We began a new campaign on Discord and Foundry VTT. This time it’s Delta Green, gamemastered by Ivan. Delta Green is a game of conspiracy of Lovecraftian proportions set in the modern age, and published by Arc Dream Publishing. It uses a variation of Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying System for Call of Cthulhu. This was the second time I played it. The adventure was played over two nights and my title for it is obviously not what it really is. Dramatis Personae Jim Kurtz – Bill Mueller – Dan Palmer – Doug Sale – Hisham Part 1 Played 12th February 2021 My name is Sale. Caleb Sale. I used to be a mechanic, an Airman First Class for the United States Air Force. My speciality was rotorcraft maintenance, specifically the V-22 Osprey. One day, I saw something strange that changed my view on life and how the universe worked. I weathered […]
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Mini-Six at the workplace
Actual play reports of at most two continuing RPG sessions. But most likely, a report of a single, stand alone game. Some of these are sessions that belonged in longer campaigns in which I did not participate as a regular player.
SWD6: Scavenging the Fallen Part 2
Star Wars D6: Scavenging the Fallen Part 2 A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the crew of the YT-1300 light freighter Pretty Enemy was tasked with retrieving a Carbanti H-50 targeting processor from the derelict husk of a crashed Imperial Star Destroyer on the planet Jakku. Six months earlier, there was a battle there where many Star Destroyers had crashed onto the planet’s desert surface. Although the star system was remote and unremarkable, it had become the very site where the military might of the Galactic Empire was finally extinguished by the New Republic… Last time on Scavenging The Fallen… Dramatis Personae Donetto Dusk – a smuggler Hamilton Zero – a speeder racer Lubird – a protocol droid Sam Aiman – a young Jedi Susan Sunbreaker – a brash pilot Zam Wessel – a bounty hunter The team had decided to press deeper into the Star […]
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SWD6: Scavenging the Fallen
Star Wars D6: Scavenging the Fallen A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the crew of the YT-1300 light freighter Pretty Enemy was tasked with retrieving a Carbanti H-50 targeting processor from the derelict husk of a crashed Imperial Star Destroyer on the planet Jakku. Six months earlier, there was a battle there where many Star Destroyers had crashed onto the planet’s desert surface. Although the star system was remote and unremarkable, it had become the very site where the military might of the Galactic Empire was finally extinguished by the New Republic… Dramatis Personae Donetto – a smuggler Hamilton – a speeder racer Lubird – a protocol droid Sam Aiman – a young Jedi Susan – a brash pilot Zam Wessel – a bounty hunter We have seen better days The Pretty Enemy, an orange-and-blue YT-1300 freighter, dropped out of lightspeed close to the planet Jakku […]
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EOTE: The Desert Search
Edge of the Empire: The Desert Search Earlier today, I ran a short one-shot Edge of the Empire RPG session with my colleagues at our language centre using the Beginner Game pregenerated characters. I set up my gear at the lounge in my office, but for some reason I forgot the custom-made dry erase mat. So the poor paperminis had no terrain to stand on. Anyway, here is the story that was derived from the game played by three English language teachers. Dramatis Personae: Pash – male Human Smuggler (Shih Min) Lowhhrick – male Wookiee Hired Gun (Asha) It All Started At The Wheel Star pilot and smuggler Pash and his partner and hired gun Lowhhrick, a bulky and hairy Wookiee, strolled the commercial thoroughfare in the space station known as The Wheel located in the Besh Gorgon star system. Although their attire and gear identified them as dangerous outlaws, […]
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EOTE: Mission to Kijimi
It was the last class of the semester and I had finished the syllabus a week early, so I organised a Star Wars RPG session for the students earlier today. The students used the Legends of the Galaxy pregenerated character sheets which I used in class previously, from all three flavours of the game: Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny. Here’s the story that resulted from the game session: Edge of the Empire Mission to Kijimi Dramatis Personae Sasira, female human Colonist/Entrepreneur – Amira Malea, female human Jedi Warrior/Starfighter Ace – Syuhada Kree, female human Smuggler/Pilot – Anis (Captain of the Portkey Mustang) Byt, male Twilek Technician/Outlaw Tech – Aiman Freya, Chiss Jedi Seeker/Ataru Striker – Wani Wedelia, female human Jedi Consular/Niman Disciple – Raf Arrival on Kijimi The crew of the Portkey Mustang were given a mission by the Rebel Alliance: to journey to […]
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STA: Phaser to a Singularity Fight
Star Trek Adventures Phaser to a Singularity Fight This Sunday afternoon, I thought we would just test out Star Trek Adventures. I did not even prepare a scenario. I started with the first encounter and it just snowballed onward from there. And yes, I just saw “The Enemy” several days earlier. In Medias Res Commander Lenaris Los, a Bajoran and an executive officer of Starfleet. (We never did decide which starship he was an XO of.) Commander Lenaris was in the midst of investigating the tunnels of a deserted asteroid station when he came upon a locked door. (Rolling Control+Engineering,) the good commander was able to unlock the door. It whooshed open, revealing something unexpected within: a Romulan Centurion – pointed ears and all. The startled Centurion went for the disruptor pistol on his belt, but (with a successful Daring+Security while securing a couple of Momentum for later used) Lenaris […]
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Risus RPG: Perchance To Dream
Risus RPG One Shot Perchance to Dream This was a Risus the Anything one-shot game that I ran for my Master’s Degree supervisor Prof Harshita and my colleague Asha who was along for the fun of it all. I thought Risus would be a great way to introduce them to RPGs as a language learning tool because of the versatility of the Risus’ clichés. It went smoothly, and I can see how the characters could develop new clichés as the story went on. Dramatis Personae General Desi – a retired military general Ms. Bong – a rich entrepreneur The retired General Desi and entrepreneur Ms. Bong were travelling through the tall grass and rolling fields of the land they called New Perlis. Desi needed a walking stick as at her old age she was Easily Tired (1). Above them, two suns blazed in a cloudless noon sky. The land rose […]
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DnD: Five Sessions in Five Classes
Another first for me this entire week is the fact that I ran RPG sessions for every one of my English classes, using Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. The students used Level 2 pre-generated characters downloaded from the DnD official site. I wish I was able to plan for more weeks, using the game to improve their speaking and writing skills, but c’est la vie. Here are capsule actual play write ups for each session that I ran. The names and details of the characters in each session can be read in the accompanying photos. The theme of the week was Arts and Culture. NOTE: The students who wrote these play reports speak nor write English as a first language. They did the best they could in light of other more pressing courses and assignments. Grammatical and spelling errors have been left in the text for research purposes, so do […]
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DnD: Winter at Stonehaven
We have visitors this week. The language educators from Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, Thailand are on a three-day working visit of Universiti Malaysia Perlis. There are a number of activities that the Centre for International Languages scheduled from them. One of the activities is a tabletop role-playing game session. I was given a table to set up books, dice, maps and paper miniatures for a mini-exhibition. Before me, my colleague Yuzy (who plays the teenage spy Jijah in our The Laundry (Malaysia) RPG campaign) ran an ice-breaking session and demonstrated how online learning tools like Quizziz and Kahoot were run in class. After Yuzy’s activities were done, I began my segment with a short slide presentation. The presentation summarised what a tabletop role-playing game is, what games exist in the market and how it could benefit language learning, especially in an ESL environment. Not to mention how it could improve […]
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Coriolis RPG: Dark Flowers
Yesterday, I was reunited with the old GOKL crew for a one-shot RPG session of Coriolis – The Third Horizon RPG. Coriolis is a game published by Modiphius Entertainment and uses the same system as Mutant: Year Zero and Tales from the Loop role-playing games. Humanity has reached a star cluster known as the Third Horizon via a portal. But a Portal war has long isolated them from the rest of humanity. The Portal Builders are long gone and appear to be an ancient and powerful species. The space station Coriolis orbits the planet Kua, the hub of the Third Horizon. Also of note is that the civilisation of the setting takes on the trappings of the Middle East. The system is pretty elegant in its simplicity. Roll a pool of dice equalling your character’s Attributes plus Skills. Any dice turn up 6 is a success. Multiple sixes on certain […]
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DnD: The Mushroom Forest Strife
In a land ravaged by magic and monsters and forgotten by time, a pair of adventurers: a human barbarian named Jonz and an elf ranger named Maya travel the wilderness. While the barbarian is keeping an eye out for gold and treasure, the ranger is keeping close in order to quickly pull her clumsy barbarian friend out of trouble at a moment’s notice… Dramatis Personae Jonz the human barbarian – Rizal Maya the elf ranger – Noriha Chapter 1 – Thankfully No One Has Arachnophobia Dozens of types of mushrooms stood in the way of Jonz and Maya. There were small lichens, knee-high toadstools and hundred-foot tall mushrooms, surrounding them as they walked through the ancient Mushroom Forest. A river blocked their path and they spotted a body on the ground across the river, about forty feet away. “Maya what do you know about this mushroom forest?” Jonz asked Maya. […]
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DnD: The Dark Mage
As three members of our Laundry RPG campaign were unable to attend today’s session, the two remaining players decided on a one-shot Dungeons and Dragons session. The Holy City of Honour was a city where dozens of peoples from dozens of faiths come to visit. It grew to be its own city state. A thick wall protected it from the outbreak of wild magic that had ravaged the lands to its south. The Tempest Bay protected it from the north. Ships from all over the realm arrive in Honour through the sea gates of the bay. To the south-west of the city in a forest along the beach was a small cottage. The occupants of the cottage were the human paladin Jyn and the elf ranger Jolle. They explored the wild magic infested lands and defended the weak from dangers that roamed outside the city walls. Dramatis Personae Jyn, Human […]
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DnD: Pretty Werewolves
Once upon a time at a time forgotten by lore, there was a city known as Big Dark Mountain. It was once a great mountain which had been hewn into a plateau. Humans, elves, dwarves and dragonborn came to build a city upon the plateau. Even a number of drow eventually settled there. Over the centuries, it grew into a prosperous city state. It was the centre of culture and commerce for the land. Meanwhile, evil powers began to dominate the countryside, corrupting a community here and despoiling a village there. Adventurers, warriors and explorers emerged from Big Dark Mountain, banding into groups of protectors. These groups venture forth across the land to seek out evil and darkness. One such party was the group known as the Pretty Werewolves… Dramatis Personae Ragnarok – Human Barbarian (Hafiy) Hago – Dragonborn Sorcerer (Danial) X.P.D.C. – Drow Rogue (Faizuddin) Rowling – Elf Wizard […]
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DnD: Fallen Nation
Once upon a time, a cadre of wayward mercenaries – warriors lost without a kingdom – roamed around in search for adventures and a purpose. They hired themselves out to protect the common folk from a growing evil that has begun to stalk the land. Dramatis Personae Sage – Drow Rogue (Aminin) Mordred – Human Druid (Ganesan) Kaisa – Half-elf Bard (Fadzmil) Kal-El – Elf Fighter (Hafiz) Clark – Half-orc Paladin (Zaini) Raven, Guardian of the Jungle – Human Barbarian (Nazam) Mid – Dragonborn Sorcerer (Hamidah/Hajar) Lin – Human Fighter (Sharlin) Dul – Human Paladin (Afiqah/Syahidah) Chapter 1 Starry Falcon The story began in a tavern. The tavern was located in the village of Starry Falcon in the nation of Camelot. It was a Camelot populated not merely by humans, but also elves, dwarves, drow and dragonborn. However it was a dying nation as its high king named Arthur disappeared […]
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DnD: An Assessment of an Island Economy
Dungeons and Dragons in Class I ran Dungeons and Dragons for the first time… in a classroom. On Wednesday, I found that there was time to run a role-playing game session for the class while giving them a focused objective language wise. So I bought my D&D books. This class had never played any RPGs before, so I hoped that they could follow the instructions and the plot of the game as we developed it together. I brought pregenerated characters. They selected what they wanted to play. I briefed them on Attributes, Skills, Hit Points and how the dice rolls are used. Soon, we were ready to play. Dramatis Personae Naivara – High Elf Wizard Amalin – Half-elf Bard Pedepoit – Drow Rogue Bougainvillea – Dragonborn Sorceror Gong Nekara – Wood Elf Ranger Kemaih Cendoi – Human Druid The six are officials of the Sultanate of Purnama Utara to assess […]
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Savage Worlds: A Simple Job
Kuala Lumpur 2099 was a colossal city-state, among hundred of other city-states which still existed on this dying Earth. Half of the population of the planet were safely nestled in these cities subject to amazing technology, while also under the watchful eye of the tyrannical megacorporations. The other half of the population are either rich enough to buy their way onto space habitats across the solar system or are dead, killed by a vengeful mother nature outside the walls of the city-states. DIGITAL REMAINS 01 A Simple Job Today I ran a short Savage Worlds cyberpunk scenario for the first time for my son where he played an “information retrieval specialist” with a “switchblade katana” (Yes. I’ll allow that! Same damage stats as a normal katana!) in Kuala Lumpur 2099. His yet-unnamed retrieval specialist had been paid to break into and steal a file named “deathbringer.odxz” from a terminal in […]
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