Edged by the Empire Episode 01 Escape From Mos Shuuta During the events of the previous blog entry, the GOKL gang also presented me with an early birthday: A Star Wars Edge of the Empire Beginner Game boxed set. At first the Star Wars RPG used the D6 system when it was licensed to West End Games. Then it used the d20 system when it was with Wizards of the Coast. The latest role-playing game to be adapted from Star Wars by Fantasy Flight Games now uses the special dice with symbols instead of numbers, much like the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 3rd edition. You’d think it’d be complicated, but when I ran it the Beginner Game’s scenario entitled “Escape From Mos Shuuta” for Irfan it felt easy enough after we both got the hang of the rules. At some points Irfan was interpreting the dice rolls faster than I […]
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An element of chance
RPG sessions belonging in a number of different campaigns over the years. There are Star Wars, Mini Six, Edge of the Empire, Call of Cthulhu, Night’s Black Agents and Eclipse Phase campaigns within, among others.
Note: All posts herein are arrayed latest first and earliest last.
Night’s Black Agents: The Little Prince Job
Maulidurrasul, a national holiday, fell on a Thursday, and the GOKL guys invited me to play the new GUMSHOE system RPG Night’s Black Agents. The venue was at Doug’s new place which was not 3 klicks way from me along a straight road. I was happy to join them. Night’s Black Agents allow players to roleplay spies in a contemporary setting… where vampires exist in the shadows, and some of them call the shots. The group consisted of Shiina “Misha” Mikado the Japanese grifter and heavy hitter, Jacob Novazembla the Dutch hacker, Sami Härkönen the Finnish grunt and me, Zlatan Kljujic the Bosnian driver. We had been called to the Stafford London, a hotel at Saint James’s Place, which was across the way from Buckingham Palace by Air Marshal Morgan Prince of the British Ministry of Defence. Air Marshal Prince had foolishly allowed his son, Errol Kimberly Prince, to have […]
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SWD6: Our First RPG Session Ever
Strikeforce Enteague Episode 01 Trial Run It was way back in 1989 when I received my first tabletop RPG, the first edition Star Wars The Roleplaying Game and the Star Wars Sourcebook by West End Games. I read through the rules and thought, let’s try this out. I didn’t even start with “Rebel Breakout”, the introductory adventure that came in the book. I took a school exercise book and created a maze of corridors and rooms and thought, “Okay, this’ll make a great Imperial space station interior.” Actually the map wouldn’t make a lick of sense as a military installation, but it was my first try. Sila decided to be a bounty hunter and rolled up a player character whom she named Shanna Toarinar, and she went on to play Shanna for another ten years in realtime thereafter. And the campaign would go on for many years until I was […]
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Call of Cthulhu: Stark Raving Mad
Episode 2 Stark Raving Mad For several weeks, Irfan was asking me if I could run the continuation of his first Call of Cthulhu game where he roleplays SFPD Detective D.J. Stark. Finally I had the time to sit down and write prep notes for a short session. Irfan got into Detective Stark’s shoes, trench coat, shirt and tie, and then got right into it. The game started out where the previous session ended: Captain Greta Hack gives the bruised and battered Stark a week’s off after he shot his turncoat partner Lee Wilson and rescued Paige Riordan from the vicious underground creatures. Stark really has a Glock 9mm, not a revolver Returning to his apartment, he was ambushed by one of the foetid, muzzle-mouthed creatures in his kitchen. He felled it with a shot. The rest ran out the corridor and down the staircase. Stark pursued, but he was […]
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Call of Cthulhu: The First Game Ever
Episode 1 The City By The Bay I’ve had the Call of Cthulhu RPG for a decade now. I’ve never run it… til now. It was a gift from Gary before Irfan was born. We used to joke that if I couldn’t find anyone to run it for, I should someday run it for Irfan – who was then still unborn. And at the time I had yet to discover GOKL. Almost ten years later, I have refereed Irfan in a Call of Cthulhu game, who rolled up his character yesterday: a young detective in San Francisco named D.J. Stark. Here follows the actual play report: Detective Stark and his new partner Wilson hear of an abducted 9-year-old named Paige Riordan and go for a look. Another detective prevents Stark from entering the crime scene, warning him that this was his case. Stark fails to fast talk his way through. […]
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A Robot Rescue – Bad Example, Episode 4
Last Sunday, the GOKL gang continued the role-playing adventures of Star Wars: A Bad Example in the Spacelanes. Two new players, Nigel of Singapore who played Bob the Wookiee, and Razzman who played Reelo Jackson the Rodian bounty hunter, joined the party as they embarked on a mission to retrieve their kidnapped crewmates, beginning with Weapon X the HK-78 assassin droid. The previous episode can be found here. Episode 4: Our Droid Is Not Open-Sourced Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Upon exposing a traitor Starson O’Kreem in the mobile asteroid pirate stronghold Irontooth Station, pirate lord Slaughter Maelstrom has confirmed a truce with the crew of the Bad Example. After returning to Sriluur to pick up Tickley, the crew sets off to recovered their captured droid companion Weapon X. Using the data taken from O’Kreem’s datapad, they attempt to discover Weapon X’s location and soon track […]
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Pirate Politics – Bad Example, Episode 3
About six months ago, I ran the third Star Wars D6 game with the GOKL crew, which continued from Episode 2. But I was a bad GM then and did not take notes (mentally and on paper) of what occurred. Here is a run-down of the lost Episode 3 of Star Wars: A Bad Example in the Spacelanes. Details such as combat and NPC names were lost. New NPC names are fabricated for the purpose of continuity in the adventure and will be considered official for upcoming games. Episode 3: Piracy, Treachery and Kidnappings The crew of the Bad Example, Hunter Maelstrom the freighter captain, Nek’Koh’Moo’Su’May a.k.a Annie the Trianii, Ssssawar the Trandoshan chef and the clone Aden uneasily enjoyed the dinner set out for them by The Five Skulls Brigands. Weapon X, the HK-57 droid, just sat and made small talk. The pirate leader Lord Irontooth had earlier revealed […]
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A Bad Example Of A Group Portrait
Here is a picture of the crew of the Bad Example, the Star Wars RPG campaign I’ve been running sporadically with GOKL. Front: T’k’li a.k.a. Tickley, the Jawa Jedi. Back (L-R): Ssssawar the Trandoshan cook, Captain Hunter Maelstrom, Neh’Koh’Moo’Su’May a.k.a “Annie” the Trianii co-pilot, HK-78 a.k.a. “Weapon-X” and Aden the former Clone Trooper. Addendum (2010): Click here to download the paper miniatures of these Star Wars RPG characters!
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Hunting Pirates – Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 2
Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party IV Continued from Part 1 Ever the diplomat and unable to shoot from the back of the column, Hunter Maelstrom climbed up the nearest tree to get a clear shot as well and yelled, “Don’t shoot! It might be friendly.” Annie the Trianii brandished her talons and attempted to perform an acrobatic leap over the droid Weapon-X and the Trandoshan chef Ssssawar to get to Aden. Unfortunately, she slipped and fell face down in the dirt. Weapon-X was still trying to bear his blaster rifle on the creature, but Aden’s military skills prevailed. His DC-15 rifle was up and he fired, but the bolt slightly grazed the side of the creature’s head. Sharp, slimy teeth centimetres away from the clone’s throat, Ssssawar stepped in and swiftly punched the beast hard at the side of its head. It fell into a heap on the carpet […]
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Shooting Zebras – Bad Example, Episode 2 Part 1
I ran the second episode of Star Wars: A Bad Example In The Spacelanes last weekend with the GOKL crew. Without Adrian, Tickley the Jawa Jedi would be relegated to behind-the-scenes NPC while the rest of the crew did their thing. In Bad Example In The Spacelanes Episode 1: Pilot, Or Lack Thereof, some stuff happened which you can read here. Here follows the story of the game that was ran: Episode 2: Crab Meat Beach Party Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… The shipping line to the mining community of Port Barrow on the planet Sriluur was under constant raid from pirates. Because Port Barrow was being developed and industrialized by the outlander human Tam Gromer, it was relatively shunned by the rest of the planet. However, after the arrival of the crew of the yacht Bad Example, three pirate YT-1760 freighters had been taken out […]
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A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 2
Continuing the adventures of the crew of the Bad Example on Sriluur… III Meanwhile, Aden, Ssssawar and Annie crossed a bridge over the river that led to the waterfall only several metres due west. Their destination, Spacer’s Bistro, was on the other side of the river. Port Barrow had the expected large percentage of Weequay population in the streets, they saw. But there were also other species, including humans, several Rodians here, a few Duros over there. The Bistro was a domed building overlooking the cliff. There was a large window pane which allowed for spectacular view of the canyon and other mountains in the range. It was still early, so there were not many patrons in the Bistro. A green and black clad human was drinking alone in a table. There was a Weequay passed out, presumably drunk at another table. A Rodian was at a table near the […]
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A Bad Example In The Spacelanes, Part 1
Last Sunday I ran my first face-to-face, over-the-table Star Wars RPG game since 1999, with the GoKL crew. It was a tramp freighter campaign, set in the Rebellion Era, using classic D6 rules. I was quite anxious about it seeing it’s been a while since I was in practice – discounting the IRC chat-based Sabredart and Chronicles of the Wild Gundark campaigns I had several years ago. There were seven of us. I was gamemaster and there were six players. We rolled 6-sided dice to determine the outcome of our actions, and the players decided what to do based on the scenarios and encounters I described to them over the game. It was fantastic collaborative storytelling. Ultimately, this was the story that came out at the end of the game: Episode 1: Pilot, or Lack Thereof Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… the galaxy is in turmoil. […]
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The Crew of the Wild Gundark
Never let it be said I ran the Wild Gundark game without having at least one group illustration done for the team. Clockwise from top left, Groo McShae the Duros sensor tech, Similiv Zalimort the Kerestian first mate, Captain Nisa Dyaton the pilot, Aleic Karnsky the gunner, N4-M8 the mercenary and Wayang Kulit the Jawa droid tech specialist. Click below to view the image.
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Chronicles of the Wild Gundark Part III
Concluding the saga of the Wild Gundark crew: Quickly, the person on the other side of the comm told Nisa to meet them in Landing Bay 239 back at Medeus. “We’ll be waiting there at noon local time tomorrow.” Then the Fifth House woman cut off the transmission abruptly. The confused N4 remarked, “Could someone please explain the situation to me? Who is this ‘Duke’ and who was that organic who ceased functioning outside the ship just now?” Ignoring the newcomer droid, the worried Groo asked, “You think that communiqué was really bad for our health?” A grinning Similiv replied, “Probably, Greenskin… but we wouldn’t want our lives to be boring now would we?” Finally after much contemplation, Nisa grimly said, “OK! We have a meet, but get ready for anything this time. We have about 12 hours till the meet, and I want to be alive for it.” And […]
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Chronicles of the Wild Gundark Part II
Continuing the saga of the Wild Gundark crew: Nisa pulled on her control yoke and told her passenger (and her wary crew), “Let’s get to work.” Similiv turned to the comm board as the ship’s nose turned the way Nisa directed it. And she discovered that a colossal object blocked her entire forward viewport. Something grey. Something wedged shaped. Something over a kilometre and a half in length. Something ominous. It seemed to them that the ship’s cabin temperature dropped several dozen degrees. “An Imperial Star Destroyer!” And now the continuation of the story based on the Star Wars RPG campaign: The Star Destroyer, Nisa Dyaton noticed, had deactivated running lights. And most of its hull viewport were dark. Tell Sabarin finally commented, “The ship is brand new, probably fresh off the manufacturing drydock, with minimal security and maintenance crew. It’s awaiting inspection before a crew is assigned to it.” […]
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Chronicles of the Wild Gundark Part I
A Star Wars fiction, based on the Chronicles of Wild Gundark RPG campaign. It all began when the crew of the Wild Gundark was commissioned to deliver twenty tons of bantha milk to the backwater town of Prosperity on the cold tundra of the planet Dellalt. The job went without a hitch, apart from the little tussle with the crew of an Imperial customs corvette (the two-pronged, sleek affair that many tramp freighter captains love to hate) in the Vaxal system. Unfortunately, the result of the little encounter was the spillage of approximately half of the delicious blue milk because of gravity plate failure. Things could have turned out real bad for them, but instead their contact, a imposing and tattooed Herglic named Dapp only paid them fairly in half and left peacefully. There was only one thing known to them as they left Dellalt: They had taken on a […]
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