Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd edition – Paris: City of Light

As alluded to before, we’ve been playing the new edition of Werewolf: the Forsaken as a “break game”. However, until now we’ve not been allowed to share a great deal because the game wasn’t yet released. At long last, 2nd edition has been released (you can buy the PDF version of the game here). Our main GM, Chris, was one of the developers, so you can see the fruits of his labours for yourself.

Now that it is the NDA has dropped, and we can share more details of what we’re up to. That means the game wiki is now able to feature mechanical information (such as the character sheets of the PCs) and we can podcast our sessions. Watch this space, they’ll be updating on the feed soon.

The PCs are a pack called The Bronze Guard, who’s territory is in Montreuil, a suburb to the east of Paris. They are based out of an old railyard/junkyard which is now a sculptor’s studio owned by one of the PCs. They “inherited” it from a wolf cult they’d banded together to drive out, adopting some of the surviving members into their pack. The prize is a locus on the site of a defunct bronze foundry, in which lives a spirit of industry, the pack’s totem, Zabasimuthari the Enduring Smith of Bronze.

The game begins not long after that violent beginning, with the new pack having to establish themselves and carve out their hunting grounds.

All Change!

For those who are familiar with the pattern of our Thursday games, we have a “main game” and “break games”. The main game is one we come back to time and again, and will run long. WFRP2e was our first one, now it’s Acrozatarim. We wrapped up a major story arc in Episode 22 of that game, and decided it was time for a break. What that means is doing something different to recharge the batteries, cleanse the palate and otherwise change things up.

Our next game, coming hot on the heels of the (NDA-shrouded) playtesting, is Werewolf: the Forsaken 2nd edition. Chris is one of the writers and is keen to run a game of the final version while it’s all fresh. It’s not released yet, so we may have to delay the podcasts of the sessions until the game is released.

The rough outline of the premise is modern-day Paris, a new pack of the Forsaken getting enmeshed in all that’s happening in the City of Light. There are three Uratha (werewolf) PCs and one Wolf-Blooded PC, along with a stable of NPCs filling out the rest of the pack. We have a new wiki (which is significantly under construction) to support the game, you’ll see more there as we get underway.

The Podcast is Alive!

We’re Back!

Due to a number of issues we have not been able to release any podcasts for our most recent games. But luckily the Monday group has a couple of months break in between playtesting the upcoming Onyx Path games, Werewolf the Forsaken 2nd Edition and Mage the Awakening 2nd edition.  As a change of pace, I shall be the GM and I shall be running a 4th ed D&D Dark Sun game, Lion of the Desert. Hope everyone enjoys this new podcast!

Mass: the Effecting Character Sheets

I posted a while back suggesting if people wanted the character sheets we use for Mass: the Effecting that they should contact me by PM on RPGnet. I’ve now discovered that you can host media directly on WordPress, so to save people all that rigmarole, they’re now available to download here:

Mass the Effecting Character Sheet files

Contained within the zip is a PDF character sheet, the Excel file I used to build it (so you can customise it to your heart’s content), and a Word document for tracking ammunition.

Enjoy!

We’re still here!

Our regular listeners might have noted that things have been quiet on here. Just to reassure you, we haven’t gone away anywhere, nor have we stopped playing. Things have been a little chaotic lately, plus there’s been something of a summer break as well, but we have still been playing and recording.

We’re up to Episode 17 of Acrozatarim, with the files awaiting summaries so they can be posted up here, so once that happens there’ll be a glut of listening for those waiting.

We’re also three sessions into The Library, which is accelerating towards a conclusion of the introductory scenario, which will be posted up here eventually.

There’s also been some playtesting which unfortunately can’t be broadcast, due to NDAs.

Our next game, once we reach a natural break-point in Acrozatarim, will be a return to Mass Effect: Transcendence. For the most part the underlying Mass: the Effecting system will be unchanged, since it trialled a number of the God Machine Chronicle updates to the nWoD engine, but we will be revising the way XP works.

Bear with us, we should be back on an even keel with regular updates soon.

We Are Back!

Were Back!

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, but it’s been a busy time for all of us for one reason or another so the podcast schedule has not been regular as I would have liked it to be. But all new episodes of 13th Age are incoming!

For fans of our Mummy the Curse game however you may have a little longer to wait, currently the game is on hiatus will we are play testing the all new Werewolf the Forsaken, Idigam Chronicles, which several members of the group are involved with the writing. We may release the playtest sessions as a Podcasts once there done and depending on their quality, and if Stew says we can.

Character Sheets for Mass: the Effecting

I’ve had a request elsewhere about character sheets for Mass: the Effecting. We have our own custom-made ones that I did in Excel, then printed to PDF for ease of use. It has an ammo tracker, a library for storing programs and other useful bits. I will happily share both versions with anyone who wants them.

These are now hosted right here:

Mass the Effecting Character Sheet files

Tyche’s Favourites – On Hiatus

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve had lots of fun with our historical action game, Tyche’s Favourites. I hadn’t run a regular game in years, it was refreshing to go back to GMing, even if only for a break-game’s length. What’s been especially enjoyable for me as a GM is seeing how the players engaged with some of the colourful characters I introduced, and really got into the business of vendetta, taking it personally when someone attacked them and killed their employer’s sons.

All good things must come to an end, however, and there was something we all knew would curtail the game once it happened: the arrival of my second daughter. When things calm down, I hope to return to Massalia, especially since the PCs were about to embark on stirring some chaos in Bolon’s backyard.

In the meantime, we return to our regular GM and reprising Icewind Dale for the third and final time. Watch this space for more podcasts charting the twisting tales of the defenders of the Dale as the stakes get ever higher. As a teaser of what’s to come, once IWD is concluded we’ll be kicking off a new main game, a homebrewed fantasy setting called Acrozatarim (wiki under construction) using the new 13th Age system.

Lastly, here’s the little monster with my big monster:

Come and discuss Tyche’s Favourites on RPGnet!

Greetings listeners!

I know from the site-monitoring stats that many people have already either found their way to our Actual Play thread on RPGnet, or else are finding their way here from there.

But for the sake of those who might not have, I just wanted to draw attention to it. It’s a great place to talk about anything you see here, on the wiki, or hear in the podcasts. I’m trying to keep this channel primarily for the podcasts themselves, so you’ll get much more by way of commentary from me there. We don’t bite, and all the players post there (with varying frequency) if you want to get their perspective on anything. Come on down.

In the interests of full disclosure, I do also post on the official Autarch forum (which has a companion AP thread),  Giants in the Playground, the RPGsite, UKRoleplayers and Europa Barbarorum’s forum, if you happen to be registered on any of those already, but the focus for discussion is mostly on the one above.

We also had Episode 2 last night, so watch this space for your regular audio-hit.

The theme music of Tyche’s Favourites

Greetings listeners!

Some of you may have noticed the music featured on the beginning and end of the podcasts, and perhaps wondered what it is. I can’t claim credit for what is not my work; it comes from the Rome: Total War modification, Europa Barbarorum, which was itself a major inspiration for the game. All the music therein is written/composed by Morgan Casey, Nick Wylie, Musica Romana, Prehistoric Music Ireland and The Persian Cataphract. Specifically, the music used is the main theme (which you can also hear on YouTube), one of many tracks which are modern takes on ancient music.  It is used with the permission of the Europa Barbarorum production team, for which I’m extremely grateful.