Musing and articles from Peter Amthor. Usually of a role playing game influence but I do drift into other directions occasionally. You can also find me on twitter at @TrulyRural or on MeWe where I simply go by Peter Amthor as well. Comments and constructive criticism welcome.
Need some fast pictures for your current cyberpunk game? Or are you a hobbyist working on a project and have spent what little of an art budget you have yet still need some filler pics? Well then this free resource may help you out.
A collection of NPC Portraits generated using Stable Diffusion and released under the Creative Commons 4.0 license.
Head on over to Gumroad and give these a look, you may like what you see.
BALIKBAYAN: Returning Home
I got this in a bundle I backed two years ago. Like most bundles I never got around to looking at everything that was included. However a couple days ago on Twitter some folks mentioned this game so I took a look.
So worth it.
I'm still reading this but I will tell you know this is a really great take for a scifi game mixed with dystopian and cyberpunk themes. In a nutshell you play magical 'elementals' who were enslaved by a corporation who have now freed themselves and are hiding out on a ruined earth hoping to bring upon a new reawakening of magic.
The rules aren't exactly my cup of tea but I can see the appeal. I'm sure others will really enjoy this evolution of the PbtA mechanics. Especially some of the world building that is placed into the hands of the players. Also it's visually stunning, a great piece of inspired work.
So folks, you may want to check this one out.
Decided I need to throw some more focus on hobbyists in the gaming community. Those who put stuff out for cheap or free. The folks who put a lot of work in for very little return (if any) because they want to make something that others may enjoy.
This time I'm going to point you in the direction of this, just release, wonderful little gem for steampunk games. "Steampunk Weapons and Armor" from Kawaii Snarknado. Made for use with DnD 5e settings. It's a great collection of gear ranging from your normal fare up to the more exotic type of things.
So if you're going to be running a steampunk or similar type of game soon then you really need to at least give this one a look.
Alien RPG
Pick it up pdf from DrivethruRPG
Pick it up in print from Amazon
My review is based off of my experiences as a player through a six session long campaign that I was a part of recently. Now that it’s come to it’s end I’m ready to give my thoughts on the game and it’s mechanics.
Overall the book itself is rather well done. Like the descriptions of the various careers and what they had to offer. A nice little slice of gear for the 80’s/90’s gamer in me. Everything was pretty easy to reference and find. With plenty of visuals to go along with it. Gives you a feel of what the game is about and the mood they are trying to put forward.
Character creation is pretty straight forward. Four core attributes with skill under each one that cover pretty much what you’ll need in a game like this. The usual descriptive sections and spots for gear, weapons, etc. They straight up give you a step by step guide on what to do that is probably one of the best I’ve ever seen. Knocked my Roughneck out in maybe fifteen minutes and part of that time was reading the options since I was new to the game.
You may seem like you’re going in light on gear but it makes sense. You’re not the walking pile of gear like so many other games start you off as. Mainly just what you would carry around on your character on their day to day lives. I had a tool belt, bolt gun and things like that.
Talents I didn’t really dig into to much since I only got one at the beginning but later on I saw the importance of them. I’ll get into that just a little bit on down.
The mechanics of the system are surprisingly simple. Add your Attribute and the Skill amounts together. Roll that many six sided dice and count all the 6’s as a success. Every success over one allows you improve the success, increase damage or do stunts. The fun part comes from the Stress Dice. These are extra dice that get added to your dice pool throughout the game. When things start going bad, shit hits the fan and the screaming starts your character starts to freak out a little bit. Whenever you make a roll you add your accumulated Stress dice in as well. Now the six’s still count as a success on them. But the one’s start to become problematic and can lead you to panicking, blowing your success and even running away screaming (something my PC did a few times in the last game).
Some equipment and weapons give you a bonus which slides the necessary number for a success down the slide a bit. So a +2 weapon now means that not only a six is a success but also a five and a four. Damage, armor ratings, all that are kept to relatively small numbers to keep the crunching down. Various ways to relieve stress so you lose those pesky dice. Various modifiers based off of character condition, all the little touches that you would need in a horror space game.
Now one thing I will point out is party balance. This game really benefits from having a good variety of career types mixed together. Especially as the game goes on and you start spending experience points. Some of us noticed that if all the bases are covered there isn’t a lot of good reasoning to spend on building more skills up and go for the talents instead. I mean letting me ignore all one’s rolled on panic dice can be crucial when you have racked up some Panic dice. Even if it’s only once per session. That and shrugging off damage was nice as well. The talents really help give your PC’s more of an edge to survive in the end. Much more than just one point more in a skill.
All in all we had a blast playing the game. So I give it two thumbs up and recommend that folks give it a shot. For those who can’t shell out a lot I would recommend instead of buying the fancy but pricey Standard and Panic dice that you instead just buy some Black and Yellow sets from Chessex. You’ll save quite a bit of money and it’s just as easy to read successes on.
Until next time.
It's been a while.
Over the last two days over on Twitter I've blocked and muted a whole bunch of 'industry' folks from the TTRPG scene. Because of how they decided to treat and talk to others who had a different opinion. Instead of rational discourse they chose name calling, accusations and in some cases outright slander towards others. Most of those they treated this way are the 'hobbyists' of the community. All over the current discourse over AI Artwork.
One hobbyist put out a new steampunk book for free. Not even on Drivethru but just through their own website. On the cover they used a piece of AI generated artwork they they purchased in a stock art pack on the cheap. Some folks decided this was unacceptable and got rather mouthy over it because it "cost an artist much needed cash flow". They then made a twitter post about how their cover harmed no artists bottom line because the choice was that or no cover as they didn't find anything they liked among available stock art and that she couldn't afford to pay for a full on commissioned piece.
Then suddenly it turned into how unethical it was to use AI artwork in the first place. Yeah they changed goalposts when it became apparent their one bitching point wasn't going to stick. Then it continued with the dogpile and some pretty shitty stuff was being thrown at those who chose to use it.
Sorry but AI Artwork is a genie that isn't going back into the bottle. If you don't like then don't buy products that use it. Or don't even use free products that use it as this case was. But when you decide to go into ultimate shithead mode and act like Jon Tarnowski or Zak S towards others then guess what you are a scumbag mother fucker.
So I'm going to stick with the hobbyists folks who don't have a cash flow, don't have the recognition or knowledge how to crowd fund, don't possess the skill of a team in their lone self. They are using what tools they can find to make something that looks half decent and fun for them.
Leave the little folks who are just getting buy and just having fun alone. If they are somehow threatening your bottom line with what they do, then guess what? Maybe your product quality is just lower than it should be if you are expecting industry prices for it.
