Virtual Play

Bill and I spend 45 minutes or so talking about Classic Traveller.  The focus of the episode is on how players make sense of clues and other information provided by the GM and how this contributes both to an adventure as well as adding detail to the imaginary world of the characters.  Here is a look at the data file we were trying to make sense of:

Welcome to the next episode!  Bill and I have been playing some Classic Traveller on Roll 20 so this episode is an excerpt of play of two from a recent game.  We talk about Bill's penchant for mini-games inside the game as well as the balance between quick improvisation versus more detailed decisions.  The episode clocks in at approximately 25 minutes.  Thanks for listening!

At Total Con 35, which had an espionage focus, I ran a hack of TSR's Top Secret:  New World Order.  My goal was to run it in the style of TV's Mission: Impossible.  I wanted to include the briefing scene, a preview of the mission, and then the mission itself.  This meant the characters should start the mission knowing what is going on and what they have to do.  It was a bit rough but Bill and I discuss how to make it better.  The episode runs at approximately 40 minutes.  If you're interested, here is the mission the characters received at the start of the game (you'll have to imagine the accompanying images): Greetings, Agent.  This man is Orest Doroshenko, a physicist with the Ukrainian National Academy of Science.  Doroshenko’s wife and two children were killed in the accidental downing of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 by Iranian air defense forces.  We have learned that through the black market, Doroshenko has acquired a radiological thermal generator formerly used to power automated lighthouses on the northern coast of the erstwhile Soviet Union.  If removed from its lead casing, the strontium 90 powering the generator poses a hazard to any exposed to its radiation.  Reliable sources indicate that Doroshenko has smuggled the generator into Iran and intends to use the strontium 90 material as a component in a radiation dispersion device, or dirty bomb.  In addition to immediate and long-term casualties, such an act would almost certainly lead to retaliatory acts and war in the region and beyond.  We cannot let that happen.  We also cannot let the radiological material fall into Iranian hands because the head of Iranian secret intelligence, General Jamshid Rostami, has strong links to known terrorist organizations acting against our interests in the region. Your mission is to prevent Doroshenko from carrying out his plan and ensuring that the radiological material does not fall into Iranian hands.  As always, should you be caught or killed, the Secretariat will disavow any knowledge of your actions.  Good luck.   

Welcome back to Virtual Play!  Bill and I take a close look at an encounter in a Dungeon Crawl Classics game.  It involves an encounter with undead in a bath house that has since become a tomb!  It's a game I ran but Bill has some great insights into how I could have ran it better!  The episode clocks in at approximately 55 minutes.  Enjoy the show! 

Happy New Year!  I hope you are all as well as can be.  Thanks for sticking around for more episodes.  In our inaugural podcast of 2021, Bill and I talk about gaming from the last year or so.  It has been a while!  But we plan to get back regularly with more excerpts from games, whether played online or face-to-face.  This show is approximately 30 minutes.  In a deviation from our normal format, there are no excerpts in this episode but we'll have some next time!  Enjoy the show! Mel

Bill and I are in the last night of Metatopia 2018.  We're excited about the result of our playtest of Dying is Easy.  In many ways, the evolution of Dying is Easy over the past two Metatopias and particularly this weekend shows how Metatopia helps designers finish their games.  Have a listen!   Mel

Bill and are continue our Metatopia special episodes with a discussion about and excerpt from a game Bill wrote called "the Indie Scene".  The game will be a chapter in Bill's book on the Forge, which was an online discussion forum for RPG design, publication and play.   Mel

Bill and I are at Day 1 of Metatopia, the Game Design Festival in Morristown NJ.  We briefly discuss the games we are here to playtest, including an excerpt from a moment of play in a game that inspired our thinking about the design of one of those games.  The excerpt is from a game in development by E. Tage Larsen called "Roughhouse", featuring the voices of dutiful listener Jim Crocker and Eric's friend, Dave. Mel

Welcome to Virtual Play!  Bill and I discuss a GM workshop we conducted at Gencon.  The format was the participants played characters in an adventuring party, with rotating GM duties.  The workshops were planned by Will Hindmarch at Demystics but when Will couldn't make it, we were privileged to fill in for a couple of sessions.  Here's the result.  The episode clocks in at just under one hour.  Mel 

We talk about Bill running his adventure for Pelgrane Press's Trail of Cthulhu, "The Big Hoodoo," where 1950s sci-fi writers like Bob Heinlein and Isaac Asimov confront a Mythos mystery in sun-drenched California. We try to figure out why the players seemed so bemused by the plethora of clues at their disposal. We identify adventure design and game-running issues that may help other GMs run their mystery games. The episode is about 45 minutes long.

Or at least Bill is.  In this recap of a moment play from Dungeon Crawl Classics, Bill, playing a kitsune dog spirit, attempts to get something to eat.  Because that's what dogs do.  The episode is approximately 28 minutes.   Mel

Hi!  Welcome back to Virtual Play.  Bill and I had a great conversation with Jim Crocker, Ben Forest and Dave Petroski at Dexcon 20 discussing a bunch of things such as comics, the retail industry, New Jersey politics and more.  But for Virtual Play, we talked about "Dying is Easy" a comedy game in development.  This show is our discussion, with excerpts of play!  The show clocks in at 27 minutes.  Enjoy! Mel

Bill and I spent some time at the Hyatt bar talking to Ben Forest about running and playing in games. We mainly discuss the question is the role of the game-master to entertain or to be entertained?  Between the three of us, we likely had four or five opinions! Please enjoy this 30 minute special episode of Virtual Play! Mel

Here's some bonus content!  At Origins, Bill talked to Morgan Ellis and other folks about Fate and Nitrate City.  They agreed to let us listen in!  I feel like I'm actually there at the Big Bar on 2!  Morgan provides some advice on Fate gameplay, and then the conversation turns to Nitrate City.  Ten minutes of virtual Origins--now I am a little less grumpy about not being there live!

Welcome back!  In this episode, Bill and I talk about Nitrate City, a World of Adventure for Fate.  Bill co-wrote the game with Doselle Young--Doselle provided the vision, Bill provided the mechanics!  We've taken excerpts for a couple of games from Origins. Bill ran one and Nick Hopkins ran the other after playing it once!  So credits to Nick for pushing the envelope like that.  Our discussion focuses on what I think is the key technology of Nitrate City:  film genres as approaches.  We also talk about the setting, noir and a few digressions here and there.  But not too many, because the show clocks in at a brisk 45 minutes.   Enjoy! Mel

In this episode, Bill and I discuss the game "Fall of Magic".  It's described as a roleplaying game of profound fantasy.  I was attracted to it by the thematic link to Larry Niven's short story, "The Magic Goes Away" as well by the neat visual element within the game where gameplay is aided by actually unrolling a map scroll to move from place to place.  I backed it on Kickstarter, and once it came, loaned it to Bill to run.  Now we get to talk about it! This show runs at approximately 33 minutes.   Mel

In this episode, Bill and I get to talk about a game we have been excited about for a while.  Michael Miller has revised "With Great Power" his superhero roleplaying game.  Superheroes are one of our favorite genres. And low prep games are increasingly my preference.  With Great Power lives at that nexus!  Zero prep games can be different than traditional games in many ways, particularly in terms of shaping a common vision for the game at the start of and through play, in how the mechanics work, and in how typical GM actions are conducted--if at all.  With Great Power gives us a great tool to explore techniques for zero prep games.  So that's the focus of this episode!  The show runs at approximately 47 minutes.  I hope you enjoy it!Mel

Bill wanted to call this episode "Mel And Bill fix Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition," but I think the game mastering advice we talk about in the show applies to any game. There is nothing D&D specific about the ideas we discuss.  The excerpts are from D&D but they could easily have been from many other games.  We talk about ways we think games are more fun:  getting to play faster; paying attention to player flags for the things players want to see in the game; using hooks that matter; making failure matter; and making characters awesome--among other topics.  The show runs just under 60 minutes.  Let me know what you think!Mel

Lots of changes here at Virtual Play!  Bill and I are going to be trying shorter shows with greater frequency.  Thanks to a household move, we are a lot closer now so we'll give it our best shot.  Today's show is about a Fate based game Bill is working on called Andromeda, as well as an upcoming project he will be working on for Evil Hat, the Fate Space toolkit!  The show clocks in at 35 minutes or so.  We hope you enjoy it!Mel

Welcome back to Virtual Play!  In this episode Bill and I talk about some GM techniques using Torchbearer and Night's Black Agents for excerpts.  The games are a handful of games we played or ran at Gencon--I should say that either Bill ran or I played, since he ran a lot of games but I only played!  The episode runs a little long at approximately 75 minutes, and we are barely scratching the surface of Gencon games. So we'll get back to more Gencon games in future episodes, just as we have to get back to the backlog of games from Origins and Dexcon.  Enjoy the show!Mel

Hi,Welcome to a longer than usual episode of Virtual Play, clocking in at approximately 75 minutes.  Bill and I talk about games from Origins and Dexcon, as well as some local games.  The main lesson for me from listening to the games is to think about the effect of the game's mechanics on the flow of an adventure and vice versa.  The example we talk about involves a Night's Black Agents game where I used some modified rules that I thought would make the characters more successful in their actions.  And they were, but because the setup for the adventure involved the PCs as part of an international, intergovernmental law enforcement task force, the adventure played out more like a police procedural than a spy thriller.  Other highlights include looks at Infinite Galaxies, a "Powered by the Apocalypse" science fiction setting that reminded me of seeing Star Wars for the first time, and a game Bill is co-authoring called Nitrate City, which uses Fate Accelerated  in a noiresque setting of film characters come to life.  I hope you enjoy the show!Mel

Bill and I are once again joined by Hannah to talk about games from Camp Nerdly.  This show contains excerpts from Star Wars d6, Little Wizards, a Hellboy themed RPG, Night's Black Agents and Action Park, a parsely style game.  Duration is just under an hour.  Thanks for listening!Mel

Bill and I talk about some of our recent experiences with games using cards for conflict resolution.  I recently played God-KIng, a game by Daniel Cruz Chan, that uses a normal deck of playing cards in places of dice for conflict resolution.  Basically, in each conflict, players are dealt four cards and add one card from two that they already are holding.  Red suits are successes in mental conflicts; black suits are successes in physical conflicts.  Jokers indicate an outomatic loss, while aces indicate an automatic win--and aces trump jokers. I thoroughly enoyed the game and could see porting the card-based resolution mechanic for other uses.  Bill talks about using the Deck of Fate in Fate Core. The deck replaces fudge diceand also includes aspects written on the card that can be used to shape the fiction, invoked as aspects, and other ways.  This episode is approximately 55 minutes long.  Thanks for listening!Mel

Hi,  In this episode Bill and I are joined by Ben Forest to talk about immersion in roleplaying games.  We'll use a couple of excerpts from Traveller games.  Ben ran one of the games; in the other the GM was Adam D.  Unsurprisingly, our conclusion on immersion is that it means different things to different people!Mel

Bill and I had a great time at the Dreamation RPG convention last week in Morristown.  I was able to play or run seven games and all of them were a blast.  This show is about a Dungeon World adventure I ran.  Bill pointed out that he runs split parties differently than I do, and I think his method is better!  Rather than run scenes sequentially, as I have been doing, he runs them simultaneously.  This is our discussion about that.  The episode runs at approximately 56 minutes.  Enjoy the show!Mel

At Gencon, Bill played in a game of Timewatch ran by Kevin Kulp, the game's author!  Timewatch is a new game being released by Pelgrane Press.  In Timewatch, the player characters are part of an organization whose mission is to preserve the legitimate time stream of history.  Kevin ran an adventure titled "A Thief in the Night", which saw the characters travel in time from spaceships of the future, to pre-Revolutionary France, to the American West in the 19th century.  Bill and I talk about the game in terms of how time is used in Timewatch, as well as some things for a GM to think about while running Timewatch or perhaps any time travel game.  The episode clocks in at just under an hour.  Enjoy the show!

Welcome back!  In this episode, Bill and I talk about the game of Night's Black Agents he ran at Gencon 2014.  The adventure was named "the Lazarus Sanction" and it involved the agents reconnecting with an asset from the past located in the Transcaucas region.  We discuss some GMing techniques and some rule modifications for NBA.  It was a fun game to listen to and to talk about.  I should mention as well that I mistakenly refer to the "preparedness" skill as "preparation"--it's close, but not exactly right!  This episode clocks in at approximately 61 minutes.  

Hi,Welcome to Virtual Play!  In this oversize episode (71 minutes) Bill and I recap the games we played at Dexcon 2014.  The games are Cthulhu Dark, Trail of Cthulhu, the new game Bill is working on called 'The New World', a game by Waking Dreams Games--although I am not sure of the exact name of the game--Singularity System, classic Traveller, and Fate Core.  We had a great time at Dexcon and I think you can hear it in the excerpts of these games.  I hope you enjoy them!Mel 

Welcome to Virtual Play!  Bill was in Virginia last week at Camp Nerdly, along with his daughter, Hannah.  They stopped by after the weekend to talk about the games they played.  Among them were the games Little Wizards, Stars Without Number, and, of course, Classic Traveller.  Bill noted how much Camp Nerdly is 'family-friendly' and talks a little bit about gaming with kids!  This episode runs approximately 50 minutes.  Enjoy the show!Mel

Hi!  This is the first episode here at the new site!  I am excited to be publishing these podcasts again after a long hiatus.  Thanks to all who have been waiting for Virtual Play to resume--as I've said before--both of you!  In this episode, Bill and I talk about a few of the games we played at Dreamation 2014.  The show includes excerpts from Dungeon Crawl Classics, Ashen Stars, and Trail of Cthulhu.  The focus of the show is on the use of flashbacks and other time manipulation as a technique for adventure design.  Our discussion also includes a few minutes on a Traveller adventure I ran, but we have no excerpt because I lost the SD card.  Drat!  The episode clocks in at 75 minute--a little longer than usualI think it's worth it.  Enjoy the show!  Mel 

While Mel is away, he’s entrusted me with keeping the Virtual Play flame burning, a task to which I have not applied myself as assiduously as I ought. But now that summer’s here and my teaching duties in the real world are not as onerous, I’ve managed to pull together an episode that discusses Kevin […]

This episode of Virtual Play is a quick look at Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics.  A fantasy RPG in the old-school tradition, DCC was a lot of fun to run.  The recommended method to start play is to take 2-4 randomly generated 0-level characters per player into a gauntlet of some kind as an initial […]

I am making up for some lost ground in November with a quick turn on another show this month.  I’m excited to be talking about Black Seven because I had a great time playing the game.  Joe ran the game for us several weeks ago and it was a blast.  Black Seven is billed as […]

Welcome to Virtual Play!  Today’s episode is about Tenra Bansho Zero.  This is a Japanese game from 1997 that is being translated into English.  I believe the English version will be available within the next six months or so.  I played the game a few years ago with Andy Kitowski, who is doing the translation, […]

In this episode of Virtual Play, Bill and I talk about the Chronica Feudalis game he is running.  Set during the First Crusade, Bill’s campaign is a great opportunity to intermix history with roleplaying.  The campaign has run about 4 sessions or so; I’ve had the opportunity to play  one evening so I can share […]

Hi!  Welcome to Virtual Play.  This episode is a bit different than normal.  Rather than playing several short excerpts intermixed with discussion, I am going to play the more or less complete actual play of a practice game Bill and I played of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  We were getting ready for a Marvel Launch Party […]

Bill and I are back with the final episode recounting our games from Dexcon 2012.  Today’s episode is about Cthulhu Dark, a rules-light game of Lovecraftian Horror by Graham Walmsley.  The adventure is titled ‘A Head of His Time’, and it involves Andrew Mellon and his family gathering the artwork that Mellon intends to use […]

Welcome to Virtual Play!  In this episode, Bill and I discuss Ashen Stars and Night’s Black Agents.  Bill ran both these games at Dexcon.  They are both based on the Gumshoe system, by Pelgrane Press, and so share the same basic mechanics.  Ashen Stars includes rules to give it a science fiction feel: space combat, […]

As promised, this episode is a recap of the two Classic Traveller games Bill ran at Dexcon.  I find these games very entertaining to listen to.  They make me want to play!  Both these games were essentially pick-up games, with characters and the adventure more or less determined on the fly using the Traveller rules […]

Our Dexcon wrap-up episodes continue with this look at Skulduggery.  It’s an adventure pitting heroes of Mankara against a giant automaton built centuries earlier that has awoken once more to threaten the city.  Bill points out a key thing about players that I have been overlooking–sometimes it’s important for a player to  solve whatever mystery […]