Morning Gamer ☕️
I played Classic Traveller this weekend on Twitch/ActualPlay. It feels good getting back together with the ActualPlay cast, all great folks and better friends. It has been a while since we produced a stream, so there were the aches of remembering how it all goes. We did character generation live on stream, like a session zero, and that's probably how I'll run Classic Traveller in the future. We discussed our dice results and choices, filling in the details of our piece of the universe as we went along. Like you'd do in a session zero!
Marine Lt. Erin Vaughn. Underdog voted most likely to do the least and too damned big to hide. Vaughn served three terms with the Mazi House Marines working secret tactical operations too risky for proper Mazi House forces. He barely survived those early two terms before getting promoted.
'GhostRider' C78CA2 Age 30 3 Terms Cr30k
Carbine-1 Revolver-1 Tactics-1 Cutlass-2 Ground-1 Winged-1
And we got our first job together, and we're space repo’s!
EXO Primal dropped on XBox this weekend. Powered Armor suits vs. Dinosaurs! It's got Anthem vibes for me, which I miss. It'll be a nice change from DayZ, a game I enjoy soloing in but am terrible at. I’ll play either armored suit game as an RPG setting!
Consuming Media
I've caught up with Diana Pasulka, author of American Cosmic, on the Koncrete podcast. Discussing her research on religion, non-human intelligences, and technology. Crazy shit, right?! Her credentials are solid; look her up. In her book, she doesn't disclose everyone she's working with or talking to, so it is easy to dismiss it. Only now, those folks are coming forward of their own accord on the topic of UAPs. Like Garry Nolan, a hard science person with outstanding cred who'll tell you aliens have been here for a long time. The whole episode makes the current world feel like that Fringe show! Always great material for RPGs.
I read Haller's opinion piece on Split/Party about good and bad players. It's been working on me the whole weekend. You should read it; he shares his experience and thoughts on the subject. The question "Are you a good player?" might be my problem, ‘good’ is too vague for me; I stumble with it. I've never asked if a player was good, but I have asked how a person is at a gaming table. Active, shy, loud, aggressive? Are they coming to play, or did they get dragged along by their partner? My question as a GM to a player would be: Are you an engaged player? I believe it's about having engaged players. If they are engaged, we can always get better at being players.
Prep work
In our 9th issue of Jolt! Nate meets himself in the Otherplace as he searches for how to get his son back! I thought it was an obvious encounter, but I caught Rich by surprise, and it's all recorded! Tonight we'll see if Other Nate can be helpful! 😈
ICYMI, I'm on Start Playing. I've got some prep work ahead of me for a Neverwinter West Marches campaign. Foundry VTT has a nice setup for 5E, so that's easy! I'm thinking through character advancement, I'm a fan of the XP for Gold concept, but Milestone leveling might be useful here, too, as these are open tables. I'll want some checks or saves for parties that don't return to "town" in time. Then 'player handouts' —I’m excited!
See ya in a week!