Star Wars story (Chapter 1) is up!

It’s time I started telling that story. I’ve been holding on to the project until it would have completely finished, but I’ve realized that it’d be a long while before I would have the First Arc fully written. Hell, Adventure 1 is taking a while, since I can only write in little 10 minute moments.

So, I’ve thought to put the first chapter up.

Granted, I posted the page via the Mobile version of the app, so of course I’m going to have to go over it on the computer and make it more presentable. That’s unavoidable, but an easy chore. Hope y’all enjoy it.

To the players who’ve joined my campaign and agreed to be in my stories: thank you. Y’all have made some epic tales already. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

-JB Swift

Shadowun Gig 1/12/2060

Beginning the campaign with a tutorial session so as to let the players grow comfortable with the game mechanics, we’re at January 12, 2060 in New Orleans.
The Crescent City has continued to grow and thrive, despite the setbacks brought on by politics and weather. The Levy Breaking of 2019 is distant memory but remains as a point of pride within the culture. The Troll and Ork populations were pushed into the Lower Ninth Ward as humanity continues its policies of prejudice, and have turned the district into a hub for the two peoples. Elves flaunt their beauty in the French Quarter while Dwarves and Humans mingle throughout Garden and Middle City.
The 3 players who begin the campaign are:
-Donnie “WD40” Bordelon is a Human with a penchant for all things mechanical, working with one of the major scrapyards just outside the city. His VCR (Vehicle Control Rig) was installed in order for him to better manage the large vehicles necessary in the scrap yard, but he’s tinkered with his own vehicles and drones to accept his mental commands.
-Maynard Ulysses “Bass” Basse, a Dwarf with a talent for finding good hiding spots and exploiting them with a rifle, he is the one who can look at a map and tell you precisely where the sniper is going to be or should be.
-“James”, an Elf who plays his cards close to his chest and keeps several up his sleeve, is one of those folks who knows practically everybody but nobody can ever place him. A skilled wordsmith who knows precisely who to call if you need a cache of bullets, an invitation to a Mardi Gras Ball, or a body disappeared.

The gig (the NOLA term for a shadowrun) starts as all three are contacted by their Fixers, each believing them to be suited for a job that is floating about. The three meet the Johnson (the person who is negotiating the terms of the gig) and each other at the second story of a bar down in the French Quarter. The Johnson is flanked by two bodyguards who are stark contrasts to their boss: a Human dressed in an all-white suit to their traditional black. The Johnson speaks hautily in his Russian-accented English, which spikes the interests of James and Bass.

The gig is simple: He wants three people dead. What complicates the gig is that he wants the hit to go down in broad daylight, made as public as possible, and for items of evidence to be planted around the area. The hit is supposed to go down in Washington Square Park in two days’ time, when all three targets will be at the park. There is a market day happening along Frenchman St., just a block away from the park, and the streets will be crowded with foot traffic.

The team begins their planning. They ask around for info on who the three targets are, why they’d be at the park, and why their deaths would be important for the Johnson. They’ve pieced together the facts over several hours. The targets are all young people with status in the Krewe of Aurelius, who controls the Lower Ninth Ward district and oversees the local gangs in the area for the benefit of the Lamigo Family. Rumors were uncovered about the rival Koronev Family, who had established themselves within the northern districts, wanting to establish footholds outside their territory. The evidence meant to be left behind all point to a rival Krewe of Aurelius known as the Krewe of Mait’rede, who has bad blood with Aurelius.

The three plan out the hit, while still investigating. James find out that the targets are all cousins who frequently visit each other, named Blink, Mercedes, and Colum. Bass learns that the only person within Koronev who has been pushing for the territory expansion is a young upstart named Markev “Maestro” Koronev. WD40 figures out the kind of security the targets are employing for the meet and uses his drones as countermeasures while planning the getaway.

How will this group of Shadowrunners execute their plans and the targets? We will find out on Saturday night (October 3, 2020) at 9PM CST.

Stepping into a New World (RPG)

It’s one of my bragging points (in all honesty, should not be a bragging point but should make you feel sad) that I have been the main game-runner of RPGs for my group for nearly 20 years. From my first session of 16 people in Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition) way back when I was 15 years old to now, I’ve been the guy among my groups that would write up adventures and challenges. I actually have several files in the cabinet with “Campaign” marked on it, some with “Finished” and most just unresolved. That’s the way of it, unfortunately.

But one of my players, the guy I usually call “my buddy” because he’s the friend I talk to every day but likes his privacy on the Internet, reached out to me a week ago with a proposal: he wanted to get a group together for a game.

This is not new to me. I’m used to one player getting to me with a “I want to play this scenario!” idea, and I agree to it. I love writing up plots and challenges, seeing what the players would do in a given situation. Sometimes it gives me the opportunity to try out a new monster, trap, or puzzle. My favorite was a chess-style challenge that stumped the players for, I kid you not, over an hour. I was stupidly impressed by their willingness when I said “For this part of the game, I need all of you to turn in your phones and tablets so you cannot cheat” and six adults put their cell phones and computers into a basket in order to keep playing. That’s one hell of a compliment.

But this time, my buddy had something different. “I want to have a game based in WarHammer 40K, and I want to run it.”

Well. Holy shit.

WH40K is the only tabletop game I did not get into. I’ve delved into at least 20 different systems and games, up to and including GURPS and Call of Cthulhu. I did not get into WH40K because, to put it bluntly, I could not paint all of the miniatures. I’m not talented in that respect and I did not want to flaunt my lack of skill in the area. So, I left that world alone.

So, imagine my sheer terror when my buddy says “The game is based in the WH40K universe, all about a ship and crew, and I want you to be the captain of the ship”.

Just gonna sweat in my utter ignorance of the world I’m supposed to be knowledgeable about, especially when I gather a crew (players) among my local group to find out most of them are extremely avid WH40K players. I twitched when, in the group chat between the other players, I made a suggestion and they just responded “We put our faith in the captain. It’s your call.”

Y’all, I’m not used to that.

For once, I’m being given the responsibility of “Party Leader”. I’ve played in a few one-shots over the years, sure, but I always, always, made sure I was someone that did not make the crucial decisions. I am so used to making the “Big Decisions” as the GM (DM) and that was something I could simply do. To think I’d be making the decisions and then have to look at someone else who actually made the rules?

Holy Control-Issues, Batman.

I will say that I’m enjoying learning about the universe I’ll be stepping into, soon. The history-nerd in me is champing at the bit to explore all the nooks and crannies of this extremely rich world, though my buddy is putting restrictions on what I should read (which, as his usual GM, I understand) and I have to stop myself from digging too deep.

I might actually post write-ups of those adventures here, so if you’re curious as to how well the GameMaster-turned-Lead-Player does in a crisis, follow this site and I’ll set up a page for it.

Cheers, folks.