Jaded Gamer Diary - Wizkids the Cheapening

Well at work it's become very noticeable that Wizkids is really going cheap on the packaging for their miniatures now. I noticed, the customers have noticed, it's very jarring it really does look pretty crappy. We first saw it on their absolutely abysmally shitty DnD 50th anniversary figures. But now it's on the regular lines. Here's a shot of one of the old packaged miniatures next to one of the new ones. Front and back. 

First off we'll start with the contents. The miniature is still in there but there is zero attempt at assembly now. They also got rid of the extra little clear base you could mount the figure on. Plus with no back blister bubble it all just rattles around in there package and you can't even get a good view of what the figure looks like. Hell at least back in the day when we had lead mini's in multiple pieces they put a piece of foam in there to hold it all in place. This just looks like a pile of shit in a plastic bubble.

Second is the backing board. The textured blue is gone. The while line at the top so they can make bulk cardboard prints and then add the item name, code and UPC on when they need to. Also the back is completely devoid of any color. You can really tell they are bulk printed now since there is no longer a picture of the painted figure and name on the back. They are all the same now. 

Now the kicker is they did all this to reduce the cost of the production of said miniature. They cut back A LOT on costs with this. The almost complete elimination of color on the cardboard probably saved them a pretty penny. So what does the customer get in return? They raised the prices as well. 

Now I know the prices are going up because of tariffs and there isn't a whole lot they can do about it. But damn. For all the corners they cut you could think they would be able to keep them the same price as before. Ah well. I will say one thing, this cheap ass packaging is hurting sales more than anything. Even more than the price hike. Folks are looking at the jumbled mess and just choosing not to buy it. 

So it's backfired on them in a few ways. 

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New Stranger Things/DnD tie in content on Roll20

 

Well over on DrivethruRPG they have a preorder for a new tie in between Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons. Building on the Hellfire Club from last season they are giving us Eddie Munsun's lost adventure. You can preorder for Roll20 over on Drivethru here: "Welcome to the Hellfire Club". It will also be getting a physical release as a boxed set (hell yes, love boxed sets) and you can preorder over on Amazon or talk to you FLGS about getting a copy when the time comes. 

Now I'm not a DnD fan or a user of VTT's (I've tried, I really have) but I do love Stranger Things so I'm always happy to point out cool stuff for that IP. 

A Brief History of Kult, and the controvercy debate.

A nice little video about the history of Kult from over on the other side of the pond from me. I'm in the USA, this guy is talking about Europe and such. So a few differences for what he saw versus what we saw over here when concerning releases. 

Counterfeit Collector booster? One of these things is not like the other

They are now producing the fake collector boosters complete in a fake box and shrinkwrap. This video shows the differences to look for. Forewarned is forearmed. 

DnD Starter Set not an RPG

Well according to the WPN page over on the Wizards site the Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set is no longer an introductory set to the roleplaying game. In that short little description they refer to it as a board game twice. Even calling it the "ultimate Dungeons and Dragons-inspired board game". 

This really says all you need to know about the direction that Hasbro is wanting the game to go. But I guess they don't know that Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying went this direction for a while as well. All pieces and parts with the least amount of roleplay as possible. That version was ultimately scrapped and they went back to a standard ttrpg design.

So with this being the new Starter Set and it not being a RPG I'm not sure what to recommend to folks who want to dip their toes into the DnD hobby. Guess some other starter for another game line. 

Scam Alert - They are changing up tactics now

 SCAM ALERT 

Well the scammers are now calling claiming to be the department of homeland security and immigration. Saying you're on a recorded line and asking if you know why they are calling you.

I played along for a moment and said no. 

Then they said they needed to verify who they were talking to and asked for my first and last name and address and all that. I told them no they can tell me who they think they are calling and I'll tell them if they got the right number.

They didn't like that. Tried the old we can't divulge personal information if they can verify it's the right person or not. So I said just give me a last name. She paused for a bit and spit out a random last name "Mr Collins". Nope, not me, nobody here by that name.

They hung up. 

Number they called me from was 325 600 6763 and shows up as from Texas. I tried calling the number back but it couldn't be completed as dialed.

 

Watch out for this new trick that is trying to get our personal information by preying on fear now.

Review: Labyrinths and Secret Chambers for Kult

 

Kult: Labyrinths and Secret Chambers

This is a sourcebook and map pack for Kult: Divinity Lost from Modiphius Games.

As I don’t run or play the latest edition of Kult I was hesitant to pick this one up. However the pictures I had seen of the product really spiked my interest. There are 100 different maps in this thing. Each printed on it’s own sheet with a basic black and white line version on one side and a shaded and more detailed version (furniture and stuff like that added in) on the other side. Then a booklet on how to use the maps and ideas for what they could be used for.

First lets talk about the 100 maps. They are not bound in a book, but loose and shrink wrapped with the book. The cartography is great but they aren’t done with squares for movement or anything since Kult doesn’t use mapped out tactical combat. Done in standard paper quality and very clean each one is numbered for reference. Now I tossed my into page sleeves and put them in a three ring binder for easier access and use. But I found out something I wasn’t aware of.

I had bought 100 page sleeves for 100 maps. Three of the maps aren’t one page. So they have the map number followed by a letter to keep them in order. You will need an additional 5 sleeves or, as I did, simply packed the ones with multiple pages into one sleeve. Honestly I don’t see this as a negative at all since I got even more than I thought I was getting.

Variety is the word of the day here. Maps for all kinds of stuff. Apartments, buildings, subway stations, railways, streets, a submarine, all sorts of larger locations and places that really feel like something out of Metropolis (from Kult not Superman). You have got a LOT to work with and you won’t be burning through all of these anytime soon. Plus many could be used multiple times for multiple things, but more about that when I talk about the book.

Second thing is the booklet. Plenty packed into this 64 pages. Starting with a list of the maps. We get a little mini picture, four to a page, of each map and three different things that particular map could be used for. Ranging from normal and everyday to more horror themed. Plenty of inspiration just by reading these.

After that we get a few pages on how the various Death Angels and Archons can have affects on locations. While very Kult lore themed there are still an abundance of ideas here. With several pages after that just covering inspiration names, locations, objects found, etc. So they just try to hand you as much material to get your imagination going as they possibly can.

So two thumbs up, very much worth it for me. Will be using a lot of these maps in my upcoming horror games. But just the resource of maps alone is well worth the price.

You can pick this up at your FLGS and, if they are part of the Bits-and-Mortar program, you can get the pdf for free. If not you can grab a hardcopy over on Amazon easily and the pdf on DrivethruRPG.

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Be A Better Gamemaster - PCs are not the Players

 

Normally I stray away from giving advice for gamemasters. I did better at giving advice for the players. But every now and then I just feel the need to say something. So guess no better time than the present.

I'm going to start off this series with one of the things that really irks me. It's when the Gamemaster doesn't seem to understand that the Player Character and the Player are different. They are not the same and it's sort of supposed to be that way. So stop expecting the player to be the PC. 

What the hell am I talking about? Let me explain.

To many times I've been at the table and my uber charismatic character is going to try and schmooze his way past some guards. So I tell the GM that's what I'm going to do. Then the response I get is "Well what are you telling them, lets here it" or they want to roleplay the scene and let that determine success or failure. Well you know what? I'm not an uber charismatic mother fucker. Nor do I think of great thing to say right at the drop of a hat.

They don't let you make a die roll or test against your maxed charisma or social skills. You, the player, are suddenly supposed to have all those skills in real life. Then you get told "oh well to bad" when you don't. 

So, gamemasters, don't fucking do that. If you or them want to roleplay it a bit that's fine. But don't let that be the arbitrator of success or failure. There still needs to either be that die roll or you let them succeed. 

Just like don't expect the person playing a character with all sorts of mechanical skills do be able to tell you step by step on how to check through an engine for a problem. Or the player playing the law enforcement officer to suddenly know every little law and ordinance there is. 

This also goes for puzzles, riddles, and how the PC can solve them. Their super brainy magic user is smarter than the player. Let them roll to figure it out if they want.

The characters are different than the person sitting at the table. That's the entire idea of ROLE PLAYING. So let them play the role a bit and let those really good stats or skill help move the character along. Not just the wit of the player. 

That's what I got this time. Short, sweet and to the damn point. If you like it go over to my Ko-Fi page and show some support. 

WttC - The Immunity Stat

 

Immunity

The world of ‘Welcome to the City’ is one rife with pollution, toxins and other nasty stuff that’s all around. This can take a toll on a human body, and it does. Especially for the Work Crews who have to venture into some of the worst areas of the city to take of their jobs.

The Immunity stat is how we keep track of how well their body is holding up… or not holding up as the case may be. Whenever the character is exposed to something highly toxic, gets splattered with waste or goes to long without their filter mask then a roll could be called for.

Rolling for an Immunity check is done by rolling a number of dice equal to your Immunity stat. Normally only one success is necessary although if there exposure is something drastically bad then a higher number may be required. This roll cannot be pushed. Success means you are fine but a failure results in your Immunity stat being reduced by one.

Every PC starts out with a six rating.

Now let’s talk about what happens as that level drops. For every point below six it increases the necessary XP to increase a skill or buy a specialty by two points. Example: If you are at a three Immunity then it will cost four extra XP. At a four you are at one negative die for all physical activities. At a two you are at two negative die for all physical activities and one negative die for all mental activities. At a zero they fall into a toxic shock and are broken and will die if not treated at a medical facility within a day.

Recovering Immunity.

If you reach zero and are treated at a medical facility they can stabilize the PC. The character then wakes up with an Immunity level of one.

You can receive a cleansing treatment at a hospital. This requires a substantial amount of money and a week stay in that facility. When finished you will gain back one point of Immunity and will make an Immunity roll. If you fail, nothing happens this time, but for every success you will an additional point back as well.

Also spending XP is another way. For every ten XP spent you will gain back one point.

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WttC - Year Zero Engine starting point

 

Reworking the game to use the Year Zero Engine from Free League Publishing. I'm really liking my experiences with that system so far and it's available for free to use. Going to try and push this one to actually make it to the playtest level, unlike before. 

What I've decided on so far. 

The four stats and twelve skills. Some modifications here to fit the setting but not much. 

Force (Strength)

Close Combat (Strength)

Stamina (Strength)

Marksmanship (Agility)

Mobility (Agility)

Piloting (Agility)

Machinery (Wits)

Observation (Wits)

Survival (Wits)

Medical Aid (Empathy)

Manipulation (Empathy)

Persuasion (Empathy)

Stealth will be a specialization instead of a skill. Computer Operation will be a specialization that works with Machinery since people who actually know how to do anything beyond the very basics with a computer are not that common. 

Stress Dice will be used. 

A health bar, similar to the one in Alien, will also be used.

Need to add in some sort of Toxic measure in there. To show how badly the toxic environment has affect the well being of the characters. Thinking of something similar to the Immunity Check that was in the old game Kromosome from the Amazing Engine line. Not sure how I'm going to do that yet.

That and the basics of Psionic abilities as well. 

My PbtA dislike in one sentence

 

Somebody summed up what I don't like about Powered by the Apocalypse games in one sentence really well. 

"The thing that many people miss with that is that PbtA isn't really meant for freeform roleplaying; it's about telling specific kinds of stories."

Right there. I'm here to roleplay, hopefully a good fun story comes out of it, but not always. I sure as shit don't want to tell a specific kind of story. This why every time I've played a PbtA game it has been my definition of 'not fun'. As little fun as a player I have means I sure don't want to be the poor fool trying to run it either. 

But guess what? I'm free to not like something. If you like it, good on you. Just stop expecting everybody else to think your favorite thing should be their favorite thing as well. 

Neuromancer — In Production | Apple TV+

Vaesen acquired

 

Well after giving the game a try at DieCon I knew I was going to pick this one up. So using my gift card money at the shop I work at some purchases were made. So now I have acquired the Vaesen corebook, gm screen and dice. Not sure when I'll get around to running it. Hell I still have to read it. But I'm thinking this one will be a great addition to game night once folks get used to the more rules light nature and overall strangeness. 

DieCon 25 report

 

Just attended a gaming convention called DieCon, they are in their 25th year and, for me, the first time attending. Went with my step son Zack and my friend Larry. I have to say we had a great time.

A lot of tabletop wargaming going on. Some great set ups on the tables. Some really well done scenery and miniatures. Boardgaming was also there in quantity including a free library of games to chose from for those just wanting to set down and play.

For us three though, we were mainly there for the roleplaying. Which there was plenty of. The usual Living DnD, Pathfinder Adventure League stuff and then a lot of others. Surprisingly there was no Cyberpunk RED or Borg products being ran. Those two are runaway popular right now so not seeing them was surprising. 

The first game I got into was Vaesen from Free League Publishing. Nordic supernatural roleplaying, and it was great. The rules, art, lore, just everything impressed me enough that it's going to be the next game I purchase. Had a fun time tracking down a werewolf and learning the difference between our western version of them and the Nordic/Scandinavian version. The group was great to play with as well.

Second was a Call of Cthulhu 7th ed game from Chaosium. Last edition I actually played was probably 2nd ed so I was just curious about the changes. I don't remember there being hard and extreme success levels in the old one. But overall mostly the same. Wanted to strangle one 20 something idiot in our group who kept doing stupid shit over and over. But we still solved the mystery and successfully finished the session with minimal sanity loss.

Last I played a game of Morrow Project. I love Morrow Project, especially the older edition they were doing. Didn't have a full group but we played on anyways. While it was fun I wasn't overly impressed with the way the guy was running the adventure. That and in the end he leaned way into the scifi a bit more than I like. Ah well. 

There weren't many dealers offering up stuff that I wanted to buy. Several 3D print folks which I have zero interest in. Miniature Market put up the most pathetic booth I have ever seen for a company their size. The Troll and Toad folks also didn't do anything beyond just having some books on a table for sale. The artist Brent Chumley was probably the best one there. Ended up buying a new mousepad for me and a T-Shift for my wife from him.

We preregistered for next year. Got a better idea of how to plan our games out better and I may even run a game or two there if I get a chance to playtest out the adventure beforehand. A lot of fun was had buy our little trio and we hope to get a few more locals to show up next year. 

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Roll A D10 - Number Generator

 

I've decided that what we all really need is a good random number generator for our games. So I've been hard at work for the past couple of months on this and have finally decided to showcase my idea. Now this is the product of hours of work and extensive playtesting with my group (thank you Jason, Larry, Lori, Tuck, Kal and Kelly). Here we go.

Roll a D10 and consult the chart below to generate a random number. This particular one is way useful in any game that needs you to generate a number 1 through 10. 

1 - Two

2 - Six

3 -  Ten

4 - Eight

5 - One

6 - Five

7 - Three

8 - Nine

9 - Seven

10 - Four

Here's another one I'm working on for generating a number between one and six. You roll a D6 and consult the chart below. Now this one is more simple but I'm still working out a few flaws in the design that keep popping up. So bear with me while I work out the details over the next couple months. 

1 -Two 

2 - Five

3 - Six 

4 - Seven 

5 - One 

6 - Three

Currently working on another random number generator that uses a D20. However that one is more complicated and is taking some extensive playtesting before making it public. For more of my absolute brilliance you can donate to me on my Ko-Fi page this fine April first. 

Roll A D10: Found on a Street Punk

 

It's been a while. But here are ten things you could find on a Street Rat once they've been 'incapacitated'. 

1 – Soft plastic fold-able container used to hold liquids and a compact siphoning kit used to drain fuel from vehicles.

2 – Old cellphone with a wire attached to a blank white credit card. Programmed to hack into ATM’s.

3 – Vacuum packed packages of kibble stamped with a local food pantry name.

4 – Several different knives of dubious quality with masking tape on the handles.

5 – A zipper pouch filled with various stolen cred sticks and ID’s.

6 – Around 100 identical photocopied pages of an ad for a nearby strip club folded over with a rubber band around them.

7 – A pack of generic condoms. No brand name.

8 – Very old handheld techscanner. Rigged to detect and identify cyberware on nearby targets.

9 – A well used set of lock picks, including the gear to hack electronic locks. All wrapped up in a compact sleeping bag.

10 – Ziploc baggy filled with a variety of different pills.

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That blog over there! Methods and Madness.

 

Pointing out a blog called Methods & Madness this time around. Specifically one post of theirs in particular which really hit the mark with me. Talking about less is more and that maybe we need less stuff in our tabletop roleplaying games. So head over there and give it a read!

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2025/03/i-want-less.html

After reading that be sure to look through the rest of what they have up. A lot of gems over there. 

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Active the captions to get the English translation. This looks freaking wonderful.

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Welcome to the City - PMCS

 

Much of the hardware that new Operators get assigned to use in Welcome to the City isn't of the best quality. It's all made by the lowest bidder, out of date, some of it already well used and prone to breakdowns and failure if not maintained. 

So I'm going to work in PMCS (Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services, something the US Military does all the time) for the characters to do. When the players have their PCs do weapon breakdowns and cleaning, vehicle maintenance and general clean up duties while working. Basically setting up a sheet for the GM to keep track of when it's done, or more importantly, when it's not done. After so many missed times on gear that is used then there is a chance of breakdown, malfunction or outright failure. 

Of course gear that you don't use isn't going to be a focus. So if you go a week without pulling PMCS on your handgun but also haven't used it during that time I'm not going to make it an issue. 

All Work Crew vehicles will have a manual inside of them. The manual will have the name of the vehicle with a dash ten (- 10) after it. All gear comes with their own dash ten manuals as well, usually pocket sized and sometimes pretty worn out from the previous owner. Whether or not the PC carries this around with them is another issue altogether. I will add a minimum skill level needed to have before the character doesn't need the manual anymore to pull it's maintenance checks. 

In a Work Crew vehicle all necessary basic maintenance equipment is stowed inside. Anything major like a complete motor overhaul will need to be done in a garage or turned in for replacement Also inside the vehicles are basic kits for communication gear and hand held equipment. For firearms each Operator is issued a cleaning kit as part of their standard Basic Blue package. 

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Welcome to the City - Firearms

 

Guns are a part of Welcome to the City. You play the part of Operators for the City Works Division going out and solving problems. Some of them are bottom of the barrel clean ups others are go in an remove threats. But there always the possibility, and sometime unavoidable, violence. So a bit about how firearms work in this setting where there is high tech and low tech mixed in needs to happen. 

First off bullets are caseless. Each bullet is a cylindrical chunk where the accelerant is formed behind and around the bottom part of the slug. When the round is fired the accelerant is burned off forcing the round out of the chamber. But, most bullets are made cheaply and in mass quantity, therefore not held to many standards at all. What most Operators have access to are rounds that produce a lot of smoke and dirty up the weapons very quickly thus requiring a lot of cleaning. 

Ignition of the accelerant is done via electronic spark. Thus eliminating the need for a firing cap making it easier to produce caseless ammo. Most weapons have the battery packs necessary for this located underneath the barrel in the case of handguns and in the grip for rifles and larger weapons that are magazine fed from a source not located in the handle. All City Works Division vehicles have charging ports built into every seat for this. Now whether or not that all work depends on how well the vehicle has been maintained. 

Now with no brass being ejected or firing pin being driven forward this reduced the need for a slide. The next round is instead moved into place with a motorized action or a spring powered magazine. So firearms have become more boxed in with less moving external parts. Disassembly also becomes more simple with just a couple of screws being removed. The round cycling motor usually being the most complex part now but are easily replaced if they stop working. 

The firearm will still fire when wet or submerged. However prolonged exposure to water will cause some of the accelerant to soften leading to less power behind the bullet, more dirt and residue afterwards and maybe even failure to fire. If failure to fire occurs there is no slide to work so you can eject the round quickly. Instead you will have to remove the top cover and physical pull the bullet out.

Most beginning Operators are given two firearms. Both pistols. One is their standard carry sidearm the CWF-19, a small pistol that is magazine fed and fires a round slightly larger than that of a .22 with a bit more punch behind it. The other is a much heavier pistol called the CWF-25 it has two side by side barrels and is of a break open design. You have an switch on the back as to which barrel you are firing (you cannot fire them at the same time) and another button to break open the weapon to reload. It fires rounds equivalent to that of a 12 gauge shotgun, basically it fires like a sawed off short barreled shotgun including how hard it recoils on the user. 

The further up you climb the ranks as an Operator the better firearms you have access to. Some jobs also allow you to check out better firearms from your local City Armory. 

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Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence

ROLLERGAMES in HD, Ep#1, PREMIERE, OFFICIAL WAR Presentation. (1080p60) ...

Well this was certainly a thing back in 1989. It certainly has aged about as well as one can imagine.

Masters Workshop - Story Cards

 

Working on my own game world, yet again. It has a lot of background details, yet again. But I don't want to force my players to have to read through all of it when a good chunk my never have any affect on what they do. Most of it is just there to explain how the world got to where it is. But I also have players who love details like that. So that got me thinking. 

I'm going to make story cards and rate what level of world lore you need to know what's on a specific card. 

Then those who want the details can read them as they want as long as they are within their characters lore rating. Those who don't but suddenly find themselves asking a question or something does have to do with what's going on then you could just hand them the need-to-know cards for a quick read. Again, as long as they within their lore rating. 

Example: In my scifi setting there was what's called the 'Big Crash' in computer data that happened around forty years earlier. Since all the currency at the time had gone digital this caused a lot of devastation and huge problems. As a result the government went back to solely physical currency known as 'chips'. Now most players just know that physical currency is a thing and digital is not and don't care about the back story. 

Now let's say they find a box full of old Cred Sticks while searching through some old building. I tell them they are pre Big Crash. If they ask what it is I check the card for the Big Crash and it's a Lore Rating 1 so I hand it over so they can read it if they want. Some may not even care and that's fine. 

This helps me introduce history and lore as it is necessary or wanted. No handing over a thirty page world bible and telling them to absorb all that in. But it's also there for those who want that explosion of data to read through. 

Sort of a physical wiki. Now I guess I'll be picking up some more index cards and a new card holder while at the thrift shops. 

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Jaded Gamer Diary - Paradigm Shift

 

The term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought pattern—a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing.

That major change of thought pattern happened for me in regards to gaming. Not in gameplay, narrative designs, or anything else. But a complete readjustment in how I thought roleplaying games were perceived by the market at large. That sudden realization that things had truly changed.

I gamed through part of the Satanic Panic era. It actually lasted longer here in the rural backwater rural hells of Missouri than it did in some other places. I had to put up with people acting like I was some sort of devil worshipper if they found out I was playing those "evil games". So we hid it most of the time. Didn't break out the books in front of others (until near the end when some of us finally stopped giving a damn) and only played in our friends basements and anyplace else where people couldn't see us. Church leaders said it was bad, teachers said it was bad, hell my useless ass excuse of a step mother even gave me a few lame "warnings" about it. 

So I always figured it would be that way. The ostracized gaming community that everybody else shuns. Sure we had a few big break outs in popularity like Vampire the Masquerade but that quickly got shot to hell by a few idiots who were barely connected to the community did stupid violent things. Even with online popularity building rapidly it still felt like we were just the outsiders.

Then the shift happened for me. I was at Wal-Mart in Desloge Missouri. When I walked through the book section and saw the 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook on the shelf. It stunned me for a moment to see that sitting there, like three copies of it. At a local Wal-Mart. Like it was normal. 

Because it had become normal and more mainstream but I hadn't noticed. 

That right there was when I realized things had changed. Changed a lot since the days of my youth when I was rolling dice with my little group of friends in high school. Soon they were selling dice (called campaign dice) there as well, the DnD Starter Set was on the game shelf in the toy section. They even sell a dice tower there now. And I'll admit I bought the little box with three dice sets in it just for the sheer humor of buying them from fucking Wal-Mart. 

Now we even have a Time Magazine Special about Dungeons and Dragons and how it changed the gaming world. And it's a positive thing. 

Still I'm not sure why I didn't notice how mainstream it was going before that. Manga was going mainstream, anime as well, should have seen it coming. But I didn't and I'm kind of glad about that. Because I got that wonderful shock to the system when I did finally notice.

Is there a point to all this rambling? No, not this time. Just me thinking about how much things have changed and feeling like typing it all out.

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Jaded Gamer Diary - Things Change

 

Just some personal musing and such today. About gaming, but not about how to game or what to do, but about how I've seen the way I run games change over the last few years. 

I used to be really good at impromptu sessions. Would have a vague idea or two in my head and would toss out a couple ideas just to see where the players wanted to go and we would run with it. Then I would right some notes throughout the session, keeping track of new NPC names and the such. That was about the only reference I would use, notes about what popped up during these sessions that the players may come back around to.

This is how I ran games and it seemed to work really well.

Then we hit this thing called Covid-19. Not only did it just bring all my face to face gaming to a sudden screeching halt but it put it put me in the hospital as well. Spent some time in a drug induced coma hooked up to a ventilator. Things got scary for my wife as the doctors didn't think I was going to make it. Scary for me as well since I was locked in nightmare sleep mode and couldn't wake up from it. But my body bounced back and made it through.

The after affects of that is what changed things. Not the physical therapy, although that sucked, but the brain fog. That shit ain't no joke. At first I would not be able to come up with words every sentence or two and it took me a while to just say anything lengthy. Trying to remember stuff was hard as well. Initially the two big differences I noticed that a lot of peoples names, people I had known for years, were suddenly gone and I had to relearn them. Then it was my inability to do any sort of math in my head.

But a few months later after I was off the walker and crutches I sat down to try and run a game. That's when I noticed something else. My ability to run games off the cuff with no prep was greatly reduced. I just couldn't think quickly or would just go blank. Now since then it's gotten better but not by much.

So I've started using written adventures now. With my group I've ran the Land of the Free campaign for Cyberpunk 2020. Currently I'm running Tales of the Red: Street Stories for Cyberpunk RED. Been eyeballing Over the Edge once again since I own a bunch of the old adventures published for that. I still do some stuff of my own but I have to make notes beforehand or they turn out pretty badly. 

Things have changed and I've adapted. But I wish I didn't have to. But I'm still here and I'm still running games. Not the way I used to though. Just talking about what's been swimming around in my head for the last few months. 

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Masters Workshop - PC Death

 

There is a post over on BlueSky that got me thinking. I made a screenshot of it below. 

I've played in a few games where you will spend an insane amount of time making characters. Tons of fiddly bits and stuff to figure up or buying gear. Then just an hour into the game and one bad roll, all that is gone and the PC is dead. So you start all over again.

Needless to say after a few times with stuff like that happening I said "fuck this, not fun anymore" and left. This has probably been on of the main reason I soft ball the first few games of anything I run. So the players can get into the feel of the game a bit and so they don't have to do character creation all over again.

Now I've never played or read Tenra Bansho Zero but I remember some folks up in arms over this rule. I like it and I don't myself. Probably because I've dealt with my fair share of problem players over the years and if they figured out they couldn't die no matter what, well the amount of stupid shit they would attempt is something I don't even want to think about. But I get the general idea. Three hours of character creation and then the first chest you fail a trap check on and get a bad save, BANG you're dead. Now you sit there and crunch numbers why the rest of the table gets to play. No thanks.

A friend told me Colonial Gothic has a 'Coin' mechanic that allows you a one time 'cash in' if your character dies. It saves them from death but they may have recovery time, bad injuries, etc. But you get to keep on with that one PC and that sounds doable. 

But my main take away is that after hours of character generation a system with instant character death is a whole shit load of no fun. Simple systems where char gen is only five or ten minutes, that works. Hell something with mostly premade char gen with only a couple tweaks would be the best idea. At least for those who want to run high mortality games where one wrong roll ends things.

Personally I like more invested character creation. More personality is developed that way and you are more able to play what you want. This enables you to, y'know, have more fun. 

So I'm thinking of something akin to a mechanic where it gives you that second chance. But it doesn't shield you forever. But once it's used it's gone. Because I don't want to have the idiot squad doing stupid shit and never learning that there are better ways to do things besides leading with their face into combat. 

What are your thoughts?

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Flooding and a lull in my posts.

 

There will be a little lull in blog posts for a bit. We recently had our roof decide that it didn't want to stop water anymore. While it didn't collapse we had buckets of water coming into our bedroom and garage. Now I managed to save most of our stuff in the bedroom cause we acted before it got really bad. The garage we lost quite a bit but I'm not sure what all yet, haven't gotten to the clean up there because the sheet rock ceiling did collapse and I'm letting it dry up some. 

Total loss won't be known until for a bit. 

So now in various parts of our house we have piles of books stacked everywhere. Boxes of our clothes. All sorts of thing. So it's a mess. Not really in the mental space to work on writing right now. 

The landlord has been on top of things as best he can. But he can't seal the metal roof properly until it's above freezing. This is because the sealant won't properly set in these temperatures (it's 5F right now with wind chill in the negatives). Then once that's sealed and no longer leaking then he'll be replacing the ceiling in the garage. 

So just to let you all know what's going on and while my blog posting will be slow for a week or two.

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Roll a D10 - Cyberpunk Drinks

 

The big corps are always trying to come up with the next big thing. This is doubled for those making consumable products. So here are ten alcoholic drinks on the market in a cyberpunk future. Just don't ask how safe they are to consume because the FDA was disbanded long ago. 

Cyberpunk era alcoholic drinks

1 – Bud Neon. When you twist the top off it lights up in a random neon color.

2 – ClearBeer. Looks like water, hits you like a pilsner.

3 – Squeaker. A cocktail that makes your vocal cords tighten up making your voice high pitched.

4 – Frosty. Makes you exhale clouds of steam like you’re exhaling in a very cold environment.

5 – Clear Chaser. A nano infused drink that quickly (a few minutes) clears alcohol from your system.

6 – Fruity Freak. Each time you take a drink it makes you taste a different fruit flavor.

7 – Phantom Limb. Makes you feel a sensual tingle anywhere you have cyberware implanted.

8 – Extra Time. The alcohol is tailored to be time released after drinking so your buzz lasts longer.

9 – BUZZ. An orange drink that isn’t alcoholic until you hit it with an electrical charge.

10 – Rabid Dogg. A milky white drink that foams up in your mouth.

Six Pack - Things for a Techie to make

 

Sometimes a techie seems pretty useless in a game. Until you get creative with the things they can build. Here are six ideas for neat little devices your tech guru in the party can make that may prove useful. 

Six Things for a Techie to make in Cyberpunk

1 – A pocket universal ‘off switch’. What looks like a standard remote with only a few buttons sends out a signal that gives an off command to anything that accepts one wirelessly. Televisions, video cameras, cars, the list goes on.

2 – Decoder Headphones. They pick up nearby low distance radio signals, like squad communication gear, and focus in on that particular frequency, letting you listen in on the conversation.

3 – The Plastic Breaker. A sonic device that is suction cupped to either glass or plastic windows. It then goes through a series of vibration and high pitched sonic pulses until it finds the one that makes the surface break. Can be noisy and sometimes may take a few minutes.

4 – Fuel Worm. A small snake like device that is slid into a vehicles gas tank via the fuel port. It then filters the gas through a nozzle and breaks down the chemical compounds. Rendering it inert enough so that the vehicle cannot run.

5 – A pair of sunglasses where one lens is a small video screen showing the wearer what is going on behind them.

6 – Foam bombs. Four canisters of expanding foam spray hooked to a small explosive charge with various forms of detonation. Great for filling up small hallways, stairwells or killing people in ventilation shafts.

Review - Uncle Rays Chips

 

Don't eat these. 

Uncle Ray's Sweet Black Pepper Bacon potato chips. Yeah... that doesn't wasn't bacon. There was a smoking flavor there but it wasn't the good kind. There was a sweet flavor there, but again it wasn't the good kind. Black pepper, never tasted that at all. Plus these bad flavors coated your mouth and lingered for much longer than anyone would want. 

These are bad. 

Top 10 Sci Fi Cyberpunk Books

RPG Review - Demon Generator

 

Just a quick fast little review today. The Demon Generator from Piecewise Games over on DrivethruRPG. 

I'll be quite honest here, it's mostly just what it says on the tin. You pick the type of demon you want and then you roll on the charts for some various creative cues and pull them all together. It doesn't all magically lock into place and you have to do some creative thinking to pull it together. But what it comes up with really helps lock you into that flow. 

So like they said, no art, no filler, no bullshit. It's straight forward a list of table used for generating some details.

For only a single solitary dollar (US currency) I'd say it was worth the investment. I'll be using it to pull some odd entities for some of my modern and near modern day horror games I run on occasion. Should be fun. 

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Movie Review - Alone in the Dark (2005)

 

Alone in the Dark

Watch it on Tubi for free.

Or buy a copy on Amazon if you are a fool. 

God help me I’m watching another Uwe Boll movie. I swore I would never do this again, but here I am. It’s time for another terrible ‘adaption’ of a video game from the butcher of any IP he’s handed.

Let’s open with a stupidly long text scroll info dumping a lot of shit no one will ever remember. Not only is a text scroll they have somebody reading it as well. Because Puke Bowl thinks movie audiences are completely illiterate I’m assuming. Fucking hell.

Right off the bat I have to say the dialogue is so absolutely dreadful. Much of it really just makes no sense, disjointed, and delivered with all the effort of an elementary school play. They push in the exposition explaining what’s going on, which of course completely negates the need for that intro scrolling wall of text. They could have completely dropped that shit but instead they like telling you ahead of time what they are going to tell you later.

So very badly shot at almost every chance they could. Let’s walk away from the house just so we can turn back around and walk into the house. Just really dumb shots like this over and over again. Here’s a box with a gun and a bunch of bullets that hurt the creatures… so when one shows up at your house you get as far away from that gun as possible. Hey come over here and talk to me so I can then walk away and leave you where I just called you too. Over and fucking over again.

Tara Reid cannot act, she’s like a cardboard cutout of herself with the mouth rigged to move. Evidently there was a sex scene in the original release that’s not in the version I just watched. That scene is probably the only reason Uwe Balls had her in the film, he wanted to see her naked. Stephen Dorff comes along to basically play Stephen Dorff in every movie you’ve seen him in. Christian Slater as the main character Edward Carnby does the best he can do but with what he’s been given to work with, well nobody can make this shit sandwich work. Some of the other acting jobs are pretty dire as well. Probably due in part to complete and utter lack of any constructive direction what so ever.

People trash the special effects in this one. But, to be honest, I’ve seen worse being pumped out today. But it really is a sloppy mix of sloppy practical effects and CGI mixed together. With to much focus on the gore which really doesn’t help a damn thing because this is no where near a horror movie like the Uwe Bore thought he was making.

Every damn thing about the ‘story’ or the way scenes are shot feel like they’re trying to imitate other, much better, movies. Like Eww Boll couldn’t actually create a complete original thought and instead borrowed ideas from everyone else. Then mashed them all together while smiling like a blathering idiot.

Now this is better than House of the Dead or Bloodrayne… but that’s not saying much. This is very early 2000’s direct to bargain bin DVD fair at best. They spent 20 million on this absolute shit show, that’s like throwing stacks of cash into a wood chipper.

Blair Erickson wrote the early versions of the script and, well, you can pretty much tell what happened by what he said in this ‘Something Awful’ interview:

The original script took the Alone in the Dark premise and depicted it as if it were actually based on a true story of a private investigator in the northeastern U.S. whose missing persons cases begin to uncover a disturbing paranormal secret. It was told through the eyes of a writer following Edward Carnby and his co-worker for a novel and depicted them as real-life blue-collar folks who never expected to find hideous beings waiting for them in the dark. We tried to stick close to the H. P. Lovecraft style and the low-tech nature of the original game, always keeping the horror in the shadows so you never saw what was coming for them.

Thankfully Dr. Boll was able to hire his loyal team of hacks to crank out something much better than our crappy story and add in all sorts of terrifying horror movie essentials like opening gateways to alternate dimensions, bimbo blonde archaeologists, sex scenes, mad scientists, slimy dog monsters, special army forces designed to battle slimy CG dog monsters, Tara Reid, "Matrix" slow-motion gun battles, and car chases. Oh yeah, and a ten-minute opening back story scroll read aloud to the illiterate audience, the only people able to successfully miss all the negative reviews.

There were parts of that script apparently still in here. Where Carnby does the voice over bits, which vanish for long periods of times when the dumbass stuff is going on. This entire thing is a train wreck after the Uwe Bowel Movement got it’s fingers in there. Maybe that sex scene in the middle would have helped a little bit if just for the male gaze factor.

Don’t watch this dogshit of a movie. It’s not worth it.

"I hold here the last bit of my dignity that I pissed away by being in this film. But I got to rub up against Tara Reid so why not?"

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Roll a D10 - Things in a Solo's pockets.

 

Sometimes the gunman ends up going to the big rifle range in the sky. So it's up to everyone else to loot his body for goodies. Roll a D10 to see what you find. 

Things in a Solo’s pockets.

1 – A pack of imported cigarettes from some country on the other side of the world.

2 – Pair of shooting gloves.

3 – Pocket sized gun cleaning kit.

4 – Premium customer awards card for Johnny Automatics Gun Emporium.

5 – Extra wires for their smartlinked gear in case they need to go hardlined instead of wireless.

6 – Small pen sized laser distance finder.

7 – Palm sized derringer with a very large caliber round. The words “No Surrender” engraved on it.

8 – Caffeine in various forms; chewing gum, pills, gummies, etc.

9 – Hip flask filled with some really cheap, but strong, whiskey.

10 – A wallet with ID saying they are a police officer. Counterfeit of course.

Roll a d10 - What's in a street medias pockets

 

Sometimes you need to shuffle through the pockets of a street media who is... taking an extended rest. Here are ten things that you may find. 

Things in a street medias pockets.

1 – A taped up roll of hardline connectors for various camera types.

2 – Pocket radio with earbuds that is tuned into all the police radio channels.

3 – Several different ‘Press’ badges from different major media outlets, all counterfeit.

4 – A pocket first aid kit.

5 – Small armored packet containing fresh data slugs for their camera and other equipment.

6 – Extra power bank charger for their phone.

7 – An emergency switch that uploads all their media to their private cloud storage with one click.

8 – A fold-able face mask with filters and lenses that cover their eyes that seal.

9 – Burner cellphone loaded with emergency numbers.

10 – Back up hand held micro video recorder that looks like an ink pen.

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Movie Review - Mutant Chronicles

 

Mutant Chronicles (2008)

Watch it for free on Tubi.

Or buy it on Amazon. 

 Okay here we go. Heard several stories about this movie over the year, never gave it a viewing. At least this time it’s a movie with a budget unlike the last one I did. We get a quick overview of the base storyline, some shots of what happened something called the machine was sealed up long ago. Nice set up and it’s over.

Then we get futuristic steamtech trench warfare. Hey there’s Sean Pertwee, always nice to see him in a movie. Hey Thomas Jane, not complaining there either. Lots of bloody brutal fighting, then the thing that was sealed up breaks open and even more bloodshed comes along. This is where I was laughing for a bit. You ever see those old bad 3D movies where they have the fight scenes choreographed with people attacking at the camera? Yeah. They did that here. Why? Fuck I couldn’t tell you, it looks bad, thankfully they don’t continue with that.

Oh, damn, well goodbye Sean. Hey it’s Ron Perlman, things are looking up but I’m a fanboy. Oh hey there’s John Malkovich as well, that could go either way.

At 23 minutes in I was kind of digging the story. The bad guys are really one trick ponies with one long McStabby arm. They really could have hashed out some variety here, would have really helped. Instead they dish us out a never ending stream of bad guys who don’t like to die. Over and over again. We get the rest of the team lots of action scenes that sort of work… sometimes. Not going to spoil the ending for those who may want to watch this themselves.

Okay here are some pro’s for the movie. There are some cool shots, cities under siege, the general look of the technology, uniforms and weapons. That all kind of works believe it or not. The entire thing has some color adjustment giving it a colorless appearance most of the time. Everything looks like mud… and ash, which strangely fits for the story here. But they just overdid it most of the time. The inside of the machine near the end looks pretty nightmarish and alien, as it should.

Now the negatives. Bad writing in the dialogue area with some just dumbass lines of conversation going on. Some of the folks were either calling in their acting skills or were given terrible direction on how to act, probably both. They had a roleplaying and miniatures battle game that this was based off of. One with a very distinct look… that they almost completely fucking ignored. Borrowing some names, a few setting details and not much else. Kind of like having and IP and then not using what you paid for.

In the end well, honestly, I’ve seen much worse. It’s an interesting little sci-fi flick with some cool details and world building in there. Probably be a fun beer night movie viewing for a group of folks who like grim dark action fare. But I can very well see why it bombed at the box office.  

"Oh shit why am I stuck between these two assholes and their dumbass discussion?"

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