Gaming on the Frontier

Episode 73: State of Fringeworthy Address

The state of things for the Savage Worlds edition of Fringeworthy. Spoilers, contest announcement, and just straight up goodies. Come and get some! Under the break are the new Skills and Edges for Fringeworthy.

New Skills:

Craft (Agility, Smarts. or Spirit) You are skilled at one of several crafts. Depending on the craft, this skill is based on Agility, Smarts, or Spirit. Some example craft focuses: Craft (Writing) Smarts, Craft (Carpentry) Agility, Craft (Painting) Spirit, or Craft (Demolitions) Smarts. You can use this skill to create something of value or for use by yourself or other people, or build an item for a specific purpose and quality. The GM decides how many rolls and how many successes you will need to complete the creation of the object and how long it will take. Depending on the number of successes you roll, the value or the quality of the item will increase or decrease. Raises count as extra successes. The GM can also set the difficulty for creating the item, starting with a target number of 4 and going up beyond that. For example: You decide to create a table using your Craft (Carpentry) d6 skill and then sell it. The GM decides that you need four successes on four rolls to build a table worth $50 and that it will take you a day to do build it. Every success above these 4 will increases the value by $10. For every each failure under four successes, the value drops by $10, and to zero dollars if you roll four failures in a row. Your target number is 4. You roll the following: 11, 1, 5, 9. You get 5 successes, increasing the value of the table by $10, for a total value of $60. Now you have to use either your Persuasion skill or Streetwise skill to sell that table. Performance (Spirit) Performance is a catchall skill for the various types of entertainment. This skill must have a focus, such as Performance (Singing) or Performance (Newsreader). The skill can be taken multiple times for different focuses. You can use your Charisma bonus when rolling this skill. Use this skill to entertain, inform, or mimic another person.

New Edges:

Actor Requirements:Novice, Spirit d6 You are a natural entertainer. You thrill the audience and make strong men weep. You gain a +2 to the Performance skill. Fringeworthy Requirements: Novice, Free to Player Characters. You are Fringeworthy. You have the rare ability to use the Tehrmelern portals that lead to the Fringepaths. All player characters get this edge for free. It can be acquired by a other characters only by handling a crystal key over time. Although it will rarely come into play in regard to Earth born player characters, it should be noted that traveling the Fringepaths over an extended period of time imparts Fringe Vigor, slowing the aging process and even partially reversing the debilities of old age. Humans of 500 years or older are not unheard of on the 'Paths. In addition, you've now have a connection to the crystal keys that the Tehrmelern created to control the portals and with that connection, you can now call on different crystal key powers from these crystals. You've gained a new skill, Crystal Key Use, at d4, and two powers: Locate Portal and Find Fringeworthy. You have to take the New Power Edge to gain access to more crystal powers. You also receive an initial 10 Crystal Power Points to use these powers. You can gain more power points by taking the edge Power Points. Crystal Power Points regenerate at the same rate as normal Power Points. You can only use a single Tehrmelern crystal and command one crystal power at a time. Crystals are rated from 1-11. Types 8 to 11 have a defensive power. Types 9-11 have an offensive power. All crystals act as key at varying security levels for the portals and other Tehrmelern technology. (See Crystal Keys for more information.) Handy Man Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6 When it comes to working with your hands, you're second to none. You can make just about any object or device, given the right resources and sufficient time. You gain a +2 to the Repair skill and to all Craft skills.

Episode 72: Saying Yes

This week we explore the concept of always trying to say yes to whatever another player might want to do in a game.  Whether GM or Player we should always support each other's most creative efforts.  However there are some dangers to avoid, and we talk about that too. This starts our summer season where the episodes will intentionally be only 1/2 hour in length.  With all the conventions and family obligations of the summer months we can't get together as often to record as we can the rest of the year.  We hope we will be able to provide enough content to satisfy our loyal listeners. Please let us know how we are doing.  Especially please comment on our various forums, web pages, and facebook with any questions about any game we produce.  We will answer them there and in a podcast as soon as possible.

Episode 71: Props part 2

This week we finish our discussion of props, sound, gaming environments, and a lot of other factors that can lift your gaming experience to new heights.

Fringeworthy at Timegate 2011

Sunday May 29th, I will be running a FW demo at Timegate in Atlanta, GA at 2 PM For more information please visit the TimeGate website: www.timegatecon.org Timegate is a wonderful small Dr Who and Stargate convention.  They have wonderful, accessible guests and lots of programming.  And they now have Fringeworthy!

Episode 70: Props pt 1

We have a lengthy interview with RPG dramatist Andre Krupa about using props, lighting, sound and more to make your adventures pop.  This week we have the first part with an hour long episode next week finishing it up.

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 62: Gender Issues with Jess Hartley pt 2

We conclude our inteview with Jess Hartley, rpg developer and blogger, about how gender does and doesn't affect adventure design and character development.  We had a great time.  Thanks again Jess for being such a great guest.

Episode 61: Gender Issues with Jess Hartley

This week we are joined by RPG luminary Jess Hartley who sets us straight regarding how it is in gaming regarding gender roles and how to bring the awesome to our table.  Jess has extensive writing credits and is both a longtime LARPer and table top player.  This is part 1 of a 2 hour interview to be concluded next week.

Episode 59: Antiheroes part 1

We explore what defines an antihero.  We look at how he or she interacts with other characters, with lots of examples from movies and other games. This is part 1.  Part 2 concludes next week.