She Said: Origins 2011 Part 4 - The Funny, and Interviews!

The Funny

Story of the Flower Seller

This is more 'WTF' than funny, but I had no where else to put the story. So, here goes.

(Setting: Walking out of the Hyatt Regency at 1:30am. Tired and slightly tipsy, with my husband and my father walking right behind me. There's a short, not very well lit area which you have to walk through to get to a crosswalk. This gentleman starts coming towards me, the outline of a flower clearly visible in his raised hand.)

Him: Sir! Sir! Excuse me, sir!

Me: ...

Him: Sir! Would you like...

Me: No, thank you, sir. And I'm a MA'AM.

Him: Oh..ok...

If he'd been hungry and asked for the doggy bag of leftovers from Barley's in my hand, it would've been his. If he'd waited at the crosswalk for me to get to him, I would've been much more polite. But you do NOT run towards a woman at 1:30am on a fairly dark street trying to sell her a f*$#ing flower. Or call her 'sir'. That's just salt on the wound.

I Walk the Line ... While in Costume

I like to think I don't give a poo what anyone else thinks of me. I like to think I have high self-esteem. Every year, that illusion is dissolved when I walk out of my hotel and go 2.5 city blocks while in garb. Some people can do that, no problem. And if you're one of those that can, I wholeheartedly salute you, and wonder what your secret is. Because damned if I don't feel like a two-inch worm when I get 'looks' from those that do not attend Origins. But, every year, I do it. And you know why?

/sigh

The Interviews

I did promise you interviews! And here goes.

Eric Wiener

Eric is a member of Team Paradigm, the guys that lead and guide the happenings of Arcanis/CSE from the background. (Think the Illuminati, but with bowling shirts.) He's also been a good friend of mine for 6 years, and he graciously agreed to answer my questions.

~~~~~

Sarah: What is in the works for Witch Hunter, both as an on-going campaign and as a game in general?

Eric: We are waiting on a proposal that will determine our plans for Witch Hunter.
Our plans are pretty much linked into that proposal, both for the product line and the interactive campaign. The one thing we are firm on is that we will be doing an expansion called Witch Hunter 2012.

Sarah: Are you planning to convert Caliphate Nights to either your new Arcanis system or D&D 4th ed.?

Eric: If we do revisit Tales of the Caliphate Nights, it would likely find a home in more than one system. We've considered the WH system, the new Arcanis system and even some other manufacturer's systems.

Sarah: Think Henry can be persuaded to write some Arcanis fiction?

Eric: Frankly, the releases needed to support and expand the Arcanis RPG line are going to keep everyone busy for the foreseeable future. Arcanis fiction, not only short stories but up to and including full-on novels has been something we've discussed. It just doesn't seem to be a near-future option for us.

Sarah: Production and publishing costs being what they are, is there any plan for either a B&W print of the new CSE book or possibly making the PDF widely available?

Eric: We have no plans for a gray-scale version of the Arcanis: RPG. On the other hand we have plans regarding the PDF that we are going to announce just as soon as we resolve the technical aspects. In short, the PDF will be more readily available.

Sarah: Are there any planned release schedules for additional CSE material, either gaming supplements or modules?

Eric: Arcanis: the RPG has a street date of July 25. Forged in Magic, the first supplement, was at Origins with some advance copies and will follow the core rulebook by a couple of months. The Arcanis Bestiary, should be at GenCon and then released late in the year. We have some printed adventures in the works as well as a Campaign Guide for the Crusade that are still to be announced for release dates from 4Q 2011 - 2Q 2012. Our major releases planed for next year are the Hero's Codex and Chronicler's Codex (GM book)

Sarah: Is there any plan to bring back the Invisible Kings program?

Eric: We don't know. We are certainly interested in story development in areas we are not going to visit for some time (if ever). The actual form of any such program is still up for grabs because we haven't yet built the foundation to build upon. Such is the hazards of relaunch. I would like to add that many authors are currently doing great work by submitting soft points. A couple of years worth of mods should clear everything up for all parties.

Sarah: Thanks, Eric. I owe you some coffee or something

Eric: *laughs* That's all you got?

Sarah: Yup. Short and sweet. I'd make a $#!tty reporter.

And last, but most certainly not least...

Shane Hensley

I've known Shane for going on 5 years, but then again, about a gazillion people can claim the same. Talk with this guy for a few minutes, and see if he doesn't practically make you feel like family. He has been the man behind the dizzying array of products, ranging from table-top RPGs to computer games to card games to books to...

Shane, do you ever sleep, my friend?

Listing all of his achievements would put cramps in my hands, so I will just link to where you can read them yourself.

~~~~~

Sarah: Besides The Last Sons, what else is coming for Pinnacle?

Shane: Savage Worlds Deluxe just dropped! After that is the Horror Companion, 50 Fathoms Explorer's Edition, and the collected Trail Guides for Deadlands. Two other Deadlands books are in their early stages (Relics and Ghost Towns), and Hell on Earth is laid out and going through playtesting and artifying!

Sarah: Any new editions for Savage Worlds planned and, if so, will you stick with an Explorer's Guide-type of book?

Shane: Savage Worlds Deluxe isn't a new edition, but there's lots of cool new stuff in there to *expand* the game. We're doing a limited number of hardbacks, then we'll go back to Explorer-sized versions.

Sarah: You once said Lacy O'Malley was based off of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but were Stone, Hellstromme, or Grimme based off of anyone?

Shane: Stone was based off Clint Eastwood in a backwards way. I asked for a hero and Brom gave me the image you saw on the first edition of Deadlands. When I saw it I knew it had to be Stone instead. Grimme and Hellstromme are completely original, but their *looks* are based off the preacher from Poltergeist 2 and Vincent Price, respectively.

Sarah: What's your favorite game that you've written?

Shane: They're all my babies. The Plot Point in 50 Fathoms works the best, I think. City by the Silt Sea (for TSR's Dark Sun) was a blast. Evernight was a BLAST to run. I guess I have to go with Deadlands and Hell on Earth though--there's a lot of my soul in those books. :)

Sarah: Due to the awesomeness that is Zombie Pirates, are there any more computer games in the works?

Shane: My day job is at Cryptic Studios where I'm working on Neverwinter. I'd LOVE to do more casual games. I'm very proud of Zombie Pirates, and love the way the gameplay and the story turned out. But it's tough finding funding for smaller games, even though I think they have the greatest potential compared to their risk (Plants vs Zombies or Angry Birds, anyone?)

Sarah: Thanks again, Shane. I owe you (and Michelle) a drink next Origins if you guys go.

Shane: I never turn down a drink!

Thanks!

All in all, Origins was a convention well worth the time and effort. A+ eBay. Would buy again.

I now leave you guys in the capable hands of my husband. Thanks to Eric and Shane for answering my questions. I now apparently have many drinks to hand out for next year...

Savage Worlds - "You Got Miniatures Game in my RPG!"

I've been a tabletop roleplaying gamer for a very long time. From my youth spent playing the classic “red box” D&D and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, through my college years running and playing Shadowrun, learning TORG and coming around full circle back to D&D with 3^rd edition and 3.5 with a scattering of other rules systems across a period spanning over 25 years. None of those systems is the one I play or run games in the most now.

Smilin' Jack, The Savage Worlds Mascot.

Savage Worlds has its design goals set out in the tagline for the system: “Fast! Furious! Fun!” The rules manage to do a pretty good job of delivering on that promise. A lot of how and why that works comes from how the ruleset was developed. In the “scattering of other systems” I've played or run as GM, one of them was Deadlands, a Western-themed RPG with magic and monsters in an alternate post Civil War US. The rules used playing cards for initiative, used all the dice like D&D, but had “wound levels” instead of hit points.

Developed along-side of Deadlands as an RPG was a Deadlands-themed miniatures game called The Great Rail Wars, where the Outlaws, Indians, Texas Rangers and Zombies of the setting could fight large-scale battles over clashes with Railroad Companies trying to finish a line from Back East to the California Territory. The miniatures rules were like a stripped-down and streamlined version of the Deadlands RPG rules, with much faster combat and “hero” type figures that almost functioned like characters in a tabletop RPG.

One of the flaws in Classic Deadlands as a system was that combat was slow, due to needing to roll too many dice and go through to many cards to resolve actions. The game also suffered from “must buy every book” and “power creep”, where additional rules were published with every one of dozens of sourcebooks, and characters created before later books were released suffered a disadvantage against those using more powerful options from later books. These factors led to a decline in popularity of the system, and the flaws were apparent to some of the designers, who in some ways said they preferred the cleaner and easier Great Rail Wars rules.

Where it All Began.

The original edition of Savage Worlds took the strengths of the miniatures game, expanded on the powers and systems concerning heroic units, and addressed “too many sourcebooks” from the beginning. The combat system is fast, and designed to be able to handle battles with dozens of participants fighting at the same time at the speed of a game like Warhammer instead of the multi-hour ordeal such a fight would be in D&D. Generic “hit em a few times and they die” units and PCs or Major Villains are categorized as “extras” and “Wild Cards”, with Wild Cards having a full set of wound levels and abilities like a PC in any game. From the outset, Savage Worlds was designed to be used with the core rules, a setting book, and maybe a third book for printed adventures, though more often than not entire campaigns full of adventures are published in the “world books”.

The system was opened to other publishers under a limited license similar to the D20 Open Gaming License, and now there are many different settings available to run campaigns in using the rules. The rulebook is currently in its 3^rd incarnation, the “Explorer's Edition”, with a new edition releasing this summer. Certain powers and rules systems are changed and tweaked a bit between rules incarnations for balance and clarity, and in general, the rules have gotten stronger with time. Heroes have five “ranks” to progress through (Novice, Seasoned, Veteran, Heroic and Legendary) every twenty experience points, with the ability to “level up” an ability or power (or purchase new ones) every five experience, with typical session rewards being 2-3 XP. Which powers can be chosen is tied to Rank, and most Edges (like Feats in D&D) and other powers (spells, superpowers, psychic talents, etc) have requirements that must be fulfilled to add them to a character.

Preview Cover For the New Edition Releasing This Year.

Initiative uses playing cards, with each Wild Card getting one (or more, based on edges) and every group of extras getting one. Dice are open-ended, so it is possible for even the weakest extra to get a lucky shot in on a powerful Wild Card. Piles of dice are rolled quickly, with Wild Cards using “bennies”, or points representing luck, training, fate, etc... to re-roll dice or to absorb damage by soaking wounds. Extras have 2 conditions, shaken (meaning stunned, set back, etc) and incapacitated (usually knocked out or dead.) Rules are present for vehicle chases, tests of will (in-combat taunts, intimidation attempts and dirty tricks), and even mass battles commanding hosts of hundreds or thousands of troops, and these systems tend to play as quickly as normal “I hit him/shoot him” combat.

The Art For the Oversized Poker Deck (With Jokers) My Group Uses For Initiative.

Over the last few years, I've run or played in quite a few different settings using these rules, and in general, I've been pleased with the results. My favorite was the Fantasy Pirate Epic game 50 Fathoms, which allowed for the greatest degree of player control over the flow of the campaign. Necessary Evil was a Supers setting where the PCs are Supervillains forced to take the role of heroes when an alien invasion takes over the world, killing most of the Superheroes in the process. Evernight was a classic “Swords and Sorcery” campaign, set a little more “on rails” than other Savage Settings, but with twists all its own that made it a good time anyway. Deadlands Reloaded brings the setting from the game which Savage Worlds came from and updates it to use the newer rules, and Rippers is Victorian Horror with monster parts and mad science used to create a sort of demonic “cyberware” set of enhancements for heroes. Rippers reminds me most, ignoring the Shadowrun-like Rippertech, of what a cross between Van Helsing and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen would have looked like if either movie was good.

There Are a Lot of Pulp Action Settings, As Well.

One of the things I like most about the system is that the design of the campaign worlds and way the rules are implemented within them lends itself well to the GM who, due to real adult responsibilities or pure laziness doesn't have or take the time to do hours of weekly session preparation. I prefer to improvise and fly by the seat of my pants as a GM, and I've had far fewer disastrous sessions attempting this with these rules than I have in many other RPGs. If I had a complaint about the system, it is that streamlining comes at the cost of abilities sometimes feeling generic between rules, with often little more than cosmetic distinctions between two characters that fight with similar styles or use similar spells in very different worlds.

Anyone else have some experience playing games with these rules? Is there another either miniatures ruleset that could almost pass for an RPG, or set of RPG rules that plays as fast and clean as miniatures wargaming out there? Let me know.