Promotional videos

[smjn]

After seeing the two episodes of Tabletop, where Dragon Age pen and paper RPG creator Chris Pramas ran a game for Wil Wheaton and friends, I immediately thought it would've been so much cooler had it been one of The Design Mechanism people running a game of RuneQuest. The videos can be watched on Youtube:

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He4xdGizuww.

Tabletop might not be willing to do an episode on another RPG, since because of the confines of the format the result would look pretty similar despite the differences in the game system, the adventure and the GM. I think, however, that a video like this, if done well, would be excellent promotion for a less known roleplaying game such as RuneQuest.

Now I understand that The Desing Mechanism being essentially a two man shop with a lot of work in their hands might not be able to divert the resources for a professional quality video like this, useful though it might be. But since they will eventually be running games at conventions it would be great to have perhaps some of their fans to record and edit a session of Loz or Pete running e.g. the RQ GM Pack adventures.

Of course a professionally produced video like the ones at Tabletop would be so much better, so if there is any chance of that kind of thing happening I would love to see it.

[smjn]

P.S.: I originally intended to post this in The Design Mechasism forum but their login gave me a blank page. But since Loz & Pete follow this forum as well, I posted it here instead.

[Pete Nash]

You want a video of me being my normal evil self and psychologically abusing my players, whilst simultaneously twisting the RQ6 rules to whatever I want because I co-wrote them!?! Some folks must be real masochists!

Loz has spent years suffering at my hands, whether sitting him down in a dark room, by himself, to watch a home made mind-**** movie as the prep to entering the game; to running a game in the sauna and saying that whoever leaves suffers instant death, no save. Believe me, you don't want a video of that particular experience...

I truly am an evil, bastard from hell GM.

[lawrence.whitaker]

We won't discuss the Galley Slave incident, either.

We'd love to get something like this put together, but it is a question of time for us. Who knows - we might record one of the 'Winter King' sessions I'll be running this week, so you can see how a nice, kind GM nurtures and cherishes his players, rather than subjecting them to the the roleplaying equivalent of waterboarding...

[smjn]

You want a video of me being my normal evil self and psychologically abusing my players, whilst simultaneously twisting the RQ6 rules to whatever I want because I co-wrote them!?! Some folks must be real masochists!

Ok, not you then, unless you try really hard to be somebody else for a while. Although seeing you being a bastard might be educational in its on right, it might not necessarily the best possible promotion for RuneQuest.

[seneschal]

Tut, tut. And I thought evil, abusive GM-ing was a D&D foible, a practice which RuneQuesters were far above. Since the game mechanics don't require characters to kill things and take their stuff to advance and all.

I cut my tabletop gaming teeth on Champions and Classic Traveller, so the whole adversarial GM thing wasn't something I experienced. In the latter game, I had to actively work to keep my players' characters alive (the -- insert name of celestial body here -- is a harsh mistress, and all that). I may have been adversarial during our TOON campaigns, but since cartoon characters can't die, it just wasn't the wrenching experience that I've heard D&D-ers moan about.

[soltakss]

Tut, tut. And I thought evil, abusive GM-ing was a D&D foible, a practice which RuneQuesters were far above. Since the game mechanics don't require characters to kill things and take their stuff to advance and all.

The cult of Bstard Gee-Em appeared in an early RQ Fanzine called "Pavic Tales", so RQ GMs are definitely not above being evil or abusive.

I though it was a requirement, actually.

[Pete Nash]

I still have and treasure my copies...

[lawrence.whitaker]

Pete is the Iain Banks of GMs. He's not necessarily a bastard... he just manages to extract the maximum unpleasantness from a situation, both for the characters and the players. There are no sacred cows in a Pete Game; do something stupid, and shit happens. Hell, shit's going to happen anyway, its merely a degree of the shittyness.

The vindictiveness inflicted on the players - like making us roleplay in a sauna to simulate the effects of radiation poisoning - is something else entirely. Pete would call it 'character-forming': in reality its sadism.

In fact, why the hell am I coming out to Sweden this week? Sod this - I'm cancelling my flight!

[rust]

Since the game mechanics don't require characters to kill things and take their stuff to advance and all.

Well, at least the game mechanics enable GMs to kill player characters. Unfortunately

I did not yet find a good way to take their stuff and advance.

[Pete Nash]

Pete is the Iain Banks of GMs. He's not necessarily a bastard... he just manages to extract the maximum unpleasantness from a situation, both for the characters and the players.

I'll take that as a compliment!

[seneschal]

He's ... the Mr. Banks ... of GM-ing? As in Mary Poppins' boss?

(Save those tuppens!)

Edited February 20, 2013 by seneschal

[smjn]

This thread (my first post in this forum ever, BTW) degenerated into something completely different sooner than I had anticipated. Oh well, I suppose that is the nature of things. It's not that I disapprove of the discussion about GM sadism, only that I feel such a discussion deserves its own thread to better preserve it for posterity. So here you go!

[seneschal]

Heh. Sorry. We're an easily distracted bunch.

[Mankcam]

Being a subscriber to all things great on the Geek'n'Sundry Channel, I think exposure on Wil Wheaton's Tabletop show is a great idea. Wil Weaton is fast becoming a 'face' in the world of fanzine culture and gaming in general, and I'm sure the Dragon Age sales have gone up significantly since he posted those episodes recently. Green Ronin must be a bunch of happy chappies at present, hopefully they'll consider providing more support to their True20 system if Dragon Age works out well for them.

Wil Wheaton has already acknowledged that he prefers Indie RPGs, and he has said some good references towards Call of Cthulhu in the past. I think he would also be interested in LEGEND or RQ6 I dare say. It also could be an opportune time for Magic World to come to the fore as well.

I really think Chaosium and The Design Mechanism should watch what he's up to and consider some exposure on his program as a good business move, I think it would garner much more interest in these systems than hoping that game stores around the world will promote them, or even convention exposure. Without more exposure and net presence, BRP and BRP-related systems will probably continue to hobble two steps forward, one step back; let's hope even that continues. It breaks my heart to see such a great system delegated to minimal shelf space in the game stores, whilst everywhere else I see D&D, and all the D20 OGL products - many of them have great settings, but BRP should be their basis, not D20... exposure and promotion is everything.

Its a great suggestion smjn

Edited February 20, 2013 by Mankcam