HoTHF: Providing Historical Information

Writing a roleplaying game set in a historical era sure does make you grateful to libraries. I'm also quite lucky at the moment as all of my libraries are going on a One Card System so I can do inter-library loans with greater ease and can return such books to whichever library I choose. Very handy.

While there are plenty of web-sites around, I've found that they never give you the dirty details like books do. It tends to be overviews again and again and again, though the BBC web-site has a nice collection of written anecdotes from folks who lived through World War II so that has been pretty helpful in coming up with those little touches that will make the whole thing more interesting.

I have read a lot and researched a lot and have gotten to the point where I can comfortably write whole paragraphs on various subjects without having to go over my notes every time. Sure, I always double check my facts but thus far my double checks have largely been confirmations of what I had already thought was true.

The less fun part is massaging enough information into the core book to allow players and Game Wardens (aka Game Masters) can comfortably enjoy scenarios that have that Home Front feel without forcing them all to slog through dozens of books themselves. Now I'm not saying that my 15 - 20 pages of setting material is equivalent to dozens of books. Not at all. But it's a comfortable start and right now I need to ensuring that my overviews need to allow gamers to have a historically accurate core upon which they can hang all kinds of adlibs, improvisations and out-and-out fakery. There's nothing wrong with deciding that YOUR version of the Home Front has some anachronistic detail but it is important to know a few core details, such as the blackout, rationing and bombing raids, because without those details you're not really playing the British Home Front.

I'm up to the stage of cramming all kinds of juicy details into 20 pages of text in a way that gets across plenty of information without making it all list-like or boring. Since some people won't want to read twenty pages of anything and others only really want to read the rules, I've come up with a few different ways of making the information more accessible.

Firstly, I've included sub-headings so that people can get a clue about those facts just by flicking through the pages: Air Raid Precautions, Black Out, Air Raid Shelters, Blitz, Farming & Victory Gardens, Make Do & Mend, Censorship & Propaganda. Just reading these sub-headings point out a few of the essential differences of war life.

Secondly, I've included a paragraph of up to 120 words written in the style of a young widow musing in her diary about that particular topic. This is to serve those people prefer getting their information in a more friendly 'fiction' style or who might like some information on how people from that era might have viewed the situation.

Thirdly, I've included up to five paragraphs (generally four) that give out factual information about the topic at hand in a way that both gives a good sense of context for the topic and delivers a lot of information without being boring and list-like.

Finally, I will be including a few newspaper-style comic book strips and informative pictures for those who can't be bothered reading but might look at a picture.

Here's an example of a topic (minus any pictures)

Criminality

What passes for a crime these days is appalling! Sell food without coupons to someone alleging to have been bombed out? Criminal! Blackout curtains fall loose due to a nearby bomb? For shame! At least the profiteers and the fraudsters deserve to be hit by the law. What about the rest of us? They should be focusing their efforts on looters, bag snatchers, and those rather rough looking fellows waiting in air raid shelters to take you for what you’re worth. And selling hooch as genuine liquor! It’s one thing for someone to go blind due to foolishly purchasing hooch on purpose but it’s hardly fair if it can happen to anyone without warning.

The war created whole new areas of criminality and reinforced the old ones. Thieves stole handbags in shelters, looted bombed (or abandoned) buildings and sold what they stole on the black market. Prostitutes found themselves in high demand among sailors. Killers hid bodies among the rubble of bombed buildings in the full knowledge that the coroners likely wouldn’t look at them. Fraudsters and conmen found new insecurities to exploit and more money to embezzle.

Gangs of youths (termed blackout gangs) would assault people in the streets or demand passersby hand over cash and jewellery under the cover of the blackout. The Italian mafia were soon interned, paving the way for other gangs to step into control. Jewel thieves drove their cars alongside jewellers’ stores, smashing windows and grabbing everything off the display windows as they go.

It was a time of high crime but it was also a time when the average person could find themselves arrested and fined for something they hadn’t known was illegal. Such as a man who was fined for smoking a cigarette outside during the blackout. Or the rescue worker who was arrested for taking a half empty bottle of liquor from the rubble of a bombed building and passed it around his helpers after a particularly gruelling night only to be arrested for looting.

Food wastage became a crime. Buying or selling rationed items without coupons was a crime. Forgetting to put up blackout curtains was a crime. Being so depressing that you spreading information bad for morale was a crime. It was easier than ever to become a criminal in World War II.

Arrival: Gearing Up To Slay The Snuffleupacus

© Copyright Chris Allen and licensed for reuse under
this Creative Commons Licence.

Last session Nico spent time meeting and greeting the locals before sitting down with the cowboy ‘Allan’ and his apprentice and discussing how to take down a big creature that roamed the streets snorting up all the leapers and humans that it came across. Nico made a deal to help them take it out in exchange for a chance to meet the scientists who had offered a reward for its brain.

Since Nico is all about pop culture (gleaned from videogame guides, tv guides and books), she immediately dubs the long snouted creature a ‘Snuffleupacus’. Demons are less scary when given demeaning nicknames, naturally. She found out that the last group who went after it had themselves a machine gun mounted to the back of the car but were fool enough to stop still while shooting at it rather than continuing onward so it stepped on the vehicle and crushed the gun!

She figured a high-powered sniper rifle from a nearby building while the cowboy provided a distraction should work. She just had to get her hands on such a gun. Luckily she’d heard that Styx could get people just about anything and while she didn’t have anything worth trading for the ‘Pentacle of Darella,’ she might well have enough to trade for the sniper rifle.

So she spoke to Alyssa (so many Al-characters in this area!), the owner of Warehouse 13, and requested an introduction to Styx. Seeing that Nicky was one of those ‘Big Damn Heroes’ who were convenient to keep around until they got themselves killed, Alyssa became a whole lot sweeter to her. Presence 5 + Persuasion 3 + Leadership Specialty + Inspiring Merit means Nico can be pretty damn convincing when she needs to be.

(For those who are curious, Nico is built with nearly 300 experience points. There’s a reason for this. I’ve sweated for those exp over the years but that’s another story.)

So off they trundle to a warehouse where Styx has taken up impermanent residence (you’ll see) and Nico has to approach this glowing blue sigil. At her approach, Styx coalesces above the sigil and negotiations begin. It turns out Styx really wants those body armour plates from the ‘Skinless Man’ haul so she trades all of them for the sniper rifle and a box of ammunition.

Oddly enough, Nico doesn’t mind this demon as much as the others. It’s all blue, wearing a strange robe, with horns and it floats up off the ground. Yet it’s isolation and it’s very predictable follows-through-with-its-deals reputations means that she can stand it more than the others. While naturally quite evil in her mind, it can be dealt with on a practical level without too much risk of corruption. One just had to watch what one traded with it as such things could soon find themselves in the enemy’s hands.

So anyway she takes the sniper rifle, Allan McCormick and his apprentice, and heads over to where the Snuffleupacus is currently snuffling along the sand. They take up position in a third storey window and she starts firing at it. It takes a couple shots for the creature to figure out whereabouts the pain is coming from and luckily it takes a bite out of the room next to her rather than the one she hides within. Allan McCormick leaps out one window into the next building via the window and takes pot shots with his pistol to try to distract it but Nico’s gun is too loud for that to work well.

Nico takes up a new position from a different building while the Snuffleupacus is busy tearing hunks out of her old building and resumes filling it full of lead. Finally the three-storey-tall demonic ‘thing’ hits the desk – nice and dead.

Allan McCormick takes the samples he needs to call in the various debts and says he’ll be back to take her to the scientists. Nico hides the sniper rifle in a large sack (people have been killed for less awesome loot) and heads back to stash it in Warehouse 13’s locked room. While Alyssa has already paid the other two, she decides to give Nico something in turn for her good deeds – a shield that flashes bright sunlight that it can absorb from the sun.

It sounds like a pretty neat relic but Nico can’t be bothered carrying a shield everywhere so she trades it with Styx for the pentacle of Darella. It turns out the pentacle vibrates in the presence of demons and protects against possession. Nico really wants to keep it and figures if she kills enough monsters she may be able to convince Bob to let her keep it.

When Nico returns, she notices that the amulet vibrates around the cowboy and his apprentice but it’s only while they’re trekking across to the scientists and the apprentice heads off for a moment to pee that Nico can tell which person is to blame. It’s the cowboy, Allan McCormick.

Lacking proof that the amulet works and knowing that demons can also be little whisperers that do little but encourage a person to do bad deeds, she decides to hold onto that information for now. Still it is worrying. Luckily a mixture of false bravado and boosted confidence from her recent kill means she is not afraid to be travelling with a possessed gunslinger even though she probably should be.

Arrival: Playing with Demons

© Copyright Leslie Barrie and licensed for reuse under this
  Creative Commons Licence.

Nico, commonly referring to herself as “Little Nicky”, begins the game in the back of an old pick up truck rattling across the sand-blasted wastes of Brooklyn. Handcuffed, naturally. What else would you do with someone who ‘pinged’ on the handheld possession-checkers used in her warded home community?  Luckily in her home settlement, those who are possibly possessed are sometimes exiled rather than executed.

Since she’s the daughter of the most powerful family in the settlement she also gets to keep her gear which includes her bug out bag, 9mm Colt, boot knife and ... most importantly ... her SWAT bulletproof vest with the SWAT lettering blacked out with paint.

Nico isn’t as grateful as she could be because she knows deep down that the sensor was rigged. Or maybe she's being unfairly exiled for having more of the so-called sacred blood of an Infant Diabolique and her mother just doesn't want the community to know about that.  She's obviously not possessed.  No change in personality. No odd occurences. No whispers in the back of her mind.

And her mother knows exorcisms so if she were truly possessed by a subtle entity, she could always be exorcised.
The truck stops. They get out. Her old pals from the squad who used to go on salvaging expeditions with her take off the cuffs and turn her loose.  They used to be squad-mates but now all they do is give her is a quick point in the direction of the nearest waystation. They leave her behind in a cloud of dust.  Nico is left to traipse across the barren sand-shrouded streets of New York and hope she gets to the waystation before it gets dark.

The waystation’s windows have been boarded over and painted the same greyish colour of the walls but it has paint on it clearly revealing it as Bob’s Home. Inside, the place looks like a mix between a pawn shop (with Bob standing behind the grille-topped counter) and a cheap hangout (with a hodgepodge of tables and chairs in the rest of the room).

Bob takes a liking to the stranger and feels her out for a deal. The terms are this: Give a painting of Bacchus to the known demon who heads a nearby Bacchus cult and get information from him on where to pick up a particular relic called the ‘Pentacle of Darella’. In exchange, she’ll be given something special.

Nico’s not so keen on meeting a demon that she’s not meant to kill but she needs the job and figures that if the rewards aren’t good enough she can always keep the relic. So she heads on down to meet this Baccarti and has to take out a few leapers on the way (long-armed toothy critters that can barely get past her armour).

She finds the place in an old garden and homewares store that's been barricaded pretty nicely. A quick conversation with the doorman that included revealing the paintings and an outright refusal to disarm gets her in without losing her guns. She'd hoped her her refusal might get Baccarti to come to the door, but instead the creature lets her in armed.

It's a den of debauchery as expected with plenty of feasting food all round. Despite her vice of Gluttony, she’s not tempted to join in. Every instinct is loudly screaming that she shouldn’t even be here. At least, not unless she’s spraying lead into the monster.

Baccarti looked like a human with horns and hooves and he sat atop a throne, no less. After a quick negotiation where she point blank refused to even have a slice of cake, she managed to convince him to tell her the information for the painting. It was a close call for awhile. Her obvious distaste for him nearly got her killed. Maybe her demonic blood helped calm things down. Infant Diaboliques often find a surprising amount of traction with demons.

Nico also found out that a fellow named Styx – another demon, naturally – had the pentacle and would likely be willing to trade. If she headed on down to Warehouse 13 – a brothel/waystation – she would be able to find out where he was. Oh, and Baccarti also warned her about the dangers of the ‘Skinless Man’ that known to frequent that area.

Starting to sense that this was getting to be a pretty expensive endeavour, especially as she had nothing to trade for to get the amulet from Styx, she followed Baccarti's directions over to Warehouse 13.

On the way, being the lucky sort of girl she had already proven herself to be, she naturally stumbled into the ‘Skinless Man’. Firstly one of his victims-to-be who came careening out of a doorway screaming for her to run. She followed him into a building and up some stairs (cue a quick IC comment about people always going upstairs to escape) onto the roof and then across a long solid plank to the next building.

The ‘Skinless Man’ was, true to his name, without skin and came rushing up behind them wearing only a golden collar and carrying a hooked chain. Luckily the chain couldn’t reach over the gap so the creature simply stood at the edge and glared at her, all the while pleading for her to kill him and apologising for his actions over and over again.

Realising the ‘Skinless Man’ was a poor bastard who was doubtless being influenced (and kept alive) by that collar, Nico did what any girl in her situation would do. She filled him full of lead, managing to bring him down before the collar could make the thing flee. Then she introduced herself to the survivor, a fellow teenager called ‘Al’.

They made a deal to loot the ‘Skinless Man’s’ stuff together and went down into the warehouse where a lot of canned food was kept as bait (and possibly also as food, it might have needed to eat) that was kept in an abattoir. There were also a few rotted victims (and Al’s friend) strung up on meat hooks inside. Most had been skinned.

They looted the canned food (hiding a few cans here and there for later needs) and picked through the victim’s belongings that was heaped up in a pile with their bloodstained clothing. The best score from it was a set of condoms and the kevlar plates. Naturally Nico kept most of the condoms, pretending she had only found two and offering Al one. Equally naturally Al used the moment for a pick up line.

They made their way over to Warehouse 13 - which turned out to be a brothel - and Al used the proceeds to buy himself room and board for a year. Nico bought herself a bottle of whiskey, a Carbine rifle and a big heap of ammunition. The madam, Alyssa, started being pretty nice to Nico having learned of her daring deeds and acts of heroism. Alyssa also seemed to pick up on Nico's bisexuality.

Nico used her whiskey as an excuse to introduce herself to a few of the locals – meeting a shady information dealer alongside a cowboy and his apprentice. The latter pairing were trying to figure out how to take down a big creature that roamed the streets. Nico made a deal with them – wanting to increase her reputation. They could keep the loot so long as they helped her out and introduced her to the scientists they had mentioned.

What can I say?

Deep down my character is a ‘Big Damn Hero’.

And likes shooting things.

The Necessity of Emotional Distance - Anger

Anger. Rage. Resentment. Bitterness. Seething hatred. Righteous indignation. That burning sensation you get in your gut when you have to deal with that person, thing or place that really makes you want to get up and stop them. Anger is a great motivating tool but it can also be a negative and unpleasant emotion that can play on the mind and distract you from your other tasks. It can also cause people to do nasty and irrational things to the source of their anger which can cause it to turn into guilt later on or stir up ill will with others who don't share the same anger.

No wonder a lot of players don't really tap into it. Sure, they talk about how they want to get rid of so-and-so but that's normally due to irritation, wounded pride (weaker forms of anger) or simply a desire to engage with the plot and follow it to its natural conclusion. It's very rare that players let themselves get angry. It's rarer that a Storyteller really tries to make them angry. And it's a rare player group indeed who can cope with displays of anger between player characters or from the Storyteller without taking it personally.

After all, as a species we are hardwired to react to angry faces (especially male angry faces) which means that if a friend turns on us with an angry flash in their eye we are likely to feel a surge of adrenaline. On an instinctive level, we'll take it personally more often than not. Haven't you ever been in a room where two other people are angry with each other and even though it has nothing to do with you, even though you knew you were on good terms with both of them, you felt uncomfortable and worried about getting stuck in the crossfire?

Yeah, that's generally the feeling you'll get at the very least when anger is introduced at the gaming table.

But doesn't it also break immersion when PCs chase an enemy around the globe even though they harbor him only intellectual ill will? Isn't it sad when you have to kill off an NPC, perhaps at the start of the campaign, and know that you can't - or shouldn't - engage their anger and thus you make the whole thing a hollow experience? Doesn't it suck when you have to bite back that surge of righteous indignation when another PC steps on your toes and instead act all cool, calm and collected even though your PC is meant to be an angry fellow?

For some people, nope. Not at all. It's quite all right, thank you very much.

And that's cool.

For others, yes, it is a shame. They would like to play around in the emotional sandbox. They would like a richer faux lived experience. They want a safe place where they can examine themes of vengeance and hatred.

So what do you do if you're in the latter group?

There are a few things that can make anger more 'okay' and one of which is to create a safe zone where anger can be felt and expressed in-character rather than out-of-character. One of the best ways of doing this is to acknowledge that angry feelings WILL bleed through. Don't think you're immune to it. Don't think your pals are so self-assured that they are immune to it. Do that and you're doomed from the start. You need to pay attention to your feelings for any evidence it's transferring onto the players and always assume that the other player, as a player, is affected by it.

It's called 'classical conditioning'. If a person or object is paired with an unpleasant situation often enough, that unpleasantness is associated with the person or object. It's not a wilful thing. It's not a decision. It's an instinctive knee-jerk reaction.

So counter it. Set the scene beforehand. Be upfront with the other players or Storyteller that you want to play around with anger. When something is about to flip your PC's trigger, let people know. Even a simple "Boy, my character is going to be so cross" can set the scene and prepare other people for it. The happy tone and smile on your face as you say it will reassure you that this is something that is affecting your character rather than you and that you're happy for the opportunity. This can help reinforce to the other players on a subconscious level that you are a happy, friendly person and that this is just a game.

(As an aside: Do not, and I repeat, do not use this scene setting as an excuse make passive aggressive threats about your character 'getting back' at the other PCs in some awful way. Most people who do that are actually trying to scare the other PC into doing something differently - which is something other players don't appreciate. A good warning sign is if you phrase things as a guarantee: "I'm going to kill your character," and "My character will find out, whatever you do," is a threat as, in truth, you have no idea what will happen when the dice get involved. "Just a heads up, but if you actually go through with it and my character finds out, she will try and kill you," is a warning between players.)

For Storytellers, you have more flexibility as even if you shock the players by jumping straight into angry NPC mode and slamming your hands on the desk, you are going to be breaking out of Angry-Face often enough to reassure them that you're not the one angry. If a player is feeling uncomfortable, they're likely to ask you for descriptions or rules calls or anything else that'll make you break character briefly and drop into your normal voice - thus proving that everything's okay. It also helps that you have other NPCs and scenes to describe so they don't have to watch you brood, complain or get angry for an entire session while an angry PC might be angry the whole time.

For those worried about having to break character to do this, don't be. The grand majority of games I've seen have had players drop character several times during even the most tightly focused games to make requests (pass the dice), offer things (coffee, anyone?), clarify rules and even point out movie references or crack the occasional joke. A quick line here and there out-of-character won't destroy anything. It'll reduce the tension between players but not between characters and that borrowed tension can still enrich the experience.

Soon after the angry display, players should make a point to break character with something uplifting and socially bonding. The player of the angry PC could, for example, smile around the table and offer folks a coffee or some chips. If there was an altercation between PCs, the players should say something nice about the situation. "I like how...." "Man, your PC really put the fear of God into mine." "Nice fight! You put me on the back foot with...."

If your PC got really angry about how stupid a situation was or complained about how worthless an NPC is, then it's also nice to say something out-of-character that's nice about the situation to the Storyteller so they know that it's not a Player Complaint but a PC Complaint.

If it really is a Player Complaint, then you should try airing it as a player, even if only as a constructive criticism.

So what do you guys think? Experienced much anger in roleplaying games? Figured out a way to make it work? Or just avoided it altogether?

Game Translation: The Last of Us

Drama, Action, Zombies...

The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game which follows three Joel, Ellie and Tess (for a time) as they cross a post-apocalyptic city and later town in 2033 - twenty years after a mutant Cordyceps fungus has turned human beings into fungal zombies that have reduced the population to a few isolated settlements.

This is a pretty good game to consider as the basis of a videogame campaign because it just has so many options as either a sandbox or a quest-based campaign. It also manages two useful NPCs alongside the character you actually control which gives you an idea of what kind of obstacles you can throw at a three player party, at least. While Joel and Tess are the main combatants, Ellie's pretty good at scavenging first aid kits when necessary and can squeeze into hard to reach places or be lifted over walls in order to unlock doors and let the others through. While normally children, even teenagers, aren't generally thought of as worthwhile characters to roleplay, Ellie certainly shows hot it could be a powerful and interesting experience.

Due to the overwhelming forces arrayed against them, it's often important for Joel to sneak around behind cover or in the darkness, distracting creatures and people with broken bottles or bricks, and attacking them from behind with a choke hold that ideally doesn't draw the attention of the others in the area.

This is understandably tricky to do with mechanics. If you're a fan of miniatures and a dab hand with quick terrain, you could model the situation and then have the players choose where they will move their characters while you move the enemies and declare stealth checks like a chess match but that is a lot of work for your average session. It also won't fit every situation. You could use a Jenga-type situation where each round requires the removal of a piece without the whole thing toppling but you'll still need a decent map with miniatures if you want to get the players thinking tactically and trying to succeed with a minimum of moves. Generally you'll just need to come up with a variety of obstacles and hope your chosen system has more options than just Stealth and Athletics skills otherwise the PCs may all end up kind of looking the same in their ability to be useful (or have one or more become utterly useless). Even just Move Silently versus Hide skills can provide a little diversity in ability depending on the situation.

Unless you rely on miniatures it can also be difficult figuring out how to determine line of sight with creatures like the Clickers who, in the videogame, can't see you so long as you don't get too close to them and don't move too quickly. Then there's the issue of timing.... How do you model that on a round by round basis? In the Last of Us you have clickers who move about in patterns (which actually makes sense in this situation given the fungus) and it's important to figure out their movement patterns before trying to attack them. You could make some sort of Intelligence-based roll to see if the PCs figure it out but that's a bit hit and miss. Either one PC makes the roll or none do. All or nothing situations just don't work well in stealth.

So what do you do? To be honest, I haven't figured out a way to use enemy movement patterns in a roleplaying game in any way that doesn't come off as totally false beyond rolling a dice in secret and determine that they have that much time before a creature passes close enough to them to spot them..

As for making the stealth side of it more interesting, you could describe the situation and have the players devise a plan and then assign modifiers (or a difficulty class) depending on their plan. That'd certainly get them to pay attention to what you're telling them. Especially if the modifier range was quite large and could mean the difference between success and failure. It also adds more to the narrative interest of the situation although you need to take care that a single failed Stealth check doesn't doom them all. The more players you have rolling, the higher the statistical likelihood that someone will fail after all. Perhaps pre-assign a number of allowable stealth failures (with suitably tense reactions on behalf of the briefly alerted enemies) before having the enemy spot them. You could even roll a dice to see how many stealth failures you're willing to allow.

With scenes like this you wouldn't think there was an apocalypse.

The other important aspect of The Last of Us, perhaps the most important, involves relationships. Take care when creating your NPCs to ensure that they are fully developed and richly imagined with their own needs and goals. Don't just give them a surface 'self', a basic personality, but consider the inconsistencies within them. Perhaps that stoic figure can't stand small spaces and is quite claustrophobia. Perhaps the emotionally charged figure is quite capable of moments of calm when push comes to shove. People are quite complex and so if you want to make your NPCs feel like people you need to make them complex.

While characterisation is always a nice addition to a game, if you want to approach the magnificence of this game's emotional appeal than you need to create complex, sympathetic NPCs more than ever. You also need to encourage your players to do the same. The last thing you want is for a player to create an idiot brute who likes to shout: "Face Meet Fist!" before hitting people. This means supporting their characters, as well, and figuring out how to tie them more firmly into the world around them. As an example, Joel lost his daughter twenty years ago and now he has to escort a 14-year-old girl. The game wouldn't have held nearly so much depth if Joel's entire story focused on killing the man who stole his guns.

Doing a bit of research into disaster situations and what might happen to a given city without human maintenance will also add greater richness to your game. Think about your setting. Is it a place like The Last of Us where you can conveniently steal their environmental conditions? Or is it in a desert-like place such as Las Vegas? Or the scrublands of Australia? Do some research into what the area was like before people arrived there and then do some reading and ideally some brainstorming on what it might be like after twenty years of neglect.

A good way to do this is to run some scenarios in your head. If the drains get blocked up, what would happen? What would that mean to the wildlife? The buildings? How might that impact on your PCs? After all, it's all very well to know everything there is to know about the neglected sewers but unless that affects your PCs in some way then it simply doesn't matter.

Which might be true.

Anyway, a campaign based around The Last of Us, or including elements of it, should appeal to just about everyone.

Tacticians will enjoy figuring out the right way to take down the enemies unseen and with a minimal loss of resources. They may also get a kick out of improving settlements, setting up barricades and traps, and otherwise settling in. Ensure that there are enough surprises to keep them motivated but not so many surprises that all of their hard work becomes worthless.

Action Heroes may enjoy the odd tactical moment but they really do live and breathe the occasional fistfight, sniping, and riding away fast in a ute as zombies throw themselves onto the bonnet. Let them live large occasionally but remind them every so often that this is still a survival horror game. It might be worth establishing some in-game cues as to whether this is one of their kinds of moments by pointing towards a gassed up car or a lone zombie for them to pummel.

Explorers will love this. Here is a world so similar to their own and yet so different. They will want to explore these similarities and differences. They will want to luxuriate in it. What would a city look like without people in it? How would it feel? How might a person survive without modern technologies but with modern knowledge? This is truly an experience for them.

Investigators will want a mystery. They will want the chance to uncover something. Ideally something ghastly. It might not be the reason behind the zombie outbreak, though that will doubtless be a passion of theirs, but there must at least be the odd hidden secret or interesting location that harbors some odd question in need of answering. Remember that there's no reason there couldn't be an out-and-out murder mystery in the apocalypse. Just think of a husband purposefully infecting his wife in order to murder her.

Communicators are an odd bunch. They love the richness of character development and are inspired by the intrigues that arise between people but sometimes they get so swept up in getting to know people that they forget the goals behind that knowledge and so grow bored. Give them space to ensure that there's enough development but push their characters out of their safety zones and force them to confront real changes beyond their sense of control.

If you want to check out the trailer, you can find it here. If you want to read up on the TV Tropes you can find them here.

For the next Game Translation, you have a choice of these: Left for Dead, Project Zero, Gears of War, Dracula: Origins, Realms of the Haunting, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Cat Lady, Outlast or Dishonoured. If no one picks anything by next week, it'll be either Project Zero or Gears of War.

If you want to see the list of games I've done thus far, you can find the Game Translation series starter over here.

My Nitpicking of Typical Fantasy Games - Magic, Accessibility & Pets

One of the things that really bugs me about fantasy games, and I mean really bugs me, is that it's so hard to bring in the bits I really love. Superstition. Occultism. That sense of the strange. Sure, Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons both have some room for superstition with material components to spells and certain materials bypassing damage reduction, but that's generally about as far as it goes rules-wise. The spells don't really feel magical. They feel mathematical. Because they are.

It's a problem that a lot of roleplaying systems have for me, really. And it's a problem that's increased by my position as Storyteller since I have to know the maths behind each character and creature. While I could slow down the action by requiring my players to gather their material components in-game in a realistic low-magic fantasy setting, I will still know that I'm expanding the focus on one element of gameplay that isn't really meant to have that much attention put upon it. Sure there is the occasional session that might revolve around players having to think fast because their spell component pouches are gone and they have to make do with what material components can be found in the ship. But how often can you do that in one campaign?

I have the same problem with the World of Darkness. Well, more of a problem with it in the World of Darkness. While the system is meant to be a toolkit and you are theoretically encouraged to have any old McGuffin be vital for a monster take-down, the system is still very lock-and-key. The fact that the monsters are designed to be player characters and that certain realms and antagonists can only be affected by certain creatures with certain powers or certain objects really bugs me. There's a little bit of canonical material surrounding what happens when a human enters the hedge, deals with spirits or runs into the Hisil but not very much and it generally ends one way -- with a splat.

While I know that the World of Darkness is meant to be horror first and urban fantasy second - something all the more firmly displayed with New World of Darkness 2.0 - it's still annoying that splat or *use specified power here* is the only answer. Since the system is so modular it's easier to disregard canonical words then house rule mechanics, it's a bit easier to work around but maybe I don't want to find a work around.

Maybe I want to find something that really captures the spirit behind all those superstitions and strange occult practices that proliferate in the world.

The other thing that bugs me in typical fantasy games is something quite small and easily fixed by any Storyteller worth their salt and that's the rather uninteresting array of quirky mounts, animal companions and familiars. Sure there are different species to choose from, but not much variety within species. It'd be nice to have a few alternative feats to really reinforce their different personalities and abilities. Especially with horses. I really think horses are under-utilised in fantasy games. Unless I'm going with a western theme my players generally don't bother with them and instead go about on foot. For shame! Horses are both speedy and interesting. I'd definitely prefer a game that reinforced that.

While I'm sure there are other systems that do deal with these problems satisfactorily, the fact is that both my players and I really do like these systems and their versatility. As far as the players are concerned, the systems are just fine. Sure some of the elements of a World of Darkness game are kept under lock and key but, hey, not only does each monster type have it's own realms to explore but I create enough workarounds to ensure that I (and therefore they) get to play in other creatures' sandpits. And with the Pathfinder monsters the magic is in the presentation. Oh, and they like their quick cast spells and easy access magic, thank you very much. They don't need overcomplications to get in the way of their monster mashing which is fair.

I guess my main annoyances (and why these are nitpicks) is that while these are truly fantastic systems, I just have a few issues with them that get in the way of my sense of adventure.

Masks of Nyarlathotep Worthy Links

A beloved campaign run by many.

I've been doing a lot of research for this campaign. And I mean, a LOT. I've always wanted to run this campaign and I see a lot of possibilities from my weird infusion of psychological horror and Call of Cthulhu meets World of Darkness (or does it?) so I'm pretty eager to get it right. Besides which, I love having the excuse for so much research and for creating the kind of beautiful peak performance game that's only possible when you have 20+ years of other people's experiences and props to draw upon. I mean, this campaign book already has an unofficial companion for it! I don't know of any other campaigns that have had that kind of good fortune.

Far Beyond Capacity

There's a link at this blog to a fantastic corkboard of clues that you can zoom in on if you'd like some copies of some of the props.  The Actual Play is also quite comprehensive and also discusses playing the game on Fantasy Grounds (an online assistant) so that can be great if you're looking to do the same.  The players in this game also veer more towards pulpy so if you have characters that are prone to violence then this Actual Play is a good read so you can have an idea about what troubles you might face.

Masks of Nyarlathotep Fan Trailer

This is a pretty neat trailer for the campaign and one that I'm going to show my solo player to get him all excited about playing it.  It might take some of the sting off the inevitable death of several of his allies over the course of the game.  Although there are doubtless a few spoilers in there the fact (mostly in regards to likely location) since it's taken from a variety of clips from different movies it can't get too specific.

Carlyle Expedition Notes

Some very interesting youtubes that provide a more cinematic option for the Carlyle news clippings.

Audio Sessions Plus Audio Keeper Diary

For those who rather to listen to sessions rather than read about them there's this nice collection of audio files.

Nyarlathotep Companion on Obsidian Portal

While the campaign notes are quite brief there's a link on 1920s slang and plenty of links to various pieces of evidence that could be wrangled as props for your own games.

Brief Nyarlathotep Actual Play

This one goes over things very briefly for the New York and part of the London chapter but that can be a helpful read for people who want a vague outline of events.

Masks Wikidot

One Keeper's basic campaign notes filing system.  This wiki is great for people who want to brush up a bit on the locations and dramatis personae but not a whole lot else.

Campaign Trailer Screenplay

While this doesn't actually show any clips the run through of the trailer is evocative in its own way.  The blog's Drama Tools articles are also quite neat.

The Grim Keeper

This blog has some really neet Cthulhu-based blog articles as well as some really swell simple articles and thorough and entertaining Actual Play posts on the campaign.  Those after paper miniatures will find the initial cultists and hunting horrors in the blog.  There's a lot of delightful local colour available within.  There is one article in particular that really captures what reading a Mythos Tome should feel like which is well worth reading.  The author has an article all about their inspirations in creating that tome as well.  There's even an article about issues with the Ju-Ju House (namely size).  Unfortunately it stops short of London.

Total Party Kill

One Keeper's musings on Masks of Nyarlathotep, especially its high lethality.  This particular Keeper has run the game three times so its well worth a read.


Masks of Nyarlathotep at Cthulhu Parade

For those who would like to listen to audio logs of the actual sessions than this is another good one for you.

Held Action

There's only a few articles here but one of the very important ones involves a consideration of PC motivations.  One of the things I've found just from a read through of the campaign is that it has some very pulpy expectations.  Scuffling inside a hotel room?  Why, one should absolutely smash down the door!  Even if you thought it was a thief rather than room service it would be a rather heavyhanded approach for most investigators.

Portfolio: Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion

Those looking for better quality props from the various adventures in the companion need look no further as you can find them all here.  You should absolutely look here for more information.

Propnomicon Masks Series

This article in Propnomicon links to a thread filled with so many glorious props ranging from Egyptian postage stamps to maps to pictures.

Masks Floor Maps

Beautiful maps.  Wonderful maps. 

Fringe Masks

Only two articles present on this blog but the bottom one does have a number of player character questions that are worth considering.

Masks Links


Not only does this website contain a large series of journal entries and amusing photographs but it also contains links to a variety of 1920s web resources.  Katya's Fun Facts, in particular, are wonderful to read. http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/19232-Maps-for-entire-Masks-of-Nyarlathotep-campaign?p=269700#post269700

Hopefully these will help you as much as they have helped me. If you have any good links on this campaign, please share them with me in the comments section below.