Current events

This page is for discussion of stuff related to the game coming up this week, no matter when that actually is. For instance, we can all assume Nate isnt coming for some lame reason and that Ed is sick of pizza and is bringing teriyaki or some other crap. They can post something here if that happens to be untrue.

Schedule

Date...........game................Location..........(Advanced attendance)
8/03/07......Entertain yourself!
8/10/07......WHFRP....Gabe's
8/17/07......Gemini....Ben and Dieter's wonderful gaming wasteland
8/24/07......sucking nuts.....each to his own
8/31/07......WFRP......BnD WGW
9/07/07......WFRP......The BnD Gaming Wunderhaus or the Wasteland!?! (Only you can decide)
9/14/07......WFRP......The BnD Gaming Wunderhaus
9/21/07......WFRP......The BnD Gaming Wasteland
9/28/07......WFRP......THe BnD Gaming Wunderhaus
10/5/07......WFRP......The BnD Gaming Wasteland
10/12/07.....WFRP......The BnD Gaming Wissenland
10/19/07.....Board games............BnD ..........(Dieter and Matt absent)
10/26/07.....WFRP.......................BnD
11/2/07......WFRP.......................BnD
11/9/07......Exemplars prequil/Board Games...BnD ............(Matt gone, Dieter possibly gone)
11/16/07.....Exemplars prequil...BnD..........(Matt gone)
11/23/07.....Go see the family...???..........(Matt, Ed, Ben, Gabe gone)
11/30/07.....Exemplars..............???...........
12/06/07.....Exemplars..............???...........
12/13/07.....Board Games....................???..........(Matt Gone to Japan)
12/20/07.....??????....................???..........(Matt Gone, Ben likely Gone)
12/27/07.....??????....................???...........(Ben, Matt Gone)

Attendance and Food preference

11/2/07 Hey guys. Nate here. I got really drunk quite early on friday, so driving to seattle was pretty impossible. Sorry I didn't call you. I'll hit u guys up next time I'm in town. Take care y'all.

BEN: present, and Brandon will be joining us again. Ed, I told him to come by around 6 so we can magic it up again, so why don't those of us that want to play magic before game meet up at 6?

Ranting and raving or other random comments

--Gdaze -- So, this post is not to start some huge debate, but I'm starting to figure we all want/expect very different things from games. For example. I myself am about following the rules for the most part. Story telling is one thing but if you can't do something, you can't do it. Sure you may be able to in real life but part of role playing to me is also having your character NOT being able to do things. I also don't like mission based adventures as the only primary source of adventure unless that is the type of game being ran. I've noticed that our adventures are rarely free form and we are forced into doing certain things... well save for PA (for the most part). As for a game system being broken in the fighting rules, who the fuck cares. I mean like I said, I like following the rules for the most part but have come to accept that some should be changed.

I guess I feel that having the characters not able to do something contributes just as much to the story as having the characters constantly doing cool stuff.

Thats why I've really never run anything with this group. My adventures tend to invovle heavy amounts of comdey and combat. Plus I don't know any of the systems that well! I'm not saying I'm not enjoying myself. I really am for the most part. This post is more to see what each of us likes or dislikes in RPGs. So like I'm not saying change anything just kinda what I look for...

Also bored at work.

BEN: gaming is, like all hobbies, mostly about having fun. I think a big part of that for players is having their characters be good at what they want them to be good at. Interestingly, what that means is largely dependent on the GM style of the GM. Sometimes that means tailoring your character sheet, sometimes it means doing more description type stuff.
also, i disagree that we do more mission stuff: in fact, most of our games have ranged from 50% free form to essentially 100% freeform: PA, space opera, the first champions game, even our Adventure! game, and Gemini in particular (which was actually too freeform) were all largely driven by character decisions.

--Jason 11:05, 31 October 2007 (MST)I know I am in the minority here, and you have all heard what I have to say on this a million times, so I am just going to acknowledge that I read this and read what comes.

--Jason 11:18, 31 October 2007 (MST)One thing I do have to say though is I agree with Ben, I think the only mission based game we played was Jin Dynasty.

--Gdaze -- Actually I felt that the Jin dynasty was freeform over all. We were given a mission but allowed to do it the way we wanted to. I guess I should clairfy mission based. Basically forcing the players to do one thing, and not giving them the option of getting away. In Jin Dynasty we all had reasons to kill the Emperor because we were told that would be our mission. In the first warhammer game it become about finding the pillars and getting away from the witch hunter the entire time. Sure we didn't have to, but we would have been killed. Also I fealt our first champions was very forced overall. We were told what to do, we do it, come back, next mission.

I mean I like big stories and stuff like that, but I'm more use to having "archs". Like 5 or 6 adventures around one type of thing, then the characters move onto something else, that doesn't need to tie in with some huge story. I think its a more D&D style of play (does that make any sense????).

--Matts 11:50, 31 October 2007 (MST)You're saying you prefer scenario-based, more episodic play over longer-form stories?

Also, I'd just like to point out, in probably the only defense I'm going to make, that in WFRP right now I'm not constraining the characters to the plot at all. All I've done so far is define the relationships that exist in the gameworld, and what various parties want from the characters, and I've let you guys take care of the rest of it. When a player acts in the game, I try to make sure the results carry out appropriately. But for me, having a dynamic set of non-player characters with their own agendas is key to making the characters' actions important, and then making the game entertaining.

--Gdaze -- Indeed! That is why I said in the first warhammer one we played!

And yeah, I guess I like scenario. Because otherwise we never get anything done. Our characters start out as poor as they started with nothing to show for all their actions. I guess because we never reach the final "goal" it seems kinda wasteful. Thats one thing I like about the Jing dynasty is it had closure.

Dynamic npcs are always good! Never said they weren't!

The Next Step in WHFRP Reboot

WHFRP Reboot Recap

--Gdaze-- So like, did the party happen? Or did everyone leave the city?

--Edmiao 09:08, 31 October 2007 (MST)I thought Dim was the only one going to the party.

The Next Step in Exemplars

BEN: Er...could we get an update on where things stand here? Are all the chars made? Do we know when we will run the last 1 or 2 prequils? When is the game supposed to start? I would very much like to see the actual game start before year's end, we have a lot of space for another game and I personally would like to have something structured in place sooner rather than later. Board games, Heroscape, and Magic are lots of fun, and i'm happy to bust those out, but having another game in place soon would be good.

--Edmiao 15:42, 29 October 2007 (MST) yeah. logisticsally, if you want Matt there for session 1/2 that means adhering to the schedule above. I think it is very important to get past the phase of the game where Matt is required for sessions. As he is the GM of the other game, he is the one who should be expected to be absent the most, because any Matt absences will result in us playing Exemplars. From my breif experience GMing, the one big mistake I made, no the one bigGEST mistake I made was making sessions dependent on one character and then that person being absent. So I'd like to see that the whole game doesn't require Matt's attendance (although I love him even more than Gabe's mom).

Gabe: Seems to me that maybe we should just do board games for the next few weeks after this one. I will be gone the day after Thanksgiving as well.

--Edmiao 16:18, 29 October 2007 (MST) That opinion would be in the minority, I think. I strongly advocate the schedule above. did i get your absence date correct, gabe, 11/23?

Gabe: Oh okay, I didn't quite catch that last time! Yeah, that is the correct-o date.

--Jason 18:53, 29 October 2007 (MST)First of all, this last week has been hell. Work has been out of control. Second, absences are likely to be a problem whenever they occur. One great thing about having strong story roles is everyone is involved. One bad thing about it is when people skip because their aunts brothers cousin might be in town for a dinner it throws many things off kilter. I have Gabe's character, but he hasnt responded to my request for an hdc version. I need to email Dieter back on his character, since I have it in doc and not hdc, and my new laptop doesnt have word (yet) its been a hassle. Ben and I will need to discuss possible mechanical changes to his character, but nothing else is an issue. I have to go over there and grab my blue binder anyway, we can probably discuss it for an hour and get it figured out. I havent fully thought about that schedule, but I dont think I will be out of town anytime soon.

--Gdaze 19:43, 29 October 2007 (MST) Did the one character work well? Everytime I send an HDC version it comes out as HTML... I'll try emailing from a different provider.

--Jason 22:14, 29 October 2007 (MST)Did you try including it as an attachment? I can read the character, and he looks pretty good. I just have a few suggestions/requests. As for the schedule, we only have one prelude to do, thats Gabe's. Dieter has amnesia, so a prelude doesnt make much sense.

--Edmiao 22:24, 29 October 2007 (MST) prelude for Ben's character? otherwise we could board game it on the 16th.