Campaign Idea: Mage: the Awakening – WW2

One of the interesting thing that happens whenever I let go of the reins as GM for the gaming group is that I become more receptive to little campaign ideas that seem to sprout out from nowhere.  I suppose in being a player, I’m freeing up valuable GM mindshare that would otherwise be preoccupied thinking of what the next session will bring.  Not wanting to waste these little flashes of insight and inspiration, I figure I might as well write these down before they fade away.

Mage: the Awakening
Historical Setting: WW2

Set in World War 2, a cabal of mages from the Allied Forces has been hastily assembled for a single purpose:  to infiltrate deep within enemy lines and stop the occult influences of the Thule Society from aiding the Nazi war effort.  Pulp-era Weird Science, supernatural forces and a host of Nazi soldiers stand in their way.   Prometheans, Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, and a host of other things will show up.

Primary Inspirations:
Company of Heroes, Hellboy (and also BPRD 1946), Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, Valkyria Chronicles

Themes and Moods:
The horrors of war, Ideological conflict, Patriotism, Dehumanizing the enemy, Things that man was not meant to know, Camaraderie, Hope in the face of overwhelming odds.

Character Guidelines:
Standard Mage: the Awakening character creation + 75 experience points
Diamond Order Mages Only, no Free Council Characters
Change “Computers” to “Systems Operations”
Hallow, Sanctuary and Library Merits are all not allowed on Character Creation
Artifacts must be GM approved

Sample Character Concepts:

• Undercover Spy
• Freedom Fighter
• Supersoldier
• Wheelman
• Occult Researcher
• Defector

—-

And there you have it.  I’m still going to have to look and read up on the historical timelines of the war and cross reference them with the histories and rumors surrounding the Thule Society in popular fiction to come up with the campaign in general, but that’s the basic setup.  While there will be lean times in the game where players will find their characters in unfavorable situation, I’ll make sure to put in substantial period of rest, when the cavalry rolls in, and the team gets a leave now and then to rest, and maybe enjoy the hopsitality of the places they’ve liberated.

As with all my games, character development is a goal as well, so there will be plenty of opportunities to pursue romantic subplots, thrilling adventure and a host of other things.  I’m not certain if it’ll take with my players, but it’s still a decent campaign setup, I think.

Why I like Previews and Quickstarts

Being in the Philippines, means that my only real access to the world of new releases in the RPG scene is via the internet. That said, all the pretty graphics and flashy websites won’t really sell me on a game until I get to see the thinking behind it.

If one is to consider the fact that I’d be plunking down a good 10% of my monthly salary to buy a single corebook, I’d like to at least know what I’m going to be paying for. As such, I have nothing but good things to say about companies that publish excerpts, previews and even designer diaries for games that they’ll be releasing.

Not only is it good Marketing sense, but it tells me, the consumer, that the product is something you’re proud about and are willing to show us just why it’s that good.  I might not necessarily end up liking the preview and get turned off by your game, but I’ll still consider the company trustworthy.

A great example of an excellent preview would be that from Fantasy Flight Games’ upcoming Rogue Trader roleplaying game based off the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.  In their site they have an ongoing column revolving around their design choices and a design diary going into the themes, elements and even some previews of the rules and art of the game.  I love this approach because it allows me to take the game from the point of view of the creators and see just what they were going for, and the kinds of games they envision their players running.

It’s this kind of up front information that I like.  Quickstarts go one step further by not only giving a sizeable chunk of information, they even give you a sample of the mechanics.  I’ll have to admit that as a GM I can be picky with the mechanics, especially if they don’t “feel” right.  That said GURPS Lite has always been a perfect example of how Quickstarts can be a great “gateway game” to getting a group together.

I consider the internet a godsend for this hobby.  Back in my earliest days of gaming I would look at grainy black and white photos of game books and read short blurbs about what they’re about on fading newsprint paper catalogs, wondering at whether or not it would be a good idea to get them, or be crushed by buyer’s remorse.  Now I can pull up a website, drop a few questions in a game’s forum and get a clear idea of what a game is, allowing me to make an informed purchase, and one that will yield successive purchases in the future.

The Elusive Philippine Gamer

It’s funny how difficult it is to find other Philippine Gamers who play Tabletop RPGs.

When I started this blog a few years back, it was meant to be a quiet spot where I could touch bases with other Philippine Gamers who either played, or were interested in playing RPGs.  Over the course of this blog’s existence, I have to admit that while I have had the fortune to run into a contact or two, it troubles me that the whole Roleplaying Game Scene in the country has gotten even more quiet.

With the arrival of the 4th edition of D&D I thought there would be an upswing, but instead, we got the standard bickering of the changing of the guard with 3.5 adherents decrying 4e as heresy, and generally slapping 4e down whenever they try to get a word in edgewise.  It’s nWoD all over again. (and yes, any mention of most nWoD titles get slapped down by rabid aherents as well… even until now.)

Add the fact that the local distribution chain for Wizards of the Coast locally has dropped the ball, getting in the 4e books months after release, in addition to casually forgetting that they owe pre-ordered copies to the people who have put down their hard earned money to get it first.

It’s a pitiable situation here in the Philippines when I have to look outside my local hobby stores to buy my books.  I want to get more people to trying these games, but with the lack of anything even remotely resembling a decent distribution system here, it will be beyond the reach of most young gamers… the same demographic that the hobby needs to survive.

I can’t help but feel just a little annoyed.  I can join a thousand conventions here and run a million games and get countless young people excited to run a game.  But none of that will matter if not a single one of these new would-be gamers can find a way to get the books and the dice.

Poor infrastructure, poor availability and poor information.  No wonder then that the Philippine Gamer remains so damn elusive.

My Villains are Social Dynamics Puzzles.

After reading up on Ravyn’s latest “Ask GV: Staying Self-Justified in Villainy” article over at the excellent Exchange of Realities blog, I’ve gotten to thinking a little bit about the Villains I run for my campaigns.

One of the fun parts of playing a villain is making one that has the same dogged determination as the heroes.  They’re relentless, resourceful and won’t think twice about taking advantage of any weakness in foresight or logic that the heroes may have made.  Maybe this is why I like playing villains whose scale of power matches the heroes rather than overshadowing them.

Villains of similar strengths have to rely on other methods to gain an advantage, and risk failing the same way that players do, making it so that I can actually tell my players that I gave them a fair fight.  The downside of this method, of course is the fact that players may eventually accuse me of cheating if I don’t tell them any salient facts that they may have missed during their investigations, or that they’ve made some crucial assumptions that have led them to make wrong choices in the game.

I’ve spoken before of how important it is to trust the GM.  I guess it’s time for me again to stress the fact that as a GM, I won’t do anything that is clearly cheating the player.  I won’t retroactively perform preparations to plans that the players are making up.  I won’t suddenly buff the bad guy’s stats just because the players are kicking his ass in the first round…

but turnabout is fair play, so if the players discover that they’ve been separated and ambushed by a force that could reasonably be mobilized, don’t cry foul.  Trust me when I tell you that they’ve all been foreshadowed, and prepared for using the same amount of in-game time and resources allotted to you.  While your barbarian is busy with ale and whores, the villain’s setting up this ambush.

In a way, I feel that I’ve been spoiled by my gaming group.  Most of these guys are aware of how I run games, and have trusted me long enough for me to be able to pull these kinds of stunts.  In any other team, I might have a player walk out on me in disgust the moment I start using their own oversights against them, saying that I’m being Antagonistic, but that’s rarely the case.  I just want to provide a sufficient challenge that isn’t just about CR values and levels.  I want players to really immerse themselves and think things through.

Perhaps the best description I can give when it comes to my brand of villain behavior and scenario manipulation is that of a Social Puzzle.  It’s not just what you can do with your sword arm, but who you know, who owes you, what you know about people, when you decide to act and how.

I think Sheimaruen, the GM of our current Hunter: the Vigil campaign will agree to this.  He once told me that when I do play, I play in the same way as I GM, I look at things as a massive social puzzle, and by isolating and manipulating facts, people and events to my favor, I get more done than I normally would alone.

Player Note-Taking Strategy

I like taking notes.

It’s a habit that was drilled into me at school and sealed when I entered the working world.  That said, I think most of my gaming group will agree that it’s almost par for the course to see me scribbling down something and filling up the back of my character sheet with little diagrams, names, odd notations and arrows all over the place linking them together.  That said, these notes have been life-savers for many a character, and I’d like to take some time to describe how I usually sort out my notes, in case you guys are interested in my methodology and want to pick up a trick or two.

That said, I usually divide my character sheet into various sections.  I don’t usually have an official structure to set, but these are the rough divisions I have:

1. Significant NPCS – This is a listing of names and designations of NPCs we’ve met, encountered or heard of.  These are usually short notations “Khandar Rukh, Met him in Township of Ayelis, Mercenary of the Red Company; see Extended action 3″ What this tells me is the name of the guy, where we met him, what he does, and what we plan to do with him in section 3.
2. Things my character knows – These don’t necessarily involve NPCs, and notations here are more of the informative nature.  “Orcs are afraid of fire?!  Investigate further, may be used to our advantage.” or “We’ve been betrayed, we don’t know who’se responsible, but we need to double-check our contacts and enemies.”
3. Ongoing extended actions – This is a listing of the long-term plans in the game that are executed throughout multiple sessions, usually broken down into steps.  “Establish Alliance with Elves by:
   1. Contacting the Elven Heralds
   2. Present our Case that the Orcs are a Common Threat
   3. Negotiate Terms of the Alliance (watch out for assassins!)
      
   4. Seal the Deal and Report back to the King.”
4. Power Diagrams – I like to label groups and then draw diagrams of how they’re related to each other.  I can’t really put one up at the moment, but the whole “Conspiracy A is a power behind the Throne B, and faction C is trying to dislodge them without the use of a popular revolt since they want to keep B as their own puppet.” is right on the money.
   
5. Questions for the GM at end of session - There are times when I need something clarified, or when something clicks in my head but I can’t just interrupt another player’s scene.  Sometimes these are rules oversights that we missed, or rulings that I’d like to contest, or even plot points. “Ask Rvelasco if the following info in 2. are enough to build a strong case against the traitor.”
6. Plot Points to follow up on the next session - This is usually a summary of plot points left hanging at the end of the session.  Most of the time this is a distillation of all the information above.
   1. Traitor is still on the loose, we need to catch him.
   2. Elves trust us, but we need a show of faith to secure the Alliance.
   3. We found that orcish handprint in the carnage, is this related to our attempts to meet up with the Elves?
   4. Just who is The Black Rider working for?

By being able to organize these notes, I get a listing of NPCs that I can contact and possibly manipulate or win to my cause, a bunch of clues to be used when putting together the plot, my long term actions are tracked, any rules clarifications noted, and enough fodder for actions on the next session.

I hope this has been useful to you guys, and that you’ll try to put your own notes together like this and see how it makes your job of being a participant in the game a lot easier… while giving you a greater appreciation for the GM’s plots.