Designer vs. Reality

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A playtest session with two playthroughs of Brick & Mortar: Last of the Independents designed by Dan Maruschak for the April 2011 round of The Ronnies. Leo, Nolan, and Dan are the players.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:20 Getting Started
0:02:52 First Session Pre-Play
0:06:33 First Session Actual Play
0:27:55 First Session Discussion
0:38:09 Second Session Pre-Play
0:39:48 Second Session Actual Play
0:54:20 Second Session Discussion
1:09:28 Outro

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(here’s the discussion thread on The Forge)

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The steampunk adventure continues in this playtest session of Nolan Callender’s Starshine, continuing the story from the past few episodes. Nolan is the GM and Leo Lalande and Dan Maruschak are the players. We had these rules.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:22 Getting started
0:02:26 Characters
0:04:21 Play Resumes
0:37:48 Contracts challenge
1:01:42 Door challenge
1:44:20 Chase challenge
1:53:10 Discussion
2:21:21 Outro

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The steampunk adventure continues in this playtest session of Nolan Callender’s Starshine, continuing the story from episode 24 with the characters created in episode 23. Nolan is the GM and Leo Lalande and Dan Maruschak are the players. We had these updated rules.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:36 Getting started
0:04:01 Characters
0:07:35 Resume challenge from previous session
0:49:40 Follow up on clues from interrogation
1:00:21 Parallel chemical analysis / horseman attack challenge
1:39:55 Discussion
2:16:18 Outro

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A steampunk adventure begins in this playtest session of Nolan Callender’s Starshine, using the world and characters we created in episode 23. Nolan is the GM and Leo Lalande and Dan Maruschak are the players. We had these rules.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:33 Getting Started
0:10:46 Reconnected after technical issues
0:16:24 Reviewing the character sheets
0:18:24 Opening Scene
0:34:05 Investigation Begins
1:01:46 Dan has a hard time “walking on”
1:41:55 A gathering of experts
1:55:26 Interrogation challenge
2:40:09 Discussion
3:01:03 Expressions
3:07:32 Outro

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World and character creation for Nolan Callender’s game Starshine. Nolan is the GM and Leo Lalande and Dan Maruschak are the players. We used these rules to create a Victorian Steampunk setting and characters.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:25 Get Oriented
0:04:19 General Setting
0:06:21 Fantastic Elements
0:11:41 Crisis
0:20:22 Episodes
0:22:27 Boundaries
0:28:43 Pre-chargen Questions
0:30:46 Factions
0:38:02 Characteristics
0:50:50 Knacks
0:56:34 Signature Items
1:05:32 Finalizing
1:16:04 Outro

The system in Starshine is an evolution of the one used in the Shadows playtests in episodes 18, 19, and 20.

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Leo Lalande, Nolan Callender, and Dan Maruschak play Leo’s Game Pilgrim, concluding the story started in the previous session. Leo provided some notes summarizing the previous session.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:35 Recap
0:04:02 Scene 13
0:10:33 Scene 14
0:13:32 Scene 15
0:17:34 Scene 16
0:22:18 Scene 17
0:23:34 Scene 18
0:24:51 Scene 19
0:26:41 Scene 20
0:28:26 Scene 21
0:30:30 Endgame
0:35:56 Discussion
1:11:54 Outro

During the discussion we mention that there are similarities between Pilgrim and A Penny for My Thoughts which has been featured in AP podcast form on The Walking Eye (and on Story Shtick when the game was still in playtesting).

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Leo Lalande, Nolan Callender, and Dan Maruschak play Leo’s Game Pilgrim.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:28 Character Creation
0:22:36 Explanation
0:36:35 Scene 1
0:45:59 Scene 2
0:50:22 Scene 3
1:00:38 Scene 4
1:02:26 Scene 5
1:05:47 Scene 6
1:07:18 Scene 7
1:08:19 Scene 8
1:13:04 Scene 9
1:14:54 Scene 10
1:17:12 Scene 11
1:19:22 Scene 12
1:21:57 Discussion
1:59:56 Outro

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Nolan Callender, Leo Lalande, and Dan Maruschak play Nolan’s game Shadows (working title), starting a new quest that continues the story from episodes 18 and 19. We had updated rules for the new session.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:45 New Rules
0:21:10 Character Summary
0:23:43 Play Begins
0:42:58 Guard Challenge
0:55:23 Entering Camp
1:14:35 Inside Camp
1:24:15 To Lazare’s Lab
1:59:11 Philippe and Lazare Talk
2:02:52 Wrapup
2:19:21 Outro

Discuss the show in the discussion forum on RPGCrosstalk!

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Nolan Callender, Leo Lalande, and Dan Maruschak play Nolan’s game Shadows (working title), continuing the quest started in episode 18. We had updated rules for the new session.

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:27 Recap
0:02:39 Play Resumes
0:20:22 Alehouse Conflict
1:51:10 After the Conflict
2:01:57 Discussion
2:20:50 Final Thoughts and Outro

Discuss the show in the discussion forum on RPGCrosstalk!

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Nolan Callender, Leo Lalande, and Dan Maruschak play Nolan’s game Shadows (working title). We had these rules for character generation, but the rest was explained in-game.

0:00:00 Intro
0:01:05 Setting Overview
0:08:00 Character Concepts
0:12:23 Mechanical Chargen
0:42:21 Choosing a Quest
0:51:08 Character Review
0:53:16 Normal Play Begins
1:17:13 Leo’s Character Enters
1:25:27 First Conflict
2:15:32 Post-conflict Mechanics
2:18:54 Wrapup
2:27:30 Closing Thoughts and Outro

In my closing thoughts, I refer to this blog post by Vincent Baker.

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