Totopoly

We finally got round to playing the Murder-Horse Race game (well, I insisted in the end).

12 horses, very simple rules. 4 for each player with the task to write orders for each jockey before each turn started. The orders were limited: R for ride hard, A for attack another jockey and D for defend against attack. Each jockey got 2 choices so there could be double R's, double D's and double A's as well as combinations. Impossible to do everything though.

We started each turn by announcing which jockeys had attack orders and then rolling for initiative. A single A got 1d6, double A 2d6 (same for D and R). The attacking jockey rolled the dice and so did the jockey attacked if there was a defence order in play. It just took a victory by more than one point to unseat, maim or murder a rival.

At the start, because all the horses were stationary, anyone could attack anyone. After that, jockeys could only attack rivals they were level with in the race.

After the attacks were done with, we got on to the racing. Each horse was rolled for with 1 and 2 indicating a forward gallop of 1 space, 3 and 4 2 spaces and 5 and 6 3 spaces. Then if the jockey had employed an R order, 1d6 was rolled for each order with 5 or 6 meaning an extra forward move. The most any horse could advance in a turn was therefore 5 spaces.

After a quarter of the race all bar 4 jockeys were down and out! By half way, only 2 were left. The additional rule that came into play after the carnage of the start was that each jockey had one Take That You Fiend to play. This could travel a maximum of 10 spaces so the leaders were always going to be in jeopardy. A TTYF involved a 1d6 roll off to see if it worked, the caster needing to have a higher roll.

Charlie and I ended up side by side in the final furlong after he reeled me in - he had used his TTYF so I didn't have to worry about being a sitting duck in the lead.

Not only did he catch my jockey, he slipped a blade into his back and was the only one to finish the race.

A quick and satisfying game and one open to all sorts of future rule tweaks. Thanks Mr Waddington!

Control Freak - Spirited Resistance

And here's the front cover for my new full solo:

Making A Quantum Universe

A while ago, I made a simple choice giveaway (it's on DriveThru published by Khaghbboommm Press) entitled "Zyrian Attrocities" - it gave the reader the chance to (satirically) play the US president and get a grip on the world.

It would be all too easy to re-write it for the present day but instead I've let a combination of Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein guide my hand.

"A Blank Canvas For The Quantum Artist" works in the same 'no saving rolls, no combat' way - it should hit DriveThru this week.

Retro

I have a lot of music from the 70s and 80s on my iphone. Much of it betrays my punk, new wave and indie leanings.

One of the coolest things right now is letting y 11 year old daughter loose on the track selection on car journeys.

Happily weird to have Rodney Allen and The Men They Couldn't Hang dominating with the dj so young!

Cthulu

The game was a great success - in that it was funny and everyone had a great time. They never made it as far as Kingsport because of seasickness and a storm. Their boat sank and the Scots skipper was lost overboard but the rescue boat saved them - even the dog.

Charlie played a German - Wilhelm von Schoepenchopper - who wore a gas mask and thi proved to be the only Sanity challenge (to the skipper). After the rescue, Kamea's Leonardo da Peanut dynamited the holed sloop. There will be some explaining to do to the Harbourmaster, methinks.

Playing in 1928 USA was fun, as was generating the investigators and their backgrounds - otherwise it wasn't very Cthulu but what the hey :)

Happily, they never met this:

Power Trip

Does anyone else play this?

My Cthulu game later today will mainly draw on T&T, then Power Trip, then Cthulu for (fast, free-flowing) rules!

Cthulu

Bingo!

Starting a new gaming group on Friday with 3 new players and 2 old.

To cater for the interests of one new player I'm having a crack at my first Cthulu-T&T hybrid game. Charlie has a book with 3 settings in for Cthulu (we're going to do the 'Strange High House in the Mist').

I made up a character card this morning - very simple with SAN  and EDU and WTH (wealth) added to the T&T eight. I just looked for examples online and I can see I have really simplified!

Oh well, I left a big field for 'Biographical Keynotes" and that can cover all those investigative skills and mental disorders.

Will tell you how it goes... (I'm sure I will fail to stick to script - one read through and then lots of dreaming!).