IndieRPG night: Mad Max Fury Road Dread

Mad Max Fury Road Dread

It was time for another ASTG meetup! Harry and Wale from previous meetups arrived, and my neighbor Lucas joined in. 

I pitched a bunch of game options, and everyone was the most excited to try Mad Max Fury Road Dread, discussed in a prior post: such as running it at Gateway 2015, and then creating some character sheets for it.

In this case, it was a Friday night, which meant we could start earlier, and that the kid (at 7.5 years old) could actually stay up, and she asked to play with us.

Being so long since I've run it, you start to wonder if it'll work anywhere similar to how it did in the past. I started with getting the players to tell me what kind of crew they wanted to be. They settled on a band of wanderers who prey on others, normally by befriending them and then waylaying them in the wastes.

Everyone created 3 characters a piece:

• The kid as Zero, Negative One, and "A"

• Wale as Stern, Cent, and Alph

• Harry as a family consisting of Molly, Sebastian, and Little Susie

• Lucas as Billy Silenus and twins Meg and Mel

Session

We started with the customary request for armaments and gear, which I try to make relatively hard and brutal. We almost had loss of life there at the start and the players already felt a bunch of tension.

I had the players help me answer questions about terrain they were travelling in and that was around. I borrowed an idea I saw from John Aegard (I believe... I'll try to find and add the link later) which had to do with Dungeon World and using sticky notes to create the map. Still allows for movement and having "blank spaces". This worked well, and soon we had some desert, as well as a "spring" of sorts, and a bunch of large rocks which was a meeting point for a trade / market gathering that was coming.

I started the scenario with the group already tagging along with some victims, a group in a van heading to trade goods at the rocks. My intention was that the van would also be the target of a raid, and so even though the players were there to get them, they'd end up defending them, perhaps (or at least fighting desperately for their lives, which they did). We had some good encounters and combats and chases, and dynamite was had. The kid even got to have one of her characters shoot off a MIRV, of sorts (really more of a bazooka or rocket launcher), and was able to take down a very large trailer truck off a very large cliff.

Feedback

Everyone agreed that the game itself was very fun (I even got this comment a week later at the next meetup as people were reminiscing, always a great compliment and sign). As far as negative feedback, Wale echoed the sentiment that many felt, that perhaps fewer characters would make for greater worry about loss of life. Part of that I think was due to pacing, but I think toning it down to a smaller group could work very well (e.g. 2 characters / player, especially if you know you won't be playing very long; that said we played over 3 hours). It would've also been easier to give characters a little more attention if there were a little less of them... as it is, it's up to the player to do anything of interest, but I'm barely able to keep track of them all.

The kid, being the youngest, did cause play to slow down at times, and in retrospect I think if you know this going in, creating fewer characters would help do the trick.

Would've been great to tie in things a little better, such as having the raiders attack because these folks had stolen from them, or some other more interesting and cohesive narrative, but I think all in all it wasn't necessary to have a great time... and the fact that I didn't have to plan a thing for the game just showed me how much of a great back-pocket game it is. 

The character sheets went well, but index cards would work as easily. The game and sheets are definitely going to be an ongoing component and highlight of my ready-to-go folder for cons.

Go Play NW 2016: Sunday, and onwards...

I had one or two requests (or sad lamentations) that folks had missed my Fallout Shelter game on the Friday, and so on Saturday I started to see about setting up a second run. And so...

Fallout Shelter RPG: Take 2

I grabbed Soren and Andy (who played in my Star Frontiers game last year, discussed way way back), and then was able to poach Ian and Sarah, who I got to game with the prior year as well (in Jim Pinto's Carcass game). Their main concern was whether or not they needed to know any Fallout Shelter trivia. I approximate a need for 0% knowledge, so they were in.

The donut hadn't even really gotten moving, and that worked for us, as we were able to snake the really cool glass window room in the center of the main floor. Private for audio use, but flashy for showing off all the moving parts!

The big difference for this game was that my players wanted to hit lunch and the next game slot on time, and we only had a 3 hour slot for this session. That's pretty tight, as I've always run it in 4 hours plus, and that still feels abbreviated.

But we kept it moving fast, and tight. And I definitely ratcheted up the difficulty, and started really using those hard moves. I had a blast running this, and I just love how much everyone loved getting mangled. By the end we had a TPK, except for Sarah's character (the Wasteland Explorer) who survived the final fight long enough to hang out in the upper levels of the vault until she starved. Good times!

This solidified my belief that all my recent changes have enabled the game to be run more solidly, and that enabled a quicker and more satisfying play. 

Protocol: Le Carnival

I had lunch with my Fallout Shelter crew, and Andy was planning to then run his Mad Max: Fury Road game (with large Lego war rig and miscellaneous vehicles included!) I was a bit fried from running my game, and needed a few more lunch minutes, and Jim was planning to run a Protocol game.

I hesitated. I did end up sending some satisfied players (including ET, who had to get to work) over to Andy, but played with Jim. We were joined in addition by his friend Nate. The first 5 minutes I was feeling regretful. And then the game got going, and I forgot about regret... it was that good.

Protocol games use a standard deck of cards as the randomizer, which informs all sorts of character traits and scenes, such as motivations, relationships, the types of scenes, and their locations.

We had a quick discussion over which, of the dozens of available scenarios and skins, we wanted to play. We decided on Le Carnival, described thusly:

Le Carnival is a story roleplaying game about the human oddities (freaks) of a carnival during the Great Depression era. The Carnival travels the backroads of the Midwest farm belt and the Southern states, visiting towns far off the beaten trail. Characters are carnival freaks who hopelessly seek a degree of familiarity, clinging to the idea that somehow the Carnival is family. In fact, the “Brotherhood” of the Carnival is based only on who earns the most for the ringmaster, creating a twisted sense of meritocracy. The only true currency: fleecing the clueless rubes in the uneducated reaches of America.

We had a "dwarf", a "strong man", "the human torso", the "tattooed lady", and a "contortionist". Needless to say, the game spiraled into darkness quickly, and I remember one of my first scenes as the "dwarf" was pushing the human torso Bob (played by Nate) in a little wagon, for a little journey from the safety of the back-lot of the circus over to where the normal people were. I basically used him as bait so that the mean teenagers wouldn't pursue me when I had to flee. It continued to be brutal from there.

I always have a hard time grokking scene concepts such as vignette and interlude (as Protocol defines them), but I think they are finally starting to sink in. Although even so I'll make sure to ask Jim over and over again next time, just to see his frustration. 

Jerry, Jim's blurry middle finger, Nate, and Derek as carnies.

Atlas Reckoning

And then there is Stras (which I finally learned how to pronounce correctly... as in Josh with a "Str" replacing the 'J'). I met him the prior year at Go Play, not through gaming, but through a 6 hour marathon conversation on the Monday morning after the con was over. We blabbed non-stop about gaming and have communicated lightly through the magic which is G+ ever since.

He had mentioned his plans to create Atlas Reckoning even back then... an RPG around giant fighting mecha, the last bastion of the human race, and big aliens. What's not to love?

Fortunately he grabbed me, and we had Sean, Ross, and Lucien? (please correct me if I've gotten that last name completely wrong!)

All I know is that everyone was super stoked to play, and Lucien (name pending) even went up to his room to change into a Battletech shirt in preparation!

This game was super solid. Half of it was insane mecha to mega-alien combat, facilitated as a card game, but combined with uber interesting battle-tech like game mechanics. And then the other half consisted of the beautiful prose that is emotionally heavy story gaming. It was straight-up watching an awesome anime.

Shit, check out the character sheets and mecha sheets!

Super nutso amazing... playbooks for the characters, and then shared mecha sheets.

One of the really interesting aspects was how Stras has baked into the game the concept of "sync", where a giant robot can only be piloted with 2 humans. Part of this process is a brain-meld, which causes information to spill forth from one person to another. There is even a bit of sync game which is performed when first getting ready to pilot the robot, which is in itself a little chunk of genius.

Sean and Ross trying to work together... battle ensues!

My only criticism of the game would be that it is a bit too meaty at first play, and I think some aspects are a little overwhelming. This isn't to say that Stras should chop that down, as it looks perfect for long-term campaign play! But, perhaps a paired-down version of the character sheets for con-game play would be more digestible?

Lucien (name pending), Ross, myself, and Stras (the bloody genius)

8oz Burger - A Tradition

Last year as con end, a crew of us ended up at 8oz Burger, a short walk from the con. Andy decided to facilitate such a plan again, and we actually had a reservation this time! A large crew headed that way, and a large crew ate and blabbed.

The food is outstanding: burgers, brussel sprouts, etc. I just realized I forgot to order one of their excellent milk shakes, but shit that whisky was amazing. Can't complain.

The 8oz Burger crew... with Jim Pinto conveniently just to the right of frame.

But Wait... There's More! Murder Hoboes Part 2

You thought it was over... and you were so wrong.

Various good byes were said. We walked Jim to his car so he wouldn't get mugged, cause goddamn wouldn't you love to mug that guy? I pleaded with him to give me his Murder Hoboes test cards, and he conceded (as long as I also purchased another one of his products, King for a Day... always an excellent salesman!)

And lucky me! Back at the dorm lobby, about 10 folks were playing a random game. Everyone was looking tired, but again I felt the buzz. And I am so glad I was able to pitch and force a few arms and start this game...

I got Stras, Andy, Gavin, Dan, and Soren to join in a game of Forget-Me-Not: Murder Hoboes. Jerry and I just helped facilitate, and played one or two odd NPCs as the game went on (Jerry squawked like a bugbear once). 

This was the hardest I laughed all con. Everyone cried of laughter at one point or another. It was truly an unreal experience. I would pay serious money to see comedy shows this funny.

Forget-Me-Not: Murder Hoboes... not available yet, sucker.

Andy (standing), Jerry, Soren, Stras, Gavin, and Dan, from left to right. 

After that... sleep.

And We Out...

Another Go Play NW comes to an end... Jerry and I go hit Cafe Presse for breakfast, running into another gamer group for some quick words. And then back to the dorm, some heartfelt goodbyes to him and Dan, and then a train ride to Seatac.

And so it ends, until next year...

Go Play NW 2016: Saturday

A Post World Games Day

After a lovely breakfast at Seattle U dining hall (included with the dorm stay), it was off to see the Donut, that little circle of lovely people getting games going. This is something that happens regularly at Go Play NW, where a facilitator gets players and game masters together for gaming action.

A donut!

But as has happened in the past, Jerry and I were waylaid by one Jim Pinto, the designer behind Post World Games of various ilk, including some of my favorites: George's Children, Dying Memories, Carcass, and Forget-Me-Not. He also formalized a game system known as Protocol, a very rules-light / narrative-heavy system with dozens of thematic playbooks.

At GoPlayNW 2015, we played one of these Protocol games known as Ship Lanterns, "a story roleplaying game about wish-fulfillment gone awry and set in a Southeast Asian village". It was one of my most memorable games of that con.

I was not disappointed in what was to come...

Forget-Me-Not: Murder Hoboes

The original Forget-Me-Not is one of my favorite games. Easy to play, easy to run, easy to learn. You get a narrative not unlike Twin Peaks, and always riotous laughter. Jim recently Kickstarted Forget-Me-Not: Florida, a Florida-man-esque version. But he also had an untested play-test version of a fantasy skin: Murder Hoboes.

The premise is that we share playing a set of 8 fantasy (trope) heroes, having a difficult time getting any of our quests done, including the dastardly Dungeon of Doom.

It was so good. So many laughter tears were flowing. I've told him before, I think this system is so simple and elegant, and I think this is the skin that most RP gamers would just understand. It wasn't until Sunday night, though, that I'd see just how true that was.

Heaven's Collapse

Jim then brought out a game he designed that places the players as those in the royal court during an event not unlike the Rape of Nanking, a very unpleasant event (of many) in our human history.

We start by each drawing two character cards: a princess, a general, an arms dealer, captain of the city guard, a royal bodyguard, a doctor, a seer, and so on. Each has some simple arrows which you can align to create bonds with the neighboring characters and players. Simple and elegant character bond mechanic! There is one main character in the narrative which is not played by any player, and that is only the most powerful one: The Queen.

After some initial setup scenes, any further events that occur are drawn from a card deck randomly. As the active player, you frame the scene, and which characters play in it; this does not have to include oneself.

After each scene, there is a short interlude scene that involves two players, and which adds a really interesting flavor to the overall narrative.

And then more scenes and interludes, until certain events get triggered (the queen becomes ill, or someone is arrested, etc.). 

We were all a bit impressed with just how perfectly the events seemed to play out. It felt like there was nothing random about it, as if they were chosen to tell a very precise and meaningful narrative. I'd be very interested to hear if it was just luck, or amazing design on Jim's part (I'm sure he'd prefer it be the latter!)

Note that although the game is set in a fantasy world, with odd names to protect any particular real-world country or participants, the events that are used are all very real-world scenarios that have occurred during that tragic time in our history.

Dark? Yes, indeed. But not just a meaningful and excellent game; a very well-thought out system.

Interesting ways to create bonds... character cards in the foreground, and events just above.

Praxis: Black Monk

Jim, ever working on more, has created a new game system he currently calls Praxis. This game was a playtest for one Praxis scenario, known as Black Monk.

Jim made sure we were aware that this would be a bit of a strange narrative. Given that the world was in a place where time had little meaning, death almost none at all, and the sun hadn't set in who-knows-how-long, it already started to promise oddities. Characters included the Prisoner, the outsider, and what I played: The Mule Skinner. And each character sheet had strange, leading questions that you answered, which again played into the theme.

"Odd" is an understatement. The game was very, very weird, but again, interesting and simple narrative mechanics, and some "win" type mechanics that reminded me of playing George's Children and Dying Memories. 

Dinner

Dinner is not included except for Friday. Jim, Jerry, Derek and myself (who played all the prior listed games) went off to Barrio Mexican Kitchen and Bar, a short jaunt. So good. The Habanero salsa was killer. The variety of tacos grand. The drinks excellent.

All I'm going to say about this is that Jim was incredulously exclaiming about how ridiculous it was to schedule a few hours for dinner... "aren't we all here to game!?" But ours lasted about 3 hours and that was mostly his doing. No regrets, though. 

Myself, Jerry, and Derek. Jim is represented by his hand and spoon... I am sensitive to his irrational need to not be photographed. You're welcome, Jim.

Fall of Magic

Dinner over... the four of us start on a game of Fall of Magic. This may be one of the only times I've played a game with Jim that wasn't one of his! (OK, we did play half a game of Fiasco, once.)

I love this game. We did get some good fun in there, with Jim and Jerry playing the old guard, and Derek and I the young pups on the quest... but Derek had to bailed out about an hour in. Then Jerry and Jim were falling asleep at the wheel. We got a bit of fun, but then it was time to call it quits and let these two go find a bed.

Late night hangout

As folks were later retiring, I was still a-buzz, and ran into some friends in the lobby, including Dan, Andi, and some friends I was yet to make, like Gary and Nate. They invited me along, and we went to go grab some drinks, and wax nerdy.

It was cold, I was in a T-shirt, and Cafe Presse (where we ended up) had no indoor seating for us. But luckily I reduced my surface area, and was able to comfortably survive as we all rambled like excited school kids, with interspersed moments like pleasant sighs. As the bar was closing, we retired to one of the dorm community rooms, and there met a few more, and rambled further. This type of ad hoc chilling is one of my favorite things about the con.

And then off to sleep for 4 hours until the next round of gaming...

Go Play NW 2016: Friday

Go Play NW... What Is It?

Go Play is a relatively small game convention that has been occurring annually in Seattle for about a decade. I've only been once before, in 2015. The focus is primarily on role playing games, and specifically those that tend to be known either as "indie games" or "story games".

The games tend to have more of a narrative focus (as opposed to being mechanically complex or collaboratively weak), although that is my generalization, as there are some fairly complex and meaty games in that mix. What most participants share, from my perspective, is a wild love for RPGs, with a tendency to explore games that provides a heavy social element which requires strong player presence.

The convention also attempts to be very socially inclusive (gender, race, so forth), however the makeup of the Pacific North West is very white, so it on the surface actually looks less diverse than the cons I'm used to going to in Los Angeles. That said, everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming.

Leading Up To...

I got to Seattle a few days prior with the daughter. We visited with some close friends, had a blast, and I even got to introduce the two adults to RPGs via The Skeletons... details in prior post.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the night before, my friend Ryan took me to a local shop named Phoenix Comics and Games, where an active session of Story Games Seattle was in progress. I have heard of this story gaming meetup for years, and have met a few folks who regularly participate, but not being a local, it had a legendary air about it. And I got to stumble into it unawares! After my initial shock, I got to chat with a few folks, including a few who were heading to the convention the next day.

A picture of the Phoenix and Story Games Seattle that night, which I totally stole from Ben Robbins (I think?)

Friday meant it was time to ship the daughter to my parents' place, and then off to Seattle University, where Go Play NW is hosted. You can pay extra to get dorm rooms on campus, and some various meals included, mostly breakfasts and lunches. This worked great the prior year, except for the horrible heat and hotbox dorm rooms... but this year the weather was very pleasant, so you won't hear me complain about any of that any further.

Jerry... And Many More

My friend Jerry was taking the train up from Oregan, and as I was heading to the dorms to meet up with him, I ran into Dan, a fellow gamer who was also a Go Play first-timer the prior year. I grabbed Jerry and our empty bellies, and headed to meet Dan (a fellow Oreganite) at Juicebox. It's a vegetarian (vegan?) joint, and was perfect. We didn't order too much, since Go Play also has a welcome dinner scheduled for Friday evening at 6pm, for those that make it in time.

And this set the tone... 3 kids rambling about gaming, and occasionally other topics. Also catching up since the last time we all saw each other a year ago.

From there back to the dorm, running into more folks (many "famous" within the indie RPG circles, which is to say not famous at all), and then a nice yummy mini-buffet in the large ballroom which would be the location of most of the gaming during the weekend.

Friday night banquet!

Go Play NW 2015 was mostly played in a different campus building, with more smaller rooms, but 2016 was based in Campion, which is the same building as the dorm rooms themselves. This was conveniently close, and allowed most of the games to run in a very large room with about 20 large tables. The audio wasn't distracting (no horrible echoes) so that was good. Also, many times folks would just head upstairs to the little common rooms that were available on most dorm floors, which allowed for privacy if you needed it.

Friday 8pm - Midnight: Fallout Shelter RPG

I tend to like running my games at the starting line, and this con was no different. I grabbed my 4 players, including the aforementioned Jerry and Dan, and we grabbed one of those private common rooms. This game has audio, so that would be distracting and rude in the large ball room.

This was my first time running it with my cleaned up version, including Area Moves, which I discuss in more detail in this prior blog post. 

It ran fantastically. I loved my changes... just so much more of a smoother ride for me to run, and the players had a grand ol' time. It was excellent to see all that work organizing my game differently pay off so well.

I have to give mucho kudos to all 4 players, as we finished around 30 minutes past midnight, but they stuck around and really helped provide all sorts of great feedback (audio levels, audio quality, difficulty level, and so forth). I didn't know it at the time, but I was to run this again on Sunday morning, and all that talking helped make that a better game for me to run.

Fallout Shelter RPG: Round 1, Friday... from left to right: John, <damn, I forget>, Dan and Jerry

Off to bed. The dorm room bed was still shit, but with the lower temperatures, this year it was totally bearable.

The Skeletons in Space: A Very Short Playtest

The Scene

Being in Seattle early last week, in preparation for the Go Play NW 2016 game convention, my daughter and I were staying at my friends Ryan and Sarah's place.

The first few days involved our respective daughters getting to know each other, getting their daughter to bail on her previously scheduled summer camps, and me providing the kids only the best education that comes with summer break goodness.

Welcome to Capital Hill! Lyfting, Walking, and busing about the city.

Summer courses at Raygun Lounge University

The Premise

I discussed the premise on a prior blog post: Basically, run Jason Morningstar's The Skeletons story game, but in space, using space-inspired audio, and with a dash of Lego. I had already done a bit of work on the soundtrack, chose a small manicured set of Lego bricks in the appropriate old-school space blue, added a few dashes of color and various thematic computer screens, and a selection of miniatures (which is to say, Lego space mini-figures).

I brought it in case the opportunity presented itself at Go Play NW.

The victims

The prior year I had just introduced Sarah and Ryan to the modern world of board games, with a few small pieces such as Lost Cities, and some kid-friendly games such as Rat-A-Tat-Cat. 

I returned to find a whole shelf-full of all the craziness that the hobby encourages. Even more relevant, they contained all that enthusiasm that comes with this hobby.

We got around to the subject of role playing games (which is what Go Play NW is all about, and half the reason I was here). Although they have no experience with RPGs, Sarah remembers when we were neighbors growing up, and how we introduced her younger brother to Dungeons and Dragons and would play with him all the time. Unfortunately we never included Sarah, and in retrospect I'm not sure we aren't sure if it's due to the boy-girl rift, or some other reasons.

The daughters were tucked in, and the adults were free. Both Ryan and Sarah expressed an interest in playing, and I pitched them a number of options: A short Dungeon World session. A game of The Quiet Year. And the one we went with: The Skeletons.

The game

Setup was great.  We had a discussion of the scenario. I mentioned an example of "fungus creature taking over our brains", and Sarah was opposed to that due to: Triggers. 

I will stop here and say that I was remiss in mentioning triggers to the two of them prior to starting. There was no harm-no foul, since we were doing pre-game discussion, but how bad would that be if we were half-way through the game and I maneuvered the story to drop that bomb. Yikes! Extra reminder to self: X-cards and veils and lines-type discussion extra useful with any players you've never played with!

Sarah proposed a crystal-based alien that has somehow controlled us (details unnecessary at this point), and that was enough to start.

Using Lego bricks as lines, we sketched our spaceship: A larger central room, and two side alcove-rooms. We placed a few terminals. Our crystalline creature was prominent in the center. We all placed our space people in various locations. Ryan added a similar, but different, crystalline creation attached to the outside of the hull, which may be related, or opposed, to the main creature. Also undefined at this point.

At some point (possibly just a little later) we decided on artificial gravity due to this area being a tail end of a long, spinning, space station / ship.

We drew our skeletons, mostly with space suits being a thing, and were ready to start.

Sssspppaaaccceee.....

Audio engaged. Play unfolded. A few questions had to be tweaked (things that have an obvious old-fantasy feel that don't sound quite right in space), but those were few.

We got through the initial quiet period, then an intruder, and another quiet period, but not much more than that, as some of us adults were getting sleepy due to Adulting.

But damn, was that a blast. They both loved the experience, and were very engaged. I was very impressed with how quickly Sarah just dive bombed into the experience; you would never guess she isn't a regular RP gamer. Ryan had an initial trepidation with figuring out the parameters around this strange social hobby we have, but then started to jump into it. I can't help but think: Another 2 are born to the hobby.

Newborn RP gamers! Me in the reflection.

The Synopsis

All said and done, the experience was great. Here's my summary:

• I have confidence this could work to great effect, and am looking forward to more play!
• Mental note: Remember the "lines and veils" conversation with unfamiliar players.
• Gravity and air / vacuum should be part of the scene-setup conversation, if applicable (this could always be played out on a planet or other non-ship scenario).
• I had enough time to review the playbook / character sheets prior to the game, and after this first test, I don't think changing them is necessary (at least until after a full game test).
• Instead of literal skeletons (because we are going sci-fi), you could do more of a zombie-like scenario where the flesh is not fully decomposed. Especially because part of any mind- or body-control may include all sorts of strange preservatives or other mechanisms... robotic, biological, or otherwise. This means some questions need to be tweaked, possibly.
• Audio was good, but mostly untested. We didn't find it distracting and it seemed to enhance our experience.
• I think the title "The Space Skeletons" might be a better short-form. Maybe.

Thoughts?

Fallout Shelter RPG: Area Moves

Cleaning up Fallout Shelter RPG

I was working at cleaning up some of my Fallout Shelter RPG game. Something that has inspired me heavily is the Discern Realities podcast, as I'm hearing so much interesting things around area moves and environmental type moves.

First off, in regards to the results, remember that this hack doesn't use a 2d6 roll, but instead a simple d10 + Stat modifier + Outfit modifier. 

To that end, I decided to simplify some of the mechanics of the game, and specifically make it easier for someone else to possibly run the scenario. I got one request from my friend Andy, and I think what I sent back made a lot of sense to me, but would probably be a little less intuitive and friendly to others.

Also, I've been unendingly impressed with the Servants of the Cinder Queen module, and I find it's format just perfect as a GM, so planned to model my updates toward that look and feel.

Examples of an Area Move

So, one of the first things I did was reduce my list of generic moves, which included moves that could not be used at any time, but were specific to rooms. As an example, here is a move associated with the Power Plant room:

---

When rushing a power room, roll +Strength. On a 5-7 choose 1. On a 8-10 choose 2. On a 11+ choose 2 and gain lucky Caps.

• Gain 1 power
• Prevent someone else’s failure
• Gain lucky Caps

---

I purposefully leave open the 1-4 result (a failure), open to GM moves, which I've listed separately in that area (again, similar to Servants of the Cinder Queen). Also, because rushing a room can be performed as a group activity, I'm giving people the option of helping each other, in case failures result, however at the cost of additional resources or Caps, which adds some contention in the mechanics.

The Wasteland was part of my earlier game that sometimes became a bit long, as I liked to explore that aspect of the RPG, however constant feedback was that people preferred that shorter, in lieu of more vault activity. So, here's a new area move for The Wasteland:

---

When traversing the wasteland, roll +Luck. On a 5-7, choose 1. On an 8-10, choose 2. On an 11+, choose 2 and find a Lunchbox item.

• No need to consume water.
• No need to consume food.
• Avoid danger.
• Find Caps.

---

This is much simpler than my prior mechanics around this part of the game, and simplifies the struggle to balance encounters and resource management. I'm really excited to see how this plays out at GoPlayNW, when I'm first running it.

I also think reducing many of these moves to this simplified text and character choice allows me, as the GM, to provide more player agency, if desired... some of that "How does that look?" type questioning that the players then get to answer.

The New Look

So how does it all look now? I've used many of the same headings from Servants of the Cinder Queen, such as Connections, Impressions, Details, Discoveries, and GM Moves, when putting together my Fallout Shelter RPG scenario. There are also many bullet point lists for ease of use, and Area Moves, when appropriate. 

As an example, here's a spoiler-free view of one of the areas, when approaching Vault 321:

The new Servants of the Cinder Queen-style ripoff for my Fallout Shelter RPG game.

And all that just makes running the game that much easier, however it doesn't mean the game I'm running is static. All these put together creates one scenario (of many possible scenarios) for the game. You can also easily use PC generated content to have a significant impact on the scenario, if you so choose.

Testing time!

And in a few days, it's off to GoPlayNW 2016, where I'm running this at the con. I've got 4 players signed up, and we'll see how it all pans out.