 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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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. 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). 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). 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).  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. 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! 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.
 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! 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.  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
Depending on the logistical circumstances of your game, there are two ways you can approach the creation of Establishing Questions. The first is to create a set of general Establishing Questions that can be posed to a variety of character types; this is especially helpful when you are doing character creation the same day you are beginning play. The second way is to create Establishing Questions that are tailored to individual characters. This method is best when you know the details of the player characters prior to sitting down to the table, or when you will have some time between character creation and the beginning of play.
General Establishing Questions When creating a set of Establishing Questions that are generally applicable, keep the following two points in mind: 1) the questions should help define or explore an existing aspect of your scenario and/or 2) the questions should take into account the broad character types your players are likely to bring to the table. Let’s take a look at an example of some Establishing Questions I wrote for my Song of the Milk-White Putrescence Dungeon World scenario. For context, the scenario was about a remote town, Frostdale, and the heretical monk who was hiding among its people. The characters were there to ferret out the heretical monk and kill him. Establishing Questions
You can see how these questions adhere to the principles I’ve discussed above. For starters, none of these is so specific that they couldn’t be posed to literally any type of character. And yet, you can see how some of them might be better suited to certain character types. When I wrote these, I knew I would probably have a wizard or a cleric, and the third and fourth questions, while suitable for any character, are particularly good for a wizard or cleric-type character. The second question, while certainly of interest to most adventuring-types, is particularly good for a thief-type character (thieves usually being motivated by heists and treasure). And in all cases, the questions help explore certain pre-existing aspects of the scenario: the residents of Frostdale, the temple higher up on the mountain, and the idea of new–possibly blasphemous–religious movements. Tailored Establishing Questions If you are already familiar with the player characters when prepping your session, you can go even further by tailoring the Establishing Questions to specific characters, which helps create an even deeper level of player investment in your scenario. I recently ran the original Ravenloft module in World of Dungeons. I asked the players to create their characters a few days beforehand, which presented an opportunity to make the Establishing Questions really special. In this example, I have also included the players' answers so you can see how powerful the Establishing Questions technique can be. Establishing Questions
Incorporating the answers into your game If you are familiar with the old Ravenloft module, you know that the answers given in my example above do not conform to the events of the module in any way–these are entirely new ideas that will need to be worked in somehow. Fortunately, this is much easier than you might imagine. In the specific case of Ravenloft, the dungeon has many rooms that are essentially empty. There is no reason why you can’t populate some of these empty rooms with the elements suggested by the answers to the establishing questions. Incorporating answers into your prep is even easier when you are running a scenario of your own design. Simply leave some empty space in your scenario, whether that be physical locations on a map or NPCs that aren’t quite fully fleshed out, or adapt some of the central story elements of your scenario to be about these items the players have provided. The trickier question: when do you do this incorporation? Well, if you’re running multiple sessions, you can spend time between sessions figuring out how to work these new elements into the scenario. When I’m running a short series, I usually have enough events planned for the first session that I can keep the players busy and don’t need to worry about incorporating their answers to the Establishing Questions until the second session (more on this later). For a one-shot, you have to be a little more improvisational, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. Learning to work with Establishing Questions in a one-shot is an extremely valuable GM skill to cultivate, since injecting that high level of player engagement makes the single session you have with the players much more impactful. You can also plan ahead for a one-shot and pose the questions to the players before the session starts. Presenting Establishing Questions to the players I’m going to wrap-up by backtracking in the process a little bit: how and when do you actually present the Establishing Questions to the players? I imagine there are lots of ways to go about it, but this is what I do:
Another effective method, if you have the time, is to ask the players the Establishing Questions before the session begins, but a note of caution here: given this extra time to consider their answers, some players go a little overboard or, worse, become paralyzed with indecision. The way I do it, by asking them on the spot and then giving them a short break to think about it, encourages the players to be succinct and to go for the most obvious answer, which is often the best answer. That said, as with my note about one-shots above, sometimes a little extra time to work with the Establishing Questions can be helpful.  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 1 of 5) Rich Rogers runs for Dr. Jason Cox, Keith Stetson, Noella H, Paul Edson, and Steven Watkins The Tunnel Schutta, Twi'Lek delivery riders on Ryloth, try to get meds for their maimed friend. Gauntlet Sunday Urban Shadows (Session 1 of 5) Lowell Francis runs for Darren Brockes, Fraser Simons, Joshua Gilbreath, and Rich Rogers Lured by rumors of the missing Vamp, Kagami, the PCs hit a Yakuza Hunter plot to flush out their companion Sato by burning the Johns Hopkins library with them inside. Tragic Tuesday Cthulhu Dark: As Good As A Feast Shane Liebling runs for Harry, Pat P., Robbie Boerth, and Sarah J. A Dust Bowl family finds all the produce they can eat - if only it would keep the hunger away... TGI Thursday Scum & Villainy (Session 1 of 4) Lowell Francis runs for Barry, Eduardo, Josh DeGagne, and Paul Towing the dead body of their contact, our new crew of smugglers escape a meet gone bad. Gauntlet Quarterly Gauntlet League Wrestling Season 3 (Session 8) Lowell Francis runs for Chris Newton, Gerwyn Walters, Joe, Matt, Patrick Knowles, and Tyler Lominack Villainous management tries to drive a wedge between Spider Hero and Kent Reid, but only empowers their new crusade. The Gaunt Marches Funnel World: Den of Iniquity (Session 1 of 3) Richard Ruane runs for James, Josh, Ryan, and Tony H Eight youths of Goatbridge head out to the an abandoned house in the swamp for a night of drinking, but what the house they find doesn’t seem as abandoned as they hoped. Indie Schwarze Auge [DEUTSCH] World of Aventurien: Schatten im Zwielicht (Session 1 von 2) Gerrit Reininghaus leitet eine Session für Eike, Mathias, Sabine, und Tina T. We have four highly talented specialists of black magic with us: a cake house witch, a sleepless necromancer with her dog, a self-convinced hypnotizer and a furious fire mage on an impossible mission to kidnap a high-representative of the demon master. Fortunately, they already recruited the dead bodies of their future selves as undead servants, spit fireballs into the ether, are extremely convincing about implausible natural phenomena and have sugar treats for everybody else. CodeX-Files Spirit of '77/Serious Moonlight from Codex-Glamour (Session 3 of 3) Tyler Lominack runs for Patrick Knowles and Ryan M. Gauntlet Hangouts Prism: Oceans of Feelings Lowell Francis runs for Andy Olson, David Morrison, Gerrit Reininghaus, and Noella H A trip to The Contests leads to exploration of a fallen ivory tower and a life-changing "kidnapping" in this aquatic fantasy rpg. 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars: Charlie Sector (Session 1 of 3) Donogh runs for Ary Ramsey, Christine, and David Jay A new squad takes the lead in the drop on Michelangelo, where sneaky reptilian aliens try in vain to defend their swampy homeland. The Mecha Hack: System Malfunction (Session 1 of 4) Maria Rivera runs for Josh DeGagne, Leandro Pondoc, and Noella H Night Witches: Season 2 (Session 2 of 6) David Rothfeder runs for Bethany H., Bryan, Donogh, and Noella H In this episode of Nightwitches Sunday, the pilots faced a panzer blitz with full fighter escort in retaliation of the death of a Nazi VIP. Casualties were heavy, and guilt was heavier, but that and a lack of sleep won't keep them from their next mission. Content Warning: rape survivor. Pigsmoke: Summer Term (Session 3 of 4) Tyler Lominack runs for Asher S., Ludovico Alves, and Pawel S. Tensions run high in Pigsmoke as Prof Galaxy and Prof Bandoni don't see eye to eye, and the Beast in the Basement calls to them. Meanwhile, Prof Blackrose sends Titania back where she belongs but not without a trip to the hospital wing. Perdition: A Host of Angels in Perdition (Session 1 of 4) Fraser Simons runs for Darren Brockes, Lauren, Luiz Ferraz, and Maria Rivera Members of the Bellator choir are sent to Perdition to stop the end of days. Spire: Eidolon Sky (Session 1 of 9) Darren Brockes runs for Bethany H., Maria Rivera, Owen, and Taejas SGT Hester Lestray and Whent Crowder start an investigation into the murder of a priest and begin to uncover what looks like a serial killer. Meanwhile, Kieran Doral and Dr. Elyse Montresson look into rise of a highly addictive new drug called dreck. All the while, looming in the background, is the threat of a reality-warping, dimension-bending demonic incursion... Monsterhearts 2: Kingsport 1692 (Session 1 of 4) Catherine Ramen runs for Darold Ross, David Jay, Dylan R., Leandro Pondoc, and Seraphina The first episode of the 1692 chapter of the unfolding Kingsport saga (Monsterhearts in Lovecraft country) sees Fortune the witch stirring up trouble and playing with hearts, Aphra surprised by her father's plans to return to England and lay her to rest, a picnic for Chastity and Mercy, Verity's refusal to leave her parents' home to take service with a finer family, the the possible bewitching of Grace Baxter, and a sexy man with an ax named Fear-the-Lord Woode. (Now with introduction and title sequences, as if this wasn't extra enough.) Undying: The Plague Empire (Session 1 of 4) Mikael Tysvær runs for Jim Crocker, Jim, and Paul Spraget MR-KR-GR: The Death-Rolled Kingdom (Session 1 of 2) Tomer Gurantz runs for Lauren, Paul Spraget, and Pawel S. Join Mahi the Agent of Kraching, Ursan the Bear of Kandis, and Panya the Witch of Merating on a journey in the Thousand Thousand Islands, a South-East Asian fantasy world setting being created by Zedeck Siew and Munkao. Swords Without Master: Remnants: Year 1, Winter Pat P. runs for Ary Ramsey, Phillip Wessels, and Shawn The rogues travel to The Davelac to confront Lord Adrielle and her sorcerer, Nalo-Semor. 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! by Kyle Thompson, Keeper of the Light of the Peerless Star (@wiegraf_)
What is All Systems Nominal? All Systems Nominal is a mecha RPG based on gritty “real robot” military science fiction like Battletech, Front Mission, Gundam 08th MS Team, Titanfall, Brigador, Heavy Gear, and Maschinen Kriger. It is designed to be a brief read that will be easy for GMs and other players to learn, with a focus on tactical and cinematic combat, teamwork, and the grind of life on a military campaign. The core rules are based on Blades in the Dark. However the combat is more similar to the Range and Cover rules in The Burning Wheel, and the downtime phase resembles Night Witches. The game relies heavily on tags in a way that will be familiar to players of Lady Blackbird, City of Mist, or Vagabonds of Dyfed. A full campaign of All Systems Nominal can be expected to run for about 8-10 sessions of play. What is it like to play? Most of the play time in All Systems Nominal is spent in the combat scenes that form the core of the mission phase. While the general feeling in The Gauntlet community is not very enthusiastic about tactical combat, in playtesting I received comments from multiple players saying that the combat in All Systems Nominal surprised them with how engaging and interesting it is. Each combat sequence begins with an engagement roll similar to Blades in the Dark, and then proceeds to two rounds of combat. At the start of each round the Commanding Officer of the player unit chooses a maneuver (Ambush, Fighting Retreat, etc.), and then each member of the unit describes how they contribute to the unit’s actions. Depending on how the players roll, they get a result after the two rounds of combat that describe their position coming out of battle. This system moves fast and keeps all the players thinking about the fiction while making tactical decisions that contribute to the group. The stakes feel real and every hit the unit takes makes their situation more difficult in downtime. The downtime phase will be familiar to players of Blades in the Dark and Night Witches. Pilots spend their downtime actions to make connections, acquire the materiel they need to continue the fight, and care for themselves and each other in the face of the violence and terror of war. Like in both those games, the downtime starts off easy enough but becomes more and more intense and meaningful as the players’ pilots and mecha accumulate scars and break down under the stress of fighting. What makes this game special? I decided to make All Systems Nominal after the launch of Harebrained Schemes’ Battletech this year. Many players were talking about how they wanted to run some kind of mecha RPG for their friends after playing the game, but they just weren’t satisfied with the options out there because they were too cumbersome to fit into their busy lives. I had been fiddling around with ideas for how to make a Forged in the Dark game based on Brigador ever since I first started making my Let’s Learn Blades in the Dark series, and I had plenty of experience with the mecha genre, both from playing and reading games based on Battletech and from my work as the lead translator on the Front Mission Fan Translation Project, so I decided I was well qualified to give this design problem a shot. Every part of the design was written to focus on fast uptake for the player and GM, interesting decisions, the struggles of campaign life, and scenes that would show off the mecha stomping around the world. Here are just a few worth highlighting: No classes, no playbooks John Harper famously wanted to design Blades in the Dark as a classless game, and I decided to follow that design instinct with All Systems Nominal. Players don’t choose a class or playbook with a bunch of moves, they simply choose a background and write two specializations that represent what they learned from their background. They can use these as tags during missions or downtime to help themselves get extra dice on rolls. This keeps things simple and flexible no matter what setting the group wants to play in. Simple mecha creation Mecha creation is designed to be fast, and involves just four steps. There is no getting bogged down in equipment tables or weight calculations.
As I noted above, the combat system in All Systems Nominal involves fighting as a unit, and it requires that everyone’s pilots make meaningful individual contributions to the fight. While individual duels can be resolved with Blades-style action rolls, that is not the focus of the game. In combat, the commanding officer decides a maneuver for the whole unit, and then each pilot makes decisions about the range they will occupy, the specializations and talents that are relevant to what they’re doing, and the special systems their personal mecha can use in the situation. There is a back and forth of group and individual action that avoids the isolated and sequential decision making that often characterizes grid-based tactical combat. Build relationships to stay in the fight Unlike Blades in the Dark, All Systems Nominal does not involve a complex written setting with lists of factions and NPCs for the players to interact with. However All Systems Nominal does provide players with the tools necessary to gradually expand their network of contacts in order to get the resources they need and involve them in compelling personal struggles. The game mainly does this by taking a page from The Burning Wheel’s Circles mechanic, which has been rewritten FitD style as The Link Roll. This roll allows pilots to use their background, status, and connections to reach individuals who can help them get what they need. They declare what sort of person they want to link up with, answer questions about their relationship, and then roll a number of dice dictated by the answers they provide. A critical result will get the pilot an eager and helpful ally, while a miss will get them an enemy who harbors a secret or open enmity against them. Once the pilots have contacts they can make a Resource Roll to acquire what they need. Every fictional advantage they can muster helps, but fundamentally pilots acquire resources with their Rank, which acts as both the pilots level, and their tier in Blades parlance. Ranking up will help pilots get what they need, but they will have to leverage every advantage they can get to stay sound of mind, body, and mecha. A pilot without some solid relationships will fight alone and die alone in the end. Links and media All Systems Nominal is currently in public beta testing and can be found here with character sheets and Roll20 play aids. 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 Jim! Welcome to Mandatory Fun Club! My first question for you is: How did you hear about the Gauntlet community? I went looking for APs of the Star Trek Adventures RPG and found Lowell's run on The Gauntlet, which caused me to look at other stuff they were doing and here I am. What kind of experience do you have facilitating TTRPGs? I've been playing and running for 40ish years, 25 of them in game stores where I ran multiple games a week and introduced literally thousands of people to gaming between that and helping start Origins Games on Demand. What kind of experience do you have playing TTRPGs online? You're soaking in it!  What made you decide to jump in and start facilitating games for Gauntlet Hangouts?
I love running games, and the Gauntlet has proven to be a Community that shares basically everything I value in gaming. It was the entirely logical next step for me here. Tell us about the game you're planning to facilitate for MFC! Why did you choose it? I got to play Velvet Glove with the designer [Sarah Richardson] in an early version and totally loved it. I have a scenario I tested at Camp Nerdly and it went really well. I also noticed there wasn't an online character sheet, so I made one to go with my game so that other folks might want to run it too! PBTA games are great first sessions because of the shared narrative creation, and I'm really comfortable with my ability to facilitate them, so it was an all-around great fit. What other games would you be interested in facilitating for Gauntlet Hangouts in the future? I'm part of the shared-author setting The Gaunt Marches, so I'll definitely be running plenty of Dungeon World (I've got my first game ready to go for Gauntlet Con, in fact!) Beyond that I'm hoping to run a few more 'tradindle' type games, maybe Gumsoe and Cortex, possibly Star Trek, in addition to PBTA stuff. There's not nearly enough superhero gaming on the Gauntlet, and I'm hoping to make an impact there in particular. Is there anything non-gaming-related that you'd like people to know about you? I'm turning 50 this October, which will mark 29 years as a vegetarian. It's both terrifying and exhilarating to be facing the back half of my life in a hobby opening itself fully to youth culture and new modes of thought about everything from gender to how we play. I love and fear it! Where can people go to hear more from you? I tweet at @jimlikesgames, and I sell indie/small press RPGs at dozens of conventions as Jim Likes Games, LLC, and I'm me, Jim Crocker (he/him) on The Gauntlet. Say hello! |
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