Star Wars Wendesday - How long did that take?

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Action scenes in roleplaying games are major highlights in the game. In Star Wars, more often than not, they should be THE highlight of the session, or the campaign. Creating good cinematic sequences is key.

Remember that action doesn't always mean combat. There doesn't even need to be a direct physical threat, if there is enough drama in the scene. The results of failure can manifest itself in other ways - the characters didn't get there in time to prevent x from happening, for instance.

Creating a good action sequence can be difficult.

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Star Wars Wednesday - Newsnets

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So, it's still Wednesday, right? Sorry for the delay, things got considerably busier at the end of the day than I expected...

Today, or what's left of it, I want to talk a bit about distributing information within the game, for those RPG fans out there. I'm talking mainly about clues and backstory - information that the gamemaster wants the players and their characters to learn about, but may not want to spend a lot of session time playing it out. Sure, the GM can read it out, or play it out with GM characters, but this runs the risk of halting play for a lot of exposition. Handing over a sheaf of campaign notes aren't likely to be read either, no matter how interested the players may be.

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Star Wars Wednesday - Yoda's Species in Play

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A long time ago, in a meeting far, far away, George Lucas declared that Yoda's species details would remain a secret. Generally, I'm fine with that - it's a big galaxy, and it's nice to have unknown bits. We don't even know the species name. For game designers, this presented certain challenges - how do you stat out Yoda or one of the other two known members of the species?
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CHAOS D&D and GenCon 2011

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I see from my site stats that a few eager GenCon 2011 attendees/players found my old post on CHAOS D&D, some through a google search. Thanks for the interest! I've gone back and edited the plot info out of the entry, but reading it may still give a way some spoilers on how the game itself is played. Though that in and of itself is not a secret (CHAOS has been running for years at ShaunCon and KC Game Fair), it's still more fun for some people to experience it first hand.

As to the plot info earlier readers or players may have read/played, CHAOS plots have a way of developing over time (and even in game), so I'm sure it won't be exactly the same this time around.

For those who aren't following all of that, the Roleplayers Guild of Kansas City, Ltd. is running two rounds of its long running Chaotically Hysterical Association of Systems (CHAOS) event at GenCon 2011.

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Star Wars Wednesday - May the 4th Be With You

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May the 4th be with you!

Sorry for the late post today. When I realized yesterday that there would be a lot of Star Wars related activity today, the mostly unofficial Star Wars day, I decided to hold off at least until after the countdown clock on starwars.com expired, in case it was important. By then, of course, I was at work and ended up working late, so I'm just now getting to this.

As my friends and family know well, I like puns. You'd think I would be a fan of a something like the title of this day. Sorry, but this one just never clicked with me. Apparently the fun continues tomorrow with the Revenge of the 5th. I do find the combination of jokes funnier than either individually, for whatever reason.

Anyway, there was a lot of Star Wars around the web, at least. Here's a quick roundup of some of the better stuff, for those who missed it:

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Chaos Scar: Scarblade now available on DDI

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My adventure Chaos Scar: Scarblade is now live in Dungeon Magazine for D&D Insider subscribers. It's my first Dungeon and DDI contribution. Come to think of it, it's my first 4e to be released (though not my first 4e first project).

Somewhere in the Chaos Scar is the Proving Pit, a gladiatorial arena that is associated with an enticing magical sword called the Scarblade. Ruling over the Proving Pit is Morrn Bladeclaw, its foremost champion and former owner of the Scarblade. To claim the mystical blade, challengers must face Morrn Bladeclaw, but not until they've bested the pit's lesser champions first. But the Scarblade, and the Proving Pit itself, might have something to say about the situation. "Scarblade" is an adventure for characters of levels 7 to 9.

Good luck and have fun! 

Star Wars Wednesday - Mobilized

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This week, I've been totally distracted by several things. I've recently become significantly busier, in a good way, but it has also left me going "Tomorrow is Wednesday? Already?" the past couple of weeks. I'll get things sorted and get some more gaming stuff up in the future, and follow up on the outpost from a few weeks back.

One distraction this week is my new android phone, my first foray in to the smartphone arena. No, it's not "droid" branded model, though that would have been appropriate and fun, especially the special edition R2 model.

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Star Wars Wed - Trandoshan Hunting Pod

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I hope everyone enjoyed last week's April Fools day posts. The "obviously omitted" rules from Wednesday were a lot of fun to do, and those who checked back on April 1st itself got some RPG and minis stats for Simon the Killer Ewok. A couple of notes: the rules were far more popular than Simon, and I actually did send a previous version of those midi-chlorian rules to Rodney Thompson (Wizards Saga line developer) back in 2008 for April 1st. Last week's version was much improved, and a few people noted what I thought of as a joke within the joke - you could eventually use them in play, after some more development and tweaking.

I don't report a lot of Star Wars non-gaming news, but for those who missed it, the official forums at starwars.com are shutting down at the end of the month. They'll be read only until June or so, but then they will be removed. No word on the blogs, and I'll keep posting there while I can. I've suspected for a long time the blogs would go away with the end of the Hyperspace online fan club, given the lack of upgrades. Didn't expect the forums to also go away. There was an announcement last year that another company was coming in to help run the Lucas sites, so I gather this is all part of that process.

On to this week. Since it's the end of the current Clone Wars season, I wanted to follow up on the final episodes, without major spoilers.

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Star Wars Wednesday - An Obvious Omission

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About this time back in 2008, I sent a proposal off to Wizards addressing a clear oversight in the Saga Edition rules. Although it was surprising that the fans were not concerned about (or seemingly aware of) the omission, it was obvious to me we needed to include it to make sure that all aspects of the Saga were accurately portrayed within the game. Now, several years later, I dug out my original proposal and realized it was sorely lacking in game balance and explanation, likely due to the revolutionary changes it would have introduced to the game, plus it was early in the Saga Edition design process (for me, anyway). So, I present below, a newly updated version to add to the Force chapter of the Core Rulebook.
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Fantasy Map Cartography

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Normally, I would add an excerpt or example of my most recent cartography work to my online portfolio when completed. However, as my most recent example was for the subscriber based DungeonADay.com (and therefore unavialable in the near term for this use), I went ahead and created a new map using the same techniques I used in the DaD Fane of the Sea God maps. While those maps adhered to the DaD style, I used different details for this map. The overall effect is similar.

I am always looking for new cartography freelance projects. Please contact me if you have a project that needs need a map (or a writer). You can see my portfolio here.

Star Wars Wednesday - DoD 6 Question and Comments

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A brief trip to the mailbag this week. I've received different versions of the following question from time to time regarding my contribution the the Dawn of Defiance SWRPG Saga campaign, Episode 6: Core of Corruption:

After running DoD 6 a time or two and having distance from the material, are there any extra encounters, skill challenges or errata you've added or would like to add to the module? - Garrett

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Star Wars Wednesday - Humor and Art

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It's been one of those weeks where an disparate collection of news came to my attention from my inbox, twitter feed, facebook, email and somewhere else I'm likely forgetting at the moment. Anyway, I could split this up into two posts, but really, I'm just going to plunge ahead like a speederbike through the trees.  BETWEEN. BETWEEN the trees.
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Dungeon-A-Day Cartography: Fane of the Sea God

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These past two weeks, I had the opportunity to contribute a pair of dungeon maps to DungeonADay.com, as a guest cartographer for the Fane of the Sea God areas. For those who don't know, Dungeon A Day came from the mind of prominent  Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition designer Monte Cook of Malhavok Press. Posting one encounter/room per day, 5 days a week, it's about to reach dungeon level 16, not including side quests and related encounters. It is a subscription based site, so you won't be able to see my work (unless you subscribe, of course). In this case, the maps are heavily influenced by Dungeon A Day's established style, by their regular cartographer, Ed Bournelle of SkeletonKey Games.

Super Genius Games took over the day to day content handling of Dungeon A Day late last year.  Charles Ryan (former Wizards of the Coast Brand Manager, among other credits) recently joined the effort, and wrote the Fane of the Sea God areas. It's been good to work with Charles (for the first time) and Stan! on the project. 

Dungeon A Day is an 3.5 Open Game License project, and they recently added Pathfinder stats to their encounters. Those interested can either subscribe to the service, or I believe they are selling individual pdfs of some of the early levels. See the site for more information.

 

Star Wars Wednesday - On the Other Side of the Galaxy

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Sometimes I wonder just how many people have been involved in creating the vast Star Wars universe we know now. The sheer number of writers, artists, model makers, costume designers, sound editors, CGI artists, game designers, musicians and more is just staggering. Sometime after they move on to other things, we as fans and creators eventually wonder what they're up to now.

Last week, an old RPG name resurfaced in an interview in the first issue of D6 Magazine - Bill Smith

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