System matter... sometimes.

Hey there… It’s been a bit so I thought I’d let folks in on what’s been going on in my mind in terms of gaming.

I ran Iron Gauntlets for the CU Run Club, a group of GMs who get together and run games for each other so they can at least play in something. It was a freaking disaster. On first glance, the game looks good. The rules and skill resolution are fairly simple and relatively solid. My problem came when combat was happening and one of the players scored a hit upon the attacking critter. Looking at the stats for said critter I found there was no indication on what the Toughness/Armor rating for the critter was. Perusing the Bestiary section of the rulebook further, I noticed that NONE of the critters had Toughness/Armor ratings listed. I grew frustrated and killed the run. A few days later, after I had calmed down from it all, I looked again thinking I had missed something in frustration. Nope. Thus ends my love affair with Iron Gauntlets, a game I so very much wanted to love.

On a related note, one of events I am running for Winter War was originally slated to use Iron Gauntlets as the system. That’s been changed and said event will now be run in Savage Worlds. Problem solved.

Speaking of Winter War, I’ve made a major decision. For the most part, from this year forth, I will no longer run events in any system that is not of my own devising. There might be an occasional foray into something, like Feng Shui, but nothing on a consistent basis. Why? I’m not entirely sure to be honest. Part of it is that I am growing weary of pimping work other than my own. Most of the companies whose games I’ve run for various conventions usually screw the pooch in reciprocating the favor in regard to prize support for the convention. If the convention isn’t going to get any support for effectively advertising a game, then why bother running games in that particular system? Fun? Well sure, fun is the objective of most games, but (and this will sound VERY arrogant) I could run a fun role-playing game session in practically ANY well-written game (IG does not count). Hell, I could probably pull off a good event using freakin’ Tiddly-Winks as the task resolution mechanic if I truly felt the urge to do so. Hence, in the future beginning with Winter War 2008 and beyond, y’all will be subjected to products of my own imagination. Enjoy.

peace… RHM