Category Archives: RPGaDay2024

by | August 10, 2024 · 3:53 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day Seven

An RPG with good ‘form’.

I was going to go with The Wildsea, as it’s an odd shape and is also gorgeous – just fantastic art that really brings the setting to life – but I can’t find my copy of that to take a photograph so I’ll go with Cloud Empress instead. Neat little booklets of rules and stuff, and also very pretty artwork both outside and in. In the version I bought I also got patches. It’s an ‘ecological science fantasy’ RPG, so in some ways a very similar vibe to UVG, but more importantly extremely reminiscent of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Other examples of good form: Be Like A Crow, Mothership, and really all of the Free League stuff in that classic box/nice art/special dice/solid rules-set format (see Aliens, Twilight 2000, The One Ring).

a photograph of various items from the Cloud Empress rpg. Rules, player cards, sew on patches etc.
A Cloud Empress, earlier today

Leave a Comment

Filed under gaming, RPGaDay2024, Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

by | August 6, 2024 · 10:03 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day Six

The question is: RPG that’s easy to use?

The easiest one I’ve used lately has been CAIRN.

Super simple system and, coupled with MAZE RATS, you can throw a whole gaming session together in a very short space of time – create a location, determine interesting features and NPCs, inhabit the land with monsters and quirky goings on (see this video where Baron de Ropp explains the process of using Maze Rats to generate quick material for game sessions). Also the rules booklet is very cheap and extremely short.

The first time I ran Cairn, the player characters were hired by residents of a small mountain village to track down and destroy a mysterious creature, known as ‘the Marching Death’, which had lately begun causing trouble.

This was somewhat of a lie, as the monster had been there for months and had already brutally despatched several other bands of hardy adventurers…still, no point telling the party that and getting them all worried.

A photograph of the black and white cover of the RPG CAIRN, lying on top of a box of dice and other gaming stuff.

A copy of Cairn, some moments ago.

Leave a Comment

Filed under gaming, RPGaDay2024

Tagged as ,

by | August 4, 2024 · 1:14 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day Four

The question is: An RPG with great art?

A great many role-playing games have fantastic art; work that really adds to the general vibe of the game.

For example:

The most recent edition of Runequest; Free League’s The One Ring; and then there’s The Wildsea.

If I had to pick one right now (which is in fact what I’m doing here), I’d have to go with Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City.

I only have the first edition at present, and I’m not sure how the art differs (if at all) in the 2nd edition. But the first UVG is a glorious ‘psychedelic metal’ world of Moebius style art and Heavy Metal style European weirdness.

I’ve not run it yet, but the setting is incredible and the game looks amazing.

Strange and beautiful

Leave a Comment

Filed under gaming, RPGaDay2024

Tagged as

by | August 3, 2024 · 1:44 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day Three

The question is: Most often played RPG?

In recent times it’s D&D 5e, again, because I’m running that at the moment. In previous years there’s been all sorts of things and I’m not sure I could pick one in particular. I’ve played a lot of a lot of different games. I’ve also played in a sprawling modern day science-fiction-esque horrorific campaign known as ‘Glasgow’, that was stretched over several decades and incorporated many different systems including iirc the Fuzion RPG and the incredible Broken Rooms game back when it was known as The Nearside Project.

Also there was a heap of Call of Cthulhu, Space Opera, and Runequest. Couple of years of HERO System and Stars Without Number as well. That’s a lot of gaming…

I forgot to even mention all of the superhero games I played/ran with systems like Golden Heroes, V&V, MSH, DC Heroes, et al, not to mention my own homebrew supers game.

Photograph of three variations of the Nearside Project RPG that became Broken Rooms. Left to right, the initial Nearside Project release from 1996, then a small press style bound copy from 'Nearside Games' - not sure when exactly - then the iirc 2012 hardcover edition of Broken Rooms
The Nearside Rooms, Broken Project, whatever…

Leave a Comment

Filed under Call of Cthulhu, D&D5E, gaming, RPGaDay2024, Stars Without Number

Tagged as , ,

by | August 2, 2024 · 9:53 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day Two

The question is: Most recently played game?

As I think we’ve already established, it’s D&D 5e, which I’ve been running weekly for about a year now iirc. With various breaks and stalls for diverse reasons (also we played a bit of Cairn, more on that later I expect).

The D&D has been going great. Lots of entertaining events, interactions and combats. And a great deal of attempting to befriend everyone the party encounters.

An adventuring party, or possibly just some random figures on a shelf. Who can tell for sure?

Leave a Comment

Filed under gaming, RPGaDay2024

Tagged as ,

by | · 6:46 pm

RPGaDay2024: the questions

I should have been better prepared for this. Although I tend to think that every year. Anyway, here’s the image thing with the list of questions. There’s also an alternative list which may prove more fun; I shall post that later.

Leave a Comment

Filed under RPGaDay2024

Tagged as

by | August 1, 2024 · 5:06 pm

RPGaDAY2024: Day One

The question is: First RPG bought this year?

Doctors & Daleks is the answer. A Doctor Who themed version of the D&D 5e ruleset. I bought it because the current gaming (family) group enjoy both D&D 5e and Doctor Who.

As it turns out though, we’re still playing through some adventures in and around Phandalin/Neverwinter and thus the Doctors & Daleks rules have loitered on the shelf since the day they arrived.

The Player’s Guide for Doctors and Daleks, featuring a lot of Doctors and several Daleks.

Leave a Comment

Filed under D&D5E, gaming, RPGaDay2024

Tagged as