I have to share this. It cracks me up.
For the last few nights that I've been in City of Heroes, I've been popping along to Pocket D... because I've been finding the RP a lot more fun than what's been happening at Galaxy Girl, recently.
Anyway, for anyone who doesn't know, Pocket D is a nightclub that is designated Neutral Territory, so heroes and villains can interact without coming to blows.
Let's start with Saturday night:
My wife was in there, RPing on one of her infrequently played characters. She had a brief conversation with a character that she described as "sooooo boring!"
Sunday Night
Said "boring" character was chatting up (badly) a character played by Shadow Kitty of the Echelon SG (of which I am a member on a couple of toons). Kitty shot him down like a pheasant. Can't really blame him - the guy was hurling hyperbolic compliments at his character like they were going out of fashion.
Within about a minute of being shot down, said character had turned to a completely different character, played by Fanservice (whom I know from a number of places in-game), and was asking his character for "a kiss".
I snerked.
Monday Night
This character was at it again... chatting up "random female toon" with insanely over-the-top compliments: "I have lived amongst the angels, and I can say that you are more beautiful than any of them, lady Bea". Cue appropriate hurling.
He was trying to persuade her to go out to dinner. She just wanted to know what kind of food. How hard would that be to answer? Apparently very. Italian. Chinese. Japanese. He even offered to fly her out to Japan for some real Japanese cuisine... fine, but you're trying to hard, numb-nuts! Just pick something, take her out, and give up on the extreme puke-making compliments, because it makes you look like a 16-year old kid wanting to get his rocks off with some cyber-sex.
My character has a reputation as a bit of a man-whore (he's not... honest...), and managed to utterly destroy this poor fool's chances with a well-placed business card containing the message "I know a great Thai place. Give me a call when you get bored."
Hint to people attempting to RP men who compliment women. NEVER MAKE THE FIRST CONVERSATION THE ONE WITH THE COMPLIMENTS. Save them for the second one. The first one is all about getting to know the character.
Wednesday 27 May 2009
End of Hiatus?
Well, I've actually been RPing recently, but thanks to the sheer terror that is my job, I've not had a chance to write anything here about it.
I'll try to find time over the weekend to bring everyone up to speed on where things are at.
For the record, though, tonight's scheduled D&D4E game is going ahead, and is due to see some actual roleplaying rather than monster-bashing, and I'm seriously looking forward to it.
In Mutants & Masterminds, I played one of my favourite GMing tricks, which is to have the "turncoat NPC" arrive on the scene, utterly confusing the characters (and their players, apparently), with the second introduction of Gemini - this time in person - on the side of the PCs... well, if you can call a battered and bruised woman with a knife in her back as being on their side. Well, I say Gemini... technically, this is Sister Gemini. What happens to Brother Gemini off-screen is a whole different story. Next session should see some nice plot progression as Gemini is questioned, as well as the proper introduction of Aquarius - as one of the PCs keeps saying "lamest villain group theme ever" - and they should start to see more of the metaplot unfold. I hope.
Note to self: NO PLOT SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE PLAYERS.
I'll try to find time over the weekend to bring everyone up to speed on where things are at.
For the record, though, tonight's scheduled D&D4E game is going ahead, and is due to see some actual roleplaying rather than monster-bashing, and I'm seriously looking forward to it.
In Mutants & Masterminds, I played one of my favourite GMing tricks, which is to have the "turncoat NPC" arrive on the scene, utterly confusing the characters (and their players, apparently), with the second introduction of Gemini - this time in person - on the side of the PCs... well, if you can call a battered and bruised woman with a knife in her back as being on their side. Well, I say Gemini... technically, this is Sister Gemini. What happens to Brother Gemini off-screen is a whole different story. Next session should see some nice plot progression as Gemini is questioned, as well as the proper introduction of Aquarius - as one of the PCs keeps saying "lamest villain group theme ever" - and they should start to see more of the metaplot unfold. I hope.
Note to self: NO PLOT SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE PLAYERS.
Monday 11 May 2009
Brief RPG Hiatus
Well, in case anyone's wondering, I'm on a (very) brief hiatus from RP for personal reasons. Naturally, this does nothing to change my general feelings about roleplaying, Dungeons & Dragons, Mutants & Masterminds and City of Heroes, so I'll try to think of something relevant to post about in the near future.
On another note, killing zombies is incredibly cathartic, so I'd recommend Left 4 Dead and Plants vs. Zombies (both available on Steam) to anyone.
On another note, killing zombies is incredibly cathartic, so I'd recommend Left 4 Dead and Plants vs. Zombies (both available on Steam) to anyone.
Tuesday 5 May 2009
Irregular Games: D&D 4E
What a weekend...
A group of my friends and I get together for some irregular gaming sessions every once in a while. We're currently playing a D&D 4E game, DM'd by my friend Matt, with myself and his two brothers Ian and Simon as the "core" players, and their friend Jim, my friend James and my friend Adam as additional players as and when they can turn up. We're going through the low-end published adventure "Keep on the Shadowfell" right now... and just had one hell of a weekend playing it.
There's a lot to say, and I'm frankly not all that inclined to go into the huge story of what's going on - play the adventure yourself, you lazy sod! - but there are a few things that have stuck in my mind about how it's gone.
1) 4E is a good miniatures game. It really is. Loads of fun options for the characters, in-depth combat choices, fast and simple tactical movement rules.
2) It's hard to actually roleplay in a dungeon crawl. 3 solid days of gaming. Total of all interaction encounters: Zero. Zip. Nadda. Total of intra-party RP as a result... naff-all.
3) The rules ain't finished, yet! I found not one, not two, but THREE distinct sets of rules about holding your breath. The first is in the PHB, and says that you must make an Endurance check every round after the 5th round of holding your breath, starting at DC 10, increasing by +1 every round thereafter. The second is in the DMG, where it says that after 3 minutes of holding your breath, you must make a DC 20 Endurance check, increasing by +5 every minute thereafter. The third is also in the DMG, on the same page as that second one, and says that if a character is exerting themselves, they must make a DC 20 Endurance check every round (note - there is no mention of this DC increasing over time, unlike the other two sets of rules). When you have characters in combat trying to hold their breath, it becomes quite important to have consistent rules. These ain't consistent. Okay, maybe there's something in the errata... but I don't want to have to have a printout of the errata document to hand when I'm playing.
4) It's a lot of fun, but most of that fun is social between the players. Cue the "chocolate finger" jokes that were flying around for most of the weekend. I won't explain that. But it was bloody hilarious. Rockjaw has waxed lyrical on this issue in the past - the game doesn't matter, the people are what's important. Given the good company I had over the weekend, we could have been playing live action Frogger (don't try this at home, kids!) and it would have been good fun.
Conclusion: I'm not a fan of D&D 4E. To me, it's just another roleplaying system, and has lost a lot of what made D&D my favourite, and has become so deeply integrated with miniatures that it's lost a lot of its spontanaeity and mental visualisation. I think this is a shame, even if it makes sense commercially.
I shall soldier on with my Wednesday night game for the duration of the current adventure... but after that I'm going to try to persuade my group that it might be an idea to try a different game for a while. Maybe a one-shot or three, just to take a break.
A group of my friends and I get together for some irregular gaming sessions every once in a while. We're currently playing a D&D 4E game, DM'd by my friend Matt, with myself and his two brothers Ian and Simon as the "core" players, and their friend Jim, my friend James and my friend Adam as additional players as and when they can turn up. We're going through the low-end published adventure "Keep on the Shadowfell" right now... and just had one hell of a weekend playing it.
There's a lot to say, and I'm frankly not all that inclined to go into the huge story of what's going on - play the adventure yourself, you lazy sod! - but there are a few things that have stuck in my mind about how it's gone.
1) 4E is a good miniatures game. It really is. Loads of fun options for the characters, in-depth combat choices, fast and simple tactical movement rules.
2) It's hard to actually roleplay in a dungeon crawl. 3 solid days of gaming. Total of all interaction encounters: Zero. Zip. Nadda. Total of intra-party RP as a result... naff-all.
3) The rules ain't finished, yet! I found not one, not two, but THREE distinct sets of rules about holding your breath. The first is in the PHB, and says that you must make an Endurance check every round after the 5th round of holding your breath, starting at DC 10, increasing by +1 every round thereafter. The second is in the DMG, where it says that after 3 minutes of holding your breath, you must make a DC 20 Endurance check, increasing by +5 every minute thereafter. The third is also in the DMG, on the same page as that second one, and says that if a character is exerting themselves, they must make a DC 20 Endurance check every round (note - there is no mention of this DC increasing over time, unlike the other two sets of rules). When you have characters in combat trying to hold their breath, it becomes quite important to have consistent rules. These ain't consistent. Okay, maybe there's something in the errata... but I don't want to have to have a printout of the errata document to hand when I'm playing.
4) It's a lot of fun, but most of that fun is social between the players. Cue the "chocolate finger" jokes that were flying around for most of the weekend. I won't explain that. But it was bloody hilarious. Rockjaw has waxed lyrical on this issue in the past - the game doesn't matter, the people are what's important. Given the good company I had over the weekend, we could have been playing live action Frogger (don't try this at home, kids!) and it would have been good fun.
Conclusion: I'm not a fan of D&D 4E. To me, it's just another roleplaying system, and has lost a lot of what made D&D my favourite, and has become so deeply integrated with miniatures that it's lost a lot of its spontanaeity and mental visualisation. I think this is a shame, even if it makes sense commercially.
I shall soldier on with my Wednesday night game for the duration of the current adventure... but after that I'm going to try to persuade my group that it might be an idea to try a different game for a while. Maybe a one-shot or three, just to take a break.
City of Heroes: Issue 15... again.
Okay, my immediate emotional response to Issue 15 of City of Heroes is has passed... and I still think that the developers have missed something.
The thing is, back in the day (I can't be bothered to hunt down the references, but they were unequivocal at the time), we were told that (and I paraphrase) "the next couple of issues include a massive feature (umm, MA, anyone?) and a big story issue...
"Soon™."
And that's what's managed to piss people off.
Normally, I can't help but sing the praises of CoH. It's an awesome game, with an awesome background, some awesome stories, and it really does make you feel like you're a hero. Well, maybe not in the 'saving the world a million times a day' way, but it's more heroic than most games I've played.
But, seriously... soon™? That's the best the developers can come up with as an explanation of timescale?
What about: "We have a story progression coming, due before Champions Online ships"?
Or: "Issue 15 - Anniversary is a mini issue just to celebrate the anniversary of the game. That story issue we promised is coming in the near future"?
Perhaps: "We've got some exciting news for you at the end of the anniversary month..."?
Seriously, how hard would it be?
Sure, the developers have learned the hard way that saying things can turn around and bite you on the ass - "No more Power nerfs", anyone? - but let's be frank, here - the last issue that actually moved the story of the game on at all was, what, Issue 10? That was a couple of years back.
As I've said before and elsewhere - I'm not leaving the game, because I still enjoy it hugely, but I have to question the wisdom of the developers (or, more accurately, the marketing team) in allowing what amount to straight-up lies being told to the playerbase.
The thing is, back in the day (I can't be bothered to hunt down the references, but they were unequivocal at the time), we were told that (and I paraphrase) "the next couple of issues include a massive feature (umm, MA, anyone?) and a big story issue...
"Soon™."
And that's what's managed to piss people off.
Normally, I can't help but sing the praises of CoH. It's an awesome game, with an awesome background, some awesome stories, and it really does make you feel like you're a hero. Well, maybe not in the 'saving the world a million times a day' way, but it's more heroic than most games I've played.
But, seriously... soon™? That's the best the developers can come up with as an explanation of timescale?
What about: "We have a story progression coming, due before Champions Online ships"?
Or: "Issue 15 - Anniversary is a mini issue just to celebrate the anniversary of the game. That story issue we promised is coming in the near future"?
Perhaps: "We've got some exciting news for you at the end of the anniversary month..."?
Seriously, how hard would it be?
Sure, the developers have learned the hard way that saying things can turn around and bite you on the ass - "No more Power nerfs", anyone? - but let's be frank, here - the last issue that actually moved the story of the game on at all was, what, Issue 10? That was a couple of years back.
As I've said before and elsewhere - I'm not leaving the game, because I still enjoy it hugely, but I have to question the wisdom of the developers (or, more accurately, the marketing team) in allowing what amount to straight-up lies being told to the playerbase.
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