Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Brain-Dump

Hmmm...well, it seems the whole requests thing bombed.  Such is life.  Instead, you get the following brain-dump.

I'm in the process of cleaning out my garage, particularly a large pile of boxes that I know are mostly filled with old magazines and papers and things I just need to send to recycling.  The problem is, when they were packed (over a decade ago), a lot of non-paper junk got thrown in with them.  So, I'm having to go through the boxes one by one and, in the process I'm occasionally tripping over a long-lost piece of my gaming history.  For instance, a map of the Young Kingdoms that came out of some later edition of Stormbringer, or a set of play-test rules a friend wrote for a rules-light generic game back in the 80s (printed out on a dot matrix printer).

I even found what is doubtlessly my first attempt at producing a game map on a computer, from back in '92 or so.  No, I'm not going to put it up here, it's pretty lousy and the years haven't been kind to the paper.

In other news, I'm still working on the PCs for my Justice League game.  I've got two more write-ups to do, and these are harder than the others because I don't have a lot in the way of existing examples to work from.  Of course, I've still got a bunch of villains to write up, but those will be a lot easier as I can use the "eyeball and shorthand" method of NPC creation.  More worrisome is the second act of the story, which is still pretty weak, but I've got some time to work it out and I'm sure I'll come up with something.

After Owlcon, I want to start running a game at home again, though I'm not sure what.  Lately, I've been on a Western kick, but I'm fairly sure that would attract no players.  I'm good at running supers, but I'm not feeling especially driven to start another superhero campaign.  One that I've always wanted to run is what I call "Gray Box C&C," using Castles & Crusades with the original Forgotten Realms box (and subsequent half dozen gazetteer modules).  The original Gray Box is a big favorite of mine and probably deserves a post of its own someday.

Regardless of what I decide, it'll only go forward if I can recruit some players.  After my Champions game died, my players didn't exactly scatter, but they found other things to do with their weekends, so I'll have to put out the word and see what happens.

9 comments:

  1. I'm currently writing up some DC Heroes & Villains as well. I'm coverting them for Marvel Super Heroes. Which system are you using, Champions again?

    Mutants & Masterminds is coming out with a 3rd edition. I've heard good things about it, and I am tempted to buy it. Ironically, it has a DC booklet, so I would have to convert Marvels to it.

    Ciao!

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  2. It's for DCA/MM3, which is part of the problem. I could write them up in Champions terms in my sleep. DCA takes a bit of thought. I pre-ordered MM3 pretty much the minute it was announced, so I'm working from the PDF on this (it's much clearer and better laid out than DCA).

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  3. Disclaimer: I swear I'm not being a tool. Especially not on your home turf.

    But...dude.

    You have a pretty ready and willing group of players, but your GM-ly attentions are as the shifting sands.

    A few months back you mentioned running something, and if I recall correctly, you were jazzed about Feng Shui, barbarian fantasy, and your perennial supers.

    Now, it's westerns, C&C, and spandex.

    Give it a few days, and whatever random book you happen to grab en route to the can will be the obsession to consume you for a week or so.

    As one of your regulars, it's VERY hard to get enthused about all your awesome campaign ideas, because before there's even a chance to make characters for your current fancy, you've moved on to The Next New Hotness.

    And, again...no super-dickery here. Just input from the PC's side of your GM's screen.

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  4. At least "supers" are still the constant. Barbarian fantasy and C&C is pretty close too.

    Its inevitable for GM-ADD to hit at this time of year. New beginnings and all that. At least, I know that's when it usually gets me.

    It also hits when I clear a space on my bookshelves. It immediately needs to be filled by new RPG books!

    Ciao!

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  5. @Justin: No insult taken; My ADD is noted.

    However, it's a more complicated calculation than you may realize. That "ready and willing group" mostly consists of you these days, unless you know something I don't. I haven't heard from R since we ran into each other at GenCon. J is far more into Magic these days and of limited availability when I'd be able to run. My J will only play if I stick to a rather limited range of genres.

    Believe me, I know my own shifting interests are a huge hurdle, but it's not the only one.

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  6. Ha! I love the PC drive-by. Yeah, Theron, get your stuff in one sock!

    I, of course, kid as I am a haw-ribble ADHD DM.

    Enjoy the unearthing of treasures!

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  7. The gray box is pretty good stuff. My box didn't survive, but I was able to retrieve the books from my parents' basement. I should probably give them another read soon- I'm sure there's plenty of stuff to scavenge for my games.

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  8. I'm the last man standing? VICTORY IS MINE.

    I guarantee that Mr. R would come running the second you said you were GMing something (whether you want him is another matter entirely).

    And The Woman actually has a few pals (2 or 3 gals, in fact) interested in slangin' dice. It'll be just like "Playing D&D With Porn Stars", except with fewer porn stars and more librarians, army sarges, and Mormons.

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  9. "It'll be just like "Playing D&D With Porn Stars", except with fewer porn stars and more librarians, army sarges, and Mormons."

    When you put it that way, how the hell can I say no? Clearly, I need to come up with something I can stick with and we need to make this happen.

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