Graph Paper Games

The problem My regular gaming group has six players who fairly consistently can attend gaming sessions every other week.  Our group plays D&D 4E, and will continue to do so for about another six months until we reach level 21, at which time I've told them I will no longer run that game.  Having six players is about the maximum any gaming group can withstand, just on pure interpersonal dynamics and making sure people are constantly engaged. Recently, one of the core six players invited a friend from work to sit in on a game.  It happened to be at a time when the group was facing some encounters with diverse opposition, so you had six PC's and maybe four distinct monsters, meaning you had ten different elements going off at different initiatives (I've since learned to dial that way down, favoring solo monsters or homogeneous groups).  In the wake of that particular session, the whole group (myself included) was pretty antipathetic towards having another regular ...

For Monstrous Monday , an homage to a comic book staple using the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying rules Original Art by Rob Baldwin (that's me!), copyright 2012 Atomo, the Atomic Monster from Beneath the Earth! Affiliations  Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6 Distinctions Colossal Terror Nom Nom Nom Somebody's Tool Power Sets MONSTROUS FORM Godlike Strength d12 Godlike Durability d12 Gigantic Size d12 Tunneling d8 Mental Defense d8 SFX: Invulnerability, as MHR SFX: Multiattack (powerful slam) SFX: Engulf.  Take a dice from the doom pool to create a "swallowed" complication for any opponent.  Opponent may still attack, but only Atomo.  Have the hero overcome the Doom Pool to recover. Limit: primitive mind.  Step up damage die for all emotional attacks Specialties Menace d10 Background While Atomo's origins remain a mystery, he (or it) has appeared as a frequent tool of various supervillains intent on large-scale destruction.  Alm...

EOW (End of the World) is my annual mini-convention I participate in with my friends, and it was this past weekend.  It's basically three days of gaming, with a different GM running a session each day using the same generic rules system but different genres.  It's a fun weekend, and here's the review of how it went. Day One (Friday): Star Trek GM: Me Story: in the TNG era, the crew of an aging Reliant -class ship are contacted by a Romulan intelligence agent about a sector the Empire ceded to the Federation several years ago.  Two centuries ago, a Romulan ship was destroyed there under mysterious circumstances, and now a colony may be at risk.  The crew discovers a planet-sized being that can siphon energy from any source. Liked: it's my scenario so I don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but afterwards one player said that the session "really felt like a Next Generation episode." Disliked: I waited until the last minute when it came ...

Four players and three encounters, three hours. For each additional player, add 1/2 hour to the final total (e.g. six players would make it 4.5 hours)