Silly I know but it's the best I could think of.
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Midweek Character - Count Dracula
Another midweek character, this time a more famous one.
Not very festive I know but I am in a 'dark mood'.
You'll notice that Dracula doesn't have many vampire type abilities, they would be derived from the 'Vampire' keyword directly.
Also there hasn't been a big point spend on the Count as such - I have just boosted his keywords up instead.
Count Dracula' Story
Not very festive I know but I am in a 'dark mood'.
You'll notice that Dracula doesn't have many vampire type abilities, they would be derived from the 'Vampire' keyword directly.
Also there hasn't been a big point spend on the Count as such - I have just boosted his keywords up instead.
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Count Dracula' Story
"The blood is the life!"
"My revenge has just begun! I spread it over centuries and time is on my side."
Count Dracula is a centuries-old vampire, sorcerer and Transylvanian nobleman, a Székely descended from Attila the Hun. He inhabits a decaying castle in the Carpathian Mountains with his three wives for company. Dracula exudes a veneer of aristocratic charm which masks his unfathomable evil.
In his youth, Dracula became proficient in alchemy and magic at the Scholomance academy; studying black arts that allowed him to cheat death.
No common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest'.
103 words
KeyWords:
Transylvanian Noble [Székely] 17
Vampire 5M2
Sorcerer 15M
Personality
Aristocratic 17
Brave 17
Charming 5M2
Clever 5M2
Cunning 15M
No Common Man 15M
Noble 17
Proficient 15M
Spoken of for Centuries [Well Renown] 10M
Unfathomable Evil 5M2
Relationships
Patriarch of Székely Family 17
Son of the 'Land Beyond the Forest' 20
Three Wives for Company 15
Alumnus of Scholomance Academy 15M
Abilities
Centuries-Old 5M2
Cheat Death 5M2
Decay Habitat 15M
Descended from Attila the Hun 17
Exudes a Masking Veneer 15M
Inhabits Castle 5M
Knows Carpathian Mountains 5M2
Knows Magic 15M
Proficient at Alchemy 15M
Studied Black Arts 15M
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Midweek Character - WALL-E
Another weekly HeroQuest character - this time a silly character.
I think this shows the beauty of the HeroQuest system in making playable player characters that in other role-playing systems wouldn't be much good or very, very weak.
I think this shows the beauty of the HeroQuest system in making playable player characters that in other role-playing systems wouldn't be much good or very, very weak.
WALL-E's Story
"EVVVEEEE"
"Chime" Macintosh activation chime.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is a mobile trash compactor, the last operational unit on Earth created by the Buy-n-Large Corporation.
WALL-E's long and lonely existence has granted him sentience and emotion.
WALL-E is solar-powered and constantly replaces his worn parts with those scavenged from non-functional WALL-E units. He has a laser between his eyes, he uses this chiefly as a cutting-tool. He can retract his limbs and head into his body and form a cube when he senses danger or when at rest. His loneliness is soon requited via EVE, a probe that searches for signs of plant life.
104 words.
KeyWords
Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class [WALL-E] 17
Mobile Trash Compactor 17
Sentient 13
Personality
Constant 17
Curious 15
Determined 10M
Diligent 17
Emotional 4M
Kleptomania 13
Lonely 15
Relationships
Created By the Buy-n-Large Corporation 17
Requited Love for EVE 15M
. Search for Signs of Plant Life 1M
Abilities
Alone on Earth 17
Cutting-Tool 1M
Form a Protective Cube 10M
Granted Emotion 13
Laser Between Eyes 17
Last Operational Unit 17
Long Existence 5M
Replace Worn Parts 17
Retract Head 17
Retract Limbs 17
Scavenge Spare Parts 17
Sense Danger 15
Solar-Powered 17
Strip Non-functional WALL-E Units 17
Midweek Character - Johner
Okay I am hoping to post up a HeroQuest character every week that I have used or plan to use in my games.
I'll start with one of the player characters from my Serenity: HeroQuest games, Johner.
Portrayed in Alien: Resurrection by Ron Perlman, he is one of the more colourful characters of The Betty.
Johner’s Story
“My own recipe. Way more dangerous.”
“You hang with us a while, you'll learn I'm not the man with whom to fuck.”
Johner is a mercenary, hired by Elgyn as extra muscle, but has chosen to stay onboard the Betty “ ‘Cause pay’s good and regular”. Johner is thickset, mean and ugly, with vivid scars crisscrossing his ugly baldhead, and has an ugly temper to match.
Johner talks-before-he-thinks, often saying the most inappropriate comments but his coarseness occasionally provides paradoxical humour. He is self-centred and has a schadenfreude streak that boarders on sadistic; he scares and unnerves all that he meets.
Johner is accomplished in battle [his love of big guns and loud bangs is renowned], skilled at bashing-in heads and can brawl in the dirt with the best of ‘um.
109 words.
I'll start with one of the player characters from my Serenity: HeroQuest games, Johner.
Portrayed in Alien: Resurrection by Ron Perlman, he is one of the more colourful characters of The Betty.
Johner’s Story
“My own recipe. Way more dangerous.”
“You hang with us a while, you'll learn I'm not the man with whom to fuck.”
Johner is a mercenary, hired by Elgyn as extra muscle, but has chosen to stay onboard the Betty “ ‘Cause pay’s good and regular”. Johner is thickset, mean and ugly, with vivid scars crisscrossing his ugly baldhead, and has an ugly temper to match.
Johner talks-before-he-thinks, often saying the most inappropriate comments but his coarseness occasionally provides paradoxical humour. He is self-centred and has a schadenfreude streak that boarders on sadistic; he scares and unnerves all that he meets.
Johner is accomplished in battle [his love of big guns and loud bangs is renowned], skilled at bashing-in heads and can brawl in the dirt with the best of ‘um.
109 words.
KeyWords
Crewman of The Betty 1M,
Mercenary Soldier 5M,
Personality
Avaricious 5M
Boarderline Sadistic 1M
Callous 5M
Fearless 5M
Mean 1M
Loves Big Guns 19
Loves Loud Bangs 19
Loyal 10
Schadenfreude 5M
Self-Centered 19
Self-Confident 5M
Undisciplined 5M
Ugly Temper 19
Relationships
Battle Unit [Former -Member of] 17
Former Comrades [Friends of] 17
The Betty’s Crew [Loyal to] 19
Hired by Elgyn 1M
Renowned Love of Explosions 19
Renowned Love of Guns 19M
Likes Good & Regular Pay 15M
Abilities
Accomplished in Battle 19
Bash-in Heads 5M
Brawling 10M
Brawl in the Dirt 19
Chosen to Stay Onboard 19
Coarse [Swear Like a Trooper] 20M
Conceal Weapon 10M
Fight the Best of ‘um 20M
Provides Paradoxical Humour 19
Says Inappropriate Comments 19
Scary 8M
Talks-Before-He-Thinks 19
Thickset 19
Ugly 20
Unnerves All that He Meets 19
Use Weapons [Small Arms, Assault, Heavy] 10M
Vivid Scars Crisscrossing Head 19
Wealth
Standard of Living: Common 13
WEAPONS:- Knife, Pistol, Grenade Launcher, Assault Weapon, SMG, Derringer hidden in a Flask, Spare Ammo.
ITEMS:- Body Armour, Ident Card, Fake Permits, Assortment of loot, Flask of Moonshine.
My games at Conception 2009
0 Conception 2009. Naish Holiday Village, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Dorset, UK.
Wednesday 28th January - Sunday 1st February 2009.
http://www.conception...
Here are my games that I'll be running at Conception 2009.
+
Thursday 09:00 – 13:00 Slot 2
'Street Urchins of Ancient Pavis' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Glorantha: HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Abandoned by Family, Ancestors and the City itself, the street urchins have a very hard existence in the shattered remains of Ancient Pavis. They live on the discarded scraps from the city dwellers and *other* denizens of the Rubble, a place where life is very, very cheap.
The only future they have to look forward to is a quick death somewhere in the unforgiving ruins of this once splendid city.
The River Flock has a nice hidey-hole under the Sculpture Garden, a safe haven in this deadly world. Yet many of the street urchins are turning up dead, their bodies discarded.
Now a stranger in red is poking around the upper entrance.
Just what is he after and is he responsible for the deaths of the other urchins?"
+
Friday 19:00 – 23:00 Slot 7
'Cropcircles and Lights Out' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Supernatural: HeroQuest adventure for 5 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Police reports are coming in from Fulton County, Georgia of cars driving at night without their headlights on. When helpful members of the public flash their lights in courtesy to warn the drivers they become victims to the drivers.
All that seems to be left are the abandoned cars with their headlights smashed out. No trace of the occupants have been found. Forensic reports do confirm that the blood found in the broken headlights is canine, not human.
Are these incidents related to the gang tags found in the recent spate of crop circles that also plague the area?"
+
Saturday 09:00 - 13:00 Slot 8
'Rocks and Hard Places' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Serenity: HeroQuest adventure for 7 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Why do my gorram jobs never go smooth?
So we’re on a scavenger hunt in the biggest scrap yard in the ‘verse.
Gettin’ to the place was slow and troublesome, gettin’ past the guards was a flip and findin’ the needle in the haystack was shiny.
The trouble is we have competition for our prize and our rivals ain’t playing fair.
Also the boss, a particular Crime Lord with his own Skyplex and a very nasty rep, ain’t happy with us either.
To top that there seems to be another bunch of Feds on our tail and we’re stuck - a certain turn of phase come to mind."
+
Sunday 15:00 – 19:00 Slot 12
'We are the Boys...' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Dad's Army: HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.
Newcomers very welcome. [im-]Maturity preferred.
"Excuse me, er, attention men. If you kindly all fall in, that would be rather nice. Thank you."
"Right men, GHQ has organised a series of military exercises, under the watchful eyes of Colonel Pritchard, to test the Walmington-on-Sea platoon’s ‘fighting fitness’ and to see if we can use diverse tactics and strategies in the field.
"Well, that is a given of course with my experience, but there is a little nuisance in that we are paired off against the Eastgate platoon. We must deal with their Colonel Blimp mentality..."
"His name is Captain Square, a Rotarian you know?"
"Thank you Wilson!
"Well men, I think that you will not let me down? Corporal Jones get the platoon to fall out. Wilson, WILSON come with me!"
+
Wednesday 28th January - Sunday 1st February 2009.
http://www.conception...
Here are my games that I'll be running at Conception 2009.
+
Thursday 09:00 – 13:00 Slot 2
'Street Urchins of Ancient Pavis' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Glorantha: HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Abandoned by Family, Ancestors and the City itself, the street urchins have a very hard existence in the shattered remains of Ancient Pavis. They live on the discarded scraps from the city dwellers and *other* denizens of the Rubble, a place where life is very, very cheap.
The only future they have to look forward to is a quick death somewhere in the unforgiving ruins of this once splendid city.
The River Flock has a nice hidey-hole under the Sculpture Garden, a safe haven in this deadly world. Yet many of the street urchins are turning up dead, their bodies discarded.
Now a stranger in red is poking around the upper entrance.
Just what is he after and is he responsible for the deaths of the other urchins?"
+
Friday 19:00 – 23:00 Slot 7
'Cropcircles and Lights Out' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Supernatural: HeroQuest adventure for 5 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Police reports are coming in from Fulton County, Georgia of cars driving at night without their headlights on. When helpful members of the public flash their lights in courtesy to warn the drivers they become victims to the drivers.
All that seems to be left are the abandoned cars with their headlights smashed out. No trace of the occupants have been found. Forensic reports do confirm that the blood found in the broken headlights is canine, not human.
Are these incidents related to the gang tags found in the recent spate of crop circles that also plague the area?"
+
Saturday 09:00 - 13:00 Slot 8
'Rocks and Hard Places' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Serenity: HeroQuest adventure for 7 players.
Newcomers very welcome. Maturity preferred.
"Why do my gorram jobs never go smooth?
So we’re on a scavenger hunt in the biggest scrap yard in the ‘verse.
Gettin’ to the place was slow and troublesome, gettin’ past the guards was a flip and findin’ the needle in the haystack was shiny.
The trouble is we have competition for our prize and our rivals ain’t playing fair.
Also the boss, a particular Crime Lord with his own Skyplex and a very nasty rep, ain’t happy with us either.
To top that there seems to be another bunch of Feds on our tail and we’re stuck - a certain turn of phase come to mind."
+
Sunday 15:00 – 19:00 Slot 12
'We are the Boys...' by Darran Sims narrated by Darran Sims.
Dad's Army: HeroQuest adventure for 6 players.
Newcomers very welcome. [im-]Maturity preferred.
"Excuse me, er, attention men. If you kindly all fall in, that would be rather nice. Thank you."
"Right men, GHQ has organised a series of military exercises, under the watchful eyes of Colonel Pritchard, to test the Walmington-on-Sea platoon’s ‘fighting fitness’ and to see if we can use diverse tactics and strategies in the field.
"Well, that is a given of course with my experience, but there is a little nuisance in that we are paired off against the Eastgate platoon. We must deal with their Colonel Blimp mentality..."
"His name is Captain Square, a Rotarian you know?"
"Thank you Wilson!
"Well men, I think that you will not let me down? Corporal Jones get the platoon to fall out. Wilson, WILSON come with me!"
+
Monday, 1 December 2008
Dragonmeet 2008 Con Report
What another great convention!
It seems so short but sweet.
For the first time in a few years I didn't run two games back to back only running a single game in the morning slot only.
I spent most of the afternoon attending the seminars or catching up too briefly with people.
It was an early start with catching the 05:00 AM train to London but I was able to get to Kensington Town Hall without getting swamped in the crowds. Most of the traders got to the venue early so it didn't take long to get them all loaded into the main hall. Pushing a few trollies in and out is one of my ways of giving back to the con. Also stuffing the Goodie Bags with the programme books and other goodies was a big help.
The Main Trade Hall
I then set up my table, located on the upper floor in a little sealed off area, ready for my game. The sign-up sheet was filled in very fast as soon as the doors opened!
I ran the latest episode in my Serenity: HeroQuest saga titled 'Rocks and Hard Places'
It was the first time I had ran this episode and I hadn't really finalised the plot. I was hoping that the players themselves would direct where and when the action would take place as I would follow their lead more.
I started the game in Deadwood, just as in the HBO series of the same name as I think it would fit in the 'verse no problem. Channelling Al Swearengen proved to be a problem, possibly due to the early morning, and the start of the game floundered a bit. Also I did expect there to be a shoot-out in deadwood but the players [with one notable exception] seemed to want to avoid any violence at any cost.
There was a lot of role-playing in character which over-ran a little so I had to rush the ending a little. The addition plot points and distractions worked well with the players getting paranoid over the conspiracies. All the players were very surprised by the big reveal and manufactured their own surprise ending involving the whole crew leaving Johner behind to have a shootout with all the Feds at his insistence.
I did record this game so expect it soon to be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.
I spent the afternoon attending the seminars.
I walked into John Wick's Seminar halfway through so I was unable to record that one. Very interesting and it seems I share similar GM style and theories. I will have to look up his 'Houses of the Blooded' as only then was it explained to me what it was about despite asking on a few forums.
John Wick
I then spent the next half hour wandering about the whole complex taking photos of the gaming groups. There were some fantastic looking games. The Phoenix Games club had a great looking Dungeon game in action, the Shadow Warriors had a Great War biplane battle game that just simply gorgeous, there was a very detailed Camelot diorama, a BattleStar Galactica board game that looked cool, and many more excellent models and games.
I then went to the Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite seminar that I did manage to record. It didn't have an overall theme, just an open Question & Answer session and didn't suffer for it. Some excellent questions were answered and there was some great discussion that was very interesting.
Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite
That was followed by a Guest of Honour free-for-all seminar. At first there was only Robin Laws and John Wick but then Kenneth Hite and James Wallis each joined later.
A great seminar that by accident seemed to focus on the fantastic work of Greg Stafford.
We also learnt how each guest started off into this hobby of ours with some funny results.
Again I managed to record this and it will be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.
Kenneth Hite, Robin Laws, John Wick and James Wallis
So a very good convention where I got to catch up with a few people though unfortunately far too briefly and run a good game. I do have a few recordings that I hope to get up over the next couple of weeks.
More photos at:
Dragonmeet 2008 photo set on my Flickr Site
It seems so short but sweet.
For the first time in a few years I didn't run two games back to back only running a single game in the morning slot only.
I spent most of the afternoon attending the seminars or catching up too briefly with people.
It was an early start with catching the 05:00 AM train to London but I was able to get to Kensington Town Hall without getting swamped in the crowds. Most of the traders got to the venue early so it didn't take long to get them all loaded into the main hall. Pushing a few trollies in and out is one of my ways of giving back to the con. Also stuffing the Goodie Bags with the programme books and other goodies was a big help.
The Main Trade Hall
I then set up my table, located on the upper floor in a little sealed off area, ready for my game. The sign-up sheet was filled in very fast as soon as the doors opened!
I ran the latest episode in my Serenity: HeroQuest saga titled 'Rocks and Hard Places'
It was the first time I had ran this episode and I hadn't really finalised the plot. I was hoping that the players themselves would direct where and when the action would take place as I would follow their lead more.
I started the game in Deadwood, just as in the HBO series of the same name as I think it would fit in the 'verse no problem. Channelling Al Swearengen proved to be a problem, possibly due to the early morning, and the start of the game floundered a bit. Also I did expect there to be a shoot-out in deadwood but the players [with one notable exception] seemed to want to avoid any violence at any cost.
There was a lot of role-playing in character which over-ran a little so I had to rush the ending a little. The addition plot points and distractions worked well with the players getting paranoid over the conspiracies. All the players were very surprised by the big reveal and manufactured their own surprise ending involving the whole crew leaving Johner behind to have a shootout with all the Feds at his insistence.
I did record this game so expect it soon to be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.
I spent the afternoon attending the seminars.
I walked into John Wick's Seminar halfway through so I was unable to record that one. Very interesting and it seems I share similar GM style and theories. I will have to look up his 'Houses of the Blooded' as only then was it explained to me what it was about despite asking on a few forums.
John Wick
I then spent the next half hour wandering about the whole complex taking photos of the gaming groups. There were some fantastic looking games. The Phoenix Games club had a great looking Dungeon game in action, the Shadow Warriors had a Great War biplane battle game that just simply gorgeous, there was a very detailed Camelot diorama, a BattleStar Galactica board game that looked cool, and many more excellent models and games.
I then went to the Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite seminar that I did manage to record. It didn't have an overall theme, just an open Question & Answer session and didn't suffer for it. Some excellent questions were answered and there was some great discussion that was very interesting.
Robin Laws and Kenneth Hite
That was followed by a Guest of Honour free-for-all seminar. At first there was only Robin Laws and John Wick but then Kenneth Hite and James Wallis each joined later.
A great seminar that by accident seemed to focus on the fantastic work of Greg Stafford.
We also learnt how each guest started off into this hobby of ours with some funny results.
Again I managed to record this and it will be podcast on One Man and His Dice.com.
Kenneth Hite, Robin Laws, John Wick and James Wallis
So a very good convention where I got to catch up with a few people though unfortunately far too briefly and run a good game. I do have a few recordings that I hope to get up over the next couple of weeks.
More photos at:
Dragonmeet 2008 photo set on my Flickr Site
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