What I learned from Scene 1

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for their excellent responses to the first test scene of 'the Broken Hallway'. You all wrote impressive descriptions of your character's actions. It almost feels as if there was more depth to the descriptions of what each of your characters were doing then what is usually heard around the table. Perhaps this is due to the fact I can read each of your passages over a few times and because each person has an equal amount of time to speak their mind and detail their performance.

It's also good to see that Peter still has that biting sense of humor. *Why are you casting magic missile? There's nothing to attack here.*

Alright now, lets get to what I learned about this first scene, no matter how obvious it might be.

Firstly, I want to discuss the length of time it took for everyone to enter in a post. You four will be the party, Todd, Hans, Josh, and Peter, so I'm glad that all of you participated. (You might also want to start thinking about what class of character you'll want to play, and start discussing it amongst yourselves.) Anyway, I posted the entry on the 27th and the last response was entered on 31st. So it took a total of four nights before the round was finished (If my counting is right, 98 hours and 55 minutes). This is good, in my opinion. This is what I expect for this game. We all have lives to live, we are all busy, doing all sorts of different things. This game is meant to be played in the background of our lives. A form of relaxing enjoyment between a great group of RP minds.

Alright, my next point, which kind of branches out of the first and which I have already discussed with Todd. That is, Initiative. At first Todd and I thought that people would have to post in a certain order... but that idea was too bulky. Instead, what seems obvious to me now, is that I'll gauge the order of each persons action by their response to the scene. If I feel there is any sense of confusion I'll use tie breaking dice (based off stats). I think this solves that problem, and leaves the players free to respond to the present scene in any order they choose.

Another thing Todd and I discussed was whether or not players should post their entries in first person or third... obviously you all posted in first person, as that seems to feel natural, so that's what we'll stick with. I believe all of your responses are poster-boy examples of how this game will run. I think next we'll have to figure out dialogue.

Those are some of my observations so far. This is a good practice. I'm still working on the general rules (right now I'm fleshing out the 'feats' or special abilities for each class) so when that's done I think we'll be able to move on over to the actually Dungeon Creep blog.

The next scene is coming up!

The Broken Hallway - scene 1

Your party carefully climbs down the uneven stairs into a long dark hallway. The light of your torches reach out 40 feet ahead of you, beyond that there is only darkness. The ceiling also reaches high past your torch light, leaving you guessing as to what might be watching you from the shadows. Thankfully the hallway is wide enough to fit four men shoulder to shoulder, giving your party some breathing room. The floor consists of broken tiles with tiny red-speckled mushrooms growing in the dirt between the cracks. The air is warm and very damp, the sound of water can be heard dripping slowly from further down the hallway. You get the distinct feeling that your party is not alone.

What are your actions?

Developing the rules for Dungeon Creep.

So I've been playing with a few concepts for the rules I want to use to run the Dungeon Creep RPG blog. Nothing concrete, just concepts. I want to take this time to spark a discussion about these possible rules, and get your input. This is, I believe, the best way to develop a more solid set of rules.

You all have a history of developing your own rule sets for various games (The multiple attempts at the country game, A vs P rules, swordcraft, peter's spaceship game), these are but a few of the games our creative group has come up with. In short, you guys have a brilliance that I would like to use to help create this game.

Okay, so here's some of the concepts I have come up with that I am considering for Dungeon Creep:

1. I want the rules to be simple and fast. As the DM I'll be taking care of all the dice rolls, and then writing up the entries in response to what happens in a given scene. I, however, don't want to be doing a lot of dice rolling, and instead I want to focus on actually writing descriptive posts and working on the story of the dungeon. I don't want this game to be a chore but rather a fun hobby that we all can enjoy. (just like a table top game night).
   
2. As of right now, in the interest in keeping things simple there will be four classes: Warrior, Thief, Sorcerer, and Shepherd(Healer). I'd like each of the classes to have a skill tree ala Diablo, so that as a character levels, players will be able to pick skills in a tree that his character will be able use. For example, the Sorcerer levels and gets to choose a new skill, since he already has the skill 'Firebolt' he can pick the skill 'Fireball' further down the skill tree. The reason I like this style is cause it takes care of spells and special skills like lock-picking in one stroke. I imagine a skill tree will be kind of like feats in d20, only including class special abilities.
   
3. I'm leaning towards three stats: Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), and one stat that encompasses both Wisdom and Intelligence, I've been calling it 'Mental' (MTL). I believe CON/Hit Points need to be handled differently due to the nature of running an RPG on a blog.
4. I believe that instead of hit points (which are complex, involving a lot of unnecessary math) characters and other creatures will only be able to last a certain amount of "scenes" (scenes are posts on the front page). I've been thinking, to keep it simple, that all player characters can only live a standard amount of 5 scenes. In other words five levels of health (plus death, so 6): Healthy, Scratched, Injured, Wounded, Unconscious, and Dead (these terms aren't set in stone, just a rough outline).
   
5. The stat block needs to be small, so that they can easily fit on top of the blog page as the examples are now.
   

So, that's what I got. I'm also open to the idea of diceless RPG rules, but I don't know how they actually work, and if anyone has any experience with them, let me know. Now let's hear those ideas and opinions, I know you've got them. As always, a game is nothing without it's players. You guys are the ones who can make this game great.

(also, forgive me for any typos, I've had a few beers.)

First post...

... from my brand new 'MacBook' notebook - 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo - Yes, I have joined the darkside, I now own an Apple, and let me tell you - I love it on this side.

Ever since I heard that Apple was switching their computer line over to intel chipsets I set to work saving up my money for the day when they would update the iBook, well that day has come, and I've made the plunge. I'm still getting used to OS X but I'm sure in the next few days I'll be flying around it like I do with Windows XP. This little laptop is a blast and now I need to look into setting up a wireless internet network so I can lay anywhere around the house and surf the net.

There are so many neat little features that make this my ideal laptop. The 13 inch wide screen, the mag-safe power connector, the cool design and spaced out keyboard (which is great to type on with my style of typing), the built in iSight (webcam) which I used tonight to talk to my dad - it works like a charm, no hassle what so ever. It's a great little notebook.

That being said, I would never buy an Apple Desktop (iMac). I am still a PC lover, and a gamer, so I'll never give up my 'cobalt blue' PC, never in a million years.. but as far as laptops.. err notebooks go, I never thought they were meant to be upgraded (even though Apple has made it really easy to upgrade this MacBooks RAM and hard-drive) so I felt at ease getting an Apple. Josh was right, they are wonderful little machines.

It's starting to take shape.

As mentioned in the previous entry I am still interested in trying to run an RPG via a blog. The project I have been working on which has been referred to as "Turnip-Head Adventures" has now been renamed "Dungeon Creep" (In reminiscence of 'dungeon crawl' as with tabletop gaming, only on a blog the adventure will obviously progress slower due to the nature of the medium). I'm pretty excited about this concept and I hope there are interested players who are as well. And now, without further ado, I present to you the link for Dungeon Creep.

As you can see the first adventure will be entitled "The Blade Sun Citadel", where the players will uncovered a villainous plot by the Blade Sun Destiny, a cult hell bent on brainwashing the masses to follow their evil creed. The comments as well as 'The Dungeoneer's Handbook' have been turned off as the whole Dungeon Creep concept is still in its early stages. I just wanted to let you guys get a sneak peek at what I've been working on, I hope you like it.

In the coming days I'll link up the handbook so you'll all be able to look over the rules and standards of posting comments, so keep an eye on the site. Once I feel everything is in place we can start the first adventure. Remember, the method of play will still be in its early stages so bear with me while we work out the kinks and the bugs of how I'm going to actually conduct this RPG blog. Also, if you've got any ideas and you think they are good, don't be afraid to share them. This game will be nothing without an interested community (just as with any tabletop RPG) so I welcome your input and advice. Together we can create a game that could last years, just as previous tabletop campaigns have.

Enjoy the preview, I'm looking forward to DMing again as I hope you are looking forward to playing in one of my campaigns, albeit in a different format.

What to do about the Passenger Saga?

So my 'role-playing game on a blog experiment' has kind of puttered out. What I would like to do is take a look at the how and why I lost interest and thus let it died. It would be too easy to simply say that the reason it failed was because I didn't put forth much effort and while that is true I think the number one reason for that happening was because I wasn't getting the same special feeling I've gotten from my past campaigns.

Why was this? I believe it has something to do with the fact I couldn't see my players across the table from me. For me, seeing how my players react to the crazy situations I put them in is one of the big reason I loved DMing. With a blog, as opposed to a tabletop, I didn't get to see their faces, hear their laughter/gasps, and revel in delight as they solve the problems I toss at them. Telling a story over a blog hasn't yet given me this feeling. Maybe I cut the experiment too short and perhaps if I had let it go on for a while I would have discovered that there was a sort of magical feeling to be found in the blog medium. I do sort of regret that I've let it die, and I think often about that blog-space just sitting there, going to waste. The Passenger Saga campaign setting was suppose to be my second gem. After the Groven Myth I was going to run a brilliant D20 Future Campaign in which my players would create new characters that they would grow to love. Granted the blog was an interesting experiment, but I didn't feel the same passion coming from it. Which brings me to my next questions:

What can I learn from this blog RPG experiment and what should I do with that blog-space that's just sitting there, wasting away?

After giving these questions some thought this is what I've come up with: I learned that the method I used of telling a story passively through 'e-mails' was, while interesting, kind of boring. What a RPG Blog needs is action! adventure! and adversity! (The 3 A's). So, then, What should I do with the Passenger Saga blog? As of right now I'm going to let it sit there because these blogspots are free, and we can have as many of them as we want (I have a total of 4 blogs, 3 public ones and 1 secret one. *smirks*). Maybe one day after I figured out how to run a successful blog RPG I will revive the Passenger Sage, there is still a lot of interesting material in that setting. This brings me to my next point; that I need to learn how to run a successful RPG blog.

I still believe that playing a RPG over a blog is possible, though I have yet to discover a workable way, I don't want this dream to die yet. Since creating a new blog is free, and can be done as many times as I want, I plan on creating a new type of RPG blog, a fantasy one, in a new setting which I have codenamed: 'Turnip-head Adventures'. This setting will focus on classic dungeon crawl, where each post will be a new room for players to explore, which they will do through the comment system. It will have combat, so I've got to think about how combat will work, it will of course need to be in there (remember the 3 A's), and I am sure it is possible. Players will pick from an assortment of premade characters (a la Diablo), that way there is less confusion over what people are playing, allowing all participants to be on the same page. I will be creating a website that will go along with this blog which will have information on characters, rules, and a general details about the setting. It will also probally have a map of the parts of the dungeon that has already been explored as the players go on their adventure.

Those are my ideas on this so far, I will talk more about in the posts to come, and perhaps let you guys preview some of the stuff I'm working on. This will be the second experiment into the RPG blog, if it works and we can get an interesting game going, that that would be great... otherwise I'll try another experiment (I don't give up easy) and maybe one day we'll discover that RPGs are actually best left to the tabletop (hehe). Anyway, tell me what you think, if you've got any ideas on how combat might be share them in the comments.

I just saw...

...a real life zombie. No joke. So Amanda and I went to Target today to pick up "Howl's Moving Castle" a movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki (I'm a big fan of his films, and this one stood up well), and as we were heading towards the cashiers there was this dude who's skin was a pale greenish yellow. He was shambling around, and he was groaning. He didn't look too good. I pointed him out but Amanda told me not to stare, so we just bought the movie and went home as fast as we could.

I hope he wasn't a real zombie, but my gut tells me otherwise. Gentlemen, I fear the zombie apocalypse is apon us.

A message from work: The Pillows rock. That is all.

Old keyboard goodness.

So I found an old IBM style keyboard in the basement of the place I'm living at. It was a little dusty so I did a full body clean with rubbing alcohol (even Britt helped out) and now it's sparkling clean. Its got really loud clickity keys and a space bar that isn't smoothed out so my thumbs have been hitting their mark. I've ditched my space-aged wireless keyboard in favor of this beaut and now my fingers no longer feel like their fighting an uphill battle. This is the kind of keyboard I grew up on, and it's wonderful. I can't wait to play a little CSS with it or type a blog entry, which is why I am typing this one right this moment. Ahh it feels so good. clickity, click, clickty, clankity. perfect. Too bad I don't have any papers to write. Hah hah.

In a blaze of glory.

So Hans, Peter and I played a few games of Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War last night, and we were promptly rocked by the computer opponents each time. I had forgotten just how brutal the computer players can be. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. Either they are very docile or they are breathing down your neck with guns and swords and sharp pointy teeth. I would say the best way to counter a tough computer opponent would be to build better defenses, but last night I saw them cut through my gorgeous gun turrets like they were a knife through butter. I think maybe less computer controlled armies are in order and maybe an extra human one. (Josh, you listening? *grin*).

Over all I still had a blast getting my head handed to me in a basket. Loosing never felt so good. Lets do it again sometime soon. :)

Zombie Movie

If you don't have Valve's Steam, get it. (I mean who doesn't own at least one Valve game?) They've added a new "Media" section which allows for you to download trailers for games you can purchase through Steam. (Check out the Day of Defeat: Prelude to Victory trailer, it's freaking sweet). Not only that but they have also released a short movie entitled "Zombie Movie" created by 2Chums Moving Pictures. It's a short film, and there are zombies, and it's entertaining. It has nothing to do with any game and the reason it's up there is because a former member of 2Chums now works at Valve.

"New Zealand… 1986. The zombie apocalypse is here and three mates are stranded. The trusty Holden is out of gas. With only fast food scraps and a few cigarettes for sustenance, surviving each other may prove harder than facing the undead outside…" (2chums.com)

If you like Zombies, and independent short films, I recommend you shamble over to the Steam client to check it out.

Kaftan, Arthur J.

Arthur J. Kaftan, 93, died at his home in De Pere on Friday, May 5, 2006. He was born December 4, 1912, in Green Bay to the late Mary Elizabeth Cash Kaftan and Robert A. Kaftan. In 1951 he married Barbara Horner, who preceded him in death in 1998. The couple enjoyed more than 47 years together.

Art graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1937, and in June of that year was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar Association. He joined his two brothers in the Kaftan law firm founded by their father in 1902. Art was rated one of the highest class “A” trial lawyers in Brown County. The law firm Kaftan, Van Egeren & Gilson is still located in Green Bay in a building built by Art and his two brothers.

Art lived a rich and full life. He was a strong advocate of local environmental issues and was one of the founders of the Brown County chapter of the Izaak Walton League. He fought to restore the Fox River and worked diligently on the landmark case, Muench vs. Public Service Commission, which established that all state waters be protected in the public interest. He was active in the Clean Water Action Council and the Door County Land Trust.

Art was a contributor and supporter of many cultural organizations in the Green Bay area. He was a member and one-time president of the board of directors of the Neville Public Museum. He and his wife Barbara were the first major contributors to the campaign fund that raised millions of dollars to build the new Neville Public Museum. For many years he supported and actively participated in the Museum’s foreign film program, the Brown County Historical Society, Heritage Hill, Historic Hazelwood, the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Music Society, the Green Bay Botanical Garden, and the Northeastern Wisconsin Arts Council.

He was an artist in his own right, a sculptor of large wooden figures, primitive and modern, carved from logs and old telephone poles. These sculptures are displayed in the yard of his home in De Pere and the gardens of his Door County vacation home. As a young man he painted landscape watercolors of urban and rural Northeastern Wisconsin scenes. Art was also a self-taught creator of glass tile mosaics. He loved any angular composition that inspired his imagination, whether it be abstract or representational. In 1960 he created a mosaic for the State Bar of Wisconsin offices in Madison. It depicted Lady Justice holding the scales of justice and three profiles in different colors to portray equal treatment under the law for all peoples. This piece combined all that he held in high regard – art, beauty, nature and human rights. While serving in Europe during WW II he took a series of black and white photographs revealing his personal look at the faces and places of the war. An exhibit of forty of these photographs, which he developed and printed himself, was shown at the Neville Public Museum in the summer of 2003.

As a young man Art was an avid sailor, and throughout his life he was a fisherman who felt comfortable in a trout stream or going after “lunkers” in Lake Michigan off the shore of his Whitefish Bay cottage. As a college student he won the Big Ten Saber championship in fencing at UW-Madison. A gourmet cook he was not, but he always loved and greatly appreciated his wife Barbara’s exquisite cooking, to which he gladly contributed from his selection of fine wines.

He is survived by three daughters, three sons, and 13 grandchildren. Nicola (Craig) Newman and their children Jack and Robin, Burbank, CA; Laura (Selcuk) Kayacan and their children Andrew, Amillie, and Albert, Downers Grove, IL; Charles (Jodi) Kaftan and their children Margaret and Natalie, De Pere, WI; Susan (Douglas) Kaftan-Luckerman and their children Emma and Charlotte, Lexington, MA; Andrew (Betsy) Kaftan and their children Sal, Harriet, Barbara, and William, Sparta, WI; and Joseph Kaftan, Seattle, WA.

He was preceded in death by his brothers Fred, and J. Robert, and his sister Elizabeth.

Friends and family are invited to share in a celebration of his life on Sunday, June 11, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Green Bay Botanical Garden.

Contributions may be made in Art’s memory to the Brown County Izaak Walton League, the Nature Conservancy, or the charity of your choice.

Warhammer 40k multi-play game?

Who's up for it? I just dug my Warhammer 40K CDs out of a dusty box and I'm gonna load it up. Hans, Josh and I had a blast playing over the net (though I remember we had some problems, have they been fixed?) and all this talk about it has gotten my blood flowing for a great game of co-op. If anyone's around tonight(Saturday) send me an instant message and we can set it up, or we can play Sunday, either way lets play some 40K.

Hans, that means you, if you can find your copy. Pete's already got his. We should also see if Josh is around.

Talk to you guys soon!

Company of Heroes by Relic

Developed by the same guys who did Warhammer 40K (PC, RTS), Company of Heroes is a real time strategy game which takes place during the Normandy invasion of World War 2.

Sure, some people think that World War 2 is over done (bullocks to the naysayers) but what caught my eye about this game was the concept of "destructible environments". Relic claims that the environment of this game will be a key ingredient in finding a winning strategy. For example, you'll be able to use tanks and bazookas to punch through walls, level building with mortar fire, and destroy your enemies cover. If the environment is as malleable as Relic claims this is going to be the RTS that I've been waiting for! I have played and enjoyed Warhammer 40K (especially multiplayer with Hans and Josh) and if Relic makes this game just as good as that game and also includes destructible environments I'm sold.

Below is a screen shot of the game. It looks pretty impressive. Who knows if my system will run it when it finally comes out this fall. We shall see.

Confirmed games.

• Super Mario Wii
• Super Smash Bros. Wii
• Metroid Prime 3
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Wii
• Animal Crossing Wii
• Killing Day
• Splinter Cell 4
• Madagaskar 2
• Legend of Zelda Wii
• Mario Kart Wii
• Donkey Kong Wii
• The Darkness
• Possession
• Madden NFL 07
• Suda51/Grasshopers Studio Title
• Minoru Nakai Title
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Two Titles from “Artistic Quality”
• James Bond 007: Casino Royale
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
• Sadness
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Pangya Golf
• Elebits
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
• Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
• Red Steel
• Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting
• Spider Man 3
• Raid Over The River
• Midway Wii Project
• Disney/Pixar’s Cars
• TNA iMPACT!
• n-Space Wii Project
• Kid Icarus Wii
• Blitz Games Wii Project
• Camelot RPG
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2007
• Sonic the Hedgehog Wii
• Trauma Center Wii
• Cooking Title

The Wii will also be able to play Gamecube CDs and emulate and play NES, SNES and N64 titles. Link.