Awareness is Fun too

I’ve touched on the concept of player awareness in passing before, but let’s go over some of this stuff again:

• A player who is aware, is one that practices active listening on the table, and considers his characters actions in relation to both the game, his interests, the story/plot and the other players.
• Awareness also requires a sense of empathy with the other players, including the GM.
• In being aware, a player learns to separate in-character knowledge from out of character knowledge and acts in accordance to what his character would know, without becoming a nuisance.
• Awareness eventually leads to a greater appreciation of the game as a whole.

I’ve run quite a few games, and I’ve had all sorts of players.  I’ve thankfully only had a few players that I’ve truly disliked and regretted ever inviting to the table, but that’s for another post.  Having had a chance to observe different people and how they play, and having tried to sit back and honestly assess how I play… here’s what I’ve noticed.

Players who have the qualities of awareness in game are a lot easier to run for.  I’ve had some players who insist on making loner characters that brood off in some dark corner until it’s time to kill something.  I’ve had other players who insist on twinking out the moment they get to character creation then complain if they haven’t seen any kind of combat in a non-combative game.  I’ve also had players who are more than happy to ham it up on their spotlight, but get annoyed when it’s time for the other players to have their time in the limelight.  I’ve also seen players who do perfectly well alone, but tune out immediately from the game, resulting in me having to recap the whole scenario when it’s his turn.

All of these have one thing in common: these players don’t care about what happens outside of their characters.  Everything must be focused on them, or else it doesn’t matter.  Needless to say, if you ever end up in a group that has all of these types together in a single table?  You’re in for a lot of headaches.

On the flipside, I’ve seen players who practice some form of awareness.  These are the players who pay attention to the game at hand in both the social meta level, and the in-game level.  Players like these will act in accordance to how their character will behave realistically, but will keep a close eye to the central question, “Is this going to be more fun for all of us in the long run?”

In asking yourself that question, you resolve a lot of issues.  “Is my loner ignoring the GM’s plot hooks?” “Is my character optimization and insistence on stockpiling weapons beginning to break the suspension of disbelief of the other players?” “Is my time in the spotlight really more important than others?” “Is it fair to the GM to be forced to give me all the details because I can’t be bothered to listen?”

You’d be surprised at how far a little bit of care can go when talking about RPGs.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of justifying your actions as “This is what my character would do.” but I feel that that kind of excuse has been overused as a cop out for disruptive play.

Roleplaying Games involve playing with other people.  If you take a step back and start considering that the GM is trying his best to tell a story with the players, and that other players are here to enjoy the game as well as you do, then things start to make sense.  You wouldn’t deliberately insult your host in a dinner party, so why would you turn around and insult the GM and the other players by being disruptive?

I know players are clever people.  I’ve been constantly blind-sided by incredibly well thought out solutions to situations I’ve come up with.  That being said, I don’t mind “losing” to the players in that sense, as it’s my job.  I’m not a GM because I want to “win”  I’m here to “lose” in the most satisfying way possible to the players.  (Take note that the satisfying way”doesn’t have to be easy way, mind you.)  I celebrate my player’s victories with them.

Perhaps that’s the source of this insight.  Having been both a GM and a player, I’ve learned to empathize with both.  Behind the GM screen, I work to make interesting games for everyone, incorporating their backstories and their expectations for every campaign into a story, just to make it feel that every character has a personal and compelling reason to be in the game.  As a player, I know that GM’s don’t have the easiest job, so I work with them, going along with plot hooks, and finding ways to involve other players so everyone gets their share of the limelight.  I try my best to cooperate with my fellow players, since I know that it’s not the GM’s job alone to provide the fun.

The GM is not a videogame console.  He’s a player in this cooperative game, and as such, it’s in my best interest, and the best interest of the group to work with him and the others to make a truly satisfying experience.  It’s the best way to make sure that everyone has fun.

Campaign Design: Cthulhutech Tagers

With the nMage game I’m playing in hitting the last few sessions, I’m slated to take over and run Cthulhutech for my gaming group.  As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve divided the group into 2 teams: Tagers (holy warriors bonded to alien symbiotes) and pilots of the fearsome Engel (Bio-engineered giant cyborgs made from bizzare genetic engineering.)  For this article, I’ll stick to my campaign design notes for the Tager games first, and I’ll follow up with the Engel for the next article.

Objective:

My primary objective is to run a mid-length campaign, focusing on the secret society and vigilante angle of the Eldritch Society.

Characters:

Player Characters will be part of a single cell of Tagers working under orders delivered from the high priest via the society’s cell structure.  Since this is a conspiracy, I’m letting my players start off with any character concept as a baseline, having some sort of mundane job or cover identity as necessary.  All I require is for them to have a fairly solid loyalty to the Eldritch Society and it’s mission to take down the Chrysalis Corporation and other secret threats to humanity that dwell in the shadows of the Arcologies.

Opposition:

Having given it a little thought, I’m leery of using the Chrysalis Corporation’s Dhoanoid monsters too much.  They’re interesting and dangerous opponents, but too many of them too often will dull their edge and make them less credible a threat.  As such, I’m taking a deliberate step away from the Monster of the Week formula, and working on it from a Business Conspiracy angle.  If I was a Middle Manager for Chrysalis Corporation, what would I be involved in?  Where would the players be able to intercept if something was wrong, and what kind of opposition could they reasonably face?

In addition, I’m planning to add a few of the game’s cults as opponents as well.  I’m certain that more than a few groups would much rather welcome their Cthulhoid masters from inside the cities, summoning various monsters or enacting their own personal plans for petty revenge or personal power.

On the rival angle, I’m certain NEG’s intelligence agencies have their own team of investigators, that rely on logic, tech and maybe a little bit of magic to track down threats from within.  Being a secret conspiracy themselves, the Tagers will have to skirt around the edges, since getting the government’s attention is hardly a way to retain their freedom to act as their objectives dictate.

Internal Issues:

I also want this game to focus on internal issues for the characters as well.  While all the action and cool freaky powers are nice, I’ll be putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that being a Tager is downright unnatural, and having a symbiote fused onto your soul is freaky.  Tagers have to roll for insanity every month for a reason, after all.  I also want to stress the setting in all the ways it could be shown… how people spend every day as if it were their last, or hole up and just hope that they die a painless death, or fight back, relying on courage and the minute spark of hope that their efforts are not in vain.

Other Considerations:

Memorable fights.  The Tagers are a great way of empowering players, and I don’t want it to be stuck with boring fights.  I’m considering multiple sets for fights, that may or may not see use on the table, but it’ll be good to write them down just in case:

• On the top floor of a corporate headquarters, with breakable furniture, marble pillars, and windows you can throw opponents out of.
• In or on top of a mag-lev train.
• In an operational steel processing plant, dodging molten metal, using steam to your advantage, or just ripping out the railing of a walkway as a weapon.
• In an abandoned building, rotting floorboards, limited visibility and collapsed hallways
• Inside a mine, complete with cave-ins, tremors and maybe a fight on a giant drilling machine
• A church, with pews and statues of saints as destructible terrain, and high ceilings and balconies as a second level of combat.
• The vertical side of a massive Chrysalis corporation building, made possible by Tagers having the ability to cling to surfaces.
• Inside a police station, with civilians running about, and police officers with guns.
• A Building on fire.
• A chemical plant with corrosive acids, and various instrumentation and tools.
• Inside a Dhoanoid Breeding facility, with rows of Dhoanoids in progress floating about, and some being awoken to join the fight.

These are just some ideas off the top of my head, and I’m looking them over while I review the rules just so I can align my game accordingly.  Some of my players will be viewing the blog so I’m avoiding any sort of plot spoilers.  Besides, most of my character plots will revolve heavily on the backstories they give me, so if you guys are reading this, go for a backstory that will give you the most bang for your buck in terms of character motivation.

Trouble = Fun

Moving away from the negativity of the last post, let’s move on to what players can do to help make the game more enjoyable for both themselves, and the other people around the table.

In some ways, the fun factor in an RPG tends to ramp up with the more connections you draw between your character to the other people in the game, in both the NPC and Player Character variety.  By being well connected, your character becomes more entrenched in the story, and as a consequence, almost anything the GM throws at anyone will affect you in some way.

Some people might not necessarily see this as a good thing.  I’ve met a few players whose characters are living in a sphere of isolation.  Parents?  Dead.  Siblings? None. Friends?  Non-existent until needed for info or gear.  Rivals?  None.  Work?  Never addressed in the gaming table, but written somewhere in the character sheet.  Love life?  Zip.

I strongly suspect that players who make characters like these have had bad experiences with the GM somehow mangling their NPCs to get instant drama, to the point that they’ve been conditioned to think that any form of emotional bond is potential for blackmail.  While I won’t deny that relatives and friends in danger make for a powerful emotional tools for GMs, as a player, I don’t mind this as long as it’s not done constantly.  (The exception to this of course is if you buy your NPCs as dependents in the HERO system, and make them constantly need rescuing like Lois Lane).

But I digress…  my first point is that connections are good, because as a player, I know that my character will have something at stake.  There’s a compelling reason to pick up your father’s sword and go to war when you know that your brother fell to the enemy in battle.  Jack Bauer wouldn’t be half the hero he was in 24 if his family, friends and country didn’t mean anything to him.

I also noticed that the same players that dislike having any form of personal connections that could be used against them are the same ones that prefer rpgs as a one sided power fantasy.  While wish fulfillment is fun, I can’t help but wonder if they’ll ever tire of moving through every obstacle without anything resembling difficulty.  I’m a big fan of high powered fantasy like Exalted, but even then the Exalts of any variety deserve to be challenged, otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a game.  Even diceless systems have some means of actually putting in conflict of one sort or another.

—-

Taking all of this from the GM’s perspective, I’ll be perfectly honest and admit that running for characters who fall under these categories is pretty damn difficult.  This is primarily due to having no plot hooks.   Kind of like trying to somehow eat soup with chopsticks under the rule that you’re not allowed to touch the bowl.  It’s possible in the long run, but it’s frustrating, tiresome and most of the time the GM will just give up.

Don’t be afraid to play a character with weaknesses and relationships.  They will give greater impact to whatever conflict will happen in game, and you’ll feel a greater sense of achievement when you triumph over these odds.  I hope I can speak for many GMs when I say that I’m going to treat your contacts and weaknesses with respect, using them wisely and appropriately without going overboard to cripple your character all the time.

Who knows, you might just like it.

A GM’s Burden

An incident last gaming night is still fresh in my mind, and for all the right reasons.

We were still in Rick’s Mage: the Awakening Investigation game when an issue came up regarding a sudden change in a critical plot point the GM was gunning for because the player decided to shift a few enchantments around with regards to NPCs between games, and emailed his character to the GM, assuming that if the GM doesn’t raise any issues, then it’s okayed.

Needless to say, there was a great deal of confusion as the GM asked when this was implemented, and the player replied that it was all in the email.  The GM then replies that he can’t be expected to read through all the Character sheets in every excruciating detail, especially since he’s still trying to read up on all the Mage books to study the system, and has a full time job.  It would have been nice to be told of what changes were being done, rather than just be sent a sheet and left alone to puzzle out just what had been done to it.

Having been a GM as well, I know how Rick feels about this.  GMing isn’t easy, and there’s a reason why we can’t always be expected to have everything under our thumb.

Players have the liberty of having focus.  Their characters are the end all, and be all of a game.  It’s easy to twink a character.  If you have access to more books, then you don’t read it for anything else but the new powers, merits, skills or gear.  Then you cherry pick your stuff and off you go!

GMs don’t have that option.  We have to juggle planning, plot progression, character development, opponents, logistics, flavor, little tiny rules that crop up now and then, and then maybe, just maybe look at the player’s character sheets.

I think there’s been a slight disconnect when it comes to expectations in the gaming table.  GMs expect to trust players to stick to their characters, and not enact significant changes without informing them.  A few surprises now and then are fine, but when it comes to switching critical plot points around, please inform the GM.

Also, downtime between games is not a magical time where one can do as many actions as one wants with extended rolls for successes based on averages.  Make your rolls on the table, where everyone can see them.  Especially when performing enchantments.  The GM decides what factors will affect the roll, and he will tally the successes with you.

A character requires sleep and can only make so many rolls per hour, and has other things to do like sleep and go to work.  Using myself as a benchmark, if I had work, and sleep I’d have 5 hours tops, assuming I lived alone, didn’t socialize, never needed to commute, didn’t shower and nobody calls me at home.  If I put all of those other factors in I’m stuck with 3 hours of free time.  Not a lot, but a reasonable estimate of just how much a person could dedicate to making an enchantment, or construct a gadget if he was working with a full time job.

Work with the GMs.  As Rick said, we don’t get paid to do this.  We put hours into planning a game for the group’s enjoyment, so cut us some slack.  Our only reward is a fun game, preferably with a good story, and maybe, just maybe one of the players will tell us that they had a great deal of fun and they’d like to play again.

Wedding Bells

One of my closest friends is getting hitched this Sunday.  Congratulations, Glenn!

But this being a gaming blog, let’s examine weddings in the context of RPGS.  It’s funny how something that exists as a large part in society doesn’t seem to be lived up all that much in rpgs.  In all of the games I’ve played in or ran for, I’m the only guy who has actually played a married man in a healthy, loving relationship.  It might not be a big factor in play, but it does affect how a character thinks.  Married life isn’t always about yourself after all.

So how does it work out in play?  Well taking a cue from my current character in the Mage: the Awakening Investigation Campaign I’m playing in, it does tend to color my character’s decisions.  My girlfriend is playing the character mine is married to, and they tend to consult with each other on the big decisions.  My character, Ethan, is a very introverted and quiet individual who tends to surprise people whenever he starts acting up in his wife’s defense or interests.  Both of them also try their best to lead normal lives outside of being Mages, teaching in a university and otherwise trying to work around the trials and tribulations of being newlyweds.

It might not seem like so much of an impact, but most of the stuff that happens is primarily internal.  Ethan is more willing to take risks in his wife’s defense, and may actually cross certain lines if she is threatened.  He’s not normally a violent man, but will initiate violence if Eliza is put in any danger whatsoever.  He takes his responsibility as a husband seriously, and is secretly excited over the fact that she has been recently told by a medical professional that she is actually pregnant.

The fact that Rick, my GM for this game reads this cannot bode well when our turn comes around…

Anyway, It’s a refreshing change from being the otherwise non-committed single character.  Being married in game is one way to add a lot more depth to the characters you play, and forces you to make some interesting choices in terms of priorities.  Not to mention it’s ripe GM fodder, when he starts throwing Moral Quandaries your way.

Mage: the Awakening and Complexity in an RPG

Despite being a guy who prefers to run World of Darkness (old and new, though the new version has been showing me tricks that have left me quite impressed), I’ve never really shied away from a complex RPG system.  I’ve actually read and GMed HERO System 5th Edition, which is admittedly not as difficult as people make it out to be.

Having established that, a friend and I got into a discussion on the complexity of Mage: the Awakening’s magic system.  I’ve always loved Mage, in both the old and new versions, and having had the chance to really sit down next to my copy with a notebook and a pen by my side and apply some good old college level elbow grease to get it all into my head, I’m pretty pleased with it.

I’m not going to lie and say that it’s simple.  The spellcasting route has a lot of tiny conditional rules, and I’m pretty sure that my preliminary notes missed a few spots.  But just so people can see what I’m talking about here’s what I drafted for Instant Spellcasting in M:tA, Extended Casting is similar but I’d rather not bore you with that.

Instant Spellcasting Checklist:

0) Declare the spell being cast, and Determine Base Dice Pool (in Rote Description, or Gnosis+Arcana if improvised)

1)  Check Max # of active spells = Gnosis+3

2)  Check Mana Costs:
+1 for Sympathetic
+1 for Non-ruling Improvised
+1 per Aggravated Damage
Mana expenditure per turn = Gnosis

3)  Assemble Dice Pool
+2 dice for using High Speech, requires 1 turn
-1 die for every spell on mage above the mage’s Stamina

3a) If Sympathetic, apply penalties:
-0  Sensory
-2  Intimate
-4  Known
-6  Acquainted
-8  Encountered
-10 Described
If the Target’s True Name is unknown, increase Sympathy penalty by two degrees
-1 per dot of Fame or Occultation target has

4)  Apply Target’s Defenses:
Contested: Resistance Attribute + Power Stat
Automated: Subtract Resistance Attribute
Aimed: Subtract Defense
Countermagic: Dispel Magic; Magic Shields; counterspell
Friendly Target: None

5)  Apply Additional Spell Factors, if Any
-2 per extra point of Potency
-2 per x2 Targets
-2 per +10 Size
-2 per x2 extra Radius or Volume
-2 per additional step of Duration

6)  Assemble Paradox dice pool (if vulgar or improbable)
+1 Accumulative; each paradox roll after first
-1 Using a rote
-1 Using a magical Tool
+2 Sleeper Witness
-1 per Mana spent to mitigate Paradox

7)  GM Rolls Paradox dice
a) Each success reduces Spellcasting Dice Pool by 1
b) Number of successes determine type of paradox
1 = Havoc
2 = Bedlam
3 = Anomaly
4 = Branding
5+ = Manifestation
c) May take successes as backlash instead.

8)  Make the Spellcasting Roll
Other Bonuses that apply:
Willpower +3 Dice
Rote Specialties +1 die when using a Rote utilizing the Rote Specialty skill

Cute, ain’t it?

Before we go cross-eyed over the number of steps and tiny considerations, let’s go and look at the purpose of all of the above.  I’m a firm believer that Rules in an RPG exist for a purpose within the game.  Sometimes, looking at the rules gives the reader a hint as to the agenda of the writers.  I’m not saying though that it’s not possible to subvert this agenda (as many a munchkin will do), but merely that the rules serve more than just tell you how a feat is resolved, but if you squint and hold your head to one side just right, you can make out what the rules are trying to say about the world.

Back in the days of Mage: the Ascension, the spellcasting rules could be summed up to:

1. Player wants his character to do this spell, using this Sphere or Spheres of Magic.
2. GM thinks about it, then asks how the character plans to cast the spell in the context of his Paradigm (or magical style.)  This is sometimes and optional step if it’s painfully obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people will try to justify being able to fly when their magical style is Voodoo.  And no, making a Voodoo Doll of yourself and hurling it in the air won’t get you more than a few seconds of airtime, Mr. Smartypants.
3. Player comes up with a wild explanation of how his paradigm justifies the spell.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 a couple of times until the player starts getting annoyed or the GM gives up on paradigm
5. GM comes up with a difficulty value for the roll, based on how difficult he feels the spell should be.
6. Player rolls for his character and succeeds or fails accordingly.

As you can see, it’s a far cry from the earlier example.  So what does this tell us?  Well, old Mage was really about being able to work any kind of magic as long as you believe in it hard enough (within the context of how your belief was couched, hence Paradigm).  New Mage decided to ditch that in favor of a universal paradigm that will justify your magic without the debate, but focuses more on how magic should be quantified.

Old mage had a few rules as to how many targets you could hit with a spell and all, but new Mage explicitly spells it out, and provides penalties and bonuses accordingly.  New Mage is more complex, admittedly, but it is also more stable.  It’s slightly more resistant to GM fiat, and player fast talk.

Ultimately, I like the complexity.  I like the Rules.  They’re labor-intensive at times, but it’s also more stable.  As a GM I usually do most of the back end data processing anyway and I’m comfortable with that.

Cthulhutech – Dealing with the Genre Mash

Back to the topic of mixing Genres.

After receiving my wonderful Christmas gift of Cthulhutech, I found myself thinking of campaign ideas.  Having decided to split the gaming group into 2 teams, I’m now looking into the basic setting of Cthulhutech and trying to wrangle the 2 primary genres into place in my head.

On one hand we have your classic Lovecraft-inspired horror, involving things that Man Was Not Meant To Know, and crossing those with things that Man Cannot Possibly Comprehend, resulting in a form of semi-helplessness as players struggle to delay the inevitable demise of the world from the Great Old Ones.  Now, before people get on my case on this being “unfun”, I’ll step up and say that this isn’t about the GM lording it over the players, but rather about the common man duking it out against things that by all means should be unstoppable, and somehow winning, at great cost to himself.  There is fun in that, I assure you, unless you’re the type who can’t handle the concept of a hard won victory without getting pouty.

The other side of Cthulhutech is the cyberpunk sensibility of it’s Urban setting.  Arcologies and advanced technologies exist, but with the shadow of the Great Old Ones and an Extinction Level Event looming just around the corner, there’s a certain amount of hopelessness common to cyberpunk fiction around.  Normally, one would think that since mankind has mechs, giant monsters would be in trouble, as evidenced in countless Giant Robot Anime.  I think I’ll steer away from that kind of Anime sensibility for this one though, and while mecha and new technologies are helpful in keeping the enemy at bay, it’s not a winning solution.

So what is it that I really want from my Cthulhutech campaign?  Well, for the purpose of this post, I’ll stick to the Tager game first. (if you’re wondering what Tagers are, think Cthulhu does Guyver…)

Theme: What price do you pay for vigilance?

Mood: Conspiracy, Deception

Okay, looking at the basic setting, Tagers are part of a secret organization known as the Edritch Society.  Tagers are essentially people who have undergone a sacred rite of union with a symbiotic entity from beyond this dimension.  No one knows exactly how the symbiotes bond, only that they “choose” their hosts, killing the unworthy in the ritual and leaving only those that they find desirable to their alien reasoning to bond with.  Once bonded, the participants of the ritual are now capable of calling upon these symbiotes, which then manifest as an organic “armor” that wraps around them and turns them into horrific monsters with the hearts of men.   The ritual is sanity blasting, and only the strongest willed usually manage to make it that far.

The reason why members of the Eldritch Society go to such lengths is revealed with the primary antagonists, a corporation which breeds it’s own monsters, dedicated to destroying the New Earth Government from the inside.  While the military fights of the Cthulhoid monstrosities that threaten the Arcologies where mankind tries to eke out a living, this Chrysalid Corporation is the festering cancer that uses it’s influence and monsters in secret to corrupt and destroy from within.  The Government is not totally blind to the idea that there are monsters inside the cities, but they don’t know the extent of it’s corruption.  Only the Tagers know of this, and they know that it falls to them to root out this corruption.

That took longer to explain than I thought.

Anyway, with that bit of setting history tucked away, I started looking for ways to incorporate a little more horror into the setting.  First would most likely come from the characters themselves.  What kind of person could willingly submit themselves to the whims of alien entities that they can not even hope to understand?  You’d have to have some kind of overwhelming reason to risk it… it’s not quite like being a suicide bomber where death is definite, but you’re playing russian roulette with something that doesn’t even think like a human being.

Next is the idea of being bonded to this… thing.  It’s nothing as easily dismissed as bodily modification, the symbiotes are monstrous, and bloodthirsty, and their thoughts and emotions project themselves into your mind.  While a Tager may pass a complete medical examination, the symbiote is lodged securely into your soul.  Just what kind of bargain did you make to give up part of your soul to get the power that you wield?

That being said, there’s a lot of horror to be gleaned from the antagonists themselves.  Chrysalid Corporation is huge.  It’s a conglomerate of multiple companies who manufacture necessities to the war torn arcologies.  That being said, there are some employees, officers, and even special teams there that are really monsters wearing the form of people.  Dhoanoids, as they’re known, are covertly calling the shots, making sure that humanity is firmly under their control.  Some Dhoanoids don’t even know what they are until the corporation decides to unleash them and force them to shift to their true forms.

I’m looking at a fair amount of combat in this game, given that the Tagers are holy warriors, but I’m also pushing for more cyberpunk-ish espionage, as the Tagers are almost always outnumbered, even if they are stronger than the average Dhoanoid.  Add the fact that the government sees the Tager’s divine forms to be monsters, we’ll have Tagers trying to keep a low profile to avoid the law or the military.  Tager or not, a rocket launcher isn’t a joke.

That’s what I’ve got so far… nothing too specific yet, but at least I’ve got a firm idea of just how much combat I want, the themes I want to explore, and elements I’ll bring into play.  Investigation and wetworks will play a big role in the game, as knowing your enemy becomes as important as knowing how to fight when the shit hits the fan.  My default GMing style will ask a few personal questions with the characters now and then, just to keep a measure of introspection going on, and I will pull a few moral quandaries for shits and giggles.

Happy New Year

I know it’s a late post, but hey, it’s been a busy January.

I’ve always believed in making sure that even if I do indulge in escapism, Real Life takes precedence. That said, I’m just glad to be gaming again. The group took a gaming holiday over the past few weeks, and have just recently gotten back into the groove of the Mage: the Awakening Investigation campaign again. Things are looking good, and I’m enjoying my time as a player immensely.

That being said, my GM brain is already starting to come alive thanks to my Girlfriend’s fantastic Christmas Gift to me: A copy of Wildfire’s Cthulhutech. I haven’t had a chance to read through it in full, but just visiting the Cthulhutech Website is more than enough to get me pumped.

On that note, I’ve been reviewing my old Call of Cthulhu experiences (having played partly through the excellent Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign,) and I’m curious how I’ll have to merge cyberpunk stylings with old fashioned Lovecraftian horror. So far the ideas that I’m looking at would probably include:

Themes of Isolation, Dehumanization and Helplessness. Cyberpunk has always had that gritty street level edge to it, but in a slightly different twist, instead of railing against the monolithic corporate machine (which will still be present), there’s now the addition of railing against Mankind’s Inevitable Doom ™, as H.P. Lovecraft loves to style things. I’m following the authors of the Cthulhutech RPG and smashing that sort of overall mood with characters that refuse to give up hope. Anime exemplifies this kind of character and situation, with a small team of dedicated individuals who fight the big fight even if they know that their chances of winning are slim. Neon Genesis Evangelion’s pilots fight because they must… for identity, for recognition, or simply because they don’t see any way out of the hole their in.

Looks like my GM vacation is going to be shorter than I thought.