Books & Stuff (NS, No 8) - Reading in Nov 2020

Finished Reading

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

A very good book: a beautiful book.  A book about isolation and being at peace with that: it’s perhaps fitting that I read it on the eve of 2nd Lockdown.  I liked it.  

A lot of fans of Jonthan Strange and Mr Norrell – who've been looking forward to this book for years - will be disappointed that it’s not set in their 'verse.  I think, from the hints about the subject matter that have emerged from time-to-time, that there was some expectation that it would be set on Strange’s Faerie Roads.  That's certainly what I expected.  It's refreshing to get something different.  If anything, it reminds me of books by David Mitchell: and that’s not a bad thing. 

I’d deliberately avoided reading any reviews or anything that might have given a synopsis; and I’m glad.  Not that I like to read reviews anyway (at least for fiction).  I’m not terribly interested in what other people think, preferring to form my own opinion on something as subjective as fiction.  Professional reviews are bad enough, but Goodreads is the worse.  I use it as a useful tool, but the reviews!  When they’re not just gushing fans, they’re people churning out half-remembered and never-fully-understood concepts from High School: talk of ‘poor characterisation’ and ‘crass diction’, etc. 

HP Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

A young scholar becomes obsessed with an ancestor who practiced the Dark Arts.  A newly-discovered portrait shows an uncanny likeness between the two.  What could possibly go wrong?

Despite everything about Lovecraft, it must be admitted that he writes well.  Although the reader has a pretty good idea of what's going on from the very beginning, tension is held as the protagonist gradually uncovers the dreadful truth.

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

It took me a while to get into this (a couple of months on these round-ups!), but having done so, it was very interesting.  

It could have done with a stronger editorial hand, which surprised me as it was published by the excellent Helion & Co.  But though it's a strong piece, it doesn't pretend to be an academic work and, as a labour of love by an enthusiast a lot can be fogiven.

Bayt al Azif: A Magazine for Cthulhu Mythos Roleplaying Games, Issue 2 (Aug 2019)

Another thing (along with the Norfolk Admirals) which has been languishing by my bedside for months.  I decided to finish it off on finding out that Issue 3 is now out (in pdf  at least).  

I keep half-promising to do proper reviews of these: for now, I'll just say that if anyone is interested in Mythos Roleplaying they are must-reads.

Quintin Barry, From Solebay to the Texel: The Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672-1674

A very good summary of the naval side of the Anglo-Dutch Wars - despite the title, almost the first half of the (short) book deals with the first two (which is fair enough, they can't be taken in isolation).

Purely narrative: don't come to it expecting any analysis.

Currently Reading

Fritz Leiber, Swords in the Mist

A collection of some of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories, which are quickly becoming favorites of mine.

Gaming in Nov 2020

 

• 12 Nov - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 19 Nov - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line
• 21 Nov - Wasters (OSE) - on-line
• 25 Nov - Blackmoor (OSE) - on-line

Blackmore (OSE)

• 12 Nov

Art by W W Denslow

Our current three-session delve into the Under-Booh concluded.  We retreated safely after completing our mission for the Grand Wizard of Booh and got a little more entangled in Halfling politics before reporting to the G-Wiz himself, who decided that there were bigger fish to fry.

My Cleric of 'Shroom levelled-up to Lvl 3.

• 19 Nov

Art by Vlad Voronchiukov

Following the events of the last session, the Grand Wizard wanted us to go to Vestfold to garner some intelligence.  As it happened he had a caravan (of giant snails) going in that direction which required guarding...  

We were ambushed by bandits (one of our long-standing PCs being killed) and encountered sprites in the Greenwood.

• 25 Nov

The conclusion of our caravan-guard mission.  We wrangled the Snails through forest, over river and across swamp.  On the way we met some very strange folk, a trio of Hags, and Giant Leeches.  All nasty stuff, leading to two character deaths.

Our regular GM is standing back for a little while as he's changing jobs (a couple of hundred miles apart), so to ensure continuity of the game, we've decided to rotate the GM-ing.  From next week it'll be my turn...

Wasters (OSE)

• 21 Nov - written-up here.

Artist unkown to me

A new game for me, though with some of the guys I've been playing with from the Discord.  Basically, a play test of a Cyberpunk RPG that being developed for B/X systems (in this case OSE) rules.  I talked about the set-up here.

In this session at least, there wasn’t a lot of ‘cyber’ and it was more of a post-apoc scavenging set-up.  That suits me fine.  Anyway, we went out into the ‘Wastes’ with a seek-and-return mission.  In effect a Hex-Crawl, in which as we went on, we generated a map (and thus set the scene for future sessions).  We had several encounters or near encounters with inhabitants – animals, muggers, gang-member and cops.  One player lost four characters! 

ALEC in Lockdown

As some of you know, I am supporting Movember, the annual effort to raise funds and awareness for men's health issues.  The focus is on prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues.

It's the latter which I've had issues with, and is the the reason I support Movember - particularly this year, when we're all feeling issues of isolation.

Movember have shared some notes on mental health and suicide prevention here.  What I'd like to flag is ALEC.

ALEC is a mnemonic which provides a model for 'talking to your mates about mental health'.  It's a handly primer for raising this difficult issue with anyone you might be concerned with

A - Ask.  Ask how they are feeling.  "You don't seem yourself lately - are you OK?"  Be prepared for the answer "I'm fine" and to bring up the reason you ask.  If you've noticed something in particular (they've been withdrawn, haven't been as active on social media, etc) it's worth mentioning.  

L - Listen.  Having asked the question, give the person the chance to answer and pay attention to the reply.  Odds are that you're not going to solve the problems that they raise, but it will help them to share them with someone else.  Ask follow-up questions that might help the person to focus on what's at the root of the issue.  "That's can't be easy.  How long have you felt that way?"

E - Encourage.   Encourage action.  Help them focus on things that might help.  Have they felt like this in the past?  If so, was there anything that helped then?  It might help to get back into a routine despite lockdown - patterns of sleep are particularly important.  Are there other people that they trust and who they can talk to?  Is it time to talk to a doctor?

C - Check-In.  Having had the initial conversation, keep in touch and follow-up with prompts if necessary.

And before anyone asks, "I'm fine".  I've found winter lockdown more difficult than the one earlier in the year (which, I must admit to quite enjoying), but my mental state is OK.  

I'm getting out of the house most days and am in contact with people through social media.  As those who follow the blog know, I'm getting quite a lot of on-line RPG gaming done.  Like a lot of gamers, I've really discovered the benefits of Discord, Zoom, et al this year.  I'm getting more oportunities for gaming now than ever before.  And as we all know, gaming is good for mental health.  Of course, I miss sitting down at a table and playing face-to-face, but I've made contact with a lot of new people and do really enjoy the sessions I take part in.

Thank you for reading this.  If anyone wants to contribute to my Movember fundraiser, you can do so here.

 

Wasters: No 1 An Introduction

 

This weekend I played in a new game and, for me, a new gaming genre: cyberpunk.  I've written-up that session here.

This was ‘Wasters’.  In effect, I’m taking part in the playtesting of a new system by Joseph Norris of Adversity Games adapting B/X rules (in our case, OSE) to a cyberpunk setting.  The emphasis is on the exploration vibe of Old-School games. 

After just one session’s play it would be silly and unfair to make much comment on the system or game-play.  I may do a review later, but for now will limit myself to a basic introduction to the setting and an after-action report. 

[Acknowledgement: much of this is copied from v0.1 of Wasters, but in paraphrasing, I may have added my own flavour.] 

The Setting 

We are in a dystopian future.  Life is governed by controlling authorities, ruthless corporations, organised crime and street gangs.  Day-to-day survival is the priority for most. Many do this by being part of the system, and become one of the abusers and exploiters out of desperation.   You are not one of these. 

The wealthy have withdrawn into their own enclaves, leaving the majority of society living in the Slums.  Here, inhabitants find themselves the target of thieves and gangs demanding protection money – not to mention the authorities that will suddenly take an interest if you have anything they can squeeze you for.  But there is some order at least: in the Slums you have a reasonable expectation of not being shot unless you provoke someone, enter gang turf without permission, bother the police, or lack the wits to get out of the way when raiders go on a rampage.    

Outside the Slums are the Wastes – abandoned by any form of order or protection from economic collapse, disaster, or war.  But untold wealth of a previous age lies abandoned in these shattered ruins.  There are also wild animals, malfunctioning drones and gangs too unruly even for the Slums.  

You were once a Slum-dweller, but through ideology, misfortune, carelessness or disillusionment you have left that behind.   Now you use your skills to trawl through ruins, collapsed corporate complexes, buried nuclear bunkers and forgotten headquarters of flavour-of-the-month gangs for long-lost valuables. 

Character Types

Those in the slums call you Wasters. But not to your face, because they’re scared of you.  

At this stage in the playtest process, character types are limited to four analogues of B/X Classes; - 

• Analyst – Users of tech (analogue of Magic User).  They use their devices and skills to support the crew from a safe distance.  As they advance in level, they can build and use an increasing number of more powerful functions. 
• Infiltrator – A sneak, spy and sniper (analogue of Thief). 
• Ronin – Dispossessed soldiers, enforcers or hitmen (analogue of Fighter) 
• Sentinel – Wasters who join the front of combat to protect their crew, carrying a jammer to disrupt drones (analogue of Cleric).  As they advance, they develop support functions. 

Coming Soon...

My first mission in the Wastes.

More on 'Found Maps'

Earlier in the week, I posted about me using the results of a solo Scrabble-like game to create dungeon maps for RPGs.  This has prompted a couple of people to contact me.

First, I am told that 'Found Maps' are a thing.  I thought it probably was, given the human proclivity for seeing patterns in random things.

Secondly, I want to flag that Goblin's Henchman has come up with at least two methods of creating random maps: -

• a game of Battleships as a template for a grid-crawl,
• the faces of a Rubik's Cube (an entry for the 2020 One Page Dungeon Contest).

If you're unfamiliar with Goblin's Henchman, he's an innovator and inventor of several random engines (most notably the Hex Flower) for creating not only maps, but also for stats and replacing dice generally.  Most of his creations can be found either free on his blog or as pay-what-you-want on his DriveThru RPG page.  As is the case with other pwyw products, I would urge that you pay for them: even a few pence shows respect to the creators and improves their standing with the DriveThru algorithms (in the immortal words of Harlan Ellison, "Pay the writer!").

Another fairly well-known method is the use of drop-dice.

But with all due respect to Mr Henchman and others, I'm not really talking about using random engines, but rather suddenly seeing a dungeon (or other) map in pre-existing things.  For example, as a child, I used to lie in bed looking at the cracks in the ceiling, seeing them as rivers on a plain.

Artist unkown to me

Which, of course, brings me to Robert Louis Stevenson, that great proponent of imagination in play and other aspects of life: -

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,

The pleasant land of counterpane.

I would be interested in hearing of any examples of the use of 'found' (rather than generated) maps.

Multi-Tasking

I'm a fidgeter.  In particular I can't sit still and watch TV: I need to do something with my hands.

So normally the old Bananagrams come out and I play with them while half-watching the programme.  Normally I end up with something like this.

This evening, while not paying proper attention to the 'Great British Bake-Off', something occured to me that is so obvious that I'm sure a lot of people do it.  Namely, that I could use the grid of as a random dungeon generator.

Squinting at them gave me this.  It helps that I tend mainly to use four or five letter words.

OK.  So 'Bake-Off' is an hour long, so I ended up with another grid.

Which, of course, could be added to the model...

Tidy it up and put some doors in, and you get something passable.

Of course, the ecology is all wrong and it makes no sense.  But when do random dungeons ever?  

Given that I play two of three sessions of the word game a night, by the end of the month I'll end up with something rivalling Barrowmaze!

Movember

Movember is a fundraising campaign focussing on men's health (mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer).  Each November people sign up to raise funds by growing facial hair, doing a spot of topiary or more traditional methods.  It's a great cause and - let's face it - this November is going to be harder on our mental health than usually.  That's why I'm supporting it.

You can donate on my findraising page here.  You don't need a Mo to help!

I was going less for the dodgy '80s landlord look and more for Sean Connery.

Books & Stuff (NS, No 7) - Reading in Oct 2020

This month three books, all of which appeared last month or earlier.

Finished

Max Brooks, The Zombie Survival Guide

A fun book with surprisingly practical advice for coping with Zombie outbreaks.  It's 2020, so who knows?

James Ellroy, Perfidia

As I said last month, this is a monster of a book (and not just because it's 700+ pages) - there's a lot going on (and not a lot of it is nice).  

Ellroy's writing is dark, involved and twisted.   But it's adictive and I've already bought the seond book in this trilogy.

Currently Reading

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

After a long time only nominally on my ' currently reading' list, I finally got into this.

Quite interesting, not only for the Dutch Wars, but for Carribean escapades.