Boomers!

Let's talk about Smokefall Ridge.

Specifically, let's talk about settlement patterns in the Territory.  Although our settlements are entirely fictional, it is entirely likely that they could have existed.  All that would have been required is a little bit more industrial exercise by the intruding settlers, such as we have explored in our game.

Even the term "Boomer" (as we are so fond of in Oklahoma, for some reason) would not be "too" anachronistic.  After 1870, non-native settlers began to pile into the Indian Territory.  In fact, at this place and time more whites lived in the Territory than Indians.  Studies have put the number of illegal 'intruders' at about 35,000...while the legal non-native settlers numbered over 100,000.  Contrast that number with the 67,000 - 71,000 natives believed to be living in the Territory and you start to get the picture.

In 1879, members of the so-called "Boomer Movement" attempted to enter the Unassigned lands in defiance of government treaties with the natives.  They believed it was public property and open to settlement.  Officially, settlement of the Unassigned Lands didn't begin until 1889, but in other parts of the Territory it is entirely possible that some small settlements could have been completely overlooked until that time...especially in the World of Darkness.

The University of Oklahoma adopted "Boomers" as their team in 1895 (Sooners in 1908).  The Boomer Movement first started in 1879, and was illegal.  The first "land rush" was 1889.

The first organized football game in the Territory was in 1896.  Statehood was 1907.  Wrap your head around those dates, and lets put them in order.

• 1865 - End of American Civil War
• 1870 - Rebuilding of the Nation draws more people to the Territory.
• 1876 - Smokefall Ridge, Current Year (~35,000 'intruder' settlers in the Territory)
• 1879 - Beginnings of Boomer Movement into the Unassigned Lands (labeled Cherokee / Seminole on our map.
• 1889 - Land Rush
• 1896 - Sooners Football, baby!
• 1907 - Statehood

All this time later and we still have our priorities straight.

Our imaginary settlements of Smokefall and Primrose sit right on the border of two native sections.  The Chickasaw on the east, and the Apache / Commanche territory on the west.  One place is pretty rough, the other is rapidly beginning to approach "progress" as railroads and other infrastructure are built in the Territory.  Remember also that the settlement of Oklahoma was unique in that "instant cities" sprung up out of the ground.

Since "none" of the original Boomers (or Intruders) camps or settlements became permanent, it's easy to say they came and went with no impact.  Yet in many areas, the original structures built before statehood still stand.  Usually it's in tiny towns in rural Oklahoma...the places time never caught up to, and consequently, never reshaped them.  Anyone that lives here knows exactly what I'm talking about, and anyone who grew up here may experience negative time distortion effects if this is meditated on for too long.

So, it COULD have happened.  With a nudge here, a nudge there, anything is possible.  Just don't discount the encroaching civilization that governs these lands.  The end goal of this long, long game is this:  make Smokefall last.  It may be a tiny town in 2016...maybe even a ghost town.  Or maybe it will just be a few creepy foundations in the middle of the woods.  Maybe...a city on the interstate?  Who knows?

No Oath, No Spell (Session 8)

This session was originally recorded February 28th, 2016.

February 28th

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 14th, 1876

Lisa Holmes says she wants to go see Jakey Wales, but he's not at his house.



January 16th, 1876

Jakey Wales' horse came back into town without him.

Ms. Holmes asked for a personal memento of his and suggest we give him one more night to return.  I took his telescope.

Jakey Wales was in the woods running with the werewolves.  He met Arbalest in her demon form.  She silenced the wolves by yelling "You will bow before the supernal power of [Indistinct]!"

January 17th, 1876

I went to go see Ms. Holmes and Mr. Higgins.

Mr. Higgins is bewildered.  He said something weird is going on.  There was growling coming from the room, and I went in to find a naked Ms. Holmes tearing apart her notes.  A strange symbol was scrawled on the floor.

Turn Your Off-Season Games Into Time Capsules! (...or Something Like That)

A recent conversation with a member brought up some very interesting questions about some of the games we've supported up until this year.  We've talked before about what's coming up this year and next, but what about all the other stuff we've put time and energy into?  What EXACTLY is going down with that, and when can we get to grips with stuff for other games we're acquiring now and in the near future?

It's true we could run one-off games, but we don't really seem to enjoy that sort of thing.  A four month seasonal game requires planning though, and we've planned pretty far ahead as it is.  If anything, however, our endeavor here is a long term thing, so let's talk about it.

First, what's going on with some of those lines we've moved to the wayside, especially what we consider staples?  Some of these games have had seasonal runs before and some have not yet had their run, but nonetheless the club has acquired the materials and means to run these games.  The most trying factor is time, in all cases...so sacrifices have to be made.


Most of this has already been discussed with the club, but in some cases further decisions have been made regarding the scheduling of campaign seasons.  So let's take a look at individual sections of the vault and the plans regarding them.  Note that these plans date from the beginning of the 2015-2019 schedules, they have only been fleshed out.

Warmachine, unfortunately, is probably ending it's run as a seasonal entity here at the club.  Without a GM working the RPG angle (building the nest, as it were) and the property being run as a seasonal game it has lost momentum on the last few seasons.  In fact, this section of the vault is probably the single biggest reason we've decided to focus on what we enjoy and avoid heavily IP'd game lines.  It could be argued that the Iron Kingdoms are just another D&D setting, and we are inclined to agree.  However, the whole thing has blossomed into an IP entanglement, and here at the Wargate we're seeing a lot less inclination to buy into these sorts of things.

The other major issue is simply interest.  There has been a dearth of interest in the Iron Kingdoms for a while now, and we even ran a season or two past when we should have hung it up.  As a result, Warmachine will be phased out.  We won't be making these sorts of mistakes anymore...but remember the reason we started to look at the line in the first place.  We liked the miniatures, and they could fit in several settings with ease.  We only started looking at the game as an alternative for GW games.  Therefore, we will assimilate the collection into the various milieu for which they are most suited.  We won't be keeping as many warjacks, but there will be a few in there for the Warcastically-inclined.

Warmachine Status - ASSIMILATED

Dead Man's Hand was at the center of this conversation as well.  We've been deep in the weird west for a few months, but we decided to narrow the budget for the remainder of the season.  Instead, Dead Man's Hand will be relegated to Time Capsule status and a new budget will be raised.  It is a dead certainty that we will be back to Smokefall Ridge again, but for now we've decided to focus on games going on right now.  That said, there are plans for more models and terrain specifically for this era, but unlike many of our other games this one will be relegated to a secondary role.  We'll put it away at the end of the season, and surprise ourselves with it again when we're ready to work on it in the future.

Dead Man's Hand Status - TIME CAPSULE

Ronin is nearly complete.  For Legend of the Five Rings gaming, we're just about set.  We have tons of models for all of the clans and many of the enemies specific to the Emerald Empire.  However, we're going to be giving this one the full treatment less than the other games.  It will be stored away until the club is ready to throw more resources at it, including terrain specific to the setting.  For now though, we'll have to wait while the GM's prepare a new long campaign.

Legend of the Five Rings / Ronin Status - TIME CAPSULE

Star Trek: Attack Wing will also have to wait it's turn.  Thanks to our Texas Chapter, we've acquired a large set for this line.  Hey...we like it...but it comes back to the thing about 'not enough time'.  We'll see where this goes in the future, but there are currently no immediate plans to put it on the seasonal schedule.

Star Trek Status - TIME CAPSULE  

Small Scale Future Warz (for lack of a better term) will describe our ongoing fascination with...just exactly that.  We recently received the fulfillment of our CAV Kickstarter pledge, and we've got a smattering of Robotech RPG Tactics miniatures as well.  We really love all those models, but that gives us a bunch of cool stuff...but really we now end up possessing three different scales.

We can disregard the IP shenanigans...but the larger problem comes from the fact that 6mm, 10mm and 15mm just don't always look good together.  There are many pieces that DO fit well with one another, and we'll have to sort through things until we find what looks good.  Further, we'll probably have to develop our own ideas for the setting no matter what ruleset we end up using.  In the coming weeks, this is sure to be a hot topic of discussion and development early on Sundays.  We'll continue to explore this in our weekly meetings until a real solution is calculated but know this - those CAV tanks are SWEET BRUH.

Future Warz Status - CALCULATING

A few last notes.  It might seem like a lot, but at some point we WILL get bored with the current schedule.  That's where the Time Capsules come in.  Currently, there are three of those, and if we begin to do one per year...either as a swap in or a fourth season...you'll see that's not the overwhelming variety and endless work it might seem to be at first.  In any case, when a game is swapped into the seasonal rotation, it's highly unlikely that any such seasonal switches will replace "Summer D&D".

Any of our project Time Capsules can be opened (or re-sealed) at any time for any reason, so long as the club is ready to begin with the associated hobby tasks.  It is also possible that one or more of these off-season games will be entirely liquidated instead of followed through on, but them's the breaks.  Be sure to get to Game Days early to help steer the ultimate fates of your favorite project!