Comments on: Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 1 http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/ The Journal of Gamer Culture Fri, 25 May 2012 14:18:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 2 : Critical Hits http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69619 Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 2 : Critical Hits Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:01:57 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69619 [...] See part 1 here. [...] [...] See part 1 here. [...]

]]> By: ChattyDM http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69345 ChattyDM Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:19:56 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69345 I was away all day, thanks for the comments guys. @Mike: Thanks for reading man. I appreciate it :) @Virgil: It was the first flow chart I used in a long time. It really helped me shape how I saw the area while giving my players many ways in. I didn't prepare of them, just the ones they were most likely to hit in a given game. I may make a post about making them. (I used Microsoft's One Note's very basic drawing features to make them) @DIxon: Wow man... thanks for the praise! Do note that my game reports pass through the writer's filter and are presented in a somewhat better light. I must admit that it is so far my favorite hoemgrown game ever. I feel so free to do whatever I please and the 4e ruleset feels like putty in my hand to deliver the experience I want from it. As for running it? (Shrug) I guess it feels a lot easier when you wrote the material. :) It sure is a lot of fun. @Andy: Let me know how this works out for your WoD group. I find it really amazing to hear from so many of you non 4e guys and girls telling me you'll borrow my stuff for other games... Thanks! @Bart and Eric: The label is on the can guys, it's not like I rick roll you into Tv Tropes. :) @Cynicaloptimist: Lol! Yeah, they initially looked feeble on first read and then I read the encounter power correctly... yikes! I was away all day, thanks for the comments guys.

@Mike: Thanks for reading man. I appreciate it :)

@Virgil: It was the first flow chart I used in a long time. It really helped me shape how I saw the area while giving my players many ways in. I didn’t prepare of them, just the ones they were most likely to hit in a given game. I may make a post about making them. (I used Microsoft’s One Note’s very basic drawing features to make them)

@DIxon: Wow man… thanks for the praise! Do note that my game reports pass through the writer’s filter and are presented in a somewhat better light. I must admit that it is so far my favorite hoemgrown game ever. I feel so free to do whatever I please and the 4e ruleset feels like putty in my hand to deliver the experience I want from it.

As for running it? (Shrug) I guess it feels a lot easier when you wrote the material. :) It sure is a lot of fun.

@Andy: Let me know how this works out for your WoD group. I find it really amazing to hear from so many of you non 4e guys and girls telling me you’ll borrow my stuff for other games… Thanks!

@Bart and Eric: The label is on the can guys, it’s not like I rick roll you into Tv Tropes. :)

@Cynicaloptimist: Lol! Yeah, they initially looked feeble on first read and then I read the encounter power correctly… yikes!

]]> By: cynicaloptimist http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69339 cynicaloptimist Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:55:08 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69339 >You know what happened next right? Well, I've run Foulspawn chirurgeons before, and they're pretty brutal. My guess is, your characters got gutted where they stood? >You know what happened next right?

Well, I’ve run Foulspawn chirurgeons before, and they’re pretty brutal. My guess is, your characters got gutted where they stood?

]]> By: Eric Maziade http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69330 Eric Maziade Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:09:42 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69330 @Bartoneus : I'm starting to think I'd actually save time by writing a firefox component that blocks tvtrope links... .-= Eric Maziade´s last blog ..<a href="http://eric.maziade.com/post/2010/02/16/Claw-of-elevation" rel="nofollow">Hocksprocket Corporation's Claw of Elevation [R&D Report]</a> =-. @Bartoneus : I’m starting to think I’d actually save time by writing a firefox component that blocks tvtrope links…
.-= Eric Maziade´s last blog ..Hocksprocket Corporation’s Claw of Elevation [R&D Report] =-.

]]> By: Andy http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69329 Andy Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:55:56 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69329 Very cool. I love the sandbox outline PDF, it's a very good illustration of a process I really want to have mastered, the ability to write a modular campaign, hybridizing pure sandbox and pure linear gameplay to create an interactive yet manageable and directed story. I've actually been advising my World of Darkness group's Storyteller on this, so that he has easier prep without having to account for every possibility we might spring on him. Oh, and the gruesome fleshyard? Nice touch. .-= Andy´s last blog ..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThePlayersSideOfTheScreen/~3/NJdZpH4Ouag/journey-system-rolling-dice.html" rel="nofollow">The Journey System: Rolling Dice</a> =-. Very cool. I love the sandbox outline PDF, it’s a very good illustration of a process I really want to have mastered, the ability to write a modular campaign, hybridizing pure sandbox and pure linear gameplay to create an interactive yet manageable and directed story. I’ve actually been advising my World of Darkness group’s Storyteller on this, so that he has easier prep without having to account for every possibility we might spring on him.

Oh, and the gruesome fleshyard? Nice touch.
.-= Andy´s last blog ..The Journey System: Rolling Dice =-.

]]> By: Bartoneus http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69319 Bartoneus Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:08:20 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69319 Well, good job Phil, you just sucked away an hour of my day by linking to tvtropes again. Thanks... Well, good job Phil, you just sucked away an hour of my day by linking to tvtropes again. Thanks…

]]> By: Dixon Trimline http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69318 Dixon Trimline Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:39:04 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69318 I absolutely love the raw and uncontrolled imagination behind this campaign. Naturally, various bits of me seethe with jealousy, envy, and other impressive virtues, but most of me is just so impressed by the otherworldy alienness of the setting. How much fun would it be to explore something this wild? How amazing would it be to sit at the table, discovering these gruesome and loathsome sights? Finally, and most importantly, how daunting (yipes, my insides curdle at the thought) would it be to RUN this game? Too much, too much, my brain just ran away. I absolutely love the raw and uncontrolled imagination behind this campaign. Naturally, various bits of me seethe with jealousy, envy, and other impressive virtues, but most of me is just so impressed by the otherworldy alienness of the setting.

How much fun would it be to explore something this wild?
How amazing would it be to sit at the table, discovering these gruesome and loathsome sights?
Finally, and most importantly, how daunting (yipes, my insides curdle at the thought) would it be to RUN this game?

Too much, too much, my brain just ran away.

]]> By: Virgil Vansant http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69316 Virgil Vansant Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:37:14 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69316 Chatty, thanks for sharing that PDF! I tend to be very structured in my dungeons/adventure areas with lots of pre-planning, but more open with the story. I'd like to try something like your flowchart sometime to make the dungeons and their exploration more sandbox-y. Chatty, thanks for sharing that PDF! I tend to be very structured in my dungeons/adventure areas with lots of pre-planning, but more open with the story. I’d like to try something like your flowchart sometime to make the dungeons and their exploration more sandbox-y.

]]> By: wrathofzombie http://critical-hits.com/2010/02/23/gears-of-ruin-the-phantom-rails-part-1/#comment-69311 wrathofzombie Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:45:12 +0000 http://critical-hits.com/?p=12165#comment-69311 Great post, as usualy, Chatty! .-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..<a href="http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/sunday-clockworks-game-recap/" rel="nofollow">Sunday Clockworks Game Recap</a> =-. Great post, as usualy, Chatty!
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Sunday Clockworks Game Recap =-.

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