@ReverbGamers Master List Number 5

#5: Have you ever introduced a child to gaming, or played a game with a young person? How is gaming with kids different than gaming with adults?

Yes. Yes I have. There are a couple differences when playing with kids.

• Kids have shorter attention spans. The typical game session for an adult group is about four hours (sometimes more). For kids, avoid going much past two hours--that way lies madness (and frustration).
• Kids are more creative than adults. If you're a GM, and you think your players have messed up your master plans in the past, try GMing a seven-year-old or two. You'll stop complaining about your adult players going "off course." A kid at the table will surely keep you on your toes.
• Kids are more honest than adults. If they're not having fun, you'll know it.

As a parent, I will close by saying nothing is cooler than watching your kid "get" roleplaying and want to do it with you.

@ReverbGamers Master List Number 4

#4 Are you a "closet gamer?" Have you ever hidden the fact that you're a gamer from your co-workers, friends, family, or significant other? Why or why not? How did they react if they found out?

I am not a closet gamer.

I am sometimes careful about how I introduce or talk about gaming to co-workers. It's not embarrassing as much as I hate having to explain. Everyone assumes I mean video games, and for some reason that annoys me. It really annoys me to learn how much people don't listen. I can give a full description of roleplaying after I've been asked, only to have the other conversant still talking about video games.

The reactions of people who learn I'm a gamer range from legitimate interest to simple weird looks. I'm surprised often at who I learn "used to" game. It's really funny when I'm occasionally told in secret by someone who just acted like I was an alien in front of other people.

[Read-Thru] Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade

In July of 2010, my buddy Eloy Lasanta, owner of Third Eye Games, sent me a review copy of Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade. I read the book and loved it, and I had Eloy on my podcast to discuss the game several months later. But I never got around to commenting on the game here. Recently, I’ve had reason to go back and re-read the game (maybe the reason will be discussed here one day), so I figured I’d give my thoughts about it while it’s fresh in my memory.

In Wu Xing, you play a ninja who has joined the Lotus Coalition, in an effort to strike back at the Izou Empire, which has called for the destruction of all Ninja. While the Lotus Coalition means well, there is still plenty of enmity between the various Ninja clans, so there’s a lot of potential for some awesome storytelling.

Let’s take this chapter by chapter...

Introduction
The book starts off with a brief introduction, which includes a look at the setting, the ninja clans, and the (very) basics of the game system. It also includes a short example of play in the “what is roleplaying” section.

Wu Xing is powered by the Dynamic Gaming System (DGS), the same system found in Apocalypse Prevention, Inc., which requires only a single d20. This is not in any way related to The d20 System--it simply uses a d20.

I think this section of the book is just about perfect. It was enough information to get my juices flowing about the setting, without setting me up to re-read too much later in the book (who has time for that?).

Chapter One: Ninja vs. The Empire
Ninja vs. Empire goes into more detail about the setting. You get the history which leads up to the Ninja Crusade. You learn a little more about the clans and what it means, in general, to be a ninja. The major players of the world are discussed, to include the Lotus Coalition, the Izou Empire, and the Five Kingdoms surrounding the Empire. (The Five Kingdoms are only given a very high-level view, as they will each be covered in source books, the first of which has been released--The Land of Seed and Blossom.) There are two beautiful maps: one for the Izou Empire, and one for the rest of the world.

There is a great deal of information in this chapter, and I feel like, once again, it’s just what a GM needs to create her own campaign. Eloy is known for amazing control of the delivery of setting information, and he didn't disappoint here.
 

Chapter Two: Clans
The Clans chapter goes into detail about the 10 major ninja clans of the setting. (To date I believe the number of playable clans has roughly doubled with the release of two source books and one single-clan PDF.) They are presented in what I call the classic White Wolf style--you get a quick story about a sample clan member, the history of the clan, the lifestyle of a typical clan member, clan agendas, character creation info, and the telltale Clan Impressions section, which gives a sentence or two describing, in the words of a clan member, what they think of the other clans, the Lotus Coalition, and the Empire. The clans include:

Bamboo Herbalists: Adrenaline junkie healers with a propensity for going where they’re not wanted to get their ingredients.

Blazing Dancers: Light-hearted circus performers who use performance to stay in shape for ass-kicking.

Grasping Shadows: These guys are probably what comes to mind when you think of a Ninja (deliberately capitalized here).

Hidden Strands of Fate: These ninja spend less time fighting and more time politicking and controlling things from within.

Living Chronicle: Contemplative biographers of the world, they keep their records on their skin.

Pack of the Black Moon: These are the country folk, attuned to nature--especially animals. They can grant their powers to specially-trained dogs.

Recoiling Serpents: Masters of poison, and they’re ambitious to boot. Everyone watches them closely.

Virtuous Body Gardeners: Tattooed upstarts, these guys can animate their tattoos. Since they’re a newer clan, they are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves--which usually involves taking crazy risks.

Wardens of Equilibrium: All these ninja care about is balance in the world. They created the Lotus Coalition to combat the imbalance created by the Empire. Most of these guys are merchants.

Will of Iron: These metal smiths like to fight. Think of a Viking, only violent.

Another skill, at which Eloy excels, is the ability to keep you thinking about “your character” as you read through his books. In this chapter, I had to keep re-reading sections because I kept going off into my own world, thinking of “my character.” Then I’d realize I didn’t know what I just read. That’s a nice problem for a gamer to have and a nice one for a designer to create.

The Clan Impressions and the fiction in each clan write-up solved another problem for me. In the first chapter, I was thinking Eloy’s writing style might be wrong for a game about the Far East. The Clans chapter solved this conundrum for me. By the time I read the included fiction and the Clan Impressions, I got the sense Eloy was deliberately going for a looser style. The language and the sensibilities of the book are deliberately Western (the hemisphere, not the genre), and it will make Wu Xing more approachable to folks, like my wife (hint hint), who know little about Eastern cultures.

Chapter Three: Character Building
Character creation is basically a point buy system, with each part of the character having so many points to spend. There are six steps to creating a character. They’re listed in a sidebar at the beginning of the chapter. I couldn’t find step four (select Wushu) anywhere in the body of the chapter, but it’s listed again in the quick reference at the end (and Wushu is covered fully in the next chapter). The chapter is rounded out with a complete character creation walkthrough, to include a completed character sheet. More games should have this.

This chapter includes all the stats you’ll use, to include Skills, Gifts, and Drawbacks. Wu Xing has a lot of numbers to keep track of--this is seriously one of the crunchiest games I’ve liked in years--but this chapter does a decent job of conveying what needs to be done. With the exception of Clan choice, Wushu, and equipment, everything you need for your character is in here, which should minimize page flipping, at least a bit.

The skill list is short, which is a Good Thing(TM). There are a number of Fighting Styles to choose from, definitely taken from Kung-Fu styles, named after animals. There are a lot of variables in here--each style gives bonuses for different things, and there are special abilities associated with the styles. It’s great for flavor, but could create issues with keeping track of what your character’s bonuses are for which moves.

There is quite a bit in character creation that gets a player thinking about her character and provides guidance on how to play it. Eloy spends quite a bit of space on concept, including upbringing, gender issues, etc., then there are stats that provide guidance as well. Your character’s Chi levels in Yin and Yang determine much about personality. Your ninja will also have an elemental soul, which also provides more great food for thought. Put these together with Drawbacks, and even less-experienced players should walk into the first session with good ammunition for getting into their character’s head.

Character advancement is very White Wolf. Basically you get a point for showing up, a point for learning, etc. These XP can be spent to improve your character. 

Chapter Four: Wushu 

Wushu are ninja powers. Each clan has their clan-specific wushu, and there are more general wushu, which more than one type of ninja may possess. Those are usually elemental.

The powers are activated with a die roll, and Chi is spent in different ways to fuel it.

The feeling of wushu covers the gamut from spells to superpowers, and there’s a lot of variance between the different types of wushu. The chapter ends with some quick and dirty rules for making your own wushu. It gives magic  a “sky’s the limit" feel.

(Coming from a guy who plays a lot of Savage Worlds, the way powers are set up in Wu Xing is certainly refreshing for me. All the characters are spellcasters, and they all manage to feel different. It takes a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part to have multiple spellcasters in Savage Worlds--not so here.)

Chapter Five: Equipment and Combat
I’ll say right away I was taken aback by having equipment share a chapter with combat. Equipment isn’t just about weapons, so there’s more to it then fighting. I would have definitely broken these up.

In regards to equipment, your Class in life determines what you can afford to have as a character. Land-owners can buy things with Cost: 1 or less, Artisans can buy things with Cost: 2: or less, and so on. It’s really clean, and it ties nicely into the setting. As weapons and armor help in combat, other items can help with skill checks. Pretty straightforward; I like it.

Combat is pretty crunchy, but I think in a game where spells, fists, feet, and swords are flying, wuxia-style, that’s completely appropriate.

Different combat actions essentially provide a combination of modifiers to attacks, defense, and damage. These numbers are further modified by Fighting Styles, armor, and weapons. Everything you do has a Speed, which brings me to the initiative system.

Each combat round consists of 20, half-second Counts on a combat tracker. Your initiative roll determines your starting space on the tracker. Then on your turn, the action you choose determines when you’ll go next. Every character has at least two actions per round.

You may initially be thinking, “oh, crap--phases ala Champions,” and you would be wrong. Instead you have to make strategic choices every time you act or react to someone else in the combat.

Example: You act on Count 2, your opponent on Count 7. Do you take an action that does more damage and give your opponent the chance to act next, or do you go for less damage, but give yourself two actions before your opponent? For your opponent, do they try to avoid your blow, pushing them down the combat tracker and giving you another chance to attack, or do they take the hit and hope for a killer comeback?

By default, the DGS uses no battle mat, but my sense is there’s little chance of falling into “I attack, I hit, I damage” with this system. And unlike other game systems, not using a mat won’t require a ton of GM fiat either.

I haven’t played it enough to give a final verdict on this, but I’m really excited to spend some time with it.

The chapter is rounded out with a three-round, one-on-one combat example. It does a great job of conveying what Eloy is going for with this combat system.

Chapter Six: Antagonists
There's a thorough selection of NPCs. There are also supernatural creatures, to include Spirits, Celestial Animals, and Oni. The stat blocks presented are pretty easy to read and understand--they’re neatly organized.

Barring something very specialized, there’s no reason a GM should ever need to fully stat up NPCs with what’s presented. That said, it’s my hope there will be a supplement to expand on the supernatural creatures, especially the Oni. I just wanted more.

Chapter Seven: Storytelling
This chapter is all about GMing. There are tips on theme and mood and recommendations for animated films to watch (for the record, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto, and Basilisk). Also included are story hooks, based on the different styles of story the game is meant to be played with. The chapter is rounded out with some general “don’t be a dick”-style GM tips.

Between this chapter and everything else in the book, this game deftly avoids the trap so many games fall into: “so now what?” In Wu Xing, the “what” is clear.

Appendices
The book is rounded out with a glossary of terms, a series of quick reference sheets for combat and fighting styles, character sheets, and an index. The index is serviceable, but not as detailed as I’d like (to be fair, most aren't).

Conclusions
This is my favorite Third Eye Games setting so far, which is saying something, since I edited the bulk of Part-Time Gods. I’ve loved them all, but this one fires on all cylinders for me. One of my favorite features is there’s no metaplot, just the setup. There are no secrets, which only the game master may know--another Good Thing(TM). The end result is players can read this book, cover-to-cover, and their understanding and enjoyment of the game can only be enhanced by doing so.

While I've mentioned the crunchiness and statiness (new word) of the game, the core mechanic of the game is simple--roll d20, add modifiers, beat target number. A deft GM could easily roll in the additional mechanics as needed, to a crunch-shy group.

I have two issues with this book: 1) It seems to me a game about a war should include mass combat rules. I know ninja battles are showcased as one-on-on events in anime and manga, but larger-scale skirmishes and battles are mentioned; so they should be represented by rules. 2) The editing in this book leaves much to be desired. There are times where I laughed for all the wrong reasons when I was reading.

If you’re looking for a blow-by-blow replacement for Legend of the Five Rings, you may be disappointed by Wu Xing. Further, avoid it if you weren’t excited about my description of initiative and combat. But if you love martial arts action, and authentic Eastern culture is a tough sell at your game table, this is a must buy. Heck, if you saw Avatar: The Last Airbender and loved it, go directly to your FLGS or Third Eye Games' store or RPGNow--do not pass go; do not collect $200.

@ReverbGamers Master List Numbers 1, 2, & 3

Due to the magic of social networking, I just found out about Atlas Games' Reverb Gamers Master List of 31 question about RPGs. Thanks to Ryan Macklin for bringing this up on Facebook (via Twitter). Like Ryan, I will do all 31 questions, and I will post each day. Since this is already day three, I will answer the first three questions today then going forward, one per day.


#1: What was your first roleplaying experience? Who introduced you to it? How did that introduction shape the gamer you've become?

My first roleplaying experience was at the age of 11. My buddy Tony had me over his house (I think it was after school) to hang out. He busted out the AD&D Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Unearthed Arcana. We made a quick character, and Tony gave me some magic items. I honestly don't remember any details as to the character or the magic items. Tony ran me through a dungeon for a couple hours and I had a great time.

I don't know how much it shaped me as a gamer, but it definitely started me off on a hobby that's lasted 27 years so far, to include podcasting, freelance editing, and game design.

#2: What is it about gaming that you enjoy the most? Why do you game? Is it the adrenaline rush, the social aspect, or something else?

This is honestly a tough one. I've been gaming so long, the whys are kind of lost on me. I'll try though. For starters, I love being around people--the social aspect is likely number one for me. Also, I love the act of playing a character and telling a story. To be completely honest, I really love "performing" for people, and roleplaying is pretty much a captive audience!

#3: What kind of gamer are you? Rules Lawyer, Munchkin/Power Gamer, Lurker, Storyteller/Method Actor, or something else? (Search "types of gamer" for more ideas!) How does this affect the kinds of games you play? For example, maybe you prefer crunchy rules-heavy systems to more theatrical rules-light ones.

I tend to agree with Macklin on this one. It's all about what the game, the situation, and the group requires of me.

I'm definitely a rules guy, but I try not to cram it down anyone's throat. I prefer rules systems that allow for lots of options in uncomplicated ways. I wouldn't say I prefer rules-light or rules heavy, just rules consistent. I like systems that are written in such a way so it's relatively obvious what you should do when you don't remember the exact rule. It doesn't matter how many rules there are, or how deep they go, as long as the make sense in the context of the other rules. It's also very important the rules evoke the setting or at least get out of the way.

The effect is, I don't play many games with pasted-on rules or too many subsystems, or games with a rule for everything.

From a role-playing perspective I tend to base my characters on personalities I've seen or read in media--or an amalgam of characters. Like Batman meets Dr. Cox from Scrubs (yep, done it). Does that make me a method actor?

I am by no means a lurker. I'm usually in the thick of the story, as a player, to the point where I actively have to monitor myself and pull away so others can shine. I've gotten pretty good at that over the years.

***

Well, that's it for the first three... I welcome your comments!

[Play-Thru] Claustrophobia

In 2009, I owned a lot of board games - mostly because I was working at a game store, and I have "ooh, shiny" syndrome. (I've since paired my collection down to about 1/3 it's former glory.) One of the games I picked up at the time was Asmodee's Claustrophobia, a two-player dungeon crawl, based in Hell Dorado, the setting of a minis game. A little over two years later, I finally got to play it.

One player controls the Redeemer (essentially a Paladin or Cleric) and his condemned warriors, a group of thugs and and murderers with nothing to live for but their redemption. The other player controls the demon and his troglodytes. It amounts to 17 beautifully pre-painted plastic minis. One may think this is a limited selection in the grand scheme of things, but read on.

The board is modular, a series of square tiles, which get turned over as you explore the catacombs. Many of the boards have special rules, including movement-affecting terrain and game events, such as card drawing or treasure collecting. The tiles are sturdy, the art gorgeous, and the random aspect of the catacombs really increases the re-playability of the game, while adding to the immersion of "where the hell am I" for the Redeemer player.

Speaking of re-playability, there is quite a bit in Claustrophobia to keep you playing. The Redeemer can start the game with a number of different spells and abilities. While the game is scenario-based - there are several in the book and more at the designer's website - the random abilities and the random board seem to provide plenty of fresh play. The condemned are outfitted with different weapons and abilities as well.

While the demon figure doesn't change (duh!), the demon the figure represents does. Basically you have a card that explains the stats and abilities of the demon you're using. There's some nice variance here; I can't wait to try more out.

I mentioned I have "ooh, shiny" syndrome, but if you know me, you know I wasn't necessarily referring to the beauty of the components. The big draw for me was actually the mechanics.

Each good guy character has an interesting take on a character sheet. The character card is dropped into a raised plastic tray, similar to those found in my favorite racing game, Formula D. You use pegs to show damage on these, and there's a spot for a six-sided die. The die you put in that spot determines your stats for the round.

At the beginning of the turn, the Redeemer player rolls a number d6s equal to the number of active characters in play. The dice are then assigned to the character cards, and the numbers correspond to a line of stats. The Redeemer's abilities also tend to correspond to a die number, so you only get them when the right die is used on his card. I mentioned peg holes for damage. These also correspond to lines of stats. If a line is marked by a peg, you can't use that line any longer. If you're forced to put a die in a card that matches a canceled line, that character is out for the round, for the most part.

On the demon side, as I mentioned before, the demon's stats and abilities are determined by which demon you're playing. The troglodytes have their own board. Here dice are rolled to give the troglodytes modified stats or to give the demon player access to more monsters or special events that generally make things hard on the good guys.

Both sides get to make fun - and tough - choices. It makes for an enjoyable tactical experience, as you react to your opponent and deal with the "hand you're dealt" throughout the game.

The rules recommend you begin with a scenario where the Redeemer and his condemned are trying to escape the catacombs, and the demons are pretty much trying to eat the good guys. My friend Robert and I went with this scenario. I played evil (indeed!), and Robert played the Redeemer and his condemned.

At the start of the scenario, it seemed like the good guys were going to run away with it. A d10 was used to show how close the Redeemer was getting to the exit, and it was ticking up fast! Evil eventually got some control and stomped the good guys. Our first play went pretty fast, considering we had the book in hand. I absolutely believe the 45-minute play time on the box.

Combat in the game is simple. Roll a number of d6s equal to the attacker's Combat stat. Each die that beats the defender's Defense causes a wound. Simple and efficient.

Claustrophobia is aptly named. The Redeemer starts out confident; then the game starts to really close in on him. This was exacerbated by the fact that I had two rules wrong, both of which favored my side (not deliberate, I swear!). While we initially thought the game was too skewed toward the bad guys, it turns out it's much more balanced when you play the game correctly!

It's a good sign when the loser of the game wants to play again, and once we determined my rules flub, Robert was ready to play again.

My one complaint about Claustrophobia is the dice. The d6s are OK, but the d10 is very obviously cheap. At the very least, I will be replacing the d10. I may replace the 6s if I can match the size right.

Overall I recommend checking out Claustrophobia. It's a great two-player game - one of my new favorites (despite it being on my shelf two years).

[Read-Thru] The Flux

Are you one of those GMs who get Shiny New Game Syndrome? Does it cause you to constantly switch games on your usually-reeling players? Have your players held an intervention to make you commit to running the same game for more than, say, 90 days?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions (I may have), then John Wick's The Flux might be just the ticket for you and your group!

The Flux is one of the many little games to be found in John Wick's Big Book of Little Games. The PDF was provided to me, gratis, by the fine folks at DriveThruRPG.

You might be playing The Flux in your current game, and you don't even know it - yet. Because The Flux happens to your character, to your group's whole party, and usually when they least expect it.

Imagine playing a sorceress in a Pathfinder game, and she's in the midst of a climactic battle. Suddenly, your GM describes a humming in your character's ears. She can't place where it comes from - it's everywhere and nowhere. Then there's a flash and BAM! She's no longer a sorceress in Golarion, but a mad scientist in Hollow Earth Expedition. Later in the Hollow Earth, she has been captured by Nazis and left without any gadgets. As the player you try to help the mad scientist recall a memory - a skill or ability - from a previous world or existence, and suddenly she makes a gesture, speaks an incantation, and throws a fireball at her captors, clearing a path for escape!

In The Flux, you can totally do that. Seriously.

So if you're running a game, say RunePunk for Savage Worlds - you love it; you really do - and you discover you can finally read Earthdawn Third Edition on your iPad (totally not your fault!), there's an easy way to transition, using The Flux and making it easy on your players:

• Grab your players' RunePunk characters
• Make new Earthdawn characters for them, based generally on their RunePunk characters
• One session, in a tense moment, have The Flux kick in
• You're now running Earthdawn

Your players don't have to make new characters or come up with new personalities - you're remaking their characters in a different world. Your players don't have to know about the new world right away - your players' characters are supposed to be hazy on the new setting.

There's no need to remember the rules from the old game. To access their previous characters' abilities, the players keep their characters in a stack - newest on top, oldest on the bottom. They roll some d6s - the difficulty based on how old the previous character is - and if they succeed, they automatically succeed with the best possible outcome: Fireball? Max damage. Shooting? The target is dead, if that was the goal.

On the surface it may seem broken. You may think players will abuse the abilities. But there is a price. The world knows someone is breaking the rules, and it fights back. Every time you use an ability from a previous character, there's a chance for Whiplash, where your character may get really hurt - or worse.

The Flux is very cool. I will be trying it at some point. And to my players: trust me, there were no spoilers in this post...

Freedom From JPEG2000 Tyranny On iPad

If you’re an iPad user and a roleplayer who likes PDFs, one term has likely been the bane of your existence: JPEG2000 compression. As awesome as the iPad is for viewing PDFs, especially with GoodReader, any PDFs using JPEG2000 compression are at least buggy and sometimes unreadable.

There have always been tricks to make them work, but some PDFs are unfixable. Worse, due to many publishers locking their PDFs, there’s nothing you can do but appeal to the publisher for a fix. The problem is you have to spend your hard-earned money or do some research to even find out if a PDF will work on your iPad.


Publisher’s have gotten better about testing their PDFs before release, but for many publishers, there is a lack of skill and/or resources (and sometimes desire, sadly) to do such a thing.  And since my iPad has become my primary reading device, I have taken to just not using those books I can’t read on my iPad. I tend to read on my breaks, and lugging around a 300-page hardcover tome just isn’t convenient. This was an especially tough decision for me recently, when I had to veto my beloved Earthdawn (3rd Ed.) as a candidate for game night, since those books are epically unreadable in GoodReader, despite my efforts.


Then the other morning I had guests, one of which had a new Kindle Fire. I’ve been thinking about the Fire for my wife since she wants a tablet. I’d tried it in the store and liked it. But one thing I’ve considered is making sure there was a PDF reader that will utilize the built-in bookmarks like those added in Acrobat. Sadly many PDF readers (including Adobe’s on Android) don’t.

A quick search led us to ezPDF Reader. For $2.99 it seemed to have what Android users needed. My buddy went ahead and downloaded it. Success! So if my wife gets a Fire, or any other Android tablet, she’ll be good to go.


It’s a great app, and I liked the interface so much I wanted to see what it looked like on iPad. A quick trip to the App Store, and I was dumbstruck. It lists as a feature that it can read JPEG2000 compression! I downloaded it immediately.


It turns out it works as advertised. I can now read my beloved Earthdawn on the iPad. Pages turn a little slow when the app is set so it can read JPEG2000 (GoodReader just builds on features native to iOS - which is why its fast and JPEG2000 doesn’t work on it),  but it’s absolutely beautifully displayed.

The interface seems clunky, but it might just be that it’s different, since I’m so used to GoodReader. I haven’t even made the time to check out all the features, so I won’t call it a GoodReader “killer” just yet (though it will read those bookmarks). But at $2.99, it’s well worth the price of admission even if I only ever use it to read those pesky JPEG2000-plagued PDFs.