#RPGaDay2023 Answers

My answers for #RPGaDay2023. Since this year included a look back to 2014, when my answer would be different I have highlighted it. Satyros proposed a #30yearsofMage this month, some of my #RPGaDay answers tie-in to that. Because this website is currently the free version and can have ads, here is a PDF of the answers without ads.

Day 1 #RPGaDay2023 FIRST RPG played (this year)

2023: Mage: the Ascension

#RPGaDay 2014: Cyberpunk 2020

Day 2 #RPGaDay2023 First RPG GAMEMASTER.

If the Fighting Fantasy books count, then them J I guess this applies to many people, but also appreciate why that might feel like a lacking answer 😉 More interestingly I hope, the 1st GM that I appreciated, Julian Baldwin. That I respected and there games were always great, Peter Austin.

Day 3 #RPGaDay2023 First RPG BOUGHT (this year)?

Humble RPG Bundle: Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, yet to play but I do have 2 Rogue Trader games on the go.

#RPGaDay 2014: I didn’t buy any games that year, partly due to moving and having no room at the time. I did later buy The Strange & Demon: The Descent which had come out in 2014.

Day 4 #RPGaDay2023 Most RECENT game bought

I recently backed Trinity Continuum Aegis, but that’s not finished yet.

Most recent purchase was some PDF supplements for Mage: the Ascension off the Storyteller Vault.

The last physical RPG book I bought was Fight to Survive. #FighttoSurvive

Day 5 #RPGaDay2023 OLDEST game you’ve played

AD&D (1977), although I didn’t play it till 1987.

Day 6 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite game you NEVER get to play

I’ve been fortunate and I’ve been able to play a ridiculous amount of games, yet there are still many I’d love to try! The redesign and reboot of Trinity Continuum effectively makes it a new game. The old system and setting I’d played a chronicle for over ten years.

A high priority is to try the new Fight to Survive.

#RPGaDay 2014 Promethean: The Created had hooked me, but it was years till I got to play it. A fabulous game.

Day 7 #RPGaDay2023 SMARTEST RPG you’ve played

Some great replies for this question. 🙂 I’ll avoid a big essay about the many amazing games.

Trophy and WILD are both fabulous, focused designs, and game play experiences. 😀

Day 8 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite CHARACTER

John Jackson. John Jackson is many! Initially an Orphan in one of my 90s Mage the Ascension games, a broker of peace, neutral in the Ascension War and eerie coffee magnet. Years later for a new game, the player decided to make a new version of John Jackson, during play it was decided it was really the old John Jackson. Years later John Jackson returned, but this time tweaked again. Years later, I played the real/clone of John Jackson in another game. A year later, the original player was playing the old John Jackson in another game.

There is so much more to John Jackson, each is a bit different, but are they actually independent of each other. Maybe think of many clones, or parallel worlds, or Twin Peaks the Return and what happens with Dale Cooper, but neither of those quite apply since John Jackson is actually the original John Jackson. Eventually I started writing fiction about the story of John Jackson. The character that keeps on turning up, but each time, less sure of themselves, and feeling more paranoid and unsure of their own memories. Will the next time be the last?

2014: my answer would have likely been about one of my long running LARP characters, or an old SFRPG character. But in retrospect, it was clearly John Jackson as well…

Day 9 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite DICE

I’ve been having fun with the D1000 again this year, in particular Realms of Chaos Warhammer. So really the D10, because of its versatility, plus base 10 is the most common human counting system. Same answer for #RPGaDay 2014

Day 10 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite tie-in FICTION

I love fiction tie-ins, but I also love exploring a game’s setting without any framework or references. Fiction isn’t essential to me, like spice, different flavours for different meals. Whether LotR, Arthurian Legends, Mythos, Tales from the Loop, RTG’s Cyberpunk, Street Fighter, etc., we are spoilt for choices, which is fabulous! My vacillating answer would be WoD like: Revelations of the Dark Mother, The Fragile Path, etc. Fiction that resides in universe, but is also myth, so they definitely don’t constrain play.

Bonus – Player fiction can be a wonderful treat.

Day 11 #RPGaDay2023 WEIRDEST game you’ve played

Our fun, weird, plus not so little hobby, has so many wonderful games and experiences, weird and not weird is all good with me. Going with Weird, as in Fate. John Jackson back from the grave, a tool of the Lady of Fate, in Risen Fists. A game fusing Wraith: the Oblivion with Mage: the Ascension, but using Street Fighter combat.

Day 12 #RPGaDay2023 Old game you STILL play

This year I returned to 1st ed. Warhammer to play a Realms of Chaos narrative campaign, in particular the descent/ascent of Cruk Firepaw. It is great when shifting between TTRPG and wargaming goes well.

Day 13 #RPGaDay2023 Most memorable character DEMISE

I thankful I have several answers I could give, whether mine or other players. I nearly went with Andy’s L5R Crane’s last stand in the Shadowlands but my favourite is the Luckiest Character and their Retirement Party!

In the summer of 1990 we played a ludicrous amount of Cyberpunk 2020. Ian’s character, Max, was the manifestation of luck, just constantly, it was preposterous. For their 9D10 attribute roll, Ian rolled 87, little did we realise that was just the start of an amazing streak of luck. Throughout a summer of many long sessions, probably approaching 200 hours of play, Max kept surviving deadly encounters and big risks constantly payed off. By this stage they’d earned a lot of IP(XP), connections, favours, and gear. The other players in the party had lost several characters, but Ian’s was still going strong. Finally after surviving a trip to Crystal Palace, narrowly avoiding ending up in the middle of a Mega-Corp War, clearing debts, forming some decent relationships, the character was all set to retire.

The retirement party took place at Afterlife nightclub, no biggie, the character was well known, even respected. Several hours of celebration went by, fun times. As Max was leaving with his fiancé he finally started messing up. A failed Awareness roll, so Ian described how his character was a bit too drunk and happily talking with his fiancé as Max bumped in to some low level gangers. No biggie, but Max didn’t want any trouble, plus he also thought nothing of the situation. OOC the group laughed at the massive skill and equipment difference, you know like a Hobbit and a Dragon. Things escalated, Ian rolled low for his persuasion check and role-played Max politely dismissing the gangers, but they took offence. Initiative was rolled the gang rolled high whilst Ian rolled a 1, he was going last. One of gangers had a polymer one-shot and then managed score a head hit, and well, Ian’s Death Save was a 10. Everyone cheered as the luckiest character finally got a series of bad rolls, plus it also all fitted the change in the character, no longer on edge, now a soon to be retired family man to be. Ian was ecstatic, what a pathetic but also appropriate way to go!

Day 14 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite CONVENTION purchase

Suzerain: Mortal Realms (2000) by TreeHouse. I have a bit of a tale about this book and myself, if you’ll indulge me. In 1999 TreeHouse were visiting the smaller UK conventions to drum up interest for the 2000 release. So I got to meet the creators and try out the game at the 1999 TowerCon in Blackpool. Martin Klimes ran the game that some friends and I played in. The session, it was great; it wonderfully showed off both the system and the setting. Afterwards the design team provided feedback forms. They told me they were pleasantly surprised that I had written a detailed 2 page essay. I’d raised a few points of view they hadn’t considered before, which led to some chats about the metaphysics of the setting and how it all worked; thankfully many Mage: the Ascension and GURPS chats had help train me for that chat. Awkwardly they explained that they had already sent the manuscript off to be printed, so my feedback was too late to change anything. Further discussions with Martin and Damian resulted in being invited to do some freelance writing, to expand upon some of the ideas that I’d written about. However, it was a difficult time for myself, since I had developed problems with both of my wrists, but I agreed to explore the opportunity. At that time speech recognition software was starting to be effective.

In April 2000 I started working at KJC Games, so I had substantially less free writing time, but later that year I was invited to run demo games at Gen Con UK 2000 in Manchester. TreeHouse paid for my ticket and accommodation during the event. It was a little bit awkward preparing gaming sessions for a game that had not been released yet, but fortunately at the event I had a few hours to read my newly purchased Suzerain rulebook. The book itself came in a beautiful slipcase, and even had some colour pages within the book. When added to the all the plans TreeHouse had in regards to the setting, computer games, LARPS, it was an inspiring thing to be involved in. Unfortunately for TreeHouse, along with a lot of other RPG companies, D&D 3rd Ed was launched that year and the 3rd books were also impressive as well as cheap!

Back to Suzerain, I was relieved that we had plenty of players come and check out the game and try demo games. I even mostly was given positive feedback from the players that I ran sessions for, as well as managing to sell several of the rulebooks. We also got to run Suzerain LARPs in the evening, but that’s another tale. Some of the customers asked the designers in attendance to sign their book, amusingly one person insisted that I sign their book, even after I clarified I hadn’t contributed anything to the book itself.

Later that year, design work at KJC Games got more intense plus I was also studying coding at night college, so alas I stepped away from TreeHouse. Over the years I’ve had a few chats with Martin, but sadly too busy with my own projects to get involved in again. It’s great that Suzerain has gone on to be a Savage Worlds setting. As for the old Suzerain: Mortal Realms, I have played it several times over the years and the book still has a special place in my collection.

Day 15 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite Con MODULE / ONE-SHOT

During a break at one of the TowerCons I was discussing different game options with some other players. The chat became about Mage the Ascension, those players hadn’t tried it yet, but they’d played many different cyberpunk games, so I proposed a different focused Mage game. The result was the PCs playing a team of Hit Marks sent to cleanse a Nephandi Chantry. The Hit Marks were prototypes, awakened and they had Rank 1 Spheres. The PCs had a list of rotes, but could also figure out new uses. A fun session and the players were surprised at how versatile Rank 1 Spheres were, plus wondering about the higher ranks! I have run this a few times, plus tweaked and run it in 2 Chronicles. Maybe one day I’ll edit it and submit to the STV.

Day 16 #RPGaDay2023 Game you WISH you owned

Despite not being a collector I have a ridiculously large collection of RPGs, whilst I don’t need the Invisible Sun Cube, it would be nice.

2014 nothing I particularly wanted, I guess old Ghostbusters.

Day 17 #RPGaDay2023 FUNNIEST game you’ve played

The fun of Funny haha & Funny odd, Warhammer campaign following the adventures of Chaos Champions. One ended up nicknamed as Goatface, who was rewarded with Temporal Instability. The player left for University, but Goatface stayed with the party, continuing to blink in and out existence. Goatface would typically appear during a quiet moment, just bleat something then disappear. Occasionally Goatface would appear in combat and assist the party, a bit like the Mysterious Stranger in the Fallout series, appear make a bleating noise then decapitate something then disappear. The end of that campaign, plus in other games, players would sometimes bleat, hoping for Goatface intervention, a great example of the fun laughs staying with us all for years.

Day 18 #RPGaDay2023 SYSTEM

I love how using a different game system can led to a different voyage of discovery. With some it is easy to mathematically convert between them, but even the subtle differences can still standout in gameplay, leading to some interesting chats & choices about what system to use and any tweaks.

E.g., my megadungeon campaign that fused GURPS, Mage: the Ascension, and Warhammer 40k. 🙂

It is extra special when the group navigates such an experience without getting lost or sunken by a system. Even adventures aboard custom ships, barely adequate rafts, or warp infused space hulks, can succeed, often empowered by system choices. 😀

Day 19 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite PUBLISHED adventure

This is possibly the day with the widest range of answers, so many choices! I have some fond memories of old D&D modules that, but apart from The Temple of Elemental Evil, I’ve only played/run them once. I’ve barely played any Call of Cthulhu published adventures, in part because I got told a lot about them by many of them players in other groups, particularly whilst working at my FLGS. Most of my Mythos experiences were player created.

Back in the early 90s I ran Awakening: Diablerie Mexico several times. It helped me convince some ‘D&D only’ players to try Vampire: the Masquerade. I’ve run the Giovanni Chronicles several times, a great framework, but as always not to be limited by. I’ve run Street Fighter High Stakes several times, it was always great, including one party that impressively quickly resolved things, which shows how open it is to player choices. Ceremony of the Samurai (1st Ed Legend of the 5 Rings), another adventure I’ve run many times, helping to show setting specific information.

I’m going to pick Alien Hunger (VtM). The many times I ran it, it always worked well in providing an introduction to the setting, as well as helping to initiate a Chronicle, partly why I had several Vampire groups running at once in the early 90s.

Day 20 #RPGaDay2023 Will still play in TWENTY years time

So many games, but two in particular. The 20th anniversary editions brought me back to the World of Darkness and Mage the Ascension. This led me back to Street Fighter. I’ve had a lot of fun with them both since, plus combining them. This month has been a celebration of #30YearsOfMage. I look forward to 20 more.

Day 21 #RPGaDay2023 Favourite LICENSED RPG

Another day with a wealth of answers! When two companies exchange IP, magic can happen. Capcom’s deal with old White Wolf resulted in the brilliant Street Fighter RPG, whilst Capcom had their Darkstalkers games. Darkstalkers is not the World of Darkness (WoD), but they did use the name and company logo for Vampire Savior: World of Darkness. An interesting version, not matched until Monte Cook’s fascinating take on the WoD.

If both companies had not been doing so well, and thus understandably focused on their big money earners, then who knows what could have been made?! Maybe the RPG aspect of SF6 would have happened decades earlier and we’d have had other big licenses tied in to SFRPG. The initial talks at White Wolf had included focusing on Mortal Kombat instead. Another what if. Considering how much money old White Wolf had access to for a while, maybe other big licenses could have resulted in a multi-reality setting, which the arcade fighters certainly explored.

The variety of fan made products is amazing, especially for what most would consider a niche RPG. Of course Darkstalkers, but also TMNT, Batman, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Jackie Chan, Double Dragon, and more. With its highly focused combat system, it is surprisingly more akin to the openness of GURPS or #Heroes, especially given how easy it is to adapt other Storyteller games. Street Fighter is a game that punches way above its weight. #SFRPG

Day 22 #RPGaDay2023 Best SECONDHAND RPG purchase

If I think of SECONDHAND, as in indirect I still end up at the same answer as the full question, curious. In the early 90s after playing Champions 4th I bought a 2nd hand copy of Hero System 4th. The Hero System was a major influence on my ideas in the 90s and later with my work at KJC Games and beyond. Plus when added to GURPS, the old fun of converting characters between systems was easier, since Hero<->GURPS and GURPS has a lot of official licenses, resulting in a sort of Rosetta Stone. Hero and me: https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/rpg-impact-5/

Day 23 #RPGaDay2023 COOLEST looking RPG product / book

So many choices, plus the more answers I read, the bigger the list became. Time to use the old #PieChartofIndecision

My answer would have been the crazy inspirational (+WTF) Mage: the Ascension 1st edition Screen. However, due to the wonderful range of answers I’m going to highlight Classic Traveller, in part because it might have a unique cover design!?

Thus, this interestingly is the opposite of one meaning of Coolest, as in Trendiest, why did others not copy Traveller? I appreciate it wouldn’t fit the image of many games, but no other games?

Thanks to Phil @thedicemechanic for highlighting this. The answer led to me doing a bunch of research, so bonus points. https://bsky.app/profile/thedicemechanic.bsky.social/post/3k5mr4lp4gb2g

Day 24 #RPGaDay2023 COMPLEX / SIMPLE RPG you play

Mage: the Ascension both Complex & Simplex, seemingly all things at once.

I found Trophy to be wonderfully simplex to explain and play, although I’ve not tried with people who are new to RPGs.

One then the other = Street Fighter. Typically complex for new people, a lot of things to look at during character creation, plus there are big decisions for future character development. Yet interestingly quickly the game is understood and is simple to play.

Day 25 #RPGaDay2023 UNPLAYED

In a long running game, a music tape, that the characters think might be cursed, has remained Unplayed. The characters figured out a way around playing the tape, via the fun of Spheres inverse logic gates, resonance, and 100% definitely not listening to the tape. A mostly Mage: the Ascension chronicle, with the rest of the World of Darkness joining in on occasion, plus Powerchords. Out sourcing sound analysis to a musical Pooka and a Wraith Chanteur, an attempt at a ritual focusing unplayed sounds through a Sluagh; the type of hubris Mage excels at. Keen for Keening. One day I’ll write up the details for the STV…

Day 26 #RPGaDay2023 CHARACTER SHEET

Amongst the great answers for today, I wanted to build upon a thought-provoking answer by Runeslinger, since it inspired me to write a new and more personal answer to the prompt. It has been decades since my experiments with character sheet design. With different games, seeing how I felt about information accessibility and prioritisation in play. From overly detailed, to minimal information D&D or Cyberpunk, leading to a few Vampire: the Masquerade games in 93 and 94, that just had a few descriptions, no actual stats. Those experiments were with curious player who agreed, not with tyrannical demands. In one game, the players hadn’t created their characters, so they never know their stats, but they did have a character overview and some backstory that fitted the descriptor. (I didn’t read Over the Edge till later, but later it was interesting to see that idea in a professional game.) This resulted in bleeding more towards a LARP style of sessions (multiple puns intended), which worked well for sessions focused on Elysium and Haven experiences. An experiment with Mage: the Ascension proved interesting, but quickly became a fixation on trying to determine their Sphere rankings, a bit too frustrating and comedic, but interestingly felt more like untutored Mages scrambling to make sense of a complex warp-able reality; this also made acquiring Rotes amazingly important.

No surprise, some players loved these character sheet experiments, and some hated them. Some felt set free, whilst others felt a bit lost without what had been a core game structure for them; fascinatingly, my chats revealed it wasn’t even a LARP versus tabletop thing. Which was all informative regarding those players’ preferences and sometimes revealing new things. Also of note, between gaming sessions, these experiments also had an impact. Some enjoyed discussing designs, whilst others wanted chats between sessions to be focused on character ideas, reminiscing and fun. A few players come to mind with their creative works, maybe something for a future blog post.

Nowadays I discuss sheet options as part of game discussion, with some players opting to have different character sheets. Returning to Runeslinger’s post and his closing comment, whilst people had different reasons for how they interact and relate to their character sheets, I likewise think there is something extra special about a character sheet that a player looks after and is lovingly cared for, regardless of its age. Whether they are the sheets of rare decade played characters, Investigators that have survived more than one Mythos mystery, or freshly created.

Day 27 #RPGaDay2023 Game you’d like a new EDITION of…

Street Fighter, but due to licensing that is unlikely, so I’m making my own.

EDITION: An answer inspired by https://thewatchhouserpg.blogspot.com/2023/08/rpgaday2023-27-game-youd-like-new.html The fun of making mini editions of newspapers for games, especially Cyberpunk 2020 screamsheets plus cuttings for handouts for a variety of games. This gave me practice for my later fanzine involvement and creations, plus early practice for me of being involved in collaborative projects.

Day 28 #RPGaDay2023 SCARIEST game you’ve played

SCARIEST (easily frightened; timid) I played a Sluagh LARP character for years that was quite timid, almost a coward, so they often became the assistant to whoever was the most powerful person in the room.

In 1991 Peter ran an Aliens campaign in Cyberpunk 2020. The first session was incredibly tense, soon escalating to scary. When the violence started, the fear didn’t go down, it went up! Masterful GMing and player buy-in all round, not bad for 15 year olds. Sadly RL stuff got in the way, we never completed that campaign, so myself and another player played a lot of Space Hulk.

Day 29 #RPGaDay2023 Most memorable ENCOUNTER

Thankfully far too many memories, but inspired by https://thewatchhouserpg.blogspot.com/2023/08/rpgaday2023-29-most-memorable-encounter.html I shall go with this answer that also addresses the prompt. 🙂

I ran a game in 97 that was about normal people in modern day. The PCs just had vague character descriptions instead of detailed stats (see Day 26). This campaign was created after a collection of wonderful player discussions; they wanted something initially mundane, then strange things to start.

When we started, each PC had an extensive prelude followed by the first group reunion, old friends at high school. The next day a 24 hour eclipse starts (sort of Dark Day from Palladium Nightbane), 80% of humans disappeared (a bit like The Quiet Earth (1985)). The next few days, some of the remaining people became quite violent; the PCs have to survive gangs and Escape from New York. A big part of the initial sessions was coming to terms with the violence, and how far the PCs were willing to go, plus the weird mystery of it all. The PCs have an urge to head west, a siren’s call to a place they knew would be a ‘Sanctuary’. As they travelled west the PCs start to develop Psi powers (Aeon Trinity), the further west, the bigger their power (idea from Monster Island – PBM). The campaign was great. Although we planned to run a 2nd campaign, two players moved away, the remaining players voted for other games. A shame, since the game was really a Mage: the Ascension campaign, the bigger mystery was about what rituals and errors had led to this global mess, and maybe how to undo it. 🙂

I’ve thought about a new version using Trinity Continuum

Day 30 #RPGaDay2023 OBSCURE

In one of my groups, Damian typically played strong & silent characters, but for the VtM Giovanni Chronicles, he made an obscure, impoverished nobleman, who often talked at length. The player did a great job of politically manoeuvring this character through the many chronicles, obscuring their motivations and making themselves invaluable to the various Elders & Methuselahs. This was all much to the confusion of the PCs, who were often surprised at Damian’s character deftly changing plans on the fly. Additionally, the character was a Lasombra, who despite having Obtenebration and later learning Obfuscate, only used their Disciplines in subtle ways. In a game about obscuring the truth of reality to the mundane world, a shadowy empowered character impressively navigated the dangerous vampire world, playing at a deeper level than most.

A bonus to this story, later, a player joined this group, but then complained to me that Damian (someone that they’d only known for a year) only played boring and incapable characters; I’d been playing with Damian since we were 12, so I know that wasn’t the case. I used the story of Damian’s Lasombra to help show that role-playing is more than memorising rules or playing charismatic characters, that a player does not need to always play a proactive and charismatic character, that sometimes the humble character in the party is doing more than the other characters, and even players, know. At the next session I mentioned the Lasombra, the rest of the group were buzzing with anecdotes. This helped the complaining player reconsider the current game of Aberrant, Damian was playing Gravitas (Strong & Silent), to realise that Damian had done more than they assumed; also to maybe talk with other people and check.

Day 31 #RPGaDay2023 FAVOURITE RPG of all time + FAVOURITE = “sport a competitor thought likely to win”

My tournament has a deep bracket, filled with all sorts of settings, rules, and genres. Against all the odds, the finale of RPGs comes down to two veterans that are always vying for my attention. Whilst both are showing their years, products of a different era, yet both do things few other games do, they are more than gatekeepers to me. Mage: the Ascension, a game that transcends its parts, vs. Street Fighter, the scrappy underdog that many assumed was just a joke. In the bout, Street Fighter starts using clever arena positioning then launches a devastating combo, forcing Mage back towards the arena edge, however, never underestimate a prepared Mage. Some might say it is cheating to be all things, whilst being neither a universal setting or engine, but apparently its fine in this tournament. The winner is Mage: the Ascension, by having Arete 10 and becoming one with all. Reality Warping Fighter

— #30YearsofMage #MagetheAscension #StreetFighter #SFRPG #Warhammer #WFRP #RealmsofChaos #SpaceHulk #TrophyRPG #ChangelingtheDreaming #PowerchordsRPG #Cyberpunk2020 #TrinityContinuum #AeonTrinity #Palladium #Nightbane #PrometheanTheCreated #WorldofDarkness

Darkstalkers for Street Fighter RPG

Here is a translation of the latest version of the Brazilian Darkstalkers fan project for Street Fighter RPG (previous version), a project by by Eric “Musashi” Souza, Odmir Fortes and Felipe Vasconcellos. Building upon the previous Darkstalkers supplement, plus Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters, and Glory Times. Explore Capcom’s take on White Wolf’s World of Darkness. Whether using as is, combining with Mortal Kombat or maybe Palladium’s Nightbane. New Darkstalkers SFRPG.

For the many other translations check out this folder, this includes all the Warrior’s Fist (PdG) issues, Virtual Combat Cards, the epic duo Circuit Guide and Circuit Guide – Basic, both Solo systems (Meet the Strongest & Dominus), World Tour, Spartacus, Tekken, Darkstalkers, Guilty Gear, Killer Instinct, Double Dragon, Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat files, King of Fighters, Kengan Ashura, Samurai Shodown, Breakers, and WF maps & extras. The whole folder can be downloaded as a Zip file 🙂 The updated version of Punho do Guerreiro (Warrior’s Fist) PDF Article List, plus online spreadsheet. This PDF and my other SFRPG creations can be downloaded from this folder.

Darkstalkers for Street Fighter RPG

Update: new version New Darkstalkers SFRPG, back to original post. Here is a translation of the Brazilian Darkstalkers fan project for Street Fighter RPG. Adding supernatural creatures to the SF setting is a common thing for fans to do, since Street Fighter’s genre is effectively: Supers + Martial Artists, and many (most?) Supers settings have characters from every genre, but also:

In 1997, White Wolf licensed the World of Darkness name and logo to Capcom for use on the third arcade game in the Darkstalkers series. That game, which was originally titled Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire for its Japanese release, was localized for arcades in North America as “Vampire Savior: World of Darkness”.
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Capcom

As with any game/setting fusions, there are implications to consider, as well as unforeseen problems to at least expect to happen. The world of Darkstalkers is quite different to Street Fighter, so a SFRPG set there will involve major changes. An alternative that I am pondering is the world is initially the standard one in SF, and then Pyron and the Darkstalkers start to arrive. For those that have read/played Palladium’s Nightbane, setting the game at the start as the Dark Day event occurs.

Other World of Darkness adaptions can be found in Warrior’s Fist, Werewolf: the Apocalypse 3, Vampire: the Masquerade 5, Changeling: the Dreaming 6, Mage: the Ascension 8. Plus Street Fighters In The World Of Darkness S7.

Darkstalkers SFRPG. Here is a link to the folder of Street Fighter translations, which includes all the Warrior’s Fist (PdG) issues, Virtual Combat Cards, the epic Circuit Guide, Circuit Guide – Basic, both Solo systems (Meet the Strongest & Dominus), Spartacus, Tekken, Darkstalkers, and the Mortal Kombat files. The whole folder can be downloaded as a Zip file 🙂

Street Fighter MegaDumbCast

For quite a while I have pondered making a podcast talking about the fun old Street Fighter RPG, but a Podcast can be a lot of work, and with so few official books is the effort worth it? So, I decided to focus on the translations of Warrior’s Fist (Punho do Guerreiro) and other Brazilian fan supplements, plus my own projects and fiction. Recently, I nearly started a SFRPG podcast due to a chat on the Facebook group about tutorial videos. Thankfully, I now feel like I don’t need to, since Kris Newton of the MegaDumbCast recently finished a fantastic & funny analysis of the Secrets of Shadoloo.

I first came across the MegaDumbCast in September 2019 via Mage: the Podcast, which I have blogged about previously. Since then they have collaborated again: Making an Archmage Dating Sim with Kris Newton. A fun and interesting episode diving deep in to Mage’s metaplot and characters, plus the game concept sounded great!

The MegaDumbCast (MDC) has primarily focused on Palladium games, such as: Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Ninjas & Superspies; so Kris is no stranger to fun RPGs focused on Martial Arts. MDC’s Secrets of Shadoloo series is extra special, with each episode focusing on a single page, methodically going through the whole book, and even the covers! Each page was scoured in search of clues, to then ascertain the many Secrets of Shadoloo. Consider the following clues: Ler Drit & Cross Fit, No Bull – a True Crime podcast, Shadoloo & Snacks, the importance of Turnstiles, and so much more is revealed.

Check the MDC Secrets of Shadoloo series: Episode 1, Front Cover. The MDC has also previously made episodes about new characters for SFRPG.

30 #RPGaDay2020 Portal

As someone that loves fusing games, portals are an easy tool to use, but a tool used badly can ruin things. Some of the multiverses of various comic settings are examples of things losing value/meaning when not handled with care; Marvel’s Incursion storyline, realities colliding and one being destroyed, can be considered a literal example of the danger of connecting two points that are not normally connected. The implications of Portals are explored in many popular settings, such as Farscape and Babylon 5 (in particular Thirdspace).

In a recent session of Mage the Ascension, (WoD: Sliders) a player that has slowly been learning the setting, is playing an Orphan trying to get to grips with their awakening. The Chronicle is a complex beast, the players’ clue file is currently up to 30 pages of notes, but they have learned that events in the area are connecting different times, spaces and possibly realities in strange ways. One day the party are talking with Hermetics, discussing clues and the Orphan’s visions about ancient Egyptian Gods, the next they have stepped through a Stargate and arrived upon a Technocractic space station. The player was giggling with joy at the vast differences in paradigms and realities, from the ancient world to being in the distant future. Then things got weirder, they were uploaded to the Digital Web, a sector with a Tron aesthetic. They are heading to the Spy’s Demise in tonight’s session. 🙂

All in all I had been worried it would result in genre whiplash, but the player said they loved it; the veteran Mage player did as well, but it’s all normal to them. 😉 I think it was helped by things having been foreshadowed, plus other weirdness building up. Another key factor was that ‘dynamic reality’ was one of the things discussed before even session 0. Likewise with my Fateful Memories D&D PBEM game I’m running, when preparing the game the player was happy to do something a bit different. The character is currently in Sigil. 🙂

Street Fighter RPG

Of course SFRPG already has teleporting ninjas, plus Warrior’s Fist Special 5 (Punho do Guerreiro 5) introduced a Portal Warp power. An empowered version of Elemental Stride, allowing for a team to pass through. 🙂

For my chronicle that was inspired by Mortal Kombat: Conquest, the PCs never developed access to reality portal generation, that power was kept with the Gods and a few divinely empowered items. I didn’t play a ton of Palladium Rifts, as a teenager it was a zany and Mega-Cool (yes, pun intended) game. The player that was introducing me to it was explaining about his plan to play a Juicer that was going to steal a Glitter Boy suit. That is the sort of thing I wanted to avoid with SFRPG game, well unless a group really wanted to play a game that allowed for Mechas performing Dragon Punches. Nope, I have too many games on the go to entertain this! 😉

Other Peoples’ Answers

Charles Etheridge-Nunn @charlie_en

https://fakedtales.com/2020/08/30/rpg-a-day-2020-part-thirty-fun-with-portals/

Energy pulsates
What could lay beyond the veil
Leap through and you'll see#micropoetry #wizards_DND #dnd5e #energy #pulsate #veil #leap #through #discover #brave #see #unknown #portal #RPGaDay2020

— Leojenicek #BlackLivesMatter (@D_and_DHaiku) August 30, 2020

Anthony Boyd @Runeslinger

https://castingshadowsblog.com/2020/08/30/rpgaday2020-day-30-portal/

#30 Portal
"… this isn't what I had in mind when I said we needed a new portal for the bakery's entrance."
"Y-yeah, I agree it's a bit early to start growing our business on an interplanar scale."#RPGaDay2020 #ttrpg #dnd #pathfinder pic.twitter.com/v6NU7QcBKZ

— The Sobers' Guild (@sobers_guild) August 30, 2020

Bob Freeman @OccultDetective

https://bordermengames.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/rpgaday2020-day-30-portal/

#RPGaDay2020 Day 30: Portal. Portals always lead to adventure, whether that’s the Red Portals of Midgard, the many gates in Sigil, City of Doors, or a moss covered stone archway in the forest leading into the Fey Roads😀 pic.twitter.com/1tUm8xFP2j

— Richard Green (@richgreen01) August 30, 2020

Day 30 of #RPGaDay2020 PORTAL:

I’m so excited to take you all into the bigger worlds I have planned.

But I’m curious… What makes a game world feel real to you?

— Joel Salda runs The Big Tabletop (@Saldamandar) August 31, 2020

Sue Savage @SavageSpiel

https://savagespiel.blogspot.com/2020/08/rpgaday-portal.html

#rpgaday2020 PORTAL is a really evocative word. The doors of Martin Silenus’ house in Hyperion lead to rooms on different planets. The Sandman draws a rectangle in the air which flares and becomes a portal to The Dreaming. The Astral Plane has colour pools to reach other worlds

— Mick Hand (@hand_mick) August 30, 2020

Craig Oxbrow @CraigOxbrow

https://thewatchhouserpg.blogspot.com/2020/08/rpgaday2020-30-portal.html

https://thewatchhouserpg.blogspot.com/2020/08/rpgaday2020-buffy-30b-portal.html

Melestrua @Melestrua

https://melestrua.net/2020/08/30/rpgaday2020-day-30-portal/

#RPGaDay2020 – DAY 30 – PORTALS – I remember a group of GMs running a series of linked games at s convention across the weekend. The games were linked via portals, using versions of the same characters in each game. The characters entered portals which led to the next game.

— Stephen (@dornemartell) August 30, 2020

Geek-Life Balance @cybogoblin

https://geeklifebalance.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/rpgaday-2020-portal/

This is a non-exhaustive list; I still have many posts to read today, so I might be adding more links. I’d recommend searching the hashtag and judge those great answers for yourself: #RPGaDay2020, some people use #RPGaDay.

RPG Impact 9

Continuing with RPG Impact. I’m saving one of the best till last, leaving me with many choices for no.9. There are far too many RPGs I love, I could have chosen: GURPS, L5R, Aberrant, Nightbane, plus games in the last ten years like Blades in the Dark, Ryuutama, and the wonderfully adaptable system Powered by the Apocalypse, etc. After a lot of indecision, for my ninth RPG, I choose the Cypher System.

I finally got around to looking at the Cypher System because of Torment: Tides of Numenera. Initially, I was not a fan of the system, and the Numenera setting seemed too disjointed / dreamlike, however, I persevered, and both the system and setting grew on me. Monte Cook Games has made some impressive game settings, and whilst neither the system nor the settings are my favourite, they have left quite the impression on me in terms of accessibility, ease of play and most of all creativity. Thanks to Bundle of Holding and Humble Bundle I was able to purchase lots of PDFs for Cypher System, Numenera, and The Strange; hence why no physical book picture for this post. I’ve looked at the Invisible Sun preview, cool stuff; I know a few Mage the Ascension fans who highly rate Invisible Sun, so hopefully one day I can give the game a try.

I’m a fan of fusing RPGs together, partly due to having played so many things; it keeps old systems from feeling stale or predictable. A Play-by-Email campaign I’ve been working, sort of Twin Peaks meets World of Darkness plus Call of Cthulhu, which I’ve nicknamed Lynchcraftian, has some Cypher System & Settings influences.

Part 10

RPG Impact 5

Continuing with RPG Impact. The fifth RPG that had a big impact on me was Champions / Hero System. In my first Vampire group, one player was obsessed with Champions and arranged to run a game. At that point I hadn’t played any Supes RPGs yet, nor looked at GURPS, so I was delighted to skim through the densely packed Champions rules and contemplate all the possibilities. Character creation was slow but fascinating, different to the simplicity of the games I’d predominately been playing: Cyberpunk & Vampire. I was somewhat reminded of Warhammer’s Realm of Chaos books, the key difference being those powers were random and unbalanced by design.

I made a few characters, then settled on a character inspired by Eldar Harlequin Solitaires. I thoroughly enjoyed the character creation process; I vaguely recall pondering solo RPG ideas, again somewhat inspired by Narrative Wargaming from the Realm of Chaos.

How was the game play? Well, the first session was messy, silly premise, and mostly it was one big team fight. It was fun, even a nice change from the serious sessions I predominately played. Sadly, the game faded away, it was a few years until I returned to the system.

In the mid-90s, I run a short campaign with the group I’d been playing with since high school. It was fun, but the players didn’t quite gel with the system. Roughly they felt that whilst it was fun, it was too much work, and that they could have fun more easily with other games; not helped that 2 players were not keen on Supes genre. We discussed whether they thought things would improve as their system expertise grew. They thought even if they thoroughly read the rules, that they’d still prefer other games. By this stage I had Marvel Super Heroes and D.C. Heroes, plus I had a lot of experience with Palladium games, none of which appealed to them. Instead, we returned to the World of Darkness, primarily Mage and Changeling.

One of regular players loved GURPS, they convinced me to look in to it, using the Hero System as a comparison; awesome, another system I liked yet didn’t do much with for years 😉 Some time passed… I managed a mini-game of Champions using the new Fuzion system; although easier to play, the players gave similar feedback to before. In the 2000s I ran Aberrant a lot, resulting in multiple chronicles, plus some smaller chronicles with other groups, so I eventually got some long-term Supes gameplay 😉

I have met people that played Hero for years. Whilst the system is dense, I’d argue that it is not much denser than various D&D editions. Did I pitch the game in awkward ways? Or was it simply a case of player preferences amidst an option rich field?

For me, Champions/Hero System is ‘the one that got away’.

Part 6

RPG Impact 2

Continuing on with RPG Impact. Around the same time I started tabletop RPG I was introduced to wargaming, starting with Warhammer Fantasy and the then brand new 40,000 (September 87). Later an older friend was selling painted Skaven models, which I started using in my D&D games. I think it was 88 when I came across a 2^nd hand copy of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP); even 2^nd hand, it still cost me more than I earned in a week delivering newspapers.

Whilst the players at my high school RPG club mostly played D&D, I saw other RPGs there, in particular Star Wars (West End Games), Palladium Fantasy, WFRP and later Cyberpunk. WFRP felt different to D&D and Palladium, not just because of the mechanical differences, but the grim rich setting. I was growing bored with the various D&D settings, which felt like a zoo, whilst WFRP lore seemed to be more cohesive, dare I say realistic; of course at that young age, and without the Web, I was not aware of how much stuff had been made for D&D. Also, I guess it was easy for me to get into WFRP due to the wargame and reading White Dwarf. Reading about famous battles and then getting to play our own battles, plus the obvious basis of real life to the ‘Old World’ went someway to giving the WFRP setting a relatable sense of gravitas.

WFRP was my first introduction to Fate Points (FP). Initially they seemed so obvious, but then the question of why other games didn’t have FP resulted in some interesting debates. My young mind needed to learn why genre expectations mattered, what a story promise was, plus how FP affected a game and player decision making. I’m all for taking little bits from different systems, even large-scale fusions, but FP are something I rarely use in games that weren’t designed with them in mind.

Another thing about WFRP was how much fun I had, in particular my Chaos Champions campaign. Two of my old time favourite RPG supplements are the Realm of Chaos books: Slaves to Darkness & The Lost and the Damned. I also learned about Narrative Wargaming from this game, which later helped me appreciate different types of Play-By-Mail.

Part 3

A Fist Full of Dice

I originally published this opinion piece in 2015 on Noobgrind, a computer game website, but since that has gone I’m posting it here. Whilst the original article’s focus was about computer games, this article is more about my influences, how old games led me to martial arts and my RPG designs. Part 1 = https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/way-of-the-exploding-fist-lookback/

This is the third article in the series exploring the impact of the game Way of the Exploding Fist (Commodore 64) had on me, the life path seeds that were planted. Because of my dad’s interest in computing, for years I’d had access to decent home computers and a big collection of games, and in 1987 he bought an Amiga 500 resulting in me being given the C64. Due to living in a seaside resort, I had access to many arcades, but I only had a tiny amount of pocket money. So when I visited the arcades with my mates I generally just watched, preferring to save what little money I had towards buying a new RPG or computer game

The first arcade game I felt compelled to play was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), even though it was just a variation on such classics as Double Dragon, it was different, because it was TMNT! So that anomaly was understandable to me, since I was such a fan of the cartoon, but I was quite surprised to be hit by the virtual tsunami that was Street Fighter 2 (SF2) in 1991. The first Street Fighter (SF) looked okay in the arcades, I’d never played it and in retrospect it seems odd that I don’t recall anybody ever mentioning it at school; the 8-bit version of SF on the C64 looked horrid.

After playing a few games of SF2, I was horrified to find out that somebody else could join in beat me and take over; since I had limited funds I was not keen on this design approach. I soon grasped the financial implications of trying to figure out hidden moves. My paper-round money was already failing to cover my three main hobbies: computer games, tabletop role-playing, and wargaming, so I made the sensible but frustrating decision to watch other people play SF2, and like my days of watching Way of the Exploding Fist, maybe I’d learn, but without the financial cost. I got to see some pretty spectacular players who’d said they spent quite a lot of money getting that good. Watching helped me develop a better understanding of the depth of the game, but it also gave me an appreciation of the calibre of opponents that could easily beat me. In 1993 a friend got SF2 for his Sega Mega Drive, so I finally got to play the game for countless hours.

I appreciated the diverse martial art styles that SF2 included. Although the game included mystical abilities, it was cool to see how they had integrated them into different martial arts style, enhancing them without commandeering them. Granted, the plot of SF2 was extremely simple, but it didn’t matter, as the playability was exceptional. In 1992 I saw Mortal Kombat (MK), which was an impressive evening of watching a crowd of people challenge each other. Personally, I preferred the more in depth fighting in SF2, but I quickly became a fan of the MK game and universe; not that MK 1 was an amazing story, but it seemed a bit more fleshed out that SF2, in particular Outworld. Mentioning that SF 2 story was simple is of course obvious, but I mention it because in 1994 a tabletop role-playing company called White Wolf released Street Fighter (SFRPG).

By 1994 the universe of Street Fighter had been expanded, particularly via manga and anime. My friends and I enjoyed Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994). Like a lot of popular settings (IP), more and more things were produced, adding ideas and variety to the original idea; some great, some not.

At the time White Wolf was known for its flagship game Vampire: the Masquerade, one of the many games set in the World of Darkness; I was an avid player and collector of these games. In the various World Darkness games, players could play characters (monsters) with incredible powers. The games tried to focus on storytelling and role-playing; a character’s story was the priority, not their powers; of course some groups focused on the power, not that there is anything innately wrong with that if the group agrees. So I was willing to give SFRPG a go, appreciating the foundations for an interesting gaming world based off the simple SF2 story. I am not claiming that White Wolf had written a masterpiece of world building, instead they had captured the essence of what had made the Street Fighter series so good. Although a gaming group could do whatever they wanted, the base focus of the game was all about a fighter’s journey to improve, set in a world of rampant crime and obscure mystics.

I was the Games Master / Storyteller (GM / ST) for several groups, and I also chatted with several other gamers at my local gaming shop, so I got to talk to lots of people. Typically, the initial response to the RPG was a quick list of surprise comments, followed by ridicule, then questions. My answers highlighted the fast combat, the depth of options, plus how intriguing M. Bison’s Shadoloo was, how similar to other secret societies/criminal empires, asking them what they thought Bison was up to. I’d explain an important game mechanic, that characters used Chi to activate certain powers, they could gain Chi points back by making Honor rolls. So if Bison had no honour, how could he regain Chi? Some role players were willing to try the game, and impressively they generally enjoyed it.

Over the years I have run several SFRPG campaigns, all were fun and some I’d even rate as good. I think it is also noteworthy to consider that the majority of players knew little to nothing about martial arts. What was great was that playing the arcade game had educated its players enough that they know what different styles roughly looked like, as well as what sort of techniques used; granted SF2 added chi powers to the mix, but did so without ruining the martial style. This SF2 education was an interesting bonus, as it generally affected a player’s ability to role-play comfortable and better, since it reduced learning the setting, styles, combat and powers. I loved that many SF2 players trying out SFRPG were pretty much veterans when it came to describing their character’s attacks, plus understanding what was happening in a detailed fight. The combat mechanics in the RPG were effective (but not perfect). An emphasis on streamlined simple mechanics better enabled players to learn how to play. The combat cards could help fights play out quickly, all in all, very efficient just like SF2. Interestingly the combat mechanics had some key differences to the other World of Darkness games, a few years later an optional book was added to the World of Darkness beautifully/amusingly entitled Combat.

I was disappointed with how the Combat book handled Mage: the Ascension. Effectively it did not add anything, suggesting Mages can perform True Magick like Stunts is IMHO pointless, since that is what a Mage game is basically like anyway. I do understand why this approach was taken, I am not saying it is worthless/garbage, just disappointing to me. Whilst there are a few special maneuvers for a character with Do 3+, which was nice, but, since Do was basically an Akashic Brotherhood (now: Akashayana) special skill. I think this approach sadly reduced a setting with infinite potential and options to cliché views of ‘Asians are best at martial arts’, ignoring the numerous world cultures with exceptional fighting systems, and the commonality of violence and the human body. This is partly why I have experimented with various ways of integrating the SFRPG mechanics and Combat Cards with other games, my own games, and for the last few years Mage.

Debates about tabletop role-playing game systems is a major part of that hobby, mechanics matter and add to that so much of what we know is from movies/games/books and not personal practice. The designers of any role-playing system need to acknowledge the fact that truly simulating reality is far too complicated, never mind the fact that so much is not understood, therefore a game needs to be easy to understand, and usually quick to play whilst not sacrificing too much realism. My point, linking back to the previous discussion about game accessibility, reducing player learning requirements, and helping players understand game events, I think overall SFRPG did a great job.

Overall I loved the core rules for SFRPG. Whilst the expansion books introduced many great things, unfortunately it also added some garbage into the game. In interviews it has been explained how rushed the game line was, sadly this shows, which is a shame because if more time had been given to the designers then maybe some of the garbage could have been more great additions. The most famous example is the Cartwheel Kick, in was so clearly broken it took most players only a few seconds to figure out that it was godly. Likewise the magic shoes in Savate. This lack of playtesting stands out, and is a disgrace to the quality of SF2 core game. Fortunately all role-playing game mechanics can be altered by groups introducing house rules, and generally a veteran gaming group can run a good campaign despite any rubbish game mechanics or bad story/world design. Having worked at a games company I have a good appreciation for the difficulties of hitting deadlines, costs of running a company, and how easy it is to miss things, which is why playtesting is so important.

Following on from a previous article mentioning Gene Lebell and Bruce Lee. It is a shame that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) had not happened decades earlier. So many RPGs could have been fixed in regards to the martial art clichés. This is one of the interesting things about Street Fighter 2, for all the made up and fantasy aspects, the game has a diverse range of fighting techniques shown; granted no ground game, but at least grappling is a core part. I think this has helped SFRPG stand out against other RPGs, for example Palladium’s Ninjas and Superspies. The Contenders expansion added many styles and maneuvers, of particular note is Ground Fighting, but there are other gems like Chi Push.

The SFRPG rulebooks were full colour, which was very unusual for that time. Although the books had a distinctive White Wolf design with the flavour text and story snippets, the layout of the SFRPG books were more exciting/dynamic looking than their other games. The artwork was mixed, whilst some pieces were great, others were less so…

Character creation was straightforward, particularly for players familiar with other White Wolf games. Choosing a character’s special moves list was an interesting and fun part of the process, since it would be a major part of the character’s abilities and development. Interestingly, the game encouraged players to declare the names for their moves, just like Hadoken in the computer game. Whilst not everybody did this, nobody complained about it being silly, I put this down to the fact that SF 2 had taught players that this was a somewhat normal the thing to do.

Even after writing several of the negative points about the tabletop RPG, I still think that overall the core SFRPG was brilliant, providing players with a great toolset to explore the intriguing world of SF2. Along with the animated movie, it is nice to know that some game tie-ins aren’t complete garbage. Whilst there have been other good martial art role-playing games, my players and I still fondly recall many great Street Fighter gaming sessions and rate it as our favourite of the genre. Every few years we play it again, playing with new ideas and house rules.

The Street Fighter series has millions of fans, but a few of us crave more than just the fights. We are also nostalgic about the espionage of the World Warrior circuit, rising up in rank, to more epic stories of training under Ryu, discovering new/lost techniques, and I suspect in a few cases usurping Bison to take over Shadoloo! I’d love a great computer RPG set in the SF world, whilst I doubt that will happen, maybe one day it will?!

From Way of the Exploding Fist to Street Fighter RPG 3 part series

Part 1 = https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/way-of-the-exploding-fist-lookback/

Part 2 = https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/fist-2-exploring-mystical-fighting/

Part 3 = https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2019/11/18/a-fist-full-of-dice/

Trinity Continuum Aberrant Erupts

At the time of writing Trinity Continuum: Aberrant is in the final 24 hours on Kickstarter. I’ve been waiting years for this event, a reimagining of Aberrant. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aberrant

Aberrant is a fabulous Supes/Super RPG that was part of the Trinityverse, now called Trinity Continuum. Back in the late 90s Aberrant presented a world obsessed with super powered celebrities (Novas), hyper focused reality TV (N!), individuals with the power of gods but also dark conspiracies, and power that tainted the Novas. The old game was very socially minded, why rob a bank when sponsorship and mercenary work is available, etc. The new Trinity Continuum: Aberrant builds upon this, but crucially there are some differences that I love! The game requires the Trinity Continuum core book, I wrote about this last year https://batjutsu.wordpress.com/2018/02/28/impressive-reboot-of-trinity/.

“What would you do with the power of a god?”

First a quick shout out to Ian A. A. Watson (@VonAether), who in particular has spent years trying to create a new Aberrant. There are many interviews covering the process, so here is a summary of the journey about how the old White Wolf merged with CCP Games. Richard Thomas formed Onyx Path Publishing and producing old and new RPGs. Later Paradox Interactive purchased the World of Darkness IP, whilst Onyx Path negotiated to buy Trinityverse outright, which is now solely owned by Onyx Path. Hence the IP of Trinity, Aberrant and Adventure! have had quite the journey.

I’ve run a few Aberrant games over the years. Some of the games were more like D.C. Comics or Marvel 4 colour style, more carefree fun, sometimes a bit silly. Whilst with my main I ran a dark investigation game for over ten years. This chronicle was about hope, about trying to prevent the inevitable Aberrant War. When we last played it seemed that maybe the PCs had helped solve so many problems, that the future looked positive; I’ll not froth about this campaign, whilst I loved it, typically with RPGs you needed to be there ;-). Like many RPGs the tone can be tweaked, along with keeping in mind PCs motivations and player preferences, to create the style wanted. The new Aberrant includes an examination of this, with an explanation of how to approach the different styles of Supes.

The system is not the old Storyteller one, instead using the Storypath. I’ve still yet to play the system but I do love what I read when I backed Trinity Continuum. In addition to the great momentum mechanic, is the idea of Scale. Scale is reminiscent of the old D.C. Comic RPG, but is designed to be easier to allow for quick decision making, allowing everyone to focus on narrative. From the Kickstarter page Danielle Lauzon explained:

“Okay, so Narrative Scale is for when you just want to know how badly you crush something because of your difference in Scale. It’s described liberally as a multiplier to your successes on a simple roll to get a thing done, but what that really means is that a Scale 1 difference doubles the number of successes you have to do the thing, Scale 2 difference triples, Scale 3 quadruples, etc. Narrative Scale is there for the following kind of scenarios “Superman flies through a building, and we want to know how much damage that does to the building.” We accept that he flies right through, so the roll isn’t to see if he can, but instead to find out his damage to help figure out if the damned thing falls down. Sometimes the SG might just look at a Scale difference and decide narratively that we don’t even need a roll, it just crumples.

I loved the old Aberrant the most out of the numerous Supers RPGs, even though I appreciated it had a few mechanic problems. I’ve read/run/played old Heroes/Champions, GURPS Supers, Mutants & Mastermind, D.C. Comics, Marvel and Palladium. For me, I think the old Aberrant presented both a great setting and rules that worked well enough. Trinity Continuum: Aberrant seems to stride the middle ground between these various systems, providing a vast range of powers, in a setting with different types of powered and baseline characters, with rules that better understand what they are focused on. I’d be very surprised if I don’t love the game when I run it!

Usually I’d write about different game ideas, even crazy ideas about merging various RPGs together. Instead I look forward to returning to my old long running chronicle, which included Adventure! and Trinity. The fact the group and I have had so much fun over the years speaks volumes about the game, and I am sure we will continue to love it for years to come.

The factions are still there, but there have been some important tweaks. Another titanic difference is that Taint is now Transcendence; Novas are no longer time-bombs towards physical and psychological disaster. Characters can still grow distant from humanity, for example Dr Manhattan (Watchman) is a great example of ludicrously powered individual who has very high Transcendence. Check out these two interviews for more details about changes:

https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-aberrant-kickstarter-interview-with-steve-kenson-and-ian-watson

Onyx Path have a free Aberrant comic at http://theonyxpath.com/comic/you-are-not-alone-cover/

Join the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/trinity-continuum-aberrant

#TCAberrant #TrinityContinuum