Thursday Night Irregulars 6-9 PST

[Aramis]

spak_man wrote:
The Land of Men with Tails: an adventure from an old dungeon magazine that I have always wanted to run, but never managed to fit it into a campaign, Id be running this using my Bastard Hybrid of C&C with 2nd edition AD&D (which jarred will be familiar with) its mostly C&C but I crammed a few things I liked from 2nd in there. The adventure starts off in Port Thunder, the only 'civilized' outpost on The Dark Continent, a jungle land far across the ocean from the known world. So lots of Zombie Monkeys, Zombie Head Hunters, Zombie Pigmies, Zombie Snakes, and Zombie Malaria

Zombie Run: Ok, the last game actually has very little (i.e. nothing) to do with zombies, but this one certainly does! This one would be run using the Savage Worlds system and involves a cross country road trip across Post Zombie Apocalypse America

Savage Fallout: A Post Nuclear adventure for the whole family, ok maybe not. Using the Savage worlds system a group of brave villagers must head out into the ruined city known only as "The Boneyard" to find the cure for a disease that threatens to wipe out their tribe.

Pirates!!: Ok I admit it, this one I haven't put much thought into, but come on, PIRATES! pirates are cool.. but wait! ZOMBIE PIRATES are even cooler!

Ok I'll admit it, I'm really digging the SW system and would like to try running it, but if you guys really want to run one of these games using a SIEGE-ed up system I can

((and on the off chance you want to try The Land of Men with Tails using SW im down for that too))

Let's see, zombie pygmies, zombie apocalypse, Boneyard apocalypse (now with Extra Zombie), or Zombie Pirates. Hmmm. That is a wide gamut...you know what, I think I am going to go with zombie on this one.
As to Zombie Pirates, I think there is actually a famous D20 module called the Freeport Trilogy which is highly rated. You could look at that. I thing the Savage Tides Adventure path for D20 might have had that kind of thing too. You might be able to steal some bits from those.

A return to post apocalypse is always fun, but I think I would rather be a mutated flying lizard (whose companions are a bear, a tiger, and an accident prone tree) than a frightened village teenager
The Land of Men with Tails is African D&D I think, so that would be a switch. As I mentioned to you before, an alternative to the wide genre changes we have been following so far on Thursdays is to look at some of the different flavours of fantasy worlds TSR and others have offered over the years (Al Qaddim, Dark Sun, Planescape) as well as things like Talislanta and so on. I of course own most of these but, as usual, have never played in any of them. Sigh

So Zombie Pirates might be good, post apocalypse if I can be a mutated bad ass rather than a Fallout cannibal victim, or the wilds of African D&D

As for game system, you should run it under whatever system you think is best. I emphasise the SIEGE-ing up of everything in these things because it makes it all so simple. Not only do we all "have the rules" so to speak, but it does not fall prey to the "builds" problem that other systems can, especially for short games

(by builds problem- I mean the tendency of many systems to produce far more potent characters for those who own/have full knowledge of the rules than newcomers who don't know how to min/max properly. This has already happened a bit in a couple of the games we have run)

But I certainly agree that some games just need a different system. A perfect example of that was Josh's Warhammer game. You would not have the same gritty feel if you didn't use Warhammer's deadlier combats, weaker spellcasting, and fewer magic items kind of approach

So it is for the DM to pick the system he feels is best. But where feasible, SIEGEing it up is a wonderful default option

spak_man wrote:
PS Oh yeah, Kurt, could you take Small town, Small troubles off the Possible upcoming games list. It seemed like a cool idea at the time, but never managed to come together when I tired to turn the Ideas into an actual adventure, and plus, there would have been almost no combat in it BOO!!

Thanks

I don't know if I can do that, Spak Man. After all, I already made up a poster and everything for that game

Aramis wrote:
Oooh. Sounds interesting. I picture something like this:

_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[Treebore]

I do have the SW core book (its only $10), so am up for any of them, but I do favor anything with Zombies.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[spak_man]

I listed the games more or less in my order of preference.

1) Land of men with tails, I like this one because,like I said, it is something I have wanted to run for a while, and We've been all over the place thematically, this gives us a chance to get back to basics, but still has a nice twist on it to keep it in the TNI spirit.
PROS: AD&D based so an easy conversion to C&C, allows a return to basics(meaning fantasy Role Playing) but still has a twist to keep with the TNI Spirt
CONS: No Zombies , might be a little too 'vanilla' for the TNI

2)Zombie Run: Another game I've been thinking of for a while, it is the first supplement I picked up for SW and I'm a zombie anything* junkie so the theme fits for me
PROS: Everyone Love Zombies. Im Super into the subject matter. Has cool GM sub systems for on the fly encounter generation so if (when) you guys go off somewhere unexpected im not completely on my own
CONS: Uses SW which I am currently in love with but will need some learning both on the players and the GMs side.

3) Fallout: A last minute addition, While I enjoyed Gamma SIEGE and wouldn't mind returning to it, I found there to be a HUGE power gap between the PCs and While I thought I could deal with it, I felt it got the better of me. TBH this is what I was planning on running as the sequel to GAMMA SIEGE but i thought that maybe removing the Mutant powers might make it a little more fun for everyone. Feel free to disagree with me on that if you want, the whole Power balance issue might have just been in my head.
PROS: Could work with either SW or SIEGE whichever the players prefer, would require very little prep on my part as most of the adventure is already written up.
CONS: Not sure if I want to keep the Mutant Powers or not If I do there is the balance issue if I don't kurt has to play a Frightened Teen-aged Villager. Re-Treading Old ground (while not necessarily a bad thing, not sure if thats what everyone had in Mind)

4) Pirates!! : This one was more or less a joke, I have nothing prepped and no materials to draw inspiration from, it Might happen eventually, but not for the next session
PROS: Pirates!
CONS: Not going to happen yet anyways

So in all honesty Id prefer option 1 or 2, if there is an overwhelming demand I can do #3. #4 may happen sometime in the future but not now unfortunately

-Andre


*Board Games, Movies, Video Games, RPGs you name it, if its got zombies, I'm in
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

[Aramis]

Well, if you prefer the African D&D one, let's do that. Sounds like fun to me

As for the Gamma SIEGE unbalance, I am not sure if you are saying there was imbalance between the players, or between the players and the monsters of the world.

I can't really recall our power levels but using random generation for mutations is definitely prone to some getting the equivalent of Power Word Kill, and some getting Affect Normal Fires .

As I recall, we seemed quite a bit more powerful than the rest of the world. But a sane DM has to run Gamma World that way, since if the monsters we meet are as mutated as us (as they are described in the book), I can't see even most of the characters surviving more than 2 encounters. You meet spiders with radiated eyes..Poof! 2 of you are killed. You meet snakes that can fly, are invisible, and can take over your mind. 2 more character deaths. Etc.

Character powers were all front loaded, and the monster encounters could as often be the equivalent of an Ancient Red Dragon as an Orc. It makes for an explosive combination

Gamma world was definitely always an "unbalanced" game. I have always thought it would have worked better if people got stronger mutation powers as they "levelled" (old school Gamma world did not have levels either, I don't think). Maybe not as "realistic", but definitely would work better game-balance wise.

That's why we play some of these games for short durations
But playing post apocalypse without a bit of the ol' special sauce (whether that be mutations, or magical creatures have returned to earth, or something) might be a little dull
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[spak_man]

Aramis wrote:
As for the Gamma SIEGE unbalance, I am not sure if you are saying there was imbalance between the players, or between the players and the monsters of the world.

It was a bit of both, I saw a power difference between the PCs and also I was worried about going completely random on the encounter tables to since there are a lot of baddies with Save or Die powers

Aramis wrote:
I can't really recall our power levels but using random generation for mutations is definitely prone to some getting the equivalent of Power Word Kill, and some getting Affect Normal Fires .

yeah it can happen, our power spread wasn't quite as severe but still there.

Aramis wrote:
As I recall, we seemed quite a bit more powerful than the rest of the world. But a sane DM has to run Gamma World that way, since if the monsters we meet are as mutated as us (as they are described in the book), I can't see even most of the characters surviving more than 2 encounters. You meet spiders with radiated eyes..Poof! 2 of you are killed. You meet snakes that can fly, are invisible, and can take over your mind. 2 more character deaths. Etc.

Yeah, I was trying to avoid just that, I think when we come back to GAMMA Siege Ill have to be a little more hardcore and have a way to introduce new characters easily

Aramis wrote:
Gamma world was definitely always an "unbalanced" game. I have always thought it would have worked better if people got stronger mutation powers as they "levelled" (old school Gamma world did not have levels either, I don't think). Maybe not as "realistic", but definitely would work better game-balance wise.

there were levels but they didnt mean a whole lot, you got more HPs (1d6 iirc, but character start with CONd6 HP (again iirc) so not a big deal) better chance to hit, and a few small bonuses, but a lvl 1 with death field could still wipe a group of level 10s

Aramis wrote:
But playing post apocalypse without a bit of the ol' special sauce (whether that be mutations, or magical creatures have returned to earth, or something) might be a little dull

You've obviously never played Fallout theres plenty of fun to be had in a post-apocalyptic wasteland without Crazy mutations all over the place.

Now back to the topic at hand, Ill make a new thread with a poll to determine what we play next, and we'll use that for my game once we decide what it is

-Andre
_________________
"A DM is like a duck." -Aramis

"thats the one where you explode. You sure you wanna do that?" -Titania

"It has a Rate of fire bonus of ... Ouch!" - JarredMcgee

[jarredmcgee]

damnit he stole the initiative

ok so i'm up for anything

just let me know which and i should either be able to build my char (savage worlds or cc) or have a concept that can be thrown together for me

on a side note

whenever i can get some rotation as dm

i've got everything worked out with the exceptions of maps

for "tightening belt"

[Aramis]

jarredmcgee wrote:
damnit he stole the initiative

ok so i'm up for anything

just let me know which and i should either be able to build my char (savage worlds or cc) or have a concept that can be thrown together for me

on a side note

whenever i can get some rotation as dm

i've got everything worked out with the exceptions of maps

for "tightening belt"

By my reckoning, you are up after Spak Man
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[Aramis]

BTW- TNI member Treebore has pointed the way to an intriguing deal on many many pdfs at drivethru or RPGNow, for a small donation ($20) to the good people of Haiti
http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

TNIers may want to look at this, as there are many genres represented, and this would be an easy way to get some shared rulebooks for some genres, as well as help Haiti.

Most of the pdfs are not my thing (or yours probably) but there is enough in there to be of interest. Quality is no doubt pretty variable.

But there is the Spycraft Espionage game rules, there is an interesting Pulp Action game for Savage Worlds, some C&C stuff, lots of D20 stuff that can be altered.

There is even an intriguing Roman RPG with a module. If I like it, I may give that a run in TNI some day

And, of course, there are a few zombie things here and there
So buy the $20 donation first, then start a new order to get the pdfs, and use the code. Download them in a few days when the servers slow down

When you try to check out using the haiti code you bought for $20 (in a previous order), your cart will (should!) revert to $0, but they add a small fee ($1 or something) to $0 orders. So pay that fee or add another full price pdf if you wish
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[jarredmcgee]

well i've been looking at my collection of games

how would people feel with having a few tactical mini type games as a spot filler when the scheduled gm can't make it

i've got

heavy gear

warhammer 40k

and axis and allies

i figure maptools is just a digital table top

sure it cuts out the most enjoyable side of mini tac games which is building and painting

but as something for a spot filler i think it could work

anyway an idea for a rainy day

[Aramis]

jarredmcgee wrote:
well i've been looking at my collection of games

how would people feel with having a few tactical mini type games as a spot filler when the scheduled gm can't make it

i've got

heavy gear

warhammer 40k

and axis and allies

i figure maptools is just a digital table top

sure it cuts out the most enjoyable side of mini tac games which is building and painting

but as something for a spot filler i think it could work

anyway an idea for a rainy day

Sounds good jarred. I am not familiar with any of those. I hope they are as simple as DOOM
Although Axis and Allies rings a bell. I think I read somewhere how that one ends
Nice to have some back ups for the inevitable absences. We can of course also prepare some one shot role playing adventures.
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[jarredmcgee]

not as simple but not too complicated

axis and allies may be the most accessible

as you can get the rules and stats online for free at the avalon hill website

heavy gear's basic rules are on the dream pod nine site

but not the stats

and 40k is impossible to get unless you're willing to pay or pirate the various books

[Treebore]

Victorious Thursday! Confirmed with Seig today.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[jarredmcgee]

good to know

thanks for the update

[sieg]

Yeah, Tree told me as well...
I thought I had another week, but as he noted if I'd made the chat last week I'd have known better. Anyway, what I'd like to know relatively soon is:

1. How many people are interested....the adventure is set for the V! quickstart rules ("Hyde & Seek") but I'll need to fiddle with it as it was originally set for 2-4 PCs.

2. Do people want pregens or create their own characters? The Professor has graciously given me permission to share the CharGen rules so this is now a real possibility if desired by the players.

3. How long a time period do we have open for the game? Barring technicalities* I should be good until the A.M.'s (Central time).

*= I've recently had trouble Skyping with my Monday night Labyrinth Lord group...and they're only 4 other persons. We've tried Tree's suggestions (recalling people, changing the central hub person) to no avail. Does anyone have any further suggestions?

Basically I can hear them (relatively) fine but they can't hear me... I'm using a $10 stand microphone (Logitech) from Office Max. If a better microphone is needed I can pick it up with some advance notification.

Mike
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[ssfsx17]

1. I'm interested

2. I'm fine with either

3. I'm good with any length of time
_________________
http://www.eclipsephase.com/online-game-friday-nights

[jarredmcgee]

well i'm good with a pregen, but i wouldn't mind having the char gen rules to see if i can't see something that would tickle me.

i'm good with the usual tni time frame.

[Treebore]

Player list:

Titania

Treebore

Andre

Aramis

Jared

ssfx117

and

Moriarity

So it looks like 7 players.

I'm fine with a pregen, but would like to look at the Quickstart Rules and at least consider making my own.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[Aramis]

sieg wrote:
Yeah, Tree told me as well...
I thought I had another week, but as he noted if I'd made the chat last week I'd have known better. Anyway, what I'd like to know relatively soon is:

1. How many people are interested....the adventure is set for the V! quickstart rules ("Hyde & Seek") but I'll need to fiddle with it as it was originally set for 2-4 PCs.

2. Do people want pregens or create their own characters? The Professor has graciously given me permission to share the CharGen rules so this is now a real possibility if desired by the players.

3. How long a time period do we have open for the game? Barring technicalities* I should be good until the A.M.'s (Central time).

*= I've recently had trouble Skyping with my Monday night Labyrinth Lord group...and they're only 4 other persons. We've tried Tree's suggestions (recalling people, changing the central hub person) to no avail. Does anyone have any further suggestions?

Basically I can hear them (relatively) fine but they can't hear me... I'm using a $10 stand microphone (Logitech) from Office Max. If a better microphone is needed I can pick it up with some advance notification.

Mike

Howdy Sieg

I think all the Thursday Irregulars are interested: so that is Aramis, Treebore, jarred, and Spakman, with maybe Rhiannon (Treebore's daughter) as well. So that is 4 or 5 right there

We usually have the GM generate the characters from the basic archetype outlined by the players. However, if you really want to give it a thorough playtest, you might want us to use the character gen as well. We were also part of the Star Siege playtest, and we generated characters in that one

We usually plan on games lasting 6-8 weeks, and each session is scheduled for 9pm-12am EST/6pm-9pm PST. We try to stick to that end time, as a few players are East Coast Posse so they need to get some shut eye. Better to go a few extra sessions than go too far beyond the end time most sessions

I am no expert on skype, but one of our members has also been having problems with his mic. Sometimes there are multiple programs controlling the mic, and in one the settings have been altered.

Are your communications difficult to hear, garbled/techno sounding, or completely silent? Those symptoms can have different causes

Make sure you are fully updated, both with Skype and with your mic drivers

We have been having good results with Skype recently, but we do have a back up: one of our members was able to set up a Ventrilo server, so we could try that if Skype is a bust.

I use a cheap microphone from a local store and that works fine

Also, do you host the maptool server at your end, or do you need one of our members (i.e. spakman ) to host the server?

Anyway, looking forward to the game
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[sieg]

I got a bit of static from the connection this past Monday but on the whole I've heard them just fine. I don't know for sure how they're hearing me, but they mentioned that they were only picking up the last syllable or two of my statements; if that.

Ummmm. Drivers? The mic didn't come with any. Could that be the problem?

Ok, I assume if I email the CharGen rules to Tree he can get them out to everyone? Or does the Thu night game have a group a la Yahoo?

I can't use the Map Tools, so we might just have to go with descriptions. What do you guys use for die rolls? The game I'm in on Mondays uses the Dragonsfoot chat and it seems to do fairly well.

M.
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[Aramis]

sieg wrote:
I got a bit of static from the connection this past Monday but on the whole I've heard them just fine. I don't know for sure how they're hearing me, but they mentioned that they were only picking up the last syllable or two of my statements; if that..

Well, if it was garbled sounds, that is usually skype, if it is no sound, it could be anything

It can be a bit annoying as a DM when you can't be heard, whereas a player can usually just type in his quick actions so it is not that bad.

sieg wrote:
Ummmm. Drivers? The mic didn't come with any. Could that be the problem?.

If you are using software (e.g. I use Realtek) for audio, that may not be working well with skype.

We can probably take a run at the problem Thursday. Spakman is pretty knowledgeable about computer things

sieg wrote:
Ok, I assume if I email the CharGen rules to Tree he can get them out to everyone? Or does the Thu night game have a group a la Yahoo?.

You could pm them to us here. Or treebore can, he knows who all the members are. We don't have a designated message group (except this one). Although we are heading for our 3rd year of mixed gaming goodness.

sieg wrote:
I can't use the Map Tools, so we might just have to go with descriptions. What do you guys use for die rolls? The game I'm in on Mondays uses the Dragonsfoot chat and it seems to do fairly well.

M.

Maptools has a dice roller so we use that. Maptools is invaluable for games that rely on positions, areas of effect and so on. So, as long as your descriptions encompass positions and so on, it should work. Just as long as we aren't accidentally dropping fireball equivalents on eah other by accident
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson

[sieg]

Ok, Treebore, please email me so I can send the stuff along... I thought I had your email addy, but can't seem to find it.
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[jarredmcgee]

oh and any info on the flavour or feel of the game would be nice

[moriarty777]

So... the game is 6-9 PM (PST)? That makes it 8-11PM (EST) -- a two hour difference. Is this correct or am I off?

I've got Skype setup (though only Sieg as a contact from the group thus far). Will I need the maptools installed for the game tonight? Anything else I should have?

Oh and Mike... can you also email me what you are sending the other players or I can be just as happy to play a pre-gen. Which ever is easier. I won't have much time to tinker around with a character till later tonight a short while before the game.

If any of you participating in the game tonight needs my skype username... please PM me and I'll send it to you.

Sincerely yours, the skype gaming newbie.
M
_________________
"You face Death itself in the form of... 1d4 Tarrasques!"

Partner to Brave Halfling Publishing
http://www.arcanacreations.com

[sieg]

My sincere apologies, but I'm just not going to have everything set up tonight for the game. I tried doing something with map tools last night and it seems to have done something bad to my JAWS screen reader. I'm trying a "40 minute" version right now while I wait for Freedom Scientific to get back to me with the registration code.
I can still email everybody the info and it will give everyone a week to make characters. Everyone (still interested in) playing drop me an email at stewart69ATgmailDOTcom .

Again, apologies!

Mike
_________________
Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[Treebore]

sieg wrote:
My sincere apologies, but I'm just not going to have everything set up tonight for the game. I tried doing something with map tools last night and it seems to have done something bad to my JAWS screen reader. I'm trying a "40 minute" version right now while I wait for Freedom Scientific to get back to me with the registration code.
I can still email everybody the info and it will give everyone a week to make characters. Everyone (still interested in) playing drop me an email at stewart69ATgmailDOTcom .

Again, apologies!

Mike

Ouch!

So does that mean we do a pick up game of DOOM! tonight?
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[moriarty777]

No problem Mike...

I'll spend the time this evening getting a bit of much needed work done. Let me know when the new date is set and I'll be there as a willing participant. It will also give me time to create a character for it. I have a concept in mind!
M
_________________
"You face Death itself in the form of... 1d4 Tarrasques!"

Partner to Brave Halfling Publishing
http://www.arcanacreations.com

[Treebore]

moriarty777 wrote:
No problem Mike...

I'll spend the time this evening getting a bit of much needed work done. Let me know when the new date is set and I'll be there as a willing participant. It will also give me time to create a character for it. I have a concept in mind!
M

Be here next week!

Plus you could see if we play the DOOM! board game on Maptools tonight, its a surprsingly fun game.
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[Treebore]

OK, got the rules, Andre and Jarred check your SKYPE, ssfx17 already has them.

Edit:

Aramis check your (e-mail)
_________________
The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

[jarredmcgee]

thanks tree this helps alot

[Aramis]

sieg wrote:
My sincere apologies, but I'm just not going to have everything set up tonight for the game. I tried doing something with map tools last night and it seems to have done something bad to my JAWS screen reader. I'm trying a "40 minute" version right now while I wait for Freedom Scientific to get back to me with the registration code.
I can still email everybody the info and it will give everyone a week to make characters. Everyone (still interested in) playing drop me an email at stewart69ATgmailDOTcom .

Again, apologies!

Mike

No problem mike. stuff happens with online gaming. In fact, that could be a motto for online gaming, except change the word "stuff" for something earthier
I'll send an email if I have any issues making characters, if not, i will post my character here.

Regarding maptools, the dm does not have to host it, or even view it really. We can set up our tokens on the map based on your descriptions and verbalize the situation to you. We won't cheat...much . Or, we can drop maptools entirely. Either way, you do not need to run it on your system

See you next week
_________________
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try"

Homer Simpson