tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29787639052584131202024-03-13T13:25:56.128-07:00Glittercats Fine AmusementsPurveyors of board games, role-playing games, and other miscellaneous merriments and diversions.Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-41866161914892170882020-07-12T08:54:00.004-07:002020-07-12T08:54:49.666-07:00More Kittens now available in PDF!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikcuZs4_yDZsVT0FxM5bXZP4T8ULlbriXPiRJAbaQ8mJ_FZYlKs-LIXEaIhCQmnxBSdxtaiHDTT4VmwhMou9MWZfJsX55vH9qFeZJ-wzRynLSkvtACe0iLTnYV3EZmzI5K_kPa9oNHws/s1600/MoreKittens-cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="463" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikcuZs4_yDZsVT0FxM5bXZP4T8ULlbriXPiRJAbaQ8mJ_FZYlKs-LIXEaIhCQmnxBSdxtaiHDTT4VmwhMou9MWZfJsX55vH9qFeZJ-wzRynLSkvtACe0iLTnYV3EZmzI5K_kPa9oNHws/s320/MoreKittens-cover.png" width="210" /></a></div>
The PDF of <i>More Kittens</i>, a book of expansions and hacks for the <i>Laser Kittens</i> system, is now available on itch.io. If you missed our Kickstarter last year, you can download it to enjoy a variety of scenarios for <i>Laser Kittens</i>, hacks of the <i>Laser Kittens</i> system to play as baby dragons, octopuses, and more, as well as the stand-alone game <i>Mayor Cat</i>.<br />
<br />
What you'll get in <i>More Kittens</i>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Fourteen scenarios to play in <i>Laser Kittens</i>. These include kittens in both ancient and modern Egypt, kittens in space, kittens on a movie set, and kittens solving crimes with the world's greatest detective!</li>
<li>Eight games using the <i>Laser Kittens</i> system to go beyond kittens. Play as foster puppies, animals that eat trash, monsters at a finishing school, or axolotls protecting children's dreams!</li>
<li><i>Mayor Cat</i>, the game in which you try to get a cat elected mayor of your city. Film an attack ad, get an important endorsement, and meow your way through the big debate as you try to oust the corrupt and incompetent human mayor.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="https://glittercats.itch.io/more-kittens" target="_blank">Buy More Kittens at itch.io!</a>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-56136800328742513112019-02-24T18:02:00.000-08:002019-02-24T18:02:23.864-08:00Advice on Making MapsAs a <a href="http://www.mapsburgh.com/" target="_blank">cartographer</a>, I (Stentor) sometimes get asked for advice on making maps for RPGs and novels. I've written up what I think are some key questions to ask to guide your map-making.<br />
<br />
I'll preface this advice with an observation: most cartography advice out there is actually geography advice. That is, it is advice on creating a believable world, rather than how to map that world. So something like "rivers should join together as they go, not split apart" is geography advice. It's telling you something about how rivers work, not about how to properly map whatever rivers there are in your world. My advice below is meant to supplement this advice on geographical worldbuilding with some thoughts on the question of how to make maps of your world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxgmPT_jOMonOxkc_xUCDpYpOnIC-ItwumRKAmkYL7ePDbEZwhLA2E80YvNuiCNu08B0zJGXwSNAVtVXxqHfp7hL7GFwgC2t27ntfGpUW0KWHlLMQxXuIJx-p4vDr-Y-q6JtZSS-VTWM/s1600/1-swift.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="860" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxgmPT_jOMonOxkc_xUCDpYpOnIC-ItwumRKAmkYL7ePDbEZwhLA2E80YvNuiCNu08B0zJGXwSNAVtVXxqHfp7hL7GFwgC2t27ntfGpUW0KWHlLMQxXuIJx-p4vDr-Y-q6JtZSS-VTWM/s320/1-swift.png" width="251" /></a></div>
My main advice for maps is to ask yourself: <b>who, in the world, is making this map, and why?</b> Every map simplifies and distorts the world it represents, and every map requires sacrificing some things in the service of others.<br />
<br />
Even something as seemingly basic as geometric accuracy (e.g. consistent lat/long coordinates) may not be a priority. Those medieval <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_and_O_map" target="_blank">"T&O" maps</a> weren't drawn like that because the mapmakers were ignorant of the real shape of their world (sailors were using impressively detailed charts at the same time) -- they look like that because the goal of the map is to show the world as an orderly creation centered on the holy land, thus expressing the medieval Christian worldview.<br />
<br />
I would recommend that you ask yourself:<br />
<br />1. Who is making this map? Are they a trained cartographer, or a newbie? Are they a leader or rebel with an axe to grind? Are they someone who has absorbed all the conventional wisdom of their culture? Get inside the perspective of the cartographer and think about how they would see the world, and what their agendas and skills are.<br /><br />
2. What tools do they have at their disposal? Is the map made with pen and paper? rock carving? a printing press? a computer? This will shape the style of the map drawing -- certain shapes are easier to make with a pen than a chisel, for example. <br /><br />
3. What knowledge (correct or not) do they have about the world? What things can they find out easily versus where are their gaps? How did they get that information? This is especially important in fantasy settings. Take a look at medieval European and Chinese maps, and in particular how they represented each other's subcontinents.<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGb_Y_Kyk1Df2Ou5BeRsMNE-aoQ5EhqY1bYAmn0_ltFFPrT5rZr2Il5OVyLjEsA830a49KNf0N5qAZAmlsJ-k6cRSpjPJiAxs6b7oaKccLlsoyhis9NWTJu16X89qpYgsi6Uo4tbkrrY/s1600/5-long.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="856" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGb_Y_Kyk1Df2Ou5BeRsMNE-aoQ5EhqY1bYAmn0_ltFFPrT5rZr2Il5OVyLjEsA830a49KNf0N5qAZAmlsJ-k6cRSpjPJiAxs6b7oaKccLlsoyhis9NWTJu16X89qpYgsi6Uo4tbkrrY/s320/5-long.png" width="249" /></a></div>
4. What will this map be used for? Is it for coordinating the movement of armies on a battlefield? finding your way around a city? going on a pilgrimage? showing off the extent and glory of the king's domain? tracking tax revenues and grain production? finding auspicious locations by ley lines or fengshui-type principles? Every map is good for some things and bad at others, and the choices made in creating it will be those that serve its intended purpose. Remember that the infamous Mercator projection was a brilliant breakthrough for captains navigating sailing ships even though it's a terrible way to show population densities.<br />
<br />5. In what context will this map be found? Will it be printed in an atlas? hung on a wall? folded up in someone's desk? part of a longer reference text? a propaganda poster? Any mapmaker will be thinking about their intended audience and how to communicate best with them.<br />
<br />Use the answers to those questions to clarify your answers to the specific choices that need to be made in assembling a map:<br />
<ul>
<li>How much area will this map cover, at what scale? </li>
<li>What projection will your map use, if it's broader than a city or small region? </li>
<li>What features will be made prominent on this map, which will be backgrounded, and which will be left off altogether? </li>
<li>What kind of symbols will you use to represent those features? </li>
<li>If there are areas of uncertainty or lack of knowledge, how -- if at all -- will they be indicated? </li>
</ul>
If you want to learn more about these issues, a couple good places to start are <i>How To Lie With Maps</i> by Mark Monmonier, and <i>Making Maps</i> by John Krygier and Denis Wood.Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-89390312349468309182018-11-21T09:12:00.002-08:002018-11-21T09:12:38.095-08:00Looking for writers for More Kittens (paid gig)Glittercats Fine Amusements is planning a February Kickstarter for "More Kittens," an expansion book for the Laser Kittens RPG, and we're hoping you will contribute!<br /><br />More Kittens will feature a variety of material making use of the core mechanics from Laser Kittens:<br />- New Laser Kittens settings: We've published settings for kittens in the White House, kittens in space, and kittens in a haunted house, but there are so many more places where kittens could have adventures. <br /><br />- No Kittens? No Problem! The Laser Kittens system can easily be hacked to play a variety of other sorts of characters. How about baby dinosaurs learning to roar? Or a misfit gang of possums, bears, and ibises finding treasure in human trash? <br /><br />To express interest or pitch your idea, email stentor.danielson@gmail.com. Pay depends on the scope and complexity of your work, but we're committed to making sure you are compensated well. Folks who are new to RPG writing are especially welcomed to get in touch!Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-68746915547431063662018-07-11T06:45:00.001-07:002018-07-11T06:45:43.156-07:00Space Knight Academy -- a space opera hack of Laser KittensKittens are great, but perhaps you are more interested in stories about
spaceships and laser swords and mystical powers. In that case, you're in
luck -- check out <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j_YaHcfsiOq9_Q8MkTdbaE69S5Il8VVnwQqFI0iOyIg/edit" target="_blank">Space Knight Academy</a>, the copyright-non-violating
hack of Laser Kittens. Play a Space Knight Cadet learning to use The
Power to protect the Galactic Imperium from various kinds of bad guys. Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-20996161238605283282018-07-08T07:35:00.002-07:002018-07-08T07:37:57.052-07:00200 Word RPGs: Occupational Safety and Health Adventures, and Micro Kittens Stentor submitted an entry to the <a href="https://200wordrpg.github.io/" target="_blank">200 Word RPG contest</a>. This year's entry, <a href="https://200wordrpg.github.io/2018/rpg/finalist/2018/05/19/OccupationalSafetyandHealthAdventures.html" target="_blank">Occupational Safety and Health Adventures</a>, was named a finalist.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You are a team of co-workers. Decide together:<br />
- What is your workplace?<br />
- What big project is the boss breathing down your neck about?<br />
- How is your workplace catastrophically unsafe?<br />
<br />
Individually, name your character and decide:<br />
- What is my role on the team? (coordinator, expert, grunt, caretaker, gofer)<br />
- Why do I keep messing up? (lazy, greedy, incompetent, dishonest, arrogant)<br />
<br />
Take turns framing scenes starring your character. Everyone else plays their parts and NPCs, as needed. Each scene should lead to a point where one character (not necessarily yours) must risk their safety to move forward with the project. That character's player chooses:<br />
1. Accept the injury. Don't tell the boss.<br />
2. Report the unsafe condition. Tell the other players what new safety rule the boss has imposed. The other players decide how the workspace will be altered to comply with this rule, in a way that makes the workplace less safe and less efficient overall.<br />
<br />
The game ends when either:<br />
1. The project is completed. The team is congratulated by the boss for a job well done, and for their good safety record.<br />
2. One character accumulates three injuries. The team is reprimanded and the project is given to another team.</blockquote>
<br />
You can also check out last year's entry, <a href="https://200wordrpg.github.io/2017/rpg/2017/04/15/MicroKittens.html" target="_blank">Micro Kittens</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3-5 players<br />
<br />
You are a kitten who wants to get adopted from the Humane Society. Pick a description of why you should be adopted (fluffy, cuddly, playful, tiny, polydactyl) and a description of why you haven’t been adopted yet (dirty, skittish, old, aggressive, sick).<br />
<br />
Roll 5d6. Keep them -- this is your pool.
Pick someone to be the active player. When you’re the active player, frame a scene in which you act. Other players portray other characters in the scene.
When you do something ADORABLE in one of the categories below, place a die next to it, as long as it’s different in number from the other dice already there. If you act according to one of your descriptions in this scene, you may re-roll one die from your pool before selecting one to place.<br />
<br />
MESSY<br />
ADVENTURE<br />
AFFECTION<br />
MEOWS<br />
<br />
The player to your right invents a complication based on your die’s number as follows:<br />
1: Someone gets hurt<br />
2: Someone gets in trouble<br />
3: Something gets lost<br />
4: Something breaks<br />
5: Someone new arrives<br />
6: Something brings bad news<br />
<br />
The player to your left now becomes the active player.<br />
<br />
When you have done four adorable things, tell who adopted you.</blockquote>
Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-45023513793707344512018-06-30T20:15:00.000-07:002018-06-30T20:27:18.100-07:00Success Mechanics vs. Story MechanicsThis blog post is my attempt to think through some of my (Stentor's) design philosophy for the three game design projects currently at the front of my mind. I'm not claiming these ideas are new or sophisticated, and I'm certainly not proposing them as normative for anyone else's design. It's just useful to me to spell out what I'm trying to do.<br />
<br />
The three games I'm currently working on are:<br />
* Catpocalypse World: Cats surviving after the human apocalypse<br />
* Get Ready 2 Rock: A band on tour getting themselves in trouble<br />
* Admiral Earth: The Earth Team uses the powers of nature to battle eco-villains and summon the planet's greatest defender, Admiral Earth<br />
<br />
All three games are rooted in the Apocalypse Engine to various degrees. In particular, all three adopt the "moves" structure -- when a character does particular actions, then you are given a description or list of the sorts of things that might happen in the story. Most moves involve the application of a randomizer (dice roll or card draw) plus modifiers to select between good, compromised, or bad menus of outcomes. A very large percentage of the design work on these games involves writing, testing, and re-writing moves.<br />
<br />
The important distinction I'm trying to keep in mind is between what I'm calling success mechanics and story mechanics (or success moves versus story moves, since I'm focused on writing "moves" in an Apocalypse Engine context). Success moves clearly separate the role of the GM and the player. The player inhabits and controls the character, while the GM is fully in charge of the rest of the world. Like real people acting in the real world, characters then encounter situations where the outcomes of their actions are uncertain -- they don't know whether their skills will be adequate to overcome the challenge posed by the outside world, and whether luck will favor them in executing their plan. Success mechanics step in to give us rulings on these outcomes, usually with the application of some randomizer (e.g. dice or cards) to represent the character's uncertainty. The result of the mechanic tells us whether the character succeeds in overcoming the world's barriers or not. The nature of those barriers, and the sorts of outcomes available from overcoming them, rest in the GM's hands (albeit sometimes with their own mechanics and randomizers). Games that are heavily investigative ("solve the mystery") tend to rely heavily on success mechanics. The GM has already decided what the truth behind the mystery is, and so the real question to be decided at the table is whether different strategies by the characters succeed at uncovering clues and piecing them together.<br />
<br />
Story moves, on the other hand, put the GM and players both in the role of storytellers crafting a story about the characters and their world. While players may have primary responsibility for choosing their character's actions, the question faced by the player in acting is not "am I good enough (and lucky enough) to succeed at this?" but rather "where does the story go when I try this?" That is, does the overall story go in a direction favorable or unfavorable to the character. This question goes beyond just the things under the character's direct control, potentially reaching into any aspect of the world not yet made canon by appearing in the story. An investigative game in a story mechanics context would give the players control over how the mystery unfolds and perhaps even what the real story behind it is. I specifically like the structure of "moves" (as opposed to the "skill checks" that appear in many games) for story mechanics because it creates the opportunity to give specific narrative prompts for how the story proceeds.<br />
<br />
There is definite overlap between the two -- succeeding at one's intended task is one obvious way that the story can go in a direction favorable to the character, and vice-versa for failing at it. But thinking in terms of story moves opens up new possibilities.<br />
<br />
For example: say you have a move that applies when a character hacks a computer system, and one of the characters in the game hacks into the villain's email to find incriminating information. In a success mechanic context, the GM will have already decided what kind of incriminating information is potentially available. The question to be answered by the mechanics is, is the character a good enough hacker to get some or all of that information? In a story mechanics context, the question to be answered by the mechanics pertains (or at least may pertain) to the content of the emails themselves as well. A poor result from the randomizer may mean that the information in the emails turns out to incriminate an ally rather than the villain, because uncovering that is one way for the story to go poorly for the hacker character (despite being a "success" in the sense that their skills were adequate to access the computer system).<br />
<br />
Another example: my current favorite basic (i.e. available to all player characters) move in Catpocalypse World is called "You Meant To Do That." The inspiration, of course, is the way cats can fall off of something or otherwise have a total wipeout, then pick themselves up as if everything is going just according to plan. This is such a distinctive cat behavior that I knew there had to be a move about it in a game featuring cats. Originally, this move was called "I Meant To Do That," and its structure heavily drew on the "Keep Your Cool" move in Monsterhearts. The question to be answered was, when pulling off a stunt, do you draw negative attention and look foolish, or do you convince others that you're still in control. I realized that I had written it as very much a success move, deciding whether the character was successful at keeping their cool in the face of obstacles like nervous tics and other characters' perceptiveness. But I saw an opportunity to turn it into a more story-focused move*. The new text reads:<br />
<br />
<i>You Meant To Do That</i>: When someone has seemed to fail at something but you wish they had succeeded, roll [2d6] + the same attitude [stat] they took (but using your own bonuses etc.). On a 10+, explain how their apparent failure actually created a great opportunity or accomplished something useful, and they take +1 to taking advantage of it. On a 7-9, your confidence gives them +1 to extricating themself from the mess they made.<br />
<br />
The new mechanic gets away from the idea of a character succeeding or failing at some action they're taking in the context of obstacles in the world. Instead, it gives the player a chance to re-write the next step of the story, pointing out how an apparent failure could actually turn out for the best, perhaps in a way anticipated by neither the target character nor the GM.<br />
<br />
I don't intend for all of my moves to be quite as meta as "You Meant To Do That," but it illustrates my approach. When writing prompts for outcomes, I want to ask myself not "what would it look like for a character to succeed/fail at this?" but rather "what would it look like for the story to go in a direction favorable/unfavorable to this character?"<br />
<br />
*As well as using this move to cover the need for a "helping" mechanic, which was open after I removed the very Monsterhearts-ish strings mechanic that didn't fit the game's approach.
Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-55738374106488317542017-03-12T10:43:00.000-07:002017-03-12T10:43:42.227-07:00Playtest Report: Get Ready 2 Rock in the frozen north<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OsOBZ5YN-fUmXEGua0zAdjzagBUTzBFXwJJTsSY8MYfdEqr4nrAhgOYIxl7K9I8gMJqzRmy0I91I5-NSQAXmJoysEfbj9CjXaRABmPoOvNt1eZLWxLgfsx3CVVI36WmQ6Qzcjb1GNoI/s1600/GR2Rlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OsOBZ5YN-fUmXEGua0zAdjzagBUTzBFXwJJTsSY8MYfdEqr4nrAhgOYIxl7K9I8gMJqzRmy0I91I5-NSQAXmJoysEfbj9CjXaRABmPoOvNt1eZLWxLgfsx3CVVI36WmQ6Qzcjb1GNoI/s320/GR2Rlogo.jpg" width="320" height="278" /></a></div>I had a great session of Get Ready 2 Rock today at Breakout Con in Toronto. (Also a new logo, courtesy of Cynthia Lee.) The players were Sleeping Ginger, a Gwar-esque rock band from far northern Canada. Members of the band were Ricky J-Shot (The Cute One, bass), Sir Clemens (The Moody One, drums), Drax Smith (The Ringer, keytar), Widowmaker (The New One, pan flute), and Ed (The Forgettable One, cowbell).
<p>The band was traveling by dogsled to a big music festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. They stopped for the night at a Canada's Greatest Motel location in the remote not-even-a-village of McConnell's Crossing. The whole band had to share a single room because the rest of the motel had been reserved by their rivals, Blond Riot, who soon arrived in their reindeer-drawn sleigh.
<p>Blond Riot is only "pretty good," though that makes them better and more popular than Sleeping Ginger. Ed overheard Blond Riot's roadies grousing about how the band acquired fancy $8000 amps, but isn't good enough to hear the difference between that and lower-quality $4000 amps. Sleeping Ginger hatched a plot to trade the roadies their lower-quality amps plus $4000 to get the better amps from Blond Riot. But first they needed to get the money, since between them they only had $200.
<p>Ricky used his charm to convince Marlene, the receptionist at the motel, to call corporate HQ and make a deal that Sleeping Ginger would write a version of one of its songs that was about the motel chain and play it on stage, in exchange for $3800. Meanwhile, Drax and Sir Clemens called a mysterious phone number they found written in the hotel attractions guide to arrange a drug deal with "Randy," who wanted to meet them at the old dock on Black Lake. Though Sir Clemens' drug habit breaks the heart of his father (and the band's manager) Cecil, the two set off into the dark woods to meet Randy. After performing a wild rock'n'roll stunt that left Drax up to his waist in cold water, Randy agreed to sell them $1000 worth of Extasy for only $100. On their way back to the motel, the band members ran into a couple members of Blond Riot, who were also aiming to score some drugs from Randy. Randy -- who had sold his entire stash to Drax and Sir Clemens -- used his satellite phone to call the police. Luckily the members of Sleeping Ginger were able to hide their drugs in a hollow tree, and the police didn't find anything on them. The members of Blond Riot and Randy hitched a ride back to town with the police. When Drax and Sir Clemens got back, they broke the door handle on one of the Blond Riot rooms, to delay them in the morning.
<p>The next morning, Sleeping Ginger headed out on the road. Around midday, they reached the border checkpoint. Fearing that they would be caught bringing drugs into the USA, the band exploited their celebrity to get Charles the border guard -- a huge Sleeping Ginger fan -- to just wave them on through. That night, Sleeping Ginger had to camp at a National Forest since there were no motels in this remote area of Alaska. And wouldn't you know it, Blond Riot arrived at the same campground hours later. Since the members of Blond Riot were clearly frazzled from their day's adventures, they were willing to buy the extasy for $1500. While Blond Riot lay in their tent getting high, Sleeping Ginger decided to prank them by building a bunch of threatening snowmen around their tent.
<p>The next day the band arrived in Fairbanks. After checking in at the festival HQ, Ricky and Widowmaker headed to a local coffee shop to meet Heather, the head of advertising and PR for Canada's Greatest Motels. While waiting for Heather, they were met by Charles. He told them that he had been fired from his job as a border guard for letting them through without checking their passports or inspecting their vehicle. Border Patrol was now on the hunt for Sleeping Ginger. Moreover, the Forest Service was also after them, because to make their snowmen they had pulled branches off of an endangered tree.
<p>Meanwhile, Drax and Sir Clemens decided to try to sabotage their amps, so that when they traded them to Blond Riot, they would sound bad. However, they mostly succeeded in breaking the amps and electrocuting themselves. They took the amps to a local repair shop, and paid a premium to get them repaired quickly. Then they made their deal with the roadies for Blond Riot, swapping amps along with $4000.
<p>Charles helped the band get in touch with his former supervisor, Officer Ramirez. She didn't buy the band's excuse that, coming from a remote part of Canada, they didn't know that you had to show your passport to enter the US. However, she told them that if they played a song about the importance of conserving endangered species, the Forest Service might both forgive their damage to the tree, and sponsor their application for a visa so that they could be in the country legally*.
<p>The next day, Sleeping Ginger had their big show. Not only did they perform a brilliant song for the Forest Service, they also held up their end of the bargain with Canada's Greatest Motels, and won over a bunch of Blond Riot fans.
<p>*Yes, I know this is not how US immigration law works.Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-17695828616667789682016-07-31T14:07:00.001-07:002016-07-31T14:07:30.625-07:00Laser Kittens is here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ15ZwqVXdijNFEzs_utDhedF9O17PaCcRp-TxB2Acw6_Q3F6JCyeQW9Fm2zUbD4y4ihfz61kEjuUpzua6mEjirH4maBLVm9sy6A5nleHLiyyv96O4XRaiU8UJinaGsXvARlO4QrxLiOw/s1600/LaserKittensCover-page001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ15ZwqVXdijNFEzs_utDhedF9O17PaCcRp-TxB2Acw6_Q3F6JCyeQW9Fm2zUbD4y4ihfz61kEjuUpzua6mEjirH4maBLVm9sy6A5nleHLiyyv96O4XRaiU8UJinaGsXvARlO4QrxLiOw/s320/LaserKittensCover-page001.png" width="208" /></a></div>
At long last, <i>Laser Kittens</i> is here! If you backed us on Kickstarter, we hope you love the book. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/189398/Laser-Kittens" target="_blank">order a PDF through DriveThruRPG</a>. The physical book, as well as the beautiful Kitten Cards designed by Rori de Rien, will debut at the IGDN booth at GenCon this coming week. After GenCon, we'll make the physical books and cards available through our website. Pew pew pew!Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-20242583885816707902016-06-10T17:08:00.000-07:002016-06-10T17:08:21.418-07:00Glittercats at Origins!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/459009309922193408/3gGPehAZ.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/459009309922193408/3gGPehAZ.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
Glittercats Fine Amusements will be putting in an appearance at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH next week. We have three scheduled games of <i>Laser Kittens</i> in the Hyatt Harrison room, as part of the Indie Game Developer Network:
<br />
<ul>
<li>Thursday 4-6 pm</li>
<li>Friday 4-6 pm</li>
<li>Saturday 12-2 pm</li>
</ul>
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We also have a slot at Indie Games on Demand in the Hyatt Fairfield room, starting at 9 am on Saturday.<br />
<i>Laser Kittens</i> won't be quite ready to sell at the dealer's hall at Origins, but you can <a href="https://laser-kittens-an-rpg-about-tiny-kitties-growing-up.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders">preorder it through Backerkit</a> if you missed our Kickstarter. We'll have our other two games, <i>Bunny Money Gunny</i> and <i>The Fool's Journey</i>, for sale, alongside a bunch of other awesome games at the Indie Game Developer Network booth. Come on by!Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-7617411124978036902016-02-01T19:58:00.000-08:002016-02-01T19:59:07.815-08:00Laser Kittens is live on Kickstarter!<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeZEWl1aHv6mUhM_O5vQa17fVcIYJj-1AvgoH6o5_rflW_ikrTflQ3zfnAo-kt2v2AJTWuiSgES2FWoElNHEwhzmkGwc2a64G48pC2pv_xaFrT-vvmw3HXpv65nBfAxScGOsQE_UkSDI/s1600/snowkittens-title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeZEWl1aHv6mUhM_O5vQa17fVcIYJj-1AvgoH6o5_rflW_ikrTflQ3zfnAo-kt2v2AJTWuiSgES2FWoElNHEwhzmkGwc2a64G48pC2pv_xaFrT-vvmw3HXpv65nBfAxScGOsQE_UkSDI/s320/snowkittens-title.jpg" /></a></div>Laser Kittens, a game of tiny kittens growing up and learning to control their lasers, is <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1321036815/laser-kittens-an-rpg-about-tiny-kitties-growing-up">live on Kickstarter</a>. In Laser Kittens, you'll play kittens being fostered at the Knoll St School for Wayward Kittens, a house where humans take in orphaned and abandoned kittens and take care of them until they're ready to find their Forever Homes. You'll learn important lessons from your adult cat professors, such as how to control your laser -- a special superpower that humans don't know about. Use your laser to summon a herd of emus to your aid, or teleport all of the catnip into the basement, or to erase a bad human from history.</p>
<p>Laser Kittens is a cooperative storytelling game suitable for everyone from pre-teens to adults. Using two standard decks of playing cards, you'll bid for control of the story. Players take turns being Class Captain, setting the scene and controlling any NPCs while the other players narrate the actions of their kittens. When your laser goes off, you never know if it will do something amazing or backfire terribly, creating kitten chaos. The fun is in seeing what happens!</p>
<p>When you back Laser Kittens you can get a PDF and audio versions of the rulebook, or a softcover physical copy (100 pages, 6x9 inches). At higher pledge levels, you can get your cat included as an NPC, or even have our artist (Cynthia Lee) incorporate your cat into the book's illustrations. <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1321036815/laser-kittens-an-rpg-about-tiny-kitties-growing-up">Back Laser Kittens today</a>!</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-52041093645700879112016-01-21T09:32:00.001-08:002016-01-21T09:32:16.102-08:00Recent Press<br />
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<br />
Hello everyone!<br />
<br />
2016 is proving to be a big exciting year for Glittercats. We are gearing up to bring Laser Kittens to Kickstarter on February 1st and we can not be anymore excited for that!<br />
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Below, I'm adding links to a bunch of press that we've done, just so you can hear what we've been talking about,<br />
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<br />
<u>One Shot Podcast</u><br />
Chey did a play thru of The Fool's Journey while at Metatopia 2015. We had a blast?<br />
<br />
http://www.oneshotpodcast.com/podcasts/one-shot/128-fools-journeytanya-de-passe/<br />
<br />
(also, I've included a picture of the journey track from the game with the amazing Happy Tarot deck by Serena Ficca.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1M78SQHb2pATmglzaSOguUzZ-GvRRayJdfrXI4GCWfiCSBKhQnnTxbRtQGftFErRW5FksicczTecRS708Hl8GkRVZNg35bOo6GCawa5qO6iaEFqixsglClXbRG8EgDblpHVGh3dvIezgP/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1M78SQHb2pATmglzaSOguUzZ-GvRRayJdfrXI4GCWfiCSBKhQnnTxbRtQGftFErRW5FksicczTecRS708Hl8GkRVZNg35bOo6GCawa5qO6iaEFqixsglClXbRG8EgDblpHVGh3dvIezgP/s640/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<br />
<u>Geek Initiative </u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Again, from Metatopia 2015<br />
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http://www.geekinitiative.com/women-rpgs-cheyenne-wall-grimes-interview-metatopia-2015/<br />
<br />
<br />
We will have so much press coming out in the following weeks, make sure and stay tuned!naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-67063693883768928722015-11-14T17:42:00.001-08:002015-11-14T17:43:39.137-08:00Why -- or why not -- use the Apocalypse World system?<p>I love games that use the Apocalypse World system. At Metatopia I playtested a bunch of AW-bsed games, ranging from relatively straightforward transpositions of the mechanics into new scenarios, to wildly creative reimaginings of the system. It's my go-to system for a more traditional* game.</p>
<p>So when I design a game, it's worth asking why I am, or am not, using the AW system as my basis. The two games I brought to Metatopia make a good illustration of this, since one is AW and the other is not.</p>
<p>My AW game, tentatively titled "Get Ready to Rock," is about a band on tour. It was inspired in part by some sessions of the "Touring Rock Band" and "Touring Rock Band 2" Fiasco playsets -- so I know that you can tell the kind of stories I wanted to tell without AW mechanics. And my use of AW started in part simply from noticing the similarity between the name "Apocalypse World" and the name of the show "Metalocalypse" (another key inspiration). But the game has progressed and worked because the AW system does certain things that are useful for the kind of stories I want the game to produce.</p>
<p>First, one of the key drivers of the game is the tension between the cohesion necessary to play music together, versus the clash of egos that arises when a band hits the big time. This is supported in part by some of the base AW mechanics. The use of differentiated playbooks geared to different roles in the story helps to model both the complementary differences that make a band work (made obvious in the formulas used by music executives constructing boy bands and supergroups), as well as the different directions that each member's personality will tug the band in. I also borrowed the "strings" mechanic pretty directly from Monsterhearts (which I regard as the paradigm of an AW game, perhaps even more so than AW itself) as a way of intensifying the need to make complicated choices that implicate your fellow band members. I also implemented one innovation which followed smoothly from the AW base: the band as an entity has its own playbook, separate from the players' individual ones, with its own set of stats, its own harm track, and moves that can only be done by the band as a whole. </p>
<p>Second, I wanted the game to motivate the characters to make bad decisions and get themselves into trouble. This is not a game where the GM dreams up a set of challenges that the players then work to overcome -- instead, the characters' own actions should get twisted to draw them further into complicated situations and force them to make difficult choices. The aforementioned strings are an obvious way to do this, and I enhance their role in the game to allow players to make things complicated for each other. But even more importantly, the "partial success" mechanic in AW leads directly to complications. Having clearly structured "moves" means that players are confronted with tough choices and a framework for complicating their own lives when they roll anything less than a 10.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I think there are good reasons that Laser Kittens is not an AW game. For this game I developed my own system, based on bidding cards from two standard poker decks. There are several aspects of the gameplay that I wanted, which would be difficult to model using an AW basis.</p>
<p>First, Laser Kittens is a game with a rotating GM. Now, I know there are GM-less AW games out there, so it's not an impossibility. But it doesn't follow easily, because there is a tension between the player-level decisions involved in bidding to GM a scene, versus the character-level actions of using your playbook's moves. Bidding for the GM role would have required a separate mechanic, whereas my original system was able to seamlessly merge the mechanics for picking a GM with the mechanics for resolving conflicts within a scene.</p>
<p>Second, I wanted to model the chaos of kitten life. While much emphasis is placed on the partial success mechanics of AW, ultimately characters in an AW-based game are more or less in control of what they're doing, within known parameters of probability. On the other hand, kittens are not in control -- they have limited knowledge and limited control over their own bodies. The card-bidding mechanic of Laser Kittens generates a good deal of chaos. (I had one playtester tell me that she had more fun when she selected her bid entirely at random, rather than trying to purposefully choose a good card.) Moreover, bidding from a fixed set of cards encourages players to deliberately invite failure by spending bad cards, both as a way of refreshing their hand and as a storytelling end in itself. This is something that can't be done with a dice-based system, where each roll is uncontrollable and statistically independent of each other roll.</p>
<p>Third, there are the lasers. I'm planning a longer post about how I developed the laser mechanic, so for the moment I'll suffice it to say that nothing in the standard AW toolkit allows for modeling some of the key characteristics of lasers in the game. Specifically, lasers (unlike character moves in an AW game) 1) build up "pressure" over time until they're forced to go off, and 2) have success/failure levels that can be progressively learned about, and adjusted, during the power-up period.</p>
<p>That being said, translating what Laser Kittens has become into an AW-based system is an interesting challenge, and a potential stretch goal for Kickstarter!</p>
<p>*I know some people regard AW games as super indie. But to me, "traditional" encompasses any game in which there is a distinction between GM and players, and in which each player controls a character whose abilities are defined by a set of "stats and powers."</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-43762701637064081352015-09-06T07:45:00.000-07:002015-09-06T07:45:40.958-07:00Fate Accelerated: The Apple Pie Party caucuses<p>I've played exactly one session of Fate, but since it's such a popular system, I wanted to try running a Fate Accelerated game. Here's a sketch of the scenario I put together -- the Apple Pie Party caucuses.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQsaBu09duVGoEgPs_51zLcOnKBheeDHvpHDv69UeYENSF5qzFdXENCD9wtnWOu6KJyeeoP6L51MgUM8p0LzDx1qy1JanyzVav6PhEJymAB5-YqGVF67HgO87dK9JPhuBScURthhzmKA/s1600/Nimlock.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQsaBu09duVGoEgPs_51zLcOnKBheeDHvpHDv69UeYENSF5qzFdXENCD9wtnWOu6KJyeeoP6L51MgUM8p0LzDx1qy1JanyzVav6PhEJymAB5-YqGVF67HgO87dK9JPhuBScURthhzmKA/s320/Nimlock.png" /></a></div><p>Eccentric billionaire doorknob magnate Lester O'Malley is fed up with the two-party system. He founded the Apple Pie Party to try to give some normal people who are not career politicians a chance at breaking the Democratic-Republican stranglehold on the presidency. He has promised to bankroll the presidential campaign of whichever candidate wins the Apple Pie Party's primaries, starting with the Iowa caucuses. But the big parties are nervous that the Apple Pie candidate could be a spoiler, and they'll do whatever it takes to stop them.</p>
<p>Players begin by writing down an unusual policy stance (such as "ban all corn and corn products," "blow up the moon," or "a pot in every chicken") on slips of paper. These are then shuffled and handed out, to give each player the germ of a character. Each character starts with four aspects:
<ol><li>A high concept (usually a personality trait + job before running for president, such as "lecherous wizard," "clairvoyant steelworker," or "bankrupt tractor salesperson", though there were some wackier ones like "12 opossums in a human suit")</li>
<li>A trouble (the scandal or skeleton in the closet that could bring down their campaign)</li>
<li>Two policy positions -- the one you were randomly allocated, and one more you make up for yourself.
</li></ol>
For this game, I did partial pregens, creating high concepts, two relevant stunts for each, and scores on approaches. (Stunts included things like an infinite campaign war chest, a bonus to actions done while riding a tractor, and a bonus when helping someone in the same Hogwarts house) Players filled in their policy positions as well as names and descriptions.</p>
<p>The game proceeds through four scenes. A poll is released at the end of each scene, indicating the candidates' relative standing as determined by the GM.:
<ol><li>The Iowa State Fair, where the candidates are introduced to the public by O'Malley and do some campaigning while eating fried things on sticks.</li>
<li>A televised debate. In the first round of the debate, each candidate answers a question from a viewer submitted via Twitter. In the second round, each candidate can challenge another candidate with a question.</li>
<li>Tom Harkin's steak fry -- another chance for some open-ended campaigning. (For time reasons, we skipped this one.)</li>
<li>The Iowa caucuses.
</li></ol></p>
<p>Overall, the game ran pretty well. The candidates united on the issue of destroying the moon, while arguing over who was secretly or not-so-secretly an animal in a human disguise. Their primary challenges were the NPC APP candidate Nimlock the Barbarian (campaigning on a platform of slaughtering all carbon-based life forms), and <i>Des Moines Register</i> lead political reporter Barbara Anderson, who was clearly in the bag for Ted Cruz. Two things need more work:
<ul><li>The polls. I just impressionistically adjusted candidates' standing based on whether I thought their actions were appealing to the public. If I run this again, I would want to come up with a clearer mechanism for gaining or losing votes, as well as rewards and penalties for candidates' standing in the polls.</li>
<li>The final vote at the caucuses. In this game, I assigned each candidate a rating between 2 and 4 depending on their final poll standing, then had them roll their dice and add the result to their rating. Thye could spend Fate points to re-roll. If I ran it again, I would want to flesh out the caucuses as a scene, with all of the arguing and re-allocating of votes that goes on at the real Democratic Party caucuses in Iowa. (The GOP caucuses are much more sedate and primary-like.)</li></ul></p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-70909556498470376652015-07-23T10:11:00.000-07:002015-07-24T09:01:07.171-07:00It's the most wonderful time of the year! (or where to find us at Gen Con)So, in one week, the magic known as Gen Con will be in full swing. Glittercats will be there in full force!<br />
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We will again be part of the <b>Indie Game Developers Network</b> booth (<b>#734</b> in the ICC, right next door to IPR). As always, <b>Bunny Money Gunny</b> will be available, for all your competitive bunny strategy needs. We will also be running and talking about <b>Laser Kittens: Tales from Knoll Street School for Wayward Kittens</b>. The most exciting new for this year is - the newest game in our arsenal, <b>The Fool's Journey</b>, will be available!<br />
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<b>The Fool's Journey </b>is a storytelling game based on a deck of tarot cards. Nine of the Major Arcana cards form a story waiting to be told. Bid against the other players to rearrage the cards into the story you want. Then use the cards as prompts to tell the tale of the Fool (or another character).<br />
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Try the game with different tarot decks for different stories and different experiences. There is no end to the stories waiting in The Fool's Journey.<br />
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All you need to play is this instruction book, two to four players, and any deck of tarot cards.<br />
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We are so excited to finally bring this game to y'all and can't wait to hear what stories you can come up with!<br />
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Schedules:<br />
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<u>Wednesday, 7/29</u><br />
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<b>IGDN Social 6-9 pm at Loughmiller's. </b><br />
Come meet members of IGDN and start off the con right.<b></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline !important; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQi0mfkOqfKqGY-Y5zA18HaOiiM7hzuiKHQHFFbxbOP47w9r5LZuZQi-nZvh4OoparXDleKkjS90-CUXDgQP1zZnTLcOECfanqhafkW40PW4afeRtg3u2AL34y-MiWvn2kfdLvDOeV4BZZ/s1600/unnamed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQi0mfkOqfKqGY-Y5zA18HaOiiM7hzuiKHQHFFbxbOP47w9r5LZuZQi-nZvh4OoparXDleKkjS90-CUXDgQP1zZnTLcOECfanqhafkW40PW4afeRtg3u2AL34y-MiWvn2kfdLvDOeV4BZZ/s320/unnamed.png" width="208" /></a></div>
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<u>Thursday, 7/30</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Cheyenne -<b> Chill</b> 10am-2pm, IGDN Game Room (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> <b>How to Hack Your Favorite Fandom into an RPG Panel</b> 3-4pm <span style="font-family: inherit;">(</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crowne Plaza Grand Central Ballroom A/B)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;">Veronica Monsterhearts </b><span style="color: #404040; font-family: inherit;">6-10pm </span><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Contessa Game Room (</span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ICC : 123--124)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
Stentor - <b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table </b>10am-1:30pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<b> Laser Kittens</b> 2-6pm, <span style="font-family: inherit;">IGDN Game Room (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Fiasco </b>6-8pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><u>Friday, 7/31</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><u><br /></u></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Cheyenne - </span></span><b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table </b>10am-1:30pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<b>Chill </b>2-6pm <span style="font-family: inherit;">(<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">JW Marriott, room 306)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table</b> 6-8pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Stentor - </span><b>Laser Kittens</b> 10am-2pm, IGDN Game Room (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span><b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table</b> 6-8pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Fiasco </b>8-10pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Fiasco </b>10-12pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><u>Saturday, 8/1</u></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Cheyenne - <b>Glittercats Demo at IGDN Booth </b>12-2pm (#734)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span><b>Laser Kittens</b> 2-6pm, IGDN Game Room (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
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Stentor - <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span><b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table </b>10am-1:30pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Dread</b> 2-6pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Dread</b> 8-12pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><u>Sunday, 8/2</u></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Cheyenne - </span><b style="line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Glittercats Demo at IGDN Booth </b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">10am-12pm (#734)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span><b>Laser Kittens</b> 12-4pm, IGDN Game Room (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><b> </b></span><br />
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Stentor - <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span><b>IGDN Game Room HQ Table </b>10am-1:30pm (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;">Downtown Marriott ballroom 7)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"> </span></span><b> Laser Kittens or Fiasco </b>2-4pm, Games on Demand (Downtown Mariott ballroom 6)<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21.9999904632568px;"><br /><br />Please feel free to stop by anything we're running a table or demoing. We would love to see you! If you didn't get into any of our games, you can always try and stop by with generics.<br /><br />Can't wait to see everyone there!<b> </b></span>naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-40171803154317929322015-06-12T10:59:00.002-07:002015-06-12T10:59:42.214-07:00Chey's Origins RoundupSo, Origins 2015 did not go according to plan.<br />
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I had been booked to run 3 games of Growling Door Games' <b>Chill - 3rd Edition</b>. Thursday morning came and I got to run that morning's game - which went well. There were only 3 players so it went by pretty fast. The characters were able to get almost all of the clues available to them, met one NPC a day earlier than expected - they were supposed to find dead the next afternoon. They ended up saving a total of 4 NPC's that could have died and ended up intercepting the creature. AND there was a most wonderful quote of the con:<br /><br />Me: You find dead bees all over the back yard.<br />
Player: Do they appear to have been strangled??<br />
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The rest of the day consisted of demoing for Glittercats and then an IGDN dinner, which by the end of I had completely lost my voice.<br />
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Friday consisted of me having to back out of my Chill game, going to Urgent Care (I ended up with an infection in my throat that would have taken my voice no matter what I was doing), getting meds and sleeping a lot. We did manage to get a small group together in the Big Bar on 2 to play <b>Writey Drawey</b>, a favorite game of mine in which you really don't need to talk.<br />
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Saturday, my husband Chris and I wandered the dealer's hall and made a few purchases. He bought me <b>King of New York</b>, which I've been eyeing since it was released. We also picked up<b> Exploding Cows</b> and <b>Pairs</b>, since everyone always needs more party games. Chris also picked up <b>Cosmic Patrol </b>since he would really like to play more games where you roll D20's.<br />
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I did also pop in the see a bit of the morning session of <b>Laser Kittens </b>that Stentor ran and it made my heart grow 3 sizes.<br />
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That evening, I had just enough of a voice coming back to be able to head to Games on Demand and get to play <b>The Warren</b>. Our story was set in a major city park similar to Central Park and it was a great time. I ended up playing a matronly bunny who was change adverse. It was a great time and just what I needed.<br /><br />Sunday, I finally got to work the booth some more and get to hug a lot of people that I enjoy seeing at cons.<br />
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Overall, it was still a really good con. I got to see our first RPG being enjoyed by several players and makes me really happy the <b>Laser Kittens</b> is going over so well. I can't wait to get to run it myself at Gen Con.<br />
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Also, I really want to come up with a story telling game in which no one talks. I missed out on lots of opportunity to game at the con and so I kinda want to be proactive and make a game myself.<br />
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All in all, a good con that makes me super excited for Gen Con.naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-9469307601488067262015-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:002015-06-09T12:11:11.463-07:00Stentor's Origins Roundup<p>I'm back from a super-successful Origins and battling a bit of con crud. Here's a roundup of what I was up to:</p>
<p><b>Sales:</b> We had Bunny Money Gunny for sale at the IGDN booth. I don't have the final numbers, but it was pretty clear that this game sells when Cheyenne is demoing it. </p>
<p><b>Purchases:</b> I kept it light this year. I picked up The Quiet Year for my own enjoyment, and a copy of the Fate Accelerated book and a bunch of Fate dice for use in my Economic Geography class this fall.</p>
<p><b>Played:</b> We'll start with the games I ran -- three sessions of <a href="http://debitage.net/games/LaserKittens-Ashcan-1.0.pdf">Laser Kittens</a>. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeNDSIkd-ey9gXO5tDjqjoW7dUAcqH3bGhmZy7qgW5EDmtutAbCvq13fQEVGZMvO2RpLQfsavzkXqdkHko1aYK_OidkvayIHxQAFJ_ORUJviuxYwluXqYUluw1bZ-AGh1M6jMCC5-LxA/s1600/15+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeNDSIkd-ey9gXO5tDjqjoW7dUAcqH3bGhmZy7qgW5EDmtutAbCvq13fQEVGZMvO2RpLQfsavzkXqdkHko1aYK_OidkvayIHxQAFJ_ORUJviuxYwluXqYUluw1bZ-AGh1M6jMCC5-LxA/s320/15+-+1.jpg" /></a></div>I've got extensive notes, and I'll try doing a longer writeup of each later. For now, I'll just give summaries.</p>
<p><i>Game 1</i>: This session began with Professor Julius administering the Cat Oath to all of the kittens. They spent some time learning about the ethics of laser use, then had to face a midterm exam in which they were attacked by a mysterious black cat. Luckily, it turned out to be Professor Siren's doppelganger, as she had the "two two two" laser.</p>
<p><i>Game 2</i>: The kittens dedicated themselves to getting human Joe in trouble. Since they couldn't get up the stairs to his room on their own, they summoned a herd of emus (using the "zoo zoo zoo" laser) and rode them. One kitten had a terrifying prophetic vision of a post-apocalyptic future if they killed Joe (using her "view view view" laser), and so another kitten decided to simply erase Joe from history as if he had never existed (using the "shoo shoo shoo" laser).</p>
<p><i>Game 3</i>: The kittens were on a mission to attack the neighbors' dog. Concerned that the rabbits in the house were helping the humans to steal the kittens' poops (and thus their powers), the kittens invaded the rabbits' secret lair behind the paneling. A battle ensued, which ended in victory for the cats when all of the rabbits were teleported (using the "shoo shoo shoo" laser) into the neighbors' house, which got the dog in trouble as he was blamed for the sudden appearance of a bunch of bloodied rabbits.</p>
<p>Since there was so much interest in Laser Kittens, I never got to run the other game on my menu, Dread: Dinosaur Edition. You can grab the character questionnaires <a href="http://debitage.net/games/Dread-Dinosaurs.pdf">here</a> if you'd like to try running it yourself.</p>
<p>The first game run by someone else that I played was Microscope. We created the story of the encounter and ensuing war between Earth and the Uktar, an insectoid alien species, told from the Uktar's point of view. We had political intrigue, the rise of an Uktar-worshipping cult, and the eventual development of Uktar-human hybrids.</p>
<p>Next, I played a game of The Warren. I've run this game before, but this was my first time as a player. Our game was set in ancient Egypt, and we had established our warren on a small island in the river to protect ourselves from the desert hares. However, the humans had built a dam to divert river water for irrigation, making it possible for the hares to invade. My character had to bait the River God (a giant crocodile) into attacking and smashing the dam in order to save the warren.</p>
<p>The last game I played was A Single Man in Possession of a Good Fortune, a hack of Kagematsu set in regency-era England. This is not a setting I would have chosen if my options weren't so limited by the time I got to the front of the line at Games on Demand, but it was incredibly fun. In our game, we were three daughters and their governess of the head British official in Bombay. We had to win over the new governor who had been sent to replace our ailing father so that he would protect the city against a French invasion.</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-80355388286509433942015-06-03T08:06:00.000-07:002015-06-03T08:13:00.826-07:00It's the day of the Con, y'all!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">Hey there everyone, it's that time of year! Origins Game Fair starts tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio. Origins is personally one of my favorite cons and it will be great to get to see so many awesome faces. Here's what we'll be up to this weekend.</span></div>
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Stentor will be running games at Games on Demand. </div>
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Thursday, 6/4 - 9am-1pm</div>
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Friday, 6/5 - 9am-1pm</div>
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Saturday, 6/6 - 9am-1pm</div>
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8pm-12am</div>
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Here's a peak at what he will offer on his menu:</div>
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<b>Laser Kittens: Tales from Knoll Street School for Wayward Kittens</b>! We are finally bringing GC's first RPG to Origins. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu4JwcYZOK46dCe9bvuuXpagp2-NRX7AbLkQi51wcmnq8Ct2TvqCVR54fvccpEoG4Sh__Q5vAK3UoPHNt1zCLDYLEOBsLkFkUeFKEWMTzk-STctLmkiYd5nkgHxWVobN8d9jHNwwp2Hi3/s1600/LaserKittens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu4JwcYZOK46dCe9bvuuXpagp2-NRX7AbLkQi51wcmnq8Ct2TvqCVR54fvccpEoG4Sh__Q5vAK3UoPHNt1zCLDYLEOBsLkFkUeFKEWMTzk-STctLmkiYd5nkgHxWVobN8d9jHNwwp2Hi3/s320/LaserKittens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And <b>Dread: Dinosaur Edition</b>!</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxkL8QAM5lUKBke2pRW5QqtTfDNLeHn0ZjF9aELWEpkr_cj2UKUwJuFQ5QDtCCEb8V4ZfH7Y8cewxCKhOzptcv_pHruE_8FiuRG6I5JvtmacpE4sAisPSu1B1yYpabNekOqksfEbGHz1J/s1600/DinoJenga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitxkL8QAM5lUKBke2pRW5QqtTfDNLeHn0ZjF9aELWEpkr_cj2UKUwJuFQ5QDtCCEb8V4ZfH7Y8cewxCKhOzptcv_pHruE_8FiuRG6I5JvtmacpE4sAisPSu1B1yYpabNekOqksfEbGHz1J/s320/DinoJenga.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Both are awesome games and I can't wait to hear about how things go.<br />
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As for me, I will be manning the IGDN booth (#520) in the afternoons and running demos from 4-6.<br />
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If you do see me at the booth or around in general, and would like to see a sneak peak at our newest title, <b>The Fool's Journey</b>, ask! We've created a fun parlor storytelling game that uses Tarot Cards to shape the story! We're really excited about this one and it will be available come Gen Con.<br />
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I am also running 3 games of Growling Door Games' newest title, <b>Chill - Third Edition</b>!<br />
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Thursday, 6/4 - 10am-2pm<br />
Friday, 6/5 - 10am-2pm<br />
Saturday, 6/6 - 10am-2pm<br />
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Can't wait to see y'all there!<br />
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-Cheyenne<br />
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<br />naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-12044745954974248422015-02-22T19:30:00.001-08:002015-02-22T19:31:21.061-08:00The Warren, Session 2: Go the Rabbitohs!<p>Second session of The Warren! The previous session ended on a big cliffhanger, but I went ahead and let everyone pick another character move. They were:</p>
<p><ul><li>Belladonna: Outran the Black Rabbit</li>
<li>Veggie-mite: Ace in the Hole</li>
<li>Thump-tor: Thumper</li>
<li>Muddy: Swift Runner</li></ul></p>
<p>The session begins with all of the rabbits realizing that the cane toads had hopped off with the gun. Thump-tor and Veggie-mite <b>resist panic</b> over this turn of events, though Belladonna is a bit freaked out by it. After discussing the situation, the PCs as well as Ash and Dusty decide they needed to go tell the Queen about the cane toads' new power.</p>
<p>Buck-tor allows all of the group in to see the Queen, who usually doesn't see visitors. She is a very large rabbit, with pure gray fur. She speaks with a weak voice and is unable to sit up on her bed of straw. Muddy takes the lead in explaining what had happened. The Queen is upset, and tells them that human weapons are cursed because humans use them to hunt rabbits. She declares that everyone who had touched the gun would be banished from the warren. Muddy had, of course, already admitted to holding the gun, and had implicated Ash and Dusty. Thump-tor and Veggie-mite truthfully deny having used the gun, but Belladonna has to <b>speak plainly</b> to convince the Queen that she hadn't held it. Buck-tor then escorts the three outcasts away from the warren.</p>
<p>Once outside the warren, Ash and Dusty decide they needed to steal the gun back from the toads, in order to redeem themselves and protect the warren. They tell Muddy that if he helps them, they would forgive him for trying to steal the gun. The three rabbits trail the toads to a swampy area near a stream. Muddy tries to <b>sneak</b> up on the toads to see what they ware doing. He spies a large group of toads confronting a smaller group, one of whom is holding the gun in its mouth with its tongue around the trigger. The toads spot Muddy's ears sticking out of the weeds. Muddy is able to <b>bolt</b> back to Ash and Dusty and warn them about the large group of toads. The three of them then <b>bolt</b> away, and hear the toads begin to fight behind them. During the toads' fight, the gun fires.</p>
<p>Back at the warren, the remaining PCs decide that they needed to lead the remaining rabbits to a new place. They decide to try to get to Flopsy's homeland on the other side of the River Jordan. Veggie-mite <b>speaks plainly</b> to the warren and convinces them all of the plan. The only rabbits who decided not to go along are Buck-tor and Hop-tor (the latter being a Knight Emeritus of Moloch), who both feel that their place is to stay and defend their Queen until the last. Veggie-mite tries to convince the Queen to come with them, but she says she is too weak to travel. But she gives her blessing to Veggie-mite and the litter she would soon give birth to.</p>
<p>The warren packs up and sets out for the river. They send a young squire of the Knights of Moloch, known as Bran-squee, to find the outcasts and invite them to join the new warren. But the outcasts had already decided to make their own way to the river, and so Bran-squee could not find them. That night, both parties have to <b>dig</b> shelters and <b>resist panic</b> caused by the hoots of owls in the woods.</p>
<p>The next day, Muddy, Ash, and Dusty reach the river first. They see a bridge with lots of car traffic upstream, and an island in the river downstream. Various trash lies along the river, including a plastic bag bearing a picture of lettuce but filled only with black slime. Dusty deems this a bad omen, so Muddy uses Strong to <b>push</b> an old truck tire down the beach a bit so that it would form a shelter while they wait for the others.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNTNt8XUThSl0Iss57G71RcvMIi9dgINhZnPpuc0CJBUPmb8ZfPZV9oH9McFYKS67pCk7wUkPvaRVYeiUQJJp97ccL55NyZqyNf8LxW1Jjur0hSVepyRTCWx0ZHbz5AvDBRR9Ho5EVN4/s1600/rabbitohs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNTNt8XUThSl0Iss57G71RcvMIi9dgINhZnPpuc0CJBUPmb8ZfPZV9oH9McFYKS67pCk7wUkPvaRVYeiUQJJp97ccL55NyZqyNf8LxW1Jjur0hSVepyRTCWx0ZHbz5AvDBRR9Ho5EVN4/s320/rabbitohs1.jpg" /></a></div><p>The rest of the warren comes onto the edge of the river just upstream of the tire. When Muddy pokes his head up to see them, he also sees a human fishing in the river near the bridge. This human is wearing a red and green shirt with a white rabbit on it. Muddy decides that this human must be a servant of Moloch. When the fisherman begins to approach the rabbits, Thump-tor successfully <b>resists panic</b>, but Veggie-mite does not -- leading her to lose control. She freezes, and the man scoops her up in a fishing net. As he goes to take her back to his car, Thump-tor bites him in the foot, then again on the hand when he reaches down to grab the offending rabbit (custom moves on <b>Strong</b>). The man throws Thump-tor and Veggie-mite in a big metal tackle box and latches the lid. Muddy sees a sticker on the man's car with the same white rabbit, so he decides to <b>sneak</b> in and ride along. The man gets in and drives away with three rabbits in the back seat.</p>
<p>Belladonna, meanwhile, had <b>resisted panic</b> at the man's approach, then decided to head into the water to get away. She also <b>resists panic</b> at the wide river, but is not as successful at <b>swimming</b> (custom move on Strong). She, along with Ash and Dusty, is swept downstream and washes up on the island that they had seen. Coming out of the water, they are confronted by three cane toads. In broken rabbitish, one of the toads identifies itself as a member of the Slimy clan. He explains that they share a common enemy, as the Warty Clan had stolen the Slimy Clan's land just like they were trying to do to the rabbits. He says that the Slimy Clan has acquired a powerful weapon that he calls the Slayer, but it is out of ammunition. If the rabbits will help the Slimy Clan get more ammunition for the Slayer, the toads will help them cross the river.</p>
<p>Dusy and Ash are unsure about this deal, but Belladonna <b>speaks plainly</b> to them. They agree to accept the deal, but only if Belladonna takes the first ride on toad-back across the river.</p>
<p>The car carrying the other three PCs eventually stops at a house. Muddy <b>sneaks</b> into a hidden corner of the car while the man opens the back door and picks up the box containing the other two rabbits, then <b>bolts</b> out before the door is closed. The man takes the tackle box over to a chicken wire hutch that is attached to the side of a shed, and puts Thump-tor and Veggie-mite in it. The hutch is several feet off the ground, and has a wooden nest box located inside the shed itself. He gives them some lettuce, then leaves in the car. When Thump-tor <b>pays attention</b> to the hutch he comes up blank, but Veggie-mite recognizes the smell in the hutch as having a familiar resonance.</p>
<p>The two caged rabbits offer Muddy some lettuce to do some scouting around. After <b>paying attention</b> to the surrounding area, he reports that the shed islocated behind a medium-sized one-story house and next to a sizeable vegetable garden. The shed itself has a door that is old and cracked enough for a rabbit to slip inside. In the shed are a variety of garden tools, a metal tank with a picture of a crossed-out cane toad on it, and up on a work bench, some cardboard boxes with pictures of a gun on them.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Belladonna, Ash, Dusty, and the three cane toads have crossed the river and come to a road. The first toad who tries to cross is flattened by a car. Belladonna <b>resists panic</b>, but is less successful when she attempts to <b>bolt</b> across the road. She is clipped by a car and takes a <b>scar</b>, giving up her "Engineer" move.</p>
<p>The toads and rabbits make their way to a house where the toads believe some ammunition can be found -- which turns out to be the same house where the other rabbits are. Muddy <b>resists panic</b> and Belladonna explains the deal she made with the toads. They realize that the boxes Muddy saw in the shed are ammunition boxes. Thump-tor goes into the nest box and uses his <b>strength</b> to break the top off the box so that he can get out of the cage and into the shed. In doing so, he takes a <b>scar</b> and can no longer sneak. He uses his <b>strength</b> again to move the tank close to the workbench, allowing him to get up onto it and knock a bunch of the boxes of ammunition onto the floor.</p>
<p>At this point the man returns, accompanied by his 8-year-old daughter. All of the PCs <b>resist panic</b>. The man picks Veggie-mite out of the hutch and hands her to the girl, then grabs Muddy as well. Belladonna is able to <b>sneak</b> away, while Thump-tor <b>bolts</b>. Seeing the mess that Thump-tor made in the shed, he gathers up all of the ammunition and brings it inside, along with the two rabbits.</p>
<p>Inside, the girl sits down with Veggie-mite to watch TV. On the screen, she sees a bunch of humans wearing shirts with the white rabbit on them, ramming themselves repeatedly into another group of humans. It turns out that the man was just a big supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby team!</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Belladonna <b>pays attention</b> to the outside of the house, discovering that there is a good place to hide near the door that will allow her to run inside quickly when someone opens the door. As she waits for her chance to do so, Veggie-mite decides to <b>birth a litter</b> of 6 kits. The girl is alarmed, and the man finds a shoebox to nest the babies in. He takes the babies and their mom and shuts them in a guest room in the house.</p>
<p>The man leaves to get supplies to take care of the babies, which provides Belladonna with her opportunity to <b>sneak</b> into the house. She hides from the girl (who is now holding Muddy), while signalling to Muddy to ask where the man put the ammunition. Muddy points out the cabinet in the living room where it was locked up. Belladonna moves down the hallway and finds the room where Veggie-mite has been put. They agree that Veggie-mite will scream, creating a distraction so that Belladonna can chew through the window screen to let Thump-tor and the two toads into the house. They do so.</p>
<p>Returning, the man sees the two toads hopping in through the hole in the window screen. He runs to the shed and grabs the tank of toad poison. Inside, Thump-tor uses his <b>strength</b> to bust open the cabinet, spilling bullets everywhere. Each of the toads grabs a big mouthful of bullets and hops back out through the screen. Belladonna uses her <b>swiftness</b> to dive through the window and throw herself in front of the poison spray, protecting the toads at the cost of her own life. (Or so it seems, as she can <b> Outrun the Black Rabbit</b>). Thump-tor, meanwhile, attacks the man again and gives him a good bite on the foot (as he has exchanged his fishing waders for thongs).</p>
<p>The man is now thoroughly fed up with rabbits. He tosses Belladonna's apparent corpse into the bushes, then grabs the box of Veggie-mite's babies and does likewise. veggie-mite and Muddy <b>bolt</b> out of the house. As they do so, they are met by Bran-squee. He explains that he has just come from the warren, where the Warty Clan has injured Buck-tor and collapsed the entrance, seemingly trapping Buck-tor, Hop-tor, and the Queen inside to slowly starve.</p>
<p>In the bushes, they agree on a plan. Thump-tor will remain with Belladonna's body to hold a vigil over it before he buries her. Muddy has decided he likes the comforts of life with humans, so he will work his way down the street until he finds a home that will accept him (thereby <b>retiring</b> the character). And Veggie-mite will return to the warren with the toads. Ash, Dusty, and Bran-squee will help her carry the babies.</p>
<p>Arriving back at the warren, they meet up with several other members of the Slimy Clan, including one who has the gun. They load the gun, and the Slimy Clan takes aim at the Warty Clan. The gun kills several toads and drives the others off. But in the process a shot mortally wounds Buck-tor, who along with Hop-tor made a sneak assault on the toads from the warren's secret back entrance. With the toads gone, the other rabbits bring Veggie-mite in to see the Queen just before she passes away, handing over leadership to Veggie-mite.</p>
<p>Days later, Thump-tor returns to the warren to resume his post as Knight of Moloch, along side Bran-squee (who has been promoted to Bran-tor, a full Knight). The other rabbits from the warren have also returned. After being left in a shallow grave, Belladonna revives, and decides to join the Slimy Clan as an honorary cane toad.</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-168954053872427892015-01-25T16:56:00.000-08:002015-01-25T16:56:07.317-08:00The Warren: Bunnies and Cane Toads<p>I had the opportunity to playtest The Warren, a Powered by the Apocalypse game based on one of my favorite books, <i>Watership Down</i>. Our group consisted of myself, two adults, a 16-year-old, and a 10-year-old.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLguQG2XhsQTe4eIcM0JT640EKv9xgZRzBywcUhMFPAiZ3aVYm1gh2jvxYo_knGBjYchffyehkzHZBa2W1UHmNdtZDh48yvM1GyRmIaQvoIdVrL9xremY6dE1NxbfbBVgpREmmbDPvD6Q/s1600/640px-Oryctolagus_cuniculus_Tasmania_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLguQG2XhsQTe4eIcM0JT640EKv9xgZRzBywcUhMFPAiZ3aVYm1gh2jvxYo_knGBjYchffyehkzHZBa2W1UHmNdtZDh48yvM1GyRmIaQvoIdVrL9xremY6dE1NxbfbBVgpREmmbDPvD6Q/s320/640px-Oryctolagus_cuniculus_Tasmania_2.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The only instruction I gave the group about the setting was that I wanted the game to be set in Australia. Based on my questions, the players decided that the warren is a fairly small one. It is run as a theocracy, ruled by the priests of Moloch -- the god of the underworld and plentiful food. It was founded by Flopsy, a house rabbit whose humans watched a lot of religious programming such as "The 700 Club." The warren is small and has few allies because of its obnoxious proselytizing, but it is blessed with plentiful food. The current head priestess, Dairy Queen, is very elderly and rarely leaves her room.</p>
<p>Our Player Characters were:
<ul><li>Thump-tor: A Knight of Moloch, one of the warren's enforcers. Character move: Dead Eyes
<li>Veggie-mite: One of the priestesses of Moloch. Character move: Circles of Life (Cane Toads)
<li>Belladonna: A clever inventor rabbit. Character move: Engineer
<li>Muddy: An easily excited rabbit with a special love for lettuce. Character move: Squirmy.</ul></p>
<p>I did a lite version of the Ganakagok setup rules to flesh out the setting. Each player added a location to the map of the warren and its surroundings, and an NPC that they had some relationship with. This got us a large food storage room and a back door on the warren, and the people's house where Flopsy came from, which is separated from the warren's territory by a river the rabbits call "Jordan."</p>
<p>Our NPCs were:
<ul><li>The warren's leader, the elderly priestess Dairy Queen
<li>Buck-tor, the other Knight of Moloch
<li>Ash, a charismatic young rabbit who is littermates with Muddy
<li>Dusty, Belladonna's littermate who often helps her with her investigations</ul></p>
<p>When our story begins, the PCs, along with NPCs Ash and Dusty, are out feeding in a meadow north of the warren. As they graze, they hear some noise from just over the ridge. Thump-tor <b>Pays Attention</b> with his hearing, but hears nothing. Muddy also <b>Pays Attention</b>, with his smell, and smells cane toads! Cane toads are bad news for rabbits, so he runs back toward the warren along with Ash. Veggie-mite tells the others that the cane toads are friends of the warren. They have a secret trade relationship with the warren, supplying toad poison (used by the priests as a hallucinogen in rituals) in exchange for food. Belladonna <b>Pays Attention</b> and determines that Veggie-mite is telling the truth.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVAQQNmfWaLz1sUJY2hMUzjrAA2UMxT_F_UNQxoXLdJwsx-NK8p0KNxRorRtfMtyc7moRO-CY4-8L5A2Y0JK1xUeLa5rMQbCJlxvPGIGJlQYNcQsvmXtWF8mz_0pCAhyphenhyphen7Oy7rEwD3XSVI/s1600/cane-toads-newspaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVAQQNmfWaLz1sUJY2hMUzjrAA2UMxT_F_UNQxoXLdJwsx-NK8p0KNxRorRtfMtyc7moRO-CY4-8L5A2Y0JK1xUeLa5rMQbCJlxvPGIGJlQYNcQsvmXtWF8mz_0pCAhyphenhyphen7Oy7rEwD3XSVI/s320/cane-toads-newspaper.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>The four remaining rabbits peek over the ridge and see that there are 20 cane toads marching by -- many more than they have ever seen before. All three get partial successes at <b>Resisting Panic</b>. Veggie-mite doesn't recognize any of the toads. Nevertheless, she calls out to them. They see the rabbits and quickly surround them. Belladonna decides to <b>Bolt</b>, and makes it away before the toads get her.</p>
<p>The toad leader identifies herself as Hopper and demands to know what the rabbits are doing on their land. Veggie-mite asks about the trade agreement between the rabbits and toads. Hopper replies that that agreement was made with the Slimy Clan, who are now slaves -- and the rabbits will likewise be made slaves. Veggie-mite <b>Speaks Plainly</b> to them to try to convince them to back down. They offer her a deal -- if the Queen will meet Hopper in the meadow in one week and officially sign over the northern half of the warren's territory to the toads, they will allow the food-for-drugs deal to resume. Veggie-mite agrees in order to get the toads to let them go.</p>
<p>Muddy gets back to the warren and meets Buck-tor, who is on guard duty. He starts talking about cane toads. Buck-tor panics, thinking the toads have gotten inside the warren, and orders everyone to evacuate -- the opposite of Muddy's intent. Muddy <b>Speaks Plainly</b> to get him to calm down. Just then, Belladonna arrives. They all go to talk to the Queen about the cane toads. Buck-tor has to duck behind the curtain covering the Queen's room to wake her up several times, but they eventually get their message across. The Queen replies that the toads are friends of the warren and there is nothing to be afraid of.</p>
<p>The next day, Ash calls a meeting of the whole warren to decide what to do about the cane toads. Veggie-mite <b>Speaks Plainly</b> to spread a rumor that the Queen has had a vision that everything will work out fine. Muddy <b>Pays Attention</b> to discover that the rumor is false. He encourages Ash to not buy into it. Ash agrees, and announces his own plan: the rabbits have been living infear of the toads for too long. It's time to attack! He brings Dusty onto the stage to show off his latest discovery. Dusty holds up a strange metal object that he found, and explains that the humans call it a "gun." He insists that he has researched it thoroughly, and the gun will give the rabbits the power to destroy the toads. Belladonna realizes this is why Dusty hasn't been around much the last few days, and it explains the loud "bang" everyone heard the previous day. Veggie-mite <b>Pays Attention</b> and discovers that Dusty doesn't quite understand everything about the gun, despite his claims.</p>
<p>Veggie-mite proposes an alternative plan: The rabbits should abandon the warren and move back across the Jordan River to the homeland of Flopsy.</p>
<p>As the meeting breaks up, with most rabbits uncertain what to do, the PCs meet to discuss what to do about Ash and Dusty's gun plan. Muddy wants to run off to try to talk to Ash (as he feels betrayed by his littermate), but Thump-tor sits on him. Muddy fails to <b>Struggle</b> free. They decide that they can't let the gun be used, as it might hurt a rabbit or cause an all-out war. They plan to steal it and bury it somewhere.</p>
<p>That night, they send Belladonna into the room where Dusty and Ash are sleeping. She attempts to <b>Sneak</b> the gun away from Dusty, but he wakes up and demands to know what she's doing. She convinces him that she just wants a chance to try the gun for herself. They agree to meet in the meadow the next morning for a gun practice session, before Ash and Dusty lead their supporters in an assault on the toads.</p>
<p>The next morning, our PCs are approaching the meadow when they hear a loud bang. Muddy and Belladonna successfully <b>Resist Panic</b>, but Veggie-mite and Thump-tor lose it and let out a scream. Belladonna <b>Pays Attention</b> and discovers that Ash and Dusty heard the screams but didn't know what they were. So she rushes up to the meadow to claim credit for having screamed, while the other three successfully <b>Sneak</b> into the bushes to wait for their chance to help steal the gun.</p>
<p>Dusty demonstrates the gun, holding it to his chest and pulling the "activation lever" with his paw. He shoots an apple that Ash had set up on the other side of the meadow, turning it into applesauce. Then he helps Belladonna hold and aim the gun. She successfully <b>Resists Panic</b> at holding such a powerful object in her paws. She attempts to aim the gun wrong (custom move on <b>Strong</b>), but fails and hits the apple perfectly. The recoil causes her to drop the gun, and Ash and Dusty pull her over toward the target to show her how good she did.</p>
<p>Muddy takes this opportunity to <b>Bolt</b> into the meadow and grab the gun. Veggie-mite and Thump-tor also bolt in to try to run interference on Ash and Dusty. Muddy successfully picks up the gun (custom move on <b>Strong</b>, because he's a runt) and <b>Bolts</b> from the meadow carrying it.</p>
<p>Thump-tor successfully stops Dusty and Ash from pursuing Muddy (custom move on <b>Strong</b>). Veggie-mite tries to <b>Speak Plainly</b> to them to convince them that going after the toads with the gun is a bad idea, but fails. She ends up leaving them with the impression that the priesthood intends to use the gun itself, to keep the younger rabbits from getting the glory. Thump-tor tries to <b>Pay Attention</b> to the conversation, but it all goes over his head -- just politics mumbo-jumbo. Instead he just sits on Ash (custom move on <b>Strong</b>) to keep him from pursuing Muddy. Belladonna <b>Speaks Plainly</b> to Dusty, and convinces him that she'll retrieve the gun and return it to him.</p>
<p>On his way back past the warren carrying the gun, Muddy encounters a group of five cane toads. He is unsuccessful at <b>Resisting Panic</b>, so he drops the gun and it goes off. Thump-tor and Veggie-mite successfully <b>Resist Panic</b> at the unexpected gunshot, but Belladonna (on her way to find Muddy) does not, and dives into a bush.</p>
<p>The noise attracts the toads, who converge on Muddy. He <b>Bolts</b>, getting away and hiding alongside Belladonna, but leaving the gun behind. Our session ended with Belladonna and Muddy watching the cane toads pick up the gun and carry it away.</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-5046826494731559062015-01-10T22:56:00.000-08:002015-01-10T22:56:43.196-08:00On knowing when *not* to design a gameI have a strong tendency to appreciate things by doing them. Almost from the moment I started playing RPGs and modern board games, I was thinking about how I'd design my own games. Likewise, I've done <a href="http://www.mapsburgh.com/">lots of art</a> and dabbled extensively in writing music and novels. My brain moves easily from "this thing is cool" to "I want to figure out how to make one."<br />
<br />
This impulse was brought up short today by reading an announcement of a game jam on the subject of "<a href="http://rentpunk.tumblr.com/">rentpunk</a>." Rentpunk is the organizers' term for a proposed genre of art dealing with the experience of economic precariousness -- hustling for jobs, not knowing where your next decent meal is coming from, etc. <br />
I was super excited about the idea of rentpunk games. I think the experience of economic precariousness is too often ignored and glossed over or obfuscated by convenient cliches. I have a number of people close to me who have lived that life -- enough that I nod along vigorously every time I read an article about what it's really like to be poor.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ur6_jkpudDTiVhzwUB53cRdC7GEVHSRpdXNRVtUaeepxnH_8j1oybDUHKatripJ7zFWsCORK3k0uLB_t6P7YbVs1dVs789R9oshNCxpnNxuLlr-jOOURyEwGKpEQyb3LuGHingydyg/s1600/IMG_20150111_010931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Social Stratification in the United States poster" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3ur6_jkpudDTiVhzwUB53cRdC7GEVHSRpdXNRVtUaeepxnH_8j1oybDUHKatripJ7zFWsCORK3k0uLB_t6P7YbVs1dVs789R9oshNCxpnNxuLlr-jOOURyEwGKpEQyb3LuGHingydyg/s320/IMG_20150111_010931.jpg" height="320" title="" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because I am a nerd, I have hanging in my bedroom the "Social Stratification in the United States" poster (1998 edition) that came with my Sociology textbook in college. I was unreasonably excited to discover that they have just come out with an <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/social-stratification-united-states" target="_blank">updated 2014 edition</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But what I don't have is personal, first-hand experience with poverty and financial instability. I grew up in a comfortably middle-class household. I got awesome scholarships for college. Now I'm a tenured professor backed by a powerful statewide union. Though I may complain about the state government's attacks on public higher ed, this is literally the most secure job situation it's possible to have in 2015. I have a steady salary that puts my household at the national median income. My freelance work, while it has caused me plenty of sleepless nights lately, is a fun bonus that lets me go out to eat more often, not something that I rely on to live.<br />
<br />
So for that reason I cannot, and should not, create a rentpunk game. What would for others be an empowering expression of their experiences would for me be exploitative and voyeuristic. I would be literally playing around with other people's difficult experiences for my own amusement and career advancement. I have to restrain my excitement about the idea, and my passion about the issues faced by others, and redirect it into something other than writing my own game about being poor. (I should stress that the game jam organizers themselves never make any statement suggesting anyone ought not to participate. This post is all my own inference about what I think is the right way for someone in my position to approach this issue. So if you're inclined to whine about not being "allowed" to make a certain kind of game, direct that at me, not them.)<br />
<br />
That doesn't mean that I (or other securely middle-class people) am destined to make games that reinforce class inequality. (Or that straight people's games are inevitably heteronormative, etc.) I can work to make sure my games are free of class bias and welcoming to the experiences of people who have more precarious economic situations -- indeed, I'm morally obligated to do so. To do that I'll have to learn a lot from people who have that background. But I can't, and shouldn't, make games that are specifically about an experience that is real but not mine. I can de-center class privilege (or heterosexuality, or maleness, or whiteness, etc) without centering poverty (or LGBTQ-ness, or femaleness, or blackness/Latinoness/Asianness etc). Not because the latter is wrong (indeed, it's essential), but rather because the latter is not <i>my</i> place.<br />
<br />
So I can appreciate and promote rentpunk without making rentpunk. And I'm very excited to see what the participants in the jam come up with.Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-47232301377247961212014-12-18T16:41:00.002-08:002014-12-18T16:43:59.336-08:00Game night: Fiasco -- Bad Habits<p>Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we played a game of Fiasco using Nick Wedig's <a href="http://nickwedig.libraryofhighmoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/bad-habits.pdf">Bad Habits playset</a>. It's taken me a while to get to writing this up, so I may have missed some details.</p>
<p>Our characters:
<br />Agnes Agnew, a 20-something serving her court-mandated community service by doing bookkeeping and technical work for the convent
<br />Sister Mary Sofia, an 81-year-old nun who is not entirely in possession of her wits
<br />Sister Mary Tyler Moore, a 78-year-old who is blind
<br />Sister Mary Mary, Sofia's 45-year-old half sister who was pushed into joining the convent by their father to keep an eye on her sister</p>
<p>The story begins with the death of Sister Mary Francis, who had been the oldest nun in the convent. Mary explains to Sofia that she is now the oldest. Sofia pushes her way through the EMTs who are taking Francis's body away in order to take the "Oldest" button that Francis wore on her habit.</p>
<p>Father Thomas, the priest at the convent, attempts to console Sofia despite the fact that Sofia is not actually that upset over Francis's death. Tyler criticizes her for taking the "oldest" button, but Agnes breaks up the fight.</p>
<p>Tyler delivers a bag of communion wafers to Agnes, who is -- unbeknownst to Tyler -- lacing them with drugs from the convent's pharmacy and selling them on the street. Agnes calms her by putting on a record of her favorite song, "Call Me Maybe."</p>
<p>Mary has been convalescing in the medical wing after falling and breaking her hip. Agnes rolls her out into the courtyard where the cell phone reception is better so that she can upload a video of Francis's last drug-addled moments to her popular "Crazy Nuns" YouTube channel. They discuss the sorry state of the convent's finances, and Agnes offers to get the books in order and secure a lot more donations if Mary gives her free rein over the accounts.</p>
<p>After Agnes leaves, Mary discovers that Pope Francis has been commenting positively on her YouTube videos. Sofia comes by and, unfamiliar with smart phone technology, declares the tiny videos to be a miracle. She insists that Mary should make some videos of her discussing her views on The Gays as a form of outreach.</p>
<p>Sofia excitedly tells Tyler about the miracle of the videos, but Tyler is upset since her blindness prevents her from seeing them. While in Tyler's room, Sofia sees the stash of spiked communion wafers and, assuming they had just been misplaced, takes them.</p>
<p>Tyler goes to talk to Father Thomas about the crisis of faith she is experiencing -- how could a loving god prevent her from seeing the miracle of the videos? Thomas is unhelpful.</p>
<p>At her weekly conference about her community service, Agnes convinces Father Thomas to give her more leeway over the convent's finances. He says he believes that God is working through her to bless the convent.</p>
<p>Agnes baits Sofia into going on a dramatic homophobic rant by talking bluntly about the date she is going on with her girlfriend. Mary films it and upload it to the YouTube account.</p>
<p>Sofia goes to Father Thomas to insist that he fire Agnes because of her sexual orientation, but Thomas doesn't want to rock the boat, having just expressed so much confidence in her. Sofia storms out, screaming up and down the halls "Agnes is a homosexual!"</p>
<p>Tyler is upset at Sofia for being disruptive.</p>
<p>Agnes embezzles a bunch of money from a forgotten bequest in order to put on a huge bash for Francis's funeral. She receives a press release announcing that the Pope will be attending, in order to pay a visit to the convent that was producing that great YouTube channel.</p>
<p>Worried about how the new publicity will reflect on the convent, Mary frantically tries to delete the video of Sofia's rant. As she's doing this, the Pope arrives and sees on her phone a video of Francis's rant in the hallway. She gets upset, but Mary convinces him to at least stay for communion.</p>
<p>Father Thomas asks Sofia to help give communion. She adds the bag of spiked wafers to the tray.</p>
<p>The spiked wafers cause pandemonium as everyone at the funeral gets very high. The drugs cure Tyler's blindness, causing her to regain her faith. The Pope starts making everyone there saints. Tyler knocks over some candles, starting a fire.</p>
<p>Afterward, there are many videos of the chaos uploaded to YouTube. Talking to the police, Agnes blames it all on Father Thomas.</p>
<p>In the end, Agnes becomes a gay rights celebrity. She is not convicted for her role in distributing the drugs, but her career is over. Mary is offered a contract for one season of a Tosh.0-style show on Comedy Central. Tyler loses her sight again, and gets excommunicated. Sofia becomes a noted anti-gay campaigner, appearing frequently on Fox News, and exposes Agnes's corruption. Eventually, Sofia has a change of heart about gay rights and renounces her old views.</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-83943699879834372392014-11-13T12:34:00.001-08:002014-11-13T12:34:25.080-08:00Metatopia 2014 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Call Myself A Designer. PART 2 <br />
<b>Part 3: The Monsters Focus Groups</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I was underly terrified about these. Mental illness is a very personal thing and it's not really socially acceptable to talk about. And here I am, a brand new designer, wanting to tackle it head on.<br />
<br />
I really want this game to exist, for selfish reasons. One of the best lessons I learned in DBT is that being selfish is sometimes necessary. Burning bridges with people who aren't good for your mental health, needing to take breaks, knowing your personal limitations and not budging on them. These are all things that society frowns on.<br />
<br />
So, going on the fact that the con was so open and engaging, and that everyone in attendance was totally amazing, I took a firm stance. <i>I'm going to be selfish and make this work.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Friday evening comes and I had just got out of James Mendez Hodes' super fun AfroFuture. I tried to take a minute and switch gears to be *serious*. Then it came to me.<br />
<br />
<i>Hi, my name is Cheyenne Rae Grimes, and I have anxiety and depression. If you have similar issues and wish to disclose them, fantastic, no judgement. If you don't wish to disclose this information, fantastic, no judgement.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Best choice I could have made. It set the correct tone. It created a safe space. It let the participants know that they were now in a world where such things are openly discussed. And the next hour blew my mind in all the right ways.<br />
<br />
I gave my basic ideas (which ended up being described as wanting to punch my irrational thought in their faces) and what ideas I did have. I then asked the participants to answer why they were here at this focus group. So many ideas were tossed around; making sure there was distance between you and your monster, Nordic LARP style breaks during and aftercare worked into play, figuring out what the monsters actually were. Then, the giant mind fuck was thrown out.<br />
<br />
<i>What if you were the monster?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
UGH.<br />
<br />
So beautiful, such a great way to make it a personal struggle.<br />
<br />
The next night, following a lovely IGDN dinner at the tasty indian restaurant attached to the hotel, I set back up for the second night. I started out the exact same way, this time with a bit more confidence. I threw out the ideas from the previous night and this group RAN with all the ideas.<br />
<br />
Ideas of give and take of wins and losses based on playing both your character and it's monster. Does harm taken on one side actually mean a victory on the other side? Hell, a media guide and soundtrack even began to come out. And then people followed me to a table in the bar area to keep talking about it.<br />
<br />
You know who in <i>How the Grinch Stole Christmas, </i>it's said his heart grew 3 sizes that day? Pretty sure the only thing containing my heart was my rib cage. Thanks so much to every member for these focus groups, with every fiber of my being. I have so many ideas, so many things to play with, and I am fully committed to making this game a reality.<br />
<br />
This may seem like a slightly brief writeup, but this was more of a personal perspective shift for me than just a write up. I also needed to take 4 days after returning home to write this out. This was one of the best emotional experiences I've had in quite awhile.<br />
<br />
In my last post, I will wrap up the playtest and panels I did and who this con means for Glittercats in the future. Thanks for baring with me, which is just a really big deal.<br />
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<b><br /></b>naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-57243133990061003132014-11-11T12:24:00.001-08:002014-11-11T12:24:13.288-08:00Metatopia 2014 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Call Myself A Designer. PART 1<b>(This post is a bunch of brutal honesty from inside my head. I'm pretty good at writing out the anxiety that I feel internally.) </b><br />
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<b>Part 1: The Social</b><br />
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I arrived on Thursday evening and was terrified. Sure, there were people I had met before but I was *alone*. My GC partner in crime was in Pittsburgh and sadly, my two best friends who make up Growling Door Games were unable to attend, so alone I went.<br />
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Now, I've never been one to get starstruck. I've dealt with famous people before in other jobs before, mainly theater. But there were going to be people there who wrote some of the games that I just love to play. Then my ride arrives from just picking up Cam Banks and I do my best to not fret. I had met him at Gen Con earlier this year and I had no need to worry. See, this was my first con from inside the industry. I had always been a fan, a volunteer, a friend of the designer, <i>just</i> a gamer. Now, I have two games that my name will be on and I'm a member of a group of designers. To say I felt like an imposter is a wild understatement.<br /><br />I'm naturally a rampant extrovert <i>when I feel like I know what I'm doing. </i>This was a weekend of huge steps into the unknown and all I could do was hope that it wouldn't break me.<br /><br />We get to the hotel and I meet a few people who I know from online and settle into finding people to relate to. Robert Bohl gets my first shout out of the con for helping me by being the first person to engage with me. The evening proceeds, more and more people are introduced to me and I flex my schmoozing muscles for the first time in quite a while and, of course, I'm a rock star at it. In theater, that's about 25% of the job. Be it with other professionals, donors or audience members. So, this is old territory that just needs an update in my mind.<br /><br />The evening progresses into a huge amount of fun, putting faces and voices to IGDN members and writers of games and systems that I love. Ran into Sarah Richardson pretty quickly into the evening and was very glad to find a comrade in feeling slightly awkward in the newness of this all. Everyone was excited. The feeling in the room was electric and I at least got the sense of even if I turn out to suck as a designer, I would at least meet a lot of awesome people.<br />
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Once the big board was up and the room was open, I went to do what I had been dreading: look to see if anyone had actually signed up for any of my games. Three were full and the last one only had one seat left. I nearly pissed myself. I took pictures of each sheet and sent them to Stentor as I was doing a crazy happy dance.<br />
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<b>Part 2: The Kitten Lasers Playtests</b><br />
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Friday rolls around and my first playtest of Kitten Lasers was at 11am. I made myself eat breakfast and get there early to set up. We jumped into character creation and it was so nice to have actual people there to prove that somethings were broken. It's very hard to see that on your own and sometimes asking friends to point out flaws is a bit hard. There were things that stood up, somethings that crumbled.<br />
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And it was OKAY.<br />
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It made me happy to have players who were happy to be there show me what needed to be fixed. Everyone loved the theme, loved character creations, was happy to give ideas how to make the mechanics flow better. It was a great atmosphere.<br />
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On Sunday, I did my second playtest. I went ahead and changed all the things that fell apart. We got through character creation, bidding, the first scene and the second bidding phase. Everything I had changed now worked and I got to actually see what else needed fixed. I can't even express how grateful I am for this experience.<br />
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We have a game. That will work.<br />
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That people want to play.<br />
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(This is a picture of the players of the very first playtest. Thanks so much to you all!)</div>
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I will continue on about the rest of my impressions of the con later. This was just such an emotional experience for me that I still need processing time.<br />
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Look forward to the dramatic conclusion!naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-64560096458481754562014-11-05T18:19:00.000-08:002014-11-05T18:19:09.448-08:00Greetings and Salutations!It seems it's about time to introduce myself.<br /><br />Hi there, I'm Cheyenne Rae Grimes. *waves*<br /><br />I am the newest member of Glittercats and I am beyond thrilled to be apart of this awesome company. Stentor and I have been incredibly close for the last 4 years now. We met through playing a game (well, kickball to be exact) and we have been gaming together ever since.<br /><br />About myself. West Virginian by birth, currently an Ohio resident. I originally went to school for theater and work as a stage manager for several companies in Georgia and Florida. Due to unforeseeable health issues, I gave up the profession and am now going back to school for psychology. I love cats, contra dancing, giggling as I beat the pants off of you at heavy strategy board games, knitting, karaoke and being overall adorable.<br /><br />I grew up loving video and board games, but didn't start playing RPGs until I was in college. Around 2009, I began playing any indie narrative game I could get my hands on and started attending cons. For a few years, I helped run the board game meet up aspect of Obscure Games (now <a href="http://www.cityofplay.org/">City of Play</a>) in Pittsburgh.<br />
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Moving to Cleveland has been a huge step for me in becoming a game designer. I started GMing games again, mainly through <a href="http://www.indiegamesexplosion.org/games-on-demand/">Games on Demand</a> and got involved with <a href="http://www.igdnonline.com/">IGDN</a> through working at cons. I also just became an Ambassador for Double Exposure's <a href="http://www.dexposure.com/envoy/">Envoy</a> program. All of these things are incredible and it's amazing to get the opportunity to work with all these great companies and the people associated with them.<br />
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Soon, I will have a Fate core hack published in the <a href="http://www.patreon.com/Trumonz">Fate Codex</a> with Nicole Winchester. Besides working on two titles for Glittercats, I will also be working with Michelle Lyons-McFarland on <i>A Comedy in Five Acts, </i>the follow up to her wonderful <a href="http://growlingdoorgames.com/tragedy.html"><i>A Tragedy in Five Acts</i></a><i>.</i><br />
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Gaming has been such a fantastic step back into the world of creativity for me. It's a well needed return and I so look forward to where it takes me. I will be attending <a href="http://www.dexposure.com/m2014.html">Metatopia</a> this weekend and can't wait to report back on what I was able to take in.<br />
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So super excited to be on the Glittercats team!<br /><br />(Here's a picture of me schooling a kitten. Enjoy!)<br />
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<br />naturalcassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960535411728516072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978763905258413120.post-91937920723156700392014-08-27T15:27:00.001-07:002014-09-30T18:12:12.729-07:00Beards Not Bombs: A party game of protest slogans<p>We've all seen protest signs in the format [good thing] not [bad thing]! We also know that activist groups tend to be fractious, with splinter groups objecting to the main group's framing of the issue. In this game, you'll play improbable activists coming up with clever protest slogans.
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<p>Using a radically non-hierarchical democratic process, pick a starting player. That player should declare "I'm a [cause] activist. [A] not Bombs!" Another player should then jump in and declare "Well, I'm a [different cause] activist. [B] not [A]!" A third player would then say "well, I'm a [yet another cause] activist. [C] not [B]!" The causes for which you are activists can be as ridiculous and fanciful as you like, and the slogans are likely to become increasingly absurd as the game progresses.</p>
<p>The most important rule is that the two items in the slogan must either alliterate or rhyme. So the first player could be (among other things) a facial hair activist chanting "Beards not Bombs," or a mothers' rights activist chanting "Moms not Bombs." Alliteration should alternate with rhyming -- so the second slogan could be an eccentrics' rights activist ("Weirds not Beards!") or a pro-condiment activist ("Mustard not Moms").</p>
<p>There is no winner in this game -- just play until you get tired of it.</p>Stentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.com0