Friday, September 6, 2013

After I Saw Through This Door I'm Gonna Cut Ya in Half!


This miniature is a thing of beauty. He towers over other 25mm figs and looks quite deranged with his chainsaw. A child NPC in our Fate Accelerated chronicle has recurring nightmares about this beast. When he does, anti-Barnie appears in the flesh somewhere in the neighborhood and starts wreaking havoc. It can be dispelled through normal - violent - means, but little Miguel Ceballos will have to put it down himself for it to be vanquished permanently.

BIG BLUE NIGHTMARE
He'll cut ya in half!

Good (+2) at: Chainsawing things and people
Terrible (-2) at: Everything else

Extras 
His chainsaw is wicked sharp and powerful, so he gets an extra 2 shifts when he attacks with it. 

His thick, rubbery hide reduces an attack by two shifts.

Stress: [_][_][_]

11 comments:

  1. You find this harder to prepare for than OD&D?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The stats and NPCs are easy to do, but it's the campaign structure that is proving too cumbersome for me to maintain. Three PCs with their individual plots, plus a group plot and all the NPCs that swirl around them are getting a bit unwieldy. Plus, my players are very eager, but a bit passive, so I find that I really have to drive the bus and it's feeling a bit forced. I want to take a break from that and instead go for something simpler.

      Having said that, Fate Accelerated could fit the bill for whatever we do provided the PCs were a cohesive combat unit not unlike an adventuring party. Your WWII campaign has had me looking at WWII minis and painting services as a possible side project.

      Delete
    2. Dungeon World. Seriously.

      You do ZERO mechanical prep before the first session. The entire concept of the game is collaborative. "Play to find out what happens" and "leave blanks on the map" are central pillars of the GM's instructions. As a GM, you make no rolls. The mechanics are set up to facilitate the back-and-forth dynamic between player and GM, so it should help bring non-proactive players out of their shells.

      Even once the campaign gets going, prep is pretty much just jotting down notes on various "fronts" of antagonists and what will happen without any PC intervention, and then watching as things unfold in play, filling in the blanks as you go. Plus it scratches that old school D&D itch very nicely while sporting more "modern" mechanics that help facilitate narrative focus.

      The rulebook's a quick read, too.

      Delete
    3. The next time we come at a social-collaborative-heavy role-play campaign I am definitely going to go through the motions of establishing the setting, setting aspects, ties between characters, etc as presented in Fate Core. Otherwise, I end up creating quite a few plots that end up unused if they do not speak to the PCs' motivations/trouble/high concept, etc.

      Thanks for the tip regarding Dungeon World. I have Monster Hearts and really dig it, so I am sure I will enjoy the other games under the Apocalypse World umbrella. :)

      Delete
  2. Cool! I had to do a double-take when I mis-read "a child character...has recurring nightmares about this beast" as "a child player..." And after first thinking "Oh my god how cruel!" I realized my reading error and thought "oh, a character -- that's okay then." LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Christian! You cruel bastard!" The thing is, I can totally imagine some weird GM preying on the insecurities of his players to get a visceral response. Have you ever seen that movie Dreamscape? I was inspired by that film when I made up this beastie.

      Delete
  3. That's a great concept, your worst nightmare taking form in the real world every time you have a bad dream about it.
    Or does it merely switch place with someone else? Maybe a really kind person has to endure anti-Barnie's nightmare world during his stay here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really like that idea, Jensan! Especially, if it's a nice old lady or something. "Oh, dear, I seem to have quite a mess of things. Body parts everywhere. Dear, oh, dear!"

      Delete
  4. Very cool! Barney was never so scary! Dean

    ReplyDelete