TV Review: "Adventure Call" (2010-2013)

This week, I want to give a shout out to a hi*LAR*ious recurring sketch on "Limmy's Show!", "Adventure Call":

"Limmy's Show!" was a surreal and bizarre Scottish comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written and directed by Brian "Limmy" Limond.  In "Adventure Call," Limmy played Falconhoof, the host of a premium-rate call-in show, wherein callers attempted to work through a dungeon crawl similar to the all-time great text adventure game Zork, whilst being charged an exorbitant fee per minute.

The first thing that strikes most viewers is Falconhoof, who's dressed up like a Ren Faire reject.  He's quirky but plays it straight, and has to deal with all manner of strange and/or angry callers, which produces much of the humor.

Additional humor comes from the game itself, which is, like Zork, quite challenging, with players needing to say the right thing at the right time and featuring Permadeath!  Old School!

Here's my favorite sketch:

"Kill Jester."

RPG Game Play: Campaign Basics (Part I)

Ever since Dave Arneson created Blackmoor (aka the First Fantasy Campaign), wherein he pioneered, among other things, the concept of Character Advancement, GMs (and now some players) have been creating their own game worlds and settings.  So, this week, I wanted to talk about some of the basics of running RPG Campaigns.

By "Campaign," I mean an ongoing set of adventures or a continuing storyline, typically set in the same game world and nowadays often involving the same PCs (unless there has been Character Death).  As a result, running a campaign is usually more challenging and demanding for a GM than a one-shot adventure, since the GM needs to know more and in greater detail about the background, the locations, the NPCs, etc.

While it's true that some New School games encourage cooperative world building and shared narrative fiat between GMs and players, the majority of games and campaigns still follow the traditional GM-led model  (i.e., the GM is primarily responsible for developing and running the campaign).  So, this post will focus on the latter, (i.e., the role of the GM in running the campaign).

So, in terms of general advice for running a campaign, probably the first thing for a GM to keep in mind is that, regardless of how much you prepare, something is not going to go as expected, whether it's because you made a mistake, your players killed the NPC that you intended to keep as a recurring foe, your players left the location/plot you oh so carefully prepared, or whatever.  Thus, being a good GM requires at least a little improv ability (i.e., being able to handle curve balls and to think on your feet).

For novice GMs, a good way to reduce the likelihood and scope of the unexpected is to run dungeon crawls.  In fact, one of the reasons that Messr Arneson put his first adventures underground was to expressly limit what the players could do.

Additionally, GMs shouldn't be overly attached to any particular plot, NPC or whatever or concerned that the PCs didn't interact in the GM's desired way.  It's always possible to recycle material into a later game session or future campaign.


Secondly, the GM should take some time to know the applicable rules set.  Constantly looking things up will disrupt the flow of a game session.  Also, it can be disheartening to find out that you misquoted a rule.


Thirdly, the GM should prepare enough to feel comfortable.  Some GMs spend hours getting ready for a game session, while others do literally no prep.  For myself, over time, I've prepared less and less, partly because I usually use rules with which I'm quite familiar and because my improv skills have improved.


Fourly, the GM should be on the same page as the players regarding expectations.  Here, the group's social contract is key.  Also, remember to keep in mind that the goal of playing RPGs is to have fun.


Of course, there are many other things that can play a part in running a campaign, if you can get down the above, you should be starting from a good position!

Board Game Review: "7 Wonders" (2010)

This week, I want to give a shout out to one of the best board games of the past decade: "7 Wonders":

7 Wonders is a strategy, building and resource management card drafting game wherein players assume control of one of seven ancient cities, each representing one of Antipater of Sidon's original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

There are three decks of playing cards (called a "Age cards"), that are unsurprisingly only played in one particular Age of the game.  The Age cards represent different types of structures that the player can build to provide a resource and/or a mechanical benefit.  In addition, some structures are tiered to unlock further structures and/or mechanical benefits.

Furthermore, the each city has a different game board (called a "Wonder board") with different powers and resources that can affect a player's strategy.  Games are for 2-7 players and the player with the highest total of victory points at the end wins.

Winner of the prestigious 2011 Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel, as well as numerous other awards, 7 Wonders is well designed, fast paced (turns are resolved simultaneously and the game can be finished in less than an hour) and deceptively challenging: While the mechanics are simple (pick a card each turn),  the strategy and scoring are not.

At the beginning of each Age, each player receives a hand of 7 cards, dealt randomly, from the corresponding Age deck.  After picking a card, the players passes their remaining hand of cards to the player sitting to the left (or right depending on the Age) and receive the remaining hand of cards from the player sitting next to them.  This means players know what cards they are passing on and can influence the receiver's options in the next turn.  However, since players will be passing cards to the left twice and to the right once, they have more influence on the left neighbor than the right neighbor.

There multiple potential paths to winning, although some may be more efficient than others for a given civilization.  Players must decide which strategies and resources to focus on and which to ignore.  However, it's not always clear at the time what is the optimal choice or the what is value of a particular choice!

So, if you are looking for a fast, fun, challenging and replayable strategy board game (especially if you are a history buff), this may be the game for you! 

RPG Focus: 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (2005)

This week, I want to take a look an all-time great Dark Fantasy tabletop role-playing game, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay:

"It is a dark time: far to the north, the gate of chaos has opened once more. Archaon, Lord of End Times, had waged his insane war on the civilized world, although he was beaten back at the last moment, Chaos is still prevalent throughout the land: Beasts ravage the countryside, Mutation and Insanity are rife. Heroes are needed, heroes who will beat back the darkness, heroes the like of which who have better things to do than to save inbred, misbegotten peasants like these.

So, you lot will have to do. May the lords of ruination spare your souls..."

With a very British sense of black humor, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is set in the grim and perilous Warhammer Fantasy setting, where the power of Chaos lurks in the heart of every person and  simply surviving day-to-day in the midst of various dark and deadly threats is an achievement.  First used by the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop miniatures wargame, world of the Warhammer Fantasy drew inspiration from a number of sources, including Tolkien's Middle-earth, RE Howard's Hyborian Age (Conan the Barbarian), Michael Moorcock's Elric, and early modern European history. 

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is only of the best RPGs in terms of capturing the flavor of Dark Fantasy.  Rather than playing (at least in the beginning) badass warriors and powerful wizards, in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the PCs start as everyday scrubs that need to scratch and crawl their way up out of mediocrity, assuming that they don't die in the process.  For example, starting PCs include rat catchers and tax collectors.  Also, regardless of how powerful the PCs become, they can still be taken out by a lucky shot.

The 2nd Edition did a good job of updating and streamlining the 1st Edition.  For example, 2e only uses d10s for resolution.  Thus, similar to Call of Cthulhu, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay uses a roll under percentile system, so task resolution is straightforward.

However, Character Creation and Advancement is quite crunchy in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.  There are 8 primary attributes AND 8 secondary attributes, as well skills and talents (i.e., perks and disadvantages).  This makes creating a PC a lengthy task not easy for a beginner.

Also, as an alternative to leveling, PCs have the ability to shift careers by spending XP.  However, there are around 60 basic careers AND 60 advanced careers.  That's a lot of careers!

In addition, each career has specific career entries and career exits, so one cannot simply go from  rat catcher to noble.  This means that players need to crunch out in advance their career paths if they have a specific goal, similar to the feat system in WotC D&D.

While Character Creation and Advancement is clunky and there are many look up tables to slow down game play, the tremendous flavor of Warhammer Fantasy makes up for it.  The game really is gritty and PCs can die from a single unlucky hit and there's an element of survival horror.  However, under the bleakness, there's a gallows humor and a sense of real accomplishment if you do manage to survive.

So, if you're a roleplaying fan of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Dark Fantasy, or Horror generally, this may be the tabletop role-playing game for you!