Big Game Hunting - The One Ring RPG

One RPG to rule them all…

I’ve always been a bit leery of games that are set in huge franchises. I’ve seen them go amazingly (I quite like Babylon 5 for example) and go horribly (the less said about most of the D20 games, the better) but there’s an element of ‘oh now, come on, there’s a board game, computer game, war-game and now a new RPG based Lord Of The Rings to contend with. And I went into it expecting to hate it.

This isn’t an actual play look – in fact, I didn’t get to run it once since I received the review copy – that’ll come later in one of my actual play articles for Big Game Hunting, but what I did do was look at the mechanics from a GM's point of view, and what I saw was really nice.

I’ve played both previous incarnations of an LOTR RPG, and while they were solid, the One Ring wasn’t exactly coming in handicapped – each had its flaws, and neither really made the most of the most extensive and influential (some might argue) property in fantasy. It’s kind of like they’d bought up the prime beach property then let weeds grow in some ways. Along comes ‘The One Ring,’ and holy cow, it’s good.

It’s not set in the times of the War of the Ring.  It’s long before the tales of the Shire that everyone knows from LOTR/the Hobbit. There are decades before the world goes pear-shaped like that.

Due to the review copy I had, I didn’t have the special D12 that came with the box set (mine is a PDF) but it didn’t stop me from understanding the instructions and getting enough of a feel for it that I want my full copy now. I thought all of the mechanics were laid out well, and have touches of other games about them, but is blended enough to be unique. The PDF is nice and clear and renders well on my eReader and iPad, which is one of the more important things for me when looking at rules issues in PDFs.

One of the problems though with reviewing like this, is that I didn’t actually get to play – which is why we’re going to get a full copy soon and do a play through and offer an actual play game at some point.  With strong background and rules that are integrated rather than bent to fit the world this is a fitting and strong homage to Tolkien’s universe, without becoming too heavy or difficult to manage.  There’s plenty of scope for adventure and fun, or building into disasters that start small and end the continent, including leading your characters – eventually into the events surrounding the books that fans love and cherish.

Next week, Kai’s going to be reviewing Dragon Age and its expansion - while staunchly ignoring the EA nonsense brewing over the Mass Effect DLC.

Big Game Hunting - Are expansions really worth it?

Instead of reviewing one expansion, I thought I'd do something a bit smart and focus on what expansions bring to games.

Well, aside from the obvious.

We own several (many lots) board games, for which Proud Lion has furnished us with expansions. In fact, we have a standing order for both Death Angel, Battlestar Galactica and Mansions of Madness expansions. I'm going to be reviewing Death Angel later, but I thought I'd focus on the other two this time - Mansions of Madness and Battlestar Galactica.

Mansions of Madness has several expansions, from small to large (in fact, Fantasy Flight the company that makes the board game sent us the fix for the latest large expansion). Some come in boxes, and are quite hefty. Others are smaller Print On Demand expansions - simply cards and little quests. Both contextually add some solid dimension to the games. Season of the Witch, the first expansion, has been amazing. We have really gotten a great deal out of it - and it's the smallest of the expansions.

So, in the case of Mansions of Madness, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up the extras - it doesn't just add to the value of the game, it really does give it new depth.

Battlestar Galactica on the other hand has two expansions. With the first one, Pegasus, the gameplay remained remarkably unchanged. Though new characters were introduced (something MoM hasn't done - yet), there wasn't anything ground-breaking, mechanics wise, other than the Resurrection Ships and infiltrating (something which I've never understood tactically - once people know you're a Cylon, you're going to get killed whenever you wreak havoc on the ship. Sabotage comes down to luck at that point).

While the expansions have brought extra pieces, gameplay areas and more to the game, once you get the basics of Battlestar Galactica, bar one new mechanic, you've got it all, in my opinion. Be devious, or don't - either way, you can predict how a game is most likely going to end at the halfway point and none of the expansions have changed that. It may just be the style we play, but you CAN do without - though, that said, the expansions do bring some kick-ass characters. The second final expansion had three different options - one of which brought an interesting mechanic, something I'll be discussing in a later review, but for now I'll just say 'it's nasty'.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that expansions are great - some are better than others - and it depends on the game. If you're bored with the regular play, pop down or find out if the game has an expansion - you might reinvigorate your love for your board game - or discover that there's a new tactic to learn.

This week, Kai is very, very tired but working on the next article - 'The One Ring'.

Big Game Hunting - Mad Scientist University

One of the rules we’ve got in our house is that there has to be MANY LOTS of silly games. Many lots because there’s always going to be a standing date where one or more of us just don’t want to play in our campaign – either because there’s no time, or we can’t get in the mood or…

So, my partner and I started building up silly card games. We’ve got Munchkin, and Gloom, and some other ones - but by far and away our favourite is Mad Scientist University.

Produced by Atlas Games, it’s one of those cute games that if I tried to offer an actual blow-by-blow ‘actual play’, I might make brains explode. Atlas also makes Once Upon A Time, a pre-requisite for breaking the ice at the first three NaNoWriMos I ran down here, among other things.

The game itself doesn’t have background or character generation (though, you may want to practice evil laughter), and the game package is quite a small, long box, with two piles of cards – the unstable elements, and the assignments. Doesn’t sound complicated huh? It’s the fact that you have to create an evil genius plan by using your unstable element to fulfil the assignment. And with elements such as cheese, flamingos, lava, tweezers, clipboards, coconuts, coffee, bikinis, lawyers, and assignments of the evil calibre of ‘write your name on the moon’, or ‘find yourself a bearable flatmate’, it’s fair to say hilarity can ensue. You only get one unstable element, but the later in the turn you present, the more likely it is you can riff off someone else’s class project to get more chance of being awarded the assignment. You are a Mad Scientist after all.

Gameplay starts when the first player deals out the unstable elements to the other players. You all get 15 seconds to decide what you’re doing, then play starts. In truth, unless you’re only allowed to look at your card for the 15 seconds before your presentation, you get 15 seconds plus however long it takes to get to you. And the people present their zany ideas. The TA chooses who wins, and then the TA position is filled the next week by either the winner, or the person to one side of the TA. It really is a great game, though, be warned, you’re probably going to laugh…a lot.

This week, Kai is getting ready for her mom’s visit, reading ‘The One Ring’ to review in the next few weeks, and being a very good girl and NOT popping over to buy yet more american candy from Ben.

Big Game Hunting - Battlestar Galactica

So, board games. I’ve done some actual play reports on both Team Manager (which is a card game) and Mansions of Madness, but before we got our hands on them, my partner taught me Battlestar Galactica.



And let’s face it, it’s a great game. Gritty - and very close to the TV series, but not reliant on it, for those that haven’t seen it - with some really cool mechanics.

Background: the premise of BSG is basically ‘human survivors escape practical genocide, grim dark ensues’. The four sets of characters, which happen to be lead characters in the series are quite good – and with the mechanics and group interaction, it really can be quite tense. It’s realistic enough that you’ll find that you’re actually falling into the worries that drive the game, and the pressure to preserve everything is realistically conveyed via both the background and mechanics.

You don’t need to be a fan of the show to play the game – in fact, I’d say sometimes that’s a hindrance because YOUR reaction might not be the character reaction.

Mechanics: a mix of pre-dealt and draw based cards, of different colours (each representing a skill set) – the pre-dealt card or cards are to do with your allegiance – human or Cylon. If you’re a Cylon, until you’re revealed, you’re supposed to subtly mess with the players, by playing your draw cards (from one of five colours) into a set that lets you pass, or fail challenges. Each character can draw from up to three of these five coloured ‘skills’. The amazing thing about this is there’s also a destiny deck, dealt two from each of the skills, and also drawn from – so you may, or may not be able to tell if there’s a Cylon in your midst from the outset. You get more ‘loyalty’ card(s) when you reach the halfway point – some might force you to reveal, others may not.

Additional mechanics include tracking the ‘health’ of your ship – the Galactica herself in the main game – there are four elements – food, water, fuel and people, which can be taken away from (or very rarely added to). If any of them hit zero, you lose the game.



Tactically, there are certain things you might want to do to ensure that you win, or lose the game – depending on whether you’re a Cylon or not. But what we’ve worked out is one thing has to be in the ‘red’ at the halfway point (when more loyalty cards are dealt) for the humans to stand a chance of winning. In every game we’ve played, that’s been the only way we’ve won.

The other thing we’ve learned is that subtlety is probably better than outing yourself as a Cylon, though, sewing seeds of confusion is also a lot of fun – and can be quite lethal to the other characters, which, as a Cylon, makes it even easier for you to win.

Overall I’d rate it 8/10 – it can get slow at points, and other times it feels like you can’t win – which means that sometimes you feel like it’s hopeless, which makes for a less than enjoyable game. Overall though, it’s a really worthwhile game.

This week, Kai broke her phone, so is now learning to talk to Siri – and writing a new novel.

Big Game Hunting - Rogue Trader

Published by Fantasy Flight, Rogue Trader and its supplements (plus its predecessor Dark Heresy and its supplements, plus various subsequent sister-RPGs) are an entertaining and often hilarious sci-fi game where mayhem ensues, out amongst the stats. Or, perhaps, it’s just the campaign I’m involved in…

Background: Rogue Trader is an ‘offshoot’ of sorts of Warhammer 40K, which is a popular tabletop war gaming game. I can’t think of a roleplayer that I know that hasn’t played one of Games Workshop’s games, even unwittingly, so the background is pretty much immersed in gaming pop culture. Rogue Trader takes an element of that – specifically the ‘little guy’ concept and sticks you out amongst the stars, against the backdrop of the history as your GM knows and interprets it.

As to whether it’s important – if you want to play a space game, no. The background is only important to understand why it’s difficult to get your hands on tech (which can be accepted at face value) and why there are things that you really need to watch out for (but again, geek and gaming pop culture covers most of that). Background DOES make it richer, especially if you’re using character types from the expansion books.

Mechanics: Character generation isn’t complicated – it’s dice rolling (d100 aka 2 x d10) and applying those rolls to a basic set of stats, then designing your character - which increases or decreases your stats, gives you talents, etc. My favourite part of it is there’s a map of sorts that takes you to your ultimate role in the game – so there’s only certain things the Rogue Trader can have versus what the Astropath has. It’s interesting enough that you weigh stuff off. Then, your GM gives you XP and you put customisations onto your character, again, based on your overall character. What it gives is robust characters that can do what they need to – but it does also lead to a bit of a character ‘lock’ of sorts.

The add-on books and sister-RPGs (and there are lots of them – including Death Watch) add additional character types, extra levelling ‘stuff’ and more background. Along with all new ways for your GM to really insert the proverbial chainsword.

Gameplay: Overall, I’d say Rogue trader is a great game. I’ve really enjoyed it so far. We’re in the middle of the second iteration of a very long term campaign. It’s not so restrictive that you can’t do what you want and respond to something in your own way, but it’s not so open that you can completely wreck your chances of survival – most of the time. There are some really irritating aspects of the game, but I think most of it is personal preference.

While Rogue Trader isn’t where I started playing this version of the games (I’ve played Dark Heresy), I have to say that Rogue Trader is the one that really stands out for me. I’ve got a wonderful GM (my other half), and I think that’s really made the difference to the game.

This week... Kai screwed up. Book is running late and she’s really not enjoying being an author. She has a plan though (and next week she’s reviewing Battlestar Galactica).

Big Game Hunting - Game design roundup

So, the last five articles I’ve provided talked about how to design a game, everything from setting and backstory to design. The final part of this is distributing it.

And I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to distribution it has to be said. In my ‘real world’ job, I’m a copywriter, editor and PR specialist as well as crazy author type lady. And to be honest, it’s the bit I like the best.

The best bit about producing a game that works is sharing it with others – I know many people that take part in homebrew projects and then keep them to themselves – which is a waste in some ways. If you’re having fun and after some really robust tests (hint, I usually find wine and a group of friends that are up for a laugh really helps after final design) and it still works – I’d say release it.

But the question would then become ‘how’?

With digital printing and print on demand, it’s not as difficult as it used to be – but, no matter what anyone tells you, it’s going to cost you something. If you’re not a professional writer, you’re going to need an editor (though, your friends might help with that) and an artist (again, friends might help). At that point, you could just distribute it as a PDF – there are some great sites that let you do so (including Drivethru RPG).

And if you want to involve a local element – print some business cards with a download code and give them to your local store. They sell one, he hands out the card – some software lets you generate one-time access codes – others will rely on the honesty of people buying from the local store to not give out the URL.

And if that makes money – consider investing in a real live print run. The gaming industry is pretty well set up for that – one of the groups in my home town, Contested Grounds Studios put out a|state when I was still back home, over six years ago and it was a roaring success. Gregor Hutton, who is an amazing game designer (and a good friend), puts out his games quite a lot and appears at gaming events. He’s the reason I design my own stuff – after chasing me to take part in a 24 hour RPG contest. The only thing that really limits you is the time you’ve got to invest – because that’s often a bigger ‘expense’ than printing, especially if you go PDF first, then offer a print run.

A final thing to remember – where I can, I buy the extra PDFs that go with our games because I like them on my iPad – and with the Kindle Fire coming soon, it might be that GMs find their favourite tool isn’t their dice roller, it’s their e-reader. In which case, the investment for indies is going to be tiny.

This week, Kai is still editing. The less said about it, the better, but on the bright side, the book is out on the 12th February!

Big Game Hunting - The penultimate... fight scene?

So, you’ve got background, you’ve got character, you’ve got stats... what’s last?

The only thing we’ve not talked about so far is fighting and other rolls to ‘gain’ something. Contested checks are great fun, but unless you have a great grasp of the underlying basis of your game, and what you *want* from it and its setting, contested checks are also the hardest thing to design.

And unfortunately, they’re also the area I’m weakest in. So instead of explaining how they work, I thought I’d save you a bit of time and tell you about a disaster I had designing my CSI style game.

So, picture the scene. I’ve got this kick ass mechanic that lets you accurately decide how long something is going to take to solve, and a chart that lets you ‘rank’ your investigation by how long it takes to solve something – there’s even a mechanic to decide if the person escapes or commits another crime. It all works. I’ve got rolls for science checks and XP bonuses for people to award if the description and ‘jargon’ is right.

And then I got onto capturing the criminal, if she/he hasn’t escaped.

The problem I encountered was that I could not weight the rolls to show that the criminal was/wasn’t a mastermind and was/wasn’t adept. Some crimes were vicious – others were planned. And unless the GM had separate tables to roll against, invariably, the CSI’s, no matter how weedy, kicked his/her ass.

The thing is, the more varied the game, and the encounters, the harder the contested rolls will be to design. In the end, I left that freeform – it’s part of the GM set up right at the beginning. There’s 12 tables to pick from, and the GM picks one from each row of three – and that covers every conceivable event that you’ll hit for ‘fighting’ – and that forms part of the ‘bad guy’ character gen. It’s not the most satisfying solution, but it works. So, I’d say that if you’re not getting what you want approaching it head on, try it from another side. You never know – it might work better if you make it more rigid – or if it’s too rigid – make it less rigid.

This week, Kai lied last week and is still on FINAL, LAST CHANCE edits for Glass Block. She’s also thinking hard about what to write next week And yes, she’s considering how to share the CSI game too – if her brain doesn’t asplode first.

Big Game Hunting - Sully their character!

Game designers are, let’s face it, responsible for most of the initial shouting and swearing that goes on around the table in general, and also some of the biggest hilarity before people actually gets into the game itself. That's right, this week I'm talking about the player character design process.

Depending on how people choose characteristics, both good and bad, will dictate how they play their character in game. Also, you’re giving the GM fuel at this point – the truly savvy GM listens to how people describe their characters, and how others discuss and react to the information they share.

Abilities and skills are interchangeable in the minds of players, but it’s important to understand when designing games that there are three sub types of designing a character. It’s key to explore a couple of systems before settling on how you’re handling this bit – you can either have something that’s really ‘rigid’ but actually generates the right range of characters for the game, or something really loose and give your players the chance to rely on luck and common sense.

Positive and negative are difficult to consider in terms of characteristics. So once you’ve generated the vital ‘statistics’, (whether bought or via dice roll), the next step is almost always to choose from a list of characteristics. Of course, for the game writer, it’s not as easy as ‘just picking’. Depending on the mechanic of the game, you’ll design it in one of several ways.

Both ways are basically based around XP though – the GM will give the gamers a pool of points to buy stats from. And this is the game designer part - you have to think about how your player is going to design the character they’re going to play. And to do this, you have to think about archetypes.

Archetypes are the stereotypical ‘meta’ characters that people can create. Warrior, mage, healer, rogue, etc. Each of these character types have strengths and weaknesses. This is your ability/attribute/skill set pool. So, you can create the characters, brain storm over the elements you think you might need, and playtest, playtest, playtest! And then, add a splash of personality. So, you’re a fighter and you’re good at it – you’re probably going to be an arrogant toad. So, add arrogance (and give that stat a consequence – you could add points back into the pool to buy something else, but it could mean that in certain rolls, you have a penalty. Positive stats cost more to buy, but add to rolls, or give automatic successes etc.)

There’s a final part to this – you need both the positive, and the negative. Without negative traits characters aren’t only one dimensional, but they’re difficult to play, and mostly unsatisfying. So, ensure that there’s some nasty in with all that nice.

D Kai Wilson-Viola is on FINAL EDITS for Glass Block and is genuinely wishing her senile cat would stop the pre-dawn chorus.

Big Game Hunting – Meet the Munchkins….

Our illustrious leader, Ben, filled me in very briefly today about the kerfuffle that Fantasy Flight caused when releasing a new game that, apparently, hadn’t been play tested to a rigorous standard. So, instead of talking about characters this week, I thought I’d talk about something that usually comes much later in the design process, but you really need to start planning for from the outset.

Play testing.

It’s actually quite fun. I’ve had one play tester ask for a ‘look good naked’ skill and discovered, while doing the final playtest of another game that falling from a kerb is actually lethal. And apparently, that that newest release for Mansions Of Madness (which is being very quickly errata'd and fixed), needs two rooms... printed on either side of one piece of card. And that’s just one thing I was told about.

It might not seem like much, but play testing is one of my wish list, big-ticket gaming items – and one that I don’t actually do very often. I like play testers to find holes in my games – much like I like my beta readers to find holes in my plots, so I thought I’d share some play testing wisdom – perhaps, it’ll help you design characters and scenarios.

1) Never expect people to play it straight – in fact, if you’ve got a friend that likes to ‘munchkin’, let them. It’ll stop the conversations later on of ‘I can’t win’, which no GM likes to hear. Or worse, a GM having to fill the holes themselves.

2) Deliberately cheat when play testing – how obvious is it if the GM cheats? How about the players? Look at every hole you’ve got and try to drive that MAC truck through it. That way, you know what to adjust.

3) Go to extremes. Play a game where one round the players are lucky (automatic critical successes) – does it make the game impossible to play later because they’ve won stuff that they shouldn’t have. And then, play the same round the other way and critically fumble the rolls. Again, does it really shaft the players? Then, middle of the road? What happens.

Finally, roll actual results a couple of sets of times. What’s the average outcome?

If you do this for several key mechanics in your game, you’ll probably get a feel for where the system is unbalanced, before your players do. Which is a very good thing.

This week, Kai can barely walk, having broken herself. There’s no dice roll to fix that, but, on the bright side, she’s pokemonning for all she’s worth.

Big Game Hunting - System thoughts (this might get a bit complicated)

I’ve always thought of system as the bit where people say ‘and here comes the science part’ in the advert (and the character dying as the ‘because you’re WORTH IT’ bit), but system is one of those things that I understand well enough to design, but probably not well enough to explain.

System is complicated, it’s scary, and it’s strange. So why is it, exactly, that I’m trying to reinvent the wheel designing my own? And worse than that, encouraging you, gentle GM to do the same?

Simple – if a system doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for your players either. Partially broken systems lead simply to “munchkinning” (where a player designs a character that deliberately breaks the rules) and the only person that doesn’t really enjoy that is well... everyone, there’s no harm in it, right?

Well, right. And wrong. Because if you’re one of the blessed few that can do better, then you should.

Designing a system comes down to ensuring that something is not only balanced, but works in ways that would work, whether you remove the optional parts. It works, whether your player is lower level or higher level, and is balanced to make sense in your universe. It can be a very difficult thing to do – because balance goes beyond players and NPCs and means that if there’s a cause and effect style event, that the rules cover that too. I remember play testing a game once and discovering that for even marginally unlucky to even kinda lucky dice rolls, we had to change the system because tripping and falling off the curb killed!

While you don’t think about that, the important thing when designing a system with balance is to remember that even after play testing, you have to find and apply errata. There are various game companies out there and there are frequently errata issued, so that’s OK. Whether this bothers you or not is your choice, but after extensive play testing you’ll still find something that you haven’t thought of. Which is why system designing becomes more and more complicated as time goes by – and each iteration can introduce complications – so it’s important to build a base system underneath that works. Once you’ve got the ‘solid’ base, it should bend but not break.

Whether it’s diceless, one dice or several dice types, find a system that works for you, then you can quantify – it doesn’t matter what dice you use, as long as it makes some measure of sense.

This week, Kai is getting angry at MS Word’s rigid spell check – munckinning is a word dammit!

Big Game Hunting - So… you want to design a game?

RPG games are some of the most amazing things that people can ever write – they’re more intensely interactive than most books and can take people into new worlds that they’ve never experienced. Give them the opportunity to explore as people they can never be.

As a games designer, it’s YOUR job to give the GM the tools to create the worlds that underpin and support their story. It’s your job to find the best rules set and character design and background to work with what they want, and it’s your job to excite and entice them into playing games.

So, with all of the games and all of the systems out there, why would you design one in the first place, and where do you start?Design is one of those things that can’t really be described – it’s something that you find yourself, but as a game design ‘rule set’, there are a couple of things that you should consider.

And over the next five weeks, or more, I’m going to talk about them. For now though, this post is to get you thinking about why you want to design a game, whether you can adapt an existing system, and if not, what you need to think about.

The why is a very personal thing. Game design comes down to filling a gap, either that you’ve got yourself, or one that you can see in the market. My games have always been designed around my books – because they’re important to me. I could have adapted other games out there, but I always worried that they wouldn’t help. For example, right now, I’m designing a game that requires multiple rolls for certain passes – and that these are always a core set and depending on the rolls, overall, will depend on the result. It’s complex, so it needs thoroughly tested, and I don’t think there’s anything quite like it out there. I’m designing this because it’s a specific thing that I couldn’t overcome in any other way. That’s my why. Yours may be more or less complicated.

If you can adapt a game, you might find that easier – it’s often how designers get into understanding the central ideas around designing games. But remember, sometimes its easier to set up your won stuff, so don’t always bodge systems.

Finally – if you’re designing a game, you need to consider a lot of things – from background to rule set to dice, and structure and system. All mostly interlock, so it’s important to start with the hardest one and bend the easier ones to match. Or at least, that’s how I do it.

Next week I’m going to talk system.

This week, Kai is testing out a three part dice roll system. It’s complicated.

Big Game Hunting - Actual Play: Mansions Of Madness

We’ve been looking for an Arkham Horror-like game to take the place of the Cthulhu horror classic for a while. Although we really enjoy Arkham Horror, it takes forever to set up and play, plus if there’s a lot of people it’s difficult to keep everyone engaged in it sometimes. We’ve been wanting to find a game with that ‘feel’, but not that level of detail or laborious setup. So, when we heard about Mansions Of Madness, I thought it would be ideal.

The first thing I noticed was how neat the game actually is. It’s got a very nice setup system – which means that we could design our own scenarios. Double-sided map tiles (for indoor and outdoor areas) slot together to make up the play area – and there are five scenarios, each with variations already provided. The mechanics within the game for the ‘GM’ (or bad guy) is quite cool – there’s a set of variables within the scenario, but they can be in different areas and used in a variety of ways, depending on the multiple choice answers the GM gives to set up the game. Most maps had two or three Objective cards, depending on those choices, and some of them have additional ‘end result’ conditions linked to your selections during the setup. So, though there are only five scenarios, it’s conceivable that you could play the same scenario, with different events each time.

From the player side, it’s a difficult game. It’s not an easy game to win fights either – they’ve kept a lot of the mechanics from the original Arkham Horror, including dodging and horror values assigned to monsters. The twist now is that they’ve got much more hit points and a way to track that.

Our first play through saw two characters dead within half an hour, and resurrected as zombies, but we won, only just. The second play through saw the GM (me) win, but only because I insisted on setting the whole area on fire.

The models are gorgeous – new sculpts of the old cast that you might have encountered in Arkham Horror, if you’ve played, and lots of good looking monster miniatures, as well as one or two new ones.

I think the thing that had me most excited - and still holds my attention even after a dozen plays of the game or so (we’ve since bought the Season of the Witch expansion, which brings up the count on the game scenarios to six) - are the puzzles. There are several puzzles in the game, where you have to complete basic tasks – rewiring, matching up symbols on tumblers, or reorganising pictures to match diagrams. On the surface, it doesn’t sound difficult, but it’s really refreshing to find a game that actually challenges people to do something other than roll dice. Fighting is still dice rolling in this game, and attributes are pretty much fixed once you've chosen cards, so the ‘puzzle’ mechanic makes this a unique and utterly captivating game that I return to often when I’m looking for a challenge.

We’ve still not instituted the "60 seconds to solve" rule (which they suggest to make the puzzles even more challenging) but to be honest, I don’t think we need to. It’s a lovely game, and well worth taking a look at, especially if you’re a horror or Arkham horror fan. Find a GM with a wicked streak and I promise you, you’ll have a really enjoyable night.

D Kai Wilson-Viola is back where it all began, getting ready for the exciting next step...

Big Game Hunting - Actual Play: Blood Bowl Team Manager

Bit of a confession to make before I start this – I really wasn’t expecting much from this game – I’m from a generation of gamers that remembers the polystyrene pitch for Blood Bowl (yes, I’ve been playing a very long time!) and it’s not that I dislike card games, because that’s really not the case at all, but I do find some of them very limiting and tedious.

Not so with Blood Bowl! A game for 2-4 players, we decided to dive in at the deep end and play with four of us, so got two friends over one evening and began to play.

Blood Bowl takes the form of a basic card game, with several piles of cards to draw from, depending on the matches you play in, win or lose. You get something out of every match, and that ‘something’ is split into manager upgrades, team upgrades, new players and fans. There’s also definitively a strategy to how to play, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Your basic hand consists of a basic team. No Star Players, and no manager/Team Upgrades. You separate out your Star Players, which then go into a pool shared between the OWA (Elves/humans/Dwarves) and the CWA (Chaos/Orc/Ratmen). As you play through, each match has a set ‘reward’ – one for playing in it, and a prize for the winner. It gets to be quite tactical, because sometimes there are three rewards per card – one for each team on each side (which can vary), and a central ‘win’ prize. There are also cards which modify the style of play, and where you can also play in cups.

Overall, it’s a lovely game that takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you do, it can be very fast paced, and hilariously funny. The ‘Cheat’ mechanic is also very nice. You draw from a pool of tokens which you play on any characters that have the ‘Cheat’ icon (because, of course, cheating is mandatory – you can choose to Pass, or Sprint (draw one and then discard one) or Tackle, but you can’t choose to Cheat). You can either end up with fans, extra ‘star’ points (which helps determine the match winner), or get sent off if you’re caught. Much like the game, cheating is often rewarded, but is also sometimes spotted.

The game is quite a riot – and as for tactics? I’d suggest maxing out your team upgrades and match them, if you can, with manager upgrades. Then in the last tournament go all out fans if you can, because the team and manager upgrades *add* fans at the end of the game. Star Players rock, and they mean you can put one of your basic linesmen back in the box (so your deck always remains the same size), but they are also useful on their own for taking the fall, so it’s all a question of balance.

D Kai Wilson-Viola isn't finishing pounding the other players into submission!

The Cat's Whiskers - The problem with exclusivity

Amazon launched their new e-readers this week. Gorgeous pieces of kit, the Fire is a serious contender to take on the iPad. And that’s when it got a bit messy in the writing world.

It started innocuously enough – there were going to be special editions of certain things bundled and only available on the Fire, in eReader format. Time Warner (DC Comics and all of the imprints), decided to offer 100 of its flagship titles exclusively on the Fire. In a reaction attempt to somehow play hardball with Amazon, Barnes and Noble are now refusing to stock those graphic novels in print. And then Books-A-Million threw a hissy fit.

I know it is not entirely obvious from the outside, but aside from writing content and games, and working as a copywriter/coder, I’m also an indie author. I don’t like the idea of being limited to my choice of book stores, simply because of where I choose to publish, and that’s where this looks like it’s all heading. Perhaps it won’t and it’ll all blow over before then, but it could come to a choice of exclusivity on the Kindle or the Nook. At this point the Nook is going to die a horrible death. The Kindle is the eReader of choice for most people, and the uptake has been incredible.

But, here’s the thing. In other areas of the industry, including gaming, having exclusive deals isn’t only a good thing for customers, it’s a good thing for companies – we don’t read about games companies boycotting one another because one got a better pre-order offer than the other. It’s competition, which is good for business. And so what if the Fire got some comics? While eReaders are huge, they’re not saturated yet. By a long shot.

So, what does it look like, from here? From the perspective of a geek with more toys than sense (iPad, Kindle, iPhone), in the UK, it barely affects me. I get my comics in person from my friendly local comic book store, so that’s not a problem, but what I don’t think B&N realised is they’re not causing a problem for Amazon doing this. In fact, they’re driving the geek contingent, already excited by the prospect of a genuine competitor to the iPad, further into the arms of their enemy.

From a writer’s perspective, this looks horrible – but not entirely unexpected. The problem I guess is going to come if Amazon decides to retaliate, because while B&N and Amazon are probably not going to feel this, it might affect the indies. And given media is all about the diversity that comes from all of the different areas, from large houses to the sole artist that hand produces content, anything that makes people take sides is a bad plan.

D Kai Wilson-Viola is fresh from a much-needed relaxing evening at the spa.

Big Game Hunting - Game design pre-qualification

Want to design a game? Have you got an idea of the type of game you’d like to do? Good! That’s a great start – but it’s often there that people get stuck. How do you go from idea to game? Concept to completion?

Once you’ve worked out what you want to write – and once you’ve got the idea on paper, whether that’s the key NPC, or the background story, or a mix of a whole pile of notes, the next thing you need to think about is your game system.

Because there are so many game systems out there, thinking about your game system is probably one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. It not only dictates how you’ll design your system, it also gives you the support you need to work out how to take those first steps.

When I’m designing a game, I actually work with my own hybrid systems – partially to do with chance (d10) and partially to do with set attributes - based on various criteria. I’ve seen other games that use chips, dice, or counters, so don’t feel you’re constrained to complicated character sheets – while many people enjoy building characters, it’s often a good idea to make your first game something you could write and play with ease. Most people that decide they want to write a game have been playing for a very long time – so have systems that they like, and don’t like.

One of the other recommendations I was given, when starting game design was not to start with the ‘big’ game I had in mind – I’m still in the process of writing to games that are huge – one forensics based, and one based around the sci-fi serial of books I was writing. But the first game I ever wrote was a 24hourrpg project. It was a lot of fun and was very easily broken, but it gave me the chance to write and play something very silly, and very easy to test. It also showed me the areas that games break, straight away – both games I wrote that year for the 24hourrpg broke exactly the same way.


In the next couple of articles, I’m going to talk specifics. What sort of game systems there are out there? Why you need flavour text (and how to decide how to write it)? And how (and who) to test your games? But for now – what’s your idea? Got one?

This week, Kai is writing furiously, enjoying the peace and quiet of school returns, and is really geeked out about Animal Man. She still can’t fix the problem with her forensics game.

52 New Beginnings - Endgame

In the last four weeks, along with the other bloggers at Prowling The Savannah, I’ve been introduced to eight new comics. I was going to do my own little ranking within the eight, but it’s unfair to write off a comic based on your first experience of it.

But there’s been a couple of standout observations that I felt I should probably make.

First, I never realised how much ‘boob’ shows up on comic books. I know that women are always cute, curvy and never (or very rarely) fat, but Jesum Crow, there’s been a lot of structural improbabilities. And I didn't even end up with the likes of Catwoman...

What I also noticed was that there are lots of things rated Teen that are showing more cleavage than I expected – and I’m not a prude. It’s another shorthand in the comics that I think is something that needs to go, and fast – not because it’s objectification, but because it’s holding the genre back and perpetuating a myth. I’m not the average comic book reader, but I collect certain ones – The Walking Dead, Sandman (I've got a weak spot for Death, it has to be said), Constantine, and others, so I’m right at home in the dark stuff, but other than Death, who is a teenage girl, scantily clad women don’t really come up much.

So, the first thing I learned about superheroes is that women obviously pack breast tape to ensure they don’t have any costume malfunctions. Or, perhaps it’s an extra special attack that could backfire or really work in their favour?

Second, I've got two new franchises to explore from DC, which, I admit, I might not have picked up until they were in their collected form if it weren't for the review commitment, but has rekindled my love of comics. Animal Man and Justice League Dark are basically win in my book. I’m also quite looking forward to Suicide Squad and Grifter (of which, the only one I didn’t review is Suicide Squad), though like Kate, I’m a bit worried about Harley’s state of undress and was actually quite gratified to see her returning to what I consider almost normal on the new Batman computer game release.

Looking back at things from the point of view of a writer, rather than a reader, each of the comics I reviewed show me one thing – that there are many ways to tell a story - and while they didn't all feel successful to me, I did really enjoy exploring the worlds they created. As primarily a fiction writer, it’s got me thinking about how my books would look as graphic novels and how the discipline is vastly different. But it did also show me a couple of neat techniques that really worked for me. And I guess that’s the most important thing of all. I think that as long as we’re learning from the media we’re looking at, that’s what makes it worthwhile.

D Kai Wilson-Viola will be back next week with the return of Big Game Hunting!

52 New Beginnings - The Edge

All-Star Western
reviewed by Ben Fardon

Poor Jonah Hex. Never a particularly famous character in the DCU, but he does have his fans and the ongoing series of the last few years was critically praised.

Then came last year's movie and any hope of Hex finding a wider audience disappeared in flames. Chances are you haven't seen it. Probably because you read the reviews! I had the chance to watch it in the hotel in the Big Apple during the New York ComicCon and I can confirm that it was truly awful.

So, come the 52 reboot it makes perfect sense that DC would decide to quietly shelf the eponymous title, in favour of something similar, a return to All Star Western, the title in which Hex debuted back in 1972.

Thankfully DC have kept the same writers and Gray and Palmiotti have taken the shrewd move of relocating Jonah Hex to the Old West version of Gotham City, recently established in the successful Batman Gates Of Gotham miniseries. This immediately gives the title some appeal to the huge Batman fanbase, which the cynical part of me questions as mere stunt, but the pragmatist in me can't help but grudgingly approve.


The cover says it all really. Jonah Hex + Gotham = hopeful success? What we essentially have here is a 19th Century criminal investigation as the much maligned Doctor Amadeus Arkham teams up with the infamous bounty hunter Jonah Hex. The juxtaposition of an educated but ridiculed psychiatrist with a sickening yet respected loner is a good mix, a collision of the verbose and the stoic. It keeps character interaction at the heart of a story that could otherwise slide into cliché, especially with murdered prostitutes and a serial killer daubing bloody messages onto walls. Throw in a clandestine cabal of wealthy businessmen, some carousing in a saloon and the DC New 52 staple of a fancy dinner party and you really could have a mess of stereotypes akin to this month's DC Universe Presents.

Thankfully, not unlike the modern day Sherlock that Steven Moffat recently treated us to, All Star Western rises above such concerns by allowing the characters to inhabit the story. It's also great to see returning faces from Gates Of Gotham such as Mayor Theodore Cobblepot and doubtless we will see more of these founding fathers. The world of 19th Century Gotham City is a rich playground and Jonah Hex will have a lot fun there. This title is definitely worth a look for fans of the aforementioned Batman miniseries.

One word of warning. The artwork does not dazzle or inspire. It's sparse on detail and the colours are flat and muted, which whilst it does fit the gritty Western genre, I found myself longing for the sparkle of an indie book like Lady Mechanika. Which is a shame because with better artwork this could have been one of the real breakout hits of the new 52. Instead, it's simply quite good.

Blackhawks
reviewed by D Kai Wilson-Viola

Once again, I’m coming into a franchise blind, except, for once, I recognise two of the names on the front. Mike Costa does IDW's G.I. Joe comics and the storyline is very reminiscent of that style - as is some of the artwork - which was a bit of a surprise. There’s a specific character or two on the front that I looked at and thought ‘hah, familiar’. And I love Graham Nolan’s artwork – his Phantom wasn’t a great comic story wise, but the artwork definitely left an impression on me. Normally, I’m kinda oblivious, so this one’s a winner.


Blackhawks is a good comic – I thought the storyline was awesome, but I did think a couple of the panels seemed to be out of order – I’m not sure if they were or if I just got really confused, but that didn’t really interrupt much at all. The atmosphere, style and underlying concepts were good, and the cliffhanger at the end is actually almost as strong as the best comics I’ve reviewed this month.

My only complaint? Other than page four being out of order (she asks if he’s a biter at the top, then gets bitten, though it could just be a worse bite the second time) – nothing. I liked the colour balance, which was a range for once, but more subtle in areas than I was expecting .

As I actually know something about the writer and one of the artists, I think I was instantly endeared. I know Mike Costa only started being published in 2009, and this is a very nicely developed strong storyline, without being overpowering. For once I actually feel like I’m at the same place as everyone else. I’m intrigued enough to be interested, and would be quite comfortable letting my teenage son read this one – though whether that continues remains to be seen.


Voodoo
reviewed by Kate Townshend

I’m torn. On the one hand, at least Voodoo is a comic with some awareness of the male gaze. Voodoo herself gets a full facial shot (if you’ll excuse the expression) on the front cover, and there’s a marvellous series of frames where we see her strip show through the lens of a leering male detective’s sunglasses. Even the other strippers in the story get a fair shot at some dialogue and characterisation although it does tend to fall into the ‘single Mom saving for college’ dramatic stereotypes. So maybe I’m not so torn actually... despite its subject matter Voodoo doesn’t send me into a blind feminist rage which is already a point in its favour.


On top of this, it’s another comic that seems to narrow the lens in order to focus on the emotional struggles and motivations of characters, and it’s this intimacy that makes it interesting. The strip club interrogation scene is a bit of a cliché but Voodoo’s transformation is genuinely startling, and at the point where she loses it, she’s already built up some sympathetic collateral with the reader. She might look like another misogynist vision of a ‘bad’ girl, but there are at least hints here that she’s merely a frightened misfit, trying to get along and fit in, much like everyone else.

Equally heartening, is the portrayal of the female detective on Voodoo’s tail, who spends much of this first issue refusing to put up with her partner’s brand of renegade sexism and kicking the asses of a bunch of wannabe Eminem Neanderthals. I really hope that having set her up as a character in her own right, we’ll be seeing more of her as the series unfolds.

By now you’re probably picking up on the tone of mild surprise running through this review. I didn’t expect to like Voodoo. But, actually, I kind of do.

52 New Beginnings - The Dark

I, Vampire

reviewed by Kate Townshend

Well, after joking a couple of weeks ago that the next stage in female character outfit evolution would be Harley strutting around au naturel on a front cover, I, Vampire has made me realise that I’m already behind the times. Our protagonists are pictured looking mean and moody; him with jeans and rippling biceps, her with, well pretty much nothing at all actually (I refuse to count the ‘slightly darker shading’ that has been used to prevent the comic from being consigned to opaque plastic bags on the top shelf).

Despite this, I Vampire is exactly the sort of story I should like, focused as it is on the interpersonal dynamics between two rather striking characters. He is a tortured Angel type, wrestling with his darker impulses, while she is fearless and amoral and rather compelling actually. The artwork is pretty cool too, all flowing lines and stark blacks and whites juxtaposed against one another, and it works because this is a world where lines of good and evil are being drawn against a sense that it would be delightfully easy to just go with the flow.

And I love the fact that this first issue is fundamentally just a conversation between the two main characters... it’s an effective way of drawing us into their world and demarcating the lines that will drive the story. Some of the dialogue is a little clunky, but I can’t make up my mind whether or not this is just the awkwardness of the character or a flaw in the writing. The revolutionary parallels that Mary tries to draw are interesting if not terribly subtle, and there is a real sense of an epic narrative being set in place.

But back to the nakedness. Part of me wonders if this is just an explicit parallel being made between Mary and her animalistic side, in which case you could make an (admittedly rather tenuous) case for it as a justified part of characterisation. She is "magnificent", "free" and unfettered and maybe she’s just cooler than the rest of us with our bourgeois preferences for textiles. The less generous interpretation though, is that this is another tired attempt to link sexual women with evil ones. In which case, yawn.

Overall though, it’s fun, interesting and worth a second look. (At the contents… not just the cover!)

Justice League Dark

reviewed by D Kai Wilson-Viola

Of all the comics, bar Teen Titans, this has actually be one that I’ve been looking forward to. I live in a ‘Cartoon Network’ household, which means things like Teen Titans, Justice League and Static Shock are actually franchise sets that I recognise, so when I heard I was getting JL:D, I squeed a little.

And, of all the comics I’ve reviewed so far, this one has to be one of the better ones. Maybe it’s because I know some of the mythology they’re using for once, or perhaps I just really got the pace, the colouring and the techniques, but this one is definitely one that I’d like to continue with. It’s interesting enough that it held my attention from the outset, and I liked (and yes, recognised) some of the characters. There are some nice precedents established, plus, I was quite interested to see whom they’d dragged in from Justice League, so from the outset there is crossover and interaction. I won’t spoil that, but it’s enough to say that the overlay story and narrator works really well, while allowing the story just to unfold, which is something I think is very neat. There’s control and direction there while the story evolves, and as a writer, I love seeing that technique employed properly. In contrast to the Deadman comic last week (who, coincidentally makes a brief appearance), which swung and missed, this was perfect.

There are – kind of – styles associated with each character, though so far we haven’t seen them all in the same place, so I’m not sure if that’s going to be something that continue through the comic, which will be interesting, but mostly, I like the overall and underlying story, along with the stronger, deeper story going on. It’ll be neat to see where this one goes.

52 New Beginnings - Justice League

Captain Atom

reviewed by D Kai Wilson-Viola

A natural disaster threatens an unexpected city, and Captain Atom, whom has in the preceding pages been established as ‘breaking down’ in more ways than one, has to respond. Sounds like a good recipe for a comic right? Perhaps something even marginally ground-breaking?

It’s not all good though - I’m not sure if that was a deliberate allegory to the storyline, or if it was something accidental – but the first read through of the comic made me think ‘nothing special’. Just not till the very – absolute – last page of the first comic. Second read through and I spotted some subtleties I’d missed – but had I not been reviewing, and had that second page not caught me, I think I’d have not bothered again.

I quite enjoyed Captain Atom – like many of the superheroes that we encounter, he’s flawed – damaged in some way – and it’s a refreshing change to see someone that suffers inwardly instead of the tired tropes of being an orphan or other characterisation broad stroke that comics seem to employ. He’s been in a horrible accident, changing him, but this seems to be after his peak of power. Again, very interesting, but again, I found it difficult to empathise. There was definitively something missing from it.

Crisp artwork, mostly in shades that fit the mood that it’s trying to express, with clean, clever dialogue cap off a comic that didn’t go in the direction that I expected – and though I went into it reading something I thought was pretty much average, I came out of it wondering how they were going to run with the story. And what he’d done to create that very last thought, on the very last page.

It has action, and it has a certain amount of charm, but this is one of the comics that I think is going to kick ass on the back story – as well as go forward with what could be a very interesting – and possibly unique – setup.

DC Universe Presents

reviewed by D Kai Wilson-Viola

Amazing artwork with a bit of a cocky swagger to the inner monologue, and I was actually quite enjoying the whole thing until the third page when I got to, "flying through the air with the greatest of ease." Hello cliché. And they didn’t stop there, which is, in my book at least, unforgivable.

Deadman was a trapeze artist. Assassinated, I assume, because he was a bit of an arrogant piece of work by his own admission, he is to reincarnate and continue on to enlightenment. It kinda goes downhill from there. The concept has one touching element – the one thing that could redeem him – that he "had to do something" before possessing his next soul. The whole "cathartic healing of others via possession" concept could have been so much more – Quantum Leap for example did it in a much more interesting way.

Some of the other broad stroke characters that he’s ‘been’ that are dumbed down and expressed in one panel clichés: the priest who’s lost his faith; or the stripper who hates her father, yet cries because she misses him so much; the death wish stuntman (who makes an appearance at the beginning of the narration). All of them are trite and contrived - while I get that it’s supposed to be "just another step" for him and a life changing event for them – one panel just didn’t seem to do that concept justice. The encapsulation and back story dump, with the obvious stereotypes made me feel cheated, and that overshadowed the rest of the comic.

I guess that’s the other thing that bothered me – there was no working for the back story – and by the time I’d gotten to about the eighth panel of "I was once...", I wasn’t interested in his back story, I was bored. And to be fair, once again, that was perfect characterisation – Deadman isn’t enlightened, in the slightest. He’s still the self-centred guy that he appeared to be when assassinated. It’d might be interesting to see where this second instalment goes, but for now, I’m pretty much on the fence. It’s a pity, because the artist is amazing.

Wonder Woman

reviewed by Kate Townshend

Oh Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman! If you're expecting me to manage anything even remotely impartial on this one, then I fear I shall be a sad disappointment. You can’t offer up a gorgeous, wise Amazonian who takes down penthouse-owning misogynists and expect me to be anything other than dazzled.

Even the front cover, which is the most stylised and obviously ‘graphic’ of the DC offerings I’ve seen so far, is a feminist wet dream. She is fierce and sexy and focused, and most importantly, pretty damn well supported by that rather fetching bodice...

And although it doesn’t feel forced, the new writers have pretty much taken Wonder Woman’s status as a bit of a Suffragette icon and run with it. The most obvious ‘villain’ of the piece is introduced early on, and I think it would be fair to say that he might have some issues with his mother...

I worry slightly that other, ‘normal’ women in the series are going to be treated as slightly disposable, which rather undercuts the overall message, but I’m willing to hold fire on that for now. It is at least nice to see a female heroine protecting another woman. This is another one to add to my ‘comics that pass the Bechdel Test’ pile.

The artwork inside this issue is ‘graphic’ in the other sense of the word, and there’s a fair amount of blood being spilled from the word go. To be honest, there might even be a little bit too much going on as it all gets a little bit busy and confusing in places.

Then again, this does add to the sense of instant crisis and chaos that seems to make the pages sparkle with energy throughout. It raises questions, refuses to answer almost any of them and is generally a rather breathless read.

Most interestingly of all, is that although Wonder Woman instantly commands attention in any frame in which she features, it isn’t all about her just yet.

If the writers plan to ‘always leave ‘em wanting more’ of her, then it’s working. On me at least.