Necessary Evil

[jackofallgeeks]

So, as my time here in Monterey swiftly draws to a close, I prepare to make my final purchace at The Game Habitat, the local game/hobby store where I've been spending the bulk of my weekends, playing MtG, chatting with the owner about any number of things, and buying a handful (or six) of boardgames and RPG books. The Game Habitat (which the owner wanted to name 'It's All Fun and Games' but his wife nixed it due to the intentionally implied 'until someone loses and eye') is one of the best local game shops I've ever had the joy to patronize (that's not the right word, is it...?), due in no small part to the great people I've met there, and I'm really going to miss it.

But that's not the point of this post. The point is I'm getting ready to buy a boatload of games, mostly RPGs, and as many of you on this list (1) play RPGs and (2) live in the area I'm moving to, I thought it'd be an idea to let you in on what I'm getting. Any opinions you have are unlikely to change *what* I get, but I'd really like to play (most of these) with you guys.

I already have most of the new World of Darkness, as as I've always liked the *idea* behind WoD, I'd love to play this new, more-integrated incarnation. In particular, I just picked up Changeling: the Lost and so far it seems to be everything I wish the Dreaming had been. I think, maybe, with a different storyline and slightly more organization and cooperation, it might be nice to try a game of it with some (or most) of the players I originally met at Loki's attempted Dreaming game. I know I'd like to see my character re-rolled in the new setting, and I *know* I'd like to see how our characters might've interacted if the game didn't... collapse onto itself.

Along similar lines, I've really liked the looks of Scion, and the second book (and thereby second arc of the story) comes out in another week or so. I think there's a lot of potential in that game, and who *doesn't* want to play the son of a God?

I just picked up the core rules for Savage Worlds -- a $10 core that supports some half-dozen or so separate, fully-functioning games. Of those, I intend to get Deadlands (supernatural horror in a twisted Wild West during the Civil War era), Rippers (supernatural horror in Victorian/Industrial setting, where people become monsters to hunt monsters), a game set in the middle of the Vietnam War (with a healthy dose of supernatural horror and a basic assumption that everyone will die withing a session or three), and Necessary Evil (a game where all the superheroes have been killed in a great betrayal and it's left to the super villains to protect planet earth from invading aliens -- LOTS of potential if thew villains are well-crafted, believable villains and not just the "you can't destroy the earth, *I* want to!" kind). I, uhm, tend towards supernatural horror, I think...

I'm also getting the Legend of the Five Rings game; I don't actually expect to *play* it, except with maybe my brothers, but there you go.

There may be a handful of others -- I already have the newest rules for Shadowrun and Ars Magica, both of which I'd love to play, never mind possibly treading into RIFTS...

Seriously, people, I *want* to RP. Honest-to-god table-top RP. I don't even mind (so much) if I have to be the one running the games -- I plan on having a house so I can certainly host games. I've time and again been denied playing in games, and I'd like that to change in the next couple years.

Heh heh, I'm starting to sound desperate, huh? Heh. Yeah. I'ma go now.

Comments

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

Hmm... honestly, most of those games don't grab me all that much (but I've heard interesting things about Jared Sorensen's "Monster Garage" variant in the Chronicler's Guide - apparently, he was originally going to release it as a standalone under the title, "Man, Fucking Vampires"... which I'll admit is half of why I'm interested). I might be up to see what's going on with Ars Magica these days. But, it's not like you need *my* approval. You just asked what folks'd be up for... :)

And, of course, I'll keep you in the loop for anything that I'm running. I'd like to get folks together at some point for one-offs of Universalis and Shock:.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Most definitely. I'm more than willing to cast my lot in with you and try out some other games and systems: hell, yours is the *only* DnD game I've been in that didn't suck.

I think I've heard *of* Universalis, but I know I know nothing about Shock...

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

Sorry, it's been a bad week. That sounded more crabby than it should have.

I guess I'd also be potentially interested to see the new Vampire in general, but I'm probably not going to be able to commit to a long-term game unless my group of folks who play short-runs of odd games doesn't take off.

Universalis is almost all meta-game; basically, it's a system for collaborative story-telling, but takes place entirely at an explicit "OOC" level - e.g., you pay tokens to create story elements, change characters' attributes, etc.

Shock: is a GM-less game intended to replicate "golden age" social criticism science fiction in the model of Asimov, etc. Basically, you create a grid of social issues and then SF "shocks" to them (so, e.g., Neal Stephenson's "Diamond Age" might be issue:cultural identity/shock:nanotechnolgy), and people take turns playing a protagonist who confronts a shock/issue pair and the antagonist that opposes whatever the protagonist wants.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

I didn't think it sounded crabby. Sorry it's been a bad week.

My 'plan', such as it is, is basically to try and do a number of one-shot or short-arc games from several of these settings and systems to (1) see what people like and don't like and (2) get my feet wet running games, as I expect I'll have to if we're going to be playing any of these systems. -smirk-

I think the new Vampire is a great improvement over the old one, a lot cleaner in form and function and more-centered on the core archetypes of "vampire." Unfortunately, I think every 'expansion' book they add piles on more of the same baggage that the old game had, but...

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

Well, I might be in from time to time if that's the plan. It'll just have to be on an ad hoc basis (and highly dependent on if I can get to where you are w/o a car...). If you're going to be in the area, it might be worth melding your one-shot/short-run games in with the one-shot/short-run group that is (hopefully) coalescing around me, xiombarg, adamdray, and tombeaux. Though Kirt's got plenty on his plate besides this.

I might be interested in Tour of Darkness too, yeah, but for some reason I'm not as grabbed by the idea of war+supernatural as much as war on its own (and Vietnam is my least favorite war to talk about... :)). I've never actually successfully played Unsung, though...

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Necessary Evil seems like a cool idea, but I've never tried the Savage Worlds system (and that makes me a bit leery - after all, Rifts is a cool idea with a system that makes it the case that the only times I've played it are when I have no choice).

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Necessary Evil does seem like a cool idea, but it also seems delicate; that is, it falls apart if the players' villains aren't much different from the alien invaders, bent on world domination/destruction. There's a place for one, maybe two, such players in a larger group, but the bulk of the group really needs to be either indifferent (fine, we'll get rid of the aliens, but then *leave me alone*) or well-intentioned (evil for the sake of some 'greater good') for it to run well, I think.

Actually, I'd thought the Vietnam-themed game, Tour of Darkness, might've appealed to you as well, just based on the Unsung and V:tM games I've had with you. It's also a Savage Worlds game, and it's also supernatural horror, but the characters are 'regular guys.' I haven't read the Savage Worlds system, but rules have always seemed more like 'guidelines' for me, anyways. That's the only reason I care much for RIFTS these days (and the fact that, essentially, it was my first). Though, lately, a lot of the material that's been coming out for it is just... uninteresting and/or ridiculous. Madhaven -- "RIFTS New York" -- is almost something I'm interested in, in a "Mad Max" sort of way, but it borders on ridiculous. (Of course, I guess Mad Max did, too...)

[dreamerdevie.livejournal.com]

As I belong to the club of desperate-to-RP-an-honest-to-god-tabletop-RP, I understand and agree completely. I'm at the point right now where I mostly don't even care about the setting of the RP. Mostly I just want a good GM and a regularly scheduled game. If you manage these things, you almost certainly have me too.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Indeed. If I can get even a handful of players to get a game going, that'd suit me just fine. I'd *really* like to try a Changeling Game, but especially if I'm running it I think that Scion would be the first thing I try my hand at: they have a built-in storyline that'll help a fledgling GM like me get used to things.

[dreamerdevie.livejournal.com]

Well, unless there is some unforseen event that makes it impossible, you have me. ^_^

[bsgnome.livejournal.com]

Patronize is the correct term.

"It stems from the root "pater" - "father." From there, the augmentative suffix "-one" is appended, maintaining the connotations of "pater," but seperating the term from the familial sense. Finally the verbal suffix, "-ize," is attached.

The basic meaning of the term is "To act as a patron towards," from which the meanings "to treat condescendingly" and "to frequent as a customer" were later derived.

That said, to be honest, I'm much more interested in M:tG (and certain other, now defunct, TCG's) and board games, than I am in paper-&-pencil RPG's, though, I'd be willing to give it a shot, at least once.