Gamma World HiBRiD Campaign Completion…Now What?

Now that we have finished up our Gamma World/HiBRiD game here in our house, I will be running a new genre of RPG with meine Kinder: Fantasy!

Why Fantasy? 

It started with the review I did of Green Ronin’s Dragon Age. As I mentioned briefly in that review, there is no magic system for HIBRiD. With that inspiration, I created a playable workaround, but never was presented with the opportunity to test it under fire. I finished the conversion, published it on the blog here, then set it aside, waiting for the subject to present itself once again.

The fantasy genre came back to mind with the Troll Lord Games twitter feed I follow. They posted about how much fun they had a Gary Con, a convention I wanted to run a HiBRiD game at this year, however, I had nothing really prepared (I am looking to run a HiBRiD fantasy game there in 2018, by the way). I once again set it aside, figuring I would playtest the module after the 2017 GenCon game had come and gone.

The final straw occurred last weekend, when we finally finished our year-long Gamma World HiBRiD game. During that game, my son wanted to launch a fireball at the main fortress of the bad guys, though he only had the pyrokinetic blast aspect, which would not cover the area he needed to cover. When he asked why it wasn’t an aspect, I explained it was “out of genre”, which sparked a whole discussion of the subject of genre with the kids. I realized they needed to experience it to understand it. So the embers were lit…the Johaansen family would finally enter the realm of fantasy roleplaying.

 No HiBRiD Fantasy?

With the decision made to change genres for our next game, a major decision lay before me: which game? Of course, the answer would normally be HiBRiD of course, but not in this case. Why not HiBRiD, you ask?

First and foremost, HiBRiD is fast, furious, and cinematic. The game, however, was originally designed with post-fantasy settings with the ability to extend into the fantasy setting if the game went that way. We could extend the HiBRiD rules and indeed play into the fantasy genre, but I wanted to provide a bit less familiarity to the kids to give a feeling on uncertainty and really bring the genre to the forefront. That takes it off the table as the primary game system.

Additionally, having cut my teeth on D&D like most players my age, I have a certain nostalgia for D&D. I tried other fantasy games in my younger years, such as Rulemaster, Mythus, Runequest, MERP, and Warhammer, but none of them held the feel and charm of the BECMI, 1E, and 2E versions of the original D&D. I even tried to keep an open mind and actually ran a 3E game for 2 years! But I missed the way the old games felt when played. The clunky simplicity and flexibility of the old school systems are unique and not really present in many of the more slick and efficient games of today, HiBRiD included. I wanted to introduce my kids to the genre and the old school feel of the games that I loved. I wanted them to experience a Vancian spell system that was not streamlined with the combat system, which was different from the system of turning undead. Such systems are streamlined and uniform in HiBRiD; I wanted them to feel a difference and experience tabletop gaming in a new way.

Finally, D&D is a classic; a brand with name recognition. When you say you “play D&D”, even lay folk understand in some sense what you will be doing and it is easier to find players. Familiarity with D&D would (and will) help to nurture my kids’ growing interest in the hobby I love so much by finding them people to play it with. If my kids say they are inviting their friends over to play “a version of Dungeons and Dragons”, their parents know what to expect. If my kids say they are inviting their friends over to play “HiBRID”, that makes it a bit of a barrier to entry, as their friends’ parents may not understand what their kids are going to be doing with their afternoon!

So which version?

I originally planned on introducing them to D&D the way I was: by using my old books BECMI, 1E and 2E books/PDFs. The overwhelming, response, however, was less than stellar. My oldest kids decided they want something “new”, not the “old stuff” dad pulls from the shelf of his collection or prints out from PDFs on his “weird Linux computer”.  So the old books were no longer an option, and I found myself looking at what is currently out there.

I tried 3E as a one-shot on three occasions, using the 2006 Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game boxed set from Wizards of the Coast. They liked the figures and premade maps, but were annoyed by several of details by the game mechanics (natural 1s and 20s do nothing, tracking movement), the incomplete nature of the characters that made them feel limited, and the fact that there was only one adventure, so playing that again was off the table. I could also, in good conscious, not let them play 3.XE, 4E, 5E, or Pathfinder as feats are the absolute worst thing to hit HiBRiD-style as well as any roleplaying…EVER! And, as you all also know, there is also only a finite set of conditions that would ever lead to me playing Dragon Age or use Green Ronin’s Adventure Gaming Engine, so though simple, that was out as well.

So what's left? 

The Final Verdict

To get the old school feel that I want my kids to experience, then, I decided to turn my attention to the host of other Old School Revival of RPGs, hoping one would float to the top. I have over a half a dozen of them (OSRIC, Basic Fantasy, Hackmaster Basic, Hackmaster, Labyrinth Lord, and Castles and Crusades). Of these, Castles and Crusades is definitely what 3E should have been. It shreds the complexities of the 3E pathway, but has all the original BECMI simplicity. It uses the 4e Gamma World ascending armor class that dovetails perfectly with the HiBRiD defense rating/Armor Value system, and both games have drop-in compatible damage systems which will make the transition for my kids seamless. (If anyone wishes, drop me an email or a tweet and I will write a complete 4-part review like I did for Dragon Age and Tiny Horsies.) It also is compatible with my HiBRiD monsters as well as all my old D&D material, so I can introduce them to all the wonderful things that I grew up with and learned to fear…and loathe…and love…(rust monsters, carrion crawlers, umber hulks, purple worms, magic mouths, magic missiles, et cetera) as well as the weird things sprouting from my own games (cyanobacters, LiRAs, Underwater Alligator Men, Jotuns, just to name a few...).

Like always, we will, of course, be tacking on the Ite' Gaming Engine, just to kick up the heroic machoness a peg or two (10 points for everyone). This will also keep a familiarity with the gaming style they are comfortable with as they make their foray into the new genre.

Stay tuned for further developments from the world of HiBRiD and our return to my Ara Knochen game world reborn…Who knows? This should be interesting to see if the kids take to a new game system or if the kids’ desire to continue with the system they have grown up with will finally lead to the creation a magic system for HiBRiD once and for all.

2 New Cinematic Aspects: Gore and Railing

While I was combining files and writing out the actions scene for the 2017 Canyonside Event, I came across two aspects I wrote that have not yet been integrated in with the core rules. Feel free to use them in your FATE™, FADAD™or Tiny Horsies™games as you see fit, a gift from me to you.

Gore
Initiation: Constant
Grading: U
Modes: N/A
Cost: 8

This aspect reflects a unique way with the viscera of defeated opponents. Once per game session, if your director judges your description of how you eviscerate your opponent as appropriate and sufficiently disturbing, your character receives one floating point of Ité to spend on the action he is committing.

Railing
Initiation: Constant
Grading: U
Modes: N/A
Cost: 4

This aspect reflects a unique ability to control railings in the environment. Once per game session, if your character judges that it is dramatically appropriate, you may either choose to have a railing spring into or out of existence where one should be or in a location or situation where it would be dramatically appropriate. 

GenCon 2017 Inspiration (Part 3)

The GenCon 2015 event started out with a kick in the crotch, a slew of bloody noses, and cyborg nightmare ensconced in glowing blue orbs of light. The players had made it back to Canyonside and were now dealing with the ramifications of the events of the technology that was recovered by the U. S. Government from the previous events.

The primary development was the evolution of the little town of Canyonside into a hub of the new Maglev Rail system that was sprouting like a weed and connecting the major cities of San Diego, Canyonside, Chatanooga, and Washington D. C. This new prosperity put the little town on the national map and led to the introduction of a new villain, Dieter Kauffman, and his henchman Vindrick.

The Storyline Transition…

Historically, players have just kind of rolled with the punches and not followed these story lines or cared. Last year, however, several players emailed me with queries that can be summed up by three questions. With all of these open questions from the players and the multitude of endings, I thought I would lay down the canon results from last year’s event here. Well, at least SOME of them…gotta keep a few surprises…

Spoilers, Answers, or Just Red Herring?

First, let me assure you that the “Vampires”, the Terminators, and anything that might show up for 2017 and 2019 are all connected to the past events and these connections will be elucidated in-game as we approach the 2021 GenCon event. The connections are already laid down, but the specifics as to how they relate to the story line are not, as they will depend on the PCs’ actions after each convention. In general, if all of the groups achieve a certain outcome, it automatically becomes canon. If two or more groups achieve a two or more outcomes, I try to weave them together so that they both can happen. If this isn’t possible, I look at the players’ reactions to the outcomes of the action scenes that led to the result in question. The players who were the most boisterous at the table, the most creative in their scene resolutions, or the most HiBRiD in their attitudes always win out and determine canon. Since every year there are one or two groups that go over the top, it is relatively easy to make these judgments.

Now, to answer the questions.

Question 1: What finally happened to Vindrick and Kauffman? (Was Vindrick slain on the Magev train outside of Chatanooga or in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building? Was Kauffman slain in the rotundra of the Capitol Building or did he get away, laughing mockingly at the PCs as he flew away flying away in a Hujrat Alfa helicopter towards GenCon 2017 to once again terrify the PC?)

Vindrick was indeed slain in the final scene in the Rotunda of the Capitol building. Kauffman, however, did manage to escape on a Hujrat Alfa helicopter, laughing at the PCs and cursing their foiling of his plans in the process. That is the second NPC that has escaped the clutches of the convention players since 2009. You all may want to keep a count...

Question 2: Were Vindrick and Kauffman Vampires? Is this some World of Darkness crap? Are tragic teenage vampires and werewolves going to vent their spleens, lust, and angst on one another?

Kauffman and Vindrick do have characteristics of vampires. Those players paying attention probably noticed through play that they are weaker in bright daylight, they are affected by certain materials and unaffected by others, and they have mentalic abilities that they use to control minions and attempted to use to control PCs in some cases. Knowing that several supernatural (magic?) phenomena have occurred in the game, there is a possibility they are, but I won’t reveal that here…you and your friends will have to come to play to find out.

If they are, I PROMISE you this (hint, hint, hint…): they need to be staked! There is no tragic, Goth, love story bulls*** that Anne Rice, White Wolf, and the multitudes of lemmings seem to drool over. They need to be staked. Period. There is a reason “The Coreys”, Wesley Snipes (If not being played), George Clooney, Buffy, Hugh Jackman, James Woods, and Daniel Baldwin were on that MagLev as NPCs.

If they are not vampires, you all may want to stake them anyway, just to be sure.

Question 3: Where did the Terminators come from? Is this a continuation of the Portal story?

The Terminators are indeed an extension of the Namenlos Welt game world. In that world, there is a series of semi-sentient humanoid robots know as LiRAs. LiRAs are instilled with the Zeroth Law as well as the classic Asimovian Three Laws of robotics.The LiRAs were the original keepers of the Macrossean people designed to ensure their survival. When the portal device was created, they were the ones sent through first to determine if the portal worked. They agreed to go under the pretense of saving human lives, but actually went for their own purposes.

The addition of the Terminators to the scenario resulted from a combination of factors. At the time of the first few play-testings, we noticed the “GothKids” failed to pull the action from the Bloodsport Opening Scene to the first Exposition Scene. Inspired from the release of Terminator: Genisys just prior to the convention, I overlayed the LiRAs from a back story that had been left out in 2009 for simplicity reasons, and play-tested it to solve the problem. The  scene worked in all three play-tests to help push the action, so we made them a permanent addition to the initial and final action scenes. They also served as bookends for the scenario in general. They also fit in with the Kauffman back story that will be elucidated a bit more in the 2017 game.

Conclusion

Well, that is it. The 3-part inspirational rant is officially over. Now, back to prepping the scenario for playtesting!

Next up: I will be providing the HiBRiD stats for several creatures in games past, a few new Aspects that will be making their appearances in 2017, and a few things to take with you all to your own games. While the stats provided will be in HiBRiD stat blocks, they should be easy enough to translate into your own games, should you wish to do so. Shoot me a note/tweet/email if you need help; I'll be glad to help..

Until then, keep rolling dice and slinging Ite'....

GenCon 2017 Inspiration (Part 2)

With the game rules and the character creation methods complete and finalized for publishing in 2008, I was able to spend the next three GenCons increasing my efficiency when preparing for the convention. Instead of just 12 pregenerated characters, I increased the pregenerated character stable to the  current 24 and am able to accommodate player requests within a matter of minutes. With my development of a module template, I only have to lay out my storyline, outline my action scenes, stat out my baddies, and format the module for Game Director consumption. With this preparation efficiency in place, I have been able to spend more time tying each convention adventure the next and creating a story arc.

Scenario Design and Title Selection

Only as recent as 2015 did I realize a story arc starting to form as the game progressed. Now, with the emergence of a canon (as several of you have noticed), I started naming the games as “Reduxes”. This was to both give a taste of what players can expect with each game scenario title and to denote that each of the stories from GenCon to GenCon has been connected with the scenarios both previous and upcoming. The flavor text usually helped the players connect the stories, however, each scenario was written so that it could stand alone on its own. I think many players will agree that not having played a previous adventure has had no effect on enjoyment of the game at any of the conventions.

  

The GenCons from 2009 to 2013 involved the heroes dealing with a portal that allowed the traversing of alien invaders between our own world via a Stargate-style, uh, gate, and the world of my home campaign that I once referred to as Namenlos Welt (I recently renamed to fit the mood of it as I retool it for the HiBRiD game release. Those of you curious to the new name, hit me up on Twitter…)

The Macrossé Story Arc Begins….

The gate first appeared in 2009. It was created by a sentient cyanobacteria in an attempt to escape a massmind organism who had tried to take over the city-state of Macrossé, and inadvertently created a radioactive zombie apocalypse in the process. The game ended on a bit of a somber note. The zombies took over the city, the cyanobacteria was reduced to a flood of glowing aquamarine silica crystals, and the massmind continued its plans. Realizing the tool it had at its disposal, the organism began sending its thralls to our own world in an attempt to also escape the zombies.

Canyonside Becomes Entangled…

In 2011, the rift originating from the technology in Namenlos Welt formed just outside the small town of Canyonside, who started to feel the effects of the portal as the psionic mutant übermen invaded through. The mutants had time to establish a new massmind and moved into the town Red-Dawn style. The game ended with the rescue of the small town of Canyonside, and the killing of the massmind in the fiery destruction of the complex by the heroes. The gate, however, was salvageable and the government began work on reconstructing it.

Canyonside Strikes Back…

In 2013,  the gate had been completely repaired and backwards engineered by the U.S. Government, and the party was sent through to do reconaissance. The city of Macrossé was overrun by competing tribes of snakemen and lizardmen whose scales made them impervious to the radiation emanating from the zombies. The groups formed an uneassy coexistence under a leader that went by the name of Rotenbach. Rather than doing simple recon, however, the party went through and killed everyone in the place except Rotenbach, who seemed to disappear in the chaos. The party hanglided back to the portal, set a MOAB on the place, and went home. The portal and complex were completely slagged, as was the entire city of Macrossé.

With the story on the Namenlos Welt side closed, I realized there was a second story worth telling. The repurcussions of the alien technology on the little town of Canyonside that began in the 2013 story seemed to be worth exploring. In 2015, we began to tell that story…

GenCon 2017 Inspiration (Part 1)

I am getting ready for GenCon 2017 seven months early!

Thanks to the Monkey In The Cage podcast, I was inspired to start preparations for GenCon 2017 a little earlier than usual. As always, to get a general sense of where to go with next year’s game, I did my standard look back on the cons I have attended every other year since 2001 to gain my bearings. I felt inspired to share what has been going on behind the scenes and give a teaser as to where we will be going in 2017 over the next three blog entries.

For this first entry, I want to start with the past behind-the-scenes of the first few Canyonside Events and relate them to HiBRID, after all, that is what this blog is about.

Canyonside 2001-2007: Learning My Audience

From 2001 to 2007, while the HiBRiD game system was compete enough to play-test, I needed (and began working on) a quicker character generation process. Prior to that point, it would take anywhere from 30-60 minutes to create a character. Even Peter Mikelsons told me during the early 1.0 years to think about adding templates or classes to make it easier. While I eschewed the ideas of classes and levels, the idea of kits from 2^nd Edition AD&D and professions from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying stuck with me. Intuitively, I felt it was a good fit, but at the time, both seemed too crunchy to add. As a result, I let the process languish as it stood; it was good enough for me and my gaming group and the game was so far from publishing, it didn't really seem to me to warrant the development effort.

During these years, I refined the process of character generation as a result of having to build multiple sets of pregenerated characters for multiple genres and multiple heroic levels. Though I would write one game scenario for all the sessions I ran, I needed 12 different characters for each. I used the rather painstaking process to test as many character aspects and generation methods as I could. I ran those games with no goal in mind other than to test out the HiBRiD game engine itself. During that time, I kept stats on the time it took to prepare the games and pregenerated characters, the number of  players that played each genre and power level, the game times most popular to players. I also noted comments and complaints made by players, and took notes on what parts of the character creation were fails and wins. In 2008, I reviewed the data and notes and gained the following insights about character creation as well as the system itself:

1. In the convention setting, the 80s action genre was by far the most popular. (I have blogged about that elsewhere!) Players liked the slightly more complicated skill set but preferred to keep the rest of the system limited to the core rules without too much crunch.


2. I had developed a modular way to generate a character for the HiBRiD system ready for play that allowed for the level of detail the player wanted to reflect. The modules could be swapped in and out based on the player or game director. Simpler modules sped up character creation time to 5 minutes or less while more complex ones still took the classic 30-60 minutes, depending on the player’s priorities of speed versus level of detail. Regardless of which modules are used, all characters were able to play in the same game. 


3. A method for handling firearms quickly within the system and still allowing for both the realism of a Morrow Project and the heroism of an 80's action movie when the situation called for it.


4. I was reassured that the game system itself was absolutely complete for nonmagical genres. 


5. The system allowed for modules that could be added or swapped in and out, depending on the level of crunch desired by the gaming group using it.


6. I figured out the basic pattern and developed a template for how to create a HiBRiD game scenario module quickly.


7. I have personally developed the skills to direct a HiBRiD game to give 12 players the spotlight during  a 3 hour and 45 minute game session (and how to apply that pattern when directing ANY game system, from D&D to Tiny Horsies).

With these insights in my mind's eye, I moved toward my next three conventions with a new sense of efficiency, a defined character generation method, a final satisfaction that the game system was ready for publishing, and a defined theme for all of my games going forward.

The Two Steps

I was playing with my nephews this weekend and I realized there are two steps to becoming a decent HiBRiD player.

Step 1: Learn what your character can do

It goes without saying, a player needs to learn the rules of the game. But there are only really three rules to learn, and I have found myself able to explain them in 10 minutes:

1. Learn how to make a task roll
2. Learn how to use Ite’
3. Learn how to determine damage

Once the players are briefed, I have noticed new players are usually filled with a sense of wonder and freedom. What happens next usually depends on the player’s gaming experience.

Players used to 3E, 4E, 5E, Pathfinder, and other rule-heavy or crunchy rulesets sometimes find the game uncomfortable to play, obviously discomforted by the lack of rules limiting their characters’ actions. Some of these players walk away from the table shaking their heads. Some just play half-heartedly until their characters die, then walk away from the table completely missing the point of the game. Those who stay, however, have a chance at making the jump from tyranny to freedom. Often, it takes more than a few sessions of them asking, “Can I do X” or “Can I do Y?” before they get used to the freedom. Players used to rules-light systems or altogether new to roleplaying seem to get the hang quickly and seem to jump right into the HiBRiD frame of mind. Regardless of whether they are experienced or novice roleplayers, once they are in the fold, seem to enjoy themselves there.

Step 2: Learn what your character can not do

Once they have accepted that their character can attempt anything they can imagine with no rules to stop them, they have to learn that while their characters are not limited by rules, they do need to appreciate the genre of the game and the abilities they have chosen to define when they build their characters. Often, this will result in one or more character deaths. It is in this way players learn the difference between heroic and foolhardy. They learn the limits of Ite’ and the joy of their character experiencing heroic achievement or dying while daring greatly. Those with closed minds walk, while those open to the HiBRiD aesthetic make another character and dive right back into the action.

And as I have reiterated elsewhere or demonstrated at the table, when a player walks, I have no problems with it. At all. HiBRiD is the way I want to play. While I enjoy sharing it with those willing to go along on the journey. I don’t have to answer to shareholders. I don’t have to sell my ideas to others with overpriced art. I don’t need to make them feel better or worry about their feelings. I just need to play, to teach, and to have fun.

Clarification of Purpose

I have been not promoting or posting much on social media over the past few weeks, as I have been experiencing some sort of intense desire to get the game done. It is surely a good thing, as I finally have the rough drafts for 3 of the 6 chapters complete. In the process, I have consolidated and eliminated 5 file folders of ideas and two 3-inch binders of paper cluttering my life.

In this same spirit, I wanted to kind of do a kind of consolidation of my purposes for writing the game. As of late, I have been fatigued by the onslaught of a-dozen-a-day new RPG Kickstarter projects crowding the net. It has soured me to the thought of crowdsourcing and made me review my focus and purpose for continuing this project. As I reviewed my various blog entries, I noticed that I have peppered my points with bits and pieces of my intents, desires, and reasons for continuing to write the HiBRiD™ game rules. As I am currently consolidating the rules themselves, I thought it would be a great time to take a minute to reflect and also consolidate and clarify my own (selfish) purposes for writing the game. This might provide insight for any of you who recently started reading my blog but have no desire to dig for the answers to the unstated and overarching question of “Why create HiBRiD™?”

At First…

I’m not writing the game to take over the market, make money, or even to be the next best thing since sliced bread. I have said this much before.

At the lowest level, I want to directly demonstrate to players the level of simplicity I like and the very core mechanic I prefer to use when I play a roleplaying game. I want to share my preference for the d20, a simplified mechanic to cover all situations, the separation of skills from attributes, and the simplification of supernatural abilities into a single system.

At the next level, I want to show my aesthetics of what I like to reflect in a roleplaying system. For example, I love the metric system and the integration of the trades, the arts, and the natural sciences into the skill system. I love defining a character’s attributes in a way that allows them to be used as easy uniform handles for the game mechanics to reflect BOTH physical and metaphysical abilities.

But Then…

As the years have gone on and I have brought others into the HiBRiD fold, I noticed something else. Players get an intuitive feel for how the game works, even without ever having ever seen a ruleset! Those who come back to the game, whether at my house or at the various conventions again and again intuitively have a feel for how I like to play the game and we share that aesthetic sense. The rules, regardless of the level of crunch, have always come second to the tasks they want their characters to accomplish. This style of gameplay, as I have observed its development over the years, in combination with this sense of urgency I have recently begun feeling has led me to a higher goal of bringing players to intuitively understand the specific style of play I just mentioned.

Finally...

Intuition, however, is difficult to teach. With this in mind, I want to, at the most basic level, codify the situations in which I use a rule and those when I choose not to use a rule. This will enable experienced players coming from mechanics-heavy games to begin the process of weaning themselves from the fears, uncertainties, and doubts of not having a crunchy mechanic for every situation. It will also provide a simple structure for using the Ité Gaming Engine in a balanced way to prevent those coming from more freeform games from feeling inhibited. For beginning players, I want to bring them into the fold into this style of play as soon as they sit down to play.

Ultimately (and ideally), as players continue to play the game, they will begin to develop the intuitive sense of how I play the game and carry that sense to their own games.