The Walking Eye Episode 11: Secrets

Posted in Discussions, Non-Actual Play with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Kevin, Dan, and CJ discuss how secrets can be used in a game. We discuss the different kinds of secrets: Short Term, Long Term, Open, and Closed, as well as how each can be a boon or a bane to your game.

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The Walking Eye Interview 7: Luke Crane

Posted in Interview, Mouse Guard with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

The Walking Eye crew has a sit-down with the illustrious Luke Crane to discuss his games and gaming habits. We cover a fair bit of ground: a bit of rules theory, production strategy and the “unique challenges” that come with working with a licensed franchise. All in all this interview was a total blast and we look forward to a chance to do it again!

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Discussion Episode 10: Mouse Guard Review

Posted in Discussions, Mouse Guard, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 13, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Brandon, Dan, CJ, and Kevin talk about our very enjoyable experience with Mouse Guard by Luke Crane and David Peterson. Be warned, we’re all pretty die-hard Burning Wheel fanboys, so there’s a fair amount of gushing in this review. We break down the basic structure of the game, how it differs from previous Burning games, and discuss it’s feasability for new players. Stay tuned, coming up next is our interview with Luke Crane!

Relevant Links

  • Mouse Guard/Burning Wheel
  • Mouse Guard Comic
  • Burning Empires
  • Macbeth Trait:  Macbeth is doomed. His doom is, in fact, foretold and inescapable. The player is encouraged to write his doom into one of his Beliefs. It always ends in his death. Please be as gory and descriptive as possible. The trick is to ensnare other people in his doom. Each character who changes a Belief to fall in line with Macbeth’s doom earns Macbeth one persona point. As he nears his fate, Macbeth’s options dwindle. Once the climax of his story has been reached—it’s time to confront his wife, the enemy has returned from abroad, etc.—Macbeth may only use actions in the Duel of Wits, Psychic Duel, Firefight or even the Infection mechanics once each. After he’s played that action into his doom, he may not use that action again—ever. If he should survive his fate, which is unlikely, Macbeth should count himself quite unlucky, as he’ll now live out the rest of his days dwelling on the horrors he’s committed, waiting for some other young Macbeth to happen upon him and push him toward his grisly end.
  • In A Wicked Age
  • Dogs in the Vineyard

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Mouse Guard Actual Play Session 4 Finale

Posted in Mouse Guard, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , , on July 11, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

The bright and beautiful days of summer come and go in the Mouse Territories, and our Patrol finds itself in a warm and dry Autumn.  It seems as if it’s going to be a relatively quiet year when a tenderpaw brings dire news from Sprucetuck. The great city of sciencemice is besieged by ants! Our heroes rush to the city’s aid, and one brave Guardmouse makes the ultimate sacrifice!

Roles

  • Kevin is the GM.
  • Dan plays Conner Greenleaf.
    • Rank: Guard Mouse.
    • Belief: Bold action is the way of the Guard
    • Instinct: Check the weather every time we stop.
    • Goal: Retrieve the formula for the Scent Boarder at all costs.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 5 Weather-Watcher 5
    • Traits: Tough II
  • CJ plays Thom.
    • Rank: Tenderpaw.
    • Belief : I’m ready to be a GuardMouse, and this is my chance to prove it to Tander!
    • Instinct:Meet the enemy Head-On.
    • Goal: I will prove that I can stand up to my weight in ants.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 4 Cartographer 3
    • Traits: Independent I, Sharp Eyed I, Short I
  • Brandon Plays Tander Fizzcup
    • Rank: Patrol Leader
    • Belief : Our strength comes from the bonds of fellowship amongst the Guard; not the individual.
    • Instinct: Never let a young one go alone.
    • Goal: I will fall before I fail Sprucetuck.
    • Highest Skills: Healer 6 Survivalist 4
    • Traits: Rational I, Old Fur I, Leader I
  • Jen plays Josephine Wanderwing
    • Rank: Patrol Guard
    • Belief: Knowledge is Power. There is always time to research.
    • Instinct: Trust but verify.
    • Goal: Find out why the ants are acting so strangely.
    • Highest Skills: Pathfinder 6 Survivalist 5
    • Traits: Inquisitive I Curious I

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Session 4 Broken down into smaller chunks:

Bumpers and Promos

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Mouse Guard Actual Play Session 3

Posted in Mouse Guard, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , on July 3, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

CJ, Jen, Dan, and Brandon now have a dozen outcast bandit widows and children to deal with.  Jonathan, Daewn’s fiance knows of friends and family back in Copperwood and humbly asks the Guardmice to escort the outcasts there. Along the way the simmering resentment from the recently widowed mice comes to a boil!

Roles

  • Kevin is the GM.
  • Dan plays Conner Greenleaf.
    • Rank: Guard Mouse.
    • Belief: Bold action is the way of the Guard
    • Instinct: Check the weather every time we stop.
    • Goal: Convince the Outcast mothers to give their children to the Guard.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 5 Weather-Watcher 5
    • Traits: Tough II
  • CJ plays Thom.
    • Rank: Tenderpaw.
    • Belief : I’m ready to be a GuardMouse, and this is my chance to prove it to Tander!
    • Instinct:Meet the enemy Head-On.
    • Goal: I feel responsible for what happened to these people, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 4 Cartographer 3
    • Traits: Independent I, Sharp Eyed I, Short I
  • Brandon Plays Tander Fizzcup
    • Rank: Patrol Leader
    • Belief : Our strength comes from the bonds of fellowship amongst the Guard; not the individual.
    • Instinct: Never let a young one go alone.
    • Goal: It is too late to teach Conner, but Thom must learn the law may be black and white, but a Guardsmouse can and if possible, should look for the gray.
    • Highest Skills: Healer 6 Survivalist 4
    • Traits: Rational I, Old Fur I, Leader I
  • Jen plays Josephine Wanderwing
    • Rank: Patrol Guard
    • Belief: Knowledge is Power. There is always time to research.
    • Instinct: Trust but verify.
    • Goal: Find a home for the Outcasts.
    • Highest Skills: Pathfinder 6 Survivalist 5
    • Traits: Inquisitive I Curious I

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Session 3 Broken down into smaller chunks:

Bumpers and Promos

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Mouse Guard Actual Play Session 2

Posted in Mouse Guard, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , on June 21, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

CJ, Jen, Dan, and Brandon set out from Lockhaven with their first mission of the season:  Deliver the mail to Wildseed, Darkwater, Port Sumac, and finally Wolfpointe. Things go fairly well for the Patrol, but near the end some challenging ethical decisions spring up.

Roles

  • Kevin is the GM.
  • Dan plays Conner Greenleaf.
    • Rank: Guard Mouse.
    • Belief: Bold action is the way of the Guard
    • Instinct: Check the weather every time we stop.
    • Goal: Mail delivery is boring, I will find a suitable challenge for a Guard Mouse.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 5 Weather-Watcher 5
    • Traits: Tough II
  • CJ plays Thom.
    • Rank: Tenderpaw.
    • Belief : I’m ready to be a GuardMouse, and this is my chance to prove it to Tander!
    • Instinct:Meet the enemy Head-On.
    • Goal: Be the first to map a path between Wildseed and Darkwater
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 4 Cartographer 3
    • Traits: Independent I, Sharp Eyed I, Short I
  • Brandon Plays Tander Fizzcup
    • Rank: Patrol Leader
    • Belief : Our strength comes from the bonds of fellowship amongst the Guard; not the individual.
    • Instinct: Never let a young one go alone.
    • Goal: Tend the sick and wounded at every town along the way.
    • Highest Skills: Healer 6 Survivalist 4
    • Traits: Rational I, Old Fur I, Leader I
  • Jen plays Josephine Wanderwing
    • Rank: Patrol Guard
    • Belief: Knowledge is Power. There is always time to research.
    • Instinct: Trust but verify.
    • Goal: Collect the wisdom gathered during the Winter at each town.
    • Highest Skills: Pathfinder 6 Survivalist 5
    • Traits: Inquisitive I Curious I

Relevant Links

Crunchy Bits!

Session 2 Broken down into smaller chunks:

Bumpers and Promos

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Mouse Guard Actual Play Session 1

Posted in Mouse Guard, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

I distinctly remember sending out an email to Dan, CJ, Brandon, and Jen a bit before Christmas that after reading the Luke Crane and David Peterson’s Mouse Guard PDF, we needed to bump it into the schedule as soon as possible. “As soon as possible” ended up being May, but we were no less eager to delve into the world of David Peterson’s seminal comic. This first session covers character creation, a fairly brisk and entertaining process.

Roles

  • Kevin is the GM.
  • Dan plays Conner Greenleaf.
    • Rank: Guard Mouse.
    • Belief: Bold action is the way of the Guard
    • Instinct: Check the weather every time we stop.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 5 Weather-Watcher 5
    • Traits: Tough II
  • CJ plays Thom.
    • Rank: Tenderpaw.
    • Belief : I’m ready to be a GuardMouse, and this is my chance to prove it to Tander!
    • Instinct:Meet the enemy Head-On.
    • Highest Skills: Fighter 4 Cartographer 3
    • Traits: Independent I, Sharp Eyed I, Short I
  • Brandon Plays Tander Fizzcup
    • Rank: Patrol Leader
    • Belief : Our strength comes from the bonds of fellowship amongst the Guard; not the individual.
    • Instinct: Never let a young one go alone.
    • Highest Skills: Healer 6 Survivalist 4
    • Traits: Rational I, Old Fur I, Leader I
  • Jen plays Josephine Wanderwing
    • Rank: Patrol Guard
    • Belief: Knowledge is Power. There is always time to research.
    • Instinct: Trust but verify.
    • Highest Skills: Pathfinder 6 Survivalist 5
    • Traits: Inquisitive I Curious I

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By popular demand, Session 1 Broken down into smaller chunks:

Bumpers and Promos

10 Comments »

The Walking Eye Interview 6: Gregor Hutton

Posted in 3:16, Interview, Non-Actual Play with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 25, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

After a few scheduling SNAFU’s, we finally get a chance to sit down with Gregor and discuss our experiences with his game 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars. The conversation hits a lot of topics, from his gaming history, to design decisions behind 3:16, to what to do with NFA, and finally, which of his games he would save from a drowning. Gregor was a real sport for taking the time out of his evening to talk to us, and we look forward to meeting him in person at GenCon this year!

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Discussion Episode 9: 3:16 Review

Posted in 3:16, Discussions, Non-Actual Play, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

The crew gathers ’round the baleful gaze of The Walking Eye to discuss their experiences with Gregor Hutton’s 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars.  For the most part, every had glowing praise for the game. Jen wasn’t feeling it as much as the rest, and a good chunk of the discussion is devoted to both what she felt was lacking as well as if these problems arise from our format. Are we not giving these games enough time to really gestate in the play space? Are two-hour sessions doing these games justice? Tune in to see what conclusions we come to!

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Bumpers and Promos

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3:16 Actual Play Session 3 Finale

Posted in 3:16, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Session 3 of 3:16 brings our campaign to a close with a daring assault on the villainous alien home world of Goya. Brutal urban fighting culminates with Miller calling down an orbital bombardment for a whopping 949 kills!  This session was an absolute blast and is probably the best example of what 3:16 play should be like. By now everyone was comfortable with what kinds of narrative powers they had and used them to great effect. As you can tell from the show notes, the video-gamey feel of 3:16 really came out this session, which is something we all enjoyed.

Roles

  • Kevin was GM
  • Jen played Tucker
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: Seen the face of God FA: 8 NFA: 3
  • Brandon played Miller
  • Rank: Lieutenant Rep: Wet Blanket FA: 3 NFA: 7
  • Dan Played Murphy
  • Rank: Sergeant Rep: Badass Motherfucker FA: 8 NFA: 4
  • CJ Played Carson
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: It’s Only A Matter of Time (before he gets killed) FA: 7 NFA: 4

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Bumpers and Promos

1 Comment »

Forge Midwest 2009 After-Action Report

Posted in Discussions, Non-Actual Play with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Before our third session of 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars, Jen and Kevin regale the rest of the group with their experiences at Forge Midwest 2009. We met a lot of cool people and played a lot of great games. This episode has a fair amount of info about a few of the games we got a chance to play: Zombie Cinema, Prime Time Adventures, Sorcerer, and Mouse Guard. If you’re a little curious about how those games play out, this might be helpful.

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3:16 Actual Play Session 2

Posted in 3:16, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , , on May 5, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Session 2 of 3:16 has the troopers assaulting the ice planet of Bosch to investigate the mysterious alien virus defeated last session. Their search leads them to the icy ruins of an ancient civilization and the terrifying creatures who now inhabit the ominous city. This session moves at a good clip, we all had fun slaughtering Spiderbears. There was a bit of confusion near the end of the session as I tried to pull some weirdness with a remotely controlled suit of armor, but we got it worked out pretty quickly. All in all, this session was a marked improvement from next session, and energy was high.

Roles

  • Kevin was GM
  • Jen played Tucker
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: Seen the face of God FA: 7 NFA: 3
  • Brandon played Miller
  • Rank: Sergeant Rep: First time out. FA: 3 NFA: 7
  • Dan Played Murphy
  • Rank: Corporal Rep: Lawbringer (as in, Murphy’s Law) FA: 8 NFA: 3
  • CJ Played Carson
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: Easily Spooked FA: 7 NFA: 4

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Promos and Bumpers

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Burning Empires – Fires Over Omac Actual Play

Posted in Play Sessions with tags , , , , , on April 30, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

A little while back Jen invited her old DM from back in the day to come up and join us. He was curious to see what all these newfangled storygames were all about, so we decided to run the con scenario for Burning Empires: Fires Over Omac.  Kevin was GM, and the players were Jen, Brandon, and Brian. Pardon us if we sound a bit preachy, we were trying pretty hard to show Brian how different these games were, from the design to the philosophy behind the design. We may come off as frothing evangelists from time to time. I (Kevin) had tried to run Fires Over Omac a couple times before with varied degrees of success, but this time I think I did pretty well.  Our original plan was simply to record this for personal reference later, but upon further listening it came out as a pretty strong example of Burning Empires play. Because of this, our noise discipline was not as good as it usually is, so please excuse the background clutter.

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Forge Midwest 2009: Tim Koppang Interview

Posted in Interview, Non-Actual Play with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

In early April Jen and I took a road trip up to Forge Midwest 2009 in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin. We played a lot of games and met a lot of cool people, expect a fair amount of content related to that in the upcoming weeks. One of the high points was a chance to play Hero’s Banner with it’s creator Tim Koppang. After running it for myself and two others (Edward “Sabe” Jones and a dude named Tim who’s contact info I didn’t get) I grabbed Tim (Koppang, not the player) and did a short interview with him. We discuss his inspirations for the game, the term “Storygames” (he’s not a fan), his gaming history, and whether free will actually exists or not. It was a real pleasure to meet and interview him.

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3:16 Actual Play Session 1

Posted in 3:16, Play Sessions with tags , , , , , , , on April 20, 2009 by Kevin Weiser

Things kick off for 3:16: Carnage Amongst The Stars by Gregor Hutton with an attack on the Terran Asteroid Belt. The 3rd Army of the 16th Brigade sprung into action and quickly purged the mysterious alien virus from the computer core. In fact, pretty much everything was purged in a 5,000 mile radius. The whole crew enjoyed the setting aside from a few minor grumbles (“Mining robots? Really?” -Jen) and energy was high; everyone walked away with considerable excitement for next session.

Roles:

  • Kevin was GM
  • Jen played Tucker
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: Seen the face of God FA: 7 NFA: 3
  • Brandon played Miller
  • Rank: Sergeant Rep: First time out. FA: 3 NFA: 7
  • Dan Played Murphy
  • Rank: Corporal Rep: Lawbringer (as in, Murphy’s Law) FA: 8 NFA: 2
  • CJ Played Carson
  • Rank: Trooper Rep: Easily Spooked FA: 6 NFA: 4

Relevant Links

Crunchy Bits!

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