The Player's Side of the Screen

What Do Skills Do, Again?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Ever since D&D added non-weapon proficiencies to AD&D, skills have been a staple of pretty much every RPG out there. From 3rd Edition's somewhat bloated list of skills to FATE's highly customizable skill list to Cortex's skill dice, every major game out there seems to make use of skills, or at least some list of skill-like abilities. It stands to reason that they're important, but have you ever taken a closer look at what skills actually do in the game? I'm going to look at the use of skills in two very different games, World of Darkness and Burning Wheel, to see what each game uses them for.Read more »

Unspent: Investigations

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Here's a link to a listing of the Unspent posts, if you're a newcomer to this.

Well, everyone, time to get back to some recapping, especially because Unspent has gone a long way whilst we've left it. Last time, Bryce had given the players an offer of help, lending them the assistance of twenty cats, who really don't blink, and who can see in dim light. At long last, it was time to try and unravel what was behind the mystery of the Angels.Read more »

All Outta Bubblegum: A Brief Review and Design Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:37:00 +0000

Link -- All Outta Bubblegum

Today, you're getting a look at something that, until about a week ago (shout-out to my friend Christopher for pointing its existence out to me), I was totally unaware existed. It's also possibly one of the most brilliantly simple game designs I've ever seen. It's ultimate balance, in a nutshell. Go, read it, and come back. There's really not a whole lot to read. This is literally the shortest RPG I've ever seen, and character creation is even shorter.Read more »

Burning in the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:30:00 +0000

This post was written for the first annual New Year, New Game blog carnival hosted by Gnome Stew as part of the 2012 New Year, New Game challenge.

First off, I would like to reassure all of you that this blog is not about to go Burning Wheel-exclusive. I just happen to be very enthusiastic about the game. I do promise that my next post will be wholly unrelated to the game, as I believe that variety is an essential trait to any good bit of writing. Today, however, I bring it up because of the New Year, New Game blog carnival sponsored by Gnome Stew.
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Fire and Flames: A Review of Burning Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, Bagginses and Boffins, I proudly present to you a review of what I speculate will be the pride and joy of my RPG collection for some time. This certainly won't be the last time that I speak on Burning Wheel Gold, but I'll certainly try and sum up exactly what I think about the game. I'll also be trying a nice, easy, organized review format.
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Feeding the Fire: I Meet Burning Wheel Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Well, folks, I'd like to welcome you back, with a pretty cool RPG book cover. Burning Wheel (Gold Edition): behold the awesome. Okay, now we're done with that. I suppose I should bring everyone back up to speed on the blog. I haven't posted on it for a month and a half, unfortunately, and that was primarily due to my computer fritzing out. I'm borrowing a computer from a friend, and though it's a bit slower, it does its job admirably.
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Wibbly-Wobbly Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:09:00 +0000

Right. then. My computer has suffered a catastrophic and malicious failure of impending and demanding doom. (The graphics adapter, for those of who are so inclined to be technical.) So! I'm not going to be posting here for a good while, possibly. If we get a post, then consider yourself lucky. Until that time, consider what goes up on the blog for now as "bonus". Regular content will resume once the computer starts behaving or (which is far more likely) I replace 'er.

Have a banana. They're very, very good for waiting.

Videoblogging: the Third Installment!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:16:00 +0000

In which I discuss level disparity in RPGs (helped by my friend SpydersWebbing, with the post I linked the other day), and review the indie game Wushu Open.

Linking for the Spyder

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:20:00 +0000

The Kitchen Sink: Modding 4th Edition

Well, I was told to link over to this, my buddy who's playing George Freeman in the Unspent campaign has a blog that he's going to start posting 4E houserules to. He's got a lot of experience with the game, so it'll be interesting to see what he cranks out.

Unspent: Help Comes

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:30:00 +0000

So, the group was in the car with a crazy bum, somewhere around 40 years old. They'd just booked it away from St. Luke's Church, after quite the confusing little turn of events, again fleeing the Angels, who were looking healthier than ever. Now, it was time for them to recover, and decide exactly what to do next. They also wound up putting a bunch of pieces of the puzzle together...Read more »

Player's Side Vlog: NaNo and Noir

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:39:00 +0000

I'm back, with an actual episode this time! I go off on a NaNoWriMo-related tangent, and then review Greg Stolze's "A Dirty World".

Dystopia and Giant Robots: A Real Ringer

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Well, folks, sorry about the delay here. I've just kicked off NaNoWriMo, which means that I'll be even more busy from here on out! But that's okay, I'm gonna get that done and continue to post regularly, and hold down a part-time job alongside my freelance web design. So, then, on to the RP recap! We had a nice bit of character development, as well as a very unexpected development...Read more »

I'm on YouTube!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Well, folks, here it is: I'm actually going to be starting up a video blog for The Player's Side. Every Friday, one of these should go up. So, watch, share it around, and enjoy!

Unspent: the Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:28:00 +0000

Sorry on the late post here...but at least it's Tuesday!

Now that the group had been through another go-around with the church, gotten some research done in the library, and gotten a little scant bit of information from people in bars, it was time to get a fuller backstory. Sharon the forensic investigator decided to first go and conduct some tests on the wood she'd taken from a pew in the church (with the writing), and the others were going to meet with her later, to talk with Don Federo, the laicized priest who'd been the pastor of St. Luke's.Read more »

What I Learned From Baccano!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

So, for those not in the know, I'm going to be talking chiefly about an animated series called Baccano!, which is mostly set in the 1930s, and features gangster action and a train heist. Basically. It's very, very well-done, half the characters are pretty much clinically insane, and there's a good bit of bloody violence in it. Where it truly shines, though, and the point that I'll be touching on, is in its narrative.Read more »

Unspent: Further Investigation

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:10:00 +0000

We resume our recap of the Unspent campaign with a recap of last week's session, which introduced a new player. Her character, Sharon, was a forensic investigator, who (as we're going to see) was very understandably skeptical of the goings-on at St. Luke's. The group wound up digging into the past of St. Luke's, uncovering some interesting dirt, and then went back for another investigation.Read more »

Dystopia and Giant Robots: Madness and Mechanics

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Well, then, let's get started on this somewhat belated post! Hopefully some of you readers have still been attentively hanging around, waiting for this one. It's still not terribly spectacular yet...I may have tried to push the plot a little too fast, resulting in a need to slow down and develop characters a bit more strongly.

Plot Summary
Katsuo and Paige talked mechanical stuff, and Janice had a weird dream and a brief chat with Commander Rowan.Read more »

Unspent: St. Luke's Church

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

So, I've also recently started up a World of Darkness campaign for some friends over the phone, which is a vastly different medium than that of my other campaign (Dystopia and Giant Robots). I'm exploring a few different things here, including pitting the players against some very...unique critters. And, well, you'll have to see for yourself. This campaign is titled "Unspent", for reasons that will eventually become clear...Read more »

Dystopia and Giant Robots: Kicking Things Off Again

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:53:00 +0000

It finally came time to kick things back into gear, as far as this campaign went. I opted, for a few different reasons, to enact an in-game timeskip of about three weeks. In that time, the Godblind have settled into a manner of organization, under a leader, with a loose hierarchical military structure. Their immediate goal is to break into the Heavens, and the main characters have been given the mission of working in the frontline of that approach. Eventually, those three weeks will get filled in via flashback, to explain some of the bits of how the characters got to their present point.Read more »

Breaking the Game?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 15:24:00 +0000

RISK: Legacy rules (PDF)

Well, folks, there you have it. Another version of RISK. But what sets this one apart is rather fascinating: you are intentionally supposed to permanently modify the game throughout the first 15 playthroughs. That's right. You put stickers on the board, get rid of territory cards, and open up sealed packs to add new rules into the rulebook. You also write names for cities and continents on the board as the game is played again and again. Yeah. That sounds pretty different to me. Read more »

Swamped!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:18:00 +0000

So, then, looks like I've gotten hit with a lot of busyness. I'll try and get posts up on schedule! Please, stay tuned, and nobody move!

Beacon of Hope: a New World of Darkness Houserule

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:46:00 +0000

The Stress hack for nWoD

Well, some of you may have noted my World of Darkness hack for madness, the stress of coming into contact with the supernatural, and the tie-in to the Morality system. I've been looking at it...and I can also see how it might lend itself to a pretty nasty spiral of "Way too many derangements that will cost way too much XP to buy off." Well, here's a solution for that.Read more »

The Shadow of Madness: a New World of Darkness houserule

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:52:00 +0000

This is a rules hack that I've already mentioned on Google+, and now I've revised it a little. It was inspired by the mention of a "Shadow Points" system for Cubicle 7's The One Ring RPG. That system works as follows: as your character progresses, they get more experienced, but they also have more of a chance to accumulate "shadow points" that bring them closer to the brink of madness and evil...so it's a good idea to retire characters before that happens. Thinking on it, it could be a marvelous idea when adapted to WoD. My brain started clicking, and, well... Read more »

Dystopia and Giant Robots: Grand Finale (Sorta)

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:07:00 +0000

Well, folks, sorry about that delay! I, er, got sidetracked a bit, including a lengthy Civilization IV session, crushing my enemies. (I guess it's time to bump up the difficulty...) Anyhow, this is the final update on Mecha, at least for a little while, since the group is on hiatus. We'll be starting back up again once people get settled. I need to start hatching plans for what's happening next in the story...

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Got Heraldry?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy Hauge) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:20:00 +0000

So, I'm running a play-by-post RPG, with the premise that Gondor of the Fourth Age has started devolving into a political situation akin to Westeros from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Therefore, having cool heraldry is basically a must for this game. But that can be a lot of work. Until I found a totally awesome tool...

Inkwell Ideas' Coat-of-Arms Creator is a free online tool with an inexpensive offline version. It's quite simple to use, and it whips up really cool-looking heraldry that can be completely customized. It's definitely something that deserves to be noticed, promoted, and supported! It could also come in handy for a number of RPG scenarios in pseudo-medieval settings...