Nemo's Lounge reviews Crimson Dragon Slayer

I was very pleased to read this review of Crimson Dragon Slayer!!! 

Thanks, +Joel Bethell.

Anyone who has an active gaming blog and wants to write a full-on playtest review of CDS, let me know and I'll hook you up with a complimentary PDF or half-price softcover.

VS

p.s.  Character sheet coming soon (multiple versions, I hope)!

Blessings of the Purple Putrescence

Soon...

VS

p.s.  The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence (both PDF and softcover) will be on sale until the baby comes.  Might be tonight... could be the middle of next week!

How to roll your dice: a dice rolling tutorial

Now that we've got that out of the way, here's a selection of direct quotes from Crimson Dragon Slayer fans...

"Yeah, it was OK."

"Meh."

"Better than all the editions of D&D combined, except 4th edition... 4th edition was the best!"

"Syrupy."  

"Not as terrible as I thought it would be."

"Could you repeat the question?"

"Rolling inside a box is for pussies."

"You got your stupid scifi all over my fantasy.  I hate you.  Arrrrggghhh!"

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Yeehaw!  There you have it, folks.  Just doesn't get any better than that!  Buy it on Amazon via CreateSpace (send me confirmation of your purchase for a free PDF) or DriveThruRPG.

It's single-handedly the newest and fastest selling RPG on the market (less than 12 parsecs).  Don't be a fucking moron, pick up the neo-vintage RPG that's sweeping the nation... Crimson Dragon Slayer!!!

VS

p.s.  Yes, I am available for interviews - but not for podcasts or skype/video.  Not that desperate.

True Roleplaying requires emotional connection

Awhile ago, I posted this.  Basically, my definition of a roleplaying game.  I got a bit of constructive criticism at the time... and rightly so.  It was lacking.

Sure, casual roleplaying could be defined by taking on a role.  And doing it solely for the noble purpose of having fun qualified it as a game... yet many of us know deep down that something's missing from that equation.  That's not "true roleplaying" or truly what a roleplaying game is. *

I read a post from this thread last night about Necrozius' review of How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss:

So I started reading the book and I love it so far. I even screencapped a paragraph or two and sent it to my friends because it resonated with me so much. Some of the tips were pretty good, like making three traits for each element of a scene, and I already find myself reflexively thinking "now I need three traits for this" every time I introduce something into the game. It also inspired me to make this thread since it talked about the nature of roleplaying.

Haven't finished it yet, but it was enough for me to go and order all of the other books on a whim.  ~  mAcular Chaotic

And it took me to a thread where I ended up posting the following...

I've seen roleplaying defined as a few things, and as the key to having fun and being immersed. 

There's the common trope of acting; you disappear yourself inside another character. 

Then there's simply playing out how you'd act if it was basically you with a few differences.

I feel like most people just say "roleplaying" when they mean one or the other, which can create some misunderstandings. Which one are you supposed to be doing? When a new player asks "how do I play?" what are you supposed to say?  ~  mAcular Chaotic

First off, that's really cool that How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss got you thinking and posting about this subject. 

Second, for someone just starting out and asking that particular question, I'd go with option #2. They should try to play a character roughly similar to themselves. 

The more experienced the roleplayer, I think they can make their own decision on how much to act, disappearing inside a role, etc. Also, if it's only going to be a one-shot, acting could be a fun diversion. Committing to a particular role - a character that isn't a bit like you - can be exhausting and tedious session after session after session.

At the end of the day, it's a personal choice. However, there must be an emotional connection between the player and the character for "true roleplaying" to take place. What do I mean by emotional connection? If something emotionally charged happens to the character, the player has to be able to feel something: anger, joy, fear, love, blood lust, empathy, sympathy, a vibration, resonance, understanding... something. If that emotional connection isn't there, then one's roleplaying is no different than pretending to be Ms. Pac-Man, eating pellets and evading ghosts.  BTW, getting excited about your high score doesn't count.  ~  VS


That's it.  Feel free to comment, critique, or congratulate.  ;)

Thanks for reading,

VS

*  Admittedly, the phrase "true roleplaying" leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some gamers.  Totally understandable.  "Actual roleplaying" might have been a better term, because I'm not trying to tell anyone how to roleplay or that such-and-such a method if superior to any other method.  Discovering its essence - the thing that makes tabletop RPGs different than playing a video or board game - is my goal.

Softcover Crimson Dragon Slayer

The CreateSpace link is here.  That's the print-on-demand division of Amazon.  If you buy Crimson Dragon Slayer from CreateSpace, I get an extra couple bucks.  To compensate, I'll send you a free PDF when you email me proof of your purchase.

The difference between CS and DriveThru?  I have CS set up for a heavier, cream-colored paper.

Also, I'm still waiting on a few more reviews.  I'll add those links below when they're available...

Thanks,

VS

Formula Fail

There are a lot of recent blog posts about innovation, especially when it comes to the OSR.  Well, I didn't set out to write about innovation.  What really motivated me this morning was my annoyance with the new TV show iZombie.  However, my little tirade seems to dovetail with my thoughts on innovation, so here goes nothing...

I had high hopes, but it disappoints.  It's a great premise: girl becomes zombie and gets job at the morgue in order to eat brains... and helps homicide detective solve crimes.  In this case, being a zombie doesn't reduce you to a shambling, drooling idiot - it just makes you really pale with white hair, less enthused about everyday life, and crave brains.

Despite all the fresh trappings of zombidom, there's 2 episodes left and the first season is awfully predictable.  Which means kind of boring.  At every turn, the show's creator and episode writers had a chance to do the unexpected, but instead they chose the path well traveled, the easy road that wouldn't throw the writers for a loop.

It's a shame, is all.  Anyway, let's get to my other point... the innovation stuff.

You can have new places: cities, dungeons, towers, forests, realms, and even worlds.  You can have new characters: a duke, head of security, affable peasant, irritating computer, etc.  You can have a really interesting story, hook, or cultural facet - like everyone wears some kind of mask.

However, if your adventure or campaign follows every logical plot-point without deviation or derailment, even an innovative setting will feel stale.  Thankfully, roleplaying isn't just about the Game Master's carefully crafted story.  The PCs are there to do their own thing, make their own choices, etc.  Unfortunately, a lot of players will try to adhere to either the story and how it "should" play out or the GM's not-quite-invisible wishes.

GMs, you run the show.  That means even when you're giving the PCs free reign, the game will occasionally go in whatever direction you planned (not talking about the minor details, but the big picture).  Be careful you don't course-correct events like in those stories about time travel.  It can happen without your realizing it.  You actually want the train to get derailed!

Well, now I've veered off again and instead of iZombie and OSR innovation, I'm doling out more Game Mastering advice.  Well, what are you going to do?  How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss is still on my mind.  Devoting yourself to a subject for a long period of time will do that to a person.

Getting back to innovation, altering outward appearances isn't enough to make something innovative.  It also takes something else:  breaking the formula.  Years ago, I talked about how the OSR, to me, equates to non-standardization.  Which is tricky, because a certain amount of standardization is inherent in RPGs, let alone the OSR.  Creators need to find a balance and create with a mind towards breaking whatever mold, whatever preconceived notion is guiding their hand.

Don't be like iZombie and take an exciting new direction and then plot it out in the most formulaic way possible.  I'd rather see a dwarven stronghold in the northern mountains that goes off-script and off the rails, than a strange world full of new creatures that live in a giant bubble yet behave exactly like you'd expect.

VS

35th anniversary of Pac-Man!

Keep in mind that CDS is as much a parody/spoof of the 1980's as it is an OSR roleplaying game - kind of like Encounter Critical, except it was created by only one guy from Wisconsin.
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I just found out that today's the 35th anniversary of Pac-Man!  And it just so happens that Crimson Dragon Slayer contains a short introductory adventure... Cavern of Carnage!

In that cave-crawl is a creature not dissimilar to the birthday boy (awesomely illustrated by Glynn of +MonkeyBlood Design.  His little ghost friends and some floating fruit are prominently featured, too.

So, in honor of the hungry, spherical yellow one... I've just dropped the price of Crimson Dragon Slayer to $3.50 (regularly $7).  This sale will continue throughout memorial day weekend!

VS

Game of Thrones - why so popular?

Well, there are many reasons for its popularity... but Game of Thrones is doing something specific to hook us in and keep us dangling without our realizing it.  Yes, we're now trained to watch and wait; trained like a dog.  Here's how they do it (woof woof)...

GoT is rewarding us intermittently (that means continuously but at infrequent and random intervals).  Every once in awhile, we get something we've been craving - a reward - tossed into our bowl.  Because we have no idea when (or even if) it's coming, getting such a treat makes it that much more exciting, special, and addictive!

That's why every blue moon, seemingly anyway, (could be every 2 or 3 episodes or once per season) we get the following...

• A gloriously gory battle scene with steel and blood and some poor bastard dying horribly up close and personal.
• Sex!  Yeah, that naked stuff we're not used to seeing in a TV show.  But let's be honest, every time we see boobs it's like the first time.  Am I right?
• Fantasy:  dragons flying overhead, a spell being cast, or some kind of supernatural event taking place.
• A major character dies.  What if that one night you decided not to watch, Sansa or Margaery died?!?
• Victory and defeat - you can't have one without the other, so usually one side gets victory and the other gets the shaft.
• Tyrion's wit, eviscerating some deserving fuck with just a few words.
• Revenge/justice bestowed upon the worst of the worst in Westeros.
• Receiving more than a clue about what's really going on - who's doing what to whom and why!

The rest is just a big tease.  It's medieval Machiavellian foreplay!  Sure, we get to look at beautiful countryside, amazing sets, dirty old men, heroes, maidens, etc, but a lot of the time we're also subjected to banking problems, traveling delays, the schemes of petty bureaucrats, cleaning bodies, traipsing through the forest, highborns being dicks, etc.  

Yes, GoT is all about the waiting.  And once we get our particular fix from the above list, we're all that much eager for more.  Unfortunately, that requires more waiting.  But we can't stop watching!  Oh no, what if we miss that thing we've been yearning for?  They just showed it two episodes ago... that means we could get the good stuff tonight!  Or, if not tonight, then next week.  Come on, man.  Just one more... just one more fix!

Yeah, the life of an addict.  Face it, folks.  We're not going anywhere. You see, GoT knows the secret - that an intermittent reward is stronger (hence, more addictive) than a regular and reliable reward.  Don't blame them, blame the human condition.  

Since this is a RPG blog, I'd be remiss for not suggesting this strategy in your own tabletop fantasy campaign.  Incidentally, I talk about this technique and a hundred more subtle secrets of Game Mastery in my book: How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss.  Also available on Amazon.com and CreateSpace.

What's your favorite thing about Game of Thrones?  Is there something special that you wait for each episode or season?  Some aspect of GoT you love, that they don't do enough of?  Comment below with what that is...

See you at the Westeros methadone clinic,

VS

Softcover like a Fucking Boss

How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss is now a softcover on Amazon (still waiting on the physical proof from DriveThruRPG)!  

If you buy it from CreateSpace and email me evidence (like your emailed receipt or something - not bloodstains or fingerprints... though, that would be awesome), I'll send you the PDF for free ASAP.  

I get a couple more dollars from a CS sale than Amazon is why, but currently they are the exact same price.

Thanks!

VS