STALKER7

Short post this week, as I’m preparing to celebrate my 40th wedding anniversary with family over a long weekend.

Running Symbaroum campaigns for both regular monthly game groups, so naturally the conversations turned toward the idea of narrative; sandbox versus railroad – character progression versus battle backstory – campaigns versus one-shots… familiar ground but still unsettled territory. Wide range of expectations and applications there.

As a wargamer, I started with ‘just enough story to hang a battle on.’ A few named characters for the leaders/heroes, but ‘narrative’ was backdrop for the battle. A cool landscape to set the combat in, not much more. War Games and Role-Playing Games had some Venn Diagram overlap, but were largely separate.

Then, as more RPG-ers joined the game group, characters, backstories, specializations, skill progression and diversification became more of a factor. People love stories. I love stories. Hell, I write stories. Certain miniatures even screamed ‘story‘ when I saw them. (is that just me? )

So how can we thread that needle?

With a preference for fast-play, casual ‘beer-n-pretzel’ games, I hadn’t encountered a tactical RPG/narrative skirmish game that hit that sweet spot. So I started jotting down some ideas.

If I’m honest, I’m still at it. My games and supplements are an attempt to help my friends and I tell stories with toy soldiers. It’s that simple.

More games and stories on the way, but that’s it for now.

Good hunting.

As always, you can find Stalker7 Games and Stories available at Wargame Vault and Amazon.