Horrendous Hordes Arrive!

The Brotherhood of the Most Hated arrives in force to planet Nydrazom.

They are coming!

The Horrendous Hordes arrive this Sunday!  In our new Warhammer 40,000 campaign, the Imperials are on the defensive as Chaos forces pour onto the planet and threaten to overrun the lines!

I wanted to try something a little different this time, but the campaign fundamentals are all the same.  Only this time, the forces of Order start as the defenders, and the campaign is hinged on how much progress the forces attacking the planet make against the stalwart Imperials.  If the forces of Order consistently push back the attacks by the Destruction players, the planet can be saved from plunder and Chaos thrown back into the warp!  If not...only slaughter and death for the inhabitants and defenders of this idyllic world.

It will be first come first serve on Game Day, so get there early to set your defense pattern or attack vectors.  By the end of the day, all will be set and Attack Round 1 will be well underway.  This time, games are arbitrary in size, so any size force will work.  1000 points seems to be a favorite, but 1500+ games are encouraged!

We'll be using several different missions for the game itself, and we'll have a Horrendous Hordes  Mission Table on hand at the Wargate in the Battles Book.  This table will have special missions set for each tier of the attack, so missions won't get stale!  In all missions, Destruction players are attacking, so remember that when choosing army lists.

We're going to have a few new armies on the table, and everyone is excited to begin the new campaign!  Remember to check each week on the campaign page for progress on the Nydrazom Battlefront.  See you on the battlefield!

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"So it begins."


Brother Kleitos turned his head slightly to regard Brother Onisiphorous enter the open bay of the Land Raider.  The techmarine was attended by two servitors carrying gear, and nearby a servo skull interfaced with the machine-spirit of the battle vehicle.  


"We have received the order to move, Brother Kleitos.  Gather the Sword Brethren."  Onisiphorous intoned, detached as always.  "Today I ride to battle with you."


"What are our orders?" Kleitos asked, giving a hand signals to the driver and to another member of the Sword Brethren to begin embarkation procedures.  


"Intercept and destroy."  Onisiphorous interacted with the viewscreen in the Land Raider's bay, and brought forth an image of the landscape.  "Chaos forces are expected to make planetfall here," he gestured to a group of icons near the coast.  "We are to reinforce the Lumisi Armored Divisions already in place."


The Sword Brethren performed redundant weapons checks as they strapped into the transport, wordlessly preparing for battle.  Kleitos gave them a quick inspection and turned to the techmarine.


"We are ready."

Shrodinger's Doan - A Short Essay on Group Timing

Howdy folks!  Happy Christmas weekend!

Today I'm going to talk about one of the ways we can move a huge group through the stages of encounters in an RPG.  Yes, I'm going to tackle that bugbear - splitting up the group.

We have a large regular turnout here at the Wargate, and sometimes all those characters can't be doing the same thing at the same time.  Forcing that can take it's toll on your verisimilitude, but fortunately you don't have to worry about it anymore.  Using a theory I call "Shrodinger's Doan" and using the scientific principle (or at least a hollowed out idea) you too can run split groups in the same session with relative ease.

Sometimes groups become split apart by chance or misfortune, and sometimes they do it by design.  No matter how it happens, you'll eventually have to narrate actions from different groups happening in different locales but at the same point of game time.  This can happen during any narrative action, but is most prevalent during combat.

It can be jarring to have to bounce between each player as you would normally, as they are in different scenes and the setups can be very different.  Also, it sometimes leads to a lot of player confusion in a larger group that has seven or more players, and therefore actions, going on.  Therefore, I believe the best way of dealing with these sorts of situations is to deal with them entirely separately from one another with each individual group..

When one group strays from another, focus on one group above the others for a while.  Leave the others in sort of a "momentary pause", sort of like you see in movies and on television.  Something dramatic happens to one group, whose members are left at that spot ready to jump into the action from that point.  Switch to the other group and take their actions and resolve the scene, then go back to the group you left on pause.  It's really that simple, but technique issues arrive when certain questions pop up.

What happens if one group's outcome is dependent on another?  What if they need to accomplish a certain action in a certain combat round at the same time?

This answer might be hollow, but my advice is try to avoid those situations.  Try not to engineer a scenario so it's hinged on actions like this, as it can be a nightmare to run unless you happen to have a second GM and table to help with the book keeping.

It's not just the book keeping, however, that can drag this sort of thing down.  You have to maintain a steady pace of entertainment to keep the whole group engaged.  While one group is waiting, keep the immersion steady by asking members of the second group questions about their combat readiness, or any other dramatic inquiry that might engage the player in that scene.  Kind of like rolling dice behind the GM screen for no reason other than to get your player's attention.

It's ok to leave one group on cliffhanger for a few minutes while you resolve a certain set of actions for another.  In fact, you will probably have to deal with this sort of split in your group at some point.  Don't worry too much about it, and split the groups up so they can be dealt with one at a time.  If one group's goal must happen before the other, you know which group to focus on first.  If not, go with the smaller group - these can usually be dealt with as a minor "off" scene before you return to the larger group, and other players tend to have the attention span to remain interested in smaller vignettes.

I'll leave you with an short example from one of Captain Video's Hunting Humans game:

Agent Doan manned the helicopter bay's machinegun, fixing it on the guard towers and making sure they had their heads down.  There was a rocket or two, but no problem.  The rest of the team disembarked the heli as we sat it down in the middle of the compound.  In a few short seconds, the assault team was away - but we had one issue.  Who was going to stay with the chopper?


Doan volunteered, and as the assault team entered the building the guards on the compound's perimeter regained their composure and closed in on the vulnerable helicopter with Agent Doan inside.

What happens next is where the art form begins.  Remember when I said smaller groups should be done first? That's just a rule of thumb.  In this example, the action follows the assault team inside the compound.  Thus, Shrodinger's Doan - is Doan alive when the assault team returns to the chopper, or is he dead?

For purposes of the scenario above, it was dramatically superior to follow the assault team - since Agent Doan's untimely demise would definitely change the course of the mission and would have immediately prompted metagame responses - such as returning to secure the chopper.  The Storyteller decided to resolve Agent Doan's battle around the helicopter after the assault team had exited the building, out of time with the other group.  This was a longer stretch of downtime for Doan's player (me!) but in the end it was a great example of split groups.

Even though one group was like eight and the other was only one.

We're going to be in session on Christmas Day this year, so if you're in the neighborhood and want to stop by for a game or two feel free!  It's the last weekend for our Q4 game, so get in the final battles this weekend and  prepare for the New Year - which will be filled with more games than the last two combined!

We've grown a lot in the last year and a half, and we're only gaining momentum.  My sincere thanks goes out to everyone who's made that possible and contributed to our club by participating in our games.  Next year's going to be fantastic for the Wargate!

See you on Game Day!

Things to Consider About Mordor

Greetings from the Forbidden Zone!

Well, the Mordor RPG game has been going on for about 9 weeks now, and the death toll has been quite high!  We did manage to make it through a whole session without anyone getting killed, so I thought today was a good time to reflect on a few things that make adventuring in the Dark Lands a little bit - trickier, say, than the idyllic forests of the Elf Lands.

As our player characters come and go quickly here, it can be tough to get a bead on how things go.  I've noticed a few things that everyone should remember whilst delving dark secrets in the land of Mordor.

1. Everything is black, even the air.
The land of Mordor is black.  All the rocks are black.  Everyone's clothes are black.  The shadows are blacker than black, but remember - there's a lot of ash and smoke in the air at all times.  Orcs must not live very long, because if violence doesn't take them, the poisonous air of their territory would eventually cause serious problems.

2.  The Food is Scarce
There's only one place in the whole dark land where anything grows - around the Lake Nernen and it's tributaries in the far south.  Amazingly, enough is made there to feed all of Sauron's legions.  However, that doesn't mean they are well supplied.  It's insane how often these resources get misappropriated, though the threat of Sauron's wrath helps make sure everything gets done in a surprisingly orderly fashion.

Out in the field, it can be tough.  Outside of rations appropriated at the Forges, there isn't much out there.  Hunting is not really an option, because nobody wants to eat a giant spider.  Those things are rancid.  In fact, it's much easier to eat a fallen enemy - or in a pinch, a comrade or two.

3. The Water is Poisonous
Like food, water is quite scarce in the dark land.  Any free standing pools of water are probably so acidic the water would likely kill anything foolish enough to consume it.  Most drinkable water comes from underground grottos watched over by jealous taskmasters.  Also, dark terrors sometimes rise from the depths and claim a few lives before being driven off, making those very underground water holes as terrifying as they are treasured.

Lake Nernen provides fresh, drinkable water as well as it's other bounties.  Aside from carrying water from Nernen, it's advisable to make sure there are at least a few days worth of water rations for each orc, though orcs tend to drink noticeably less than men or elves.

4.  Everything and everyone hates you.
Life is rough in the Dark Land.  It's also cheap.  Swords and food are not cheap.  Therefore, you might at any given point be killed for your gear, flaps or maybe just to be eaten by starving orcs.

Everyone is a hater in Mordor.  Orcs kill each other in petty squabbles over trinkets or rights to booty all the time.  In fact, the Uruk-hai at the Forge area must patrol in full battle gear just to make sure the rabble doesn't get out of control, and they'll haul offenders off to toil away at the Forges beneath Mt. Doom.

Great care must be taken by war leaders not to ever show weakness - i.e. getting knocked unconcious, or maimed and nearly killed.  Orcs aren't known for their loyalty, and just a few flaps or the promise of a good chunk of leg can change the course of a promising warlord in a flash.  Look out for yourself, and for your gear.  Coins have a mysterious way of disappearing, along with anything else valuable, in the company of raiders from the east.

5.  The Great Eye is Upon You
There is one thing, and one thing only, that compels orcs to be as orcs.  The Great Eye, Sauron, is alive and well in Mordor.  His spirit is the will that drives the actions of the Nazgul, his undead lieutenants, and marshals the armies of evil against the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth.  His eye is real, and it's looking at you.

Shamans of Sauron's power exist in the orc clans, nearly religious demagogues who give the orcs something to look forward to.  It's sort of like church (of Doom) where Salvation is reached through domination of others.  One thing is driven into the masses - Sauron will not be denied.

Some orcs can feel the Eye more than others, in the way some Men are more spiritual than others.  Most just accept that if they step out of line, someone with a red eye design on their armor will beat them into submission.  No matter how close to their dark deity they feel, one thing is for certain - the light of they Eye can be seen and felt.  For his slaves in Mordor, there is no denying the Dark Lord's presence.  There is no escape from the pressure of his will.

That's enough out of me for today.  The playing the morally bankrupt servants of Mordor in Ruthless Raiders of the East has been an absolute blast!  Middle-Earth is one of our favorite settings, and we have tons left in store for this hapless universe!  Have fun this holiday season, and we'll try to keep the posting regular!