Messages from the Far Havens

Cypher Jorune

Posted on May 28, 2017 by First Age

I’m in midst preparation for UK Games Expo, which lands next weekend. It’s always a lot of fun getting your games together, not least because, often, I find that I am re-exploring and re-discovering games systems and settings that have languished on my shelves through time and weight of competing numbers. This time around has been no different.

My re-discovery? Numenera.

Numenera is one of my ‘go to’ games for conventions which, given the frequency of conventions and clawing demand from alternatives, means that I get to run the game a couple of times per year at most. Re-reading the game has been a delight, remembering the lightness of system, its ubiquitous potential, the gorgeous art, and the potential for the setting.

Also, by extension I have set off on a winding journey through recent developments of the Cypher System, as ever inspired by Pete Atkinson and Paul Baldowski, who bring the system to conventions with apparently effortless inventiveness. I’m also aware that Pete Griffith has a bubbling Shotgun & Sorcery game available for a future slot, which I’d be really keen to play.

Pete G asked me what setting I would like to see for Cypher and, after some meandering, I realised that it would be Jorune.

I’m certainly not the first to think of this. Fred Lang had been working on just such a conversion. Sadly, Fred has hit sufficient design roadblocks that he has decided to call it a day and is supporting Ian Kaufman’s JoRuneQuest2 development. All good, but confess I’m disappointed that Fred will no longer be doing all the hard work for me! Still, that just mean I have a project on my hands, when I can find the time. Yes, I know, I could Wordplay it, but you know…

I think this could easily start as a light touch conversion that, with some Isho manipulation, would become a Furnace 2017 game. I’d get Cypher out onto the table and the Jorune setting in play. Must find some mini crystals for XP awards!

In my renewed bubbling excitement for Cypher, I’ve been looking at what DrivethruRPG has to offer. I’ve picked up Mortal Fantasy, a nice spin on traditional fantasy, weaving and mixing Cypher for a traditional RPG fantasy spin. It’s mixing and matching with a shed load of ideas. Love it.

I may continue to think that Cyphers are superfluous to the Cypher system, subtle or otherwise, but I think it is a neat system with much to commend it. I’m looking forward to running it in one setting or another.

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Characters for Dramaguhl

Posted on April 19, 2017 by First Age

I’ve been writing again, which I had hoped would happen whilst I was on holiday this week. I’ve missed getting words down and the move away from the intensity of work has freed me up a little. Mostly I’ve been writing up factions for the Dramaguhl setting for our Wordplay 2.0 book to be released later this year. It really is true that you just need to get started and regularly pick up the keyboard.

My writing partner, the prolific Dr Mitch, has put together some great characters for our joint game at Seven Hills. I’ve wheeled out Page Plus 9X and given them a bit of a polish.

One of our characters for Seven Hills

Here’s a bit of text that i wrote last night on the Order of the Judiciary…

The Order of the Judiciary
The judges of Dramaguhl judiciously maintain their independence from the nobility, guilds and other factions that vie for power in the city. It is vital for their impartial role of deciding the outcome of key legal cases to be independent of all and any factions. As such, many that hold this high office must work very hard to ensure that additional favours, payments or eye watering extortion are carefully shielded from public knowledge.

The Order of the Judiciary dates back to a time when the city grew to a size and complexity that required a new professional class to manage the disputes between citizens on behalf of the anointed rulers. After a rocky early period The Judiciary cemented their power and grew in importance over the centuries until they became, apparently, unassailable, dispensing the full power of encrusted law to defendants of both low and high status. And yet their vulnerabilities are all too evident for those that know, built as they are on the frailty of the human condition. Hemmed in by powerful nobles, vengeful guilds, money, warriors and insidious magic, they tread a fine line to preserve their own power and that of their order.

All that is apart from the Independent Judges. Officially sanctioned by the Order and closely associated with the militia, the independents are complete judge, jury and executioner. When a case endangers the Order, or there is evidence that the machinations of individual judges compromise the higher purpose of law, the Independent Judges are unleashed to dispense sanctioned, and often fatal justice. Many see these judges as a constructed sanction, providing the order with a physical response to intimidation. The Independents themselves are part legal expert and part warrior, operating to an ethical code and a fierce observance of the law; at least as they see it.

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Insomnia #60

Posted on April 17, 2017 by First Age

Set off excitement

Me and Cam had a great day out at Insomnia 60 yesterday. Much excitement a we set off on our adventure to the NEC. A smooth, Easter Sunday, journey down in the Qashqai, with little traffic, some nice chat and a pleasure to purr along in the new motor. I’d wondered about a train, but Cam was really looking forward to a car journey down with me, so that is what we did.

We arrived in good time and the queuing into the parking areas was not at all bad.

The Queue

Here we are in the queue waiting to get in for the 10:30 opening time. It looks pretty horrendous, but actually we were quickly on our way and swallowed by the huge venue.

Early on we got to play some pre-release Nintendo Switch games. I was surprisingly good at ‘Arms’ which was a boxing dueling game. Mystifying really, as Cam drubs me at anything digital.

To cap the visit off Cam plucked up courage to go to the ‘Meet & Greet’ area to say “hello” to one of his YouTube heroes: 8 Bit Ryan. Cam was really confident and got to have a chat with Ryan, swapping gaming stories. We got some signatures and a nice photo. The guys were real gents and Cam was super chuffed. A great end to a lovely day. The journey home was just as smooth.

Cam with 8 Bit Ryan

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Spreading the Word

Posted on April 15, 2017 by First Age

Nice that the Revelation gaming convention made Tabletop Gaming magazine this issue. Great to put these events on and also to promote the hobby and the enthusiasm.

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A Storm Eternal

Posted on April 8, 2017 by First Age

I’m running a game of ‘A Storm Eternal’ at Seven Hills in a couple of weeks. I plan to allow the players to provide the portentous underpinning of our saga. I wrote some playbook introduction text for each of the 5 archetypes, and here they are…

Herald of the Ancients
Seeing the world through the sight of the Ancients, you see into the soul and inflame them to great

Custom decks for ‘when they ‘Resort to the sword‘

passion. As the Ancients seem to be close when you are present, so you have loyal followers that wonder at the disquieting power that you wield. You will speak of the end of times and your word will carry weight in the council chamber of rulers.

Outlaw Heir
The blood of nobles runs through your veins, and yet fate has dealt a blow to your family and their prosperity. Your hearth and home has fallen and you are fated to wander and, perhaps, return to power. You have much to do to reclaim what is lost and avenge the usurpers.

Slayer
You are held in awe by the people; whispered stories of your exploits against the abominations, the demons and monsters that roam the realm. Your armoury is made up of relics and items of power that you have gained in your quests and pulled from the treasure troves of lost hoards and slain monsters.

War-herald
The ultimate warrior, imbued with the ferocity of the gods, nothing can stand in your way. Your natural charisma draws the very best out of warriors and creates moments when the few can stand and defeat the many. Your warband will stand with you as the storm gathers and the end comes.

Wicker-wise
The power of ancient magic runs through you. The lost rites and ceremonies of the Ancients are known to you, and you bring them to life once again as in the ages of old. From your shrine you reflect on the burden of your gift and the tightening weave of the skeins as the age draws to an end.

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Numenera

Posted on March 25, 2017 by First Age

I dip in and out of Numenera and have used it frequently as a convention game which it is well suited for. A simple system with some avoidable gotchas that let me narrate and go with the flow as I only had to remember 1-10 ratings of anything I cared to throw in the way. I remember first running the system and feeling liberated. Simple systems work for me and though Cypher has D&D crud in it to entice in a demographic, it remains a fun system to flow things quickly forward (I’d be tempted to Ninth World PbtA it).

Cyphers just about make sense in the original Numenera setting, but are a stretch elsewhere. Some of the
alternative approaches to providing an extra oomph work very well, and better than one shot gonzos. I like the ‘Aspect’ nature of ‘collected inspiration; applied at just the right moment and other playful and ‘subtle’ extensions to the core system. So, taking the apparently integral Cyphers out of the Cypher system and I’m pretty happy with it.

Every time I sat down to consider offering a campaign I started to construct my own 8 epochs, desiring to have the depth that the players could contribute to in play. But instead i found with the supplementary books and especially the third party visions I had compelling situations and settings that drew out very human stories that I could tuck into without needing to obsess about the ‘real’ story of the Nine Worlds. in my Numenera it would be much more about creating a new world to live in that made sense to the characters and the peoples around them than unpicking and understanding the historical context of the Flabgasteronical machinery that litters their path.

But you know? I haven’t run a campaign, and I’m not sure that I will be able to successfully pitch it to my group. The system isn’t felt to be deep enough to some (I can’t really get PbtA or Fate past a couple of them either) and the weird characters in a post apocalyptic science fantasy malaise possibly doesn’t float their boat. I’d like to give it a crack at a LongCon, but for now I’ll be running one at UK Games Expo quite soon.

Actually I’d love Numenera a lot more if they offered Print and complementary PDF as with my other favourites, but that is the subject of another post.

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We Will Move

Posted on March 24, 2017 by First Age

Time to move. My house has been a great home for just over five years but it is time to head for the next place as Carmel and Megan plan to move in with me, Cam and Erin.

For now, it is the gouging of the house and the cleaning and the decluttering. Behold the mighty Skip of Expiration. Tomorrow I see if my garden can fill it. Tip runs for old and dead electronics and a charity shop drop for some bits and bats. I think I squirrel away everything else in the attic.

House viewings are already uncovering interesting options. We already have a favourite, but they go quickly and bid up. At least that means that I have a good chance of selling mine.

First question as i check the layout is: where do the books go? Where’s the gaming table? Carmel eyes up any available outbuildings…

It’s All Going On

Posted on March 8, 2017 by First Age

And so we forge on into March and it is indeed all going on.

Cam has got his school place at King Ecgbert’s. YES!! It feels like a vindication of my house placement and patience. He is delighted and so are we all.

We plan to move house once Carmel and Megan move over to this side of the city. A Bellway new build, 5 minutes from Cam’s next school has caught everyone’s imagination. Initially uncertain, Cam fell in love with the notion that he effectively gets the ground floor as a virtual flat. He wants a piece of that and is completely smitten. Similarly Carmel and Megan are keen. I’m quite keen. There are enough gotchas to make me drag my feet a little (not least price), as much as I like the idea of the place. Odd to be possibly buying a house that is a drawing on an estate that is being built.

The biggest gotcha is that Bellway have created Sub Leases on the new builds. They can’t create straight leases because the land, a former school, is owned by Sheffield Council. I am acutely aware of the possible escalator on these vile contracts that have been dubbed the PPI of the building world. I now have a solicitor and also an estate agent for our sale. I’ll get the Sub Lease and Lease over to my solicitors to get them fully checked out. I smell sharp practice and will respond accordingly if the Sub Lease terms lowers itself to my expectations.

Big mortgage, retirement a distant possibility, I will flog till I drop.

Anyway, if not that one then we will probably find another, eventually. This gives me time to do some much needed work on my current house. Minor cosmetic stuff mostly, as I have had the roof done recently, which should help the resale potential.

My Revelation games convention has now come and gone to great acclaim. Well worth putting it on and has reaffirmed my love of Powered by the Apocalypse games in all their deliriously varied forms. Impulse Drive is a little gem and I shall certainly be running the game again many a time.

Last week my laptop went pop. I don’t think it can have been charging the battery and suddenly there was nothing. It hasn’t powered back up again. The local laptop repair man says “no”, so I will collect from him at the weekend and take it up to PC Specialist and enjoy the nearby Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Cam.

I had thought of going up to Airecon this weekend, but with work needed on the house and a desire to get the laptop sent off, I’ll probably do that and get a trip out with Cam sorted instead.

Carmel is on nights, so I have a quiet Sunday alone and might get some house sorting done and maybe some Wordplay 2 writing.

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Speeding By

Posted on February 4, 2017 by First Age

What, February? How so?

The squeeze is on at work, but I cleave to my resolutions as much as possible and balance is approximated. The weekends are proving an island of chill and I look forward to them greatly. Me and my lad rattle about the house and we get some time together. This weekend has brought us to the end of the Trollhunters series, which has captivated both of us; such fun.

I’ve spent the morning finding out more about Roll20, now that it seems that google is going to fiddle with Hangouts some more. There’s possibilities in the Virtual Table Top, though moving tokens about a battlemap isn’t really why I do RPGs.

I’m an NPower customer so the news of a 10% price hike hasn’t left me feeling very happy. I was duel fuel and direct Debit in an attempt to keep cost down, but it looks like more expense to come. Rather than shop around, which is almost certainly what I will have to do, I have gone into non fuel usage mode. Water instead of tea, going for a walk instead of heating, chalk dust instead of bathing.

In gaming news, my wee book of Heroic Fantasy, a rules light RPG based on The Black Hack is now out for sale on Drivethru. It’s been fun to put together and has spurred me on to do a better job for my next one.

A Nandos outing with Cam, Carmel and Megan up soon, which should be nice. We’re going to pop into patriot games on the way…

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Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2017 by First Age

I must say that, on balance, 2016 happened to be a good year for me and family. If I could be lucky enough to have another one as fortuitous in the snatch of time ahead then I will be doing very well. In some ways 2016 has laid something of a platform to build on, whimsical fate allowing, I now simply need to push on and make something of the opportunities that have come my way.

The kids are all doing well, with Erin building on her A level success by transferring to Uni well and finding a group of people where she belongs. Cam is a mini wonder, accelerating in height and understanding all the time. He is enjoying year 6 much more than the previous year, so persevering with conventional schooling seems like a vindication. All eyes are now on March and confirmation of his secondary school place. Everything crossed that he gets King Ecgberts as he wants. This would be the apex of my house investment and catchment plan. Connor also dazzles with his academia and faces the different challenges that a dissertation brings. I hope that he gets his research PhD place; I can really see him excelling in that.

My resolution here is to do more of the same. Love, support, advise, taxi, share, prioritise. I’d like to see more of my wider family if I can manage.

In August I got engaged to Carmel in Santorini. Yes! The wedding will be in 2018, so some planning will help to make the day memorable and fun for everyone we can invite. Changes will happen this year. Once we have the schooling decision resolved in March we can think about shared living and how that is all going to work. We might be talking a new house, if the finances and increasing dotage allow, a new mortgage to lash me to conspicuous productivity. Perhaps extensions, perhaps just making room with what I currently have. Any which way, change and new living is on the way in 2017.

My resolution here is to declutter as best I can and stay agile to possibilities. I tend to keep hold of old stuff a touch. I need to let go a little. The move would be focused on Cam’s schooling and space for family. Interesting to see how this all pans out. I never lose sight of how fortunate I am to have a roof over my head and one that loved ones call home.

In March of last year my work developed in a very positive direction. After much preparation, persuasion and level discussion, I moved my programme across to the organisation’s development centre and into a full scale technical replacement. In a year we are to fully rebuild the service that we offer onto a platform that we fully own, understand and can exploit. We go live April this year. It is going to be full on and exciting. I am very lucky to be playing an influential part in the adventure ahead.

My resolution here is to be as productive as I can without losing myself. A positive life balance will be key and being able to immerse and then leave the metric ton of work at the door will be essential. I’m good at this, but it can be hard. I never lose sight of how fortunate I am to have a good job and to be working in the most inspiring and enjoyable place I ever have. The team around me are brilliant, dedicated and innovative. They’re also nice people!

I write and play tabletop roleplaying games. The hobby started at Uni back in 1981 and is staying with me for life. I love it. I’d like to get a few more books out this year if I can, both solely authored and collaborating with my partner in tweed, Paul. Wordplay 2 will be well formed by April, I have a professionally paid piece coming out during 2017 and have my eyes on some more Wordplay, Heroic Fantasy and a possible SF project.

My resolution is to browse less and write more. There will be an interesting tussle over my commute time. I think I need to use one of the journeys, which provides about 40 minutes, to game write rather than day work. I have a lengthy list of conventions to attend, a few of which I have setup. I’m looking forward to all of them, knowing that they create time strain and I will need to manage this carefully.

Life has a way of serving up the unexpected, so I’ll need to see what unfolds. You can be as active and dynamic as you like, some things just happen and you have to deal with it. On the whole, I think 2016 really was a platform to build on and I look forward to seeing where I can take it.

All the best to you in your year ahead.

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