The Story of Adrift: The FG-Con One Shot Adventure Overview.

I was asked if I would be willing to share my notes on this adventure, but when I looked at the notes I realized that the only person who would be able to decipher it would be me. So, I will just give a brief over view on the adventure. That way, if you wanted to run something similar you can use this idea as a base for your own.

There is some background that needs to be told. When it comes to running one shot adventures for cons, I find it useful to help set the mood and steer people's imaginations in the right direction long before they actually start to play. So I posted the "Teaser" here. This helps set the premise of something bad happening to the crew for some strange reason.

Background: The background, is the crew of this drifting ship was delivering a mysterious cargo. They were offered a lot of coin to ask no questions, and to deliver it ASAP.  During the loading operations of the cargo, there was an accident and a container was damaged. Little did they know, that soon after they departed, the containers systems failed, allowing a trapped entity loose onto the ship. A Sarcophagi(oly?). And after being trapped inside this containment, it went in search of it's revenge. Eventually driving the crew of the cargo ship all against each other till a blood bath ensued. When the bloodbath was over and only one crew member barely surviving, the creature feasted. But was then trapped on board a derelict  and drifting ship, slowly starving as it can only feed of the bodies killed by its victims. And with one person left, it could feed no longer.

The story begins as the players, members of a Salvage Crew discover this cargo ship drifting in the void. Needing to determine if ship is able to be claimed, they had to search the ship and make sure there were no one surviving on board.

They enter a ship filled with signs of chaos, anti grav turned off, main power turned off, parts of ship vented into space. Crew quarters filled with blood, signs of fighting.. a total mess. As they search the ship, they discovered various entry logs, by different crews, all talking about how every one else is out to get them, how one person attack another for no reason. There was more then enough clues for the players to determine that this ship descended into madness.

They then discovered the lone survivor, who managed to suspend himself in a cyro chamber in hopes to be rescued, as he was severely wounded. The idea, at the time was to make players believe that this was the captain of the drifting ship, but if the players discovered the crew roster prior to finding him they will see that his picture does not match, and in fact he is really just a deckhand. All of this to add to the paranoid feeling of the game. The person, who already was driven mad will try again to directly attack and kill the players the first chance he gets. (But in my game at the time, one of the players who kinda lost his own mind, opened fired on him the moment he stepped out of the chamber) killing him. (Not expected to happen!)

This is where the Djinn comes into play. The whole time the players are searching the ship and trying to figure out what happened, the Djinn was already starting to sow the seeds of dissent among the players.  It needs to feed. The one rule I had was the first NPC/Player to die that starving Djinn would appear to feast. Giving a chance for the players to act. Since the NPC hit the floor with a gunshot wound in the first 5 seconds of his arrival, the Djinn appeared. The players, some standing to fight, others fleeing had to then deal with the creature.

In the end, 3 of the players who were already turned against the remaining 2 players; fled back to their own ship left the captain and the first mate alone fighting the creature.

The two remaining crew managed to kill the creature, but were left on the ship in the darkness of space.

Thats where the one shot ended.

Also note: As I used pregen characters, I had the relationships pointed in the direction of not getting along with others. At the beginning of the game, I instructed each player to roleplay these relationships as they saw fit. So, given the background character info, paranoia, and a evil spirit messing things up, it didn't take long for the characters to start to crumble. :)

I think we all had a good time, there was a lot of laughs. So for me, that's what matters. Anyways that's the concept of "Adrift"

Thanks all.

I attached my players to this post, so if they ever wanted to add in their perspectives they can, and are welcomed too.

+Raz Kabooz +Jeannette Jarrar +Frank Falkenberg +James Goodman +Andrew Jones

Coriolis: A Theme for Fantasy Grounds and MoreCore

Hi all,

I am very happy to say that I have been given the blessing from the great crew at Free League Publishing to share my home grown theme for the Coriolis RPG for use with Fantasy Grounds, using the fan made ruleset "MoreCore"

To see this Theme in action, you can watch the video of a live play session I held during the latest FG-Con event (April 7th) There are also screen shots below.

Over the next week I will make a small video on how I use the Coriolis Theme to get the most of what Fantasy Grounds and MoreCore.

First, here is the link to the Coriolis Theme V1.5 (the main file still says V1, but do not worry)

In order to use this theme, you will need to download the free rule set, designed by +Damian Hupfeld  over on the Fantasy Grounds Forum. So, you can get his free rule set here. And if I could just focus on MoreCore for a second. This rule set, free for anyone, is in my opinion the most flexible, dynamic and configurable rulesets out there. I have yet to run into a RPG game that I can not specifically tailor a theme too. Its really that good, you are gonna love it! Check out the latest updates and downloads for it here.

So, very quickly how do I use this? First you need to download MoreCore and place the MoreCore.pak file in your Fantasy Grounds Ruleset folder. Next you download the CoriolisV1.ext file and place that into your Fantasy Grounds Extension folder. All you need to do now is start a new campaign, pick MoreCore for the ruleset and then pick the theme from the list. Its pretty simple.

So, for the record. I am not a professional programmer or artist. So it is very likely you may notice errors or issues with the theme. If you do, feel free to leave a comment below and I will try and fix it. If you have issues with MoreCore, head to the Fantasy Grounds forums and inquire there. I may be able to help you out here if its something I am able to help with.

Some known issues with V1.0

1. Screen Resolution: When I designed this, I made the screen resolution based on my size of my own monitor. 1600x900. So if you have a bigger screen size, the desktop background image may not line up. I am going to fix that with in the next week or so.
2. Dice support: MoreCore supports dicescripts, so you can use dice scripts. The /coriolis script will be functional on MoreCore V1.39 which is due out this weekend. To get more info on how to use dicescripts, check out the MoreCore thread above.

Below is the video of the game, and a few screenshots. To get a better look, click on the images to see the full size.

Got a full House for FG-Con: Adrift

Got a full house of players for my Coriolis Adventure that I will be running at FG-Con 10!!

This is going to be fun! My game is full, but there are lots of other fun free games being offered, so check out FG-Con 10!

“Adrift”

Event Log 656.0830-1 – The Shazheim Rose
We just picked up our most lucrative contract ever. Hauling Laboratory supplies back to Coriolis Station. 20 000 Bir! Triple what we usually make for a trip three times as short. 5 days! . The four of us are happy, we all needed this. This should put a good dent in our ships payments, keep the creditors away for another month or two. Easy Money!! Well, time to depart. Praise the Icons!
-Frarouke Azheiem – Captain. Log End 01

Event Log 656.0830-2 
Well, so much for this being a short trip. Our vessel just lost all power to the drives. Seems like several power couplings failed. We have spares on board and both Anari and Scept are working on the repairs. 12 hours perhaps? Ill spend my time in prayer.
-Frarouke Azheiem – Captain. Log End 02

Event Log 656.0830-3
We have had a serious accident. Scept just got himself fried, he never isolated the circuits, and poor Anari is in shock. Icon’s have mercy! What else can go wrong? We are still powerless. Corban is now trying to fix up the coupling.
-Frarouke Azheiem – Captain. Log End 03

Event Log. 656.0830-4
Disaster! Anari just jettisoned Corban and herself out of the airlock! I tried to stop her, but she was mad. Screaming about the seven hells and demons. And now, the main power to the support systems are failing. I have just initiated my distress beacon. But the power of the signal is being impaired for some reason? May the Icons send my cry on wings…. *Sounds of a banging* Now what? Icon’s protect me!… Scept? … Scept, how can you … No! … Noooo!..
*Static* Log End 04

FG Daze - 2D20 Conan - Death By Moonlight

Had a great time GM'ing for FG Daze tonight as I hosted the new up and coming Conan 2d20 RPG  by Modiphius tonight!

I had 4 great players who never played the game before, and only my 3rd time running it and I think we all had a good time!

Here is a screen shot that I captured just prior to everyone leaving after the game!

Head to my twitch channel to see the broadcast, ill eventually edit my own recording and place it on my YouTube channel at some point!

Thanks all who played in my game tonight!

https://www.twitch.tv/thejollygm

Ahhh.. Shucks! Thanks!! :)

In a bid to find a few extra players for a upcoming one shot adventure, I had placed an ad on the "Looking for Group" thread on the FG forums.

I then got a response from one of the players that I had the joy of GMing in a past FG Daze event. He was new to Fantasy Grounds and Savage Worlds too. Anyways, he responded and said he would love to play, but later when he looked at the scheduling realized that he could not make it.

I am always happy to hear from past players, and that they would like to game with me again so I thanked him for attempt and willingness to join and hoped that maybe some other time he will be able to join.

It was his response to that text that really surprised me, and it made me feel really good inside.

Original Quote here.

 Originally Posted by BDaniel 

You know you got me hooked on Savage Worlds. I now play in two Rippers games, Play and GM a Last Parsec game, and will be doing a short campaign over the holidays of Deadlands reloaded. Not to mention I am starting to build some Savage Battlestar one shots. I still actually play with 4 of the players that was in your FG Daze Savage Battlestar one shot.

You know, maybe its just due to the pain meds I am on since I broke my ankle, but I found this really inspiring!

This is why I like being involved with the gaming community at Fantasy Grounds. I have meet some really nice people over the years there, got some great games with people from all over the world. Shared ideas with some of the up and coming gaming writers and developers.

And when someone tells me something like this, it really makes me feel good for the time I spend getting things ready, writing the adventures, all the prep work that goes into a game before it even happens. And it makes me what to push that much harder for the next FG Con or Daze I run.

So I just wanted to say thank you very much!! And I hope others players will follow your excellent example of thanking their GMs.

[FG Daze June 25th] Savage Battlestar: End Game!

Savage Battlestar: End Game

I will be running a one shot adventure set in the re imagined universe of Battlestar Galactica. Want to  play as a Colonial Viper Pilot? Want to blow the frack out of some Cylon toasters? If yes, then join us for free at Fantasy Grounds [FG-Daze} and play in my game or one of the many other systems being offered for free by some of the our communities "Ultimate License" Game Masters.

No experience required, show up, meet some new people, roll some dice, and most importantly have fun.


End Game will place you in the cockpit of the Viper MK VII during the opening salvo of the second Cylon war near the Scorpio shipyards.

I have room for 3 more pilots, anyone else want to try and save humanity? 

The Cylons had a plan. They succeeded... 

Game will be broadcasted live on my twitch channel "calacorm_"

FG - DAZE on Fantasy Grounds: Savage Battlestar is open for registration!

Sign up here!!

Savage Battlestar: End Game FG Daze!

 Is now open for registration to play! Click on the link above and follow the instructions at the Fantasy Grounds Forums.

The game is scheduled to start at 0230 June 26th, which is late evening for most people in North America.. midnight for anyone in Newfoundland.

This game is for fun, and for newbies and veterans alike.. so, jump into that viper, brace for nuke impact and get savage!!

FG Con 6: My thoughts..

Hi everyone..

Well, FG-Con 6 is here and gone. And again it was a great time to be a part of it. My first time at this con was FG 5 last fall, when I only hosted 1 game. But this time around I decided to host 3 games, one for every night.

The FG Con was well hosted and organized by a 3 great volunteers, and there was a slue of GMs, (33 I think was the final tally), and the heaps of  players who joined in. I also really enjoyed it due to the fact, a slue of SXG members showed up and hosted a pile of the events. Its good being a part of a group who gets actively involved with stuff like this.

My first game, was Savage Battlestar Galactica, and to be honest I kinda missed the mark on it. I think that this was due to the fact that this was my first actual GM session since my father died a few months ago and I was really rusty and I was more concerned about trying to hit all the elements of the adventure then to focus on how the players were feeling. All though we had fun at the game, it was not my best performance and it seemed kinda forced. But we live and learn.

Here is the basics for each adventure.

1) The XSSC Phoenix, an experimental stealth missile strike craft was ordered to respond to a Cylon attack at the Scorpio shipyards, but just prior to the jump was struck down by the Cylon virus, but due to a glitch and a failure in the ships own systems it managed to complete its jump, but when it arrived it was then in the black. Due to several massive nuke strikes and the blind jump of the Pegasus the arrival of the Phoenix went unnoticed. The crew then formed a team, to stealthy venture to the doomed shipyard station, headed to the bridge and see if they could find any idea of where, if any other survivors may have gone. Finding out that the Pegasus blind jump was actually recorded in the shipyards computer systems, the crews downloaded and deleted the info and then hot legged it back to the phoenix while under attack by a roving band of Raiders.

2) My second night was by far much more enjoyable for the players and for myself. Well thats how I felt about it, I guess it took the first game to shake the rust loose. This game was a Savage Worlds Weird War 2 game, where the squad was ordered to rush and take hold a small village that was under attack. Under a severe snow storm, the squad faced the elements and although some were stung by the harsh weather they managed to get to its location, the small abandoned town in which the frozen bodies of Germans and Allied alike lay littered through out town, with one abandoned German tank in the middle of the town square, buried by the recent snow fall. That night several spectral forms rose from the snow, and a haunting ghostly sound of a tank converged on the square. The spectral forms, along with the phantom tank sounds converged on the husk of the destroyed German tank, possessing it.

The squad armed with a Chaplin charged the tank, armed with grenades and the faith of the priest and manage to destroy the spectral forms and rebuke the possessed hulk.

3) My third and final game was a Black Crusades game where the party was a band of pirates attacking a stranded Inquisitional ship. Consisting of a Terminator, a Bezerker, a Veteran of the long war and a Sorcerer. After fighting off waves of Combat Servitors, Sisters of Battle and then concluded with an epic showdown with the remaining Sisters and a Grey Knight Terminator. The battle for bridge was bloody and fierce for both sides, but it managed to swing the way for the pirates, but the cost was a severally wounded chaos terminator, and a dead chaos sorcerer.

At the end of the con, I am flooded with a weird mix of emotions. Sad that it was over, but glad that it is at the same time. It takes a lot of effort and commitment to run games like this. And with all the build up of the excitement of seeing people book for your events, all the hype leading up to it, and meeting lots of new players. You can not help but feel that lose of the excitement of the build up.

But again, its done and over with and now I can sit back and relax for awhile and keep working on a few other projects.

Hope to see you all at FG 7!

FG-CON: Black Crusade: Boarding Party Teaser!

Hey all.

What do you get when you Khorne Berzerker, a Chaos Champion, a Chaos Chosen Terminator, and a Chaos Sorcerer meet up for some fun on a drifting imperial ship?

You get the first 4 pregens for my FG CON Demo game of Black Crusade coming up on Sunday! Thats what!

Thats right, a small warband of up to 6 chaos marines have boarded a stranded inquisitor ship, can they fight their way to the bridge and claim its as a prize? Or does the fickle will of chaos have something else in store for the doomed ship?

Right now, 2 spots remain free. Come and sign up and FG-Con today!

Playing with Black Crusade and Hangouts.

Here I am, getting ready for FG Con and I figured I start getting use to using hangouts. So I took a few minutes to do a very brief run through of  the Black Crusade mod for FG Grounds.


If you got questions, feel free to drop by and ask.

FG-Con: Savage Battlestar Galactica: Rise of the Phoenix Teaser

+++! Incoming Orders !+++

++++ Daily Mission Log Data File Transmission ++++

++++ Date: 2030.04.182015 +++++

++++ To: Commander Vince Day, XSSC Phoenix ++++

 

 

 

++++ Priority One Message: Order Change ++++

++++ Orders: The SSC Phoenix has be ordered to cease experimental space trials and jump immediately to the Scorpio Shipyards. Confirmed Cylon contact has been made and attack is under way. Your orders are to engage the enemy using all force required. +++++

 

+++ FTL Jump Orders Data Sequence ++++

+++ Combat FTL Status Jump sequence initiated +++

+++ Target Destination: Scorpio Shipyards Coordinates Confirmed +++

 

 

+++ Jumping in +++

+++ 5 +++

+++ Warning: Incoming Unknown Data Transmission Detected +++

+++ 4 +++

+++ Warning: Data file attack detected +++

+++ 3 +++

+++ Warning: Defense Mainframe Terminal Overwrite Error +++

+++ 2 +++

+++ Warning: Shutting Down Primary FTL Spool Drives +++

+++ 1 +++

+++ Warning: Critical Shut Down Sequence Can Not Engage. Conflicting Defense Network Commands: Combat Jump Override sequence protocols engaged. System Reboot Required. Data Transmission Corrupted. Primary FTL Core Protocol Corrupted. Defense Main Frame Critical Action Protocols Corrupted: Critical Networking Errors Ship Power Failure Core Reboot Required: FTL Core Spool Up In Progress Can Not Terminate +++

+++ JUMP JUMP JUMP ++++

Enlist today at FG-Con

 

 

 

FG-Con 6: Weird Wars II Hold At All Costs Primer

The call of “Men” got the attention of the cold and fidgety troops of the 501^st airborne unit as they were huddled around barrel fires trying to keep warm outside the small town of St. Hubert. The so called battle of the bulge has ended, with the Germans now on the defensive and the allies in full advance.

 

Fox Company was just pulled out of Bastogne to get some rest off the front lines before redeployment and all of the men’s hearts sank, hearing the Captain call out. Knowing that it only meant it was time to go back to work.

 

“Men, gather around” The Captain laid out a map on the hood of a Willis Jeep. “Several days ago our P52 brothers in the sky took a shot at a target of opportunity as they caught several SS Tigers tanks trying to move to take back the small Hamlet of Nilis, here” He points to the map. “The 35^th Infantry Division had a platoon from Bravo Company holding up there since the start of the Bulge, and have yet been relieved since we went back on the offensive. But have sending us regular communiques, as they have been holding the cross roads for about 3 weeks now.”

 

He looked up “The day after the birds took out the elements of that tank unit, we have lost all contact with the Bravo and there has been some pretty cold and nasty weather in that region ever since the strike. Seeing we are the closest unit we have been tasked to recon the area and re-establish contact with Bravo and wait to be relieved from the other boys of the 35^th” He paused.

 

“Now the bad news. Intel has just informed me, that this tank unit could be what’s left over from the 501 SS Panzer Tank Division.  There is rumored to be an Ace with over 150 kills with that unit, and if the P52s missed any of them or him alone that could be why we lost contact with Bravo, so keep your heads low and your eyes open. He drives a King.”

 

Again he looked around.. “Looks like our rest period is over boys, everything from trucks to bicycles are being focus on the counter offensive and you are going to have to pack it in on foot. Say goodbye to St. Hubert, you are moving out tonight.

 

 

 

FG-Con: Just a Few More Weeks!!

Well..

If I can say one thing, its the fact that I am really excited about FG-Con. I am hosting 2 short games and 1 demo game this year, and I think we are going to have a lot of fun!

I have been slowly putting things together over the last few weeks, making pregens, making notes, searching the internet for pictures, and all the other fun things when it comes to GMing games.

I have also just announced that I will be starting a campagin game for "The Last Parsec" over with the guys and gals of SXG.  The event which is called "Jolly's Savage Sci Fi" Which is open to any member of the group, and if you are not a member, its free to join and you will gets loads of access to many scheduled games through out the week with many great GMs and great players alike.

And I have also been running a Play by Post game on RPOL. Which has been going for almost a month now. Another game which anyone is welcomed to join in at any time.

Back to the FG-Con Events, if anyone out there is interested in joining then feel free to check out the links

April 17th: Savage Battlestar Galactica; Rise of the Phoenix

April 18th: Savage Worlds: Weird Wars II; Hold At All Cost

and lastly April 19th, a demo really of the FFG: Black Crusade: Boarding Party.

So swing by and check it all out..

Jolly

FG-CON: Game Events are being posted!

Just check out the growing list of games that is starting to form up at FG-Con! And its still over 6 weeks away! Awesome!

So for all you people out there who want to try out Fantasy Grounds, this is the spot to do it! Newbies and Vets alike, you are all encouraged to swing by and sign up!

If any of you are interested, I am running a Savage Worlds: Battlestar Galactica game and a Savage Worlds: Weird War II game for the event. I also think I am going to run a demo game (1 hour) so I can showcase the Black Crusade Mod I have.

But I still want to run a 3rd regular game...  But I want the 3rd game to be a little bigger and a little longer then my other two events (2 hour sessions each)

Anyways all, swing by and have a look at the offerings so far! I might already sign up for a few events cause I suspect they are gonna fill up fast!

Hope you see you all there!

FG-Con: Weird Wars: II Hold At All Cost

Weird Wars II: Hold at all Cost (Savage Worlds)

April 18th, 2015

Inspired by the Classic DC Comic Book Series “Weird War Tales”

Tasked to hold back the advancing Nazi counter attack, a small platoon of US Paratroopers setup a defensive line on the outskirts of an abandoned village deep with in the Ardennes forest.

This is a 2 hour game session, using Savage Worlds Weird Wars II setting and ruleset. It is open for 3-6 players and pregens will be provided. 

Enlist today at FG-Con.com

FG Con 6: Savage Battlestar: Rise of the Phoenix

FG-Con 6: Savage Battlestar Rise of the Phoenix
April 17th, 2015

The colonial shipyards at the colony of Scorpio has just been attack, the Battlestar Pegasus just performed its emergency (blind) jump out of its yards. At the same time, the stealth strike cruiser Phoenix arrives to witness the full destruction of the shipyard and is embroiled in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the cylons.

This is a Savage Worlds game, for 3-6 players. Pregens will be provided. Game Length 2 hours. Reserve your spot now, and register for the best online RPG gaming event on the planet. (which is free!) Sign up at FG-Con today

Weird Wars II: The Forgotten Beach Teaser

Click below to join the fight at FG-Con.
Weird Wars II: The Forgotten Beach Teaser

A commanding voice can be heard coming from the front of the audience. A high ranking US officer can been seen walking in front of a large wall map on the stage in front of you.

"Men, your mission is Atlas." He pointed to a section on the left side of the map. "Atlas is a small beach in which the Nazis have just recently reinforced." He walked back to the other side of the stage. "We have reason to believe that an old french chapel in this area has been converted into a key communications hub and there have been reports of several high ranking SS officers in this area." He looked around "So high ranking in fact, they have seen fit to take 3 Companies off of Omaha and send you here." He tapped the spot with his pointing stick.

He walked back to the center of the stage again. "Men, high command has tasked us with storming this beach, clear the trench defense and take out the German battery, then press on and capture that chapel" he paused for a second. "We have not been authorized to engage the chapel with navel bombardment, so you will have no fire support once you clear the defenses."

"Men.. Good Luck! He turned and walked off the stage.

FG - Con, Here I Come; Weird Wars II: The Forgotten Beach

All..

Thanks to the encouragement of members of SXG, and the volunteers at FG Con. I have decided to throw caution into the wind and try out my first online game convention.

So below is my proposed game event that I will be running..

So if you would like to experience some good old fashion Weird Wars Action, feel free to swing by the FG-Con Website and register for some heart pounding war time horror! All levels of experienced Welcome, Pre Gens provided. Pick up and Play! (or Die.. depends)

Weird Wars II: The Forgotten Beach

Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. All names of the famous beaches fought on during the Normandy invasion on the one of the most important days in the history of mankind. But what ever happened to the invasion force on Atlas Beach? Scrubbed from the history books, purged from the records, what became of the soldiers and survivors on that cold beach on that day June 6th 1944? Share their stories, feel their pain, experience the true and unnatural horrors that thrive on death and war.
Inspired by the 1970's DC Comic Books "Weird Wars Tales"