Mythras Arrives! Plus Alien and The Electric State

 We did it! We started Mythras on Wednesday. The campaign setting is one I have used in the past for D&D 3.5 (some games I ran during the pandemic period), as well as D&D 5E and Pathfinder 2E. None of those were ever a perfect fit for what I wanted to do with the campaign, which was a fantasy allegory for the post-Roman collapse period around 450-550 AD. As it turns out, Mythras is a perfect fit.

I'm leaning in to story elements and beats that will showcase for the group the unique features common only to Mythras, Runequest and some other BRP titles. Stuff such as spirit combat and animism, the ubiquity of folk magic for those who wish to learn it, and a predilection toward humans as the norm with optional other species being exceedingly rare or exotic. The first combats will be design to teach the players in the group who are new to the potentially lethal vagaries of the Mythras combat system. 

Overall I am quite pleased, and this shift has distinctly energized my GM interest in a way that has been flagging for a while. 

On Saturday, my son will run another Alien RPG campaign as well! This one will use material from Building Better Worlds and will be a (presumably) slower paced colonization campaign, with less of the cinematic pacing. I am also excited for this, its really fun to play in my son's games, he has the GM's gift, and it is good to see that torch can be handed down to him. 

Further down the road I plan to run The Electric State RPG in the near future. This is a really intriguing low-key post apocalyptic alternate timeline setting, something Free League Games excels at. The ambience the game exudes is very tantalizing, and I am intrigued to see what I can do with it. After my son finishes his Alien RPG campaign, though. 

Interestingly, while googling for a link to the game I discovered there is a planned Netflix movie for The Electric State (here). Interesting....although from the trailer I see nothing about the virtual devices which are fairly important to the fall of humanity in the RPG, so I wonder how much the show will deviate from the source material. 

Flavors of Science Fiction RPGs

 For 2023 I decided to try and be more engaged with the blog. My goal right now is two posts a week, but maybe I can get back to the old days of 3-5 posts a week, who knows! I don't bother looking at the metrics on who's reading usually (this, as always, is about me setting a writing goal for myself to keep from getting rusty), but if you are reading I love to see your comments.

I am also serious about taking a break from D&D this year. I can't escape it entirely, since I have an active campaign meeting tonight,* but I can try and see if I can steer that sucker to a close (ideally sooner than later). I feel like I really need a break to refresh my creative output; I can tell when I am on autopilot with running D&D, and boy howdy am I ever on autopilot these days.....that doesn't mean we're not having fun, but I can earnestly count the number of times I've recycled the plot currently in use. The main satisfaction I get out of the game is from the storytelling and world building but 5E...it's super duper OK when it comes to tactical combat, but never quite feels as fun or interesting as either its immediate competition (Pathfinder 2E, which excels at interesting combat albeit within a rigidly balanced ecosystem), or literally any prior edition of D&D (especially 3.5 and --for better or worse-- 4E, both of which felt like there were some stakes in the fight). 

So I am keen on proposing science fiction as a medium for a while. For the Wednesday group it needs to have a few useful traits: 

1. Goal oriented; I think it helps on a work night if everyone has a direction to go rather than be too freeform;

2. Familiar turf; everyone needs to be on the same page with the setting and its themes;

3. Roll20 friendly; because while we have tried meeting in a live space, the only live game right now is also a D&D campaign, and I don't know how often we can meet because everyone keeps catching flu/mono/strep/COVID.

So the SF RPGs I have to pick from include:

Traveller 2E - a sort of all purpose toolkit, I never really thought about just how much of a toolkit Traveller was until recently, when comparing it to Star Trek Adventures and Alien RPG. At it's core, Traveller is about grizzled space travelers with mixed luck plying a trade of some sort in an incredibly old and populated/explored universe (whether that is the Imperium or not, its still what the tables tend to generate). If I stick to focused scenarios I can meet goal 1, I think most players in this group are familiar with it (2), and it's got a functional character sheet on Roll20 which is all this system really needs.

Star Trek Adventures - the stark contrast between STA and Traveller became clear when I realized that Star Trek, license aside, is an SF game about exploring a young future universe filled with unknowns, and exploring the human condition through analogy and comparison. It is the opposite of the old, crusty universe one might find in Traveller (though with the caveat that Traveller's 2300AD can probably stand in here). STA is also easy to run, and has Roll20 character sheet support, which is all it really needs. I haven't tried it out to see if the challenge dice are emulated, though. STA can easily fulfill item 1 above, as you can readily design goal oriented adventures for the setting. #2 is the problem, though....I know one or two of my players are in to Star Trek, but from conversations I've had I know some of the others are not so familiar with it; that is not to say that they haven't watched it, but a huge red flag for gaming in the Star Trek universe is when someone says, "Yes, as long as I can ignore that stupid Prime Directive." That's sort of like saying you'll play Star Wars as long as we remove Jedi from the game.....sure, you can do it, but then why not just run Traveller?

Alien RPG - this one is an easy system and provides some good Roll20 support, so check marks there. It's upside is the Alien RPG's campaign mode can allow for lengthy campaigns within the grim and gritty universe of the setting, but players know sooner or later something hideous and xenomorphic will disrupt the party. If everyone is in to the universe this usually poses no issues. Directed play (1) is definitely possible here, and sticking to cinematic gameplay makes it even easier, but I have no idea if the rest of my group is really that in to the Alien Universe like I am, so I will have to discuss with them in more detail. The downside of Alien is that it's got a tight and well defined sort of feel and style to it; you don't have a lot of creative freedom to do "non Alien-like things" in this universe, which is fine if everyone's on board....but it means that more creativity will be easier with Star Trek Adventures or Traveller.

Cypher System Stars are Fire - I ran a short campaign for the Saturday group last year, and decided that the Cypher System, while robust in genre emulation, works much better when I run it as a smorgasbord kitchen sink kind of experience, and its style of play was just not jelling for me like it had in other campaigns. I think it is a better system at a live table, and not as satisfying (for lots of reasons I can go into) at the virtual table. So...I've ruled this out for now. Can it do it? Totally; it lets you mesh wild settings and wild characters easily. Do I feel like using it for either game night anymore? Not in Roll20, right now. It's just not quite fitting what I need at the moment.

Mothership - I am sort of waiting with baited breath for the Boxed Set release, but also I plan on suggesting this for Saturday soon. That said.....it might be a good choice for Wednesaday night, actually. The game is about space horror, as Alien RPG is, but with limitless possibilities on how you want to mech it together; Mothership is a universe in which Alien, The Thing, Event Horizon, Pandorum and Dead Space could all be happening at the same time. The system is also perfectly capable of doing other stuff that doesn't involved being killed by space horrors, and last year some of my campaign elements focused on weird crime and cyberpunk stuff. The downside to Mothership: only 0E has Roll20 support at the moment, but on the plus side I have plenty of 0E modules lying around. Running goal-oriented stuff in Mothership is easy, and the only question lies with #2: is the group willing to play in a space dominated by scifi horror themes?

I've got other systems on consideration. The include les SF focused and more Cyberpunk experiences (Blade Runner, Cyberpunk Red), Esper Genesis (will feel better about running this if they ever release the third book; but my dwindling interest in 5E may also stifle interest here), GURPS Space (I'd love to do this but man, you need the right group to enjoy the right level of complexity for this particular brand of GURPS which really dives deep into a harder SF feel with lots of technical bits), Savage Worlds SF (will totally happen one day if they update the old SciFi Companion), and Coriolis (which I am still waiting for copies of, but looks promising).

Will broach the subject with the group tonight! I suspect Traveller will be the shoe-in, but who knows, I could be surprised. I might think about ways to run Traveller mechanically but use the aesthetic exploration/discovery/human condition focus of Star Trek as the theme. We'll see.  

*Which was a very fun campaign tonight, and I greatly enjoyed, so who knows when it will end LOL

Death Bat's Top Five RPG Products of 2020

 In this painfully irritating year we all had at least one form of entertainment that sustained our minds despite the convergence of the maelstrom that was 2020: gaming. And amongst gaming even tabletop gaming managed to survive, thanks to online virtual tabletop experiences! As such, since it is once again closing on the end of the year I thought I'd take a moment to highlight the best stuff I managed to snag and enjoy this year. The list this year almost suffers from too much good stuff to pick from, as a lot of really fine books for tabletop gaming came out this year:

#5: Pathfinder 2E Advanced Player's Guide

This tome contained much-needed additions to ancestry and class as well as three new classes and a ton of support material that provided a signficant bridge between the end-state of PF1E and the current state of PF2E. It's not that the core book was missing anything; rather, it's that 2E has that long haul to get to the same "useful content" state that 1E had already achieved. That said, the new material in the new APG was a great addition to the game. 

#4: Cypher System's The Stars Are Fire

The second expansion for Cypher System from the "Your Best Game Ever" Kickstarter was an amazing book, a comprehensive resource for running a range of SF genre games in the Cypher System. The approach taken breaks down genre necessities, tropes and expectations and handily outlines how to handle all of this in Cypher terms. 

#3: Traveller: Behind the Claw

The only thing better than a general purpose scifi toolkit is a dedicated campaign book focusing on prominent border sectors of Imperium Space: Deneb and the Spinward Marches, in the Traveller universe. This book is really referee-friendly, and provides an excellent resource for sandbox gaming in a region rife with potential conflict. Also, maybe it's just me, but this book was surprisingly fun to read and not as dry as some other Imperium setting books have been in the past.

#2: Arcana of the Ancients (5E)

This tome, along with it's two sister volumes Beneath the Monolith and Beasts of Flesh an Steel, comprise three volumes on introducing the high-science fantasy of Numenera to D&D 5E. The three books can collectively serve as direct campaign resources or the toolkits for a GM to do their own thing with the concept. The material meshes well while bringing distinctly Numenera/Cypher concepts to 5E, and if you've been intrigued at the world of Numenera but couldn't convince your players to try out the Cypher System then this resource is a sneaky way to get them in to it. Alternatively, it's a lush resource of additional building blocks for making decidedly non-Tolkienesque fantasy in 5E, too.

#1: Call of Cthulhu 7E: Malleus Monstrorum Volumes I and II

I've been using the PDFs to supplement Cthulhu for months now, but the print editions finally arrived in time for my Xmas present, so lucky me! This two volume set provides a fantastic full-color reinvention of the original 6th edition version of the same, but now with just more, more and even more Mythos goodness. An invaluable resource for Call of Cthulhu 7E keepers and a worthy set for any Mythos collector.

Honorable Mention #1: Alien RPG

Technically Alien RPG came out last year, but I acquired it at the beginning of this year (iirc) and it also released a Starter Set and a boxed campaign (Destroyer of Worlds) that only enhanced how good this game was at representing its source material. As a long time fan of the series (both through better and worse; the Alien franchise has had its fair share of stinkers) it is impressive to see how the Free League team tackled a reconciliation on the many and varied alternate and contradictory takes on alien Canon (and non canon), and managed to produce a game that feels like it might manage to surprise and entertain. 

Honorable Mention #2: Cypher System's Godforsaken

The only reason I felt like I couldn't include this is I haven't finished reading it yet, but it is already clear that Godforsaken does a fine job of escalating Cypher System into the realm of a full fantasy game, no doubt just in time for the upcoming revamp of Ptolus next year. I'll be using it soon for an actual Realms of Chirak campaign, too, as well as revamping my Ensaria campaign, which is a Cypher world I have run some campaigns in themed around the idea of a fantasy realm that is in fact a lost colony world.

Overall though, this was a pretty amazing year for new RPG books, despite the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn. Hopefully next year will be better for game developers and publishers alike, as well as gamers everywhere. 

Holiday Buying Guide Part II: Five Cool Gamer Gifts

It occured to me I'd better get another guide out on this since I did a "part 1" already.....time flies when you're working too much to keep on top of the fun stuff!

Here's Five cool gamer-related gifts you can consider if you need a last minute purchase. As I am a well-rounded gamer into a plethora of content, this list will reflect the gamut from video games to paper and pencil RPGs, but absolutely will not talk war or board games because for some reason I have just never been able to appreciate the subtleties of the genre. To be honest, some of these will look like no-brainers as suggestions coming from me; anyone who follows my blog or games with me knows my predilections...

Number Five: Disco Elysium (PC)

When I started playing this I was expecting another obtuse indie RPG which left me desperately wishing for something else, either more complex and realistic or more basic and down to earth.....indie RPGs are all too often extremly narrow in their taste range. Technically, Disco Elysium may have a narrow taste range, but this is by far the finest example of a well-thought out, excellently voice acted, graphically interesting RPG experience that is absolutely unlike anything you will have experienced. It has trace elements of other film, game and literary genres running through it, with your protagonist being a drunkard who may or may not remember being a cop while his inner demons literally hound him, to a deep, intense focus on a single region of a city in deep dystopian trouble. If you have ever watched Twin Peaks, read Blake Crouch, played Deadly Premonition and enjoyed it, then you owe it to yourself to pick up Disco Elysium. If you like complex and interesting character driven RPGs but will punch the monitor if it's yet another story of a sixteen year old blonde kid about to go on his world saving quest.....then you really need Disco Elysium, the ultimate palette cleanser.

Number Four: Alien RPG

I just got my physical copy of the core book, dice and GM screen, but this is a graphically amazing game, a true coffee table set piece for fans of the Alien movies as well as an actually decent RPG. As I told my gaming group: I now have a game which by default lets me tell the stories I normally hack into my Traveller games anyway, but with lots of excellent, visceral art and specific details of the setting's universe. I will write more about this soon, but an excellent book releasing late in the year and well worth hunting down.

Number Three: Astral Chain (Switch)

The only downside to Astral Chain is that it's a Switch exclusive, so if you don't have one then this is not going to be a useful gift suggestion. That said: if you have a Switch, or someone you are buying for has a Switch, and they don't have this game, then you simply can't go wrong. Astral Chain is a futuristic dystopian cyberpunk action title focused on a world in which a handful of trained agents with the ability to harness the powers of extradimensional beings that are invading Earth use that very power to fight the invaders. It's complex, interesting, has a compelling narrative and excellent mission structure and is just so hard to stop playing. Easily my favorite Switch game purchase this year, in a year absolutely crammed with good stuff.

Number Two: Cypher System Revised

This is my permanent go-to system now for multigenre gaming, really weird settings, pretty much any game with my son (who is much better at understanding this game than any of the D&D-alikes), and it's the only system I feel like running these days aside from Pathfinder 2nd edition. Go figure! The Kickstarted revised edition was well worth the asking price, and is fully retro-compatible with the first edition; this changes nothing, just adds lots of extra good stuff and aims for a reorganizational approach to Cypher that allows for a bit more design flex while still being ridiculously easy to get in to. The first major support setting "The Stars Are Fire" also now out, focusing on SF gaming in Cypher.

Number One: Pathfinder 2nd Edition

This has rapidly become my discerning preference for D&D-like gaming. Pathfinder's focus on refining the numeric shenanigans of its predecessors have led to an interesting level of depth, design and lethality that values my time as a GM, provides a wealth of options to the players, but still delivers hardcore on "adventuring is a dangerous business." Encounters can be rough, and we've had more deaths in PF2E than almost any other edition, but the encounters won felt actually earned. The game rewards strategic thinking in play, and while the character generation is robust it eschews the "hours spent min/maxing" headspace of PF1E in favor of getting down to the nitty gritty of doing things in actual play. And play is where it's at; my group can't stop playing PF2E, and we just can't get enough of it.

Alien RPG

Just in case it seemed odd I hadn't posted about this...yes, I am totally stoked that this is a thing that is happening. Check out the Alien RPG here, and see the video they put together below.


Alien - The Roleplaying Game Trailer from Free League on Vimeo.

I haven't preordered it (yet) but I plan to when I have a $100 lying about (and I'm not preparing to shell out a ton of cash to Paizo for Pathfinder 2.0). Still time before December!