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In Actual Play

1/22/2010 jburneko: [Burning Empires/Primetime Adventures] RPG Weight Training
Hello Everyone, So right now I'm GMing Burning Empires.  It's a massive undertaking and it's very demanding.  We're four maneuvers into the Infiltration phase.  I'm really struggling with the game…
In Actual Play
Participants: jburneko, pfischer, davidberg, Welkerfan.

1/22/2010 jlhburnett: [octaNe] "Hey buddy, watch the tentacle!"
This past weekend, my Skype group decided to give octaNe a whirl.  It didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped, although things got better towards the end of the session.…
In Actual Play
Participants: jlhburnett, Ron Edwards.

1/18/2010 drhoover: [Fiasco] In a Nice Southern Town
My group tried Fiasco for the first time this weekend and had a blast. There were four of us, 3 lifelong roleplayers and 1 a more recent convert. We used…
In Actual Play
Participants: drhoover, jasonm, Tim C Koppang, segedy.

1/11/2010 Dionysus: How to make sessions/scenes stop dragging?
Howdy all. Been a while. Our little group of players has finally taken the plunge and is enjoying the waters of new games. We were a very strong WoD/Exalted group,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Dionysus, Falc, jburneko, Noon, davidberg, greyorm, FredGarber, Noclue, JoyWriter.

1/10/2010 trick: Combat molasses
I've been reading an earlier thread titled Warhammer; Chaos! Order! Molasses!. It's about the dullness of just going from place to place and trivial conflicts. In the games I've been…
In Actual Play
Participants: trick, contracycle, Noon, JoyWriter, Hereward The Wake, Meramec, Locke, Jeff B, ShallowThoughts, FetusCommander.

1/9/2010 Solarsaurus: Online play
I was just wondering how many of you folks here ever did pen-and-paper role-playing online, whether it be on a forum, through an instant messenger, or otherwise! Using the internet…
In Actual Play
Participants: Solarsaurus, Noon, greyorm, Dan Maruschak, Filip Luszczyk, chronoplasm, Adam Dray.

1/4/2010 AzaLiN: [S&W] Keep on Borderlands- Oldschool experiment
Swords and Wizardry is a "retro clone" RPG, of 0d&d. Tonight I ran my first game using those rules- I used the famous Keep on Borderlands as a test module.…
In Actual Play
Participants: AzaLiN, Roger, Noon, FredGarber, contracycle, Finarvyn.

1/4/2010 ShallowThoughts: I learned about System from Munchkins
My System suddenly grew big. By "big", I do not refer to the number of rules. Instead, I refer to layers of the Big Model. I'm writing this post to…
In Actual Play
Participants: ShallowThoughts, Jasper Flick, lumpley, Melinglor, contracycle, Caldis, Noon.

1/3/2010 Darcy Burgess: [Agon] - So-so'ing our way around the Island of Lycophon
Hi, Last week, I got together with Glenn W, Glenn H and Jason S to get muddy, bloody and dusty in the Mediterranean. A few years back, we'd pulled together…
In Actual Play
Participants: Darcy Burgess, Filip Luszczyk, Noclue, Noon, Ron Edwards, lumpley, RedPissLegion, Nathan P..

12/31/2009 Abkajud: [yet another LONG Polaris thread] a therapist tries Story Now
Hey, gang! Connor, a friend of mine is visiting from San Francisco; he's in school out there, studying drama therapy. He's played WoW and other video games in the past,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Abkajud, 5niper9.

12/26/2009 Filip Luszczyk: The GM should stop me!
I've found this situation intriguing. The game in question handles character effectiveness primarily via player <-> player permissions. I'm in the middle of running a campaign, and our last session…
In Actual Play
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Eliarhiman6, Noon, contracycle, ShallowThoughts.

12/14/2009 RedPissLegion: [MLWM] Not being able to kill the Master
Hi there :), This last week me a two friends of mine played My Life With Master. It lasted 4 sessions including one for character and master creation only. One…
In Actual Play
Participants: RedPissLegion, Adam Dray, Artanis, Eero Tuovinen, JMendes, Frank Tarcikowski, Paul Czege.

12/12/2009 davidberg: [Polaris] Color! (inspired play despite rules gaffe)
Last Sunday, I sat down to play Polaris with Daniel, John and Terry.  John had played once before, long ago, and didn't remember the rules.  Daniel brought the book, had…
In Actual Play
Participants: davidberg, Paul T, Abkajud.

12/10/2009 shadowcourt: looking for good collaborative map/world-build rules
This is sort of a newb question, but it's an area I've barely delved into in recent years, so I'm starting from scratch without too much guidance. So, caveats aside...…
In Actual Play
Participants: shadowcourt, chronoplasm, Jaakko Koivula, Ron Edwards.

12/5/2009 Artanis: [Sorcerer] Curtain on the carnival bizarre
Hello Last saturday we played the last session of the Carnival Bizarre. It was the second instalment after this report. Story In two sessions, the player characters essentially got together,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Artanis, Ron Edwards, Noclue.

12/4/2009 jasin: [IaWA] Zartan's Pride
Story In a wicked age, a young warrior, initiate into a warrior cult, climbs a desert cliff. The stones crumble; the cliff shakes. His god Burnaburiash, vengeful and jealous, is…
In Actual Play
Participants: jasin, rycanada.

11/20/2009 Marshall Burns: [3:16] These players are crazy
I played 3:16 last weekend on a camping trip. The players were: > my cousin James, with whom I’ve roleplayed often, and with whom I’ve played 3:16 once before. >…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marshall Burns, Noon, JoyWriter, Jaakko Koivula, Gregor Hutton, Jasper Flick, contracycle, Ron Edwards.

11/18/2009 andrew_kenrick: [Dead of Night] Grendel, Alaska
At Indiecon at the weekend I ran my first game of Dead of Night II, as I'm affectionately calling the second edition of my horror game. I watched the Host…
In Actual Play
Participants: andrew_kenrick.

11/14/2009 Philotomy: [The Pool] First Time -- Family Fairy Tale
I ran my first session of The Pool, this evening.  This was also my first session of any game with a large degree of player narrative control over the story…
In Actual Play
Participants: Philotomy, Finarvyn.

11/12/2009 greyorm: [3:16] Killin' Bugs
After a couple weeks of folks being sick, etc. we finally got together to give 3:16 a go. Flat out: it was a blast. I was, in fact, told we…
In Actual Play
Participants: greyorm, Jaakko Koivula, Marshall Burns, Gregor Hutton.

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Subsequent Topics
In Actual Play

2/2/2010 Meramec: [D&D] Hot elves, morality, and the missing initiative roll
So I gather three friends for an impromptu session of D&D.  They’ve all played the first WOTC edition of the game extensively and one has significant experience with the second…
In Actual Play
Participants: Meramec, Noon, Ar Kayon, Ron Edwards, Tim C Koppang, JoyWriter, NN, ShallowThoughts, athornton, contracycle, LostSoul, Jeff B, Jasper Flick.

2/11/2010 John Stephens: [Tunnels & Trolls] From the Lair of the Wyrm to Florinburg and Back
[b]Background[/b] My daughter and I have been experimenting with storytelling and roleplaying games off and on since she was four years old. She is nine now, and she loves fantasy…
In Actual Play
Participants: John Stephens, Eero Tuovinen, Finarvyn.

2/11/2010 Paiku: [Sorcerer]Sorcerers in Casablanca - AP
[b]Sorcerers in Casablanca[/b] hit the ground last Thursday night! The group of four veteran 20- and 30-something gamers has been playing story-now games together for over a year now, but…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paiku, Ron Edwards, Roger, rycanada, Andrew Norris, Paul T, Karl.

2/20/2010 grigori777: 3.5 to 2
Good day.  I am finding numerous character generator programs and sites to create characters in 3.5, but none for 2.0 that accept any race other than elf, 1/2 elf, human,…
In Actual Play
Participants: grigori777, Vulpinoid, Miskatonic, CaptainImpressive.

2/21/2010 Gregor Hutton: [S/Lay w/Me] O'er Plains of Ice the Sky-Ship Sails
So, at WarpCon in Cork, Ireland I got in some gaming as well as enjoying the odd refreshment (ahem) at the Old Bar at University College Cork. Most of my…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gregor Hutton, Lance D. Allen, Ron Edwards, contracycle, greyorm.

2/24/2010 Frank Tarcikowski: [TRoS] Destiny Spiritual Attribute
No, I don't have an actual play account (yet) where the Destiny spiritual attribute played a role. I will be running a game on Friday in which several characters have…
In Actual Play
Participants: Frank Tarcikowski, Noon, Paka, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards.

3/3/2010 Filip Luszczyk: I hate compromises
I hate compromises. I immediately started to hate compromises the first and the last time I played Burning Empires. We've spent 40 minutes or so playing out DoW. Then, we…
In Actual Play
Participants: Filip Luszczyk, Frank Tarcikowski, jburneko, Luke, Noon, Paka, greyorm, JoyWriter, Ben Lehman, Brendan Day, contracycle, ThoughtBubble, CedricP, Eliarhiman6, Noclue, Jeff B, ShallowThoughts, Ron Edwards.

3/7/2010 ThoughtBubble: Trying to figure out the anatomy of challenges I like
This is all inspired by the "Challenge the player" thread from last year. I've fallen into a pretty heavy "planned to showcase ability x" rut in my dungeon/encounter design. So…
In Actual Play
Participants: ThoughtBubble, Jeff B, Noon, Filip Luszczyk, Excalibur, JoyWriter, contracycle, Ron Edwards.

3/7/2010 James_Nostack: In-Fiction Sexual Exploitation: blarrrrgh
I guess this is a solicitation for similar AP; there's some analysis questions at the bottom.  But mostly I feel like venting a little. The other day I played Champions,…
In Actual Play
Participants: James_Nostack, CedricP, Noclue, Noon, Jeff B, FetusCommander, Lance D. Allen, JoyWriter, greyorm, contracycle, Ron Edwards, Paka, mark2v, Ar Kayon, Miskatonic, ShallowThoughts, davidberg.

3/9/2010 Jeff B: (D&D2e) Bringing in the new guy
Below is an account of a game I played in and my observations about bringing new characters into an existing roleplaying campaign, a maneuver which fails more often than it…
In Actual Play
Participants: Jeff B, Ron Edwards, Noon, James_Nostack, Aelwyn.

3/10/2010 greyorm: Dysfunction at the Magic Tourney [D&D 3.5]
Weirdly, this is going to tie into at least two other current threads happening right now... For our last session we took a break from 3:16 to play in our…
In Actual Play
Participants: greyorm, Noon, Ron Edwards, JoyWriter, Aelwyn.

3/18/2010 Simon C: What is Right to Dream for?
Probably one of the most successful "traditional" games I've played was about seven or eight years ago.  It was a Traveller-inspired home-brew science fiction game.  It went through several iterations,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Simon C, Noon, contracycle, Jeff B, davidberg, Motipha, FredGarber, Eero Tuovinen, ThoughtBubble, Caldis, anders_larsen, Lance D. Allen, Frank Tarcikowski, Silmenume.

3/21/2010 Aelwyn: What's the worst thing you've ever done as a GM?
True confessions time: what's the worst thing you've ever done as a GM? I'll start. I was running a Morrow Project campaign. Characters were paramilitary mercenaries cryogenically frozen and awakened…
In Actual Play
Participants: Aelwyn, Noon, Locke, LostSoul, Anekanta, Luminous, darthfodder, Ron Edwards, Adam Dray.

3/22/2010 Willow: [D&D] Religious & Cultural Diversity in D&D's Middle East
So, I was talking to a couple of folks at Forge Midwest about something I'm going to be doing in my D&D game- the party is going to the world's…
In Actual Play
Participants: Willow, Eero Tuovinen, Noon, Excalibur, Ron Edwards, Kallisti, Paka.

3/24/2010 Anekanta: [Rifts] -- Who's responsible for fun?
Hey all...  Something ironic happened today, in that I was invited to join a Rifts group.  It was ironic because, while I got my first real start in role-playing with…
In Actual Play
Participants: Anekanta, Ron Edwards, Noon, Excalibur, Andrew Norris, Locke.

3/24/2010 Ron Edwards: [Legendary Lives] Three games to talk about
Hi there, I've written about Legendary Lives in both Fantasy Heartbreakers and More Fantasy Heartbreakers, and as time went on since those essays were placed, I finally got around to…
In Actual Play
Participants: Ron Edwards, davidberg, Miskatonic, Artanis, Lance D. Allen, Noon, Trevis Martin, Millsy, Paul T, Willow, JoyWriter.

3/24/2010 Ron Edwards: [Bliss Stage] Men and girls
I’d hoped to get a chance to play this, partly because I’m working on a pretty big project regarding science fiction role-playing, and partly because Ben was available at Forge…
In Actual Play
Participants: Ron Edwards, Frank Tarcikowski, CedricP, Simon C, hix, Filip Luszczyk, Nev the Deranged, Ben Lehman.

3/27/2010 Simon C: What is Step on Up for?
I ignored D&D4E when it first came out.  I know from experience that the kind of play it encourages isn't what I want from a roleplaying game.  I didn't need…
In Actual Play
Participants: Simon C, Noon, Jasper Flick, greyorm, ThoughtBubble, Caldis, davidberg, Motipha, Roger, Frank Tarcikowski.

3/29/2010 jburneko: [S/lay w/ Me] The Cowboy and The Clockwork Hacker
So I had the opportunity to play S/lay w/ Me.  For a while I had been trying to convince Laura to the play the game with me but she found…
In Actual Play
Participants: jburneko, Savage Slacker, Ron Edwards, Eliarhiman6, Noon, Eero Tuovinen, Jasper Flick, bayonder, hix.

3/31/2010 Paka: In which we head out into the Sorcerer's Solar System
Bret, Christine and I are all buddies who don't game together.  Realizing this was silly, we got together to game.  We agreed that we wanted a finite game, 3 session…
In Actual Play
Participants: Paka, Bret Gillan, Ron Edwards, Roger, davidberg.

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