Apocalypse Stuff on the Wiki

[Tancred]

It's taken me awhile, but I finally got a chance to catch up on the Conspiracy of Shadows wiki, and I'm blown away by the 'Cat and Mouse' setup/example. Kickers I've done and love, open discussion of character goals and player interest I'm all for, but for some reason it's never occurred to me to sit down with the players before a game and plot out milestones and the endgame collaboratively. That's such a cool idea, and saves the GM work!

I can see that idea being worked into every game I run...

I've still got reading to do, but I have one question about the new, simplified skills on the wiki: how many skill points did you envisage each character starting with now? Still the original 17, making them more effective in each broad skill, or halved down to something like 9 points?

Cheers,

Adrian.

[Keith Senkowski]

Adrian,

Thanks.  Glad ya dig it.  I'm also working on another campaign mechanic called Tension.  As the characters do stuff the Tension Meter goes up and down triggering different events.  When it maxes out something bad happens as an endgame and when it drops to zero something good happens as an endgame.  I'm in fact working up adventures and stuff for one using this system with pregens and shit.

For the simplified skills I would still use the 17 points since the big bumps come from Descriptors and not as much from the skill Ranks.

Keith

[Tancred]

I'm also working on another campaign mechanic called Tension.  As the characters do stuff the Tension Meter goes up and down triggering different events.  When it maxes out something bad happens as an endgame and when it drops to zero something good happens as an endgame.  I'm in fact working up adventures and stuff for one using this system with pregens and shit.

Sounds cool. I recently read Dead of Night, which has a Tension rating/point system that fits well with the horror genre, but it never occurred to me that you could do one for CoS - with Doom and Destiny already there it seems like a natural fit.

Plus adventures! Looking forward to hearing more - are you planning on a one-off, like Blood Opera, or something to run longer?

For the simplified skills I would still use the 17 points since the big bumps come from Descriptors and not as much from the skill Ranks.

Ta for the clarification Keith.

[Keith Senkowski]

Adrian,

Planning on at least six maybe more.  The first one I am working on is designed to work as an introduction to the game and can be played as a one shot or con game.  The others are designed to build on the first one as a complete campaign.  I'm toying with the idea of using each adventure to showcase something in the mechanics or to showcase new mechanics (like I have this mass combat system and a chase system and shit that can be substituted for the standard conflict resolution if desired).

Keith

[Tancred]

Looking forward to them - the idea of single-shot games that link together sounds really solid, and linking them to gradually exposing new players to aspects of the system is pretty shrewd.

It's also be a good opportunity for conveying the feeling of the setting across to new groups - I remember the old 'Enemy Within' campaign for Warhammer FRP did a load more to instil the tone of the setting in our group than the core book could.

Any kind of ETA for the first one? I got money burning a hole in my pocket just at the minute...

Adrian

[Keith Senkowski]

Adrian,

Oh man.  The Enemy Within campaign.  How I was exposed to Warhammer.  Big influence on this idea.  The first one is going to be a free PDF up on the site for download.  I'm hoping for end of December to have it up.  Luckily for my job I get the week of Christmas off and that is the goal to have it finished up and out there.  I figure free cause then people can take it for a spin and hopefully give me some serious feedback on what works and what doesn't.  Adventure writing for the masses is a new thing for me.

Oh and the whole series is going to function as a setting book for Bravich, with a theme focused on political intrigue, religious strife and a civil war.  If it is successful (and probably even if it isn't) I will work up another series focusing somewhere else and on a different set of themes.

Keith

[Tancred]

Adrian,

Oh man.  The Enemy Within campaign.  How I was exposed to Warhammer.  Big influence on this idea.  The first one is going to be a free PDF up on the site for download.  I'm hoping for end of December to have it up.  Luckily for my job I get the week of Christmas off and that is the goal to have it finished up and out there.  I figure free cause then people can take it for a spin and hopefully give me some serious feedback on what works and what doesn't.  Adventure writing for the masses is a new thing for me.

Oh and the whole series is going to function as a setting book for Bravich, with a theme focused on political intrigue, religious strife and a civil war.  If it is successful (and probably even if it isn't) I will work up another series focusing somewhere else and on a different set of themes.

Keith

Free even! The setting book function is a great idea - looking forward to it!

And I'm glad to hear of the 'Enemy Within' influence. Although it was a long time since I ran it, it still ranks as my most enjoyable published campaign to date, if only for the way it captured a distinctive atmosphere and marked out the unique territory of the game. Good times...

Cheers

Adrian