Johnn’s 2009 RPG Goals
I agree with Uncle Bear that New Years is an opportunity to make goals, not wishes, for another 12 months. The Christmas holidays provide downtime and renewal time to clear your head of the daily treadmill and get back to values and priorities. In addition, the calendar year provides a convenient crucible for measuring progress.
Last year I wanted to game more often and to try out several different systems. I overreached. This year I’m setting moderate goals that still fulfill my value of game play as part of a balanced life (which is different than game play as part of a balanced breakfast). Here are my RPG goals for 2009:
DM my D&D campaign every other week
Last year my group missed many sessions due to the DM not being available or ready. It’s in my control to change that, so I will. 52 weeks minus December, July and August leaves 40 . Allow for 2 other bad weeks and that leaves 38. So, my goal is to DM 19 D&D sessions this year. Hey, that’s a potential 19 TPKs. Life is good.
Run a sci-fi game a few times
I gotta keep trying new things in RPGland. This year I want to focus on learning a new game system and GMing a genre I have little experience in – sci-fi.
I’ve polled readers of Roleplaying Tips for game ideas and I’ve got a shortlist now, including one entry that surprised me. Once the D&D campaign gets into a rhythm again I’ll start work on death by laser.
Build a world
It’s been over a decade since I last created a fantasy game world. It’s time to dust off the brain and create. The world will be crafted mid-campaign, so some retrofitting will be required, but my players are cool about whimsical DMing.
Blog and E-zine
Roleplaying Tips turns 10 in November. It’s a lot of fun putting each issue together and benefitting from the wisdom of its readers. I look forward to another year of game mastering tips and learning to be a better GM along with subscribers.
In 2009 I’ll be posting to this blog as well. I like the conversations I see taking place on other RPG blogs, and I want to be able to comment and ponder in my sandbox with Mike Bourke here. Some posts will see their way into the e-zine as well.
Fun? What is this fun you speak of?
Finally, having more fun at every game is always my goal, regardless of what year it is.
How about you?
So, what do you see is in store for you and RPGs in 2009?
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January 10th, 2009 at 5:24 am
I’d like to find a sci-fi game that has a good setting AND doesn’t use a phase mechanic for their combat. It seems like a lot of sci-fi games try to keep things almost simulation based. This ends up really bogging down their combat. Gimme some clean cut, quick-run rules for a sci-fi game!
Samuel Van Der Wall’s last blog post..Help Me Run My Best Campaign Ever
January 10th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I intend to shut down one of my Fantasy Camapigns to make room for the space-opera/superhero campaign that’s been getting the short end of the stick for the last couple of years. I intend to finish my notes on Medieval Society which I will be adapting to my Evil D&D Campaign. I intend to finish the e-book I’ve been writing, and to release my first and second and possibly even third and fourth CDs of original music. I intend to finish writing and compiling the House Rules & Campaign Setting for the Evil Campaign, and (at least) extend the “Elvish History” I’ve been compiling for the Seeds Of Empire D&D Campaign. And finally, to blog here regularly – with meaningful content.
Samuel, I can’t help you with the Ccampaign Setting, but I have a game system that should fill the bill for you, that I wrote some time back. I intend to post the rules to this blog in chunks over the course of the year – basically, whenever I don’t have any other content ready to go. So stick around, and maybe you’ll like what you see.
January 10th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
@Samuel – I wonder if it has to do with fantasy fulfillment and wanting to recreate cool sci-fi moments from books, movies, and TV? To do that, some GMs might feel the need for complexity rather than whim to get the party to such moments.
Also, there are many hard core sci-fi fans. People want to know what they’re reading is somehow possible in the future. (Or is the motive of hard core sf something different?)
I am also looking, though, for a sleek system and not a math test.
January 10th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Mike – where do you find the time to do all your stuff! You have a jam-packed 2009 planned. I’m looking forward to all your creations!
January 12th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
If you’re looking for an SF game with the emphasis on fast-paced fun, I highly West End Games old “Star Wars” RPG, more recently resurrected as “d6 Space” after WOTC took over the “Star Wars” franchise.
Personally, I find it futile to get invested in a “realistic” SF campaign, because humanity will have rendered itself either obsolete or unrecognizable long before it achieves interstellar civilization. Heck, we’ll be lucky to get out of the 21st century without creating some silicone-based intelligence that will take our fate completely out of our own hands.
So just chuck all the hard science that gets in the way of your game and enjoy a rip-roaring space opera, where things give off a loud “boom!” in the vacuum of space, just because it’s fun. And West End “Star Wars”/”d6 Space” is great for that.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I’m still locking down the direction, products, and/or services I want to offer via my blog, which is a large goal (to me) in itself. Wrapped up in there is better visuals, better technical skills, another artist… I think I’d better break these down and focus on one at a time.
I also want to run a game at least monthly while playing in another every couple of weeks (I think the key to this is more casual play and better overall organization).
@Mike: Original music? Cool. How do you do it?
RPG Ike’s last blog post..MOTHS!
January 12th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I agree about the “old” Star Wars d6 system. It’s elegant, simple, fun and gives the exact feel of the sci fi/epic/space opera enviroment. I had a 4 year long campaign using it and found out how flexible it was. Also, you can modify it anyway you want to tell stories from other setting. I applied to do a ghostbusters campaign and had a lot of fun. I strongly recomend it.
I admire your work. Keep it up!
Ryder
January 13th, 2009 at 1:27 am
@Leonard – Thanks for the recommendation. I thought about SW. I think I’m looking for an IP that’s just as new to the group as it is to me. I agree with your point about not going hard core. Algebra was too long ago for me. :)
@Ryder – Ghostbuster? Neat! Did that PCs ever cross their beams? :)
Johnn’s last blog post..Johnn’s 2009 RPG Goals
January 13th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Hi Johnn.
I own or have played many systems. I have the first few books of the WEG SW, but sadly never played it. However, i do like
Space Opera by FGU
TORG/Shatterzone by WEG
January 14th, 2009 at 2:26 am
@ Johnn – I find time by doing a bit on each at a time, but there are always projects that get left out for one reason or another. I wanted and expected to have that history of the Elves complete by now, but it ended up getting set aside for other things, like the Evil Campaign and its various background bits and house rules. But the main way that you find time is by being more efficient at game prep, and by enjoying what you’re doing! I also have to admit that I overlooked one pair of goals by mistake:- completing the Campaign Background for the new phase of my superheros campaign (which began way back in ’82!) and migrating the campaign to the new phase. This is actually a fairly high priority at the moment because there is only one scenario left in the current phase of the campaign after the current scenario concludes. This will be the big finish, which will probably take 3 months (maybe 4) for the players to complete – so 4 months from now, it has to be done and ready to distribute!
@RPG Ike – I compose using the MIDI format, then use various soundfonts (instrumental variations) and a program called synthfont to render them as audio tracks, which are then edited and polished using various other pieces of software. I had built up a collection of several hundred originals before I started thinking about issuing them as CDs, mainly because of the inherant limitations of the MIDI format, where the composition will never sound exactly the same on any two systems. I have 8 CDs planned at the moment (each with full track lists), and will blog about each release when it actually happens.
@Cybersavant – funny you should mention those two particular systems. One of the authors of Space Opera (Phil McGregor) was president of our RPG club for as long as we needed one (1982-2002) and I still see him several times a month at the gaming table. I have the only autographed copy of Space Opera in existance! And, for about eight years, I ran a memorable TORG campaign, having decided to eschew the overarching WEG shared plotline for my own uberplot. In many respects, this system was the tabletop forerunner for modern online MMORPGS!
February 1st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
[…] Campaign Mastery Johnn’s 2009 RPG Goals include blogging more, in addition to continuing to write Roleplaying Tips. He also wraps the year […]
July 29th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Hello to everyone. I have been playing RPG for awhile, but I am no way a gamer to the point of truly understanding every piece to every statistic there is in the Player’s Hand Guide. But I am still trying to learn. I have a couple friends who help me in game, but while listening to their game mechanics talk in game, it’s like listening to another language. I get lost.
A few years back, I GM’d a group a kids through the magical world of D&D (a good starter game). However, I thought I could pull down the rating a bit for the youngsters (which I am sure it could have been done by an expert). It went from G, to PG, to PG-13 to… well, it went really dark really fast and out of my control.
Last year, I decided to introduce my two younger cousins to a Fantasy RPG. So, I decided to build my own world, create my own creatures (somewhat), and develop my own races and classes of characters (after using already commonly used ones).
The unfortunate thing is that I decided to go with what I already had material wise. I have a set of 3.5 D&D Guides (GM Guide, PHG, and the MM). So, naturally, this time around, I promised myself that the game choices of what I use need to be very selective (especially with the monsters). The PC’s, such as Peter Pan and villains, such as the Evil Queen, I haven’t even started working on, but I can tell, for me, it might be a bit of a challenge. I haven’t added a lot of the adversary’s on the simple fact I feel they need to level up more (they’re at 5 right now).
Just ended the first campaign (WHEW) and now they want to begin a new campaign.
To make a long story… kinda short… I was wondering two things:
1) Is there another game in which I can pull out material from and use that is more familiar with my Fables and Fairytales game I am creating now (BTW, they are 8 and 10)?
2) I have a friend who helps me understand gaming mechanics and is an expert himself, but I rarely get together with him. Is it possible to contact anyone here or to respond to Johnn’s emails that he sends for future advice or other little tid-bits I’m in need of help with?
July 29th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Hi there, GM Newbie. Welcome to the hobby!
It’s hard establishing a genre restriction when you’re new to the art of GMing; as you’ve discovered for yourself, your own inclinations will gradually metamorphose the campaign, changing it away from that pure ideal. We all encounter the problem the first few times we try and force ourselves into a different mould, so I sympathise with the problems that you’ve experienced. The only solution is to remind yourself constantly of who your target audiance is – pin up a photo of your cousins wherever it is that you do your campaign planning so that it will regularly catch your eye.
Concerning source material, it astonishes me that so few people know how dark the original fairy tales really were. Ironically, your original campaign was probably right on the mark in terms of being classically correct, not that this information will be much of a help to you. I suggest you check out some of the Enid Blyton stories, such as The Wishing Chair Collection and The Faraway Tree Collection. In terms of game materials, I suggest you try and track down a copy of Toon: The Cartoon Roleplaying Game. Lastly, in answer to your second question: there are lots of forums out there with people who will be happy to answer any questions you have. The two best sources would be through Google Groups and Yahoo Groups. Of course, if you have any specific big questions, or questions that you don’t have any success answering elsewhere, Johnn and I will be happy to do what we can through Campaign Mastery. Good Luck!
July 29th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Okay, I think I figured the answer for question 2. Dork, lol. This is what happens when you are only on your first cup of coffee in the morning…
And what I meant to say on question 1 was *that is more similar to my game*
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:03 am
@Mike: Thanks for the resources. Yeah, I love the original dark fairy tales but as you have said, adding them will defeat the purpose of my goals to child-proof the realm of gaming for my cousins. This is one reason why I decided to steer clear of the Grimm brothers, as much as I love them.
On top of using props (such as crinkled up maps, game jewels, and other things), I have found that the use of puzzles, riddles, poems, and other brain-teasers and introducing mini-games during the course of campaigns has been very successful. My cousins actually prefer this to battling (opposite me and my adult gaming buddies). This was an interesting discovery I had stumbled onto was actually being able to witness a child’s perspective on RPG. It’s very different when you see a gaming world as a youngster. They have very different interests, goals, and priorities in the game. I guess this would be a no-brainer. But I didn’t really take note of it until I actually witnessed it (A couple breadcrumbs work, but for the majority, I like them to figure things out). All in all, I will be using more of these brain-teasers and mini-games during their second campaign.
One of the things I have also been doing is asking a lot of questions in between game sessions: what they want more, what they would want less, etc. It helps to establish what kinds of things I can use and what ideas to toss to help their experience be worth the time they spend playing this game (the ultimate goal for me: To make sure they have fun).
Not only am I keeping and tossing ideas, though, but rules as well. I am trying really hard to simplify the mechanics. OMG!! NOT an easy job. I have simplified mechanics (Spell Resistance) and even nullified others (Size, for one ~ which I probably shouldn’t) just to make sure I’m not boggled down with this stuff during game-play. But not being so by-the-book has enhanced our enjoyment ~ even if we’re not playing by all the rules. Call me ambitious or crazy ~ but I was thinking of attempting “rule changing” or dumbing down the mechanics for the youngster game just because, after all, this is their introduction into the gaming realm. I don’t want to scare off any potential future gamers due to the fact that the boggling down of game mechanics has scared them off from having any sort of fun during game. They can always learn that stuff in future games when they’re older. Besides, they are less likely to sit there and argue with the GM which percentile number goes with which action and for how many rounds. Kids don’t care. They like simplicity and that’s my goal ~ to make a kid-safe game using simplicity. Which, ironically enough, might be more complex than what I think. Here’s hoping it won’t be too much for me to handle!
I’ll keep you guys updated on the continually forming game, if you’d like, and I’m sure I’ll be back with more questions (posted where they should be).