I’m working to clear out laser cut goodies I made a long while back. I’ll be posting some things there over time, but for now there’s a few things to get started.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/aterribleidea

Last week I posted about the 40 Day Project that’s going on (more details here) and how I was going to use it as a kick in the pants. This week, I get some results. And a couple new entries, one already mothballed.

I’m also going to re-order the list from now on, putting recently touched things on the top of the list, and watching untouched things sink to the bottom.

On The Table:

1. Shambles Source Material #1 – I am working on the first piece of supporting material for Shambles as my 40 Day Project, and it’s coming along quite nicely. The outline is over half done, and about 10% or so of the writing has been completed.
2. NEW – Maschine Zeit Material – As I Previously mentioned, I’m one of several people providing material for Maschine Zeit. This one has a deadline, so expect it to move quickly.
3. Codename: Pandoran Apothecary Chest – Talked a bit more with the designer, bought some stuff to work up a prototype of my own.
4. RPBGN – Still treading water on rpgbloggers.com until a couple issues get sorted.
5. Codename: Gremlin Persistent Malice – Still kicking around that system-changing idea..
6. Codename: Insignificant Diversionary Anaconda – Unchanged (erp).
7. Codename: Simulated Jocular Anaconda – Unchanged
8. Codename: First Rural Delusions – Unchanged.

In The Closet

1. NEW – Mobile Audio Rig v2.0 A new project I posted about yesterday- Mothballed 2/24/10
2. Unfinished – (NaNoWriMo 2009 Entry) – Mothballed – 01/28/09
3. Codename: Enormous Intersected Automaton – Mothballed 11/04/09
4. Codename: Big Audio Dynamite – Mothballed 11/04/09
5. Codename: Unwashed Repeat Pedestrian – Mothballed – 11/04/09
6. Codename: Cackle Smash Soup – Mothballed 10/28/09
7. Codename: Tactical Plastic Laser – Mothballed 10/28/09

In The Trophy Case

1. Shambles – My RPG about life as a Zombie. First revision. (read about it here) – Completed on 2/17/10
2. Obnoxious Howler Monkey – An Arduino driven, VMUSIC2 bases soundboard designed for use as a mood-setter for tabletop games. (read about it here) First Revision. – Completed on 11/18/10
3. The Grognards Of Gygax – My entry into the “Best Quest” contest for Legends of Zork. It won Second Place – Completed on 11/11/10

Excuse Of The Week: What? I’m getting things done, just not the things I’m SUPPOSED to be getting done.

Maschine Zeit is a game currently being developed by David A. Hill Jr. through his Machine Age Productions endeavor. I’ve joined a group of very talented people who are providing some material for the game.

I’m way excited to be contributing to David’s project, and I can’t wait to see the final result.

A couple years ago I put together this makeshift mobile audio rig that consisted of some powered speakers, a mixer I cannibalized out of an old multimedia slide projector, a CB mic, and some cheap digital recorders. This was all wired and duct-taped to a bandoleer made from a couple crappy military-style belts. I used the thing to occasionally assault unsuspecting bystanders with improve noise performances.

This past weekend, I stripped the harness down to base components, seam-ripped the pouches off an old US Army tac vest, replaced the speakers with a different pair that I cut down a bit, and rewired the electronics to make the rig a bit more modular. It was a fun thing to work on with my hands over the weekend, during which I spent a great deal of time drinking and watching zombie movies.

I posted these pics while I was working on the thing. The last one shows it assembled. Kinda.

I hope to eventually integrate the Obnoxious Howler Monkey into the rig as an optional add-in module. For now, tho, it goes back in the box and comes out when I feel the need to work with my hands again.

I’ll post some video when I get around to finishing the thing.

I’m currently thinking about taking a new approach to my tasks that might make Secret Project Update Club more or less obsolete. But until I do so, I’ll still try to get updates in here, at least on an every-other-week basis.

On The Table:

1. Codename: Simulated Jocular Anaconda – It’s entirely possible at this point that I will need to scrap everything I’ve written to date, and start over.
2. Shambles Source Material – This is starting to take a little shape.
3. Codename: Gremlin Persistent Malice – Had an idea that might necessitate my completely changing the system.
4. Codename: Pandoran Apothecary Chest – I’ve got a quote, a plan for proceeding, and an agreement with the designers on how to proceed. I should have a prototype by Kublacon.
5. Codename: First Rural Delusions – This one might be floating to the top of the list.
6. RPBGN – Treading water a bit on rpgbloggers.com until a couple other things get sorted out.
7. Codename: Insignificant Diversionary Anaconda – There is still some outstanding work to be done before I can kick this back.

In The Closet

1. Codename: Cackle Smash Soup – Mothballed 10/28/09
2. Codename: Tactical Plastic Laser – Mothballed 10/28/09
3. Codename: Enormous Intersected Automaton – Mothballed 11/04/09
4. Codename: Big Audio Dynamite – Mothballed 11/04/09
5. Codename: Unwashed Repeat Pedestrian – Mothballed – 11/04/09
6. Unfinished – (NaNoWriMo 2009 Entry) – Mothballed – 01/28/09

In The Trophy Case

1. Shambles – I finally feel like I can put Shambles in the trophy case. It needs a revision and a little layout work, but I can print copies, and bind them, and I call that a win.
2. The Grognards Of Gygax – My entry into the “Best Quest” contest for Legends of Zork. It won Second Place – WOOT!
3. Obnoxious Howler Monkey – I completed the first version

Excuse Of The Week Month: It’s been a busy busy time.

Interesting things happening over in Twitterland. Earlier today, Shaun from This Modern Death made a simple proposal:

I propose a new non-sacrificial time of the year – What are you going to take up for your #40DayProject?

The idea here is to turn Lent around, and instead of using the next 40 days as a time of sacrifice, using them as a time for getting something new done. I don’t figure this is a new idea, but it’s a timely one for me, and I don’t appear to be alone. There’s 9 or 10 people so far who have chimed in with different ideas, some game related and some not. I’ve chimed in and decided that I’m going to use the next 40 days to complete the SPUC project labeled “Shambles Source Material” – though I am going to rebrand this as “Shambles Source Material #1″.

This will dovetail into some other thinking I’ve been doing about how to get things Done. Let’s see how it goes.

Interested in joining in the discussion? Use #40DayProject on Twitter, or go over to Shaun’s blog and join him in the discussion.

My experiences at Dundracon this past weekend have left me a little more introspective than normal. Which is saying a lot, considering I spend a lot of time in my own head as it is.

To sum up if you haven’t already read, I ran two games this weekend. One was a fun and funny game of Shambles. I could describe the plot to any GM in about four sentences and they could put the scenario together on the fly and run it for at least 4 hours. The other was a custom job, a horror scenario with mature themes, that would take a great deal of explaining, setup and prep, none of which would involve learning the system (which is essentially LAFFs, the same system from Shambles). Players left both games with high spirits, having had a good time, yet I view the first game as a smashing success, and the second game as an unmitigated disaster.

What I can’t decide, is why I feel that way, even now.

The scenario was advertised as being “heavy role-play”, and before the scenario started I indicated that this was the case. Without going into specifics about the scenario, it was written such that the characters were gradually learning and remembering things, in some cases by experiencing visceral and violent moments of altered reality. These things were printed on individual note cards and given to the players throughout the game. In the beginning, the players dug into the roles a little, but at a certain point, the idea of role-playing through memories went completely out of the window, so far so that whenever something new was handed out, rather than reading the note card and having the character respond, the players would read the note card and then just pass it on to the person sitting next to them, sometimes without even responding or indicating a character reaction. In some cases, they did this even when the card indicated something that was physically happening to the character, rather than something that was observed or remembered. This practice began while I was doing a consult outside the room, and by the time I came back in (only a couple minutes later) the note cards were already being passed around.

As a GM, and in particular as a GM who usually only runs at conventions, I’m accustomed to Things Not Going According To Plan. As a player I’ve frequently caused things to go in unexpected directions. I’m used to that. They definitely took the game in unexpected directions, which I found exciting and intriguing. So that wasn’t something that bothered me.

And I’ve had the occasional game where the players just weren’t buying what I was selling, so to speak. I know what that feels like. It feels like I’ve failed to successfully engage them, and I either make adjustments on the fly, or accept that it’s not working. This wasn’t really that either.

Looking back over the session, I can see where I could have made some decisions that would have helped to adjust things a little better, but that’s easy to do from here, a couple days later. Having run the game a couple times before, I always find ways to tune it a little better. But I’m not really bothered by thinking about the things I may have done “wrong” in the session.

What’s been eating at me, is why I feel like the session was an “unmitigated disaster” despite the fact that everyone had a great time, or at said they did in a believable fashion.

If I write or run a game, and someone enjoys it, isn’t that a win?

Shouldn’t I be measuring the success of a gaming session based on the enjoyment of everyone involved? I’m pretty sure that if the answer to that question is “No” then all I’m really doing as a GM is partaking in some sort of dice-driven onanistic “love me” party. If I say “Yes” then is the game is a success even if the GM hates running it? That somehow seems unfair – but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

It can’t be about achieving goals, passing objectives, beating the bad guy, and gaining experience. At least, not completely. For some, any session where they get to level up is a good one. But I can’t think it’s really that simple. Sometimes you lose, terribly, and enjoy the ride. Sometimes you get to the end, and it wasn’t worth your time. So it can’t be this.

I know there’s not some neat answer, some magic formula that I’m missing here. And I’m certainly not covering any new ground here. In the end, like everything else, it’s a judgment call. Some games, it’s easy to say “That was a good gaming session,” while sometimes you find yourself adding the words “except for…” to the end. When it goes good, it’s easy. When it goes bad, it’s easy.

In this case, I think I can only figure it out with metaphor. And I feel like a 50’s wife who spent hours slaving over a hot stove, set a nice table, and watched her husband come in the door and eat the roast with his bare hands in the kitchen.

Which leads me to the only reasonable conclusion : if that’s how I’m going to feel when the players don’t play the game my way, I should start wearing an apron when I’m behind the screen. And possibly stockings.

Game sessions are good because they are. Sometimes, they aren’t. This last game session was good, just not so good for me, and not the kind of good that I wanted it to be. That’s going to happen. If I can’t handle that, then I shouldn’t be a GM. Or, I should wear stockings and an apron. Either would probably solve the problem.

Dundracon 34 wrapped up yesterday. I don’t know why, but conventions always make me feel like I’ve just gone toe-to-toe with a gorilla. This one, this year, especially so.

This convention was marked by two very different gaming experiences as a GM. But I’ll come to those in a minute. First, let’s talk about everything else.

I was thoroughly uninterested in the dealer’s room as a whole. I don’t know why, I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it was the people selling spray-painted Nerf guns as steampunk-kitsch. Maybe it was the t-shirt booth where I almost buy a shirt every year, but end up not buying a shirt because either the boothie is a prick or their designs are clearly bootleg. Maybe I was just penny-pinching. I have no idea. But where I usually spend an hour or so in the dealer’s room, this year I was in there maybe 10 minutes total, over 4 days. But, the dealer’s room didn’t lack for dealers, and their shelves were filled with wares, so I suspect this was My Own Damn Fault. It was, however, awesome to see Shambles on the Endgame shelves.

I set out this weekend to do several things that did not happen. I didn’t manage to meet up with many people who I knew would be there. I didn’t run the pick-up games I’d intended (probably a good idea). I didn’t broaden my gaming horizons. I didn’t put up Shambles posters. Some of this was just poor time management on my own part, and some of it just Didn’t Happen. The rest I blame on wine that comes in juice boxes.

I did play in an original Marvel Superheroes game. That was weird and fun, as Marvel was what I cut my teeth on all those years ago. I also got to play in a drop-in game run by a friend, a tradition of sorts at the local conventions. Monday, I was trying (and failing) to sleep off the night before.

Which brings me to the two games I ran. I ran a game Saturday night, at 6, and a game Sunday night at 10.

Saturday’s game was a Shambles game, about eating partying teenagers in the woods.
Sunday’s game was a custom horror game about a disoriented military unit, dealing with mature themes.
Saturday’s game started at 6:00pm, and was slated for 6 hours.
Sunday’s game started at 10:00pm, and was slated for 6 hours.
Saturday’s game, 6 people signed up to play. I had 14 people show up at game time.
Sunday’s game, 6 people signed up to play. Only 3 turned up at game time. We scrounged from semi-known quantities to find the other 3.
Saturday’s game started on time and ran 7 1/2 hours, until about 1:30am.
Sunday’s game started half an hour late, and optimistically ran 5 hours until about 3:30 or so.
I had run Saturday’s game twice before.
I had run Sunday’s game twice before.
Saturday’s game required character sheets, a cocktail-napkin’s worth of notes and some blank paper.
Sunday’s game required several pages of notes, 24 personalized note cards per player, a map, 8+ NPC character sheets, and about two dozen props, some of them hand-assembled.
Everyone left Saturday’s game in high spirits, having had a great time.
Everyone left Sunday’s game in high spirits, having had a great time.
Saturday’s game was wildly successful.
Sunday’s game felt like an unmitigated disaster.

I’ve been reflecting on these two games and how they went ever since the con. I’ll probably have a post about it later this week.

All in all, it was a Good Weekend, even if few things went according to plan.

It’s a busy week for me, and a busy week for Shambles. I also have some catching up to do.

FINALLY – The Print Layout Is Done

Over the weekend I was sent the Print Layout for Shambles. I am in the process of setting up with a POD vendor, which means that soon you’ll be able to get actual, real hard copies of the book. This is more exciting than I can measure.

I’ve update the package over at DriveThruRPG to include the print version, so if you’re purchased the digital copy already, you should have gotten an update about the files. If you haven’t, then there’s good news because…

Shambles Valentine’s Day Sale

If you’ve not gotten that special someone something for Valentine’s day, and if you’re some kind of nerdy cheapskate, then I have very good news for you. From now until the end of the weekend, you can get Shambles from DriveThruRPG for just five bucks by using this link

Yes, nothing says “I Love You” like giving your significant other the opportunity to pretend they are a brain-hungry walking corpse. But it you’re looking for a little something extra, and if you happen to be in the area, then I have even better news for you.

While I’m waiting for POD to get set up, I am doing a limited run of saddle-stitched copies. These will be with me this weekend, and you can…

Play Shambles At Dundracon

I’ll be at Dundracon running Shambles. I’ll have these saddle-stitched copies with me, and you’ll be able to buy them at the Endgame booth.

If you want to play Shambles and can’t get into an official game, I may run some unofficial games as well. Keep your eyes open.

Updated Shambles Page

I updated the Shambles page to include some reviews and more information. Drop on by and check it out.

That’s it for now. More again soon!

Just before the holidays, I was approached by Bart Carroll from wizards.com. He wanted to do an email interview about rpgbloggers.com and my involvement in the site.

This was a surreal experience for me. Surreal enough that I thought he had contacted me by mistake.

The interview is posted and can be read here

I’d like to thank Bart and wizards.com for the opportunity. It was a cool experience.