(A) Mission Accomplished!

First game night of the new year, woot! We met last night for our Serenity RPG - here's the pre-cap of the mission from Mac:

On New Canton, things break, even when Dao-ming isn't around. Sometimes, a big, expensive piece of machinery will fall into the churning mud and get all full of gunk. Someone needs to clean it up and keep it in working order.

There's a small company in that neck of the 'verse that contracts out all such work. Dao-ming has managed to send a wave to an old friend on New Canton, found out the name of the company and how to reach them. They seem like just the sorta people to clean up a giant weird unidentifiable artifact what's been buried 'neath the desert for a good chunk of time.

The artifact itself currently sits in your cargo bay. The crew has finally cleaned off all the easy stuff. Dao-ming herself just wanted to take a hose to the blasted object, but others in the crew, aware of how easy it is to damage valuable things, have convinced her to let other people do the work for you.

The thing has been stuck in a container now with some padding inside to keep it safe 'til you get a chance to pretty it up and see what exactly it is. Under the remaining grit and grime, the large chunks of dirt, clay, sediment and sand calcified to it in odd places, it sorta looks like it might be made out of some sorta ceramic, maybe? It stands about four feet tall, and the general outline of it is a spiral two feet across, sorta like a braided rope, spreading out at the bottom into a wide base, and with some sort of wider circle at the top.

Only problem is, such professional types as this oft-times require payin'. Convincing them to take a job this small to begin with might end up being a bit tricky, and then you'll have to find some means of recompense.

See this previous post for how we obtained the artifact.

Gaming Digest

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Regina Fierce and the Alligator's Eye: For my birthday week, my friend Kevin ran a game of Pulp-Era Savage Worlds for us at our favorite local watering hole. I didn't love the pre-gen hero, so I revamped him into a strong black woman named Regina Fierce. Why? BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY, DAMMIT. It's an interesting system - no d20s and combat-light, kind of like the Serenity RPG, and the mechanic of "exploding the dice" had pretty hilarious results. Kevin did a good job of balancing genre tropes (apparently the hallmark of the Savage Worlds system) and meaningful character choices. 9/10, would play again.

Once Upon A Crime: Also for my birthday week, Mac wrote a fairy-tale themed murder mystery party. I played the Evil Queen/detective - I wore an old's bridesmaid's dress with a Party City crown and striped wrist-warmers. In other words, HAWT. My goal was to solve the poisoning of my brother, the Dark Wizard (played by Mac). The characters were hilarious, both in writing and execution, and everyone got really into their costumes. We learned our lessons from earlier murder mysteries, and had little games/activities for people to do while I was detecting (cookie decorating, card games, and "stay dry" apple bobbing). I also realized that I REALLY like playing an evil character, especially when I get to play to lead role at the same time. Should I be worried...? 

Regular games (Serenity, D&D: Silver Company, and D&D: Family Ties) after the jump! 

Back to the Black

So, my goal of posting daily throughout November was clearly a bit of a stretch. My new goal: one blog post per blog per week. Sounds easy enough... but we'll see!

In happier news, Mac and I were able to resurrect our defunct Serenity RPG group! It doesn't hurt that we now meet at a bar during happy hour, thanks to the benevolence of our friendly local bartender.

We are the crew of the Pheonix II, a mid-bulk transport vessel known as a Firefly. Our first mission was to travel to a large desert on the planet Capari. The sand of Capari's desert has value in and of itself for making telescopic lenses and the like. Additionally, the violent sandstorms have caused many a ship to perform "interesting" landings on its surface... and I mean "interesting" as in "oh god, oh god, we're all gonna DIE." In other words, the desert is literally filled with salvage opportunities - for those who have the equipment and the testicular fortitude for the job!

 

The crew did well - while Leland and Wire kept a look out for sandstorms and claim jumpers from on board Pheonix II, Rawhide piloted a hovercraft on the surface and Time Bomb operated the equipment to fish the treasure out of the sand. Captain Dao-ming (my character) helped by yelling at everyone (in her mind, inspiring them to greatness). For our troubles, we reclaimed some precious metals worth two units of cashy money, three boxes of high-quality sand, and a mysterious parcel that we haven't had a chance to investigate. The operation was interrupted by a sudden sandstorm, and the "away team" scrambled to get themselves and the cargo to the safety of a cave - and got a bit banged up for their troubles. Still, any mission you walk away from... We decided to celebrate our victory at a nearby saloon with several other slavage crews

 

Next time: the team liberates slaves and Dao-ming loses her cool. 

Serenity RPG

This afternoon I met up with my Serenity RPG group at our downtown game shop, Labyrinth. I love this place - it has a wide range of games and puzzles, a friendly and knowledgeable staff, and an amazing location (right off the Eastern Market metro). The owner is a lovely woman named Kathleen, and she always creates a welcoming atmosphere. This is in contrast to the game shop closest to me (which shall remain nameless) where the employees seem to have adopted a strategy of "if we ignore the customers, maybe they'll go away."

Your Friendly Neighborhood Labyrinth

Anyway, back to the gaming! Serenity is primarily a shared storytelling RPG - unlike D&D, the primary mode of conflict resolution is not combat, but the use of particular characters skills (lying, scheming, etc). In other words, if you like the "hack and slash" aspect of RPGs, this is not the game for you. However, if you love being creative in non-combat situations and want your decisions to shape the plot, this game was made for you. Another big difference is that you're not going to win every time - in fact, they expect you to come out on the losing side of some interactions, as that will make your eventual triumph all the sweeter.

Or, you know, vice versa.

In our current adventure, we are a rag-tag crew on a mid-bulk transport called Phoenix II. I'm playing the captain of the ship - a foul-tempered and sometimes violent woman named Dao-ming Tu. She's more of a 'doer' than a 'thinker,' so she depends on Wire, a smooth-talking socialite, to handle sensitive negotiations. The rest of the crew is comprised of James - a slightly deranged pilot who's obsessed with his pet otter - and Tai Li - a callous medic/mechanic who can use her acupuncture needles to heal or to hurt. Right now we're just picking up odd jobs and trying to stay aloft. Once we've made more of a reputation for ourselves, however, bigger opportunities are bound to present themselves.

Serenity works really well when have a GM (game master) who can make stuff up on the fly to fit with player decisions. In many systems, GMs are constrained by the premise that combat is the best/only option for advancing the plot. With Serenity, the options for advancement are limited only by the player's imaginations - and the GM's ability to adapt the story line accordingly. Mac is great at this - and by his own admission, some of the greatest moments have come from when we go "off script." These tangents often lead to uproarious laughter, and to people coming up to our table to see what all the fuss is about.

And that's another great thing about local game shops like Labyrinth - on any given day, you can wander in and spectate what people are playing. You can discover new games this way, and nerds are always happy to chat about their favorite systems. Who knows, they might even invite you to pull up a chair!

My Gaming History

Back in 2008, my BFF Maggie decided that she wanted to start a D&D 4E game amongst our friends, most of whom had no experience with tabletop RPGs. My only experience had been dabbling in AD&D with my brother and his friends, back in high school. But somehow, I ended up running the game. We muddled along for a while, but I could tell that there was a lot I was missing.

So, I decided to play with a group of more experienced players to get a better feel for the game. I got together with a bunch of strangers who wanted to start a regular D&D 4E campaign. We connected through meetup.com, and honestly I didn't know what to expect. Luckily, I met some really cool people - including Mac, who is now my best gamer friend (BGF?). Unluckily, that group has experienced a lot of DM and player attrition - currently, Mac and I trade off DM duties and Maggie is our only other regular.

On top of running these two games, I play D&D Encounters and the Serenity RPG, and am currently working on writing my next murder mystery party game. I'm not much of a console, computer, card, board, or social media gamer, but I have a few highly addictive favorites. And Mac is trying to convince me to try LARP for the first time at Otakon this year... In other words - so much gaming, so little time!

Don't be fooled by my relatable back story, however - I have an ulterior motive. Tabletop RPGs have historically been the domain of men/boys, but that is changing. More and more women are realizing that these are social, interactive, and above all fun games. I just wish I had known when I was a girl, so I could've started sooner. But! If I write this blog, maybe I can clue in some other little girl to the wonders of D&D, or Serenity, or some other RPG. At least, I can dream.

So, welcome to "La Femme DM." Enjoy!

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Quote of the Week: "It's too late. You've awakened the Gazebo."