Gaming on the Frontier

Episode 82: Swim Suit Edition

This week we take off for the beach.  Jay Libby joins us for a romp across the sands as we cast off our preconceptions on what an adventure should be and soak in the inspiring rays of the sun.  We scrunch our toes in the conundrum of whether our characters are ever off the job and can enjoy a golden afternoon with their worst enemy. So belly up to the bar and order an unbrella drink on us Show Notes: What kind of adventures would be interesting if they occured on or near the beach?   What adventures already exist from various sources that use a beach as a center piece?  

• beach bunny bimbos with blasters
• shadow over insmouth
• any D-day adventure
• pirates
• thunderball
• dr No
• sea hunt
• blood beach
• club paradise
• horror of party beach
• Thunder in paradise    

Beach associated locations:

• art gallery
• amusement park
• aquarium
• cannery
• marina
• outlet for storm drain
• aquatic arcology
• hotel strip
• hot dog stand  

Danger Island -- A Mock Horror Adventure for GURPS(tm) http://www-personal.umich.edu/~superman/JPK/APA-Best-of/Danger-Island.html   What kind of equipment would you still be wearing, carrying if you were in a swimsuit at a beach?  What kind of contingencies would you set up?   

• shoulder bag with additional gear and/or 13th pocket.  This shoulder bag goes over the back with strap across chest which provides storage but wearer can swim and run normally - hands free
• submerged gear
• buried gear
• remote delivery gear
• remote control seeking vehicles (big tire not hover)  

swim suits: 

• string,
• athletic bikini,
• one piece,
• triathelon, wet suit  

string - any suit that is designed primary for legal modesty and to draw attention to body attributes.  Does not limit mobility except for modesty reasons. athletic bikini - bare midriff with good support and good sand protection one piece - best support, skin coverage while still showing off body lines triathelon - designed to be used in or out of water with thigh to neck skin coverage.  Provides support for additional equipment.  Maximum legal protection Wet suit - maximum thermal protection.  best non-magical threat protection that doesn't raise too many eyebrows.  Hot out of water.  Limits mobility   Why Sun tan lotion is your best friend

1. Should not be used to protect skin in rpg - burns not fun
2. Can be used to write message
3. both a physical and social lubricant  
4. bonus to wriggling out of bonds (escape artist) or grapple checks  
5. bonus to sliding  
6. bonus to chemical or burning material spray  
7. can be used as a social ice breaker and then used to distract  
8. minus to hide  

bureau 13: 

• watch (waterproof),
• cell phone (kirilean detector),
• c4 tennis shoes,
• bureau lighter,
• 13th pocket

Fringeworthy: 

• comm link
• watch
• high tension cord
• knife

it is always good to keep some cord on you.  Can be worn as a belt or strap for bag.   Do you ever assume you are off the clock?  Would you share a tray of umbrella drinks with Mathias Bolt for just one golden afternoon?  

1. all off the clock - dress for show
2. most off the clock - off dress for show but with good shoes,
3. on the clock should wear triathelon suit and carry bag with additional equipment. 

How does it change the threat level if the big bad is also in a swim suit (note Cthuthu in a swim suit is the ultimate no change in threat level)?   How does it inform the adventure and your tactics when you are in a highly visible, populated, and possibly congested area? What impromptu equipment can you find on the beach?

• propane tanks for explosives
• tiki torches and fuel for splash weapons and flame thrower
• tiki torch holders make nasty spears
• rocks in towel makes a sling or a bunch makes a club
• kevlar covered rescue floats for shields
• electrical devices for shocking
• Life Guard med kit for first aid
• beach patrol atv for mobility, attacking and fleeing
• Jet Ski with tow rope for clotheslining aquatic foes - maybe grab and pull on land?

Episode 81: Fringe Born Part 2

This week we finish our discussion of the Fringe Born, those children who were born to explore the multitude of universes that are connected by the Fringe Paths. We consider how to represent those years of the Fringe Academy.  What skills and feats would it represent.  How would training for teenagers differ from those of adults. What would their senior project be like?

Episode 79: Fringe Born pt 1

This week we begin a big discussion for Fringeworthy about the Fringe Born. Since Fringeworthy ability is limited to one in one hundred thousand, finding new Fringeworthy is a lengthy process. Some of those found will be children, and, as time goes on, the discovery that when a pregnant Fringeworthy woman passes through the dimensional portal, the unborn child becomes Fringeworthy. What will their childhood like? Do they become explorers? What's it like being born in the million watt media spotlight for the first of the Fringe Born? Tune in and find out on the Fringeworthy Podcast! Sorry about the missing episode last Sunday.  I forgot to send the files to Blix who offered to edit the next episode. I had hoped to have an hour episode to make up for missing last week, but no such luck.  Perhaps next week.

Episode 78: Solo Campaigns part 2

This week we finish our discussion of solo campaigns where there is just a single player and GM and the player only plays one character.  Success in this kind of campaign is fairly hard to achieve, yet many new players or GM's wishing to play a new game find themselve here.  We give our best tips for successful character creation, equipment selection, and adventure design.

Episode 77: Solo Campaigns part 1

This week we explore how to make a campaign successful if you only have a single player who only wants to run a single character.  This informs the campaign from character design to adventure creation.  Naturally you should also review our series:  Packing for Success that was published in the early days of this podcast.  While we concentrate on Fringeworthy, these issues will be similar no matter what game you are playing.

Episode 68: The Big Bad

Who is the big bad of your game?  Does he/she/it make  the player gnash their teeth, froth at the mouths, and shake their fists?  What are some examples of good big bad antagonists that really drive the story and the characters?

Episode 67: Electrostatic Dome Crystal Use and Dimixi

As promised, we have a full episode with is actually two recording sessions.  First we discuss the Fringeworthy advanced crystal powers as part of a question from Eric of the Travcast.  He wanted to know how the protective electrostatic dome power worked.  Then we follow that with a discussion of the Fringeworty Alien Corps race:  The Dimixi.  These spider-like creatures have many nuances that spring into view as we discuss them.  We hope you will include them in your Fringeworthy Game. As a special treat.  Richard Tucholka took part in the Dimixi discussion.  It is always great to hear from him about how we've extended and possibly abused his games.  Even after 30 years, he still surprises us with background info nobody every recorded until now.

Episode 66: Total Con Review pt 2

We continue our review of the podcast Blix recorded on Interdimensional Gaming at TotalCon.

Episode 65: Totalcon Podcast Review

Thanks again to Blix's friends at Totalcon for giving us so much to think about.  We discuss their points and add our own perspectives.  They suggested great enhancements to the game which we shall be developing in the future.

Episode 64: Fringeworthy Actual Play

The podcast gang and my regular Fringeworthy group recorded this last summer.  It includes John Reiher, Jay Hailey, John Altizer, Ken Arrondee, Erik Sheffer, and Bruce Sheffer as the GM. We did have some mike dropout problems and for some reason skype recorder compressed JR and JH by 15% which had to be fixed.  However, overall I'm very pleased with this AP episode simply because it showed what I think are some of the best aspects of FW play. Please comment on the episode and let me know specifically what you liked and didn't like about the adventure design.