Getting Started With: Reaper Bones

 

Welcome back to Getting Started With, a series where I talk about how to begin with some of the stuff in the hobby.

This week, I'm going to talk about how to get started with Reaper's plastic Bones line of miniatures. While I only have direct knowledge from my experiences with their first Kickstarter, I'll do what I can.

Step One: Figure Out What You Need Them For

This is kind of important as Bones are good for some things but not for others. If you haven't taken a look at them yet, Bones have integrated bases. Some of these are cool, others aren't, and they're not usually round. If you're going to use them for wargaming, you probably want to look at either cutting the bases off or using poster putty to put them on empty bases.

Now, if you're using them for RPGs, that doesn't matter as much. So long as they stand up, you're good. However, not all of the integrated bases are large enough for the footprint they'll have on a gaming mat. A little bit of cardboard and some glue will fix that.

Personally, I use my Bones for RPGs. Since there's such a wide selection and they're fairly cheap, you can find one for just about any high fantasy character and monsters that would appear in your games. Most of the lower level monsters like Kobolds, Goblins, and Zombies come in packs of at least two miniatures, making building up a horde of them inexpensive and easy.

While I mostly use my Bones for RPGs, I have used them for things like Frostgrave, and they work pretty well for it.

Step Two: Ordering

Since we've got a bit of a problem going on in the world right now (note: this is being written in the early part of 2021), going to a store and picking some up might not be possible. So, if you're looking to pick up a few and see how they work, don't be afraid to add a few to an order, especially if you need a certain amount for free shipping. In case you don't know, Reaper offers free shipping AND a free miniature for orders over $40. Just something to think about.

Step Three: Prepping and Cleaning

Now, you've got your little plastic folks and you're looking them over when you discover that a sword or arm of staff is bent. This is pretty common, due to the nature of the materiel. If you look online, you can find videos showing you how to fix them. I've done it myself and I can tell you it's really simple. I take a metal bowl and fill it with water and ice. Then, I set a small pot of water to boil. Once its boiling, I dip the miniature in the water using a kitchen tool (a slotted spoon will work) and hold it in the water for a few seconds. Usually, the miniature will bent back into shape on its own and I just drop it in the cold water to have it set. If it doesn't bent back on its own, I use a fork to bend it back in the boiling water and then hold it in place after dropping it in the cold water. For the most part, this works and doesn't need to be done again. I do have one or two that got bent badly and it just doesn't stick. This is almost literally one out of a hundred.

The nice thing about doing this is that it cleans the miniatures for you as well as fixes them. If they're not bent, cleaning is easy. I use a tiny spot of dish soap (or hand soap), warm water, and a soft toothbrush. Just run it under the faucet, add a drop of soap, and scrub for a few seconds. You do this to clean off any dirt, grit, and mold release that might be left on the model. If you're brand new to miniatures, you'll need to do this for all of them that you buy. Especially these days.

Step Four: Paint Those Bad Boys. And Girls. And Others.

Unlike most other miniatures on the market (I think only Wizkids and one other company do something like this), these miniatures DO NOT need to be primed. Reaper, of course, makes a line of paint that is designed to be used on Bones but most other paints can be used. If you really don't want to shell out the cash, I'm sure you can use craft store paints. I use a mix of old Reaper paints, new Games Workshop, and old P3 paints and they work just fine. You just have to keep your paints a little thicker than you would normally. And you don't have to worry about details because the Bones materiel doesn't hold them as well as other plastics and metals. At some point in the future, I'll try to do some side by side pictures myself but I'm sure you can find a ton only. The loss of detail between Bones and metals isn't huge, just so you know.

And that's about it. I really do recommend Bones, both normal and the newer Bones Black line, to learn how to paint and deal with miniatures, if you've never done it before. For $3-6 for a single miniature, it's a great price and a quality product.

Mastering The Game: Session Zero

 Welcome back to “Mastering The Game” where the rules are only guidelines, unless you say so.

Today, I want to talk about having a “Session Zero” when you start your game? What's a Session Zero? Well, that's kind of pre-game session, before it starts proper, and you sit down and discuss the game, the characters, and all that good stuff. Make sense?

Now, I'm going to be up front and say I don't usually do a session zero, as you might have seen me mention elsewhere. Why? There's a few reasons for that. When I start preparing for a game, I usually make some notes, figure out what kind of game I'm looking to run, be it a pre-made adventure/setting or something totally original, and think about who I want to play. You see, not every player wants to play every game. I know some people who can't handle horror and some who love it to death. That means I think about who I want to play. Once I've figured out what kind of game I'm going to play, and who's going to be in it, I can usually figure out what kinds of characters to expect. Knowing your players is important. After all of that is done, then I sit each player down, talk about the game and what kind of character they want to play, and build their character with them, one on one. I find that this works best.

But what if you don't know your players all that well? That's why some people do a Session Zero. Someone I know will have a meeting with everyone and have the same conversation I do, but in a group setting. He also plays a few different card and board games to see what kind of players they are and how they work together.

 

While I respect this way of doing things, it isn't for me. I prefer to do things on that one on one setting. It really helps me figure out what kind of player they are and what kind of character they want to make. I also think it helps for new or shy players feel comfortable with me and the game. Sometimes, players want to have secrets from the rest of the party, so this allows them to do that without having to worry about someone overhearing it.

One reason I don’t want to do a Session Zero is because, we already have everyone together, and once the characters are done, why don’t we just play? Some people are up for that but some aren’t. They just expected to roll up and make their characters, not ready to play yet. That happened in a game I was in and it went sideways fast. I’ve also had the reverse happen, where I was ready to play but no one else was because they put off making characters until the last minute so I spend hours twirling my thumbs. You really should make sure to communicate exactly what you’re expecting, if you are or aren’t doing a Session Zero.

So, if I don’t do a Session Zero, what do I do instead? I usually pick a canned/pre-made adventure to kick things off. In Deadlands, I’ve used Comin’ Around The Mountain with almost every group I’ve run because it’s a perfect introduction to the world and gives the Marshal and players plenty of room to get adjusted to the game. For D&D and the like, there’s several adventures you can use to introduce everyone. When I played Pathfinder for a couple of games, we started in prison. It gave us a reason to be together and let us get to know each other, without having to start in an inn or tavern. Now, there’s a reason why so many games start in a tavern: it’s a place where lots of different people, but especially adventurers, end up at some point or another. It also gives the DM a lot of NPCs to have running around that can interact with the characters. Just… Don’t try to find a dark corner for your character to brood in. If you’re doing it, for irony or not, your character will die in my game. By falling rocks. Guess the tavern owner needs someone to fix the roof.

What are some alternatives to starting the characters off instead of a tavern? A guild hall, one for adventurers if possible, is a great place to start. Even if the characters aren’t part of the guild, they could be looking for people to do something for them, like transporting or escorting something. There’s also being on the road and seeking shelter from a storm together. That’s a good one if you have veteran players, as they’ll get the introductions done for you. There’s also working on a caravan, which can work for a variety of settings. A train, as I mentioned for Deadlands, also works for urban horror or cyberpunk, as a lot of people take subways in cities. Having characters on vacation can be used in a lot of things, allowing for people from a lot of different places and classes to meet. I was once in a Slasher Flick game that was set on a cruise ship and it was perfect. Think about movies and comics and video games, and don’t be afraid to steal shamelessly, because you don’t have to be completely original, just original enough.

 

One other thing I tend to do, having run a lot of games, is skipping over the character introduction parts with experienced players. They’ve done it quite a few times, and usually have a good sense of their characters, so I don’t need to do it. They’re here to play the game and that means they’ll know to work together (as I tend to weed out terrorists pretty quickly) so I can let them move a little faster. In a Rifts game I was running on Discord, I had them be a group of mercs on their way to Mexico. To gloss over the introductions, I started them when they were arriving, having them know each other from the journey there. Quick and easy. And since they know what they’re doing, they were able to get into character and start playing them in short order. Of course, it was still herding cats, but that’s the job you signed up for when you took the job of being a DM or GM.

Of course, you have to consider the genre and setting of the game you’re playing, as well as the themes you’re using, when kicking things off. If you use a typical “you all meet in a tavern” set-up, it tells players that you’re probably going to be doing a “murder hobo” campaign. The first session, the first REAL session, is the most important for setting the tone of the game and it’s another reason why I don’t do a Session Zero. If you spend time during Session Zero setting up your theme and tone, while trying to herd all of the cats, it might get through to them. If you do what I do, get your rough game concept ready, then work on helping people make their characters fit, you can get right to the good stuff. Momentum is critical in the first few sessions, so having them take time to do all the introductions and all that can slow it down. I do, however, suggest setting aside some time at the start of the first session for introductions and screwing around. As the game continues, I have someone go over what we’ve been up to, and still give them that time to do some smoking and joking. 

So, yeah. There’s my thoughts on Session Zero. I could probably go on more about it but I’m starting to ramble. If you want me to talk more about it, let me know.

Blast From The Past: Star Trek The Next Generation RPG

Space, the final frontier...

If you haven't noticed, I'm a big fan of Star Trek. I grew up on The Next Generation, loved Deep Space Nine, and watched Voyager. I've seen every movie made. I've even tried to watch Enterprise. Which was harder to tolerate than the Animated Series until the last two seasons. I haven’t seen too much of the newer series, except the first season of Discovery.

Yeah, I'm a fan.

And there's been quite a few attempts to bring the setting into the tabletop gaming world. Some have been more successful than others. I talked about the Star Fleet Battles universe a while back but today I’m going to talk about something a little more recent. That doesn’t mean current, however.

In the late 1990s, a company called Last Unicorn Games got the license to make RPGs based on the Star Trek universe, and created games for The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine. They were going to release one for Voyager but something happened with Decipher getting the license (which makes sense as they were the ones who had been producing the CCG) and the book was never released. Even though they didn’t have the license for long, they did produce a lot of books for TNG and DS9.

The system used for this game is very dramatic and story-driven, rather than the cold hard mechanics of GURPS or d20 system. Instead, you have a very simple system based around die pools of d6s. The Narrator (as the GM is called) picks a difficulty and you roll dice equal to the stat associated with the skill and then add your skill level to the highest die rolled. So, if you make a 3d6 test, get a 3,2,4; you would add the four to your skill level to see if you succeed. It reminds me of Deadlands, which had come out not long before this game. You also need to have a “drama die” which a different color than the rest of the dice rolled, as it can help or hurt you. Now, when it comes to initiative, things get wonky. You would roll initiative based on the skill you’re probably going to use, like unarmed combat for a fist fight, phasers if you’re going to shoot it out, but I can see problems already. People can change their minds as the round progresses or people can try to power game by using one skill for the initiative roll and then “changing their mind” when it comes to the combat roll. There is a way to change it up but it isn’t much better. 

When you make your character, the first thing you do is pick a “Template” which is really your character’s race. It gives you your stats (Fitness, Coordination, Presence, and Psi, which all have Edges associated with them) as well as some basic skills and typical Advantages and Disadvantages. There’s the more common Star Trek races in the core book; you’ve got your classic Vulcans, Tellerites, Andorians, and Humans, and the common ones in the TNG era of Betazoid, Bolians, and, then the Centaurians, which are a common part of “beta cannon” from the books and comics. Once you get your Template figured out, then you get to pick an Overlay. The Overlay is your character’s occupation and training, things like Science, Command, Security, Operations, and so on. They even have one for Ship’s Councilor. All of these will give you more skills and maybe some more Advantages. Once those are done, you do your character’s Background. The TNG book assumes that you will be playing a Star Fleet officer, so it’s all about your days at the Academy and tours of duty. These can be picked or you can spend some points to build your own. With that all out of the way, you’re pretty much done. There’s some math you have to do but you’re ready to go. Now, if you want to play a non-Federation character, you’re going to need the DS9 core book, which I will be getting to soon.

But, what else does this game do? Well, if you’re going to play Star Trek, you have to be ready for some space ships shooting at each other and the like, so there’s rules for that, too. Like many other games that include space ships (and especially Star Trek stuff), you have to manage power for the ship, dedicating percentages to weapons, engines, life support, and all that other technobabble you’ve heard when consoles start exploding on the bridge. If you want to play the bridge crew of a Star Fleet vessel, your group can pull it off, with everyone having something to do. The captain can make support rolls, the poor sap at Ops directs power, Tactical can shoot, the Helm officer makes rolls to move the ship, etc. If you are going to do this, you want to have a good group that’s worked together before and can handle disputes, as well as working on a plan each turn. I do think this is can be cool, with the right people. Besides, if you’re going to be Star Fleet officers, you want a star ship. And that means you have to get into a fight.

In the core book, there’s an overview of the major races, locations, and some monsters you can use. In addition to stuff we’ve seen in the show, there’s some from “beta canon” or the books and comics that have been made, as well as some stuff they wanted to throw in.

All in all, this captures the spirit of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It’s about noble Star Fleet officers going around the galaxy, exploring strange new worlds and encountering new civilizations. It’s not perfect but it does a fair job of what they set out to do. If it had been given more time, I think it would have been much bigger. They explored the Romulans in a boxed set, something that hasn’t been done too many times before, as well as some source books for the Andorians, Vulcans, a boxed set for the Klingons, books with new planets to explore, and even a source book for Section 31.

If you like this one, let me know. I have several source books, including some that were released as PDFs by one of the creators. And, yeah, Deep Space Nine will be soon, promise.

Let's Review: After the Bomb (second editon)

What is it?:

After the Bomb is a post-apocalyptic RPG from Palladium Games originally designed to be part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game line but was spun off into its own thing when they lost the license.

The setting:

As I just said, this game begins some 80-100 years after the end of the world. The end of the world happens some hundred years in the future, so it’s maybe 200 years from now. If you’re hearing echos of Rifts, you’re not the only one. Anyway. The end of the world happens during a point in the future where most diseases and such have been eliminated and animals have started to be mutated to be better pets and the like. Well, some little jerk released a disease that just started wiping people out (which is way darker in the post-2020 present) which led to a limited nuclear exchange and the end of the world as we knew it.

Now, some decades (or century) later, humanity is almost gone. In its place is a full of mutant animals and insects instead. Of course, there’s group of human supremacists that have loyal mutant dogs (but without the coll skull motif on their equipment) in America, surrounded by several mutant animal nations. The core book is centered around the east coast, but other source books explore the west coast, the Yucatan, the UK, and Australia. There’s also a joint source book for Rifts and AtB that takes place IN SPACE!

The system:

The system is the typical Palladium system, with all the flaws I’ve already gone over. While this book doesn’t use OCCs, I’m sure you could add them. The one thing that this second edition of the game is make really good and unique mutant animals. There’s plenty of normal things you’d expect; things like cats, dogs, weasels, alligators, birds, and the like. Then, there’s “Chimeras” and “Purebreeds.” Chimeras are animals that are a blend of two (maybe more) animals we see in nature. Some of these are just made by having animals interbreeding but the more terrifying thing is that the majority were based on things we’re made in reality or would make, if given the chance. The most horrific of these is the “Spider Goat” Chimeras. Based on something we already do (splice in spider DNA into goats so we can harvest spider silk from their milk, look it up), these ones take the cake for the most extreme. Then, there’s flying pigs. Because you know someone would do that if they could. Meanwhile, Purebreds happen because of natural selection in this hard world and can only “bred true” (meaning both parents have to be the same thing). Some these are also stupidly powerful, like the Pixie Bobcat, who can teleport 1 mile. And then there’s the Pleasure Bunnies, which you know we’d do, if given half a chance…

Using the BIO-E system, you can make a mutant animal that can be anything from normal looking with massive mental powers to a mutant animal that’s almost impossible to tell apart from a normal, unmutated human. You can spend these points to increase the mutant’s size (or gain them by reducing size), keep vestigial traits both good and bad, give them full bipedal motion, hands, speech, and looks, and give them psionics. The original mutant animal rules are from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and were not nearly as in-depth as these, which carries over into the source books, as well as the mutant hero rules in Heros Unlimited.

The one thing this system also has is a very low key Psionics system compared to the others. You don’t have to keep track of Psionic “mana,” instead just having a limited amount of time it can be used or uses per day, at most. You could introduce the normal Psionics system into this game, if you really want to.

Is it worth it?:

As with all Palladium games, this is another “Maybe.”

If you already own Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, or even Ninja & Superspies, you might want this as a source book, just for the mutant animal character creation rules. Since it doesn’t have the typical OOC/RCC system, it fits seamlessly into one that already does, since you can make your mutant and then take a class of your choosing. If you don’t have those other games, you can probably skip it. While it is a playable game, the setting feels very bolted on, with very few details. You need to download the map pack online (which is free) to understand where things are. If you want to explore the world, you need those books, as well as some issues of The Rifter. And the source books are using the first edition rules, not nearly as comprehensive as the second edition ones, meaning you’re going to want to fiddle with them before playing.

And, yes, there’s a very strong element of furry stuff in here. I won’t deny it, there’s no point. If you’re in that community, this might just be the game for you. Just don’t try to force it onto others, okay?