Onto part 3 / week 3 but I’m still behind! Oh well, it’ll get finished eventually.
DESCRIBE how your play has evolved
I think the main change has been familiarity with the hobby and what it involves, and going from slow and nervous start to awesome tabletop badass is natural after 18+ years.That being said, introductions to new rules systems and new settings and new ways of playing from watching other people has definitely enhanced my gameplay skills, improvisational skills and creativity in general. And that’s still ongoing, especially in a world of podcasts and live streaming.Seeing how others play has taught me a lot about how I like to play, how I like to structure my game, or throw the spotlight on other people (especially less experienced people).
DESCRIBE a failure that became amazing
In a 4e D&D game, I once failed a dexterity roll and fell off a cable car at a ridiculous height (between skyscrapers I think?).That fall turned into a tense few rounds of someone steering a griffon to catch me whilst I tried to do everything I could to slow my fall – as a fighter in armour and not much wit.It turned into a fantastic set-piece to trouncing a bad guy – who I think fell too but had a griffon helper also, and then a flying chase scene and barely surviving by the skin of our teeth.That might also have been the first session of that game I played. Huh, must try and schedule and online game with that DM!
DESCRIBE a tricky RPG experience that you enjoyed
It can always be tricky to run a game for a new player, or a table of new players, especially ones you don’t know well. I’ve done it a few times, and it’s always rewarding when players enjoys themselves and goes away smiling.Of course, I’ve also had the game where people weren’t happy at the end, but those are just as much a learning experience about what went wrong and how to do better.
DESCRIBE your plans for your next game
Muhaha!
Well, my next actual game will involve surviving a hoard of angry formians after we technically invaded their hive city – we were only trying to help! Hopefully we don’t all die.
There’s a few games I’m planning to run at some point – between the Ginnungagap and the Endless Sea at this point, just for the group options I have. Ostromarka is a bit more of a slog away yet, since I have to look into rules and try and learn some more horror-based RPG tricks, and Cambria is also a bit more of a work in progress, though I’m a bit happier there.I’d like to see the Ginnungagap work, but I think it’s too much of a campaign for what I have the options of running at the moment – I’m likely to have players dropping in and out, so episodic formats would be better.So that leaves me with the Endless Sea, which I’m pretty sure I can adapt to episodes.I hope I can adapt it!
DESCRIBE the best compliment you’ve had while gaming
I got a decent compliment for DMing recently – before I moved away, I ran a small game for my then-DM, a new player who was replacing me and an old regular. Then-DM hadn’t played with me previous to his campaign, but knew I had a bit of experience.He was really happy with the game, and I’ve been drafted to help him write some side-quests for his next one, and maybe proofread his main questline. He’s running a pre-constructed game at the moment, and whilst he has experience with homebrew stuff he wanted my input.Which I thought was a pretty big compliment.
What art inspires your game?
I have a habit of collecting boards of images together on Pinterest. I should really add some links to them at some point.
The Endless Sea and Ostromarka were inspired by a handful of bits and pieces I found whilst collecting together parts of my Old Crown board – things that didn’t quite fit the setting but inspired me nonetheless. Polyalbion is inspired by various multiverse stories, particularly from comic books and TV series – the Wildstorm universe and Stormwatch, and Marvel’s Captain Britain to name a couple.
What music enhances your game?
I try and build a couple of Spotify playlists for games sometimes. My Ginnungagap list is a strange mix of melodic synth rock, mythology metal and bagpipes, and a couple of the locations and characters were inspired by songs on there.Other than that, I like to use traditional Japanese music when I’m playing Legend of the Five Rings or synthpop and mashups for Cyberpunk. Whatever fits the genre, if I can play it. Next post we have is WHICH?
jot jot ïota 