Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

I am a huge Evangelion fan so when Thrice Upon a Time was released in the theaters in IMAX I had to attend.  It did not disappoint.  Such a great series of movies and I think the TV show is just as great!

Goodbye, Don Glees!

Evan and I like to go watch anime in the theater on the big screen.  When Goodbye, Don Glees came to the theaters we had no expectations.  We knew the director’s other movies and like them but came up without any preconceived opinion.  Boy were we surprised!  Goodbye, Don Glees is amazing!  I was also super pleased to see that it is a nominee for animated move of the year.  It will not win but Evan and I LOVED this one!

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie

For nearly 2 years I have been really into romance anime.  Already a fan of the Quintuplets manga and anime I was excited to see the conclusion in the theaters.  I actually cried in the theater when I watched this one.

Fruits Basket

Boy…this is the best romance anime I have ever watched.  I watched this over the year with Evan in his bedroom.  So many times I sat up glued to Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and the rest of the crew.  This anime really hits you hard in the feels.  The episode at the end of season 3 in the rain…wow…if you watch anime you need to watch Fruits Basket.

SpyxFamily

I was a HUGE fan of the manga and anime is exceptional.  If you love a strong family theme with amazing memorable characters going through their daily lives and incredible action all rolled up…watch SpyxFamily.

Code Geass

I owe my friend Chris for this one.  He recommended this one for me to watch.  When I finally got to it I was hooked.  Code Geass is like a roller coaster that goes uphill for the first 5 or 6 episodes.  Then all of the lovely buildup comes crashing down!  This is a great show full of action, political intrigue, and characters you fall in love with…that then die.  So good!

Give some of these a try and let me know what you think!

BEER OF THE YEAR!

I will pick some arbitrary categories. In each category I will pick one beer that blew me away and one runner-up. Finally I will pick a BEER OF THE YEAR and BREWERY OF THE YEAR.

Ales And Pilsners

I added 3 beers to my favorites list in this category this year. The winner is a surprise. I pick Side Of Rice from Moonlight Brewery. Side Of Rice is a wonderfully light and crisp beer from the folks who make Death & Taxes. (Death & Taxes is a well known stout beer of theirs.) Sermin really liked this one as well. (FYI. Sermin likes, “Beers that taste like beer.” )

Winner

Side Of Rice from Moonlight Brewing

Runner-Up

Pool Haus from Bare Bottle Brewing

IPA

Unlike ales and pilsners I added a lot of IPA to my favorites list this year (eg 8). The competition is fierce in this category. The winner here was amazing. You can read more about it later. Hint hint. Final Fantasea from Humble Sea Brewing. The runner up was tough but edging out Pliny The Elder from Russian River is Giants Grove from Bare Bottle Brewing. Bare Bottle took home a lot of runner-up trophies. Hint hint.

Winner

Final Fantasea From Humble Sea Brewing

Runner-Up

Giants Grove from Bare Bottle Brewing

Stouts

The stout category was another hot contested category. I added 9 beers to my favorites list this year! The winner is CBS (aka Canadian Barrel Stout) from Founders. CBS is dark, rich, and smooth. This one knocked me out of my chair. Not a tiny brewery, Founders has a lot of great stuff. This one might be the easiest to find on the list. The runner up was Maple Coco Gnar Gnar from Humble Sea Brewing.

Winner

CBS from Founders

Runner-Up

Maple Coco Gnar Gnar from Humble Sea

Reds/Ambers

I added 3 to the list but all were pretty great. The winner is Chronicale from Pizza Port Brewing. This is one that Steve recommended to me and it did not disappoint. Nice texture, rich flavor, and tastes like an amber. This was Sermin’s favorite beer of the year. She wants me to buy more of it. The runner-up was also a recommendation from Steve!

Winner

Chronicale from Pizza Port Brewing

Runner-Up

Colossus Of Clout from Strike Brewing

Belgium Beers

I tried 5 or 6 during the year but only one made the favorites. Again a recommendation from Steve. Steve knows his beer. Brother Thelonius from North Coast Brewing. This one has a wonderful finish, a nutty flavor, and is a joy to drink. I also got one of their cool t-shirts. Of the 5 or 6 I tried most were Belgium beers from Belgium. North Coast blew them all away. No runner-up here at all.

Winner

Brother Thelonius from North Coast

BEER OF THE YEAR

My BOTY is Final Fantasea from Humble Sea. I was able to get 4 packs during the release. I poured it into my glass and smelled it. Tart and fruity. I took a sit then stood there…stunned. I took another sip. The flavor, the complexity, the hops. This is one of the best beers I have ever tasted. It is off the charts amazing.

Winner

Final Fantasea from Humble Seas

Runner-Up

The BOTY runner-up is actually another IPA. Giants Grove from Bare Bottle was another winner IPA that I tried this year. Giants Grove has a spruce sort of flavor and just the right amount of hops. This one is wonderful.

BREWERY OF THE YEAR

The BREWERY OF THE YEAR was super easy to pick…Humble Sea. I tried 4 different beers from them and I everything was very good. Also they produce new beers WEEKLY and ship for FREE to Santa Clara. Win. Win. Win.

Humble Sea

Runner-Up

The runner-up here was tough but I am going with Bare Bottle. Two of the runner-up entries are from them. I ended up ordering from them twice as they are a Santa Clara brewery and I wanted to support local guys.

What are these?

The Aeropress is comprised of 2 plastic pipes and a plastic filter cover that when combined act as sort of a “coffee plunger”. You put in a circular paper filter, coffee, and hot water then plunge directly into a cup. In some ways this is closer to an old school coffee press just much better designed. I own two Aeropress. I have one of the older models and a new model. I love them both but I like the newer model a bit better. You can get them in a complete kit for $35 at Amazon.

Pros

• Brews a cup in 20 seconds following the instructions. Maybe 60 seconds including the cleanup time! Fast.
• The coffee is hot.
• Super easy cleanup. Pop the coffee puck into the trash then under the faucet.
• No grounds in the cup at all. The filter works great.
• Indestructible. Can be safely put in a backpack, suitcase, etc.

Cons

• Uses paper filters. They are cheap but it still uses them.
• If you want to wash all of the plastic components I have always done so by hand.
• The resulting coffee is a bit on the mellow side when compared to the Pure Over.

The Pure Over is a glass decanter with an associated glass filter diffuser top. You put the coffee in the decanter, put on the glass diffuser top then pour in the hot water. The Pure over is really a straight pour over device just with no paper filter at all. It is glass, coffee, and hot water.

Pros

• No filters. Glass + coffee + hot water.
• Easy cleanup. Wipe out the coffee grounds into the roses then run under the faucet. Potentially clean out the ceramic base a bit too.
• Rich and bright cup of coffee.
• Dishwasher safe.

Cons

• Coffee takes at least 2 minutes to brew and at the end I need to stir it softly as the instructions suggest.
• Coffee takes time to brew and it not as hot when you are done.
• You need to use a bit more coffee than the Aeropress to get good results.
• Grounds do make it into the cup. I use a conical burr grinder set on course and still get a wash of coffee grounds in the bottom of the cup.
• I am not coordinated. I feels like I am walking around eggshells when the Pure Over is on my coffee cup. It seems really fragile.
• Costs more than the Aeropress.

My Take

Before I jump into my choice and why I want to point out that both of these devices are freakin’ amazing. They both work great and get you a super cup of coffee.

If you want to impress your friends with an amazing cup of coffee pull out the Pure Over. If you want a great day-to-day brewer get the Aeropress.

And the winner is…the Aeropress. I adore the speed, cleanup, and durability.

The Games

Here are the games that I played in order that I played them. This year every RPG I played was new to me. Even though games at Big Bad Con focus on small-press offerings often I have the game at home or have even played it at one time or another. This year that was not the case.

On Friday afternoon I played the DIE RPG with Carl Rigney. DIE is a roleplaying game from Kieron Gillen who wrote a graphic novel of the same name. The RPG is in the beta stage and is free to download ). The settings is very meta. The characters are troubled adults who are meeting back up with their old gaming group for one last session. During this session they are thrown into a fantasy world where they become their character. The great twist is that they can only return to the real world if everyone in the group agrees to return. That means these messed up people need to decide if they should stay in this fantasy world where they might have powers or return to their messed up lives. The session was amazing. I played a man from a broken home who wants to be accepted and trusted by his friends. He is currently a PI and has “helped” his friends catch a cheating spouse and is actually seeing one of the exâ€s. His sister was actually played by the GM Carl who is also one of the characters…but still the GM. Meta. The game was amazing! DIE would likely be best to complete in maybe two or three s sessions was expertly handled in one. Carl Rigney is really amazing…this was my first choice game during registration and my favorite game at Big Bad Con 2019.

Friday night I fortuitously got into a game of Into the Dark with Stras Acimovic. My Friday night game got cancelled so I signed up for a different game. Then the week before the con when I was reviewing who would be at the con I noticed that Stras would be there so I packed my Scum & Villainy and saw that they would be selling a new ashcan of a game called Project: Perseus. So I looked up what games there would be running so I could get an autograph. I found that Stras was running a new game in playtesting called Into The Dark and signed up. The game and Stras did not disappoint. Into the Dark is a horror fantasy setting where you play a group of delvers who brave a supernatural darkness called the Murk to seal off these wells where monsters spawn. We played a mission where a crazy spider queen monster called a Weaver was taking people and creatures from the Murk and stitching them into crazed beasts. I played a warrior called a Murk Hunter. The system is a stream-lined hack of Blades In The Dark. You could tell this genre is directly in Stras†wheelhouse. It was twisted, dark, and thrilling at the same time. I will DEFINITELY pick up this one to run with Sipping Primordial Soup as it is perfect for one-shots.

Saturday morning I took part in the playtest of a co-op card game called TREADS where you play members of a Sherman tank crew during WW2. Only one other player showed up so Mark Richardson (Headspace), the person creating the game, ran several of the tank positions. I played the Commander position of the tank which was really fun. The look of the game…even with makeshift components…was amazing. It plays kind of like a tower defense game with threats emerging from the sides of the board. It was deadly. We might have been close to winning but likely we would have died before depleting the threat deck which is the objective of the game. I think Josh would adore this game so if TREADS does get released it will be on my buy list.

Saturday afternoon I played my second favorite game of the con. Brian Isikoff…who is another amazing local GM and a gaming buddy…ran a game of The Expanse from Green Ronin. The Expanse uses a variant of the AGE system that is found in several other Green Ronin products. I had no experience with AGE or The Expanse properties. All of the other players had experience with The Expanse either through the books or TV show. The game revolved around a group of luxury cargo haulers who get sucked into several crazy schemes. The games was a fun romp through the setting with a great set of players. My highlight was a smaller side mission with a unusual passenger. This is another one that I plan to pickup and consider running for Sipping Primordial Soup. If you get a chance to game with Brian do it.

Saturday night I played a round of Spirit Island. I had played Spirit Island once at Big Bad Con last year and decided to try it again. The game is a co-op worker placement area control game. The conceit is that the players are island gods trying to scare settlers off their island. The game is complex even with the base rules and luckily we had an amazing person to help us learn how to play. Even though I have a copy I had not had the chance to play it as I think it is a bit too complex for most of the board gamers at my disposal. Had a fun time playing a lightning spirit.

Sunday morning I played my last game of the con which was an amazing session of Blade & Crown with Brian again. Blade & Crown is an OSR feeling game set in a middle-age feeling fantasy setting. In this session the players were the stars. To me all of the lady players is what made this session fun. There was a sexy crafty thief, an amazing water wizard, a priest who wanted to be a pope, and a merchant played by the ladies. It was a blast going through the adventure called The Bandit Map. The adventure itself was so nice that I may purchase it just to lovingly borrow the material for another system. The system was OSR and a bit crunchy but seemed to flow to pretty well. It was pretty gruesome if you got hit. Another home run session from Brian.

Autographs

One of the things that I personally love about Big Bad Con is the amount of amazing game designers that show up from all around the country. I bring books with me to get signed and every time I get to speak with the authors they are so friendly. This time I got signatures from Avery Adler (Monsterhearts, Dreams Askew, Quiet Year), Brie Beau Sheldon (Turn, Script Change), James Dâ€Amato (Two great RPG books and the One Shot Podcast), Stras Acimovic (Blades In The Dark designer credits, Scum & Villainy), Karen Twelves (Improv For Gamers), and Strix (Bluebeardâ€s Bride). Also at the con I chatted with Jason Morningstar (Fiasco, Night Witches), Hannah Shaffer (Noirlandia, Damn The Man), Sanguan (Moonflower), and I heard the Storybrewers Team was at the con but I did not get to meet them. I was bummed that I did not hear they would be attending before I arrived.

Jason Walters And Oh Yeah IPR

Big Bad Con is also a chance I get to see old friends. Jason was the top of my list when I heard IPR would be providing the games for the dealers room. Jason is such a dear friend. We were able to catch up on our families and gaming lives on several occasions. Gosh love Jason to bits. Also IPR provided some killer stuff. I picked up Royal Blood which Jason put aside for me, several expansions for The Spire, The Quiet Year, and Flotsam. Looks to be some killer stuff.

Wrap Up

Big Bad Con 2019 is in the top 3 gaming conventions I have ever attended and I have been to a ton of them. This convention is run so amazing well. Some things that really stand out to me about Big Bad Con are the openness to people of color, acceptance of people with different identities, friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, and the desire to make sure everyone is happy. Sean Nitner who runs Big Bad Con is amazing. Some of the changes for this year were great so I want to point them out. At every table were standees where people could put their names and character names. Nice touch. They also had small-press designer showcases where people could talk about their games and sell them. This was neat but I would have loved to have had more information in the program about when each was scheduled and maybe a paragraph about what they would be showing. That would help so that I could plan a visit. A was bummed that I left with none of these products. Scheduling these during the breaks between sessions would also have been nice. Big Bad Con is one of the best gaming conventions in the country especially if you like small-press RPGs. This is THE place to let your gaming geek flag fly high!

Crafting in Blades in the dark involves answering four questions.  Two are answered by the player and two are answered by the GM.  The GM questions involved determining the Quality and Drawbacks for the invention.  Fortunately the GM has some guidelines in the Blades book to help provide guidance.  This thread goes over the two GM questions using an example from my Blades In The Dark campaign.

The Crew Leech named Mort wants to create an alchemical solution.  Here is his idea:

It’s a two part alchemical potion which is made as a set.  One is an oil which draws an item closer to the ghost field making it invisible.  The second allows the drinker to see the specific item the paired oil was used on.  For example, if I spread the oil on a sword then drank the linked potion, the sword would be invisible to others but I could still see it.  If I put the oil on my sword and someone else drank the linked potion, the sword would be invisible but I would not be able to see it, only the person that drank the linked potion.

For Question 2 – Quality

When determining Quality for a creation there are several factors.  These are determined by the Magnitude chart on page 221.  The main areas are:

Area/Scale

For Area values run from closet (0) to city block (6).

For Scale values run from 1 or 2 people (0) to 160 peoples (6).

Duration/Range

For Duration values run from a few moments (0) to a week (6).

For Range values run from within reach (0) to across the city (6).

Tier & Quality/Force

For Tier & Quality values run from Poor (0) to Legendary (6).

For Force values run from Weak (0) to Devastating (6).

Quality really comes into play when you want to make more of the potions.  To make more you have to hit the Quality target during a downtime action.  You make a Tinker roll then use this chart:

1 – 3 – Quality level is Tier – 1

4 – 5 – Quality level is Tier.

6 – Quality level is Tier + 1.

Critical – Quality level is Tier +2

The Workshop upgrade for the Crew adds +1 Quality to the result.

1 coin may be spent to add +1 Quality to the result.

Example: As the MC I would say the area is close and the range is reach.  Duration of a few minutes (1) or an hour (2).  To Tier & Quality I would say Adequate (1) if the item flickers sometimes or Good (2) if it is very difficult to detect (maybe a distortion if you watch for a while).  Thus the total Quality might be 2 to 4.

For Question 4 – Drawbacks

The book has guidelines for drawbacks.  It groups them into sections.

Complex – Item must be crafted in several stages where each takes a Downtime activity and associated roll.

Conspicuous – Take +1 Heat when used on an operation.

Consumable – Has limited number of uses.  All alchemical formula must have this Drawback.

Rare – Creation needs rare item or material when crafted.

Unreliable – When you use this item make a Fortune roll using its Quality to see how well it performs.

Volatile – Item produces a dangerous side-effect for the user.  Some side-effects are consequences that may be resisted.

Example: For this alchemical solution I might decide on Consumable and Rare.  Eyes from a dead person as an ingredient.  Mort believes eyes from a blind man would make a particularly powerful version of the item.

So here are details as to how this came out in my game.

Creation Name: Ghost Oil

What type of creation is it and what does it do?

It’s a two part alchemical potion which is made as a set.  One is an oil which draws an item closer to the ghost field making it invisible.  The second allows the drinker to see the specific item the paired oil was used on.  For example, if I spread the oil on my sword then drank the linked potion, the sword would be invisible to others but I could still see it.  If I put the oil on my sword and someone else drank the linked potion, the sword would be invisible but I would not be able to see it, only the person that drank the linked potion.

What is the minimum quality level of this item?

Item affected flickers based on size (e.g. smaller items do not flicker and larger items do,  1) and it lasts for minutes (1).  Quality level 2.

What rare, strange, or adverse aspect of this formula has kept it in obscurity or out of common usage?

Willingly messing with the Ghost field and putting on item and your ability to see it in that space is dangerous.  If something went wrong, the item could be lost to the ghost field forever.

What drawbacks does it have, if any?

Consumable and Rare.  Eyes from a dead person are needed as an ingredient.  Mort believes eyes from a dead blind man would make a particularly powerful version of the item.

I started running Dungeons & Dragons 5e (5e) campaign for my kids and one of their friends.  As part of the preparation I read the main three books cover-to-cover.  After reading the books I came away with a realization, “They done good.”  Many of my perceived minor foibles that were present in 3e and earlier additions are smoothed over or rewritten.  I know this is 5 years or so late but…here is a simple review of the changes in 5e that caught my attention.

Rolling Thunder

The dice mechanic has changed subtly for the better.  First off all rolls are now high.  Instead of rolling low for skills, high for attacks, etc players now always want to roll high.  Skills are rolled using a d20 plus a characteristic bonus plus a proficiency bonus based on level if you have the skill.  This means skills automatically improve as the player levels.  Neat.

They have also introduced rolling with Advantage or Disadvantage.  If the PC is at an advantage they get to roll two d20 and take the best.  If the PC is at a disadvantage they roll two d20 and take the worst result.  Simple yet really effective.

Occasionally a PC might be in a situation where a roll is not done as they are not actively performing a task.  For example, someone is trying to sneak up on them as they walk down a trail.  In this case there is passive checks.  Passive checks are a calculated number (10 plus modifiers) that is compared to a target.  So in my example, if the walker has a passive perception of 14 the person sneaking up has to hit that with their roll to stay hidden.  Again…simple…effective.

We All Go To Town Together

Everything is condensed to one experience point chart.  Gosh this make so much sense and should have been done ages ago.  This also makes it easier to treat advancement as characters will often level at nearly the same time.

The GM is also give advice on how to balance encounters based on level and a simple formula.  This makes it easier to plan encounters and adjust them on the fly if say one of your players cannot make it.

Inspirational!

One really fantastic change is stolen right from systems with bennies like Savage Worlds.  There is a new mechanic called Inspiration.  This mechanic gives the player an Inspiration point when their character follows one of their flaws, traits, or bonds.  This point can be spent to give them Advantage on a roll.  I really appreciate mechanics like this that give the players a bit more control of outcomes if it is really important to the character.

More Hit Points (HP) at level 1 is also a very nice touch.  This makes starting PC able to take at least a couple of good hits before dying.  This is great at giving PC a bit more staying paying up front.  Also healing is simpler.  In fact it makes it so that every party does not need a cleric.  Another wonderful change.

Magic Mana

Magic is changed as well.  Characters using magic have prepared spells but these do not restrict how many times they can use each spell.  The amount of times a caster can do a spell is driven by spell slots.  So a wizard might memorize Magic Missile, Unseen Servant, and Identify.  During an adventure they can use their spell slots to cast any of those spells until the slots are gone.  Again…simple but less restricting.  Nice change.

The amount of magic items each PC can use is controlled.  Characters have to bond with magic items.  This takes a brief amount of time.  The key here is that they can bond to 3 items only!  This means characters are less dependent on magical crutches and forced to use the talents of their class.  Excellent.

Conclusion

I really looking forward to see how things turn out as the campaign advances with these tweaks.  I guess this goes without saying…this might be my favorite Dungeons & Dragons Edition to date.  Critical hit WOTC!

—there are just too blasted many of you! The National Security Council canâ€t even keep track of whoâ€s coming and going!

Hi Gang!

This is the first of a group of posts that I will make between Sessions 1 and 2. In this post I wanted to relay the salient points of a thread that I started on one of the Blades In The Dark social media sites. I think it was MeWe. On MeWe I asked the following question.

I will be running Blades for 6 players. I have run it for 4 players and it went fine. I have run it for 2 players and it was fantastic. I am worried about running it for 6 players. I feel based on the way actions push the fiction that adding players will make the system considerably harder to run. Does anyone have any advice for running Blades with 6 players?

The entire first replay stream starts with this simple response, “Donâ€t.” This very articulate author then follows this up with solid arguments why running Blades for 6 players is not a good idea. He also points to the rule-book which actually says Blades should be run for a max of 4 players. I had not noticed that point on my first reading.

One of his points reflects the concerns I raise in my question above. In PBTA actions from the players (aka rolls) drive the fiction forward. After the player takes action the GM responds with complications from the setting. This could be in the form of damage, new threats, etc. With 6 players this means between each player action the plot will push forward. This can make it difficult for the GM to share the spotlight in critical scenes. The players need to wait their turn as the world pushes forward sometimes at a rapid pace. This started to happen in our first session when one of your noted, “How come the bad guy did all that and some character did not get a chance to act?” Actually in Score 1 the fact that the PC were in two groups actually helped. It made it easier for me to apply complications to each group instead of having to throw it all at a single entity.

Another argument against running for a large groups of players is doling out damage and stress. This is one I have spoken to Chris about at work on and off again. Since it happens in all PBTA games Chris and I have some experience with it through other systems. The idea is simple, in Blades terminology after every mission if the GM is doing their job there should be some wounds on characters and/or at least some stress use from everyone. If more players are present that means there are more characters present to absorb ill effects. It follows that the GM then has to add more threats to handle more characters.

Feat not…all is not doom and gloom! After this discussion he then also went on to give some pointers. One really good one he said is found in a Dungeon World podcast called Discerning Realities. (Since getting this advice I started listening to Discerning Realities and a series of podcasts they have on learning Dungeon World.) In this podcast they recommend checking the location of each PC when the action is starting to get heavy with rolls. In their example the group of plucky adventures enter a hiddle temple of some ancient god then a giant snake and several goblin worshippers appear. They carefully ask the PC the position of their characters after describing the scene. This allows the GM to start considering the flow and how complications might happen. It also naturally helps point out the character that should start the action. For example, maybe the thief who is leveling his crossbow or the mage who is readying a spell.

Others also mentioned dragging characters into danger so that other characters can spend their actions pulling them out of danger. Again this makes it easier to drive the fiction forward based on the consequences of the actions. They used examples of a PC felling a goblin only to be in the path of the snakes massive maw.

So as you can tell I did not let the advice of “Donâ€t” win the argument. I think we can get this to work given some practice and patience from the group.

How about a question o†the post…

Question #1 – The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword! – Did folks enjoy the newspaper?
Doing the newspaper will obviously take some of my time and I do not want to do it if folks do not think it is fun. I think it will be a great way to show the effects of the Crew on Doskvol in an amusing way. I also think it can promote more player buy in on the setting which is an important aspect of Blades.

I have a few topics that I could do next…no hints yet…Iâ€m not sure all of them will turn out…watch this space for more Blades goodness.

( FYI. Brownie points of someone can tell me origin of the quote at the top. )

SPS Has Been A Resounding Success

Starting the Sipping Primordial Soup (SPS) group was a lot of work but I am having so much fun with it!  I have met a ton of great local gamers and had the chance to run some wonderful small-press tabletop games.  I can’t wait to play more! 

Running all of these games has really stretched me as a GM.  I am having to come up with adventures for games that are not in my wheelhouse then run them for strangers.  The result has been a wonderful learning experience.  SPS has really allowed me to fine tune my GM skills, get better in areas where I am weak, and give me a lot more items in my proverbial bag of GM tricks.  I guess you can teach this old dog some new tricks.  Many of these sessions have been the highlight of my tabletop gaming life in 2018.

Big Bad Con 2018 Excels At All Levels

Big Bad Con just nailed it again in 2018.  This little con that is rapidly growing just does everything with thought, acceptance, and skill.  From the massive amount of indie game designers, small-press RPG game sessions, and overall acceptance and love of their guests the con was a joy to attend.  Here is a Big Bad Con 2018 recap blog post with all the details.

Tabletop Highlights

I have played a ton of different games in 2018.  Here is a rough list of ones that spring to mind.  This lists includes RPGs and tabletop games that I had not tried in the past.  These are not in any type of order just how they come to mind.  (FYI.  This list is roughly twice as long as my 2017 list!  My guess is that my 2019 list will be really massive as SPS started in August.  ;)  )

• Monster Hunter Danger International – Finished the second campaign arc!
• Evernight Then Hellfrost Using Savage Worlds – The boys and their friend Spencer has an absolute blast gaming in 2018.  It so refreshing playing with inexperienced gamers!  All of those old tricks are new again. 
• Champions Complete Reliance Revisited – Playing in the Reliance universe was a blast from the past.  I think this might be the first game I played with Chris as well.
• Colonial Gothic – Ran this twice.  Both times were complete homeruns!
• Sentinels Comics RPG
• Dungeon World in the Plague Of Storms campaign setting
• Masks
• The Watch With Anna Kreider – Played with the author once and ran it once.  Both total homeruns!
• Blades In The Dark – I ran two different groups.  My old group is starting a Blades campaign!
• Bliss Stage And Mountain Witch by Carl Rigney – Wow…Carl…wow…if you can play with Carl do so.  End of story.
• The Pip System And Mermaid Adventures With Eloy Lasanta – Just a blast!  Want to try Infestation with my boys.
• Spirit Island And Thornwatch – Two board games that I really enjoyed.
• Adult Board Game Night With The Connelly’s – Really great!  We need to schedule more sessions!
• Nefertiti Overdrive is on the slate for next weekend!

Gosh so many RPG sessions stick out to me but I will mention a couple that really rocked.  These are roughly in the order in which the occurred.

• Evernight Session 10 – The Battle For Kingsport – This was the last session of my Evernight campaign with the boys.  It was so heroic and so cool!  I loved how well they played during this session.
• Dark Waters Rising Session 28 – “Guten Tag!” – This session was run with just three players but it stands out in my memory.  Loved how the adventure unfolded, the interaction with the NPCs, and how wrapped up.  Fun stuff!
• Mountain Witch With Carl Rigney – A large game but expertly executed.  Really showed me the beauty of what can be done with a game on such a focused theme.  Highlight of my Big Bad Con 2018 experience.
• Blades In The Dark Session 2 – “Cassandra Rivaldi” – The second Blades session with the SPS group.  In this session only Wade and Chris showed up but the result was an adventurous romp with a large wrench thrown into the works for good measure.  Really adored the role-playing scenes with Cassandra and the two Shadows.  My dream would be to have all Blades sessions run as awesome as this one!

See ya on the other side!

Introduction

Roughly 4 months ago I started a group of gamers called Sipping Primordial Soup (SPS).  The focus of this group is small-press role-playing games.  As part of this effort I have been running a lot of one-shot sessions.  I have learned quite a bit from running these various indie games.  I think they are really improving my game mastering skills.  This post contains some things I have learned so far.

I am not going to expand on the background mechanics that I am mentioning below.  Instead I want to jump right to the point.  If you need more exposition on my thoughts please let me know and I will try my best to elaborate.

It Is Ok Not To Like Every RPG System But Most Have Something To Offer

One of the things I learned quickly is that some systems are not for me while others are intuitive and easy for me to pickup.  Masks, which is a genre that I feel is squarely in my wheelhouse (aka teenage superheroes), was actually tricky for me to run.  It took a while to get my head around the superhero who took down my villain by using one of his abilities to convince the villain that what he is doing won’t work.  It made sense in the fiction but took a while to grasp in the mechanics.  Colonial Gothic was the complete opposite.  It has old school mechanics that were intuitive and easy for me to pickup and run.  I have run Colonial Gothic twice now to great success.

My takeaway is that even though systems vary greatly in mechanics it is important for my advancement in the hobby to understand and appreciate what these small-press RPG are trying to bring to the table.  Masks pulls back from the powers to focus on the emotional states of the characters.  That is one killer mechanic that really worked during my play.  I found it really enlightening.

In general Powered By The Apocalypse (PBTA) games with their up front GM actions that push player response and foreshadow the impact of their responses falls squarely in this category.  I have learned about hard vs soft questioning by running PBTA games.  Also simple things like asking how the characters look during a climactic moment have been fun and I think give the players more agency and narrative control.  Failing as a mechanism to advance the plot is another important thing I have learned from PBTA.

There are always more tricks to add to the GM toolkit!

I Need More Practice Running Some Genres

The same conclusions that I made with RPG systems apply to genres as well.  Some genres come super easy to me while others are tougher.  Anything gritty, deadly, and political is tougher for me where systems with grandiose heroes and clear cut villains are easier.  Masks and Colonial Gothic are both genres that are in me wheelhouses.  Masks is teenage superheroes and Colonial Gothic is monster hunting.  Both have clear protagonists and clear cut heroes.  Blades In The Dark is not as easy for me to run.  Every NPC in Blades In The Dark has their own motivations and nearly all of them are dishonest.

This is one area where I think I have the potential for a lot of growth.  Running genres that are harder for me has really opened up my play style and shown me how I can present things in different lights.  After running Blades In The Dark for the first time I realized how much I have grown in this area.  Also PBTA games really push the GM to think on their feet.  I like the challenge it brings!

I still have a lot to learn about gamemastering and I have been doing it since 1978.  :]

Systems Should Promote The Style Of Play They Are Trying To Achieve

Often the small-press games that are being played by the SPS group are hyper focused on a feeling that the author wants the gamers to experience as they play out a session.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but the key is the focus.  I have played and run some amazingly impactful games that are really enhanced by the laser like concentration in play.

System that enforce the play style of the genre and setting are important.

Character Ties Out Of The Gate Are Great

PBTA where have you been all my life!  Many of the PBTA games used Bonds or similar mechanics to tie characters to other characters and the setting up front during the character creation phase.  The result is an immersive experience that happens organically during session 0.  Immediately there is something for the players and GM to utilize drive the fiction.

The way Bonds enrich and direct play for a playbook is powerful.  Bonds act as reinforcement to the player in how that playbook should function and ties the character to the fiction.  The Watch does a good job of this with their Bond questions.

Bonds, and similar mechanics that tie starting characters to each other and enforce the setting, are a powerful technique to drive the fiction early.

The Goal Is For Everyone At The Table To Have Fun

This is sort of an obvious statement but I think playing these type of small-press games has really led me to change my play style.  As a GM this means making sure each player gets spotlight time and player agency.  Focusing on what each player and character brings to the table is critical.

As a player this means promoting the other players so that they can be “cool”.  One of my favorite things to do is start dialogs with other players to push along the fiction or compliment them on some really fun action that they just pulled off.  I think everyone wins when players and GMs foster this back-and-forth narrative trust.

Trust and kindness for the win!

Want To Join?

If you want to join Sipping Primordial Soup, my small-press RPG group in the Santa Clara area, then email or tweet using @Kingbeasst.