The first batch of characters are done. 70 XP is a really good amount for three of them, so I think I'll be keeping it at a 210 pool to be divided among the characters.
There's really no telling how long it's going to take to run through the campaign. And, after that, I plan to ship it around to some isolated testing groups (you know who you are). So, there will be a follow-up post with the results.
One step I forgot- making really professional looking printouts for the whole shebang. Right now I'm keeping data written down on scrap paper, which isn't the classiest way to go about things.
The desert holds many secrets.
April 5, 2013
April 4, 2013
Finishing Sunburn - 4/5
10:30
Got back to my roots, watched Pitch Black. Wanted to set the mood.
12:40
Currently working the numbers, trying to make it balanced. Definitely put this off for too long.
1:01
Hell is having a nice sheet all worked up, and no printer to use.
Thinking the first group will have three people: A fighter, a survivalist/pack mule, and a medic/techie.
1:15
A 20-80 range of HP sounds pretty good, as does a 10-30 range of AP. Think I'll go with this for now.
1:30
Got stuff done on the player side- now to work the maps. Oh joy.
Survival is definitely going to let players cross the desert faster- GPS can only predict so many things when there's twisters that can pick up a tank.
Starting the group off with 210 XP total to split between them. We'll see how long the balance works.
Tomorrow:
Print maps, play.
Got back to my roots, watched Pitch Black. Wanted to set the mood.
12:40
Currently working the numbers, trying to make it balanced. Definitely put this off for too long.
1:01
Hell is having a nice sheet all worked up, and no printer to use.
Thinking the first group will have three people: A fighter, a survivalist/pack mule, and a medic/techie.
1:15
A 20-80 range of HP sounds pretty good, as does a 10-30 range of AP. Think I'll go with this for now.
1:30
Got stuff done on the player side- now to work the maps. Oh joy.
Survival is definitely going to let players cross the desert faster- GPS can only predict so many things when there's twisters that can pick up a tank.
Starting the group off with 210 XP total to split between them. We'll see how long the balance works.
Tomorrow:
Print maps, play.
April 3, 2013
A Short Story
I promised a reader I'd put up one of my stories. It's also a good distraction from all the Sunburning.
And, guys, have you listened to any of Peter Gabriel's music? I just found it, and I think I'm addicted.
~
What Really Matters
By Mark Hermanson
The two samurai stand, swords drawn. Their shoguns have been at war for years, and this battle was supposed to end the feud. The men have slain dozens, then dueled for hours.
Smoke billows from wrecked palisades and towers on one side. Gakuya raises his sword at the other. “You will know defeat at my hands today, I promise!”
Seigo adjusts his helmet, and wearily raises his katana. “You have no honor- nor do your cuts have any depth!”
In the dead distance, over the corpses of formations, crowds gather. Civilians watch as Gakuya, their last champion, defends their way of life. Seigo’s armies have sworn to not fight in this battle, for honor. The fate of the land will be decided here.
Seigo takes up a stance among the bodies, his feet planted firmly on tramped ground. “This is pointless, Gakuya. So many have died. Let’s stop the bloodshed, and tell our shoguns this must be resolved some other way.” His voice trembles with the weight of recent events, having slain without compassion.
Gakuya is wobbling slightly, the weight of his sword making his hands shake. “This ends here. It is the way of samurai to finish the battle in glory.”
“There is no glory in death. Let us live, and revel with our families in an honorable victory over all this carnage.” Seigo also chose to save his soldiers from whatever Gakuya’s master had waiting at the castle.
“I suppose that makes sense, Seigo. Very well.” Gakuya sheathed his sword, took off his helmet, and drops to one knee.
Seigo does likewise, out of respect. His arm is bloodied from fighting Gakuya for hours, and torrents of arrows beating on him.
The two samurai kneel, swords sheathed. Their shoguns are desperate for victory, and this battle will declare a victor.
Seigo grins, despite the twisted bodies of his master’s men around him.
Gakuya raises an eyebrow. “Is something funny? I thought war was an honorable thing, without laughter or cajolery.”
Seigo chuckles slightly. “We are at rest. Please, come over here, I must tell you.”
“I am standing within a spear’s reach. You can tell me.”
“I don’t want my men to hear this, they have the ears of eagles.”
This confused Gakuya. But he obliged his fellow warrior, hoping to be diplomatic, just as the shogun is.
“Here, could you help me with my arm?” Seigo tore a sleeve off his armor, and exposed the cuts of Gakuya’s sword to the sun. The wounds were many and shallow.
The defending samurai obliged him, and began to tie fresh bandages around the gashes. He took a moment to admire his handiwork, as he was not humble in all ways.
Seigo waited until both of Gakuya’s hands were tying the knot, then reached to his sword. His foolish enemy was so engrossed with healing, he forgot to be a real samurai, full of glory and war! He slashed into the enemy with his sword, and drew much blood. His shogun would be pleased.
Gakuya fell to the ground, and clutched his chest. “So this is how we honorless pigs die?” His voice rasped from his throat, and his eyes looked into a blackened sky.
Seigo laughed, holding his arms out far to his side and slightly above his head. “We? Clearly you are mistaken, I stand victorious, my actions washed in history by the water of glory and fortune!”
Gakuya smiled as his death drew near. “Did you notice I never cut you deeply?”
Seigo dropped his arms, puzzled. “I noticed- I barely needed armor to defend against your soft, feminine strikes.”
“This morning, I covered my blade in the poisons of the fugu fish.” Gakuya looked serene as he died among the bodies of his compatriots. “I knew you would want to impress your shogun by dueling me, and that you would soil your honor. I am taking your honorless soul into the afterlife with mine, and making the land a better place.”
Seigo felt his heart slow down. He felt a coldness come over him, an evil spirit in his body.
The two samurai lie, swords on their chests. Their shoguns died honorless, slain by their own courtiers. The battle is over, and so is the war. But legends tell of a day, just after the cherry trees bloom, when two ghost swordsmen can be seen fighting for the honor of a proper death.
And, guys, have you listened to any of Peter Gabriel's music? I just found it, and I think I'm addicted.
~
What Really Matters
By Mark Hermanson
The two samurai stand, swords drawn. Their shoguns have been at war for years, and this battle was supposed to end the feud. The men have slain dozens, then dueled for hours.
Smoke billows from wrecked palisades and towers on one side. Gakuya raises his sword at the other. “You will know defeat at my hands today, I promise!”
Seigo adjusts his helmet, and wearily raises his katana. “You have no honor- nor do your cuts have any depth!”
In the dead distance, over the corpses of formations, crowds gather. Civilians watch as Gakuya, their last champion, defends their way of life. Seigo’s armies have sworn to not fight in this battle, for honor. The fate of the land will be decided here.
Seigo takes up a stance among the bodies, his feet planted firmly on tramped ground. “This is pointless, Gakuya. So many have died. Let’s stop the bloodshed, and tell our shoguns this must be resolved some other way.” His voice trembles with the weight of recent events, having slain without compassion.
Gakuya is wobbling slightly, the weight of his sword making his hands shake. “This ends here. It is the way of samurai to finish the battle in glory.”
“There is no glory in death. Let us live, and revel with our families in an honorable victory over all this carnage.” Seigo also chose to save his soldiers from whatever Gakuya’s master had waiting at the castle.
“I suppose that makes sense, Seigo. Very well.” Gakuya sheathed his sword, took off his helmet, and drops to one knee.
Seigo does likewise, out of respect. His arm is bloodied from fighting Gakuya for hours, and torrents of arrows beating on him.
The two samurai kneel, swords sheathed. Their shoguns are desperate for victory, and this battle will declare a victor.
Seigo grins, despite the twisted bodies of his master’s men around him.
Gakuya raises an eyebrow. “Is something funny? I thought war was an honorable thing, without laughter or cajolery.”
Seigo chuckles slightly. “We are at rest. Please, come over here, I must tell you.”
“I am standing within a spear’s reach. You can tell me.”
“I don’t want my men to hear this, they have the ears of eagles.”
This confused Gakuya. But he obliged his fellow warrior, hoping to be diplomatic, just as the shogun is.
“Here, could you help me with my arm?” Seigo tore a sleeve off his armor, and exposed the cuts of Gakuya’s sword to the sun. The wounds were many and shallow.
The defending samurai obliged him, and began to tie fresh bandages around the gashes. He took a moment to admire his handiwork, as he was not humble in all ways.
Seigo waited until both of Gakuya’s hands were tying the knot, then reached to his sword. His foolish enemy was so engrossed with healing, he forgot to be a real samurai, full of glory and war! He slashed into the enemy with his sword, and drew much blood. His shogun would be pleased.
Gakuya fell to the ground, and clutched his chest. “So this is how we honorless pigs die?” His voice rasped from his throat, and his eyes looked into a blackened sky.
Seigo laughed, holding his arms out far to his side and slightly above his head. “We? Clearly you are mistaken, I stand victorious, my actions washed in history by the water of glory and fortune!”
Gakuya smiled as his death drew near. “Did you notice I never cut you deeply?”
Seigo dropped his arms, puzzled. “I noticed- I barely needed armor to defend against your soft, feminine strikes.”
“This morning, I covered my blade in the poisons of the fugu fish.” Gakuya looked serene as he died among the bodies of his compatriots. “I knew you would want to impress your shogun by dueling me, and that you would soil your honor. I am taking your honorless soul into the afterlife with mine, and making the land a better place.”
Seigo felt his heart slow down. He felt a coldness come over him, an evil spirit in his body.
The two samurai lie, swords on their chests. Their shoguns died honorless, slain by their own courtiers. The battle is over, and so is the war. But legends tell of a day, just after the cherry trees bloom, when two ghost swordsmen can be seen fighting for the honor of a proper death.
Finishing Sunburn - 3/5
Maps are done, populated, and fine-tuned, at least slightly.
No real way to differentiate between what weapons enemies have, but how hard can it be? Far ones have battle rifles, nearer ones have machine guns, even closer ones have ARs or pistols, and the ones right next to elevators have knives. Kid's stuff.
I wound up putting a lot of containers inside the bunkers. For one, I feel like a bunker in a desert needs to be supplied with things like guns, ammo, and water. For two, the players need a reprieve for going commando.
Also noticed a large prevalence of computers. Oh no! I might have to make the Education skill worth two shits. A certain few are more important than others, but they'll all have a purpose. It's all tactical, is what I'm try to do. I just found out now that the EE is going to have a cover mechanic. Who knew!?
So, good times all around. Tomorrow is the first round of character creation, and blundering my way through the campaign. It should be reasonably epic.
The desert does not love, and it does not hate.
No real way to differentiate between what weapons enemies have, but how hard can it be? Far ones have battle rifles, nearer ones have machine guns, even closer ones have ARs or pistols, and the ones right next to elevators have knives. Kid's stuff.
I wound up putting a lot of containers inside the bunkers. For one, I feel like a bunker in a desert needs to be supplied with things like guns, ammo, and water. For two, the players need a reprieve for going commando.
Also noticed a large prevalence of computers. Oh no! I might have to make the Education skill worth two shits. A certain few are more important than others, but they'll all have a purpose. It's all tactical, is what I'm try to do. I just found out now that the EE is going to have a cover mechanic. Who knew!?
So, good times all around. Tomorrow is the first round of character creation, and blundering my way through the campaign. It should be reasonably epic.
The desert does not love, and it does not hate.
Finishing Sunburn - 2/5
Gah, procrastinated Tuesday. Dammit!
Today (Wednesday), I'll be adding enemy populations and making sure the EE isn't totally broken. Probably some character creation for the Thursday and Friday play-through.
~
One idea I had was for player characters to have manifest destinies. The session before the end, I'll have them write up what they want to happen to their characters. So, I can jury-rig the plot of the campaign to put them in those positions, respectively.
I'm pretty sure Grognardia actually inspired this one. The idea being that after they hit epic level... well, it's no more fun, because the PCs are nearly god-like in power. But, the actual idea was that the characters retire, and inhabit the world they've helped change.
I thought it would be a good touch for players (most likely at the end of Spectrum) to be able to retire their characters. Now, not necessarily retire like we do, but have a "manifest destiny" of sorts. Most likely settling, or wandering any of the worlds made available to them. This idea is still rolling around in my head, so it'll take a while to perfect. I just thought it was a cool idea- and isn't that what really matters?
Today (Wednesday), I'll be adding enemy populations and making sure the EE isn't totally broken. Probably some character creation for the Thursday and Friday play-through.
~
One idea I had was for player characters to have manifest destinies. The session before the end, I'll have them write up what they want to happen to their characters. So, I can jury-rig the plot of the campaign to put them in those positions, respectively.
I'm pretty sure Grognardia actually inspired this one. The idea being that after they hit epic level... well, it's no more fun, because the PCs are nearly god-like in power. But, the actual idea was that the characters retire, and inhabit the world they've helped change.
I thought it would be a good touch for players (most likely at the end of Spectrum) to be able to retire their characters. Now, not necessarily retire like we do, but have a "manifest destiny" of sorts. Most likely settling, or wandering any of the worlds made available to them. This idea is still rolling around in my head, so it'll take a while to perfect. I just thought it was a cool idea- and isn't that what really matters?
April 1, 2013
Finishing Sunburn - 1/5
I'm going to finish Sunburn by the end of this week. This is the first part of a journal to document its completion.
I've finished the interior maps. Tomorrow I'll add population, and the 3 days after are dedicated to testing.
Now, little updates (less than 140 characters, even) don't make for very good content. Neither do apologies about updates. So, I'll try to give some forecasts about future content.
For example, I came up with an idea for how to finish RP and RPG campaigns. First, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j-W7bOV54
I like how Fallout, at the end of a game, tells the player how their actions have affected the world they played through. That clip wasn't even from the main game- that one goes on for about ten minutes. But, it's a really nice touch for the players to be able to reminisce about all they did.
I decided to take it one step further- I'd let the players read it. I'll hand out a little notecard, one for each prominent event, and let them take turns reading them. Then, I'd read the last one. It sounds like it could be really epic, or faceplant completely. Depends how much energy they have. We'll see.
I'm Mark, and I'm a guy. I do things.
I've finished the interior maps. Tomorrow I'll add population, and the 3 days after are dedicated to testing.
Now, little updates (less than 140 characters, even) don't make for very good content. Neither do apologies about updates. So, I'll try to give some forecasts about future content.
For example, I came up with an idea for how to finish RP and RPG campaigns. First, watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j-W7bOV54
I like how Fallout, at the end of a game, tells the player how their actions have affected the world they played through. That clip wasn't even from the main game- that one goes on for about ten minutes. But, it's a really nice touch for the players to be able to reminisce about all they did.
I decided to take it one step further- I'd let the players read it. I'll hand out a little notecard, one for each prominent event, and let them take turns reading them. Then, I'd read the last one. It sounds like it could be really epic, or faceplant completely. Depends how much energy they have. We'll see.
I'm Mark, and I'm a guy. I do things.
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