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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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?