Fourth day of this blogvent, I already tackled the topics I had in mind when starting the series, so now I’m writing this short intro, and I still don’t have the title for this post. If you’re reading this, you currently have more information than I do at the time I’m writing these lines! Exciting? I wonder if I’m going to fall back on a “hobby” post, a random thought I had recently, a small review of a book or movie? Who knows! Not me. That’s probably enough procrastinating. Let’s start writing.
If you know me, you already know that I’m a big fan of TTRPGs. I’ve written a bit about:
- some characters I played in different games
- A 18-player murder mystery game organized for a birthday and another short simple mystery
- some short stories inspired by games I played in.
- why I love playing characters
Not at all on this blog, however, are my preparations for regular games I’m DM-ing. I’ve DM’d a few sessions of The Witcher RPG, and two short adventures (2 and 3 sessions) of Warhammer Fantasy as well that were really fun.
I’ve also created a complete system with a friend of mine for a double table across 2 days: 2 DM, 6 players, and 15 hours of games. I still need to write about this, but another time.
And the crazy thing is, the more I DM, the more I want to DM. I need to set dates ASAP for multiple games if I want to play them one day. I’ve got fun campaign ideas, very ambitious ones, random systems I want to try for fun, and a shitload of prep to do! Let me introduce you to some of them.
Note: If you play RPG games with me, it might be better for you not to read the rest of the post. It’s not going to spoil mysteries or complete adventures, because so much depends on the actions of the players, but it could reduce some of the early discovery phase.
Note 2: If you don’t play RPG games with me but would like to try some in-person games close to Paris, hit me up at me@krayorn.com.
Warhammer Fantasy - Goblins
We already played the first session of this campaign/short adventure (don’t really know yet how long this will run for). I used the Warhammer Fantasy system as a base for the game but made tons of changes, all centered around one particular twist: when you die, you’re not dead. The players are all goblins, the lowest possible creature in the green-skins hierarchy, and at the end of the first session, all my players died. On their death, I distributed points depending on the actions they did during the game: Gork points for violent actions, Mork points for cunning ones.
Players can then use the Gork points to increase their stats or gain feats, or their Mork points to unlock new “classes” or talents for the group. From lowly spearmen, they may end up playing wolf-riders, shamans, orcs, or even trolls.
The adventure is a light-hearted one, leveraging the ridiculous green-skin society for some over-the-top comedy. The next few sessions will be about figuring out the entirety of the mechanics and having fun with their newly revealed powers (what are the implications of respawning after death?). But will the players understand what happened to them? And who’ll be following their moves with deep interest?
Warhammer Fantasy - Knights of the Realm
This second campaign I’m planning also takes place in the Warhammer universe. The idea is simple. Three (or four) young nobles start their errantry to earn their title of Knights of the Realm. But when the Lady of the Lake sends them glimpses of visions, will they successfully understand her desire?
The game is also based on the Warhammer Fantasy rules. I’ve reworked the character creation: players pick their duchy of origin, a virtue, and a blessing of the Lady to get a feat, a small statistics bonus, and a prayer. Then, by accomplishing deeds, they may unlock new virtues, spend XP to expand their knowledge of the Lady, and unlock more prayers instead of just more skill points.
The Brettonians are somewhat vanilla knights in the Warhammer universe, but I have at my disposal all the wacky stuff from terrible monsters, the dark gods, and corrupted humans to complicate their quests. I have a pretty good idea of what the main quest could be, with three main arcs. This could be resolved in around 10 sessions and be a pretty fun adventure.
Unfortunately for me, I own miniatures for Bretonnian knights. It would be a shame to play this game without using painted miniatures to represent the players, so right now, that’s what I’d need to do before starting the game. Painting some knights.
Les Lames du Cardinal - Blades of the Cardinal
This French TTRPG is based on a set of books that were written as a follow-up to the events told in the book “The Three Musketeers”. I’ve read the latter, but not the books that led up to the TTRPG, so that’s the main homework I’ve got before starting this game.
The game system looks really fun: no dice, only cards, and I’m really excited to try the fight system with my players. It seems to reward creativity, interactions between players, and to flow really smoothly. I’ve got no idea what I’m going to run as a story, probably 2 or 3 sessions to start and see if the system is as fun to play as I think it is.
Ha yes, I forgot to mention. There are dragons in this world. Should be fun.
Wild Imaginary West
This is a TTRPG I backed on Kickstarter a few years ago and which is finally shipping. I had big plans at first about this TTRPG, really big plans. I wanted to do a West Marches game, with multiple parties in the same universe, based around a single town, and mix and match players depending on who’s available. I thought this would work really well in the Wild West settings, and the fantastic elements of the settings are really interesting as well.
I might still do that, but I thought about another system where this could also work and be really, really interesting. I’m not sure yet which way I’ll go, but in all cases. I want to try out this game for a few sessions as well, a few players, a town to create, monsters to repel. What’s not to like?
Cyberpunk 2045 - or 2077? - or 2076?
This is the universe that is also competing for the West Marches games. I think it has almost the same advantages as the Wild West one, but what’s drawing me to it is the tech. I can make some cool sites and apps and incorporate them in my games, and I think this could elevate the experience if I’m playing with more players and groups than usual.
Players can switch tables depending on what contracts they’re on. I can have a few players play fixers, others could be netrunners or solos. Some groups of players could play non-fighting characters and have a completely different style of game, from corpos to brain dance editors, I’d pull them into some adventures and make them work with other players when they get in trouble. So much potential.
The universe has so much possibility. I’m just going to add another idea for a cyberpunk table, maybe in the West Marches style game, maybe not, but I want to play it one day: Trauma Team squad.
Conclusion
And here it is, the main games I currently have in mind. And this didn’t include a few other systems I want to try out, and the games I’m a player in. And a few other things I’m planning with a buddy of mine that will be shared somewhere else.
I really like playing and prepping TTRPG sessions, but I’d love to find a way to share some parts of it, idk if it should be just the DM preparation, some in-character journals (I tried to write some but didn’t manage to stay consistent and up to date), or maybe just a voiceover when I’m DM. If you have any ideas, let me know!