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Lessons from Shane Hensley's Con Game: Initiative

January 18, 2015 / Stan Shinn

After having reviewed how Shane Hensley set up his con game and his technique of using miniatures, I’ll now review how Shane handled initiative.

Dealt initiative cards

Shane used the normal sized Savage Worlds action card deck, not the over-sized style of cards. I’m a fan of over-sized cards since I have a hard time seeing the cards amidst all the clutter on the table. Not to worry — Shane used the technique of counting down initiative. He’ll simply start saying ‘Ace, King, Queen, 10…’ and counting down until people raise their hand or otherwise signal they have an initiative card that makes them up for their turn. If a couple of people raise their hand, Shane would adjudicate ties based on reverse alphabetical suit order per the standard Savage Worlds rules. After that player finished their turn Shane would glance at their card to see where the turn countdown had last left off, and resume a new coundown: “9, 8, 7…”.

Savage Worlds ‘Action Cards’ used for initiative — very Pulp-style!

Shane also used a technique of having the player flip a card over if that player was on hold to flag their held action. After the player finally acts later in the round he’d have the player flip the card back up to the regular side with suite and number.

An action card on hold

Another thing I noticed was Shane placing an NPCs card on a top corner of his GM screen. He could balance up to two cards up there and it made the cards easy to see and not get lost in the clutter of the table or in the clutter behind the GM screen.

I’ve seen some GM’s turn in the cards after their turn is over, but instead Shane waited until everyone completed their turn, then he asked for people to hand in their cards. At that point if a Joker had been drawn he’s shuffle the deck.

At the end of the turn we handed our cards back in.

Coming next: an analytics of Shane’s overall GM style and some of his in-game tricks!

Marching order -- guy in the middle will take Fatigue due to a trap!

Lessons from Shane Hensley's Con Game: Miniatures

January 15, 2015 / Stan Shinn

As I mentioned on my prior post about Shane Hensley’s con game, during the game we had an area map from ETU on the table, but we ignored what was on the map and just used minis for general positioning and marching order.

At the very end he lifted up the ETU map and revealed a poster map of the final ‘boss fight’ scene; this was the only scene where we used a specific map. For most of the game it was theater of the mind action using the miniatures only for relative positions; he didn’t pull out minis for the bad guys until the final scene.

I personally like this technique since I find Theater of the Mind to be very immersive, though for tactical or ‘boss fight’ scenes where there is a lot going on in the environment and it’s hard to keep track of all characters movements and locations, I do see the benefit of miniatures.

Miniatures

Shane used the time-old technique of establishing marching order by use of miniatures. This came in handy with an encounter with the sewers where the first PCs in line were first to encounter some traps and bad guys. This worked well.

Marching order

The way Shane managed tracking conditions on miniatures was not exactly like I expected. One of the mantras in Savage Worlds is that you don’t track hit points — characters are either ‘up, down or off the table.’ In the games I’ve played in or run, the way we’ve implemented this was this:

Up = Character is not shaken and has no wounds
Down = Character is shaken (wounds were tracked by players or the GM on a note or by tokens placed next to the mini)
Off The Table = Character is incapacited

However, at least in this particular con game, here’s how Shane ran things:

Up = Character is not shaken and has no wounds
Up with Status Markers = Character is shaken and/or has wounds
Down = Character is Incapacitated

Why did Shane run it this way? I can’t say for sure, but here are some ideas:

Enemies were primarily college students who had been bewitched and transformed into monsters (Orcs). We were aiming to incapacitate, not kill, the enemy. So was helpful to have the minis there when they transformed back into students.
The combat was crowded, not leaving much room for mins to be down where they would take up 2+ squares.
Maybe this really is how most people run Savage Worlds miniatures these days and I just missed it!

Shaken status marker (normally completely under the mini, but I moved the mini so you can see the marker)

I’d love to hear any feedback on how you manage miniatures’ status during a game!

Lessons from Shane Hensley's Con Game: Table Setup

January 13, 2015 / Stan Shinn

It was a great privilege that I was able to play in Shane Lacy Hensley’s East Texas University Savage Worlds game during ChupacabraCon 2 on January 10th, 2015 in Austin, Texas. I rate it as one of the top three con games I’ve ever played!

If anyone could be considered a ‘master of running a Savage Worlds game’ I think it would be Shane, given his role in authoring the game. Shane has a deep history in the roleplaying industry including doing work for or FASA, TSR, and West End, so I was very interesting in checking out his GM style.

I took copious notes during the game and snapped several pictures. This is the first of four articles documenting Shane’s GMing style as I observed it at this con game. I learned several techniques which I want to share with you! This article focuses on Shane’s table setup. In upcoming articles I’ll cover how Shane used miniatures, details on the way he managed initiative, and (perhaps of most interest) several specific GM techniques he used during the game.

First up: here’s how Shane set up the table and prepared props for the game.

There were several pre-gens from the East Texas University setting. Character sheets were full color and printed on very heavy paper (or perhaps cardstock). Each pregen was essentially an nameless archetype which he said could be played as either gender (regardless of the gender shown on the character sheet or in the miniature). I played the “Jock” and named him “Zeke”. Each pregen had a mini-bio which was just long enough to inspire our own ideas on how to play the character.

Pre-gens with short bio and miniature

Shane used the ETU GM screen which is tri-fold and just the right size for a round con-game table. Books and bennies sat outside the screen (although he took some bennies behind the screen at some point I believe where he could easily toss them to players).

After all players had selected a character, Shane handed out 3×5 cards and each player folded them over and wrote our character’s name on the ‘name tent’.

ETU 3 Panel GM Screen and player name tents

After character introductions, Shane read aloud some prepared “boxed text” which gave us a description of recent events and set up the adventure hook. Immediately after that Shane announced that we all knew each other from previous Scooby-gang type adventures. We then took turns introducing our character and calling out their majors in college, and adding something interesting about them such as their Hindrances or Edges.

During the game we had an area map from ETU on the table, but we ignored what was on the map and just used minis for general positioning and marching order. At the very end he lifted up the ETU map and revealed a poster map of the final ‘boss fight’ scene; this was the only scene where we used a specific map. For most of the game it was theater of the mind action using the miniatures only for relative positions; he didn’t pull out minis for the bad guys until the final scene.

Also during the game Shane would pass out handouts with messages of documents, text messages or emails that we encountered from NPCs. Shane kept these handouts behind his GM screen.

Up next: more on Shane’s use of miniatures. Hint: it was a little different than I expected!

Ragnar

December 29, 2014 / Mason Alexander

RAGNAR

This is the truth of what lead to Ragnar’s trial and banishment from Iceland…

The Death of the Godi Bjorn

Godi Rashemon of Surt:
“Do you understand your mission?” asked Rashemon
“Yes,”my hired assassin answered,”but I don’t understand why.”
Because Ragnar must not be in Iceland when Ragnarok comes. The
prophecy must not come true. Framing Ragnar for the murder of a godi
would lead to him either being killed or banished from the island. True,
if he were banished, his sentence would be over before Ragnarok, but he
could be killed, and maybe he would decide not to come back even if he
wasn’t. Of course, the assassin could know nothing of this.
“That is not for you to ask or know. All that matters is that you
kill the godi and leave only Ragnar as a witness. Any other witnesses
must be killed.”
With no one to testify but Ragnar, my position of power would make
it easy for me to get him convicted.

Ragnar:
Godi Bjorn of Odin had requested a meeting with me, and he was not
to be turned down. We were to meet at the local inn, the “Halls of
Valhalla Inn & Buffet.” I walked into the inn, and saw him at the bar. I
walked over to him.
“Greetings Godi Bjorn. What did you wish to speak about?”
“I fear for my life. I was hoping I could hire you as a bodyguard.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no? Why not?”
“I will not live my life following an old man around to be his
enforcer. I live to help the people of Iceland. I am needed to soothe
the blacksmith’s burn or fix the woodsman’s broken leg. I work miracles
of healing, not of pain or death. I will not do it.”I turned to leave.
“Wait!”I turned back.”Let me show you something, I think it will
change your mind.”
I followed the old man to his room. He told me to wait, and went
into a side room. A minute later I heard him scream. It was loud,
surprised, and scared. Abruptly it was mangled and muffled, then ended,
punctuated by a thud. I ran into the room to see him on the ground,
stabbed in the throat. Then I noticed the blood flowing from his back
and ear, he had been stabbed there as well. In his hand was a letter.
It read: Bjorn,
I have foreseen that your life will be threatened
soon. I have seen that the only man that can save you is
Ragnar, but he might also kill you for asking for his help, so be
careful. Still I think it is better to ask and face
possible death as opposed to keeping silent and facing
certain doom.
Your friend, Rashemon

Karm the Assassin:
I followed Ragnar into the inn. He walked over to the godi, and
they began to talk. The conversation had barely begun when they started
to argue. Perfect, that would make it easier to frame him. Then Ragnar
started to leave.
“Wait,” the godi yelled.
Ragnar turned back to the godi who told him something to make him
stay. They got up and left to one of the rooms, and I followed at an
inconspicuous distance.
There are many tales of people who can turn into a wolf or a bear.
You hear them all the time, and they are often true. However, I would
bet that you don’t hear about people turning into poisonous snakes. That
is because I am very careful about not leaving witnesses.
As I turned into a snake, my clothes and possessions turned to
scales. My arms and legs became one with my body, and I fell to the
ground. I grew longer and thinner, and there were soft crackles and pops
as my spine elongated and other bones disappeared.
It was over in a blink of the eye, and I slid under the door to
their room. The godi finished saying something to Ragnar and went into a
side room. I followed to him rummaging through a desk. He pulled out a
letter and shut the drawer.
Now was the time. I came out of snake form and stabbed him in the
base of the back, near the spine. A miss. He screamed, and I stabbed him
again, this time in the throat. I stabbed him once more, this time in
the ear, a fatal blow. Then I dropped the dagger, turned into a snake,
and slipped away out the window. In no time at all there would be plenty
of people in the room. No doubt they would find Ragnar over the body,
and the murder weapon nearby.

Session 1 – “Arrival at Evingard”

December 23, 2014 / Mason Alexander

The party met in Norway and found passage to Iceland with a brief stop at Evingard. They
made some enemies…well, mostly enemies at this point and killed a few undead polar bears. Some of my players typed up an in character summary of what happened. Here they are.

SIGURD’S ACCOUNT
Sigurd and Thorvald “The Undertaker” have been friends for some time now.  They both enjoy the dead more sometimes than the living. They both enjoy speaking with the Angels of Death, revere their beauty and roles they play in this land…  Sigurd also sees some of Sigil in Thorvald, while he can be rough on the edges Thorvald is a good man.. Sigurd enjoys travelling with him, life is always an adventure and Sigurd would be honored to die beside Thorvald in a hero’s death.
So our story begins as Thorvald has received a contract to bury the dead (Inga) in a far away land. So, Sigurd and Thorvald find themselves in need of transportation to Iceland. They come across a ship’s captain in the port town. Her name is Bola. Bola is a mercenary/captain who likes gold and calls her weapon “Vira”. She has two companions Ragnar “the Free Spirited” and Grimnir “the Varangian” a seasoned traveler who has been across many lands and fought in many of them.
Sigurd seeks to negotiate passage on her ship and buys a round of drinks for the bar, then he begins the critical negotiations with Bola and after a short while she will allow Sigurd, Thorvald and Inga (the dead) on the longboat.
Very pleased we agree to meet in the morning to head out..
The next morning upon arrival to the ship, Thorvald and I are carrying Inga. I have to say it’s more like Thorvald is carrying his end, but my old bones and having challenges carrying my side. I am also thinking that Inga is VERY HEAVY for such a young and thin looking lass. Anyway, I struggle, but don’t drop the dead woman….
Upon arrival to the ship we uncover that Bola is not the captain and a bit of a trickster (I think to my self, maybe she is a follower of Loki… She is an attractive girl, but she bears closer observation, I am not sure what motivates her)…
I then discuss with the captain, who finally after we import the criticality of the situation and I offer to help speed up his journey with my rune magics allows, Thorvald, Inga and myself on the ship. We also have to lash Inga to the bow, Thorvald is always thinking of how to best handle the dead. Then I freeze her a bit so keep the smell down…
We travel to the Faroe Islands, partially through our journey a Kraken attacks the vessel. I saw an omen of the attack and realized that the thinner crew would be attacked last, so I sucked in my gut stayed near the center mast and got some of the thinner crew to stand with me….. Saving a few lives.. Others were all fighting for their lives… after what seemed like an eternity we fended off the Kraken and continued on our journey, we lost over 10 crew, our mast and had to row the vessel into the Faroe Islands….  A broken ship indeed…
Upon arrival, there was Blood on the snow, death in the air (my kind of place)…. I started by speaking with Dead, how I enjoy these conversations as the dead do NOT lie, where the living, that is another matter.. I then find out about Undead Bears had attacked the town…
Then as we head toward the entrance to the city, we are attacked by rogues wanting food in the streets. As Bola was carrying a large basket of fish to sell in the market. During the fight we quickly defeated the rogues, but Bola lost her mind. She started talking with another voice and said she did not know how we got here. Both Ragnar “the Free Spirited” and Gimnir “the Varangian” acted is if nothing had happened. I secretly thought she might be an agent of Loki the trickster. I will keep my eye on this one…
As we approach, we see on the branches of a tree. a Black Owl and White Owl near the entrance – I see an Omen that the one that is suppose to be trustworthy may be lying…
When we arrive at the town, Thorvald and others, speak with Guard and find out about Cannibals in Mines, confirm that 12 polar bears attack the fisherman.. Thorvald complements the guard on his lack of intelligence.   We are soo good at making friends…
I start to make a LIST OF WHO WE CAN FIGHT TO HAVE A HEROIC DEATH!!!
I place the Undead Bears on the LIST….
The Cannibal Miners are…….. ADDED to the LIST!!!!
We meet a Godi of
Odin, finally a good person. During the discussion, we find out there are two immortals in town and the one that represents the Gods, is actually not trustworthy and the other representing the Giants can be trusted. Bola or whoever she says she is now, whispers to me that the Godi knows more than he is telling and may be lying to me..   I directly confront the Godi (as I plan to die a heroic death any day know and don’t have time for pleasantries).    He seems offended, I wonder who is working for Loki here either the Godi or Bola (or who ever she is now).. I will most likely die soon, so I may not have time to unravel this mystery..
Then we see a very wealthy man, and meet the Merchant Magnus and his guards We start a conversation with Magnus and realize he is just exploiting these people. We don’t like him and let him know that.. Then he walks away.. I think HOW RUDE……. So…… I add him MAGNUS THE MERCHANT and his Guards to the LIST!!!
Next we decide to save the town from the Brutality of the Undead Bears (secretly I check the list and believe this might be my glorious death, I am so excited, I may see my fathers and mother soon)….
Meet Hunter Grim (on the List) – He is a skilled and boastful hunter…. (he seems powerful and is maybe deserving to be on the list). As we speak to him, he is boastful and powerful as a hunter. But as Thorvald points out, he spends his time boasting versus saving the town from other bears… He claims to have killed one… For his pride, boastfulness and power he Grim is…………   Added to the LIST!!!!! We then tell Grim we are heading to get at least two bears pelts to show him we are greater. I also secretly want to kill all the bears and free this town from the icy grip of BEAR DEATH and BLOOD, hopefully one of the Skald will write an epic saga of our salvation of this town…. I will then get entry into Valhalla.
So we head off west, per the instructions of the Hunter Grim
<OUT OF GAME – MY Loving Wife head to pick up a food order for 6 starving gamers to have dinner…., It takes over 1 hour because PEI WEI gives our food to the wrong people and they have to re-make the order…. FOR THIS!!!!!
PEI WEI is ………………….. Added to the LIST!!!!!
So back to our adventurers as they sleep on the white snow, approx. 2 am in the night two undead bears attack the camp.. During the conflict we have a glorious fight, blood is spilled on our side and we vanquish the 2 giant Undead Bears…. For more details… Read the “Heroic Poem of Sigurd, the Bears of Undeath and Saving Bola the confused” (Coming soon)…..
At the end my entrails are being stuffed back into my body, I was moments from death, but this is NOT my time… But hopefully soon…….   We have more Undead Bears to track and kill and I need some rest…..
Please read more as coming soon, Episode 2: The Adventures of Sigurd – Rune Master

RAGNAR’S ACCOUNT

The Return of Ragnar
After the battle, I wondered to myself, why am I here anyway? I thought back to when I met my companions. I had arranged for a voyage here because I heard that this place suffered great misfortunes and needed someone to help. I went to the tavern to socialize for the last time before we left, and I met four people and a dead body who were also coming. There was a little trouble when we got to the ship and one of my companions tried to usurp the title of captain. I now know she’s not quite right in the head. After that was settled, we left. A few days into the voyage, we were attacked by a kraken. When it had its fill it left, leaving only 5 or 10 people alive. The ship made it to our destination intact. Noticing that the other ships here had been frozen in and stripped of their goods, we decided to make sure nobody would steal from our ship by burying the goods near the shore. The only thing we didn’t bury was a basket of fish that my multi-named friend brought to sell at the market. At the gate we talked to the guard and heard about the many troubles that beset this town. We started making a list to keep track. On our way to the market we were attacked by thieves who wanted our fish. Then we spoke to a deceitful godi and a selfish merchant/king. Then we went to a famous hunter for advice. He was full of himself, boasting that he had the skin of one of the undead bears plaguing the town. We told him we could get two if he told us where to find them. He told us, and we went. In the night we were attacked by two undead bears. they nearly killed two of us, and after our victory, we
noticed one of them was the one that the hunter had skinned. That put us into overkill mode, and we chopped everything but the heads into tiny pieces and then burnt the pieces. It was a great victory, but our time on this island is long from over.