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50 Fathoms: Session 00- Character Creation/Campaign Charter

March 7, 2015 / Jeff Messina

Date: March 7th, 2015

The group got together for campaign overview, character creation and to create the Campaign Character.

No XP and not a full session, this was a prep game for the campaign.

Link to Charter

The Hordes of Raschev

March 1, 2015 / Stan Shinn

Our Classic Traveller game last night — with Stan playing for a change! Six players plus Robert Eaglestone as the GM. Rob ran us through the CT double adventure ‘Hordes’. Also beta-testing a custom character sheet with rules summary which I’ll be updating and sharing out in a few weeks. It was awesome fun! Thanks Rob for running a great game. Click on the images below to view fullscreen.

Recap on our adventures: Our players uncovered the various mysteries behind the alien ‘bugs’ from Chamax, how the spaceship got to the planet Raschev, and managed to save a few less-than-competent jarhead locals.

Our adventurers managed to rack up some more cash and recruit revolutionaries who want to take back Arden from the Zhodani. Off-camera our characters will sell the Chamax artifacts we acquired from the previous planet. Our next step for the upcoming game is to journey to Arden and begin it’s liberation! But, we need a plan since our resources are still scant.

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Creating a Stowable Gaming Table

February 1, 2015 / Stan Shinn

Many folks who have visited my gameroom and played tabletop RPGs like D&D and Traveller with me have remarked on my table setup. It’s easy to deconstruct and reconfigure the room to instead setup a folding ping-ping table or put down an inflatable bed if we have guests. It’s also big enough they I can seat 8 players plus a GM (though usually it’s set up for 5-6 players plus a GM).

Here’s how I pieced it together along with costs.

A Chessex Megamat which is 34.5″ x 48″ from Amazon (runs about $34) [view online]
Two center-fold folding tables from Costco (runs about $67) [view online]
A full-size black bed sheet from Target (runs about $11) [view online]
A Lexan 36″ x 48″ clear acrylic sheet (runs about $67) [view online]

Total cost was around $250.

Stan’s Gaming Table

I use Costco folding tables. Very sturdy and rugged (as compared to some less expensive tables I used to have from Target which were a little more wobbly).

Costco Heavy Duty Folding Tables

I simply use a black full-sized bed sheet as a table-cloth. It’s not slick and has enough friction to keep maps and cards from sliding around. Easy to throw in the laundry once the Cheeto stains become noticable!

Full Size Bed Sheet Used as a Tablecloth

I use a Chessex battlemat which fits on the table with still about a foot of space along the table edges for players to put their books and character sheets and innumerable dice.

Chessex Megamat

I’m paranoid about staining my Chessex battlemat by forgetting to wipe off the wet erase markings. Also, I’m sometimes concerned about water marks or tears given some of the minis and soft drinks we junk up the table with. So I overlay a piece of Lexan on top of the battlemat. Lexan is more expensive than Plexiglass but is thinner and (supposedly) more scratch resistent. I’d probably have been just as happy with Plexiglass in retrospect.

Lexan Sheet

You can draw on the battlemat just fine. I can wait and erase the marking a month later and it comes up just fine.

Battlemat You Can Draw On Without Fear of Stains

Another use for the Lexan is to press maps flat and protect them. Here’s a Heroclix map that is hard to get flat.

Maps When Not Under Lexan

But when placed under the Lexan it is nice and flat!

Example Map Under the Lexan Sheet

Come game-time, I really like the table setup. We toss dice around and the maps are nice and protected from drink spills and don’t move around on the table.

Heroclix Figures on the Battlemat

While the cost was $250 for this setup, it works great for me. Hope you find these tips helpful!

Top Lessons Learned from Shane Hensley's Savage Worlds Game

January 25, 2015 / Stan Shinn

After having played in Shane Hensley’s Savage Worlds game at ChupacabraCon II in Austin recently, I wrote up my observations of his game in a series of four blog posts:

In summary, here are the specific things I plan to do differently in my games going forward after having observed Shane’s techniques:

Extensively use Fatigue in scenes — for example, dealing fatigue as a sort of ‘wound’ if the player fails an Agility check.
Use the Initiative Countdown technique for card initiative.
Use an Indecision Countdown when players have analysis paralysis.
Keep the Bennies flowing and award bennies very liberally, even for actions that aren’t based on a Hindrance.
Use Triggers, especially at Con games.
Use the Critical Failures setting rule (not allowing you to benny snake-eye rolls). I will attempt to create a Critical Failure table for my different settings with ideas on what happens narratively in those circumstances.
Manage Wild Cards and Extras differently in terms of up/down/off-the-table status (Extras are up/down/off-the-table, Wild Cards are up/up-with-status-markers/down.

Stan Shinn playing in a Shane Hensley game

Stan Shinn (far left) playing in a Shane Hensley game

Gaming Venue: Starbucks at Target in Wylie

January 25, 2015 / Stan Shinn

The Target in Wylie has an amazing Starbuck area with LOTS of seating around the corner. It’s smoke free and might be an OK place to meet. It could seat 70 people I think — no joke! You just have to walk around the corner to the back where there is a long strip of tables and chairs. Jeff and I had coffee there this morning and checked it out — great seating and very quiet!

Here are directions: http://www.mystore411.com/store/view/33097/Starbucks-Wylie

Here are photos to give you a feel for the place.