Less Tools, More Rolls

In a fit of frustration this week, I posted a comment on my Facebook wall saying "If I don't run a game soon, I'm going to __________."  There were some cute comments, some dumb ones, and some folks who just seemed to agree with my comment.  As I march towards the end of my fourth decade of existence, I find myself gaming less and less.  My wife doesn't game, so I need to balance time with her with hours spent gaming.  Many of my players still LARP, which means that for the Spring and Fall entire months go by where we can't find time to play (seriously, I tried to schedule a game for one of my groups and the soonest we could come up with was July).  I do a lot of work with the 501st and Rebel Legions, so that eats up afternoons on the weekend.  I live in New Hampshire now, and most of my players live within the Route 495-128 belts of Massachusetts.  This situation almost entirely eliminates the possibility of running a weeknight game.

Or does it?

Virtually There

It's no secret that people are now only a Skype call or a G+ Hangout away.  Gamers have known a few ways to keep folks at the gaming table, thanks to a few Virtual Tabletop programs out there.  Since 2007 I've been using the powers of the internet to continue gaming with one of my long-time buddies, Alex.  Originally using a web-camera pointed at the game board to track movement, our ability to game with him increased ten-fold with the discovery of Maptools. 



Not my game, but you get
the idea of how it looks.



Maptools is a solid virtual tabletop program, free to use, with a ton of features if you happen to know a couple computer languages.  It's Java-based, and is community driven and supported, which of itself are two hurdles. 

Movement can be locked to a grid, or free form.  You can apply fogs of was, and reveal it in sections based on a PC-Token's sight lines. If you're not doing anything crazy, or using some obscure game system, the community has probably made a framework for use with the system you're playing in that has all these neat macro buttons like "Damage Taken", "Healing Received", "Status Applied" and the like.  You can input your whole character and the macros will account for damage reduction, and see if wounds are applied.

The map-making feature in Maptools is really where I find this program most helpful.  Like Photoshop, you have layers that you can put different objects on, even a GM-Only layer that won't display on any PC screen.  With the art tools that are out there, I can whip up a pretty decent map in very little time at all.




"I'm helpin'!"
"No, no you're not..."

 

The biggest problem with Maptools is it's a really finicky program to get up and running.  It's Java-based, and hosted on their side on servers.  They have really odd interaction issues with router and computer firewalls, and while the community has made some helpful guides to troubleshooting why Alex in Georgia can't log into the server, it's not always clear to those of us who didn't take many CS courses in college 15 years ago.  Also, if you want to use a new system and have the lack of CS background, you're not going to be able to just pop in a framework and get all the neat macros for your damage tracking needs.

I like Maptools, but lately Java updates have been messing with the system.  Java 7+ won't let Maptools run at all on some computers, and we're constantly having to roll back to Java 6+ just to play.  But it's been the only game in town for me any my players; at least, until recently.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Enter Roll20; the web-based online virtual tabletop for role-players of all sorts!  Different than Maptools, Roll20 uses a web based interface, meaning anyone on any device that can open a web browser can theoretically connect to the tabletop.  I'm not sure I'd ever want to look in on a smartphone, but still.

Roll20 is free-ware, to a point.  They have a subscription service, monthly fees of $5 or $10 will get you more features (like POV lighting and some scripting like Maptools-style Macros) as well as more online storage space for your maps, tokens, and art.  The interface is very clean, I like the functionality of the token interface, and can assign several notations to several tokens.  Little blue dots could mean flying, orange for immobilized, and a big red "X" for dead (or just "down").  I can easily have several pages of maps ready to go, and easily click between them. 

D&D Adventurers slaughter a Behir and her kids. 
Who's the monster now?!

You even have an option for playing sounds and songs through the program via their jukebox.  Big problem though is copyrighted material.  If you want to use your own music (like, say, anything from the Star Wars Soundtracks) you have to upload them to a SoundCloud account.  Their Terms of Service prohibits the broadcast of any copyrighted material over the internet.  So if I did want to use "Heroes of Destiny" or "Duel of Fates" as background audio for a fight, I could get my SoundCloud account banned.  Personally, I think there's a better product out there for what I want to use, be it Syrinscape or another web-based sound system.

There are a few key detractors to Roll20.  First, there's practically zero map-making ability in the program.  I need to at least make a background in some other program like Photoshop or Dundjini, save the map, upload to Roll20, and then I can drop in objects to populate the rooms and scene.  The other issue is the limitations of my art library.  I have over 15 gigs of art on my computer for map making.  The most you can have access to online through Roll20 is 2, and that's if you subscribe at the Mentor level ($10/month).  I can't have all my artwork at my fingertips, so if the PCs do something unexpected and I need an art asset as an object, vehicle, or token, I need to open my library, have it search through my folders, upload to their system, and then I can drop it on the map.  And by doing that, I've reduced my available storage with Roll20 by the size of that art item.  Remember that everything takes up this space; background maps (which are usually 2-12 megs on their own), objects, vehicles, tokens; everything reduces your available storage space.

I have made a discovery that a bunch of my art objects appear to be available as free-use in Roll20s own storage center, so it doesn't eat up my storage as much if I utilize those.

Conclusions

I think if I'm going to be running any sort of weeknight game, it's going to have to be remotely and will likey use Roll20 in the future.  Maptools, while brilliant and awesome to have had for the past few years, pales to the simple user interface of Roll20.  It's too bad I didn't get in on Roll20's kickstarter, else I'd have some neat bells and whistles for my account.  Ah well, I'll cope.  I haven't purchased a subscription yet, because I haven't needed the extra stuff yet.  Once I do start running games, I'll probably at least do the $5/month level.  Not sure I need the benefits of the $10 level.  But we'll see.

Anything that can get me gaming more often is a good thing. 

Reapercon 2013

For my birthday, I took a trip to Denton, Texas to visit the offices and gaming store for Reaper Miniatures.  Denton is the backyard for GM Dave and GM Chris, hosts of the Order 66 Podcast.  For the past few years, D20 Radio has flooded that convention running games and having a grand time with the folks from Reaper.  Many listeners as well as the folks from Chris's various Star Wars games have some to Reaper and made it a sort of unofficial "D20 Radio Con".

At Celebration VI this past year, I got to hang with Chris Bradshaw (a.k.a.GM Chance) from D20 Radio.  We got him and his Republic Commando spot-approvals so he could be in the big photo-shoot with the 501st Legion.  While talking about various other conventions, and he invited me out to Denton for Reapercon.  I'd wanted to go since I heard about it when I first started listening to the network, and figured it would be a cheaper con to see the D20 Radio folks at than going to GenCon, so the plan started.

Around about November another plan was put in motion too, but I'll go into that later.

At the Airport

I left on my birthday; Thursday, April 18.  Getting off the Logan express shuttle with my suitcase, computer backpack, and duffel bag.  The suitcase got checked, which contained clothing for 5 days and my Jedi Knight outfit.  Also crammed in there is my 24" short-blade for my lightsaber.  The lightsaber itself was in the duffel bag; I didn't trust it going through checked baggage screening and it not getting damaged by TSA agents.  This was 3 days after the Boston Marathon bombings; if I'm a TSA agent and I see a bag go by with a metal cylinder with wires in it, I'm going to search that bag.  Now I've got some TSA agent showing all his buddies the lightsaber he found in some nerd's suitcase, and blinding his buddies with the high-power blade-LED because they don't understand how bright Rebel Star LEDs can be.

So I've got it in my duffel and I get up to the first person at Security; the woman who checks boarding passes and licenses.  I let her know I'm a Star Wars costumer, on my way to a gaming convention in Texas, and I have a replica lightsaber in my bag and want to declare it.  Explaining that it's a 16" long metal tube, she gets an odd look of "that could be used as a weapon" across her face.  I suppose it could be, because that's exactly what I want to do with my custom and very expensive lightsaber prop; bludgeon some stewardess and try to take over an AirBus A320 with it.  Maybe I could blind the pilot when he looks through that peephole on the cockpit door.

She asks me to place it in the bin on the conveyor, and tell the next TSA agent about it.  They might want me to check it with my luggage. I shrug, and I get to the next guy, an older gentleman with a blue-collar look about him (a little rugged, a little surly, but mostly business).  I let him know about the lightsaber, and my travel plans.  He looks at it, ponders for a moment, and then says the Supervisor should probably take a look at it.  I head through the body-scan machine, and the supervisor comes over.

The supervisor looked about my age, and heads over to the x-ray viewer for the conveyor.  I can tell exactly when my tray passes by when his eyebrows pop up and he get's a small smirk on his face.  The tray comes out, and he asks me to get my other belongings and come over to him when I'm done.  "Take your time!" he says.  He heads to a test counter, and I get my stuff and go over to him.  By then three other TSA guys are standing there and a fourth is called over "Dude, you're gonna love this, get over here."  After a brief period of several exclamations of "DOOD!" and "Sweet!", the quick demonstration of the lights and sounds of my saber, and the cursory confirmation that there are no explosives in it, I'm allowed to move on with the saber in my carry-on.

Out of Service (i.e. "Broken Plane")

My flight was supposed to leave at 1:05.  The plan was to arrive at 4:30, get a quick bite, and head right to Reaper to play in a Star Wars game run by GM Chris.  At noon, we were informed our flight was delayed.  At 1pm, we were told that our original plane was taken "Out of Service" and a new plane was on it's way from Orlando.  It wasn't going to arrive until 2:45.  Figure at least a half hour for it to deplane, load up our luggage and passengers, and get moving.


Even the President is delaying my departure...


Oh...and we had the announcer come on, asking for someone to please claim a black backpack that was left at the counter.  THAT request got everyones attention.  Thankfully, a nice lady did.  Swiftly.

I got to Dallas at 7ish.  Went right to GM Chance's place and got settled in.  GM Chris, his wife Krista, and GM Dave showed up soon after and started pulling out Edge of the Empire books.  I ended my birthday hanging with the folks from D20 Radio, playing Star Wars.

Gotta admit, only one way the day could have ended better, but sadly the wife was at home...

At the Con



The non-Star Wars game I played: Warlords In Wonderland

I have to say if you're looking for a great little gaming convention to go to, Reapercon 2013 is it.  I've been to some of the bigger conventions, like Origins, many times.  Reapercon is a fun little con of a few hundred attendees, and has a real family feel to it.  It helps that a good number of D20 Radio folks are there so it feels like you're coming home to old friends.

I got to play GM Chris's new Convention Module Series, Enemy of my Enemy.  It's actually available for download on the D20 Radio website.  Any of my PCs who want to play it should probably stay away, but for folks who want to run it go and give it a read.  Maps used are available from Chris West's Maps of Mastery site, or you can use a white board to reproduce or your imagination.  I do like Chris West's maps, tho.  They're pretty.


GM Chris runs a mean game, and has a snazzy hat!


As a review, Enemy of my Enemy is a wonderful tale of mystery, adventure, and difficult moral choices.  Don't worry if your character doesn't have a skillset for combat (assuming you use the pre-gen characters).  Look at what you're good at, then look at the environment to see how you can contribute to the encounter.  You get XP for survival, not for opponents defeated.  I got to play Tyrix the Gand, who had disgraced himself in the eyes of his society so he only referred to himself as "Gand" (it's established Star Wars canon; look it up).  A tech and slicing god, I was searching for computer terminals and machines to play with in every situation.

Reapercon 2013 represents the first time I've been able to play in an Edge of the Empire game.  It's also the first time I've been able to play in a Star Wars game since my brother failed to finish his Dawn of Defiance* module series.  It's funny, I found myself willing to skip right into danger, and where I thought the Game Master expected the module to go.  Maybe I've spent too many years as one myself.  I got a sense of where we needed to go to continue the adventure.  I could see some players at the table really getting into the persona they perceived for their character to have, but I found myself looking at the game going "what actions move the plot along" and trying to figure out how to get there.  Maybe that hurt my character's role playing, but it kept the game moving.

* - totally taking shots at my brother for that; he earned it...

Friends of the Legions

Back at Celebration VI, I met Chris Bradshaw from the D20 Radio network and became fast friends.  We made idle plans for me to come out to Reapercon the next year (because GenCon was likely off the table).  Sometime around October I was on the D20 Radio forums, and saw Zrissa's post about Jon Stevens being inducted to the Rebel Legion as a Friend of the Legion.  Jon wrote material for two of the Saga Edition books.  Thinking things over, I looked at all the work GM Chris and GM Dave have done with the Order 66 podcast, and how the Gamer Nation really flourished under their banner.  Checking the Legion rosters, other podcasts have been inducted as Friends of the Legion (since Chris and Dave haven't worked directly on a Star Wars product, they would be eligible as "Friends of" not "Honorary Members"). 

A plan was put in motion.  A petition was sent to the Command Staff of the Rebel Legion, and to the 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson to approve the induction of Chris and Dave into the Legions.  The requests were approved, and the plans for the ceremony were put into motion.  While GenCon might be a large venue for an induction, I was going to be at Reapercon.  Bradshaw would be there, so there would at least be one other member of the Legion(s) in attendance.

There was a period of nail-biting after I booked my airfare and con ticket that Dave wasn't going to be at Reapercon this year.  Thankfully, the trip he was planning was delayed a month and he would be in attendance. 

After several days of hanging with the Boys and the other folks from D20 Radio, Bradshaw and
I surprised Chris and Dave mid-live-broadcast by excusing ourselves and returning a while later in full costume, presenting the induction awards to them live on the air.  Sadly, JustinTV has since dropped the visual recording (possibly to return in 14 months) and the audio from the episode was a little tough to listen to .  It's one of the many hazards of recording with a different computer, like a laptop; it likes to be "helpful" when you plug in cameras and records off the camera mic instead of the 4 good-quality microphones.

Transparent Plaque Fail

At any rate, mission accomplished, GMs humbled and giddy all at once, and forever supported by the 501st and Rebel Legions.

Aftermath

Given the time and opportunity (and funds), I will return to Reapercon sometime in the future.  Maybe not next year, maybe not the year after, but soon.  I'll bring a game to run, or run one of Chris's modules.  And it will be awesome, because I'll be hanging out with friends from D20 Radio and Gamer Nation.

Next week, I'm thinking of returning to the subject of gaming.  Star Wars Gaming.  I think I've got an interesting exercise ahead of me and need to get it going.

Until then, be safe everyone.

Chillin' at Reaper, 2013

Star Wars Miniatures: Done Sluggy

Well...I guess I was on a roll...

The Asteroid was spray painted in black primer, then added a layer of grey primer.  A healthy coating of Applebarrel "Plaid", and some spot work with GW Mud wash.

"Feed me freighters..."

Sluggy got a mix of Reapers Ochre, Reapers Purple, and Reapers Grey.  White for the highlights, Bedalb Black wash for the wrinkle stripes.

The wrinkles look a little thick, but this is a close-up shot.

His teeth were pretty easy, a stripe of black with a series of white lines and triangles.  It actually looks prett good.

Now to box it up and ship it to Texas.

GM Chris...I hope you like it.

Star Wars Miniatures: Sluggy

So a while back, GM Chris of d20Radio's Order 66 Podcast posted a need for a mini.  He's running a couple games at GenCon 2011  and said he needed an Exogorth, more commonly known to Star Wars fans as "The Space Slug".  Chris asked what he could use to properly represent the strange creature, and several people gave good suggestions.

Feeling in a crafty mood, and having a minor background in "Green Stuff" putty and miniatures painting, I offered to make one for Chris.

Now, I admit, one of my problems is I procrastinate.  I think he asked about the Exogorth back in March.  And it's now July with only a few weeks left to the con.  But hey, progress.

The asteroid is a styrofoam block, cut and reshaped with a hot foam-cutter.  Sluggy is made from...of all things...a fake vegetable.  Some kind of chili-pepper, I think.  I took an inch of "Green Stuff" to smooth out the pepper to make the slug, adding in some ridges and patches to give him some character.

All he needs is to get painted and detailed and he'll be ready to go.  I'm giving myself a deadline of next Saturday to get "Sluggy" in the mail to Chris.

I hope he likes it, and I hope his players do too.