24/11/2023
The other system we've played is FATE.
(The picture here is FATE Accelerated).
Why did I choose to run this game?...
It's versatile - in the same time, one player was a killer cyborg and another was... a sentient piece of popcorn.
It scales with English ability - in FATE Accelerated, every action is divided into five simple 'approaches' (sneaky, tough, flashy, etc); in FATE Core, more finely graded 'skills' are used, such as academics, drive and empathy.
It involves lots of writing! The character sheets feature full sentences, as players describe their characters' skills, and play revolves around 'aspects' that describe the characters and environment.
These aspects can also be scaled with player ability - for example, a corrupt politician could be a 'bully' or they could have 'no qualms about treading on the weak'.
21/11/2023
It's been a while since I last posted - work, a long trip abroad and planning has been quite distracting!
But these last couple of weeks I've been running sessions again with the Saturday Morning Club!
With one group I ran Fate of Cthulhu, and the other No Thank You, Evil! (Pictured)
A nice feature of NTYE is it's versatility for different ages and levels. A child just learning English can create a character who is just a name and a noun - "Katie is a princess" - whilst at higher levels they add adjectives and relative verb clauses - "Katie is a smart princess who jumps super high."
They can even give their characters 'companions' (eg pets) and I there's lots of room to draw pictures!
Combined with the teamwork and imagination needed to go an an adventure, it was an excellent way for them to practice their English skills without even realising it!
14/11/2022
I ran another game with Saturday Club Berlin! Chasing down the Star Blade on the Planet Umdaar... And here's a selection of the props used.
Saturday Club
www.saturdayclubberlin.com
11/11/2022
Look at this drawing one of the kids did of their character! Isn't it brill?
When I was planning the game, I didn't expect one character to be a living piece of popcorn who was an expert at fighting chickens... But that's why I like FATE! It was easy to work into the game.
It was a great session, and I'll be running another at Saturday Club tomorrow!
https://saturdayclubberlin.com/
10/11/2022
As part of this session with Saturday Club, we got to use "The Heroes' Guide" - a device programmes by .
When the kids scanned a special Monster Card, they were asked an English vocabulary question.
When they got it right, they were rewarded with the monster's statistics and a 3D augmented reality model of it jumping about as though it were standing on the table!
08/11/2022
Continuing from yesterday, here's another photo of the session with Saturday Club .
Here you can see some of the accessories from the game - Fate points, illustrated cards (from the Fate Deck) and of course lots of dice!
Sticky notes are also used frequently in Fate, giving good opportunities to practise spelling and vocabulary!
07/11/2022
Sorry that this page has been so quiet; I have been in Finland due to some important family business.
However... I'm back with news!
A couple of months ago, I ran a session in collaboration with Saturday Club and - we were testing a project for 's master's thesis in using augmented reality (AR) to increase immersion in RPGs. It was a huge success, and Jeff got a 1st. Congratulations!!!
Furthermore, I'm now in talks with Saturday Club Berlin to start GMing Role Up sessions with them... Watch this space!
Saturday Club - https://saturdayclubberlin.com/
21/09/2022
Interesting things are afoot...
A session on Saturday will test strange new artifacts...
(FANTASTIC case hand-made by the partner of )
20/05/2022
A HUGE thank you to Battlefield Berlin.
Wonderful staff, a huge selection of games and accessories, and lots of tables you can reserve for gaming.
This is NOT a sponsored post. I'm just very grateful to them!
https://shop.battlefield-berlin.de/
18/05/2022
Can you piece together the mysterious invitation?
(If not, matching the words to their definitions will also help to solve the puzzle...)
08/11/2022
07/11/2022
21/09/2022
20/05/2022
20/05/2022
18/05/2022