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"Reading The Results"

 

Aug 2001

A great reversal in fortune has come in the face to face gaming group thing!

As of last week I returned to Storm City with a small group of players. Under advisement from offical Storm City consultant Brian Carthey, I am giving it another go without doing a massive overhaul of the setting. One solo adventure just isn't enough to make putting it back up on the blocks an option yet. More testing is required. No sense in throwing away two years worth of work.

Reconnecting with old RPG friends has also been beneficial in making this happen. Having players on the same page as you can make these sort of things go more smoothly.

Not that this should all be done telepathically. I put to together a setting pack which included a setting overview along with basic mechanics and creation briefs. The setting specific will find its way here as will some sort of play log after a time. How long this game will go is anyone's guess. Obviously to avoid any copyright hassles, the system specific stuff will be abscent.

I got my fingers crossed.

Lastly we come to the Twelvepence update. When I have the time and inclination to do the system monkey thing, I have been working on it. Since I am by no means a die hard when it comes to system design, this has put the whole thing on the slow track. I've been tempted to set bits of it off to The Forge Forums to get feedback but really...I have plenty on the plate right now.

While I was greatly enthused with the online RPG community in the past, I am trying to focus on what I can do on a small scale.I think I have had my fill of armchair game theory for awhile. Actual play is far more important. What value does any of it have if you don't use it. Besides all the system bashing is pointless. The best way to fight against a maligned system is by action and not words. Show what you want the gaming experience to be and make it so.

Of course being flexible is good since RPG is a communal activity. But always keeping in mind what you want the hobby to do is important to. Too many gamers in my area don't play the way they want to in fear of having no players. But really...If you aren't getting the thing you want out of it is it worth it? Is bad gaming better than none at all? My answer is no.

One of the most exciting things about the new group is we are also getting an infusion of fresh blood. Some players have played very little if at all. This really opens things up in new and exciting ways. It is so easy to make the hobby a closed environment. Do yourself a favor - get some people who never played and show 'em how!

Okay okay end of sermon. More as it happens.

Thanks for stopping in - George


June 2001

Annoyedly,I am still in limbo. With the group stalled out due to external forces, I have been less prolific with gaming stuff. Lots of setting ideas little application. As pointed out to me by my first, but hopefully not my last encounter with UA, you can't just armchair the stuff and expect it to work.

Since I am persistent if nothing else, I am looking to other options to continue gaming. This may mean putting together another group. Which sucks since everybody was cool with what we had cooking.

I have been reading quite a bit Hubris Games/Story Engine stuff these days. So chances are strong this will be the next game I'll run when I get a chance. In addition, I am thinking of running a Feng Shui demo at a local shop to sample "local" talent

What does this mean for this site?

A real big slowdown that's what. I have some things that I wanted to post for a while. I think the best course of action is to take some time and do some inventory. Get a backlog of stuff ready for post and then go from there.

The big thing I want to get posted now is a new game of my own I've begun work on. I told myself after a few unsatisfactory attempts, I was done fooling with game mechanics. Then just the other day, I came up with Twelvepence.

Twelvepence will be posted real soon since I am dying for feedback on it. Will this be in a week or another month is anyone's guess.

Thanks for stopping in - George


April 2001

I know things have been slow on the gaming side of things but,life permitting, there are things to come. More than likely on the Feng side of things. Other projects still persist but the gaming group has hit a snag, that life thing again, but we should be back in business soon!

As for the long languishing will it ever get done Storm City Project, I am at an impasse. While I am still into it, I am not sure if it will fit the group I am in right now.

If there is anything I have learned from this gaming page is that if you can't demo the setting what is the sense of working on it? SO "SCP" is now trapped in limbo until I can get another chance to run it. My first session in UA was very informative if not exactly what I wanted.

This does not mean I have given up on it. Instead, I feel like I have to strip back down alittle and rebuild.The upshot and the downside of this is I got tons of material.

Since this is the case, I think it might be good to start posting less setting specific stuff and build up to a full blown "this is the setting" type post.

Believe me, some days I just want to toss it in.

Okay.That's it for now.

Thanks for stopping in - George Greyshirt


March 2001

I made it back! New Neon Lotus stuff! I did a little restructure to include any future Feng Stuff which may fall outside of that particular setting.

Recently ran my first Storm City adventure, Spider and Fly. While somewhat successful, there are some changes I will need to make to fit our group. How this will affect the setting's recent form is uncertain. I am going through a small rethink on SC. I have been working on it so long that I feel alittle nervous about posting and running it. I just want it to be perfect. And I almost never like that.

Been reading & rereading the Maelstrom (& Story Engine)stuff,lately. Great stuff which I can't wait to run in some form. Depending on how I feel about Storm City in the next couple of weeks, it just might be the next thing I run after I run my next Feng Shui adventure. That would be some three months from now!

As for the rest of the gaming stuff, there is not a whole lot going on. when I get a chance I want to do a htmlized version of some posts I've made on Tribal Issues and Intensity.But that's probably it for now.

I am getting used to being a player again these days so the focus has been off the indie game materials.

A simple mesage to gamers who happen on this page - Are there regulars who come here? - the best advice I can give about gaming is just be open to new things. Find others willing to do the same. Give the rotating GM thing a swing, it is really the best.

Thanks for stopping in - Greyshirt



February 2001

Welcome to the redesigned Games page!

Here you will find Lith and Risus Recipes, two old favorites, as well as my new online game journals for Unknown Armies and Feng Shui. These will include the basic premise and info I am using to run these games. Plus some stuff I have created but have yet to use. As they are part of a rotating RPG showcase of face to face adventures, these will go through periods of dormancy and activity. Eventually I hope to add a third to collect my Story Engine/ Decartha Prime materials. This will not occur until I actually have a chance to run it.

Madcap, the original setting which was housed here, has been removed because it is on the very very slow track. I still have it and will forward the pages to anyone who cares. If someday I return to it or I recieve external contributations, it will reappear in the assorted fragment section.

If you are looking for the comic strips go to the daily strips page.

If you are looking RPG links go here. For links not related to RPG go to my new front page, Greymatter Online Journal. If you want more links, expect to see some in my writings section.

Hopefully with this improved structure and widened focus, there will more stuff more regularly.

Thanks for stopping in - Greyshirt

"The Gaming Annex"

     

Storm City

Neon Lotus Assorted Fragments Greymatter Online Journal

Storm City is my proposed UA setting journal. Will it ever be finished? More importantly, will I ever be satisfied?

Neon Lotus is my Feng Shui online gaming journal Now with a broader focus so I can post whatever Feng Shui setting idea or adventure that crosses my mind.

Assorted Fragments is where you'll find Lith, Risus Recipes and stuff that fits nowhere else.

Greymatter Online Journal is my new front page. Things beyond gaming.

   
 

Risus is a copyright of S. John Ross.Feng Shui is copyright and trademark Robin D.Laws.  Unknown Armies is copyright and trademark Greg Srolze and JohnTynes.   Over the Edge, and the Atlas Games logo are trademarks of John Nephew. The use of these trademarks here is without permission, and does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of those properties.


last update : Aug 06 2001 -The Greyshirt