Gaming

Palladium Books just announced that Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Films have optioned the Rifts universe for a live action motion picture. Disney also gets dibs on marketing resulting from the movie. Now, chances are the thing will never get made. Options are just options, and don’t pan out at a high percentage. In fact, it’s kind of goofy of Palladium to announce it — trumpeting your options is sort of a sign of amateur hour. But that’s Palladium for ya, god bless their overpowered little hearts. ...

Actually, it occurs to me that since the book has been announced, there’s nothing stopping me from saying “Hey, look at this, I wrote part of it.” So there you are. Yes, I am a diehard wrestling fan. I have an old LJ post about this which I think I will dig up soon.

“So,” he said, “What’s ‘ discovery science,’ anyhow?” “UFOs,” she replied. “Cattle mutilations. That sort of thing. More coffee?” It pays to talk to waitresses.

There’s a hefty little thread over on the Forge about ad lib GMing. (Well, it starts out as a thread about player fulfillment and winds up as a big discussion about “No Myth” roleplaying, but you know, it’s still rock and roll to me. Ad lib GMing, with player acceptance. OK.) The early advice from Le Joueur is very solid and can be turned to slightly less extreme ends. My experience is that many players need the possibility of failure in a way that his Complication theory doesn’t really address. To put it differently: ends must be mutable in play. And… hm. Ah. ...

Patricia Hearst, post-sentencing. (Thumbnail: follow the link for a full-sized picture.)

WISH 44 is all about picking games (original). How do you choose games to join or to run? What factors influence you: timing, people, system, genre, etc.? Do you weigh different factors for different kinds of games, e.g., online vs. tabletop vs. LARP? Is it a group decision or a decision you make on your own? Well, the easy answer is “yes.” I’m attracted to games based on genre and people. For a new group, the genre needs to be interesting and the people need to seem suitable. I’ve never been particularly interested in random D&D games, and I’m careful about getting into games with people I don’t know. ...

The first public draft of Into The Sunset (original) (120K PDF) is now available. What’s that, you ask? It’s my little ten page roleplaying game of romantic comedies. Take a look if you like that sort of thing, and comment if the spirit moves you. It’s cool to link to it, but please don’t stick it up anywhere else. Right now it’s under copyright; when I decide what I want to do with it I’ll most likely release it under a Creative Commons license. At that point it may well turn into an HTML document as well.

If I was gonna run a Buffy (original) game, which I’m not, it would be something like this. It would be set in Los Angeles, in 1976. Warren Zevon would have just released his eponymous album. Vampires would snort cocaine alongside adult film stars, and they’d both pay the price in their own ways. Daddy, don’t you ask her when she’s coming in And when she’s home don’t ask her where she’s been ...

Speaking of indie RPGs, there are eight interesting games here. They were all written in 24 hours flat. Some of ‘em work, some of ‘em don’t, I think they’re all interesting experiments. We really need to schedule a regular indie gaming night, maybe monthly.

What I’m thinking is this: a vast, ancient elven empire, called simply the Empire, that dominates the western half of the continent. The elves are neutral, shading towards a kind of practical lawful evil, but only a little way. Just a dark grey. The only exception to the elven domination in this part of the continent is a northwestern peninsula, which is populated by a resolute kingdom of mountain dwarves. Underneath the peninsula, there’s a kingdom of drow which survives with assistance from the Empire. The drow kingdom is a cult of personality, worshipping the Living Presence of their goddess. The Living Presence tells lies about his kingdom’s power, and his people believe him. The mountain dwarves would like to reclaim the tunnels and caverns, and they could probably manage the drow on their own, but the Empire? No way. ...