Episode 246: A Number of Anonymous Grand-Dukes
June 16th, 2017 | Robin
Uh-oh, looks like Robin wants to introduce another term of art into the RPG design lexicon. Ken joins him in the Gaming Hut to consider system humility.
Transfixed by the hypnotic gaze of Patreon backer Andrea Coletta, we shuffle into the History Hut to reveal all on the Rasputin phenomenon, as most recently echoed by a juicy South Korean political scandal.
In Ask Ken and Robin we imbibe a query from backer Wayne about PC and GMC intoxication in roleplaying games.
Then we stand in proximity to Ken’s Time Machine as backer Sam Harris wants the truth on Gregor MacGregor’s Poyais Scheme.
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Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you! Want to plunge headlong into Lovecraftian mystery, but lack a gaming group? Want to introduce a friend or loved one to the roleplaying hobby? GUMSHOE One-2-One has come to your rescue! Find this new system by some guy named Robin D. Laws, in the line’s flagship title, Cthulhu Confidential. Now shipping at the Pelgrane Press store.
Saddle up! Askfageln’s Western is now shooting it out at the Kickstarter corral! Play desperate desperadoes, merciless mercenaries, courageous native warriors and brimstone-tinged preachers in a time and place in need of heroes.
John Scott Tynes’ Puppetland is ready to knock the stuffing out of a game store near you in its gorgeous new full-color hardcover edition. Join the good folks at Arc Dream in battling the horrific forces of Punch the Maker-Killer!
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Actually, GURPS has a set of slightly-more-detailed drunkenness rules. They allow for degrees of severity, from “tipsy” to “comatose”, with various possibilities for turning friendly, aggressive, and so on along the way, and even cover hangovers.
They’re fine in principle, and I incorporated them into the Discworld RPG implementation of the system (with added details for Klatchian coffee), but they do involve some specific keeping track of how much the character has drunk, so it’s often easier to go for the “roll vs HT at minus whatever, okay you’re drunk” roll-and-shout approach.
By the way, am I the only one having increasing problems with the publicity spiel for Unknown Armies? My problem is that we have excellent real-world examples of broken people (complete with idiosyncratic supernatural beliefs) conspiring to fix the world (by their lights), and it all going horribly wrong — and ISIS cells aren’t something I can imagine wanting to roleplay.