Metamorphosis Alpha in Google+ Hangout

Yesterday Night ( less than an hour ago, as I write this ) I had the great privilege of running a group of great players (Mark, Greg & Peter) through the original first edition rpg 'Metamorphosis Alpha' (MA) set in a massive Colony Star Ship  (CSS). That alone would of made it really cool, MA being the brainchild of the amazing Mr James Ward ( TSR / Gamma World / AD&D ) and having awesome players that worked together as a group; that seemed to really buy into the unknown/dangerous/future game world I was creating.

    The coolest thing was we were playing in an Google Plus(G+) Hangout; the latest new social network beta test. Hangouts are really cool for gaming (or just talkin' crap and shootin' the shit); they include video, sound & mic and work with as many as 6+ people (video off for better stability). This was my third or fourth time playing a game in Google+ and first time running a game as Gamemaster (Shipmaster?) in G+ in the last month and I am really diggin' it. (high five Google!)

    It was also my first time running MA, all the prep work I did was to read character generation, and Mr Ward's alternate MA opening "The Awakening" then I created a map(below) of the sleep cocoons (stasis pods) and adjoining rooms and chambers.

My Original rough sketch of the Sleeper Cocoons Chambers & sub-rooms

We also used a neat little web white-board app call Twiddla (http://www.twiddla.com/) for maps, simple dice rolls (4d6, d20 ...) & chat. Twiddla is free for casual use with some limitations (mainly saving stuff). Works great for drawing rough maps & quick sketches. (high five twiddla too!)

Twiddla Image drawn during game by Me

Twiddla pic by player

Give them a try, you won't be sorry!

 [ PS: This blog post is not meant to be an endorsement of any product just a personal opinion of a satisfied user. ]