So I am developing a one-shot game to deliver at the Ottawa Go-Play mini-con. I will post aspects of the development here. It may offer some inspiration and ideas. What I’ll be doing here is developing the characters and some of the conceits of the setting, rather than the adventure itself.One thing I’m going to mention at the outset is that while all the characters are being designed as male, this does not mean that none could be female. If you have seen the movie “the Duelist,” you will see an example of a female Korean in the Choseon Dynasty era disguised as a male. Women would not have been allowed into the military or as party of a Righteous Army, but that does not mean that none entered the fight. If one wanted to play a female character, that character would have been disguised as a man. The other characters would be aware of this (it would be pretty hard to keep it a secret entirely in the close-quarters of military life).

Overall I’d rate this a 3.8 out of 5. I really enjoy it and it’s fun. $20 isn’t a lot of money but it is only 7hrs of game play and replay factor likely won’t be high. That being said I do look forward to the next episode and I’ll go back through this one at least a couple times waiting for it to come out. It is a great example of a game that was created with a clear vision and doesn’t feel like huge sacrifices had to be made to get there.

This is the game created by the minds at Penny Arcade. It’s an RPG style kind of game where you run around 3/4 view exploring an area and battling monsters. Your team consists of a character you create and as well as Gabe and Tycho, plus you have some supporting characters that you rely on for other things, like Tycho’s Niece to upgrade your equipment for example.The game takes place in the 1922’s where your team is investigate supernatural occurrences of the Penny Arcade variety. The main story has your trio trying to find out where a Giant Robot has come from (Fruit Fucker Prime) and stop it. Along the way you’ll be battling regular Fruit Fuckers, Mimes, Hobo’s, Trash Cans and various other oddities.

The dialogue in the story will feel vary familiar to any Penny Arcade fans as it’s almost entirely written by Tycho and the artwork is, I think, an amazingly well done cell shaded Penny Arcade vision. It’s very much like playing through Penny Arcade strips that have come to life. I personally find the graphics fantastic and tie in with the dialogue perfectly and for me just wandering around in the world is purchase enough for me. But I’m a huge PA fan and well I can’t get enough.

The game play is a point click mode familiar to most 3/4 RPG settings. You’ll walk around clicking on various objects to uncover clues, power ups and special bonus items (concept sketches, movie clips, records…). Encounters are all fixed locations so you’ll see when you are approaching the monsters, though it may not always be obvious. The levels themselves are split up into cells, basically and the transitions from place to place work well.

The combat engine goes into a phase based engine. Each character, and monster has an initiative clock that fills up and when it’s full you can do an action. You select an action click a target and the attack goes off. There are also special attacks that will have you doing various little mini-games to make the special attack work. It’s not my favorite combat system of this variety but it does work well and it’s far from the worse. The combats thus far have felt frantic and well paced and the challenge level feels pretty good and the special attack mini-games are a nice diversion. Also word of note, don’t be stingy with your items. There are plenty scattered around the world and are easy to refresh. Oh, almost forgot there is also a blocking mechanic that actually adds quite a bit to the combat engine as you learn the various timings of your enemies. Used correctly it has a huge impact on your success. With all going on combats do feel happily frantic. Again not my favorite, but it works and so far hasn’t grown stagnant. It’s also not point click kill, there is skill involved and strategy.

Each battle gives you XP, gather enough your character levels up and gets a stat bump. Special attacks at the right time give you an Overkill bonus that will also improve your game. Various collectibles in the game can be used to upgrade your characters weapons. Also as you level up you learn new special attacks. It’s not a very in depth system, there are no skills for example, but it’s still rewarding and gives a good sense of accomplishment.

For me I think it’s a fantastic little game and I’m looking forward to episode two. For rpg fans and Penny Arcade fans I think for the $20 it costs to get this game you’ll definitely find enjoyment here and get your money’s worth. For others if you hate PA, don’t enjoy semi-turned based 3/4 rpg’s then you’ll likely already know to stay away from it and I can’t blame you.

It’s a game that definitely won’t be for everyone. But it’s not a comment on the quality of the game, as it is a very sound game in terms of the graphics, the story and the engine itself. The real statement is more to if it’s for your niche.

I should mention, it’s available for Windows, OSX, Linux and XBLA (xbox360 live arcade), which is something very few companies are willing to do.

Overall I’d rate this a 3.8 out of 5. I really enjoy it and it’s fun. $20 isn’t a lot of money but it is only 7hrs of game play and replay factor likely won’t be high. That being said I do look forward to the next episode and I’ll go back through this one at least a couple times waiting for it to come out. It is a great example of a game that was created with a clear vision and doesn’t feel like huge sacrifices had to be made to get there.

Right off the bat this movie is definitely not for the squeamish or those with heart conditions, young children or perhaps pregnant women. This is a nasty little piece of French Horror. I’d liken it to one of my favorite Horror Films of a long time High Tension (also French). It’s really similar at all, but I found it to effect me, which is something I find so rare in a horror/thriller movie these days. I like to be reminded that there are things I find shocking and upsetting and prove that I’m not 100% desensitized.

The premise – Still grieving over her recently deceased boyfriend, a pregnant woman becomes hunted by a mysterious woman. That’s it in a nutshell and it’s all that needed. This is a slasher film to be sure, a violent and wholly bloody one at that. It runs the full gambit of dismemberments, head shots and well worse. However the unlike most slasher flicks (and where the title is derived from) the killer doesn’t track down her prey. Instead the entire movie takes place inside the pregnant womens house with the victims all coming there to meet their fates at the hands of the killer inside.

I at first had my doubts at the logic of getting a bunch of people into a house to die, but it for the most part works. There are many ‘what the hell are you thinking moments’ but it’s still one of the better stuck in a house type horrors – Black Christmas being another, though much worse example.

I actually found parts of this movie to be a little uncomfortable to watch and by the end of it I had a definite uneasy can’t quite place your finger on it feeling as did my wife (god bless her soul for putting up with my movie choices – or me in general).

This is a true horror movie. It’s nasty, it’ll make you feel uncomfortable and doesn’t rely on cheap suspense to make you jump. It’s a wicked little movie.

I can’t say it’s one I’d recommend to most people, but for the type of people that are in to this sort of film – and you know if you are – you owe it to yourself to try and track down a copy of this movie. Though you probably won’t be able to rent it from any mainstream places.

Scoring this movie is hard. On one hand it left me feeling unease and that’s a roll a horror movie should hold so on that basis alone I’d give it a 5 out of 5. There are some good cinematic moments her, but some fail so in that respect I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5. The characters, for a horror do play the stupid card a little to often for my liking so again 3 out of 5.

So overall I think I’ll give this a 3.5 out of 5. It’s effective and it works, but when comparing to say High Tension it does fall a little short because nastiness alone isn’t always enough

I am planning on beginning a role-playing game in Ottawa (Ontario, Canada). The game would happen every other (or every third) Thursday, starting at 7 PM. I am looking for between 4 and 6 players. There would be an initial meeting on the second or third Thursday in July (2008), during which the theme of the game would be decided and a group template created. Any one interested should email game@swordsedge.ca with a brief introduction. Once I have gathered the group, we can decide on a meeting place.

These are the possible games that I could run and the system with which I would run them.

Detachment Seven (gritty spec ops military)
House-ruled d20 Modern
Albenistan is about to blow wide open. The government has just voided the results of the recent elections–elections which they lost dramatically. Fanatical nationalist groups are now joined by those that were moderate, but have been driven to the extreme. Stuck in the middle of this is the United Nation’s Central Asian Stabilisation Force – Albenistan. Stationed at Khorforjan and trying to avert a worse humanitarian crisis than already exists, CASFOR-A can’t oppose the government, but certainly doesn’t condone its actions. As tensions heat up, NATO sends in Detachment Seven (D7), it’s secretive special warfare unit, in the hopes of stopping any threats on CASFOR-A before they materialize.

The Imperator System (heroic science-fantasy)
Savage Worlds
Exodus, the first commercial spacecraft, on its maiden voyage with tourists planning to visit the international space station, disappears into some kind of vortex. It appears in a small pocket system, finding itself the victim of the Imperator, iron-fisted ruler of a system created with the pieces of planets ripped from their orbits by the Travel Vortex. These planets are all shattered, their populations under the yoke of the Imperator. Earth is next, unless the survivors of the Exodus can stop it. But what can they do against the super science of the Imperator?

Special Tactical Action Response Team (Hong-Kong style action)
Savage Worlds
In the city of Uhdoshi, in the near future, gangs of gun-runners and drug smugglers are rampant. In order to stem the tide of crime, the State Council has passed the START laws, creating a special police unit to which normal regulations don’t apply. Their identities a secret, their methods extreme, the Special Tactical Action Response Team is going to clean up the city, no matter how many bullets it might take.

Labours for a Lost Love (low-magic, pseudo-17th century fantasy)
House-ruled Conan RPG
Famed throughout Hadrapole, the greatest city in the known world, the Sworn Swords have found a moment of peace. One of the band’s lost love is found, only to then disappear. In unravelling the mystery of the lover’s disappearance, the Sworn Swords discover conspiracies and deadly vendettas that could consume not only the grand Jewel of Cities, but all the Aliterium as well.

Catalyst Games has started producing and distributing Classic Battletech again.  They have an intro box set that comes with the rules and plastic Mech’s.  They’ve brought back those Battletech mech books as well as supplements.

They’ve got free quick start rules, a guide to the universe and reference sheets online as well here

If you are in need of a true Battletech fix these are the guys to provide it.