Fall of Constantinople Game I once Ran

This was before GURPS Mass Combat 4E and City Stats. One day I hope to write up a meticulously prepare campaign for this that can be used in a variety of game systems. One of the lessons I recently learned is that Sandbox is the way to go for some GMs. Once you have a good sandbox ready, preparing adventures is such a breeze. My idea of adventure modules have evolved to "Prepared Campaigns", those that have all the GM's work done for him. 

For a Game of the Scope of the First Crusade or the Reconquest, the preparation is laborious but worthwhile. What happens is that you research real-world locations and with Google Maps and the campaign material the players and GM are provided give the players POWER to shift the course of history and events. 

One of the Lessons I learned running the Fall of Constantinople was making historical figures come to life, even at the expense of some Historical Accuracy, was incredibly fun but too much work for one GM. After all the work was done, I realized that if it was prepared just the right way it had a lot of Replay Value OR it can be played as a "Plug-and-Play" with people who are familiar with GURPS mass combat, just going straight into the mass combat. 

The ability to just cast off some of the elements and run it purely as a wargame gives it a lot of replay appeal. There is also another way to go about this, and that is a Social Engineering Campaign and create a situation that will create many re-playable and different situations Social Battle Fields. 

One Job of anyone who will prepare such is to do all the crunching so that the GM only needs to cut-paste data and possibly fiddle with some of the numbers. Ideally everything is playable out of the Box, with a Flow Chart and Video of how to play accessible for immediate consumption. 

I also wish that if I make one, there is allowance for Mass Combat Cards and City Stats Cards for Holdings and Fiefs (either for Electronic or Face to Face play) so that the GM probably can just order a Print-on-demand of the cards and just give them to the players. 

Anyway, looking at how much work I did for preparing and the recent funds I have at my disposal, i've begun reconnecting with artists friends and editor/proofreaders for some services of such. Historical Plug-and-Play campaigns would be so awesome, particularly one that can satisfy myself in preparation comfort level. 

In the end, one needs to over-prepare a little bit to give people that confidence to run the game and the security that somewhere there is an answer to all those worries.

GMF S02 E02 Bloodied but Unbowed, After Action Report

I'm glad the team did very well,

• Cheng Dao, the Chaos mage and Online Blackmarket operator dealing with recreational drugs goes to his Shadow ISP to deal with harder drugs pushing into his territory
• Gangs: Sangre Sacramento (Blood Sacrament), Maskara de Muerte (Death Masks), Pintandos (Painted Men), Cuervos (The Ravens), Hermano de Diablo (Hell's brotherhood) etc. are all likely suspects. 
• Team is composed of Merle (The Hunter), Pieter (the Soldier), Fish (the Demo-man), Cheng Dao (The Chaos mage) and Jeni (the Lilim). Everyone else was reallocating resources and doing damage control so soon after the blow was struck last session. 
• They first Investigated the Ravens, and learn more about the territories and how things worked. Ravens and Cheng notice the entry of Krokodil Variant entering the market. Ravens say its comming from the west territories. They allege that the Death masks and Painted Men have been slaughtering tons of dogs, and behind the 40ft container truck filled dog bones and rotten carcasses. 
• The team decide next on dealing with the SS, they talk about ambushing but find it too difficult. Jenny, the social animal, decides to use a favor to ask Paolo the Confessor (of the Ravens) make introductions. These are done with messengers, and they have to wait for the messengers and the traffic to subside (it was 4pm, they get there at 8pm)
• The Territory of the SS is a Church that was converted into a fotress compound.  They manage to talk to Balathazar , who throws back the accusation of spreading the Krokodil... only for Balthazar to realize something too late when Gun fire erupts. Undead swarm the fortress and take out so many of the gangbangers. 
• The party manages to blow a hole and make their own way out but a mist stops them and shakes them (and the explosion gives them a hard time as well, deafening them). They continue to blow their way through to an exit while killing as many as they can. Again, killing and running away has seemed to work. 
• As they leave the fortress they notice a Large Container Semi with what Jeni notiices as Quijolo markings. They call for help, Tasha is rushing to pick them up as they run back to base... 
• The Heights is 45sqm but has a population of 5 million because of the Mega Slums, former housing complexes and warehousing prior to the 1990s economic collapse. Properties of the Bengsons, Villianuevas and HSS are prime if this human resource is to be harvested.    

the game ran long 7:10am to 10:40am but in my checklist of things to do I happen to meet most of the list: RP, Puzzle, investigation, action, everyone got to play with their toys lolz. I tried to maintain as much Information Asymetry as appropriate, simplified my explanations and resisted most urges to detail (which eats time). 

I have a major game to prep for in airsoft after this. lolz. 

GMF S02E01; Shadow Wars Session Summary

Well the shadow wars have begun and the team foiled a take over for the meantime. 

• The Prince was able to find out more about the threat. Discovering an conglomerate shaping up to start seizing and destabilizing other businesses (HSS assets are being targeted). This group is already taking their strongest ally, the Leorazons to their side.  
• Jeni spies on a discussion between SGC and Quijolo Group. Her report is not good; SGC are being strong armed to cut ties from HSS. After the party the Empress is not part of HSS character roster. 
• The Warehouse District Safe House goes dark. 
• Jakub Kovar is MIA
• Enemy Quarters were destroyed
• Speedy is seriously injured but is doing well
• The Counter Intelligence operation went south. But they were able to get some faces out of it. 
• The team took a beating, everyone gains 2CP and 2CP to give other Players. CP is awarded to the Players they can put them in any character they want on their roster. 

Gods and Monsters, GURPS Modern Fantasy S01E8

This pretty much wraps up the season, which began with one of the oldest tropes: damsel in distress and ends with the characters maturing.

In this episode the Pieter, Speedy and Merle were trying to drive back in flooded 3rd world city streets. Scenes inspired by Binondo and "old Manila", basically torrential rain at night battering down a city that has seen better days. Overcrowded and with poor drainage, the Tower's weaknesses as unleashed the creatures that it held within. Creatures that have taken the darkness and the flooded waterways to prey on the populace. 

Flooding, dangerous neighborhood (exacerbated by supernatural threats), darkness, stalled vehicles, and poor Telecommunications all contribute to a very dangerous situation for the party. Low on ammo and actually at half their FP (3 days with almost no sleep). 

The guys made their navigation and Speedy had to go on foot and with free running to scout ahead. This was pretty dangerous but, nothing too dangerous went after him except for one encounter near the  closest safe house (an old building).

Well the players played it smart and stayed in the car and forced they way through the obstacles. Three fast undead was running towards them, but Pieter rolled better than I expected taking them down before they got close despite the darkness penalties and the pouring rain (which I learned helps in aiming automatic shots since the rain gives makes the projectile visible). There was more creatures encountered, a minor diety (an bipedal elephant) fighting off the something sinister. They did the smart thing and kept running. 

They had a competent wheelman with them and it mattered a lot in this situation. They reached the safe house where they debriefed. Around here we continued the discussion about where they want to game to go. I got to use my maps, although only one of them was for encounter, the rest was problem solving and immersion. 

Next Session I need to have the primer out by wed, ideally on monday. 

Session 07 of GURPS Modern Fantasy

I don't want to set high expectations about how I run games lolz. So here is Session 07 of GURPS Modern Fantasy, a Kitchen Sink Game where serious to casual gamers can play and I'll try to accommodate everyone's taste.  

This game is very special, because its basically a game where I used DnD monsters (the Bodak, Ghouls, and Animated Statues) against the players with their depleted magazines and low energy levels. The players did something you won't find in a typical movie with undead: They Played Smart! 

Unlike a Horror Film, where fear should be telling the protagonists to RUN RUN RUN, but instead they (for many B-film flimsy reasons) do something stupid, the players ran ran RAN! I had like a ton of things prepped plus a whole Office Floor Encounter of a size that was about 120x150 hexes to play out some frustrations I have in the Kenyan mall incident. 

I was also using the Treasure Tables for loot, but since they did the smart thing the expedience is its own reward. 

Since this is the end of the first Arc- Everyone 2CP, and 4cp to give to the other players.   

Kitchen Sink and Game Balance

For the GM who wants variety but doesnt want to keep changing campaigns or give players a hard time, Kitchen Sink is the way to go. You will notice I use WW2 weapons for my baddies, cutting edge IT, i even have mecha (thanks to the Kuratas), and a lot of Dungeon Like terrain because Cargo Ship Converted Shantie Towns (inspired from India), Archologies (the Walled City of Hongkong), Massive Ghost Cities and Economic Zones (because of recent economic events), Near-Civil War like conditions with emerging markets being new fronteirs of money making and opportunity. 

It can be "Western", "Fantasy", Historical-ish, Modern Combat Sim, and i can draw from so many other inspirations and the players can make this anything they want. 

Game balance is not so hard to fix in GURPS because everything is so damn lethal, and situations are not just combat but exercises of Logistics and Problem Solving. The Covenant of Good Faith is there, and even players run out of their Best Weapons over time. So no problems. 

It brings me back to days when me and the guys would play ourselves but made-heroic and idealized. The 150pts is not a lot if you're used to Dungeon Fantasy of 250cp or Monster Hunters at 400cp... but its WAY more than the typical net points of real life people which is at 10-50cp. Its like What would you do if you had about 150 more points (since you have 50 points of disads to draw from). 

Preparing for More Games

Tedora or Mama Mary the pregen based on Jessica Pearson of Suits is my vehicle character since she has 9 allies that are 112cp-50disads-5quirks. These characters roll for availability or are just made available for new Players.

The idea behind her as a Pregen is to be able to play a big shot dealer character. So that the Game is not just about Combat, sometimes a Political character would be fun to play and a power trip.

her Crew

1. Faceman Lawyer, a romantic and machismo character. Has the typical fun RPing formula with his distracting Amorous escapades. In Combat he has basic guns skills that comes from the machismo circles he plays with (milsims, gun clubs, golf etc..)   Inspired by Bautista in Dexter. 
2. Personal Assistant Body Guard ex-Marine from a Local Martial Arts Family. Optimized for Striking and specialized grappling ability with skill adaption. 
3. Honey Trap, sister of the PA MA. Secretly a skilled grappler. Former Ms. Haven, moonlights as underwear model, and all the skills that makes a good Honey Trap. 
4. Old Retired Hacker. former legend during the cold war, retired in Haven and works as the systems security and all other Electronics Ops needs of a powerful lawfirm. Since there are many young hackers, I'd try an old school one. because of such, he is more hardware focused, which is great for a 3rd world country like Haven which doesnt have the Infra.  
5. Witch. Walda the voodoo witch that got tortured and escaped the Jackals finds shelter with Mama Mary. 
6. Wheelman. Since Tasha is Tedora's cousin, this makes her brother fit to be Mary's annoying but very competent wheelman and plain clothes informer. 
7. Analyst/Sleuth. former Army Intelligence (I learned in some third world countries their Army or Navy or Airforce houses their Intelligence agency, ex Philippines Naval Intelligence is the Intelligence Agency also of South East Asia because of the Archipelago nature of the neighbors) Inspired by Kalinda (goodwife) and Lena (Ray Donavan)
8. Professional Asshole Bulldog Right-hand Inspired by Ari Gold (Good Wife) & Eli Gold (Entourage), which are all inspired by Air Emanuel. 
9. Cleaner. Former Police Lieutenant. Specializes in tying up loose ends. Basically an Procedural an Methodical Criminal with Assassin abilities. Examples Mike Ehrmantraut of Breaking Bad.). 

Other than her the Prince of Bots, Osman's prodigy son is another character that would work very much with a player with a schedule problem. When ever he is not around: There is bad Reception. The prince of Bots aid Osman and the Party by giving a bunch of technical skills to their problem solving challenges.

GURPS 6 second combat rounds and 1d6 minute luls

I'll be doing some experiments for my upcoming game two weeks from now (oct 12). Basically reviewing the video and how the players did. I can objectively say the 1 to 1 second combat round is very biased against non-combatants.

Is it really sacrificing abstraction for simulation? I don't think so, not with what we now know about Attention, Perception, and the Human Mind**. to keep it short,

6 Second Turns.

Actions are pretty much like DnD, MgT, WH40k, SoIF, and all those combat systems with 6 seconds and 2-1 actions in a round. Take your pick. But this time instead of just firing off a round, you can spend 4 seconds doing an attack with all the bonuses possible.

1. You have 6 Seconds to spend on your turn. In this 6 seconds you can still do what you can do in a GURPS second, but you have to Condense it to a COURSE OF ACTION instead of Action. 
2. Declare (what is visible; Pm the GM in PvP) by Initiative (from lowest to highest), BUT Resolve the Actions According to the Initiative minus Amount of SECONDS used Course of Action. Assume remaining seconds in a Short Course of Action is done observing, coordinating and waiting etc.  GM typically sumarrizes the NPC group.  In Roll20 using the new Macro, the Player just input all their Speed -actions in second until it cycles back to the first person who acted then it is a new turn, the person who Resolves his action first reminds everyone its a new turn. 
1. The GM has a Second Initiative Chart, probably written down with everyone's Circumstantial speed. A simpler matter is just to have groups. Mooks First, average NPC vs PCs and, BBEG last.  
2. Macro
   @{selected|character_name}'s basic speed is [[@{selected|SPD}-?{Course of Action} &{tracker}]]
3. A Course of Action vs an Action. A Course of action is made up of multiple seconds. The more seconds in a CoA the Lower the SPD, and the later in the turn the action is resolved. 
4. On the Players Turn to Declare (prior to resolving) they must allocate all their Seconds. if they just spend 1 second waiting for X to trigger, they must declare how they spend the rest of the turn.
5. Wait Course of Action.  Characters who use Wait Course of Action, must declare the conditions of their trigger or what will they are anticipating, and the Course of Action they will react with.  
1. This allows a character to Interrupt or Coordinate with another character even if they don't have the same initiative. 
2. Wait and See. is a common Course of Action. When characters do this. I, the GM, will Double their Field of Vision in Roll20 since applying x2 to Light ( Per*3 (Fade)/Per (Light) ). I will switch things back to normal when the trigger occurs (or end of the turn if they spend all their time). Having the Observation Skill increase perception Range by +4 in Wait and See.   
3. Since Actions are resolved from the Shortest to the Longest, while declaring is actions (declaring what is visible)
6. 
   
7. All Extra Time goes to Talking, Concentrate, Passively Watching, Reloading, Moving, Etc...  

1d6 Minute Luls.

Every after 1d6+2 seconds of combat there will be a 1d6 minute lul where everyone can only perform mental actions. Best use of this is when everyone seems tired and itching to do more Non-combat actions. If they want to Role-play they can force a Lul. The time duration is just a guide, baddies may start shootinig by that time to give tension and a sense of urgency.

System Drawbacks

1. Every Second is an opportunity lost... or is it? First of I'm biased in favor of 6 seconds so take my Defense with a little salt. I think this the thinking that a Second is an opportunity is a munchkin problem more than a legitimate Simulations problem.
        Defense: That is a theory that assumes we can act on every second of opportunity, infact its our ability to concentrate and follow through a process means we do not have ADHD. The topic discussed in Google Scholar.  
2. It will Take Longer to resolve each second. Because there is more seconds means there is more things to do. This hinges that you believe Every Second is an Opportunity.
         Defense: Players just tell me what they are going to do, and In GOOD FAITH (I think this is part of the covenant between players and GMs), I will assume their character will perform it with optimal use of their Time and Abilities. Without this Good Faith, there can be no trust in the table, and with no trust then Everyone would have to declare every specific action you can possibly figure out ever turn. Now that's a difficult game to play.

System Strengths

1. It makes combat more about maneuvering more than exchanging Blows. Because you can do so much in one turn, but it can be countered, I hope the system will encourage more Maneuvering over exchanging blows. If Maneuvering is the focus, then even Non-Combat Characters will have a BIGGER contribution to combat as Support, Logistics, and Recon. If this ends up being a system that encourages maneuvering over exchange of blows I think this should be enough for other GURPS GMs to consider.
           Flaw: What about the Characters who just like Exchanging Blows, its practically bringing down the value of such a way of enjoying a game. It is a claim that Manuvering is more Tactical than Exchanging Blows second per second, the merits of the argument is purely subjective. 
2. More Natural Feeling Encounter length. Combats that are a Minute Long vs 10-30 seconds long. Just Build in the Noise and Wasted Seconds into the TURN. Simulationists IMO should not mind that there are wasted seconds. Think of it this way, when there is confusion and lack of information to act, you don't need to waste a turn saying DO NOTHING, Wait or Observe.
          FLAW: There is no definitive definition of what is a Natural Combat Flow or Length. Its more of a subjective statement.
3. More things can get done in 10-20minutes of Playing because we boiled away the wasted actions and do-nothings. The GM can assume in good faith characters use their "wasted" seconds observing and getting up to date of the situation. In One Second, your input for that second is really limited.
          FLAW: like above, all are speculative claims that need more hard evidence to prove. 
4. Its Easier to Learn. Just RP what you can do in 6 seconds vs 1 second. Getting stuff in a bag in gurps is 2d6 seconds! Not everyone gets into a situation where what they need is in their WEB web gear, holstered, etc.
         FLAW: relative difference is speculative and not definitive enough to be fact. Such pins an assumption on Attention Cycle Premise. 
5. Conversations as a Free Action makes more sense. NOW this is more realistic. One second conversations in GURPS is really stretching it. IMO, you cannot converse you can only Declare, because Conversation means you spend time LISTENING instead of Talking Simultaneously.     

**

• Understanding Human perception
• Philosophy of the Mind (if you want to abstract rules on Mental actions)
• Origins of the Human Mind
• How we Learn
• The Art of Critical Decision Making 

GURPS Modern Fantasy Session 06 Gungeon Combat

This Combat Filled Session went well. I think we got to cycle through about 20 seconds. Realistically thats not how long scenes take to happen. Players were mostly confused what is happening because I could not give them information beyond 1 second of comprehension.

I like the Noise in the decision making process of a Combat and a Game. Its in the Noise where maneuvers and cleverness can be seen. Deduction and Induction are more important in games where there is noise, and you need only give small pieces of information.

Lessons Learned: 
Keep the map Really Small 25x25 units vs the 120x150units I made. BUT use grid scale to 0.1.  I think a smaller JPG is going to help a lot. If I use a lower res and smaller byte sized map there would be less lag.

Multi-Task Multi-task! I noticed that since people have to input their actions, its time for another person to act and roll. I don't want the NPCs to eat up time, so I end up moving them while the players are declaring their actions and moving their tokens. Its saves time. Its 4 hours but the combat was about 3.5 hours. On the first half hour we went through 3 seconds with 5 players and 3 other badguys.

I want to give combats some Luls and times where people can re-evaluate. I have to think of a way that minutes of consciousness and activities (non combat activities) can happen.

I used the Temple of Elemental Evil's Temple as the Map and it was inside a 100story Skyscraper thats about 18,000sqm on its highest floor.

The thing about GURPS combat system is that if you watch the less combat guys, they have less things to do. The only way they can achieve more is through long actions with skills and concentration. I'm worried for the enjoyment of the non-combat characters because I had a player who was playing dark souls while playing the game.

I'm GM, i have the power to implement what will improve the experience of the players and can see where problems might arise in the future. So I should try, at some experiments, to work around those problems Trading off some things for greater enjoyment.

GURPS Modern Fantasy Session 06

+Matthew Williams and +jj123382 joins our band of "big damn heroes" in the latest session of GURPS Modern Fantasy. JJ plays Vash a streetwise thug working for Knuckles, who is friends with Matt, played by Matthew, who is a rescue professional and medic.

The game has its usually bugs, but we power through it to start more or less on time. I'm a bit rusty, and it shows a bit, some where near the 2nd hour my ability to cycle through the Turns gets buggy. I have to find a way to compensate for a 3-5 second lag for one of the players.

If you have an action, try to communicate the whole idea. Talk over me if you have to because the Lag I don't know if your waiting for me or you were just about to speak. When in doubt, type out your action with the /me in roll20.

Introducing new players into the arc is pretty challenging, because strangely it has to make sense even when the world and setting doesnt have to.

As usual, everyone gets 1cp, 2cp to give out to other players and 1cp for a Post about the session or 1cp for Backstory about your characters and how they intertwine till the next session.

GMing Notes

Ending with a Crunchy Combat Situation I guess is the best way in such an Open Game Style, this way I can build the Dungeon or Gun-geon the guys are going to be fighting in. I Love the Night and Darkness penalties, because its the best way to make full use of the Roll20 tools and to make a rather small area feel bigger.

I will allow for 6 second GURPS Turns, to resolve more significant actions per cycle of initiative. if I go by regular 1second turns things will be too slow and 6 second turns tend to fairly realistic in Decision Making Increments.

I hope the Roll20 Zoom toolbar works, cause its not been working the past month for me for all my games. Now that I'm GMing its going to be a BIG deal if it doesnt work.

Big Screen Helps Alot and so does having a fast Computer to have a better responsive feel. Love Modern Fantasy, since I can pull out Dungeon Material in a Modern Setting but Love also that people will have to play much smarter when GUNS are in play (smaller room for error).

Can't wait for the Game (of course I can I have about 4 dungeon maps to prep)

Castle Falkenstien after so many years

 Thanks Erich Lichnock, Arj Berenguer, Carl Michael E. Moullard, Rachel, Tobie Abad, and Rocky Sunico for playing; thank you to our GM Tobie for running Castle Falkenstein.

Castle Falkenstein was one of the first games I learned when I first met AEGIS. I was in an Opus Dei private school in my second year of High School when I was invited by Enrque Syquia who was a Teacher at the time. This is when I first met the legendary local grognards and saw RPing outside that of my friends, brothers, and myself. 

At 16-17 and awkward (1996-1997), I still remember most of what happened. There were GIRLS LoL! (not knowing the gender till only college) and other students my age (they were from the international school) and our Greenminds Clicked! To bad I didn't know how to make good connections and keep in-touch, or else I would have had a larger gaming network and won't be so game deprived. 

I first witnesses accents and character impersonation role-playing there, because as awkward teens we would describe and narrate in the Third Person instead of personalize the response with "I"s and "I will". 

Growing Older and aware of Fudge, Fate, narrative based mechanics I find the system so advance at the time I've come to appreciate and learned to tweak the game system to compensate for the faults. The game is easy prep, and using a Fate based mechanic where I don't anymore resolve a task if they meet the prerequisite ability instead focus on narrative control (Yes And/Yes But) the system would be easier to grasp for other learning strategies. 

I didn't understand it back when I was HS, but 17 years later I really now understand it. I used to play this in GURPS or run it like a DnD Game, but I get it more now. 

Tobie's GM skills are amazing, his improv and story telling is one of the best. His mastery of theater and writing side really shows in how effectively he can spin the story in a clean and unexpected direction. How cleanly he does it and foreshadow it, is what I find hard if not very hard since everyone had to relearn and learn the system and he had to push us to be more initiative-based. I admit I would have been lost playing to my character's personality if he did not make the effort to put the situation that clicked strongly to the motives. 

Offering Castle Falkenstein in the bunch of games I can potentially run. Will need a two week heads up.

1st time to play in years

Thanks +Tobie Abad for running Lacuna. It was a great game, and it feels great gaming after years of hiatus.  Both +Carl Michael Moullard and I have not played and a long time and it is great that we got to play with the master. It was a two hour game and things moved pretty fast for two players. 

We hope we can have more players and gamers run their games here next week.  

We are trying to re-cultivate gaming in the philippines, and have provided a venue to play, in one of the busiest places in metro manila - the philippine economic zone of eastwood city libis, one of the densest BPO areas in the Philippines.

This is the gaming area we made in our building in eastwood for tabletop players. we have another room so that the gamers can feel free to be a little louder and obnoxious as well as space for the wargamers and board gamers. The place is complete with a 24/7 cafeteria that services the agents with 1.25USD meals and a place for smokers.