Three Personal MCC RPG Milestones Achieved This Week

It's no secret that Goodman Games' Mutant Crawl Classics is a new passion of mine. (Truth be told, ALL post-apocalyptic RPGs are a passion of mine, as the very genesis of this blog was as a personal Mutant Future repository. Scroll through the first 5 years of posts here as proof.) However, this week I achieved three personal gaming goals all revolving around MCC RPG and my place in Terra AD. And now, on with the countdown...

NUMBER THREE: 

"Dead in the Water" breaks the Top 10 Hottest DCC RPG on Drive Through RPG

Earlier today, I discovered that my first publicly released MCC RPG adventure "Dead In The Water" now sits at the number 7 position on Drive Through RPG's hottest titles for DCC RPG.I'm very pleased that it's been so well received by the community and I thank everyone who's picked up a copy and those who've helped me playtest it over the years at numerous conventions.

And speaking of conventions...

NUMBER TWO:

The first public sighting of an MCC RPG adventure I've written being run at a convention...and not by me

Clayton Williams, one of the overseers of this year's Gongfarmer's Almanac, is running my contribution to this year's GFA at U-Con in Michigan this weekend. My adventure, "The Desert Gardens", has the players searching for a long-lost oasis of botanical bounty somewhere in the Sharpsand Desert. Clayton asked me a while back if he could run this at a future con, and I of course said "Sure!" But until I read through this year's U-Con program guide, I had forgotten all about it. I hope it goes well for you, Clayton!

And speaking of running games in public...

NUMBER ONE:

Running my 13th Road Crew game at a new event

Next weekend is Genghis Con in Cleveland. The event is a small press/independent comic publishers convention and one I've been wanting to attend for years. For the second year there, Weird Realms game store is hosting a game room where folks can try out indy RPGs, new board games, and self-published materials. I've signed on to run a playtest game of my next MCC RPG adventure, "The Desk in Room 8-10". I love introducing new players to games I love, so I'm really looking forward to this event. And, by happenstance, this will be my 13th Road Crew game, which means I'm now qualified for this:

Yup, I've reached the pinnacle of the Road Crew mountain and have earned my Judge Badge. Incredibly pleased I've reached this milestone and -- honestly -- was unaware I'd met the requirements until I went to order swag for the event. Heck of a way to round out 2019. On to 2020!

[Review] Maquis Solo Board Game By Side Room Games

In your small French village during WWII, the Nazi occupiers walk the streets, policing the population and fighting the Resistance. But you will not stand for this oppression. You bravely fight for your country; hidden in the shadows, you strike; you are a member of the Maquis.

Maquis is a solo adventure board game by Side Room Games, makers of another fantastic solo game, Black Sonata. In Maquis, you have two weeks to complete two random missions from the Mission deck. You place your Resistance markers on the board representing your village, attempting to gather up supplies and weapons to complete your objectives. However, as you do so, the civilian police walk the streets, looking for dissidents. Sure, you can kill them, but then they are replaced by heavily-armed soldiers, increasing the challenge of the missions.

During setup, you place the morale marker next to the board. With each day, the morale of the town drops, and the military presence grows stronger, so you must complete your missions before it becomes impossible to do so. You then draw two mission cards and lay them at the top of the board, effectively adding two new "spaces" to the board. Each mission has different objectives, ranging for the simplistic "Officer's Mansion" (tag graffiti around the board to increase morale) to the difficult "Assassination" (kill all of the civilian police force). You place your pieces on the board with your objectives in mind. Need food? Stop by the Grocer's. Need a weapon? Take some money to the Fence and buy one. Need something in a hurry? Call in an airdrop at one of the Radio Towers, then race to the Field to pick it up. After each round, you must be able to move via a cleared path back to the Safe House. If your marker cannot do so, they are arrested and out of the game. (Fortunately, you can recruit more Resistance soldiers at the Cafe.)

Another interesting tactic is to use money to open new Safe Houses on the board, so if you are cut off, you can take refuge there. You can also use money to set up other resources on the board such as a Counterfeiter (print more money), Propagandist (increases morale), or Informant (provides intel). In fact, some missions require you to set up an additional resource as the mission cannot be completed with them (a Chemist's Lab is the only place you can get explosives, for example).

In the game shown here, my missions were "Officer's Mansion" (graffiti in three locations on the board, then tag the officer's mansion last) and "Aid the Spy" (bring weapons, money, and food to the hidden British operative). I tackled the graffiti first (shown by the yellow markers), but three of my operatives were arrested in the process. Fortunately I had recruited the cafe patrons to the cause and still had two to assist the spy. Sadly, while delivering the weapons, both recruits were out on the streets and were cut off from escaping back to the Safe House by two patrols that set up at the Grocers and Pont Leveque, ending the game.

This solo game is fantastically designed and incredibly replayable due to the 14 different missions you can undertake. The decisions you make each round directly affect future moves and actions, so the game never feels random or directionless. Thus far, I've played six games, but I haven't won yet, though I've come close. But that's life behind the lines as a member of the Maquis! Viva La Resistance!

[MCC RPG] Ancient Armory: Chainsaw Nunchucks

Weapon: Chainsaw Nunchucks
Tech Level: 2
Complexity Modifier: 4

Range: 10-foot radius

Damage: 7d6

Power: Uses gasoline fuel; tanks depleted after 10 minutes of use

Chainsaw nunchucks is a weapon that combines the nimbleness and grace of a martial-arts-trained ninja with the savage brutality of a crazed lumberjack. It may not have the terror-inducing "WTF?!" effect of, say, the Rocket-Propelled Chainsaw, but if you encounter an NPC swinging a pair of these around, someone is guaranteed to lose a limb.

The design of a pair of chainsaw nunchucks is fairly simple -- a pair of standard lumber-cutting chainsaws joined together in the rear by a short length of chain. In the hands of a skilled user, the running chainsaws swirl and twist around the body of the attacker, creating a spinning vortex of limb-severing damage to all within 10 feet of the user. Contact with one of the saws will do 7d6 hit points of damage to the unlucky individual.

Using a pair of chainsaw nunchucks should only be attempted by the strongest and most dexterous of individuals. Due to the weight of the weapon (20 lbs.) and the fortitude required to keep it moving, only characters with STR and STA scores over 17 can attempt to wield it. Also, a character must have a minimum AGL score of 18 to even try to learn to use the device. Only the most nimble -- and foolhardy -- of PCs should attempt to teach themselves the art of "chainsaw nunchuckery." If they are driven to learn, the judge is encouraged to roll for full damage with each failed AGL save (DC 20). If the PC is able to train long enough -- and if they haven't lost an arm in the process -- the judge should go ahead and reward them with mastery of the weapon, making for some very interesting future combat encounters.

(This weapon was originally designed for Mutant Future)

Play or DIE Mini-Gaming Con in Athens, Ohio, Nov. 16

 

Just discovered a small one-day mini-con in my neck of the woods next weekend. (OK, so the "neck" is a bit more than 2 hours away. It's still in the state.) Hosted by Ratha Con (love the name), Play or DIE is a one-day affair that runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Athens Community Center in Athens, Ohio. Sounds like there will be boardgames, videogames, and - yes - RPGs there for attendees to try out and play during the day. I'm still riding a bit of a "gaming high" after last week's Gamehole Con attendance, plus I want to give my next MCC RPG adventure "The Desk in Room 8-10" a bit more playtesting, so I'm planning on driving down for the day to check it out. Current plans are to run "Dead In The Water" from noon to 4 p.m., then "Desk" from 4 to 8 p.m. If you're in the area, swing by and check it out with me! Here's the link for ticket and event info.