by guyeatsfood

Starting From Scratch – Prepping a New System

Over the past couple of months, I’ve run a few games on the Unconventional GMs channel that I’ve not GMed – or played – before. I’m normally a bit cagy about doing this, as I like to get to know a game before putting my GMing out publicly, but building up content for the channel has meant reaching further quicker than I’d normally. 

But games of Candela Obscura and Cortex Prime seem to meet our intent of bringing examples of one-shot play that people want, so I’m in the middle of prepping Weird Frontiers, a spooky weird west DCC game. Come to think of it, the first time I ran Vaesen it was recorded, too. So I thought I’d share my process of prep for a game where the system is new to me.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

We’ll Always Have Paris – a one-shot for TORG: Eternity

It’s time for another ready-to-run (ish) one-shot, this time for Ulysses Spiel’s remaster of frankly bonkers 90s multigenre pulp action TTRPG, TORG Eternity. Those of you unfamiliar with the utter gonzo-ness of this setting could do well to start with it’s wikipedia page, but in brief – invaders another dimensions take over the world, and change reality to reflect their own worlds. America become prehistory, Britain becomes D&D-ish fantasy, much of Asia becomes post-apocalyptic Tharkhold, etc etc. 

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

RPG Resurrection! – Games from my Past

We’re in a golden age for TTRPG releases – there’s so much out there, and something for everyone’s developing tastes. With kickstarter and other crowdfunders making it easier to get games out, it’s inevitable that someone like me who chases after the new shiny things will end up letting some games drop unjustly. Here are four of my games that were formative to me (most predate this blog) – and what I like about them. Should I get them back to the convention table, maybe in 2024? Let’s see…

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

The “How To” book the Hobby’s Been Waiting For – Review: So You Want to be a Game Master?

For a hobby with a lot of techniques and ideas to master, we’re terribly short of advice books. Aside from a wealth of excellent blogs, there’s really only the occasional book that looks at how to start GMing. The chapters in RPG books can be variable at best, and there’s a lot to the craft of GMing.

One of the best blogs out there for GM advice is The Alexandrian, and Justin Alexander has focussed a lot of his thoughts from there, and expanded on them, to release “So You Want to be a Game Master?” – a book focused on taking you right from the beginning of prep to running successful games.

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

The Clockwork Citadel – a one-shot for Fabula Ultima

I’ve been grooving on Fabula Ultima, a JRPG-style system with simple, flexible rules, since it released. As well as a nifty set of rules, it also has hands down the best quickstart I’ve ever seen, which takes players and GM through the rules, setting, and play culture of the game hand in hand and step by step.

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

Guiding the Ironlands – how to run Ironsworn as a One-Shot

Ironsworn, Shawn Tomkin’s RPG of dark fantasy with solo, guided, and GMless modes, is one of the most exciting releases to the hobby in recent years. With its sci fi sequel, Starforged, now established it’s beginning to get some decent play on the convention circuit – and it plays really well with a GM (in ‘guided’ mode) as well. So here are some tips if you want to get it to the table.

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

The Fire In Men’s Hearts – a mystery for Vaesen

Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Mythic Ukraine is a fantastic, pay what you want, supplement for Vaesen that brings a wide range of Vaesen from Ukraine to the game. Illustrated by a selection of artists, it’s a good old fashioned bestiary. Each Vaesen has several plot hooks and ideas, and there’s a real range here. 

After meeting Tasha and Oleg from Idea Roll over at The Kraken, at Unconventional GMs we recorded a mystery based on one of the Vaesen from the book, and here’s my (largely unedited) prep notes to run the mystery. The recording is over on the channel here – it comes in at just over 2 hours of play, although it could easily be a 3-4 hour game with a bit less pushing and pace. Over on the channel we’re trying to demonstrate how much you can pack into 2 hours – at your own table you may want to luxuriate a bit.

Continue reading →
by guyeatsfood

Chang’an Critter Carnival – a Ready-to-Run Feng Shui 2 One-Shot

Apologies for the slight delay in posts – in short, I got covid just as I started a new job. But normal service resumes! Here, a one-shot set in the Ancient juncture for Feng Shui 2 that was originally prepped to run for Robin Laws himself! (Sadly, his attendance at Kraken was prevented)

As before, I’ve presented this pretty much as-prepped – feedback earlier was that this sort of rough-and-ready style wasn’t a problem, and gave some insight into what prep notes could actually look like – so enjoy and let me know if you’d like more ‘official’ stuff instead.

Continue reading →