The Stochastic Game
Ramblings of General Geekery

These past couple years I’ve been writing “timetables” for my convention one-shots, so I can better manage pacing and not get rushed at the end. Here’s the one I have for Delta Green’s Operation FULMINATE. Comments welcome!

Delta Green Operation FULMINATE Introduction (00:05) •Social presentations, make name signs •One break or two? Content Warnings? •Who knows about Delta Green? ◦“Call of Cthulhu meets X-Files” ◦Deadly, the truth is often costly or inaccessible ◦BRP-based, percentile dice, etc. Characters (00:10) •Let people pick their character •They can change the gender/backstory/etc. •SAN rolls, Willpower, Bonds, etc. •Remember this is a convention game: ◦We don’t know the difference betweenyour character and yourself. Telegraph your roleplaying. ◦The adventure is straightforward! •Pick a Delta Green cell letter (E to V), pick a codename. Mission Briefing (00:20) •Case information, time limit •Reiterate mission orders Trailhead Ranger Station (00:30) •General area information, lake, trails, dam,ranger station, etc. •Meet the Rangers, meet Brandon •Foreshadow the strangers Freeform Investigation (01:00) •Explore the trails, look for the strangers, fight some zombies, etc. •Brandon has powers? •The rainstorm gets worse! Break (02:00) •Check-in with the players Showdown at the Station (02:10) •Try to get everybody back to the station before night •Brandon’s parents arrive? •The strangers attack? Outro (3:45) •Wrap up, answer questions

∞

My plans for @KamCon are coming into focus: I’ll be running Delta Green (Operation FULMINATE, plus two “demo games” of LAST THINGS LAST), and Call of Chtulhu (my own scenario The King’s Daughters). Also somehow I’ll be a guest on two panels, for some reason?

∞

This week is the last game before everybody in my Friday group is back from summer holidays and we can resume our Pendragon campaign (Uther period!) I’m lazy, so we’ll probably just play through another one of the Dragonbane adventure sites we didn’t get to before.

Dragonbane Misty Vale map (cloth version) along with the booklets and boxed set.

∞

Found some rhubarb jam in Squamish this week-end… One of my life rules is “if there’s rhubarb in it, I’ll buy some”!

Two jars of rhubarb jam, supposedly made in France.

∞

I love walking the dog this time of year because he leads me to all the places where I can get a face full of spiderwebs

The good fluffy boy looking all happy

∞

One of my movie obsessions is anything to do with time travel, time loops, and other time shenanigans, but I’m running out of stuff to watch, so hit me up with your best, preferably obscure or underrated time-fuck movies and TV series!

A shot from the movie “Triangle”, one of my favourite time loop movies.

∞

Based on the first few comments on my recent piece on Glorantha’s “lore baseline”, I added some clarifications to the article! I hope it helps…

∞

My Dragonbane players finally beat Dead Eyes Cave! One of them was one roll away from death, but the other two made judicious use of their heroic abilities and spells. Getting to the monster’s last 2 HP was quite dramatic!

Quote of the game: “did you blindfold the chicken?”

Three cultists of Sathmog, blindfolded. My players killed them without any remorse. I tried to make them feel bad about it by saying that, technically, the cult of Sathmog has been the traditional faith of the Misty Vale for the past couple centuries, and that the players are enacting colonialist persecution against it... they didn't want to hear it :D

∞

It’s blackberry season! Go around your neighbourhood and pick a bunch! Remember to taste before taking: some bushes are more sour than others. AFAICT, the more sun exposure (such as south-facing bushes), the sweeter the taste (but I need to look into it properly)

Some blackberries. More picking tips: if the berry doesn't naturally detach with a gentle tug, it's not ripe yet and you can leave it for later!

∞