u/ChannelCommercial984

This is my second year of Fringe. I'm a Commercial Photographer so I do like to take my camera with me on holidays, and Fringe is a great time for this. Last year I had no issues at all shooting away. I always provide images freely to artists (I'm here to have fun and support them, not hustle them) and again last year I had nothing but positive feedback, and messages of thanks.

This year however I had a show that didn't allow photography. A bit weird that they didn't list that on their Fringe page but nbd, I'm here to have fun. But then I started asking the general staff (the people who scan your ticket, not those obviously working for/with the artist/company in question) out of politeness if photographs were ok. Literally every staffer I asked said "no photography", but all of them also seemed very uncertain. There would be no signage stating this and on one occasion there was even an announcement over the speakers once everyone sat saying flash photography and video was not allowed but regular photography was, contradicting the general staff. I was also told this before shows in which I personally knew the artist and knew this wasn't an actual policy (and so took pictures with no pushback from anyone).

So my question is, do the general staffers checking your tickets actually have any idea of show-specific rules or are they just blanket saying things because they can't keep up with every specific policy each show will have differing from others?

I may just stop asking ahead of time and force them to be proactive and let me know if there is a policy and shoot unless they say something. I look like freakin Voltron with all my gear anyways so it's not like they can't immediately tell what I'm going to be doing 🤣

Looking for thoughts on the Meddling Butler Complication. Essentially, why would you take anything other than the level 6 The Nameless retainer?

Now yes, assuming you're level 1, that might not be the best idea for the director to allow. And yes, the director has discretion on retainers, so there's a whole bunch of discussions a director can and should be having with a player to ensure a balanced game.

SO, fully understanding that this is not a balanced choice and a director has authority over this, noting the many unique options the complication has for retainers if your Director allowed choosing any of them, would there realistically be any others that you would take over that one, and why?

Getting excited about SOD3 I decided to redownload 2 on Xbox and get into it. It's been a few years since I cracked it open (and for sure there have been updates since I played last) so jumping into a new community with Meagher Valley I was shocked to find my map nearly entirely covered in red aside from a pocket with my starter house.

Red everywhere, hardly any places for outposts, plague zombies everywhere and right from the get go the tempo of the game is like SUPER fast. I had been used to getting the lay of the land , getting a bit of scavenging and community building done while the threat slowly builds but now it's just like blammo welcome to plague heart city, why did you think this was a good town to stop in, you better start working on plague hearts in like 6 min buddy.

Is this normal, intended etc? Has the meta changed somehow for how the Devs want players to approach the game? It's not that it's necessarily super hard (still have all the ludicrous backer supply drops, still can run and gun with a shotgun or powerful rifle and drop a heart in a few seconds), but it's kind of... Not fun as a zombie simulator if that makes sense? Now I gotta deal with not letting the hearts wake up (which I'm assuming sends hordes or something) and every weird mission to the other side of the map is just that much more of a pain.

Plague hearts and zombies have been part of the game for a while and that's fine, but it feels like now that is ALL the game is about. I'll probably doublecheck the settings to see if this is something I can edit but playing on Xbox so mods are out of the question. Just curious if this is normal and I guess, is it meant to be fun lol?

Getting excited about SOD3 I decided to redownload 2 on Xbox and get into it. It's been a few years since I cracked it open (and for sure there have been updates since I played last) so jumping into a new community with Meagher Valley I was shocked to find my map nearly entirely covered in red aside from a pocket with my starter house.

Red everywhere, hardly any places for outposts, plague zombies everywhere and right from the get go the tempo of the game is like SUPER fast. I had been used to getting the lay of the land , getting a bit of scavenging and community building done while the threat slowly builds but now it's just like blammo welcome to plague heart city, why did you think this was a good town to stop in, you better start working on plague hearts in like 6 min buddy.

Is this normal, intended etc? Has the meta changed somehow for how the Devs want players to approach the game? It's not that it's necessarily super hard (still have all the ludicrous backer supply drops, still can run and gun with a shotgun or powerful rifle and drop a heart in a few seconds), but it's kind of... Not fun as a zombie simulator if that makes sense? Now I gotta deal with not letting the hearts wake up (which I'm assuming sends hordes or something) and every weird mission to the other side of the map is just that much more of a pain.

Plague hearts and zombies have been part of the game for a while and that's fine, but it feels like now that is ALL the game is about. I'll probably doublecheck the settings to see if this is something I can edit but playing on Xbox so mods are out of the question. Just curious if this is normal and I guess, is it meant to be fun lol?

Chaosium isn't in town this year for CoC, is anyone else doing any live plays for various ttrpgs at Fringe?

I'm a player in a Draw Steel campaign and the GM uses its Codex with a flat screen TV as a digital tabletop. I've seen that there is a bunch of foundry content for Alien. As a GM for Alien, sometimes some of the mechanical things can be overwhelming or myself or players forget something.

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I really enjoyed the DS codex as a player and how so many things were tracked and managed much more easily. I'm also aware of just the pain in the ass burden it would be for me to do a setup like this at any LGS or something else public, bringing computer, screen, cables, plus whatever other books and unsupported gear I might need. I've also literally never used Foundry lol. So I'm curious for those who have used it for the Alien modules; is it worth it, is it helpful? Is it immersive for players, is the screen not overloaded with excess windows etc? The DS codex is full of glitches, is the foundry content for Alien good quality? And has anyone used it in-person in this way, and felt like it was better than physical maps and minis and loads of paper?

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I've read a couple things here and there, experiences players had using the motion tracker, help with things like pushing, integration with character sheets etc. It seems really cool but I'd rather not jump into a rabbit hole for a whole new system if it isn't really helpful.

Currently running Act 1 for a group (they took quite a bit of time so we couldn't finish in one session), and I'm prepping for the insurgent compound. My group is a bit of a wildcard collection so it's extremely hard to anticipate their actions (which they take such glee in when I reveal this lol), and I'm looking for experiences on this specific bit.

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Early in the module Maj Hatfield tells them he might authorize an airstrike (Pg 13, "Moving Out"). I'm thinking they might want to use this on the insurgent compound. Has anyone had this happen and / or have advice on how to mechanically apply this? There's no text or details anywhere as to how that might work and while I know I can decide whatever I would like to hear anyone else's experiences. I want to reward creativity but at the same time don't want to fully negate the challenge and impact of the encounter.

So I've ran CoTG a couple times for different groups and am preparing DoW for one of them now. I've done a couple quick readthroughs of the module, super excited for it but have noticed opinions on the Reddit subs when I search (yes I do use the search function lol) about this adventure are.... Strong.

So I have some thoughts at first glance and some of the big tips from other posters in the various threads about this. I'd love to get the feedback from GMs who have ran this before on these and just in general, am I missing anything?

Initial thoughts:

This isn't an exploration, this isn't Alien. This is very much high boom boom energy; Aliens. Possibly less gravitas and splitting the party, less impact of secret agendas than CoTG? In general I'm fine with this, understanding that this is not expected to be like CoTG.

There are small threads connecting to CoTG IRT mysterious signals and such. They are subtle but interesting from an above table perspective. I feel like a lot of comments in threads didn't understand this and make a bit too much of a deal out of it. I think it's really interesting that there are literally things that don't have a clean explanation for the players to digest.

Much bigger focus on weapons, armour, environmental effects, vehicles, and a more destroyable landscape. I feel like this is going to take a bit more work on my end just keeping track of everything from grenades to ramming things.

Pacing of the 3 acts are very different. Act 1 seems to be very well received, a relatively leisurely pace, Act 2 is a frantic shit show, and Act 3 is very intense, but possibly too much of a dungeon crawl according to comments.

Tips and suggestions from the search:

Act 1-

not really anything. For the most part just run the module as intended. Oh everyone seems to hate the PC with the belt. Not sure that's really an issue, I've certainly seen worse characters lol. What actual in-game issues did y'all have with him?

Act 2-

Have insurgent hideout located in a different part of the map so players can interact with previously visited locations as they travel, OR make up a reason or obstacle why they can't just go in a straight line. Also make sure they are on foot so it takes longer and Act 3 makes more sense. I do like this, as looking at the map it doesn't look like they have to travel far at all.

Try to minimize big squad Vs squad battles as it just becomes a slog, Alien does not do this well. This does make sense to me on paper, but I'm also running this for a group of hardcore DND (well now Draw Steel but same concept) players so I'm imagining there will be some grace from my players on this.

Try to make the David horde cinematic, intense, possibly more cat & mouse Vs squad battle. A lot of comments seemed to think David's were literally naked (I chuckled quite a bit at these conversations), but then others said when they gave them guns and just fought head on wild wild west style it was either a slog or tpk. I'm thinking of based on the comments trying to encourage the players to set traps, think tactically. Possibly use this as a way to encourage them to revisit locations in Act 1, thinking they are safe, "cleared"? My intent is to kind of showcase the David's as running full on like the movie weapons and making it very clear that at least at the start, the party needs to RUN.

Act 3-

Ok yeah these maps are A LOT. And there are quite a few comments expressing frustration with it. It might be worth me just having a route set for them above table not to railroad them but to just let them know this path will work if they choose it, rather than them getting overwhelmed by the maps?

Some comments have indicated there's a lot of useless rooms and the Act turns needlessly into a dungeon crawl. Suggestions have ranged from just having fire and radiation narrative events or things in the background to doing montage tests to get from one key area to another, and if they fail then there will be a random encounter. This is where I'm not sure, as again, dungeon crawling is what they do. Has this been an issue for those running games for the DND crowd?

Time management. It sounds like act 3 can be the longest, especially with the above factors. We currently have 3 sessions planned with 5 hours booked in for each one so I'm hoping that's enough.

Things I'm already planning on adding-

Signature items do their thing again. Honestly this is just great RP, I don't know why they got rid of it.

Max stress = mental break. Roll 2d6. Add them up, you lose that much stress. Put them together, that's your roll on the mental trauma table. Panic roll with new reduced stress modifier. Alien doesn't do a good job of resetting stress, and I have seen other systems that work like this and I think it works much better. I did see one comment suggesting players just sit their characters out for a literal hour and mass dump stress. I'm all for breaks but that's... Unrealistic in the alien universe lol.

So those are my observations and what seems to be the main issues with the module. Is there anything I'm missing, or misinterpreting? I'm honestly pretty stoked about running this so had been surprised at the negativity in the threads.

Any fun synergies with leaders and non-apex civs you've found for any of the ages? I've been struggling with the slightly overwhelming amount of choices lol. Having a blast with Alexander and Mongolia but that's been apex in the exploration age.