Announcing #RPGaDAY2018

It's nearly August, it's time to officially get this year's #RPGaDAY underway! First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reached out to me when I put out the last video. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, and your willingness to take part and get involved.

As always, time got away from me, and I completely neglected to get back to some of you who volunteered, and I'm so, so very sorry. I had big plans for this year's RPGaDAY and things crashed and burned, and there was a moment that I nearly didn't bother. It was all the voices out there who showed such massive enthusiasm that it lives for another year. And I can't begin to apologise enough to those who failed to reconnect with. Next year, I promise.

As with previous years, #RPGaDAY is all about positivity. About how great our hobby is, how it can bring people together, and give them a fantastic social experience that fires the imagination, gets us thinking, and can give us vital real world skills. Friendships forged in the heat of battling an army of orcs can stay with you a lifetime - I know they certainly have with me.

#RPGaDAY celebrates our hobby, spreads the word of how amazing it can be, how accepting, encouraging and downright entertaining it can be.

For each day of August, look at the question prompts, some of which have been provided by you - those enthusiastic gamers who have taken part in previous years - and use them as inspiration to write a blog post, record a vlog, or simply post a photo on Instagram. Share your experiences, and join in with the hashtag #RPGaDAY2018 and #RPGaDAY. The latter will be flagged by the website ( www.rpgaday.com ) and will be collated there. (Hopefully)...

Simply download the infographic below, and every day in August join in!

A high contrast version of the graphic can be found below...

If you'd prefer it in simple text, the prompts for this year are a follows:

1. What do you love about RPGs?

2. What is the first thing you look for in an RPG?

3. What gives a game “staying power”?

4. Most memorable NPC?

5. Favourite recurring NPC?

6. How can players make a world seem real?

7. How can a GM make the stakes important?

8. How can we get more people playing?

9. How has a game surprised you?

10. How has gaming changed you?

11. Wildest character name?

12. Wildest character concept?

13. Describe how your play has evolved

14. Describe a failure that became amazing

15. Describe a tricky RPG experience you enjoyed

16. Describe your plans for your next game

17. Describe the best compliment you’ve had gaming

18. Art that inspires your game

19. Music that enhances your game

20. Which game mechanic inspires your play the most?

21. Which dice mechanic appeals to you?

22. Which non-dice system appeals to you?

23. Which game do you hope to play again?

24. Which RPG do you think deserves more recognition?

25. Game that had an impact on you in the last 12 months

26. Gaming ambition for the next 12 months

27. Share a great stream / actual play

28. Share whose inspiring gaming excellence you’re grateful for

29. Share a friendship you have because of RPGs

30. Share something you learned about playing your character

31. Share why you take part in RPGaDAY

ALTERNATE PROMPTS FOR 2018

Most memorable character retirement

Most ambitious campaign idea achieved

Most innovative game of the last 12 months

Share playing a “temporary” character

Narrowest escape?

How do you prepare for a one-shot?

How do you prepare for an extended campaign?

What’s your favourite character “hook”?

What makes you want to GM?

What appeals to you about GM-less games?

Also, with many thanks to Michael L. Jaegers from https://jaegers.net, below is a translation of the questions into German:

What do you love about RPGs?	Was magst Du an Rollenspielen?
What is the first thing you look for in an RPG?	Was ist das erste, wonach Du in einem Rollenspiel schaust?
What gives a game "staying power"?	Was macht ein Spiel zu einem "Dauerbrenner"?
Most memorable NPC?	Erinnerungswürdigster NSC?
Favourite recurring NPC?	Bevorzugter, wiederkehrender NSC?
How can players make a world seem real?	Wie können Spieler eine Welt real erscheinen lassen?
How can a GM make the stakes important?	Wie kann ein Spielleiter die Herausforderungen bedeutend machen?
How can we get more people playing?	Wie bekommen wir mehr Menschen zum Spiel?
How has a game surprised you?	Wie hat ein Spiel Dich überrascht?
How has gaming changed you?	Wie hat das Spielen Dich verändert?
Wildest character name?	Kühnster Name eines Charakters?
Wildest character concept?	Kühnstes Charakterkonzept?
Describe how your play has evolved	Beschreibe, wie Dein Spiel sich entwickelt hat.
Describe a failure that became amazing	Beschreibe einen erstaunlichen Fehlschlag.
Descibe a tricky RPG experience you enjoyed	Beschreibe eine knifflige Rollenspielerfahrung, die Du genossen hast.
Describe your plans for your next game	Beschreibe Deine Pläne für das nächste Spiel.
Describe the best compliment you've had gaming	Beschreibe das beste Kompliment, das Du für Dein Spiel bekommen hast.
Art that inspires your game	Ein Kunstwerk, das Dich für Dein Spiel inspiriert hat.
Music that enhances your game	Musik, die Dein Spiel verbessert hat.
Which game mechanic inspires your play the most?	Welche Spielmechanik inspiriert Dein Spiel am meisten?
Which dice mechanic appeals to you?	Welche Würfelmechanik reizt Dich?
Which non-dice system appeals to you?	Welche würfellose Spielmechanik reizt Dich?
Which game do you hope to play again?	Welches Spiel hoffst Du erneut zu spielen?
Which RPG do you think deserves more recognition?	Welches Rollenspiel verdient Deiner Meinung nach mehr Beachtung?
Game that had an impact on you in the last 12 months	Ein Spiel, das in den vergangenen 12 Monaten eine Auswirkung auf Dich hatte.
Gaming ambition for the next 12 months	Deine Spielpläne für die kommenden 12 Monate.
Share a great stream / actual play	Benenne einen großartigen Stream / Actual Play / Let's Play
Share whose inspiring gaming excellence you're grateful for	Benenne, für wessen inspirierendes Spiel Du dankbar bist.
Share a friendship you have because of RPGs	Benenne eine Freundschaft, die Du durch das Rollenspiel gewonnen hast.
Share something you learned about playing your character	Beschreibe etwas, das Du über das Spielen Deines Charakters gelernt hast.
Share why you take part in RPGaDAY	Beschreibe, warum Du am RPGaDAY teilnimmst.
Backup Questions / Alternatives	Ersatzfragen / Alternativen
Most memorable character retirement	Erinnerungswürdigstes Ende einer Charakterkarriere
Most ambitious campaign idea achieved	Ehrgeizigstes, erreichtes Kampagnenziel
Most innovative game of the last 12 months	Innovativstes Spiel der letzten 12 Monate
Share playing a "temporary" character	Beschreibe das Spiel eines "temporären" Charakters.
Narrowest escape?	Was war Dein knappstes Entkommen?
How do you prepare for a one-shot?	Wie bereitest Du Dich für einen One-Shot vor?
How do you prepare for an extended campaign?	Wie bereitest Du Dich für eine große Kampagne vor?
What's your favourite character "hook"?	Was ist Deine bevorzugte Masche eines Charakters?
What makes you want to GM?	Warum leitest Du gerne?

For the questions in Spanish, they have been very kindly translated by Roberto "Sunglar" Micheri.

1)  ¿Qué te encanta de los juegos de rol?
2)  ¿Qué es lo primero que buscas en un juego de rol?
3)  ¿Qué hace que un juego de rol perdure?
4)  ¿Cuál ha sido el PNJ (Personaje No Jugador) más memorable?
5)  ¿Cuál ha sido tu PNJ (Personaje No Jugador) recurrente favorito?
6)  ¿Cómo pueden los jugadores hacer que el mundo de un juego parezca real?
7)  ¿Cómo puede un DJ (Director de Juego) lograr que los elementos del juego se sean importantes para los jugadores?
8) ¿Como podemos lograr que más personas jueguen juegos de rol?
9)  ¿Como te ha sorprendido algún juego de rol?
10)  ¿Como te han cambiado los juegos de rol?
11)  ¿Cuál ha sido el nombre más descabellado para un personaje?
12)  ¿Cuál ha sido el concepto más descabellado para un personaje?
13)  Describe cómo ha cambiado tu estilo de juego.
14)  Describe un fracaso que se convirtió en algo asombroso.
15)  Describe una experiencia difícil en un juego de rol que, aun así, disfrutaste.
16)  Describe tus planes para tu próximo juego.
17)  Describe el mejor alago que has recibido mientras juegas.
18)  ¿Qué arte inspira tu juego de rol?
19)  ¿Qué música enriquece tu juego de rol?
20)  ¿Qué mecánica de los juegos más te inspira a jugar?
21)  ¿Qué mecánica de los juegos, referente al uso de dados, más te atrae?
22)  ¿Qué sistema que no utiliza dados más te atrae?
23)  ¿Qué juego de rol esperas jugar nuevamente?
24)  ¿Qué juego de rol consideras merece más reconocimiento?
25)  ¿Qué juego te ha impactado más en los últimos doce meses? 
26)  Con relación a los juegos, ¿qué ambicionas hacer en los próximos doce meses?
27)  Comparte un excelente juego que se transmita en línea.
28)  Comparte la excelencia al jugar de quién que te inspira y por la que te sientes agradecido.
29)  Comparte una amistad que has cultivado gracias a los juegos de rol.
30)  Comparte algo que aprendiste sobre jugar tu personaje.
31)  Comparte por qué participas de Un Juego del Rol Cada Día (RPGaDay).

And thanks to Sébastien Allard (Nolinquisitor) with the French version (with amendments by Mélisande de Lassence at d1000etd100.com):

#RPGADAY 2018

1. Qu’est-ce que vous aimez à propos des JdRs?

2. Quelle est la première chose que vous espérez voir dans un JdR?

3. Qu’est-ce qui donne à un jeu l’envie de le poursuivre sur une longue période?

4. PNJ le plus mémorable?

5. PNJ récurrent favoris?

6. De quelle façon les joueurs peuvent-ils aider à rendre un monde plus vivant?

7. De quelle façon un MJ peut-il rendre les enjeux plus importants?

8. Comment faire pour attirer plus de joueurs dans le hobby?

9. De quelle façon un jeu vous a-t-il surpris?

10. De quelle façon ce hobby vous a-t-il changé?

11. Le nom le plus fou de personnage que vous ayez vu?

12. Le concept le plus fou de personnage que vous ayez vu?

13. Décrivez l’évolution de votre expérience de jeu.

14. Décrivez un échec qui est devenu étonnant.

15. Décrivez une expérience de jeu délicate que vous avez appréciée.

16. Décrivez vos plans pour votre prochaine partie.

17. Le meilleur compliment que l’on vous a fait durant une partie.

18. L’art visuel qui inspire vos parties.

19. La musique qui inspire vos parties.

20. Quelle mécanique inspire votre jeu le plus?

21. Quelle mécanique de dés vous plaît?

22. Quelle mécanique sans dés vous plaît?

23. Pour quel jeu gardez vous l’espoir d’y rejouer?

24. Selon vous quel JdR mériterait plus de reconnaissance?

25. Jeu qui a eu un impact sur vous ces 12 derniers mois.

26. Votre ambition rôlistique pour les 12 prochains mois.

27. Partagez une bonne partie en ligne ou un « stream ».

28. Partagez une chose inspirante pour laquelle vous avez de la gratitude.

29. Partagez une amitié que vous devez au JdRs.

30. Partagez quelque chose que vous avez apprit en jouant votre personnage.

31. Partagez pourquoi vous participez à RPGaDAY.

Questions alternatives

– Personnage mis à la retraite le plus mémorable.

– L’idée de campagne la plus ambitieuse que vous ayez accompli.

– Jeu le plus innovateur des 12 derniers mois.

– Partagez la fois où vous avez jouer un personnage temporaire.

– Partager l’évasion d’une situation la plus serrée?

– Comment préparez-vous une partie unique?

– Comment préparez-vous une campagne à long terme?

– Quelle est votre thème préféré de personnage?

– Qu’est-ce que vous pousse à être maître de jeu?

With thanks to Douglas Santana Mota and Jefferson Pimentel for the Portuguese translations below:

#RPGADAY 2018 – PORTUGUESE

1 – O que você mais ama nos RPGS? 

2 – Qual é a primeira coisa que você procura em um RPG? 

3 – O que dá um “poder de permanência” ao jogo?  

4 – Qual o seu PnJ mais memorável?

5 – Qual o seu PnJ recorrente favorito?

6 – Como os jogadores podem fazer um mundo parecer real?

7 – Como um Narrador pode tornar as consequencias das ações mais dramáticas? 

8 – Como podemos ter mais pessoas jogando?

9 – Como uma partida te surpreendeu? 

10 – Como o RPG mudou você? 

11 – Seu nome mais maluco de personagem? 

12 – Seu conceito mais maluco de personagem?  

13 – Descreva como o seu jogo evoluiu. 

14 – Descreva uma falha que se tornou surpreendente. 

15 – Descreva uma experiência complicada do RPG que você gostou. 

16 – Descreva seus planos para a próxima partida. 

17 – Descreva o melhor elogio que você ganhou em uma partida. 

18 – Arte que inspira seu RPG. 

19 – Música que estimula seu RPG. 

20 – Qual mecânica de RPG te inspira mais? 

21 – Qual mecânica de dados mais te atrai? 

22 – Qual sistema sem dados é o seu preferido?

23 – Qual RPG você espera jogar de novo? 

24 – Qual RPG você acha que merece mais reconhecimento? 

25 – RPG que teve impacto em você nos últimos 12 meses. 

26 – Sua ambição para o RPG pelos próximos 12 meses. 

27 – Compartilhe um ótimo jogo real. 

28 – Compartilhe de quem você é grato por ser uma inspiração dada sua excelência no RPG. 

29 – Compartilhe uma amizade que você tem por causa dos RPGs. 

30 – Compartilhe algo que você aprendeu sobre como interpretar seu personagem. 

31 – Compartilhe por que você participa do RPGaDAY.

With thanks to Joonas Kainulainen here are the questions in Finnish.

#RPGADAY PROMPTS IN FINNISH.

Viikko yksi: MITÄ…
1 …Rakastat roolipeleissä eniten?
2 …Haluat roolipeliltä?
3 …Roolipelin tulee omata pysyäkseen tuoreena ja vuodesta toiseen pysyvänä?
4 Parhaiten mieleenpainunut NPC?
5 Kuka on toistuvasti tavatuista NPC:stä suosikkisi?

Viikko kaksi: KUINKA…
6 …Pelaajat voivat auttaa pelimaailman elävöittämisessä?
7 …Pelinjohtaja voi luoda tarinan panoksista paremmat?
8 …Saamme lisää väkeä harrastukseemme?
9 …Olet joskus päätynyt pelin yllättämäksi?
10 …Roolipelaaminen on muuttanut sinua?
11 Hulluin pelaajahahmo nimi?
12 Hulluin pelaajahahmo idea?

Viikko kolme: KUVAILE…
13 …Kuinka pelaamistyylisi/taitosi ovat kehittyneet?
14 …Epäonnistumista joka päätyi mahtavuudeksi?
15 …Kiperää roolipelaamis tilannetta josta nautit?
16 …Suunnitelmiasi tulevaa roolipeli seikkailua varten?
17 …Palkitsevinta kohtelijaisuutta jonka olet roolipelatessa saanut?
18 Millainen taide inspiroi sinua roolipelaamaan?
19 Millainen musiikki auttaa pelisi tunnelmaa?

Viikko neljä: MIKÄ…
20 …Pelimekaniikka innostaa sinua pelaamaan eniten?
21 …Noppa systeemi on sinulle mieleisin?
22 …Nopaton systeemi on sinulle mieleisin?
23 …Roolipeli houkuttaisi pelata uudelleen?
24 …Roolipeli ansaitsisi mielestäsi enemmän huomiota?
25 Millä roolipelillä on ollut merkittävä vaikutus sinuun viime vuosina?
26 Millaisia roolipelaamis suunnitelmia havittelet tulevana vuonna?

Viikko viisi: KERRO…
27 …Roolipeli netti streamistä, tai muusta hienosta pelistä jonka haluaisit jakaa?
28 …Kuka inspiroi sinua roolipelaamaan?
29 …Ystävyydestä jonka olet luonut roolipelien ansiosta?
30 …Hahmojasi pelaamalla oppimistasi asioista?
31 …Miksi päätit vastata näihin “RPG-A-DAY” kysymyksiin?

And in Polish, thanks to Maciej Jesionowski -

POLSKI
CO...
...kochasz w grach RPG?
...jest pierwszą rzeczą, na jaką zwracasz uwagę przy wyborze RPG?
...sprawia, że do RPG chce się wracać?
.
..wyróżnia bohatera niezależnego (NPC), do którego najczęściej wspominasz?
...robisz, aby Twój ulubiony typ bohatera niezależnego (NPC) pojawił się na kolejnych sesjach i kampaniach? 

JAK...
...gracze mogą wpływać na to, żeby świat wydawał się bardziej realny?
...Mistrz Gry może sprawić, żeby każde wyzwanie było angażujące?
...powiększyć grono osób grających w RPG?
...określisz to, co najbardziej zaskoczyło Cię w Twoich sesjach?
...wpłynęło na Ciebie granie w RPG?


...brzmiało imię, które z pewnością było tym najdziwniejszym podczas Twojej historii z RPG?
...opiszesz swoją najbardziej odjechaną koncepcję na postać?


OPISZ...
...jak rozwijało się Twoje granie w RPG?
...porażkę, która przemieniła się w coś naprawdę epickiego!
...najsprytniejszą zagrywkę, której doświadczyłeś na sesji.
...jakie masz plany na swoją najbliższą sesję.
...jak brzmiał najciekawszy komplement użyty przez Ciebie na sesji.


...lub wklej grafikę bądź ilustrację, która ostatnio Cię zainspirowała do zrobienia czegoś podczas sesji. ...sytuację i podziel się muzyką, którą ostatnio idealnie wpasowałeś w sytuację na sesji.


KTÓRA...
...mechanika jest przez Ciebie najchętniej wykorzystywana podczas sesji RPG?
...mechanika korzystająca z kostek najbardziej przypadła Ci do gustu?
...mechanika bezkostkowa najbardziej przypadła Ci do gustu?
...gra zostawiła w Tobie nadzieję na przynajmniej jeszcze jedną sesję?
...gra zasługuje, według Ciebie, na większą popularność?


...gra RPG miała na Ciebie największy wpływ przez ostatnie 12 miesięcy?


POWIEDZ...
...jakie są Twoje RPGowe ambicje, które chcesz zrealizować w w najbliższym roku?


...jaki jest Twój ulubiony kanał, na którym oglądasz sesje na żywo?
...czy jest ktoś, kto inspiruje Cię do coraz lepszej gry bądź prowadzenia sesji?
...czy masz jakieś znajomości, które rozpoczęły się od sesji RPG?
...czy jest coś, czego nauczyła Cię odgrywana przez Ciebie postać?
...co zmotywowało Cię do wzięcia udziału w polskiej edycji akcji RPGaDAY? 

Thinking Outside of the (Brain) Box

Before the madness that is #RPGaDAY starts next month (questions will be revealed next post), I wanted to talk about a revelation I had during a recent game of Tales from the Loop.

Our GM - Stoo - has been running Tales from the Loop for us for the last few months, and while I own the game I haven't read the adventures. I wasn't sure if I'd get to run it, so I haven't been spoiled for the major plot revelations.

However, sometimes, when that particular section of the adventure is over I go to the rulebook and have a quick look to see what was written about it to see how it was done.

Tales from the Loop is a strange beast when it comes to RPGs. The rules are surprisingly simple. Let's look - It's 192 pages for the corebook, The first 46 pages are introducing the world (both the Swedish Loop and the US Loop). Then you have 26 pages which cover character creation and the rules of the game. 31 pages of how to run a mystery, then 68 pages of adventure split up over four seasons ("The Four Seasons of Mad Science").

See? I told you it was simple. It's kinda reassuring as WILD is very simple in its actual system too, a lot of the game is going to be how to play in dreamscapes and setting information...

Anyway, I digress.

A couple of sessions ago we were playing one of the side investigations in the Mystery Landscape, one that only takes up a couple of pages of information in the rulebook, but has been keeping us intrigued for a couple of sessions at least. If you're familiar with Tales from the Loop, there's a plot involving dreams.

[MILD SPOILERS]

The game normally assumes you find a piece of technology that involves dreamsharing, and either destroy it, or the government sends in goons to stop it. However, one of our players decided instead to use the technology just to see what it does.

[END OF SPOILERS]

In a plot right out of WILD he ended up in a dreamscape, running through his childhood home and discovering things from his past that he didn't remember - major revelations about an older sister who died from an illness while he was very young, explaining why his father was a bit distant and a drinker...

To get him out of his dreamscape, we foolishly went in - full Inception-style - to try to lead him out, where my character had to experience the car accident that killed his mother, Debs' character had to deal with the feeling of being ignored in her own home - the least noticed of her many siblings, and the villain of the piece - the creator of the technology - confronted his violent father, aided by our characters encouragement. Instead of fighting the villain, we helped him stand up to his violent father in a dreamscape, and resolve a lot of his issues. All while dealing with some emotional and heartbreaking issues of our own.

It was epic, emotional, and absolutely none of it was in the rulebook. Most of it created on the fly by our awesome GM and the cool backgrounds that had developed for our characters over time.

--

It got me thinking. Mostly because this session was all in a dreamscape, it started me thinking about WILD. And I mentioned this to Debs the following day.

I realised, I wasn't imaginative enough to run my own game. The game I've been working on for the last seven (plus) years, I honestly don't think I can run it. I can write it, and I can give players and GMs the tools they need to run the most amazing game I can think of, but I honestly don't think I could run it and do it justice.

Then again, I've seen this happen with other games I've worked on. I've heard stories of Doctor Who games that people have run that have blown me away. Amazing tales of Cybermen attacking, Sarah Jane Smith uniting a school to help defeat them. And that's before we get onto the epic feat of storytelling that was Geek and Sundry's Doctor Who RPG series hosted by Eric Campbell.

--

I remember having this discussion with Jason, a friend of ours who first got me into Conspiracy X all those many, many years ago. He has worked for years with various mental health organisations and is now launching his own hypnotherapy business. One day he popped over and we started discussing WILD and the themes that the game could cover - delving into the unconscious and subconscious of the characters, and helping them to deal with recurring nightmares, as well as the other major plot elements (dreams invading reality, espionage, etc.). He said (and I'm paraphrasing) "You know, this game could not only be a good game, but it could also actually do some good - helping players come to terms with their own issues and complexes."

While I love the idea of creating something special that transcends the level of being merely a game, it's not something I think I could run. I felt really uncomfortable at moments during that Loop game - not because of the subject matter, but I just didn't think I was capable of being that "in the moment" emotionally and dealing with the traumas of my poor character's past.

I guess a lot of that is my problem and my mental state at the moment anyway. You never know, I may feel differently in a year's time if things improve a bit.

--

"Skip to the End" as they say in Spaced.

Basically what I'm saying is that roleplaying games are amazing and can produce a level of emotional involvement that is quite unlike anything else short of reality. Maybe it's close to method acting. It's a fantastic experience, and I'm always amazed when a game gets to that level of involvement - when you're really feeling what the character feels, whether this is fear, sadness, or joy.

These games can hit home, and sometimes that emotional attachment can help us to cope with things in our real lives.

I only hope that one day I'll be able to run WILD, or any game, that has that emotional resonance, again. Until that time, thank you Stoo and my fellow players for an astounding gaming experience, and thanks to the Tales from the Loop writers for giving us that opportunity.

#RPGaDAY2018 - This is A Call...

#RPGaDAY is looming on the horizon, and this year I was hoping to do something cool and a little different. I'll let the video explain everything...

If you can't bear to watch my stupid face, here's the basics...

This is the 5th RPGaDAY, and this year what I was hoping to do was to get the involvement of some of the coolest people around when it comes to RPGs. Writers, developers, artists, streamers, publishers... everyone. If you're involved in any form of the RPG industry and want to get involved, please get in touch.

Everyone who gets in touch can pick one of the questions from the previous four years' worth of RPGaDAY questions (the infographics are below so you can see what they were) and change it up a bit - to make it into a new question. We'll compile this into the new infographic for 2018, and unleash this onto the world in the very near future, ready for August.

Then, on the day your question is used, we'll host a short interview - whether this is text or as a video - just to answer some basic questions like who you are, how you got started gaming, your favourite game, and to answer the question you set.

If no one comes forward to join in, then Anthony Boyd (who has kindly volunteered to help again this year) and I will create the questions and we'll pootle along as normal.

Either way, there will be questions, there will be an infographic, and once again we'll try to spread the word of how great our hobby is, and combat all the negativity that pollutes the interwebs.

If you'd like to get involved, do get in touch - you can direct message me on Twitter @autocratik, or email me at dave (at) autocratik.com

Thank you everyone.

Stay Multi-classy!!

(Below, are the previous years' questions)

Second Best UK RPG Blog?

Seriously?

I'm not sure if that's really the case. There are times when I really wonder if anyone actually reads my rambling nonsense. I mean, it's not like I get thousands of hits on my blog every post. I'm happy if it hits three figures, as that's often a rarity, so surely there are sites out there with more hits than me?

Anyway, I'll take the compliment, and the little medal, and say Thankee Sai to Feedspot.

New post will be coming in the next couple of days detailing this year's #RPGaDAY... stay tuned, stay multi-classy!!

Magical Musings (Tales of Hogwarts 5)

Sorry it has been a while since the last part of the adapting of Fria Ligan's amazing Tales from the Loop to use as a Harry Potter game. Things got a bit on top of me, the cat was a little ill, major appliances broke, and I fell down the spiral of self doubt.

Part of the Harry Potter library... because, you've got to have reference material...

Where were we? Oh yes, we'd determined the Attributes - the four house Traits, and the Skills.

The character sheet so far
(Attributes in the Hogwarts Crest!)

The controversial decision I mentioned last week was not having a single "Magic" Skill, but splitting it into Supplementary Magic, Charms, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

The main reason for doing this is to (a) split the practical magic - the actual wand waving and so on - from the potions and herbology, and (b) to split the remaining practical magics so that there wasn't a single "god" skill that players would pump all of their points in to make them horribly over-powered.

Of course, we've already mentioned that I decided to untie the Skills from the Attributes, so that you could use Brave and Defence Against the Dark Arts if you were making an attack against a dark wizard, or Wise and Defence Against the Dark Arts if you were studying it for your homework, or researching a spell. You could even use Cunning with it if you were attacking in a particularly sneaky way, or even Loyal if you were using it to protect your friends.

What about those three practical magic skills?

I mentioned last week that they break down like this:

Charms - Charms are all of the spells that give the target new properties, whether that is light, levitation, fixing something, unlocking something, etc. For example: Accio, Alohomora, Lumos, Silencio, Wingardium Leviosa.

Transfiguration - Transfiguration classes are about changing the properties of a target, including switching, conjuring or vanishing. For example, Engorgio, Aguamenti, Incendio, Serpensortia, Reparifarge.

D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts) - while the class is about defending yourself against the dark arts and dark creatures, D.A.D.A. as a Skill also covers all forms of hexes, jinxes and curses, as well as defending yourself against them. For example, Expecto Patronum, Expelliarmus, Flipendo, Levicorpus, Protego, Rictumsempra, Stupify.

To make it easier, I've created a little table of which charm or spell is a "Charm", "Transfiguration" or "Defence against the Dark Arts"...

There are a few things to note on here. Reparo, and Revelio are odd ones. They could work as both Charms and Transfiguration - after all, they are both fixing and adding something to the object, as well as changing its properties. They're classed as "Transfiguration" in Hogwarts Mystery, but some of their choices are interesting to say the least. I'm undecided about those, but I'd be tempted to leave it up to the GM depending upon the situation.

The other thing to note is the inclusion of the three Unforgivable Curses (Avada Kadavra, Cruciatus, and Imperius). Player characters shouldn't have access to these, though it's not unheard of with more mature students in times of extreme stress and conflict. Using these should not be without consequences...

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When it comes to actual magic use, it's just a simple roll of the dice like any Attribute and Skill roll. Simple!!

If you're duelling or in a conflict, it's the same as the usual "Kid versus Kid" text from p70 of Tales from the Loop. If the target has prepared by using Protego beforehand, the difficulty is pushed up from Difficult (1 Success needed) to Extremely Difficult (2 Successes needed) so the winner would have to roll 2 Successes more than the target to win. Battling major villains is the same Extended Trouble (p70) for when you're fighting a Basilisk or trying to snatch an egg from under the nose of a Hungarian Horntail.

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I think that's about all you need to run a game. I had started to think about odd little things like increasing the difficulty when using someone else's wand (2 Successes) or using no wand at all (3 Successes) and odd little modifiers depending upon your heritage (Muggleborn, Half-blood, etc), but that's only really when dealing with muggle items (purebloods have it harder!). But those are little details the GM can add if they fancy.

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That's it for now. Next time I may have to bring up #RPGaDAY again to see if anyone's actually interested in spreading a positive message of gaming...  you've been warned.

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

Stupifying Skills! (Tales of Hogwarts 4)

Last week I continued my look at using the awesome Tales from the Loop roleplaying game as a base for the rules for a Harry Potter RPG, taking a closer look at how the Attributes worked in Tales from the Loop, as well as other games that use the same incredibly simple system (Mutant: Year Zero, and Coriolis).

The Hogwarts Crest - Designed by
MinaLima (c) WBEI

After some deliberation, I concluded that the four Attributes to be used in a Harry Potter version of Tales from the Loop should reflect the qualities of the four Houses at Hogwarts -

Brave, Cunning, Loyal and Wise.

I also decided to untether the Attributes from the Skills. That way, you free up the player to not only behave more like their House, but also to come up with imaginative ways of doing things.

It also means that you can work with the same low number of Skills and have them do multiple things.

Now we've brought up the topic of Skills, lets look at how they can work in the game.

SKILLS

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the first thing I did was look at the existing games with the same engine at its heart, comparing the fantastic Tales from the Loop with its sibling games, Mutant: Year Zero and Coriolis.

I was surprised to see that Coriolis broke the trend of having three Skills that tied to each Attribute (and expanded the list of Skills to 16). Even though I decided to break the ties between the Attributes and Skills, I really liked the idea of keeping to the simple list of 12.

As the Attributes have moved away from being Physical, Mental, Tech, etc. I couldn't have Skills that related to Brave or Loyal, but at their heart there were some similarities. I figured, like Tales from the Loop, to have a Physical batch, a Mental, and a Social batch of Skills. Tales from the Loop also has a group of three Skills that relate to Tech (Tinker, Program and Calculate) but as Tech is as far from Harry Potter as you can get, that leaves a batch of Skills to dedicate to Magic...

So, this is the way I'm currently thinking for Skills:

Force - This is basically the same as Tales from the Loop. It comes into play when you're lifting something, fighting physically (punching Draco on the nose, swinging the sword at the Basilisk, etc) or enduring strain, pain, fatigue, etc.

Move - Again, this is like Tales from the Loop and is used when you're physically moving about, climbing, running fast, balancing... anything that requires dexterity. Combined with Cunning it acts as Sneak as well.

Travel - This is a new one. This is for other modes of transport or moving, usually magical. Travel is used when you're flying a broom, apparating, using the floo network, riding a magical creature, as well as driving a car (enchanted or not), riding a bike, or even if a roll is needed with a portkey.

Investigate - This is similar to Tales from the Loop and is all about looking for clues, as well as researching and hitting the books in the Library.

Comprehend - Again, similar to the Tales from the Loop skill, it's about knowing the right thing and putting the clues together, or knowing where to look for something. It's also vital for understanding your studies at Hogwarts so you don't fail your classes.

Supplementary Magic - This Skill covers the studies that aren't done simply with the wave of a wand. This covers your studies in Potions, Herbology, Divination, History of Magic, Astronomy, etc. It's magic, but more academic and no less important. (Still pondering the name for this Skill)

Convince - This is like the Charm Skill in Tales from the Loop (but obviously we can't use Charm as a name for it) combined with Lead. It is used to charm someone, lie to them, convince them that they can do it, lead them as a group, or manipulate someone.

Friends - Like the Contact Skill in Tales from the Loop only with added effects. You can use Friends when you need to know the right person, or know who can help with a certain problem, but you can also use the skill when cheering someone on, or making new friends.

Empathy - is all about understanding what other people are thinking or feeling, helping when they are sad, scared or confused. Empathy is also a vital Skill for your Care of Magical Creatures class, knowing how to react and understand what the creature is thinking or feeling.

This leaves three Skills for magic use. Breaking down all of the magic in Harry Potter to three simple categories isn't easy, but hopefully it'll make sense...

Charms - Charms are all of the spells that give the target new properties, whether that is light, levitation, fixing something, unlocking something, etc. For example: Accio, Alohomora, Lumos, Silencio, Wingardium Leviosa.

Transfiguration - Transfiguration classes are about changing the properties of a target, including switching, conjuring or vanishing. For example, Engorgio, Aguamenti, Incendio, Serpensortia, Reparifarge.

D.A.D.A. (Defence Against the Dark Arts) - while the class is about defending yourself against the dark arts and dark creatures, D.A.D.A. as a Skill also covers all forms of hexes, jinxes and curses, as well as defending yourself against them. For example, Expecto Patronum, Expelliarmus, Flipendo, Levicorpus, Protego, Rictumsempra, Stupify.

Why have I split the magic like this?

Well, it's to avoid a "God Skill". If all magic use was one Skill, at character creation you'd put all of your points in it and it would quickly become the most used Skill-check in the game. Splitting it into three (hopefully logical) categories spreads it about a bit and produces some wizards and witches who are good at Charms, but not necessarily great in a duel, and so on.

I started a basic list of which spell works with which Skill, though it should be down to the GM to determine any disputes or make any decisions depending upon the situation. I'll look at magic in more detail next blog post, but hopefully it should make sense.

So that means that the Attributes / Skills section of the character sheet should look a bit like this so far...

It's a work in progress, and the rest of the character sheet will develop as these blog posts continue... Fill in the Attributes in the Hogwarts Crest, and the rest is as normal.

Next post I'll address magic, and continue building the Harry Potter RPG/Tales from the Loop hack!

Accio Attributes! (Tales of Hogwarts 3)

No Tales from the Loop game this week, but I have been continuing my thoughts of using the game system to run Harry Potter.

Many, many moons ago, when I first started thinking about Harry Potter as a tabletop roleplaying game, I started working out what Attributes and Skills would work the best for the game. After initially planning on using a simplified version of the Vortex system, the system I'd developed for Cubicle 7's Doctor Who RPG (Adventures in Time and Space), I thought about just having four Attributes - one for each Hogwarts House.

You can see from the initial character sheet I'd designed that the Hogwarts crest on the little "report card" didn't have the usual illustrations of the four house animals - they were blank for you to write the Attributes in! (Bet you didn't notice that the many times I'd posted that picture!!!)

The original idea for the character sheet was a report card - note the houses on the crest are empty to fill in values!

Originally, as you can see in the image, I'd thought of having Brave, Shrewd, Loyal and Wise as Attributes.

Let's come back up to date and look at how I've been stripping the Tales from the Loop system down to use for Harry Potter.

Tales from the Loop, and the other games that use the system, have four Attributes. I really liked the Mind Attribute to reflect how smart your character is, and the Heart Attribute that's used when you're being empathic or interacting with your friends...

Wait... A smart Attribute, and a friendship Attribute... sounding like I was on the right track all those years ago...

That leaves two Attributes. If you think of the physical things the characters in Harry Potter do, they're either being daring and brave - flying, punching Draco, heading into dangerous places, hanging out of flying cars, etc. Or, they're investigating - sneaking about, finding stuff, etc.

I'd already decided there wouldn't be a Magic Attribute (as it'd be the God Attribute that everyone would pump all of their points into and try to be the all powerful lord of magic). So that means that the remaining two Attributes would again be physical (but not entirely)...

But it's just what I had before. So now it's just a case of narrowing down names. So, to put it in Tales from the Loop terminology, the Attributes now look like this:

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Attributes

Your student is defined by four Attributes that help you overcome Trouble and continue your studies at Hogwarts. The Attributes are: Brave, Cunning, Loyal and Wise. Attribute scores range from 1 to 5.

Brave - is the student's ability to face danger, swing the sword of Gryffindor at the basilisk, punch the bully in the nose, run down a corridor when the ceiling is collapsing, fly a broom in a storm, climb, or hold your ground. This is the highest Attribute in most Gryffindor students.
Cunning - is the ability to sneak around the corridors at night, pinch vital ingredients from the potions class supplies, deduce strange puzzles, make a sneaky attack when duelling, bluff your way out of trouble, distract someone, or convince them to do something for your own benefit. This is the highest Attribute of most Slytherin students.
Loyal - is all about the student's relationships, understanding what they are thinking, making friends, know the right people, helping them to overcome their problems, and reassure them when they doubt their actions. This is the highest Attribute of most Hufflepuff students.
Wise - is about knowledge, learning and understanding. This is the ability to learn, study, deduce, solve riddles, understand clues and remember the vital information needed at the right time. This is usually the highest Attribute of most Ravenclaw students.

The highest Attribute you have at character creation (and therefore, when you are sorted) will determine the house you are sorted into at Hogwarts. Simply, if your Wise Attribute is the highest Attribute you have, you'll be sorted into Ravenclaw. It's not always the case, there are always exceptions to the rules (and Hatstands, as they are called). If a player really wants to play a Ravenclaw whose Loyal is the highest Attribute, as long as the GM agrees there's nothing to stop them. (Personally, I'd say that's what happened with Luna!)

That's Attributes "sorted" if you pardon the pun. Next time, we'll look at Skills...

Until next time, stay multi-classy!!

Breaking the Rules (Tales of Hogwarts 2)

Having one of those "What's the frelling point?" days today, looking at WILD and feeling like it's all nonsense and that no one will ever want to read it or play it. One of the problems sometimes of having too many ideas and not enough motivation or the means to go through with it.

The t-shirt I was wearing for last night's Tales from the Loop game -
Bonus points if you recognise the 80's movie it is from!

As a means of distraction, I've been continuing my thoughts of using the Tales from the Loop system to create a Harry Potter RPG. We had another excellent game of Tales from the Loop last night, resolving one of the plots of the many we'd uncovered in the mystery landscape.

Last post, I started discussing how the Pride and Luck rationing could be tweaked to better reflect the Kids' time at Hogwarts, rather than out in the field filled with bizarre technology and weirdness.

The next stage is taking a look at the Attributes and Skills used in Tales from the Loop and seeing what needs to be changed to suit Harry Potter.

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It's strange, but I had weird flashbacks to Star Trek. A couple of years ago, when I first started talking to Modiphius about working on Star Trek, they told me it would be done using their 2D20 system and I should take a look at that and see how it could be adapted to suit Star Trek.

The first thing I did was look at the 2D20 games they had published, or were in the works, to start "breaking the rules" - so to speak. Breaking the rules down into their components to see how it works. A sort of reverse-engineering.

I looked at Mutant Chronicles, Infinity, Conan and John Carter, knowing that they wanted a level of complexity in the middle of the range (if Infinity/MC was the complex end, and John Carter was 2D20 "lite"). First thing I did was make notes of what Attributes and Skills were used for each incarnation of 2D20, and see what related to what.

My original notes during the early phases of Star Trek Adventures development
looking at the various incarnations of 2D20

I also took a long look at the previous incarnations of Star Trek - the FASA, Last Unicorn Games and Decipher versions - and looked to see what they had considered essential skills and attributes in their interpretations of Trek.

More of my original notes, looking at the previous versions of Star Trek
and how they broke down the skills and attributes.

Eventually, I came up with six Attributes, and the six "skills" (which were basically the posts on the crew, two for each Star Fleet Division). The Attributes were Bravery, Control, Empathy, Presence, Reason, and Resilience. And the "skills" were Command, Conn, Medical, Science, Engineering, and Security.

Those Attributes changed shortly after I left the project, but you get the idea of where I was going with it.

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I started doing the same with Tales from the Loop. I knew the system was used by a couple of other excellent games - Mutant: Year Zero, and Coriolis - so I thought I'd look and see what Attributes and Skills were used for each of these games.

However, looking at the Attributes and Skills gave me the same feeling I had when I first started picking at 2D20 for Star Trek...

FREE YOUR MIND...

And by that, I wanted to take the ties off. One of the first things I suggested for Star Trek was to untie the relationship between Attribute and Skill. Sure, it means that some players will want to always use their strongest Attribute to do anything, but the situation will determine if a certain Attribute or Skill comes into play.

I used a simple example for this -

Say you want to lift a rock. Bear in mind, this is for the original Star Trek Attributes, not the ones they went for finally as I'm more familiar with my version...

If you want to lift a rock to hit someone with it, you'd use Resilience and Security (as it's combat).
If you want to lift a rock off of someone who is pinned, you'd use Resilience and Medicine.
If you want to lift a rock off of someone while lava is approaching, you could use Bravery and Medicine.
If you wanted to lift a rock to see what is underneath, you'd use Reason and Science.
If you wanted to lift a rock to by wedging something under it and levering it free you'd use Resilience and Engineering.

You get the gist.

Looking at the system used in Loop and the other games, the skills are firmly tied to an attribute... I'm quite keen to break those ties as the first stage.

I'd also like to use similar Attributes to Tales from the Loop - but Tech needs replacing. Next comes the big issue which I'll be pondering over the week - what should replace Tech? Would a Magic Attribute be too powerful?

Hmmm... I'm going to think about that, and look in depth again at the breakdown of Charms, Jinxes and Curses ready for the next post. (As well as going back to writing WILD - after all, there's a lot more chance of WILD seeing the light of day than there is a Harry Potter game!!)

Until next time, stay multi-classy!

Mysterious Beginnings (Tales of Hogwarts 1)

Another awesome game of Tales from the Loop last night had me thinking again of using the game to play in the wizarding world of Harry Potter...

Original ideas for character sheet for a
Harry Potter RPG

Instead of me just getting frustrated that the game doesn't exist, I just figured I'd pop my ideas down here in a "thinking out loud" way so you could see which direction I was heading in.

There are a few sticking points when it comes to tweaking the Tales from the Loop system to working with Harry Potter. Of course, the big question would be how magic works, but I'll come to that later. 

First of all, the basics.

Luck

In Tales from the Loop, the older you are, the more experienced you are and the more capable you are of doing things. Age means you've learned more, can do more, and sometimes people take you a little more seriously. You also get more points to put into your Attributes. As you grow, your Attributes increase too.

To balance this, the characters have a "Luck" stat which allows them to reroll when they've failed. Your "kid" (as the characters are called) is aged between 10 and 15 years old, but your starting Luck is equal to 15 minus your age. So if you're 10 years old, you have 5 Luck points, etc. My character in the game we're playing at the moment is 13, so has 2 Luck Points at the beginning of each session.

In Harry Potter, we follow the characters longer during their time at Hogwarts, so the easiest option for this is to allow more Luck Points (mostly because they will not have the benefit of an "Iconic Item" - more on that later). So, I'm going with your Luck being equal to 8 minus your year at Hogwarts. So first years start with 8-1 = 7 Luck Points at the beginning of each session, and a fourth year starts with 8-4 = 4 Luck Points.

Pride

Pride is a really interesting stat in Tales from the Loop. It's something that gives you a boost, makes you feel strong, or awesome. It's usually something that motivates the character, but it is also used to give you an automatic success if you think your Pride comes into play in a particular circumstance in your game. You only get it once per Mystery, but using it also means you get XP.

Instead of Pride, I figured you could replace it with House. The pupil's House in Hogwarts is important, and a source of pride. You could list the descriptors for each house as follows -

 

Gryffindor - Bravery, Chivalry, Courage.

Hufflepuff - Loyalty, Kindness, Honesty.

Ravenclaw - Wisdom, Creativity, Originality.

Slytherin - Cunning, Ambition, Leadership.

If your student acts in keeping with their House, they can use the benefits just like Pride.

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I'll follow this up in coming weeks with a look at tweaking the Attributes and Skills to suit the wizarding world.

Before I finish though, I thought I'd share a little document I found on my hard drive. Over a year ago (the date on the file is January 2017) I'd had another surge of determination about the Harry Potter RPG. I'd started to think that maybe the game could get to the licensing stage if the words "roleplaying" were omitted from any pitch. 

That in mind, I started to think of the game as a mystery game, with components that basically acted as character sheets and so on for a traditional roleplaying game, that could be promoted and marketed as a family mystery game. Players control pupils at Hogwarts, and attend classes, learning the skills they need to solve an overarching mystery. Expansions could add further years and more lessons and mysteries...

Nearly a year before the mobile game with a very similar name would be announced I created this document for Harry Potter: Mysteries of Hogwarts game. I've posted a copy below so you can see what I had in mind...

Click to enlarge, this is the pitch I started in Jan 2017...

Until next time, be excellent to each other.

- Dave