Happy Holidays

I think the term is kind of bland but my players might be celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Christmas or anything else, shrug

Happy Holidays guys.

A few thoughts on continual rewards

One of the things I learned during my GURPS game was just how brilliant the regular measured reward system used in D&D is.

D&D hands out some cookie, experience, a new level, a new spell, magic items, something at every sessions and this is a powerful incentive to continue the game for longer.

While GURPS can be played this way (c.f Dungeon Fantasy) its not the default play. You often get rewards based on what ought to be there rather than Gygaxian Naturalism. This lack of reward, smaller experience awards (1-5 matters but it feels paltry) , less magic items and less treasure takes away a big incentive to play longer.

This can lead to more player boredom , shorter campaigns and more a tendency to "move onto something else" as happened to me . This isn't bad necessarily, games can go on to long and it can even be a real plus especially in todays entertainment option rich world

Still if a longer old fashioned game is whats desired, well its going to require some accomodation

I think its also why GURPS, while an excellent system (been in the world for 26 years) has never reached the popularity of D&D. Its fun but its not the fun most players are looking for.

Dungeon Fantasy of course works to correct this and does a decent job of it, but its still GURPS and while its a loving tribute, its also in my opinion a bit snide too.

I guess its an issue of the Right Tool for the Right Job. Use D&D to play D&D, Use GURPS to play GURPS

What I have been up to.

Real life mostly.

However during my MIA time I

#1 Finished up my GURPS game with what I consider a pretty satisfactory ending, the characters got well off enough that they decided to stop adventuring. This was a solid in character way to deal with player boredom.

#2 I ran a few sessions of Angel, 2075 Post Apoc. It worked well though the game is going on hiatus as one player is going to do some missionary work and the player who is the slayer is his minor sister and without him there its not easily workable. Since her interest has waned (this was only the second time every she played an RPG with my GURPS game being the 1st) I doubt she'll want to continue.

#3 Wrote a 24 Hour RPG. for the Creative Commons. Its called Double Dice and I literally dreamed it up one night. Methinks I have been gaming too much. A much more polished, not 24 Hour Version will show up here along with some settings and such. Just for fun. Its not old school by any means but its mechanically decent and as that is my weak point, I am pretty proud of my work.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'll haver more content and discussion soon but for all my fellow Americans, Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Samhain Everbody.

I said I didn't celebrate Halloween however , since it is a major holiday for a lot Pagan, Wiccans and the like wellll.

Happy Samhain everybody

3 Simple Reasons Why I Don't Do Edition Wars

#1 Different people like different games and thats OK

#2 Every version of D&D 0-4, Pathfinder, Trailblazer and every retro-clone beyond all bring something fun to the table in some circumstances. They are all great ways to get together with cool people.

#3 People choosing to play a game I may not like or enjoy at a certain time (or at all for that matter) are not stealing my player base.

A Question for the Readers

I'll start with a confession, I like night time soap operas in small doses, Dallas and Dynasty when I was a kid, occasionally others. Of late I have been enjoying the sleazy Melrose Place remake on NetFlix.

For those who haven't watched it, those show is way sexed up compared to the dreadful 1991 version and in addition to the usual schemers the leads include an obsessed psycho, a thief, and a med school student turned prostitute (played by the same gorgeous actress who played the Chinese Aussie resistance fighter is Terminator Sarah Conner Chronicles)

Let me ask you this.

Are Conventional RPGS (not Indy games designed for this purpose) good for other kinds of games than action story derived ones?

Can they with the right group be effectively used to game those stories of betrayal, jealousy, decadence and other sorts of immorality without implied violence?

If so, what is needed to make it work?