Here's some gaming porn for all you RPG junkees. Zak asks interesting questions.
1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be? Ah, my players haven't found it yet - though it lives on Sir Betlowe's estate. A lake-filled cave at Betlowe quarry, the only source of building stone for the county, has caused the death of two peasants in the past five years. One was found floating in the lake, the flesh ground from the front of his body in a most gruesome way. The other had a large, smoking hole in her chest as if she'd been pierced with a giant's spear.
2. When was the last time you GMed? End of Sept, 2011. It was a good solid campaign of two years and about 40 sessions. I'm taking a break.
3. When was the last time you played? A couple weeks ago in the Hill Cantons.
4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to. I'm back in the saddle again starting Jan 28 for a Saturday night session. Here's the homebrew we're playing:
Amongst the craggy shores of the Serpent's Teeth hides the abandoned lair of a sorcerer from an elder race.
5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things? Try to remember what the heck I was just talking about.
6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play? Salads or nuts. That just sounds weird now that I write it down; but, its true.
7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting? Absolutely.
8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing? Deciding to jump through a glowing gate following a lone fighter in our group, figuring he'd need my help. I was playing a peasant farmer, so the only real help I could provide was holding the torch for him or clandestinely removing silver daggers from the crazy loot.
9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither? No. Our setting is light hearted; but, keeps a serious undertone to it all.
10. What do you do with goblins? They sell fruit.
11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)? Office politics.
12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now? The dice indicating that, in the heat of battle against the Earl of Bayeux, the player character literally lost his mind and fled mad from the field. His own earl was at his side. To make matters worse, the same player character also went mad at the last major battle literally when he faced the enemy Saxon king. That poor character was a psychic wreck, which the player admirably portrayed.
13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it? I just bought it.
14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator? I like the no-name amateur stuff at Deviant Art. The vast majority just doesn't fit; but, there are some real gems. I use a lot of abstract art and more evocative work rather than illustrative. This wiki chronicles a number of pieces that inspired our last campaign - or at least the first third of it until I just didn't have the energy to keep the journal going.
15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid? It has a few times. I've not done any horror sessions in the last 6 or 7 years, so its been a while - at least as far as I know. They've been freaked out lately, though.
16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever) Any time I run B2: Keep on the Borderlands. Probably my favorite was with my nephews. I played it too adult, I think; but, you could tell they were startled and into the adventure story. Next time I'd lighten the rules. On a side topic, I've look at the kiddie RPGs and the boys are too mature for those.
17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in? Lots of light. Big table. Giant white board and plenty of markers. Space to pace - I usually don't sit down when I referee.
18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be? I'm pretty two-dimensional when it comes to gaming. Hex and counter wargames on one hand, RPGs on the other. Variants on the wargames with little plastic pieces work well, too. So I'd have to go with Risk and Stormbringer.
19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be? Jack Vance. The designers at Avalon Hill.
20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table? Ones who like to throw out their own ideas and go with the hooks.
21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms? Office politics. Lots of it.
22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't? Yeah, one I want to write. That's for another post someday.
23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go? Not really. My wife a little bit. They're usually one sided and brief. The are also friends and family who read the title of my gaming posts and presumably stop reading.
1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be? Ah, my players haven't found it yet - though it lives on Sir Betlowe's estate. A lake-filled cave at Betlowe quarry, the only source of building stone for the county, has caused the death of two peasants in the past five years. One was found floating in the lake, the flesh ground from the front of his body in a most gruesome way. The other had a large, smoking hole in her chest as if she'd been pierced with a giant's spear.
2. When was the last time you GMed? End of Sept, 2011. It was a good solid campaign of two years and about 40 sessions. I'm taking a break.
3. When was the last time you played? A couple weeks ago in the Hill Cantons.
4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to. I'm back in the saddle again starting Jan 28 for a Saturday night session. Here's the homebrew we're playing:
Amongst the craggy shores of the Serpent's Teeth hides the abandoned lair of a sorcerer from an elder race.
5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things? Try to remember what the heck I was just talking about.
6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play? Salads or nuts. That just sounds weird now that I write it down; but, its true.
7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting? Absolutely.
8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing? Deciding to jump through a glowing gate following a lone fighter in our group, figuring he'd need my help. I was playing a peasant farmer, so the only real help I could provide was holding the torch for him or clandestinely removing silver daggers from the crazy loot.
9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither? No. Our setting is light hearted; but, keeps a serious undertone to it all.
10. What do you do with goblins? They sell fruit.
11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)? Office politics.
12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now? The dice indicating that, in the heat of battle against the Earl of Bayeux, the player character literally lost his mind and fled mad from the field. His own earl was at his side. To make matters worse, the same player character also went mad at the last major battle literally when he faced the enemy Saxon king. That poor character was a psychic wreck, which the player admirably portrayed.
13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it? I just bought it.
14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator? I like the no-name amateur stuff at Deviant Art. The vast majority just doesn't fit; but, there are some real gems. I use a lot of abstract art and more evocative work rather than illustrative. This wiki chronicles a number of pieces that inspired our last campaign - or at least the first third of it until I just didn't have the energy to keep the journal going.
15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid? It has a few times. I've not done any horror sessions in the last 6 or 7 years, so its been a while - at least as far as I know. They've been freaked out lately, though.
16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever) Any time I run B2: Keep on the Borderlands. Probably my favorite was with my nephews. I played it too adult, I think; but, you could tell they were startled and into the adventure story. Next time I'd lighten the rules. On a side topic, I've look at the kiddie RPGs and the boys are too mature for those.
17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in? Lots of light. Big table. Giant white board and plenty of markers. Space to pace - I usually don't sit down when I referee.
18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be? I'm pretty two-dimensional when it comes to gaming. Hex and counter wargames on one hand, RPGs on the other. Variants on the wargames with little plastic pieces work well, too. So I'd have to go with Risk and Stormbringer.
19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be? Jack Vance. The designers at Avalon Hill.
20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table? Ones who like to throw out their own ideas and go with the hooks.
21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms? Office politics. Lots of it.
22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't? Yeah, one I want to write. That's for another post someday.
23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go? Not really. My wife a little bit. They're usually one sided and brief. The are also friends and family who read the title of my gaming posts and presumably stop reading.
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