RPGaDay #26-31

#26 Favorite character sheet

I don't have a favourite character sheet.

#27 Game you'd like a new edition of

I'd love a second edition of Hillfolk. The first edition is, um, not good. These are the changes I'd make:

System: Right now, I wouldn't change it. But after I've played it a few more times, I may have ideas.

Cover: Currently, a muddy brown cover with a couple of indistinct figures. Make it compelling. And beautiful.

Fonts: Currently tiny and (to my old eyes) almost unreadable. Make it bigger!

Series pitches: Currently, over 50% of the book consists of alternate game ideas (of varying quality). Throw all but the three best out and turn them into character playsheets along the lines of Jon Cole's one-shot playbooks. Keep the other series pitches, but as pdfs (ideally with playbooks).

Size: Currently a 230+ page A4 hardback. Cut it down to a trade paperback size and give it some love.

#28 Scariest game you've played

Scary games are hard to do, and I think the scariest game I played was in the mid-eighties. I was in a games club in Exeter, and we were playing Call of Cthulhu. I can’t remember the plot, but for some reason, we were exhuming the body of a suspected sorcerer. And somehow, the anticipation of what we would find turned that into the scariest session I can remember.

What’s odd about that is that we were in a large room in a pub, with other games going on around us. So the atmosphere was against us, but somehow, for me, it became scary. (That’s what I think of when people talk about immersion. Not the what-you-see-is-what-you-get sense from some larps, but being carried away by the game so reality fades into the background.)

#29 Most memorable encounter

Cosmic Encounter. For lots of reasons, most of which I've put here.

#30 Obscure RPG you've played

No idea.

#31 Favourite RPG of all time

I’m not sure I have an all-time favourite RPG. I guess it could be Fate Accelerated, for the reasons I talked about in question #18.

However, since running a session of Hillfolk at Continuum last month, I suspect Hillfolk will be my new favourite – but it’s too early to tell. (A more detailed write-up of that Hillfolk session will follow in a later post.)

My favourite boardgame is easy, though: Cosmic Encounter.

And my favourite freeform? That’s complicated, as freeforms aren’t normally played more than once. But if you forced me to pick, I’d probably say either Home of the Bold (my first freeform ever) or Café Casablanca (my first weekend freeform), both of which I’ve played twice.

Reflecting on #RPGaDay 2023?

31 questions feel like a lot – and I feel like I’ve petered out. I’m not sure the questions were that great either.

I’d much rather things were spread out during the year – allowing for more time to think about them properly.

But hey, I still did it. Will I do 2024? Maybe. Probably.