At Animalball Games, we've had the opportunity to play and test all sorts of games throughout our lives. We've been experimenting with online roleplaying since 1998. The most obvious benefit from online gaming is that it keeps a written record of the entire game. As we continue to develop and test new games, we will be adding the results of game sessions here. Most of the transcripts are pdfs.
The following are cleaned-up transcripts of different games. Click the name of the adventure to read the transcript.
Instant Game. Online IRC. 11/10/2004. Another betatest of Instant Game. The random rolls were: (1) Pre-European Invasion America; (2) Fantasy genre; (3) Horror subgenre; and (4) Zombie Adversaries. It was an ancient Aztec struggle against the end of the world. Caz GMed it and it was awesome. Comparing the serious style of this game with the campy style of Historic Brewhaha (below) really shows the diversity of Instant Game.
Instant Game. Online IRC. 11/3/2004. This was our first real test run of Instant Game after we got a good idea of the basic rules and charts. The random setting for this game was: (1) Contemporary Setting; (2) Campy Playstyle; (3) Genetic Engineering; and (4) Epic Heroes. This was a great game and makes an awesome read. Just to give you a taste- my character was a Ben Franklin clone trained in the martial arts style of Drunken Monkey Fighting. Good times.
Instant Game. Online IRC. 10/27/04. This was the precursor to Instant Game. Caz GMed and figured out the random roles and Flameblade, Tahlvin and Brasky/Kyle were the players. The random roles at the beginning of the session were: (1) Horror genre; (2) Wild west setting; (3) On the road; and (4) Near a small hamlet. The title sums it up: Western Weirdness. We were so blown away by awesome this game was, we all became inspired to create Instant Game.
Mutants &Masterminds game set in sourceworld being developed by Animalball Games. First session played via IRC in 2/04. M&M is a d20 superhero game. Using that ruleset, AG has created Legacy of Justice-- a postapocolyptic world which has been destroyed by the evil plans-gone-awry of Dr. Apocolypse. It is essentially Golden or Silver aged superheros playing in a Fallout/MadMax-type post apocolyptic world.
Stories System. Online May 2002 via IRC. BFF is an Animalball Game which tried to capture the feel of Stephen King's "It" and incorporate it into a game where the characters (all 6th and 7th graders) tried to figure out a "weird phenomenon" which they discovered one night during a camp-out. Its a great concept that played out perfectly in this session.
Stories System. Played March 2002 online via IRC. Genre Clash is an Animalball Game played under the fudge rules. The players were asked to bring a character-any character-to the game. No limits and no real instruction. We got an elven wizard, a werewolf/Vietnam vet, a troll tribal warrior out of a steampunk world, a dark brooding master of birds, and a genius geneticist and violinist from the 30th century. The results were impressive.
Paranoia PBeM. 5/01-8/02. Great mission. Learned from our mistakes with iMick and kept it simple. Most notable for me from this mission was my character with the nonfunctioning third eye in the middle of his forehead. Ultimately, to my chagrin, I discovered that it was working the entire time- for the Computer.
WebRPG Online Game. 4 sessions: Sept 2000, two in Oct. 2000 and final in Jan. 2001. The adventures of Baerstolwef and Robhammed continue in this well intentioned scenario which took great advantage of the least respected monster: the bugbear. Unfortunately, it was just too damn long. Eventually abandoned after the fourth session.
WebRPG Online Game. 3 sessions: March, April and May 2000. Using WebRPG's online system (chat plus shared map), this D&D 2nd ed. session involved two characters, Baerstolwef (female dwarf ranger) and Robhammed (half-elf fighter). This was a great session which had a creepy, suspensful feel to it which culminated in an intense final battle.
Paranoia PBeM. ?/99-?/00. This is our unfinished symphony. Much of what is seen in this game is taken from the DOA Sector Sourcebook, but the mission was original. This project suffered from being too ambitious. After playing for over a year, we were not even a third of the way through the mission. We ultimately abandoned the game.
Paranoia PBeM. 2/99-6/99. Now we were hitting our stride. We ditched some players and added new ones. This adventure was also from the Acute Paranoia sourcebook and was near perfection in its simplicity. All we had to do was paint a hall. How difficult could that be?
Paranoia Play-By-Email (PBeM) Game. 3/98-2/99. This was our first attempt at online roleplaying. The mission was taken straight from the Acute Paranoia Sourcebook. In some ways this was our finest game play considering we didn't know what to expect or who was playing. It produced the single best use of a character device-- "Mick's Pad."
