Gaining One Dark Side Point At A Time

This weekend, was our first game, post-GenCon, and it was Sargon’s Star Wars SAGA game.  We are playing the published, Dawn of Defiance story arc, and have entered the third act, Wretched Hive.  It was during this adventure, that I earned my first Dark Side point.  Here is a summary of how it happened:  We we told, by some of the NPC’s that our Padawans (myself and Thom) would have to keep a low profile on more Imperial aligned worlds.  Because of that, I recently invested in Weapon Proficiency Pistol and got myself a blaster pistol, so that I did not always have to break out the lightsaber.  Thom’s character did not.  So while walking down the street, in a Nemodian town, we got jumped by a group of swoop bikers, Thom’s character breaks out the lightsaber and cuts a swoop in half and then takes the rider prisoner.  My character, Kizul, who is having doubts about the validity of the Jedi Code, post Order 66, uses his force powers to put the riders blaster into his hand, which in turn, causes the party to gun him down. There was no way we could take a prisoner, and no way we could let him go. That earned me the first Dark Side point of the campaign.

So yes, it was an evil act, but it was a defining moment for my character, and has given me a lot of ideas about where to take Kizul.   No…he will not becoming a Sith, but now I am starting to wonder if becoming a Jedi Knight, during these trying times, is in his best interest.  He does not believe that the Jedi Code will work anymore.  I am feeling that it may be time for Kizul to forge his own path through the Force.  More on that as I do some studying of my SAGA book, and what character classes and options are available.

All in all, Sargon’s SW game is excellent, and the party has really come together, in a way that is making the game a lot of fun.

As for this week, well I have an article that will be published on Wednesday morning over at Gnome Stew.  I will put a link for it here, after it launches tomorrow. The article is about tips for organizing a large GenCon trip, and came about when Martin, the Head Gnome, had asked me by email on tips for organizing large groups, because he and his friends are thinking about it for next year.  Rather than just reply by email, I put the tips into an article.

On the Spycraft front,  I have read through the character generation chapter.  Wow…this game is not your father’s d20.  I have not reached the mechanics sections yet, but there are a lot of terms being used that are unique to this game.  So far, I am fully enjoying what I am reading.  There is a lot of crunch in there, and I have to say, coming out of Iron Heroes, I am going to want to play a game with more crunch than less.

This weekend, is a family function for me, so no gaming…grrrr.  I will be using what free time I have this weekend, to read both Breaking the Ice and Dogs In the Vineyard.  Both indie games have been on my radar for a while, and I am looking forward to cracking the covers and finding out how they tick.  I will likely post some kind of review after I have finished my readings.

I am working on some ideas about what I have learned from my long running Iron Heroes campaign.  I am 3 sessions away from the end of my campaign, and over the nearly 3 years running this game, I have learned quite a few things about my own GMing style, and a number of things about keeping a long game running.  I am going to start to put those down in written form in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for those.

So enjoy your week, and keep an eye out for my Gnome Stew article that will be up tomorrow.  And keep on rolling.