Why You Should Listen to the Doubleclicks

This is not a traditional review… in fact, I don't know the first thing about doing a music "review".  I think the closest to a review I've done is rating songs on iTunes, which is next to nothing.  Rather,  this is a fan family shouting out in support for two of their favorite musicians.  You may be familiar with my "Why You Should Play" posts, and I wanted to change things up this week.  It's been a tough week, and whenever I feel tired, worn out, or lost I turn to music.  So rather than talk about finding inspiration from role-playing books or products, I'd like to share my thoughts, and those of my two eldest children, on the Doubleclicks…

… and how friggin' awesome they are!

A Family of Fans

Last Friday my family and I were thrilled to watch the March #DoubleclicksLive concert on Google Hangouts.  Technically we only caught part of the show "live", as we struggled to stream the performance through my wife's old iPhone.  We were at an event for our local game club, the Norwin Game Knights, and cell service was terrible.  As soon as we got home, however, we booted up the AppleTV, and were on YouTube watching the March show…

… and then we watched the February show right after.

This wasn't our first time experiencing the awesomeness of Angela Webber and Aubrey Webber, in fact, we've been fans of the Doubleclicks for quite some time.  I first heard of the Doubleclicks while listening to the D&D Podcast several years ago, and the song "This Fantasy World."  I was mowing the lawn at the time, and was blown away by this incredibly clever song, so I ran inside and immediately started hunting on YouTube to listen again.  My family and I would listen to other songs on YouTube, and were excited to find the Doubleclicks on iTunes.  The album "Lasers and Feelings" hooked my daughters Carrie and Evie.  

To date, both of my girls' favorite songs are still from this album:

"My favorite song from the Doubleclicks is 'Lasers and Feelings.'  'Lasers and Feelings' was one of the first Doubleclicks songs I heard.  Let's go Doubleclicks!" - Evie (age 8)

"My favorite Doubleclicks song is 'Can't You See the World is Ending?'  I like it because when I listen to it, I think of our 'The Strange' campaign: Dingo and the Cosmos.  I also like it because it is catchy.  Whenever I hear it, I go upstairs and get my 'The Strange' outfit.  Then I come back downstairs and sing and dance to it.  I absolutely LOVE all of the Doubleclicks songs, but this one is my favorite." - Carrie (age 11), see cover picture.

Cooper, our four year old, declined to comment on this blog post, but while we were watching YouTube this evening he was singing along to "Ennui" from the album "Dimetrodon."

One of my favorite moments of Gen Con 2014 was the amazing opportunity to see Angela and Aubrey perform live, along with Professor Shyguy!

Much to the excitement of my kiddos, I came home with a new CD after Gen Con!  

What I Love

As a geek and fan of science, history, fantasy, science fiction, video games, and tabletop games, listening to the Doubleclicks makes me feel free, happy, alive, and "at home."  I can understand and appreciate the song lyrics word for word, and the ukulele, guitar, occasional cat-keyboard, and always enchanting cello match perfectly with the style and flavor of each song…

… can I say that, does that make sense?  Have I mentioned yet that I'm not a professional musical reviewer?   

It's also music that I can share with my family… although I got in a little trouble with my kids while singing along with one of the last verses of "Oh, Mr. Darcy."  If you know the words, you know what I'm talking about.

Since I asked my daughters for their favorite songs, I thought I'd also share mine.  I don't have cats (I'm a goldendoodle kind of guy), but as a proud "cord cutter" I do treasure my Netflix.  I know that "Cats and Netflix", off of the Dimetrodon album, was written about Angela and Aubrey's hometown of Portland, Oregon, but if you include sleet, ice and sub-zero temperatures the song fits well here in Pittsburgh.  

When I was in my mid-twenties, I used to drive around listening to Jimmy Eat World.  I was working for a social services firm here in the Pittsburgh area, and would transport foster children on visitations to their biological parents' homes.  A lot of the children would only get to see their parents once a week, and I would be the driver and supervisor who would facilitate the journey, and ensure a safe atmosphere.  A lot of the visits ended with tears and sorrow.  The Doubleclicks' recent cover of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" took me back over a decade to my time with those families.  

But by far, my favorite song by the Doubleclicks is "Imposter", from the album Lasers and Feelings.  Even though I am fully aware that the song is about the Mars Curiosity Rover, I can completely relate… to the rover.  During the evening and on weekends I am the crazy gamer geek that you all read about here on my blog, but by day I wear suits and ties, manage employees, review profit and loss statements, and have to "play" the stern business professional.  I think I'm pretty good at it… maybe… although the "real" world can still feel a bit alien.

Left picture by Carrie, right by Evie

Where You Can Find the Doubleclicks

If all of this sounds good to you, you need come check out the Doubleclicks.  Since it's the modern age, you have a lot of options!

You can go to thedoubleclicks.com to check out concert dates, both live and online, and purchase CD's through CDBaby, t-shirts, and dice… 

… YES YOU CAN BY DOUBLECLICKS DICE!

You can also find the Doubleclicks on iTunes, Bandcamp, and Amazon.

Also, you can do what I just did today (took me long enough!) and support the Doubleclicks on Patreon!

At the very least, get your butt over to YouTube right now and start listening… you'll be very glad you did!

*     *     *

Are you already a fan or supporter of the Doubleclicks?  Let us know!  Please share the post and point your fellow geeks and gamers to this amazing duo!  

Savage Skylander Skirmish - A Quick Kid-Friendly Skirmish Hack for Savage Worlds

Earlier this week my family and I set out to run an amazing Savage Skylanders Skirmish as part of our "Living 4 Crits" YouTube series.  Over the last few weeks, my children and I have been trying to find ways to connect video gaming to tabletop role-playing games.  As we brainstormed ideas for the show, we started talking about all the Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures that we have on the shelves of our entertainment system.  These figures are fun to use during their respective games, but what happens when you've finished Skylanders and exhausted your time playing in the Disney Infinity Toy Box?  Could you repurpose these figures for tabletop gaming?  This could be a terrific way to drag your children away from the Xbox so that real, quality family time could occur…

… at the gaming table!

My kids started collecting Skylander figures when we picked up the original game on Wii, and we also own Skylanders: Giants.  About eighteen months ago I was running a Basic Fantasy RPG game for my friend Sarah's son, Matthew.  I had the map for "Fountain of Healing", an old Dragon Magazine adventure, on the table, and was using plastic D&D miniatures I carried in a Ziploc container.  When Matthew saw the mini's, he mentioned that his Skylanders could make great figures… he was absolutely right!  

Think about it… these little figures may be pricey, but are they anymore expensive than a similarly sized Warhammer figure?  Why not use them in a tabletop RPG?  

I shelved the idea, but after Santa delivered a bunch of Disney Infinity figures this past Christmas, we couldn't wait any longer!  We needed a new venue for these amazing pieces of plastic!

Given our recent Disney-inspired adventures with The Last Parsec, we were excited to use the Savage Worlds system to bring the kids' Skylanders and Disney Infinity characters to life outside of video games!  Our family was already familiar with the Savage Worlds rules, and the modularity of the system allowed us to quickly craft a kid-friendly miniatures skirmish. So we ran a game and filmed it, with the promise that we'd list our rules modifications for the viewers...

…wait… did you miss the video?  Here you go:

I think it turned out pretty well!  The actual game took just under an hour, and some of the modifications (which I will get to in a moment), definitely tilted the game in the kids' favor.  I think if we tried the game with half of the characters, the skirmish would've been much more difficult, but still possible.  As promised, however, here are the rules we used for the scenario

Savage Skirmishing

I know there are already Savage Worlds skirmish rules, but given the nature of our game, and the inclusion of young kids, we made some modifications to the core rules found in Savage Worlds Deluxe:

• Attributes Instead of Skills:  To simplify combat and streamline action, we removed all Skills and just used Attributes in lieu of Fighting, Shooting, etc.  
• Parry:  Similar to how Toughness and Vigor are related, Parry would be derived from Agility.
• Powers:  Each character was created using the Savage Worlds Super Powers Companion, with fifteen power points to start.  
• No Equipment:  No character would receive equipment, weapons, or armor.  Instead, only abilities gained through starting power points would be allowed.  
• No Edges or Hindrances:  Again, just Powers.  
• Bennies:  Each player received two bennies, one per character at the table.  In addition, there would be four bennies hidden on the board that could be unlocked by the players during the course of the mission.
• Templates:  Given the larger size of the Disney Infinity and Skylanders bases, the Medium Burst Template would be exchanged for the Large Burst Template.
• Accommodating the Pre-Schooler:  Since Cooper is four, and prefers to use his big red 20-sided die, we just let him bring it to the table.  He's too cute to tell "no".  
• Airstrike:  Each player could use a Nerf gun once during the mission to try to knock down an opponent.  There's really no reason we used this except that one of our viewers had a request for more Nerf. 

One last change, and perhaps the most unusual to typical Savage Worlds players, is how we treated the Skylander foes.  Rather than giving different stats to each Skylander, we either used a d6 base or a d10 base to create the opponents.  Was this lazy?  Yes, possibly… but since this was our first time trying the skirmish rules it worked fine for the kiddos.  

Skylanders (d6 base)

• Attributes:  All d6
• Pace:  6,  Parry: 5,  Toughness: 5
• Powers
• Attack (Ranged or Melee determined by figure), 2d6 damage

Skylanders Giants (d10 base)

• Attributes:  All d10
• Pace:  10,  Parry: 7,  Toughness: 7
• Powers
• Attack (Ranged or Melee determined by figure), 2d10 damage

Our Disney Infinity Heroes

Want to play the heroes we used during our skirmish?  Break out your Super Powers Companion and follow along:

Baymax, played by Cooper

• Attributes:  Agility: d6,  Smarts: d4,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d6,  Vigor: d8
• Pace:  6 (flight 12),  Parry: 5,  Toughness: 14(8)
• Powers
• Wings (Flight, 4 points)
• 3D Printed Armor (Armor, 4 points)
• Rocket Fist (Attack, Ranged, 2 points)

Rocket, played by Cooper

• Attributes:  Agility: d8,  Smarts: d8,  Spirit: d4,  Strength: d4,  Vigor: d6
• Pace:  6,  Parry: 7,  Toughness: 5
• Powers
• Dual Machine Guns (Attack, Ranged, 14 points)
• 2 Levels
• Enhanced Damage
• Rate of Fire 3
• Gun Block (Parry, 1 point)

Stitch, played by Evie

• Attributes:  Agility: d6,  Smarts: d4,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d6,  Vigor: d8
• Pace:  6 (leap 8" vert., 16" horiz.),  Parry: 7,  Toughness: 10
• Powers
• Scrambling Jump (Leaping, 3 points)
• Hard to Kill (Toughness, 4 points)
• Lotsa Claws (Attack, Melee, 6 points)
• 2 Levels
• 2 Attacks
• Blocking Bite (Parry, 2 points)

Groot, played by Evie

• Attributes:  Agility: d4,  Smarts: d4,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d10,  Vigor: d6
• Pace:  6,  Parry: 4,  Toughness: 9
• Powers
• Limb Spike (Attack, Melee, 6 points)
• 3 Levels
• Grasping Foliage (Ensnare, 5 points)
• Area Affect +2
• Made of Wood (Toughness, 4 points)

Merida, played by Carrie

• Attributes:  Agility: d12,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d6,  Vigor: d4
• Pace:  6,  Parry: 8,  Toughness: 4
• Powers
• Highland Bow (Attack, Ranged, 7 points)
• 2 Levels
• Cone +1
• Range +2
• Woodland Reflexes (Super Agility, 4 points)
• Just Disappear (Invisibility, 4 points)

Sorcerer Mickey, played by Carrie

• Attributes:  Agility: d4,  Smarts: d10,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d4,  Vigor: d6
• Pace:  6,  Parry: 4,  Toughness: 5
• Powers
• Stunsplosion (Stun, 6 points)
• Medium Burst Template
• Selective
• What's in the Hat? (Illusion, 6 points)
• Obscure +4
• Can't Catch Me (Jinx, 4 points)
• Works on a 1 or 2

How It Went

In the end we had a really great time playing this little skirmish.  The children picked up on the rules pretty quickly, and even Cooper was able to follow along.  Since Cooper knew what Baymax and Rocket were capable of doing in their respective films, he had a decent understanding of what he could do at the table.  In the end, my daughter Carrie's character, Merida, knocked out the "big bad", who was too busy trying to kill Groot to notice the skulking Scottish Princess.  

Have you tried running a game using Skylanders or Disney Infinity figures as tabletop miniatures?  Did it work?  Did you play with kids or with "grown-ups?"  We'd love to know!  

Some Big Changes!

Thanks to the amazing work and design of the incredibly talented +Nikki Starwalker, Living 4 Crits has received a major upgrade!  What does this mean?  

• A really cool logo
• New design and banner for living4crits.com
• New design for the Living 4 Crits YouTube channel

I can't thank Nikki enough for the work that she did on this project.  After hearing my half-baked idea for the blog artwork and design, she took the ideas, ran with them, and came up with something far, far, FAR more fantastic than I could cook up.

Bravo Nikki!  You are truly brilliant

Interested in upgrading your website, blogsite, or YouTube Channel, or just about anything really?  Go visit Nikki at nikkistarwalker.com!

Numenera - Pulse - Session 2

Traveling with Takkorek

It's just a leisurely trip up the Wyr River… what could go wrong?  

Characters

• Chase Rombek or Raa-em, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond or a Mad Nano who Wields Power with Precision, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Gamon - Tricky bastard
• Kumit - Southbounder merchantminder 
• Neff - Captain of the Neverlander

Summary

Following the “Severed Head of Sago” incident in Under’embridge, the four ex-bounty hunters, along with Garren the Varjellen chose to accompany Takkorek on his mission to Ballaster.  With the Marish Clan potentially in pursuit, the Slacker Nano who Entertains led the team to a small client village of Qi called “Southbound.”  While other client villages surrounded the massive city complex, most resembling pockets of urban sprawl, Southbound stood out for two reasons.  First, it was an archaic fishing village, bereft of Numenera.  Second, every “Southbounder” seemed to be an identical twin, or clone, of the other.  Southbounder men and women (who look exactly alike) produce clone-like children.  

Southbounders also had a knack for communicating with the "great salmon".  Massive yellow striped fish that inhabited the Wyr River, salmon were the revered creatures all along the Wyr River.  Long domesticated by the Southbounders, the fish were used as pack animals, dragging long, cargo laden vessels (Salmon Sailors) up and down the river.  

Takkorek had a Southbounder contact in the village named Kumit.  A local merchantminder, Takkorek knew that the safest way to Ballaster would be by Salmon Sailor, and so he left the rest of his new team at a local eatery along the boardwalk and headed into one of the nearby buildings.  

This is when the mad Raa-em got into trouble.  

The Mad Nano who was once Chase Rombek, still wrestled with his two “selves.”  Raa-em began his life as an intelligent and psychic moss that existed in Matheunis Cold Desert, south of Nihliesh, in an abandoned monastery.  After being reduced to a small lump, Raa-em was kept, like an oddity, by the ex-Aeon Priest Chase Rombek until given the opportunity to return full awareness.  A strange encounter with a near omnipotent entity allowed Raa-em to take control over Chase’s mind.  Now the two individuals, Raa-em and Chase, struggled with each other’s thoughts and feelings, although the once “stonebound monk” remained in control.  

Despite the bitter struggle within his mind, Raa-em was able to lift thoughts and memories from Chase.  So when one of Chase’s former Aeon Priest associates, a man named Gamon, appeared, Raa-em was able to make conversation.  Gamon inquired as to “Chase’s” arrival in Southbound, and when the Nano stated that he and his friends were looking for passage north, the former associated agreed to introduce him to some friends that could possibly help.  Raa-em gladly followed.  

Sensing something potentially amiss, Glyquorg shadowed his companion, following Raa-em and Gamon all the way to a small, seemingly abandoned warehouse.  As soon as his teammate entered, Glyquorg heard “get him!”  Before the Exiled Jack could enter the building, however, the entire structure exploded in a flash.  Raa-em’s telekinetic burst knocked the entire house down, and severely wounded three of the thugs that had laid in wait inside.  Glyquorg drew his own sword, and charged one of the ruffians, dispatching him quickly.  Raa-em let out another telekinetic blast, with no regard for his companion’s presence.  The last two attackers fell, leaving only Gamon.  The trickster begged for his life, but Raa-em had no sympathy.  The Nano motioned to his murderous Jack to finish off the betrayer.  

The rest of the party raced to the scene during the scuffle, but didn’t make it in time to be of any assistance.  The thieves had left behind quite a few surplus trade goods, most likely stolen.  When Takkorek arrived he was accompanied by his contact Kumit, who surveyed the destruction.  Despite the party’s insistence on keeping not only the trade goods but also the Salmon Sailor that the thieves were using, Kumit stated that all of the Salmon belonged to the village of Southbound, and this could not stand.  However, Kumit mentioned, it would be possible to grant the party safe passage on one of the Salmon Sailors in exchange for work as guards, especially since they had dispatched the thieves.  

The party was taken to the Neverlander, a Salmon Sailor captained by a Southbounder named Neff.  Neff introduced the party to his crew, a pair of fellow Southbounders and a young girl from Qi who went by “Scratches”.  Pockmarked and scarred from years spent as a Searoach catcher, the young girl seemed pitiful in appearance, but was a hard worker, eager to assist the part.  Despite the party’s insistence on keeping not only the trade goods but also the Salmon Sailor that the thieves were using, Kumit stated that all of the Salmon belonged to the village of Southbound, and this could not stand.  However, Kumit mentioned, it would be possible to grant the party safe passage on one of the Salmon Sailors in exchange for work as guards, especially since they had dispatched the thieves.  

The party was taken to the Neverlander, a Salmon Sailor captained by a Southbounder named Neff.  Neff introduced the party to his crew, a pair of fellow Southbounders and a young girl from Qi who went by “Scratches”.  Pockmarked and scarred from years spent as a Searoach catcher, the young girl seemed pitiful in appearance, but was a hard worker, eager to assist the party.  Once everyone was ready to travel, Takkorek started telling his stories to motivate the crew and the Neverlander left for Ballaster.

The first morning after leaving Southbound the party awoke to a strange scene.  Takkorek, the Slacker Nano, was swimming in the water, side by side with the Salmon, telling them stories and tales to lighten their journey.  This would happen again, every morning, for the duration of the voyage.  Apparently the tales of Takkorek transcended the boundaries of species.

By the sixth day of travel the waters of the Wyr River started to appear troubling.  The typically green river had more of a brown appearance, and the Salmon were struggling to keep pace.  Ever the scientist, Garren pulled a pail of the water onto the Neverlander and created a makeshift microscope out of Raa-em’s mirror and crystalline rose.  Indeed, there water was polluted… with visitant blood and machine grease.  Ralyx relayed to the party that Ballaster was situated close to the Jutting Remnants, a portion of land long believed to be the crash site of an ancient vessel from beyond.  But Ralyx spent years living near the Wyr River, and never had this sort of material ever surfaced before.  

On the morning of the eighth day on the Wyr River the Salmon could pull no further.  All six massive creatures, typically tireless and capable of swimming for week at a time, could do very little except slowly paddle their fins, apparently exhausted.  The water was no longer a light brown but a deep red, with the obvious rainbow slick of oil resting on the surface.  Neff informed the adventuring party that they would have to travel the rest of the journey by foot, and that the Neverlander would be turning back.  

Venturing onto the southern shore of the Wyr River, the party began their near fifty-mile trek to Ballaster.  A simple trail divided the murky, red shore from a forest of enormous ferns.  Only an hour into the walk, however, the sound of nearby predators caught Takkorek’s ear.

“Ithsyns,” the Nano murmured.

Before the party could reconfigure themselves in a more suitable fighting formation, two of the six-foot tall, bipedal reptile-fish-bird hybrids jumped out of bloody river while five darted in from the forest.  Takkorek immediately started inspiring the party as they drew their weapons.  Glyquorg learned quickly that striking the creatures with melee weapons was not without peril, as a noxious gas released from the Ithsyns caused temporary befuddlement.  Garren became so confused that he started swinging his “mace” (the head of Sago mounted on a rod) at his allies.  Eventually the battle turned in the party’s favor, despite some nasty, poisonous claw attacks by the Ithsyns, and Glyquorg having his armor fall away from his chest when a buckle malfunctioned.  Ralyx, the master of thrown weapons, backed away from the creatures, and chucked his implements into the fray, killing two of the creatures.  With a massive roar, the Mlox Jack intimidated the remaining beasts, and they scattered into the ferns.  

Quotes

"Wait, so you're saying 'Viking longships towed by giant salmon?' Awesome!" - Marc loves his weird.

"Yes, we'll sell the bard to the crew!" - Andreas was eager to get rid of Jeremy's new character.

"This is exactly what I wanted you to do!" - Raa-em to Gamon and his minions, after they drew their swords.

"I think Raa-em is just into blasting people… so I'm just gonna blast people!" - Frank didn't care if Raa-em hit Andy's character with his Flash esotery.  

Glyquorg - "He's a backstabber!"
Gamon - "I stabbed you to your face!" 

"Jim, you should just kill her now… in fourteen years of roleplaying with you, female NPC's don't last long." - Frank lies!

"So he spends the days spooning fish and we get their faster." - Marc seemed puzzled by Jeremy's Nano.

"Varjellen, man… what are you gonna do…" - Takkorek.

"Maybe the salmon can row?" - Marc was insisting that the bloody water shouldn't stop those lazy fish.

"Aww crap, velociraptors…" - Andreas… before the Ithsyn attack after hearing the description of the fern trees.

How Bizarre is Too Bizarre? - Creating Numenera Adventures

How bizarre is too bizarre?  No such thing!

If you spend as much time as I do bouncing around the Cypher System communities, you occasionally run into this question from first time Numenera game masters:

“How can I make my Numenera campaign more weird?”

It’s a valid question, especially since the essence of Numenera is so rooted in the strange and unusual realities of life as it exists one billion years in the future.  A campaign set in the Ninth World can have aspects of fantasy and science fiction, and may even resemble other fiction sub-genres such as post-apocalypse, horror, and even action adventure.  The options for a game master are truly limitless, and this is one of the stumbling blocks for newcomers into the game.  

With so many new and alien cultures, technologies, and landscapes, it’s easy to get a little lost when taking your first steps in the Ninth World.  

This question was so common in the early days of Numenera that Monte Cook Games released a Glimmer called “Injecting the Weird” designed to help game masters tweak their games in ways that could leave bizarre and possibly unsettling impressions on players... in a good way.  In addition, the recently released Ninth World Guidebook does a tremendous job expanding on a society and culture that exists in the far, far future.  

While I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert at adding the “weird” of Numenera into my campaigns, I certainly try to embrace the concept as much as possible.  With that in mind, I thought I’d share my thought process for creating Numenera adventures.  Certainly there are a lot of great published modules to choose from when kicking off your first Numenera campaign, but at some point you are going to want to explore those parts of the map that don’t have labels.  

And the only way to do this is with your own imagination.

Building weirdness like a good lasagna 

When I’m working on creating a Numenera adventure from scratch I tend to work in layers.  I start with a basic premise first, and then build from there, adding a plot and sub-plots, inserting non-player characters, and creating interesting locations.  Seems simple enough, much crafting adventures in any other system or campaign setting.  But when I do this for Numenera, I try to twist as many aspects as possible towards the general theme of the Ninth World.  I break down each part of the initial concept, and paint it with a weird twist.  I do this over and over again, until I feel that the adventure fits this unique setting.  

To help demonstrate my process, I’m going to build an idea from scratch, and share how my brain operates.  Here goes...

1)  Initial Concept

The adventure starts in a small village, where the villagers are suffering under a cruel lord.  The lord has taken several of the villagers’ children as hostages in order to guarantee obedience.  The characters have just arrived in town, and learned of the terrible situation.  Several of the townsfolk are desperate to see their children, and offer a sum of money to the characters for their safe return.   

This plot is pretty basic and generic really, akin to something you might see in a very early Dungeons & Dragons module.  Sure you could run this as is, setting the quest in the Beyond, far from civilization.  You could even add some cyphers.  But we can go many degrees further.  

2) Make the location stand out

Let’s make the small village a subterranean community located below an unusually flat plain in the Beyond.  The only entrance to the village is a simple trap door, no wider than a man-hole cover.  The villagers are all that is left of a town that once rested aboveground, actually on a high hilltop.  But after the Iron Wind came through, the hilltop, along with the town, became alive and just walked away.  The villagers were miners who were working below ground, and they’ve just stayed in the tunnels.  

Maybe this happened, maybe its just a tall tale that the villagers have.  Since this is Numenera, the idea of a giant, living hill is both interesting and terrifying… because it could happen!

3) Next make sure the non-player characters have an alien feeling, even the most common NPCs

An evil overlord is very cliche in traditional fantasy adventures.  Let’s make this a twisted entity that lives in the Datasphere.  It has no known motives, but insists on the entire population staying in the make-shift village below ground performing their daily tasks.  It provides food and water somehow, but forbids anyone from leaving.  Instead of “stealing” children physically, the entity orders that they be placed in a machine, where they are “transferred into the light.”  Essentially they are being turned into energy within the Datasphere.  

In this example I am just tinkering with the "antagonist", but you could also make some interesting changes to the miners and their families.  Perhaps they all have crystal clear skin, that reveals their organs.  Perhaps they can only speak by "reading lips" and they never make a sound. 

4) Finally, find a way to offer a memorable twist

If I were running this adventure I would have the villagers constantly speak negatively of the Datasphere entity, in both fear and anger.  In addition, I would have the entity be completely unapproachable by conventional means.  There would be no simple way of encountering the Datasphere entity; the party would have to brainstorm ways to engage the entity, or at least provoke a reaction.

When the characters finally do make contact, I would give the players opportunities to uncover the truth, offering new and exciting dilemmas and moral conflicts.  In this sample adventure, I would have the Datasphere entity not be a true villain at all, but instead a recently awakened, ancient medical program.  The entity could reveal (or it could be uncovered through investigation) that the villagers had all been afflicted by an invisible, and irreversible mutation when the Iron Wind passed through the region.  Simple exposure to sunlight would kill the villagers instantly, and so the entity has found that the only way to keep its new "patients" alive is to demand their complete authority.

Having played years of traditional fantasy games I now prefer dealing with individual motives rather than the simplistic and unrealistic concepts of "good" or "evil".  Especially in Numenera, I don't like having "obvious" antagonists, or any at all.  Don't feel bound by tradition!  


5) Don't be afraid to keep the adventure open ended… even for yourself

As to what the Datasphere entity was doing with the children that it turned into pure energy, who knows?  I might not even consider the outcome until later in the adventure.  When I'm writing a Numenera adventure, typically I don't plan for any particular outcome, I just let the adventure come to a naturally weird conclusion.  I'll be honest, I may even make the outcome more weird if I feel like I haven't done a good job properly peppering the session with interesting aspects of the Ninth World.  

How do you create weirdness?

This is just my way of creating Numenera adventures, and I'm learning all the time?  How do you go about creating a truly weird and unique story?  Do you start from a different angle?

Let us know!

Leave comment and share in the discussion!

Home Grown Gaming

It’s a new month which means… 

[drum roll please]

… the Game Master’s Roundtable of Doom is back!  We have a terrific topic to discuss, and I’m very excited to read all of the different perspectives that will be flooding some great blogs over the next few days.

March’s topic comes to us courtesy of the great +Scott Robinson:

“How has your gaming and/or game mastering changed over time?”  

Home Grown Gaming

I've covered different aspects of this question on this blog before, so I'm going to try to consolidate my answers in this post.  As a thirty-five year old married father of three, I’ve had to adapt my gaming habits to meet the ever evolving time constraints I face.  I have been fortunate to build a career that allows me some extra spending money, giving me the opportunity to play just about any game I want, but I constantly need to consider my use of time.  When I do get to sit down to play tabletop role-playing games with fellow, adult gamers, sometimes I’m the only one at my “table”… 

…and the other players are sitting at their own, in their own houses.  

Much of my roleplaying over the last six years has been online, using programs like Skype, Maptool, and Google Hangouts to connect with my players.  I’m certainly not alone in this matter, as I’m sure that many of my readers play in similar games.  Some gamers play online out of necessity, perhaps due to geographic limitations or lack of adequate babysitting.  Others want to play niche games, and need to venture online to find fellow indie-game enthusiasts.  Although I started as an online gamer out of necessity, I’ve come to realize that gaming on Google Hangouts is quite convenient, even for those who can have in-person games.

But the truth is, the biggest change I’ve experienced over the last several years is that I’ve found a way to play virtually any night of the week with a phenomenal group of people: my wife and kids.  

I choose to spend the majority of my game time, from video games to board games to RPG’s, with my family.  This has been an incredible experience, bringing our family closer together as well as giving us all a terrific creative outlet.  I know that some people will complain that they can’t get time to play because their spouse won’t let them go out, or they can’t find a babysitter, or they need to incorporate some family time.  

Hogwash!

While this means that a player may not be able to roll dice as often with his old friends from college, they get the opportunity to grow their relationships with the people who (typically) matter most in their life.  Let’s not forget a significant benefit of having a “live-in” adventuring party:  you can pretty much play an RPG any night of the week!

Granted, there are some considerations that need to be taken if I want to throw dice with the family.  If it’s a weeknight, chances are we can’t spend four hours dungeon delving after school.  There is homework, dinner, and a reasonable bedtime to consider.  But brief, one-hour sessions are common in our house, especially when you include other tabletop games into the mix.  I also need to keep the age gap of my children in mind when we are choosing our games.  

My three children are 11, 8, and 4.  It’s not really “family friendly” in our house, unless the entire family gets involved.  When choosing board games long and complicated games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Firefly take a back seat to King of Tokyo, Dixit, and Wits and Wagers.  At least with the latter, my four-year old can sit at the table and follow along.  

Actually, it’s sometimes easier for Cooper, my four year old ball of fire, to focus on a short role-playing game rather than a board game.  For young children, waiting their turn can be difficult, but at least in an RPG, they are hearing a story play out between their turns.  This tends to keep my son's attention, as he listens to what his mother and sisters do with their own characters.

I know that gaming with your family is not always the perfect option, and I freely admit that you won’t always get to play the exact games you’d like.  But for our family it’s been truly remarkable, and we are continuously amazed at how we’ve grown in the last couple of years.  Sure my gaming habits have had to change, and I’m still several years away from getting Cooper behind the controls of a battlemech.  But given how fast time flies when you are raising your family, I’m okay with waiting a few more years.  

What is the Game Master’s Roundtable of Doom?  

The Game Master’s Roundtable of Doom is a meeting of the minds of tabletop RPG bloggers and GMs.  Every GM has his or her favorite system, but in these articles we endeavor to transcend a particular system or game and discuss topics that are relevant to GMs and players of all roleplaying games.  

If you are a blogger, and you’d like to participate in the Game Master’s Roundtable of Doom, send an email to Lex Starwalker at gamemastersjourney@gmail.com and supply the URL of your blog.

Here’s our current roll-call for March, 2015:

• Marc Plourde - Delta GM
• Scott Robinson -  The Evolution of my GM-Style
• Lex Starwalker - My Evolution
• John Clayton - Plans that Come to Naught 
• John W. S. Marvin - Ringing Out the GM Changes

Other Family Adventures

If you are interested in some of the other posts I’ve written about gaming with children, here are a few:

• Growing Up Geek
• Savage Bedtime Story
• Like Father Like Daughter
• My Son and Dad Roleplay for the First Time

Also, my family has recently taken “Living 4 Crits” to YouTube, so be sure to check out our channel.  My eldest daughter Carrie is my co-host as we offer our insight on gaming and gaming culture.  We plan on doing some interesting features including game tutorials, actual play videos, interviews, and product reviews… all from a family-friendly perspective.

Living 4 Crits - Putting our Gamer Family on YouTube!

We Have a YouTube Channel!

That’s right ladies and gentlemen… you can now watch Living 4 Crits on your TV, computer, or smart-phone!

I’ve had a terrific year writing this blog, and I greatly appreciate all of the wonderful feedback, stories, and suggestions that my readers have shared each week.  While I have no intention of slowing down, I wanted to get my family more involved in the process.  After all, for me, my wife, and my children the true definition of “Living for Crits” is spending quality time together by embracing creativity and imagination.  

Or, to put it another way: “Min-maxing each day as a family!”  

But what to do?  

I already had this blog, and although I flirted with starting a podcast, that’s just not me.  We needed to go bigger!  My daughter Carrie had been asking for quite some time to expand her own presence on social media.  Specifically, she was interested in creating a YouTube account.  Given her interest, and my own search for another creative outlet, Carrie and I decided to co-host a YouTube show:  

Living 4 Crits (aka James August Walls… working on that part...)

Our goal on Living 4 Crits will be to showcase and discuss all of our favorite games, from role-playing games to video games.  We may even discuss how different kinds of games may interact.

Ever consider mixing concepts from Terraria into your Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign?  

Why not!?!

We will definitely be exploring the differences in gaming culture across our two represented generations… or more if I could talk a grandparent into showing up on the show!  Actually, after shooting only a few episodes I’ve learned quite a lot about the generational differences between my daughter and myself.  For you as a viewer, this means you’ll regularly receive two distinct viewpoints on the topics we discuss.

In addition we will share how we game as a family, and give tips, tricks, and examples of how you too can come to the table with your children and/or parents.  

If you haven’t stumbled across our channel yet, we’ve filmed four videos so far:

• Episode 0: A very rough introduction, more of a test really to see that we could pull this off!
• Numenera  Strand:  Our support for the recent (and fully funded) Kickstarter.
• Old School’s in Session:  A look at what the term “Old School” means to an 11 year old versus a 35 year old.  
• Creepers Bunnies and Cyphers:  We discussed the games we've played in the past week, including Minecraft, King of Tokyo, and Numenera.

We promise there will be more to come:  vlogs, reviews, actual plays, commentary, and more!  We are also planning some collaboration with another YouTuber, my incredible cousin and avid gamer Beanie Bambino!  If you have any suggestions, or would like to see us discuss specific topics or types of games, please let us know.  

If you enjoy what you see, be sure to like and subscribe.

We’ll be seeing you on the big screen!