UK Games Expo 2016 - RPGLifeUK TweetUp

As per my previous post about RPG Life UK I met up with some twitter folks to talk about RPGs and other stuff.

Tweetup Part 1 - Hilton Thursday 8pm

For something that was largely a random collection of twitter folks this went better than it probably should have.  Ok, so we didn't really get into any kind of debate about the UK RPG Scene or anything like that other than to conclude early on that there really wasn't one.

The group chat seemed to only last for about 15 to 30 minutes but after that we largely split off into different groups to chat about all things hobby and not just RPGs.  Also had the benefit of chatting with a retailer post the retailer event to get the inside “scoop” on what was coming out.  Some cool stuff was talked about (Mystic Vale I'm thinking of you) but nothing ground breaking or market changing etc.

There was one particularly interesting snippet from the overall conversation - "There are lots of RPG conventions in the UK so we don’t need any more."

Ok so this wasn't what was actually said but it was how I interpreted what was being said.

We didn’t really get into this in the tweetup but I've been reflecting on it since the tweetup itself and I suppose my underlying thought here is that it’s not actually reflective of the UK.

It may be reflective of England but then that’s probably not a surprise given the relatively healthy state of the English RPG con scene.
It is also probably a reflective position as the diversity of RPGs people were interested in and able to talk about at the tweetup likely has a causal relationship to the diversity of the cons where RPGs are played in England.  A lot of the games people talked about were small press and relatively obscure (to me), including a decent selection of home designed systems.  All of which is great but serves to remind me that I’m not gaming enough, or specifically not RPGing enough to enable any form of diversity in my RPG gaming.  Something that I need to resolve or accept.

Tweetup Part 2 - Beer Bus Saturday 2pm

A few extra / new faces this time and it was a more general meet & greet.  Managed to chat with Adam from RPGKitchen about Game Jams / Game Chef (I’ll include content in the post I’ll do on the seminar) which was a lot of fun.

Again it was a pleasure to chat with folks who have a similar interest and for want of a better word “belong”.

Conclusions?  Well other than I need to do more of this sort of thing I also took away a number of outcomes that I will endeavour to achieve.  Let's cover that in a future post though as I think reality it's as much about a re-visit of my hobby objectives as it is anything else.

And we're back...

At least for now.

I've kinda drifted away from the blog for a while.  I'd say it's been the best part of a year since I really blogged anything of note.  So why am I back?

I suppose you could call it a checkpoint or perhaps something more fundamental than that but I just felt the need to say - this is where I'm at - and measure that against - this is where I want to be.

So where am I at?

Twice monthly board gaming at East Neuk Tabletop continues with the regularity of a regular thing. The community that +donjondo and I have built growing regularly. Still suffers from the retention challenge that a lot of community groups experience but it's getting there.

Irregular / not quite monthly gaming (largely board gaming) at DWARF also continues albeit not with the regularity that I'd like.  That's mostly work related but other factors come into play too.  It should improve with a few of us playing Pandemic Legacy though.  If I can up my DWARF visits to twice a month I'd be happier.

And that's it.

Where do / did I want to be?

Well... I want to play more and I want to play RPGs too.  Right now that seems a distant possibility. Largely down to available time due to Real Life stuff but also I'm not convinced I have the right facilities to do it.

ENT doesn't feel conducive to RPGs, not for any particular reason other than we default to board and card games (not a bad thing).
DWARF similarly doesn't feel like it works all the time, largely down to slot size (<3 hours).

So what are my alternative options?

The artist formerly known as Friday Night Gaming (in Anstruther) has rebranded as Monday Night Gaming.  Unfortunately that's a non-starter for me scheduling wise.  Not that FNG was a regular thing for me (especially during the colder months as the venue didn't have heating...) so it's not really a loss in that sense but it has removed an option other than in very rare occasions.

Home based gaming is something that can happen albeit rarely. I had a gathering a few months ago after a DWARF Saturday session (which I'll come back to) which was great fun.  Board & Card gaming from 9am until about 3am playing a variety of games with people I enjoy playing games with - what more could I ask for?  Other than doing it more often of course, although probably not til 3am!

DWARF has a monthly Saturday meetup, the trouble with that though is my ability to plan attending is curtailed by Real Life.  In many respects a Saturday mid-morning to late afternoon gaming is the perfect opportunity to roleplay.  Harks back to my time at ORC Edinburgh.  I think if nothing else that's the most likely of options. So long as it's not on an ENT weekend I should be able to go on those occasions when the stars align.

That's largely it and it really boils down to DWARF Saturdays.  The next one is on the 25th June which "clashes" with ENT on the 26th so unlikely but maybe...  The problem with DWARF Saturdays and RPGs though would be momentum.  I want something more guaranteed or at least semi-regular.  Although in saying that it would lend itself to more oneshot style RPGs which would work for me, especially from a prep (or lack thereof) perspective.

So I think I need to consider whether any of the above are actually viable or indeed whether I have other options as yet unexplored...

Let's see where this goes.

RPG A Day 2015 - Day Twelve

Favourite RPG Illustration.......

Dang this is a hard one as there are so many to choose from!

Easy answer would be anything by Larry Elmore but that'd probably be cheating although still accurate.  Especially Elmore's early work for D&D and his Dragonlance work.

Overall though there's been that much different art from RPGs themselves and magazines such as Dragon and White Dwarf that have either triggered a purchase response or scenario idea response.

The one I'm going to go with though did none of that, the cover to White Dwarf issue #61 by Chris Achilleos.  That's the original #61 not this renumbering malarkey they've done since then.

Why? Well nothing says RPGs to more than a whateverthatis wearing armour and wielding a whip.

Alpha Strike After Thoughts

So on Friday 10th January I played Alpha Strike for the first time.  Tonight I expect to play it for the second time.

What worked?

I bought it on the premise of it being a simplified and distilled rule set that enabled me to play Battletech on a Friday night.  It lived up to that premise and then some.
4 players working in teams of 2.
100 points a side which worked out as 10 mechs on one side and 9 mechs on another.
Total play time was around 1 hour and 40 minutes.
It felt like Battletech.  This is of particular importance.  Ok so it's a different game, a simpler game but it's still Battletech.
Let me put it another way.
We were able to play a game that using even the Introductory Box Set rules would have taken probably 6-8 hours to play through and that's optimistic.  The result and "style" of play was largely the same though.

What didn't work?

Well that's harder to quantify given it's been a LONG TIME since I played Battletech properly.
In and of itself there were only a few things that I wasn't sure about.
We were only using the most basic of rules so it wasn't a true test of the game system. There were a few things that just didn't feel right though.
Charge rules - not clearly defined in the book as far as I could tell.  Need to re-read to see if we were mis-interpreting it as the way we were playing a Charge essentially became a free hit (with risk associated).
Heat rules - Again didn't feel clearly defined so it almost became irrelevant.  Again needs a re-read.

So what's next?

A few more games with the basic rules, adding in complexity over time.  Also likely to try more varied points values.

Overall though?  It's Battletech Lite but Battletech nonetheless and that's good enough for me.

Battletech: Alpha Strike

Way way back at the beginning of this blog I posted about Battletech.

As I said back then I tried playing the full (well Introductory Set) rules and it didn’t quite work for me.  That aside the universe and the idea of playing with giant robot mechs (I’m a boy after all!) has stayed with me since then.

What I didn’t want to do though was just try again without really getting the chance to play a full game and properly which led to the box sitting unloved on my shelf.
That is until recently.

I heard about Alpha Strike through one of the many blogs I peruse.  Unfortunately I cannot recall which blog it was (apologies mystery blogger) but it immediately caught my eye.  What’s that you say?  A rules-lite version of Battletech that can be played in under 2 hours?  Really???
Apparently so.

Having picked the rulebook up as part of my Christmas haul I’ve now read the Introductory Rules for the game and it is very much a distilled version of the core game, simplifying everything.  This makes me think that it could live up to its reputation of being a quick game but also a very deadly game when it comes to combat (which of course helps with the quick game part).

The Battletech Forums have gone a bit crazy (in a good way) for Alpha Strike and some very kind individual has posted a link to the stat cards for all the mechs that came in the 25th Anniversary Introductory box set which is most useful.

So what does this all mean then?  Well it means that I plan on playing Alpha Strike at the games club and knowing that there are a number of people with the introductory box set I know that there will be a few players that I can entice into playing.

What else does it mean?

Hmmm it means I probably want to remind myself of how badly I’d painted those minis… and will probably be tempted to re-paint them…

Hmmmm maybe there is a downside to this?! ;-)

Introducing Tabletop Games to Kids

As part of my rediscovery of my hobby and in relation to one of my objectives that I'd posted previously one of the things I want to do is introduce my daughter to tabletop games.

She's about to turn 7 as I write this and tabletop games are nothing new to her having been surrounded by my hobby for all of her life and of course she was part of what led to the end of the 1st Chapter.

To help in my attempts to introduce her to games I have over the past few years bought some games appropriate for younger gamers.

Catan Junior - The parent version of this game is seen by many people as the gateway game for the board game hobby.  I don't necessarily share that opinion but I do see why it has that reputation.  That aside the game is a great introduction to the hobby as a whole and I plan to play it with my wife and daughter soon.

Hey That's My Fish - It's a game about penguins trying to catch as many fish as they can before the ice falls apart below their feet.  We've played this a few times, actually played might be too strong a term.  The structured play (albeit limited) is something that my daughter hadn't quite grasped when we played it previously.  I plan to re-try the game now that she's a bit older (she was 5 when we tried it before so definitely a bit young).

Straw - I've mentioned this in another post and the core of the game is arithmetic.  Something my daughter has a very strong grasp of.  It's one of those games that is quick to play and is very simple mechanically so an excellent candidate to use in a family environment.

Alongside these there are a plethora of other games that can work in the family environment not least of all are roleplaying games.  Rather than me listing a whole bunch of them here I'll link to a post by WJ Walton of The Escapist.  For now though I think I'll stick to board games with my daughter and see how that goes before trying out some of the RPGs listed.

A fresh look at D&D.

I've been playing D&D since the Basic Red Box was released in the UK thanks to my brother Allan.
When 1st Edition Advanced D&D came out I jumped onto that and never looked back.
2nd Edition Advanced D&D never really clicked with me or my players but I did buy into it, albeit minimally.
3rd Edition D&D I picked up at the UK Gen Con which was held in Manchester.  Well I picked up the Player's Handbook there anyway.  It and the 3.5 revamp were versions of D&D that I never really played as the 3rd Edition books came out during a gaming drought for me.  That was at least until I found ORC Edinburgh and the first rediscovery of my hobby happened.  At ORC I launched headlong into my homebrewed "Kilranthia" campaign using 3.5 and I never looked back.
When 4th Edition D&D came out in 2008 I knew I was going to like it as I felt it offered a number of simplifications over the previous versions.  The main challenge was convincing players and others that the game could be played without miniatures/grid-based combat.

When the 1st Chapter closed I looked at D&D given how it's been a constant throughout my hobby and decided that I didn't want to start playing it again.  At least not in it's current format anyway.

With the announcement of D&D Next (5th Edition in everything but name) I was initially reluctant to take a good look at it as I was still in the throws of ending that 1st Chapter.  Now though I have a different view.

Having reviewed the most recent playtest version of the D&D Next rules I have to admit I'm really liking the approach taken. 4th Edition in many respects was a "roots up rebuild" of D&D but one of the things that polarized it from fans of earlier editions was that it was too different.
D&D Next is also a roots up rebuild of a game but it re-uses a number of elements from earlier editions and seems to blend them with the perceived simplicity of 4th Edition.
How does it play?  Well at the time of writing I haven't ran any sessions yet but that's due to change shortly. I've gone through the rules and have created some characters to test the mechanics out but until I've actually ran a game it's not going to be clear how it performs.

Given that the game isn't due to be released formally until 2014 I know that the development of the rules will continue at least until Jan/Feb 2014 to give Wizards Of The Coast time to get the books ready for printing. It will be interesting to watch how the playtesting helps to shape that.  I look forward to seeing the finished product and to see the reaction of the RPG player base as a whole.

If you're interested in seeing the playtest rules then go here - D&D Next Playtest - and let me know what you think.

Try something new

So, after trying something a little different and then trying to go with what I knew I could easily have opted for giving up or taking an extended break.

But that's really not what you do with a hobby that has been an integral part of your life now is it?

What I needed was a catalyst to really kick start my hobby.

It started with board games, namely Sentinels Of The Multiverse, Star Wars : X-Wing and some Magic: The Gathering.

I bought a deck builders toolkit for M13 and met up with my good friend Erik to play some friendly Magic.  Largely using a random assortment of cards from the M13 DBT and other cards I had left over from the 1st Chapter.

From there I started to try other things and stumbled upon Sentinels Of The Multiverse - http://sentinelsofthemultiverse.com/
The Enhanced Edition had just been released and I picked it up after reading some reviews.  This game was the spark I needed and I've since played it about 10 times with a variety of people.

I quickly followed it with Star Wars : X-Wing which gave me a Star Wars gaming "fix".  Now I've only played this 2 or 3 times but it was enough.  Whether I play it again it doesn't matter as it served its purpose.

So we're getting there but I wouldn't quite say we're up and running with the 2nd Chapter.  Not just yet.

Go with what you know

Now by "Go with what you know" I mean RPGs.

*there's a sequel to this post coming so bear with me if you're someone I play with currently*

It's a safe option with me.  Trouble was I didn't want to just leap into a D&D Campaign or similar.  I mean I could have done that but I felt like I needed to try something different.

I decided to complement the Battletech miniatures game with the RPG - http://bg.battletech.com/?wpsc-product=a-time-of-war-the-battletech-rpg

This made a lot of sense.  After all I knew that I liked the setting for Battletech, had people that were interested in the Battletech universe given that they wanted to play the miniatures game and had fond memories of the setting from "my youth".

It kinda worked too, for the players at least...  I got the impression that they liked the game and the scenarios I was running but I wasn't really getting into it.  Most of that was definitely down to where my head was at the time but some of it was down to the game.

Don't get me wrong A Time Of War looks like a great RPG both setting wise and mechanically.  I just think that it was the wrong time and place for me to be trying something completely new.  I wasn't in the comfort zone of my comfort zone if you know what I mean.

So I binned the game (not the book!  It's on my shelf).  Well...  it's more complicated than that as my Friday nights became harder to commit to for a while due to work but ultimately I binned the game.

Something a little different

When you try to rediscover what drove you to enjoy your hobby many people go back to basics.

I kinda did that but instead of going for my "comfort zone" of RPGs I decided to try a game I hadn't played for 20 years or so.

Battletech - http://bg.battletech.com/

Now I was well aware of the relaunch of Battletech and I remember playing that and the RPG Mechwarrior back in the 80s but I hadn't been anywhere near that universe for a long, long time.  Seeing this as a completely different game from what I'd played in recent years I decided to take the plunge.

Catalyst Game Labs have done a fantastic job with the new starter set.  Everything you need is there and the Value For Money out of the game is also fantastic.  Lots of re-play value and 26 classic mech miniatures to boot.

Miniatures....  Yep that meant I had to paint them.  As I've said previously I don't really enjoy painting miniatures.  I've tried to enjoy it but well that phrase of "try to enjoy" kinda settles it really.  It's not for me.
However when it came to Battletech and to give it a really really good chance I decided to paint them.

I don't have photos of the minis and no I won't be taking any to post them.

So I played what I think was 3 games of Battletech using the simple rules in the space of 2 months.  I think I enjoyed it but the game just felt a bit nothing... Now that might be because it was the first game attempted in the 2nd Chapter (this took place over a year ago) but it might also be because I was the only one who knew the rules...

I can see me re-trying it in the future but at the same time I've no idea when that will be.

I'm Dave and I'm a Roleplayer

and a board gamer, a card gamer and every so often a CCG (well Magic anyway) gamer.

When I decided to close the 1st Chapter I knew that rediscovering my hobby was something that I'd struggle with.

This was more about reminding myself why I enjoyed it than it was about finding people I wanted to enjoy it with but at the same time I had to find those people with whom I'd be comfortable doing that with.

Closing the 1st Chapter was not easy and it was fairly traumatic emotionally and because of that I couldn't bring myself to re-engage with a lot of the people I associated with it's closure.

What I chose to do was to not give up my hobby and so I set myself on a plan to rediscover what I loved about it.  To do that I opted to go for a few different approaches - "Something a little bit different", "Go with what you know" and "Try something new".

Each of these are covered in their own posts.