I was poking around the other day and came across this post on a site called From the Sorcerer's Skull, which was new to me. It had two cool maps, on of Tombstone and one of Deadwood. The Tombstone map is from a book and very accurately depicts the town at the time, but the Deadwood map was more of thing of art. It is a very beautiful black and white illustration that sparks the imagination.
I was at school with some time to kill so I started messing around with the map, giving it some color and a parchmenty feel. Once I was finished I couldn't help but think that this map would be great for my upcoming Aces & Eights campaign.
However, since the campaign will be taking place in New Mexico primarily I doubt they will ever get up that way. Then I figured with a little work I could "file the serial numbers off" the map and re-tittle and re-label it for my own purposes. I thought I'd share the blank edited version in case anyone else was similarly inclined. Please note that I don't own this map. As I said above, I didn't make it. So I can't give you permission to use it for X, Y, or Z project.
I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know about the Kenzer & Company Cyber Monday Sale. Until midnight tonight almost everything for sale on the KenzerCo website is going to be listed as half off. So if you've been looking at the gorgeous Hacklopedia of Beasts, currently rated as the third best RPG book of all time over at RPG Geek, until the end of the day you can pick it up for only $30. Interested in trying out Hackmaster Basic? Pick up the book for only $10. And if you've always wanted to try the best Western RPG ever made, you can get the Aces & Eights PDF for only $12.50.
Last night Gen Con released the Event list for 2011. You can download it in the obnoxious .csv file and open in Excel, scrolling through 8171 rows trying to find what you are looking for, but my suggestion is just to use this much better website for browsing events.
I've got to say I'm a little disappointed with the event list. There are a couple of games I really wanted to play at the convention that just aren't available. Aces & Eights is probably the biggest of these. Last year there was only one game and this year none... Very disappointing. I really wanted to play Pendragon as well, but that is also totally unavailable. Hackmaster Basic is finally getting some love this year, so that is good, but there are no Song of Ice and Fire RPG games. It's good to see more 1st and 2nd editon D&D games being played this year. The two 1st edition games we played last year were a blast. We will definitely be signing up for more of those.
I was reading a great article the other day on the Big Ball of No Fun that discussed the idea of GMs making Characters for his players and it really got me contemplating character creation in general.
The idea of the GM creating characters for his players isn't a new idea. Pre-Generated characters have been around for quite a while, and are the norm for one shots and convention games. Still, the idea of a GM making a player's character for an ongoing campaign is something of a taboo one and I'd say the vast majority of players would be fervently against it. My question is, should they be?
Given how busy people are these days and how little time many of Gamers have to play, should they turn up their nose at the opportunity to have a character tailored made for the campaign and the ability to dive right in and play?
I can you tell you that had you asked me last year I would have told you that only under very specific circumstances should a GM furnish a play with a pre-made character. The list of those circumstances would have been very short, likely limited to convention game, one shot, trial players, etc. That was until my group's last camping trip when we played an Aces & Eights game with some really amazing pre-gens that the Professor, who was running the game, who supplied us with. Everyone enjoyed their characters so much that it really shifted the way we all viewed pre-gens in general.
Now these weren't blind pre-gens, each gave the GM an indication of what type of character we wanted to play. We all wrote a little blurb, no more than a sentence or two, and emailed it to the professor giving a rough outline of characters we were interested in. As an example, here is what I sent:
A bounty hunter with mercenary sensibilities who looks to get the job done by any means necessary.
A hot headed, duel pistol slinging, up and coming, young gunfighter who is looking to carve himself out a place is western lore.
A naive law man with a black and white world view, a low tolerances for lawlessness and bullshit, and an itchy trigger finger.
Using these the GM created two pre-generated characters and I was given the option to play either (and to play the other one should the worst happen). I opted for the first one, a Bounty Hunter named Augustus Bachman. He had everything I had imagined right down to his double barrel shotgun. More importantly he had a definite place in the campaign world and the story that was to unfold.
This added ability on the part of the GM to create a more compact game is a serious mark in the pros column of this issue. With a firm knowledge of who each of the PCs is, what they can do, where they have come from, and where they want to go, the GM need not worry so much about flexibility and having the ability to react to a group of adventurers with widely different motivations. Still the cons column can't be ignored, and under there you'll find things like stifled player creativity and a lack of player investment in the game.
So I think the conclusion is that pre-gens can be a great way to go, but they aren't always a great way to go. Making the right decision on this issue, like so many others when GMing, comes down to knowing one thing... knowing your players. Maybe some of them would welcome the opportunity to play a tailor made character while others would like the chance to roll and make their own character. Don't be afraid to offer and you might be surprised, first when your player accepts, and then when they fall in love with the character and everything works out great.
My plan in the future is to offer three options for PC creation. My group has a diverse set of preferences so I've found that offering multiple options works fairly well.
The first option will be to create a character as normal. They will roll the stats as is normal for the system, make purchases for skills, feats, etc, and finally create a back story for their character. Creating a written backstory for some players, no matter how short, is a task that makes them moan and shake their fists. For that reason I'm going to offer two options that don't require one.
The second option is a tailor made pre-generated character. I do all the work (with a sentence or two of guidance from the player as above), roll all the dice, purchase all skills, feats, talents, etc that I feel fit the character. Finally I supply the player with a backstory and description of their character. Those who have little to no time prior to the game are the one's likely to take the option and to be grateful for it.
The final option is a Hybrid option. I create about 75% of the character, all the base stats, the majority of the skills and other things, but leave some wiggle room for the player to customize the character. As far as a backstory he will be given more of an outline and allowed to make additions, subtractions, and alterations to it before the start of play. This method allows for some ownership and creativity form the player while taking a very small amount of time and allowing him to dive right in with a character built for the campaign that are about to enter.
I think pre-gens are not something to be avoided even by the most experience of groups. Rather they are a great tool that can allow someone with a limited amount of time an ideal character to plug into a game right away and get to playing and having fun. Pre-made character can be just to fun to play as those made by a player's own hand. It just takes a little work from the GM and a little communication from the player.
I'd be eager to hear from anyone out there who has had a memorable experience, either positive or negative, with GM made PCs. What did you enjoy about it or what would you like to have seen done differently?
My group's second annual camping trip came to a conclusion this Sunday and I'm happy to report that it was even better than lest year. This year we changed things up. The Professor was behind the screen rather than me, we placed Aces & Eights rather than Hackmaster, and we were in Sturbridge MA rather than Plymouth.
The Campground Last year we stayed at Myles Standish state park near Plymouth MA. I have a laundry list of complaints about it, including things out of its control like the weather being absolutely freezing. They had a designated Fire area, which was tiny, ensuring all of us were chilled to the bone the entire time. Let me just say, I grew up in update Vermont on the Canadian border... I know cold. Hell I like cold, but this was too much even for me. Bear got sick on the trip and spent most of the time sleeping, I got an ear infection and everyone else came down with a cold or the flu. Despite all that we had a good time, but I wouldn't say we spent much of the weekend comfortable.
This year was totally different. Wells State Park provided us with two isolated tent sites. The weather was absolutely perfect, and despite being much warmer there were still less bugs. The layout of our adjoining campsites couldn't have been better suited to our needs. We had an excellent area around the campfire with which to do our gaming and a couple of picnic tables where we had our battlemat for when a shootout broke out. I couldn't have been more comfortable... I had great food, a great game, and great friends. More than ever I highly recommend your group look into its own weekend camping getaway. It is cheap and easy for everyone and as I said, it is a great time.
The Game
As I said we took a break from our usual realm of Fantasy and delved into the mythology of the Old West with Aces & Eights. Those who haven't had the pleasure of playing the game really should check it out. It covers all the great Western tropes; horse chases, cheating card games, trials, drinking games, cattle drives, gunfights and more!
The Professor opted to forgo the alternate history that the game presents and focus on the real history of the West. The game was set in 1870 in San Antonio. The Legendary Texas Ranger, Richard Morrison, had died under suspicious circumstances. The four PCs were summoned to the reading of Morrison's will as he left them something.
These characters were pre-generated by the GM, but each player was allowed to submit three character concepts ahead of time which the GM used as a model. I played Augustus Bachman, a young bounty hunter with a "by any means necessary" philosophy. Revil was playing Davis, a handsome and charismatic gambler with a silver tongue to keep him out of trouble. Trip was playing a southern gentleman gunfighter named Doc, though one could only call him a true gentleman by having a very loose definition of the term. Finally Bear was playing Gustav, a German immigrant and gunsmith.
Smith and Wesson Russian
As I said each of these characters gathered at the Bank in San Antonio to hear the last will and testament of their friend and Hero Richard Morrison. He left most of his processions to the great state of Texas or to the Rangers themselves, but he did leave some very queer items to each of the characters. Augustus inherited a boxed limited edition cavalry colt, Davis inherited a railroad lantern, Gustav a book complete with maps, and Doc got a beer stein. Within each of these items a clue had been hidden, which our characters worked out eventually. These clues pointed us to the New Mexico territory.
Before we could head out that way to investigate though we had a lead on a known criminal who was suspected to be involved. We rode out of San Antonio in pursuit but before we could reach the criminal, Smalls by name, we came across one of his allies. Things got heated when we accused him of lying about his intentions and Augustus reached for his Smith and Wesson Russian and shot the "lying bastard" in the gut. The man west flying off his horse and the gun he had been trying to draw had flown from his grasp. Just that fast, the fight was over.
It was awesome.
We didn't have long to brood on our victory, however. The Gunshot had warned smalls of our approach and sent him into flight. We rode in hot pursuit... the Chase was on! This is another cool mechanic that A&8 has. It relies on playing cards to simulate the various types of terrain that one encounters. Different cards mean different things depending on the type of terrain you are riding through. As we were riding through plains very few cards would present obstacles. Poker chips are also used to keep track of your mounts various resources like agility and stamina. A lot comes into play in a chase. Your horse, your skill at riding, the terrain, and a multitude of other factors. It all makes for an exciting experience as you try to close with your prey.
Davis, having a fine Arabian mount chased down smalls well ahead of the rest of the group, but it was Augustus who whipped out his Sharps Carbine Conversion and shot Smalls off his horse as Davis closed the distance. Davis wanted to take Smalls alive and give him a chance to surrender, but Smalls was drawing a shotgun and forced Davis' hand. Davis fired off a round from his pistol but missed the outlaw by about two feet. Before any other member of the group could catch up Smalls drew back the hammer on his Parker Shotgun and pulled the trigger. Those who have played A&8 before know how this story goes... Davis was torn to pieces and killed instantly. Smalls fired the other barrel at Doc as he drew close, but missed. Doc returned fire but also missed. Augustus closed the last bit of distance on foot and loosed a barrel from his Colt 1868 Shotgun. He did not miss. Small, like his last victim, was blown away and killed.
With that lead now a dead end we focused on riding out to the New Mexico territory to follow Richard Morridon's clue. We battle some Comanche on the ride out there and likely would have been killed had it not been for the fact that they were all armed with some of the worst weapons (single shot musket) in the game. After they expended their single shot they came at us with tomahawks, but were quickly gunned down. After that we rode on in relative peace and found the secret Morrison had tried to lead us to, his secret family stashed away on a quiet lake in the New Mexico territory. With their help our PCs were able to confirm that Morrison's long time enemy, Carson, had been the one to kill him.
We rode back to San Antonio equipped with this new knowledge and even some evidence, but as Morrison's friend and attorney Charles confirmed for us, it was not enough to convict the man. With the legal option out the only road open to us was good old fashion Western Justice! A gunfight just seemed too risky though. Carson had a number of armed men in his Victoria street residence so we knew we would be outgunned. Allowing Morrison's killer to live simply wasn't an option so we decided to splurge on a plan that just wouldn't fail.
We spent all the money we had accumulated on TNT, loaded up a wagon and ran it into Carson's house while he was sleeping.
The End.
It was awesome.
The Excursion We use our Sunday to take a trip to a local attraction. Last year we went to King Richard's Faire, a renisance fair near the Myles Standish. This year we opted for Old Sturbridge Village, a recreation of the New England town as it appeared around the 1840s. It was a lot of fun, and set in a time period close to the time when our weekend's game was taking place. We had a great time and even learned a great deal about the time period.
Bear and Trip at Sturbridge Village
We stopped for dinner at the Piccadilly Pub Restaurant on the way back, reminiscing about the weekend and looking forward to future trips. It was a great experience and I can't wait for next year.
RPG Blog II recently interviewed Mark Plemmons of Kenzerco. He had plenty to say about Hackmaster, Aces & Eights, and Kenzerco as a comapny. I highly recomend you check it out.
However, since the campaign will be taking place in New Mexico primarily I doubt they will ever get up that way. Then I figured with a little work I could "file the serial numbers off" the map and re-tittle and re-label it for my own purposes. I thought I'd share the blank edited version in case anyone else was similarly inclined. Please note that I don't own this map. As I said above, I didn't make it. So I can't give you permission to use it for X, Y, or Z project. 
