fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on Oct 2, 2017 6:41:02 GMT -8
Where did Hite mention that? I'm a few episodes behind in KARTAS… twitter.com/kennethhite/status/914061978410405888Says he'll talk about it more on Kartas. I was never a TP fan (didn't watch TV at the time) so it's passed be by, except by report. I AM a Lynch fan though. So should watch it. One day.
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Post by chronovore on Oct 2, 2017 14:36:58 GMT -8
Where did Hite mention that? I'm a few episodes behind in KARTAS… Says he'll talk about it more on Kartas. I was never a TP fan (didn't watch TV at the time) so it's passed be by, except by report. I AM a Lynch fan though. So should watch it. One day. Ehhhhnnnnhhh… I loved it at the time, tried to rewatch it recently, and found it to be a real chore. There's a great catch-up video I watched in prep for the new series, but it will be a little bit before it comes to Japan. I'm not sure who Showtime is carried by in Japanese streaming services, and DVDs can run 6 months to 2 years later than the USA.
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fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on Oct 24, 2017 11:32:31 GMT -8
Book two, chapter two, objectives
Again, I’m somewhat puzzled over the allocation of chapters between books one and two. The content of chapter, for example, seems mostly aimed at players rather than the GM, and yet it finds itself in the GM’s volume. A player might ask, “why do I even need a mechanic for objectives?” Indeed, in many games, it’s the GM who sets the objective - destroy the evil artefact, find the murderer, or whatever, while the players may have, supplementary objectives such as get as rich as possible, or have loads of fights in bars. Sometimes, the GM-set and the players’ objectives mesh, sometimes they clash. Greg Stolze’s stated aim with this third edition is to combine sandbox and horror - if a true sandbox allows player characters to run away from horror, then its useful for the GM know what they want to run towards, so that s/he can put horror in their way.
So, this chapter helps players create objectives in a GM friendly way, giving them a sense of scale - is it local, weighty or cosmic; and an enabling mechanic that allows GM and players to measure the impact of their actions on achieving the objective. The scale stuff is really useful for the GM, offering examples of just how crazy the PCs need to get to achieve what they want. The success measure thing feels like it might be an unnecessary addition to the narrative but I’ll play it through and see what it adds to the game. I can see that it could make a story about, for example, putting together a magickal ritual more free-form and give the players a modicum for control, while retaining a sense of beginning, middle and end.
Let me try and give an example: An objective requires (on average) five intense milestones to complete. Which might mean roughly five sessions of gaming. What exactly “intense” means depends on the scale of the objective. An intense milestone for a Local objective might mean bugging or hacking into some target’s home, but a intense milestone for a Cosmic objective would mean assassinating the most important politician in Europe. (Some would argue that working out who the most important politician in Europe actually is is a challenge of cosmic proportion in itself.) But that doesn’t mean that the GM should think up five adventures - they might have ideas to share, but it’s up to the players, really to explain what they plan to do, and then the GM can work out if it’s a pretty or intense milestone and reward the the players with a appropriate amount of progress towards completing their objective. Play might reveal new unplanned opportunities, but it doesn’t matter - just work out if it’s petty or intense then play though it. It will always be worth something towards the objective.
If they want to go for the objecting without having completed the milestones they can, and the progress they’ve made so far becomes the chance of success. Players might even decide that there’s a better objective to go for. No problem, depending on the scale of the new objective, and a die roll, some or all of their progress can count towards the new objective.
I’m not entirely convinced the mechanics are worth the admittedly minimal hassle, but I’ll give them a go.
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fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on Jan 1, 2018 8:18:48 GMT -8
It's been a while since I last posted on this Where I Read ..., partly because I've been busy doing other stuff, but also because my GMing priorities changed. We ran the character creation session for this game a few months ago, with the intention of getting into a campaign and completing it before Christmas. But then, one of the players, who serves in the Army was told he was being reassigned elsewhere in January, and he had a half-finished D&D 5th Ed e gocampaign that we wanted to complete before he left. So we've been playing that (very satisfyingly) and well revisit UA3 after he goes, towards the end of the month. We'll probably need to look again at the characters, we may have a different mix of players, but it won't be long before the game starts in ernest.
So its just as well I'm up to chapter four of book two, which it slightly miss-named. It talks about the anatomy of the game session, but actually it is really about the anatomy of a campaign. Indeed its first section is called "The Lifecycle of a Campaign." Also the following section is some stuff that feels as though it should have been included in chapter three, usful advice about helping the players choose an objective you can work with.
But those niggles aside, I really like this chapter. As Stolze says in his intro, we've all improvised our way "along the path of a plot like a rushing river, between the sandbars of digression and the rapids of bad rolls" but when faced this the question "Oh crap, what do I do next?!? [...] seeing your answer as a component in a taxonomy that relates it to other possibilities could help you deploy your choices with more efficiency and confidence."
So what is "the lifecycle of a campaign"? Its pretty simple. The first session (no "session zero" for Stolze) is the character phase. Then the campaign alternates between the Antagonist Phase (between sessions) and the Mediation Phase (during sessions).
The antagonist phase is when the GM gets to be oppositional, thinking of ways in which the world wants to upset the players' plans. (And since my players have decided to end the world - a modest objective for the first go with the game - by restarting the Mayan Apocalypse Clock (yeah, apparently its an actual thing), I think that, yeah, the whole world does want top upset their plans.) Stolze advises "Think of the worst things, or the most most challenging things, or the most tempting things that your PC might face. What more than anything else is going to make a PC stop and say 'Woah, maybe I don't want to persue our objective, not if that is the price!'? Get those ready, but don't carry that attitude of total antagonism into the actual session." Instead he advises that in the mediation fan you switch from being the enemy to being a fan of the characters and of the game. You concentrate on making the game run smoothly.
The section on The Antagonist Phase is really useful. As you read it (if you have any experience as a GM) you'll say "yeah, I kinda knew that" but you never saw it put into words like this. Its so good I just want to copy words out of the book and into this blog. But, while that may be very rock and roll, punk even, its not legal, and I want you to go out there and buy the book and reward Stoltze for all his hard work. So, I'll paraphrase. The antagonist phase is what many GMs call "Prep", but its a better name, because you don't want to be thinking about solutions. You just want to end up with loads "of ideas for events, individuals, and suppurating entities that could make trouble for your PCs." But he classes them as either distractions or obstacles.
Distractions are targets at one PC, to split them off from the rest of the cabal, and to put them into conflict, either directly or not, with the group's objectives. This advice is somewhat against the traditional motto "don't split the party." Obstacles are simply people or events that get in the way of the group's next milestone. Obstacles can be physical; psychological (Stozle advises care with these but points out how useful they are in the early stages of the game, when players are testing the limits of their character); logistical; or, mystical of course. If you need help creating obstacles and distractions, the internet (especially Facebook's UA fan club and Unnatural Phenomena) is there to help, and eventually, you should have to creat fewer and fewer obstacles and distractions on your own and the PCs will have created a whole bunch through their actions, what Stolze calls "blowback". Blowback comes with a caveat though: "there's a fine line to walk between ideas that actions have consequences, and the thought that you will never get ahead, everything turns to rubbish when you touch it, there's no point in opening the door because the knob will just come off in your hand. You have to validate their triumphs." Blowback also provides continuity between sessions; reveals clues; reinforces cost; and importantly, feels fair. Perhaps more fair than an obstacle that you have invented. Finally, he covers "opportunities" a reward or shortcuts that the PCs can pursue - things they didn't even know they needed, but that get them somewhere. Do it when the chips are down (but not too often) and the players will thanks you, but do it when things are going well that the players will wonder whats going on. And in UA, paranoia is good...
In the section on the Mediation Phase, the first thing addressed is pacing. Talking about analysis paralysis, he says that sometimes you just have to step in and say "so is that the plan?" - don't do that though when you ca see its a shit plan. I think that sometimes what is perceived as analysis paralysis is actually roleplaying. If everyone is enjoying it, remind them to keep it in character but see how it plays out. It may fill a session satisfactorily, and create some blowback on the way.... There is also advice for when the objective seems too hard, or too close for urgency, or when a PC is feeling left out.
In the final advice on running the campaign, Stolze warns against negating the PC's ideas - except when you realize that its making another player feel icky, or is entirely outside the scope of the game. Otherwise acceptance is the rule, the more accept, the more blowback the characters will create. Accept it when: the players don't think an idea you have had seems interesting; and when they chicken out of of an objective of milestone; and they they do lousy things; and whand they change direction unexpectedly. Last of all, there is advice on knowing when to stop. Have they achieved their objectives? Or done something spectacular and hard to top? Or maybe they've failed... as he says "there's no guaranteed happy ending in horror games."
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fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on Jan 20, 2018 8:38:16 GMT -8
This chapter of the GM's book looks at the character the GM controls, pressing home the idea that this is a game about people and relationships, , not about things. That idea is apparent even in the later section on organisations. None of them a faceless behemoths with anonymous black-clad agents (actually, I guess they might have some anonymous black clad agents), rather they are all organisations of people. They have founders and leaders, and everyone involved in them has their own motivations and obsessions.
This is one of the most extensive GMC advice chapters I have ever seen in a Role Playing Game. Said advice even includes a long column on how to keep GMC records, for example advising notecards over computer files. (My own advice on such matters is use the system that works best for you - I know that I, for example, would scatter notecards around my study, forget to bring them to the session or leave them somewhere. Stuff I put in OneNote is replicated everywhere.) Find a photo for each GMC, Stolze says, to help players tell them apart, and write down a "personality" anchor for yourself so you have an idea how they would react - such anchors can be real people or characters, in a few few sentences we mentions your Uncle Bob, Buffy and Clint Eastwood.
Minor characters, he says, only need that anchor, a name and a purpose.
If necessary you can add a shock gauge to that description with, he suggest no more than four hard notches in any meter. If the PC's hot them, they have a wound threshold of 50.
More significant characters include all those that have a relationship with the PCs. Their shock gauge might include some failed notches too. They might have a main identity around 60%, and perhaps a second one around 50% for colour.
Stolze argues that your campaign might not need any major GMCs, but sometimes a character does need to be as complete to the GM as PCs are to their players. As a guideline, he suggests anyone with connections to two PCs should be a major character. Such characters need detailed histories, because your players will ask about them. He points out that GMCs don't need to be created following the same rules as PCs, and wisely points out that if let the players fight a major GMC "they will find a way to kill it." There is a section on why adepts make such good GMCs, which boils down to: they are mysterious, powerful weirdos.
Then there is a large section on groups, which says Stolze work as: Big Bads with ticking time-bombs; mysteries to solve; unreliable allies; or, sandbags. There are a number of example groups, but also guidance on making them from scratch, with a useful classification of purpose and methods - each can be either mundane or occult. So an organisation of magick cops for example, might have a mundane purpose (keep the peace) but use occult methodologies. A street gang might be entirely mundane - their purpose is to sell drugs, and their methods involve contacts, exchange, hidden stashes and occasional violence. Stolze argues that most churches have an occult purpose (connect with the divine) but for all their ritual their misunderstanding of how magick works means their methods are mundane (coffee mornings, bring and buy sales). Groups with an occult purpose and occult methods are "the deep crazy, magick means, magick goals, magick philosphies, all stacked together like pancakes slathered in synchronicity and buttered with paranoia until you can't hardly tell where one ends and the other begins."
I won't share too much about the example groups, for fear of spoilers. I'll only list each one with a short summary of its ostensible reason for existence (which may not actually be true - these groups have histories and their goals may change). Each one has a little bit on the history of the organisation, which is written in such a way that I think it might refer to things that were covered in previous editions of Unknown Armies or supplements, and explains what happened in the intervening years. Much of each history names movers and shakers in that history, but not everyone is given stats (though three from the Sect of the Naked Goddess get full write-ups). There's normally a bit on how the organisation operates currently, and the resources it might have. Occasionally the organisation is a school of magick, and there are details of charging and spells. The last section of each write-up is "The future(s) of..." which is a few suggestions for how the organisation might fit into your campaign.
Flex Echo is a department of the NSA using occult methods to process data.
Ordo Corpulentis is society dedicated to spreading both US culture and the blessings of Jesus Christ (yeah, sure).
The Sect of the Naked Godess are followers of the archetype The Naked Goddess, whose ascension to the the Invisible Clergy was recorded on tape.
The Sleepers are a magickal police force determines to keep the occult secret for lest the mundane world rise up against adepts.
The New Inquisition is an attempt to monopolise the control of magick.
Mak Attax try to make the world a better place though sharing magick with non-adepts, almost the antithesis of The New Inquistion.
The Milk turn children into Avatars in the hope to replacing the Invisible Clergy.
The Immortal Secretaries plan to take over the world but being the power behind every throne.
Finally at the end of the chapter, there's one of those bits which you feel doesn't quite fit in, but Atlas games couldn't work out a better place to put it. One imagines that Stolze it the sort of writer that churns stuff out, and its hard fro any editor to keep up. This particular section is about riots, which I guess is a loose (VERY loose) organisation of people.
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