Warhammer 3E vs. Dragon Age: Round 2

I had a great Holiday break. I caught up on all my rest, enjoyed the first Christmas with my daughter, and did a whole hell a lot of gaming. An old gaming buddy of mine from back in the day joined me and the Dandies for some good ole clickety clack. I ran 2 demos of Warhammer, ran one game of Dragon age and played in another. After a few more sessions, I can honestly say that I much prefer Dragon Age over Warhammer. Don't get me wrong. Warhammer is fun, and I'm starting to get into the mechanics a bit more, but Dragon Age runs like butter. It slips right into the background, and after a couple of combats, you really start to get the stunts. I really like simple elegant systems. Warhammer tends to be pretty crunchy (and I can acknowledge that much of that comes from learning the systems ins and outs). Dragon Age you can explain to a new character and just jump right into your story. There's a serious learning curve that comes with Warhammer. That said, there's also a lot of room for cool nuances in the dice mechanics.

Now these are still early impressions. I'm planning a WHRP game at the moment and I'm really curious to see how that goes. I'll post further impressions after I run a few sessions. 

(Oh btw- I planned on running a Earthdawn game from my buddy but switched at the last minute and wrote up a Dragon Age adventure on the spot. I scribbled down some notes, wrote down the adversaries stats and ran the game. I don't think I'd be able to do the same for Warhammer.)

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.

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.

First game

Just finished our first lunchtime session of Shadowrun and it was AWESOME! The Shadowrunlite rules ran wonderfully and every body really got their characters. Our own Emma Coats was even able to beat her dice curse and kick some major ass!
It started off as all good games do in a bar. As the players were taking some time to get in a little R&R at the local faux divebar, the Nosedive, a prominent local Fixer named Warlock decides to pay a visit. Warlock has a rep for being a solid Fixer with great connections who actually looks out for his runners. Chase, who's running the 'dive, tell Bergamont to make sure no one disturbs the Fixer. But before the Adept can make that happen, the bar is overrun by Gangers in leathers and fezes. The Braineaters, a tech fetish gang rushes the door and make a bee line for Warlock's table. Bergamont, Cole and Turk make short work of the gang and Chase manages to get things under control. Warlock, impressed thanks the group and leaves his card. Looks like they just might have a future in the Shadows.

Gaming micro sessions

So time is definitely an issue now that I'm a new dad (loving it!). So as a way of getting my gaming fix in, I'm going to run a one hour weekly lunchtime game. It's going to be Shadowrun. It's going to be a small group. And it's going to be a blast.