New PLOT episode released (Sources of Inspiration)

Play on Target Episode 5: Sources of Inspiration

Our fifth episode of the Play on Target podcast has gone live on the site. This episode's topic was sources of inspiration. I, and my fellow hosts, each chose three printed sources that we use for inspiration when designing campaigns/adventures/etc.

My three sources of inspiration are:

 GURPS sourcebooks in general. I've never run the game, but the sourcebooks are crazy-full of flavor and atmosphere.

The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature. I picked this up as inspiration for fiction writing but found myself applying it to designing sessions more than anything else. It talks about common fantasy tropes, how to keep them fresh, etc.

The Atlas of Middle Earth. This one started as inspiration for running MERP 2E. However, the book is so well-done and in-depth that it works great for reference when designing your own worlds.

For the other hosts' sources, you'll have to give the episode a listen. Check it out!

Time Heroes of Fate - G+ Hangout Actual Play - Alexander of Bebopedonia (or Alexander and the Greats)

After working for quite some time yesterday on the Time Heroes of Fate document, I called it a night and decided if I could find anyone interested in going through a playtest of the convention demo scenario I had put together. +Jacob Poss and +Jonathan Henry were kind enough to answer the recruitment call. Jacob opted to play the Ludwig van Beethoven pregen character while Jonathan took up Derek "Oklahoma" Bones, historian/adventurer.

The posted video is the actual play session that was broadcast via YouTube. If you're interested in watching an actual play game of Fate Core, we did a pretty good job of hitting the basics of the system as well as stopping from time to time to discuss the rules themselves.

Time Heroes of Fate - Revamping Magic After an Actual Playtest

As those of you who read yesterday's post know, I finally had a chance to run a scenario from Time Heroes of Fate at a convention yesterday. During the course of play, I noticed one thing. Future Tech (and Magic), are either over- or under-powered. In my initial laying out of the Magic/Future Tech skills, I didn't greatly specify how they are used. I spoke of them in context of being rolled to pull of spells/devices (stunts), but that's about it. I didn't really clarify if that's the only situation they could be used in, or if they were some kind of "uber-skill." And to be honest, I hadn't really thought of it one way or the other until it came up in play. During the game I just used GM fiat to determine if something could be done or not, but I knew that I was going to have to sit down and look again at how Magic and Future Tech are used.

Magic as a Skill Supplement

This is the idea that hit me full-force as I was looking over my blog a short while ago. 

You can still use stunts for whatever spells/devices you and your GM can think up. However, the skills can also be used on their own, but only to supplement other skills. What I mean to say is, you can use Future Tech/Magic to perform the task of another skill, but ONLY up to the rank you have in the skill (whichever is lower).So if you have a Magic of +4 (Great) and a Burglary of +2 (Fair), you could use Magic to pick a lock but you would only add your Burglar rank of +2 to the roll. If the skills were reversed (Magic +2 and Burglary +4), you would still only add 2 because that's the lower of the two skills.

I'm also thinking to limit how many skills Magic/Future Tech can be used for. Even being used in place of another skill when something makes that skill unavailable, combined with rolling them with spells/devices it still seems pretty powerful. If I opt to limit the amount of skills, I'm currently thinking of allowing the player to link their Magic/Future Tech with one "regular" skill per rank in Magic/F.T. So, if a wizard had a Magic of +2 (Fair), she could link it with two skills and use it to supplement them.

How is this useful, you ask? It allows you to perform an action in a situation where you normally couldn't. Say you're held up against a wall by a thug, restrained. Just behind him is a perfectly-sized vase with which to clock him in the head. You have a Fighting of +2 (Fair) and a Magic of +3 (Good). Since you're held firm, you couldn't normally use fight to smash the vase onto the thug's head. However, being restrained doesn't prevent you from using your Magic, and so (since the Fighting skill is lower at +2) you roll and add +2, levitating the vase full-force into the back of the goon's skull.

Time Heroes of Fate - First Con Demo Review and Session Report

SoupCon 2013

Today I attended SoupCon, a little local convention at the campus of the college a mile or so from the house. We arrived at eleven this morning and headed down to the "One Shot Room" where Ashley and I set up a table with the Time Heroes of Fate characters, a few sets of Fate dice and poker chips for Quantum Points. After the table was set up, Ashley went to look around the convention while I sat back and waited...


and waited...

and waited.

It was a couple of hours before people showed up to play. I was starting to get concerned there wouldn't be any takers when Addam Love, the president of the Superior Alliance of Gamers and Associates (SAGA, the group putting on the con) came to sit in on it. Not long before, Frank, a member of the face-to-face group I haven't had the opportunity to play with for some time, came to visit and also decided to sit in on the game (at least until he had to leave). With those two and Ashley, it was enough people for me to start running.

After the first scene (dropped the players into a conflict because who doesn't love in media res starts), a friend of Addam's brought her boyfriend and another friend in, making a total of five players. She just wanted to watch, which was perfect as I had only planned for a maximum of five players. Everyone laughed and dove headfirst into their characters, only come back to the real world for air when Addam as president had to step away for an interview or to answer questions about an event coming up. In short, 100% buy-in. I couldn't have asked for a better response for the first time I ran my homebrew Fate Core game.

After the event ended and clean-up was finished, I overheard someone in the hall talking to someone else saying he was disappointed he hadn't gotten there in time to sit down and play the game (he was in and out observing during the session). Additionally, I heard several comments from the players regarding how exciting and hilarious the setting and the system were. For the first run through, it seems I've hit a home run!

I did notice a few things I need to do before running Time Heroes of Fate at Plattecon or Berserkon, though.

1. Get some business cards or something made up for GWO, directing people to the FB page/this blog/the main website. There were some people interested in playing again and an easy way to contact me would have been a good idea.
2. Print out some kind of small banner or a GWO logo to place on the table. If people like Time Heroes of Fate, I should start promoting the sites so people know where to get news on the homebrew stuff that I do.
3. I need some kind of printout description of exactly what Time Heroes of Fate is all about. There wasn't a ton of traffic today, but while I was talking with someone about Fate Core and/or the setting as they walked by, it would be nice to have a document to reference (or for someone to read if they walk up in the middle of the conversation.

In regards to the scenario itself, I found one thing that could use some work as well.

- Compel more often. Much like it took the players the first encounter or so to start getting the hang of invoking aspects, it took me quite some time to remember to compel aspects. On the plus side, once the players started invoking their aspects, they started compelling themselves as well.

=======================================================================

Alexander the Bebopedonian (or Alexander and the Greats)

A Session Report from the GM

Players - Pregen Characters

Frank Stalker - Professor Derek "Oklahoma" Bones, professor of history, part-time adventurer

Addam Love - Lorenzo Lorenzo, portly plumber from Jersey

Lee Bos - Ted Wilco, friendly janitor from the future (joined after the first scene)

Dave Brand - Jacob "Ace" Hollister, gambler from the wild west (joined after the first scene)

Ashley Ishmael - Malcolm, a survivor of the le Fey apocalypse

Lifestyle Aspect: The Frigid North

Franchise Stunt: Jacked In - Any Investigation rolls using computers gets a +2 bonus

Intro Scene - the Mission

I narrated this information to everyone before getting into the first scene. The Great Merlini had informed the characters that Morgan le Fey had found some leverage to use against Alexander the Great to lure him to her side. Under her command, he formed a bebop rock group called "Alexander and the Greats" who were currently touring cross-country and inspiring thousands of fanatical fans to join le Fey's side in the Time War. Merlini had just received information that someone from within Alexander's own camp was plotting his demise and was going to assassinate him before the next show. The magician has sent the characters in the hopes that investigating and bringing this information to the Macedonian leader would sway him, if not to Merlini's side, then at least from le Fey's.

Scene One - Battle with Bebopians

I started the scenario in media res. The characters were in the middle of a battle with "the Bebopian Infantry," a group of fans who had been camped out at the DECC (Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center) for days in an attempt to get tickets. They were dressed in Alexander and the Greats t-shirts with designs that made them look like Macedonian armor and wearing Jayne-style hats designed to look like helmets.

Highlights of the Conflict (as I remember them offhand):

- Oklahoma Bones grabs a fluorescent light fixture with his whip and pulls it down onto a group of Bebopian Infantry, creating the aspect "Fluorescently Dazed."

- Lorenzo plunges several infantrymen in the face.

- Malcolm uses his "I've Read About That!" stunt to pull some spectacular martial arts skills from out of nowhere, dropping an entire group of infantry in one attack.

- Okie uses the velvet rope to bind an entire group of his opponents.

- Lorenzo attempts to trip a group of infantry with a power cord and fails miserably. The same group then mobs him and he ends up taking six points of stress damage (maxing out all stress boxes).

After a few rounds, the group mops up the floor with their opponents. Lorenzo attempts to intimidate the three who are wrapped up in the velvet rope. His roll ties their will roll. I decide to grant him a boost, which he then passes to Malcolm. Malcolm uses his "I've Read About That!" stunt again to say he has read police procedurals about good cop/bad cop and succeeds his roll by a huge amount. 

Story wise, Lorenzo tells the Bebopians that his plunger has been in disgusting places, hasn't been washed in a while and they don't want it in their faces, so they'd better talk. Malcolm swoops in and plays the nice guy, sweet-talking the group and asks where Alexander is hiding out pre-show. They don't know, but they do say that two of the Greats, P-Tol (Ptolemy, an Egyptian-themed rap artist when he does solo musical work) and Per****as (Perdiccas, a hard rocker so fond of profanities that his very name has to be censored) are bumming around town. They share that P-Tol is at the Pyramid casino and Per****as is at the local mall. Lastly he imparts that the two don't like each other and are constantly trying to one-up each other in Alexander's eyes. 

 (this is where the players of Ted Wilco and Ace Hollister join the game)

After the interrogation, Okie and Malcolm decide to break into the ticket booth (it wasn't open yet) and steal backstage passes, "just in case." Lorenzo's "Straight Shooter" aspect is compelled and he fights to step in and stop them. Malcolm gets Ted to keep Lorenzo occupied while they snag the tickets. The janitor uses his "Jet Pack Mastery" stunt to tackle Lorenzo to the ground just long enough for the heist to get pulled off.

Scene Two - Flashback
I actually ended up skipping this scene, as it wasn't necessary and the first conflict took long enough that I thought it best just to cut it. Initially this was going to be a scene where I begin by starting a story and then passing it around the table. Each person adds some to the story and once it has wrapped back to me I would tie it up with how they came to be at the DECC facing off against a bunch of Alexander's fans.

Scene Three - Choosing Sides and Planning
A debate happens between party members about whether they should approach P-Tol or Per****as with the warning about Alexander's possible assassination. After much deliberation, they choose to go meet T-Pol and so the group makes their way to the Pyramid casino. They reach this decision because Oklahoma Bones (who lives for excitement) says that the mall would be full of innocent kids and families while the casino would be full of gamblers.

They head over to the casino and find it even more full than usual. Malcolm scans the crowd and finds where its thickest. He spots P-Tol in the middle of that crowd, but it's too thick to get through. Ace, Malcolm and Ted perform a team Deceit action. Malcolm hops up on the bar and shouts that Alexander is in the building while Ted and Ace slip into the crowd, "reacting." This thins the crowd just enough for Malcolm to slip through and whisper something about an attempt on Alexanders life and making Per****as look bad. P-Tol tells him to meet him in the VIP room in an hour so he can finish his turn on the slot machines and sign autographs.

In the downtime, several of the characters compel themselves for Quantum Points, forcing themselves to roll and attempt to steal chips (Malcolm), reprogram slot machines (Ted) and scam poker players (Ace). Unfortunately for drama, but fortunately for them, they all succeed at their rolls. *Note, I now think that perhaps I shouldn't have had them roll and simply had them auto-fail at attempts to cheat the casino. Ah well, it still worked out ok.

After the hour is up, they head back to the VIP lounge and find P-Tol sitting by himself, waiting. He immediately asks who the assassin is. No one knows and the rapper waves that off. He then mentions that Malcolm said something about making Per****as look bad. He said that if they can do something to embarrass his frenemy, he will gladly get them in to see Alexander.

The group agrees and leaves the casino. On their way to the mall, they come up with a plan to put laxative in Per****as' drink and cause a toilet to flush backwards, all while live streaming the event to YouTube. Deciding this is the best course of action, they arrive at the mall.

Scene Four - A Nasty Prank
The players are extremely excited about this plan. It is agreed that initially, Ace (with a +3 Deceit score) and Lorenzo (with his +4 Crafts score) will disable every toilet stall in the mall except for one and rig that one to spray violently up when flushed. Simultaneously, the other three will do a team investigate/notice roll to find where Per****as is. Both situations resolve spectacularly.

Ace heads back to the group that has found Per****as in the food court while Ted heads back to the rigged bathroom stall to install nanocameras and live stream a feed to the internet. Ted handily sets up his end of the prank. Back at the food court, everyone else performs a team roll using Deceit/Resources to bribe the employee working at the taco place Per****as is known to like to slip the laxative into his drink. It's a close roll, but it succeeds. Lorenzo and Ted return and everyone gets food and sits to watch the show.

Towards the end of his meal, everyone hears a loud gurgling, followed by a string of bleeps coming from Per****as. He then leaps up and races to the food court restrooms. Within moments they hear more censored profanity and the rocker runs back out, making for another mall bathroom (the one that is working). He moves so fast his own security can't keep up with him.

The characters bring up the internet on their mobile devices and watch the live feed. They see Per****as enter the stall and sit, going about his business loudly. After some time he flushes the toilet and is covered in brown, brackish fluid as the toilet sprays upwards. He bleeps some more, then groans and sits back down on the toilet. *Note - At this point, everyone at the table is laughing hysterically. The combination of the situation and my actually saying "bleep" instead of swearing whenever Per****as swears is too much for them (and myself). Ashley told me on the way home that she was actually crying, she laughed so hard.

The characters return to P-Tol and hear him laughing even before entering the VIP room. He says he'll gladly bring them to "Al" immediately. He also says they went above and beyond in the task he set before them.

Scene Five - Final Confrontation
P-Tol brings the heroes to the hotel Alexander is at and sends them to the penthouse in the elevator. He says he has stuff to do and leaves them to talk to his leader. In the hallway outside the door, they find Alexander's security unconscious and the door ajar.

Inside, they find Anti-Daddio (Antipater, a black beret-wearing, black turtleneck-wearing, black pants-wearing beatnik) standing over an unconscious Alexander with a half-empty vial of liquid. With him are nine of his own entourage (broken into three groups of three for the upcoming conflict). Anti-Daddio tells his men to leave no witnesses and the conflict begins.

Highlights of the Conflict (again, as I remember):
- Okie uses his whip to knock the vial from Anti-Daddio's hand
- Ted uses his jet pack to nab Alexander and fly high speed out of the penthouse and into the hall
- Ace shoots at a goon standing in front of the window and knocks him out of it. The roll succeeds so well that the guy he shot is grabbed by two of his companions and they end up pulled out of the top-story window as well.
- Lorenzo uses a stereo power cord to electrocute Anti-Daddio, injuring him so badly he has to take a consequence and gains the aspect "Involuntary Twitch."

It took some effort and damage on the part of the heroes, but they succeeded at fighting off Anti-Daddio's men and the villain ends up unconscious on the floor. It's then that Malcolm compels his own aspect "I have a Nemesis" to realize that Anti-Daddio is an ancestor of his nemesis and so pours the remaining poison down his throat, killing him.

Ted Wilco uses his nanobots to purge the poison from Alexander's system and he awakens. Alexander thanks the group and says that he can't help them because Morgan le Fey has a solution to a problem he can't solve back in his own time. He says that a man laid a massive knot on the ground in front of him and promised to peacefully surrender his country if Alexander can undo the knot. Okie recommends he burn the knot as the phrasing wasn't "untie it" and if there was no rope, there'd be no knot. Alexander thinks and says that would work. Finally, he says he can't join Merlini, but he will no longer work with le Fey and will take his men back to his own time. With that, the scenario ends.

New PLOT episode released (Crowdfunding and RPGs), Session Six of Changeling: Lost Vegas

Play on Target Episode Four: Crowdfunding and RPGs

Our fourth episode was released earlier this week (Wednesday, 2/13). In this episode, we discuss crowdfunding and how it ties in now with RPGs. The majority of the episode covers Kickstarter specifically, but other crowdfunding sites (such as indiegogo) are mentioned as well.

The episode covers what exactly crowdfunding is as a concept, advice on how to tell good ones from bad, when to flip the switch on your own Kickstarter if you're thinking about it and more. This is a hot button topic in the gaming world right now and each of our hosts (save myself who, at the time of recording, had literally NO experience with crowdfunding) has his own opinions on the topic.

This is my first turn in the host's chair. I greatly enjoyed it and it made sense that I should be the one tossing out the questions due to my lack of experience on the subject. Overall, this was an excellent episode and if you're thinking of looking into backing (or even starting) your own Kickstarter, I highly recommend giving it a listen.

I should note that this episode was recorded months ago and therefore many of the recent developments with RPGs and Kickstarter had not yet happened (most noticeably the Fate Core blowout from +Fred Hicks and +Evil Hat Productions, though they were mentioned in regards to another project that had done well). We do plan on revisiting this topic somewhere down the road to see how things have evolved since this episode.

Changeling Lost Vegas Session Seven: House of Cards (Redux)

+Lowell Francis ran the seventh session of his Changeling: the Lost campaign this last Monday (yes I skipped a session; I thought the sixth session wasn't recorded for some reason due to players not being there). After the motley members carve out their own little niches in the Hollow, they prepare to go visit Shark-Fingered Princess to take the job from the Autumn Court.

John W. Smith, who has NO schoolboy crush on their Autumn contact, uses his automata-crafting skills to build her a small metal seed that blooms into a rose when activated. Amber decides she needs to be able to get away in a hurry and obtains Morosa's assistance in creating a tear-away skirt for when things grow too hectic for the UFOlogist. 

John pulls a fast one on Morosa and claims shotgun on the ride over to the Autumn Court, which of course is even more binding among the fae. We accept the job from Shark-Fingered Princess and go in search of Grey, the Autumn Courts late Smith. John decides our group should hit the Smith's workshop first. Unfortunately, my Smith becomes distracted on the way in by "broken" traps and repairs them all just as the group heads inside. Within the workshop, little of use is found and the group returns. 

Lowell was the GM. Other players besides myself were: +Shoe Skogen, +Sherri Stewart and +Cat Rambo.

(Fate Core) The Island Session One - Landfall

Session One: Landfall

The players 

Slate - a Golem who killed his master (and King)

Nadawi - an Elf who attempted (but failed) to assassinate her Queen in long-waited revenge for the death of her family

Arvelir Killenddare - a Half-Elf, banished to the Island for attempting to steal the Star of Brannor from his Queen and return it to its rightful owner

Sao the Kaeldraean - a Dark Elf who was captured after assassinating the entire royal family.

The group is in the hold of the ship with other prisoners and witnesses several of them brought up on deck and killed by something (well, they witness the aftermath). After being deposited on the Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs, Sao scares one of the other prisoners into investigating what appears to be a walled town that lies inland a bit. The man does so and soon after the group is met by someone from Harbor, who guides them back.

They meet Harbormaster Terasius Ilik who says that all are welcome in Harbor for a short time to become accustomed to the Island, as long as they contribute. He provides them with transitional food and board under the promise that they will do a task for him. He sends them to investigate word from a scout that a group of Rippers has been seen heading in the general direction of the town.

After finding that Rippers are a faction on the Island made up of people driven mad and turned cannibal, the group cautiously heads out. After facing down a boar nearly the size of a man, they come upon the abandoned camp the scout from Harbor found. They followed the tracks west through the forest and found another encampment with seven of the Rippers in it.

After handily defeating the Rippers, Sao opts to keep one alive to learn some of the ways of the Rippers and questions him, finding that a group of 50-60 are gathering to attack Harbor. They knock the Ripper unconscious and race back to Harbor, informing Terasius that there is an attack party due in a few days. Terasius says he needs to get word to a nearby Repentant encampment and a Pawns encampment to try and get aid. The group opts to be emissaries to the Repentant group and Terasius begins forming another small group to approach the Pawns and request assistance in defending Harbor.

Games Workshop Delusional about Space Marine Trademark

M.C.A. Hogarth is an author who has published several novels in ebook format. She has just had a book pulled (in ebook form anyway) from Amazon thanks to Games Workshop and a ridiculous trademark infrignement claim.

She has written a book called "Spots the Space Marine," and it appears that Games Workshop feels they invented the term and no one else should be able to use it. Never mind the fact that the term "space marine" has been around since the 1930s and has become a science fiction trope, they've been using it in Warhammer 40K since 1987!

I'm not a lawyer. In fact, I'm nowhere close; but this seems completely absurd to me. Why don't they go after elf and dwarf while they're at it? Those words are about as prevalent in the science fiction/fantasy culture as the term space marine is.

Unfortunately, Hogarth doesn't have the resources to take on a gaming giant like Games Workshop.

As she says in here livejournal entry about this (found here):


"To engage a lawyer to defend me from this spurious claim would cost more money than I have, certainly more than the book has ever earned me. Rather than earning money for my family, I’d be taking money from them, when previously my writing income paid for my daughter’s schooling. And I’d have to use the little time I have to write novels to fight a protracted legal battle instead."

Until I read this post, the 40K-themed RPGs on the market have been on my list of games to look into. Regardless of how this situation turns out, I've now crossed them off of that list. For them to have the gall to think they should have exclusive rights to a term that's been around for over 3/4 of a century disgusts me to no ends.

With companies like Evil Hat out there, doing their best to open the doors and make things more public for their fans, I can't imagine a worse move for a gaming company (I know, this isn't game related, but as far as I'm concerned the philosophy still applies) than attacking the very people who make their very existence possible.

I don't generally jump into "politics" like this, but I feel it's one of those situations where everyone who can should help spread the word of what's happening. Games Workshop is throwing their weight around because they think there won't be consequences for it. It's up to us in the geek community to spread the word and show that this isn't the case in order to prevent a precedent being set. So go read her page, spread the word and perhaps we can reach someone who CAN help make a difference for M.C.A. Hogarth.

Dread: Horror Role Playing with Built-in Atmosphere

In my Iron Reviewer entries, I am going to focus on what I consider the key concepts that I apply when

looking at the playability of any RPG. Rules will be talked about, but not rated on any kind of standalone basis. At the end of each section I will include a "TL; DR" summary for those who just want to get the gist of it.

The Idea

Dread is a game that attempt to capture the feeling of the American horror film. From Alien to Friday the 13th, Dread wants to be able to invoke both the creeping fear of a slow reveal as well as the jump in your seat startle when the monster leaps out from behind a door.

The question to ask is “does it succeed”?

Mechanic System:Atmosphere

The first of my key concepts is the one that I consider to quite possibly be the most important. Do the mechanics of the game successfully capture the atmosphere the game is trying to create? Below I will discuss various aspects of the mechanics in relation to the atmosphere of the game.

Mechanics
There is exactly one REAL mechanic in Dread. Everything else is based around the story telling. The mechanic in the game is a Jenga tower. This is where the statement I made in my subject line comes in. Jenga is a game that creates a tension all in its own. The designers felt like combining that tension with a tale of horror would go a long way towards capturing the seat-gripping suspense of a horror film. In my opinion, they succeeded.

In Dread, the GM does nothing mechanically. He merely weaves the tale and guides the players down the dark and depraved path to their ultimate rewards. Basically, when someone wants to perform an action where something is actually risked, the game master will call for a pull from the tower. If the player successfully pulls from the tower without toppling it, she succeeds. If the tower falls over, she fails. If the task is one in which a particular character can accomplish it easily (for example, a situation that requires an action that she has clearly listed on her character sheet that she's capable of), there is no pull required.

Failing in Dread is not good. If you take out the tower while making a pull, your character doesn't just fail at her action. She gets written out of the story entirely. Oftentimes, she dies, but it is possible that the character gets written out by the GM another way.

Players can also choose to make pulls on their own. If you want your character to succeed at something exceptionally, you can choose to pull more than once from the tower. Should you succeed at your pulls, she succeeds above and beyond. You can also choose your own actions to pull for should the desire arise.

The state of the tower also helps the GM to pace the game. If it's early on and there are a lot of pulls, it might be a good time for the GM to decide to slow the action up a bit and build suspense. If there haven't been any pulls for some time, he may decide to get the action going more quickly and cause several pulls in a row.

Character Creation
Character creation in Dread is the only other real "mechanic," and it really isn't even one. There are no statistics, no abilities, and no rolls of the dice. So how does one create a character? Simple. You answer questions.

When a game master creates a story to run in Dread, he will create a questionnaire for each character. Each sheet has different questions on it. At the beginning of the session the GM will hand the sheets out to each of the players and they spend time answering each of the questions.

This process is almost a game in and of itself. Players will try and answer the questions in such a way that they might actually be able to accomplish a task without making a pull. This situation can also pit some of the character against each other.

Most importantly (I feel), creating the characters via questionnaire helps the player grow attached to it. This helps drive the suspense even more as they grow attached to them. Lastly, as there are no numbers of any kinds to worry about, this frees everyone up to focus on personality.

TL; DR Summary - Mechanic System:Atmosphere
The Jenga tower mechanic is meant to create an atmosphere of tension that bleeds into the game itself. As characters "die" when failing at any pull from the tower, it succeeds at raising the stress levels around the table.

Character creation also helps build the atmosphere. In a genre where characters actual abilities often come to not, Dread removes them completely. Characters are created by answering questions. The answers to those questions are the character.

Mechanics:Atmosphere Rating - 5/5

Complexity

Complexity of a system can not only have effect on general playability, but also to how newbie-friendly it is. Because of this, the complexity of a game is the second of my key concepts as it applies to the Basic System, Players and GMs.
Basic System
There is nothing really complex about the base system. If you don't automatically succeed at something, pull from the tower. That's it.

Player
Really the most complex thing for a character in a game of Dread is character creation. I've found that, with characters who like to get into their characters, the creation portion of a session can take some time.

The other part of the game that might come across as more complex to some is how narrative it is. There are no rolls determining success or failure, so the storytelling is all in the description of how a character succeeds or fails.

GM
The job of the GM can go either way when it comes to complexity. If a GM is running a prewritten adventure, there isn't much more to it than keeping things on track and keeping the storytelling interesting.

The hardest part of a GM's job in Dread is probably keeping the pacing up. A GM has to make sure that pulls aren't called for too frequently or two infrequently. He also wants to keep things interesting, include lulls and frantic action in moderation as well. This will also come into play when a GM is designing his own stories.

TL; DR Summary - Complexity
The basic mechanics of Dread are very easy to pick up. There isn't much complexity to "try something risky, pull from the tower." Players do need to put some thought into character creation, so that can take some effort. Lastly, GMs have to work at keeping the pacing appropriate, which is probably the hardest part of being a GM for this game.

Complexity Rating - 5/5

GM Section

I am primarily a GM when I play, so the third of my key concepts is how useful the GM section of a book is for potential GMs. Some are extremely in depth and some are basically useless.

How to Host a Dread Game
This chapter first touches on the basics of running a game of Dread. After that, it moves into what NOT to do (stay away from the tower, don't monopolize the story, etc.). After the don'ts, the chapter moves on to advice on keeping the pacing appropriate to the story and the timing of pulls from the tower. The last part of the chapter talks about how to address potential problems in a game, from players who refuse to perform actions requiring pulls to characters dropping dead early on in a game.

How to Create a Dread Game
This chapter helps a GM understand how a Dread story is built. It discusses how to develop the story and create events not directly related to the plot. It also gives advice on how to keep the characters feeling isolated and in danger and how to put everything together in a game designed to build suspense and danger while still being fun.

The" ________ Game" chapters
The final GM chapters are six chapters devoted to genres. This entire section of the book is broken up into advice on different styles of games. What kind of questionnaires to design for different genres, pulling from the tower, how to weave the story. For those creating their own Dread stories, these chapters are quite the gold mine.

TL; DR Summary - GM Section
There are multiple chapters devoted to running Dread. One is specific to running the game itself and a second is devoted to creating a game in general. The last group of chapters breaks running/designing stories down by genre.

GM Section Rating - 5/5

Included Adventure

The fourth and last key concept for any core book is the sample adventure included. Ideally, this should give GMs an idea of what a general adventure in the system should look like while keeping it easy to reference.

Number of included adventures: 3
Dread introduces three complete stories for a GM to run. Beneath the Full Moon, Beneath a Metal Sky and Beneath the Mask. Each story embodies a different genre of horror.

Beneath the Full Moon
Beneath the Full Moon is a supernatural suspense horror story. A group of students camping in the woods. The guide is mauled and the students are lost, being stalked by something, and the full moon is in the sky.

Beneath a Metal Sky
Beneath a Metal Sky is a science fiction horror story in the styling of Alien or Pitch Black. A salvage crew comes across an abandoned space hulk and investigates, only to find it isn't really abandoned. It's then they discover their own ship is gone and there are noises in the walls.

Beneath the Mask
Teenagers at a camp on a lake. People being murdered in their bunks. The only people present are the campers. Which of them did it? Yes, the last story in the Dread core rulebook is a slasher/mystery story. One of the characters has gone off the deep end and it’s up to the rest to figure out who and why.

Each of the stories presented here in the book give questionnaires to hand out to players. They include side scenes that can help flesh out a plot or keep things interesting. Lastly, each gives advice on specific scenes that should be present in one way or another to keep things running smoothly.

TL; DR Summary - Included Adventure
Dread includes three stories to be run, each in a different genre (Supernatural Suspense, Sci-Fi and Slasher Mystery). Each gives character questionnaires, potential side stories and suggested mandatory scenes to keep the plot moving. The stories do a good job of laying out what a story should look like as well as providing a good jumping off point for new GMs and players alike.

Included Adventure Rating - 5/5

Potential Concerns

This section isn't only devoted to things I don't like about a game, but also potential problems that don't bother me but might also bother others. This section isn't rated as it is even more subjective than the rest of my review.

There are a couple of areas I need to touch on in this review regarding potential concerns. The first is the Jenga tower. Jenga isn't for everyone. The biggest complaint about this game is that the mechanics rely on manual dexterity and not character skill. This is a valid complaint and might turn some people of completely. I know at least one of my players has refused to even try the game for this very reason.

The second area of concern is the narrative storytelling. Dread doesn't leave as much in the players’ hands as some other narrative games, but it still leaves plenty up to the player. If they succeed at a pull, they need to decide what they did to succeed and narrate it. Like other narrative games, if a player is a major simulationist, this game might not be for them.

To finish this review off, I just want to say that this is one of a few new games I've tried in the past year that have helped me to fall in love with a more collaborative and narrative play style. The mechanic of pulling from a Jenga tower is completely unique and very much in line with a tension and suspense created by horror films. In the first game of this I ran (with a group of strangers at a FLGS), in the last scene one player actually dropped to his knees next to the table shaking after making the final pull to escape on a helicopter. THAT is how players should feel during a horror RPG, as far as I'm concerned.

Time Heroes of Fate - Layout Decisions

I'm finding myself extremely indecisive in regards to the design for Time Heroes of Fate. I want to put together a nice all-encompassing document that could be its own thing once the OGL goes into effect. However, I'm finding that I can't decide how to do it together.

My initial thought was to have an introductory chapter that goes into the basics of Fate Core and how it works. From there I'd move into Time Heroes of Fate itself. I'd mix setting and rules and go over everything in relation to Time Heroes.

However, then I started thinking about the fact that I would basically be reiterating the same rules. I'd be going over them in the Introduction to Fate Core and then again in the rulebook proper. On the flip side, wouldn't it be a good idea to give some sort of an introduction to the system itself before diving into the game proper?

Now I'm starting to think that maybe I should just give a synopsized version of the Fate Core rules. Maybe I can use the Introduction to talk about the extreme basics of Fate Core; talk about aspects, the Fudge dice, Stunts, etc. Instead of going into detail like I originally intended, just leave it to the generalities (so don't talk about teamwork, etc) and leave everything else to the Time Heroes of Fate rules.

Still, I can't make up my mind. So this is where I come to the few people who actually read this silly blog. What do you guys think would work for the layout for Time Heroes of Fate? The choices as I see them now are these:

• Full Fate-on in the intro. This will allow people to understand the game and possibly even run it without the Time Heroes setting, though I'd be essentially going over rules twice.
• General Fate overview in the intro. In this case, I'd be going over the basics of fate, but leaving out any of the advanced or in-depth items until getting to the Time Heroes of Fate rulebook proper.
• No rules overview in the intro. In this case I'd just mention Fate in the intro, maybe talk about the Fate dice, then go from there right into Time Heroes of Fate and introduce everything via the rulebook proper.

Of course there may be another option I haven't thought of, so please, chime in with thoughts/suggestions!

The Island -Time Heroes of Fate- Character Creation Steps

I've just now realized that when I was doing the design journal for Time Heroes of Fate I never went into the steps of character creation. As I prepare to do the writeup for the Island's character creation steps, I thought perhaps I would do the same for Time Heroes as well. I'll write up the Time Heroes proces first, then move on to the Island. Character creation for both games will be pretty much identical to that of Fate Core. The only difference will be in Aspect creation, so that's what each area will focus on.

In Time Heroes, characters were pulled from their various times so there isn't much of a likelihood the characters will have met previously to being thrown together by the Great Merlini (or Merlin or the Merlinator). Instead of Phases 1-3 involving the other characters, the phases for Time Heroes will be the following:

Phase One - Last Day of Previous Life: The first phase is a story from the character's life prior to being recruited by the Great Merlini (or Merlin or the Merlinator). The story could be an adventure the character had or just a regular "day in the life of" story. The story should end with their recruitment. Once this has been done the player should choose an aspect that the story illustrates.

Phase Two - First Encounter: This might be a "first adventure" kind of story. This phase revolves around the first encounter the character had with the Time War. The Great Merlini likes to drop his recruits into circumstances where they can show their worth to Time Heroes, Inc. From fighting members of the Roman legion to attempting to go undercover in Al Capone's group, this phase shows the character's first real chance to shine.

Phase Three - Equipment: This last phase is for an item or piece of equipment the character is known for carrying. This would be their signature item. Ghostbusters have proton packs, King Arthur has Excalibur; this aspect should be an item that embodies the character.

The Island is a situation where each of the characters may very well be from completely different dimensions. The first time the characters likely will be meeting is on the prison ship. Of course if it's determined the group has already been on the Island for a while, that might be different. But still, I think these phases will likely better capture the feel of the game.

Phase One - Race: In my last post I talked about Racial Aspects for the Island. Whether a character is Human, Elf, Dwarf, etc., each race has qualities both positive and negative. That is why the first phase is choosing what race the character is going to be.

Phase Two - The Crime: This phase is the story of the crime of which the character was convicted. Whether guilty or not, this story illustrates what the character's involvement in the situation was. The aspect drawn from this could be one that came about because of the crime and conviction, or one that led to it, or even one that showed itself during the crime.

Phase Three - The Belief: Even the most hardened of criminals believes in something. This aspect should paint a picture of something the character believes deep down inside. Granted, it could be something along the lines of "Suckers are Everywhere," but everyone believes in something. This gets down to the very core of a character.