Ashen Stars - The Witness of My Worth

I ended up spending a fair amount of time looking for a good starter adventure for Ashen Stars. The demo offers up a taste of what the game is like, but I didn't want to kick off the campaign with it. I bought and read all the Ashen Stars adventures available to date. They were good, but not as jumping off points. I considered writing an adventure, but I didn't feel confident enough with the system. In the end, I sheepishly decided to run the adventure provided in the core book.

Yeah, I know. Core book adventures tend to be mediocre. Writing for a group that is, naturally, unfamiliar with the game means keeping things simple. The need to introduce game concepts and mechanics overshadow the things that make for a memorable game. Cunning plot twists and strong NPCs might take away from the process of learning how the game works. These assumptions, based on long experience, were why I initially didn't even consider the one in Ashen Stars. I changed my mind after reading through it while looking for ideas.

Oh, right. Robin Laws wrote this. Maybe I should have picked up on that particular clue a little sooner.

"The Witness of My Worth" did the job of introducing Ashen Stars without feeling like there were training wheels attached. The multiple ways through the adventure gave the players meaningful choices. The plot, based firmly on space opera troupes (specifically Star Trek), kept the players engaged throughout the session. Important elements of the setting were presented in a way that did not interrupt the flow of the action. Mechanics were introduced without feeling forced. The group felt challenged by a "real" adventure rather than going through "AS 101: The Keep Along the Borderspace."

The players initially had trouble getting into the mindset of an investigative game. While there are events moving in the background, there is no GM directed story to sweep the player characters along a predetermined course. It requires player characters to assert themselves over the adventure and drive it forward. Simply reacting to events doesn't work. They have to ask questions, get answers, and use those answers to determine their next step.

Likewise, the GM has to be willing to give up some control to the players. Ashen Stars is neither a railroad or a sandbox. It hands the GM a road map, shows the road signs to the player characters, and lets the players decide between the highway, the back streets, or the shortcut through Albuquerque.

I was surprised to blow through the whole thing in one session. I expected to run it in at least two sessions, since the group tends to give out after three hours. The desire to find that next piece of the puzzle kept the players going until the climax. The need to solve the mystery kept them going to the end.

We're all looking forward to the next time.

Half Price Books Finds #2 - How to Make Wargames Terrain (In Stereo!)

New school from a decade ago and old school from almost two decades ago. The 2003 How To Make Wargames Terrain (left) and the 1996 How To Make Wargames Terrain (right), both by Games Workshop.

I found these awhile back on separate trips and decided to compare them. The two books present some sharp contrasts. While both books cover the same topic, each takes an approach firmly rooted in the trends of its time.

Now, to be clear, this isn't a full review of the books. I do offer some opinions on each book, but the focus is contrasting the two due to the differences in publication date.

The 1996 version is written as an instruction book for someone new to the process of creating terrain. Everything is laid out in logical steps. It starts off with much terrain is needed for Games Workshop miniatures games as they existed at the time, so a newcomer can plan out what he needs. It explains the tools and materials needed for terrain projects. And it presents some simple projects to start off with and continues with progressively more advanced projects as the reader's skill level develops. This approach was necessary at the time due to the lack of alternatives. The vast amount of online resources covering the topic didn't exist back then, after all.

The 2003 version assumes some familiarity with the subject matter. It leads with the need to construct a game table and creating terrain for that table. This is quite a challenge for somebody just starting out, but is a good place for someone with experience to start the planning process. Descriptions of tools and materials is pushed to the back. Most of the book is organized by terrain type: hills, woods, water, buildings, etc. Overall, the book is better suited as a reference work for someone who has already picked up the basics.

The 1996 and 2003 versions reflect very different views on materials. The 1996 presents less expensive materials as a viable option. The 2003 is set solidly in the insulation foam, plasticard, and MDF era. Granted, there are excellent reasons for using the more expensive materials - they look good and are very durable. On the other hand, someone new to the hobby does need to know about the less expensive options. Cardboard and styrofoam may not look as convincing and will not last as long as MDF and insulation foam, but they are more accessible to a hobbyist with a limited budget. Besides, the first few projects for someone starting out will be learning experiences, so why bother driving up the price of materials?

The pictures in each book really bring home the different times they were published in. The terrain in the 1996 book is less detailed, lacking the professional polish of the terrain in the 2003 book. Likewise, the models in the 1996 books are boldly painted with the green bases of the "paint it red" period. The 2003 book's models look more familiar to a current gamer. Each one shows the full panoply of techniques and materials: blending, highlighting, washes, and various basing materials. Neither approach is wrong, mind you. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable painting a model without washes, static grass, and paints available in triads. But the look of the models in the 1996 version does have a certain charm.

In the end, both books are products of their respective times. Side by side, the two provide alternative views on the same subject. The 2003 version is relatively current. Mastering the materials and techniques in the 2003 version will allow the reader to make quality terrain. The only big change in the decade since the book was published is the growing availability and quality of pre-made terrain, something well outside the scope of this discussion. However, the 1996 presents an alternative view - older techniques using cheaper materials can also produce quality terrain. Will it lack the polish of the terrain in the 2003 book? Maybe, but for many gamers, that doesn't matter. There is good stuff in both books, depending on the project and the situation.

A Look at Character Creation in Ashen Stars

Spent last month's gaming sessions working up new characters. The group is new to Ashen Stars, so it took awhile. The mechanical parts were relatively straightforward. The emphasis the game places on character development took the players a little off guard.

Mechanics

The players divide up shipboard and groundside roles between them. The shipboard roles relate to the operation of the player's ship in combat. The groundside roles define what each character brings to an investigation. The mechanical aspect of the roles amount to a title and a list of the skills needed to be effective in the role. The roles are not as restrictive as classes. Players can even opt out as a group from using roles and simply pick out their skills directly.

Skill selection is a simple point buy. There are no conversions between experience or other points to skill points. One point buys one rank in a skill. Points may be banked for use after character generation. These banked points can be used later, even during an adventure, to purchase new skills.

Equipment is simple. No need to go through lists to purchase every single item. Player characters are assumed to start with what they need to perform their role. This includes a sidearm, a communications device, and a data retrieval/scanning device. The only time players need to pour over lists is when big ticket items like cyberwear or their ship come into the picture.

Character Arcs

Players create a character arc with a beginning, middle, and (if desired) conclusion. These arcs relate to some goal of each player character (find a lost sister, reestablish and uphold lawful government, have a grand adventure and look good doing it). The goal and each step in achieving it are presented as one sentence ideas. These are the seeds for future adventure subplots. It is still up to the GM to incorporate these ideas into the campaign. The details (who, what, where, when, and how) are controlled by the GM, but this allows the players input into the development of their characters.

Reactions

The group had no problems with the mechanical aspects of character generation. Looking up what each skill or piece of cyberwear did take time, but grasping the concepts was not an issue.

Coming up with character arcs was a little more challenging. It's an approach to character development that places more on the players' shoulders. It is more proactive than writing up a backstory and seeing what, if anything, the GM decides to use. It allows the player to decide what is important to their character and how that effects future game sessions.

Painting By Numbers #9 - More Earth Exploration Teams

The appearance of these 15mm soldiers is inspired by a popular and long-running science fiction franchise. They'll be useful as security or light infantry in near-future or hard science fiction settings.

Note that one group has helmets and the other has patrol caps.

Base colors as follows:

Uniforms: Reaper Camouflage Green.
Vests, weapons, and boots: Reaper Stormy Grey.
Faces: Reaper Fair Skin or Russet Brown.

Washes as follows:

Vests, weapons, and boots: Citadel Badab Black.
All other areas: Citadel Gryphonne Sepia, followed by Devlan Mud.

I was going to paint the vests, weapons, and boots black. This would have resulted in a flat appearance. The dark grey with a black wash looks dark enough while letting the details show.

The first wash of Gryphonne Sepia was too subtle and too red for the effect I wanted. Going over the same areas with Devlan Mud provided the shading the models needed.

Painting By Numbers #8 - Earth Exploration Team

These are 15mm miniatures inspired by characters from a popular and long-running science fiction franchise. In addition to representing those characters, they will be useful as team leaders for security or light infantry teams.

The sunglasses on the one model is a nice touch.

Painting By Numbers #7 - Space Portal Guards

Part of my latest completed 15mm painting project. These alien warriors with their jackal-shaped helmets are pretty distinctive. That distinctive appearance limits their overall utility, although they could be used as a Egyptian themed army in a pulp or space opera setting.

The one with gold armor is the squad leader. The team leaders are picked out with blue details. The regular troops have red details in homage to a certain science fiction franchise.

Painting was straightforward. The armor was based with a medium grey followed by an overbrush of metallic silver. The gold areas were based with brown and overbrushed with metallic gold. All areas got a diluted dark wash followed by a brown wash to bring out the details and weather the figures a little.

A Little Overdue for an Update

Yeah, so... it looks like I missed out on updating this blog for... all of February. I'll take all the blame for that one. There was alot on my plate last month and something had to give. Blogging had to take the hit to free up the time I needed to get things done. I'm sorry and will do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again. Until next time.

I did spend time thinking about this little blog, though. Up until now, I've done little more than chronicle my painting and terrain projects with a few reviews on the side. Those are worthy pursuits and will continue. But I do have ideas on other topics to add to the mix. I hope that you will enjoy the greater variety of posts.

Initial Thoughts on Ashen Stars

I finished reading through Ashen Stars during the holidays. I gave the rules another going-over and ran my group through a demo last week to get a feel for the game. Ashen Stars is a sc-fi tabletop RPG using the GUMSHOE system. Both the game and rules system were created by Robin D Laws. It is published by Pelgrane Press.

GUMSHOE solves an issue with "investigative" games. In an adventure that relies on giving the player characters information needed to continue the story, what happens when they fail to acquire that information? Many systems require a successful skill check to get information. If none of the player characters have the skill needed to find a particular clue, they don't get that clue. If one of them does have the skill, but fails the roll, they also don't get the clue. Without that key piece of information, they cannot continue the adventure.

Faced with that situation, a GM has three basic options. One, accept that the player characters have failed to complete the adventure and deal with the fall out. This is like a murder mystery where the detective doesn't catch the killer. It can be done, but may not be a satisfying end. Two, fudge the skill check and hope the players don't notice. In that case, why require a skill check in the first place? Three, find another way of getting the information into the hands of the player characters. Again, this brings requiring a skill check into question.

GUMSHOE circumvents the whole issue by just putting the information into the hands of the player characters. During character generation, the players determine which character buys a given investigative skill. The entire range of investigative skills is doled out between the player characters. This avoids the issue of not having a specific skill. If a player character possesses the required skill to obtain a particular clue, they find the clue automatically. This is a more elegant solution that keeps the adventure running seamlessly.

Note that this only applies to core clues - those that are needed to continue the adventure. Information that is helpful or optional, but not critical to keeping the game going, is not automatically given.

The core mechanic for Ashen Stars is simple. A single die (d6) is rolled against a target number based on the difficulty of the task. The die roll result can be modified by spending points from a skill pool refreshed at the beginning of an adventure. The difficulty is adjusted due to circumstances. For example, the base difficulty for hitting a target with a disrupter pistol is a 3. However, trying to hit a target using cover and in poor lighting would change that to a 5. The player has the option of offsetting the increased difficulty by spending points from the Shooting skill pool.

Combat is quick, but abstract and dependent on GM descriptions to provide context and flavor. There is no map and modifiers are kept to a minimum. Such a simple system might not hold the interest of a group with a more tactical play style. Fortunately, the investigative system and the task resolution mechanic are easily separated from each other. This allows a group to run the GUMSHOE investigative system with a more robust combat system. I might try combining GUMSHOE with Savage Worlds in a game with a bigger emphasis on combat. But that will have to wait.

The setting for Ashen Stars tries to solve some issues related to sci-fi roleplaying. It sticks to the usual troupes of space opera to keep things familiar. But there are enough twists on those troupes to make the setting interesting.

A specific issue that Ashen Stars addresses is the military or paramilitary command structure in many sci-fi settings. The usual approach to space opera is a big ship with a big crew run with a hierarchical organization. This implies rules, regulations, and a chain of command that players may find confining. There is also the issue of creating adventures that the players can bludgeon into submission with their capital starship and crew of specialists.

Ashen Stars makes the player characters independent problem solvers working under contract. Their ship is something small enough to run with a crew of about half a dozen people. This makes the player characters less like starship bridge officers from Star Trek and more like the crew from Firefly.

The Ashen Stars setting mixes utopian and dystopian concepts and explores the conflict between the two. It takes an interstellar civilization of high ideals and wrecks it with a decade-long war. Picture the difference in tone between Star Trek the original series and late-season Deep Space Nine. The player characters are
faced with the desire to live up to the example of a golden age and the desperate needs of a now that is barely getting by.

Ashen Stars avoids being too grimdark with a Reputation mechanic. Players have to balance the temptation of having their characters take pragmatic or self-serving actions versus upholding a more idealistic and moral stance. In some ways, this reminds me of similar mechanics in the Mass Effect games.

Overall, the game looks pretty good. I'll be running my group through some published adventures until we all get a solid grasp of the game. Then I'll see about working up a short campaign to fill out the next couple of months.

2012 - Looking Back at My Gaming Goals

It's as good a time as any to take a look at the plans I made for gaming this year. Things didn't go as planned, but that's how life works.

Role Playing

The idea of running quarterly RPG games hit scheduling issues and go tossed to the side early in the year. But the underlying concept of promoting variety did work. I got three games off the ground during 2012.

Unfortunately, two of those games died off within two sessions. The first fizzled out. My issues with the ruleset (Palladium) caused me to trash the second.

The third, an AD&D campaign partly motivated by nostalgia, lasted for the planned half-dozen sessions. My gaming group will likely revisit this one later in 2013.


Terrain Projects

I tried my hand at creating my own terrain and learned quite a bit. Of course, some of that knowledge came at the cost of failure. Still, I feel better about trying, failing, and learning something than not taking the chance at all.

I have also been looking at sources of terrain for purchase. Expect some more reviews in 2013.


Painting Projects

I got a fair amount painted this year. Certainly the projects that were hanging over my head from 2011 were all completed early in the year.

Not buying more miniatures went out the window with the Reaper Bones Kickstarter. The summer and winter sales from various sources were also too tempting to resist. The end result is that my pile of unpainted metal, resin, and plastic is bigger than it ever was in 2011. Things will get even worse in March 2013 if Reaper stays on track.

So, yeah, more painting.


Overall, not a bad year.

The Premium AD&D Books and How They Sparked Off a Campaign

Wrapped up a AD&D First Edition mini-campaign yesterday to avoid Campaign Death Due to Holidays. It wasn't deep roleplaying, but everybody had a good time. The game will come out of hiatus after we get some other gaming under our belts.

The whole thing started when I treated myself to the Premium Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks. These are incredibly nice books. The crisp printing and bright paper makes it much easier to read than the originals. The gold coating on the edges might be overkill, but it sure looks swanky. The bookmark is handy (the one in my copy of the DMG marks the combat tables) and attracts playful cats. And I can testify to the durability of the covers - stuff just wipes off them. Nevermind how I know that.

I'll admit that nostalgia played a role in my getting these. I actually started gaming with the Basic D&D Set back in the day, but AD&D First Edition wasn't far behind. My original set was lost in a move long ago. Although I replaced them with secondhand copies awhile back, owning a new, high-quality set was something I couldn't resist.

Something I didn't expect was how these books put the game back on the radar. My players asked me to run a game as soon as I purchased the books.

The mini-campaign lasted six sessions. I used the maps and some thematic elements from the classic modules X1 Isle of Dread and C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. The basic plot was that a mysterious island showed up out of nowhere and the player characters were hired to go check it out. One shipwreck, some ruins, a few groups of undead, a couple of native villages, lots of jungle, some mild Lovecraftian elements, and a close escape later, the adventurers are off the island and sailing for home.

There are more than enough loose ends to pick things up later. The current plan is to start Part Two after March. That's when I'm expecting some fantasy miniatures to show up and provide a greater variety of monsters to throw at the player characters.

In the meantime, the group's consensus is to give Ashen Stars a try. More on that next year.