Run Out the Guns Boys, It's Time for Rogue Trader!

All ahead full!

So, as my tens of regular readers know, my gaming group just finished up a long-term epic scale game that was a mash-up of Shadowrun, In Nomine, and Call of Cthulhu wherein we nuked Hastur and then went mad. Now, into the smoking breach in our schedule left by the nuke steps a new campaign called After the Gold Rush set in Fantasy Flight's Rogue Trader setting. Hilarity is about to ensue.

Friday Mea Culpa: No Excuse Edition.

Mea culpa, mea culpa...

Okay, look. I know going over two weeks between posts is total bullshit. I know I've let down my tens of readers, and for that I'm sorry. I don't really have a good excuse, not one that holds water anyway. Let's just say that I took a little hiatus, and I'm in good company, but now I'm back. Instead of boring you with what I did on my hiatus, I'll just skim some important points, starting with what caused my absence, the train-wreck that was Origins.

Monday Filler - Lydia Strange

Girl Mechanic image courtesy of David Cousens and Cool Surface. 

http://www.coolsurface.com/

Okay, kids. So, I've got a heap of shit to do and not enough hours in the day to do it. Since I've been lagging on my makeposts here, I figured I needed to get something up but didn't have the time to wax philosophic about, say, class/level systems. That's for later in the week. Right now though? Oh, yes. Yes Gentle Readers, it's time to meet another cast member. This time it's Lydia Strange, a tall, red-haired drink of water with a tendency toward both fast machines and fire magic. Here she is with everyone's sidekick Bela, awaiting the arrival of some friends from out of town.

The Old Girl: Vehicles as Characters in Your Game

 

"She's not old, she's in her prime."

I'm not going to lie to you gentle readers, I'm an inveterate gearhead. I love machines of all kinds, but vehicles especially turn my crank, as it were. Anything from a 50cc minibike to a five-kilometre long starship capable of blowing suns all to hell and back, you give me an owners manual and a little time and I'll obsess over every little niggling detail from cylinder compression to the exact placement of the heads. I've also got this tendency to name and anthropomorphize my own vehicles, which is kind of a common quirk among gearheads. I name every vehicle I own out of a mixture of love and superstition, and feel that you can't keep a machine running without love no matter how well you maintain it. Sadly, in role-playing games, modern and future ones at least, any vehicles the players might have are often treated as background. Sort of a simple, bite-sized deus-ex machina that magically moves players from one spot to another in game without a thought. This is a missed opportunity, though. A missed opportunity for adventure and hilarity that can come from making the vehicle itself a character.

Building Better Worlds: Making the Most Out of Your NPCs.

 

So tell me, gentle readers, how many times has this happened to you? You're in the thick of a gaming session, and the time has come to meet with a contact. So you get to the appointed meeting place, you size each other up and someone asks the question, "So, what's this guy look like? Any distinguishing features?" or a million little other questions that players want answered and the game master shuffles through his papers and says, "uh, I don't know. Guy McPersonson? It's not important." and bang, you're out of the story. Why do gamers ask these questions? Why do they care? Are these details even important? Yes, yes they are, and I'm here to tell you why...