Saturday, November 17, 2018

Morgan's AetherCon VII 2018 Adventures



AetherCon is a free online RPG convention. There's a good variety of games and easy to get a seat, but unfortunately since it's free to play, some people who sign up for a game don't show. One game I was in the GM didn't show due to illness; in another, I was the only player who showed up (1 out of 2), so the game got canceled.

I also got in a drawing for prizes and won this gorgeous book:
513 pages of full page maps (two versions: GM and Players map, 227 locations). It also came with digital versions of the maps for online play.

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Stealing the Eye
System RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha
Date / TimeFriday, November 9, 2018; 11 AM - 2 PM PST  
GMSteve Parish
Description  Stealing the Eye: (Publisher Game: Chaosium) -- The Hero Wars have begun! The oppressive Lunar Empire has been thrown back and now your clan has sent you on a mission, a mission that will be a step in the liberation of your homelands. You have been given the task of of stealing the massive jewel that forms the eye in the central statue of a Lunar temple. It will take bravery and cunning, and the favour of your gods. Can you succeed? This is an opportunity to play an official convention demonstration adventure for the newly released RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha. The adventure introduces the game; its much loved stetting of Glorantha and its time tested mechanics. Simplified pre-generated characters for 2 -4 players are provided. RuneQuest was one of the first RPGs to be released, and gained a devoted following, particularly in Europe. It uses an easy to pick up 1d100 mechanics that are best known from its daughter game of Call of Chuthulu. Glorantha is one of the most well developed of all of the Fantasy RPGs game settings, and takes its inspiration from the ancient epics such as Gilgamesh and the Iliad. It is set in an imaginary Bronze Age, a feature which is emphasised even more in the new edition, and player characters seek to emulate the mythic deeds of their divine patrons. [Game Table Stats: 4 Hours; Pregen Characters: Yes]

It was an intro game to RuneQuest (RQ). I played a short game of RQ in the 1980s and wasn't too impressed by it. At that time, I was playing mostly my own homebrew version of AD&D and mostly hack and slash, murder-hoboing creatures and taking their treasure.

RQ is now into its 4th edition and I wanted to try it out again as my taste in RPGs has changed.

Overall, the world is really different, so it's something new to explore: different gods, different races, different creatures. The setting is faux bronze age.

I played a warrior with a few spells and runes that aided in combat. The spells and runes definitely helped a lot in letting you survive the brutality of a d100 system with hit locations.

I thought the game was ok, but nothing to really write home about.




Your Sister's Keeper
SystemFantaji
Date / TimeFriday, November 9, 2018; 4 - 9 PM PST  
GMCalvin Johns
DescriptionYour Sister's Keeper: (Publisher Game: Anthropos Games) -- Your older sister has been captured by kobolds and taken to the Land of Nod, what the books call Wonderland. It’s up to you and your schoolmates to brave the oddities and nonsense of a dark world where nothing is at it seems and bring her back before she goes insane… or worse. You will leave the boarding school behind and travel into another world. Battle the Queen of Hearts, survive Jack the Ripper, and match wits with an unruly satyr in this twisted tale. An adventure like "Kingdom Hearts," "Sucker Punch," or Marvel’s "Dr. Strange." [Game Table Stats: 4 Hours; Pregen Characters: Yes]

Calvin Johns wrote Fantaji, so I get to play the game with the creator. He's a really good GM with great improv skills.

I liked the system. Basically, there's Theme cards (1 or 2) and characters get Traits (starting 2) and Powers (starting 2). If you can make up a description of what you do that touches the themes and your traits, you get to roll a d10s equal to the number of themes and traits that you touch, plus any Drama tokens you have banked. So typically, if you're good at describing things, you can get 2 Themes, 2 Traits, and # Drama Tokens in d10s to roll. In Contests, it's an opposed roll, so your opponent does the same thing and you see which die rolls are higher than the other and each die that does that is a success. e.g. I roll 8d10 (1, 2, 2, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9). My opponent rolls 3d10 (1, 5, 7). The result is 3 successes in my favor. If it's a tie, then both die rollers get an additional Drama Token, and nothing happens. The number of successes can then be spent to do damage, add conditions, or to remove Drama Tokens from your opponent.

The only issue that I had is that you have to keep on coming up with new things to do, otherwise the character would be doing the same moves over and over again, and that's a bit boring. So for extended combats, it gets exhausting.

Overall, I like the system better than FATE.

The game we played in used a new playbook set in a twisted Grimm / Wonderland / Narnia world. I love playing kids in settings like this.




Ides of Winter
SystemCall of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
Date / TimeFriday, November 9, 2018; 9 PM - 12 AM PST  
GMEdward A Kabara
Description Ides of Winter: (Publisher Game: Chaosium) -- Investigators are embroiled in a mysterious death at a local pub. But even once that is solved, mysterious events & the appearance of ghosts lead them to believe more is afoot. Soon after arriving by train in Northumberland, the investigators are embroiled in a mysterious death at a local pub. But even once that is solved, mysterious events and the appearance of ghosts lead them to believe more is afoot. Classic 1920s Cthulhu, Pre-gens provided. (Call of Cthulhu 7th ed. 4 hr duration.) Learn how to play Call of Cthulhu in the intro game! [Game Table Stats: 4 Hours; Pregen Characters: Yes]

Though a simple mystery, it felt really different from other CoC games I've played in due to the appearance of the ghosts. I really enjoyed this game.




Plans within Plans - Putting Intrigue, Conspiracies, and Subterfuge in your Campaign
Event TypePanel
Date / Time Saturday, November 10, 2018; 4:30 - 6 PM PST  
Description  Themed Panel: Plans within Plans - Putting Intrigue, Conspiracies, and Subterfuge in your Campaign :

Guest: Chris Dias - Dias Ex Machina

Guest: Jason Hardy - Catalyst Game Labs

Guest: Christian Nommay - Knight Errant Media

Host: Stafford Matthews-Klingebiel - Tome of Tales 

AetherCon moved their panels to YouTube channels, but I had problems viewing them while live. I was only able to get to the video after the broadcast. Due to panelists on various computers, internet availability, and audio equipment, the sound was either very good or horrible, mostly horrible.

There's a few good nuggets of info in the broadcast and some amusing stories.

Recording of panel discussion here.



Heart in a Jar
SystemColonial Gothic
Date / Time  Sunday, November 11, 2018; 6 - 10 AM PST
GMRichard Iorio II
Description Heart in a Jar: (Publisher Game: Rogue Games, Inc.) -- The Philips House has always been rumored to have something not quiet right with it. Now the house has seem to come alive and it is just your luck that you have been asked to look into it. [Game Table Stats: 4 Hours; Pregen Characters: Yes]

Richard Iorio II wrote Colonial Gothic and I bought the Bundle of Holding for this game and really wanted to try this, unfortunately Richard was a no show. I found out later he's in the hospital and couldn't attend.



Escape the Rok
System Warhammer 40k RPG (Wrath & Glory)
Date / Time  Sunday, November 11, 2018; 11 AM - 4 PM PST  
GMMatt 
Description  Escape the Rok: (Publisher Game: Ulisses North America) -- Cardinal Ignator has asked you to retrieve a megalithic statue of the God-Emperor for display in the Gilead system. But the statue comes with a lot more baggage than you had bargained for... [Game Table Stats: 4 Hours; Pregen Characters: Yes]

This was a new system and I wanted to try it, but I was the only player to show up, so the game got cancelled. The GM was a replacement GM as the original GM couldn't make it (I didn't get the replacement GM's last name), but I got to chat with him a little about the new system.

System is basically Attribute + Skill as a d6 dice pool. 1-3: failure; 4-5: 1 success; 6 = 2 successes. Count total # of successes.



Themed Panel: Four on the Floor and Six in the Chamber - Post Apocalyptic RPGs
Event Type  Panel
Date / Time  Sunday, November 11, 2018; 10:30 AM - 12 PM PST
Description Themed Panel: Four on the Floor and Six in the Chamber - Post Apocalyptic RPGs :

Guest: David Vincent Baker - Lumpley Games

Guest: Scott Marchand Davis - Happy Monster Press

Guest: Ross Wilkin - Spilled Ale Studios

Host: Richard Coates - Shiny Games 

This panel was really good with excellent audio.

Recording of panel discussion here.

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