Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Warhammer... ah Warhammer. I don't know where to begin. Some of my best games I've played in were played in this setting. I was really excited to try out this new system. The dice mechanic looked fun. I enjoy the setting. That said, after last night's game I have to say that I'm underwhelmed. I don't hate the game by any means, but after playing a session I will say that this game is a hot mess. It sits firmly in the place that DnD 4e sits with me in that it's over designed. I enjoyed this much more than 4e, but damn... this game is just too busy. With cards for this, tokens for that, stances, different dice... it's not exactly GM friendly. To be fair, I was not entirely boned up on the mechanics. I had to refer to the book a lot and I can honestly say that because we focused so much on the mechanics, it made for some uninspiring play. Set up and clean up is a pain in the ass as well. The funny thing is I ran for 2 players and it went at a snail's pace. I was planning to run for 4! Luckily 2 players had to bail. It would've been a disaster. My players aren't giving up on it yet and neither will I. I ran the demo A Day Late and a Shilling Short (which I think is a pretty poor introduction to the system btw) so again I was unhappy with the scenario as written. Next time we play I'll be running something I cook up which should prove to run much smoother.

After the game I got some great feedback from Munchanka and Lawnrocket. I went home and reread the books and I can say that I'm much much more prepared to run another session. Still I will say that Fantasy Flight Games went a little ape shit making this game. I could have done without the cards and the tokens and stuff. Or at least simplified things. Two or 3 stacks of cards (ALL THE SAME SIZE PLZ!), a few universal token. Something that's easier to manage. I'm really finding that I enjoy simpler more elegant systems. Dragon Age was much more fun in comparison. The system just sort of melts into the background allowing you to get into the story. With Warhammer, the system surrounds you, bulleys you, and extorts you for money.

Dragon Age!

So we played our first game of the Dragon Age RPG this past saturday. Meanmunkee did a great job for his first time in the GM's chair. I daresay that with some practice, his skills could very well rival my own one day. ;) I played Weyon Faydrick, a city elf from Denerim wanted for attacking a powerful noble. I was travelling with Siknaz's character also a City Elf named Dresden who is a  friend/rival of mine, and Munchanka's character Aryn the noble's apostate son.
Character creation was quick and easy, and although I found a lot of complaints on the forums about the random character gen, I really liked it.
I wasn't sure about the rules, but after playing them I have to say I dig them. We did have to refer to the stunt list a lot which slowed down play some, but by the end of the game, we were already getting some. It was cool because we started developing individual tactics as players. There were definitely some stunts we each favored more than others. It made the characters stand out a bit more which was nice. I also have to say that I enjoyed playing in a smaller group. I'll have to do more of that. The 8 player Deadlands group is a bit like trying to herd sheep.
All in all, I really really enjoyed it and I'm excited to play again. We'll have to see how it holds up to Warhammer.

Fantasy Overload!

It's been awhile since I've posted and I've been BUSY! Not only working on my comic, but working on being a new dad and crunching like crazy at work. But I've still managed to find time to game. And game I have! The Lunch hour supers game has, for the most part, fizzled out. Whether due to lack of interest or scheduling, I'm not entirely sure. I'm sure at some point we'll be circling back around to it, but for now, it's on the back burner.
I started up a Deadlands game on Monday nights and that's been a blast. We're actually really close to wrapping it up, but that's not the big news. Fantasy has been slowly creeping back into the mix in a big way. 2 new games have been released and we're looking to play both. The culprits; The Dragon Age rpg based on the computer game of the same name, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Both take place in a grim setting, they're pretty much polar opposites gameplay wise. Dragon Age is a rules lite game aimed at rpg newbies, and Warhammer is a prop heavy game with tons of dice, cards, paper minis and other such fiddly bits.
I'm running a Warhammer session, and my buddy Meanmunkee is taking a stab at Dragon Age. I'm really excited about both because each hasan  interesting set of mechanics that I'm looking forward to trying out. Dragon Age should be especially good seeing as Munkee has never run a game before. Never really PLAYED either! @_@. I'll post about the experience of both. I think at least one of these may become the big campaign for next year.

Crap ending

So I ran the finale to my Deadlands game, Coffin Rock. I have to say that it ended on a pretty sour note. TPK. Total Party Kill. It was mostly my fault. I realized I put a few too many bad guys in the game. On top of that, the presentation of one of the final scenes was boring and one dimensional. I felt really bad about it. I read through the adventure and that particular scene I didn't like I planned to change.
After the game the Dandies (our group) gave me a really good critique. I came away with a lot of notes and good strategies for future games. That said, I'm thinking that this is probably one of the last times I'm going to run a pregen or if I do I'm going to heavily alter it to my tastes (which is what I should've done anyway). Much of the praise I recieved was from material that I added to the game. And indeed when I run scenarios that I plan myself they run smoother and a much more fun for everybody.
So my plan to run The Flood after Coffin Rock has been abandoned. I've passed the torch onto my sister Gunghogirl. I'll join the posse as a PC, something I haven't done in awhile. I'm sure I'll get fidgety at some point and I'll bust out a game.

UPDATE: So I've decided to rerun the ending rewritten and reconfigured. I'm pretty excited about it actually and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. On top of altering the scenario, I'm actually fiddling with the system. I'm going to be using a Savage Worlds homebrew that alters a bunch of the mechanics but I think may play a bit better and makes a bit more sense. Of course it could also be broken as hell. All will out after the holidays.If it works out, I may post the House rules here for people.