Zzap! Wake up!

It has been quite a while. Eventually, I had to make a decision whether to get back in the cockpit for good, and I decided not to go quietly.

With all extremely quiet regarding the future of Bliss Stage as a published game and not a lot of buzz generally, I'm not sure how much value I add for people who like the game, but I do still get the urge to talk about it some times, and I do still produce things I hope are useful for other players out there. So don't expect a lot of posting from me, but DO expect some.


For starters, here is a new and improved Pilot Control Sheet for your enjoyment! I think it represents a major improvement over the older ones that are floating around out there somewhere.

A couple housekeeping notes, as well.

1. The WIKI quietly disappeared a while back. It required more upkeep than I was willing to put in for the minimal value it added.

2. I'm back to being sole proprietor. No animus intended at all to my former partners-in-blogging, just a desire to have this be a one-man show if it's to go on.

Interview with Ben Lehman at MiniEnt

Just read an interesting interview with Bliss Stage creator Ben Lehman over at MiniEnt. Bliss Stage-related tidbits are fairly slim, but I was very interested in his comments about some other games in the pipeline, including

Clover - heartwarming slice-of-life

Hot Guys Making Out - steamy yaoi romance

As-yet untitled - psychological survival horror in the Silent Hill vein

Go read!

Stage Management?

Getting ready to play the current version of my Bliss Stage one-shot with some friends next Tuesday. They've never played anything quite like it, and are skeptical but intrigued enough to give it a try in a one-evening format.

I'm planning to experiment with something new as far as how I play the game in this session, and it's something I haven't seen discussed much for any game, let alone Bliss Stage. I am breaking the usual pattern of sitting around a table or in comfy chairs, all facing each other.

I'm setting up the play space such that for mission scenes, there is a Pilot seat (facing away from the rest of the group and a bit apart), and an Anchor seat that is BEHIND the Pilot facing to the side. I always stand up to GM anyhow, so I'll be moving around as needed to facilitate.

The Pilot player gets a Mission Control sheet and a dice box, and that's it. The Anchor will hand over dice as requested, and also do the record-keeping on the Pilot's relationship map sheet.

I am hoping that this will punch up the experience of missions, and in particular the isolation and uncertainty of them. Anybody else ever try anything like this?

I'll report back next week after I see how it works!

Inazuma KICK!!! (--starter, that is)

Congratulations to the Perpetual Motion guys on their successful Kickstarter campaign to move the production of their Bliss Stage Visual Novel project forward! They raised over $2700 for art, materials, staffing, etc. to move the game a big step towards completion. I also want to give a hearty THANK YOU to all the fans who made that possible, since I am really looking forward to this thing.

And, as an added bonus - during the promotion of the Kickstarter, we received confirmation that the long-awaited new edition of Bliss Stage is a real thing coming very soon, complete with some neat new rules options for more tactical Mission actions. I haven't heard anything firm on a calendar for the new edition, but apparently it's pretty much done and in the layout phase, so we're likely looking at late summer or fall.

Combine that with me getting a new game off the ground locally, and it's shaping up to be a great summer for the game!

On Location: Power Stations

On Location is an occasional series about places that are good settings for the World After Bliss, and hints on ways you might want to use them in your game.

I love power stations. I used one as Resistance HQ in my First & Final Acts project, and the same one featured prominently in my Northern Cross games. They're potentially an incredibly valuable resource in the world after Bliss, a natural target for the invaders, and they just plain look cool and are full of bizarre equipment.

In most cases, your Resistance won't be able to actually use a station to generate power. They're complex systems that will fail without maintenance in the days after Bliss, and nobody will have the know-how or resources to bring them back on line. Even if you could, the telltale exhaust plumes, steam, or heat and sound will tip off the enemy and lay them open to destruction. A lot of them will already have been demolished by the enemy, too.

But even without the generators, they're still useful. They're big, solidly built buildings, with heavy concrete construction. They have cavernous interior spaces that would be great for gatherings - or for bulky ANIMa equipment. They're full of salvageable parts and metal, and potentially fuel. Imagine what a resource a coal-fired electric plant would be just for the mountain of high-quality portable fuel available for the taking, or how useful a multi-thousand-gallon fuel oil supply could be.

If you do want to get actual electric power from one, your best bet might be hydro. They're fairly simple in concept, although the turbines themselves are going to be tough to maintain over the long term. They don't have telltale smokestacks to let the enemy know what you're doing. And they require no fuel. Best of all, they're often at or near dams, which are a useful thing for a whole other set of reasons.

For a little inspiration, have a look over these gorgeous photos of an abandoned power plant in Australia. I particularly like all the graffiti - makes me think of how a tribe of kids might make themselves feel at home.

Has a power station ever featured in your Bliss Stage games? How?