fionawhim

Games I’ve Played

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Current Campaigns

Masks

Masks by Brendan Conway. Magpie Games.

  • Currently GMing a Masks campaign that’s run roughly every-other-week since October 2020! My longest running game across any system.

  • Played in a 1-shot through Magpie’s Curated Play program with Connie Chang as the GM. I was a Bull named Kai.

  • Line art portrait of Mage Fist. Brown hair, nervous/eager smile, bruises on her face.

    Aisling Walsh a.k.a. Mage Fist

    (Image from Baydews’ Avatar Maker)

    At the beginning of an infrequent campaign. I’m playing a Beacon called Mage Fist. She… should not be doing this.


I’m a big fan of Powered by the Apocalypse games because they let me prep the parts I’m interested in (character stories) and don’t bog down in lots of stats.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians

Thirsty Sword Lesbians by April Kit Walsh. Evil Hat Productions.

  • Gaymaster for a high seas pirate adventure game in this, which feels like the campaign I was born to run.

  • Previously did a short campaign using the Sparkle Heart Magic Force Go! adventure from the core book.

So gay. It’s important to make sure your players know when NPCs are flirting with their characters. Some useless lesbians need a heads-up.

Root: the Roleplaying Game

Root: the Roleplaying Game by Brendan Conway. Magpie Games.

  • Running what’s starting as a 3-shot campaign for 4 players.

I love the “Ooops, All Rogues!” feel of this game. I am also enamored of the map-making process, so much that I wrote about creating the Root starting map.

One-Shots

Sentinel Comics

Sentinel Comics by Dave Chalker, et al. Greater Than Games.

I’ve GMed one half of a 1-shot of this so far. The character creation and the abilities that it gives the players are pretty cool. I need more time with a system that requires slightly higher prep than a PbtA, but I am positive towards it in general.

For the Queen

For the Queen by Alex Roberts. Evil Hat Productions.

This is my go-to game for “a few people want to play a thing” since it’s simple to teach and doesn’t need any GMing.

Lasers and Feelings

Lasers and Feelings by John Harper. One Seven Design.

Be Gay Do Crimes

Be Gay Do Crimes by Evan Saft.

Lasers and Feelings hack for queers. Ran a 1-shot during Pride 2021.

Parley and Plunder

Parley and Plunder by sfw_pants.

Lasers and Feelings hack for pirates. Did a 1-shot for ARRR!!! that was fun.

Past Games

Fellowship

Fellowship by Vel Mini. LiberiGothica Games.

  • Abandoned a campaign using the Empire Framework from In Rebellion.

Fellowship is a bit mechanically fiddlier than I’m used to with Masks. Companions and Gear bring a level of resource management that other PbtA games tend to lack. I do enjoy the chance of doing big, cinematic combat, which PbtA makes a lot of fun.

A highlight of Fellowship’s rules is how explicitly they discuss the Spotlight, and how players should handle it.

I think my takeaway from a truncated campaign is that because so much lore and setting is left to the players, they need to be on similar pages with both tone and level of enthusiasm for co-creating.

Scum and Villainy

Scum and Villainy by Stras Acimovic and John LeBoeuf-Little. Evil Hat Productions.

  • 3-score campaign for some pals at work.
  • 2-score campaign run by my pal Nirav for 3 players. I was a dashing Scoundrel (aren’t they all?) named Beckett, codenamed Esquire, who started the campaign being tracked down by a bounty hunter employed by the rich parents he ran away from.

This is currently the only Forged in the Dark game I’ve played, but I’d love to play more. I’m eying Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants.

Genesys

Genesys. Fantasy Flight Games.

The dice are pretty fun, though you need to get some familiarity with the common ways to spend Threat and Advantage. There’s more of an emphasis on equipment than I’m used to, at least in KeyForge.

Quest

Quest by TC Sottek. The Adventure Guild.

  • 12 session campaign of this for pals at work.

Probably my go-to fantasy adventure game for introducing people to RPGs. I love the “Trials” mechanism.

Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition)

Dungeons and Dragons. Wizards of the Coast.

  • GMed a few-months-long campaign at the beginning of the pandemic for my family. We went through the Lost Mine of Phandelver campaign from the D&D Starter Set.

  • Player in a campaign that started with the Dragon of Icespire Peak and then verged into homebrew. I played a bard named Dyané who was interested in labor organizing and being a street medic. She fell in love with the Druid.

At this point I’ve gotten what I need to out of D&D. If I want to play a tactical combat game I’ll play a board game. If I want to play a fantasy adventure RPG I’ll choose Quest or Fellowship.