Atticus' Playlist

Atticus

Hi. I'm new. I was waxing nostalgic about long ago Mu*ing and decided to see what is out there these days.

Mostly scorched earth and tumbleweeds is what I found. But then, my old haunts were quite some time ago.

Twenty-some Years Ago:
CC - Crescent City
Cajun Nights
Emerald City
Fear & Loathing
The Dreaming
(One set in Paris. Don't recall)
(One in Victorian London. Don't recall)

Ten Years Ago:
Haunted Memories

So many happy, proud, gut-wrenching, shameful, and cringe-worthy memories. Oof.

Ganymede

I've played on all of those games.

Here's your bourbon.

surreality

Probably was Paris: Les Fleurs du Mal. (I was Mona there, in its late days. If I knew you, hi!)

Atticus

@Ganymede Cheers. I am sure we were in scenes together, then. My apologies if I buggered up a character or a plot for you.

When I look back, I see I had not yet acknowledged my flakiness. Good scenes, bad scenes, sensible and poor choices, those are all part of gaming and growing up. What I really feel bad about are the commitments I made and ghosted on. Ugh. That 20-year-old needed a smack upside the dome.

Aaaanyway... what's good out there? I need a casual game, (Mage, Changeling, and Dresden preferred) before I lose my mind. I'm having trouble finding a mu* list that is current and has useful reviews. It is such a commitment to put together a character in order to test a game just to discover it's not worth bothering with.

sibermaus

NOLA The Game That Care Forgot is fun and has active players: http://nola.orcpie.fun/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Edit to Add: It is Chronicles of Darkness 2e and offers Changeling.

Atticus

@surreality Oh, wow, that's familiar. Hi!

As I asked Ganymede, what games can you suggest?

Atticus

@sibermaus Thanks. I have their webpage tabbed, even now. It has been mentioned in a number of threads, as has Arx. Though, I haven't found a link for Arx or a reference as to it's theme.

I'm thinking about making a mort to get the feel for NOLA. How tough it it to get RP without starting in a sphere?

surreality

@Atticus I'm not anywhere at the moment, but I've heard very good things about Fate's Harvest for Changeling. (I think they're still around?) I've stepped away from WoD and back toward original theme places in recent years, the most recent being HorrorMU, which was great while I was there.

sibermaus

@Atticus Tough is a relative term. If you prefer to sit in an IC room and wait for RP to come to you, it's tough. If you're willing to ask people to do a scene and come up with ideas for the scenario, you should have no issues.

Sunny

I played on most of those. Welcome around into these parts! Always good to see more dinos kicking around.

Atticus

@sibermaus You are not wrong.

However, there is a middle ground where the FNG lives. Cold calling a player you have never interacted with for a scene is a bold maneuver, don't you think? Further, apping to a sphere where nothing is known about the politics and personalities is daunting, to me at least. It is nice to interact with strangers in a few casual settings to get a feel for them and play style before diving into a plot. I guess I like to dip my toes in, first.

I ask, as I recall leaving worlds where there was no middle ground. IC rooms with no one responding because their alt(s) is(are) in a private scene does not lend one traction from a dead standstill.

@surreality Thanks! Bookmarked for research.

Atticus

@Sunny Glad to meetcha again. Please see reply to Ganymede. ::facepalm::

"Always good to see more dinos kicking around."
Huh. That does make me wonder at the average age, these days. Doesn't seem like a hobby many of the current crop of spring chickens would be drawn to.

Ganymede

You'd be surprised.

Fate's Harvest is a good game. The code is solid. It is a Changeling game with a hybrid of nWoD 1E and 2E rules. Small population, but the role players there are dedicated and solid. Good for a casual gamer.

NOLA is also a good game. My last foray into it didn't go as planned, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good game. Players there too are solid. nWoD 2E.

Arx is an amazing game, but I have to admit that its depth is daunting. I'm a certifiable dino and I can tell you that this place is mind-boggling. Custom system, but it's the sort of game that you can sink your teeth into if you're the sort of Vampire player that really likes politics. It's got a lot of layers, a lot of crunch, and if you get into a good group the RP opportunities are seemingly endless.

For Dresden-type games, you might want to look into Gray Harbor. If you like steampunk, try The Savage Skies. Both use FS3, but they are on Ares platforms which means you can play them via web browser. Also, Arx is web-based on Evennia.

Sunny

@Atticus

There are a surprising number of new players and "spring chickens" running about, actually. We've seen a fairly significant uptick in new players the last few years to like, 'noteworthy' levels.

Arx info can be found at https://play.arxmush.org/ -- it's an original theme game. It will be an enormous adjustment for you as an old timey WoD player, but to me, it is 100% worth the growing pains / adjustment. Just be prepared for some culture shock and that it's kinda something you have to learn to play like you would a video game.

Atticus

@Ganymede Wow, thanks!

@Sunny Cool. Glad to hear it. I suppose I was guessing based on the twitchy attention span of my 20-year-old students. Being wrong can be awesome.

Thanks for the link. I have analog gamed enough systems that I'm pretty flexible. WoD was feeding my nostalgia, really. I tend toward urban themed games as other eras/worlds can be jarring when done clumsily. I include myself in said 'clumsy' category. I feel bad when someone puts so much effort into getting their character and demeanor correct for the era or franchise then I clodhop in with accidental colloquialisms.

Ganymede

@Atticus said in Atticus' Playlist:

I feel bad when someone puts so much effort into getting their character and demeanor correct for the era or franchise then I clodhop in with accidental colloquialisms.

I think you'll find those "accidents" quite common, but it does not ruin the feel of the game.

TheOnceler

@Atticus said in Atticus' Playlist:

(One set in Paris. Don't recall)

Were the head wizzes a kid and his mom and the kid died a year or so in and she set up a memorial to him in the OOC room and kept the place running for a while?

If so, that was LFdM.

Was there a guy named Mocker who was a homeless weirdo who claimed he was the king of cats and when his character got killed he paged the entire WHO to tell them that all the cats in the city were crying?

If so, that was LFdM.

Was there an entire group of 6-12 year old PCs who were part of a changeling children's crusade?

If so, ho boy, that was LFdM.

Alamias

I believe I played on most, if not all of those at one point or another... Welcome!

sibermaus

@Atticus said in Atticus' Playlist:

@sibermaus You are not wrong.

However, there is a middle ground where the FNG lives. Cold calling a player you have never interacted with for a scene is a bold maneuver, don't you think? Further, apping to a sphere where nothing is known about the politics and personalities is daunting, to me at least. It is nice to interact with strangers in a few casual settings to get a feel for them and play style before diving into a plot. I guess I like to dip my toes in, first.

I ask, as I recall leaving worlds where there was no middle ground. IC rooms with no one responding because their alt(s) is(are) in a private scene does not lend one traction from a dead standstill.

Quite true. Might I suggest: Be the ST for a minor "PRP" (player-run plot) or two for people? Seems like that might be a good way to interact with new people; to audition them and yourself, so to speak. To give them a sample of your own roleplaying/posing style. (It doesn't have to be a major epic or involve a ton of dice rolling, either.) This would let you get your feet wet; get a feel for the theme of the game without committing to a character or sphere. Helping one or two people fulfill a short-term aspiration is an easy way to come up with an idea for the scene in CoD 2e, too.

Atticus

@Ganymede Arx is, as you said, daunting. I'm not sure where to even start. How much lore understanding is needed?