Character Sheet Saturday: AD&D Exorcist

So here's a xerox from the legendary AD&D character sheet packs, those of the orange paper which I can only assume was an attempt to keep them from being photocopied. I love all of the detail and tiny, tiny lettering. I ran some AD&D- a couple of campaigns that lasted for a while. But by the time that Unearthed Arcana came out, various groups in our area had started to migrate over to GURPS and Rolemaster to do fantasy. So I only really have two characters I remember from this period, the one I played in a long-running campaign...

...and this guy. Who I maybe played for a session.

What made this character memorable was the set up. I played with a number of different groups- and some of them were a few years older. They were of my sister's generation or gamers or a little younger. By the time I became a gamer worth playing with, i.e. not an ankle-biter, some of the groups had moved on and the rest shuffled around and reformed. I ended up with a decent crew and we played in the garage during the summer in the Northern Indiana humidity and in the basement in the winter. One summer, a veteran gamer returned fro the Army. He'd been a kind of legendary GM and he wanted to finish out his campaign- one or two players in my group had been in his game. So he asked about using the garage, helped rebuild one of the tables and set the thing up.

I got to make up a character for the game which was going to be the epic wrap-up of the various plot threads and stuff. Of course, given the nature of the time, the game had a ton of house rules mana instead of spells per day; new classes & races; additional stats and so on. And for those of us joining in, we got to make up higher level characters. So you can see my 12th level Elven Wolf Rider Exorcist on the sheet below. I only scanned the first page, on the second page there's something about my character having lost and arm and it being replaced with an ape arm. I don't remember the details of that. And of course on the back of these sheets there's a space for the characters to write in their will.

Anyway, the game started running- I think they were planning on a full weekend of intense gaming to wrap everything up. I was kind of excited- a chance to play in a legendary game with some legendary characters- to add my story to that. But pretty quickly it became apparent that wasn't going to happen. The game was going to go on, but my character and those of the one or two other fill-ins- well, we really didn't matter. We couldn't affect anything, we couldn't get any scene time, and pretty much were left clueless out in the cold. Now I can understand that to some degree- this was a campaign with a rich history that had gone on for a long time. But I'd hoped to do more than just sit there and get to roll my sword. It the first time I experienced a game squarely aimed at one or two players; the GM intended them to be the stars of the show and anything else was unimportant. I hit that a few more times over the years, but this was almost the most blatant. I recall at one point asking a fellow veteran player who had a number of legendary artifact swords if I could use one for the upcoming fight since I didn't have one. Such a request was clearly beyond the pale and offensive. So no sword. At some point I got tired of the whole thing and left, I went upstairs to bed and they kept playing in my garage. I think the game broke up at about dawn. I don't think I ever heard how it wrapped up.

Good times.

Full and legible character sheet here.

Character Creation: Work, Labor or Craft?

I read an interesting geeklist- Games that make character creation fun! -by Bazin and sparked a couple of thoughts about the process. I don't revel in character creation like I used to. When I first started playing D&D, I remember discovering that the game store had pads of character sheets on 4x6 heavy stock paper. I used to burn through those rolling people up; when the horrible orange-sheet books for AD&D came out, I bought those and did the same thing. But at some point, perhaps when "rolling up a toon" became more involved or actually required real work and thinking I stopped just doing character roll-ups for fun. Some that was the process, but more of it came from investing time and wanting to actually play the characters I created. Now I sublimate that desire through NPC creation- making up batches by randomizing elements, putting those together and coming up with stories that fit them. At least I know I can always get these characters out on the table.

OTHER FUN/INTERESTING CC SYSTEMS
I'd add a few other games to Bazin's list-

Hollowpoint's another game that adds a twist to character creation- a fairly simple process. On the one hand player's get to come up with a set of crazy "traits" based on oddball questions ("That one time in Utah you took took a souvenir, it was this..."). These traits establish background, but act as a generic resource to get spent for effect later in the game. The trick is how to integrate those traits into the story. But Hollowpoint also asks each character to create a complication- a statement about the mission that makes it personal for them, provides a twist, or will create havoc later. That's a nice mechanism; because everyone's had to do this, you know there's a time-bomb under each player's seat.

Dread also uses questions (as do many other games), but unlike most games where the questions help you refine the rest of the process- the questions are the process. But the trick is that each player gets a distinct set of questions to build their character from. You can see an example of that here in a questions I put together for my horror version of The Hangover. In Dread each player fills in their questions and then if you can bring something from those answers into play, the GM may let you not have to make a test...which can be a significant advantage. The game makes for an amusing, Mad-Libs character creation process

The list includes the new Gamma World Roleplaying Game, which I'd be interested in if I wasn't gunshy about the 4e Engine. But I have many fond memories of rolling up exceptionally awful and non-sensical characters from the first Gamma World. Any of the classic "roll for random stuff" games could be great fun. The first two editions of Villains & Vigilantes had random super-power tables. The randomness made sense in GW, but for V&V half the struggle was trying to figure out how the bizarre mix of things actually made a character concept. Or you'd cheat and fudge the rolls. Even some classic fantasy games had elements that required some jiggering and adjustment. Old Empire of the Petal Throne made you roll for your background profession. The one time I got to roll up a character for that, I ended up with a baker. Stormbringer, the earliest of the Elric-setting rpgs, had players randomly for nationality. That then significantly affected their stats and limited what professions they could get...from the random profession table.

WALKING THE PATH
Having some randomness in character creation can be fun, but having rolls so absolutely determine a character's direction- I'm not sure I'm cool with that. Of course that leads into Old-School question of rolling and keeping the stats in order or actually placing them as you choose. Ideally, I want a balance between randomness and my ability to determine the role I want in the group. One approach I recall fondly is the use of Life Paths.

Classic Traveller's the best representation of this. That was another game where I loved making up characters- because while you sometimes got what you wanted, you often added in a lot of extra strangeness, depending on the supplements you used. Picking your career track and rolling for each year offered interesting benefits and the irritation of getting yet another free High Passage on a space freighter. Of course there was always the risk of getting your character killed in the process, which meant starting again from the beginning. I mentioned awhile back finding my old FASA Star Trek character sheet for the Klingons game I played. It pretty much stole the same process from Traveler. It was fun and I like that it put all those rolls on the front of the sheet.

Cyberpunk 2020 was the next game I remember offering a detailed background rolling system built into character creation. It was a fun system that they expanded in the various sourcebooks and in the Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!!! supplement which added extra angst to your life. And, of course, there were generic supplements like Central Casting: Heroes for Tomorrow and Central Casting: Heroes of Legend (First Edition), intended to help players flesh out their characters in any game. Looking at those rules, I wonder if mechanics like these couldn't be used as a better way to get a player invested in a new setting. If the specific details and concepts of these kinds of tables couldn't be filled with material specific to that game world and even that campaign? It might be a tool to consider using.

NOT ENOUGH POINTS!!!
One thing I've been thinking about is how scarcity might be used as a focus in character creation. Scarcity can change the value of a thing. We're used to GM's increasing some kinds of scarcity: fewer magic items, less treasure, rarer magical healing. Disadvantage systems offer a form of this- taking penalties to offset costs. But what about character creation and play systems that have built in scarcity?

For example, AMBER Diceless Role-Playing has a bidding system for the four stats, plus bonus stuff depending on the game. The GM runs a hidden bid auction, talking about how important a stat is (Strength, Warfare, Psyche, Endurance). The player who bids highest will be the best in that among the group- hands down. Then the other players get ranked below that according to their bids. Bottom line: their can be only one at the top. In a recent Fallout-inspired campaign, the GM made up lists of "Perks," from the VG to use as advantages. The trick was that any particular perk could only be taken by two players; after that no one else could buy it. He made that choose even tougher by dealing out experience in play with cards which could be traded. Some cards offered a special one-use bennie, some offered a new skill, some a new perk, some a stat raise and so on. For our homebrew, Action Cards, players have individually tailored decks for their characters. Normally they get to assign values, but for short-run campaigns, we've used a draft mechanic for making characters- which makes each card scarce.

Another kind of scarcity comes from limits or benefits imposed by the system itself. For example, in the Dead of Night rpg, players have four pairs of traits. You have points to spend on each pair- meaning that you have to consider the balance between them. So if you have a high Assault, you'll have a low Protect. Most GUMSHOE-system games determine points for CC based on the number of players. The rules specifically suggest that the group consult with one another to make sure all of the necessary investigation skills have been covered. Orpheus from White Wolf doesn't force the choice of roles on players- but the system instead rewards good behavior. Players can combine powers in play to get new and more interesting effects. In a way, the game uses incentives to reward diversity in the character creation process. That could extend over to games like D&D 4e where successful play at the table requires some specific builds with a group....

WHERE THE RULES FALL
Finally, there's the question of complexity. I've always believed that character creation's where the bulk of the complex rules for a game ought to fall. You only have to go through that process once (usually) and so you can afford to make that a little more time intensive. The rest of the system ought to be easier and less fiddly than character creation. But of course that gets in the way of pick-up game sunless you use pre-gen characters. And a complex character creation system can act as a barrier for entry to a system. I read a game recently that I really liked, but I had a seriously hard time wrapping my head around how to make a PC. In recent years I've seen CC as a process to "get through" to move on to the story. But Bazin's list and comments make me think- how can we make the CC process as much fun, as connected to the story, and as constructive to the group bonds as the rest of the campaign?

Changeling: Court of Judgment & Contracts of Weights and Measures

I'll talk more about this later, but in our Changeling the Lost campaign, the players have quested out to find a new fourth Court to balance those existing in the campaign city of Wayward. The Court of Rust, Gardens and the Wolf have become unbalanced and threatened by the return of the Winter seasonal Court. After a number of stories, the PCs managed to attract the attention of the force of Judgment who agree to put them to the test. They've completed those tests and have not come home, bearing new mantles and three new contract sets (which they still have to spend points on). Below I tlak about the mantle and one of the new contracts, Weights and Measures (I wish I'd figured out a music reference for that one...). Not that we use a homebrew system, so you'll find things written loosely for our rules light version. I want to talk later about how were taking advantage of this significant moment to make changes to the game system, adding Fate elements.

MANTLES
Each Court has a Mantle, allowing members of that Court to demonstrate their alliance and allow them access to the Contracts of that particular Court. A Courtly Mantle represents a Changeling's dedication to both the temporal form of the Court in the body of the Prince and the Courtiers as well as the metaphysical ideas and ethos of that Court. Mantle is a purchased ranked advantage (5/5/10/15/20). Most associate members of the Court do not possess a Mantle or else only possess a single dot.

A mantle compliments the appearance of one's mien, adding certain elements depending on the rank of the mantle. The mantles for both Gardens and Rust tend to be more subtle than the showy ones of the Seasonal Courts. That means at the lower ranks Changeling's may not notice the effects unless they're looking for them. At Rank One, players should probably select what one sensory aspect or effect happens with them. More aspects with greater potency will arise as the characters buy more ranks.

Mechanically, mantles provide a couple of benefits. First, each mantle provides a particular bonus, usually at Rank One. New effects and bonuses can come into play at Rank Three and Rank Five. They also provide a prerequisite for the Contracts of a particular Court. A character with a Mantle may purchase a set of Contracts up to the rank equal to their Mantle+1. A character without a Mantle may only purchase the first rank (unless they've bought Court Goodwill). Changeling's tend to respect persons who have a significant mantle, indicating that person's dedication to the Court's ideals. This can provide a social benefit, even among those of other Courts. When a Changeling deals with other Courts and tries to bring the Mantle's social standing to bear, this can force a subject to choose between accepting their right to those good graces or causing an insult.

Note that if a Mantle or Court Goodwill is lost, then Contracts requiring those as prerequisites cost an additional glamour to activate (which may not be reduced by use of a Catch).

MANTLE OF THE COURT OF JUDGMENT
The Court's Mantle appears first as a slight haze, a kind of shadowy distortion around the character. As the level of mantle increases, that haze beings to focus and form into a set of Shadowy Judges robes. The color may vary among Changeling, but they are unmistakable as that. They carry with them the sense of authority- not necessarily of rulership, but of honest and impartial decisions.

At Rank One, the character may perform a quick Assessment action against a target. If successful, beyond learning some of the target's aspects, they may invoke one of those aspects for free on a following round. This aspect is fragile, and must be used relatively quickly.

At Rank Three, the Court member may choose to freely add an aspect to a social situation or scene with at least three people present. They may either add “Merciful Feelings” or “Desire for Condemnation” to the scene. Only one of these aspects may be in play at one time; Court members do not double up on these, but can negate one anothers'. This aspect functions in all other respects as a scene aspect.

At Rank Five, the Court member gains the ability to judge the sincerity of Redemption. If a character has pledged themselves to something or has been given a chance to apologize or ask for forgiveness, the Courtier can gain a sense of their commitment at that moment. This ability cuts through kith abilities and Contracts except for the highest levels. It requires a social pull. The GM may provide additional information when the assessment is made, depending on the result of the pull.

CONTRACTS OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
No Guessing (*)
The Changeling may count the exact number of objects of a particular type in their surrounding zone. This range is defined fairly loosely, but should be larger based on the Changeling's Wyrd. The Changeling can know how many marbles are in a jar, how much money is in a cash register, how many guns are in a room. The Changeling does not actually have to see the objects being counted, but they should be nearby. Objects, people and things concealed by magic or other talents will not be counted.

Cost: One Glamour

Catch: The Changeling wildly does “the New math” on their fingertips.

Double Down (**)
The Changeling may quietly duplicate relatively small and items- those with relatively little value: buttons, coins, pins. Things with a specific use or of real value to someone cannot be duplicated. The character's Wyrd determines how much doubling can be done. Doubled items remain- until they're bundled together with other like items, and then they vanish. The Changeling can also decide to end a set of objects existence at will. The Changeling must have at least one of the objects to create others. Duplication can be done as a free action.

Cost: One Glamour, more if significant numbers are to be made.

Catch: The character breaks one of the original objects in making the extras. Can only offset one point of Glamour.

Gravity Never Sleeps (***)
The Changeling can add or subtract “weight” to an object. To do this, they must have one or more persons either lift or press down on the object. That force, in that direction, then stays with the object- even after those persons let go. Note that this does not levitate an object, but instead makes it weightless in that direction when someone picks it up. The Changeling may put multiple applications of this on a single object.

Cost: One Glamour, plus one Glamour for having more than one person affecting the object at once, plus one Glamour to have the effect last for longer than Dusk/Dawn.

Catch: The object is semi-permanently attached to a scale. This can reduce the cost down to a minimum of one.

Zeno's Inversion (****)
There's one way around Zeno's Paradox- if all points exist in all places at once. This clause takes that assumption to carry voices across a distance. The Changeling may speak with a target in the same realm at any distance. That Changeling may respond back as well. This does require speaking, but no one but the target will hear the conversion, which sounds to them like someone whispering in their ear. The Changeling does not have to know the location of the target, but does have to know them personally. Either side of the conversation may stop communication at will.

Cost: Two Glamour

Catch: the Changeling breaks an arrow.

Not Here nor There (*****)
The Changeling may create a small storage space, “in-between” neither in the real world nor in the Hedge. The changeling must use a storage container of some kind. They may then place anything which will fit through the mouth of the container without increasing the weight of that container. The Changeling may later reach in and draw out objects at will. If anyone but the Changeling looks into the container, they will see nothing. Living things and tokens may not be stored in the container; they simply go in normally. If the container is destroyed, the Changeling must take time and spend glamour to recreate the storage space.

The changeling may also create a lesser version of this to gift to other people. This creates a “Bag of Holding.” In this case, overly large objects may be placed in the container without adding to the bulk- but still adding to the weight. If someone other than a Changeling looks into the bag, everything comes pouring out.

Cost: Two to create, one to retrieve or place objects in the space. Two glamour- one reserved temporary to create an independent bag.

Catch: Creation is free if the Changeling has made the storage container themselves.

Robot Zero Tuesday: The Horrors of Prof. Doctor, Part I

Previous Entry

I found myself in Prof. Doctor’s lair. At the moment I was a little fuzzy on how I got there…I’d been in the monitor room. Then I recalled the good Prof’s obsession with Mind Wipes and keeping her location a secret. Blindfolds were to retro for her and her truck was always too full to jam someone in so she just erased your memories of the trip when you arrived. The Professor’s quality social skills ensured her an open calendar. Random, non-specific mind-wipes have a way of doing that. Judging by my internal clock she’s blown away at least an additional day and a half worth of memories from me.

I’d seen worse.

I’d like the Prof. quite a bit—my own creator had the drawback of both being in jail and having me on the top of his rue-ing list. Rue as in “You’ll rue the day! Oh the rue-ing will be endless for you” rather than a French sauce. That’s another story. I’d asked the Prof. to do an upgraded body before my most recent and unfortunate explosion and more importantly, I had paid her in advance. She had the know how and skills to do the job as demonstrated by her own homemade team of robot superheroes, the Tank Force.

That was to be my first horror-filled surprise.

“They’re called Real Dolls,” she said pointing at the horrific dead-eyed figures prancing around her lair. They had various complex outfits on, all apparently design to elicit panty shots with any kind of basic movement. And they had laser guns.

“G—g—gaahahaaa…” may have been my response. “….um…Tank Force…?”

“They were severely damaged when the Devil came to earth and tried to destroy all of the robots. And squirrels…which I never quite got a good explanation for…anyway that was about three years ago. I managed to get these case-mods at a super villain estate sale when Predator Man got put away.”

One of the petite robots hopped up beside me. I tried not to look at her. For a moment I could have sworn she whispered “kill me,” and then she pranced away.

The Prof continued. “Once I got them cleaned up…” she shivered, “…I used them for the Mark II versions of everyone. I’d miniaturized everything so they were half the size of before. They just didn’t seem intimidating at four foot.”

“I’m torn between whether they’re cute or horribly creepy.” Did the Lolita Goth costumes come with them or had the Professor had sewn them? There was something not altogether reassuring about the idea of the Professor playing with dolls—atomic death dolls, but dolls nonetheless.

“Go with creepy. I’m trying to send the most mixed messages I possibly can to confuse my opponents—a female super-villain sending a team of refurbished sex-toys to destroy them…”

“You know, Prof. I think I’ve heard much, much more than I needed to.” I stopped. “Wait. Did you say super-villain? Are you batting for the other team now?” Doing research would have been a good idea…or had and she’d mind-wiped it from me. I gently got my taser ready. Good taser. Happy taser.

“I shouldn’t have said that, I don’t like to pin my super-identity down. Hero, Villain, they’re all categories…” I think the lights must have started to fade in my eye-sockets at this point. “…but let’s go look at your new body. We walked out into a gigantic underground chamber. The Professor pointed at a row of wheeled contraptions which she called Segways and we were off.

I still kept a close eye on the Professor. She came from a long line of unstable geniuses who were delightful company when heavily medicated. On the other hand, I was apparently trapped in the abandoned salt mines under
Detroit and so just saying my goodbyes felt a perhaps unwise. Plus, I really wanted that new body.

Eventually we arrived at what looked like a bomb shelter door. She fumbled with her keys but eventually got it open. “Yes—you know I kept trying to get your black box from Dr. Boom. When I told him I had another body for you he requested some modifications and had me send it to him. Then he stiffed me on the shipping charges. I waited a couple of weeks and then sent a retrieval signal. I was more than a little surprised to find he hadn’t installed your OS…”

“My brain you mean…”

She flipped on the light. “Same difference. I got the robot back, undid the modifications, and then had to spend a week cleaning it up.” The Spartan chamber only had a table with a cloth covered shape.

“Cleaning it up?” Perhaps Dr. Boom had sent me into combat—could I be a back up?—was there another version of me that had been destroyed. Propagating my program wasn’t easy and I didn’t think anyone on my old team could do it.

“Yes, well he apparently availed himself of the modifications…”

“STOP. No more.” I said perhaps overly loudly for a potential cave-in area.

“…sent the specs for a duplicate of himself.”

“STOP. Please.” This story could go a number of ways and none of them pleasant to my self-esteem. Between this and Team Star-Brite Death-Lords I needed to go to a Car Wash. Now.

Prof. Doctor moved to stand over the table. “Ready?” I nodded as best I could with a fixed position neck and she whipped the sheet away.

Huh.

The Prof. had apparently taken it upon herself to build this body…differently…from my old one. She’d taken my shoulder pads, cut off the complicated series of belts and buckles which had served as body armor and over-underwear, my golden segmented bicep clasps and…

“Where are all my knee-pads?” I looked around.

“I took those off. You had a half-dozen of them, but you only have two knees…that are already made of metal.” She made a dismissive gesture.

“And my high collar?” I tried not to whine.

“Since you didn’t have a cape that’s gone too, along with the six inch brass buttons pinning it in place.”

“But…” it took a moment to say it “…purple and orange?”

She sighed. “Yes. It works, believe me. I even hired a costume color design consultant.”

That got my attention. “Someone who makes super unstable molecule costumes?”

“No—Iwasn’t going to waste that kind of money. I just hired a boy genius costume designer; I think he’s from the future. He made me a drawing. Besides they outlawed unstable molecule costumes.”

“Why?”

“Um…they were unstable. One mix-up at a Boy Scout Jamboree from Cruel Butterfly and orders came down from MASS. Speaking of which, about your powers…I had to make some adjustments.” For the first time she actually looked a little embarrassed.

I wasn’t paying that much attention, more trying to picture myself standing next to Cybertron and picturing how I’d look. “OK…what?”

“Well, you can’t fly anymore. Your electro-static field interferes with Bluetooth devices.”

“Is that some kind of robot dog?”

She ignored me. “You also can’t do the electro-force field any more. We found that it draws the energy in an area and creates a disruptive effect.”

“Disruptive effect?”

“Yes. It creates permanent areas of exceptional cell phone reception.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Yes and no and no. People injured themselves colliding and wrestling for the reception point. Oh, and if they talked to long their phones blew up.”

“OK then.” That seemed reasonable to me. “What about my electro-bolts?”

“You can still electrocute people, but you have to be careful…”

“I have to be careful when I electrocute people?” Now I was upset. They’d have to pry my taser out of my cold, dead finger…and it was welded there.

“Well, we installed some specialized repair nanites into you. They sometimes have problems with significant electrical shocks.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Hive mind, world dominating problems.” She made a gesture of dismissal. “The good news is I have some experimental superpower modules left over my robots, so you can pick one.”

Left-over powers. Oh, there would be much rue-ing. “Ok…what are my choices?”

Catastrophic Hard Drive Failure

Yippie! Lost the primary hard drive on my machine yesterday. Going to be a while before I get to see how much work has been destroyed. Delighted to add the this learning experience to my inventory.

Character Sheet Sunday: V&V 2e and Dr. Neutrino

So there's a story I like to tell myself- of my evolution from more rules intense and crunchier systems, to lighter and more story-oriented systems. I like to think about the games I've been doing in the last ten years as a rejection of an earlier weight on my shoulders in favor of a brilliant revelation. I mean I played years of Champions and Rolemaster, two very crunchy systems with highly detailed mechanics and dense rules. But the truth is that I never, ever really played those games with anything other than the lightest use of those rules. Sure, I used the combat and critical tables in Rolemaster, but we never handled even basic process like spell acquisition, initiative, and movement in anyway close to the rules. My Champions only looked like Champions because I had a table of mavens of that system. For everything else- vehicle construction, gadgets, disadvantages- I cut corners where I could. I think the truth is that I've been rules-light since day one. I haven't cared about all of the details and extra chrome, even when I've been a player.

So below is a character sheet that comes from the mid-1980's from Villains & Vigilantes 2e. Specifically, the "Freedom Force" campaign that Charles Braden ran- set in the 1950's, a sequel to a FF campaign set in the 1940's. This would be my character, Dr. Neutrino, a self-involved and self-aggrandizing super-scientist. He partnered up with better and more noble heroes in order to make a name for himself. We played quite a few sessions with this guy. And as you can see below, I had a pretty minimal character sheet- a few numbers and stats scrawled on a sheet- just the basic needed. That plus my notes and sketches chicken-scratched across it. Interestingly, I later ran this character's son in a homebrew supers campaign Art Lyon ran. Dr. Neutrino, Junior was an earnest and enthusiastic supers- believing in the ideas of herodom and usually getting kicked in the face for it.

All of which is to say- I've always apparently gone for light rules- and not worried about all of the crunch, character options, kits, min/maxing, builds and efficiency that some players have.

For a larger and actually legible version of the sheet- see here.

Emulation & Beyond: More Thoughts on RPGs & Video Games

In putting together my list-post, Video Games as Tabletop RPGs, I went back through my list of video game rpgs I've played and those I've actually finished. I think you can guess where most of those fall. I go to video games for a very different experience than what I want from a tabletop game. And I'm more willing to shut off a console than quit a campaign. Still, I think there's lots of interesting exchanges you can make between the two of them. More recent games have gotten shorter and shorter- making an rpg conversion a way to extend that experience. Plus, some of this stuff is pretty cool and fun. I have a few more thoughts on "emulating" video games.

DRAMA READING
Robin Laws’ book Hamlet’s Hit Points looks at the dramatic beats of a narrative and compares those to role-playing games. In the book he reads three texts- a play and two films. I’ve applied his method to game sessions (see here) fruitfully. At the very least it has helped me to be more conscious about the up and down beats at the table. I wonder how the HHP tools would work when applied to modern video games, especially RPGs. For example, a common event in many JRPGs is the victory stolen at the end. Players get through a dungeon or situation and manage to achieve their objective. However when they emerge, they’re faced with overwhelming odds and have that victory snatched away from them. With few exceptions, I can pretty much count on that happening in most straight JRPGs (Wild ARMS, Final Fantasy, Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean, White Knight Chronicles). There’s also the convention of the battle which the players can’t win- they shouldn’t even try. This happens, again, pretty consistently. But some JRPGs do create a compelling and engaging narrative (DragonQuest VIII for example). What kind of "up" beats are balanced against those down beats: new classes, getting treasure, leveling up, beating mid-bosses? I’m not sure, but it would be cool to map out a few of those classic games.

It would then be interesting to compare those to some of the more avant-garde or weird JPRGs, like Shadow Hearts 3 or Persona 4. How much do they share in common once you strip away the flash? I think equally interesting would be to read a more classic Western RPG against those- how do Might & Magic VI, Wizardry 8, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 2 or even Dragon Age compare? Western games often have a greater open-world approach and some lack a really strong central narrative, but all of them do have events and story moments. Could these be mapped?

EMULATORS
So what do we want to bring over from video games to the table top? VGs offer the significant advantage of book-keeping and of speed. There’s some argument that D&D 4e really wants to be a table-top version of World of Warcraft, and I think there’s something to that- with powers, an emphasis on tactical combat, and heavily defined character roles with different builds. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing- but I’m not sure what advantage you gain from that. Is it to draw in the WoW players? Because I suspect that D&D already had those people with feet in both worlds. I’m not sure a mechanics-heavy approach simulating those details has attracted those players- but that’s anecdotal. There’s obviously a fluidity to that kind of play- the fun of a crazed melee with everyone having a role and a place. I mentioned fighting games in my list as well- which seems to me an even more difficult thing to model well at the table. Capturing the frenzy, speed, back and forth of those kinds of games is hard- especially if you want anything other than surface color. If you want players with lots of different kinds of unique maneuvers or combinations of elements, suddenly the game slows down. That’s more true if you have anyone with AP or if the GM has to run parallel bad guys.

But I think those mechanics represent only one part of what we might look at video games to borrow. I think we have three approaches: Setting, Theme and System. RPGs emulating a video game can use combination or even just one of these aspects. Let’s take a recent example suggested to me, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. That’s pretty popular right now and we have two previous games in the series, although the newest one’s a prequel. A GM could use Wikipedia and various fan sites to actually run a campaign in that world- perhaps setting it in the period between the games. The particular agencies and companies discussed would provide nice window dressing for the game. I suspect that unless you have a few players who’ve played all of the games, that might not resonate with them. But if you’re looking for something to make you’re world building easier, than it might help. Other games have stronger worlds that we can expect the players to have greater buy-in about- for example, several people in our group have really bought into the larger universe of Gears of War; many know the specific world and details of Final Fantasy VII despite its age; and Dragon Age has spent a lot of time creating a compelling backstory.

Deus Ex could also be used as an emulation for theme. Without using the specifics of the setting, you could run a Deus Ex-like cyberpunk campaign, focusing on the perils and promises of human augmentation. It would have a more transhumanist approach than some other classic cyberpunk games. Players who have played lightly or maybe have just read about Deus Ex might be able to buy in to this "themed" approach. If I were trying to emulate one of the Tactics-style SRPGs, I’d probably go this direction. The players would constitute a small unit of mercenaries involved in battles, with strong options available for class change and advancement. You can echo the themes of Final Fantasy, for example, more easily (summons, big swords, mix of tech and magic) than you can a specific world.

Finally, GMs might also consider borrowing the mechanics of the system. Deus Ex, for example has players kitting out their protagonist in very different directions based on cybernetics and nanotech modules. A GM could create a cyberpunk game with a large array of implant options- different kinds of talent trees. The default PCs would all be augmented like this, but with different kinds of load outs. You could easily modify Cyberpunk 2020 to do this- and perhaps add some more detail and depth to the Humanity system there. For our Fallout campaign, the GM brought over two distinct mechanics from the video game: VATS, which allows sniping and call shots, and Perks, another term for advantages. These system adaptations added to the sense that we were playing another version of the game.

VG INTO RPG & VICE-VERSA
Of course in keeping my original list to twelve, I had to cut out a few choices. Some of them would be easy- for example, the Thief series with its magic and strange dark-steampunk combination could be very cool to simulate. A party of characters all involved In high stakes crime in a city like that would make for an excellent campaign. Other games would be hard to model. For example, I love the concept of Valkyrie Profile, with the main character going through and recruiting the souls of the dead, using them for a time in their party, improving their souls and sending them on. But I’m not sure how you go about doing that- unless perhaps you have a solo player and the recruited souls would be NPCs. Some fall naturally into place, at least for me. Assassin’s Creed 2 would seem to fit naturally into the world of Mage: the Sorcerer’s Crusade.

I should also flip the question around- what RPG would I like to see as video games.

1. Legend of the Five Rings: They’ve talked about this in various forms over the years. I recall reading about an isometric rpg that, IIRC ended up as a Diablo-clone with the L5R setting stripped out. I really love the setting and background, so I’d honestly take anything. Give me a first-person slasher, like Assassin’s Creed or Tenchu. Perhaps an RTS build on the Total War: Shogun engine. I’m terrible at RTS games, but I’d practice if they came out with one for the setting. Ideally, I’d like one of three things. A conventional turn-based RPGs would be my first choice, but honestly I can’t see that happening. A second choice would be a Bioware style game, like Jade Empire, but with samurai. I think the social combat could be easily handled within that game. A third choice would be an Empire-building game- like Civilization, Europa Univeralis, or even Heroes of Might & Magic. Other options we’ll never see: a clan building game that borrows the structure from King of Dragon Pass or a full on samurai MMORPG.
2. Fading Suns: I never got a chance to play Emperor of the Fading Suns, but I enjoy games like Galactic Civilizations. Perhaps something could be done to update that setting to a new 4x game. That could be fun- combining the political with the military aspects. But I’d be more interested in a space battle game, non-RTS, that worked with the large scale Noble Armada ships. Something more turn based or else more modestly paced like the lost classic Starfleet Command, one of the best PC games ever. I’d also buy a Fading Sun rpg in a heartbeat, just to see how the setting gets rendered.
3. Promethean the Created: At first I was going to say Changeling the Lost, but I’m not sure the tone and richness of that setting would carry over very well. However, Promethean’s a perfect candidate. It has an interesting story and premise- with characters who by their nature cannot work together and must move from place to place, breaking odd connections and ties. It sucks as a tabletop campaign idea- at least as I read it, it just shouldn’t work. But it could make an excellent third person rpg, ala Vampire. The Promethean book suggests a campaign arc, which could be easily played out over the course of that kind of game.
4. Necessary Evil: We really haven’t seen a solid, single player superhero rpg. Freedom Force was interesting, but not my favorite kind of game...click, click, clicky. This story of characters caught up in a world where the villains seem to have won could make for a really solid action-rpg. InFAMOUS, IIRC is probably the closest to what I’m thinking, but it eschews the real superhero trappings. I’m talking about a superhero rpg, with a deep story, and one that embraces the idea of superherodom.
5. Ars Magica: I would play an Ars Magica game that was about diplomacy, research, and balancing resources. It could be a Flash game for all I care or a point and click adventure.

A few others to consider: Grimm would make a much more interesting and playable video game than it would a long-term tabletop campaign. Sundered Skies is a super-cool setting that could be done with any number of existing rpg engines, from Sid Meier’s Pirates, to JRPG. Castle Falkenstein would also be on my list if the oft-forgotten Arcanum hadn’t already come and gone.