Pitch your game for Mie RPG event

[ashmie]

This is a thread for Games Masters and Dungeon Masters to drum up players for their games.

Please big up your game system here and encourage players to join your system on the 5th and 6th of March in Tsu. Tell us a little about the game and what players can expect from the scenarios you will be running.

[The Other Dave]

So, Dogs in the Vineyard, D. Vincent Baker's Indie darling.

It's actually a bit of a hard sell - I've been thinking about how to pitch it. To start off, here's what it is:

It's a Western, set in mid-19th-century pre-statehood Utah. Generally realistic - there's room for some subtle supernatural elements, but generally it's just folks. The PCs are all Dogs, full name the Order Set Apart to the Preservation of Faith and the Faithful, casually the King's Dogs or Life's Watchdogs. Dogs are essentially traveling paladins (to use a more mainstream RPG term), tasked with making a circuit of the towns of the Faithful and acting on behalf of the King of Life to see to the problems of the Faithful. One of the best one-sentence descriptions I've heard of Dogs is "you play a bunch of kids, given a bible and a gun and sent out into the world to solve problems that can't be solved with a bible and a gun." Yes, there's a strong religious component to the setting, and it's portrayed sympathetically - I know that bugs some folks of a geeky stripe, and if it does you this game is probably not for you. (It's important to note, though, that the game mechanics are carefully and explicitly agnostic as to the existence of the King of Life - unlike D&D, say, the GM has no power to punish you for not following the precepts of the Faith. Your character may decide to renounce his or her faith! That's perfectly OK as far as the game's concerned.)

Also, the game's mechanics are a bit different from mainstream games. The question is generally not whether you can succeed at a given task, but how far you're willing to go to succeed at it. If you tend to play PCs who are always willing to go to any lengths to succeed, Dogs may not be a lot of fun for you (or for anyone else you're playing with). Here's a (fairly typical for the game) conflict setup the rulebook uses to illustrate the resolution rules:

The shopkeeper from Back East? His wife isn't really his wife. He's the procurer and she's the available woman. Their marriage is a front.

Your brother's son, your nephew, is fourteen years old. He's been stealing money from his father, your brother, and taking it to visit the woman.

Your brother is in a bitter rage, humiliated by his son's thievery and grieving for his son's lost innocence.

He's going to shoot her.

What do you do?

The way the system works, if you're willing to shoot your brother (or maybe just beat the tar out of him if he's calm enough to not draw his gun on you) to stop him from murdering a woman, you can stop him. No doubt about it. The question is, is that how far you want to go to keep him from sinning? (Or maybe you'll go together and shoot the shopkeeper and his "wife," drag them out into the street and execute them right then and there. Your characters have the authority to do that - but do you want them to?) If those kinds of questions aren't interesting to you, Dogs might not be your cuppa. If they are, it'll be awesome.

So that's the game in a nutshell. Some of the best roleplaying moments I've ever had have been GMing Dogs, and it'd be cool if some other folks want to give it a try. No system knowledge is necessary - character creation is done together at the table, and an introduction to the rules is part of character creation. If you play, you'll need to bring a good dozen or so D6's, and 4 or 5 each of D4's, D8's and D10's.

I hope to see some of you there!

[Moyashimaru]

Dogs is a game I've heard so much about (I've got the Epimas PDF here somewhere...), I really want to get a chance to play it and see how it works. From what I understand it is prolly Vincent Baker's most accessible game, although not the easiest.

[ashmie]

We have a new system that will be running on Saturday.

Shadowrun. Sci fi punk rpg.

[jus]

@ash: is that the coming sunday?

[Primarch]

Dark Heresy

Dark Heresy is a game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players play as members of an Inquisitorial team, whether a loyal guardsman defending the group or a tech-adept responsible for maintaining their gear. As junior acolytes within the Inquisition, the players must uncover sinister cults, battle devious aliens and foil insidious plots using only their wits, some las guns and a whole lot of luck. The setting is fairly grim, as befits the 40k universe and players are always at risk from going slowly insane or becoming corrupted by the mutating powers of chaos. Only the hard hearted and righteous servants of the Emperor will prosper.

Mechanics wise, the game runs on d10s. Players roll d100 for most tests and aim for a particular target number. E.g. shooting someone crouching in a dark room from down the hall would require rolling a 10 or less on the d100 whilst opening fire on someone standing 5 metres in front of you whilst using full auto on your rifle would recquire rolling under a 70. For every 10 percent you roll under the target number you score an additional success. This can mean more bullets into the target or you gain more information from your contact. Anyone who has played the 1st or 2nd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (I've never seen 3rd ed so I dont know about that) will recognise the system.

The game is fun, fairly easy to pick up and play and features lots of things that will be instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with the 40K background.

[ashmie]

Justin@ No you nana, the Sunday of the rpg festival. March 6th.

Sorry Shadowrun will be happening on the Saturday.

[Grim Ironjaw]

Shadowrun (Saturday, not Sunday)

Background

The year is 2057, and the world has changed.
The return of magic to the world, the augmentation of the human body through cyberware, the evolution of the 'Matrix', the appearance of dragons and other beasts of legend, and natural and unnatural disasters resulting in famine and epidemics are just a few of the factors which have brought the changes about. Out of the abyss, megacorporations have emerged as the new superpowers, and when they need a job done by deniable assets, they turn to you, the Shadowrunners.

At the risk of oversimplifying, it's DnD meets Cyberpunk. Menacing, treacherous, and a lot of fun.


Mechanics
Like Dark Heresy, Shadowrun deals in degrees of success. Dice rolls are success tests in which you roll multiple dice against a target number. The more successes you roll, the more convincing your con, the more penetrating your flechette round, or the more keen your perception.


A note about my GM-ing style and the game system
I emphasize drama, dialogue. If played to the letter, Shadowrun can become bogged down in rules, modifiers, and resistance tests. My version is slightly streamlined to keep as much emphasis as possible on role play and pace. It's also worth noting that unlike DnD, where a high-level fighter might single-handedly cleave through an entire army of goblins, weapons in Shadowrun really hurt. It's possible to take 'deadly' damage off one lucky shot from an untrained sprawl ganger. Fighting is sometimes necessary, but reading the situation and acting creatively will take you further.

[ashmie]

I'll be running 1st edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. It's a classic scenario written by Carl Sargent and Rick Priestley. The game is designed for starting characters so pre generated PCs will be supplied. After the game you have the option to keep these characters for future games or campaigns you may play in The Old World.

This adventure will put emphasis on good roleplaying in the first half of the day. Players will be rewarded on the way they react to people and what connections and trust they can build with NPCs they encounter. The second half of the day there should be a fair deal of fighting depending on decisions made. As it's the Warhammer world the odd scrap is hard to avoid sometimes. Players will be tested on their strategic choices and leadership throughout the scenario. These go rewarded in the unfolding of the plot.

Set in the Warhammer Fantasy world. This 1st edition background takes place before the Storm of Chaos has swept the lands. Chaos cults are on the rise and dark dealings are afoot. The world of men is thriving but will very soon buckle under the weight of the coming tide of chaos which will inevitably engulf the towns and cities of the Old World some day. This is where our adventurers come in. Perhaps there actions can keep the storm of chaos at bay, or at least for a little while longer.

Bored with daily life in The Empire and the prospect of going nowhere in a low paid career fast, you have decided to take to the road as an adventurer. Apparently the pay is higher and the experience of a traveler is second to none. You will need your wits, a sword, luck and good fellowship if you are to survive a life in the desolate wilderness and chaotic bustling towns and cities of The Empire. Keep good companions near you at all times. It's dangerous to travel alone or with a light heart.

The party of adventurers have met one another in an Inn at Grunere. This is a Bretonnian settlement along the road South of the Grey Mountains borders from Parravon. All party members are traveling to the Grey Mountains in response to this notice posted at Inns and Taverns throughout the region.

http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss35 ... MG2451.jpg

This game will run from 10am until 8pm on the Sunday March 6th. Stragglers welcome but an early start is best.

[Spevna]

Count me in!