- 0:29 - Brennan is joined this month by special guest co-host, Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games. They kick off the show with the new products list.
- Kobold Quartery Magazines #4, #7, #9
- Zobeck Gazetteer
- Kobold Guide to Game Design, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
- Esoterror Fact Book
- It's Complicated: Online Play Edition
- A Penny For My Thoughts
- Poisoncraft for D&D 4E: The Codex Venenorum
- Ninja-To Go: A Ninja Burger Bored Game
- 5:30 - The Shadow of Yesterday, by CRN Games, is a fantasy game focusing on people and individuals, and the sorts of stories they produce.
- 14:34 - Wolfgang Baur talks with Brennan about his work with Open Design and Kobold Quarterly.
- 23:38 - Jason & Brennan talk about what's going on At Our Tables, discussing emotionally-intense play.
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
- 0:29 - What's new on IPR this month?
- Tales of the Seven Dogs Society (for Alethea)
- API Demon Codex: Lochs (for Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.)
- This Favored Land (for Wild Talents)
- 3:39 - 3:16: Carnage Among the Stars, from Box Ninja Games, is more than a little Starship Troopers-esque.
- 13:54 - John Harper, designer of Agon, talks about some short design experiments (GHOST/ECHO, The Mustang, Lady Blackbird) he's released recently.
- 21:32 - In At Our Tables, Paul and Brennan talk about character advancement and changes to the world, inspired by Brennan's current Spirit of the Century game. Other games they're playing include:
- 30:09 - And in the shameless plug portion of the program, Paul is excited that A Penny For My Thoughts will finally be released this summer.
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
http://www.galileogames.com/mortal-coil/
The file is in the Download section. This contains all the changes. I didn't include sections that exist in first edition that were rewritten for clarity in the Revised edition, only the new info. Where there is a conflict in the rules, use the information in the supplement.
- 0:29 - As usual, Brennan shares with us what's new on IPR.
- 5:31 - Suitors, by Firestorm Ink, is a trick-taking card game about romance.
- 9:32 - Chad Underkoffler talks about his newest game from Evil Hat Productions, Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies
- 18:03 - Finally, Paul & Brennan talk about what's going on At Our Tables, discussing the desire for long-term campaign play.
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
In the first story, none of the characters had a name. The main character is just "a man." As soon as I stopped trying to give the characters names, the stories suddenly became much easier to write and I've already knocked out two and got a good start on the third.
I just find it interesting that this little detail was the difference between me being able to write these easily and having a massive writing block.
- 0:29 - Thanks to some accidential omissions at the Dreamation show, this month Brennan gives us a downpour of news.
- Adventures Into Darkness, available for HERO System, M&M Superlink, Truth & Justice
- Under My Skin
- Thousand Suns: Transmissions from Piper
- Shadows Over Filmland (preorder)
- The Witch Doctor Player Class for D&D 4E
- Shrouded Agendas 4E: The Purifiers
- Dragon
- My Monster
- Tombstones n' Tumbleweeds
- New Gods of Mankind
- Dirty Deutsch
- Bounty Head Bebop
- Bounty Head Bebop: Ghost in the Machine
- Montsegur 1244
- Mortal Coil Revised (preorder)
- Mist-Robed Gate
- Jaws of the Six Serpents
- 7:11 - Mist-Robed Gate, by Two Scooters Press, is a wuxia-themed game involving a knife that's about emotional violence.
- 16:06 - Mark Reed, from Heroic Journey Publising talks about their new game, Bounty Head Bebop
- 22:34 - Lastly, Paul and Brennan combine Pravda and At Our Tables into one segment, talking about playing games with kids
- Dunegons & Dragons Fourth Edition
- Mouse Guard
- Spirit of the Century
- Primetime Adventures
- Montsegur 1244
- Annalise: Eternal Tears PDF Edition
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
( Art below the cut... )
The post in question was very critical of a newish game on IPR: Summerland. Summerland is a freshman effort from a new game designer, Greg Saunders. It's a cool game with a very interesting theme. Post-apocalyptic, but in this case the apocalypse is the natural world overgrowing cities and human works, and transforming most humans into an animal-like feral state. Players take the role of survivors, but a particular kind of survivor. Only some people are able to travel into this wildness and not be overcome and transform. These select individuals serve an invaluable purpose, traveling between the remaining communities and delivering trade supplies and messages.
Overall, a cool concept. I personally think it is well-executed and the system is worth looking at. Obviously, I thought it was good enough to be included in IPR's lineup, and I still think so.
All that said, sure, the game is far from perfect. As I mentioned, this is Greg's first game. Like a lot of first-time game designers, Greg had feedback from his peers, but did most of the work himself. I'd personally quibble with his body text font choice, it's a bit hard to read. Greg probably laid out the book himself and has no formal training in layout design.
He also has no formal training in game design. Pretty much no one in the tabletop game industry has formal game design training because there really isn't any to be had. We are all self-taught. That means that any game designer's first effort is going to be far from perfect. It may even have some serious flaws. I know I've been accused of picking people's pockets by selling an unfinished game, and that was my third published game. I learn more each time, and I think I've got some good game design chops now. Mortal Coil Revised is far superior to Mortal Coil, and How We Came to Live Here is my best design yet. The more I practice, the better I get, just like any endeavor.
What I'm calling for in this post is a certain understanding of this process. As a consumer, you don't want to buy a flawed or inferior product, and you are justified in being angry when you do. Just keep in mind that if you buying the first game from a new designer, you are not likely getting a fully polished, slick and professional work. You are getting a game designer's first effort. It could be brilliant, but the designer will always be improving. Pay attention when you make a purchase to the designer's previous record, and give the designer a bit of a break on the first game (or couple of games) out of the gate.
http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcar
( Click to See Artwork )
On another note, check out the How We Came to Live Here Facebook page.
- 0:30 - Paul and Brennan are back with another episode, recorded at Dreamation. As always, Brennan kicks off with what's new on the site.
- 3:24 It's Complicated, by Two Scooters Press, is a guided narrative game about dysfunctional people and their relationships.
- 10:00 Frederik Jensen visit Dreamation from Denmark, and takes some time to talk with Paul & Brennan about his structured freeform story game, Montsegur 1244.
- 16:38 In At Our Tables, Paul & Brennan talk about their play at Dreamation, with a good mix of published games and playtests.
- How We Came To Live Here
- Mortal Coil
- Tales of a Fisherman's Wife
- It's Complicated
- Montseqgr 1244
- carry. a game about war.
- Annalise: Eternal Tears
- 1st Quest
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
Dreamation 2009 was last weekend. I attended and administered the
I also got the chance to play two games over the weekend. The first, on Thursday night, was Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife by Julia Bond Ellingboe. This is definitely a fun game. It ran through quickly in about an hour and a half. We had a distinctly terrifying game, with some disturbing demons. One took the form of a drowned baby. It’s a fun little game, and I like that it runs through so quickly. It’s also nice and flexible with player count, adjusting from two to six players easily. Julia did a nice job here, and her hand-made copy of the game is gorgeous. Not yet available in published form as far as I know, but I will be picking up a copy when it is.
I also had the pleasure to play a quick game of Misery Bubblegum by Tony Lower-Basch. This is a great game. Tony’s cards are really nice looking, and it’s a quick-playing little game that uses the cards to guide brief role-playing scenes. It focuses on miscommunication and insecurity, perfect for a game meant to emulate high school relationships. Definitely worth watching, I can’t wait until I see it commercially available.
Of course, the highlight of Dreamation was getting to see, meet, and hang out with some truly awesome people. This con has turned into an off-season imperative for indie game designers, and indie game enthusiasts have the opportunity to hang around with an impressive list of designers. I consistently have some of my best gaming of the year here, and I encourage everyone who can to start coming.
Official game times and event numbers:
R173: Mortal Coil; "Tesla Coil" by Brennan Taylor. An INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED GAME from Galileo Games - Part of the Indie Games Explosion! The 5th Annual PanEuropan Fair of Marvels is about to take place, and Dr. Cornelius Attison plans to reveal his greatest invention of all, a mechanical man! Steampunk magic using the Mortal Coil system. Friday, 2:00PM - 6:00PM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun, Under 18 Requires Parental Clearance.
R197: How We Came to Live Here; "
R244: Duty & Honour; "The Guns of
R273: Spirit of the Century; "Spirit of the Musketeers" by Brennan Taylor. An INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED GAME from Evil Hat Productions - Part of the Indie Games Explosion! Jeannette Martineau has been kidnapped by the nefarious Marquis Du Briel, his goal a forced marriage! Can an unlikely band of heroes put a stop to his schemes and rescue the maid? Saturday, 8:00PM - 12:00AM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun, All Ages.
A preorder for the new edition, which will include a free PDF version, will be available on IPR very soon.
On a related note, only three entries for the Mortal Coil Actual Play contest so far! Take a look at the Actual Play thread for the game:
http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/foru
As a reminder, the prize is a sweet set of custom Mortal Coil poker chips. You still have time to enter! The contest is open until I have the actual books in hand.
Also, Mortal Coil fans should check out the Facebook page. I'll send out updates from that page once things get hopping.
The production design was absolutely fantastic. Probably the best stop-motion movie that's been created to date. Whether or not you've read the book, this is a worthwhile film to see.
There was, however, on major change made to the story that left a bitter taste in my mouth and prevents me from fully endorsing this adaptation. It involves the ending, so do not read this if you don't want spoilers.
( Massive Spoiler Alert... )
In response, I said you could do comedy, but there would definitely be strong dramatic elements. Thinking of an example, I mentioned Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog as an example of a comedy series loaded with drama. That did it, and everyone at the table jumped at the idea of doing our own version of wannabe villains in the Dr. Horrible universe, and we were brainstorming character ideas.
Last Friday, we played through the pilot, and it was a definite hit. Comedy actually works really well in PTA because of the free narration in conflict resolution. Because you can have anything happen as long as it fulfills the conflict stakes, you can make sure everything happens in a funny way. The whole group was roaring with laughter many times during the course of the pilot.
We got all of the characters introduced and started working on the overall themes of the series, which is definitely the function of a pilot. Not a lot of plot happened, but we saw the characters demonstrating their basic flaws and how small they think which drives a lot of the supervillain comedy.
Coming up with the villain concepts was a lot of fun. Nebulousmenace created a tank character known as the Obstacular Jersey Barrier.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
librisia made Miss Information, a disgruntled information architect who's goal is to disrupt and destroy all information, digital or analog. Our last player made Under Woman, a villainess obsessed with celebrity with her own agent. Her name originates from a misprinted business card. She goes by the name now because she can't afford to have them reprinted.The episode brought the characters together, showed them failing in several schemes and conflicts, and culminated in the characters' (successful) plot to steal 30 billion dollars from a stock exchange for 30 seconds. Their plan was to earn the interest off the money for those 30 seconds and then replace it, and everyone would just think it was a glitch. After they successfully completed the conflict, we did the math and realized that they had managed to score a princely $370 in their caper. Luckily, it was enough to buy Miss Information a new laptop, their ultimate goal.
Show notes:
- 0:29 - Brennan gives the low-down on what's new on IPR.
- 5:42 - Serial Homicide Unit, from Incarnadine Press, is a GM-less game about a serial killer's potential victims and their hopes.
- 13:16 - Brennan Taylor's better half, Krista White, talks with us about how to do research for games.
- 24:55 - In Pravda, Paul and Brennan discuss ending games.
- 29:46 - Finally, Brennan and Paul talk about what's going on at their tables.
Runtime: 37:58 / File size: 34.7M
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
To celebrate, I'm hosting a contest. Anyone who publicly posts about a game of Mortal Coil they have played and then links to it on the Mortal Coil forum or notifies me of the post (send an e-mail to madhatter at galileogamesdotcom) will be automatically entered. A random drawing will determine the winner. If you win, you get a custom set of Mortal Coil poker chips in four colors along with a sweet metal carrying case.
If you already posted about your game online, don't worry! You can just point to your old post and be entered into the contest.
Void where prohibited.
- 0:29 - Brennan starts the show off with what's new on the site.
- 4:42 - Reign, from Schröedinger's Cat Press, is a game of leaders and their companies on a strange, fantasy world.
- 15:14 - Nathan Paoletta, of Hamsterprophet Productions, sits down with us to talk about Annalise and issues with production.
- 24:27 - In Pravda, Paul and Brennan discuss the process their groups use to choose new campaigns.
- 31:30 - Since it's December, Brennan and Paul talk about not about what they're playing now, but on games they're looking forward to.
Runtime: 36:35 / File size: 33.5M
Find out more about these fine games and others at Indie Press Revolution. To comment on this podcast, visit The Voice of the Revolution forum or send us an email.
