Gen Con 2011: First Thoughts

So, got back from Gen Con at about 03:00 this morning after a long, long drive. Thoughts are still percolating through my skull and I’m still on a bit of a Gen Con high, but here are some immediate take-aways.

1. I suck at selling my own stuff. Early on, I recognized this and simply switched to giving stuff away. I still have copies of Kiss My Axe: the Quick and Dirty Gen Con Edition available if you have a podcast, blog, some kind of pulpit, so let me know if you want a review copy. I will no longer take product to cons to sell. If I take product, it will be to provide review copies. I actually knew this would be a problem, but hoped I could overcome it.

2. Even when you think a game is done, it is not done. I came to a realization that the stuff that puts most Kiss My Axe games over the edge in terms of pure awesome fun isn’t exactly in the rules. It’s there, it’s tied to the Style Quality, but it’s not explicit throughout. I need to pump its visibility up. This means Kiss My Axe will be delayed, but will have 25% more pure awesome upon release.

3. Timing for Con games is crucial. The Kiss My Axe one-shot hit the two hour mark once. The other two times it was run, it wasn’t allowed to get to the two hour mark (Games on Demand slot started late and table was required) or ran over two hours. I knew there was no way the Sword Noir one-shot would fit in two hours, but it certainly worked at four hours, even with the amazing crew getting very complex and sneaky with how they approached the problem. With a pick-up game, time isn’t as essential as it is in an actual con slot, and I had expected the Kiss My Axe one-shot to actually run just shy of four hours. Because every group is so different, game timing is very tough, but essential.

4. Sand skiffs, hornet riding mutant desert raiders, and skywhales? You’re doing Old School Hack right! There’s a lot of fun inherent in the OSH rules, but watching author (Enny-award winning) Kirin Robinson run an OSH game takes it to another level. He’s there, drawing out the combat zone that is abstract, but provides the visual cues for running a good combat, including differing arenas.

I’m sure as I think more on what happened and formulate hypotheses as to why, I’ll have more to share.

Now if you have not yet, go buy Sword Noir here.

And go download the Enny-award winning Old School Hack here.

Games On Demand

For those not in the know, at Gen Con 2011, I’ll be a GM with Games On Demand at the Crowne Plaza in the “Pennsylvania Station C” ballroom on Thursday and Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 14:00. My main purpose to to run “Crossing the Millers” for Sword Noir and “Suffer the Witch” for Kiss My Axe. I will also have Old School Hack for improv gaming (meaning nothing prepared, but ready to run it) and I will have a military special operations adventure set in Khorforjan to run with True20. Come and see me if you want to game.

You can read about Games on Demand on Facebook.

You can buy Sword Noir: a Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery here.

You can see the pre-generated characters for “Crossing the Millers” here.

You can get Old School Hack here.

You can buy the Khorforjan Gambit, an adventure for d20 Modern, here.

Kiss My Axe: the Quick And Dirty Gen Con Edition

Copies of Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death will be available at Gen Con, but these will be the Quick and Dirty Gen Con Edition. The big difference between the QDGCE and what will come later is the layout. Those of you who have purchased SEP products from the Khorforjan Gambit onward will have noticed the professional layout and graphic design. That’s due to Rob Wakefield. Now, he takes time to do his job, and I was in an incredible rush to get something ready for Gen Con. As such, I banged out a very basic layout and a cover that was the best I could do, but which ain’t winning any awards.

The game, though, is to the professional standards I hope SEP has exhibited in the past.

Just to give you an idea of what happens when Rob isn’t around to hold my hand, behold, the QDGCE cover!

Sword Noir and Kiss My Axe . . . On Demand!

Just in case you aren’t keeping up with my Gen Con 2011 schedule, I plan to be at Games On Demand, which one can find at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Pennsylvania Station C (which is a ballroom set aside for Gen Con gaming). Look for me on Thursday August 4 at 10:00 to 14:00 and Saturday August 6 at 10:00 to 14:00. I’ll have one-shots for both Sword Noir and Kiss My Axe. If I get a couple of people, I’ll be running a game, but I max out at 6.

Call me humble or call me a realist, but I have a sense I’ll be lucky to get two people interested in a game.

My Gen Con schedule is here.

You can find Sword Noir: a Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery here.

Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death will be debuting at Gen Con with print copies of the “Quick and Dirty Gen Con” edition.

Fraser’s 2011 Gen Con Schedule

This post is going to be my little Gen Con scheduler . .  .or something. Basically, this will let you know where I’m doing whatever I am doing. I’m hoping to showcase Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death and Sword Noir, meaning I’m hoping to run some games. If you see an opening and want to game, let me know.

I’ll be updating this page as plans are made. I hope I’ll see you there.

Wednesday
Arriving.

Thursday
1000 – 1400 Games on Demand, Crowne Plaza : Pennsylvania Station C
1500 – 1900 Sword Noir One-Shot “Crossing the Millers” at Embassy Suites
1930 – 2330 Social Event

Friday
1430 – 1630 Interviews
1700 – 2100 Sword Noir One-Shot “Crossing the Millers” at Embassy Suites

Saturday
1000 – 1400 Games on Demand, Crowne Plaza : Pennsylvania Station C
1500 – 1900 Playing Old School Hack
2000 – 2300 Media Meet & Greet at Union Station Basement

Sunday
Heading home.

SEP at Gen Con 2011

Indianapolis, I will be in you. Be warned!

Yup, going to Gen Con. This, in and of itself, is not news. I did want to highlight some information about the trip.

I’m going as a representative of the Accidental Survivors Podcast, meaning that SEP will not have a booth and that I’ll be looking to talk to other industry professionals.

I will, however, be carrying with me physical copies of Sword Noir and the very first ever copies of Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death. This will be the “Quick and Dirty Gen Con edition,” lacking professional layout, but mechanically the same as that which will come later.

Along with copies of Sword Noir and Kiss My Axe, I’ll have one-shot adventures for each which I will be happy to run.

Since I’m not going to have a booth, you’ll need to give me a shout before the con to set up a place and time to meet if you want to play in a one-shot. I’m also very open to just sitting down and running a game if you run into me.

So you have been warned, Indy. You have been totally warned.

You can find the Accidental Survivors here.

You can purchase Sword Noir here.

You can get other SEP goodness here.

The Kheufer Scrolls

SEP just released its first adventure for Sword Noir: A Role-Playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery called the Kheufer Scrolls. In this adventure, the PCs find themselves caught up in the search for scrolls belonging to the ancient necromancer Kheufer. Allies, enemies and the unknown all intersect as the sand runs through the hourglass and the plans of an ancient power, long thought dead, move toward fruition.

The Kheufer Scrolls is a 34 page PDF including 5 maps and 10 pages of narrative characters. It is designed for up to six starting characters. While the adventure does not require the use of Sword Noir, the narrative characters and some situations are based on that system and would require modification to use with another system.

You can expect a second Sword Noir adventure in September 2011. This is going to be a version of the one-shot which I will be running for various people at Gen Con. Also in August or September, Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death will be available. An adventure for KMA will soon follow in October or November 2011.

You can buy the Kheufer Scrolls here.

You can buy Sword Noir here.

I Have, In Fact, Kissed My Axe

The writing for Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death is done and the manuscript has been sent for layout.

What is Kiss My Axe? It’s a Viking role-playing game based on the system I adapted for Sword Noir and which is available free as the Sword’s Edge System. If you like Vikings, but aren’t sure if you want to put down good, hard-earned cash for Kiss My Axe, you can always check out Sword’s Edge System. If you like the system, check out how I adapted them for playing Vikings. Along with mechanics, there’s a a fair chunk of text devoted to historical eras in Scandinavia one could play, as well as different places one might find Viking adventures in the Viking Age, from Serkland in the east to Vinland in the west.

KMA (as I’ll call it) was a lot of work, and unfortunately I delivered it to layout much later than anticipated. I hope you’ll all forgive me. I have more bad news: it’s going to have minimal art. Now, minimal art was kind of a decision made for Sword Noir, but even that had more art than what you’ll get in KMA. An artist hired on based on his promise that he could provide a very quick turn around didn’t actually turn anything around. Kieron O’Gorman, who did the Everthorn map in Sword Noir and who is one of the Ottawa Warband, agreed to allow me to use portraits he drew during our Viking campaign. I’ve also found a few public domain works that might fit.

Layout can take a while, but I’m hoping to have something to show at Gen Con. I’ve thrown together “The Quick And Dirty Gen Con Edition,” which I’m hoping to get at least a few copies printed and delivered before Gen Con. Wish me luck! And if you happen to be going, let me know, as I’ll have one-shots for both Sword Noir and Kiss My Axe ready to run

You can find the free Sword’s Edge System here.

You can find the not free Sword Noir: a Role-playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery here.

Where Be Dragons? Beasties and Sword Noir

Curt Meyer had an interesting comment about Sword Noir that I wanted to answer here.

Curt said: “My only complaint is no bestiary. Conan and the Grey Mouser both battle weird creatures from beyond, etc.”

Curt agreed to me answering this in public, but the crux of it was in my email reply to him: “Short answer for no bestiary: I was leaning to the Noir over the Sword, and I feel that if one wants to do straight up S&S, that Jaws of the Six Serpents has already done it right.”

Sword Noir is part S&S and part hardboiled crime/detective fiction. Part of its appeal is in its removal from the standard fantasy RPG. It is different, it is somewhat unique—in its own little totally carbon copied way. Adding monsters and beasts to fight turns the dial back toward standard fantasy, removing some of its unique character.

My Sword Noir stories, however, are not devoid of monsters. “Flotsam Jewel,” which can be found in the Sword Noir fiction collection For Simple Coin, has a demon that is rather central to the story, being a primary obstacle for the main character to overcome. Saying that, writing Sword Noir—to me—is far different from playing Sword Noir, just as my fantasy writing is pretty far removed from my fantasy gaming.

So sorry to Curt and any others who wanted to fight the beasties. You can find those in the upcoming Kiss My Axe as well as the soon to be released print on demand version of the Sword’s Edge System.

Updating Sword Noir

It is very educational releasing a game system. I have never done so before. Sword Noir was the first system I ever released. It was play-tested, and the editor—Chris Groff from the Accidental Survivors—is a famed game breaker. He has the mutant power to size up a system’s weaknesses and how they can be abused. Still, SEP is small. We have no permanent staff. We also don’t have the kind of budget necessary to have multiple editors. Some things got past us. I totally and freely admit that.

So far, we haven’t done too poorly, but there will be revisions coming, and I want to thank everyone who has been pointing out errors and weaknesses. Before the PoD is released, the game will have been improved.

It’s funny that one of the biggest changes is going to be based on the system cribbed from Sword Noir. The Sword’s Edge System is a free version of the rules for Sword Noir. It’s different than the Sword Noir system, but only slightly. Mostly, it is simplification. As one example, the number of Traits is reduced to three. Sword Noir, though, is going to remain with five.

The rules don’t totally support character specialization, which is part of the definition of Sword Noir. For some people, this is a feature, not a bug. For me, it’s problematic. I made choices to try to achieve this, but I don’t think that—mechanically—I totally succeeded.

The choice of five Traits was due to my intention to differentiate these Traits finely, but not have too many Traits. Five seemed manageable while remaining somewhat granular. Differentiating Traits was a stab at forcing some level of specialization.

You see, one can only use those Qualities together that share a Trait. Any player-created Quality is attached to a Trait, and is used in conjunction with that Trait. Qualities can be stacked, but only if they share the same Trait (the exception being certain Aspects which are not linked to Traits). Therefore, it behooves a players to create Qualities within the same Traits, specializing to some degree.

As I relate this, it’s actually making me think of the Ability-based classes of d20 Modern. Never thought of that before.

In any case, one aspect of the SES rules that will be part of the Sword Noir revision is for multiple opponents. Now, the existing Sword Noir rules for multiple opponents are available for free on this very website. There are about six or seven paragraphs total discussing multiple opponents in the rules. I’m going to be cutting that in half by using the rules from SES.

Shouldn’t this have come up in playtesting? Shouldn’t we have seen then that these other rules were superior? Here’s the thing—Sword Noir was done many months ago. I moved on to Kiss My Axe (also done, save for editing), and then I went to SES (done and out). SES is a culmination of thinking and changes through both Kiss My Axe and itself. The mechanics worked fine through playtesting Sword Noir, so it was not an issue. In fact, I really liked how the multiple opponents rule worked. The nature of it should be clearly illustrated in the combat example.

However, the new rules do almost the same, removing a certain level of complexity. It becomes somewhat advantageous for the PCs, given that now a limited number of opponents can gang up on a PC, but that only makes sense. Eight guys swinging sword at a single individual is not going to work. Those guys are certainly going to get in each other’s way, so I put a limit of five opponents against one, and any more actually incur a penalty.

The big difference is that it is no longer about the Qualities one has. That acted as a limit on the number of multiple opponents one could face, but it actually ended up ignoring the actual physics of fighting multiple opponents. In the end, the simpler system addressed both the mechanical aspect as well as the simulation of multiple opponents.

I’ll be redoing the combat example with the new system to give you a taste. For those of you who have bought Sword Noir, look for that revision email in your mailbox!