Thursday, January 31, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - Character Sheets

Check out these awesome character sheets done up by Fate Core G+ Community member Josh Leavitt. They even have a space for your knight's coat of arms!

We're at the end of the cut material from the draft. If you have an element of the setting or rules you'd like to discuss, leave a comment here or on the Fate G+ Community. If you hop in some armour and take the setting for a spin, please let me know so I can link to it from the blog. I'll have information on my upcoming projects here as well as a few hacks of existing settings for Fate.

Monday, January 28, 2013

AV Club - Symphony of the Goddesses

Here's my review of the latest video game symphony that came through town.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Fate Core Hack - Fate of the Red Death

The success of the Fate Core Kickstarter brought a new audience to the blog thanks to CAMELOT Trigger. To keep the party going, I will update from time to time with hacks on how to run other games using Fate Core. I started an In Nomine hack, but that is going on hold until I'm less busy. I'm going to concentrate on smaller hacks instead that can fit in a single blog entry.

If you like or use this hack, please let me know. Thanks to +Jacob Poss  for coming up with some neat D&D style magic rules that I adapted for a better feel.

After the jump, I present the first hack - Masque of the Red Death!


Thursday, January 24, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - Hostage Armour & Patchwork Knights

We are almost to the end of the Fate Core Kickstarter. In case you haven't heard, the final stretch goal is an adaptation of the awesome Dresden Files RPG for the Fate Accelerated Edition. If you haven't backed the Kickstarter yet, you should consider it, because you get an insane value for $10. My contribution is just one part. Evil Hat has been awesome to work with and I hope to get to work with them again soon, hopefully on  the other projects the Kickstarter unlocked.

After the jump I include more cut text from the backer draft. The information deals with the Petty Barons of Jupiter and the knights of the Saturnine Senate. If you have any feedback, suggestions, compliments or complaints, leave them here, the Fate Core G+ group, or contact me @robowieland on Twitter.

Monday, January 21, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - PASTAC

Response to CAMELOT Trigger has been great. We've gotten a lot of good feedback from backers who were excited from the word go, as well as quite a few who came around to enjoying the setting after reading the full release. I look forward to hearing actual play reports and additional suggestions on how to make things cooler. Hearing backers discuss using the armour mechanics for everything from Eclipse Phase to Rifts is awesome. Thank you all once again for your support. Take to your favorite social media to spread the love for FATE Core and CAMELOT Trigger in the final week of the Kickstarter.

As promised, this is the first blog entry featuring material cut from the general release. Tom Cadorette was my editor on CAMELOT Trigger. Nothing makes a writer feel better than "This is great, but we have to cut it for space." The project was originally 10,000 words but Fred opened up the word count to range between 10,000 and 15,000 words. It was enthusiasm for these blogs that pushed me to hit that upper limit, and I even ended up going a bit over. Items were also cut to make room for some examples of mechanics, so I have a few of these entries planned to highlight some additional elements to bring to your CAMELOT Trigger game. Consider these additional plot hooks to inspire.

After the jump, I talk about PASTAC, an organization that thinks Earth needs to return to the way it was before technology. I wanted a reason for armour to mix against the visual of old castles and carts. PASTAC was born of that desire. The name came from Tom's suggestion, and it solves a unique problem with the setting.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Camelot Trigger is GO!

The bad news is that I won't be able to post the previews I originally intended.  The good news is that it's because the backer draft of CAMELOT Trigger was released! I'm so excited to get it out to everyone and get some feedback. This draft went through a few rounds of edits, but I hope from the 7000(!) backers to catch more mistakes and suggest additional edits for clarity.

Please leave your comments here, on the FATE Core G+ group, or in the Kickstarter comments.

Next week, I'll post some of the stuff that was cut for space that digs a little deeper in the setting. Until then, read, enjoy and make haste to armour launch!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

AV Club - Grand Avenue

My editor and I discuss strategies for how we would fix the downtown mall in Milwaukee.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

AV Club - Midwinter 2013

I'll be at the Midwinter Gaming Convention this Saturday. I'm on a panel for Nerds at Heart starting at 4, but I'll be wandering around the show before that playing games, like nerds do.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Podcast - Jennisodes

If you miss the sound of my voice (or love it as much as I do), check out this episode of Jennisodes. I talk about CAMELOT Trigger, Mafia Century, Encore, FATE, Shadowrun and more!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

FATE Core - In Nomine Hack:The Basics

I posted a question to the Fate Core Google Community to keep my busy while CAMELOT Trigger is in edits. After a spirited discussion, I decided to take on one of Those Games Where You Love The setting But Hate The System. The In Nomine books by Steve Jackson hold a special place in my heart. The right mix of drama, humor and horror. But the system was just horror to me. I tried running the game a few times and the story never got a grip because of the rules.

This began as a DFRPG hack with the help of my friend and awesome In Nomine GM Brent. He crafted a game that his players still remember fondly to this day, which is no mean feat with the D666 system. This is meant to get the feel of the fiction right rather than convert the mechanics. Although, the mechanics that I did like I did try to save.

If you're just here for CAMELOT Trigger, I hope to have news soon. Otherwise, check out the jump for the first part of the hack. If you want me continue, please let me know here, on the G+ community, or


Thursday, January 10, 2013

Cortex - A Mass Effect Hack


I'm heading out of town for the weekend. CAMELOT Trigger's second draft is currently safely ensconced at Evil Hat HQ. I've pieced together a hack for another game system I love, the Marvel version of Cortex+. It's for the Mass Effect universe. The information is located after the jump. If you would like for me to continue, drop me a line or leave a comment. Otherwise, we'll see you next week.


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - The Peril of Sir Malcolm

The important points of the playtest:

  • The new shutdown rules work well.  Having the opponent choose to hit a system for more stress relief really digs in some hard choices.
  • Contests are fun to run, especially when someone spends a Fate point to force a tie.
  • Still unhappy with how siege armours feel. They work okay but not quite the 'boss monster' feel I want.
  • Boosts are fun - ties mean something now.
  • Having someone play a character is a great way to find typos on their character sheet.
  • Creating the settlement H377 on the fly was great. Thanks Steven!
  • Watching a player new to FATE cook up their first aspect is fun. 
More information about the scenario after the jump. As always, drop me a line in the comments or @robowieland to discuss.

Friday, January 4, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - A Run Through The Wyrmgates

The next draft is finishing completion. I thought I'd take this entry to talk about how the knights travel around our solar system.

The Wyrmgates are jumpgates built at each of the major inhabited planets in the system. They stretch from Mercury to Saturn, each a different color. They were built in the style of giant dragon heads. To travel through the gate a knight steps through the dragon's mouth into a strange dimension known as The Breach.

MerLN uploaded himself to the Wyrmgates as a measure to control access. As long as he is in control, MerGN-A can't use them. MerLN often speaks with knights during their time in The Breach, learning about humanity as best he can.

After the jump, let's about the planets in the setting. We're entering Spoiler Territory here, so if you want to save yourself for when the full draft hits, you make want to turn back now and skip out of the comments. Keep following my posts on Twitter @robowieland and on the Fate Core G+ community. Once again, thanks to everyone who has shown their love for the setting.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

CAMELOT Trigger - Armour Aspects?

The manuscript is currently working its way through rewrites and edits. One of the areas currently under debate is whether or not armour should have Aspects.

Currently, armour is built entirely of stunts. A few readers have expressed wanting a better connection with their armour though an aspect or two on the armour itself. I feel like once players get a chance to build armours and flavor systems, they will have a good connection.

I'm still leaning towards no Aspect on the armour. Between the five aspects of each character, scene aspects and the ones players drop by creating advantage, I'm afraid that any flavor created by the Aspect would get lost in the shuffle. Most players are going to have high concepts they can use in battle reliably. If a player wants an aspect like My Father's Armour, having that come up in the phase trio seems like the best place to do it.

What do you think?