a game we published in Codex. He was ostensibly concerned about copyright on his game Fall of Magic, because I had said in social media that the game was "inspired by Fall of Magic." And, indeed, the game is definitely inspired by Fall of Magic. You play characters moving across a map (cards this time, not a scroll) and you frame scenes based off a one-sentence scene prompt. However, everything else about the game is different, and the author didn't use a single passage of Ross's text, and so this was not a copyright issue–at all. To be fair, there was a little bit of misunderstanding going on: I was under the mistaken impression that Ross was aware of the game; in the past, whenever we have published hacks of or supplements for existing games that don't have clear licenses, we check in with the original author as a courtesy. That didn't happen in this case, and I completely own the fact that that was a breakdown in our normal process. 

Setting aside the confusion, I felt that Ross's initial email was hostile. He could have checked-in with me in a manner that was more friendly, but instead he chose to send me something that more closely resembled a cease & desist letter (and I should know–I've written dozens of them). In fact, a very simple "Hey, can we talk about this game?" or "I have a few concerns about this game, and I wanted to run them by you" would have cleared everything up and avoided... all of this. He doesn't think his email was particularly hostile, but I do. This is a difference of opinion, but in this case, I think my opinion should be given a little more weight because I have a few really good reasons for thinking there was a lot of unspoken subtext in Ross's initial email. 

And here, dear readers, is where this gets more interesting. Are you ready for the plot twist?

It is well-known that Ross has a personal feud with Mark Diaz Truman and Magpie Games. Ross has gone out of his way in the past to encourage other people not to work with Mark or feature Mark at their events. You can call that behavior whatever you want, but in my opinion, it's blacklisting. More importantly, it's blacklisting a prominent voice of color in the ttrpg industry. I'm not here to interrogate whether Ross's beef with Mark is legitimate–frankly, it's really old shit that doesn't involve me–but it is no coincidence that the same day Ross sent his email to me is the same day we announced Mark Diaz Truman and Sarah Richardson as guests at Gauntlet Con 2018. 

Ross denies our announcement of Mark and Sarah as guests at Gauntlet Con had anything to do with his motivation to send me that email. I don't believe him. It is my belief this situation has nothing to do with Fall of Magic and copyright, and everything to do with The Gauntlet getting wrapped-up in Ross's feud with Magpie. I have a fair amount of evidence that Ross has always had a problem with us because of our friendliness with Magpie and that he was simply waiting for the right opportunity to come after us. I'm not going to list all those little bits of evidence here, but I will note one rather conspicuous one: I picked Fall of Magic as my Favorite Game of 2016, part of a special episode we do every year that is listened to by thousands of people; for practical purposes, it was the equivalent of naming Fall of Magic our Game of the Year. The Gauntlet never got even a single friendly comment from Ross about this–not even a miserable +1 or Like–and I'm fairly confident it's because we don't tow his line on Magpie (I should mention that Ross was loudly celebrating all the other accolades Fall of Magic got when it came out). 

I'll wrap this up by saying this is the end of this situation as far as I'm concerned. I have put my position out there so people understand my point of view on this, and now I have nothing else to say about the matter. I will not be responding to any public threads or discussion about this situation, and if you come into our public Gauntlet spaces trying to make hay about this, you will get blocked and banned, period. You are free to message me privately, but I won't make any promises that I will respond.

As for Ross, I wish him the best, I truly do. I did not publish a Codex game inspired by Fall of Magic because I have a problem with Ross Cowman. Quite the opposite: I have been a fan of Ross's work for years and I thought we were celebrating that work. It honestly sucks that this is the situation we find ourselves in. But I also have to be mindful of the needs of The Gauntlet community and my own reputation. As a queer PoC in ttrpgs, I have no margin of error–people have hated on me and whispered about me for years, and for the most trifling of reasons. In this case, I felt the need to speak up in the hopes of heading some of that off at the pass. 

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9/14/2018

Gauntlet Hangouts Video Roundup - September 14, 2018

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Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Hangouts video roundup! Don't miss any of the great sessions in the updated playlists and video links below.

​
This is a notable week, as it includes Lowell Francis posting his 100th Gauntlet Hangouts video in 2018! You can see the entire list here. 
Congratulations to Lowell, and to us all!

Star Wars Saturday

Misspent Youth (Session 2 of 5)
Rich Rogers runs for Keith Stetson, Noella H, Paul Edson, and Steven Watkins
The threat of the Imperial Youth presses the Twi'Lek punks into hard decisions and sends them on the run! Content warning: coercive reproduction.

Gauntlet Sunday

Urban Shadows (Session 2 of 5)
Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes, Fraser Simons, Joe Zantek, and Rich Rogers
A stolen book and misplaced blame leads to using a murder house as a sanctuary; this does not go as well as it sounds.

Tragic Tuesday

Cthulhu Dark: The Whole Is Greater
Shane Liebling runs for Asher S., Greg G., and Harry
A handful of Harlem Hellfighters investigate grisly murders in 1918 Saint-Nazaire.

TGI Thursday

Scum and Villainy (Session 2 of 4)
Lowell Francis runs for Barry, Eduardo, and Paul
The crew investigate and ultimately release a jailbroken, murderous AI after building a body for it. But they get paid.

Gauntlet Quarterly

Gauntlet League Wrestling Season 3 (Session 9)
Lowell Francis runs for Alex, Gerwyn Walters, Joe, Matt, Patrick Knowles, and Tyler Lominack
Conspiracies abound, Wolf Backhaus is fired, and Sub-Fahrenheit puts "Mad Dawg" Matthews in the hospital.

The Gaunt Marches

Freebooters on the Frontier: Into the Wild (Session 1 of 3)
Horst Wurst runs for Christo Meid, Pawel S., Sabine V, and Spencer Paskett
An emissary arrives. A burning palanquin. Finding solace in the temple of pain. A two-headed troll floats away. The Zarutu charge. The demon of rage.

Funnel World: Den of Iniquity (Session 2 of 3)
Richard Ruane runs for Andy, James, Josh, and Tony H
There's more strange music, a demonic chapel, movement from the upper floors, and some much-anticipated kissing. Also, flying knives, burning ghosts, and a taxidermied bear.

Indie Schwarze Auge

[DEUTSCH] World of Aventurien: Schatten im Zwielicht (Session 2 von 2)
Gerrit Reininghaus leitet eine Session für Eike, Mathias, Sabine V, und Tina T.
The Shadows in the Twilight hunted a mouse, collected cookies, were the hot takes on a masquerade ball and soon seem to be their own worst enemies.

Gauntlet Hangouts

The Mecha Hack: System Malfunction (Session 2 of 4)
Maria Rivera runs for Asher S., Josh DeGagne, and Leandro Pondoc

The Woodlands (Session 1 of 4)
Yoshi Creelman runs for Asher S., David Rothfeder, Jesse A., and Noella H
Bluebelle [Explorer, Warden, Mouse] leads Otis [Veteran, Warden, Beaver], Morrigan [Sage, Specialist, Black-billed Magpie], and Stone [Recruit, Recruit, Otter] on a "Routine" mission to get supplies, and find out what is really going on.

Monsterhearts 2: Once Again, We Return Season 1 Deluxe Box Set (Session 5 of 5)
Patrick Knowles runs for Alex, David Rothfeder, Lauren, and Ryan M.
Ryan, David, Alex, & Lauren star in this critically acclaimed, thermonuclear floor-filler of a pop smash sensation! This deluxe edition playlist includes the previously unreleased finale episode as well a 2-disc soundtrack for the series. Add this multimedia extravaganza to your collection today!

Monsterhearts 2: Once Again, We Return (It Was Never Going To Be Okay) Season 2 (Session 1 of 4)
Patrick Knowles runs for Alex, David Rothfeder, Lauren, and Ryan M.
We're back to build a new Pantheon - well-used actually, but new to us - in our 2nd run of Once Again. Watch as the series name gets ever longer! Watch Patrick try out a new time-saving Setting Playbook that saves no time! Watch them hang all of their Chekhov's Tragedies on the walls! RIP Nyxie.

Swords Without Master - Remnants: Year 2, Spring
Pat P. runs for Ary Ramsey, Lu Quade, and Tomer Gurantz
The rogues search for the elusive blood lotus within a hidden graveyard.

The Woodlands (Session 2 of 4)
Yoshi Creelman runs for David Rothfeder, Jesse A., Lauren, and Noella H
Bluebelle is resting from illness. Adelle, the chipmunk innkeeper, sends the group looking for her lover Lee. Lindin, an old portmaster beaver, remembers Otis and gives them trouble, while Stone steals a boat. Aroha [Soldier, Warden, Kakapo] mocks Lindin as they sail off. Morrigan joins up and leads the group to find some bandits in the woods with the help of her spider companion, Seance. Will they find Lee? What about the secret he was keeping?

Night Witches Season 2 (Session 3 of 6)
David Rothfeder runs for Bethany H., Donogh, Horst Wurst, and Noella H
The pilots fended off yet another Nazi attack while the upper brass began realizing the inequity between the men's and women's regiments. The fact that the message they got was that the Night Witches will fight off German Panzers with sticks and find a way to win if they need to might be an issue. Of course, destroying their own air fields may further cause a rift with the men's 216th. Content warning: rape survivor, victim blaming, and tragic death.

MR-KR-GR: The Death-Rolled Kingdom (Session 2 of 2)
Tomer Gurantz runs for Lauren, Pawel S., and Sidney
Join Mahi the Agent of Kraching and Panya the Witch of Merating as they continue their search for corpse honey and spirit mangoes, joined by the mysterious Najja the Pilgrim of Bambung, on a journey in the Thousand Thousand Islands, a South-East Asian fantasy world setting being created by Zedeck Siew and Munkao.

Monsterhearts 2: Kingsport 1692 (Session 2 of 4)
Catherine Ramen runs for Darold Ross, David Jay, Dylan R., Leandro Pondoc, and Seraphina Malizia
Episode 2 of our Puritan Witch Trials in Lovecraft Country Monsterhearts game features hauntings, vengeful nightmares, a witches' sabbath, book signings, Jolly Old Scratch, accusations flying, and a heartbreaking farewell.

Pigsmoke: Summer Term (Session 4 of 4)
Tyler Lominack runs for Asher S., Ludovico Alves, and Pawel S.
As Summer nears Fall, our heroic professors confront the secret in the basement and reveal what the future has in store for them (hint, hint..more teaching). Afterward is a very interesting discussion of Pigsmoke as a game and ideas for how to make it better.

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 Gauntlet Hangouts games. If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the Gauntlet Hangouts Google+ Community where game signups are announced! To support The Gauntlet and Gauntlet Hangouts, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon at https://patreon.com/gauntlet where $7 and up patrons get priority RSVP for Gauntlet Hangouts games. Enjoy, and everyone have a great weekend!

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9/13/2018

Mandatory Fun Club Spotlight: David Miessler-Kubanek

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by Michael G. Barford, Keeper of the Eternal Chime

This series of articles will serve as an introduction to the participants of the September 2018 round of Mandatory Fun Club. These Gauntleteers are preparing to start offering fresh events for Gauntlet Hangouts; be on the lookout for their games!

Hello David! Welcome to Mandatory Fun Club! My first question for you is: How did you hear about the Gauntlet community?
Through another podcast. It's been so long that I can't remember which one now.

What kind of experience do you have facilitating TTRPGs?
I've facilitated many TTRPGs off and on for about three decades, most recently indie and story games primarily.

What kind of experience do you have playing TTRPGs online?
I've been playing TTRPGs online over seven years. Amber Diceless, Mouse Guard, Smallville, Monster of the Week and Urban Shadows (Gauntlet UK), Blades in the Dark, Legend of the Elements (Gauntlet Hangouts), and a number of other games, including several playtests.

What made you decide to jump in and start facilitating games for Gauntlet Hangouts?
I wanted to give back to the amazing community.

Tell us about the game you're planning to facilitate for MFC! Why did you choose it?
Armageddon Accelerated is a game about souls given a second chance at life by working as agents of HALO for The Powers That Be to prevent The End Times. Agents are souls bonded to angel mech vessels, who are assigned to investigate vice crimes, stop soul trafficking, battle demons, and save humanity from itself. The game is powered by Fate Accelerated. The adventure I'm running, Miami Viceroy, is inspired by Miami Vice and takes place in the mid-80s, in Miami, Florida.
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What other games would you be interested in facilitating for Gauntlet Hangouts in the future?
I'll be running this game again during Gauntlet Con, along with NightMirror (a kind of Penny Dreadful gothic horror RPG with tarot cards). In addition there are many games I would be interested in facilitating, including but not limited to: Amber Diceless, Firefly (based on the TV show, Cortex Plus Action), Blood & Violence (travel fantasy story game), Epyllion (baby dragons, PbtA), Dark Well (cosmythological thriller), War of Ashes: Fate of Agaptus (Fate Accelerated), Gone or Snapped (coping with loss, story game), Star Wars: Force & Destiny, Feudal Fairy World (fantasy sengoku or Camelot, PbtA), Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies (alt-fantasy, PDQ#), Vigilance (Robocop meets Late Bronze Age Mythology as Living Laws), Masks: A New Generation (young super heroes, PbtA), Dogs in the Vineyard, Space Station Omega (War & Peace in Space like B5, ST:DS9, BSG, or The Expanse, Cortex Prime).

Is there anything non-gaming-related that you'd like people to know about you?
I'm a designer, marketer, instructor, and small business and startup consultant. Also, co-founder of Corridor Games on Demand.

Where can people go to hear more from you?
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DavidMiesslerKubanek

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9/12/2018

Age of Ravens: History of Licensed RPGs (1977-1983)

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The Gauntlet welcomes ENnie winning blog Age of Ravens to our team. Lowell will be posting on Wednesdays. He's bringing hacks, game ideas, thoughts on his Gauntlet sessions, and his ongoing history lists of rpg genres. We're excited to have him on board. 
​

FROM AGE OF RAVENS
For several years I’ve been tracing the publication histories of role-playing games in different genres (post-apocalyptic, superhero, horror, etc.). Starting this month, I’m publishing these lists and other posts from Age of Ravens here at The Gauntlet Blog. I hope to post 1-2 of these lists a month, with a couple of series running in parallel, plus occasional update posts.
 
LICENSE TO ROLL
I chose licensed games because the last couple of years have seen a bonanza of releases in multiple directions. Green Ronin just wrapped a successful Kickstarter for The Expanse, based on the original novels. R Talsorian just released The Witcher RPG which seems drawn from the video game, rather than the books those came from. And then we have Delta Green, one of the big winners at the ENnies. DG first appeared as a supplement to Call of Cthulhu, itself a Lovecraftian license. But then it became a stand-alone game. And now Pelgrane Press has released The Fall of Delta Green, which is an adaptation of an adaptation to a game which is itself a parallel take on an adaptation.
 
The minds boggles.
 
In any case, this lists will focus on products which adapt novels, movies, video games, or comic books. I’ll generally restrict myself to official licenses. My comments offer a mix of context, commentary, description, and review. If you see something I’ve missed from 1977 to 1983 please tell me in the comments. I’ve put links to my earlier lists at the end of this post.

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1. Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo (1977)
The first two items exist in a nebulous world between role-play and miniatures gaming. In Playing at the World Jon Peterson traces the evolutionary history of rpgs—moving from figures & chits to narrative & story. Many early products didn’t know what they were; didn’t know what they could be. That’s how you get products like Superhero 2044 where the designers forgot to include a playable game.
 
Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo builds on a popular 1930s comic strip, which eventually became a movie serial. This actually came out before the Dino de Laurentis movie. Prolific fantasy author and editor Lin Carter co-wrote these rules for Fantasy Games Unlimited.
 
The game itself offers a thin framework to play out Flash Gordon stories. There’s little to build characters with. Instead, game material focuses on recreating exactly the story from the comics. There’s lots of setting material, but everything’s on rails.
 
As an aside, FG&tWoM also uses one of the most trad, war-gamery devices of all time, “the average die.” Normal d6’s were too variable for important moments, so you used a die marked 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5. Flash Gordon reserves these for character creation to make sure PCs aren’t too swingy. Obviously, making a unique die is the clear solution to that particular problem.
 
2. John Carter, Warlord of Mars: Adventure Gaming Handbook (1978)
John Carter’s second of the holy trinity of old-school, white savior, sci-fi pulp adventurers, with Buck Rogers as the third. Rogers will eventually appear on these lists several times, alongside really unpleasant litigation. But Carter gets bonus points for having been a Confederate Officer in the Civil War.
 
John Carter’s an older series, with the first book released in 1912. It harkens back to fantastic Victoriana and creates the template for later pulp adventure. Around the same time this “Adventure Gaming Handbook” appeared, comics from Marvel and a rerelease of the books with new covers by Michael Whelan sparked interest. You can’t overestimate how much those colorful and unique book-covers drove sales. They had boobies.
 
Heritage Models published John Carter: WoM: AGH alongside a series of miniatures and the Barsoomian Battle Manual for large-scale battles. The game itself is just barely an rpg, with a focus on man-to-man fighting rules and a painting guide. Marco Arnaudo’s Storytelling in the Modern Board Game notes that “the wargame system is paired with a set of rules meant to simulate interpersonal relationships among characters…(it) emphasizes the romantic elements in Burrough’s A Princess of Mars by encouraging players to create scenarios in which they try to win the heart of the princess.” Of course the system mechanizes that with the acquisition of “Princess Points.” There’s a table for this which includes results like “stare unabashed at Princess entire evening, occasionally drool. -50 pts.”
 
3. Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (1978)
There have been many Star Trek licensed games (including two others on this list alone), but Star Trek: AGitFF holds a place in my heart. It’s among the first rpgs I bought on my own, the first I read, and the first I taught myself without my sister’s help. I played over and over again one-on-one with a friend. It’s also pretty terrible.
 
Somehow Heritage Models managed to get a host of licenses before they ran themselves into the ground (John Carter above, plus miniatures-only lines for Conan & Lord of the Rings). The 40 page core book draws from the original series plus the animated one—including the bits Larry Niven inserted into the latter (the Kzinti race for example). Heritage had a parallel line of terrible minis, but most miniatures were pretty bad at the time.

​Characters have “D&D” stats–3-18–with Mentality swapped out for intelligence. There’s basic and advanced rules with the latter adding character creation, psionics, and more combat fluff. Everything’s organized around the idea of “away missions,” effectively planet-side dungeon crawls. There’s little attention paid to on-board action and nothing about spaceship combat.
 
Star Trek: Adventure Gaming doesn't have much, but this was an era of small, barely defined rpgs. At least it provides stats for characters from the show so you can argue about them. Grognardia has a longer assessment of the book.

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4. Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game (1980)
Once upon a time America had a prime-time soap-opera that consumed the public’s attention. I remember my parents taking me to a 1980 “Who Shot JR?” party, despite not watching the show. That year the show was at its height—having spun off a successful parallel show and ranking #1 in the ratings.
 
In 1980, game publisher SPI was also at its height. The rise of rpgs and expansion of the gaming hobby had lifted them up. SPI rolled out games every month—rpgs, board games, wargames. If we’d had the phrase shovelware, we would have used it. The company would eventually burn out from debt, bad management, and talent losses, and TSR swallowed them in 1982.
 
Part of the financial ruin came from the company’s investment in this turkey which they hoped would have mass-market appeal. The company vastly, vastly overestimated sales. Dallas itself is fairly simple, but has the graphic design and look of SPI products of the day, which is to say like a technical manual. It has lots of bits in the box, including NPC cards. But it keeps the tight narrative structure of wargaming—rather than setting up situations, you play through directed “scripts” with victory conditions for characters.
 
But there’s something which gets lost in considering Dallas as an rpg. It’s one of the first rpgs to focus on relationships and power struggles. It broke away from the mold of other adventure rpgs: fighting, looting, dungeon-crawling. Dallas is among the first rpgs covering a modern, non-fantastic world. And it might be one of the first story or narrative games, depending on how you define that.
 
5. Call of Cthulhu (1981)
The first licensed rpg with any staying power and arguably the one with the most. I’d argue Lovecraft wouldn’t have nearly the attention and fascination if we hadn’t had Call of Cthulhu. It impacted a generation of gamers and kicked off horror rpgs.
 
As well, Robin Laws has suggested Call of Cthulhu’s the first rpg to really emulate a literary genre. We’d seen fantasy games, but those wore the genre trappings rather than trying out specific story forms. Beyond that, CoC brought history as setting, always-vulnerable PCs, and dangerous magic to the table. It introduced Sanity as a mechanism, offering a system for non-physical damage–inflicting consequences and disadvantages. Many modern mechanics owe a debt to that.
 
It’s also amusing to note that while Call of Cthulhu is a Lovecraftian license, the kinds of play it ushered in owe a bigger debt to August Derleth and his successors. They gave us a particularly pulpy take on the Mythos. Derleth’s pastiche “The Trail of Cthulhu” ends with an investigative team watching them nuke Cthulhu for a temporary reprieve.

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 6. Stormbringer (1981)
Stormbringer stands as the first rpg adaptation of an ongoing fantasy setting–or it's at least tied with Thieves World that same year. It lets players experience first-hand the world of Michael Moorcock’s sulky anti-hero, Elric. ​Stormbringer has a lovely boxed set—with dice, map, character sheets, and a large core book. It uses the old school grognard system for rules, with headings like: "5.7.1.4. Special Demon Abilities"). I love the book’s Frank Brunner illustrations. He provides a set of six full-page black and white images (as well as the box cover). These show weirder, more visceral style than that of later editions.
 
Ken St. Andre and Steve Perrin, two titans of the hobby, wrote Stormbringer, building on a simple version of Basic Role-Playing, Chaosium's house system. The game's based exclusively on the first six books in the Elric series; it came out before Moorcock decided to go back and revisit/milk the character. The authors show an understanding and affection for the material and ideas. Even if some of the systems end up being more than a little clunky, there's a sincere attempt to take the magic and world presented in Elric and make it work within the rpg paradigm of the time.
 
There's an interesting parallel to be drawn between Stormbringer and Call of Cthulhu, both of which have gone through several editions. The former has had to change and retool to match the tastes and approaches of modern rpgs. The latter set the bar high enough to remain unchanged until recently. Later versions of Stormbringer would ditch the wild & random mechanics and build-a-demon summoning of this version. That’s too bad and I can imagine some OSR folks going back to revisit these rules.
 
7. Thieves World (1981)
In the late 70s and early 80s everyone in our gaming group read Thieves World. This shared world fantasy anthology series brought together high profile authors and rising stars. The concept echoed role-playing games—multiple GMs running in an existing world (like Greyhawk or Blackmoor). The series ran through 1989 with multiple short story collections and novels. There would be (of course) a later reboot in novels (and rpgs).
 
Chaosium’s Thieves World boxed set uses just the first three collections. It has multiple setting books, several maps, and a detailed summary and stat breakdown of all the major characters. More importantly Chaosium made the set compatible across many different systems. It includes stats for AD&D, D&D, Runequest, Adventures in Fantasy, Chivalry & Sorcery, Tunnels & Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, Dragon Quest, and even Traveller. In Designers & Dragons, Shannon Appelcline points out Chaosium got permission to legally support D&D because TSR had earlier violated their copyright. TSR had included Cthulhu and Elric characters in the first edition of Deities & Demigods.
 
Thieves World’s one of the best and most useful early city supplements. It conveyed the setting while offering tools and ideas for any GM. Oddly, Chaosium didn’t support the line, except for a Companion book released five years later. But FASA also got the license to the setting and released several modules, including Traitor, in which a random PC gets secretly assigned as the betrayer of the group.

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8. Middle-Earth Role Playing (1982)
Technically Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP) came out a couple of years later, but by that point Iron Crown Enterprises had released several ME sourcebooks. Several date to 1982, when Rolemaster still came in individual books for adaptation to other games rather than standing on their own. So ICE released these before they actually had a dedicated Middle Earth rpg. That would be Rolemaster-lite in many ways.
 
In that gap ICE published seven regional books: Angmar: Land of the Witch King, The Court of Ardor, Isengard, Mirkwood (North and South), Moria and Umbar (plus some adventure modules). Of those seven, Isengard and the two Mirkwood volumes deal with areas significantly referenced in Tolkien's works. Moria does as well, but offers just a collection of random floors and section. Angmar, Ardor and Umbar go further off the map–areas hinted at.
 
This gives the authors the great leeway you see in The Court of Ardor, one of the wildest of these volumes. Umbar tries for some faithfulness to Middle Earth but also tries to serve the master...of Rolemaster. You really have to read those two modules. It’s like someone dropped their Epic Level D&D campaign just off the edge of Tolkien’s map. Umbar’s a little crazy; look at the NPCs’ stats and levels. But Ardor’s on a completely different level of crazy—a mash up of Deities & Demigods, Roger Zelazny’s Amber series, and bad Tolkien fan-fiction.
 
ICE would eventually lose the license, but that’s a story we’ll come back to later on these lists.
 
9. Enterprise: Role Play Game in Star Trek (1983)
A Japanese rpg released by Tsukuda Hobby. Enterprise had a gorgeous boxed set with a 20 page rulebook, 13 page adventure book, dice, and 15 double-sided full color character cards. These laminated cards worked with erasable markers and had a photo one side and character stats on the others. Tsukuda Hobby mostly sold wargames and had other Star Trek and Star Wars licenses. The company released no other products in the line. You can see more about this at RPGGeek’s entry on it.

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10. James Bond 007 (1983)
James Bond 007 is both ahead of its time and amazingly retro. It emphasizes the power and skill of the player characters–they are experts and professionals. It doesn’t take a fully collaborative approach, but suggests GM/Player relation should be one of storytelling rather than competition. It has women in an apparently equal role on the front and back cover–well, close to equal and certainly better than most games of the time. The example of play in the beginning has a female GM and a male player.
 
That example of play is an interesting read as it presents a somewhat clueless player getting irritated with the GM. The GM then has to explain why x and y happened. It may be illustrative of the rules, but it doesn’t make the game sound like a lot of fun.
 
James Bond uses a point buy for characteristics, skills, appearance, height, and weight. Various choices affect a character’s Fame, which can lead to being spotted; oddly, female agents end up with a lower starting fame.
 
The basic mechanics show the game’s age a little. Any Skill has a Primary Chance (PC) equal to skill plus a characteristic. The GM then assigns an ease factor which this is multiplied by (the default is 5). Players roll percentiles against that. Just rolling under isn’t enough. Instead you check a successful roll against a “Quality Results Table.” It goes fast... eventually. The rest of the system aims for quick checks and resolution—you don’t have hit points but instead five wound levels. That makes combat fast but deadly.
 
I love that James Bond 007 does what it sets out to do–too literally at times. Nearly every module came from a film. Each warned that the plot and details would be different to fool the players. But that’s a lie. The Live and Let Die adventure, for example, sticks to the script… right down to the "secret" traitor.
 
11. The Keep (1983)
I wish so much I could have been at the meeting where someone pitched this idea: let’s do a D&D module based on a horror movie set in the Nazi occupied Europe.
 
The Keep itself is one of Michael Mann’s earliest films and has a wild score by Tangerine Dream. It had a solid cast with Scott Gleen, Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne, and Ian McKellen (who starts in old person make-up that gets stripped away). The film did terribly at the box office with a butchered 96 minute cut (down from 210 minutes… seriously). Mayfair gambled on the property big time, releasing a board game as well.
 
The module begins in a fantasy Medieval Europe with the PCs battling against the evil sorcerer. They’re then flung forward and get to stab Nazis in World War II-era Romania. It’s weird, but you can’t argue with Nazi stabbing in your rpg.

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12. Star Trek: The Role Playing Game (1983)
The first of the transferred licenses, FASA’s Star Trek offered a far more ambitious take than Heritage Model’s. It had the luxury of coming out after Star Trek I & II movies which added to the universe and increased people’s hunger to play. FASA aimed to answer that hunger with a big boxed set, multiple supplements, board games, tactical spaceship simulations, and more. For a brief time you could even find FASA products in big box stores like Target, previously an honor reserved for Dungeons & Dragons boxed sets.
 
FASA started operations as a publisher of Traveller supplements. So it’s no surprise that Star Trek borrows tech from there. Players generate characters via random rolls on different service assignments (time at Star Fleet Academy, work in different commands, time aboard a starship). But unlike Traveller, you can’t die in the process.
 
It’s a crunchy system, with multiple stats, figured characteristics, and dozens of skills. For a long time, ST:TRPG was the big sci-fi game besides Traveller, with Star Frontiers never quite getting traction. Mayfair held on to the license until 1989. They stuck around long enough to see Star Trek: The Next Generation arrive, but only released two supplements covering that era. Paramount grabbed back the license for several reasons, including the perceived level of violence present in the game.
 
History of Universal RPGs
History of Post-Apocalyptic RPGs
History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs
History of Superhero RPGs
History of Horror RPGs
History of Wild West RPGs
Samurai RPGs

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