Modern Day Hunters (WoD meets FUDGE)

So the crew that I play DnDNext with wants more - more time to play, more play time, more action and more intensity.  In discussing the options, modern day and vampires kept coming to the front as things people wanted to experience, but actually playing a vampire wasn't exactly what they were wanting.  After some thought and more discussion, the idea of playing *semi* normal humans (Hunters) in a modern setting, the Underworld world, was pretty much agreed on.


Now, Underworld is pretty similar to WoD, but not quite as...depressing...and Hunters are pretty normal people, just...intense.  But, right now I'm not totally into running a stock WoD system (old or new), so I'm thinking of doing a bit of Fudge/WoD hybrid.  I think I'm gonna let the players pick their attributes and abilities, set them on a 5 scale, pick a *power* or two, set it on a 5 scale or just give it a specific ability, pick some merits and flaws (I have always really liked that aspect of WoD) and go.  I don't want to worry about having to go through the "low" level powers to get to something you want and I don't want to worry about spending 5 points here and 9 points there and 3 points someplace else.


Fortunately, the group I've been playing with is relatively new to gaming except for the DM, who has been running such a bastardized version of Swords and Sorcery meets 4th Ed that he has no room to question my desire for a hybrid rules set.  Plus, he's cool enough and comfortable enough with just letting things flow that he wouldn't complain anyway and will probably be a major help to resolving things at the table so that a judgement call is fair and balanced.


We're getting together at my place this coming week on the 4th of July to BBQ and watch some setting/genre movies so that people have some idea of what this world will look like.  We've got a full burn ban on, so no fireworks for most of the middle of the U.S., so might as well stay inside in the cool and watch some decent movies.


Happy 4th all!!

Why we play what we play

The summer didn't go the way I thought or hoped it would.  Now the fall isn't going the way I thought it would.

This has lead me to question why I participate in gaming.  Is it really fun?  Is it what I want to do?  Is this how I want to spend my free time?  Do I really enjoy rpgs or do I just like hanging out with my peers?  Would I prefer a tactical combat rps (Pathfinder) or a cinematic story (Vampire) or a rules-light hackfest (OSR), maybe a miniatures combat game (BattleTech) or a ccg (Magic) or a non-ccg (Dominion)?  Would I gleen more satisfaction from watching football on any given Sunday?

I cannot answer these questions with any confidence.  About the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I know that the kinds of games I run is the kinds of games I'd like to be playing in.  Which makes the question my wife (a licensed massage therapist) posed this weekend more interesting: "how can I feel my own massage to figure out if I'm doing a good job?"  She can't ever experience her own massage and I can't ever experience my own campaign.  All we can really do is ask for feedback from those we respect/trust to give us honest evaluations.  We can "sample" little bits of our work - working a forearm/leg, recording a game session; we can never experience the full thing.

So back to the original question - what to do?

Maybe I'll just go hide behind grad school till I figure things out.

Board Games - missed a few

While I understand the PC nature of advertising and marketing these days, wouldn't it be refreshing to see people not get bent out of shape over a game?  Here's a list of a few that just wouldn't cut it in today's market - though I'd like to give Ghettopoly and Bomber uber England a go.

Board Games

Speaking of non-PC games, anybody ever played Pimp: the Backhand?  I never got a chance to play it, I played Vampire: The Eternal Struggle some (collected quite a few cards).