Another Caffeinated Day

Reviewing 2011, thinking about 2012 A to Z

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:46:53 +0000

I'm pretty excited about Blogging A to Z 2012, that observation may be obvious, if not only for the fact it remains 2½ months away. It would not a stretch to guess that participation is rewarding in many ways, especially just by "digging deeper" into the fiction, the world, and the game... of course by "the game" I mean as what many probably know as WFRP 2e.

A couple of readers have expressed interest in helping out and I couldn't be more excited, especially given my planned absence mid-April.

Below is a summary of my 2011 entries. Let me know your favorites on the original entry or below. Maybe tell me what you would like to see. How many want to know about Skaven (or maybe another 'S' topic found only by "digging deeper."?

Blogging A to Z 2012

Mon, 9 Jan 2012 02:59:46 +0000

I'm starting to think early this year.

Reviewing my entries from last year and thinking about what I missed, what I could expand on, what positions might have tempered or moderated since last April.

In April, I'll be on vacation... in Europe for a whole week! Italy to be specific. So I have to think about that gap and plan ahead!

I like Italy enough, but if I had more votes, Germany or the Netherlands or Scandinavia or the Normandy Coast of France or Scotland would have been at the top of a list. As a WWII history buff the Italian campaigns are moderately interesting to me. I'm not Catholic, so there are no "roots" to call me to Italy. Mob fiction, eh. Early Roman Empire, pre-Constantine, that's engaging. Italian wines, no so much (the "big reds" are not big enough for my palette). Italian food, though, yum.

Anyway... maybe there is an interested reader or two that would like to collaborate with me in Blogging A to Z WFRP in 2012. I would like to spice it up this year with a podcast too.

2012. Finally, the Year of Shadowrun.

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 02:42:36 +0000

Just kidding!

Shadowrun was a game close to my gaming roots back in the day. I've spoken before of selling a lot of gaming material that lied collecting dust in the attic after getting married. My Shadowrun collection made me quite of bit of money in 2001.

No regrets, really. The game was, by 2001, on its third edition and most of my collection was easily first, maybe some second, edition titles...I think (looking up the property on Wikipedia is not helping me).

However, Shadowrun made me aware of the Mayan calendar and it's "Sixth World" long before pop culture caught on and Hollywood started making bad movies. Shadowrun seems to be a property too that got it's timeline about right. It was a feature of the setting that I enjoyed a lot: as titles were published, so advanced the calendar from 2050 (the setting year). The setting has advanced this calendar a few times as I understand it, but it provided something of a hook in 1987, when 2012 seemed so far away.

Happy New Year... here's to hoping we get to 2013! ~o)

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:59:59 +0000

Happy New Year... it's 2012 GMT

WFRP 2e Primer 2e

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:08:48 +0000

Ha... see what I did there... with the title. It's my "second edition" of my earlier WFRP Primer first described in Starter Character Sheets Origins.

A commenter there by the name of Murdoch provided some constructive criticisms and I took each point to heart, cleaning up the layout and standardizing the notations as well as setting out to clarify some of the logical order, especially Basic Combat.

"Can you Parry? Can you Dodge?" remains as a hint to GM and player alike. I explained to Murdoch that I too often forgot myself and players would as well (or would remember after the fact and table hijinks and retconning would ensue).

Hope Murdoch, and you, enjoy the changes. By the way, Magnus, how's that Watchmen of Altdorf campaign coming along?

Download the PDF here...or maybe you got it on the RSS feed.

17th and 18th century fiction

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:16:31 +0000

Forgive the terse notes that follow.

Cigar. Barleywine. Book. Ingredients of terseness all.

It should be known that I've been consuming fiction, that if a common denominator were to be found it would be fodder for WFRP (of any edition). Some pulp of Black Library fame. Some more high brow works including DeFoe and Stephenson.

Each feeding into my imagination of a campaign...damn, a grand campaign that I just need to put to outline and narrative, lest I actually get to play it!

Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle is grand fodder to be sure. Readers will know that I've often cited the omnibus, especially the sweeping views of the Thames River in London proper. The (in)famous bridge. The great "Pool" where ships, and boats, of all sizes would anchor for commerce or refuge (yes, refuge!) Adolphus Aldorfer would be at home in London of 1665 or 1714. Aldorfer might question whether the Ruinous Powers influence commerce (and theivery) on the waterways of France or the fantastic cultural enclaves of warehouses in Lyons!

If you're reading this and playing WFRP, of any edition, consider some of these works. The seemingly anachronistic truths found in history add a depth to a campaign pure fiction would be pressed to create.

If you find yourself reading any of these (or have read), and reaching the same conclusion as I, consider a comment, pingback, or link.

Merry Christmas!

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:21:21 +0000

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, good gaming!

Something of a blogroll started

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:00:19 +0000

I finally got my WFRP blogroll started.

It's small. I sorted through the places I go and those listed on other sites, finding many stale. :(

The ones I've added have more recent content, or more importantly content not to be missed. More to come. If you have an active WFRP blog, ping me. First, Second, and even Third edition! blogs are welcome.

Females and Daughters

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:49:44 +0000

My daughter picked up my WFRP 2e core rulebook two days ago and wounded me.

"There's nothing cool in this book," she says.

On the surface that hurts. Deeper though, knowing my daughter--nigh 11 years old--I might not hurt so badly. It's not that there was nothing cool in the book... it was there were no pretty girls in the book. Pretty === cool.

Yet it brings up something that I struggle with often, making my distraction appealing to both my daughter and my wife. My wife likes to tease me about "the game I play" where a fictional "maiden in the woods" takes a central role. But my daughter expresses interest. Not just in whether there are princesses--or a maiden in the woods--only more of a what is the story interest. This is the bond we have: stories. Not necessarily the grim and perilous kind, but the fantastic kind.

It is a seed.

How to nurture it?

I'm looking at the Pathfinder Core Rule Book. You read that correctly.

Two reasons, 1) the WFRP setting is not the demographic of the 11 year old female and 2) the high fantasy world of Golarion and colorful art of Pathfinder (D&D 3.75) might be in the right demographic--not to mention I'm not going to nurture a 4e player.

This development only strengthens my resolve to both complete my WFRP Starter Character Sheets and actually buy the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (having the PDF is not tactile enough; moreover while my daughter has long mastered the MacBook trackpad, most PDFs would bore her in form not necessarily content).

Interesting times. How do you foster younger players already familiar with XBox, Wii, and PS3? Especially how do you capture and hold those that would inherit your interests or hobby?

Starter Character Sheets Origins

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:51:39 +0000

I started on the aforementioned Starter Character Sheets for WFRP 2e.

The basic layout borrows heavily from Pathfinders Beginner's Box Set. What I quickly learned is that character sheets are information heavy. While not any different from many other games character sheets, clearly there is an expectation of investment. Of course this is obvious, but if one is not thinking about how information is presented and accessed on a character sheet, one might just "forget" the obvious. Initially, I debated: would the project use Dave Graffam's excellent character sheet (of which I can't find online, but will ask permission to serve here) or the official character sheet?

After some tests with Dave's sheet it became clear that the game investment has to be well-rooted for a player to truly appreciate the layout and access to information. Thus the debate was decided: the official sheet would be used...

... but not without some editing. The Pathfinder character sheet is really only effective with two sheets (or one sheet printed front and back). WFRP is no different. Some inspection of the Pathfinder Beginner Box Set sheets shows liberal reworking of the sheet from the core rule set to answer the following question: if the rule book was not available, could the reader play a rough approximation of the game in 15 minutes just looking at the character sheet?

That question seems to beg an answer that eludes many seasoned players of AD&D or WFRP... at least WFRP is nicely packaged in a single book of less that 300 pages. Pathfinder is over 500 pages. D&D today--even yesterday--is dozens of books (minimum two). How can you distill the subtly complex rules and game play into a single sheet and 15 minutes of exposure?

I tried... once. I think I did a good job, but even with freshly exposed players all the "cheat sheet," a WFRP Primer if you will, tried too hard to boil down my experience to one sheet. My experience is broad (vast?), but maybe still too much for new players trying to grok a foreign ruleset. See what you think, download my WFRP 2e Primer.

Your comments, as always, are welcome.