Over the past few months the_stalwart has been working toward the release of his newest RPG, Serial Homicide Unit. A story game in which the players follow the lives of the police chasing down a serial killer, and the final days of the soon-to-be-victims.

It's a unique game for many reasons. First of all, it is an audio rule book. That's right, you don't read it.
A recording of the rules guides you through the game as you play.

Even more interesting is that the voice belongs to me.

Further adding to the interesting, there's some title music to start off the recording, also by me.

So, since my grubby mitts are all over this game, I recommend you go and buy it. (Playtesters should already have an e-copy. If you didn't get one, let me know and I'll pass the word along to Michael.)

Michael has asked me to work up an advert for the game. Once that is ready, I'll post it here.

This one too, is one we tried out in high school but I didn't actually get to sing in concert until Westminster. Only years later have I noticed that my high school choir director put some pretty challenging stuff in front of us; lots of polyphonic works and old Renaissance stuff. I think it's because he was largely left to his own devices.


In geek news, I heard a few good things about the Battlestar Galactica board game from a post by gillan. I decided that I'd seek it out. Then, I made the mistake of watching a few episodes online to get into the spirit of the game. My long dormant love of space opera/conspiracy drama was activated and suddenly I want to watch all the episodes of the show and make any and all available friends play this game. So, thanks Brett. It took me 7 years to overcome the space opera bug after Star Wars was ruined, and now I'm right back in. Hooray. Sigh.

Fallout 3 rocks. I feel like I could spend a long time playing this game.

I've noticed a pattern in my Fallout playstyle. When I start the game I always plan to try being the bad guy. Steal whenever I can, don't answer questions of the NPCs, take some opportunities to rack up bad karma by doing a few deeds for the devious denizens. That never happens.

I already knew about an early quest in which you can wipe out a settlement in a matter of seconds. It's a nasty thing to do, but I thought it would be interesting to try it. But then I went to the town. Maybe it was my high charisma stat, but people were generally nice to me. They told me about their lives before settling down. I met the Sheriff's son. Joel Creel told me about his adopted daughter. In no time I was doing errands for the people and when the sinister businessman shows up to invite me to destroy the place, I sicced the Sheriff on him and then blasted him. After he had killed the Sheriff unfortunately.

Then I went to the Sheriff's house and spoke to his son. There's this weird feeling of regret, that I should have been faster on the draw, or that I shouldn't have involved the Sheriff and taken out the bastard on my own. It probably doesn't help that the kid looks like one of the other kids I grew up with in the vault. One of the ones who didn't punch me when I wouldn't give him my birthday present.

It's always this way when I play an RPG. Even tabletop. My bad-ass jerks turn into supportive people who are eager to help and smooth over troubles among the PCs and NPCs. In subtle ways if not openly. Playing a Lasombra vampire with the intent of making him a pirate eventually resulted in me becoming a mediator between two other characters who bickered constantly and being spokesperson for the group as a voice of courtesy and respect.

Perhaps my personal morality isn't something I want to escape from when I'm playing an escapist game. Games without choices never get at me like this, but when there are consequences, I want to play like I would act in real life.

It's sobering in a way. I find myself actively fanning the flames of my misanthropy, especially in an election year, but when it's time to act on something, I'm back to being pleasant and helpful, even if I do it begrudgingly.

Anyway, my brother Steve wants to play his character in the manner of Ken from Fist of the North Star, so I'm trying to work up a build of stats, tags and perks for him. I wish him luck in focusing on melee and hand-to-hand combat against rabid bears and slavers armed with shotguns, but Fallout was supposedly made to be played however you want, provided you play with determination.

PS_ Another side effect is that I want to GM Tribe 8 again. For serious this time!

Dexcon was great. Which it has to be when we have such imaginative and friendly people in abundance. Though I was only able to play in one game of Carry (blackwell has some cool things to say) I ran four playtest sessions of Contract Work.



All of the sessions went off, which is a testament to the strength of the Indie Explosion at Dexcon. That both friends and strangers are willing to play with an incomplete game at a convention is really special. I mean, I once offered to pay someone to playtest and here we have people paying to be at the con and then playtesting. Pretty cool. More names on the Hit List.

Things are good with Contract Work. I think the mechanics are solid and the flow of gameplay is settling in. I made some tweaks to the endgame, copy/pasting some rules from elsewhere when I realized that consistency wasn't going to hurt anything. After the first two sessions, I had lots of notes about tweaking the rules to account for all the maybes but by the end of the second session I just crossed all of those out.

Now that the mechanics are good, I need to organize the rest of the game. The story side of a story game. I think of this stuff as the DM's guide. The PHB is the mechanics of character creation and interaction and the equipment list. It's the DM's material that builds a setting, organizes scenes and pacing and puts other bodies into the world so that the interactions go beyond numbers. That's something I need to devote myself to, now I know the numbers don't need quite so much tweaking.

I love Vietnamese food. I love eating it with friends. You guys are terrific. jenniferrodgers has some more photos of the event in recent posts, or page around the Flkr links from the devilishly handsome man above.

You didn't need to hear how great it is from me, but for those of you keeping score . . .

As of last night, I've seen The Dark Knight 3 times.

Also, as a sort of apology to everyone, I got caught up in some great end-convention conversations and forum threads but then I found out how hard it is to steal wi-fi on the shore. I'll catch up soon.

Yes, I'm running 4 sessions of Contract Work this weekend at DexCon. I've trimmed down some of the dead branches that resulted from the last big rules changes and I'm happy with what I have. If you decide to play it you will find that the game is better streamlined and more intuitive, with a GM who remembers when to add color and when to crunch numbers instead of ignoring one of the two for the entire session.

I've also added some more "table business." A lesson learned from the better modern boardgames I've played; tokens that represent and reinforce the rules are always welcome. I'm not littering the place with miniatures or anything like that, but like the map/board of Candyland, a good visual layout of the game's events goes a long way toward motivating people.

Plus: Chalk outlines.

I always mention this stuff late because I'm still fiddling with the rules up to the last minute and don't feel ready to present the game to people. A sort of anti-marketing. I'm confident in this iteration though (revision 8,645) so it's time to get serious about making it a product instead of just a game.

Piece of very short fiction that has been pestering me to be written. The narrator and his opinions about religions and states is not me. But I like the idea of someone who thinks this way.
___

I'm terrified of ghosts. Not in the usual way though. Not in the "blind revenge from beyond the grave, possess your cat, throw all your stuff around the living room" kind of way. I'm afraid that their existence is proof of an afterlife. If ghosts exist, then there's proof of a soul. Proof that you will go on throughout eternity in another state of being. And that's absolutely awful.

What do you think this afterlife would be? Sitting on clouds happily singing praises while you watch the great events of the universe spin by? HA! We're people. We will transplant the bullshit of our lives into whatever place we occupy. That's right. Eternal "keeping up with the Joneses." Eternal "My car needs to be bigger." Eternal record contracts, internet scams, underage factory workers, supermodel break-ups, reality TV, non-smoking bars, Californians!

You think divorce rates are bad now?

How can you get away from it? It's not like you can kill yourself to end it all, you're already dead! Do you think with all of eternity to spread out we won't saturate whatever world exists there? Do you think with all that time we won't find easier, more wasteful ways to do everything? "This New New New New York is boring. Let's abandon it and get started on New New Chicago." It's not like pollution is going to kill anyone anymore.

Somehow, I have to live forever. It may be the only way I'll ever get any peace and quiet! Once everyone else has moved on, I'll be happy here living by myself. Watching all of the crap we left behind melt away. Finally assured that no one is going to make fun of my haircut, ever again.
___

In other news it is too goddamn hot for me to enter my studio. I haven't written any music all week. I suppose that's for the best anyway because the tremendous fever to re-play Bioshock gripped me last month and I broke down and bought an XBox. *sigh* "Would You Kindly" forgive me this indulgence?

Brett needs to live closer so we can game. Conventions are all well and good, but it's not the same. We meant to test Contract Work but I found another broken rule while reviewing my notes.

Do you die when your assets get cut down? Or do you die when you run out of cash? I'm beginning to like the latter. It reinforces the wagering mechanic. Besides, players survive by buying themselves back from their boss, not by hoarding money.

Instead we just relaxed, enjoyed food and watched movies. I did run my Tribe 8 as tSOY by him (an easy conversion) and he liked my idea that a player's first key (character's focus, or drive) should also be why they get exiled from their home tribe.

In DS news, I thought it would be neat to try out Brain Age since I had lots of fun with the puzzles in Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I'm now embarassed of myself and looking forward to tomorrow when I can get my copy of The World Ends With You and return to games that don't make me feel like an idiot.

The DS is officially the best console ever. Sorry, it just is.

Nothing else quite like the job search roller coaster. I spent the whole day in gleeful anticipation of an HR call that turned out to be a polite explanation of why I'm not suited for the position, or any position, at their company.

So. Fcuk. Back to careerbuilder.com and the rewriting of my resume every week.

I was seriously wondering if I should even be trying to get out of my current job earlier this week. I'm making enough money to survive, though not really to thrive, but hey, with a recession looming that's probably enough. We get our bennies, a pretty generous vacation calendar, and I can slip in late in the morning and work a little late in the evening without being hassled. Enough projects wither on the vine that I've learned what to avoid even beginning to work on. The boss I loathed left last year and hasn't been replaced, so I report directly to one of the okay people in the building. Until I scream racial epithets at people in the halls I'm not likely to be fired. I suppose this is what other people really want from employment.

Meh.

In mood-related news, I'm so heavily into overhauling Contract Work that I don't know if I'm making good decisions or bad with the rules rewrite. Is it better to give the hitters their money up front, or does that encourage overly conservative play? Is it better to make them draw from a bank as a reward for each action, or does that allow for a single hitter to dominate? How about sharing resources? Can I split the difference?

I need to playtest each of these options to see what they mean, and that means effectively playtesting three different games, what with the rules being so varied.

Again with the meh.

To close this rambling and self indulgent post, who among my singerly friend types is interested in joining a choir based in Ewing? Rehearsals on Monday nights. Conducted by Chris Loeffler. Yes.

I'll post about that again when the lines are clear.

For those of you who aren't already a part of the indie crowd/mob/gang/consortium/coven . . .

Come to the 2008 Dreamation gaming convention! Besides being a friendly convention of open-minded and rock-star gamers, Saturday will feature a(t least one) session of Contract Work. The convention goes from Thurs. the 24th to Sun. the 27th and is being held in Hilton Woodbridge in Iselin. (I've been told there is excellent Indian food to be had there.) More details.

Contract Work will run on Sat. either afternoon or evening slot. Maybe both if the lord smiles.

Development on the game has surged forward lately. With a real deadline and no classes to teach I've been able to give it priority. Some unnecessary rules have been axed, the GM has some teeth now, and the players have the opportunity to "deal" with loan sharks.

Be seeing you.

Here's some Sorrows fiction about plotting, scheming, backstabbing, etc. The stuff that makes being an immortal courtier fun.

"Lady Cora! I must speak with you."

Cora turned from her attendants as the slight man pushed through the curtains of the richly decorated alcove. This was where she saw those of her claque who would be tasked in her service. To enter unbidden was insult enough, and to interrupt her conversation as well! This man was inviting pain.

"Yes?"

The man flinched. The ice in her response shamed him and he began to realize his rudeness.

"This task that M'lady Eleana has set me to may be of worth to you," he fell to one knee, averted his eyes in an attempt at supplication and held out a scroll at arm's length.

Cora sat motionless. Her attendants collected the scroll and passed it from hand to hand and then held it open on the table before her. She glanced down across the elegant script, signed by the much less skilled hand of Lady Eleana.

Attendants still write her missives. Even with the time she has had to perfect her calligraphy. Shameful.

"And how do you suppose that knowledge of her latest feud holds interest for me?"

He stole a glance upward. "Well. It is Rufus. A common foe to both you and M'lady. A man whose shaming will benefit you both. If he is defeated, he falls from the favor of his Lady Peinforte's claque and-"

"I am well aware,"

He cleared his throat. "M'lady has offered me a pittance to fight Rufus. I am looking for a better offer."

"You think that you are ill used? You wish to betray your Lady and her claque."

"Y-yes Lady Cora."

"And you will fight Rufus championing me? What assurance can you offer that you will win?"

He drew his dagger. Cora's attendants fluttered like a disturbed nest. They could not truly die, but murder was still painful and very inconvenient. It could take weeks for the soul to repair the body. He slowed his hand as one courtier brandished a small flintlock pistol.

"With this, I cannot be defeated."

A small crystalline stone hung from a chain on his dagger's hilt. A tear of the Empress. Cora was impressed. A fool like this has earned such favor from Eleana that he would be entrusted with the power? There is more here than he would have me know. And, if he should still lose, then Rufus' victory will no doubt mean a murder painful enough to pay for his impertinence.

"I shall double what Eleana has offered you. No more."

"That is more than fair Lady Cora!" He rose from his stooping posture and restored the dagger to his belt.

"You should know however, that I have a much longer memory than Lady Eleana. You will not suffer lightly should you betray me in such a fashion."

"Of course!"

She held out her hand. He approached with reverence, filling the space vacated by courtier attendants who watched him with suspicion. He kissed her ring and felt the stone burn his lips for an instant.

"I go now to do your bidding M'lady."

"My. Lady."

"Yes. All apologies My Lady."

He bowed again and retreated from the alcove. Soon the buzzing of Lady Cora's attendants filled the air again.

---

In the corridors below the great hall, between candle and lamplight, Rufus found Mervin.

"I have heard we are to be engaged in single combat?" The large man rumbled.

"Indeed sir, we are. You are now my mortal enemy. A foe to whom no quarter shall be giv'n!"

Both men burst into uproarious laughter.

Rufus caught his breath first. "And so I shall fall, before your mighty blade!

"Too long have I been Peinforte's general! A leader of men who care more for polishing their armor than charging against the foe. Once I am 'defeated' Peinforte will no doubt remove me from her claque for shame, and I shall be free, and by no treachery-"

"That she knows," Mervin said.

Rufus clapped him on the back "Yes! I can then find my way into the graces of Cora, or Henrietta. Ladies with legions of true warriors. Men and women begging for my brilliance on the field!"

"So, 'til we meet in the hall, for our duel of honor?"

"Until then, Mervin."

They each left by the way they had come, and it was not until they were well away from earshot before Alicia stepped from the shadowed portal.

---
Rules about this stuff should be ready soon.