Most Amazing Thing A Game Group Did For Their Community
Another weird one to my eyes. One of my groups? Something I heard about? I don't know quite where to go with this, so I'm just going to take a stab in the dark.
Chupacabracon in Austin has an annual tradition called "Saturday Night Savages." It features multiple Savage Worlds games GMed by some very notable SW writers, all happening at the same time.
One of Chupacabracon's other customs is the "Charity Re-Roll" bucket. Each table has a bucket that folks can drop money in to buy a re-roll for a dollar. All proceeds go to a local charity that makes sure underprivileged kids get meals outside of school (a serious problem in the US, I'm sad to say). Great cause.
Because re-rolls aren't really a thing in SW, the GMs decided among themselves they would let players buy a Bennie for a dollar. It's probably worth noting the SW community is a pretty tight-knit group, and the writers/GMs might have a bit of a friendly competitive streak. This led to multiple game being more or less wrecked by an abundance of Bennies (seriously, I one-shotted the boss monster in the game I played, AND had enough oompf left over to veto the GM's attempt to nullify my result) by each table trying to outdo the other. Something like $600 was raised for the charity in the course of four hours, a record at the con. And everyone had a blast.
I know there are lots of bigger deals, but that's one I actually participated in.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
#RPGADAY Special Catchup Edition
Yesterday was a really bad day, and by the time I got home, I forgot to do my entry for Day 5. So here we go:
What Story Does Your Group Tell About Your Character?
I don't think they do, honestly. My groups aren't big about stories. If we do, it tends to be little snippets of things like "Remember when Troubadour talked the Oyster into turning himself in?" or 'We owe it to Einar's memory." I can't really think of anything that merits a story.
What Story Does Your Group Tell About Your Character?
I don't think they do, honestly. My groups aren't big about stories. If we do, it tends to be little snippets of things like "Remember when Troubadour talked the Oyster into turning himself in?" or 'We owe it to Einar's memory." I can't really think of anything that merits a story.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
#RPGADAY Day Four
It's day one of GenCon, but I'm not at GenCon. I spent the morning in a mandatory training, and the afternoon driving around in 100f degree weather deploying printers to various sites. So, no time to write until now.
Today's topic is Most Impressive Thing Another's Character Did, and it's a real no-brainer for me. In fact, it's a story I've shared before. Because my kid is awesome.
Today's topic is Most Impressive Thing Another's Character Did, and it's a real no-brainer for me. In fact, it's a story I've shared before. Because my kid is awesome.
Hyperion
was a re-hash of Hero-Man for an ICONS
game I was running. I needed a brick, and I always liked the conceit of
the
hero who was secretly a robot. I even listed that as one of his
Complications. My son was playing in
this game and it was his first convention session playing with adults,
so I included him with my boy in mind, in that he was 1) powerful, 2)
easy to play.
Little did I guess how he’d grasp the subtleties of the rules as quickly
as he
did.
Here's the situation: the heroes were basically fighting a
Cthulhu analog as he rose from the briny deep. They were beaten down, out of options,
and (more importantly) out of Determination, the currency ICONS runs on. They
were talking among themselves, trying to figure out what to do when the boy
said, “Wait. I know how to beat him. I’m going to fly as fast as I can and slam into
it with everything I’ve got. It can’t kill me…because I’M SECRETLY A ROBOT!” This
admission earned him a point of Determination, which he used to perform a stunt
combining his ranks in Strength with his Flight speed. I ruled that he would
suffer half the damage he caused, almost certainly tearing off his outer
covering. He hit, the Elder Horror went down, and his secret was exposed.
He even got quoted in ICONS Assembled (right at the bottom of page 29).
Thanks, Steve!
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
#RPGADAY Day Three
Character moment you are proudest of
I don't have a lot of specific character moments that stick with me, to be honest. My characters are typically the stalwart support rather than the star of the show. In comics terms, the guy who's always in a team book but never has a solo title. It's something I'm good with.
There was the time my superhero Spectrum outwitted an entire star empire, bluffing them into believing he was an advance agent of an even bigger star empire. But that was a team effort.
There was the time when Troubadour, another one of my characters, decided to hang up the tights and hit the road with his lady-love, "To see America. The REAL America," which was fun because I got to retire him outright.
There was that time when Pseudolus, my 4e Bard used successfully taunted a fungus.
Val, my Sunite Paladin, had a number of remarkable moments slaying dragons and dispatching demons. He even had to stand in judgment of Lathander for that god's role in the Dawn Cataclysm. But all of those were with his boon companions and not his moment alone. Probably his best was rescuing his fiancee from the Cult of the Dragon and turning their home into the greatest Sunite sanctuary on the Sword Coast. Since I'm the sort of player who likes his characters to leave a real mark on the world, let's go with that one.
Notable, but not necessarily pride-inducing were the antics of Einar, an alcoholic dwarf berserker (Barbarian) in a Greyhawk-based Pathfinder game. He had a few memorable moments in his very short life. For instance, in the first adventure, we found a wall in a dungeon that was obviously concealing something. As everyone else was trying to figure out what to do, Einar said (very politely, he was very polite when sober) "Excuse me, sirs. I has a pick. Am a dwarf." When later in the same dungeon we found ourselves with a captive, Einar piped up, "Excuse me, sirs. I has shackles. Mean drunk."
In a later adventure, he charged two Ogres while raging. I forgot about their reach and an opportunity attack critted, dropping him out of rage, which nearly killed him. The party had to spend a ton of resources keeping him alive, while finishing off the ogres. Einar's recollection was that he saw the ogres, saw red, and when he came out of it, they were both dead, so he always took credit for it.
Einar met his end defending his friends from a party of lycanthropes armed with multiple magic weapons. He suffered multiple grievous wounds, which combined with dropping out of range to take him to immediate death. In accordance with his religious beliefs, he was not raised. He died as he lived, angry and on the floor of a tavern.
I don't have a lot of specific character moments that stick with me, to be honest. My characters are typically the stalwart support rather than the star of the show. In comics terms, the guy who's always in a team book but never has a solo title. It's something I'm good with.
There was the time my superhero Spectrum outwitted an entire star empire, bluffing them into believing he was an advance agent of an even bigger star empire. But that was a team effort.
There was the time when Troubadour, another one of my characters, decided to hang up the tights and hit the road with his lady-love, "To see America. The REAL America," which was fun because I got to retire him outright.
There was that time when Pseudolus, my 4e Bard used successfully taunted a fungus.
Val, my Sunite Paladin, had a number of remarkable moments slaying dragons and dispatching demons. He even had to stand in judgment of Lathander for that god's role in the Dawn Cataclysm. But all of those were with his boon companions and not his moment alone. Probably his best was rescuing his fiancee from the Cult of the Dragon and turning their home into the greatest Sunite sanctuary on the Sword Coast. Since I'm the sort of player who likes his characters to leave a real mark on the world, let's go with that one.
Notable, but not necessarily pride-inducing were the antics of Einar, an alcoholic dwarf berserker (Barbarian) in a Greyhawk-based Pathfinder game. He had a few memorable moments in his very short life. For instance, in the first adventure, we found a wall in a dungeon that was obviously concealing something. As everyone else was trying to figure out what to do, Einar said (very politely, he was very polite when sober) "Excuse me, sirs. I has a pick. Am a dwarf." When later in the same dungeon we found ourselves with a captive, Einar piped up, "Excuse me, sirs. I has shackles. Mean drunk."
In a later adventure, he charged two Ogres while raging. I forgot about their reach and an opportunity attack critted, dropping him out of rage, which nearly killed him. The party had to spend a ton of resources keeping him alive, while finishing off the ogres. Einar's recollection was that he saw the ogres, saw red, and when he came out of it, they were both dead, so he always took credit for it.
Einar met his end defending his friends from a party of lycanthropes armed with multiple magic weapons. He suffered multiple grievous wounds, which combined with dropping out of range to take him to immediate death. In accordance with his religious beliefs, he was not raised. He died as he lived, angry and on the floor of a tavern.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
#RPGADAY 2016 Day Two
Today's topic is Best Game Session Since August 2015
I like the fact that these questions aren't just a rehash of the previous years'. Unfortunately, the past twelve months haven't been great for me on the gaming front.
Last fall, I ran some ICONS, but after the third or fourth session, life got in the way with my son spending a week in the hospital and the rest of the group having issues.
I stopped playing with my Tuesday night crew because I've burned out on Pathfinder. To their credit, my guys were very understanding about it and made it clear I'm welcome back when I want to come back.
The 4e D&D game has been on hiatus while the DM tries to sell his house and move. As it was, we were starting to feel the pain points of high-level 4e in a big way (we're 22nd level now).
So I've been limited to one-shots this year, mostly at conventions, apart from a playtest of FFG's Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, which was fun. Looking at those, I played four RPGs (Feng Shui 2, Night's Black Agents, Boot Hill, and ICONS), and ran four RPGs (Mutants & Masterminds, Honor + Intrigue, Stormbringer, and Champions 4e). Of those, I think I was happiest with the Stormbringer game I ran at NTRPGCon. The players were really on the same page with each other and me, the action moved crisply and things never really bogged down. I'm super proud with the way I juggled everything in the Champions session (not to mention the thrill of getting to GM for Steve Perrin), but Stormbringer was really my standout session for the year.
Here's hoping the next twelve months make this a harder choice.
I like the fact that these questions aren't just a rehash of the previous years'. Unfortunately, the past twelve months haven't been great for me on the gaming front.
Last fall, I ran some ICONS, but after the third or fourth session, life got in the way with my son spending a week in the hospital and the rest of the group having issues.
I stopped playing with my Tuesday night crew because I've burned out on Pathfinder. To their credit, my guys were very understanding about it and made it clear I'm welcome back when I want to come back.
The 4e D&D game has been on hiatus while the DM tries to sell his house and move. As it was, we were starting to feel the pain points of high-level 4e in a big way (we're 22nd level now).
So I've been limited to one-shots this year, mostly at conventions, apart from a playtest of FFG's Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, which was fun. Looking at those, I played four RPGs (Feng Shui 2, Night's Black Agents, Boot Hill, and ICONS), and ran four RPGs (Mutants & Masterminds, Honor + Intrigue, Stormbringer, and Champions 4e). Of those, I think I was happiest with the Stormbringer game I ran at NTRPGCon. The players were really on the same page with each other and me, the action moved crisply and things never really bogged down. I'm super proud with the way I juggled everything in the Champions session (not to mention the thrill of getting to GM for Steve Perrin), but Stormbringer was really my standout session for the year.
Here's hoping the next twelve months make this a harder choice.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Time For The Annual Marathon
It's August, so time again for #RPGADAY. Here's this year's topics:
Our first one is "Real dice, dice app, diceless, how do you prefer to roll?
Real dice for me thanks. I've used apps (and will again, I'm certain), but I prefer the tactile element of actual dice. This is probably a holdover from all those years playing Champions, which I'll forever associate with throwing handfuls of dice.
I've played a few "diceless" games that used cards. I've never played an actual diceless game, unless you count LARPing, which I've only sort of done.
Anyway, that was an easy one.
Our first one is "Real dice, dice app, diceless, how do you prefer to roll?
Real dice for me thanks. I've used apps (and will again, I'm certain), but I prefer the tactile element of actual dice. This is probably a holdover from all those years playing Champions, which I'll forever associate with throwing handfuls of dice.
I've played a few "diceless" games that used cards. I've never played an actual diceless game, unless you count LARPing, which I've only sort of done.
Anyway, that was an easy one.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Theron Goes To Fort Worth
(For certain values of Fort Worth, anyway.)
This past weekend was the eighth annual North Texas RPG Con (NTRPG Con). I last attended five years ago, had a great time, and then procrastinated my way out of returning for the past few years. When my plans to attend Chupacabracon were scuttled by a scheduling conflict, I decided to get back up there, and bring my son (C-Monster) along. He's sixteen, and a long-time convention veteran. I wanted him to see some of the history of the hobby.
By way of brief introduction, NTRPG Con very intentionally cultivates an Old-School vibe. I've heard it referred to as "GaryCon South," and I can't really comment on that, having not been to GaryCon. What I can say is that if you want to attend a small, friendly, laid-back convention where the guest list reads like a "Who's Who" of the RPG industry prior to 1990, then you ought to give this one a look.
The game programming is, obviously older versions of D&D and OSR heavy, along with other games from TSR's heyday. I'd volunteered to run two non-TSR games from that period, because I like to point out to people that a lot of amazing stuff was going down back then, and not just in Lake Geneva. Interestingly enough, there was a LOT of D&D 5e stuff being played as well. I think that's a definite stamp of approval from the Grognard Set.
We left Thursday morning and got to enjoy the lovely downpours that plagued the Houston area most of last week. It wasn't fun, but we got to Dallas/Fort Worth just in time for Rush Hour, so there's that. Anyway, we got checked into the hotel, grabbed something to eat, and got our badges. My first game was scheduled at 6 PM. While C-Monster didn't have anything on-tap, he decided he wanted to play D&D and signed up at an open table.
My first game was supposed to be a 5e Castle Amber scenario, GMed by Lawrence Schick. Unfortunately, his plane was late and by the time he arrived, he was in no shape to GM. He was very apologetic, but it wasn't his fault. On the bright side, I met some cool people at the table while we were waiting (Alex Kammer, who runs GameHoleCon, and Bill Meinhardt, who probably has the largest D&D collection on the planet). Also, Frank Mentzer hung out with us for a while, just shooting the breeze. So, bonus!
Meanwhile, C-Monster was fulfilling his dreams of being a Drow Assassin. I didn't hear from him until he came back to the room.
Friday AM, I got up and took a spin around the dealers' room. I found a World of Greyhawk boxed set that was in absolutely pristine condition, for forty bucks. Sold! Looking through it, I realized that pretty much everyone credited in it who's not Gary Gygax was at the convention, and I formulated a quest...
(I also saw a copy of Last Unicorn Games' Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium, the first copy I'd ever seen, for sale. More on that later.)
My first game Friday was Boot Hill, GMed by Steve Winter. I'd heard tales of Steve's skill as a GM, and I have to say, it's utterly true. He had us roll up characters at the table, which resulted in my creating "Squatch" McGee, a 7'1", 400 lb Bounty Hunter. Instead of a conventional scenario, Steve basically ran us through an Old West sandbox. We were all lawman-types, and he provided us with over a dozen "Wanted" posters with varying rewards. He set out the classic Boot Hill map, and let us loose. We were free to cooperate or compete, and when a group or individual encountered bad guys, he had one of the players whose character wasn't involved run the NPCs. Or, if your character died. It was a brilliant idea, and I plan on stealing it at some point.
Anyway, "Squatch" survived the game, but failed to collect any bounties, what with all the times he got shot. I ended up playing both the big bounties in their separate confrontations, but ran afoul of my opponents' good die rolls.
Also, I got my World of Greyhawk signed by Steve (who edited it).
My evening game was Stormbringer (Chaosium, 1981), run by me. Six players signed up, five showed. Of those five, a couple had played Stormbringer in the distant past, and I think only one was completely unfamiliar with the game and the source material. That said, the game kind of rocked. The game system is as smooth as ever, and the players did a great job of getting into the spirit of the adventure "The Crystal of Daerdaerdarth," one of my favorite published scenarios. It's a dungeon crawl, but one with a specifically Moorcockian feel, with weird demons and dark magics and, well, pretty much that.
One thing I love about the adventure is a note on the map that says, "No One Has Gotten Past This Point." Before I began, I mentioned this to my players, who made getting past that point a matter of honor. They succeeded, bypassing an impassible obstacle by having an earth elemental tunnel around it. Proper old-school problem solving.
(The PC sorcerer also made a water elemental manifest in the lungs of an enemy sorcerer. That was pretty cool, and basically a fight-ending move.)
Saturday:
Saturday AM, I was moving a bit slowly. One of the sad truths about my GMing is that it simultaneously takes a lot out of me and wires me so I can't unwind. As a result, I was not at peak performance.
Our first game Saturday was ICONS, GMed by Steve Perrin. ICONS isn't an Old-School game by any stretch, but it does feel like a love letter to FASERIP, and Steve's been working with the system extensively for the past few years.
The scenario involved a group of WWII superheroes trying to stop a nazi plot to bombard London via the shattered Bifrost Bridge, using a railway gun positioned in Asgard. We had to fight our way through a few of the Nine Realms, fighting a host of Axis villainy. I played Fletcher the Bowman, a heroic archer with trick arrows, and had a swell time coming up with newer and crazier things. C-Monster played The Magius, a super sorcerer from an underwater culture who had tremendous mental powers.
Apart from the fun, and the thrill of playing a game with someone who wrote a couple of my all-time favorite games (RuneQuest, Stormbringer), the game was notable for two other incidents. First, while on a bathroom break, I bit the bullet and bought that copy of Dune. I couldn't be sure I'd ever find another, and I've always wanted it. I rationalized that I was buying from one of my local shops (he was up for the convention), so supporting them was a good thing. The other incident was when I mentioned in passing that I was running Champions later that evening. "You are?" Mr. Perrin asked. This led to me saying he'd be more than welcome and that I always have a couple of extra characters. And that's how I ended up running Champions for Steve Perrin.
(Actually, there was a third cool thing. One of the other players was Joe Wetzel, the genius behind Hexographer, Dungeonographer, Cityographer, the ICONS Assembled Character Creator, and a host of other cool stuff. He's also a really nice guy.)
During the break, I was able to catch Darlene, Jeff Easley, and Lawrence Schick to complete the autographs on the Greyhawk book. I also met Douglas Niles, who signed my "Moonshae Trilogy" books.
The game itself went great. I was using the fourth edition of the game (aka "The Big Blue Book"), and running "To Serve and Protect," one of the best early adventures, and this time around, I had a table full of veterans, though some of them hadn't played since the 80s. Prior to the con, one of my players (Glen Halstrom, from the "THACO'S Hammer" podcast) asked if he could play one of his old characters. I couldn't think of any reason he couldn't, so he sent me a few to pick from and I settled on Escargot, a French power armor user with an OUTRAGEOUS accent. The remaining heroes were from that list I posted recently of memorable characters from my past campaigns: Black Dragon, Force, Hero-Man, Mighty Man-Frog, Photograph, and Witchfire. We had six players, so no one chose Photograph.
How to describe the game? Wonderful fun. It's been a couple of years since I've run Champions, and this is not a low-effort scenario to run, with five combat encounters, investigative bits, and TEN NPC "villains." That said, I pulled it off. Much like the previous evening, it was player ingenuity that turned the balance at the end, which meant I had to wing it, which is exactly as it should be.
We wrapped the game and geeked out for a bit, and I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd hit the bar. Unfortunately, they were closing at midnight, so I was thwarted in my attempt to buy overpriced hotel beer. I went back to the room, talked to the boy about his game (2e Oriental Adventures with Zeb Cook DMing), and finally fell asleep sometime south of 3 AM.
Which is why I woke up Sunday AM in no real mood to do anymore gaming. We were scheduled for Dungeon Crawl Classics, a game I have yet to play, but we weren't up to it, especially with a five-hour drive in our future. However, I still had one autograph objective: I'd brought my D&D Companion, Master, and Immortal books to ask Frank Mentzer to autograph. Unfortunately, every time our paths crossed, I didn't have the books handy. But there was one more chance, as he was playing "Ticket to Ride" on Sunday AM. I waited around the atrium, and caught him when he had a few minutes. I've got to tell you, Gentle Reader, Frank is one of the good ones. Not only a terrific game designer, but a really nice guy who lives his love for the hobby. He happily signed my books, asked if I knew that Terry Kuntz's real name is Theron (I did), and pretty much gave me the perfect sign-off to the con.
I made one more pass through the dealer's area, visited with Joe W again, and bought some of his Dungeon and City geomorph decks. Then, we hit the road.
Well, not right away. We had one more mission: I'd learned of the existence of Taco Casa, a north-Texas fast food chain founded by a former Taco Bell executive. Their schtick is that their menu is basically 1970s Taco Bell, and I was craving enchiritos (or "chilladas" as they call them). Fortunately, there was one about twenty minutes from the hotel on our way home. Food was acquired and then we hit the road.
Or we would have, if I hadn't spotted a Half-Price Books store. They're based in D/FW, so their stores tend to be a little better than the ones here. I figured it was worth popping in for a few. Oh, man.
I found a like-new hardback Champions 4e (the original, not the "Deluxe" version) to replace the one I lost. I found The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook for WEG Star Wars. I found a copy of NOVA's deluxe version of Ace of Aces! I left about eighty bucks poorer, but infinitely richer.
Then, we hit the road. :D
By way of brief introduction, NTRPG Con very intentionally cultivates an Old-School vibe. I've heard it referred to as "GaryCon South," and I can't really comment on that, having not been to GaryCon. What I can say is that if you want to attend a small, friendly, laid-back convention where the guest list reads like a "Who's Who" of the RPG industry prior to 1990, then you ought to give this one a look.
The game programming is, obviously older versions of D&D and OSR heavy, along with other games from TSR's heyday. I'd volunteered to run two non-TSR games from that period, because I like to point out to people that a lot of amazing stuff was going down back then, and not just in Lake Geneva. Interestingly enough, there was a LOT of D&D 5e stuff being played as well. I think that's a definite stamp of approval from the Grognard Set.
We left Thursday morning and got to enjoy the lovely downpours that plagued the Houston area most of last week. It wasn't fun, but we got to Dallas/Fort Worth just in time for Rush Hour, so there's that. Anyway, we got checked into the hotel, grabbed something to eat, and got our badges. My first game was scheduled at 6 PM. While C-Monster didn't have anything on-tap, he decided he wanted to play D&D and signed up at an open table.
My first game was supposed to be a 5e Castle Amber scenario, GMed by Lawrence Schick. Unfortunately, his plane was late and by the time he arrived, he was in no shape to GM. He was very apologetic, but it wasn't his fault. On the bright side, I met some cool people at the table while we were waiting (Alex Kammer, who runs GameHoleCon, and Bill Meinhardt, who probably has the largest D&D collection on the planet). Also, Frank Mentzer hung out with us for a while, just shooting the breeze. So, bonus!
Meanwhile, C-Monster was fulfilling his dreams of being a Drow Assassin. I didn't hear from him until he came back to the room.
Friday AM, I got up and took a spin around the dealers' room. I found a World of Greyhawk boxed set that was in absolutely pristine condition, for forty bucks. Sold! Looking through it, I realized that pretty much everyone credited in it who's not Gary Gygax was at the convention, and I formulated a quest...
(I also saw a copy of Last Unicorn Games' Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium, the first copy I'd ever seen, for sale. More on that later.)
My first game Friday was Boot Hill, GMed by Steve Winter. I'd heard tales of Steve's skill as a GM, and I have to say, it's utterly true. He had us roll up characters at the table, which resulted in my creating "Squatch" McGee, a 7'1", 400 lb Bounty Hunter. Instead of a conventional scenario, Steve basically ran us through an Old West sandbox. We were all lawman-types, and he provided us with over a dozen "Wanted" posters with varying rewards. He set out the classic Boot Hill map, and let us loose. We were free to cooperate or compete, and when a group or individual encountered bad guys, he had one of the players whose character wasn't involved run the NPCs. Or, if your character died. It was a brilliant idea, and I plan on stealing it at some point.
Anyway, "Squatch" survived the game, but failed to collect any bounties, what with all the times he got shot. I ended up playing both the big bounties in their separate confrontations, but ran afoul of my opponents' good die rolls.
Also, I got my World of Greyhawk signed by Steve (who edited it).
My evening game was Stormbringer (Chaosium, 1981), run by me. Six players signed up, five showed. Of those five, a couple had played Stormbringer in the distant past, and I think only one was completely unfamiliar with the game and the source material. That said, the game kind of rocked. The game system is as smooth as ever, and the players did a great job of getting into the spirit of the adventure "The Crystal of Daerdaerdarth," one of my favorite published scenarios. It's a dungeon crawl, but one with a specifically Moorcockian feel, with weird demons and dark magics and, well, pretty much that.
One thing I love about the adventure is a note on the map that says, "No One Has Gotten Past This Point." Before I began, I mentioned this to my players, who made getting past that point a matter of honor. They succeeded, bypassing an impassible obstacle by having an earth elemental tunnel around it. Proper old-school problem solving.
(The PC sorcerer also made a water elemental manifest in the lungs of an enemy sorcerer. That was pretty cool, and basically a fight-ending move.)
Saturday:
Saturday AM, I was moving a bit slowly. One of the sad truths about my GMing is that it simultaneously takes a lot out of me and wires me so I can't unwind. As a result, I was not at peak performance.
Our first game Saturday was ICONS, GMed by Steve Perrin. ICONS isn't an Old-School game by any stretch, but it does feel like a love letter to FASERIP, and Steve's been working with the system extensively for the past few years.
The scenario involved a group of WWII superheroes trying to stop a nazi plot to bombard London via the shattered Bifrost Bridge, using a railway gun positioned in Asgard. We had to fight our way through a few of the Nine Realms, fighting a host of Axis villainy. I played Fletcher the Bowman, a heroic archer with trick arrows, and had a swell time coming up with newer and crazier things. C-Monster played The Magius, a super sorcerer from an underwater culture who had tremendous mental powers.
Apart from the fun, and the thrill of playing a game with someone who wrote a couple of my all-time favorite games (RuneQuest, Stormbringer), the game was notable for two other incidents. First, while on a bathroom break, I bit the bullet and bought that copy of Dune. I couldn't be sure I'd ever find another, and I've always wanted it. I rationalized that I was buying from one of my local shops (he was up for the convention), so supporting them was a good thing. The other incident was when I mentioned in passing that I was running Champions later that evening. "You are?" Mr. Perrin asked. This led to me saying he'd be more than welcome and that I always have a couple of extra characters. And that's how I ended up running Champions for Steve Perrin.
(Actually, there was a third cool thing. One of the other players was Joe Wetzel, the genius behind Hexographer, Dungeonographer, Cityographer, the ICONS Assembled Character Creator, and a host of other cool stuff. He's also a really nice guy.)
During the break, I was able to catch Darlene, Jeff Easley, and Lawrence Schick to complete the autographs on the Greyhawk book. I also met Douglas Niles, who signed my "Moonshae Trilogy" books.
The game itself went great. I was using the fourth edition of the game (aka "The Big Blue Book"), and running "To Serve and Protect," one of the best early adventures, and this time around, I had a table full of veterans, though some of them hadn't played since the 80s. Prior to the con, one of my players (Glen Halstrom, from the "THACO'S Hammer" podcast) asked if he could play one of his old characters. I couldn't think of any reason he couldn't, so he sent me a few to pick from and I settled on Escargot, a French power armor user with an OUTRAGEOUS accent. The remaining heroes were from that list I posted recently of memorable characters from my past campaigns: Black Dragon, Force, Hero-Man, Mighty Man-Frog, Photograph, and Witchfire. We had six players, so no one chose Photograph.
How to describe the game? Wonderful fun. It's been a couple of years since I've run Champions, and this is not a low-effort scenario to run, with five combat encounters, investigative bits, and TEN NPC "villains." That said, I pulled it off. Much like the previous evening, it was player ingenuity that turned the balance at the end, which meant I had to wing it, which is exactly as it should be.
We wrapped the game and geeked out for a bit, and I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd hit the bar. Unfortunately, they were closing at midnight, so I was thwarted in my attempt to buy overpriced hotel beer. I went back to the room, talked to the boy about his game (2e Oriental Adventures with Zeb Cook DMing), and finally fell asleep sometime south of 3 AM.
Which is why I woke up Sunday AM in no real mood to do anymore gaming. We were scheduled for Dungeon Crawl Classics, a game I have yet to play, but we weren't up to it, especially with a five-hour drive in our future. However, I still had one autograph objective: I'd brought my D&D Companion, Master, and Immortal books to ask Frank Mentzer to autograph. Unfortunately, every time our paths crossed, I didn't have the books handy. But there was one more chance, as he was playing "Ticket to Ride" on Sunday AM. I waited around the atrium, and caught him when he had a few minutes. I've got to tell you, Gentle Reader, Frank is one of the good ones. Not only a terrific game designer, but a really nice guy who lives his love for the hobby. He happily signed my books, asked if I knew that Terry Kuntz's real name is Theron (I did), and pretty much gave me the perfect sign-off to the con.
I made one more pass through the dealer's area, visited with Joe W again, and bought some of his Dungeon and City geomorph decks. Then, we hit the road.
Well, not right away. We had one more mission: I'd learned of the existence of Taco Casa, a north-Texas fast food chain founded by a former Taco Bell executive. Their schtick is that their menu is basically 1970s Taco Bell, and I was craving enchiritos (or "chilladas" as they call them). Fortunately, there was one about twenty minutes from the hotel on our way home. Food was acquired and then we hit the road.
Or we would have, if I hadn't spotted a Half-Price Books store. They're based in D/FW, so their stores tend to be a little better than the ones here. I figured it was worth popping in for a few. Oh, man.
I found a like-new hardback Champions 4e (the original, not the "Deluxe" version) to replace the one I lost. I found The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook for WEG Star Wars. I found a copy of NOVA's deluxe version of Ace of Aces! I left about eighty bucks poorer, but infinitely richer.
Then, we hit the road. :D
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