Downfall D&D intrigue

Quite a while ago now, I mentioned the Close the Airlock! Traveller podcast. That ended sometime in 2013, I think, and there was radio silence for a long time. Possibly due to them doing short-term gaming rather than epic campaigns? Not sure. Eventually, though, the group have resumed podcasting with a 5e D&D campaign that's supposed to focus on grey-morality urban intrigue, and a party of... let's say, "protagonists" rather than "heroes", not evil but very much looking out for their own interests.

I'm up to Episode 12 so far and having a lot of fun; it's fairly ambient play, so great for listening to as I get on with other stuff. Although at least one person is Skyping in, there's not many issues with people speaking over each other. There's some background crackle at times, but I haven't found it a problem (although of course, better audio is always welcome).

They're taking this pretty seriously (not the game, but the podcast) so there's a blog up at https://downfalldnd.wordpress.com/for-new-listeners/ as well as copies of the maps they use, an extensive players' guide if you want to know more about the homebrew world, and even a substantial GM's guide that you can pick up by donating. Obviously not for everyone (I don't have one, for a start) but if you're interested in running something similar or just in porting the setting, it might be a good option.

Reviewish: The Menace from Sumatra

It's been a while since I managed a review. This one is critical but still broadly optimistic. It's the Call of Cthulhu scenario The Menace from Sumatra from Dark Designs.

The review is up on my YSDC blog here.

Mouse Guard seems interesting

Sorry for lack of posts. There are a few in the pipeline but in no shape to publish. I've just got an awful lot of IRL stuff going on at the moment and not much energy for writing anything interesting. Definitely not for further Monitors development, which is frustrating because it's tantalisingly close to alpha-playtestable.

Recently I've listened to several Mouse Guard APs and despite finding it rather alien (I've never played Burning Wheel, and my only experience with storygames was not a great success, although I don't think it's a storygame per se but has a few influences that way maybe? I dunno. I'm not the RPG theory guy. It's a bit different from D&D or Call of Cthulhu is what I'm saying.

Anyway, these APs - specifically The Walking Eye and Roo Sack Gamers archives APs - have tickled my interest and stirred a quiet desire to give the game a try. But I've got a few games stacked up not yet played, so let's not get too carried away.

I kind of like some of the ideas in it, like mechanics for stuff you care about and possibly the way conflicts get handled, although without actually knowing the rules it's a bit hard to be sure. It also seems like a way to find out about Burning Wheel, which everything I've heard suggests is notoriously complicated and drawn-out to start playing, without actually playing Burning Wheel. Mostly, in all honesty, I like the idea of playing heroic mice. I'm currently hunting for more APs because it's grabbed my interest and APs are effectively my sports viewing.

Briefly: Numenera actual play

I mentioned in a couple of places that I've been listening to Numenera actual play and picking up some thoughts that way. Ooh, poetry! Ahem. The one I've started with is The Roo Sack Gamers. They have a relatively small back catalogue, but with turns out to be because old episodes are shifted to Archive.org for hosting space reasons.

Numenera-wise, they've played through a couple of chapters (9 episodes at time of writing) in what's obviously a bit of an arc. I haven't picked up a clear indication of whether they're running prewritten stuff with added bits or largely homebrew content, though my instinct says the latter. I've found it pretty enjoyable to listen to, and because they're basically novices it's interesting to hear them working through rules issues and see their approach to the game. It seems noticeable that playing with lots of Effort and using high combat rolls to inflict penalties instead of extra damage makes the combat feel much more varied. They actually change their approach throughout the episodes (unconsciously, I think) as they sound out different playstyles, and talk about this a bit in ep 7ish.

Audiowise I found it good quality, very clear (very little cross-talk or ambient noise that I noticed) and pretty well-presented. Things like introducing yourselves at the start of episodes can make a difference to how easy things are to follow - I should probably think about that for our recordings... They also have a melodious array of what I would tentatively call southern US accents, but my expertise stops there.

Tomes and Times, part eleven

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 11 (the last) of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part ten

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 10 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part nine

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 9 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part eight

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 8 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part seven

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 7 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part six

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 6 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part five

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 5 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part four

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 4 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part three

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 3 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part two

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 2 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.

Tomes and Times, part one

A quick link to an article on my Call of Cthulhu blog at YSDC. Part 1 of a series called Tomes and Times about reading rules for Mythos tomes can be found here.