creating an RPG, a route to madness

Greetings folks,

During our quiet time seeing the sights of far off dungeons, tackling the looming horrors of space and of course dealing with the almighty perils (and yes the peril is far too perilous) of the dole office

We spend an inaudible amount of time playing role-playing games.

Inevitably we get to a point when one of speaks up going hey wouldn’t [insert film/game/far fetched concept] make a brilliant RPG?

 Well yes! And at the same time no..why no? because you failed your insight check that’s why!!!

Ok, ok I’m being silly, but in all honesty its our geeky little dream to sit down and create a RPG based on what we love, honestly don’t tell me you’ve not thought of it?

so who steps up to plate ready to pitch but Konrad a masterful mind, full of vampire lore in the shape of castlevania!

now castlevania is just one of those retro games that throughout the years via various consoles and survived right up until modernization on the xbox360.... i could of course go into the back history (and yes young Konrad has lectured me on the universe over and over again as fantastic as it is i just cant remember a fat lot...needless to say i failed the GCSE)

But none the less we thought why the hell not, and then the headache began.

First off we assembled a team of crack mercenary types masters in there feilds.. Unfortunately we couldn’t find them sop we went for next best thing, Auros (an outsider to the universe but open mind for RPG rules/game play) and Pandora (knowledge of castlevania universe did come as optional extra but well worth it for the online support) Konrad (as is his brain child) and my self THE ALMIGHTY DM, LORD OF RULE BOOKS....ahem* not to blow my own horn or anything.

To business. *and yes this is the ultimate work is progress, all content is subject to change*

 When creating a RPG of the pen and paper variety (cos anything just aint good enough) we established some ground rules.

1) core rule system first!!!

oh god i cant stress the importance of this, having spent many hours chatting over ideas with Konrad we had already got a list of character classes, ideas for powers and it is all far too easy to do that to run with your idea to the degree that there’s a point when you go hang on how the F do we play this?

core rules! now there are many systems to choose from, gurps, story teller, true 20, BRP (basic role-play) the quietly popular fantasy flight percentile system, AD&D, D66 the list goes on.

its all too easy to pick up an existing rule book and go sod it few tweaks and bang that’s my game right there! Rather than the sheer headache of creating system form scratch....fair point we were ready to do the same..
until you apply either a)logic and b) how can we make X skills/talents/feats fit into the universe.

its very easy to be lazy, the crack team of scientists in the WIP lab decided best thing to do is jus decide what dice we would use, and how basic test would be done, form there we could expand accordingly. for our selves we opted for nice and simple D100 rolls with basic modifiers for tests....

Clear simple and no degree in bio engineering needed

2) Character creation

ok this more encompassing than just character creation, (why? cos I’m lazy! )

looking at the near endless reference material we established that we wanted a game leaning towards the various console style game play, so with that in mind we took our basic abilities/stats (strength, defence, luck etc)
now because we want to introduce other elements that literally don’t exist yet we (with the loving tenderness of Tommy Wiseau's acting) added extra dimension to the character  to our own ends of creating a stat for use of magic, willpower and even speed.

Next on out list of character creation is the character classes themselves...now this was bit unique due to the universe your normally following some overpower decent of vampire hunters, which really would be ideal for power gaming but 6 characters all equal to Gabriel Belmont isn’t going to cut it.

So why not have the average man/woman ready to take up arms, be those few not of Belmont descendant who fight and struggle with dark forces.

Boiling it back down the basics we went for the classic fighter, magic user, (because you cant go far wrong there) with the additions of a summoner class and our own jack of all trades character (the watcher/witch hunter/priest think van helsing)

ok sorted but with a kill crazy attitude to rolling dice we wanted something different backgrounds! enough to flesh out your characters and give you an arctype to build upon, let alone a 'class' to play at the end of the day.

Honestly this is how far we've gotten its very easy to get ahead of yourselves so stay on target!

Now form here we can really start to flesh out the game, equipment, enemies, sample characters, experience and how that will work, a play test of combat to make sure all elements work, numbers to put to characters! Always helpful...its a mammoth task but with such a recognisable, and rich universe to dip into a lot of the job is done...its just a case of applying A to B

Until our next session

I’m the Dm criticizing your alignment choice!

Behind the scenes of Captain BLUE!!!

Because we thought "why not," a hint of the creative madness of first read/edit/... something.

The Adventures of Captain Blue: Case File #2 - Part 2

The Adventures of Captain Blue: Case File #2 - Part 1

Dm Ramble: Thief 4

Greetings folks,

Dm here feeling distinctly under the weather, but i digress...

Once again another boring afternoon has led me upon something one of my favorite news sites that shall we say sparked my interest.

Story boards for Thief 4.


http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114006-Thief-4-Storyboards-Leak

Done last year? Curious... the article speaks for itself, generally giving us nothing more than slice of "oh yeah, this is the tone of the thief games" and nothing more.

As artwork it's certainly interesting.

Without shadow of a doubt the Thief series is one of my all time favorites: dark, atmospheric and certainly a unique setting when stealth wasn't about walking into room armed with machine guns, or running across rooftops in broad daylight!

Many a time I've found myself crouched in a dark alcove, guards a mere foot away form me, my heart in my throat wishing the git would look the other way! Now that's immersion... okay every so often I have a habit of crouched in dark corners wondering where my light gem is, but that's neither here nor there.

Thief 4 is one of those games that's been discussed and mulled over for few years now; after the events of the 1st 2nd games, the 3rd got one hell of a graphical boost but still keeping in with the overall developing proto-victoriana-medieval-magi punk world.

At the end of 3 our hero Garrett literally becomes a parody of the very first cut scene in Thief 1, the dark hooded man from a secret order, giving some present child a choice, almost praising him for being bale to see what does not want to be seen... to be fair a good homage and end to series to literally come full circle.

So what could 4 have in stall for us? Going on concept art shown in this link, another shift towards a more steam punk/victoriana setting the popular style you find in discworld or fable games, I'm betting.

Everything else is still a mystery but with modern graphics and systems would we be looking at a Splinter Cell or Assassin's Creed WITH STEALTH!? I can't stress that enough, really...

As for story... God only knows, it can't be Garrett any more (alas), unless they do it as some sort of prequel (God forbid) or maybe they will just advance onwards, all the more for enriching and truly making up a unique and varied fantasy setting, only time will tell really.

Until next when I feel the need to ramble on.

Dm here reminding you when 2D6 don't work a D12 is better! :)

Black Crusade: An Overview

Black Crusade: First Impressions

          Black Crusade by Fantasy Flight games retails in at £40.00 (best price £35.00 from IGUK with free shipping to the UK). Wow, just wow! It's been a long time since I've been looking forward to an RPG, and is this worth it? Well I'll let you know when we get a game going.

          Well now, I have some coffee and the rule book - let's have a read, shall we? Okay so what can you expect? Well after having a thorough flick through this 400 page core rule book, there’s a number of aspects which just seem, well, better.

          Character Creation: rather than the classic roll up your character, appearance, job this has been scraped. Now we run on archetypes. There are 4 space marine classes and 4 human classes, each of these relate to your archetype, in this edition it's not so much of a case of "what can I be," but "who do I want to be?" What is my goal as a servant of chaos? Each class panders to a different playing style, but at the same time makes the games more story driven (I'll get to that in a moment). So if you fancy playing the rogue Inquisitorial acolyte; or maybe a Imperial Guardsman who become disillusioned with his lot in life; you have the renegade as a template for your cunning (if manipulative) character. On the other side, perhaps you're thinking "I'm a lone wolf," maybe a loyalist marine who has broken form his chapter; or maybe you've always been servant of the dark lords, living a tribal existence with your battle brothers, seeking to carve your name as the butcher of worlds - then maybe the Champion or Forsaken space marine classes are for you. Each of course have their own strengths and weaknesses, but in the end it is balanced - the leaders amongst men, the cold killers, the manipulative spy, or the classic power-crazed psyker.

          To add to this you have 3 other traits: your motivation, your disgrace and your pride (optional to roll on) charts. These of course will effect your overall stats or corruption points and yet add in extra elements for GM and players alike to truly flesh out their character and add elements for the story; or maybe just to come back and bite the players on the ass (depending on how sadistic your GM is lol).

          Okay, the new and interesting element is infamy. Now the infamy has, to say the least, a wide and varied roll with your servants of chaos. Not only as a percentile stat to literally see if you are well known enough to get that few extra rounds of bolter ammo, or to go "hey night lord, do you now who I am!?" It also acts as this edition's version of fate points, however there is a limit depending on how much infamy you have, limiting your 'fate point' options. Infamy can be easy gained (or lost) through actions with your peers, or to the chaos gods themselves. The ideal goal being - have more infamy than corruption points, but these can be barged with your dark patrons perhaps to gain a gift, or maybe to remove that new tentacle you acquired last mission. It's a very interesting stat, but it does have one other use! As a being of darkness and paragon to the dark lords you can spend your infamy points to avoid death! And trust me, it's normally a heavy price.

          All these things combined can lead to very interesting and unique story campaign! Especially when you have the missions. Now, like Deathwatch you have set tasks and objectives; however it's not so much the GM going "okay, go here do this" (and puts few little extras in to see if the players will gain that bonus exp). It seems to me more case of: GM sets up the world, say there’s and imperial bastion on this world. Thanks to it the mutant populous is kept under strict control. It's then the player's that go "well this needs to be taken out! So we can purge the servants of the corpse emperor (primary objective)."
          "Okay, how we going to do this?"

          "Well, we could get the mutants to rise up as a distraction (secondary objective)."

          "Okay, what about weapons? Well intelligence says the bastion receives weapon and equipment shipments via mag rail."
          "Okay, we'll take that out and supply the mutants!"

          One player could go "Okay, I'm tech user. I could probably hack in to the sever if we can get inside and disable the defence systems (adding something of his own skills to the plan)."

          "But wait, if we do this right we could cause enough slaughter and appease the blood god (now you have something else to offer coupled with favour of the chosen patron)."

          "We'll need explosives. I can get my contacts off-world to help," says the former inquisitor...

          And so on. By the end of it you may just have a incredibly detailed plan or not. This of course will gain the players infamy and respect; hell even a war-band of mutant rebels. However plans may not go to smoothly, the GM does have cards up his sleeve in the form of complications, unknown to the players. These vary, making the mission more of a challenge. So in this example, perhaps the supply train was early and won't be around for the next month. Perhaps a Sister of Battle contingent has arrived and gone on a pure, thus upping the stakes and plausibility of the plan. Maybe it's just plain bad intelligence and the mutant populous would rather stay in the hovels or even still loyal to the Imperium... any number of factors could help or hinder; and of course failing will come at a price, but the rewards for victory will be great.

          Okay what I have missed oh yes... due to the sheer nature of the chaos gods each potential patron has set stats, skills and traits associated with them. Such as Khorne favours strength, Tzeentch willpower and its intelligent booting/psi-power-ness etc. It's not strictly necessary as you can stay 'unaligned.' However, periodically as you purchase upgrades, new skills and what-not there will be a point where maybe you've got more Khornite abilities than say Nurgle related ones. So you can become aligned to your patron. For every 5 skills/upgrades you have with on patron or another coupled with periodical checks every 10,20,40 corruption points, you become aligned... what’s the benefit? Cheaper upgrades! If I've become more battle orientated as soon as I favour Khorne over the others, I can then purchase skills etc. at say, tier 1, or simple advance at only 100 exp rather than 250. However the gods don’t exactly favour each other, so say you're suffering in the toughness department. Being Khornite you look at your chart and see that toughness is a Nurgle skill, Khorne will tolerate Nurgle, meaning rather than simple advance of 100 (for Khorne) you'd pay 250 exp or maybe you think willpower (Tzeentchite) needs boosting. Well needless to say Khorne and Tzeentch don’t get along. That'd cost you 500exp... so it is a bit of double-edged sword. As long as you have a balance you can stay unaligned as long as one set of skills/talent/advances doesn't exceed 5 over the others of another patron.

          So as you can see it's shaping up to be a very interesting and diverse game, this one! Oh, did I forget to mention you can fight Necrons!? And Dark Eldar!? Oh yes it's all at your finger tips.

          How the game plays? Well I'll let you know once I scour the depraved pits of Brierley Hill and drum up some willing (or unwilling) candidates who wish for nothing more than to stick it to the Imperium or maybe see what fate the lord of change has in store. Until next time, this is the Dm reminding you that you do get to re-roll one stat, but you must keep the second result!

GAMEfest 2011 - Ace Combat: Assualt Horizon gameplay and impressions

GAMEfest 2011 - Rayman Origins gameplay (cam)

 

Greetings folks,

Dm here giving you little extra bonus write up on Rayman Origins

well where to start...but wow! its so good to see Rayman back on our consoles with some faithful old school platforming action! 

visually stunning utilizing cell shading at its best whislt still maintianing he classic cartoon feel of the Rayman universe.  Everything is ever so slightly 2D and 3Dits strange to say but works really well.

The demo i played seemed to have heavy emphasis on local multilayer co-op  which certainly adds a different dynamic, relying on your parter/s as well as your own skills.  

Certainly great fun for its arcade style grab as many collectible before your friends do but what this has to do with the story Ive no idea, we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Something i noticed was in this mode when you fell (or often when game felt like it) your character expanded an d you literally negate the whole level....but then again you cant collect anything or be damaged....difficulty curve much? oh wait its Rayman its still pain the ass! 

I have t say visually impressive, faithful to the old school PS1 Rayman i know and love easy play and defiantly bit of fun with your mates, lets see when it comes out.

Rayman Origins is for the PS3, Xbox360, Nintendo DS, WII, and will be released in the UK 25th November 2011

Space Marine game - the early report!

Space Marine game - the early report!


Dm here as one of the major 40K fans has literally received a text message giving first impressions of the new Space Marine game via our gaming guru Marty the Elf (since he has the money LOL)!

And I literally quote:-

the campain is short and theres a set up for a sequal,
i recon it was the right length
tho the game does get a little repetative and i think much longer it may have dragged
this way i squish ork and it just feels right lol :)
yea the last boss is a little meh but alright
oh and any time you get a thunder hammer and jet pack
fun happens!


(He hasn't yet played online, though this will be his next conquest).

So there you have it, Space Marine in a nut shell (at least until we can steal his copy lol). So from one 40K fan to another it really does seem to be a fun game, with what seems like distinctly memorable moments.

We shall have more information in the near future.

Dm reminding you when your dice fail get new ones. :)

1001 views!!

That's right people, Work In Progress has hit a mini mile stone as of 7.26pm.

Literally just over 1000 views, no doubt the entirety of WIP HQ is celebrating.

... Somehwere... maybe.

But nonetheless when you're starting out this is an achievement (5 gamer points)!

As DM I'd like to thank you all for viewing our site and award yourselves with 1001 exp!

I will also take this opportunity to say that we are going to Gamefest in a few weeks (the West Midlands answer to E3) and hope to be bring you some coverage as we download it on to whoever's computer is nearest...

This is the DM feeling the need to sculpt something in order to mark the occasion, but what? Hmmmmmm...

Space Marine Demo Impressions - Part 2

Space Marine Demo Impressions - Part 1

Auros and the DM give their first impressions on the Space Marine demo. FOR THE EMPEROR!!!

Pen and Paper RPGs vs. Computer RPGs - Part 2

Okay, so which is better?

A tough question by any stretch of the imagination, well lets weigh up the two!

Now I'm trying to be fair here, so bear with me as a dice rolling fanatic; but also one of those people who cried when Aerith died in Final Fantasy VII, mostly because I'd equipped the hell out of her and not bothered with the others characters.

So I'll try my best to be fair.

Setting:-

With the sheer weight of RPG books out in the world, there is no shortage on rules and settings for you and your friend's campaigns, one off missions or even re-telling episode 4 of Stargate if you so chose. Otherwise you're pretty much down to your own imagination - especially as a DM. But the unique thing is the setting can be wherever and whenever you like, with no shortage of humour or dark fantasy... the world is what you make it.

With our console counterpart the setting is there, an entire world for you to explore visually, technically and physically - if you move the controller's d-pad you're moving your avatar... you get the idea. There is no shortage of settings and worlds, all from the post apocalyptic to the high Japanese industrial magic revolution.

In contrast you need very little imagination. After all, everything is set out for you. But I find a common complaint is that you haven’t exactly got the freedom to explore. Okay, Bethesda games give you huge maps, more nooks and NPC crazies than you can rattle your sabre at; but there is limit: there is a point where that invisible wall comes down!

Gameplay:-

With our pen and paper RPGs, gameplay varies greatly; not because of the players, but due to the rules and the settings they're attached too. These obviously affect the "pick up and playability." After all, some systems will grind everything to a halt with character creation alone - you should not need 2 hours to create a character unless its 2 hours going "Hmm, broad sword? Axe? Broad sword? Axe..."

Anyway, "rules are rules," and rules are meant to be broken. RPGs in this way do have that degree of customizability, allowing players and game masters alike to be able to keep the game going, and have fun doing so. Game play in this way, in some respects, relies on your group and some quick thinking.

Our console buddies have one great advantage: easy to play in comparison. Granted, you can just blitz the whole game or really take your time and plan.

With games like Fallout 3, you have fair and levelled system, loads of customizability - from characters appearance to perks that affect the game play, and giant world exploration. On the other hand you have a very linear game with good back story and pre-generated characters. Granted some are easier to play than others, but I find there is a inherent problem: GRINDING!

Quite possibly the most annoying, boring and tedious activity of all! And for what? To level up!

Okay, I can understand that yeah, you need to make progressively harder enemies, and Okay, unlike the pen and paper RPGs you can't just have a new adventure each time: you are stuck with no other option but to grind and grind... not all are like this, but we all know which ones they are!

Which semi leads me to my last point,

Playability:-

Seriously, how many times can you play something before you get bored of it, or fancy a change? This I feel is the advantage of pen and paper RPGs: as many settings as you like, each game varied and thousands of settings in which you and your friends can battle through, or you could be really daring and change the rule sets!!

Unless you're stuck in a grinding loop, or are a dedicated player, there’s what, 4-8 hours of game play? Maybe more? And yes, with some you can get different results through your actions and playing style; but it all seems so boxed in. Don’t get me wrong, the worlds are interesting, varied and really imaginative, I appreciate that. And yes, there is the add ons and downloadable content which add to game play settings and the like... but how many times will you play before you go "Oh, I do this, this and this and its done... what to do now??"

After all, console games only really have a shelf life of 2-4 play throughs before its relegated again to the ever growing pile.

It does tend to be a very solitary activity, Okay there the "achievements" to share with your friends online or your mate who’s popped around to steal your beer.

But on the other hand the same could be said for pen and paper RPGs.

After all, there are some advantages, granted most of them hinge on a good DM and having a decent group. It is a very sociable activity, unless it's a fighting fantasy book.

But it only takes one person to spoil the group dynamic, so choose your friends wisely. lol

As I said, a lot hinges on good DM: being able to think on your feet when the players completely negate the campaign you’ve spent last month working on, by going "Nah, I don't want to stay in this pub, let's go raid the bath house."

However there is freedom as your character, granted there are systems where character creation is the game or is so damn complicated 3 hours later you realize you’ve got work in the morning, can pretty much do anything and everything, and the only thing that anchors you to reality is the DM, who will simply penalize your stupidity. On the other hand, a few quick tests made on the spot and you could have the most epic fight scene ever; no doubt Mr. Dare will remind me once again about how he dived into the water and had boxing match with an giant octopus.

It is dependent on your players and their imagination, something console gaming has solved by giving you a visual medium; but hand outs, visual references or as DM your prime role as story teller simply weave a magical mystical world around your setting.

So which is better?

If I'm feeling creative: pen and paper RPGs.

If I'm feeling lazy: console RPGs.

I'll let you decide...

So where does the future lie, kids and kiddies? Well D&D4th edition took elements from both formats of RPG and turned it into a table top game... not necessary what we're after... but until the next technological leap, or until books are eliminated I'm quite happy to roll some dice.

DM

Pen and Paper RPGs vs. Computer RPGs - Part 1

Once again i take to the typing machine, and bring you another DM ramble!

Today I am tackling (mostly attempting) to answer my own personal question...

Pen and paper RPGs vs. computer RPGs, which s better?

Okay, where shall I start? Of course!

Back in the mists of time before the gaming industry really took off and we were stuck with pong yer back too the good old 70s!!

We as people didn't have a lot to choose from, granted there were the ultimate board games of the time dealing with war, strategy and seeing how many times your little sister could land on that row of hotels around Piccadilly!

The concept of 'role playing' is a simple one: you take the persona of a warrior or a crafty thief but really its only an upgrade, dare I say, from playing games as kids using your imagination to well and truly live out your favourite cartoon or comic (many times when I was younger I'd be a Power Ranger or Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

But I digress...

Role playing 'games' as we know them was a concept drempt up by David Wesely with the Braunstein Game.

In 1967, Wesely served as referee for a Napoleonic war game set in the fictional German town of Braunstein.

Two players acted as commanders of the opposing armies, but because he was interested in multi-player games, Wesely also assigned additional, non-military roles. (For example, he had players acting as town mayor, banker, and university chancellor. When two players challenged each other to a duel, Wesely found it necessary to improvise rules for the encounter on the spot).

Needless to say initial experiments were not exactly popular (from all reports simply chaotic) the Braunstein game was never published but in the eyes of the world 1967 had sown the seeds of role playing games.

It wasn't until 1974 when arguably the corner stone of all pen and paper RPGs was invented! Dungeons and Dragons!

Giving us poor mortals a chance to use our imagination to play out those fantasies of being Gandalf or Conan in a structured way! And it kept people from murdering each other playing diplomacy.

Now with the concept of RPGs established and the gaming industry growing it was only a matter of time before the popular 'table top game' became a console game only a year later!!

In 1975 Claremont graduate university student wrote the first Computer RPG. The game was an unlicensed implementation of the new role playing game Dungeon and Dragons!

Granted it was in text format, it was still the first game to use line of sight graphics, as the top-down dungeon maps showing the areas that the party had seen or could see took into consideration factors such as light or darkness and the differences in vision between species. Truly revolutionary!

Okay people lets do the time warp *cue Dr who theme tune.*

Fast forward and we find ourselves at the ever developing peak of technology and social interaction known simply as....err, today?

Anyhow!

Where does this lead us? Do I even need to to list the hundreds upon thousands of role playing games out there? Most people can name at least 4 console RPGs... but can they name 4 pen and paper RPGs?

Once upon a time getting your mates around, grabbing some dice, some soft drink, order a pizza and once again assailing the heights of Wizard's Tower, was cool, popular and of course dictated the basic core concepts of console RPGs!

Epic back story, <check>
Player characters, <check>
More monsters and booty and exp! <check>
And of course the dungeon with optional sewer level (because there's always a sewer level). <check mate>

But somewhere along the line we became geeks, pen and paper games became unpopular and so shunning sunlight and girlfriends (or boyfriends. After all, girl gamers do exist - I know 4) it simply became a stereotype, but once again I'm going off point...

Wait what is my point...?

Oh yes...

You see, with time comes innovation with that we look back and go "hmm, how can we make that better?"

Both console games and pen and paper games have come a hell of long way: rules, graphics and dozen other things.

But which is better?

Find out in part 2!

The Adventures of Captain Blue: Case File #1 - Part 3

Once again, special thanks to Peter Baker of Cloven Hoof!

4G: Duke Nukem Forever Review (XBox 360) - Part 2

4G: Duke Nukem Forever Review (XBox 360) - Part 1

The Adventures of Captain Blue: Case File #1 - Part 2

Special thanks to Peter Baker of Cloven Hoof!
http://www.clovenhoof.co.uk/

The Adventures of Captain Blue: Case File #1 - Part 1

Our new mini series has begun!

With special thanks to Peter Baker of Cloven Hoof.
http://www.clovenhoof.co.uk/

Testing, testing, 1,2... 5.

In accordance to our ever upgrading site we have set up workinprogress, our latest sub site, giving you the magic of audio. Simple click and you're away! Testing, testing, testing...