This was a short night– real life clipped both ends short. We got in a game of Ticket to Ride and a couple of quick games of For Sale.
Ticket started out with Ben and Jennifer springing from Denver, heading south and east from there. I had Pheonix-Portland and Salt Lake-Calgary, so I ran a strange route: Pheonix-Denver-Helena-SLC-Portland-Seattle-Calgary. Everyone looked at me very strangely for that route…
This upcoming Friday, Jennifer will be finishing up a database to make the hearts of sports fans swell. (And staying in the office after midnight working on the project, most likely…) So the next scheduled game is Friday, September 8th.
Also: Jennifer GMed for the first time Friday. I thought she kicked ass, particularly for a first time. I feel proud, even though the work was all hers.
We’ve shifted from Star Wars to D&D– let the Dragon’s Talons ride forth. After wrapping up the Star Wars chapter, we shopped last week. If there’s any other stuff we need to buy, let’s discuss it in comments. Otherwise, we’re off to delve deep into the dungeon under the desecrated shrine to Pelor.
Assuming, of course, that Dad’s eye is healed enough for play to be an option.
UPDATE: Jennifer’s offered to run a Dragon Magazine one-shot for 3rd level characters (that we’d make up the night of gaming) if we’re looking for a fallback.
Last night was a simpler, slower paced evening. We got off to a slow start and dealt Emily into the second round of a Citadels game. Chinese food made it a little hard to play, but we persevered. Despite a death, being victim to a thief, and the loss of a few buildings to the Warlord, Dad still cruised to a mighty victory. I never got a good start…
The evening’s second game was Modern Art. Over the first few days of trading, Dad looked like he was running away with it again. Unfortunately, on the last day of auctions, we both bought Yokos that didn’t place… at very high prices. Jerret didn’t buy much early, but the last couple of rounds, all his purchases were gold. He ended up on top, near 525 points, while Emily was about 50 points below him, and I was 50 points below her… and dad was even more below me. A huge comeback… and a strategy I may have to steal.
From Indie Games: Backstory by whom?, comes this useful division by Ron Edwards.
Four authorites that may be divided among players and GMs:
Content authority – over what we’re calling back-story, e.g. whether Sam is a KGB mole, or which NPC is boinking whom
Plot authority – over crux-points in the knowledge base at the table – now is the time for a revelation! – typically, revealing content, although notice it can apply to player-characters’ material as well as GM material – and look out, because within this authority lies the remarkable pitfall of wanting (for instances) revelations and reactions to apply precisely to players as they do to characters
Situational authority – over who’s there, what’s going on – scene framing would be the most relevant and obvious technique-example, or phrases like “That’s when I show up!” from a player
Narrational authority – how it happens, what happens – I’m suggesting here that this is best understood as a feature of resolution (including the entirety of IIEE), and not to mistake it for describing what the castle looks like, for instance; I also suggest it’s far more shared in application than most role-players realize
Things really got hopping last session; the station conquest came about, along with the successful Rebel invasion. Most of the independant smugglers survived and kiddo successfully toppled his father for control of the local Mafia.
As the session came to a close, a few ships had refueled with the precious Tibanna gas, but most of the fleet was still in line to fuel… as an Imperial response fleet arrived several hours before we’d expected.
As ever, I’ll try to summarize in the campaign log. Contribute your exciting happenings in all their glory.
This was a slower week of gaming; after food we got a late start with lots of yawns. We had a lot of fun despite the tiredness in the room.
We started with a game of Alhambra and finished with a couple of games of Apples to Apples.
Tonight we played two games of Union Pacific. This was the first night any of us had played; prior to everyone’s arrival, I started reading the rules. I was about two-thirds complete when people started arriving.
Tonight’s players: Scott, Jim, Jared, Emily. Note: This time, the write-up is almost a week later than the session; I’ll try to keep better notes and update sooner in the future.
I’ve updated the session log (though it is very sketchy & could use some help this week).
We’re on for Friday– if that doesn’t work for you, let us know right away.
From the WotC site– a few recent articles that are interesting or adaptable.
Secrets of Xendrik maps Lots of maps you can use for different ideas.
Templates and character types The concluding article in the series, walks you step by step through adding a template.
Kibbitzing on monster variation— advantages and disadvantages of variation in foes; why fighting one thing gets boring, but a return to a foe can show what you’ve learned.
Dragons of Faerun Table of Contents (for Dad, since he expressed an interest)
Adding a few more:
Iron Kingdoms Firearms (pdf) Black Powder rules for D20.
Pathguy’s Character Generator is thorough– one long page that assembles your character w/ JavaScript. Uses the Completes and other advanced sources.