Mythic and the Art of Tarot

I'm a huge fan of the Mythic RPG system - particularly the core GME engine (Game Master Emulator). It's main strength is the ability to truly surprise the player with the direction of the story through the use of random events and complex questions.

In the GME both random events and complex questions are generated with the use of word lists. However, on the rather excellent Mythic Yahoo Group many solo players are experimenting with other randomisers: Some just tables and some using "random page" facilities on Wikipedia and Brewer's dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Recently someone used the Bright Ideas Deck (which is essentially a Tarot deck).

Back in my misspent youth I was fascinated by Tarot and its apparent ability to speak to the situation/question that had been posed. It's only recently through reading things like Tricks of the Mind and Paranormality that I've come to understand that the human brain's evolved tendency to seek pattern even where there is none explains Tarot cards making "sense" of a situation/question as a by product of that mechanism. Also, thinking of my own experience of Mythic, I hardly ever invoke the "I dunno" rule, which means that I'm able to apply a pair of random words to an event or question and interpret them as an answer almost without fail.

It follows therefore, that as long as the randomised object is sufficiently information "rich" I should be able to use just about _any_ deck of cards (cards because I like them; I guess drawing random toys from my son's toy chest should work too, but it's far less portable). My choice of the deck of cards would then essentially lend a particular personality to whatever I'm randomising for.

My first thought is a solo game of Microscope with 3 players being run by the GME and a particular deck of cards. As it happens, I have virtually endless decks of cards in my games collection and elsewhere. Here are some I've considered:
- The randomiser deck from Dominion
- Space and Starwars Top Trumps
- The cards from Apples to Apples (You'd need to draw several at once)
- A standard Tarot deck
- 50 Things to Spot at an Airport (Osborne spotter's cards)
- A set of Ogham cards (or even celtic rune stones)
- A MTG white weeny deck from 1998
- Sherlock Holmes the card game Deck
- A Netrunner deck (either hacker or corporation)

Ones that might not work quite so well, because of the limited scope:
- Chance and Community Chest from Monopoly (Too prosaic and no images)
- The adventure cards from "Galaxy Trucker"
- SJGames Illuminati cards (although the Fnorder iPhone app might be interesting!)

The theory seems sound - let the experimentation begin!

RISUS One Page Challenge

Over in the Risus Talk yahoo group someone issued a One Page Adventure Challenge - to write a one page RISUS adventure using the key words Obelisk, Howling and Abandoned.

Try as I might to distract myself from this, I ended up doing it anyway. As ever, I probably had more fun out of this thinking of plot possibilities and Physics (including researching Eris, Dysnomia and the Kuiper Belt) than anyone will have playing it, but be that as it may, interested parties are welcome to it.

!Warning! With only one page to play with, it relies heavily on the GM understanding the tropes of the genre and being able to fill in the gaps with improvisation.

Have Fun

File here

Chain Reaction 3.0 - First Impressions

So after half a game of Dog Soldiers here's what I think:

The system is fantastically fluid, which makes the games swift, despite all the goofs I made.

I love the way the reaction system "pulls you through the action". Once the opponents see each other, that encounter then resolves before anything else happens.

The system seems to produce excellent narrative in my head as I play (I can turn the dice and movement into re-world analogs very easily). The promise of an "immersion game" is all it claims.

Using piles of dice on the table allowed me to play the first 3 hours of the scenario (8pm - 10pm) over the course of a week in very broken time (sometimes a few minutes at a time). The system allowed me to be very sure where I was up to, so I didn't waste time getting my head around it.

I think I may have found something to wean the 4dkay lads at the school games club away from the awful IgoUgo whilst allowing them to keep their minis. On the last "Charity Games Day" I had a couple of lads fight only the first 3 turns of a 4000+ point per side battle over the full 7 hours. At one point one of them went to lunch while his opponent moved and fired, delegating armour saves to a friend with sandwiches.

It impressed me enough to buy the 5150 and Warrior Heroes which shows that giving away the vanilla system for free actually makes business sense.

I'm in awe of people who do full blow by blow Battle Reports (Bat Reps). It's taken me an age (broken time again) to write up just the first turn, but I hope to get to the others (probably with less detail) sometime soon.

Dog Soldiers BatRep - Trying out CR 3.0

So this took _much_ longer to do than I anticipated. Firstly because we have a 16 week old son and everything else comes second. Secondly, I had to wait for Amazon to deliver the Movie so I could watch it before I played the game (so many questions – Why does the move strap line talk about 6 soldiers when the scenario only has 5? Who is Megan?) and thirdly, there's just something about _way_ in which I typically engage with games which means getting to my first play often takes a while.

Sometimes I can get more fun out of a game creating components and play-aids than actually playing it, so I spent some time finding/creating some suitable paper minis for the scenario. I couldn't find any Werewolves so I made my own. I didn't have any modern troops (I tried using some sci-fi troops, but somehow they didn't cut it) and after some searching I used some of Arion Games' Modern Soldiers II set for the squaddies, with Sergeant Wells taken from their Planetary Militia Set. The internet is disappointingly sparse with early Landrover nets, but I found a b&w net for a Hummer which I coloured in GIMP2 for the vehicle. Finally I made some chits for the improvised weapons. Mistakenly I arranged all this onto a single A4 sheet in Word07 which nearly died under the strain (I really ought to have gone with my first instincts and used Inkscape). A little cutting and sticking later and the addition of my old WH40K dice and I was good to go.

So as per the rules, the boys arrive at the font door of the cottage carrying Sgt. Wells. He is immediately taken to the Master Bedroom, and then the house is searched.

If you want to “game” this piece to maximise the number of improvised weapons, there’s a particular order in which you want to do this but I just had them search the rooms in an order that seemed realistic.

The search turns up the following:

• · A camera in the Master Bedroom
• · A lighter & hairspray in the loo
• · An axe in the closet
• · A pan of boiling water in the kitchen

Sadly, no silver letter opener (“No self respecting Werewolf would have silver in their house.”) and no Claymore, with a slim possibility of petrol bottles in the shed, should they dare go and search for them.

All entrances and windows are barricaded and the other 4 Squaddies apart from the poorly Sgt. Wells hole up in the Living Room and clean their weapons ready for the night ahead.

8pm

Turn1

Rolling on the Where Werewolves Attack table and starting with the highest Rep Werewolf (as per one of Ed’s clarifications), the Alpha Werewolf attacks through the Front Kitchen Window, Adult Werewolf1 tries the 2nd Bedroom Window and Adult Werewolf2 goes after Sgt. Wells through the Master Bedroom Window. With no squaddies outside, they move directly to their respective entrances.

I roll a black die (B) for the Werewolf Activation and a red die (R) for the Squaddies and get B5 R5 – and Sgt. Wells recovers to Rep2 (I’m using a red d6 next to his mini to track this). I then re-roll getting B5 R1. The Werewolves go first and all being Rep5 or higher (the Alpha is an eye-watering Rep6) they all activate. The Alpha Werewolf automatically breaks down the barrier, I then roll a d6 for each of the others and they both roll 5 or below, so they rip down their barriers too.

Having ripped down the Master Bedroom Barrier, I judge that the Adult Werewolf2 will now be concealed but in sight of Sgt. Wells. Sgt. Wells is in a bad way, having had his guts ripped out on the retreat to the house. Cooper has shoved them back in and sealed the wound with superglue (“Vietnam field surgery”) whist the others barricaded the doors and windows. Sgt. Wells has got an MP5, but could do with some help, so I invoke Cooper’s Right Place Right Time special ability and he moves into the Master Bedroom in response to Sgt. Wells’ shouts.

Rules Goof: I allow both Sgt. Wells & Cooper to pass In Sight 2d6, missing the fact that it’s not a *Pass test – they both should’ve rolled. Moving quickly on…

Sgt. Wells fires his MP5 (Target 3) and rolls 1,2,6. With a current Rep of just 2 he needs a somewhat impossible 7 on a d6 to hit (a concealed target requires a 9 = 2+7 to hit). Having rolled one 6, I invoke Pitiful Shot but he then rolls a 3.

Despite his condition Sgt. Wells manages to bring his MP5 to bear on the Werewolf as it smashes through the barricaded window, but a short controlled burst of fire splashes the wall and window frame, with no bullets finding their mark.

Rules Goof: Reactions should always go from Highest to Lowest Rep.. Cooper is Rep5 and Sgt. Wells is currently Rep2. Cooper should’ve gone first.

Cooper also opens up with his MP5, again needing 9s or better to hit, with Rep5 he needs 4+s, he rolls 2m,2m,2m (all misses).

Cooper dashes through the Master Bedroom doorway to see a Werewolf climbing through the window. He opens fire with his MP5, but is unlucky to have all his shots zing off the remnants of the barricade.

The Werewolf Adult2 passes 1d6 Received Fire test and Charges.

Now through the window, the Werewolf charges Sgt. Wells.

Rules Goof: At this point the Werewolf ought to have tested for Wanting To Charge but I missed that this time.

Both Sgt. Wells & Cooper *pass Being Charged and open fire again. This time the target is in plain sight and requires an 8 or higher to hit. At Rep2 Sgt. Wells needs to roll 6s, at Rep5 Cooper needs 3+s

Sgt. Wells MP5 5m,4m,3m. All misses.

Again Sgt. Wells fires his MP5 from his propped up position on the bed, but he is too weak to aim properly and more plasterwork takes the damage.

Cooper MP5 5h,4h,2m - 2 hits: 1,3. The 1 means the Werewolf goes Out Of the Fight.

Cooper sees the Werewolf lunge for Sgt. Wells and cracks off another short burst. This time one of the bullets finds a sensitive spot and the Werewolf, unable to stand the hail of bullets any longer, dives back out of the window.

Rules Goof? “Moving Inside Buildings” on p.22 of CR3.0 states that inside buildings, everyone is always in cover. However, I initially missed this, treating everyone as if in plain sight. This obviously favours the squaddies in this scenario as they’re the ones with the shooting weapons. Also, always needing 10s to hit means the Rep 4s would only hit on 6s. I’m also only able to simulate the greater difficulty of hitting a Werewolf when its outside a window/door smashing its way in by creating a new 11 to hit level, which would be inaccessible to the Rep4s except through Pitiful Shot. Therefore, I’m sticking with my initial goof on this as it actually seems more realistic. If the squaddies win too easily, I’ll reconsider this idea for the next game.

Finally, the Werewolf passes 1d6 on the Recover from Out Of the Fight, which means he Regenerates and returns tothe pool.

Sgt. Wells and Cooper grin at one another; pleased to have faced down the monster, but equally sure it will be back soon.

There is no line of sight to the other Werewolves so Activation passes to the Squaddies. Their best chance seems to be to stick together, so Cooper moves from the Master Bedroom to the Living Room and they stand back from the noises coming from the front of the house, but no-one goes looking for trouble.

“Steady” growls Cooper to his men as they all raise their weapons and slip off the safeties.

Turn 2

Activation B1?R3? (I didn’t note this down but I remember it was Squaddies First and everyone could activate).

The Squaddies are up first, but ironically have nowt to do but keep waiting.

Next up the Werewolf Alpha activates and moves from the Kitchen to the Living Room.

Rules Goof: This ought to have taken two turns – one for the Werewolf to move from Outside to Inside the Kitchen and one to move from Kitchen to Living Room. The only effect other than adding another “nothing happens” turn to the game, is the chance of rolling activation doubles, and Sgt. Wells taking another step towards health and werewolfhood.

The Alpha* Werewolf moves into the living room and the Squaddies take an In Sight test.

Rules Goof: As you can see from the picture I rolled 2d6 for each Squaddie, whereas I really needed just 2d6 for the group.

Cooper(5*) passes 2d6 and Opens Fire (needs total 8s => rolls of 3+) rolls 5h,1m,1m for his MP5 and has to re-load.

Terry(4) passes 1d6 and Snap Fires (needs total 10s => rolls of 6), rolling 3m,1m,1m for his MP5 and also has to re-load.

Spoon(4) passes 1d6 and Snap Fires (needs total 10s => rolls of 6), rolling 6h,5m,2m for his AR3.

Joe(4) passes 2d6 and Opens Fire (needs total 8s => rolls of 4+), rolling 6h,6h,1m for his Shotgun.

Rules Goof: The Shotgun is Roll 6d6 and count just the highest 3, but count them all for reload purposes, but I’d forgotten that at this time.

All 4 hits roll above their Impact and the Alpha* Werewolf automatically passes the Recover From Knockdown test.

As a Werewolf emerges from the Kitchen into the living room, the Boys open fire. Cooper notes grimly that this one is bigger and meaner than the one he fought off in the bedroom, but he keeps his cool and hits the monster, albeit with no visible effect. He then experiences a bad-dream moment as the MP5 starts to click – his clip is empty. Terry is seeing a Werewolf in the open for the first time and panics, emptying his whole magazine and hitting nothing but farmhouse.

“Controlled Bursts Only” yells Cooper angrily.

Spoon is also spooked but manages to land a shot from his AR3, again the Monster shrugging it off like a flea bite. Joe, comforted by the weight of the Combat Shotgun, levels the barrel and pumps out three rounds, the first takes off a chunk of architrave, but the other two rounds slam into the beast. A moment’s elation is almost immediately quashed when it reels under the impact, but then recovers.

The Alpha* Werewolf automatically passes its Received Fire and its Wanting To Charge test, reaction then passes to the Boys who take the Being Charged Test. Cooper (as the leader) passes, I then decide to resolve those that can fire before those that can’t fire move into Melee (seems the most realistic to me).

Lots of bad news here for the Squaddies. Two out of the four need to get to their own activation to re-load, including the highest rep. character (Cooper). Unless the rolls go with them next they'll end up in Melee with the Alpha* Werewolf.

While Cooper and Terry start to think about throwing down their empty MP5s and drawing a combat knife, Spoon and Joe get off another burst of shots.

Spoon (Rep 4, weapon:AR3 target 3 impact 3, requires 8 to hit, needs to roll 4+) 5h,4h,1m : 6kd,6kd

Joe (Rep 4, weapon:CSG target 3 impact 2, requires 8 to hit, needs to roll 4+) 5h,4h,4h : 1oof, 6kd, 6kd

Counting the most serious result (1oof) the Alpha* goes Out of Fight. As it has Rep 6 it occurs to me at this point that this bad boy (or girl?) can never be killed, as it will always pass 2d6 on this test, but at least he's gone for now...

The Alpha Werewolf is not used to prey that shoots back. Reeling under the combined might of the AR3 and the Combat Shotgun it turns tail and flees back the way it came.

Seconds later another Werewolf emerges from the second bedroom and receives a similar drubbing from Spooner and Joe. There's a nasty moment as Joe's shotgun goes empty, leaving just Spooner and his AR3 loaded and ready, but luck is with they Boys this time as the monster also backs up into the second bedroom and dives back out of the window it entered by.

I've lost the roll record for this piece of the encounter (maybe I should be using Dicenomicon?), but the final result was a Retire.

There's some celebration when the Boys realise they've withstood the first assault.

"Werewolves? More like pussies" says Joe.

Cooper snorts grimly.

"It's a long time 'till dawn, Lads. They'll be back, and they'll attack smarter. We better get to repairing those barricades."

Title? No Really

I return to this a few months later and can't figure out my own title. 64M3HO521

64M3 = Game?
643521 are the numbers on a d6?
51MO2 = Simon?
H521 = Hvnt?
3H from H3RNE?
MHO = Scale of hardness?

I have no idea... but I might just as well keep it...

Title WTH?

If you're reading this, please stop. Go outside and play. Or just go and play. It's what I should be doing.

I only really created this blog so I could comment on others that are of interest. I'm actually a Physics Teacher, with an interest in indie games both wired and unplugged. I hope that clears up the blog title ;)

Maybe this might be of use as online thinky space. If I never post again you know it wasn't.