Returning Soon... Plus a podcast from only... oh... 10 months ago...

Well, this is embarrassing... I've really let this blog go, haven't I? Though I did manage to update before it had been a full year.

Basically I had a game fall apart as the rules system proved to be unable to do what it advertised (*cough* Iron Edda *cough*) and I hit a rut blog-wise, where I realized that I was spending all my time "running" games taking notes so I could write blog posts instead of, ya know, enjoying running the game.

I've done a good job keeping games going, for the most part, my Wednesday Group took up Beyond the Wall and that campaign is nearly a year old, my 13th Age Eyes of the Stone Thief game is still going strong and Christy and I hosted a very successful Extra Life event, but I just never really got back to the blog.

Now, though, I've got somethings planned that I can write about that will hopefully be interesting, useful or maybe even both, without relying on trying to just write up my last game session.

So stay tuned, I should be back on a regular posting schedule by March 2018, fingers crossed.

In the meantime, here's the last Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast of A Red and Pleasant Land. Schedules have yet to align again, and this might just be the last aRaPL actual play (or the last one for a while, at least), but in the meantime enjoy, and perhaps I'll go back and listen to it again myself to provide commentary.

Also, apologies to any who have been waiting for the next post from this blog. I think Blue Zoidberg sums it up pretty well...

"A Red Rumspringa" - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 8 - GM Commentary

emiT niaga rof rehtona tsinogatnA snoitaleR deR dna tnasaelP dnaL hcranalP xedoC dlroW fo snoegnuD 9791 lautcA yalP tsacdoP MG yratnemmoc. oG kcab dna netsil ot eht tsacdop, gnikiV larenuF no ytfihS dnoP, erofeb gnidaer. sihT lla smees os suoivbo that ev’I depyt hcae drow sdrawkcab rof siht gninraw.

Comments are in roughly chronological order as I listen to the podcast for the umpteenth time...

Viking Funeral On Shifty Pond - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 8

Wait, a Seven of Diamonds but this is the eighth actual play podcast? You'll have to listen to find out...

Once again we descended into the lair of the Ginger Giant and recorded the continuing adventures of the Stonestrike sisters, Ochen and Harry Froggy Hoppington. I put in a shameless plug for my recent "Powered by the Apocalypse Style Looks for Fantasy RPG PCs" article, the PCs give Moth his Viking Funeral send-off on shifty pond. Plus whirl-wind romance, death, betrayal, ventriloquism forgiveness and the return of Thomasina, onion witch extraordinaire. All that and more in Viking Funeral On Shifty Pond - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 8.

We just Apocalypse Now-style fire bombed a vampire to death, AND IT WAS AWESOME!! 😆#aredandpleasantland #rpg #tabletop #worldofdungeons1979

— LadyChristy (@LadyChristy) February 11, 2017

"I don't need any of these things, but I'm taking them." - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 7 - GM Commentary

You know the drill, go listen to the podcast for episode 7 first... Plus you'll get to peep the maps for this session.

It's been a while, but we're finally about to play episode 8 this week, so it's time to post my commentary for Meat is Meat as I prep. A Red and Pleasant Land is abbreviated as aR&PL below. Also, spoilers for the podcast, though I'll hide any spoilers for the players about upcoming sessions.

Comments are in roughly chronological order as I listen to the podcast for the umpteenth time...

A close up of the map of the dungeon, showing the starting point...

Meat is Meat - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 7

Once again we descended into the lair of the Ginger Giant and recorded the continuing adventures of the Stonestrike sisters plus retinue. Murdered and mutilated mirror doubles, more bores of boars and an unexpected death in "Meat is Meat - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 7"

Plus, remember the glimpse of the map I provided last time?

Here is James' attempt at mapping the northwest corner before it drove him mad....

Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 6 - GM Commentary + Bonus Antagonist Relations Commentary

First, go listen to Because They're Suckers - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 6 as that is the session that I'll be commenting on. A Red and Pleasant Land is abbreviated as aR&PL below. Also, spoilers for the podcast, though I'll hide any spoilers for the players about upcoming sessions.

Comments are in roughly chronological order as I listen to the podcast for the umpteenth time...

A Mome-rath... a boar that's a... bore...

Additional Podcastery

Once again I descended into the Lair of the Ginger Giant to cast some pods.

First we have the 6th Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast: Because They're Suckers where the party, with a new Were-frog companion, descended into the dungeon below the Mirror Reflecting.

Second, we have a long and rambling actual, old-school Antagonist Relations Podcast, Roll a CON Save, where we talked about some of the shortcomings of 5e D&D and how we address them, games we want to run and I did some more convincing of Ben of the glory that will be Death Grind D&D before the three beers and late night caught up to me and we ran out of steam. We're going to try and be more focused on these in the future, and cover topics instead of (who am I kidding, in addition to) rambling on and on, so if you have a topic you'd like us to cover, reach out and let us know.

Pudding Crisis/Plate Fort - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 5 - GM Commentary

First, go listen to Gary the Pudding: Pudding Party Part 2 - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 5 as that is the session that I'll be commenting on. A Red and Pleasant Land is abbreviated as aR&PL below. Also, spoilers for the podcast, though I'll hide any spoilers for the players about upcoming sessions.

Comments are in roughly chronological order as I listen to the podcast for the umpteenth time...

#RIPGARY

Gary the Pudding: Pudding Party Part 2 - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 5

Here is the fifth installment of our Actual Play of A Red & Pleasant Land utilizing the World of Dungeons 1979 rules set and Planarch Codex options. The Stonestrike Sisters and Ochen on their first quest to fetch ingredients for their "friend" Thomasina the Pie Witch, make a new "friend" Gary the Pudding.

(link to podcast below tweets from the game)

A bit sad the players didn't remember Gwillym the Amorphous and his skeletal butler Alfredo #aRedAndPleasantLand #TheyreNotGoodAtTakingNotes

— Mr. Zack (@thatwordyguy) June 25, 2016

"I kinda want to make Gary the blood pudding a Tindr account...." -@ladychristy #aRedAndPleasantLand

— Mr. Zack (@thatwordyguy) June 25, 2016

We've just met Gary the Blood Pudding who we've decided is deep in the midst of a mid-life crisis. #aRedAndPleasantLand #rpg #NPCProblems

— LadyChristy (@LadyChristy) June 25, 2016

Now they've made a plate fort to protect against the bigger pudding that is schlorping up the stairs to avenge Gary. #aRedAndPleasantLand

— Mr. Zack (@thatwordyguy) June 25, 2016

"Are you going to paint a penis on the sleeping gryphon?" Things I never thought I'd hear a player say. #aRedAndPleasantLand

— Mr. Zack (@thatwordyguy) June 25, 2016

Antagonist Relations Podcast - Episode 19 - Gary The Pudding  (Numbering is different because the Ginger Giant numbers from total AR podcasts and I only have been counting Actual Play. As always, any complaints can be addressed to him and any compliments to me ;-P)

State of the Blog and Games Part Two, the Seconding.

So almost six months ago, just after finishing the holiday season, I wrote a state of the blog post. Since then I’ve only written four posts. Two as “Thoughts of the Day” (though they are more substantial than I remembered), one that was a follow up to my first State of the Blog post (or at least the Battlerager part) and one on the tandem games that Thomas and I ran over the New Years. Then, since January 15th… silence and absence have ruled the blog. Now, I’m going to walk out onto (an admittedly broad and sturdy) limb and say that 99% of the three people who read this blog know me in real life, but maybe there is a loyal stray reader who happened upon this blog by chance and has followed my meandering writings, for that semi-plausible reader, here is my excuse: I got married.

True Ingredients/"Masticating is Awesome" - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 4 - GM Commentary

First, go listen to Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast - Pudding Party Part 1 as that is the session that I'll be commenting on. A Red and Pleasant Land is abbreviated as aR&PL below. Also, spoilers for the podcast, though I'll hide any spoilers for the players about upcoming sessions.

Comments are in roughly chronological order as I listen to the podcast for the umpteenth time...

I decided to switch the intro song to the Legendary Pink Dots "Crumbs on the Carpet" and embrace fully the food theme...

Dinner whispers, "come and get it", poses on a plate
We shot it twice with anesthetic, still it bites the waiters
Till they're bleeding in the loo
So goddamned hot it burns their shoes
We lick them clean, we eat 'em too
Still there's room enough for more masala,
enchilladas, monkey brains and donkey doo
More masala, enchilladas, monkey brains and donkey doo
We'd eat the wall if it could walk and we could sink our forks in
We are what we eat
We are many-sided
Just you name it, sure we've tried it
Why hide it
(More masala, enchilladas, monkey brains and donkey doo)

Pudding Party Part 1 - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 4

Here is the fourth installment of our Actual Play of A Red & Pleasant Land utilizing the World of Dungeons 1979 rules set and Planarch Codex options. The Stonestrike Sisters and Ochen set off to fetch a pudding for the Witch, Thomasina, meeting new "friends" and discovering truths about all the delicious foods they've been eating.

Pudding Party Part 1 - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 4

And here is the Green and Pleasant Map I'm using, from Dyson's Dodecahedron

Grim World + Love Letters & Extra Life Thanks

Last Saturday I ran Grim World as a "pre-Halloween" one-shot game, which was a lot of fun and a few caveats. I'll provide a review below, but my biggest caveat was I put out a large invitation to 10+ players, thinking, as I often do, that I'd be lucky to get the four players I'd need to run... Instead, and much to my surprise, I ended up with 8 players (and 7 PCs, since there was some question if the 8th player would be able to attend so he shared a playbook with his GF) and as I always do when I run really large groups of players, I felt like I didn't do the best job of giving each PC a shot in the spotlight and let things get a little more chaotic and bogged down than I liked. But that's all on me and not on the players.

Speaking of, thanks to the incredible generosity of the players, Christy and I managed to raise $135 for Extra Life between the two of us.  I'm now over 75% to my goal (as of 10/28/2015) and if any of the players from the Grim World game want to go back and retroactively ask for any of the rewards I was offering, you certainly can. If you are a regular reader of the blog and haven't pitched in any support for the Extra Life campaign yet, we're nearing the end, with a little over two weeks left, so I hope you'll consider a donation, even if it's just $5.

Click here to skip the Grim World Review and go straight to my further thoughts on Love Letters...

Planarch Codex - Living Job Board Table

Obligatory Extra Life reminder... please go and support my Extra Life campaign, if you haven't already. There's still plenty of rewards that could be earned.

Doing the minimal prep work that I do for Planarch Codex, I noticed that the jobs I'd rolled up for my band of Freebooters had gotten a little less random... Lots of work for criminals, cults and merchants, lots of deliveries... Now, I could just have players re-roll when they get those results on the table, but instead I've whipped up a slightly modified Job Table, keeping the things that haven't come up (or come up as often) and adding in some new options. I'll probably return to this as needed to update, change up options as I run Planarch Codex more and more. Find a printer friendly, non-blog version here.

Who is the Patron or Target?

[1-2] Urban Denizens

1 – gang

2 – road warden

3 – guild

4 – library

5 – temple

6 – wizard

[3-4] Strangers

1 – diplomat

2 – freebooter

3 – lawyer

4 – militarist

5 – pilgrim

6 – refugee

[5-6] Weirdos

1 – alien god

2 – diabolist

3 – immortal

4 – outlaw

5 – philosopher

6 – spirit

[1-4] Patron
[5-6] Target

What type of job is it?

1 – acquisition

2 – espionage

3 – exploration

4 – killing

5 – protection

6 – investigation

Where is the target? - Roll on normal table

Extra Life Supporter Rewards + Scattered GM Prep Thoughts + Recent Reading

First, an appeal for dedicated readers of the blog to make a donation to Extra Life. As you've all no doubt gotten tired of reading, I will be playing as part of a 24 hour charity Extra Life event with the proceeds going to Children's Miracle Network on with most of those 24 hours falling on Saturday 11/7/2015. I've actually donated $25 myself, just not to my own profile. I run this blog without asking for any donations or support, mostly out of my own obsessive need to bloviate about RPGs, and while I do have ads at the bottom so far this year they've netted me less than a dollar. Each time I put up a post, I see that it usually gets 10-15 views within 24 hours, so even if only five of your donate $5 we'll double the donation I've already made. It's for a good cause so please donate, even if it's just a dollar or two.

If you do donate because of this blog, let me know and if I can generate $50 of donations from the blog I will let supporters demand that I do wacky (but not game ruining) things during the game sessions that I play and/or run. Here are some options:

• Force me to play a wacky character off my list of Characters Too Ridiculous to play if I can (the DMs get veto power on PCs, so the intensely wacky characters might require a bit of finagling on my part but I'll try my damnedest or trick one of the other DMs into running a 5 minute mini-session or something or have them show up in a session I run as an NPC)
• Record a video of myself speaking in character, in an accent determined by donors during play. Those of you who listen to the actual play podcast or who game with me in real life know how mortifyingly bad my accents/voices usually are.
• Determine my PCs for sessions. I've got one character I definitely want to play (spoiler, it's Alice), but I'm hoping to play in at least 3 of the 3 hour sessions and I've already got 18 potential PCs made, well, 14 if you count the 5 versions of Alice I've made as a single PC.
• Pick out dialogue from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass (the books only, not any movies or other adaptations please.) that I have to utter in character as Alice.

I'm also waiting on more details about the location and scheduling, but I may be able to do things like live-blog sessions I play in, and if the schedule works out right, I'm hoping to run one of the 7 versions I've drafted up of the True Tomb of Isidore Philokrates which will be largely improvised and which, if I receive donations, I could allow sponsors to make decisions about what happens in the Tomb, perhaps even in real time through one of the many social media platforms available. 

Perhaps you've got your own idea of something you'd like me to do as a reward, if so donate and propose it and remember that if it's something really wacky or embarrassing for me, the more you donate the harder it will be for me to say no.

"I have my fingers in many sinister pies!" - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 3

Listen to episode three of our Actual Play of A Red & Pleasant Land utilizing the World of Dungeons 1979 rules set and Planarch Codex options. Pies, Witches, Accusations of Trollop'ry, Stolen Voices, Nearly Deadly Skeletons, this podcast has all of those things.

"I have my fingers in many sinister pies!" - Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 3 

Also, please support our Extra Life drive!

You can also find our event/team donation page here and my personal donation page on the top right corner of THIS VERY BLOG (or here if you're too lazy to scroll elsewhere or use RSS or mobile). If you're a regular reader, please consider making a donation, even if it's only a few dollars. It goes to a good cause and the sooner I start getting a few donations, the less I'll need to spam my blog with pitches over the next month.

Recently Cast Pods - From the Lair of the Ginger Giant

Plate available for purchase here...

Two new pods have been cast, our second Actual Play of A Red & Pleasant Land, using the World of Dungeons 1979 Planarch Codex hack... Antagonist Relations Actual Play: Pudding Recipe. And a status update podcast where the Ginger Giant and I discuss the games we've run recently and those we'll run in the near future... Antagonist Relations Podcast - Episode 16 - Status Alert

Planarch Codex - Job Board & Canned Introduction

Here it is, the Job Board I'm using for my drop in when you can, pick up friendly World of Dungeons 1979 - Planarch Codex game.

Last Session: 9/7/2015
Last Update: 9/18/2015
 
Non-embedded version here.
 

Canned Intro:

You're a freebooter who's ended up in the planar city of Dis, ruled by the enigmatic Sultana and maintained by her Roadwardens. You need to scramble for enough dosh to pay the rent, get enough grub for your growling stomach and booze to carouse. Fortunately the city is full of Jobs, some jobs take you to other parishes in Dis, little bits of other cities on far-away planes that Dis has devoured and made part of itself. Other jobs take you to far off and dangerous planes, either through portals or perhaps on Tungsten Galleys across the Sea of Embers. A game of Feral Anthropologies, Corsairs, Freebooters and Low Brigands and a Ravenous City that is full of dangers.

More Planarch Codex Stuff on Antagonist Relations

More Planarch Codex Heritage Moves

A selection of additional Heritage Moves for Planarch Codex

• Human
• Laugh in the face of death
• Rally your allies when all looks lost
• Display tenacity in a forbidding situation
• Efreet
• Offer a “deal”
• Strike with magical fire
• Provide just the right item, at a price
• Gnome
• Create a small mechanical device
• Use your small size to hide
• Craft an illusion
• Halfling
• Go on a fool's errand
• Steal something small without being noticed
• Avoid the attention of a larger creature
• Ogre
• Destroy something with your fists
• Fly into a rage
• Take something by force
• Werewolf
• Transform to pass unnoticed as beast or man
• Doggedly track prey
• Drive your pack into a fervor
• Frogman
• Launch an amphibious assault
• Leap a great distance
• Grab something with your freakishly long tongue
• Kobold
• Lay a trap
• Retreat and regroup
• Call on your draconic heritage
• Angel
• Deliver visions and prophecy
• Stir mortals to action
• Expose sin and injustice
• Devil
• Plumb the vaults of hell for a bargaining chip
• Make a show of power
• Strike with hell-fire
• Goblin
• Charge!
• Retreat!
• Strike in unison with your allies to overwhelm an opponent.
• Gargoyle
• Attack with the element of surprise
• Take to the air
• Blend into stonework
• Spiderlord
• Enmesh something in webbing
• Bite with poisonous fangs
• Move with unnatural quietness
• Minotaur
• Gore with your horns
• Knock someone back
• Navigate a labyrinth unerringly
• Centaur
• Overrun them
• Fire a perfect bulls-eye
• Gallop with unrelenting speed

Printer Friendly Google Doc version here

Antagonist Relations Actual Play Podcast 1 - GM Commentary

First, go listen to Antagonist Relations Podcast - Episode 14 - The Family That Yanks Together as that is the session that I'll be commenting on. A Red and Pleasant Land is abbreviated as aR&PL below. Also, spoilers for the podcast, though I won't post any spoilers for the players about upcoming sessions.