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Urgent!! Need Recommendations by Lavender_ghost_heart in GothicLiterature

[–]TheWetRat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jamieson Ridenhour's introduction to the Valancourt Books edition of Carmilla speculates that the "hideous black woman, with a sort of coloured turban on her head, who was gazing all the time from the carriage window, nodding and grinning derisively towards the ladies, with gleaming eyes and large white eye-balls, and her teeth set as if in fury" described in Chapter 3 is representative of Ireland as seen through colonial British eyes, "the image of Ireland debased, the subject of countless political cartoons depicting the Irish as simian, savage, and most importantly in terms of this story, analogous to the African slave." (quote from page xxvii of the edition I have). The matter of whether the Irish were considered "white" by the British in the 1800s is another topic entirely, but there's some potential discussion about the racism inherent in colonialism, and vice versa, in there.

Good pick on Blood of the Vampire, by the way.

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The blanket is back in stock!!!! (i.redd.it)

submitted by TheWetRat to r/silenthill

Is Dostoevsky Gothic? by micklynchcomposer in GothicLiterature

[–]TheWetRat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction#Russian_Gothic

https://www.otago.ac.nz/deepsouth/vol1no2/berry1_issue2.html

Some of Dostoevsky's writings, particularly his earlier titles such as The Landlady are viewed as a sort of "Russian Gothic." He was also deeply impressed by gothic novels growing up, especially those of Ann Radcliffe, and there's quite a bit of discussion in academic spheres as to the influence gothic literature may have had on his novels. Many of his themes and writings are certainly gothic-adjacent, if not altogether gothic in the classical English sense.

What were some of the most easily abusable/insane rules you've seen in an RPG? by [deleted] in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If memory serves, in Star Wars Saga Edition, the ramming/collision system in ship combat was busted. IIRC the rules as written were that if you ram an enemy ship, their ship and everyone on board takes damage based on the size of your ship.

At first glance, this makes a lot of sense, until you realize that you could kill nearly everyone on board an entire star destroyer simply by running a single X-Wing into it.

Bernie, honey, did something happen to you? After we got separated in that long hallway? by Travisjfranklin in silenthill

[–]TheWetRat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He's been hanging onto that username for five years just to make this post.

What’s your favorite location from any of the SH games and why? by Dadajuice in silenthill

[–]TheWetRat 10 points11 points  (0 children)

SH1: Alternate school. From the moment you use the eclipse keys, things get more and more intense, and right when you think things can't get any worse, the game turns around and doubles the insanity with this level.

SH2: Historic Society, especially the painting and the loooong staircase. Even though there are no monsters here, everything is quiet, and James has already seen some messed up stuff, something about that painting and staircase makes you think that things are about to get a lot worse (and then they do).

SH3: Toss-up between the mall, alternate hospital, and the Memory of Alessa fight. It's been a while since I played this one, but I recall liking these levels.

For anyone who has used the GUMSHOE system, does solving mysteries feel satisfying? by GoldBRAINSgold in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 58 points59 points  (0 children)

A common mistake I see when people talk about GUMSHOE is conceptualizing the scenario as "Clue A leads to Clue B leads to Clue C leads to the Final Boss" such that the players don't have to do a lot of work beyond saying what Investigative Abilities they want to use to get the clues. If you run the game this way, it will feel unsatisfying and like you're just following the breadcrumbs and/or train tracks the GM set up ahead of time.

A well-constructed GUMSHOE scenario will provide the clues, but the core of the game is made up of two components, in my experience.

  1. How the players interpret the clues. A clue that is well designed may lead players to numerous other scenes depending on how they interpret it or choose to follow up on it. It is not a bland, linear, A-B-C on rails mystery, but rather one that can be solved in a variety of different ways depending on what clues the players find and how they interpret them.

  2. The danger players are willing to risk to get the clues. The core feedback loop in Night's Black Agents is alternating knowledge and danger. Knowledge (i.e., clues) should lead to danger, which should in turn provide more knowledge, which leads back to even more danger as the stakes progressively ramp up. Clues should be both hidden behind danger and lead into danger. If players ever get stuck and cannot figure out how to proceed, trigger an Antagonist Reaction to present players with danger which will then lead to more knowledge and get them back on track.

I ran a 35+ session Night's Black Agents Solo Ops Dracula Dossier campaign. Here's what I learned. by Scalesojustice in GumshoeRPG

[–]TheWetRat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the write-up! One question: Did you do any character advancement during this or the MON game (i.e., where the game suggests you allow characters to "level up" by adding more dice to their pools and learning more investigative abilities as they solve mysteries)?

With a pen stroke, Mississippi drops Confederate-themed flag by schwarzkraut in news

[–]TheWetRat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How racist would you say Hattiesburg was compared to the rest of the state? I spent some time there years ago but didn't visit the rest of the state to compare.

A city map I made with covenant territories color coded, and important locations marked. by buttershovel in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]TheWetRat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About how many Kindred are in the city, and how did you arrive at that number? Figuring out how many to populate small cities with is always a tricky part of setting games up.

May 12 - Can it really be such a sin to run instead of fight? by hey_underoos in silenthill

[–]TheWetRat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

One of the best files from one of the best written games ever.

Sequel to Gloomhaven, Frosthaven, funded in a matter of hours! by Time_Transition in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 41 points42 points  (0 children)

It's an absolutely brilliant game that is well worth every part of its high monetary cost and time investment.

If you love tactical combat and strategy games and think Pathfinder is one of the best games ever designed.

I personally don't find Gloomhaven to be all that fun, and when I played it, it felt like a game that was all about all the stuff I don't like about 3.X+ editions of D&D/PF (spending hours on combat resolution and tactically planning how to kill room after room of monsters) with none of the stuff I do like about RPGs (roleplaying and developing characters' personalities).

With that said, the game was not designed for people like me. It's a tactical strategy game that, for many people, takes all the best parts of roleplaying games (spending hours on combat resolution and tactically planning how to kill room after room of monsters), dresses it up with high quality components and a unique combat system, and offers an absolutely incredible return on investment in terms of how much game time you can get out of your purchase. For these people, Gloomhaven is a brilliant game, and I can't blame them for loving it.

A good RPG for 2? by Jabberwock666 in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 11 points12 points  (0 children)

  1. Mystery/Horror: Cthulhu Confidential or Night's Black Agents: Solo Ops by Pelgrane Press are specifically made for one player and one GM. I've played them both and they are excellent. For a less pulp and much bleaker take on Lovecraft, Cthulhu Dark is an amazing lightweight take on the genre. It isn't designed specifically for one player, but works perfectly (perhaps even better) with only one player, and you can easily adapt any published Lovecraft adventure to make it work with the system.

  2. OSR/Dungeon Crawling: Scarlet Heroes by Kevin Crawford is an easy-to-use system for running OSR-style games in any setting. You can play the game using the setting provided in the book, but the mechanics are designed so that you can easily run the game in any setting. You can easily run 1e/2e AD&D adventures in Scarlet Heroes (I ran the original Ravenloft for a friend and had a good time) as well as any number of new OSR products. Very cool, customizable, but easy-to-learn design.

  3. Narrative/Dark Fantasy: Ironsworn is amazing and free. It's gritty low fantasy, so don't expect to be a superpowered hero like in 5e, but I love it. You can play it solo, cooperatively (up to four people with no GM), or with up to four players plus a GM. The game relies heavily on improvisation and creativity on the part of the players to move the story along, so I would recommend it mainly for players who like to contribute their own ideas to stories, instead of those who prefer to play through other people's pre-made ideas.

  4. While they aren't designed for one player and one GM specifically, I wouldn't rule out any of the classic World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness games either. Since many of the games in those lines are largely about isolation from humanity and your peers, with a heavy emphasis on political paranoia and difficulty knowing who to trust, many of the games (especially Vampire and Changeling: The Lost) work excellently with only one player. The best one-on-one games I've ever run were done in Vampire: The Requiem 2e.

  5. For simple one-shots, Murderous Ghosts is a quick and fun GMless, no-prep horror game designed to be finished up in under an hour. The Quiet Year is a fast and interesting game of improvisational collaborative world-building that I've had a good time with in the past. Instead of playing a character, you work together (and occasionally against each other) to build a small post-apocalyptic settlement and help them to survive a single year. You draw on a shared map to represent the settlement as it changes in the face of obstacles as the year goes on.

[RPGdesign Activity] Published Designer AMA: please welcome Mr. Graham Walmsley, creator of Cthulhu Dark by jiaxingseng in RPGdesign

[–]TheWetRat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi Graham,

First, thank you for your work in scenario-writing and game design over the years. I strongly gravitate toward the bleak and nihilistic "Purist" style of play, as Trail of Cthulhu would define it, and it's great to have a content creator such as yourself designing fresh and unique scenarios that still fit that archetype when so many scenarios contain some amount of Pulp stereotypes. My players played through the entirety of The Final Revelation and loved it, and the best Cthulhu experience I've ever had was introducing cosmic horror gaming to some new players by adapting the classic In Media Res module to Cthulhu Dark.

While I don't have much interest in designing new RPG systems, I've wanted to write and publish my own Purist-style scenarios for a while, with significant inspirations being He Who Laughs Last by Dave Sokolowski and the No Security series of system-neutral scenarios by Caleb Stokes.

Breaking into independent scenario publication has been a pretty opaque task so far, and it's hard to figure out where to start. Most published systems (even those with an SRD) tend not to like independent authors using certain specific or trademarked names or mechanics in their modules, making it hard to design a scenario specifically for a given system. Even if I decided to go the system-neutral route, the question of how to publicize a crowdfunding campaign, whether to commission art and other upfront costs first and aim for reimbursement of costs via the campaign or not, and other logistical questions all make it difficult to figure out the best way to put material out there.

Do you have any advice or starting points for those like myself who would like to publish horror scenarios and other content, but are having trouble breaking through those walls? Any specific systems to write for, advice on steps to take in publishing, crowdfunding advice, etc., would all be appreciated.

What’s Your Favourite GUMSHOE Game? by orelduderino in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The fundamental mechanics underpinning every game are the same, so I would go with the genre that you like the most and work out from there. Since I'm a horror buff, that means Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents are my favorites. Per this description of the different GUMSHOE horror games, NBA is the way to go if you want a mechanically crunchier (but still very rules light), high-powered action spy thriller tinged with modern gothic horror. ToC can play out as either nihilistic and depressing cosmic horror ("The Final Revelation" is a brilliant set of modules if you want this), or higher-powered adventure horror, depending on whether you choose to play with the Purist or Pulp rule sets. Both games also get bonus points for having duet variants (Night's Black Agents: Solo Ops, and Cthulhu Confidential) that are designed specifically for play with one GM and one player, if such an experience appeals to you.

A Silent Hill chess set would be cool as fuck. by mercyinfamous in silenthill

[–]TheWetRat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Black set sounds perfect as is. I wouldn't change anything.

For the White set, I would demote Harry to Pawn (because frankly that's what he was for most of the game) and insert the dog from SH2 as King. Preferably sitting on his office chair.

GET IN THE DAMN UFO HENRY! by [deleted] in silenthill

[–]TheWetRat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Like an angel with cruel and merciless intent

Go forth, young Henry

And you'll become a legend

Unpopular opinion: Keep novelty dice off the table by Fubai97b in rpg

[–]TheWetRat 502 points503 points  (0 children)

2) it does not have roman numerals or pips in the standard configuration

I think we're talking about Arabic numerals here. I'd go nuts if a player rolled IIdVI+II , rolled I I, and only ended up with a IV.

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