HELP Vs. A Hard Day's Night

* = This is what my brain is doing all the time it seems like...

I don’t have a hell of a lot to talk about really. Today’s blog is more of an exercise in staving off crushing boredom. So with that in mind here are…

TOP TEN GAMING IDEAS I’D BE DOWN TO TRY & RUN!

10) D&D Chaos Shard –

What can I say; I think this is one of the best things DDI has produced. It’s a sandbox style setting. You have the big Chaos Scar and the PC’s decide what ‘missions’ they’d like to undertake. The idea would be to run it like the fabled “West Marches” style. Let the players control when we meet, let them organize the party, and let them shoulder the burden regarding upkeep. At the same time make it slightly competitive by somehow awarding the best players.

9) Basement Sci-Fi War RPG –

Mighty Mike, and Dave to a degree, are supposed to be engaging in The Basement Sci-Fi War this summer using the No Limits rule set. Like a lot of plans they may not come to fruition. I think it would be a good time to collectively come up with the setting and then play ‘Heroes’ from our setting in a RPG.

8) Zombie Survival Horror –

I dig Zombies. Why not use something like B.R.P.S. (Basic Roleplaying System) to run a short Survival Horror campaign? Using things like 'Dead Set' or 'Walking Dead' as the template for what would occur I think it would be a fun 1 to 3 game mini-campaign. The big difference is I’d like to run it using the Twin Cities during a horrible winter as the setting. So you have the danger of starvation, freezing to death, and the walking dead upping the stakes. Maybe even adding that the infection and change can be slow to add a bit of the paranoia felt in John Carpenter’s The Thing to the mix.

7) DC Super Heroes –

As much as Marvel SAGA has been sort of a headache the last week or so I still LOVE the campaign, the PC’s, and the setting. That being said I’d like to do the same thing with a DC Game. I’d start it in the Golden Age; the PC’s would have to make Golden Age characters. Then I’d shuffle it off to the Silver Age, where the PC’s would either play grown up sidekicks of their Golden Age characters or just older versions of their original characters. Finally by session 6 I’d have them in the Modern Era. I’d really want to amp it up for the PC’s, maybe getting rid of the Big 7 Justice League, and forcing the PC’s to deal with the worst of the DC Universe. I think a must for me would be a heavy dose of Kirby’s Fourth World stuff though. Toss in an appearance by Kamandi, Last Boy On Earth, and I’d be in Heaven. Oh and best of all, I’d get to create my own CITY!

6) D&D Sandbox Campaign –

If I was to do this I’d like to use sort of the idea of the Isle Of Dread; Giant apes, jungle, dinosaurs, etc. as the basis. The players would be shipwrecked on a giant island. It would be up to them to explore, hex style. The wreckage of their ship would be the original home base. The idea of the group just going out and exploring the unknown is highly appealing to me both as a player and as a DM. I might even steal a bit from the old Maztica setting, which was a sort of Spanish invasion of the New World thing. I’d involve a pantheon of ‘Lost Gods’, the Kua-Toa, a King Kong analog, lots and lots of Dinosaurs, & maybe a long lost ‘dead’ Drow Empire. It could work.

5) West End Star Wars –

I’ve been playing the Star Wars RPG, West End Games STYLE, since I was in Middle School. In the original game I played in I got to sniper Darth Vader. In high school I played a Jedi who was infected by a manifestation of the Dark Side of the Force. And in college I both ran a campaign, and was played in a long campaign run by my college DM. Since then I haven’t really played the game. I think it might be fun to run a campaign that takes place towards the end of the Clone Wars. One where the end is near for the Jedi Knights, they are forced to the Fringe of the galaxy where lawlessness is norm. I envision it as something akin to Spaghetti Western styling in the Star Wars setting.

4) Mega-Dungeon Crawl –

I’ve never played nor ran Undermountain. I’ve never really played in a massive Dungeon Crawl campaign. I’m a HUGE fan of James Maliszewski's Grognardia blog and especially his home campaign’s massive sprawling dungeon epic Dwimmermount. That campaign, or at least what Mr. Maliszewski writes about it makes me salivate at the idea of playing or running that type of setting. The idea of intrepid adventurers spiraling ever downward into the unknown, while hoarding supplies, meeting lost societies, and battling ancient evils is very Old School while also being the most visceral of all D&D experiences. If it was to happen I think I would run it with PC’s starting at 5th Level, having some random Hench folks, and treating it like a D&D take on Journey To The Center Of The Earth. Lost worlds, the Drow, Mind Flayers, Torog, and an underwater ocean complete with Orc Pirates would be a must.

3) Pulp Call Of Cthulhu –

Back in the day J.B. ran this, and I even ran it when we rolled with the Piedmont Crew. The basic premise for Jon’s great game was mixing Chaosism’s Call Of Cthulhu game with White Wolf’s pulp game Adventure. I was skeptical at first. I mean c’mon I love C.o.C., but for me it lacks something. Oh yeah, it lacks PUNCHING! As for Adventure, much like the other games in White Wolf’s non World Of Darkness systems; Aberrant & Trinity it’s built on amazing fluff. I just don’t care much for the system. Jon took the Pulp Hero idea mixed it heavily with the 1920’s Call of Cthulhu stff and we were off and running. When I ran I pushed the timeline forward to 1939 with the world in doubt it was a perfect time for the “stars to be right”. It really was a fun vibe. If I were to run it, it would be using the B.R.P.S. (Basic Roleplaying System), which is what C.o.C. is based off of anyway. I also think I’d want to run it in stories rather than in an overarching campaign. With the high mortality rate and the exponentially high rate of sanity loss it would make it easier for players to lose a character and then start from scratch.

2) Gamma World –

I just want to run this it looks wild. People who’ve had the opportunity to get some games in say the character creation is a hoot. If it were to happen I’d again want it to be short mini-campaigns. I’d run them like a mix between bad Post-Apocalyptic 80’s movies & ‘Thundarr The Barbarian’. Give it a touch of ‘Mad Max’ and lots of gangs shake with a bit of modern dungeon crawling, dash with some ‘Escape From New York’, and I think you have a recipe for some fun. For a while I contemplated running a D20 Modern Campaign similar to Gamma World with random folks being elevated into a new polytheistic pantheon. I think this would be the perfect place for this to rear its head.

1) Expedition To The Barrier Peaks –

I’ve played this module once, and not all the way through. I’ve never had the opportunity to run it. I’ve always loved it. The idea of the mixing Sci-Fi and D&D together is highly appealing to me. I think I would use it as the touch off of maybe a fully mixed game. Stealing liberally from the old Valiant comic ‘X-O Manowar’ and the movie ‘Outworld’ it could be a very interesting campaign built around an eventual alien invasion.

Huh, lots of interesting things there. One could say it was a lot of…

RANDOM CRAP!

- For the record I think I’m a bit ‘Drow Crazy’ right now since I’ve just realized I’ve never really used them. Much like Lizardmen, Mindflayers, and Beholders they are just classic beasts that haven’t found their way into my campaigns. If the current D&D Campaign lasts for a while I’m hoping to work all of ‘em in.
- Clear room in your gut Ant for some serious Asian chowing.
- Last night I sealed the bases, aka the flocking, for the miniatures that had been piling up on the table. I’m making a real attempt to clean up that work area before Saturday’s bachelorette party. Tonight I’ll finish sealing them all after I weed eat. They are looking good, and the sealing of the base first is going to make actually getting them done quickly pretty easy.
- Oh and I get to grill tonight, YEAH!
- I want to do a Planet Of The Apes-A-Thon very soon. I’m thinking maybe just three flicks, done tastefully in the downstairs living room on a Saturday. Maybe I just want an excuse to scream, “Get your hands off of me, YOU DAMN DIRTY APE!” But I mean really who doesn’t want to shout that out regularly?
- Would any of you, all two of you who read this, actually play in any of the above ideas? Ever?
- I’m almost done with ‘Viperhand’ & in the meantime have dug in deep to Brian Lumley’s ‘House Of Cthulhu’. I’m not sure what draws me to fantasy novels so much. Whatever it is I can’t get enough of them.
- I need to test run my Burger War entry ASAP.

Oh well at least I know feel like I exercised my brain a bit.

“We all see black and white
When it comes to someone else's fight
No one ever gets involved
Apathy can never solve

FORCED OUT - Brave and mighty
STOLEN LAND - They can't fight it
HOLD ON - To pride and tradition
Even though they know how much their lives are really missin'
WE'RE DISSIN' THEM ...

On reservation
A hopeless situation

Respect is something that you earn
Our Indian brother's getting burned
Original American
Turned into, second class citizen

On reservation
A hopeless situation

Cry for the Indians
Die for the Indians
Cry for the Indians
Cry, Cry, Cry for the Indians

Love the land and fellow man
Peace is what we strive to have
Some folks have none of this
Hatred and prejudice

On reservation
A hopeless situation

Cry for the Indians
Die for the Indians
Cry for the Indians
Cry, Cry, Cry for the Indians

WARDANCE!

TERRITORY, It's just the body of the nation
The people that inhabit it make its configuration
PREJUDICE, Something we all can do without
Cause a flag of many colors is what this land's all about

We all see black and white
When it comes to someone else's fight
No one ever gets involved
Apathy can never solve

FORCED OUT - Brave and mighty
STOLEN LAND - They can't fight it
HOLD ON - To pride and tradition
Even though they know how much their lives are really missin'
WE'RE DISSIN' THEM …

On reservation
A hopeless situation

Cry for the Indians
Die for the Indians
Cry for the Indians
Cry, Cry, Cry for the Indians!”


* = Where is this for you?