Unknown Armies Episode 11

So... that didn't go as I expected.

Sigh.

Let me tell you a story. Back in 1995, I was asked to GM a game of Vampire: the Masquerade at the local engineering college. They were all members of a local RPG group who really wanted to play this hot new game but didn't have anyone to run it for them. I was active on the various World of Darkness mailing lists at the time (ah, mailing lists. How 90s) and someone saw I was in their area, said "Would you like to run for us?" and I was all "Sure!"

So I showed up and saw that most of them had made their characters. OK, cool. I get an idea of who they are and what kind of characters they're running. I start an introductory scenario where they, newly made vampires, present themselves to the head vampire of the city (the "Prince" in V:tM lingo) and meet the local clan heads (movers and shakers of power). Then I say to them, "OK, what do you do next?"

I was met with blank stares. Apparently the idea that they, as player characters, should have goals and motivations was foreign to them. They wanted to be told what to do. They wanted to given a quest, go do it, then come back and get a reward and another quest.

They were D&D players in a very NOT D&D game. I was frustrated by this and tried to make it work, but I failed. I was told by one of them (who was a good friend of mine for many years after) that I was expecting a "very advanced form of roleplay" from them.

I feel like that's what is happening in this game. I put the players in a strange place, and instead of trying to blend in, lie low and figure out why they are there, they fight it and do their best to opt out of the scenario. I think you can hear it in my voice as I die a little bit inside in what is supposed to be the climax of the scenario.

Honestly, the only thing I thought was successful was when they (probably unwittingly) crafted an ad-hoc ritual to pull them back to Texas. They technically shouldn't have been able to do that without a magickal charge, but at this point I was basically "Oh thank goodness, they're actually working together and engaging in ritual symbolism" and I decided it was better to reward them for desirable behavior rather than drag out an obviously unfun and unhappy scenario for purposes of rules.

I don't really know what to do. These are D&D players in a very not-D&D game, and I don't know if I can change this game to suit their playstyle without eliminating the elements that make it fun for me to run.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 10

I want to assure my listeners of a few things:

• I didn't suddenly decide to run a Star Trek game instead of Unknown Armies. 
• There's a reason why this happened. However, like all good UA stuff, it's never initially apparent. The PCs might find out why it happened, or they might not. 
• There's actually reasoning and a pattern going on here, although it's difficult for my players to see. 

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 9

More weirdness at UT Austin and the PCs are beginning to wonder just what exactly is going on and what they've gotten caught up in.

My biggest criticism of this game is about myself: we're using the Unknown Armies rules and setting, but it doesn't feel like a UA game to me. I feel like I'm not giving an authentic UA experience, mainly because I just can't seem to express the theme and flavor of UA that I get from the books and so I end up with creepy weirdness instead.

It's hard to describe what that theme and flavor ought to be, because if I knew specifically what was wrong I think I'd be able to fix it. The best I can do is say that when I read UA, there is a very distinct flavor to it,  like maybe a Hunter Thompson novel but with magic instead of drugs, and I can't seem to evoke that flavor. It instead feels like a bunch of normies walking around going "Huh? What?"

I'm trying to give them a taste of Power And Consequences, but -- probably due to inexperience with the setting, or perhaps fear of getting screwed by the GM, they aren't grabbing it by the throat. So instead they're just trying to understand all the Weird Shit going around as other people do their thing, and it feels a lot more like a World of Darkness RPG only with fewer monsters. Or perhaps a Ken Hite conspiracy game but with magic.

Eh, I'm probably overthinking this. As long as my players are having fun and keep coming back, that's the important thing. I just wish I could shake this feeling that I am doing it wrong and if I could only figure out this one thing, it'll be the game that I want to run.

Anyway, here's the audio. General NSFW warning, mainly for language.

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 8

Hopefully the weirdness is building as the PCs investigate UT Austin and realize that not all is as it seems on campus.

Now that Weer'd Beard is a player (although he missed this session), he's able to clean up to audio for me and reduce the dead air. So a track which used to be 2:46:18 is now 1:55:13. That's much better, both in terms of storage space and listener frustration.

In time I'll go back and correct previous episodes.

Oh, I almost forgot: there's swearing in this one (and, I think, in all previous episodes, but this one specifically had a player ask me to put up a warning) so consider it NSFW.

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 7

This is a "building" episode. I've realized that my PCs simply aren't proactive and need to be told "This way towards the adventure", so I have accommodated them by having their reward from last week being "Here's the adventure, go do it, you'll learn stuff."

I also added a new player to the group:  my podcast co-host Weer'd Beard. He's been enjoying listening to these episodes (in fact, I think he might be the ONLY person who listens to them) and wondering why the players didn't ask X or do Y, so I just asked him straight up if he wanted to join the game. As you can see, he said yes.

So now the players are investigating strange going-on at the campus of University of Texas, Austin. Again, I worry that I'm not properly capturing the feel of the Texas Gothic aesthetic and/or the mood of Unknown Armies. I know how those things ought to be in my head, but I'm not sure how to express them properly.

Advice is welcome from my listeners -- but does anyone else listen to this? Or am I just shouting into the void?

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 6

I know that Unknown Armies is supposed to be about "furious action and transcendental horror", but I really enjoy throwing in loads of Grand High Mystical Weird Shit at the PCs and seeing if they make any sense of it.

Unfortunately, it feels like in this case the PCs didn't have any interest in making sense of things. UA works best if the PCs are proactive, but I think I'll need to break out the Plot Whip (Hyaa! Git along, li'l PCs!) and drive them into "Do stuff or die" territory.

The really interesting thing about this session is that most of the background material is real. The Beto 2020 campaign really is ripping off the Whataburger asthetic, and there really is a profile portrait of him made in a farmer's field outside Austin. I just gave it some magickal significance.

Download Link

I'm really trying for a "Texas Gothic" aesthetic. Not sure if I'm succeeding.

Unknown Armies Episode 5

As you may have noticed, I enjoy giving my NPCs interesting voices. I might not be able to do an adequate impression of someone, but at least it sounds distinct when they speak.

I was disappointed that the evening ended when it did, but we were a player short and another one was crashing from fatigue, so it really couldn't have gone on longer.

I'm also not sure when we'll play again, since next week I'll be in Virginia giving a speech for UMW's second annual 2A Day, and the week after that I'll be in Indianapolis for the NRA Annual Meeting. So I guess sometime in May?

Regardless, enjoy the episode!

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 4

This episode is greatly abbreviated, due to my players wanting a light session involving role-playing and talking about goals instead of adventuring (which I was more than happy to give them, considering I haven't had a lot of free time due to my increased workload from mom's surgery) and then having one of those players leave after 45 minutes to go see a movie (harrumph!).

So settle back and listen to the characters introduce themselves and their backstories:

• Nick Sisu, old-fashioned gent and survivor of a supernatural attack;
• Eion (pronounced Owen) Mahoney, former Marine who's well on his way to becoming a hardened sociopath;
• Adrestia Pruitt, adrenaline junkie trauma nurse with a secret;
• and Mildred Opp -- Milly to friends, "Dred" to her students -- a middle-school teacher whose goal is KNOW ALL THE THINGS and who claims to have built the Library of Alexandria.. in a past life? in an alternate reality? The details are vague. 

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 3

This episode has a few potential titles:

• Infodump
• Wandering Jude
• Scavenger Hunt
• Just Because It Isn't Illegal or Immoral Doesn't Mean It's Not Some Freaky Shit

Unlike last week, this episode is a self-contained adventure. Episode 4 will be in 2 weeks (I'm trading weeks with my Pathfinder GM who is dealing with family issues).

Download Link

Unknown Armies Episode 2

The conclusion to the adventure I began last week!

My players enjoyed the weirdness and mindfuckery, so it looks like I'm going to be running (and recording) more episodes of Unknown Armies in the future.

Download Link

In hindsight, I probably should have had the homeless man sit bolt upright and deliver his lines right as the bus was spinning out of control, just to add to the general WTFery and to head off the expected "PCs want to murder him now" motions. Having him simply not be there when they wake up would have given them more agency than him leaving before they'd recovered their wits.

Ah well, live and learn. I've made a note of it for next time.

Unknown Armies Episode 1

So I've acquired a bit of a reputation as a weird-yet-skilled RPG gamemaster, and people frequently say things like "Your games must be a blast" or "I wish I could play with you."

Well, while I can't let everyone in the world play with me (oo-er, missus!) I can let you listen in on a game session.

Last Wednesday, I ran an adventure for the Unknown Armies RPG to fill in for my currently Pathfinder GM who's been dealing with family problems. UA is a weird, fun little game that not many people have heard about. It's an urban fantasy role-playing game that's hard to describe, so I'll toss out a few similes:

• It's the game people wanted Mage: the Ascension to be, all gritty and street level instead of high-minded and cosmic. 
• It's the game you'd get if Hunter S. Thompson wrote a Vertigo comic. 
• In the words of one of the game's writers, it's about "Power and Consequences". 
• In the words of another, it's a game about a "Bunch of skeevy weirdos trying to undermine the fundaments of reality because no one else had the brass to try it".

So yeah, that's the game. Urban fantasy with some horror and brutality and high weirdness... and I recorded our first session. I've been given permission by all of my players to make the recording public, so if you're interested in giving it a listen, here's the link to download it, or you can just hit play below.

Download Link