THE PITCH
I’m running four online sessions the second weekend in
October. They’re going to be fun. A couple still have room for players. You
should come and play.
This is all part of VirtuaCon, the online convention put
together by RPG Geek. That’s a great community- and one with a strong
international representation (hence games scattered across timezones). Most of
the pick-up online games I’ve played have been arranged through their forums.
If you’re looking to try new things out or find a quick online G+ session, they’re
a great resource to try out.
Here’s the list of games and events VirtuaCon’s offering this year. Many have already filled, but a bunch still have slots open.
Supporting online cons like VirtuaCon, LUG Con, ConTessa, and others is a great
way to get more gaming out there.
So here’s what I’m running. I’ve posted a little about this
before. I’ll begin with the two games that still have room. If you’re wondering
what I’m like as a GM, you can check out some videos of me running from my YouTube channel.
Fate Core,
Saturday October 11th 8PM Eastern- I’ve got three seats open.
Pitch: Guards in
a Fantasy City Attempt to Keep the Peace and Solve Crimes.
Details: Another
day on the mean streets of Abashan. In a town of fantasy adventure it’s up to
you and your fellow guards to patrol your district, quell riots, take down
monstrous invaders, break up foreign conspiracies, shut down wild magicks, make
friends in the community, and stop crazed adventurers. Beginning with a morning
briefing you must figure out how to prioritize assignments, shirk duties,
protect the innocent, and perhaps even earn a little extra coin…
You’ll be able to pick which case you want to run down and
how you want to fix things. Play involves a mix of investigation, social
interaction, problem solving, and the occasional head thumping.
Behind the Scenes:
I’ve run GoA several times, including at Gen Con, and it’s based on a house
campaign. I adapted our home Action Cards
system over to Fate Core to run it
online. I like it because there’s a nice mix of figuring out how you want to
figure things out, making your character’s stamp on the world, and dealing with
the actual guard business. I throw three cases at the players and they pick one
to track down. It is short, sweet, and pretty fun- we’re done in three hours or
less. I’ve
Durance, Saturday
October 11th 10AM Eastern- I’ve got three seats open.
Pitch: Survival,
Conflict, and Drama in a Superhuman Gulag.
Details: In 1981 the World Congress passed the Purity Act to
restrict the rights of Mutants. Hostile environment penal colonies and prisons
supposedly established to handle super-criminals were repurposed to serve as
containment centers and labor camps. Power armor guards, robot controllers,
power-suppression devices, and deadly environments all kept Mutants and other
superbeings in check.
But times change…
We will play out the story of one of those camps- with each
player taking two roles: one on the keeper side and the other on the prisoner
side.
This GM-less game will be based on a modified version of Durance.
Certain elements defining the Gulag will be decided by polls prior to the game
start. To quote paraphrase the game blurb, “Durance
is a fast-paced, low-prep, highly collaborative game in the tradition of Fiasco. Players in Durance assume the dual roles of prisoners and guards trying to
survive on an outrageously hostile environment. The thin veneer that separates
the two classes tends to erode during play, raising questions about corruption,
justice and mercy.”
This game is based on the superhero world created by a crack
team of RPGGeeks just for VirtuaCon ‘14. You can see the full write-up of that history here. You
don’t have to read that or know anything about it to play, but that’s pretty
cool, isn’t it?
Behind the Scenes:
I don’t think Durance gets the love
it deserves. It’s a striking and interesting game. I dig the tension between
character drives and the shared need to survive. I posted some notes on the reskinning process of this scenario. As I mentioned on G+ this ended up taking
more prep time than I thought it would. Once I dug into things, I realized just
how well constructed Durance is.
Making it work and keeping focus on both sides (Authority and Convicts) is the
challenge in the reskinning. Plus the key elements of isolation and shared
struggles for survival. I really, really hope I get enough players for this one
to go off. It is probably a tough sell- a slightly fringe and challenging game,
with another layer of narrative complications on top of that.
Icons Assembled, Sunday October 12th 10AM
Eastern- I have one seat still open.
Pitch: Near-Future
Superheroes Aim to Defeat a Tyrannical Overlord
In 2112, Chancellor Helagard seized control of the Earth at
the behest of his alien masters, the Kansegu. He moved quickly to take out the
world’s superbeings through sleeper agents and his own loyal cadre of
Psychic-powered henchpersons. Nine years have passed and the Kansegu have
finally cemented their control. All opposition has been crushed.
Except for you.
You’re among the last free superbeings, waging an
underground campaign against the invaders. Now a desperate gamble may unlock
the secret to defeating the Chancellor and his Kansegu puppetmasters. But first
you will need to find Tesla’s Brain…
This game is based on the created superhero world mentioned
above.
Behind the Scenes:
Icons is really interesting and the new edition brings things together in a
much clearer way. It is pretty far away from the Fate original. I see now why some gamers really stress that when
people talked about Fate-based
superhero systems. The game uses randomly generated character creation. I’m
opting not to do that for this one shot. Instead I’m doing some builds based on
Legion of Superhero themes mixed with a little randomness. I think that random
generation’s great if you’re doing a regular game, where part of the point is
figuring out how your character actually holds together.
Fate Core, Friday
October 10th 4PM Eastern- actually have the table filled and one
person on the wait list.
Pitch: Newly-Minted
Superhero Team Tries to Save a City of Crime
Details: Science
City, 1937. Once a shining beacon of progress and hope following the defeat of
the Kansegu alien invasion, darkness now covers Science City. Some hint at
strange forces behind the transformation of this island paradise. But clearly
corruption, urban decay, foreign agents, and criminal influence have made Science
City a hotbed of vice and crime.
You’re going to fix that.
You’re a superbeing with amazing powers and an equally
difficult task. The Transatlantic League, the world-renowned team of
superheroes has selected your group to fix Science City. But you only have
thirty days. How you decide to do that is up to you: quiet, loud, soft, hard,
above board or from the shadows. Will you prove that heroes can make a
difference and keep yourselves above the muck?
I’ll set the stage and you’ll figure out what to fix and how
to do that. Play involves a mix of investigation, social interaction, problem
solving, and the occasional head thumping, should you so choose.
This game is based on the created superhero world mentioned
above.
Behind the Scenes:
I’m really excited for this one for a couple of reasons. For one I love
throwing broad situations at players and letting them figure out how they want
to come to a solution. I try to come in with as few preconceptions as possible.
I simply put together the structures and shape of the situation. Players always
surprise me. For another, Fate Cores a good system for allowing players to do
quick and easy “set up” and planning. They can shape action at a distance, add
aspects to change the world, or go for more direct interaction. You can do that
with any game, but Fate’s makes is easier to figure how to do and actually
execute. Finally I also want to see how the Venture City Stories power-builds
look in play. I like those mechanics (as well as the faction stuff).
tl/dr
I’m running some cool online rpg sessions that still have
room and I want players to sign up.
I’ll also be
moderating and participating in some panels, but I’ll save that for another
post.
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