Diecon 26 After Action Report

 

Well another fun weekend at Diecon has come and gone for me. As part of a little group I call the 'Three Amigos' we rode up together, had a lot of fun, and then rode back home together. Here's my report on some of the games I played and folks I talked to.

Battletech Classic

I haven't played Battletech since the 90's. It's always been one of those games that I wanted to get back into but never seemed to have the time, and when I did have the time I didn't have the money. Well one of my friends now runs it at the local shop I work at (Aesops Treasury) and is an official agent for Catalyst Game Labs. He was at the con so I jumped into one of his sessions.

Overall it was pretty much like I remembered. Bit stompy robots beating the hell out of each other with a very detailed damage system in a battle that usually takes a couple hours at least. While I had a lot of fun it's not a game I'll be diving into again. If I'm free and he needs a guy to help pilot some mechs for a game I'll do it. But as for investing my time and money again, I've moved past that level of obsession. 

Coriolis The Great Dark

The newest edition of this really cool scifi game from Free League Publishing. This game is set in the same setting as the original just over a vastly different corner of space. A good breath of fresh air for that world with some neat 'delving' mechanics and some rather interesting setting elements. I had a good time but I don't see myself running this game. I would absolutely jump into it as a player though.

Forbidden Lands

One of the older games from Free League Publishing that I've seen and heard a lot about, but never played. I really liked the flavor of fantasy 'grimdark' this one has. It's has some good lore about why everything is so messed up. The modifications to the Year Zero Engine are nice. Especially with the different colored D6's meaning something in a roll. Like the black dice representing bonuses from gear that can determine if your gear breaks if a roll is bad enough. It's really slick.

I'm a proven terrible fantasy gamemaster. It's not my wheelhouse of what I'm good at doing. But there is enough horror elements that I could possibly make it work. It's on my 'maybe' list when it comes to buying in. I would love to play in a game though.

Outgunned Adventure

Once there was a game called Broken Compass that came out a few years ago from Two Little Mice this has now grown into the game called Outgunned. Outgunned Adventure is the version more set up for Indiana Jones style adventure games. Before playing I was very hesitant about the dice mechanics. It's all built around matching numbers on the dice you rolled. Two of a kind, three of a kind, etc. 

After playing all of my hesitation is completely gone. I really enjoyed the way the mechanics flowed. How failure leads to you building up points in other areas to pull of stuff even better. The whole cinematic feel is actually there with adrenaline points, grit and other sorts of things. I'll be picking this book up at some point in the near future with the hope of running it at least for a little bit. Two thumbs up for that. 

Dealers Area

Now there aren't as many dealers there as other cons but the ones they have are really great and friendly. The Dicegeeks guy was really cool as were the folks from Twilight Creations. Troll Lord Games really had a Castles and Crusades presence with a table full of product and guy who very friendly talking up the product. Artist Brent Chumley was, as usual, absolutely great to talk with and he got a few of my dollars as he does every year.

In other stuff there were a few things I didn't like but I'm keeping with the positive side of things. So I won't go into what they were. My opinions were given to the staff via their messenger account. What they do with constructive criticism is up to them. 

I'm already preregistered for next year to do it all over again. 

Why not?

 

"You shouldn't make fun of people and the games they enjoy."

Why not, they've been doing that to me for fucking decades. 

Tips for running Vaesen

 

I'm a long time gamemaster but very new to running Vaesen, the game of Nordic horror roleplaying. But it's become one of my new obsessions. Now I'm going to be offering up a little bit of advice for running the mysteries from the books. At least what I've learned so far. 

Before I begin I will say I used the Starter Kit to introduce my group to the game. Letting them get a feel for the game before making their own characters. It worked rather well and they were ready to dive right in after that initial taste. 

First. Take notes for yourself. There is actually quite a bit of detail put into their published adventures. So making a few notes and maybe even scribbling out a relationship map can work rather well. It's easy to forget something from one particular location that may be an essential clue for later on. 

Second. Practice saying the names a bit. I'm from the middle of nowhere in the United States. So when it comes to Scandinavian names for people and places let's just say it's a bit of a rough go. While reading through the adventure before running it say the names out loud a few times. It's better than stumbling over it for the first time in the middle of the game.

Third. Use the handouts. Most are available on the Free League website to download. These help so much to set the mood and they've put some obvious work into them. Now most of the mysteries also have pictures of the main characters to boot. So if you have the pdf print those off as well if you can. That and props are always advisable at most gaming tables, especially where mysteries are concerned. 

Fourth. Let the players figure stuff out first. Don't push them towards the set motion that you think will work the best. Especially if they have the codex from the Starter Kit available. If they start reading through that trying to figure out what they are up against LET THEM. Figuring out what kind of Vaesen they are up against is only half the problem. 

That's all I have for now. As I keep running more mysteries out of the books I'll post up any more advice that I may have. 

Cyberpunk - Ten Things In A Rockers Pockets

 

Ten Things To Find In A Rockers Pockets

1 – Bundle of gimmick condoms (glow in the dark, throbbing, ribbed, funny logos, etc).

2 – Bottle of high end prescription level stimulants.

3 – Small black notebook of names. Separated by city, ethnic background and various hearts next to them.

4 – Pocket universal remote for various pieces of band equipment.

5 – Throat lozenges.

6 – A holodisc with built in projector filled with nude shots from fans.

7 – Worn out notepad filled with potential lyrics and musical notations.

8 – Half bottle of neon glow body oil.

9 – Flask full of very high end whiskey.

10 – A chrome guitar pick sealed in a plastic protective case.

Jaded Gamer - Know your history

 

One thing I can't stand is when people start talking about the history of the ttrpg hobby who don't actually have a fucking clue about it. I've ran into many folks who only been gaming for ten years or so who show up and act like they are the walking talking expert. Puking forward opinions that seem to be coming from popular streamers or influencers... who have only been gaming for the same amount of time or a few years longer. 

Not to long ago I saw one person saying that there is no reason Traveller should ever be mentioned since it really wasn't the scifi defining ttrpg that people think it was. Really? It was the science fiction game for decades. Sure as shit wasn't Star Frontiers, a game that only lasted about maybe four years.

Because it's not making big splashes like it used to doesn't mean it wasn't ever anything. Besides that game still has a rather huge fanbase which you can see based on how well it sells and is supported. But they just aren't vocal youtubers and wannabe influencers. Hell I don't think I've ever seen a Traveller fan put up a video screaming mad about all the changes coming with the newest edition like DnD 'fans' do. 

Another one that really gets me is when people say Vampire the Masquerade didn't have any real effect on the hobby. I was very active in the hobby when that game dropped. Attending conventions, playing different games, really deep diving as best one could back then. The internet wasn't even there yet, CERN hadn't placed the software into public domain yet. Contact through BBS set ups and Usenet was how people kept in contact.

What I saw and witnessed during that time was a massive amount of change. New folks pouring into the hobby, not old folks coming back, but new folks coming in. An entire subculture of club kids, goths and horror buffs. I will also mention that as a hormone fired up youth at the time seeing the amount of women coming into the hobby was a huge surprise (a very welcome surprise). 

They tried to base the game more on the story than the system. By todays standards it's not that big of a push. But back then it was huge. There were a few games that tried but none of them made the attempt with as much success. In an era where things were getting more crunchy and more detailed when it comes to game systems they went the other direction. Plus they tried to make some of it more story and socially oriented. Also, bear in mind, the ultra rules light game Over The Edge didn't come out until the year after VtM. 

There were months where White Wolf products out sold TSR products. People saw that success as well and took note. It became a reason why many folks started looking at making more games that lean towards story more than system. Paving the way for a lot of new games with a new style. The ripples of effect from that game are one of the big reasons why we have story games in such quantity now.

To say that game had no affect on the hobby is showing your ignorance of the history of the hobby. One day I need to make up a list of 'hobby changing moments'. Things like DnD 3.0 with the release of the SRD under the OGL, the influencergasm that came with DnD 5.0, Magic the Gathering disrupting damn near everything, stuff like that. You can damn well be sure that VtM would be on that list.

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Vaesen Starter Kit play review

 

This review is for the Vaesen Starter kit from Free League Publishing. Vaesen is a Nordic horror roleplaying game based off of the artwork of Swedish illustrator and author Johan Egerkrans. It uses the Year Zero Engine that powers many of the Free League products. 

You can pick up the physical starter kit at your friendly local game shop (like the one I work at) and if they participate in the Bits n Mortar program you get the pdf for free.

If not you can pick up the physical copy over on Amazon while the pdf is available for purchase over on DrivethruRPG in the regular version or optimized for Roll 20 VTT . 

This review is based on actual play where I ran the starter set for a game group at my local shop. I was not gifted the kit for review but was actually purchased by myself.

Straight out of the production quality is top of the line. The box is very durable and strong, all the material inside is printed on quality stock. You get a set of ten dice, initiative cards, maps (of the mythic norse, the city and castle) and everything else you really need. Including rules summary hand outs that come in very handy at the table for the players. You get a condensed version of the rules in one booklet that is easy to navigate and the adventure itself in another. To go through this episode you have five pregenerated characters. 

The adventure itself is pretty straightforward. You little group of 'Thursdays Children' (those who can see the Vaesen) are approached to investigate a castle formerly occupied by a group called the society. It has since fallen into massive disrepair and other Thursdays Children have been lured there and gone missing. Given the tools you need in the form of a booklet with information on many of the Vaesen types and a map they set off. 

I will say the pregenerated characters all seem to fit really well. None of them fall into the fifth wheel problem I've seen with other starter kits. Each one has a purpose and comes in very handy at various times. Now a couple of them reference a few things that aren't discussed in this kit but nothing major that would ruin any sense of the game. Just had us flipping pages for a bit. 

With the group I played with they figured out what the encounter was beforehand by using the booklet of Vaesen and grasping a few clues. But they also snagged onto a red herring that could have also been in there. So it's not one of those discover everything at the end kind of stories. The ended is open ended and can lead you straight into regular games using the full corebook.

The mechanics are easy as most Year Zero Engine games are. Roll a number of six sided dice, sixes count as successes. Most checks require only one or two successes. Various rules for pushing the rolls are there to help get you success at a cost. There are no hit points but a more narrative condition system which helps set the tone of the game even more.

Not to mention that the artwork is also immaculate. Every Vaesen product I have looked at has been beautiful and this one is no different. 

In the end I give this starter set two thumbs up and highly recommend it to others.

UPDATE: Here is a Reddit Thread where a person running the starter kit asks a few questions and gets some really answers.