My Map Making Choice is Made

In the beginning of July I wrote about getting into map making and using the different software that was available to me. I had 2 pieces of software AutoRealm and Campaign Cartographer 2 pro. Well it's been some time and I'm going to be using Campaign Cartographer 2 pro for my map making Choices. I have almost a complete product line mostly to my cheapskate buying tactic of hitting up the local hobby shop and Warehouse 23 since they're on clearance to make room for Campaign Cartographer 3.

Choosing Champaign Cartographer was pretty easy after I worked my way through the first tutorial in the Complete book. I found the tutorial to be nicely written and easy to follow. OK so not really. I found that emailing customer service got me answers to my stupid questions about why this or that didn't work like they said in the PDF. For example my contour lines would disappear. Quick question and answer session with some one at ProFantasy and I got contour lines that stick.

This compares favorably over AutoRealm. Since AutoRealm is free software the same kind of tutorial is handled with a website and a mailing list. I learned one thing from this experience with free software. I can use a free software equivalent to any software I know how to use. If I don't know how to use the software I'm going to need a manual and real support.I was kinda lost and intimidated by the website. I continue to follow the mailing list hoping someday I catch up.

Since I got into the learning carve I have to point out that Campaign Cartographer doesn't really have a manual but it does have a whole lot of good tutorials. All the manuals are written the same way. I even went searching for a FastCAD manaul since that is the system underlying Campaign Cartographer thinking surely they'd have something for a down load. No dice there for me. I also looked at Amazon.com for a for dummies book or a teach your self in 24 hours. Nope they'd have none of that either. I'm actually contemplating creating a blog on Campaign Cartographer so I could write the manual I'd love to have. I bought the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. Guess what it has in it? More tutorials but kinda is like a manual in that you can jump for section to section and has a nice lay out.

I actually want CC3 for Christmas I think I can get alot of use out of this software. I have already mapped my Han for my Sengoku game. Yea coming soon the 6 Demon Blades followed by the revenge of the 6 Demon Blades.

Games and Computer Technology

In my last blog I wrote about RPGNow and old games being available on PDF. A lot of things go into making PDF gaming a big thing. One is the low cost of computer hardware. The second is the Internet and Internet shopping. The third is the ability of a start up company or person to produce a PDF. These all play a part in the games that we play.

Years ago none of my friends had laptops. Heck some of them didn't even have computers. Now they all have them and some more then one. Acer introduced the Acer one which is a 400 dollar compact laptop. This laptop is smaller then one of those college ruled note books I use to write in when I was in college. There is also the Asus eee PC. These are 300 dollar notebooks the same size. Ok so typing is uncomfortable. And the screen is small. The size and the price is what makes it good for gaming. You have with the Acer a 120GB hard drive to stuff with your PDFs and your notes on the game you're about to run. With the Asus you gave 8Gb and a lower entry price so you're swapping out memory cards. All in all I don't have 8Gb of gaming data. That's just the new PC market. There is always Ebay. I bought a tablet pc from there for 200 bucks and I have a bigger screen and more storage space.

The internet makes it all good. Companies have free samples available for the download. There are also extras to be downloaded. Harp is a free download game with the complete game to buy as either a book or a PDF. That's what I always wanted as a kid. I'd ask how do I know it's a good game or If I'm going to play this again. I can now download and try before I buy. And then buying isn't on can I get to my local game store or can I be home when it's delivered. I get my game when I want it at 2 am if I want it.

Indie Games are what I do lot of. 3rd party add ons is what I crave. And there are ppl rushing to produce this stuff. Someone Wrote an alternate magic system and I downloaded it. Great stuff there. I love it.

Good Games Never Die

This week I was paging through the RPGNow Newsletter. All the great stuff out there for Christmas. A ton of RPG's and Reign is coming to RPGNow. Yea I'm going to spend some money I'm getting it. I may never play it but then it's just space on the hard drive and not really space on a book shelf. I can read it and may roll it out at PAGE. I'll get hated on and what not but who the hell cares. Then I see it SPACE:1889... Oooh shit.. another GDW title back. Further down the page Mongooses Traveller is coming out. Twilight 2013 is coming out because I guess the year 2000 made it a little Dated.

These games are back and not under GDW. Heck old GDW Traveller can still be had. Cool Beans on toaste.

Hero's Games and it's Gift to RPG's and Game Masters

The Hero RPG System is one of the first 3rd generation role playing system. And the addition of the generation is not the gift it gives to role playing games. Nor is it the fact that rules even though they're old,simple and versatile is not the gift. It is simply the view it takes on creating anything with in the system from super powers to technology.

The Hero System started out simply as Champions a super hero game back in the late mid to late 80's. It was moderately successful. Simply because ppl could grab the game and build the super hero they dreamed of to play in the world that was created by the Hero Games and the game masters of that time. Hero Games expanded and released more games all with the same system. About 89 they released a system wide rule book to put all the genre books together and released champions.

Generations in role playing games work simply like this. First generation games had classes and no skills everyone of one career or race or what have you looked like everyone else of that type. For example in a modern day campaign if there was a spy. they would all pretty much be able to do the same thing. They also locked advancement to levels and not achievements in anyway.

Second generation added skills to this mix and you can pick and choose the ones that you want with in your class. Yep occupational classes are still there as are the levels. Locked linear advancement with a little verity. Now there are 2 spys and one spy plays like a break in expert and can pick any lock. The other spy is a sniper and weapons expert. Simply because the player picked the type of spy they wanted. We play games like this all the time. Look at the D20 System, it's all like this with FEATs and non weapon skills.

Third generation removes the leves and the classes from the mix. You are stats and skills. How do you advance? Well if you don't use the skill you don't advance the skill. So if our spy that can break in an steal information never fires a gun. Well in adventure 10 when he needs to fire a gun?? hummm prayer is a good thing. Then you open up the stories you can tell. I never fired a gun and was in a gun fight and the tension is on. Also you gotta come up with something quick.

Third generation opens up the idea of play anywhere you have the skills for. Hero gave you the gift of equipment for anything you could thing of. With the point system you simply built it. Oh did I tell you third generation also took the dice away? Well yea charaters aren't rolled up in third generation you build what you want with points.

So equipment has powers like a space ship would have fly at light speed as an advantage. Cool right but what stops me from giving a player fly at light speed?? Cost, the gm gives everyone the points they can spend and also cares what skills you take and what disavantages you can take to lower the cost.

Ok now for the gift Hero gives every rpg. It gives a list of things that any "Power" can do. It can be a type of attack, Effect a stat, or allow a skill to be used. Nothing more or less then that. With those things you simply agument the "Power" to do what you want. You want to build a gun? Simply a ranged killing attack with charges and requires a skill roll to use. Add whatever mods you want to that. You now have your gun.

Simply seeing the all things like that in any game let's you have a more fluid game and opens up your mind to story telling.

Prime Time Adventures .... adventures on the big screen

I started this game a couple of sessions ago at Page. Prime Time adventures is about roleplaying a Tv Series. Or to be more correct Role Playing the story telling of the tv series. The plot and the tone is a thing that everyone agrees upon. The setting is agreed upon. Charaters are a story background and concept.

Our first session was just set up. We wanted to get where or when we're playing down. We ended up with a western. How we got there I don't know but we have a western. We are spies in the wild west before the Civil war. I really don't know how we got here I wanted to be a fighter polit and now I'm a gun slinger.

With the setting down and the tone. Gritty with tones of comedy. We all know this plays out with one liners and some jokes. We're in the west and we're on tv. Even Knight Rider has it's comedy bits. Right?? Well you know.

Charaters where created with a back story and a contact and 2 hooks and a concept. I'm a black buffolo Soilder, dreadlocked rosta cigar smoking infamous gun slinger. I'm determined to cause trouble at every turn. Hell the A-Team had Mr T. These guys got me. Walking into town duster blowing and cigar smoking, 100% bobby badass. I'm tihnking we may be having Mr Worf syndrome soon. You know to show the bad guy is tough, he gets his ass handed to him and then comes back later in the story.

We play our first episode. And I already don't know how to play well with others. We get off the train and what do I do first? I'm black so I maybe noticed. I ask if I'm expected to sit in the back? Or if we'd ride like a group and just get me the same seating as everyone else. Y2k+ America this is all taboo stuff. We're not even looking at the issues that would arise at that time. Free man or not I'm in a place where ppl that look like me are property.

Yea well we don't lose that one so I go to the hotel. Guess who wants a room. Someone clue up the blazing saddles and say the N Word. Because that again is something not said in the Y2k+. One amazing save by one of the other Charaters. I'm going to have to during my episode push this to the limit.

They Got Weapons we don't even know about.

My roleplaying game I'm in now is SpyCraft. This game I play with my nephew and my brothers. This is a crazy game. we get togther and have a grand old time. We spend time looking for guns and alot of shoot outs.

Rolling Spinning Flying....

Wings of war is a really cool tabletop/Mini game. It comes in a boxed started set as Wings of War : Famous Aces. This starter set includes some plane cards along with their maneuver decks, the A damage deck, Some tokens ,Plane control cards and rulers. This is the entry game. You learn the basic rules and it's a fun play for 2-4.

I got the basic set and a couple of the models. They come prepainted and packaged nicely. They are 8 differnt planes in the color schemes of 3 differnt aces per plane. I'm not sure if the decks are differnt per ace or not I don't really think so, The planes are lovely and good quality.

The other 2 boxed sets are Watch your back. that gives you some planes with rear guns and the B damage deck. There is also flaming drachens which gives the altitude rules.
I've played with all three box sets in really big fights and it's a great game.

Check them out on the web here

Maps Maps Maps.

I love maps and roleplaying games. I always want to make something hip and some wow. I love the ones that you get out of the box. It's been this way since I started playing. I'd get the box home , well maybe, some times it was on the bus or even in the store. I'd open it and examine all the pieces and pour over the map left them and stare at them.

I always wanted to produce maps that look like that. I never had the correct tools. Now I think I have the right software. I have 2 pieces of software to make maps with. Campaign Cartographer and AutoRealm. I have a ton of tutorials to work my way through. I believe by the end I'll be able to create a half good looking map.

Campaign Cartographer by Profantasy is a great tool. It's one of about 3 different commercial cartography (map making) tools. It's been around for years. I believe if I look really hard I have a lite version I got with an AD&D cdrom. This is currently at version 3. It is very capable of producing great looking maps just look at the website. I have version 2 and I'm going to put some time in to learning to use it. It's a CADD program. As such it comes with the CADD learning curve. I think I can handle it. Back in college I had a CADD class.

AutoRealm is a freeware piece of software. I've looked at the website and saw some wonderful stuff there. I downloaded it. (Hell I did say Free here.) I looked at what I had and it looked alot like that Profantasy software. I played with a couple of the tutorials and this is a really nice piece of software.

I hope to learn and blog about my learning expriences and let you know how I'm doing.

Introduction

I wanted a place to blog about my gaming and my game related projects. I believe by having something I update and write and publish for the world to see. I can show my success ratio. I also have a record of things I've learned and done.

I know that this is pretty big deal for a hobby blog but, I don't think there are many out there that just deal with the hobby of gaming. I think ppl write about the hobby in the context of there blog. Here it is the hobby of gaming the good the bad and the ugly.