I played a megagame called Den of Wolves last year, which is heavily inspired by Battlestar Galactica - and enjoyed it so much I spent a year making this video about it, including re-enacting the...
I played a megagame called Den of Wolves last year, which is heavily inspired by Battlestar Galactica - and enjoyed it so much I spent a year making this video about it, including re-enacting the whole thing in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (which has absurdly good machinima tools, for some reason).
Megagames are essentially tabletop rpgs but with a large number of people, a team of GMs instead of just one, and everyone having different objectives/affiliations so it becomes a negotiation game for the most part. I found out about them from the Shut Up and Sit Down "Watch The Skies" video a couple years ago and have had a great time with them since!
Awesome to hear it popped up naturally! I'm kinda stunned at how nice the YT algorithm has been to this video tbh. I'd kinda accepted during recording that I was mostly making this for myself,...
Awesome to hear it popped up naturally! I'm kinda stunned at how nice the YT algorithm has been to this video tbh. I'd kinda accepted during recording that I was mostly making this for myself, because I really wanted to tell this story.
We usually commentate Diplomacy on the channel so I'd figured it would be going out to the small % of an already small group who were willing to click on something completely different to what they were there for. Clearly I was very wrong!
Thank you for sharing this, even though discovering this in the morning did wreck my productivity. I would love to get in on a megagame like this, but there aren't many in my part of the world....
Thank you for sharing this, even though discovering this in the morning did wreck my productivity.
I would love to get in on a megagame like this, but there aren't many in my part of the world. I'm envious that they seem to be quite successful in the UK.
Ahah, I probably could have timed this post better. Sorry about that! They're successful in the UK because SUSD made the Watch The Skies videos, I think - they were still just as cool beforehand...
Ahah, I probably could have timed this post better. Sorry about that!
They're successful in the UK because SUSD made the Watch The Skies videos, I think - they were still just as cool beforehand but nobody knew about them. I'm hoping over time they spread more - especially as I'm not UK-based anymore!
Oh neat, i'd already come across these vids. I find the idea intriguing but wish there was a way to take the concept and make it more bite sized. The overhead is quite extreme.
Oh neat, i'd already come across these vids. I find the idea intriguing but wish there was a way to take the concept and make it more bite sized. The overhead is quite extreme.
The overhead is kinda what makes it magical? It’s hard to explain. Indirect collaborative story telling with 40+ people can be very fun. If by overhead you mean the setup, supplies, etc then yeah...
The overhead is kinda what makes it magical? It’s hard to explain. Indirect collaborative story telling with 40+ people can be very fun.
If by overhead you mean the setup, supplies, etc then yeah would be nice it was cheaper and easier.
Kinda both. Organizing 40+ people has already struck me as hard enough with real money on the line and professional careers, i feel like i'd spend more time building a way to track it "for fun"...
Kinda both. Organizing 40+ people has already struck me as hard enough with real money on the line and professional careers, i feel like i'd spend more time building a way to track it "for fun" than doing it.
There are some 'mini-megagames' out there which aim to create a similar experience with fewer players. I played a very good one at UKGE last year called Raven Banner which was 4 teams of 4, and...
There are some 'mini-megagames' out there which aim to create a similar experience with fewer players. I played a very good one at UKGE last year called Raven Banner which was 4 teams of 4, and there's a version of Den of Wolves called New Eden which is for 20ish.
They're still large enough that they take a lot of time and energy to set up, though. Just a bit more manageable on the Control side.
I played a megagame called Den of Wolves last year, which is heavily inspired by Battlestar Galactica - and enjoyed it so much I spent a year making this video about it, including re-enacting the whole thing in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (which has absurdly good machinima tools, for some reason).
Megagames are essentially tabletop rpgs but with a large number of people, a team of GMs instead of just one, and everyone having different objectives/affiliations so it becomes a negotiation game for the most part. I found out about them from the Shut Up and Sit Down "Watch The Skies" video a couple years ago and have had a great time with them since!
Hey, cool! This popped up naturally in my recommendations. I'll have to give it a watch.
Awesome to hear it popped up naturally! I'm kinda stunned at how nice the YT algorithm has been to this video tbh. I'd kinda accepted during recording that I was mostly making this for myself, because I really wanted to tell this story.
We usually commentate Diplomacy on the channel so I'd figured it would be going out to the small % of an already small group who were willing to click on something completely different to what they were there for. Clearly I was very wrong!
Thank you for sharing this, even though discovering this in the morning did wreck my productivity.
I would love to get in on a megagame like this, but there aren't many in my part of the world. I'm envious that they seem to be quite successful in the UK.
Ahah, I probably could have timed this post better. Sorry about that!
They're successful in the UK because SUSD made the Watch The Skies videos, I think - they were still just as cool beforehand but nobody knew about them. I'm hoping over time they spread more - especially as I'm not UK-based anymore!
If anyone is nearby Gencon usually hosts at least five or six mega games every year. They are a blast. Recommend checking out the mega game coalition.
They actually added a Den of Wolves game to the GenCon lineup a few days after I released the video!
Oh neat, i'd already come across these vids. I find the idea intriguing but wish there was a way to take the concept and make it more bite sized. The overhead is quite extreme.
The overhead is kinda what makes it magical? It’s hard to explain. Indirect collaborative story telling with 40+ people can be very fun.
If by overhead you mean the setup, supplies, etc then yeah would be nice it was cheaper and easier.
Kinda both. Organizing 40+ people has already struck me as hard enough with real money on the line and professional careers, i feel like i'd spend more time building a way to track it "for fun" than doing it.
There are some 'mini-megagames' out there which aim to create a similar experience with fewer players. I played a very good one at UKGE last year called Raven Banner which was 4 teams of 4, and there's a version of Den of Wolves called New Eden which is for 20ish.
They're still large enough that they take a lot of time and energy to set up, though. Just a bit more manageable on the Control side.