Conventions

Gen Con 2017: What’s New With Monte Cook Games


Gen Con 50 was amazing! I wanted to share my notes on the seminars I attended. Here’s the first, the main Monte Cook Games seminar. You can also watch the seminar yourself!

Invisible Sun is expected to ship in March 2018. MCG had a separate seminar for this game. The game will include lots of handouts, such as business cards, letterhead, and other tactile stuff. A mockup of the game box and some of its contents (including a map, some of the cards, and the creepy hand that holds them) was available for viewing and caressing at the MCG booth in the Exhibit Hall.

“Cypher Play” is the MCG demo program. For more info, talk to Darcy Ross. The program will feature three seasons per year, and they’ll be short ones. The first is a Cypher System fantasy campaign by Bruce Cordell. Players are encouraged to tell their local game stores that they want to see this, because this program is driven by store participation. The adventures are free, and a copy is provided for each player (not just each GM).

Shanna Germain talked about the “Cypher Guide,” an upcoming online encyclopedia containing comprehensive info about Cypher System games. It will include page references and rules information for the games. It will be searchable and feature character creation, creatures, foci, types, etc. The Cypher Guide should be live soon. Will it feature 3rd party content? Shanna hadn’t considered this, but said maybe.

Monte talked about the latest Numenera book, “Jade Colossus.” It’s his suggestion about what single book to buy after the corebook. The book contains step by step campaign creation and a Numenera ruin mapping engine.

Unmasked by Dennis Detwiller will finish the Worlds of the Cypher System trilogy, and is due in November 2017. It is a game of psychological horror and superheroes, featuring teens in the 1980s. Masks impart powers, but can also alter one’s personality.

A Cypher System quickstart is coming in September, and will be free online.

Numenera 2: This was the big announcement! This will come in the form of two books: Discovery and Destiny, and will Kickstart in September (for probably $120 for both books in a slipcase). MCG has just started development on it. (Here’s their announcement on the MCG website.)

Discovery will replace the current Numenera core book. (Monte says they are “retiring” that book, which is now selling out from its 4th printing.) It’s not an overhaul to the system; old books will still be usable. It will revise the character creation material, aiming to provide more and better character options. These options will provide more choices when tier-ing up. Monte says this kind of backward compatibility is possible because in the Cypher System PC rules are distinct from NPC rules. He promises a seamless use of old sourcebooks (such as the bestiaries) with the new rules (and vice versa–new bestiaries with the old corebook). He notes that old character options books will be “less useful” with Numenera 2, but the rest will remain useful. Also, the setting chapter might expand on locations that have been added to Numenera over time, such as the city featured in “The Poison Eater” novel.

Destiny will let PCs take discoveries and use them to do things such as build a new base, or vehicle, or help their community in some other way. It will include a crafting system, detailing materials and components with dozens of plans for building things. Destiny will let players be proactive and shepherd a community through long-term campaigns. Monte promises that you can “make your mark on the 9th world.” Destiny will come with three new Types, plus new foci and descriptors. The game will also feature new community-related organizations. (FYI, Monte’s favorite Numenera organization is The Convergence, from Numenera.)

Season 2 of Cypher Play–by Sean Reynolds–will serve as a sort of preview to Numenera 2. Numenera 2 will keep some of the iconic art from the original, but will mostly feature new artwork. The Kickstarter will have a narrative element, involving a community under threat; more backers means more defenses and resources for the community, and this community will become a part of the 9th World. Monte noted that Numenera 2 won’t push any “story” forward in time, because the game doesn’t involve a meta-plot. Monte also asserts that Numenera 2 represents growth for the game.

Selected Q&A:

  • What’s Amp’s favorite game? (Ampersand is Shanna & Monte’s dog) Their answers were “Chase me,” “No Thank You Evil,” and “Anything involving food.”
  • What was your first RPG?
    • Monte: D&D, from the little booklets, when he was 11.
    • Bear: Same as Monte, during boy/cub scouts.
    • Shanna: Bunnies & Burrows, which her babysitter played with her.
    • Bruce: D&D, in boy scouts, playing at a lantern-lit table at night.
    • Darcy: D&D 3rd Edition. (Monte winced at this answer.) Her group played from the Player’s Handbook only, not having the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
    • Zoa: D&D with her brothers (at their demand), when she was 13 and they were 11. They didn’t have a rulebook at all, and she had to make up the rules.
    • Sean: Red box Moldvay D&D. Keep on the Borderlands.
    • Tammie: Ars Magica and D&D
    • Charles: Blue box D&D starting at Christmas ’79. After the newer edition had come out, so he could get his at $12 for the Player’s Handbook, $12 for the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and $15 for the Monster Manual.
  • Will Numenera 2 be open for the Cypher System Creator program? Maybe. Shanna reminded folks that Predation is open for this program.
  • Will there be more Gods of the Fall content? No current plans, but they pointed out that the Creator program has GOTF content now.
  • When will Monte & Shanna’s Numenera novel come out? Possibly November.
  • The Tides of Numenera PC game is how Darcy found out about Numenera.
  • A Cypher System creature deck is coming in November.
  • Will we see a new box for storing cards, since the current one is overflowing? Monte says, “Very likely.” And, “Seems like something we would do.”

That’s it! Tell me what you think about MCG’s plans in the comments!

MidSouthCon 2017 – Day 3

MidSouthCon 2017 continues! If you missed the previous posts, here they are:

Dungeon World

My third and final RPG of the con was Dungeon World. It was also the third time trying a game I’d never played–which is usually my goal! The session was called “The Great Below,” and because of the way it felt and the fact that I can’t find an adventure of that title online, I suspect our GM wrote it himself. Which impresses me, because it was a fun one.

I got to play a bard (my favorite fantasy class), and my wife was a cleric. One player was a thief (and my character’s best friend), and the other was a custom “psion” class. The adventure had a fantasy feel but in a post-apocalyptic setting–and as a fan of Numenera and Mutant Crawl Classics, I like that quite a bit. I got to make enemies attack each other, which I chose to do because that’s what my wife did to great effect in our Rifts game. Our party worked well together, and at the climax of the adventure we had control of a giant robot ape.

I forgot to take any photos, so boo on me. Try to picture a giant robot ape.

Autographs

I had forgotten to bring anything to ask Keith Baker to sign on day 1, but for the rest of the con I wagged around two items. On Sunday, I spotted him again, and he kindly signed my games. (You might be thinking of pointing out to me that I could have found him in one of his panels, but I kept too busy this year playing games to make it to any of those.)
Gloom
Cthulhu Fluxx

Later, in the art gallery, I met artist guest of honor Matt Stawicki at his corner of the room. He was also amazingly friendly, and added his signature to my copy of The Strange, along with those of the other creators I’ve met so far. In fact, so did Cathy Wilkins, who was there too! Double artist greatness!

I was interested to learn that Matt’s favorite world in The Strange is the biomechanical world of Ruk, because he likes the bizarre setting.

More Board Games

We squeezed in three more board games on Sunday, too.

Battle Sheep is a kid-friendly game in which players alternate placing land-masses and then try to fill the most space with their own sheep using simple movement rules. It was fun, and didn’t take too much brainpower. (At the time we played it, that was a plus.)

Roll For the Galaxy is a cool-looking dice-based worker placement strategy game. The players are competing to create the most powerful empire. I wanted to love this game, but my two fellow players and I couldn’t reach the top of the learning curve before frustration made at least one of us lose interest. I’d still like to give it another try sometime. I like the space setting and the use of many, many dice.

Exposed is another kid-friendly game where each player is a pickpocket. Nobody knows at the start who the other players are, and you’re trying to collect the most wallets without being identified.

Con Complete!

And so we come to the end of another successful MidSouthCon! I played more games than usual, and spent less than usual, so I call that win-win!

MidSouthCon 2017 – Day 2

MidSouthCon 2017 continues! If you missed the previous post, here’s a link: Day 1.

Savage Rifts

My first stop on day 2 was my first game of Savage Rifts. As I mentioned last year, I backed this Savage Worlds edition of Rifts on Kickstarter, and read the books as soon as they arrived at my house–but this was my first opportunity to play.

It was great fun! Our characters were dog boys of different types in a biker gang. (Mine was a crazy poodle who thought he was a cat.) The adventure was “Meet the New Boss” from Savage Foes of North America. My dog boy, Felix, went out in a blaze of glory saving townsfolk from a collapsing building. (Full disclosure, our team member collapsed the building.)

Escape the Room

My second game of the day was a board game we checked out from the library, Escape the Room. It’s a tabletop recreation of an escape room experience. It was fun, but there’s just about zero replayability to this one.

Feng Shui 2

My other RPG on day 2 was another first for me, Feng Shui 2. The adventure was “Red Packet Rumble,” and I had fun playing as the Scrappy Kid. I documented my favorite attacks in this stylish Hong Kong action cinema game (in this case set at a wedding):
  • flying kick to the face (success!)
  • somersault toward a mook ending in splits at his feet to deliver a punch to the crotch (fail!)
  • sweep the legs since I couldn’t reach the crotch (fail!)
  • drown a mook in the punch bowl (fail!)
  • throw a mook into the groom’s cake (fail!)
  • whip cupcakes at a mook to soften him up for a flying kick into the buffet (fail!)
  • bash a new target with a serving platter (success so solid it took out a second mook!)
Feng Shui 2’s action tracker

In the end, this session was OK-but-not-great, though I may save the details for a post about that topic later. The Feng Shui 2 system, though, I really like.

Costumes

I hesitate to call mine a costume, since it’s only made of a few parts and a prop, but this year I accessorized my new ultra-long Doctor Who scarf with some other wardrobe elements to represent the 4th Doctor.

TARDIS provided by a skilled builder at the con

Here were my favorite costume-related moments from the con:

  • An older lady gave me a heartfelt “Thank you!” (I assume she meant for representing the classic series, but it’s possible she just appreciated me moving out of her way.)
  • A young man simply nodded and said, “Doctor.”
  • Someone said, “I’ve always wanted a scarf like that. I just never made the time to make one.” (I wasn’t sure how to answer that one. Neither have I? Also, he never actually complimented mine, so…)
  • A vendor excitedly told me about his favorite Doctor (#7)
  • And, my favorite: a young girl passing me simply said “Nice.”

During my Time Lord adventures at the con, I also met one of my future selves, #8…

…and even ran into my mirror image!

This fellow was devastated that he’d forgotten
his wig and scarf, but he still looked amazing!

Here are some other costumes I liked (and got close enough to capture)…

So happy I found a Ghostbuster! 

Shopping

As an admitted dice addict, I must confess to purchasing a set of dice within half an hour of entering the dealer’s room. Much later, between games, I bought the Doctor Who 10th Doctor Sourcebook (adding him to my other favorite Doctors, #4 and #1) and a Gloom Expansion (in honor of Keith Baker).

Here’s my favorite vendor. (Also, not coincidentally, the only one selling roleplaying games.)

Coming Soon: The MidSouthCon 2017 Finale!

MidSouthCon 2017 – Day 1

Here are some highlights from the first day of MidSouthCon 2017.

Gloom

My con experience got off to a great start with a game of Gloom moderated by its designer, gaming guest of honor Keith Baker himself! Keith led two tables of Gloom, alternating between our table and a neighboring one. They chose Fairytale Gloom and we (ok, *I*) chose the new Gloom in Space!

For my crew I assembled Team Adorable: The Farmboy, The Kid, The Cute One, and The Robot. In the finest Gloom tradition, all of them died miserably.

Action Cats

Because we finished Gloom a little early, Keith invited us to try out a new game he’s testing out, Action Cats! It is fan-tastic!

Reminiscent of games like Cards Against Humanity, in each round of Action Cats one player is the judge and the other players compete to put together the funniest phrase. In this case, the phrase is intended to describe the pictured cat.

Keith had the judge name the cat who was the subject of each round. A different cat is on the back of each card. In our game, this was Kitty Conway…

These were the contenders for one round.
Keith said he plans to Kickstart the game later this year.

Board Gaming

We finished out day one by sampling some games from the board game library. It’s been a long day, so I don’t remember their names. Here’s a shot of the room:

Costumes

Here are a few of the cool costumes I saw today. I expect to see much more tomorrow, as they ramp up for the costume contest.

More to Come on Day Two!

Gen Con 2016: TimeWatch

This year I only played in one game at Gen Con. Wait, before you repossess my dice, hear me out.

This was the first year I dragged my wife and son along, so I didn’t want to overload them. Also, as a developing RPG writer, I had a lot of seminars to attend and schmoozing to do, so that took a lot of time. (I had a second game scheduled before we arrived at the con, and ended up canceling it to squeeze in one more seminar.) Finally, I’ve learned to prioritize exhibit hall time over gaming time, because the former is in shorter supply.

Anyway, the game I DID get into was fun enough to justify the whole trip!

TimeWatch

I’m realizing a time theme in my Gen Con games…I’ve attended for the last 3 years in a row, and every year I’ve been in a time travel game. This year’s was TimeWatch.

I had just bought the game the day before, and got to meet its designer, Kevin Kulp. TimeWatch is a gonzo time-travel game that uses the Gumshoe system. I missed the game’s Kickstarter (and cursed myself for bad timing), so I was happy to see it on sale at Pelgrane Press’s booth. (Their buy-3-get-one-free sale worked out great for me, too.)

Jumping forward in time approximately a day from my purchase…guess who turned out to be the GM for our session! Yep, Kevin. Kevin ran the adventure “The Gadget,” which I later learned is in the adventure book “Behind Enemy Times.”

Adventure synopsis:

“An obsessive 24th-century collector (and disembodied brain) tries to steal the first working atomic bomb for his own personal museum. As Agents work to stop him, ezeru slip in to steal his collection of nuclear warheads.”

My son’s drawing of the disembodied brain

I liked the adventure, and I’m happy to report that Kevin runs a good game. He’s good about letting everyone have their time in the spotlight, including letting each of us define something about the setting (such as the color of time travel, which–in our game–is blue). I also liked his suggestion that we not focus on what was on our character sheets, telling us instead to just think of what cool stuff we wanted to do and go from there.

I played as a British big game hunter from the 19th Century with an impressive elephant gun and an even more impressive mustache. My wife was a sexy liquid-metal-cyborg from India in the future. My son took the part of a caveman with a 12-word vocabulary. (This was a perfect choice for a shy kid who doesn’t want to talk much in front of strangers anyway.)

The other pregenerated characters were all cool too. We had an African pilot from the future, an intelligent velociraptor from an alternate timeline, Genghis Khan’s daughter, and an arrogant scientist who claimed to have invented time travel. These are signature characters in TimeWatch book, referenced in examples throughout the book.

In the adventure, we got to visit several different time periods, gather clues, infiltrate our enemy, and fight a woolly mammoth and a brain-in-a-jar. We were, of course, successful in saving all of time and space. I don’t want to give away too many details about the adventure, in case you have a chance to play it yourself. In fact, if you’re in Memphis, I’ll run it for you!

In general, though, my favorite thing about TimeWatch is that time travel is its core activity. It’s not just a way to get you to the site of an adventure, it’s a tool you’ll use frequently, both in and out of combat. You can have your future self leave an item for you in the present (Bill-and-Ted style). You can jump ahead in time to see the effects of recent events on the timeline. Each character has her own time travel device, so you don’t even have to go as a group.

Oh, another thing I liked about this session was Kevin’s use of “Turn Tracker Cards.” They were awesome for keeping track of whose turn is next and who has already gone–including adversaries, divided up into Minions, Flunkies, etc., all the way up to the Big Bad. (As soon as I got home I ordered my own deck. You can too!)

If this were a review (it’s not), I’d say this: if you like time travel, buy TimeWatch. It’s incredibly fun. As I continue to not review it, I must also say I was surprised how thick the book was. The Gumshoe system seems pretty simple, so I didn’t think this game would require a lot of info. The thing is, I was kinda right! I believe you can run this game after reading just a few of the chapters. A lot of the book is dedicated to alternate campaign settings (every one of which looks compelling), adversaries, adventure seeds, and full adventures. This, for me, is how to present a game: not a lot of it is mandatory for running the game, but they’ve given us a large amount of useful material.

End of non-review. It’s table selfie time!