The Meme-Mandated, Semi-Regularly-Updated, Occasionally Coherent Thoughts of G.M. Skarka
Outside of the art of the game itself (which is the first inspiration), I tend to use “mood boards” of images, saved to Pinterest — although, to be be honest, that’s mostly been for design projects, not for games that I’m playing recreationally.
(Although, since I haven’t done much recreational gaming in a while, maybe I will use it for that as well.)
For example, here’s my Pinterest board for pulp gaming.
Today’s question: What Gives A Game “Staying Power?”
Honestly, it has very little to do with the game, and everything to do with the players. With the right group, even the most bare-bones game can become a beloved, extended campaign, with stories that you still remember years later.
In college, I ran a game using the old TSR BOOT HILL Western RPG. Not the third edition redesign, which actually was an RPG, but the earlier, late-70s boxed second edition, which was actually a skirmish-level shoot-out miniatures game that barely nodded at being an RPG. And yet, because of the group of players I had, it remains one of my favorite gaming memories to this day.
“Gather ’round, pardners, and I’ll sing you the Ballad of “Gatling Bob” Roberts…”
Hey folks—
Held this one off until Monday — last week was a week of family obligations that kept me pretty busy. My birthday was mid-week, Father’s Day was yesterday, and, unfortunately, earlier in the week we had to put our old lady cat to sleep. She was our last remaining pet, and had inoperable cancer, and she’d made it 18 years, but had let us know that it was time.
Work continues — now that all that is behind me, I have nothing ahead but getting this done (well, that and the World Cup, but I’ve learned to multitask when matches are on!).
I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you a bit of a heads-up on what’s in the pipe for release soon after the core book.
First up, the backer-exclusive release, Legends of the Far West, which is a collection of fully-developed NPCs, each with a collection of adventure and encounter hooks so you can drop them into your games. Since we’ve made the switch over to the D6PLUS system, it’ll also feature a bunch of ready-to-play templates as well — fast-play characters that you can quickly customize, if you don’t want to go through the full character creation process. Great for beginning players or friends who’ve dropped in and want to sit in on a game.
Also ready to go is Black Crow, the FAR WEST card game. By which I mean a card FROM the Far West, not about Far West. It’s an in-setting game — the card game that’s played in saloons and gambling dens all across the Far West. I’ll be talking more about it when we’re ready to release it, but I can tell you that like most things about Far West, it’s a mash-up of Western and Chinese influences. In this case, the game itself is an amalgam of the historical Western card game Three Card Brag, and the Chinese card game Sì Sè Pái (“four color cards”).
Alright — I need to get back to work. As always, I’m available via Twitter, email, etc. if you need to ahold of me.
Talk again soon,
Gareth-Michael Skarka
Lawrence, Kansas
18 June, 2018