sockjack
Apprentice Douchebag
Another Successful Oneshot!
Posts: 56
Preferred Game Systems: DRYH, Fate, Mazerats, PbTa
Currently Running: SI'Sah Stories (The Sprawl Campaign), & Random Oneshots
Favorite Species of Monkey: Bad Monkeys
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Post by sockjack on Mar 30, 2018 18:55:03 GMT -8
Like The header says, has anyone heard of this game or played it? I saw a YouTube game that made it seem interesting but wondering what the jacker community‘s exp has been.
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tomes
Supporter
Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
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Post by tomes on Mar 30, 2018 20:10:14 GMT -8
Like The header says, has anyone heard of this game or played it? I saw a YouTube game that made it seem interesting but wondering what the jacker community‘s exp has been. I haven't, but I've heard about it. There is this +1 Forward episode (which, to be fair, is probably where I heard about it): www.gauntlet-rpg.com/1-forward/pigsmokeThere's always a tiny 1-on-1 Actual Play at the end of these podcasts, so you can hear a little of how it might run.
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Post by shadrack on Mar 31, 2018 16:00:38 GMT -8
The steams steel and murder podcast has an AP up. I haven't listened to it yet though.
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sockjack
Apprentice Douchebag
Another Successful Oneshot!
Posts: 56
Preferred Game Systems: DRYH, Fate, Mazerats, PbTa
Currently Running: SI'Sah Stories (The Sprawl Campaign), & Random Oneshots
Favorite Species of Monkey: Bad Monkeys
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Post by sockjack on Apr 11, 2018 13:28:50 GMT -8
Ok, I ran the one-shot and overall it was a success. I figured I’d record my limited 2 cents for others who may be interested in the system.
TLDR: It’s a fun lighthearted low prep game that pokes fun at academia and wizardry, great as satire for magical high schools. Great for wacky adventures but might not work for one-shots since world creation takes longer than expected. The rules are more wibbly wobbly than other pbta games, so be ready to roll with stuff. Finally, the game empowers players to do a lot of world creation, GMs need to make sure they don’t over-do it, since the game is very open that way.
What is Pigsmoke? Pigsmoke is a game about RPing in a Magical Academy of Higher Fatality Learning, but instead of playing the students you play the long-suffering Teaching Staff. The object of the game is to last long enough to make it to tenure before getting burned out by the constant inanity and insanity of Education.
Setting Creation The game is low/no prep outside of printing stuff out, and the world is created with the players during the first game. For those that want more support the book provides a bunch of examples and additional info to help you flesh out (mis)adventures.
The Setting can be decided upon by the group, or if that takes too long can just make a place up. Our game had 3 different ideas [Top of St. Louis Arch, Middle of Downtown Chicago, Petrified Forest] that could all have worked and had their own spin on the setting.
Character Creation Characters are made of 2 different playbooks [Roles & Departments] that help increase the variety in character creation. Each half also has questions that help flesh out the setting further and add some potential hooks. This freedom also allows player creativity to really shine, but also may be a little daunting for players new to pbta games.
Burn Out and Bleeding Out Instead of a traditional health system, the games main focus is on “burnout” which is the mechanical representation of your character getting sick of all the stress and chaos around them. At every 3 burnout points, the Player gets chewed out (possibly literally) by their Dept Head or the Dean, until they max out Burnout and Quit.
Health is not something tracked with a stat so much in the game. Players are teachers not adventurers, so it makes sense that combat is not the emphasis. Players can and will get hurt though in their pursuit of knowledge and job security, but that means they visit the hospital wing and should come back good as new (or better, tentacles are more useful than arms anyway).
Final Thoughts Overall while I don’t think the One-shot is where this game shines, I could see this doing well in a lighthearted campaign. It’s different than a lot of other RPG games that focus on combat, and Pigsmoke really makes the mundane fantastical, and vice versa. The focus on comedy and catharsis helps keep things from getting bogged down and keep at a good clip. I enjoyed running the game and definitely would run it again!
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