Seize the GM

Main topic – Inspiration where to get it and where to steal it from.

Stat blocks –

The Broken Arrow-

This bowyer/fletcher shop is a one stop shop for all your archery needs. The open flow of the shop feels almost like a quiet forest glen. The barrels of Arrows and bolts plus all the bits for bows and fletching around show you that this place is a shop that knows how to make all types of bows. Hanging from the framing around the counter are the bodies of crossbows and regular bows. The area behind the counter can be opened up to show the archery range behind the shop. The man if he can be called such looks as old and gnarled as some of the wood pieces in here. He goes by Sandral he is a half-elf with larger than normal ears. He might be mistaken for an elf but no elf has ever looked this old. His hands look crooked like they had been broken several times, but they move with a dexterity and strength that their appearance belie. He has a quiet and gentle nature that helps to but people at ease.

The Interesting McGuffin

Ok there’s the standard idea for starting a quest.  An old man says that the wicked necromancer is kidnapping the locals to use in his experiments. Your contact in cyberpunk tells you that Gideon, who runs the local pawn shop, sells info on his clients to the corps.  Local preacher says that there’s a powerful manitou that lurks in the abandoned mine shaft. These ways of giving quests are straightforward. There’s a problem and your players can go to resolve it, usually with a final result in mind.  But how about a quest with no “final result.” Just a vague question that sits in the back of players minds.

Enter the “Interesting Mcguffin.”  This kind of item can usually be introduced underhanded, almost as an afterthought.  For instance, your posse from Deadlands just killed a Harrowed gunslinger. You’re rifling through his pockets to see if you can get any identification of who he was or how he became harrowed.  In the breast pocket of his shirt you find a bullet, jet black. There’s no makers mark on it. And your huckster gets a bad feeling when he’s holding it. So what is the bullet, why was it made, what was its purpose, and how did this Harrowed get a hold of it?  That’s your Interesting Mcguffin.

You need to make the Mcguffin puzzling enough so that between the “linear missions” your players want to spend time unravel the mysteries of the Mcguffin.  It can be anything depending on your setting. A broken piece of an ancient tablet with weird writing on it. An encrypted piece of data that sticks behind in your datalock.  A flower that never wilts but changes colour for some reason. You as the GM know all about it and what it does, but your players don’t.

There’s an upside and a downside to these kind of items.  Downside is that some players just chuck it in with the rest of the loot and forget about it.  Or they may, inadvertently, find a way to get all mysteries resolved with no issues. Don’t worry if that happens. Just run with it and don’t try to force things with your players.  The trick as a GM is not to be “invested.” Just make sure that you remember what your players did with it, even if they forgot. Like when your players are stopped by security and ordered to turn our their pockets.  Now they have to think on their feet and explain the “interesting Mcguffin” to their captors.

The up side?  It gets your characters thinking.  Not just Out of character, but in character as well.  Yo

Main topic – Player types

Stat blocks –

Zendead 

Sand men

A race of beings that feed on the souls and joy of people.

  The phrase of “Sleep with one eye open.” Is actually a reference to a way to keep them at bay when they are out and hunting. As long as you keep an eye out then they can not appear with they must do to feed. In just a blink of the eye they can disappear. If you do catch one they look like a marionette moving that has had its strings cut. And the limbs are not quite connected “right”. But the most disquieting thing about them is that they have a blank face i.e. not a single feature aside from the green glowing eyes that are looking out from under the brim of the hat they all seem to be wearing.

Joules weapon of adaptation

Justin Allied Trickery : The Anti-Knight

Lexicon –

Churl  noun \ˈchər(-ə)l\

1  : ceorl

2  : a medieval peasant

3  : rustic, countryman

4  a : a rude ill-bred person

   b : a stingy morose person

Middle English, from Old English ceorl man, ceorl; akin to Old Norse karl man, husband

First Known Use: before 12th century

Closing remarks/Shout outs

Derek Rat Queens by Image

Joules What if?

Justin Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Derek Rat Queens b

Main topic – Conventions.

So for this show we talked about our time at Origins this year and conventions in general.

Closing remarks/Shout outs

Derek Garbage day, Haba games

Joules Rick and Morty Mr Meeseeks box o fun  Total Rickall Shadowrun Crossfire

Justin the village crone

Artist is Numa from the album Numa

Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, Facebook groups, Forums,

Lexicon–

Factotum  noun fac·to·tum \fak-ˈtō-təm\

Did You Know?

“Do everything!” That’s a tall order, but it is exactly what a factotum is expected to do. It’s also a literal translation of the New Latin term factotum, which in turn traces to the Latin words facere(“to do”) and totum (“everything”). In the 16th century, factotum was used in English much like a surname, paired with first names to create personalities such as “Johannes Factotum” (literally “John Do-everything”). Back then, it wasn’t necessarily desirable to be called a factotum; the term was a synonym of “meddler” or “busybody.” Now the word is more often used for a handy, versatile individual responsible for many different tasks.

         New Latin, literally, do everything, from Latin fac (imperative of facere do) + totum everything   First Known Use: 1566

The Outsider

When we look at the people that populate a RPG world, we often think of them as part of the cultural context our characters are a part of. Aspects of tradition, community standards, practices and policies that make society work. Such behavior is how we usually judge new people we meet and if they are known to us or if they are an “other.” But the real world, especially for travelers, explorers, and adventures, often brings groups of people together who don’t share the same default states, and conflict, although unintentional occurs on a regular basis. The Outsider is one of these others, and their approach to the players may put them off at first, because understanding cultural boundaries and pushing past them isn’t something a player may initially be willing to do.

The NPC Outsider has a great potential within a game setting. They offer a chance to break the mental short cuts players will use with NPCs. Whether it’s the treatment of diplomatic customs, respect for religious or political iconography, or just normal manners, the chance to experience the world through another view point is the heart of role-playing, and the