#RPGaDAY is BACK!

A little while ago I announced that while I loved RPGaDAY and everything it stood for, I was simply too busy to do all the organisation, the promotion, the video filming, the editing, the daily posting, and so on.

Thankfully, RPGaDAY has been saved by Anthony Boyd and the RPGBrigade who have kindly stepped in to host RPGaDAY this year. Everything is explained in the video below:

Just like previous years, RPGaDAY is a celebration of everything positive and fun about tabletop roleplaying. The premise is simple - just download the image with all the questions on it from the RPGBrigade site (or even just the image posted below). Look at the questions, and then, one question per day in August, post something on social media, your blog, your vlog, the back of a milk carton, anything you like. Just spread the word about how cool RPGing is. If you like, you can share your post on the RPGaDAY page on the RPGBrigade site and they'll collate everyone's posts.

You can check out the RPGBrigade's RPGaDAY page here

and you can follow all the fun and excitement on the RPGaDAY Facebook page here as well...

Check back before the end of the week, and I may just reveal *why* I've been so busy and haven't the time for RPGaDAY this year...

#KeepTheSecrets

After a few weeks of very little happening on the blog, I've a lot of updates in a short period of time, culminating in the biggest update of them all. But we'll come to that in due time.

The exterior of the Palace Theatre, London.

First of all, Debs and I were lucky enough to secure tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the play that is currently in previews at the Palace Theatre in London. Written by J K Rowling and Jack Thorne, this is the official 8th story, continuing the tale of Harry Potter long after the Battle of Hogwarts and the defeat of the dark lord Voldemort.

Debs outside the theatre!

JK Rowling has expressed a desire for people to "#KeepTheSecrets" and not spoil the story for people, making sure that the surprises in the play (and there are plenty of those) remain surprises. And I respect that. But I did want to write a blog post about it.

Don't worry, NO SPOILERS!!!

I'm not a massive theatre goer, though we are both huge Harry Potter fans. I must admit, I went in a little worried. What if it was going to be the new Attack of the Clones? What if it was awful and tarnished my love of Potter forever?

Luckily, I had nothing to worry about.

Recapping the final moments of the last book, sending Albus Severus Potter off to Hogwarts for the first time, the play continues, following a new generation of Hogwarts students, coping not only with their own troubles, but also with the legacies of their incredibly famous parents.

Again, without spoiling things, the story of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child echoes the themes and events of the previous books perfectly, with humour, action and deeply emotional moments that had the audience enthralled from the very start.

Me, looking like a goon, outside the theatre as well.

The production was astounding. The sets were perfectly designed, with elements that echoed throughout the theatre, right down to the wallpaper, and even the decoration at the various bars.

There were magical elements, both with stage effects and trickery to reflect the magic of the wizarding world, that had us all gasping, and even looking back on it now it's difficult to see how it's pulled off so quickly and seamlessly. We were amazed.

However, the best element of the play by far is the cast. Everyone (and I mean, everyone) is perfect in their roles, but the real standout performances had to be Albus Potter (Sam Clemmett) and Scorpius Malfoy (Anthony Boyle). Bringing an awkwardness to their roles that perfectly fit their characters, they shone in every scene they were in, with such humour and emotional depth you really felt for them both.

L to R: Harry Potter (Jamie Parker), Albus Potter (Sam
Clemmett) and Ginny Potter (Poppy Miller)

There are revelations in the play that will have everyone gasping, laughing and crying. Previews end 31st July (aptly Harry's birthday) and a fresh batch of tickets go on sale in August for May 2017-2018 and we're already considering going again. 

The script for the previews will be published on the 31st July as well, so if you can't make it to the play, you can read the story for yourself (and it will be published again before the end of the year with the final version of the script - the post previews version, so to speak).

It's seriously a must for any Potter fan.

Princes of the Universe

Every so often I get the opportunity to review movies. Sometimes they're new movies about to hit the big screens, and sometimes they're older films that have resurfaced on shiny remastered bluray. But rather than just review the movie, I like to add a little context. After all, the site I used to write for has gone, so posting on my blog I like to keep it a little more personal. Review the movies that have touched me, or have a history with me. 

A little while ago I was notified of the 4k restoration of one of my favourite movies - Highlander - and was given the opportunity to see the new and shiny edition of the movie. Previous DVDs and blurays had not done the film justice, and I'm happy to report that the new edition is just as glorious, just as loud and just as immortal as it should be.

Highlander was one of those weird movies in the 80s. I went to see a lot of movies, and this was right when I was in my sixth form and trekking every saturday to the nearest cinema fifteen miles away on the bus to see just about everything with a slight science fiction theme. The poster immediately caught my eye, with its cool sci-fi typeface, and some guy in a trenchcoat carrying a sword. 

The original Highlander poster in all of its glory!

Looked pretty epic, but I had no idea what it was about until I paid my ticket money at the box office. 

Often, the best movies are experienced like this. I had seen some very brief ads on the TV for The Matrix before going to see it, completely unaware of what it was about. Sometimes, in fact often, not knowing can be part of the fun.

That said, the legendary tale of immortals battling through history until only one is left, can be confusing when you first approach it. The publicity images mixed 80's New York with scenes that are better suited to Braveheart. There's about three words said in the first ten minutes, and it's not until over forty minutes into the movie that you discover why we keep flashing back to the Scottish glens and the clan MacLeod. I always remember a classic TV listing for the movie in the Radio Times calling it a "time travel epic". Well, I guess the characters do travel through time, but linearly and at the same speed as everyone else! Maybe that guide's reviewer didn't get that far.

The Kurgan (Clancy Brown) all restored and imposing.

As a teenager, I was hooked. Amazing visuals, one of the coolest and most iconic villains in cinema with Clancy Brown's gravel voiced Kurgan. A fantastic soundtrack peppered with Queen songs. And Christopher Lambert playing the hero who mouths off to the cops, takes crap from no one, and has mastered the art of hiding a katana in his trenchcoat.

What's not to love? 

The more you look at the movie, the more you appreciate the visual flair of director Russell Mulcahy. From the opening panning shot swooping over the audience of a wrestling match at Madison Square Garden, long before the existence of drones that make such shots so easy now. To the brilliant transitions from present to past, from aquarium water level to Scottish loch, from the incapacitated and dying form of MacLeod in ancient Scotland suddenly being the subject of police camera flashes. Everything about it is beautiful, inventive and brilliant.

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) about to square off against Fasil.

I bought the novelisation, bought "A Kind of Magic" Queen album, and did fencing in school sports, shouting "There can be only one!" before the teacher reminded us that foils were not supposed to be held two-handed and swung around our heads. (Wasn't long before we were at it again, shouting "You're not my father" while making lightsaber noises).

Highlander was one of those movies that stayed with you. I watched it so many times on VHS that I could quote it almost word for word, and eagerly awaited the release of Highlander II. I remember asking a girl out to go and see the second one, but she turned me down. I think she dodged more than one bullet that day...

When I met my future wife, and discovered she could recite the movie just as well as me I knew it was destiny. Our first real holiday away together we drove to Scotland and took in the locations, from the stunning Glencoe, to Castle MacLeod itself, Eilian Donan. We were both so sad to cross the border south again on the way home. 

The previous releases of Highlander have been less than perfect, with the bluray before looking like an upscaled VHS that looked so grainy that you wondered why you bought a bluray player to begin with. 

MacLeod and the Kurgan fight for the prize in the newly restored version

Thankfully, the new 4k restoration is glorious. While I don't have 4k capabilities, the bluray release of this restoration is as clean and clear as if the movie was released yesterday. Sure, you can see the wires during the finale (though not as bad as the initial release) but making up for that is the picture quality that really shines in both the rainy New York scenes and the epic vistas of Scotland. It just made me want to pack up and move to the middle of nowhere again, to hide from the world in that amazing landscape. One day, Debs... One day...

There are plenty of extras too, including a nearly two hour making of, interviewing the producers and writers, as well as new interviews with director Russell Mulcahy and Christopher Lambert, deleted scenes and a commentary by Mulcahy. 

It was wonderful revisiting Highlander, like being reunited with an old friend and discovering they are just as cool as when you last saw them. Now, if only they'd release the TV series on DVD in the UK... 

Highlander, the 4K restoration based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, and restored by Deluxe London, under the approval of director Russell Mulcahy, is available on DVD and bluray on the 11th July 2016, marking the 30th anniversary of its release. God, I feel old now...

With thanks to STUDIOCANAL for letting me review it.

Seriously, you've all seen Highlander haven't you? If you haven't, here's the trailer for the restoration. Do yourself a favour and check it out.

Until next time, stay multiclassy. There can be only one!

There Can Be Only ONE!

Regular visitors on my site, and those who know me, will be well aware that I LOVE Highlander. So I was particularly excited to see an email in my inbox announcing a 30th Anniversary rerelease of the movie, both theatrically and on bluray.

The official press release reads as follows:

To mark the 30^th anniversary of the time travelling action fantasy favourite, HIGHLANDER, STUDIOCANAL is thrilled to announce that the cult classic has been fully restored in 4K and will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 11^th July complete with brand new bonus material.

Clancy Brown will be in attendance for the World Premiere of the 4k restoration of Highlander on Saturday 18^th June at Cineworld, Fountain Park as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival www.edfilmfest.org.uk / Tickets are on sale now: bit.ly/1WjSfEm

Other special event screenings will also take place close to the release, details of which will be announced soon.

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE

1985 New York City; the Battle to end all battles. The last remaining Immortals gather together to fight to the death: decapitation alone can kill them, and the victor alone can lay claim to “The Prize”. Amongst the contestants is Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), who fought his first battle in 1536 on the highlands of Scotland, swordsman Ramirez (Sean Connery) who mentored MacLeod and taught him the ways of the immortals, and the evil and brutal barbarian Victor Kruger (Clancy Brown).

Starring Christopher Lambert (Mortal Combat, Fortress), Sean Connery (Dr. No, The Hunt for Red October), Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers) Roxanne Hart, Jon Polito, Sheila Gish and Celia Imrie. The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy (Swimming Upstream, The Real McCoy) and features an original score by Michael Kamen and Queen. Highlander went onto inspire four sequels and a television series.

Restored by Deluxe London, the restoration of Highlander is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, followed by a full 4K workflow, with the approval of director Russell Mulcahy.

DVD & BLU-RAY EXTRAS:

•   New interview with Russell Mulcahy
•   New interview with Christopher Lambert
•   Deleted scenes
•   Making of doc in 4 parts
•   Audio commentary with Russell Mulcahy
•   HD trailer

116mins / Cert: 15

--

Despite the use of the words "time travelling" (there's no time travel in it, it's flashbacks people!!!) it's great to see that the movie's getting a rerelease and restoration. The current transfer on Bluray is pretty awful, almost VHS quality, so a shiny restoration will be very welcome, and what better time to do it but the anniversary year. 

Man, this makes me feel old. I saw this at the cinema when it was first released. Went out and bought the novelisation, and the soundtrack. Hell, we even took a vacation up into the highlands to visit Eilean Donan castle, the home to clan MacLeod. The wife and I can practically recite the whole film line for line (and frequently use quotes to punctuate the day). 

Anyway, I know it's not my normal post - but why not! I get plenty of viewers to this blog, so I may as well discuss movies and TV on here as well as the gaming stuff. And if it means someone, somewhere out there who may not have seen the movie checks it out, then all the better.

There can be only one!!

C'mon, dude! Write something!

Once again, time has slipped by and I've failed to post anything interesting on here... Time for a quick update:

WILD: Progress on the WILD RPG has been very slow, in fact non existent. Another project has come along and is taking all of my time, so WILD is on the back-burner at the moment. I'm not shelving it, worry not. It's still there in the back of my mind, drifting through my subconscious like an incepted idea that cannot be shaken.

VIDEOS: I've had an idea of how to progress with the Roll Your Own Life webseries I wanted to do, but just haven't had the time to do it. Not that it's really important anyway, especially as I only get around 50-100 views on my videos (at least, the ones that don't feature Tom Hiddleston). Hell, no one wants to see chunky bald guy talking into the camera for ages.

Though thanks to the chap who recognised me in my day job from my RPGaDAY videos. Nice to know someone was watching!

And talking of that...

RPGaDAY: So, what do you think? Do we do it again this year? I'm probably going to be busier this year, so I won't be able to put as much time and effort into it, but I'll still hope to do the full 31 videos and post - I just may not be able to do the hours of posting, replying and so on during the month. The question is, do we do it? And what questions?

I just have to remember not to seek out people's posts to see what they're doing during the month. While 90% of the people taking part enjoyed it and loved getting involved, there's always the 10% who criticise the positivity, or just enjoyed clicking dislike on the videos. It's disheartening.

But that's a way off yet!

BLOGGING: This is post 199 on this blog! Wow, I can't believe I've waffled on for so long! You bored yet?

This blog had a sudden surge of interest when the legendary Gerard Way replied to a tweet of mine. He'd posted to JK Rowling about the lack of a pen & paper RPG for Harry Potter, and I directed him to the blog posts I'd done about the game I was pitching to Warner Bros.

Just look at that. 52 likes for my little post, 737 likes for his reply to me. And I still get notifications over a month later that someone else has liked that reply. Hundreds of MCR fans faithfully liking everything he comments. It's a little scary. I'd be worried if I had that kind of following.

But a few of them followed the conversation back to my blog and read about the Potter pitch. Alas, JK didn't, so we're still no closer to a tabletop Harry Potter RPG. One day...

--

So, 199th post over. I guess I'll have to make post 200 something particularly exciting.

Stay tuned, stay multiclassy, and stay safe.

Peace and Long Life.

D

They're gonna put you in the movies!

One of my great sidelines and distractions in the past has been film reviewing and publicising. I've always had an interest in movies, as you'll probably have noticed from my blog posts in the past. Even before my fascination with gaming I was enjoying the thrill of Bond movies, the spectacle of the first Star Wars, and a wealth of TV scifi and action.

I took my love of movies through to my academic years, studying film, film language, and even writing my dissertation on the differences of film language and rules compared to another medium - comics.

Taking this interest in film to the internet was an obvious choice, and I ended up blogging for the SyFy Channel UK (though they removed all their blog posts so I can't link to them), for the Tor Books UK site, and more recently for the Geekologists.

I've gone to premieres, the press conferences for things like The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and Ant-Man.

I've interviewed amazing people like the Soska Sisters about their careers and awesome movies.

Hell, I've sat within feet of Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson!

But now I've found myself without a site to write movie / TV stuff for. I kinda thought about doing it here, on this blog, but I know that most of the time I write about tabletop RPG stuff.

But is it really that different? A lot of the time, my movie / TV experiences can be connected to gaming. The last time I tried this, I was sent a link about the remake of Carrie by the lovely people at the various film companies that ask me to review things, and I promoted the trailer and talked about my experiences meeting the legendary Stephen King. (Yes, I know the trailer is missing now... the internet is only so big, they probably had to delete it to make room for another trailer or something*).

Most of the time when the publicity people send me stuff, it's links to trailers and things that - by the time you've gone to the effort to post something about - someone has usually beaten you to it. And by someone, I mean people who actually do this sort of thing for a living and get paid for it.

I got sent a link to the new Ghostbusters trailer today, the new international (and improved) trailer. I was thinking about posting it, and what I thought about it (for the record, I didn't hate it and will reserve judgment until the film comes out - I just hope there's some sort of acknowledgement of the original movies in there) and my love of the original Ghostbusters (and especially the West End Games RPG). I've discussed my Ghostbusters history before, how I tried to get into game writing with an old electric typewriter and a head full of bad ideas for Ghostbusters adventures.

Part of me really wants to keep writing and reporting on geek news, movies and TV - it's a good way to keep writing when otherwise the gears get rusty and I don't feel like tapping the keyboard. But I'm also thinking "should I bother?" - shouldn't I be writing the games? And there are so many other things I have circling my head - a podcast of a dramatisation of the WILD novels, a webseries of the Role Your Own Life blog entries...

All of these things are a distraction. But without those distractions, I would never have had such fantastic encounters with the movie world.

What to do? I don't know... but the future's already around the corner.

* Yes, I know that's not how the internet works.

Webseries with a Message

You may (or may not) know that many years ago I was involved in producing a webseries. Just a little comedy series, heavily influenced by The Guild, Spaced, and Scott Pilgrim. It did okay. Things happened. I don't want to talk about it.

However, through that I did meet a bunch of cool people who have continued to make webseries and internet movies. Rather than talk about my experiences with webseries, I just wanted to highlight a little series that has recently hit the internet.

Jack Gregory has been making movies and films for as long as I've known him, and he's never given up. His latest project is clever, emotional and really hits hard.

His series "Welcome to Icinicorp" is the simplest set up. One camera. One room. One actor. Improvised.

Set in a dystopian future where emotion is outlawed, the actors are given the premise and run with it. It's powerful stuff that deals with mental illness in a raw and emotional level. It's never an easy watch, but shows just how you can get a message across in a video, with zero budget, zero tech, and a whole lot of drive.

The first three videos are up online. As I said, it's not an easy watch - it's not the laugh a minute I was aiming for in my efforts - but it highlights a lot of issues and deserves a look and sharing.

Okay, back to the usual game-related nonsense next post, I promise...

Gaming Nostalgia: The FASA Catalog Spring 1987

One of those #ThrowbackThursday things, I was looking through one of my old games (Did I mention my copy of the old FASA Doctor Who RPG is signed by Tom Baker?) and found this rather awesome gem - a snapshot of gaming history...

The FASA Catalog of Games and Books - Spring 1987

My scanner is under a pile of books somewhere, but I took some photos so you could join me in reliving the glory of FASA's wares of the day - Battletech, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and... Top Gun??

Stay on Target!

I know, it's been a while since I did a blog post. I'm sorry. Things have been happening behind the scenes. However, I wanted to spend a little time to show off some rather cool accessories that I was given for Christmas!

Just before Christmas, we had our first game of Fantasy Flight's Star Wars RPG (Edge of the Empire). Hype was building for The Force Awakens, and we were all curious to see how the RPG ran - and we all had a blast! It's a little more complex than I'd have gone for, remembering the old days of WEG's D6 Star Wars. But we're keen to start a proper campaign now after the Beginner's Set.

In the meantime, I had my first game of X-Wing! I'd bought a few ships ages ago, just because they're really pretty, but hadn't had chance to play it. I was very impressed at how fast and easy that game was, and the simultaneous decision making made it very unpredictable. The first game was really fast, only ten minutes and Luke Skywalker fell foul of a pair of TIE fighters. Really cool. And I'm looking forward to the next game.

Some good friends of ours saw that I'd started actually playing X-Wing, and (because they're awesome) bought me a couple of ships. However, in addition to this, Cam - the man with the laser behind the awesome company Chimeric Garnish - crafted some amazing accessories to help with the X-Wing games in the future.

Cam creates amazing jewellery as well as cool gaming accessories with plastic and lasers, and crafted these amazing manoeuvring templates for use with X-Wing. They even have the Rebel Alliance symbol on them! Awesome!

Not only that, there's a cool range guide he's made as well!

In addition to the cool range of templates and range guides...

...he just messaged me today to let me know that he's expanded his range to include the status markers for target locks, stress, evade, and focus tokens.

Swish, huh? And it means that when you go to an X-Wing tournament, you're not going to be arguing over whose tokens and range guides are whose!

You should check out the game accessories on the Chimeric page - HERE!!! - and his awesome geeky jewellery can be found here!

You can also follow the cool game accessories at the Chimeric Designs Facebook page - HERE!

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Until next time, live long and prosper, may the force be with you, and above all...

Stay Multiclassy!

What happened to all the writing?

Good question... What did happen to all the writing?

Yeah, just like this, only instead of Tim and Daisy (and Colin), imagine Me, Debs and Marla (the cat)

Not really sure. Christmas in retail has this horrible effect that leaves you exhausted and unmotivated for almost a whole month afterwards. So January was mostly spent recovering, staring at the TV with a cat happily sat on me, and wondering what to do with the rest of my life.

I had great plans - they were all listed last blog post. Finish the novel, finish WILD, do more, more, more!

That blog post also mentioned how our brains are constantly striving to do more. To be more successful.

Then I read this blog post by the fantastic Jessica Abel, "Imagining your future projects is holding you back". And thought, yeah... that's me. So much planning. So many dreams. No doing.

So, yeah. In limbo. Not writing. Lots of plans. A bit lost.

Maybe next post I'll know what I'm doing.

Insert Witty New Year Title Here

It's that time again, when a new year clicks over and change in the calendar makes us feel like we should be changing too. When the pressure to improve, to cleanse, to change our lives looms over us.

Last year we attended a talk, or rather a stage show that was part lecture. In Ruby Wax's "Sane New World" tour I talked about in an earlier blog post, she discussed the part of the brain that's always trying to push us, to get that Dopamine hit of chasing for more, doing more, achieving. Hell, it's like your brain is programmed by video game designers and you keep wanting that little bleep-bloop of an achievement.

And at the change of the calendar, the turn of the year, the reminder of the lack of achievement in the previous year, makes us want to do more in the next.

Looking back on the previous year, I spent a lot of time procrastinating. Wasn't an easy year. Priorities changed, and stuff happened. I spent most of the year feeling unmotivated, uninspired, and limping from week to week.

RPGaDAY2015 happened, which seemed to be a moderate success. It spread across the world, got people talking about tabletop roleplaying, and sharing some of their likes and stories with others. I managed to recruit the help of some amazing and awesome people who joined in with their own videos that I edited into mine, so that the audience wasn't bored by looking at my ugly-mug for a whole month.

The involvement of these fantastic gamers and designers from around the world made the whole thing worthwhile, and I hope it showed just how cool our hobby can be. Of course there were the expected negative reactions - a daily disliker on the videos who just seemed to click "dislike" as soon as the videos went live without really watching them, and people who took the positivity of the campaign and twisted it to add new categories like "worst game". Kinda defeats the purpose.

RPGaDAY2015 left me burned out, and I limped towards NaNoWriMo in November, getting to 10k of my target 50k, before I was sidetracked by another project. Hopefully, this other project will lead to something incredibly cool and it'll all be worth it, but nothing's concrete yet.

In the middle of that, the wonders of working a dayjob in retail, especially the chaos of the festive period...

Wow, that was all a bit miserable wasn't it?

I can see why people want to do something new and different for the new year.

So, what's ahead, and how can things improve?

--

I had a weird moment of clarity a few months ago. It was weird. The nominations for the Origins awards, and the ENnies, are always ones I look forward to, and in the past few years projects I've worked on have been nominated, which has been awesome. This year, I realised I hadn't actually done anything this year. In fact, I hadn't done anything for a long time. 

I've spent a few years now working on the WILD RPG, and while I love it, and love the setting, it doesn't seem to be progressing very fast. The game I started running of it revealed the bits I was missing in the rules, though it may be that I just need to get my head around a freer and more interpretive way of gaming. 

Then there was the moment that I managed to talk my way out of writing for Titansgrave, what a dumbass. "The next time someone asks if you're a God, you say YES!"

So this year, I going to write more. 

The first thing I'm going to do is stop playing video games on my ipad. I got hooked on Star Trek: Trexels, but I'm still playing the darn thing. 

If finished all the sectors and seem to be just waiting for the next update, I've generated so much Command, Research and Power that it's given up keeping track above a million...

...and the main crew (and usual landing party) are maxed out...

I should see this as a sign to stop wasting my time on it...

Second thing I need to do is stop wasting time on Facebook. After RPGaDAY2015 finished, I checked Facebook a little once a day, but didn't actually post anything for a month. I've managed cut back on my posting a lot now, and I just need to stop that horrible cycle of "I'm just clicking refresh to see if anyone's posted anything new". God, what did we do before the internet? I should read more, get back to reading books, both fiction and rulebooks.

Third thing I need to do is write.

Write more, and more often. Even if it's blog posts.

There are possible things on the horizon, but if they don't play out I need to finish WILD, finish the second draft of the novel (although it could be terrible), finish the first draft of the second novel, and get more involved.

I have other ideas for other things - I'd still like to do that "Roll Your Own Life" webseries, though maybe in a different way to that which I'd planned. I may still do a third year of RPGaDAY, but I may think differently as the year progresses. If I do a third year, it'll be less involved and I may just do the questions and take part, but not look at the responses, not look at the negativity.

I really enjoy doing the film reviewing and news stuff for a couple of sites, but the cool preview screenings and press conferences are a cost I cannot afford. Everything happens in London, a cost I can't fork out for except on extreme cases.

Also, 2015 saw me gaming again for the first time in ages. A Buffy-based fantasy game, WILD and then Star Wars: Edge of the Empire and X-Wing. Hopefully, 2016 will bring more.

Okay, that's me braindumping onto the blog. It was a bit chaotic and all over the place.

No matter what happens in 2016, I hope you all have a great year.

May you "Live Long and Prosper" and remember, the Force will be with you. Always.

- D

WWTDD?

Last weekend was Dragonmeet 2015, another great convention where I had chance to mingle with incredibly cool people, chat about games and see what's awesome and hot in gaming.

Oooooh, look at the shiny!!

There was about an hour where I stood behind the Cubicle 7 stand while Dom went off to host the "what's coming from C7" seminar where I got to plug the new edition of the Doctor Who Roleplaying Game (no longer "Adventures in Time and Space"). Super shiny it is too. Every time a new edition comes out I'm just blown away by how gorgeous these books are...

But while I was on the stand, a chap came up to me and started talking about the Doctor Who RPG (sorry, I didn't get your name!) and asked "How do I run a game with 5+ players?"

Interesting question. My initial reaction was to run something without the Doctor or a Time Lord altogether - a Torchwood team, or a UNIT squad or something. Or look to the Fifth Doctor era when he had the most companions at once! 

But travelling back on the train that night I couldn't help but ponder over the question and how to actually run a Doctor Who campaign with a large group. My gaming groups are usually only three players and a GM max, but I used to run a Vampire game with eleven players - though not all of them at the same time...

It was the typical control-freak in me wanting to have a huge setting and lots of players. There was a group of players in my home town, and another load where I was at University (as it is now) studying, so rather than run two different games, I ran them all as one big setting. Two groups whose actions would affect each other.

It kinda got out of hand when the Vampire game spawned a brief Werewolf: The Apocalypse game, still in the same universe, and then a Mage: The Ascension game... of course, while the other games faded in time, the Mage game continued.

But actually running a group that big was more of a case of having a big enough setting, one that I was familiar with and knew what was going on, and leaving the players to it. It's the equivalent of open-world videogaming. Imagine all of your players are in GTAV... they can go wherever they like, and engage in missions when they fancy. Things happen to pull them into action, but there's no railroading or forcing them on their way...

-

Oh Pond... I miss Amy Pond...

So, how could that work with Doctor Who?

For a group of about 5 or 6, I'd stick with my earlier suggestion and have no Time Lord player character. It could be a mundane Earth-bound game of investigation and defence. My old Dr Who game (we're talking old FASA RPG) run by our rather awesome Cthulhu Keeper, John, had the Time Lord (The Collector) absent a lot of the time as the player was one of the least frequent to attend (sorry, Gladys, but it's true. You hardly ever turned up).

This meant John could run Doctor Who like his Cthulhu games. Very Tom Baker - Hinchcliffe and Holmes era - dark, spooky and gothic with lots of sneaking around and stumbling upon alien plots. The Time Lord would almost drop them places to investigate and then bugger off somewhere.

This could be very like the upcoming spin-off series, Class. Where the Doctor isn't present at all (or makes a brief cameo) and the kids at the school do all the investigating. Of course, this does mean the characters can get into trouble more, but the guest starring Time Lord can appear as an NPC when needed to save them. Though that could get old, fast...

If you don't want them Earth-bound, have one of them have access to a found Vortex manipulator, or have them find technology to allow them to hitch-hike their way across the galaxy. Now that sounds like an idea for book. Or maybe a radio series...

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I'll probably come back to this topic in future, but I hope this helps.

Do check out the new version of the Dr Who RPG, it's very cool.

Love those credits!