Let Us Speak of Economic Horror

Good Morning Folks!

It's been a tick, I know.  Sadly the Cupcake or Death Gaming Krewe have been... less than active for a bit now, due to scheduling and life.  But... there is a but, we have gamed recently and I hope to give a rundown in a future post.  With that out of the way, on to the show.

What comes to mind when you hear Economic Horror?  Zombie, right?  Damn straight!  Actually, before roughly three years ago, economic and horror weren't two words I would actively put together, mostly because people in my financial standing don't like to put such fitting labels on their life.  Then came RPPR's Caleb stokes and his plans for a game combining the horrors of the everyday grind, the mid-apocalypse, and zombies.  That day, the notion of Red Markets was unleashed into the world and the minds of RPPR fans like a fresh Vector tearing through everything it saw and apologizing the whole time.

Over the past three years or so, fans have had the opportunity to see the game take shape through RPPR: Game Designers Workshop, a podcast opting for full transparency in the art of game design.  I mean with a tag line of "Fucking up in real time," whats not to love.


Now, as of 5/23/16, the Kickstarter for Red Markets is finally live.  Withing less than 24 hour, it has almost reached 200% funding!!



Lets check out the nitty-gritty: "Red Markets is a game of economic horror, where the world has ended and the rent is still due."   A quick disclaimer: I'm going to hit on a few aspects of the game that I know about from listening to GDW, the RPPR Actual Plays of the Red Markets playtests, and from the info on the KS page.  If these peak your interest, then head on over to the KS page (and back it while your at it).

In Red Markets, player take the roll of 'Takers' in a mid-apocalyptic zombie filled wasteland once know as the United States.  Takers take jobs.  What kind of jobs, you may be asking.  All kinds of jobs: from tracking and ending a specific zombie for a family that wants to make sure dear ol' Dad isn't nomnoming on some one, to "simple" smash and grabs.
A lot of traditional RPGs put a big emphasis on a characters gear/load out, but in Red Markets your gear is more than just accessories that you can brag about to other players, maintained gear can mean the difference between making it home alive and joining the undead collective (and probably taking your whole Krewe with you).
Red Markets introduces a new (I think) dice mechanic using two ten-sided dice, on red and one black. One defines the difficulty and the other the players ability to meet the challenge; think of your bank ledger and you'll understand which you want to be higher.  The 2D10 mechanic of the Profit System isn't just used for challenge resolution, it can also generate a multitude of information from a supply/demand curve for job negotiation to the number of Casualties (zombies) in a hoard. In my opinion, I love how integrated the mechanic is with the system, and the versatility that it can provide.


 Sadly, my knowledge of the actual workings of the game as severely limited as I have only been part of the audience for the RM experience so far.  Fear not though, for if there are playtest materials for KS Baker (which I'm sure there will be), you can bet your arse that I and the Cupcake or Death Krewe will test the game happily.

There is so much more to come from this game.  I'm excited fro stretch goals and other additional
materials.  You guys just don't know how excited I am about this.


With all of that said, please go check out the Kickstarter.  Back if it meets your fancy; hell, give 'em a dollar even if it doesn't.  This game NEEDS to exist!

Okay, calming down now.

Thank you Caleb for making this game and putting so much into it.






With all of that said and done now, I ask that you all stay tuned.  The group will be returning to the modern version of Tianxia we operated in a while ago, so that's something I'm looking forward too,
And as always Stay Frosty.

P.S. Caleb, if you read this, please forgive the poor grammar and probable over use of commas.

Years End: A Missive from the Captain

Hello one and all, your Captain here....

So I/We have been very lacking for the last few months....okay so we haven't had a post since March, my Krewe and I are sorry for that sorry for that.

This past year has had its ups and downs, and when you have the option of real and true content or just filler, you should always go for the content. So I opted to post nothing as opposed to mindless drivel that served no purpose other that to take space.I turn a hopeful eye to 2016, perhaps we can start strong and keep the momentum going.  Maybe, this will fizzle out again, I can't say for sure.

However, I can say that posting will begin anew sometime in January.  There are a few things I have an interest in commenting on.  Who knows, maybe I will include filler posts.  Then again, maybe not.

Needless to say, I hope you all had a great and grand Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrated), and we all look forward to a hope filled New Year.

As always, Stay Frosty.

Anecdote Time: Adventures with Psychedelic Grippli Sweat

Hello There Folks.


A few years ago now, I introduced my group to Old School Hack, and I have to say that all of our lives were changed.

Old School Hack is a 'hack' of a 'hack' of the old Gygax Red Box DnD by Kirin Robinson. Now, OSH is a simple game that you can run with right out of the proverbial box. It's rather rules-light and lets you invoke the wonders of old school fantasy adventures, or in our case pure insanity.
The game itself consists of seven character classes (Fighter, Magic User, Cleric, Their, Elf, Dwarf, and Goblin) and a simple 2d6 dice mechanic with one of the two dice acting as a bonus damage die. Pretty early on I started playing around with making additional classes basses on various DnD classes that have existed through the lines 30 sum odd  year (at the time) run.  One such class that was created was the Grippli, these awesome little Tree-Frog Men.  I got the idea from the illustrious game designer and podcaster Ross Payton and his addition of the Grippli to the player races of DnD 4th Ed.

 One of the abilities that I gave to the Grippli class was called "Psycho Sweat."  The thought behind this was to mimic some tree frogs natural defense mechanism of secreting a poisonous or bitter coating to themselves.I decided to make it hallucinatory instead of poisonous. It was meant to be something of a utility by working like any other offensive liquid in a fantasy game, s it could be used to coat weapons, armor, etc..

With that info dump out of the way, on to the actual anecdote.

The adventuring party in this instance consisted of a female Fighter, a heavy metal Cleric, a bright eyed Grippli named Skippy, and the worst Mage ever (he modeled his character after Superfluous from Journey Quest).
I set up each adventure using a floating island here heroes and adventurers gathered and used as a hub for compiling parties.  If a party took on an adventure, then each member would sign an adventure log.  At the time of signing for this adventure the Mage, having been drug along, signed as "FuckingSaveME," instead of his actual name.  From that point onward, that's the only way the Cleric would refer to him.
Fast forward to about mid dungeon. The party had just completed an encounter with monsters that escape my memory, The Mage, as per his players portrayal, continuously defamed himself and acted in a cowardly way,  even though he killed the last monster with a jet of pressurized milk . I approved, because I knew what he was going for and everyone else was enjoying the interaction.  In an effort to cultivate confidence in his comrade the Grippli offer his hand to the Mage for a high-five (in person and in game).  As soon as their hands smacked, I heard in a quick yell for the Grippli's player: "PSYCHO SWEAT!"
In that moment we all just stopped.  All the side chatter died because everyone was starring at the Grippli with agape mouths, the Mage started to giggle.
From there I let the Mage describe his hallucination.  Instead of a terrifying psychedelic trip that we were all expecting, he chose to have the best damn trip ever.  The world was no longer big and frightening, the world was now his bitch. At this point he charged ahead of the party taking random doors and shrugging off any ill effects he was encountering.
Then he found the Purple Monkey Knight.  That's right, a big purple monkey with a visored knight's helmet and swinging a big damn sword.  The Mage and the Monkey Knight traded blows for a good two or three rounds with neither hitting or doing much damage, then the Mage critted.....on everything. He maxed out both die and proceeded to beat the Monkey Knight to death with his staff.
After the combat, his high wore off and he collapsed under his cowardice again.

The entire scene was amazing, there was so much laughing, and I was struggling to actually GM instead of crying due to laughter.

To this day, I'll forever love Old School Hack.  I'm a big fan of the absurd and ridiculous a good chunk of the time, as that's part of my fun.  When I run OSH for my Krewe, I make it deliver.


Hopefully all you good folks reading this enjoyed that as much as I still do.  I'll try and drudge up some more stories from my gaming past to share in the future.

In the mean time, Stay Frosty, Folks.


Old School Hack is a free PDF game by Kirin Robinson that you can download HERE, if your interested. Have fun!

Working Title: TianXia "Modern"

Hullo again Folks, The Cap'n here.

So on our most recent game night the Cupcake or Death gang started up a game of Tinaxia.  You might remember this game from such illustrious posts as: the previous post.

Now, before I get too far into discussing the initial interactions of our Jianghu heroes, I want to mention the liberties that I/We took with the setting. The stock setting is a mythical version of historical China, all we did was move the setting into a more modern age.  There's still an Emperor calling the shots and he still has eunuchs and officials / courtesans that want all that glorious power. Jianghu still wander around, and bandits and ruffians still need punching by said Jianghu.  All we did was give the world of Shenzhou a different color paint job.

The story begins in Feng-Boa city, the third largest city in the Jiangzhou province.  In matching the fictitious cities to the scale of real world cities, I equated the empires capitol as being roughly the size of Tokyo with the emperors palace being a miniature city within, similar to how Vatican City works within Rome. The capitols of the surrounding provinces would vary in sizes depending on the setting future material or personal preference later on.  I decided that the capital of Jianzhou, Bao Jiang was roughly the size of Seoul with most all other cities being smaller.
Now we come to my creation for the budding campaign, Feng-Bao City. Roughly the size of Toronto, with a currently undecided number of districts. Two districts were the focus: the Arts district, which was home to artists and many that desire a Bohemian lifestyle with little resistance from those surrounding them, and the southern slum of the Walled city which is modeled after the concept of the Kowloon Walled city.  

Beginning the session in the Arts district, we meet the blind swordsman, Princess in Cloud a resident on the top floor of the Wukong's Landing apartment building. We then moved to the Walled city to discover the the transient possessing a near constant state of inebriation, Xisheng and his accomplice/pillow at the time Dasheng.  From his closet sized squatters quarters he makes his move to start the day in the only way he would ever consider, in a wine house. For the sake of narrative, the chosen wine house rests across the street from Wukong's Landing.

Due to her extraordinary sense of smell and hearing, mostly smell though, she discovers the drunkard performing for the entertainment of the wine house denizens.

From this chance meeting, Xishen is granted a bath and new clothes, to his disapproval.  Following this, a high stakes game of Pinyin (Go in Japan) which results in Xisheng loosing three days worth of his time to Cloud.

We then find out the reasoning for Xisheng's lost time, the Princess in Clouds desires of change of scenery.  She has recently detected the signs of her fathers household, and desires to avoid her possible discovery.  Thus the move to the Walled City was facilitated.

To culminate the move the Jianghu were the subjects of an attempted accosting at the hands of four degenerate residents seeking to relieve the two of their valuable and/or virtue.  The ruffians stood zero chance.

The session drew to a close with Xishing finally finding out that Cloud was blind once a thug had observed it, humorously after Xisheng's repeated attempts to discern this fact throughout the session.


So there you have it folks.  a quick summary o the events of what I'm tentatively calling TianXia Modern.  I'm still working on the name.



With all of that, I wish all of you dear readers a good day.

Stay Frost

I'm Feeling a Bit Wuxia

Hello there Folks it's The Cap'n here.

And I would like to a moment to talk to you (yes, you there with the hair and the face) about your saviors Fong Sai-Yuk, Wong Fei-Hung, and even Pai Mei (if your into that sort of thing).

I know, I know Pai Mei is anything but a savior.  He's more the type you need to be saved from, and as Kill Bill taught us "Pai Mei hated Caucasians, Japanese and Americans, in addition to being contemptuous to women."

Kill Bill and Executioners from Shaolin aside, lets get this show on the road.

Today we're gonna be chatting about a little game Called Tianxia: Blood, Silk & Jade, powered by FATE Core.
The world has been introduced to Tianxia: Blood, Silk & Jade thanks to a successful Kickstarter by Jack Norris that wrapped up on 11.18.13.

Per the 'History Of' section of the Kickstarter, Tianxia, or Four Kingdoms as it was originally titled, started out in 2000 with its own system that bore similarity to Robin Laws' Feng Shui. The game was play tested and ready to go. Saddly the funding and time needed to get it released wasn't there, so the property wasn't able to be published.  Hop and skip to 2012 the Moon, the Sun and the 108 Stars all aligned to combine Four Kingdoms, FATE Core and Kickstarter together and create TianXia.


If your familiar with the mechanics of FATE Core or any other FATE systems, then the game mechanics are fairly routine with Aspects, Skills, stunts and Refresh. Tianxia does however have its own new qualities, the 'Chi' Skill and mechanics for Kung Fu.  The mechanics for Kung fu fighting grant players a 'Form' based on their characters personal style and preference; this 'Form' work similar to an Aspect by granting a +2 to attacks for the low low cost of a FATE Point, however players can gain free invocations when their attack are successful but don't cause any sort of damage (i.e. if the opponent blocks or dodges). Techniques from the Various sub-styles can be activated in different ways, but mostly if you find yourself under specific circumstances, but these circumstances vary from technique to technique. The Chi Skill works in its own way as well.  It can be used to create an armor aspect for a character as well as allowing recovery from poison and sensing other with Chi (similar to DBZ).   Just a quick disclaimer, if I'm misinterpreting the rules, someone please tell me.


The world for players Wuxia adventures is Shenzhou, a "China that never quite was," as described by the creator Jack Norris.  If you've ever watched any of the old Shaw Brothers films, you understand what Jack is saying.  Just like most western fantasy setting are merely Britain or France with the name filed off and a hand full of other changes.

While the world for Tianxia is Shenzhou, the setting itself is the province of  Jiangzhou, the titular land of Blood, Silk & Jade.  Jiangzhou is the western province of the realm, it is also the westernmost border of Shenzhou.  Being something of a borderlands Jiangzhou can be a wild and dangerous place due to vagrants, transient, and all other means of travelers traversing the trade routs that run through the province. A perfect place for Jianghu, or warriors of the Wuxia/Kung Fu Genre.
Based on theunlocked stretch goals for future releases, the other provinces will be covered in-depth in due time.


With all of the great material in the book, I have to take a moment to appreciate the presentation.

I love this book, from layout to art and content.  It's all wonderful.
My favorite part is the section with the iconic characters portrayed in the numerous pieces of artwork spread throughout the book.  Each character gets a page or two detailing their stats, back-story and each has awesome art of the character.

They detail other NPCs throughout the setting section as well, each with the same detail that the pre-gens get, but with a slightly different focus on the artwork.  Still amazing though.

All of that thanks to Jack Norris (Content), Daniel Solis (Layout) and Denise Jones (Art)  Of course there are other involved, there always are.  I thank everyone at Vigilance Press and everyone involved with this game and its production, especially the Kickstarter backers (like myself).

===============================================================

Recently the Cupcake of Death Krewe decide to try out Tianxia.  So, our last session consisted of creating Jianghu heroes for the players.  We used a recently released tool for character creation called the Path of Destiny which, if your familiar with the idea, is a life path generator. For those not in the know, A Life-Path Generator is essential a random roll table that makes creating a character truly unique.  Using the Path of Destiny, did go the random roll rout for most of the way, but chose to pick from the available options for some of the stages.

Currently the group consists of (names may change before first session): 

Princess in Cloud - A blind swordsman from a noble house.  While thought to be an invalid by her father, who planned to marry her off as quickly as possible for a business alliance, she has made her "disability" her strength by sneaking out on numerous occasions to learn her art of Storm Dragon Kung Fu.  Currently she is traveling the world, having run away due to the repulsion that she feels toward her future husband and by extension her father.  Think Zatoichi (from Samurai film fame) combined with Toph Bei Fong (from Avatar: TLA). 

Xisheng - Serving as the sacrificial lamb for his parents prosperity, he was given over to the Cult of Bian Fu, Lord of the Black Flame. Xisheng was raised in torture by the cult, with the intention of eventually sacrificing him (like basting a turkey but with fear and pain). Finally finding the oportune moment, he escaped and ultimately found a home with a Drunken Master of Ghost Monkey Kung Fu.
Since that time he has been doing everything he can to live life to its fullest, because all the while the cult is hunting him and he will be given to Bian Fu.    Drunken Master meets Dororo.

Iron Gui - Cooking runs deep in Gui's blood.  One of the children of a prolific family Noodle restaurant, his life has given him a strong body and an even stronger sense of right and wrong.  when ruffians come calling, Gui is always there to show them the door.  While not in his blood, he has taken up the endeavor of learning Iron Crane Kung Fu to better protect those around him.  Kung Fu Panda meets Tetsu Shib from the manga Pastel. 

Tianxia mean "All Under Heaven." Quite a lofty title I know, but based on not only what has been provided but whats coming down the Silk Road, I think its appropriate.

That's been my rant about this wonderful book and such from Vigilance press. so go check 'em out.
Currently Vigilance Press has three products out for Tianxia: Blood, Silk & Jade, all of which you can find at Drive Thru RPG.



Good Gaming Folks.
And as always,
Stay Frosty

We're Not Dead..... Yet

Ahoy there Folks,

Sorry to have taken such a long .... break, yeah we'll go with break.

I'm here to take a moment to let anyone and everyone that we're still kicking and as alive as we can be.  I would say we have some awesome content coming down the pipe for you, but that'd be a damn lie.  We here at Cupcake or Death Gaming prefer to fly by the seats of our respective and collective pants and throw caution and reason to the wind.

Or something like that.

I / we will do our best to be more present in the future, and provide you with creamy table-top gaming goodness.


Now please enjoy the following video that has not been pre-selected before this entry was typed up.

Lets Talk about Genre: Cyberpunk

Good Morning Good Readers,

Before I get this whole shibaaz started, I want to take a moment to remember the now past Robin Williams.  He was damn funny and has had an influence on me since my childhood, which is something I believe I share with numerous others from my generation.  Regardless of the way or reasons for his passing, he will be missed.

Okay, now that respects have been paid, lets move to the topic at hand: Cyberpunk as a gaming genre.

To start we'll take a gander at the general "definition" of the Term: Cyberpunk is a sub-genre of science fiction in a near-future setting. Noted for its focus on "high tech and low life."

In fiction this genre, or sub-genre if you prefer, often uses tropes from detective novels and noir films. This, in my mind, seems to make Cyberpunk not only an extension of science fiction, but also an evolution of Detective/Crime fiction.  The subject matter of most stories often involve illegal gain and use of controlled paraphernalia, be it drugs, cybernetics, or even people, as well as the struggle against or within massive Mega-Corporations.  If you put all of these characteristics in a pot and stir, on average you get the following: A lone wolf type individual (often a Merc, hacker, ex-cop or even a disillusioned gang member) wading through waves of Neon monitor glow and seedy individuals while investigating either a misuse of advanced tech (drugs or actual tech) or searching for a missing person (usually a victim of misused tech), which then turns out to be the fault of a Mega-Corp.  

While Cyberpunk literature and film can be as predictable as its ancestral Noir relatives, Cyberpunk gaming can take an entirely different approach or just fall in line.
People that play in the Cyberpunk sandbox do so for various reasons, and they each have a different take on the genre. Some play up the advanced technology angle, looking at ingenious ways of re-purposing technology that is just a day away from the modern world or by exploring the consequences abusing the very same tech. Other focus on the interaction between humans in a land of Neon glow and ubiquitous WiFi (in the 80's it would be invasive wires), how do you look a people when you can know all about them in a manner or seconds, what do you do when you can't.
Personally, I dig the idea of just surviving in the strange land of insanely tall building, advanced tech and dark skies.  What do you / will you do to survive in the futuristic yet familiar urban jungle.  As was aptly said by Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian, "The streets find a use for everything."

Now for some games!

Cyberpunk 2020:
This is the granddaddy of Cyberpunk role-playing games. It's in the name after all. The first edition was originally published in 1988 as Cyberpunk 2013, two years following, the second edition Cyberpunk 2020 was released. While both games have respective year tags as part of their names, both are generally referred to as simply "Cyberpunk." The second edition not only sported a seven year hop forward, but also involved a retcon in the games timeline to accommodate real world events that took place between the two editions.
As was the mentality of the time, both editions used 80's elements such as the Glam-rock scene (Bowie), Bosozoku  styled biker gangs (Akira), and a general sense of "style over substance."
Mechanically, Cyberpunk had a focus on combat over the other aspects of the game (much like most games from the 80's). But I mean, come on, bad ass future guns and cybernetics were all the theoretical rage some 20+ years ago..... well, they kinda still are.
The primary setting (at least for 2020) is Night City, CA. located on the west coast between San Francisco and L.A.  Night City is the prototypical Cyberpunk city, towering buildings so tall that the streets see no light from the son with  neon signs illuminating these same streets. Oh yeah, and all the Mega-Corp denizens you could want in said ridiculously tall buildings.

Recently an new edition was announced along with a video game, both with no discernible release date. Hello Cyberpunk 2077.


Moving on.

Shadowrun:
Okay, so follow me on this one. Take the crunchy metallic chocolate bar that is cyberpunk, now dip it in the creamy peanut butter that is D&D. BOOM you've got Shadowrun, two great tastes that taste great together. That's right fantasy races and magic AND cyberpunk all in one special special place.

 The world of Shadowrun is somewhat similar to our own, borders have changed and so has some of the topography, but ultimately cities and countries are located where they are now abut now there are giant building and advanced tech glued onto everything. Despite the similarity in the "world" magic, elves & such, and dragons have reemerged onto the planet.  So yeah, you can be an Orc Street Mage with cybernetic prosthesis, totally wicked.

Currently Shadowrun is in it's Fifth Edition
Personally, I love Shadowrun.  It has a propensity for true insanity and as of the fourth edition, the most effective weapon in the game is a Van... That's right a van. Run some imaginary assholes over.

GURPS Cyberpunk:
Originally published in 1990, This one isn't so much a full game as it is just a tool kit rules set for doing cyberpunk in GURPS.
An interesting tidbit about this one, the original manuscript was seized by the secret service as part of Operation Sundevil, stating that the book was a "handbook for computer crime."


There are a few other cyberpunk games out there in the ether, but most all other that Shadowrun have gone by the wayside and are either hard to find or straight up unavailable, although R. Talsorian has popped back up, as I mentioned before, with Cyberpunk 2077. Too bad we have no idea when that till be released.

So there we are.  It's not the most in-depth look into Cyberpunk as genre of gaming, but I was a loo into it. Cyberpunk is one of my favorite genres, but sadly my only experience has been Shadowrun.  So I can't really tell you how amazing this game is or how much fun I had playing that one.

If nothing else, this entry will serve to expand your horizons and/or pique your interest about Cyberpunk.

If you dear reader(s) are interested here are short lists of books and movies to check out.

Film
Blade Runner (1982)
Escape from New York (1981)
Robocop 1 & 2 (1987, 1990)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Total Recall (Both, 1990 & 2012)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Dredd (2012)
Judge Dredd (1995)
The Island (2005)
The Matrix Trilogy
Ghost in the Shell (all)
Akira (1988)

Books & Graphic Novels
The Sprawl Trilogy by William Gibson
Akira (GN) by Katsuhiro Otomo
Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shiro


Here we are again, at the end of another post.
Take it easy folks.

Stay Frosty