[GenCon 2013] My Schedule

Really looking forward to this.

This seems to be a thing some people do, so I figured I'd do it too. Hey, easy blog post!

Thursday, 12:00 pm: ARRPG, "Tesla's Seven." This should probably be called "Tesla's Five," but that's even less of a thing than Tesla's Seven is, and Tesla's Seven is just the less-of-a-thing version of Tesla's Eleven, which is a lateral move from Ocean's Eleven. So I think we have enough layers of remove as it is.

Thursday, 5:00 pm: State of the Hat seminar. I'm on a panel. It's crazy. I and many other Evil Hat-types will be on hand to answer questions about the development Evil Hat stuff. Specifically, I can talk about ARRPG, Fate Core, FAE, and Shadow of the Century. Not rules-stuff, though. Development stuff.

Saturday, 2:00 pm: ARRPG, "Robo Force." This is aptly named.

I expect I'll also run ARRPG at Games on Demand at least once, so keep an eye out. I'll tweet/blog about it in advance to give fair warning.

As for stuff I'm playing, currently I'm only signed up for two games, a Qin: The Warring States game Friday at noon, and Dave Mattingly's Bring Your Own Brick Champions game Thursday at 7:00. Wait, Thursday at 7:00? Seriously? Ugh. Thursday's gonna be rough. I just noticed that.

Regardless, there's no way I'm missing that Champions game. The premise -- bring two 400-point 6th-edition Hero System characters, and the GM chooses one -- hooked me, because long ago, before Fate came along (to me), Hero was my go-to system. I used to make 5th-edition Hero characters for purely recreational purposes. I'm new to 6th, but still I made four PCs and am restraining myself from making a fifth. Picking just two of those four for Dave's review will be tough enough already. It's gonna get all Sophie's Choice up in here.

And if you see me at GenCon sitting by myself doing homework, I'm just prepping for Gateway, which sounds crazy, I know.

[Gateway 2013] More like Fateway 2013!

Get it? Because, like, lots of Fate stuff on the schedule? Ah well.

With the release of Fate Core and FAE, I suppose that was inevitable, but still, it's cool to see so many GMs embracing them. Gateway, the last of the three annual Strategicon game conventions in Los Angeles, is just a few weeks away (August 30th-September 2nd), but pre-reg opens tomorrow, August 10th. And this is our last convention at the Sheraton. Next year we move to the Hilton down the road. So many memories, presumably!

There are no fewer than thirteen Fate Core, FAE, or Atomic Robo games on the schedule. Breakdown after the jump!

That was the jump. Did you enjoy it?

Friday 2:00 pm 

F4: Escape from the City of the Doomed, With Special Guest Ivid the Undying (Me)
"In Great Kingdom, Unknown searches for YOU." This dumb joke I made to myself at 1:00 in the morning sparked a vague idea for another in a series of AD&D pastiches/homages using an increasingly drifty Fate Core as a base. This one's less about mashing up old modules and more about being a genuine sequel to the three adventures these five PCs have already experienced together. Here's the blurb:

"In Great Kingdom, Unknown searches for YOU." -Yakov the Weary, Jester. WHAT WITH ONE THING AND ANOTHER, our heroes find themselves imprisoned in Rauxes, capitol of the most powerful empire on Oerth. Can they win their freedom before the city is reduced to dust? Is this the end of these Fate Core adventures based on old-school AD&D influences? I still have three weeks to prep, right? Find out!

Friday 8:00 pm

Star Trek: To Boldly Go (Morgan Ellis)

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Potemkin. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Play classic Star Trek using the new Fate Accelerated Edition rules.

Ack! I would totally play in this if I weren't running a game Friday night (not at the convention). I bet the approaches are things like Security, Command, Science, etc. Right? I don't know, I'm just guessing. Mor importantly, Morgan is the cervello di tutti cervelli of Fate GMs, so you can't go wrong here.

Saturday 9:00 am

Freeport - Under the Waves (Sam Carter of Mars)

Freeport, the City of Adventure! A local has discovered something strange in the waters off the coast of A''Val.. and needs some intrepid souls to help sort it out. What will await you below? Fame? Fortune? Death? [A Freeport adventure using the new rules-light Fate Accelerated Edition ruleset.]

I've known Sam for, I dunno, almost ten years, and after all this time I still think it's "funny" to append "of Mars" onto his name. At any rate, people sure like that FAE, huh? Cool. Sam's another great GM, even if he is a friend of mine, so if you can get into this one, you won't regret it. Oh, it should probably be noted that this has no relation to the Fate Freeport book in development with Green Ronin. This is Sam's own thing.

IOU: Freshthing Orientation (Seth Halbeisen)

You've never heard of this college, were stunned by the sudden acceptance letter, and the volumes of attached fine print, and you're pretty sure it might be a prank... This campus is different. REALLY DIFFERENT! That building is a huge tree! Another is a glowing creator... Your tour guide just stunned a T-Rex while avoiding a saw-bladed Frisbee! Is that a TALKING cat?!?!? What kind of school is this?

Another great Fate GM, by all accounts, Seth is a person I do not know. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be "glowing crater" instead of "glowing creator," but either way it sounds pretty compelling.

Saturday 2:00 pm

Return of the Iron League of EVIL! (Seth Halbeisen)

Just when you though the world was safe again. They are back and ready for vengeance. Huge Iron shod blimps blot out the sun, Steam Powered Ninjas at every corner, and goliath engines of destruction threaten the city. Only YOU can defeat them! Only your team has a chance... Only the CENTURIANS can save the day!

And another game using FAE. On the basis of Seth's sterling reputation as a Fate GM, I'm not going to correct the spelling of "Centurians." Respect.

Saturday 8:00 pm

The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific (Kristine Chester)

Victory has been achieved, WW2 is over, and the troops are coming home! Only the war isn't quite done for the She-Devils, a group of lady pilots who have remained in the Pacific frontier to take down would be warlords.

Kristine's also running this Atomic Robo scenario at GenCon, so if you missed it there, now's your chance! I have the PDF of the PCs open in a tab in Chrome as I type this, and they look pretty sweet, so sign up.

Freeport - A Quick Errand (Sam Carter)

A member of The Syndicate has gone missing. Finn thinks a rival is involved, but without proof he needs to move carefully. You can serve as his hand in this business - with no ties back to him if things get ugly. He's offering exactly what you need (and hinting you definitely should not refuse his job offer). [A Freeport adventure using the new rules-light Fate Accelerated Edition ruleset.]

Sam Carter, FAE, Freeport, play it, etc.

A Dark and Stormy Night (James)

When:1939. Where:island of Vincoa, in the South Pacific. Who: the air ace, the big game hunter, the academic, the native and the spy. What: a fast paced game of pulp action! It late 1939 a group of adventurers have found out the Curse of the Emerald Octopus did not bring them the wealth they have sought out. On a dark and stormy night can they fight off the shark toothed Jade Shark cultists?

I'm not sure which James this is, but the blurb contains the phrase "shark-toothed Jade Shark cultists," so I say go play it. This is a Fate Core game, bee-tee-dubs.

Sunday 9:00 am

The Centurions of Science! (Me)

Hi. In this game, you get to play Nikola Tesla, Wong Kei-Ying, Annie Oakley, Harry Houdini, and a version of Winfield Scott Lovecraft (father of HP) who's a kick-ass secret agent instead of the syphilitic nutbag he was in real life. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

Did I mention I wrote these at 1:00 am? This one of the ARRPG scenarios I'm running at GenCon, so again, if you missed it there, you can play it here. There. At Gateway, I mean.

Smoldering Memorandum (Patrick Rowley)

Steve Hatchett has convinced his buddies to come out to Palm Springs with him for some well-deserved R&R, courtesy of his rich girlfriend's Country Club membership. Of course, there''s no rest for a burned spy, so wherever Matthew Easton goes, trouble isn't far behind...

I don't know what this FAE game's about, exactly, but Pat was my neighbor in the dorms at UC Irvine back in the early '90s, and we played AD&D multiple times a week (because college and dorms), so that seems like endorsement enough to me. Pat's one of those Happy Jack's people; if you are too, you may know him better as Mouser.

Sunday 2:00 pm

Open Minds (Patrick Rowley)

It's a quiet day for Alpha, the top-line Psionic Rescue and Retrieval unit in the Southern California branch of The Sanctuary. As a matter of fact, it's been too quiet. No new psychic eruptions in weeks. No nefarious Collective plots to subvert the current World Order. No attacks on Sanctuary agents. Either the entire Psionic world has suddenly gone quiet, or something big is about to happen.

Hey, another FAE game from Pat! What a supportive friend. Interesting side note: Pat used to be a ride op on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. But don't ask him about it -- he has absolutely no stories about his days in the Magic Kingdom.

Fate of a Kingdom (James Forest)

In the world of Eave, humans are not the dominant creatures, but still that have developed their own kingdoms. The Kingdom of Danaan and the Empire of Tulathe are two such human powers amid the sea of the elves that hold the sway over the world. It is an anime inspired world of pseudo-science, magic and swashbuckling Players will be the first to play in this world.

Ooh, I bet this is the same James from before! I can't be sure, though, so I'm not going to risk misinforming you. This sounds like a pretty cool concept, right? I've been watching a ton of Sword Art Online lately, which is probably making me more receptive to the premise than I normally am, and I'd normally be really receptive to it anyway. (Advice: SAO's totally worth watching, but you can stop after the opening titles to episode 16. Trust me.)

Sunday 8:00 pm

Science Team Super Five vs. Biomega: Tokyo Under Attack (Morgan Ellis)

With the threat of Biomega long gone, Japan's premiere extra-normal defense force, Science Team Super Five, has dedicated its resources to the scientific betterment of mankind. But the dread specter of Biomega has returned to threaten the world. Long silent alarms call the new Science Team Super Five into action. Armed with their advanced Reflex Armor suits, cutting edge science, and hard trained teamwork. Will it be enough to stop the giant beasts of Biomega?

What's not to love about this Atomic Robo game from Morgan? He's also running it at FateCon at Endgame this weekend, so if you missed it there you can play it at Gateway. I certainly plan to. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make the PCs for this now.

[Atomic Robo] Five of Tesla's Seven

Hey, wanna see some character sheets?

That is all!

NO! That's not all. I've updated the file. The character sheet for Wong Kei-Ying is now significantly less lazy.

[Atomic Robo] Tesla's Seven at Villainous Lair

This Sunday, August 4th (it is already August!) I'll be running an ARRPG scenario called, I dunno, let's say "The Wheel of Anarchy." Kinda short notice, I know, but there we are. Think of it as a pleasant surprise.

The place: Villainous Lair Gaming in San Diego, CA.
The time: 2:00 pm (to, like, 6:00 pm)

I'm running this scenario at GenCon, and although I haven't written a proper blurb for it, if I did it'd look something like this:

The PCs are Nikola Tesla, Annie Oakley, Wong Kei-Ying, Harry Houdini, and Winfield Scott Lovecraft.

I mean really, what more do I have to say?

If you've never been to Villainous Lair, I've been there one more time than you have. It's a cool store -- not too big but big enough -- with a decent selection of small-press games. In fact, they have a regular storygame night run by a friend of mine. Plus, when I was there for Free RPG Day, I spoke with a manager-type named Sara who's excited about Fate Core and ARRPG, and whose idea it was for me to run a game there in the first place, so they're happy to have us.

And they have this sign up on the front door:

Seriously, they really shouldn't.

So yeah, this place is all right. Come on down and check it and/or ARRPG out. Hope to see you there.

[Atomic Robo] San Diego Comic-Con Wrap-Up

So San Diego Comic-Con was last weekend, and it was an exhausting bunch of fun again, just like every year. But unlike every other year, this year I ran a couple of ARRPG games there in the open gaming room. Which was kinda maddening at first, because it's a big room with a lot of tables and a volunteer organizer who REALLY ENJOYS SHOUTING BELLIGERENTLY ALL THE TIME AS HIS DEFAULT MODE OF COMMUNICATION (we all know a gamer like that, right?), but we all got used to it and had a good time.

Anyway, I wanted to share a few pictures from the Sunday morning game I ran for Thursday Knights. Because I took some.

Her rocket, her rules.

This is Kaylee. (Yes, like that Kaylee.) She's seven. She played Helen McAllister, aka Nightingale. Her dad played Donovan McAllister, aka Jack Tarot. For those unfamiliar with Atomic Robo canon, Helen is a headstrong, resourceful, and smart gearhead, and Jack Tarot is her masked-vigilante father. They fight crime! In the '30s!

So yeah, as soon as I put those two PCs on the table, these two players naturally snatched 'em up. They were a great pair, as you might expect a real-life father-and-daughter duo to be playing those PCs. At one point, Kaylee decided that Helen had a rocket she'd secretly been working on stashed in the local dump, and when Jack Tarot tried to sit in the pilot's seat, Kaylee (and maybe Helen) snapped, "My rocket, my rules!" So that instantly became an aspect, obviously.

Ronnie Knox

Our AV recording engineer for the game was Cailin Laabs, and she did a couple of amazing character portraits while we played. This one, of Lt. Ronald Knox of the New Jersey State Militia, is a copy of a Scott Wegener piece that I swiped for this PC (played by her husband Greg Laabs), but man, it's a dead-on copy, and she also did it in what seemed like no time.

Prestigious Princeton Professor

And here's Cailin's portrait of Professor Richard Pierson, which she drew based solely on the character as played by Dan. The picture I used was one of circa-1938 Orson Welles, for what I hope are obvious reasons. I love this portrait because it looks great, of course, but also because stylistically, it fits right in with Ronnie Knox up there.

Arguably a robot.

Robo's player Lance drew a portrait too, and as you can see it's... Lance seems like a nice guy.

[Atomic Robo] Action. Science. San Diego Comic-Con. UPDATED!

>UPDATE: SCHEDULING CHANGE. SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS. <

Hey, it's Comic-Con week! San Diego Comic-Con, to be precise. I know there are a lot of other comic-cons out there, but as everyone knows, this one's the biggest and the worst!

At Emerald City Comic-Con back in March, I got to see what a real, honest-to-goodness, comics-only comic convention looks like, without the Hollywood invasion that plagues San Diego these days, and y'know what? It was pretty great. (The fact that it's in Seattle, a city I like an awful lot, doesn't hurt.) But SDCC has one big advantage over ECCC: It doesn't require airfare and a hotel. It's local. So while I'll hold out hope of going back to ECCC ASAP, I'll continue to attend SDCC, BBQWTF.

Anyway, I'm running a couple sessions of ARRPG at SDCC this year, so I thought I'd tell you about 'em in a bit more detail than I did before.

The first will be Thursday at 2:00 pm. I'm not sure what this one will be. If I can get this Tesla's Seven scenario ironed out before then -- it seems pretty cool, but it requires game prep in the form of creating four new PCs -- I'll run that. It's 1893 at the Chicago World's Columbia Fair, and the assassination of Mayor Carter Harrison is only the tip of a conspiratorial iceberg that, as it turns out, is pretty science-oriented. The PCs are Nikola Tesla, expert escapist Harry Houdini, secret agent Winfield Scott Lovecraft, martial-arts master Wong Kei-Ying, and, of course, celebrity sharpshooter Annie Oakley. If you try real hard, you can fit this into the continuity of the second volume of Real Science Adventures, but if not, enh, whatever.

If that one doesn't come together, though, I'll run, I dunno, something else.

The second will be Thursday at 8:00 pm SUNDAY AT 10:00 AM. This one, I'm running for the Thursday Knights, who'll be... podcasting it? Livestreaming it? Either way. They livestreamed a playtest of ARRPG back in March, right before I finished writing it and before it went through the editing wringer. It was a big success at the table (whew), and when they contacted me to ask if it'd be okay if they ran it again at SDCC, I was like, how about I just run it for you? So that's what's going on. That means that the five player-spots here will likely be taken up by the Thursday Knights crew, but maybe not, and I don't know the specifics anyway, so if you want to play come on out and maybe you'll get to do just that.

The scenario for this evening SUNDAY MORNING game will probably be Atomic Robo and the Invaders from Mars. I've run this one a few times (including one session at ECCC with Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener as players), and it's always been fun. AND IT WILL HAPPEN ON SUNDAY MORNING AT 10:00 AM.

Which reminds me, one of the issues in the next volume of Real Science Adventures may or may not be inspired by this very scenario, so just in case, play it now before Brian and Scott spoil it for everybody. In fact, was that spoiling something just by mentioning the possibility of it? Whatever -- it centers around one of my favorite Atomic Robo characters, so I'll be psyched for it either way.

Both of these games will take place in the open gaming area, which is in Mezzanine 15A. You can't miss it! It's right next to 15B!

"What about Gam3rcon?" Uh... I dunno. Maybe Saturday THURSDAY night? I'm playing this one by ear right now, which probably isn't very smart, but look man, I've got a lot of stuff going on.

Now if you'll excuse me, Harry Houdini isn't going to stat himself. See you at the thing!

[Atomic Robo] Various Updates

How I feel lately.

Man, it's been a while, right? I've just been too busy and/or tired to talk to you. You know how it is. But let's have a few updates to keep you in the loop.

What's Up With ARRPG?
I don't know why I was so excited that the edit punch-list was so short when it only takes three words to say "Rewrite this chapter."

To that end, I've enlisted the aid of Brian Engard to help get these Jeremy Keller-edited chapters revised and back to Jeremy Keller. Brian, of course, is part of the Fate Core team, so I have every confidence etc.

A big -- really big -- part of the revision process has been reformatting all of the examples in the book to align with the new aesthetic. We're still using panels from the pages of Atomic Robo to illustrate rules concepts and provide examples, which is great, but instead of just showing panels with captions (like the one above), we're providing a running dialogue between the GM and the players, all of whom happen to be Action Scientists. It's been a ton of work, I'll be honest with you, but the results are really satisfying, and it's going to result in a more engaging experience for the reader.

So, to sum up, it's coming along, and soon it will be out of my hands entirely, at which point we can talk about things like printer and shipping delays.

How Was Gamex?
Great! Two of the three games I ran were a lot of fun. The one that wasn't was an ambitious endeavor that didn't really come together the way I'd imagined.

I'm running the ARRPG scenario, "Robo Force," at GenCon. Wanna see the character sheets? Here.

I also ran a D&D-like Fate Core-based (based!) game called "Return to the Expedition to the Sinister Temple of the Reptile Cult on the Borderlands." There were blaster pistols and a froghemoth. Wanna see those character sheets? Look upon them and be confused!

As for the games I got to play, Morgan Ellis's really wacky way-out-there TMNT Fate Core game didn't involve any teenagers, ninjas, or turtles, although we did have a super-evolved marmot, a walrus from Ancient Egypt, a sentient hadrosaur from another dimension, and my character, Oreo Futurebaby, P.I. It was... pretty silly. And a lot of fun.

Respected TV critic and not-really-my-RPG-protege Todd VanDerWerff ran another Fate Core game based on the TV series Vikings. It was... well, look, there were some problems with the game, but still, it was gratifying to see Todd, a mere year and a bit after I introduced him to RPGs, running a game that I'd helped write. That was awesome. And I sure like that Vikings show. He promised me I'd have a chance to play Athelstan, and he did not lie about that, more or less.

Isn't San Diego Comic-Con Coming Up?
It is, yeah, and I'll be running ARRPG there, too, on Thursday at 2:00. I don't think the gaming schedule's up yet, but when it is, I'll be on it. (I'm also scheduled for a Saturday game, but I'll tell you right now, I'm going to have to bail on it to see this.) I'm also probably going to run a game at Gam3rcon that weekend, as is tradition, sort of.