Chimerical Realm

The story begins  here Interlude Scene CF 7 The characters plan to head away from the scene of their escape. They need some place where they can take a moment to figure out what is going on, and what they’re going to do next. I increase the Chaos Factor to 7, since clearly things did not go well in the last scene. Rolling against it, I get a random event: Altered Scene “PC Positive, Extravagance/Travel.” Nothing springs to mind for this, so I declare that they exit the scene easily. Not only does no one pay any attention to them, but no one will remember them later even if investigators show up asking questions. The coterie heads to a local outdoor theater, a place used by various groups in the warmer months for shows and productions, but abandoned for now. It is surrounded by trees, and while the woods are sparse, they feel much deeper now. It is only a few hundred yards from the nearest main road, but the place feels primal, and ancient. It is also silent, and isolated...

I’ve been trying to figure out how to effectively run a module in a solo game, but hadn’t really been satisfied with anything I've tried. I stumbled upon this post over at Lone Crusader , which inspired me to tackle the issue from a different angle. Instead of using the various emulator tools to replicate the GM, instead one would use them to replicate players . As any GM knows, players are a uniformly chaotic and unreasonable lot, so using a series of charts to determine their motivation and intended actions seemed to fit. As a test run, I take out one of my favorite modules of all time, Alien Hunger . I’ve run this for roughly four different groups, and I still hold it up as one of the best modules Vampire ever produced. With that, I create a number of PC’s, which in and of itself is unusual for a Solo game. Not having any strong character ideas in mind, I use the U.N.E.  to come up with the basics. In the module, each character begins as a mortal, but is changed in the ...

White Wolf  has partnered with  Asmodee Digital  to create two new mobile games, one based on  Vampire: The Masquerade   the other on  Mage: The Ascension . In a previous post , I reviewed the Vampire game, We Eat Blood . I've finally had a chance to check out the Mage one, Refuge . In short, while it falters as a game, it's a gripping and enjoyable short story, and it feels like at lease some of your decisions actually matter. It's difficult for me to review Refuge without subconsciously comparing it to We Eat Blood.  But, each deserves to stand, or fall, on their own merits. As such, this review will be divided into two parts. Part one will look at Refuge on its own terms. Part two will be a comparison of the two, for those who are interested but undecided on which, if any, to check out.  The writing  The writing in Refuge  is fantastic, and easily the strongest element of the game. I've never had a chance to read any...

White Wolf has partnered with Asmodee Digital to create two new mobile games, one based on Vampire: The Masquerade  the other on Mage: The Ascension . I have a chance to play through the Vampire  one, "We Eat Blood," twice now. All in all, I'm unimpressed. I was extremely eager to check out this game when it was released. A new Vamp video game, and in the form of a "choose your own adventure"? Cool. I mean, not Bloodlines II  cool, but still. Sounds like fun! Well, it was less fun than I had hoped. The writing This is a hit or miss thing. The actual story and emotions worked decently, if awkwardly. The characters were bit overly verbose given the situations they find themselves in. But, I'm willing to forgive this. The game unfolds through a series of text messages, and you need to let the characters ramble on a bit to help the player understand what the characters are going through. So, the actual writing varies from amazingly evocative to just trite and...