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I own and play a lot of board, I mean a lot. I have probably got around $4k in board games on the wall behind me, between the games and their expansions. So to satiate my obvious addiction I play more games on line. It took me we while to find all of these sites so I thought I would share them with you.

http://www.boiteajeux.net/
http://en.boardgamearena.com
http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele
http://www.yucata.de/en
http://www.boardspace.net
http://www.boardgames.famdepaus.nl
http://www.ludagora.net
http://www.mabiweb.com

So I have not shared this yet, but it is such a great resource I had to let more people know about it. If you are a fan of the Marvel Hero Role Playing game, and you are actually using to run a Marvel campaign, this website is a must read. They are constantly publishing truly top notch material to support the game. Like their current coverage of the Secret Wars Event.

It can be found here.

http://marvelplotpoints.wordpress.com/

 

Also check out

http://onlinedungeonmaster.com/

If you run games online, as he has a great frame work for Marvel out for MapTools.

So about a year ago I saw a video of a guy that built a multi-touch table for his DnD game, and immediately thought that it was amazing. The idea of instantly importing maps and miniatures in a digital format that everyone can still interact with was perfect for our hobby. Imagine a future where board games are super cheap because they are digitally distributed, and you never have to set it up, or put it away. I figured out how to build one of these and was astonished at how simple it is.

 

While looking around I found this little gem coming out later this year for us gamer’s.

So I was thinking really seriously about starting a side business to sell these things. I have all the stuff to make them, and would love to do something like this for a living. I even though about getting it up on the KickStarter. Well, it looks like I am a few days too slow….

Whispers in the Dark Campaign Doc

So here is the campaign document to TWO of the campaigns I am running currently.

A Epic SciFi game (using Marvel Heroic)

A Gritty/Pulp SciFi game (using my Fate/Apocalypse World/Technoir game)

 

Yo aint stickin dat on me nigga

I just want to see what it says. #magic http://t.co/95Up9ffh via @baygross

I will be Writing an article based upon one of these topics at least once a week. If I do not I have given my wife permission to start cutting toes off.

say yes or roll the dice
no secrets from other players
stake setting
rewards for failure/failing forward/make failure interesting
let the characters drive the story (I don’t want to be a character in your novel)

Hook the players before you hook the characters

Player authored Flags, Kickers and lots of other formalized rules, rather than just showing with characters created completely independent of other prep and being “run through” the GM’s adventure and hoping the Players can make sure to care
Relationship maps
Failure means success but at a cost
Scene Framing
Fishing
Social Contract
Lines & Veils
Players roll all the dice
Relationships replace Stats
Beliefs / Keys / Aspects / Kickers / Flags
Reward Cycles
Traits can be used both positively and negatively
Reverse gender roles
The primary in game resources are tied to the player, not the character
Charging traits before use
The more damage you take, the stronger you are
Damage turns into experience
Healing as refresh interpersonal scenes
Social mechanics
Escalation
Flashbacks
Social contract stuff [isn't that what SC was purportedly about, way back when? ;) ]
Talk to your players
There are different/codified ways to GM – Apocalypse World, Mouse Guard, Paranoia, etc.Yes, and… – Improv influences…Rule 0 – Bullshit, or no system can run without a gm adjusting it.

Conditions instead of Hit Points – Mouse Guard, Lady Blackbird

Generational Play – IAWA, Hero’s Banner, Pendragon, Houses of The Blooded

Roleplaying games SHOULDN’T do everything – focused games are better?

System matters.
  1. Telegraphing – the art saying what you are doing in such a way that others know what you would like them to do
    1. Let it ride – Burning Wheel

    he deconstruction of “Game Master” in separate tasks and responsibilities (infinitely changeable depending on the game).

    In the same vein, the revolutionary idea that each game CAN need a specific way to GM. Or, in other words, that GMing can mean very different things depending on the game: duties, responsibilities and so on.

  2. These games actually expect you to follow the rules.Players have areas of authority and responsibility. A GM is a kind of player.A particular game is its own thing and played in its own way, not some instance of a mythical “true roleplaying”. You can’t arbitrarily mix and match mechanics or techniques from different games and expect them to work.

    Game design is not so hard that only the anointed few with backing from large companies can do it. Game design is not so easy that you can do it on the fly and expect good results.

While I am in love with the ORE, I must admit that Burning Wheel has some very good ideas. One of them is the Duel of Wits social mechanic. For those not in the know, you can check it out here. It’s basically a system for resolving an argument between two characters, and it plays out a lot like combat in that you have specific maneuvers (Point, Rebuttal etc.) that you use to destroy the opponent’s argument. To make a long point short, I have tried my best at converting this mini-game to the ORE system (more specifically, to Reign).

Before I present my attempt at this stunt, I’d like to point out that I did not adhere to the original’s “script three volleys in advance”-mechanic. Instead, it plays out the traditional ORE-way, with declaring actions for one round only. However, you do declare simultaneously (like the Chase-mechanic from Reign), to avoid it becoming too predictable. You can also make multiple actions the usual way, and this is of course a further departure from the original mechanic in Burning Wheel.

The Argument - This is a score that measures the strength of your case. You must destroy your opponent’s argument while keeping yours as high as possible at the end of the duel. The argument is calculated the following way: 1+Knowledge stat+Width of Graces roll+Width of Stability roll. If you want an even more unpredictable duel, the players can hide this score from each other (making Dismiss move even more of a gamble).

The Actions
Point. Skill: Fascinate or Inspire (or Haggle if, well, haggling). Effect: Remove the set’s Width from the opponent’s Argument score.
Note: unlike an attack in combat, this does not knock a die out of his set.

Rebuttal Skill: Fascinate or Inspire (or Haggle, again). Effect: The set acts as GD against Point and Dismiss actions. If you reduce his attack to 0 Width, he loses 2 Argument (the opponent cannot refrain from attacking if he gets a set, to avoid the damage).

Obfuscate Skill: Deceive or Graces. Effect: The set act as GD against Point, Dismiss and Feint actions. Against a Point action (not against Dismiss/Feint), you can combine the GDs to form a single GD with a Height equal to the Heights combined. However, by doing this your opponent gets a +1d bonus next round as your unrelated points appear exceedingly desperate and ridiculous.
Note: I merged the Obfuscate and Avoid the Topic actions from the original Burning Wheel.

Dismiss Skill: Inspire or Intimidate. Effect: Roll pool at +1d and use every set as a Point to remove Width from your opponent’s argument. If you fail to end the debate with this action you take a -2d penalty next round. It cannot be part of a multiple action, and cannot be done two rounds in a row.

Incite Skill: Intimidate. Effect: On a success, the opponent loses 1d from a set. In addition, he must immediately roll Stability and try to gobble the Incite set – otherwise he takes Width-1 in penalty next round. If the Incite fails, the opponent simply shrugs off the ad hominem attack and gains +1d next round.

Feint Skill: Deceive. Effect: Remove the set’s Width from opponent’s Argument; Rebuttal GD do not defend against this. However, it deals no damage if the opponent has not declared a Rebuttal in the first place (if he makes both a Rebuttal and an Obfuscate action, he may use Obfuscate GD to defend against the Feint).

Read Opponent Skill: Empathy. Effect: Next round you gain the set’s Width-1 in bonus dice to your pool, and your opponent must declare one action before you – though he may add other actions to that. E.g.: he first states he will make a Point, but unbeknownst to you, he then adds an Incite to that. If both players perform this action, they both get bonus dice next round but only the Widest set (or Highest, if tied) get to see his opponent’s action first.

The rest of the Duel of Wits plays out exactly as the Burning Wheel version: terms of debate, compromises, escalating to violence etc.

—-

I came to the conclusion that the defensive actions should give more than simply Gobble Dice, even if the Duel isn’t time-sensitive, and therefore is easier to defend. The reason is that with only one opponent, it is still too tempting to go all-in and make Points every round, since it is still a lot harder to defend than attack. I’m quite pleased with how the Rebuttal action turned out (it also mirrors the counter-point mechanic from the original), but I’m still not entirely satisfied with the Obfuscate action. It basically works like the “Superior Interception” martial technique, and I think it is balanced as-is. It is not as elegant as I’d like it to be, however.

Comments and critique are welcome. I haven’t playtested yet, but game-balance was a high priority in converting this.

Committing myself to writing 2k words a week. I will start by discussing Game Design Principles. Watch
http://t.co/cqYla0ZN for more!

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