Human Occupied Landfill

Human Occupied Landfill is the second gift I received from my Austrian fiend. Unlike Ninja Burger ( ) I had very mixed feelings about this game.

The thing that strikes me about the book the most is the way it's written. From the moment you open the book you see these letters written down all over the place... which is the total opposite of most roleplaying books with their clear fonts, no crossed out words and horizontal lines of text. Naturally, this is very much in theme with the game itself as the book tells you from the get-go it is not what other games are.

The game is set in the far future controlled by a corrupt and oppressive government in cahoots with the Church. These who entities control the vast expanse of space, the universe and all that jazz. There is one planet where all the unwanted and unnecessary things go, including YOU. Yes, you are the dreg of society living on a garbage planet so filled with junk that you're not even sure if there's any dirt under all these layers of throwaway stuff. This is also the planet where criminals, nut-cases, rebels and anything else the government doesn't approve of gets left to rot.

The first part of the book is the player section. The voice used for this section is very degrading. The system uses a set of 5 statistics and skills tied to them. The skills have very long winded names and are supposed to be funny, like: "Science and Everything Else You Failed in High School". In this it reminds me of my other gift since it looks like the skill list can be easily expanded upon. The system itself is fairly simple where you roll 2d6, add your statistic and applicable skill and any modifier the HoL Meister can come up with. Such as -5 for not bringing his favourite snack (a modifier that the game encourages). Then hope you get in the range of 15-19 if you want to be achieve anything. As with many other games, a roll of 12 allows you to roll again and add the new result to your total while a roll of snake eyes makes your head explode... if the HoL Meister is feeling especially merciful today (and as we all know, it takes a special kind of sadism to be a Game Master).

HoL has no classes but it does provide you with a few sample characters. Amongst them is a priest who liked to spend his time educating little boys, a man who when the full moon is up in the sky changes into a man, the Zinc Surfer and my favourite, the worst roleplayer stereotype ever. Well... at least I got a giggle out of this small part.

It's only when I reached the Game Master section that I started having doubts about my initial bad reaction to the game. The way it praised me for not being one of those lousy players and scaring them away from this section as much as possible was to be expected considering the previous part of the book. What I didn't expect is the cool ideas. While the system didn't feel right, rolling to spot someone and a fail means your head explodes is just weird, but the setting actually has some interesting ideas. Normally in a game you're playing a paragon, even if it's a paragon of scum, the tendency is to play someone who is part of society in some way. In HoL you're playing a person who everyone wants to forget about. Think of the worst stereotype of any type of character class you can think of and multiply it by a thousandfold, that's your character. The description of the planet itself and its various places has piqued my interest. It is just such a grim and dangerous place where you have to scavenge for scraps of fifty year old milk for breakfast... if you're feeling especially lucky today... and think of all the things people throw away! Some might actually be quite useful.

And then there is one antagonist that makes the whole game even cooler: The King. Here's a description of one of his abilities: Immortality - No that doesn't mean he can't die, but even if he does, he'll still eventually show up in a supermarket checkout line on the other side of the universe.

Yeah, a sci-fi game where you can kill Elvis... repeatedly...

Buy it Now on Amazon : Human Occupied Landfill
Buy it Now on Amazon : Human Occupied Landfill

Ninja Burger: the RPG 2nd Edition

On one of my many birthdays I have received a gift from a martial artist. This gift (see what I did here, Chris?) consisted of two roleplaying books. One of which was Ninja Burger!

In Ninja Burger you take the roles of honourable employees of Ninja Burger. It is a fast food restaurant chain that caters to the ever increasing demand of high profile people who need food fast, in like 30 minutes or less. Your inability to deliver the order in the required time requires you to commit seppuku.

Ninja Burger uses the Prose Descriptive Qualities system, also known as PDQ. While most systems I'm used to use some kind of Attribute/Skill mechanic, PDQ approaches character creation quite differently. Instead of a set list of traits you get to make them up. So your ninja can have any trait you want, though they all start with Ninja [+0] and the appropriate profession: Chef, Deliverator, Driver, Navigator, Spotter and Dispatcher at [+2]. The numbers in brackets serve as the level of your capabilities within the field. It usually ranged between [-2] and [+6] this number is added to a 2d6 roll and compared to a target number to see if an action has been successful.

Out of all the roles mentioned above all but one are available to the players. The one role that is solely for the Game Master is the Dispatcher. Ninja Burger proposes this character to be treated like any other, with a personality and a role within the team. You should roll for the Dispatcher to look through the plans of the mansion the team is currently infiltrating and hacking the security systems while the rest is fighting off pirates. It reminds me of a GMPC in some way but due to the character not being physically present with the rest, there is very little chance for the Game Master to steal (even by accident) the spotlight from out of a player's nose.

The system is fairly easy to learn and doesn't take long to explain. The lack of a clear list of traits you could choose from can be a bit daunting to new players but sample "character sheets" are provided for each role. It should also be noted that the system does not use traditional health levels. Instead failure on a test (whether it be a simple task or combat) results in having to lower one of your traits by 2. These are called failure ranks and damage ranks, the only difference being when they go away.

The simplicity of the system is nice but for those who like something a little bit more complex, it provides you with a mechanic for Upshifts and Downshifts which allow you to get a positive or negative modifier to a roll. My favourite though is Ninja Magic. Nine special abilities which come in two variations. One for more or less realistic games (get a modifier on an action) and another for very cinematic games (walk on water).

Finally, I come to the advancement system.  Normally a game rewards players with a number of points that they can then spend on raising their character's capabilities. Instead of Experience Points that we are so used to, Ninja Burger uses a Honour Score. This number represents how honourable a ninja you are. The score is a guideline of how others will interact with you and you're allowed to spend the points to act in a dishonourable way but by doing so, you gain a bonus on your die roll. Between sessions, you are also allowed to spend Honour points to raise your traits. Thus you are given a choice of either being seen as a paragon of honour or get more numbers to add to your dice. I should also mention that if your Honour Score goes too low, you will commit seppuku out of shame.

That's all I can think of about the rules so let's move on.

The book itself is written in a very humoristic way and is laden with pop-culture references. It provides the Game Master with the setting of San Francisco, including a map of the city and information on various districts. Where the book really shines, however, is in the random table generators. It is full of them for anything from fleshing out your character to generating obstacles for the ninja crew and delivery ideas. It makes for an excellent aid if you're good at improvisation and just need to make a game on the spot.

Catching all the references to films is just an added bonus. The examples provided in the book gave me ideas on how to change some film plots into games by adding "feed the main character! while he is in danger and busy with other things!".

Finally at the end of it all we're give five (definitely not three) scenarios to play though. Fill Bill is possibly the longest and may very well be turned into a campaign depending on how much detail you're willing to add. Many are more action oriented, like Diet Hard or The Meatrix, but there's also one, Burger She Wrote,where killing everyone in sight is probably a bad idea. Which in turn shows you not every Ninja Burger game has to be the same old plot of fighting your way through to the customer.

I enjoyed reading through the book and it gave me a lot of laughs.
Thank you for the wonderful birthday gift!

Buy it Now on Amazon : Ninja Burger: The RPG 2nd Edition
Buy it Now on Amazon : Ninja Burger: The RPG 2nd Edition

Note: For those of you who don't know German, gift means poison...

Hey, Wanna Play?!

Every game that a Storyteller runs needs players. Such is the life of one who runs games that when a potential players comes forward, he has no choice but to explain the game! However, many times, our enthusiasm for a game is so great that we scare people away with an overload of information instead of catching them in a net of fun. Here are some ways on how to ensnare people into joining the table over which you rule supreme!

Keep it simple

If you can't describe a game in less than 30 seconds you should start thinking how you could do that right now. You don't want to preach to a person who isn't interested in a game the way you, as the Storyteller, see it. You're just wasting your time and their time, not to mention the voice that can be better utilised to, like, run games and such!

It is obviously very hard to give a short description of a game but nonetheless, if you are running a High Fantasy games with Organic Robots flinging magic at each other with added drama and the potential player isn't interested in that at all, it doesn't matter how many words you use to describe the game. Not everyone is into everything and not every Storyteller sees the game the same way.

Use general terms

Games use a lot of terms for a variety of system elements. Throwing them at a player usually ends up being extremely confusing, especially if you don't have a sheet handy to show it's actually not as hard as you're making it sound. Try and avoid any game specific term. It's nigh impossible to do that but if you try not to, your end of the conversation will be much more accessible to someone with little to no knowledge of the game.

Do not ask to read a dozen books

Unless you really don't want any new players, never expect a person to read a book just for your game. Tell them it might help but is not essential. Be prepared that no one at the table will know the rules, explain and show them the game's system and world gradually. After a few sessions, they'll know what's going on better than you do.

Telling someone they can just show up and sit down creates that sense of entertainment, like going to the cinema or for a walk. When you ask someone to read a book, which is essentially learning something brand new during their free time, even before they have a chance to know if they like a game or not, you'll scare them away faster than get them to touch the thing. Sure, some people love learning but you don't have to tell those people to learn! They'll grab the book anyway.

And it really is a nice feeling when one player asks another player to lend them their copy of the core rules so they can have a look through it over the week without you doing a thing to cause that other than create a very enjoyable game!

but not really!

Recently I've been witness to a Storyteller giving a description of something to kill. It amounted to "They look like zombies but not really!"... and it got me thinking!

My preferred method of setting up a scene is to describe it without saying what it is or what it resembles. When you tell the players what something looks to their senses, they can decide what it is for themselves. Quite often you can use that to lure them into a false sense of security.

For instance, if you describe a zombie but never actually use the word "zombie" in the description, the players might realise it is a zombie. However, this information came from them and not the Storyteller so there's room for them being wrong. On the other hand, if you as the Storyteller use the word "zombie" as a basis for the description, cutting away the preconceptions you don't need, you are telling them what this thing definitely isn't thus destroying part of the mystery.

This is not to say that you should always use a detailed description. There are times when it is more advantageous to give a one sentence summary. If you want your players to add detail to a scene, just tell them where they are and what kind of things would be within their reach.

I once told my player that he is in a storage building at the docks. There were big wooden crates all over the place and people moving them onto a loading bay. He then asked me if there is anything he could use as a distraction, to which I said "What do you need?" and suddenly his character noticed someone smoking a cigarette to unwind for a while. He used that to make the whole place go in flames.

It is a very simple thing but as a Storyteller I don't think about every minute detail, focusing more on the bigger picture. Coming up with what every person on the street looks like or what they carry would take way too much time. So I leave that job to the players by giving them a general idea what kind of things they would be able to find and approve or disapprove their ideas.

As one of my friends said: as long as it's reasonable and not a nuke in the car trunk...

Oh Dear

Well... it's been a while since anything has been posted around these parts... unfortunately, life got a bit out of hand and I lost track of things... before I knew it, it's already March and more things need to get done... like a dissertation on Jack The Ripper...

I have a post ready and it will probably go up somewhere around Wednesday... for now know that MIRK is still alive and I haven't abandoned it yet... doesn't matter what the rumours say!

as a distraction, I offer to you part of my madness... more than two years ago, I posted to the White Wolf Livejournal all the mistakes I found with Changeling The Lost... I'm reposting them here as proof of how messed up I am...

30: „The Hedge can as easily manifest as immaculately landscaped Victorian hedgerows as it can ghastly stinking bogs where passage is marked (or hidden) by treacherous streches of murky water.”
33: „As a result, trusting another changeling or making a mutual pledge of friendship or alliance is an profound act that changelings do not take lightly.”
81: “He the puts one dot each into Intelligence and Resolve, which puts him squarely in the average in those areas.”
87: “Minor banes can be a painful aversion to the sound of church bells, exposure to wolfsbane or hearing a one’s name.”
126: “In general, though, images and symbols will mostly as they did in the dream (as with a changeling who assumes the “costume” of an entity in the dream), while an item will appear by and large as it did in the sleeper’s thoughts.”
127: “Hearth Contracts are a broad path of beneficial effects, boons that a changeling can grant to an individual or himself when he needs and extra edge of just a little bit of influence from something greater than himself.”
137: “Everyone else within range doubles all environmental penalties to Wits rolls involving perception, including Wits + Composure rolls, as well as Wits + Skill rolls to notice events or Wit’s + Investigation rolls to intentionally search for something.”
139: “The dice pool for this attack is Dexterity + Brawling + half of the character’s Wyrd.”
147: “Mortals can clearly see they are talking speaking to a creature of inhuman appearance, but this merely impresses them to the extent that mortal onlookers are incapable of attacking the character except in self-defense.”
164: “The caster knows the outcome of something random or similarly unknowable in her immediately vicinity, such as which of four streets the people she is pursuing fled down or which roll of scratch-tickets to buy to win between $10 and $25.”
164: “Each success reduces one die of ranged combat penalties normally due to the target’s distance (range penalties), position (such as being prone), size (for very small targets) or environmental factors such as darkness, snow, cover penalties or anything else that doesn’t directly work directly upon the changeling.”
176: “This is the not the full limit of the changeling’s pledges, however; other kinds of pledges may be invested into other aspects of the changeling, from his true name to his connections to mortals and the fae.”
176: “Though the changeling’s true name is shared by another, the changeling still have the right to swear oaths by it.”
196: “This is a process then can take days.”
201: “(though some particularly power tokens offer staggering shifts in perception)”
203: “Taking a pint of blood will, when drawn, causes one lethal point of damage (or one Vitae in the case of vampires).”
207: “The bump because to rupture within minutes, spilling out several insects or bugs – a small cloud of black flies, a dozen spiders or maybe a passel of centipedes.”
207: “However, the nightmares also confer the Phobia derangement (mild), with the focus being of that phobia being insects.”
214: “If multiple changelings are in the same area, they effects they have on the Hedge meld together in subtle ways, though the changeling with the highest Wyrd rating always has the greatest influence on the area (with one possible exception, discussed below).”
244: “Unless the players all decide to create Courtless characters of the beginning of the chronicle, the rebels’ ideology will probably seem to radical to the characters, and they’ll decline, which can make for a scene of good, tense diplomacy as they try to extract themselves from the rebels’ company now that the characters know the rebels’ plans.”
251: “The player can, of course, leave this entirely up to the Storyteller, under the rationale that the character probably knows nothing about her fetch, and this if fine, if the Storyteller is amenable to the extra work.”
253: “Experience plays a large role in development, and how could the experiences of an Fae-enslaved human and an Earthbound fetch possibly be the same?”
255: “Echoes, as the name implies, as powers based upon the fetch’s relationship with its changeling counterpart.”
257: “The fetch can enter the Hedge the same ways that a changeling can(see p. 216).”
257: “The fetch can only shadows only from living beings with souls.”
267: “Perhaps, when that byway is severed, the rest of the changelings will see realize the danger and see how effective it is to cut themselves off from the Hedge, and thus the Fair Lands, completely.”
273: “Although the True Fae often retain their ability to take on their natural form when out on the hunt or otherwise traveling in the human world, banished Fae no longer has this ability.”
276: “Regardless, the Noppera-Bo will use their human or changeling seeming to work their way into the company of a group, playing up their apparent weakness or injuries to full affect.”
315: “Some who discover their presence have begged to be in the order, and have are been chosen for if their talents at manipulating fear and generating terror are up to par (or at least have the potential to be) – but that is the exception to the rule, not the rule itself.”

yes, dear reader... I'm that sad...