#RPGaDay 2023, Week Two

More compiled #RPGaDay 2023 questions and my responses. Additional commentary in italics.

August 7

Smartest RPG you've played: I'm not sure what the question is asking, so I'll just list some clever bits from various games that I've come to appreciate over the years.

13th Age: The Escalation Die. A simple solution for reducing the grind in D&D combat.

Ashen Stars: The realization that the typical "sci-fi space show" is procedural in structure. The space/time ship/station / portal exploration team runs into a problem. The plot revolves around learning more about the situation in stages and implementing a solution. It's something I was dimly aware of, but had never seen made so explicitly clear. I've carried this structure forward to running other sci-fi games.

GURPS Horror (3rd & 4th Editions): Analyzing monsters by the specific fears they embody.

Star Trek Adventures: Rather than present supplemental rules and source material by legacy series or era, sourcebooks were initially focused on area (the Quadrant books) or what role a player character was filling (the Division books). Later campaign books published material for the newer series (DIS and LD), but falls under "a nice problem to have".

TimeWatch: Building dirty time travel tricks into the system rather than leaving them out for simplicity.

This is what happens when I can't make up my mind.


August 8

Favorite CHARACTER: Being a Forever GM, I don't really get to have one of those

Although I am fond of the brief time I played Commander Soval (no relation) in somebody else's Star Trek game awhile back. Think all the snark from Richard Dean Anderson's Colonel O'Neill from SG-1, but wrapped up in a Vulcan package.


August 9

Favorite DICE: There's different ways to interpret this one: type of die, dice mechanic, or picking out the best in a collection.

Type: d8. I like the shape.

Mechanic: 13th Age's Escalation Die. An elegant way to reduce the grind in D&D combat.

Favorite in my collection: Not my favorite set, but a handy tool - the mood die. Lacks the detail of character notes or the utility of a reaction chart, but works fast in a pinch.

August 10

Favorite tie-in FICTION: I have mixed feelings about this sort of thing. Individual works can be poorly written cash grabs, ways to push metaplots, or contributions to creeping, messy snarls of continuity. There's nothing less welcoming than a GM saying "please peruse this stack of sourcebooks and that stack of novels to catch all the references I'll be throwing out during the campaign."

That said, I remain fond of the Battletech novels by Robert N Charrette and Micheal Stackpole for averting much of what I don't like about tie-ins.


August 11

WEIRDEST game you've played: Honestly? AD&D 1e. It was basically Gygax houseruling early D&D to heck and back.

Let's face it, AD&D as published was a kitchen sink setting. Gygax was bolting on every idea, mechanic, and chart he could think of to the game.


August 12

Old game you STILL play: "Oldest in rotation" is the interpretation I'm using here. There's older in my collection that have seen relatively recent play, but I'm unlikely to take them down from the shelf again.

D6 Star Wars. It's like a well maintained classic car - it lacks features that I've come to expect, but the way it handles is still a fun ride.

D6 Star Wars isn't the fastest or most responsive. And the Wild Die causes a dice explosion every now and then. Still a fun for a quick drive down a country road, though.


August 13

Most memorable character DEMISE: A rare time when I played in somebody else's game. Final session of a long running campaign. No loose ends. Nothing left unresolved other than the finale. Every faction gathered for an epic throw down. No more plot armor for the PCs.

But there had been collusion between a player and the GM. Months of secret communications. The PC announcing his betrayal was the first we learned of it. He went to join our enemies.

We completely ignored the battle raging around us to track down the traitorous PC. So focused were we on our betrayer that what was meant to be the campaign's climax failed to register on us. After the faithless PC was dead, the GM tossed his notes and wrapped things up as best he could.

It wasn't the way the player or the GM planned it to go, but I remember that character's death well.

We really wanted that character dead. Names not given to protect the reputations of those involved.