This Week: Hosts, Harm, Fate, and Gatekeeper

Welcome to This Week, a weekly series where I discuss all the gaming (both video and tabletop) content I've played, made, prepped, run and seen that's cool this week.

This last stretch should be the last time for a while (unless something else comes up) where I miss a week. Finally - FINALLY - the move is complete, and we're in a beautiful new home! We have internet, and I have a new study/games room. Once everything is up to shape, I'll take some photos and share them with you: it's where all our RPGs will be played from now on (except for at Gatekeeper, but I'll get to that in a sec) so it'll be pretty relevant!

Now, let's jump in with what I've done This Week...

What I've Played

I've been without the internet for much of this week, due to the move, so naturally I've been looking for other things to do in my downtime. Whilst packing and unpacking has been a big part of the last two weeks, I would go mad if I didn't play something. And then I remembered a while back I printed out the rulebook for How to Host a Dungeon, a curious little singleplayer game where you generate a dungeon step by step as the ages go through. If you're looking for some inspiration, and just something to take your mind off other things, it works fantastically!

Here's a good example of a map made using the system:

(Image from Planet Thirteen.)

And here's my work-in-progress map:

(Image from me... And Excel art... I'm so sorry.)

Mine's not so great, but I've had a lot of fun with it so far!

What I've Made

I've been working hard on Do or Dice, and I recently made a breakthrough with the rules for harm and damage, and I'm now ready for my first full in-house test. That means Ameshirel: A World Reforged will be beginning in two weeks (and I'll post all the details as they come out). I'm really looking forward to exposing all of the holes in the game, and then figuring out ways to fill them up and then smooth it all back into an awesome game. As this process goes on, I'll be opening up the playtest to more and more folks, so if you're interested, LET ME KNOW!

(Image from RueInk.)

In the interest of working on Ameshirel: A World Reforged, I've been planning my first adventure. I got one look at Randy M's newest map, and I fell in love. It's Patrons only, so I can't show it off, but you should pledge to see it and everything else he's made. If you're planning on playing in Ameshirel: A World Reforged (my players, beware), please don't check it out until we've played. Everyone else, go nuts!

I'll be polishing up this adventure as I playtest it, and I intend to release it alongside Do or Dice and Ameshirel: A World Reforged as the first official adventure - so stay tuned for that too!

What I've Run

I got a chance to run Fate Accelerated Edition at Gatekeeper Games (again, I'll mention more in a sec), which was a blast! I love FAE, but I don't get much of a chance to run it. Also, due to the holidays, I haven't gotten a chance to run much of anything, so when I got the idea to do it, I jumped on it.

(Image from Evil Hat.)

I ran the game for four players at this month's Inclusive Board Game Meet in Melbourne, hosted at Gatekeeper Games in Fitzroy. Two of the four players were entirely new to roleplaying games, so it was even more amazing. Everyone really jumped in, and, in true Fate style, I barely did any work: the players came up with such ridiculous drama that I didn't need to! We ended up flying out of a wormhole inside an organic alligator ship with a crew of two space Elves, a space Skinkwoman, and a space Russian, all while everything was flying off the walls and far too many pipes burst. If it doesn't make sense to you, then I guess we're on the same page.

There was a decidedly camp/Farscapey vibe to the game. (Image from IMDB.)

I loved every second of it.

What I've Seen

And finally, the long awaited (and much mentioned) Gatekeeper Games! Because I've moved, I actually now have a proper Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS), which I haven't had for many many years... And what's more, I have Gatekeeper which, despite the name, is one of the best and most welcoming gaming spaces I've ever seen. This amazing space not only has some of the nicest people running it, and the most diverse clientele I've ever seen in a gaming store, it also has ridiculously low prices for games (seriously, we just bought Dominion: Alchemy for less than $40 AUD)!

(Image from Gatekeeper Games.)

So, I'll be playing more and more games here as well as in the new games room at home. I'll even be running a few games here, if everything goes according to plan. I'll even even be running some Do or Dice here as a trial ground, so again, if that excites you, you better find your way there!

That's all for This Week this week. I'll talk to you next week, and tell you of all my adventures again! In the mean time, fill your own week with as much awesome as possible.