New release: The Tannhauser Investment, a mission for The Sprawl RPG

Initialising subroutines…
(base) Cereal.K@WJOHM_internal1:/usr/lib/resolvconf$ GaffEm -i rutger.bat -a 256k -t 1.1m
task = get() “/opt/conStruct/envs/cy5/lib/sitepackages/
joblib/pool.cy”, line 147, in get
racquire()
KeyboardInterrupt
KeyboardInter……

Encrypted message incoming
Target: Chenda Phy, CFO Bora Industrial
Regards: Hostile takeover

Specification: Initiate contact with target at secure public location and negotiate transfer of controlling stake in Bora. Phy currently resident at  secure, independent accommodation. Caution advised – significant intrusion countermeasures in place.

RV @ [DECRYPTING]] if interested.

Welcome to the future hackers and runners, mercs and shadows. Welcome to The Synth Convergence, a new trilogy of missions for The Sprawl RPG built around the thematic core of Synthetic Intelligence and the societal fallout that follows their emergence. The Synth Convergence offers teams a chance to push the boundaries of technological progress and answer the question of how far they will go to secure their lucrative Corporate payoffs.

Today we are releasing the first mission, The Tannhauser Investment, as a stand-alone preview while we complete the final editing and layout of the full collection. This asset acquisition contract will require your team to infiltrate a super-luxury hotel operated by a dedicated synthetic personality and secure the biometric signatures of their target. Why? To enact a decidedly hostile takover of a subsidary Corporate asset. All in a days job for a professional, in and out without collatoral damage.

The Synth Convergence reflects a new direction for LunarShadow Designs – It is my first publishing foray into the vibrant space of Powered by the Apocalypse games. It is also my first time working in collaboration with another designer, Chris Stone-Bush (@hyvemynd), who created the outlines for two of the three missions. Between design, writing, editing and layout the process has been one of continual development and I’ve learned numerous lessons that I’ll be putting to good use in the future.

You can download The Tannhauser Investment for free from driveThruRPG or itch.io with the full trilogy scheduled for release in November. This mission requires a copy of The Sprawl RPG by Ardens Ludere.

The Synth Convergence – Missions for The Sprawl RPG [Coming soon]

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been slowly teasing an ongoing project over on Twitter – The Synth Convergence, a trilogy of missions for The Sprawl RPG.

Current draft of the cover mage

Like Gibson’s original Sprawl novels these stories are thematically rather than narratively connected. For our missions the focal point is Synths – artificial lifeforms that are pushing the boundaries of their programming and gaining sentience in a society that has come to rely on them as cheap, disposable labour. Through the course of the missions the team will have to infiltrate a self-aware luxury hotel, extract a synth DJ seeking to defect to a new Corporation and finally facilitate an act Corporate revenge that will have a lasting impact on the Sprawl.

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Working on The Synth Trilogy has been a learning process. It’s my first collaboration with another designer, HyveMynd, who designed and blocked out two of the missions. It has also required that I significantly improve my graphic design skills, a fun challenge I’ve been giving 10-15 minutes to during lunch breaks. I think the results speak for themselves and I’ve learned a lot of lessons that I’ll be applying to future projects.

Working draft of the page layout

The trilogy is nearing completion. I’m in the process of editing the core text while working on the layout documents guided by the official Mission Files supplement. It’s slow going but moving forward and my aim is to have it all completed soon. Until then keep an eye on twitter for more updates.

Supporting Faith Corps: The system that powers Demon Hunters

Since I started blogging about RPGs the one game that I have come back to time after time is Demon Hunters. From the over the top setting through to rules that support both the supernatural and the comedy elements the game has pretty much everything that I’m after. Unfortunately, following the Kickstarter there was quite a lag between release of the game and of the two supplements. There was also (to my knowledge) no plans for any future material beyond that. It’s one of the reasons that I chose to publish my own material – I wanted to help support the game as it’s all to easy for a Kickstarter success to slip under the radar after fulfilment.

That should be set to change now as Don Early has started both a Patreon and blog to further develop Faith Corps, the system developed in collaboration with Cam Banks for the second edition of the game. He’s aiming to release material on a regular basis, with Patreon backers getting early access and a chance to contribute suggestions and feedback.

While Demon Hunters will be a core focus Don is also looking to tap into the raw potential of the Faith Corps system by adapting it in new ways, with the aim of emulating a range of 80’s blockbuster and TV settings. As I’d also like to push the system into a new genre (space opera) seeing how he approaches the task is going to be invaluable in guiding my own efforts.

You can find Don’s posts at https://faithcorps.blogspot.com/ or back him on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/donearly

As always you can find links to everything I’ve released for Demon Hunters here.

Review: Hell 4 Leather

Hell 4 Leather is an RPG of bloody revenge on Devil’s Night by Joe Prince and published by Box Ninja. To quote the website:

An RPG of Bloody Revenge on Devil’s Night…
You were the meanest most badass SOB around. Everything was tight – you rode with the Devil’s Dozen – toughest chapter going. No fucker messed with you.

Except…

Your ‘buddies’ screwed you. Life is cheap. What’s a little murder between pals? But… You cut a deal with the Devil. You got one night – Devil’s night – to exact vengeance. You’re gunna show those bastards what a REAL Angel of Hell can do. When the rooster crows, your chance for revenge is over – you’ve gotta go Hell For Leather!

That blurb sets out the entire premise of the game, which plays out over a series of scenes as one character returns from the dead to try and enact retribution on those that wronged them. Hell 4 Leather is a GMless, and settingless story game, with play and character archetypes guided by tarot cards that work to build towards a climatic finale. I first played it a number of years ago and it was my first encounter with GMless story games. It’s one of those little known systems that I wish more people knew about. If I ever put together an emergency ‘Games on Demand’ pack this will be one of my go to’s.

Mechanically the game is extremely simple – each scene is outlined by one player, guided by the flavour of a pre-defined tarot card. After that everything plays out organically, up until the point at which the Rider enters and attempts to kill one character. Another simple mechanic decides whether they succeed. It’s to the point and doesn’t intrude on the roleplay.

So why should you play Hell 4 Leather? First up it’s a great game for filling a gap between sessions. The premise of the game means it is meant to be run as a single one-shot. You can play it in as little as an hour (though that does require short, succint scenes) or over a more leisurely pace of 2-3 hours.

The second reason? This is a great way to set up the opener for a campaign in another system. Deadlands, Shadowrun, Dresden Files or even D&D. The settingless nature makes it ideal for flipping between different worlds, outlining a grisly series of murders that serve as the opener to the main campaign. With a little work you can even transport it to games that don’t support the supernatural.

Finally this is a game that is oozing with character. From the use of tarot cards, to the choice of scene framing and the simple yet all encompassing premise Hell 4 Leather is a game that embraces its inspiration and doesn’t set a foot wrong.

You can purchase Hell 4 Leather from drivethruRPG.

All reviews are rated out of 10, with Natural 20s reserved for products that go above and beyond my expectations. Unless otherwise stated all review products have been purchased through normal retail channels.

#RPGaDay2019 31st August: ‘Last’

August has come around once again which means it’s time for RPGaDay 2019. In a shift from the questions format of previous years this year is characterised by a series of prompts, which I’ll be attempting to answer each day with a short post, with the prompt word highlighted in bold each day.

Day 31: Last

The last game I was in was D&D 5th Edition, a campaign that I’ve been GMing since the start of the year. We’ve entered the final arc and I’ve got to admit that while I have enjoyed it I am looking forward to a change of system. d20 will never be my system of choice, there are just too many parts that I don’t enjoy. Perhaps the biggest is combat. I am really tired of trying to make combat more interesting when a hit rarely does anything more than whittle away HP. I want each and every hit to have a narrative consequence, not ‘you get hit by an arrow for the 5th time this combat, lose 7 HP’. I’ve got workarounds but ultimately the issue is with the system. We’re probably moving on to Demon Hunters next, which utilises narrative conditions. I can’t wait for the change in pace and the opportunity to introduce the group to the wider world of both the setting and role playing in general.

And with that we bring RPGaDay 2019 to a close. It’s been an interesting challenge responding to the daily prompts and I hope that people have appreciated my stream of consciousness approach to it.

#RPGaDay2019 30th August: ‘Connection’

August has come around once again which means it’s time for RPGaDay 2019. In a shift from the questions format of previous years this year is characterised by a series of prompts, which I’ll be attempting to answer each day with a short post, with the prompt word highlighted in bold each day.

Day 30: Connection

When it comes to a character generation I’m a firm believer in the requirement that each character have a connection to the rest of the group. I absolutely hate the random party that came together by pure chance or strangers that met in a tavern. It’s just a bad way to start a campaign and I’ve seen too many flounder because the group have no reason to stay together. My exception to this are games with limited run lengths such as one shots. For those it makes sense that a single event might bring people together without requiring that they stay together afterwards.

As for forming those connections between characters I use the session 0 approach, otherwise known as talk to your players. For some campaigns I’ll make use of a more formal approach such as those outlined in Fate or Smallville but most of the time I leave it more vague. We’ll discuss the campaign setting, what we’re after and most importantly how it is going to open. That provides a clear demarcation point, allowing us to set up the events that have led to this moment in time and explain why everybody is willing to work together.
 

#RPGaDay2019 29th August: ‘Evolve’

August has come around once again which means it’s time for RPGaDay 2019. In a shift from the questions format of previous years this year is characterised by a series of prompts, which I’ll be attempting to answer each day with a short post, with the prompt word highlighted in bold each day.

Day 29: Evolve

The way I approach gaming has definitely changed over the years and I hope that it continues to evolve in the future. When I first started I was very focused on the numbers. Bonuses, weapon stats, combining x and y to get something better than z. I suspect a lot of that came from my wargaming background, where working out the best combos was an essential part of putting together an army. The second driver was that I got into RPGs at the point in my life where I found myself with disposable income for the first time. As a player I avoided adventure books but was more than happy to scour eBay for the other various sourcebooks that were available for Torg, my gateway game into the hobby.

Since those early days how I game has changed. I rarely play now, preferring instead to GM and most recently I’ve been exploring design and publishing. My preference for games has shifted towards more lightweight systems but not so far as to be heavily into storygames. Mechanics still appeal to me, its just that these days I prefer for them to flow better with the story as opposed to being something that pulls me out of it. In contrast to many gamers I seem to have drifted away from online games, despite them being a big focus for me previously so it is interesting to hear about how that side of the hobby continues to evolve and push the boundaries of how what a game is.