Technology & the Pen and Paper RPG

Lately, I've begun integrating more technology into my gaming experience. I've always been a pen & paper note-taker, but when I got my iPad, I realized that there were a whole host of possibilities I'd been ignoring. I really think an iPad is something that no one really realizes how much they need until they have one. I know that's how it was with me. I have a PC desktop, a Macbook, a Kindle Keyboard, and my cell phone, so I couldn't figure out why on earth I'd need an iPad, too. Then I broke down and bought one, and now I can't remember what I did before I had it. It's my new best friend, technologically speaking.

It's also quickly becoming one of my favorite, must-have gaming tools. Character sheets, dice, my stylus and iPad, and I'm ready to go. Well, that plus drinks and sometimes snacks, you know, gaming staples. But more specifically, we're talking about Penultimate by Evernote. It is one of the most awesome apps available and it's completely free. There's really nothing like it. It allows me, along with my stylus, to make hand written notes and sync them to Evernote so I can see them on my other gadgets later.

Frankly, it's freaking awesome. I'm saving paper, so I don't have dozens of sheets of paper laying around everywhere with notes all over them, and all of my notes stay in one place. It makes everything incredibly organized because I can make multiple notebooks inside the program that keep my D&D notes separate from my, say, 7th Sea notes, etc., all of which I can keep separate from my GM notes and book brainstorming (I'm also an author).

Otherwise, my iPad's iBooks apps allows me to keep my eBooks on hand, all in one place, for handy reference that means I don't have to cart around a ton of books. With gaming books becoming more and more electronically accessible, particularly with such sites as Drive-Thur RPG, I love that I can keep my books on my iPad in full color, something my Kindle doesn't have.

Matt has even started integrating some technology--something he use to be annoyed by, to be sure. Some of the apps he uses include Penultimate for his iPad and an app on his phone that generates names. He's always struggled to come up with names on the fly, so having an electronic name generator has been a life saver for him. Although, I think we need to look for another one because I don't much like many of the names the app he uses summon up.

And frankly, being able to summon up the net via Safari or small bits of information via apps like Wikipanion make reference so much quicker than it was before. Particularly when we're playing 7th Sea because we regularly use my 7th Sea website for quick reference. So having an iPad is helpful for gaming and I'm starting to get to the place where I don't leave my house without it, whether we're gaming or not. It's invaluable and has an amazing battery life, which is helpful because we tend to game for hours and hours on end.

Right now, I'm also thinking that Pintrest (and the Pintrest iPad app, of course) might be a good way to set up props. Boards could be created for each game system, or even every game in particular, that includes images, maps, and the like that will help set the stage. Particularly with a game system like Wolsung, where players may not be completely immersed in the steampunk feel of the game. Giving props and steampunk images, game maps, and gadgets, could make things much easier. It could also make referencing game materials easier to put them all in one place like that.

I'm still always looking for even new ways to use my gadgets for gaming, so how do you use yours? Or do you use yours at all? Is your gaming pretty old school or have you given in to the wave of modern technology and integrated these conveniences into your gaming experience?

7th Sea & Wolsung: Initial Impressions

I'm a huge 7th Sea fan. That's actually a big understatement. I've never met a system I like more than 7th Sea and I'm sure I never will--I like it so much that I have an entire website dedicated to 7th Sea rules! It's just so much fun, the world is rich and full of character. Player characters turn out unique every time, the combat system makes sense and has the heroic, cinematic feel you expect from a game of it's type, and best of all it's based (loosely) on our world's history. As someone quite engaged in history, I find that element to be the most fun. It's just a smart game and people who play it tend to be smart people.

Enter Wolsung. . .

So, when I found Wolsung recently, I couldn't help but be intrigued. Like 7th Sea, Wolsung seems to be loosely based on our world--at least insofar as it represents the Victorian era. It's a steampunk-type setting, which differs quite a bit from 7th Sea, but otherwise they feel very similar to me. Considering I've been playing 7th Sea since 2001, and it's my favorite system, I consider that quite the compliment. Then I started reading the rules set and it felt even more similar in so many aspects that I simply couldn't wait to try it out.

Don't get me wrong, of course, Wolsung is distinctively it's own system. It just seem that 7th Sea may have acted as an inspiration for some of the rules. Yet it's also clearly influenced by a rich tapestry of game systems, from fantasy to futuristic, which, when those elements are blended as they have been in Wolsung, make for something dynamic and wonderful. It's steam technology and cinematic action blended together with fantasy races, like elves, halflings, human, dwarves, orcs, ogres, and trolls. The do a beautiful job paying homage to early fantasy systems with their treatment of the world's races, all while remaining true to their own vision, and to our real-world nationalities--Elves, for example, are a blend of fantasy fiction and English fae lore.

Magic & Technology. . .

Another thing Wolsung does beautifully is their incorporation of magic and technology. Like early literature that seamlessly combines classical and christian elements in a way that makes you think their authors saw nothing wrong with incorporating two such elements--I'm looking at you, Beowulf--Wolsung manages to seamlessly combine magic and technology. The magic system isn't overly powerful, which makes it manageable for both players and the GM, and gadgets are useful, rather esoteric, offering players benefits that will actually come in handy during the game, like pluses to skill checks.

This is both something they've done similarly to 7th Sea, and something they've done quite differently. The magic system in 7th Sea is, at first glance, very weak. As a player grows acquainted with it, though, it becomes apparent that it's not weak, it's just. . . manageable. But technology isn't always a good thing in 7th Sea. Guns, for example, are an affront to the tradition of swordsmanship, and technology often means dealing with something completely foreign, like Syrneth Artifacts, which often have fantastic, rather than practical, purposes--one of my 7th Sea characters, Chantal, recently acquired a Syrneth Artifact that's only purpose is to indicate when the ring's wearer is near gold. While that has it's purposes, it's a far cry from the practicality of a bonus to skill checks. Although, in 7th Sea, well constructed characters often don't actually need bonuses, so maybe it's a fair trade.

Game Mechanics. . .

Yet, these are certainly not their only similarities. The game mechanics feels similar in a lot of ways, too. They're both d10 systems, yet Wolsung is substantial geared down from 7th Sea, making rolling much smoother. There are times when rolling in 7th Sea can hold things up, which hasn't been a problem in Wolsung. Like 7th Sea, Wolsung has a system of "Extras" that make the scenes feel more epic. In 7th Sea, they're called "Brutes." Either way, it's the same dynamic. They're there to be in the way, as something for character's to easily overpower, and there are few things more fun than beating the snot out of hoards and hoards of Brutes. . . or in this case, Extras. Taking raises to rolls in another mechanic they have in common, though unlike 7th Sea, raises in Wolsung are automatic--players get a raise for every +5 they roll over the target number, whereas in 7th Sea players must declare raises, which raise the TN by 5 each.

Something I really enjoy about Wolsung so far is the character write up. The Archtype > Profession system is fantastic and makes for a wide variety of unique character possibilities. My favorite thing, though, has got to be Achievements, which allow for characters to be heroic on their own terms and which account for a character's heroic deeds before entering the game. The whole system is nicely fleshed out, the use of cards and tokens--which are similar to drama dice in 7th Sea--the simple attribute and skill system, which is substantially more streamlined than 7th sea, the abundance of information about propriety and the world, the easy to reference wealth system. All a lot of fun and not at all overly difficult to grasp.

Ultimately. . .

I could probably go on and on. Both systems are fantastic and by virtue of my love for 7th Sea, I fell instantly in love with Wolsung. Yet I'm finding that each system is distinctive and powerful, more unalike than alike. Wolsung has just enough of that 7th Sea feel to reel you in and make you love it, before sharing with you the fact that it isn't all that similar, after all. Ultimately, if any system has a chance to rival 7th Sea for my affections, it's this one!

Session One. . .

We had our first game today and we actually had fun. . . with me as GM. Unbelievable! And you know, I feel pretty awesome about it. Well, okay, I felt pretty shaky about it, particularly since the game didn't start with particular confidence on my part. I had planned out the game's skeleton--because I read on Gnome Stew that railroading players isn't a very nice thing to do and also because my husband just can't be railroaded--but when it came time to start, I sort of froze up a little bit. I don't think it was so noticeable as to take away from the fun of the game, and my husband was very encouraging and understanding. Ultimately, I got over it and we had a productive session.

There are a few things (okay, more than a few) that I feel like I need to work on, or seek out more advice about, including making the setting richer in terms of "feeling" like steampunk, how to make it more cinematic since Wolsung is a cinematic role playing game, and how to make the system's rule set function inside the story more smoothly. I'm sure, though, that those things will come to me as I get more experience. And, of course, with them resolved will come more questions. Bring em' on!

So, I think I'm going to start working on some more games and see where that takes me. I'm pretty sure this adventure will conclude next session, it wasn't a particularly long or difficult scenario--I'll share game notes after the adventure's over. So, it's planning time and I have more than a few ideas, I have just have to sit down and bring them together. I see so much inspiration for this story in movies, in books, all over the web. I'm loving it!

Everybody Starts Somewhere. . .

I wrote my first adventure today and I am beyond nervous about it. Not only is it a system we've never played before, which makes it solely my domain--that actually makes it a smidge better, not to have to follow after my husband who is an amazing GM--but I've never run a game that went really well. Oh, my awesome husband's always willing to tell me it was fine, but most of the time I highly doubt his sincerity. It's not his fault. I'm just not great at GMing, but in my defense, I also don't have 25 years experience. In fact, I have zero years experience.

Which brings me to what the heck I'm doing here. To call me a "reluctant GM" would be a huge understatement. But, unlike all the other times I said I'd do it and then promptly procrastinated until the hubs dropped it, I'm really going to give it an honest go this time. I found a system I wanted to play and was informed, without ceremony, that if I wanted to play it, I had to GM it. Although, I got him to admit at dinner tonight that if I'd flatly refused, he would have done it. He wants to play too.

So, now that I have players--my husband, Matt, and a friend, I've always been fond of the cozy gaming group--and an adventure, I don't suppose I'll be able to procrastinate much longer. I've just to finish reading over the rules and we'll be off. Wish me luck and come back to find out how it went. I'm an avid blogger, blogging gives me a kind of courage and inspiration I can't get any other way, so a blog seemed the perfect companion as I fumble along. I'll learn this and share my successes, and inevitable failures, as well as my games and some tips I get from my husband's two-plus decades of experiences, along the way.