What's the challenge rating for a Dalek?

My Friday gaming group strives to try new games that are simple, fun, and help make the best of our limited time. By Friday night, most of us are burnt out from work; we want to play something that keeps our attention, but doesn't involve lots of detail. When we're a bit brain-fried, we play board games or card games. We've tried a few different role-playing games (we most recently played a short campaign of Star Wars SAGA Edition, which was alot of fun). I've been jonesing, though, to try a Dr. Who role playing game.

The FASA Dr. Who Role Playing Game was the first RPG I really owned. It was a complicated system, but very detailed. The best part about it, though, was the source material. The supplements on The Master, the Daleks, and the Cybermen were written with both gaming details and storytelling in mind. There are some lessons I learned from those books that I still use in my adventures today. I was so caught up in nostalgia that I had to buy a set off someone on eBay.

I decided I wanted to run a Doctor Who game, so I pulled out those old FASA rulebooks. After a good read-through, I decided that this wasn't the system for a quick, fun Friday night game. I considered a few other systems, like Spirit of the Century, and Savage Worlds (by the way, if you can find the Explorer's Edition of Savage Worlds, grab a copy. Its ten bucks, and contains a complete play system. Its one of the best gaming deals of the year). After a while, I decided on D20 Modern.

I was disappointed in myself for falling back on D20. The positives, though, outweighed the negatives. We are all familiar with the system, so we do not have a steep learning-curve. The rules are available free via the SRD, so there is no additional investment.

The setting required some specialized rules. I created a few rules for navigating time-machines and navigating through space and time. I created a couple of rules specific to Time Lords. I told players that no characters would have stat bonuses based on race, so any "alien" races are just window-dressing. I have a copy of the Mongoose pocket D20 Modern player's guide, which is fine for character and adventure creation. Set-up involved very little effort, compared to D&D.

Everyone created characters together, after sharing concepts. We played a short prelude session together, so all the players could meet. The preludes involved a burning building, a Dalek combat, a wedding, a volcano, and a guy wishing he could quit his job as a phone operator. Everyone had fun creating characters, and playing their first encounters.

We have one very unique style of character. This is the first time I've encountered this phenomenon. One player decided he wanted to create a character based on an NYPD fireman, trapped in Tower Two as it was falling on Sept. 11 '01. This was the first time I've seen anyone create a character directly influenced by Sept. 11. I hesitated a second or two when I first heard about the concept. I weighed taste vs. character development and storytelling. I decided that this particular player wouldn't do anything distasteful, and I was very curious to see how he would portray the character. So he created a jock/career NY firefighter, with an interesting history and motivation. The character injects an interesting dynamic into the game; he's the only one of these castaways-in-time who actually wants to go back home.

The game gives me a chance to go back to my childhood, when I was a fantastic Who-vian (never missing an episode on the New Jersey Network on Saturday nights, 9:30 PM 'till 11:00 PM). A few friends in the group remember the old series with fondness, so we enjoy reminiscing via roleplaying. Its an exciting experiment, and I look forward to every session.

Progress: game updates and a future for me as a swordfighter

I absolutely promise an update this week.

Subjects I'm going to cover over the next few days:

1: (Gaming) Recent gaming experiments: Dr Who RPG using D20 Modern (what should be the DR of a Cyberman?).

2: (Gaming) Higher-level D&D: my challenge at keeping it fun, as well as having appropriate-powered challenges.

3: (SCA) Historical Swordsmanship: My first steps at designing a set of lessons based around Capo Ferro's rapier manual. Also, some news about my future in swordfigting.

I'll also post little bits and pieces about my game's development. My design work has been sliding a bit; work stresses are keeping me occupied, and unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to sit down and just bang out all the work I need to right now. At this moment, I'm working on the skills mechanic. The core of the dice mechanic seems to work. I'm working on skill lists and groupings, bare-bones notes of skill descriptions and roles they'd have in the game, and how to integrate skill purchases into character creation.

I think one of my big problems, when it comes to doing game design or focusing on studying historical swrodsmanship, is my lack of focus. I still don't have a solid outline and timetable for my gaming project. My work interpreting swordfigting manuals seems to take a back-burner to other, less intense hobbies. I feel like if I want to make any significant progress in either one, I need to really work out a solid schedule. Right now, I work on both of these in my spare time. I need to treat the game design as a job (which, ultimately, it is...I'd like to see it successful enough to at least make a small profit).

So, I have something like a plan. Part of that plan is to use this blog to help chart my progress. I want to journal the creative process for both the game and swordfighting. It will also help encourage me; I've found that when I see things in print, and get feedback, I'm encouraged to do more. It wakes me up.

So, lets take the next step.

(By the way, I wanted to mention that my wife takes the best photos...the shot of the Cthulhu dice and my portrait were just sone by her...I think she's doing great. I might be able to talk her into taking some pictures of some fencers to post up here, soon).

Song...stuck...in...head!

So, Still Alive, the song from the end of Portal, is stuck in my head. Its been there all night, and all morning. I've been humming it all morning.

Have you seen the video on YouTube of the cute chick singing it?

What, you think there's something wrong with a guy who chose a set of plastic over interaction and socializing with friends?

My budget was a little tight, so I had the choice of either going to an SCA event this weekend, or buy a set of dice.

Guess which I did?



Just look at 'em. Ain't they gorgeous?

They're the Limited Edtition Call of Cthulhu dice from Q-Workshop.

You have to admit, they're darn pretty. I picked them up at Stormwatch Comics in Berlin, NJ. Hell of a great store. You a comics fan? Go there.

I really like the look of these. There's an elder sign on each die (except the D4), taking the place of the high-number.

My next step is to get one of Q-Workshop's dice-cups.

Fencing practice after-action report

I had a fantastic fencing practice last night. I got a great deal out of two fights and an evening of discussion and looking through a manual. A good amount of the evening was devoted to working our way through a very small section of a Renaissance fencing manual (Duncan, Lissa...who was the author, again?). We took a close look at the way a particular maneuver was described, and tried different variations...the usual stuff you should be doing when working with the interpretation of a fencing manual. Very enjoyable.

I talked with a couple of people about how they fight, and it helped alot. Often, I don't completely see how some people execute some types of attacks, and I get stumped. I learned more about body movement and directions of attacks out of a small conversation.

The sitting and talking about how we fence helped me a great deal. This was exactly the night I needed to re-energize me to fence more.

Book Shopping Saturday

It was a big weekend for gaming. On Saturday, I went down to Between Books in Delaware for a big book-shopping trip with a couple of friends. I haven't been there in five years or so, and was very much looking forward to the trip I usually find some hidden gems there. Last time I was there, I got some good books for historical weapons research. The time before that, I started my Traveler collection.

I picked up some beautiful books this time around. Here's a shot of most of my haul. I ended up with:

• Chill. I haven't seen a copy of Chill in ages. Its a great horror RPG. Since I cut my teeth on Call of Cthulhu and Vampire: the Masquerade, I never really got a chance to experience Chill. I'm excited to crack this open and give it a try.
• Move Under Ground was recommended by the store owner. It was pitched to me as "Keroac meets Cthulhu." I couldn't pass it up. Haven't gotten to open it yet.
• The Tales of Inspector Legrasse: I got a copy autographed by the author. Its more tales of supernatural investigation. I've never been disappointed by C.J. Henderson, so I'm excited to get the chance to read this.
• H.P. Lovecraft's Worlds of Cthulhu number 5. Its a magazine (kind of) devoted to CoC gaming. I have the previous four, and think they're fantastic. They're a great resource for Cthulhu gaming.
• VS. Outlaws: This is just AWESOME. Its not even a gaming book; its just a fold-out pamphlet. Ronin Arts released it; they offer it on their website (and offer a discount if you buy multiple copies). Best three bucks I could spend.

And then, there were the dice. Just look at these babies.



Yeah, good book weekend.

I have this in a frame over my desk

As a historical fencer and Renaissance martial artist, I can think of nothing more satisfying than to simply declare, "Yes, I am a swordsman."
John Clements

Its a small bit of inspiration, and it helps.