Bamboo Biscotti

 The last couple of swashbuckling games I've been in have been slow(er) to start than they could be, and I think I've figured out why. We're used to starting with exposition, set-up, making opening moves like there's this huge chess game going on and all the pieces of the full plot arc have to be in place for plot to happen. Which is absolutely fantastic if you're doing Tolkien, Martin, Jordan, or Dumas ( pere )[1]. This has been the general slant of mainstream tabletop games for quite some time--overarching plots, all of which are carefully constructed ahead of time and known entirely to one person (or sometimes persons, if you happen to be using a dual-DM system...one for the story and the other for the mechanics). We're trained to think this way, react thusly, and sometimes the results just don't seem to fit. What should be a lively, fast-moving, cinematic game of flashing blades and brilliant quips feels in practice more like a whodunnit that proceeds wi...

So apropos of nothin' in particular, I got a PM from a guy I've known for ages out on a certain gaming forum.  In brief, he wrote something along the lines of "have you heard of this?  It seems to be relevant to your interests" and tagged on a URL.   This URL, to be precise. Well, no, I hadn't, and I spent part of my lunch hour looking up the site over at Evil Hat.  And then my feminine side, who you may have gathered is a frisky little Anthro at the calmest of times, imaginarily grabbed my collar, gave me a vaguely predatory grin, and in my mind's ear said, more or less, "do it for Steph!" And that , dear readers, is how I volunteered to help playtest something called Thirsty Sword Lesbians, once again finding myself looking over a game that my dear friend would have enjoyed quite thoroughly.  Because yes, it is more or less what it says on the tin: Lesbians, with swords, thirsting for relationships and romance and all that shojo-ai cuddly goodn...

Okay, so there's this new tabletop RPG called John Carter of Mars that's out (at least in PDF) and which of course I backed because my Inner Child took one look at the KS campaign and promptly went running amok in nothing but a gladiator costume, flip-flops, and waving a wooden sword around giggling like the maniacal little trash panda that he is.  The original novels are one of the guilty pleasures of my distant adolescence in a place as strange as Boise, and every so often someone's done something trying to approximate the planetary fantasy that Mr.  Burroughs brought to life. It took me a bit to decide whether or not I was going to do this because a) too many games on the bookshelf already, b) expensive, and c) yet another goofy system which may or may not be a good fit...so this was a gamble, and it was either going to suck or I was going to seize on this and join my Inner Child in running amok.  There were a couple of details that sold me on this.  First, poss...

As you can see, the piratical project is kind of sort of a little teensy bit stalled...but since I have a semipermanent jones for swashbuckling, it's difficult for me to stay in withdrawal.  At the moment, thanks to the 7th Sea Second Edition kickstarter, I have all the first edition PDFs on my hard drive which of course puts me in mind of By Savvy and Steel!  Being, as I am, more of a musketeer than a pirate at heart, it's time to grab Ed's answer to Dumas and go to town.  So, at the risk of copypasta out of the rules, here's how I build my new alter ego. Your character is a Star ...always a Star, unless you're playing a one-off skirmish game instead.  This gives a few automatic abilities, which basically boil down to their having a bit of script immunity and more free will in the face of stress (ie for some Reaction Tests).  These are: Star Power Larger Than Life Cheating Death Free Will Choose his Reputation .  This ranges from a maximum...