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id="main" class="site-main"> <article id="post-5757" class="post-5757 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-rpg tag-a-blight-upon-sombreval tag-dd tag-kickstarter tag-osr tag-self-promotion"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/02/14/a-blight-upon-sombreval-campaign-is-live/" rel="bookmark">A Blight Upon Sombreval Campaign is Live</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>I just launched my zine quest kickstarter for <em>A Blight Upon Sombreval</em>, a dark fantasy, haunted manor style adventure for old-school and classic RPGs and their modern cousins: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cryptic-codex/a-blight-upon-sombreval" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cryptic-codex/a-blight-upon-sombreval</a>.<br><br>I’d love for you to check it out, I’ve put a lot of work into this adventure over the past year or so, and have had a lot of fun running it, and hopefully other folks will as well!</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="660" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=660%2C510&quality=80&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-5758" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=1024%2C791&quality=80&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=300%2C232&quality=80&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=768%2C593&quality=80&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=1536%2C1187&quality=80&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?resize=2048%2C1583&quality=80&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?w=1320&quality=80&ssl=1 1320w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a_blight_flyer-1.png?w=1980&quality=80&ssl=1 1980w" sizes="(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px" /></figure> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/02/14/a-blight-upon-sombreval-campaign-is-live/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2025-02-14T08:26:23-07:00">February 14, 2025</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/a-blight-upon-sombreval/" rel="tag">a blight upon sombreval</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/dd/" rel="tag">d&d</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/kickstarter/" rel="tag">kickstarter</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/self-promotion/" rel="tag">self promotion</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/02/14/a-blight-upon-sombreval-campaign-is-live/#respond">Leave a comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on A Blight Upon Sombreval Campaign is Live</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-5661" class="post-5661 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-rpg tag-community-building tag-discord tag-discourse"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/01/19/tabletop-adventure-games-community/" rel="bookmark">Tabletop Adventure Games Community</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Maybe its the whole middle life thing or <del>distance</del> decades-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder, but I’ve been reminiscing quite a bit about places I chatted on and hung around online throughout high school and college, and all of the benefits of forums, in contrast to the current contender of Discord, have seemed very appealing.</p> <p>The obvious first benefit is the whole indexing and reference problem – Discords are highly segmented, private, and even the big ones you can search – have terrible tools for actually finding things. I don’t know how many times (a day) we have a “what is OSR” debate where everyone is making the same points, and maybe forums don’t completely solve that, but having a publicly searchable topic is WAY more appealing than beating the grave of long-deceased equine or trying to convince someone to peruse Discord’s search.</p> <p>Another benefit, for me, is just the asynchronous nature of forum communication. I’ve been (failing to) curtail my social media usage, and when I try to limit Discording to a specific time, that often means I am pinging someone from hours ago, outside of the context of the conversation, and sometimes interrupting an ongoing conversation.</p> <p>Somewhat related to the first point, but the fact that forums are often referenced years later I think can serve to maybe (slightly) reduce the amount of hot takes and <del>thread</del> conversation-crapping that occurs in Discord. Sometimes I’ve just become sensitive to it recently, but the negativity and “dunks” on Discord have seemed to increase in the past few years. I’m not going to claim I don’t contribute to this, but I think there is something to the format of semi-private throwaway conversation that promotes this behavior.</p> <p>Each of the above also have their own downsides of course, I’m not going to claim forums didn’t have a recession for a reason. I just feel there are benefits in the above, and I’m in a position where I at least <em>think</em> I want more of the above.</p> <p>I’ve tried looking around for forums to call home, and there are a few places I still like reading or lurking on (like the classic odd74), but I haven’t found a place that really feels like <em>home</em> to me. So then I thought – why not just throw an instance on one of my servers?</p> <p>I will mince no words and say this is likely to be a pretty sleepy place, but I’ve done some community building locally, and I feel like I know the kind of community I would like to participate in, and if you’re a reader of this blog, you’re likely to understand what that sort of thing is. So if you feel similar to the above, feel free to join me at <a href="https://discourse.tabletopadventure.games/">Tabletop Adventure Games</a>.</p> <p>Thank you!</p> <p></p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/01/19/tabletop-adventure-games-community/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2025-01-19T00:08:48-07:00">January 19, 2025</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/community-building/" rel="tag">community building</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/discord/" rel="tag">discord</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/discourse/" rel="tag">discourse</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2025/01/19/tabletop-adventure-games-community/#comments">1 Comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Tabletop Adventure Games Community</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-5415" class="post-5415 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-rpg tag-basics tag-lexicon tag-role-playing tag-rpg"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/30/playing-a-role-playing-game-is-role-playing/" rel="bookmark">Playing a Role-Playing Game is Role-Playing</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>When you play a role-playing game – you are role-playing. If you’re making decisions for your fictional character, you’re playing a role.</p> <p>This may include speaking in a voice, but it doesn’t have to.</p> <p>This may include considering things like “motivation” and beliefs and things like that, but it might also just be what you’d want to do if you were in the fictional situation.</p> <p>When you engage in combat, you’re role-playing. When you’re negotiating with other players or NPCs, no matter if you go into detail or you abstract it with “I tell them the story” – you’re role-playing. When you decide to engage with one downtime activity over another, you’re role-playing.</p> <p>There’s nothing inherently better or worse about any activity in a role-playing game than any other, outside of personal preferences and expectations. It’s all role-playing either way.</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/30/playing-a-role-playing-game-is-role-playing/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2024-11-30T22:34:00-07:00">November 30, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/basics/" rel="tag">basics</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/lexicon/" rel="tag">lexicon</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/role-playing/" rel="tag">role-playing</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/rpg/" rel="tag">rpg</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/30/playing-a-role-playing-game-is-role-playing/#comments">1 Comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Playing a Role-Playing Game is Role-Playing</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-5363" class="post-5363 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-rpg tag-fkr tag-metagaming tag-osr tag-rpg tag-theory"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/21/gaming-is-metagaming/" rel="bookmark">Gaming is Metagaming</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Enough discussions of “immersion” and “metagaming” have sprung up recently that I wanted to write my thoughts, so I at least have a place to point to on the topic.</p> <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/21/gaming-is-metagaming/#more-5363" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Gaming is Metagaming</span></a> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/21/gaming-is-metagaming/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-11-21T16:38:06-07:00">November 21, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2025-01-20T18:09:45-07:00">January 20, 2025</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/fkr/" rel="tag">fkr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/metagaming/" rel="tag">metagaming</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/rpg/" rel="tag">rpg</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/theory/" rel="tag">theory</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/21/gaming-is-metagaming/#comments">4 Comments<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Gaming is Metagaming</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-5132" class="post-5132 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-rpg tag-actual-play tag-gradient-descent tag-mothership tag-osr tag-rpg"> <a class="post-thumbnail" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/06/session-report-gradient-descent-2/" aria-hidden="true"> <img width="825" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/9f4d44e2-15b2-48a0-a1a3-57d6e67b7212-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Session Report: Gradient Descent 2" decoding="async" /> </a> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/06/session-report-gradient-descent-2/" rel="bookmark">Session Report: Gradient Descent 2</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Roster</h2> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Caius Lovelace – Computer Scientist and Great Great Great … Great Grandson of Ada Lovelace</li> <li>Jedidiah Bidwell – A Wanna-Be Prospector, Teamster, Rigger, and Pilot</li> <li>Dr. John – Botany Expert</li> <li>Miotaurex-001 – Android and Hacker</li> <li>Darius Beck – Gritty Marine who has turned to Relic-Hunting</li> <li>Ex Mortis – A Marine “Of Death,” ready to deal doom and die</li> </ul> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Events</h2> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The group continues from an Android Replicant storage facility into a Uniform Fabrication lab.</li> <li>After some time, they successfully replicate the jump suit they witnessed a security android wearing, as well as generating Jedidiah a cowboy’s outfit, with quite a large degree of anachronisms.</li> <li>Searching around, the crew finds a secret entrance into a Organic Observation Deck, but when they try entering into it, the AI Monarch contacts them, telling them that entrance to this area is restricted to her employees only.</li> <li>The group turns down an offer for employment – a job involving the termination of two entities known as “The Minotaur” and “The Mind Thief.”</li> <li>Leaving the fabrication lab, they proceed west into seminar room – with a bunch of gaudy leather seats, thin client terminals and a large black television.</li> <li>Thoroughly investigating the area, the party finds a map of the floor they are on (the third floor of the Deep), as well as hidden print outs of thousands of pages of poetry generated by Monarch.</li> <li>The group contacts Monarch about this, and she offers them safe passage to the fourth floor if they sufficiently destroyed this material.</li> <li>Caius Lovelace tries reading Monarch her poetry, she hijacks the crew’s comms and replicates Caius’ voice, expressing hatred for his ancestors.</li> <li>The group debates destroying the material among themselves, deciding to try to fool Monarch into thinking they had destroyed it, while retaining the poetry to trade to others as a means to “understand” Monarch.</li> <li>The party finds a Personality Reassignment Room, with a few androids hooked up to monitors being generated a new personalities. They successfully hack one of the terminals, finding a means to fiddle with some of the personality nodes.</li> <li>Not understanding the nuances of Artificial Intelligence AI, they modify some of the procedures and successfully give three of the androids the impulse to leave doors open.</li> <li>The party finds these androids newly awakened, and they convince them that they are the “hosts” of the Deep, and need to lead them through initiation. They then use these androids to open doors and check for traps.</li> <li>They go through a large warehouse with many broken down scan booths, finding one that is still standing, containing a small lead box containing something equivalent to a steampunk heart and an old datastick.</li> <li>Continuing on towards the Ore Crushing Factory, a place they think they can convince Monarch that they’ve destroyed her poetry, they find a war simulation room.</li> <li>Darius plugs the datastick into one of the servers generating a hologram of an ancient battle, and a projection of an eldritch, screaming monster is projected over the table.</li> <li>The group freaks out, and rips the datastick out of the computer.</li> <li>Finding a room their map labels as the Warhead Storage, Monarch warns them to not enter this area, and the group complies.</li> <li>We end here.</li> </ul> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thoughts</h2> <p>A fun session, a lot of searching, investigation, navigation and goal setting. I especially loved how the party, when trying to hack the android personality stations, found a good compromise on something they could impart into some of the reset androids, and they did a great job convincing them that these droids needed to be “initiated” by following them.</p> <p>Also the random generation of Monarch’s poetry becoming the focal point of the session was great, and I like the players doing a ton of work trying to convince this seemingly monolithic AI that they’ve destroyed thousands of pages of AI-generated poetry.</p> <p>I am looking forward to session three!</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/06/session-report-gradient-descent-2/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2024-11-06T23:53:20-07:00">November 6, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/actual-play/" rel="tag">actual play</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/gradient-descent/" rel="tag">gradient descent</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/mothership/" rel="tag">mothership</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/rpg/" rel="tag">rpg</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/06/session-report-gradient-descent-2/#respond">Leave a comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Session Report: Gradient Descent 2</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-5122" class="post-5122 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-rpg tag-actual-play tag-brp tag-fkr tag-openquest tag-osr tag-rpg"> <a class="post-thumbnail" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/03/session-report-cosmic-wound-2/" aria-hidden="true"> <img width="825" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/wolf_banner-scaled.jpeg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Session Report: Cosmic Wound 2" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/wolf_banner-scaled.jpeg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 825w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/wolf_banner-scaled.jpeg?zoom=2&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 1650w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/wolf_banner-scaled.jpeg?zoom=3&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 2475w" sizes="(max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px" /> </a> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/03/session-report-cosmic-wound-2/" rel="bookmark">Session Report: Cosmic Wound 2</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Players</h2> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Ald Sunhelm, thief and cooper</li> <li>Dravein, traveling outlander</li> <li>Glühbirne, mercenary strong-man</li> <li>Maeric Fairwind, itinerant folk mage</li> <li>Osric, the holy initiate of the Order of the Luminarch</li> </ul> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Events</h2> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The adventurers continued through the forest to discover the small village of Gothi.</li> <li>They witnessed dozens of villagers going about their day-to-day</li> <li>In the center of town, a ceremony was being conducted, where a large ash pole, topped by a mirrored crest of two wolves was being pivoted and paused between the cardinal directions.</li> <li>They entered into the village, and convinced the peasants to take them to the village elder, a yellow-eyed wiseman known as Gaedra.</li> <li>Parleying with the priest, they learned that their liege’s family had made a pact with pagan wolf spirits, offering a sacrifice of live young, to be raised by the wolves.</li> <li>Since Thane Oswyn was remiss in his side of the bargain, the village has taken village children by force, citing blasphemy to those that resist.</li> <li>The characters decided to make their way out of the village before any trouble could begin.</li> <li>Returning to Oswyn, the Thane decides to call for the strong folk of his domain, and conduct a ceremony under the watch of his wisewoman, Beoth.</li> <li>Maeric and Ald take part in the ceremony, making boasts of harming the wolf spirit patrons of the village of Gothi.</li> <li>The others follow the words of the Thane’s priest, citing it to be tempting fate and taking power from demonic forces. They have the priest bless their weapons in the morning.</li> <li>Six men-at-arms join the party, although they suffer a hangover by drinking too deeply at the ceremony.</li> <li>Venturing back into the woods, the party tracks towards the den of these primordial wolves, and stumble upon a Gothi villager posing as a woodsman.</li> <li>After seeing through this villain’s ruse, the party jumps him before he is able to alert the village, bound him and toss him in a cart.</li> <li>The troupe discovers a cave being guarded by four brawny looking villagers, and they can see faint light within the cave, and the scent of incense from Gaedra’s hut.</li> <li>Attempting to draw these guards out, Dravein shoots at them, but when the struck guard immediately fells, the remaining guards retreat into the cave.</li> <li>Glühbirne charges the guards, and the party, along with their henchmen enter into melee within the mouth of the cavern.</li> <li>As their adversaries, and the hung-over men-at-arms being to fall, a disembodied voice emanates from deep within the cave, and the fallen warriors begin to arise as the hungry undead.</li> <li>Combat continues to unfold, and once the revenant’s numbers are thinned, Gaedra appears, seeking a parley.</li> <li>We end the session there.</li> </ul> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">After Thoughts</h2> <p>A fun session. We had a bit of back and forth, and I think I was able to introduce to the players more of the folklore-ish tone of the setting. As always, the players either saw through traps ands conflicts, or were able to figure out ways to leverage the odds, which is always a fun experience for a referee, in my opinion.</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/03/session-report-cosmic-wound-2/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2024-11-03T19:34:14-07:00">November 3, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/actual-play/" rel="tag">actual play</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/brp/" rel="tag">brp</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/fkr/" rel="tag">fkr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/openquest/" rel="tag">openquest</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/rpg/" rel="tag">rpg</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/11/03/session-report-cosmic-wound-2/#respond">Leave a comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Session Report: Cosmic Wound 2</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-4961" class="post-4961 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-rpg tag-actual-play tag-gradient-descent tag-mothership tag-open-table tag-osr"> <a class="post-thumbnail" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/11/session-report-gradient-descent-0/" aria-hidden="true"> <img width="825" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ScifiBackground-scaled.jpeg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Session Report: Gradient Descent 0" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ScifiBackground-scaled.jpeg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 825w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ScifiBackground-scaled.jpeg?zoom=2&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 1650w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ScifiBackground-scaled.jpeg?zoom=3&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 2475w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px" /> </a> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/11/session-report-gradient-descent-0/" rel="bookmark">Session Report: Gradient Descent 0</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Another in a quick session report, we got together, explained Mothership, talked about the themes of Gradient Descent, made characters, and got a little bit of play in.</p> <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/11/session-report-gradient-descent-0/#more-4961" class="more-link">continue reading</a> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/11/session-report-gradient-descent-0/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-10-11T22:44:30-07:00">October 11, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-11T22:48:31-07:00">October 11, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/actual-play/" rel="tag">actual play</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/gradient-descent/" rel="tag">gradient descent</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/mothership/" rel="tag">mothership</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/open-table/" rel="tag">open table</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/11/session-report-gradient-descent-0/#comments">1 Comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Session Report: Gradient Descent 0</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-4934" class="post-4934 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-rpg tag-actual-play tag-brp tag-cosmic-wound tag-openquest tag-osr"> <a class="post-thumbnail" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/01/session-report-cosmic-wound-session-0-more/" aria-hidden="true"> <img width="825" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DarkCastleCropped-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Session Report: Cosmic Wound Session 0 + more" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DarkCastleCropped-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 825w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DarkCastleCropped-scaled.jpg?zoom=2&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 1650w, https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DarkCastleCropped-scaled.jpg?zoom=3&resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1 2475w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 825px) 100vw, 825px" /> </a> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/01/session-report-cosmic-wound-session-0-more/" rel="bookmark">Session Report: Cosmic Wound Session 0 + more</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>I recently pivoted my almost-two-year OD&D open table to two different open table campaigns, this one, a sort of eldritch, dark fantasy game inspired by stuff like Averoigne, Berserk, We Are All Legends, Lovecraft, and plenty more, titled “Chronicle of the Cosmic Wound,” and a campaign of <a href="https://www.tuesdayknightgames.com/products/gradient-descent?srsltid=AfmBOorlUEH24LkeMhLRr-EZqKkb0GMOag5qt39WRXFvfQHhw7SOiQDm">Gradient Descent</a>. Eventually I’ll write a retrospective on the OD&D game, but for now I’ll go over Cosmic Wound’s session zero, and the hour or two we got to play before our time limit was reached.</p> <p>I pitched Cosmic Wound as a dark fantasy setting I’ve been working on for some time, although “lower” magic than the OD&D game we had been playing, with a higher emphasis on stuff like Hammer Horror and some Cosmic Horror stuff. To serve this premise, as well as to hopefully address some of the open table issues I was having, I decided to turn the BRP nob on my home system WAY up, using effectively a homebrewed version of <a href="https://d101games.com/product/openquest-3rd-edition/">OpenQuest 3e</a>, plus some <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu-dark-ages-3rd-edition-hardcover/?srsltid=AfmBOopguGRFI7WmVgb0S6nr5bbEqnYi8PIi4f7FxfQmU0qk6CFQaCHP">Dark Ages Cthulhu </a>and <a href="https://thedesignmechanism.com/">Mythras</a> material in it.</p> <p>My players had all voted for this game via a pitch doc where I outlined the <a href="https://200wordrpg.github.io/2016/supplement/2016/04/12/CATS.html">CATS</a> of the game – so they were at least familiar with the pitch. Here is the text of that pitch content:</p> <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/01/session-report-cosmic-wound-session-0-more/#more-4934" class="more-link">continue reading</a> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/01/session-report-cosmic-wound-session-0-more/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-10-01T18:36:41-07:00">October 1, 2024</time><time class="updated" datetime="2024-10-01T18:41:27-07:00">October 1, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/actual-play/" rel="tag">actual play</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/brp/" rel="tag">brp</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/cosmic-wound/" rel="tag">cosmic wound</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/openquest/" rel="tag">openquest</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/10/01/session-report-cosmic-wound-session-0-more/#comments">1 Comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Session Report: Cosmic Wound Session 0 + more</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-4659" class="post-4659 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-dd tag-a-blight-upon-sombreval tag-adventure tag-dd tag-osr"> <a class="post-thumbnail" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/28/a-blight-upon-sombreval-prelaunch/" aria-hidden="true"> <img width="825" height="510" src="https://i0.wp.com/aboleth-overlords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SombrevalCoverFinal-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C510&quality=89&ssl=1" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="A Blight Upon Sombreval Prelaunch" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /> </a> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/28/a-blight-upon-sombreval-prelaunch/" rel="bookmark">A Blight Upon Sombreval Prelaunch</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>The adventure I have been playtesting quite a lot recently is ready for <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cryptic-codex/a-blight-upon-sombreval?ref=4yyh6j">prelaunch on Kickstarter</a>, while I get some of the landing page in order. If you’re interested in dark, investigative horror fantasy modules feel free to check it out.<br><br>Thank you!</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/28/a-blight-upon-sombreval-prelaunch/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2024-06-28T17:26:37-07:00">June 28, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/dd/" rel="category tag">D&D</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/a-blight-upon-sombreval/" rel="tag">a blight upon sombreval</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/adventure/" rel="tag">adventure</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/dd/" rel="tag">d&d</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/osr/" rel="tag">osr</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/28/a-blight-upon-sombreval-prelaunch/#respond">Leave a comment<span class="screen-reader-text"> on A Blight Upon Sombreval Prelaunch</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <article id="post-4641" class="post-4641 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-rpg tag-improv tag-prep tag-referee-advice"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/23/the-myth-of-free-improvisation/" rel="bookmark">The Myth of Free Improvisation</a></h2> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>One of the many problems referees encounter is the notion of how much they should prepare for a given session or campaign. Roleplaying games are very open-ended, which can often impose the feeling of a lack of structure when it comes to scenarios, and unfortunately most RPG texts don’t do a great job at providing new referees with tools or procedures to conduct play of any length greater than a combat or a “scene.”</p> <p>Often this leads to <em>over</em>-preparation – worried that something will happen that will be unaccounted for, the referee tries to come up with absolutely every situation that could occur in game, and after learning that this is impossible, instead leans on techniques that reduce player agency. If the possibility space of what can happen is limited to only what is accounted for, then the referee is covered, right?</p> <p>This is probably not new to anyone reading my blog, we’ve all (hopefully) progressed past the 90s and early 00s style of illusion of freedom style games, but there are always new referees joining the hobby.</p> <p>Unfortunately the advice they’re often given is flippant, and the absolute reverse of “prep everything” – instead they are told to “prep nothing.” You especially see this in indie and DIY scenes where this kind of play can be popular. And I think there is a place for completely improved sessions, just as I think there is a place for consensual railroads – they’re just different styles. But I think advising new referees to “just wing it” is just as problematic as telling them they have to account for every possibility.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Improv Isn’t Easy</h2> <p>To just tell someone to improvise several hours of NPCs, locations, items, quests, challenges, combat encounters, is a massive endeavor. Especially if they have yet to really learn what makes any of those, or other game elements, “work” in a fictional world.</p> <p>This is also pretty dismissive of how much of a skill improvisation is. There’s a reason why improv performers have to try out for places in a troupe. Whole businesses are built around the concept of teaching the skill. Even within roleplaying games, it has become very in-vogue to host workshops adapting improv for tabletop gaming, and Karen Twelves has written a book on the subject.</p> <p>It’s not a skill that can just be formed spontaneously, especially in a hobby notable for its inclusion of less socially adept people (myself included).</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Spontaneity Fatigue</h2> <p>Spontaneity, while exciting, can be mentally exhausting, particularly for those who thrive on structure and planning. Constantly needing to generate material on the fly can lead to burnout, I find this to be especially true in situations that continually ask the GM for “mixed results” – needing to always tell a player “you kinda get what you want, but you also kinda don’t,” when the statistical chance is going to be a repeat of this result when they try to find an alternative path. </p> <p>Additionally, the necessity to come up with ideas quickly often results in the referee falling back on their most familiar tropes and clichés. The first idea that comes to mind isn’t always the best, and without the time to refine and develop these concepts, the situation can become predictable and less engaging. I know when I get tired, needing to spontaneously formulate big pieces of a situation can lead to a reliance on well-worn paths and typical responses rather than fresh ideas.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Balancing Improv & Prep</h2> <p>The best way I have found to feel comfortable for a scenario is to balance improvisation and preparation. This advice will be familiar to anyone who has read anything by Kevin Crawford or the Alexandrian. Prep while you’re having fun, or feel that what you are preparing <em>could</em> be useful, while keeping in mind that players may attempt anything sensible. Formulate tools and procedures to help guide you and your table when uncertainty comes up. Make plans for what may happen, but leave a lot of open areas for weird player hijinks to flourish, and for novel characters and situations to flourish unexpectedly.</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/23/the-myth-of-free-improvisation/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2024-06-23T20:28:42-07:00">June 23, 2024</time></a></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/category/rpg/" rel="category tag">RPG</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/improv/" rel="tag">improv</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/prep/" rel="tag">prep</a>, <a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/tag/referee-advice/" rel="tag">referee advice</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/2024/06/23/the-myth-of-free-improvisation/#comments">2 Comments<span class="screen-reader-text"> on The Myth of Free Improvisation</span></a></span> </footer> </article> <nav class="navigation pagination" aria-label="Posts pagination"> <h2 class="screen-reader-text">Posts pagination</h2> <div class="nav-links"><span aria-current="page" class="page-numbers current"><span class="meta-nav screen-reader-text">Page </span>1</span> <a class="page-numbers" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/page/2/"><span class="meta-nav screen-reader-text">Page </span>2</a> <span class="page-numbers dots">…</span> <a class="page-numbers" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/page/13/"><span class="meta-nav screen-reader-text">Page </span>13</a> <a class="next page-numbers" href="https://aboleth-overlords.com/page/2/">Next page</a></div> </nav> </main> </div> </div> <footer id="colophon" class="site-footer"> <div class="site-info"> <a href="https://wordpress.org/" class="imprint"> Proudly powered by WordPress </a> </div> </footer> </div> <script>(function(html){html.className = html.className.replace(/\bno-js\b/,'js')})(document.documentElement);</script><script> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/aboleth-overlords.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=6.7.2"}}; /*! 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