Role Playing Games


Earthdawn (GM)
Pooka's Kaer
Vampire: The Masquerade (PC)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse (PC)
Mage: The Ascension (PC)
Wraith: The Oblivion (GM)
Changeling: The Dreaming (GM)
Shadowrun (PC)
Das Schwarze Auge (PC)
Chill (GM)
Tales from the Floating Vagabond (GM)
The X-Fools (GM)
Star Wreck: The nth Generation (GM) 26/09/98
Funny quotes
Zitate, Sprüche, Versprecher 04/12/2000
Rollenspiel-Weicheier

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Earthdawn®

My favourite fantasy RPG. The background is set in the past of the Shadowrun world, a parallel universe of Earth, so to speak. The people of Barsaive (in the area of real Earth's Ukraine) just recovered from a magical cataclysm which lasted over 400 years. The Therans, a powerful nation who once occupied the Province want to reconquer the land but the people of Barsaive fight back and stand their ground.
There are a few unusual races like T'skrang (Lizardmen), Windlings (small winged beings), Obsidimen (creatures of living stone) but also old favourites like Elves, Trolls, Orks, Dwarves and Humans.
The game system is a bit complicated at first because you need different dice (everything from D4 to D20) for different actions according to the value of an attribute or a talent. For example, a typical Ork Warrior would roll D8+D6 for attacking and 2D10 for damage. If modifiers apply, the dice combination will change.
In my opinion, Earthdawn's strongest points are its magic system (and the way magical items and weapons are handled) and its fascinating background.
I can only recommend this game.
For more information, visit Pooka's Kaer, my Earthdawn page.

Characters I play

Borgon Lightningbeard
A Dwarf Nethermancer [Circle 4] (yes, finally a system with magic-using Dwarves!), Borgon travelled to the deep south of Barsaive to explore the mysterious Mist Swamps. Nobody has heard of him since.
A Circle 8 version of the same character is a powerful NPC in my campaign, which has been resting for almost two years now since I moved to England.
Read the journal of yet another incarnation of Borgon (our Soham campaign)
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Vampire: The Masquerade (White Wolf)

The first game in the World of Darkness series created by Mark Rein Hagen of White Wolf. The background is heavily influenced by the books of Anne Rice, completely rewriting the picture of Dracula-type Vampires of old.

Characters

Francois Gilbert
A saxophone player from Quebec, Canada who was Embraced by a Toreador in Chicago after a concert.
After a bout with the Sabbat in Miami he was relaxing at the Crossroad Inn (IC newsgroup rec.games.frp.storyteller).

Joe "Knievel" Winston
A Brujah from San Francisco (in a parallel WOD universe also from Nuernberg, Germany), Knievel is on the run after some unfortunate events in L.A. and San Francisco.

Dr. Vasily Ivanovitch (Sabbat)
A member of the Nosferatu Antitribu, the doctor of philosophy has a split personality like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One is the sophisticated scholar with intimate knowledge not only of his field but also the goings-on in his city. The other is a freak who uses his Vicissitude discipline not only to hurt others but also himself. When he is in this state he is usually badly disfigured, much more as a normal Nosferatu would be.
After a War Party which involved among other things the dismantling of Edinburgh's Tremere Chantry, he's back in Mexico to lick his wounds.

Alucard
my first Vampire Live Character. A Malkavian who, as a mortal, believed he was a Vampire and now he is one... Currently in Stratford as part of a Camarilla UK campaign.
He's moved around a lot recently, including to Avalon, part of the Near Dreaming.

Andreas Rauschenbach
Another LARP character, this time the Malkavian Primogen of Cambridge. More information under Camarilla Cambridge.

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Werewolf: The Apocalypse

The Garou, as Werewolves call themselves, are the guardians of Gaia, the Mother Earth. They are involved in a constant struggle against the Wyrm, the evil force that came with civilization and inevitably will take over the world.

Characters

Emerald Eyes
A Fianna/Lupus/Galliard from Co. Kerry, Ireland, almost stil a cub with 16 human years.

Scummy
A Bone Gnawer/Homid/Ragabash from New York, a bum with an attitude, just coming to terms with his Rite of Passage.

Wise-in-the-Woods
A Rank 5 (!) Child of Gaia/Lupus/Philodox, guardian of the Caern Stormy Waters in northern Canada.

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Mage: The Ascension

Mages are humans who have the power to shape and alter reality.
The magic system is one of the the most interesting and most complex around, similar to Ars Magica. There are no spell lists, Magickal effects are created by using or combining the powers of the nine Spheres (Prime, Forces, Matter, Life, Mind, Entropy, Time, Correspondence, and Spirit). The possibilities are endless.

I just bought Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade, set in the Renaissance. I've only flicked through the book, it definitely looks interesting and well made.

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Wraith: The Oblivion

The most difficult and complex game of the series.
Wraiths are ghosts, the wandering souls of the restless dead. Where a character's existence in any other RPG ends, in Wraith, it begins: Death. Usually, character generation in Storyteller is easy and quick, not so with Wraith. The technical part like Attributes, Abilities and Arcanos (supernatural abilities like Disciplines) are easy. However, a Wraith character needs a pretty complex background to complete the rest. Things like who he was in life, with whom he shared his life, what kept him from dying completely, have to be considered. On the plus side, in that way real characters are created, not just a sheetful of numbers.
In my campaign, we needed about one session (six hours) for each character to generate the traits and play the Prelude, i.e. his or her death and passing over to the Shadowlands. These first sessions of Wraith were the most intense roleplaying moments I can remember.

Characters

Sam "BBS" Gillard
A former computer hacker, Sam now haunts The Node, a Cyber Cafe in Atlanta Georgia. Since he has learned to surf the net without actually using a PC (Inhabit 3), his life is not that dull anymore. There are actually a few people he communicates with on the Net, who don't know that he is dead.

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Changeling: The Dreaming

The most lighthearted in the Storyteller series and my favorite.
Changelings are Faeries, born into a human body. Sometime during their life, either as child, teenager or adult, their Faery self will show. From then on, life will be a little different.
This game almost doesn't fit into the World of Darkness. It's more like high fantasy with characters like Pookas, Nockers, Trolls, Redcaps and of course the noble Sidhe who behave like High Elves.
The magic system is fun, especially if you are using the cantrip cards to draw bunks, actions the caster has to perform for the magic to work. This can lead to hilarious (and dangerous) situations, for example when a PC has to holler at the top of his lungs when he wants to sneak quietly into a house.

Characters

Joey
A street kid turned rat Pooka who always says the opposite of what he wants to tell and can't keep his hands out of people's pockets.

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Shadowrun®

This brilliant Dark Future/Cyberpunk RPG has been around for quite some time now.
The mix of cybertechnology a la William Gibson and magic still fascinates me.

Characters

Slash
A Dwarf Rocker turned Street Samurai who has had a few brushes with death. Still, after two years, his new skin prickles when he thinks of that exploding gas truck crashing into the phone box where he was talking to a contact.
His records sell quite well now.

Crusher
A Troll. 'Nuff said.

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Das Schwarze Auge

The German RPG I started with. As far as I know it is known elsewhere as Blade of Destiny (at least the PC Game). It's your typical high fantasy game with Elves, Dwarves, magic-users, knights in shining (or rather rusty, depending where you go) armour, damsels in distress and so on.
Although it's not my favorite, I still like playing it. The system is neither very complicated nor especially attractive, you can do what you need to, that's it.

Characters

Borgam, Sohn d. Dorgam; Träger des Großen Silbernen Bärenordens
A Level 15 Dwarf Priest (Angrosch), famous for his participating in a journey around the world with Fileasson Foggwulf and the extermination of a plaque of vampires in the Herzogtum Weiden. In recent years he has only left his duties in the temple when members of his old fellowship called or dramatic events made his presence necessary, like the return of Borbarad, an evil wizard who had been banned from the world a few hundred years ago.

Barax
Another dwarf -- by now you should have noticed that they are my favorite race -- this time a Geode (dwarfen Druid).

Fitzpan der Rote
A Schelm (Jester, but not in the usual sense. These jesters are changelings, human babies fostered by goblins, who know a list of jolly spells).

Alkor
A thief from Baliho, the deep south. Master of martial arts (for a non-Moha). He has developed a unique skill, Waving the Rapier About Wildly Without Hurting Anyone, after he managed to not hit even once in a pretty long fight.
He has gone missing after an adventure with pirates in the Perlenmeer (Sea of Pearls).

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Chill (Mayfair Games)

This is a Horror-RPG in the classic sense. Haunted houses, Vampires, Ghouls, Zombies, basically every movie creature you can think of plus various other supernatural beings.
If you have ever seen the TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy, you know what's going on.
The PCs are members of a secret society which battles the forces of evil.
The system is easy to learn, you only need a D%. Highly recommended if you are into this sort of thing but unfortunately it has been out of print for some time.

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Tales from the Floating Vagabond (Avalon Hill)

This is a funny, hilarious and completely superfluous Sci-Fi RPG. Douglas Adams would love it.
Set in a bar on an asteroid in the center of the universe, this game can only be recommended to people who love Paranoia and the like.
If you want to use an ACME Switchblade Battle Axe or a Handheld Bzzzzzt! Gadget, if you like the concept of guns classified in GUN, BIG GUN, REALLY BIG GUN, INCREDIBLY BIG GUN, and DON'T POINT THAT AT MY PLANET and ranges of point blank, close, near, pretty near, far, pretty far, Hand Me the Binoculars, and See that Dot? this is the game for you.

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The X-Fools

This is a RPG spoof based on the X-Files.
Special Agents Mox Folder and Donna Sulky investigate unexplained phenomena like cow circles and crop mutilations. Their sworn enemy is Marlboro Man, who constantly plots conspiracies against them.

I got the idea for this from the play with the same name broadcast by local radio in Cambridge. I simply took the Storyteller System and everything else is pure imagination and inspiration from the series. The playtest at NURD in Germany was a success.

Characters


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Star Wreck: The nth Generation

This is the latest project in my spoof series.
Captain Pickerd, Commander Stryker, Lt. Commander SCSI, Lt. Commander Woof, Lt. Cmdr. Georgie LaFord, Dr. Smasher and Counsellor Ploy will baldly go where no RPG has gone before.

The premiere was at this year's NURD (18/19th July in Nuernberg, Germany) and a great success. I also ran a short scenario at this years GenCon UK. Unfortunately time was short and we had to stop. Thanks a lot from here to the players, especially the captain and Stryker.

The characters are available now. This ZIP file (53 KB) contains the character sheets in Winword 6 format and the TrueType fonts needed. I hope to find the time to convert the file into HTML format and post them here as well.

Last Unicorn Games have now published their ST RPG (see my review). I will convert the characters to the new format and post them as soon as I have.

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