The Way of All Flesh - Episode 1

Our first game playing The Way of All Flesh, my first Cosmic Sci-Fi / Space Opera, was played last Friday night. This is my quickie recap of the events of the game, recorded to reflect the style of the World. It is 2035, planet Earth, after the Ultra-War... Federation Command Special Force is eagerly awaiting its new recruits at Kitt Peak Observatory and Federation Command Space Center ...



Episode Recap Outline

The Coffee Shop
- Enter Linda
-- The Polka Dot Dress
- The Meeting of the Federation Command, Special Forces Recruits
-- Pita
-- Bruin Hilda IV
-- Jacob
-- Lexi the Android
--- "How do you best serve mankind?"
The Lightning Storm
- To the Transit Station
The Civilian Jump-Jet Flight to Station One West
- The Rabbit in the Thorns
The Military Jump-Jet Flight to Kitt Peak Observatory
- Lt. Roger Brisbane Introduction by Speaker-Phone
-- The Three Missions Choice:
--- Operation Black Wind
--- Operation Silver Eye
--- Operation Iron Sand
-- The Mission Debate - Silver Eye wins
-- Yellow Emergency Location Beacon Alert
--- The Rescue
---- Incoming! The Bore Beetles Swarm
---- The Outlaw Ambush
----- Pepper Grenade
---- Jump-Jet Escape
Arrival at Kitt Peak
- Meeting on the Tarmac: Lt Brisbane
-- Linda is Brisbane's daughter, home from Shopping Spree
- The Medical Exam
-- The Optometrist
--- "Your Eye Will Emit The Light."
--- "The eye is the gateway."
-- The Induction Hall
--- The Ceremony
---- The Federation Command Special Forces Oath
-- The Mission Choice: Operation Silver Eye Selected
--- Moon Mission to the Aristarchus Crater
---- 24 Hour Lead time
----- Linda Says Fair Well

Thoughts on The Way of All Flesh Campaign

A slight change of style, with one frill, wherein I talk about my upcoming Campaign World "The Way of All Flesh". I ruminate about the larger background, zoom into some details, and leave gobstopping tons out. Kind of a teaser for the campaign world. I thought I'd experiment a bit with the style. It's not great, but again, it's heading in the general direction I want to go. So there you have it.

Thoughts on RPG Armor Class

What I'm trying to accomplish with my Elthos RPG Armor Class system, and how I've gone about it.

In Brief - Armor has four components:

- Armor Class Modifier
- Damage Absorption
- Dexterity Modifier
- Movement Modifier

These The Armor Class Modifier and the Damage Absorption can be split into two separate attributes, one for Physical Armors, and the other for Energy (or Magic) Armors.

This system allows me to create an amazing assortment of armors that have significant variability and usefulness in different circumstances. I'm delighted with the system, and have programmed these distinctions into the Mythos Machine.

Thoughts on RPG World Weaving

Just some somewhat miscellaneous ramblings about how I go about World Weaving for my RPG, what my goals are, and how I think about it... in which I talk a bit about the order in which I conceive of things, my general approach and some recollections of my Whitewode Campaign.

Thoughts on RPG Character Development

My 3rd Podcast ... no frills ... on the topic of RPG Character Development, what my goals a Gamemaster are, and where I'd like to try to go with it in the future.

Thoughts On RPG Alignment

My thoughts on the origins of Alignment, where it went wrong, and how I re-interpreted the thing for my own use... and hence, why I for one like Alignment for my RPGs.

The Three Design Goals of Elthos RPG

I started working on Elthos in 1978.  I did a light skim of Men & Magic, and took it from there.  Here were my three primary design goals.

1) What rules system will make my life as GM simple and easy?

... my thinking being, if my life as GM is easier rather than harder then everyone will enjoy the game more, including me.

2) How do I create a system that is flexible enough to handle ANYTHING my stupid brain wants to throw at it?

Those two goals were at the core of my design philosophy in 1978. Everything else can be thought of as a means to those two ends.

Maybe, if I want to stretch it, a 3rd goal was

3) How do I make these rules "make sense" to me as a kind of simulation of what I think is going on in the world around me?

... in that sense I think my game rules are a philosophic statement about my view of physics (combat tactics, etc) and metaphysics (the Universe, etc).

Well, that's enough for one game, isn't it?  So there you have it.  Now I will go back to tinkering on Mythos Machine.