Street Wolves: Miami Nights

Creating your character

I prefer character creation to be a collaborative process. Come up with a couple of concepts, but don't make your character yet, and don't get too attached to any one idea. I use some modified house rules as well, and it's better to see what you've got to work with before committing. Actual creation will take place together during our Session Zero. I will be available on my Discord text channel regularly to provide feedback and guidance for character creation and to discuss options. You'll receive an invite once you register for the game.

Preparing for the session

🎥 WILL YOU NEED A WEBCAM AND/OR MIC? --Short answer: Microphone yes, Webcam no. --Longer answer: It would be nice to have a webcam, and I'll explain why. I always keep my webcam ON when I GM. Although I do not require this of my players, I strongly encourage it for several reasons: 1) A lot of roleplaying takes place through facial expression and non-verbal communication. Playing without a video image can hinder that. 2) As a safety tool, being able to see someone's face and read their expression can offer me (and other players) cues that something is wrong or that a player may be uncomfortable with where the game is going - which then gives me (or others) an opportunity to call for a break and check in with that player privately. However, I completely understand any player's hesitancy to use a webcam for whatever reason, either personal or technological. For instance, I use multiple monitors so I can easily swap between Discord and Foundry, but I recognize that this is not always true for my players. Bottom line: Use cameras if you wish, and I do encourage it... but should you choose not to, please feel no pressure to change or even to explain yourself. It is entirely up to you. 📝 WILL YOU NEED ANY ACCOUNTS OR LOGINS? ---Yes. I use Foundry VTT, but hosted online through The Forge. You will need to register for a free account at https://forge-vtt.com/ if you don't already have one. You will also need Discord. 🃏 WILL YOU NEED TO READ THE RULES AHEAD OF TIME? ---Ideally yes... but it isn't required. Savage Worlds is a fairly straightforward system that I can easily teach as we go. Ultimately, it would be preferable to at least have a basic idea of the Street Wolves setting before signing up - but when it comes down to it, as I mentioned above, I'm happy to teach as we go... so beginners are welcome. If you want to get a head start, The Savage Goose has a pretty good setting review you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au6CY0Z8eW0 🎭 WILL YOU NEED TO CREATE CHARACTERS? --Short answer: Yes, but don't do it on your own in advance. We'll be doing character creation together, collaboratively. See elsewhere on this listing for more details on this.

What Mikey brings to the table

I run all my games on Foundry VTT. I've been using this platform for many years now, and have developed a lot of custom material for it. Since I use The Forge as a cloud-based hosting service, my players will need to register for a free account at https://forge-vtt.com/ in order to be able to access my games. 🎤 While Foundry is a robust and versatile virtual tabletop, I have learned that it doesn't handle simultaneous voice/video particularly well. To that end, we will use Discord for voice. Once players register for the game, they will receive a link to my Discord server. 😎📜 In terms of play style, I like to blend the Rule of Cool with Rules as Written... it is important to know and understand the game system and have a degree of consistency (so that everyone at the table has a good idea of what to expect from it), but it is equally important to know when the rules are getting in the way of a good story. I am always willing to adjust and modify things based on the needs of my players, especially when it results in some epic roleplaying situations. My primary philosophy as a GM is to stay flexible and adaptable; no matter what planning has gone into a game, be prepared to change course in an instant if it makes for a better experience. 🗺️🧠 I vary from Theater of the Mind to detailed battle maps, depending on the situation. When I do use battle maps, I like to make them as immersive as possible by incorporating walls/visibility, lighting, animations, and sound effects!

Homebrew rules

Savage Worlds is an easy system to tweak to your specifications, and I have a few such homebrew modifications I like to use regularly. Here's a link to a compendium of my SWADE house rules (be aware that not all of them may be in play for this game, and ALL of them are subject to player approval): https://bit.ly/3ZoVOhw

How Mikey creates a safe table

🦺 During Session Zero (and individually, for players who may join afterwards), we will have a discussion about the Luxton Technique and how we will use it to address - in a supportive and non-dismissive way - any triggering situations that may arise in-game. At the end of each game session (either at the moment or in the intervening time between sessions) I will check in with players to ensure that things are proceeding in a way they are comfortable with, and if they aren't, we can workshop ways to address it together. ☕ Scheduled and unscheduled breaks are welcome, for ANY reason, and I always have an open-door policy for all my games (meaning any player can step away from the game for any reason at all without recrimination or criticism, and be able to return if/when they feel they are ready/willing to.) ANYONE can call a break (for themselves or on behalf of another player), without needing to explain why. 🏳️‍🌈 I strive to make my tables always inclusive and safe spaces that are LGBTQIA+ friendly. Many of my games are set during historical time periods that realistically involved intolerant, discriminatory, and/or offensive language and cultural modes. I believe that to gloss over this and pretend that history was otherwise is potentially harmful to our present, and dishonors the sacrifices and struggles that marginalized peoples have suffered through (and continue to suffer through). To that end, while such behavior may be present in my games, it will never be as a focus - unless the PCs are in a position to actively fight against it. In addition, it will ONLY be expressed by NPCs who are outright villains, and it will be done by reference only (i.e. I may say "The NPC uses a highly offensive term when he speaks to this character," but I will *never* actually use such terms myself or tolerate their use by my players, either in- or out-of character.)