A lot of page views but only one real comment on my last post regarding my Supernova Brown adventure. Truth be told this is why I don't really like doing session recaps. I prefer to generate and have conversations about games and gaming. Still, I am curious as to what people thought of it overall.
A few final notes about my Blaxploitation Sword and Planet one-shot...
The Mechanics:
The game was run as a 5 hour session using Risus, more or less unmodified. Over the last year I've learned that a large number of gamers seem to prefer 4-5 hours sessions and for the life of me I can not fathom why.
When you hardly get to game I say game as long and hard as you can. Also, in 5 hours I barely got to half of all the crazy crap I wanted to use. Lastly, considering travel time and cost, food and other expenses, if I'm only going to play 4 hours I'd just as soon pop on my computer, order a pizza and play World of Warcraft. Cheaper and I never have to leave my favorite chair. Of course I love RPGs and would rather play 10 minutes of one than 12 hours of WoW but after a week of working on my feet my legs do not necessarily share my opinion or enthusiasm.
Risus is awesome, especially for this type of game. While I'm sure it could be used for more in depth play I think it works best for high adventure one-shots like this. Its clever and fast paced but not overly deep and that suited us just fine.
Some characters...
Supernova Brown
Cliches: Big Daddy (3), Jim Kelly Jr. (3), Cool Hand Luke (2), Smooth Operator (2)
After playing the game the player noted that he should have reversed those numbers making the first two '2' and the second two '3'.
Prof. Winston Tycho
Cliches: Fountain of Trivia (3), Obsessed Genius (4), Overprotective Father (3)
Mira Sunshine Tycho
Cliches: Damsel in Distress (3), Beacon of Hope (4), Idealistic Freedom Fighter (3)
Poindexter Humperdink
Cliches: Sci-Fi Geek (4), MacGyver Meets Scotty (4), Love Sick Puppy (2)
Humperdink had a serious crush on Vulpurra
Vulpurra
Cliches: One with Nature (3), Red Hot Momma (3), Smart Mouth (1), Warrior Princess (3)
The Soundtrack:
The place where we ran the game was an open public space. Speakers played a radio station in the background whose focus appeared to be rock and R&B of the late 60's and 70's. We had the perfect soundtrack for the whole game. Seriously it was almost eerie. The first time Vulpurra went into action "Brickhouse" started playing. For the second and much larger battle she was in, Donna Summer's "Bad Girls" was on. The rest was a mix with a lot of the Doobie Brothers, Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' and Lady Marmalade were definitely well received.
The In Jokes:
Vulpurra's kick leaving a go-go boot print on a Bugman's chest was a reference to Karem Abdul Jabar leaving a foot print on the chest of Bruce Lee in 'Game of Death'.
Some of the sound effects I made were inspired by the sounds from various 1970's TV shows and movies.
Numerous references, voices and jokes from the players and GM (myself) alike were inspired by the animated series "The Boondocks".
Poindexter Humperdick is not only the token white guy, he's also got a name I've been using for NPCs since the early 80's. This is the first time a character by that name was played by a player.
The Quotes:
"My starship is purple because purple is the color of kings baby.""The say insects like sweet things. Well, I'm about to do some real sweet talkin'."
"Nobody likes a sick ass plant."
"Flying motorcycle? That's cool. I've got to steal me one of those."
"Danger is my middle name."
"Danger? I thought you said your middle name was Irving."
I haven't had time to do any artwork unfortunately but I may get the chance and do a art dump this weekend. We'll see.
Well, on to the next crazy idea.
AD
Barking Alien
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'A lot of page views but only one real comment on my last post regarding my Supernova Brown adventure.':
ReplyDeleteI never understood why people don't throw out at least a few congrats for posting recaps. I love 'em myself. It seems people enjoy them in general, but perhaps don't feel that commentary is warranted(or maybe even wanted?)
'Truth be told this is why I don't really like doing session recaps.':
I hope you will continue to do so, they're very enlightening about your style, and the groups' preferences. I'd say they're definitely entertaining as well! IMO, there should more play sessions shown on blogs so newcomers to the games(even the hobby) can see how the game goes down.
'I prefer to generate and have conversations about games and gaming.':
From what I've seen, you do excellent on that score.
'Still, I am curious as to what people thought of it overall.':
I'd say it was hilarious and heartening to see more out-of-the-standard genre gaming succeed so well!(Even if 'only' a one-shot.) It was sorta like Black Dynamite meets Galaxy Quest. Very Memorable!
'Over the last year I've learned that a large number of gamers seem to prefer 4-5 hours sessions and for the life of me and can not fathom why.':
Hmmm. Really? I've always played weekly sessions for at least 6 hour sittings, sometimes up to 14 hours in one sitting.(Save when I was in middle and high schools, when we were limited to lunch period during the weekdays.) It might depend on the demands of their job in the current economy, perhaps?('after a week of working on my feet my legs do not necessarily share my opinion or enthusiasm.', as you said.[I feel ya; luckily I've still been able to make time though.] But I need to got a more accommodating job, economy permitting[and not just for gaming stuff]. ;-)) Younger, unemployed gamers like teens(and pre-teens) still seem to play long sessions from what I've seen.
'Of course I love RPGs and would rather play 10 minutes of one than 12 hours of WoW...':
I'm definitely with you here! I don't understand how people could stay on for 18+ hours a day. It just doesn't hold any interest for me after maybe more than 2 hours of the same deal.(which is why I don't play MMOs regularly anymore and online-enabled games like Black Ops, Dead Rising's Case West, Zombies, etc... only semi-regularly!) I enjoy the freedom and creativity of PnP too much to give in to playing someone else's enforced vision with arbitrary rules that can't be modified to my satisfaction.(Though I d love arcade action killfests form time to time!) I'm lucky others do as well. And of course, I use electronic gaming stuff as inspiration on occasion. My first homebrew was based off of a mash-up between Faxanadu, Final Fantasy(the NES 1st; Famicom 3rd), Dragon Warrior, and NES Ultima III with addition of my own, probably semi-decent, custom dice system!(I'd failed to be included in a friends Red Box game a couple of years before that, due to him demanding that PCs play the roles[classes] he wanted them to; a mistake I have never made as GM!) And the NES Port of Legendary Wings and the Arcade Game Time Solders is now being cannibalized for gaming! HawkWoman(Golden Age) and the Legendary Soldier Michel(le) Heart Together for the First Time! Ikari Warriors may figure in, too. With the NES Iron Tank worked in solely cause it looks like it's piloted by Ikari Warrior Paul in WWII!
Great Post! Looking forward to more on the PA and GA Supers games development!
I love the line about purple being the colour of kings.
ReplyDeleteOur group also has a recurring character of sorts. In our campaigns there's always one NPC who looks like David Bowie at some point in his career. In D&D he was a faerie prince, much like Bowie's role in Labyrinth, and in my Call of Cthulhu campaign he was the group's patron, a rock star who'd encountered something weird during his Ziggy Stardust phase and subsequently used his millions to fund a supernatural investigation firm.
He's hanging around in the background of my Rogue Trader game, although the players haven't run into him yet, and I've yet to find a place for him in my Eberron game.
I have a few of those kinds of characters.
ReplyDeleteWith Humperdink it isn't so much that the character is reoccuring as the name.
However, all my Star Trek campaigns feature two security officers named Jones & Horowitz who are always assigned to missions together.
A supernatural superhero called The Red Rider has appeared in Boot Hill (his first appearence, circa 1979), Villains & Vigilantes, Champions and Mutants & Masterminds as well as a few others. The character himself seems to either be immortal or its a legacy maintained by different people from the mid-to-late 1800's into the cyberpunk near future of 2020.
Oh I like session reports, especially ones that aren't written up as in-character prose.
ReplyDeleteOn yours I just don't have a ton to say other than "That's cool" or "I wish my players were up for that" and I figure that's going to get old after a while. It isn't likely to spur much conversation either, other than "hey that guy comments on every one of BA's posts, is he a stalker or what?"