I wanted to let yea all know about a few games that I ran with Map Tool. Just to let you know how great of GM tool you have produced! Please bare with me it’s a long post but this is something I truly believe needs to be shared.
So Here’s the Skinny
I have been a gamer for some 22 or more years. And I have been running commercial adventures and my own creations almost as long. In that time I have learned to do things a certain way to get the most enjoyment out of my games for me and my players. My game style is fast and lose with a lot of pregen stuff and a good helping of off the cuff encounters. And I am told by my players that they love it.Now In my gaming carrier I have had quite a few groups and just as many campaigns. But I keep going back to one in particular that I have learned to run with such easy that I could almost do it in my sleep if the snoring would not get in the way! And that is Morrow Project. I love the background and the whole idea the game portrays but I hate the system so I use my other Fav Gurps to run it in.
Well the gaming group I am in now is relatively new to the Gaming world there are people in the group who have played for years but nothing but Ad&d and D20 and there is one who is a game system whore and has played every system under the sun BUT Gurps.. And None of my gamers have EVER done a Post –Apocalyptic game anywhere near the level of Morrow Project.
To be honest I did my best to not run the game but Being the dirty rat bastards they are, they got me drunk took me out to a strip joint and talked me into running it for them once. And that is all it took.
Now enters the Map Tool. In my prep for the game I discovered that the last thing the ex-wife did before she left was literally destroy a lot of the material that I had for my game. Stuff that I have horded over ever since Morrow Project came out in the 80s all gone, maps notes and the entire GURPS conversion I had for 3rd edition.
Not being the guy that screams of spilled radioactive sludge I went to work putting together stuff for the game and trying to think of away to cheaply supply maps and player handouts. It was about this time when Link a good friend and owner of the local game store showed me the new D&D 4th edition preview and then he suggested that I should use the store projector. So I stared looking in to that aspect and I quickly found BGrpg . I played around with that for a few weeks and I could not make it run smoothly at all. I could make it work it was just real clunky to me. So while I was looking for and answer to that issue I found the Icon site and the Map Tool. I though hmm why not try it and see what happens… Thank god I did.
So the first game I used Map Tool as a white board and the first fire fight was real quick and dirty I used the drawing tools only because I total y forgot about the tokens. By the end of the game session Link and my gamers all said that Map Tool really made a difference to the game. That spurred me on to the next event and it is this event I truly want you to hear about.
The game starts of with the Team moving west along old highway 12 bound for the ruins of Baton Rouge Louisiana. When up ahead they can make out some sort of camp along side of the road. The team has only been out of the hole a total of about 4 day and has had nothing but trouble from the word go. The team started off with 6, 5 players 1 npc, and the npc died the first day out and the team leader was captured and beaten and darn near raped….Its was a rocky start. So the team decides to check out the camp on foot and hold the v150 for back up.
I hit the player view and off we went. And what a difference it made. I was able to give the players better description and point to what I was talking about. It just made the game run smoother.
So now the team approached the camp on foot and discovered a group of Gypsy Truckers that had bedded down for the night. The two groups got to talking and doing some trading and the team was invited to tag along with the trucker on the run to the town of 2 Night. The team accepted and off they went.
The next encounter took place at lunch when the trucker and team pulled over for a quick bite and a stretch of the legs. I hit player view again and bam…the rest area was displayed. That encounter was my way of testing the players to see if they were ready for the big fight I had planed. I threw some raiders at them to see how they would do. The battle was quick , and for GURPS that’s saying some thing. The team did ok and had earned the respect of the truckers who let them in on a secret.
The truckers are on there way to the town of 2 Night to warn them that another convoy was on there way with a full load of freed slaves from the New Confeds. And right behind them was a group of Red Legs sent to take the truckers and slave out!
The team responded with swift action and literally took over the caravan pushing those old trucks to there breaking point to get to 2 night. When they did I put the map up on the screen.
Now here is where the story gets screwy. Its 5 pm and I was told that at 6 there was going to be a Magic The gathering tournament starting. So when the store started to get loud I knew I did not have much time left but I really wanted to play out some of the upcoming fight so I pressed on.
Now the truckers had used there cb radio to call ahead to 2 Night to let them know they were coming and to have Chapy Sinclaire the town sheriff on hand to let him know what was going on.
Chapy is the type of quick draw white cowboy hate wearing sheriff you see in the old west movies and he has a good head on his shoulders and knows trouble is coming so Chapy gets his militia ready for anything. So when the players see the road blockade for the first time they all know I have a good plan to get them all killed.
We did a quick introduction and description of the area and all the major players then I asked what the team wanted to do. The team leader spoke up first and offered her services to Chapy . And the team then set about there tasks. About this time the team is amazed to see a rig backing up to the blockade with a broken down and rusted M1A1 Abrams tank. Chapy was telling the driver where he wanted it, when the team mechanic/driver asked if he could have a look at the tank. He made his mechanics role and critically succeeded then I asked him to role again to see how long it would actually take to fix it, he critically succeeded again. I had to give him props and he got the tanks turret running in under 30 min.
The rest of the team took his queue and started making suggestion to Chapy. The demo guy suggested claymore mines on the road for a little surprise, the Team Leader suggested the use of the V150’s 50 cal and coaxial mark19 grenade launcher and the radio guy noticed that all communication was through yelling so he broke out the extra radios the team had and handed them out. With every suggestion accepted I marked the map appropriately.
So as the team was doing there stuff and getting into the game like never before when they start to hear the rumble of big rigs on the road and everyone gets into position.
Now it is at this point I realized that the noise level in the store is really low. I look up to see what is going on and to my total surprise I have ALL of the magic players sitting at the table next to me drink pop and eating popcorn and watching the game unfold on the wall before them, Like watching a movie or something. It was to say the least WEIRD. I then noticed that a few customers who had come in to look at board games was standing quietly with Link and his wife Sara as he described to them what I was doing. Not wanting to keep them waiting
I again pressed on.
As everyone who has ever been in combat or has read and good combat oriented stories Old Murphy never sleeps. So being that I am the GM….I was also Murphy. The second Caravan comes rolling in with the Red Legs hard on there tails, guns a blazing. Just as the lead truck gets close to the gate its raked on the driver side by gun fire hitting the driver but not killing him, so as the truck clears the gate the driver veers to the left and hits the brakes and stops his truck right in front of the Tank.
The second truck barrels through and almost clips the V150 and manages to stop a few hundred yards past the fighting. The third truck never makes it to blockade the Red Legs managed to shot out the tires and the rig jackknifes just yards from the team.
The Red Legs pull over and take up positions behind there trucks and the downed rig and open up on the blockade.
And Combat begins.
I let the players role there dice for them and I handle everything else. But if something needs to happen in an encounter that the team feels is important I will let them role for the appropriate NPC. In this case it was the driver of the first rig. One of the players rolled to see if he could keep conscious long enough to get the rig out of the way of the badly needed tank and HE FAILED HARD yes gamers the driver died on the spot and the rig was not going to move.
The turn rolled on with the first team member to act being mister Demo. Who noticed that one of the Red Leg trucks was in the perfect spot for a claymore and then he noticed that so was the rig which to his weary eyes had children wounded and stunned in it. he opted to start sniping.
The second to act was the Como guy who also noticed the children and also opened fire.
Then came the team leader who was yelling over the gun fire to the medic to stay put and not move. She to took a pop shot.
Then came the Mechanic who moved out of cover for the rig. I shot at him 3 time with opportunity fire and missed. He succeeded in reaching the 1st rig that round.
The medic followed orders and held his action.
And then the last team member a combat guy takes his round to change out the grenade load to smoke and CS…Guess what he is going to do.
Round 2: The Red legs kill some defenders and take no losses then it is the team again.
The Demo Guy starts yelling into the radio about the children and shoots.
The Como Guy makes a mad dash from his location to the tree line to start a flanking maneuver I get to shoot at him 4 times and I miss.
Then the Team leader hearing the plan the combat guy is about to try decides he is going need help and she makes a break for the V150. I don’t shoot at her because well She’s a girl! But the mechanic how ever gets the rig started and moving when the first mortar rounds start dropping into the blockade.
The store erupts in a claymore of boos and jeers . I thought I was going to have to kill someone with my laptop.
Anyway the turn roles on with the medic who notices that coming out of the first rig are freed slaves and that one of the mortar round hit close enough to wound several of them. When I ask him what is he going to do, you could have herd a pin drop. It gave me goose bumps. Then in a calm voice he said “I break cover and move to the wounded” The shop erupted in cheers.
The last to act was the combat guy who was loading yet again.
Round 3: Demo dose not notice the medic and fires again.
Como Boy makes the tree line and gets all stealthy.
The team leader is halfway to the V150 when she sees the Medic and realizes that I The GM known as MURPHY am going to get him with a mortar, she takes a quick look around to see what she has to work with.
Well to my dismay I had forgotten about the police station they had found the last game in which they had acquired 2 of those bullet shields the police use for riots. They won’t do much against a mortar but there is always the chance the extra armor would do some good. So she asks about them and looks at the wall and again the room falls silent. She declares an all out run action sacrificing any doge to make it to the cover of the V150 and those 2 shields. I shoot at her and hit. A grazing wound and a knock down, the room gasped.
The medic makes it to the wounded under a hale of gunfire and goes to work.
The mechanic gets out of the rig and sees the Leader go down, he get to cover while letting the team know what is going on.
The Combat guy has to finish the loading and the round ends with him enacting one of my combat house rules.
The house rule is this “ In combat initiative is a role of the dice plus movement and ties goes to the better of the base moves. And intuitive stays the same for remainder of combat. But at any time during that combat a player may opt for a re-role of the intuitive and then it is straight dice 3d6 and let the gaming gods decide. Once you say it you do it. The team was a little miffed but they rolled and it played out that the team leader 1st, combat 2nd, Como 3rd, good guys 4th, bad guys 5th, medic 6th, mechanic 7th, Demo 8th
The store again was filled with cheers and claps. And it was 6pm. So I was going to wind it down when the magic players all agreed that we needed to finish the fight at least. So we pressed on.
Round 4: The team leader rolled to overcome the shock of getting hit and used one of her GM brownie point to push the roll to a critical success. And again she made an all out move for the V150.
Combat Boy finished his loading and started laying down smoke and CS near the Red Legs.
The Como guy hearing the report started moving with less stealth and more purpose to handle the mortar threat.
The Good Guys fired and killed 2.
The Bad Guys fired and killed 3 At this point the team dose not know just how many Bad Guys there are.
The medic continues to work
and the mechanic moves to the rear of the rig and starts getting the freed slaves to jump out and run to the safe side of the truck and then away into the trees on the back side of the blockade.
And the Demo Guy kills one
Round 5: The Team Leader wounded and in real pain rolled yet again to stay with it and critical success yet again. The store cheers. She manages to pull the two shields free and gets ready to run head long across the blockade to the medic to shield him from the onslaught.
The Combat guy lays down a second volley of CS a smoke and then asks as to what is Chapy doing. I show him on the map that Chapy is expertly suppressing the front of the jackknifed rig as so no one from the Red Legs can make it to the trees and the Como Guy. Combat boy says ok and starts talking into the Mick to Chapy.
Good Guys fire and don’t kill anything and Combat Boy tell Chapy about the Medic and the Team Leader.
Chapy like I said was the good guy sheriff type and Combat Boy reminds me that The Good Guy serif types would do something heroic and Dumb and what ever it was would work. To this the store agreed. So in replay I asked Combat Boy what did he think Chapy needed to do. Combat Boy eluded to The description of Chapy and his Nickel plated colt 45 in the gunfighter holsters at his side and said maybe he should hit stuff. So I said ok role.
It was then at this point Combat Boy handed his dice to one of the customers who had come into the store to by a board game. When I looked over Sara had gotten them chairs and pop and popcorn and they were happily sitting there watching the game. Combat Boy had handed the dice to the man and said would you role for me. He happily did so AND ROLLED YET ANOTHER CRIT SUCCESS. The store went up like a roman candle, people where jumping around The mans wife was laughing and hugging him and all I could do was sit there open mouthed about the whole situation. So I dug deep in to the pit of my GM skill and off the cuff I Declared that Chapy noticed the Team leader and the threat to her and the Medic. He dams gods glowing green earth and pulls the two 45 and rushes the Red Legs under the cover of smoke and CS. I let the guy roll for Chapy the rest of the combat.
The Bad Guys start to feel the effects of the CS and smoke but manage to pick off some more Good Guys.
Then I declare its MORTOR time and the store goes quiet I roll for everyone to see Thee times. First round goes long second round goes long third round right on the blockade. The people in the store start to murmur as I bring up the blast template on the wall. I was aiming for the 1st rig but I missed by only 2 so the shell fell inside the blockade and by the die I was short and left. The template showed the effect and the store went crazy again. The 1st rig took the brunt of the blast protecting the medic and the fleeing slaves.
The medic ducted and continued to work
The mechanic moved to the medic to pull one of the wounded freed slaves to safety
The Demo guys notices Chapy move out of the cover of the blockade and goes full auto and jumps the wall.
Round 6: The team leader Focused on the safety of the Medic roles again to overcome the pain and all out runs for the medic.
The combat guys open’s up on the right side of the Bad Guys with a very loud 50 cal machine gun.
The Como Guys sees the mortar team readying for another volley and switches his m16 to full auto and sprays the area getting 3 and sending the rest for cover.
The good Guys seeing Chapy run out, Gives a “Hell Yea Yell” That was mimicked by the magic players and charged out toward the Red Legs.
I looked up at the Board Gamer and said what would you like Chapy to do? He looked at his wife and with straight face remarked that he always wanted to be the Good Guy Gun Slinging Sheriff! I want Kill stuff! And I said role. Chapy downs 2 more and spits.
The Bad guys now really feeling the effects of CS can’t see and are in pain and firing blindly and start to break away.
The Medic finishes the third patient and turns to the next one.
The mechanic gets one to safety and move to get another.
The Demo guy now out of cover and going through clips like candy has switch to burst and is picking of running Red Legs.
Round 7: By this time I knew that the combat was over the Red Legs were losing the fight to CS and Bravado and I had not planed for an ace in the hole. I took a few short minutes to collect my self and think on how I was going to end the scene. It was obvious that I could not just end it. The team had done so many heroic things, with dashing into gunfire too save the medic to moving the rig to getting to the mortar team I had to end this in a gratifying way for them and the shop. So once again I dug down deep and pulled yet another off the cuff and out of my butt hell marry.
The team leader makes it to the medic as the mechanic gets there, she hands him one of the shields and starts yelling that they all need to get under cover.
The combat guy moves from the gunner position to the driver position to move the V150 out of the blockade to get to the children.
Now is where the whole hell marry starts.
The Como guy has to reload and fails his role and gets a jamb. The mortar team members who survived split, 2 open up at the Como guy the other lunges and sends one more shell into the blockade. At the same time the Good Guys are clearing the Jackknifed rig and Chapy teary eyed spies the desperate mortar man. I look up at the Board gamer and he grins asks his wife to kiss the dice and roles. The store breaks out in yet another round of crazy monkeys doing the tango and gets a 5 on three dice. Chapy puts 2 into the motorman as he drops the round. The bad guys are on a full retreat and begging for there life. I roll the die for the last Mortar round for all to see and role a 6, right on target.
The store went dead silent again
I bring up the blast template and all three the Medic, The team Leader and the Mechanic are in it with 2 of the wounded civs but the shields are between them and the ballast. I role the damage for them all. The store sounding like someone killed there favorite puppy as I hand out the base damage then we start to figure in the armor the resistweave drops it all about half and everyone looks at me when I start to tell them what the shields take.
Guess what, someone way back 150 years ago screwed up with the formula of the plastic that the shields are made of and don’t it beat all there stronger than they should have been.
Quick math and a dam good explanation and the team members are only singed and bruised…and deaf.
The store goes wild.
The Medic roles to recover the Mechanic dose the same and the Demo guy looks over the situation and helps the children.
Combat Ends the next round as the Como Guy and Chapy kill the last two Bad Guys.
I collapsed into my chair as the people in the store started congratulating the team and board gamer for a well played combat. I looked at the clock and it was 7, I looked at Link and said sorry I took so long and he just handed me a mountain dew and said. “What a great game dude. So you mind if I play next time?” I just laughed and said Hell yes…I need someone in my game that can’t crit!
Needless to say the experience was one that I have never had in my 22 years of gaming. After the team was congratulated they all turned to me. Everyone had questions about the game. They asked if I made it up or did I use other peoples stuff. They asked if all my games were like this or was this is a freak. I could barely answer I was so stunned by the reaction to the game.
Having had time to think on it I can answer those questions now. Yes I use my own stuff peppered with other peoples stuff to tell a story that I want to tell! And as for all my games being like this. Up till that moment my games were good, my players remember most of my games and would talk about them for years to come. But this time, My game was %$#%$ GREAT and not only would my players remember it but so would the people who watched it.
And I owe all of that to you and to Map Tool. I set the scene Map Tool allowed me to show the scene. The players set the action Map Tool allowed them to show the action. It was Map Tool and the people who contributed to the program and the forums with the advice and the objects and the tutorials that helped make that happen. It is years of being a GM that gets my games to the comments “ Hey Good game see yea next week!” It was Map Tool and the people behind it that got those comments to “ DUDE GREAT GAME CAN WE PLAY TOMMARROW!”
But the best comment of all came from the Board gamer and his wife. As I was putting away my laptop and cleaning up the mess, he introduced himself and is wife. He confided in me that he was a little hesitant about coming in the store that night. He knew it was a game store and that it was frequented by the back room D&d freak crowd, but in all his years of reading science fiction and old west novels, he could never imagine the power and ahh a person could feel when there decisions effect the story like his effected the one I told that night.
That statement alone is why I am sitting here with my beer and Doritos typing this out. And it is that statement alone that has reaffirmed one of the great truths of gaming to me. The GM sets the Scene the players effect the scene and together we tell the stories!
The board gamer and his wife thanked me for letting him invade are world and finally asked what game we were playing and I told him then I reach back into my bag and handed him my copy of GURPS CHARACTER and said, Here is some light bed time reading and said good bye.
Link called me this after noon to tell me that the couple had come back into the store just days after the event and had ordered another copy of the book and had left me a message. They wanted to know if I could make time to talk to them about the game and other things. They had both told friends of there’s about there experience and those friend were now excited to know more. I just scheduled a gaming session with them to show them the game basics.
It is my deepest hope that this post can inscribe in you the level of pride in Map Tool as in the level of pride I feel about that game. You helped me get there and for that I will never forget! Rest assured that you will be seeing more of me and that I will use Map Tool to convey the scenes in my games to come.
Thank You Very Much For The Time and Effort That You and Your Team Have Put Into Map Tool!
And To The Members of This Forum Thank You For Your Efforts and Support To the Questions Asked and The Requests Made.
I am about 2 sheets into the wind and feeling good. So if you see any typos you can point and laugh.
See yea and have a great Nuclear Hell Day!
Voodoo-Fire
