Friday, March 27, 2020

"Virtual" Gary Con Day 0: "The Con In My Basement" And Joining The Online Community

 
With every game convention I've ever attended, I have filed a daily travelogue so folks who couldn't make it would be able to game vicariously through my thoughts, photos, and amusing anecdotes. It was to be no different when I attended Gary Con XII this weekend!

Or so I thought...

As you're probably aware (unless you're a basement-dwelling grognard, myself included), you're aware that the global coronavirus pandemic has run amok, shutting down pretty much all major gatherings, meetings, and conventions. This year, just a few weeks ago, Luke Gygax and his staff needed to cancel Gary Con XII. However, gamers are a resourceful resilient lot, and they turned their collective eyes toward Virtual Gary Con. Virtual Gary Con (VGC) was originally a handful of events to be run online for folks who couldn't attend the physical event. Once GC XII was cancelled, however, VCG mutated, grew, and exploded into a virtual online replacement for "Celebrating a Life Well-Played." In fact, as I write this post, VGC has one-third the number of gaming events, Q-and-As, and seminars as the actual convention, which is AWESOME. Extra-plus good is that folks can now attend anywhere in the world from March 26-29, making VGC a true "global" event. (Heck, it even got a nice article on the Forbe's website!)

And Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman is no exception to Gary Con's siren song!

As usual with these little travelogues, I'll share what I've seen and done to give you a feel for what's going on each day I attend. (And I'll try not to just show pictures of my home set-up for the virtual event, but I *am* proud of the Snider Cave so expect some show-off pix of some of my treasures.)

And here we go:
  • I had to cancel my vacation time when the event was cancelled. And because my place of employment was deemed "essential", we remained open. (Although we're a printer/publisher, we also have a distribution center that supplies other "essential" businesses.) So I was unable to truly "attend" Thursday. However tonight is Friday night, and once I get off work, I'm going to (Virtual) Gary Con!
  • When word came down that GC XII was cancelled, the GC Staff also pointed out that they had merchandise (lots and lots and LOTS of merchandise) they had specially ordered for the now-defunct event. All of the collected merch was speedily collected and placed on the Gary Con Bazaar to help offset the costs of the event's cancellation. I snatched up a Gary Con XII shirt (after all, I'm still attending, right?) and a GC Gamemaster shirt (after all, I'm still GMing, right?). I also added a GC shot glass to add to my collection. Finally, I dropped a little something extra into their tip jar to do what I could to ensure GC XIII next year. (And if you'd like to grab some sweet, sweet Gary Con swag as well as help them recover some costs, go check out their Bazaar while supplies last!)
  • Because the vendor and artists support themselves with convention sales, the cancellation was a blow. So the VGC Staff assembled a list of vendor and artist sites for a  "virtual" Dealer's Hall! Most of the vendors are offering discounts as well! I have inserted the current Vendor's Hall listing at the end of this post, so go buy some wares and help these folks out!
  • Speaking of the Vendor's Hall, I've thus far picked up the new "convention only" DCC adventure, "The Accursed Heart of the World-Ender" and the new pirate-oriented "Skull and Crossbones Classics"! (And I'm SURE I'll be picking up more over the weekend!)
  • At VGC, I'll be running my very first online games, and I must say I'm a bit nervous. Never played in one, let alone run one before. I'm an old grognard when it comes to running RPGs, and I like to keep things fast and loose -- more theater of the mind, with quick sketches drawn on a whiteboard. So I signed up a subscription to Zoom, which is an easy-to-use videoconferencing suite. Stephen Newton (of DCC fame amongst other creative endeavors) happens to work for Zoom, so he ran a few of us interested parties through the software. The fact it has an onscreen whiteboard I can sketch on during a game was a selling point for me, so this weekend, that's what I'll be firing up!
  •  Also, I had to upgrade my spotty-signal WiFi router, so I hope I'm not cutting in and out all weekend! (Apologies in advance to any players if this becomes an issue.)
  • Oh, and what games will I be running? First I'll be further playtesting my comedy-fantasy RPG FORSOOTH! My hope is to have this ready for release this summer. And I'll also be playtesting my upcoming MCC RPG adventure "The Desk in Room 8-10". That one is scheduled for release for DCC Day on May 16! 
  • Tonight I invited all of my weekend players to join me in a Zoom chat to shake out the system, get folks used to the interface, answer any last-minute questions, and just hang out and BS about All Things Gaming. Jon, Andy, Wendy, Jacob, Greg, and Bjorn dropped in to test the system and watch me flounder like a monkey as I tried to get the hang of sharing images. Nice to meet everyone and we'll be gaming in less than 14 hours from now!
  • Finally, one minus....NO SPOTTED COW IN OHIO! ARGH!!!!!
And here are a few images of today's "events":
Pirates in DCC? Yarrrr, me hearties! Sign me up fer the long haul!

A new DCC adventure is always a glorious discovery!

I picked up The Velour Palace of the Disco King last year, and Joe Stash reached out to sell me the follow-up adventure, which has gotta be OUTTA SIGHT! (And now I have the Rick Dees song in my head. Thanks for the earworm, Joe!)


And "Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman" joins the online community. See you on the Intertubes this weekend, folks!

VIRTUAL GARY CON DEALER'S HALL! SHOW SOME LOVE!
Posted by Tim Snider at 8:15 PM 0 comments
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Sunday, January 19, 2020

Quill Noir Available in French, And Watch It Played On Twitch (In French)

One of my favorite creations that I've written is Quill Noir, a supplement for Quill: A Letter-Writing Roleplaying Game for a Single Player that takes place in the world of 1930s pulp crime fiction novels and 1940s hardboiled detective films. It's become fairly popular, sells well, and I get a few compliments on it throughout the year. Imagine my delight when I was approached by writer and illustrator Angela Deschand earlier this year who asked for permission to translate it into French! I, of course, was happy to oblige. (She has also translated Quill: Shadow and Ink for the Quill system as well.) If you're interested in grabbing a copy of Quill Noir in French, it is available for free download at this link. (Or click on the cover to the left.)

Even more mind-blowing is that the French edition of Quill Noir was recently played live on Twitch by Samuel Ziterman! Sadly, I don't speak French, but as the author of the original supplement, I kinda could follow what scenarios he played as well as how he did. (Second game, pretty well. First game, not so much!) If you'd like to see a replay of his solo adventures into the world of gangsters and gun molls, check out this link here or click the screen capture below.


Both Quill and Quill Noir (and my other supplement Quill Quest: The Warlord's Downfall) are available as Pay What You Want releases, so try before you buy, if you prefer. Also, everything for Quill has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, so feel free to create your own Quill supplement!
Posted by Tim Snider at 4:06 PM 0 comments
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Friday, December 20, 2019

[Review] "Crit Or Myth" RPG Musical Comedy CD By Fugli


Although I don't typically review music CDs here at The Savage AfterWorld, I stumbled across a request on Facebook for folks to review an upcoming music CD focusing on old school role-playing gaming. Now, I'm a fan of filk and musical parodys, so I wanted to find out what this was all about. Sent away and in a few days, I got a preview copy of the CD illustrated above.

"Crit or Myth" is an upcoming music CD by "Fugli" (AKA Jeremy Fowler-Lindemulder) who typically performs in the Renaissance Faire community, but this new offering is a divergence from his normal Faire material, and focuses on his AD&D 1e days.

There's good stuff here for the OSR enthusiast with a variety of styles vary from medieval fantasy, to calypso, to rock, to folk parodies of  classic tunes. I enjoyed the variety of musical styles amongst the songs on this fully loaded CD (I'll explain more in a second). There are 12 songs that will have all role-players nodding along with the melodies as well as in agreement with the pithy situations mentioned in the melodious tales. Some of my favorites include...

"Epic Myth" - The odds are against you, and a TPK is imminent. The party is counting on you to pull their fat out of the fire with a Roll For The Ages. You throw the dice and, well, as the song refrain says, "I rolled a one..." A very funny song that I've come to call The Gamer's Lament. One of my favorites on the CD.

"Conga Line of Doom" - Those narrow dungeon corridors don't allow for much shoulder-to-shoulder combat, so line up for the slaughter! The problems with marching orders versus tight underground quarters feature in this calypso parody of pinch points and kill zones.

"Flavor Text" - Those descriptive paragraphs that paint a vivid picture in the minds of your players -- and how they then run berserk through the scene when you stop to take a breath. The creative lyrical prose of the DM versus the breathless impulsive actions of the PCs meet in this funny adventure summary.

Other songs on the CD include: "The Wild Roller" (How much dice you got? It's not enough.); "The Deck of Many Don'ts" (That deck you found in a locked chest? Leave it alone.); "Random Tables" (Almost everything you find and do will be eventually left to chance.); "Baba Yaga's Hut" (Chicken-footed house a-comin'!); "The Demon Prince" (The dance craze...from the Seven Hells!); "Parts is Parts" (You never know what monster part might come in handy later.); "The Hoard" (There's always one player who hoards EVERYTHING - encumbrance be damned.); "Alignment Blues" (Chaotic Evil is so much easier than Lawful Good, you know?); and "Eye of the Beholder" (Monsters, go figure.)

Remember when I said this was "fully loaded"? There are numerous other special features lurking within, such as video clips of live performances, web links to numerous sites of the band's other offerings, and -- most keen for the gamers out there -- "Striek Hollus: The Tomb of the Eighth Blue Wizard", an adventure written by Jeremy back in December 1980 for The Dungeoneer's Journal and is now re-released here! (Which WILL see table use in one of my upcoming home games!) There is a lot to like on this CD for the gamer as well as those who appreciate clever music parodys.

"Crit or Myth" will be released January 2020 through Amazon and fugli.bandcamp.com. You can follow the group at http://phi.povera.com/ or  https://www.facebook.com/fugli as well!
Posted by Tim Snider at 8:48 PM 0 comments
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Sunday, December 15, 2019

[Samson Sunday] Savage Menagerie: Ice Monster

In Mighty Samson Issue 4, Samson faced the threat of sailing vessels from Greelynd led by the ruthless warlord Thorr! Thorr captured Samson and his friends, and pitted Samson against post-apocalyptic mutants in his arena! Here's one of those threats!

Ice Monster: Init +1; Atk bite +6 melee (1d6+2) or claw +4 melee (1d4); AC 17; HD 3d8; MV 20'; Act 2d20; SP laser resistance, cryokinesis; SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +6.

The Ice Monster appears to be similar to the Ancient polar bear species. However, the bear-like creature is twice as large and, instead of white fur, it is covered in icy shards across its body,  giving it a crystalline shimmer when light reflects off of its hide. Because its surface reflects/refracts light waves, an Ice Monster only takes half-damage from light-based attacks (e.g., lasers and similar weapons).

An Ice Monster is a powerful ursine animal, able to bite for 1d6+2 hp damage or claw an opponent for 1d4 hp. An Ice Monster is "super-coldblooded", giving it the mutation of cryokinesis, which it uses to try to freeze its prey in place during combat.

An Ice Monster, however, is incredibly vulnerable to heat-based attacks and will take double-damage from any such assault. It is not unusual to see the massive beast melt clean away under a barrage of flame and fire.

NOTE: This creature was inspired by the interior tale from Issue 4 of "Mighty Samson." Stay tuned each week for Samson Sunday!


Posted by Tim Snider at 8:53 PM 0 comments
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