Tenkar's Tavern: Character Gen and Workable Hangout - Session Zero of "The Voyages of the Starship Icarus"

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Character Gen and Workable Hangout - Session Zero of "The Voyages of the Starship Icarus"

Tonight was a playtest of sorts. I needed to stress test the upgraded DSL at my parents' place in NE PA. Shit works well. Hell, it actually works, unlike the slightly cheaper DSL they used to pay for. The Saturday Night Game Sessions will continue throughout the summer as the escape to the Poconos on multiple weekends. Huzzah!

I did Stars Without Number character gen with 3 of my regular players. SWN is a bit deeper then any of us had expected, which just goes to prove that reading through the rules isn't always a complete reading through if the rules. Heh.

I'll need to tweak things a bit for the "Red Shirt" sessions and tonight gave me some ideas on how to streamline things on the char gen side, especially for "Zero Levels".

Did I mention there still isnt much of a breeze here? Sigh.

2 comments:

Simon J. HogwoodJune 2, 2013 at 1:21 AM
I'm not sure if you meant it quite that way, but "red shirt sessions" is hilariously appropriate as the sci-fi term for a character funnel.
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NathanielJune 2, 2013 at 9:07 PM
The biggest slowdown in chargen I found was all the sci-fi gear. I've tried to put together starter packs (based on D&D starter packs). If I were more ambitious, there would be tables to roll on.
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Saturday, June 1, 2013

Character Gen and Workable Hangout - Session Zero of "The Voyages of the Starship Icarus"

2 comments:

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