The Risus game on Friday went surprisingly well, given how rusty I am as a GM.  Honestly though, I shouldn't be surprised as I have as best a group of players as anyone could hope for. Of course now I face the problem that I have seven people wanting to play, and I seriously think I can only handle fgive players at the max.  Maybe I should break the game into two nights a month?


I spent time into the small hours of the morning, writing up notes that I really can't show to the players without heavy editing, so here's some some random notes:

Joint character creation went fairly smoothly.  Expanding the cliche set of Risus to encompass something more like the aspects of FATE went fairly smoothly, and the system is simple enough that character creation went fairly quickly.

• In the game I mostly did simple difficulty tests- I could have had more challenges, to help people get used to the system.  The final challenge between the sea monster and the players I had some trouble with, as it was initially too powerful, and even with the team-up rules I had to fudge and give bonus dice to the team leader for the people assisting.  Well, I didn't HAVE to do that, but it was late, and people were eager to have it be over with.

• I really should have suggested that people use inappropriate cliches, and possibly pumped their cliches.

• For that matter, I think I also need to define more closely what people's cliche's are capable of.  Getting short one-sentence descriptions of what the cliche is capable of should help.

• On the other hand, I was thrilled by how a lot of the players really got into describing what they're characters were doing.  That sort of enthusiasm is a balm to this old GM's 's withered heart.

• For that matter, I really shouldn't be surprised when players do things I didn't expect them to do.  It did stretch part of the game beyond what I thought it would dtake, and approached one of the problems from a completely different angle, but it's going to be interesting to see how they run with things.

• How ARE they going to get rid of the sea monster before morning?

Overall verdict: success! Now I just have to prep for the next one!

Indeed my cold was courteous, in that it waited until after the LARP was all finished to manifest. Or maybe it just couldn't stand the excitement of the day, since it seems to be a pretty mild cold, more annoying than anything else.

But the weekend was wonderful- I survived a bout of zombie movie on Halloween, to attend a brilliant Dragaeria LARP that involved governmental change and macroeconomics. Since it's Dragaeria, it all worked out well. I got to play a brilliantly decadent Phoenix, something like a Bertie Wooster with a deathwish. I bumbled around, insulting Dragons and inserting the occasional pointed observation or question between my calls for drinks. And then abruptly, solved a mystery that turned out to be far more personally important than the turning of the cycle. Lots and lots of fun, and I actually got some fairly intense acting in. I'm looking forward to the next LARP.

So, after the cake and popcorn was eaten, and the game was finished, I was left with a generally good feeling about the convention game.  People had fun, and they seemed to like the setting.  II also got quite a bit of good feedback that indicated the areas where I need to do some work.  For example:

1) Change of the names of Daemons.  It's too easy for players to mangle in an annoying way.   The same probably goes for Devas as well.  Hmm...maybe Ashuras?

2) I'll need to do more complete character backgrounds, complete with description, attitudes and a choice of virtues and vices.   Attitudes toward the other characters would be a good idea as well.

3) I tend to ramble when describing places so I'll have to do write-ups of the major locations.  Likewise for the major equipment and vehicles such as skyfish.

4) I need to do up a cheat sheet for skill use and combat, and especially for what the feats and powers do.

5) Lastly, I tend to be easily distracted in games, so I'll need to be careful of my sugar intake as well as manage my time.

And so, i need to get to work.

OK, everyone who is attending, this is just a reminder that the game will be tomorrow at 1:00.  I'll be doing some character building and finalizing, as well as giving some setting background and details at that time.  Please bear in mind that this is definitely a shakedown game, so I'll be seeing what things can go wrong.

Sandy will be providing cake and possibly lemonade, and I will make some popcorn.  If anyone wants to bring chips or drinks, please be my guest.


I'm looking forward to it!

This is just a daytime reminder to anyone who is interested in the pre-convention UTGM game, and who hasn't voted in the scheduling poll, to go ahead and do so now.  I'll be making a final decision this evening.

Thanks!