#RPGaDay 1: Real dice, dice app, diceless, how do you prefer to ‘roll’?

RPG a Day 2016 image

Each year we celebrate Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 1, Real dice, dice app, diceless, how do you prefer to ‘roll’?

Aser – I like real dice, the feel of a tangible expression of the probabilities at work. Random number generators may offer a purer randomness than these little pieces of plastic, but feeling and hearing the dice tumble and roll imparts something special to the roll. Even if the randomness is more illusory given the nature of the game, isn’t that part of the fantasy too?
In another important sense, the dice I use are a constant reminder of the inventiveness and inclusiveness of the tabletop gaming community. I use Braille dice, designed by a woman who wanted her friend to be able to experience this iconic activity that forms such a major part of the hobby and brought to fruition through funding from hundreds of people on Kickstarter who thought the idea was worth making a reality. One of our players also bought me a full set of these dice and then some, one of the most meaningful and profoundly appreciated gifts I have ever received.
John D. – Real dice for the true randomness and sound but often online I have been using a free app.
Jonn P. – Real dice when the system is straight forward like fate, savage worlds, etc. For systems like 3.5/Pathfinder with a bunch situational modifiers and iterative attacks, dice apps to preserve what remains of my sanity.
Landan – I prefer to roll dice whenever possible, but in some instances I like digital rollers if it is a ton of dice to make the math quicker.
Megan – I prefer real dice. There’s just something satisfying about listening to them roll. But if I’m rolling more then 10 dice, I’m probably going to use a roller.
Mike G. – Real dice, and I prefer to roll.
Patrick – 100% real dice, forged in the fires of Hades, and kissed by Fortuna on my namesday.
Phil – I prefer a dice app for convenience (esp for dice-heavy games like firefly) but what RPG fan doesn’t like rattling the bones for real…

#RPGaDay2015 31: Favorite non-RPG thing to come out of RPGing

autocratik topic grid

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 31, What is your favorite non-RPG thing to come out of RPGing?
Aser:
Megan and Aser engagement photo
Chuck: My wife, LARPing actually but I will count it.
John: Friendship with Aser, Megan, Rob, basically anyone I game with on @TRFpodcast! Also ‘The Ancient Ones’ in our all-star Skype Cthulhu games: Shep, Shannon Mac, Ed and John.
Jonn: My two sons… okay maybe not both of them. Definitely the first one though… The second one was more likely the result of alcohol. I love you kids! 😀
Landan: Making new friends
Matt: I’ve met a lot of cool people and made some really good friends because of playing RPGs.
Megan: Meeting Aser 😀 He tweeted that he wished he could find a group to play Call of Cthulhu with and I responded, and now I have a wonderful fiance.
Patrick: At the risk of sounding sexist, Chainmail Garments. Most people stop at the bikini, but the chain main halter top is also a thing. I can’t imagine the chafing, those poor women.
Rob: All the awesome friends I’ve made through gaming!

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#RPGaDay2015 30: Favorite RPG playing celebrity

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 30, Who is your favorite RPG playing celebrity?
Aser: Harry Dresden ummm, I guess I mean Jim Butcher.
Chuck: Vin Diesel
John: Vin Diesel maybe.
Jonn: Wil Wheaton. I’m really liking Titansgrave. I probably would have waffled between Vin Diesel and Wil Wheaton otherwise.
Landan: Wil Wheaton
Matt: Stephen Colbert. He is so unapologetically geeky about Lord of the Rings and D&D references. It is a delight to watch.
Megan: Well, Vin Diesel obviously.
Patrick: Brian Posehn
Rob: Tie between Blaine Capatch and Vin Diesel

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#RPGaDay2015 29: Favorite RPG website/blog

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 29, What is your favorite RPG website/blog?
Aser: DriveThruRPG 😛
Chuck: DriveThruRPG
John: TheRedactedFiles.com, Twitter.
Jonn: Reality Refracted. A.L. has a very nuanced approached to talking about role-playing games. The post are rarely antagonistic and he doesn’t spend any of his time bashing people like a lot of bloggers do.
Landan: Paizo, Monte Cook Games, TRF, Geekly Inc., and I can’t think of any others off the top my head.
Matt: The Angry GM is a good read for me. I tend to design and plan games in similar ways to him, but he has much more detailed insight into why what he does works. This has helped me understand why I do things the way I do, which in turn has helped me refine my techniques. And, while I don’t visit Penny Arcade or their forum as much as I used to, I got a lot of really good info from there.
Megan: I like Gnome Stew and Tribality quite a bit for advice and news. I also love TRF because it’s my baby 🙂
Patrick: TRF, I really don’t look anywhere else. My plate is usually full of my other gaming vices.
Rob: TRF

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#RPGaDay2015 28: Favorite game you no longer play

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 28, What is your favorite game you no longer play?
Aser: It’s hard to believe we haven’t played Eclipse Phase in more than a year, but that’s the sad truth. D20 Modern was fun too, though I’m not sure how those characters would’ve done in the long run.
Chuck: The old DC supers game, the first edition
John: BECMI D&D (might play again soon?) or Marvel.
Jonn: For me, it is D&D 2e/4e. I’ve enjoyed most every version of D&D but recently stopped playing 2e/4e. I have been gravitating towards games like Fate Core and Cortex. I’ve gotten the most enjoyed out of D&D than any other ruleset; however, I slowly gravitated towards simple rulesets that have less rigid systems for combat, skills and (especially) magic systems.
Landan: It has been a long time since I played Saga Ed. Star Wars RPG
Matt: D&D 3.5 did a lot of things very well, and I played it for a long time. While Pathfinder is strictly better in almost every way that matters to me, I had a lot of fun with 3.5.
Megan: WH40k: Rogue Trader. The first RPG I played, and it still has a special place in my heart. I miss Khan, the greatest explorator.
Patrick: Mage: The Awakening
Rob: RIFTS

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#RPGaDay2015 27: Favorite Idea for Merging Two Games into One

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 27, What is your favorite idea for merging two games into one?
Aser: My favorite idea is something we’re doing currently actually. The party from our Mysteries of the Ninth World campaign is going to step into The Strange. 🙂 It was Megan’s idea and I was foolish enough to add fuel to the fire.
Chuck: I thought mixing The Strange with Numenera would be fun, turns out, there were some problems.
John: The Strange makes that very possible. Or introducing the Cthulhu Mythos into Eclipse Phase.
Jonn: A setting inspired by Earthdawn and Fallout. Where the cataclysm occurred during the pre-Columbian period. Places like the Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde, Tulum, Chichen Itza were constructed to be vaults and the PCs would come from and/or be exploring these locations.
Landan: I am not sure maybe two parallel universes all of a sudden start to merge… I have no clue.
Matt: I’d love to have a game that incorporated vehicle combat well, whether that was spaceships, car chases, etc. that lets the PCs work together in a meaningful way.
Megan: I don’t think there are a lot of game systems I really want to merge into one. But I love the idea of merging worlds together (which the Strange does beautifully). I’m playing with this concept in my Numenera game, by bringing the Strange into it.
Patrick: Aces and Eights and Deadlands.

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#RPGaDay2015 26: Favorite Inspiration for your Game

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 26, What is your favorite inspiration for your game?
Aser: My favorite inspiration when planning a scenario is typically a random bit of interpersonal interaction in a larger work of history I’m reading, something humanizing, that can really turn people you’ve never met into someone you care about. I try to bring that into the game. Or when running The Strange, I’ll just open the Bestiary and see what nastiness would be fun to inflict on my players that day. 😛
Chuck: Live play podcasts.
John: Movies, game-inspired fiction, podcasts.
Jonn: Famous Quotes, Ancient History and American History.
Landan: Music, Art, Television, and Movies. The most recent character I created was based off the album cover for Chevelle’s “La Gargola”
Matt: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave provides a lot of potential for a story that evolves over time without resorting to a “twist”.
Megan: I use Aser a lot to bounce ideas off of, and then twist his and my ideas into one mega-idea.
Patrick: Horror films.
Rob: Zombie Movies

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#RPGaDay2015 25: Favorite Revolutionary Game Mechanic

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 25, What is your favorite revolutionary game mechanic?
Aser: We keep talking about the Cypher System, but for good reason I think. In Cypher, the points used to buy uses of your special abilities and boost your die rolls, are also your health. the use of expendable points to help your rolls or achieve success in Gumshoe is also a real favorite: emphasizing the toll the adventure is taking on the player.
Chuck: Exp for discovery not combat.
John: Burning Games’ FAITH uses cards not dice; the ‘rest’ refresh method from Cypher System and D&D.
Jonn: Fate Points. Well Fate Points are nothing new, but how they interact with the rest of the system is fairly revolutionary.
Landan: Maybe the GM intrusion mechanic for the Numenera RPG and I believe other Cypher System games.
Matt: Communal world-building is a great idea that I kick myself for not incorporating into my games before. I love it as both a GM and a player. Runner-up is the social combat system in the Dresden Files RPG; it’s the only such system I’ve seen that works reasonably well.
Megan: I like being able to spend to increase your roll in the Cypher System, as well as being able to reroll by spending XP. It’s the only mechanic I regularly miss when I’m playing other games.
Patrick: Drama Dice from 7th Sea. Tangible rewards for cool stuff players do in game. Look it up, cool shiznit.
Rob: Complications replacing HP

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#RPGaDay2015 24: Favorite House Rule

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 24, What is your favorite house rule?
Aser: If it’s cool enough, it happens.
Chuck: Stop the game by making the GM laugh uncontrollably, get an exp point.
John: Roll 4 dice for d20 Attributes and discard the lowest. Also the Final Girl method of drawing one card at a time to streamline death scenes.
Jonn: Depends on the system, but the most common rule is not tracking mundane equipment. Characters is assumed to have basic equipment that fits their character, roll a high-low roll for items that would be possible for them to have, and told what they would have to do to get their hands on it otherwise.
Landan: I am a fan of Megan’s Nat 20 always being a critical hit without having to roll to confirm. My in-person group tends to also always have Weapon Finesse as a free feat.
Matt: N/A. Can’t think of a house rule that wasn’t set up to fix something frustrating so we could get on with a game.
Megan: Most of my house rules come about because I don’t want to spend time looking up some specifics. But I’m always really happy to let something happen if it’s particularly clever or awesome.
Patrick: Roll a Nat 20 on a skill check get 100 xp and a permanent skill point to that skill.

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#RPGaDay2015 23: Perfect Game for You

Last year we celebrated Autocratik’s #RPGaDay, where we spend a month celebrating RPGs, discussing what we love and what we love about them. Here are the responses of the TRF crew. Be sure to tweet, blog, or post your own with the #RPGaDay!

For August 23, What is the perfect game for you?
Aser: The perfect game for me is something more towards the social, rules lite end of the spectrum though still probably with a GM. It will probably end up being whatever the TRF crew behind The Strange comes up with using the Cypher System Rulebook
Chuck: One that has friends and will keep going next week.
John: Eclipse Phase. Bored woth PC? Change bodies! RPG is so fun and varied, sci fi, humor and horror; rules are flexible enough to be adapted pretty easily: I easily envision a habitat fighting a Terminator: Future War scenario or a Gamma World Earth for example.
Jonn: Fantasy/SCI where actions are heroic and maybe the gravity is 15% less 🙂 the with A game where magic is either limited in magnitude or is extremely dangerous.
Landan: Any session I come out alive and not dead.
Matt: Probably something like the Cypher System or FATE; simple mechanics with the ability to do a lot of customization.
Megan: I like rules light games in weird settings so Numenera is basically my perfect game. I love pretty much everything about this game, and any new addition just makes it better .
Patrick: Airship Pirates with magic and stuffs.
Rob: Final Girl

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