Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Trials and Tribulations of Feast or Famine.

Well I decided to go back to my RPGs old Name Classic Fantasy Role Playing Game. A big wow there. In a low place and have some creativity but it is scattered. Expected there to be a better response to the game. Oh well at least I can say I did it.

Some of my other RPGs like my Free Form Supers Game are works in progress. An RPG that frees one up to just play. I think that I will add Destiny points or something like that that will allow some more narrative control.  I was also thinking about having a really simple Hit Point, Damage, and Defense added. I mean simple. The average person would have 100 HPs and an average punch would do 10 points. 

 Damage
10 Minor Damage
20 Moderate Damage
40 Severe Damage
80 Heavy Damage
100 Fatal Damage

And so on. 

Defense would of course subtract.

Those of you that have read it what do you think it needs?  If you have not read it then do so and comment.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzYaSvmA-OpUYVdyendvVlNHeG8/edit?usp=sharing

I would love to come up with the perfect Supers RPG.

Can it be done?

OH well I wonder if FASERIP is going to come back? 

There is 4C a FASERIP Clone. Not much as been done with that one. Lot's of potential there. 

Well unemployed and pitiful I am. Lost my mom back in January and I can't seem to get over it.

Maybe the Global Coastal Event is true that some are talking about and it will solve all of our problems. 






Friday, April 26, 2013

A repost of a cool gaming session.

Expedition to the Black Stairs 

Written in very rough draft form.

PCs
Eachern M The Cleric
Dalkon M The Dwarven Warrior
Aowen F The Elf Thief
Eva F The Thief

NPCs
Marts MF With Plate and 2H Sword
Melenad FF With Ring Spear and Bow plus Dagger
Belenad FF With Ring Spear and Bow plus Hand Ax
Melenad and Belenad are two attractive foreigner twins.

NPCs not hired
Raph MF With Chain, Shield, and Sword plus Crossbow
Tran MF With Plate, Battle Ax, and Spear

The Black Stairs Servant's quarters.
Dalkon get's let down on rope and he gets shot at by 2 goblins. Aowen goes down below to help. As well as Eva, Belenard, and Marts. Eachern and Melenard tie rope to bush and go down. Belenard proves to be a great shot! Killing one of the goblins and the Dwarf kills the other but not until Melenard is horribly injured! Two goblins are dispatched. Three more goblins come out. The party quickly dispatches them all but poor Marts is killed. The adventurer's explore the rest of the servant's quarters and find much gold and an amulet of protection.

They find door on the western end on the main hallway with a warning written in goblin”No go in here” The Cleric feels unholiness in the area and decides to go to the door to the south instead that opens up into a three way hallway.

The western hallway has a smell (Now as a house rule Dwarves will be able to tell the different kinds of humanoids by their smell!) of some kind of humanoid but the dwarf can't tell what it was.
The southern hallway opens up into a green house.
The eastern hallway goes down to a room with a lit fire.
The players go south into the greenhouse and find two knotted ropes coming down. The cleric decides to cut the ropes ten foot up as the Elf decides to climb up the rope. She finds a mulemaster and a pack mule. The mulemaster is heavily question by the elf as the dwarf climbs up. The dwarf finds out that two of the NPCs that were not hired Raph and Tran have decided to come to the Black Stairs themselves. The Dwarf pays the mulemaster 3 gold and tells him to cut the rope when they get back down. The elf and dwarf climb back down and the rope begins to get pulled back up with the mulemaster explaining that he did not have a knife to cut the rope so he would just pull it up. The Dwarf runs and leaps grabbing the rope. The mulemaster surprised by this does not let go of the rope and accidentally gets pulled down headfirst to his death 20 feet below. The party rolls in laughter with this strange turn of events.
The party then decides to go down the eastern hallway and the elf scouts down the hall and sees three goblins completely distracted by something farther down the hallway. The elf decides to sneak up and gives a battle cry too early allowing the goblins a chance to attack but somehow they all miss. The party quickly dispatches the goblins and find an old mine, 6 slaves and a freshly dug gold mine with many nuggets of gold.

The party decides to get the heck back to Raven's Keep and right in the servant's quarters they are ambushed by Raph and Tran. Raph and Tran attack with crossbow and Spear and miss! They close in and the Dwarf is killed (CRIT!) by Tran as well as Melenad and Beledad. The cleric is taken out as well as the elf but she does manage to kill Raph. Only Eva the thief is left standing as she fires her arrows at Tran hitting him but he still is up. She drops her bow and draws her sword as the battle axe barely misses. They both make a last strike his axe cutting her nearly to death and her blade hitting the mark killing Tran. She tires to heal the cleric and fails and succeeds on the elf who quickly pours a potion of healing that they found earlier in the cleric's mouth.



They limp back to town.







I use the Dave Arneson method of spend the gold in order to get the Experience Points for it.

The cleric is a worshiper of Bobber the god of fishing. He find the temple of Bobber in great disrepair and their acolytes lax. The local priest of Bobber is an old man who claims to be 115 years old. Much gold is spent getting the temple in repair.

The Thief spends her money on much partying.

The Elf Thief spends her money of a fully armored warhorse. A new set of armor, some caltrops, a couple of tattoos, new fancy sets of clothing, and the rest is wasted on partying.

The brother of the Dwarf comes to the city looking for his brother. He is saddened to find that he is dead and is gladdened to find he died in battle with honor.

The party hires the following NPCs
Mark the Fighter M Chain and Shield with Sword.
The Band of Dwarves M, Dully, Martrus, Dontar, Dunkin, and Brannoc. All had Ring and Shield with Battle Axes!
There was Stryder the Elf Warrior and Mage with Longbow ready to fire.

They all headed back to the Black Stairs ready for Part 1.5 which I will tell later...

The party hires the following NPCs
Mark the Fighter M Chain and Shield with Sword.
The Band of Dwarves M, Dully, Martrus, Dontar, Dunkin, and Brannoc. All had Ring and Shield with Battle Axes!
There was Stryder the Elf Warrior and Mage with Longbow ready to fire.

They all headed back to the Black Stairs ready!

The party went back in and found the slaughter house. An animal pen, a blood pit that scraps and blood was drained to the unused 3rd level and the actual kitchen.

The party and their retainers bumbled around until they attracted the attention of some zombies. The cleric turned all of one of the dead but the party foolishly pursued the zombies and lost two dwarfs. The zombies were dispatched though.

The fighter Mark kept talking smack about the superiority of humans as the party explored the slaughterhouse area of the dungeon. The Player Dwarf pushed him down the bloodhole. He survived the fall but the party discovered he met a gang of ghouls who quickly dispatched foolish Mark but not before he beheaded one of them. A quick application of oil dispatched another ghoul but the party knows going deeper they will have to face them.

They explored a bit more and found a horde of dishes and silverware. The best find was a huge set of gold candle holders. The headed back to Raven's Fort where they cashed in the items for gold.

A party of legend has happened for the last three weeks as the Adventurers have unleashed a time of drunken debauchery right during The Summer Festival of the Lottery. With the huge amount of gold the party has shut down much of the city for the last three weeks. Crops have not been tended, cows not milked, jobs not done, the city has put in a virtual standstill. Drunken citizens lay all about the street for the last three weeks! The party is out of money and the Baron is now displeased. Time to leave town!

This was a Swords and Wizardyr game but I converted the world to LL/AEC.

Sadly some of the players claimed they did not enjoy the game. IF we would have been using 4E then the same game would have taken MANY sessions.  They only wanted to play 4E. 

Role Play Gaming Societies

Can there ever be a modern day gaming society or club like there was as described in the Ryth Chronicles? 

http://www.risusmonkey.com/2011/06/ryth-chronicle-1975-1977.html

I mean like them but not as primitive. Ryth is still a good read but their style of play was not quite as developed.

A return to a large group of gamers. Multiple groups.

Multiple DMs and shared campaigns.

NOT using the overly complicated modern rules.  Something like LL/AEC with some house rules added.

I have recently made contact with the Gaming Society at large in my area at a recent Convention. 

It appears that the Gaming took over more than half of the Con!

Very little of it was RPGs but still it was a wonderful sign! 

There seems to be just a few games of PFRPG and very little else. 

 An RPG VOID!

I could imagine using my setting The Little Barony and the megadungeon The Black Stairs  as a base and then having other GMs make maps adjoining for their campaigns!

SO what to do!

First get an Old School Game going with a few new players and a few experienced ones.
  
I call the speed of Old School Games "The Flow" because the rules don't slow anything down. 

The experienced ones are going to be the problem as they like the clunky front end loaded characters (but still really cool and fun to play) of modern gaming. 

They can't run the said games (most of the time) and feel free to complain that they are not as powerful but still they can't run them. 

I can run anything. I just like less rules and more story. 

Most of them could run LL/AEC.  

Most of them could add in house rules for many of the options they like. With GM approval of course.

The rest of their problems they will have to just suck it up and actually work to get powerful.  

OR is this going to be another failed attempt at trying to play it Old School and let people see my creative vision fulfilled

I guess I will have to get off my ass and try.  

 

    

  

Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Funnel for LL/AEC


Choose a race

Roll 3d6 in order. 6 times in four columns  for Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha making four characters.

Once abilities have been determined, each player must roll for a skill. You are not picking out a class yet but think of the class you WANT. Each class desired will have a prime requisite, and some classes have a requirement of a minimum ability score. If the prime requisite ability is high enough, the character will receive a bonus to experience. Sometimes, a player will choose a certain class and the character does not have a prime requisite high enough to receive the experience bonus. In these cases, 2 ability points may be sacrificed from one ability to raise one prime requisite ability 1 point. This may be done more than once, but no ability can be lowered below 9. There are certain restrictions on how to raise or lower abilities. No ability may be lowered if it is also a prime requisite for the class, even if there are a few points to spare above the minimum required score. Dexterity can only be raised, never lowered. Constitution and Charisma are the only abilities that may not be modified in any way.

Roll once d100 Skills.
1. Actor
2. Animal Trainer
3. Appraiser
4. Armorer
5. Baker
6. Banker
7. Barber
8. Bartender
9. Beggar $
10. Blacksmith
11. Boatman
12. Bookbinder
13. Bowyer/Fletcher %
14. Brewer
15. Butcher
16. Burglar $
17. Carpenter
18. Chandler
19. Clown
20. Cobbler
21. Cooper
22. Cook
23. Coppersmith
24. Crier
25. Cutler
26. Dairyman
27. Dancer
28. Drifter $
29. Dyer
30. Explorer
31. Farmer
32. Fisher
33. Fortune Teller*
34. Friar <
35. Furrier
36. Gambler
37. Game Keeper %
38. Gem Cutter
39. Glassblower
40. Glazier
41. Goldsmith
42. Gravedigger
43. Hatter
44. Herald
45. Horse Trader
46. Huntsman %
47. Investigator
48. Jailer
49. Jeweler
50. Juggler
 
51. Laborer
52. Lapidary
53. Lens Maker
54. Lorimer
55. Mapmaker
56. Mason
57. Merchant
58. Mime
59. Miner
60. Minstrel
61. Mourner
62. Notary
63. Occultist*
64. Painter
65. Pawnbroker
66. Peasant
67. Perfumer
68. Pimp/Whore
69. Poet
70. Porter
71. Potter
72. Prisoner
73. Puppeteer
74. Rat Catcher
75. Reeve
76. Roper
77. Seafarer
78. Servant
79. Scribe
80. Shepard
81. Shipwright
82. Slater
83. Slave
84. Silversmith
85. Singer
86. Stevedore
87. Tailor
88. Tanner
89. Taxman
90. Thatcher/Roofer
91. Thug
92. Tinkerer
93. Torchbearer
94. Undertaker
95. Vintner
96. Wanderer
97. Weapon Smith
98. Weaver
99. Woodcutter +
100. Roll Twice on the chart.


*- Has the Spell Read Magic only and can use Magic User scrolls.
$- Has the 0 Level Thief Skills of PL 11%, FRT 9%, PP 18% CW 44%, HIS 8%, HN 1-2
%- Starts out with a Long Bow OR Short Bow and 12 arrows.
+- Starts out with a Hand Axe or Battle Axe.
<- Can cast Clerical scrolls.


Roll 1d4 HPs modified by the Con score.

Roll 1d6 x 10 for gold for each character.

Start out at -500 XP

Start Playing!

My god this looks fun as hell!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

http://digitalorc.blogspot.com/ Analyzing Gencon 2012

Analyzing Gencon 2012

The top twenty role-playing games comprise nearly 60% of the total role-playing games available.  Note:  These figures do not account for the many possible events (including those in the dealer's room) that Wizards of the Coast and Paizo may reserve just for D&D and Pathfinder, respectively.

Recognizing that Gencon is one of, if not the, largest role-playing gaming conventions in the world, it provides a unique opportunity for analysis.

Below are a few figures I put together after sifting through a few search sessions on the Gencon website.  Please note that these numbers may have a large sample error for several reasons. 

Here are some of the numbers in spreadsheet form if that's your thing.

Notable
  • "Role-Playing Games" comprise 1,716 of the 7,193 different Gencon events (24%).
  • "Boardgames" comprise 1,835 of the 7,193 different Gencon events (26%).
  • "Pathfinder" results were by far the largest at 321, nearly 19% of the total amount of Gencon RPG events.
  • "Dungeons & Dragons" resulted in less than six percent of all roleplaying games (99/1716)!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Swords and Wizardry: Or the Little Game that Could!

Swords and Wizardry: Or the Little Game that Could!

Swords and Wizardry! What a game!

It invokes this primal primitive version of gaming.

That incredible line "Imagine the HELL of of it" is the mantra.

Due to it's lack of rules it frees one to create.

The simple attributes puts the gamer into a different place of just story and not game.

For the game master it blows the lid off of creativity because he can just write it out or make it up as he goes!

Either way is easy!

It spawns in the mind new worlds of fantasy. 






 
FrogGod Games has discounted their entire line of Swords & Wizardry products for 1 day only in celebration of Swords & Wizardry appreciation day (April 17th 2013). The discount is good for 25% off S&W Products but you must use coupon* code SWApprDay on April 17th 2013 at check out.

*The coupon excludes items less than $1, S&W Cards, Pre-Orders, and Subscriptions.

The
D20PFSRD store is also running a sale on Swords& Wizardry PDFs. Use the provided link and use coupon code: SWAD252013

(feel free to make sure your fellow gamers know about these sales and the codes)

These blogs can also be found on the blogroll over at 2000coppers.com

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Olde Realm

Here are a few examples of what kind of adventures one can have in The Olde Realm. It is from my other blog.

  • A noble family trying to survive treachery at he hands of other nobles pit against each other by the royals in a great game of The Higher Order of the Staff and the Circle as well as business and investments.
  • A guild trying to run a business and keep his family safe from other guilds and the games of the nobles. Also the guild members are trying to climb the social ladders as well.
  • A priest and his followers trying to climb the ladder of the church hierarchy. The higher the position the greater the advantage and gold. Sides must be taken and things must be done.
  • A group of servants trying to run a household full of intrigue and cruel masters as well as dark secrets. Always being offered much gold for family secrets. Danger in the streets during errands from other families and their servants as well as criminals.
  • A group of sages trying for grants from nobles, guilds, and royals for secrets of the ancients and study of the universe. Worst of all there are the Scholars that are trying to do the same thing but from an only scientific view. Debates that end up as battles on the streets will occur.
  • Young noble males and females in their secret orders (The Lesser Order of the Staff and the Circle respectively) vying for future positions in noble families pitting the lesser swells (those who are trying to become noble by money such as guild people or rich but primitive foreigners) against each other just for cruel fun as very few if any ever enter the society as full members. Of course all these strings are pulled by the Royals secretly.
  • Cruel Noble and Royal evil games against the servants and other low class people. They call them games but in many cases they are deadly for the lower class people.
  • A lone thief breaking into mansions and castles to steal the riches of the nobility and royals. If you are really good people take notice.
  • A gang of thieves trying to make themselves into a legitimate criminal organization. From the guards to other gangs, life is short and cheap. Only those vicious enough will survive.
  • An order of wizards trying to survive the inquisition of the church. Some orders are powerful and can elude the church but the weaker must beware. Independent wizards must work in complete secrecy as magic is though to have destroyed the world ages ago. They are constantly looking for ancient and hidden secrets as the clues are hidden everywhere.
  • A tomb robber going deep into tombs below the city and in the wilderness to rob the dead. The dead are not always quiet.
  • A group of church inquisitors trying to root out the Bane. If no Bane infested cultist can be found then wizards and pagans are good targets.
  • A tinkerer and inventor making special devices for nobles and guilds and for himself.
  • A troupe of entertainers trying to survive, traveling form city to city and town to town.
  • Gods forbid one might actually want to become a Bane Cultist worshiping the Bane Gods.
  • A bounty hunter looking for the next score.
  • A bartender trying to keep his tavern and inn afloat in a city of many taverns. In some cases other taverns and their patrons attack!
  • A gang of orphan guttersnipes trying to survive. Most try and beg and steal and are on their way to becoming gangs. Most die horribly in violence or as junkies. The pimps and madams are out looking for the more attractive ones and the gangs are looking for the most vicious. The guard occasionally if their numbers too great just go forward and kill every orphan they find.
  • An owner of a road inn far in the wilderness trying to make it. Interesting characters will always show up and have stories and intrigues. Road inns in the Olde Realm are huge complexes that have been around for centuries and many are also full of secrets.
  • Noble families that are on holidays at various resorts far in the wildernesses and other exotic and ancient locations with many festivities and intrigues as well as deadly games. Woe to the servants and peasants caught in between. Much gold for those who can take care of business for the nobles.
  • A Journeyman and his men looking for work. Unfortunately they are not a part of the guild so they will have to try and join or work as scabs. Some specialize in fighting the guilds and are gangs unto themselves.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

At Greyhawk Grognard's Blog.

 At Greyhawk Grognard's Blog. 

I got to see the early play test versions of this "what if" game. It is just awesome from what I saw of the earlier versions.Must get my hands on all three books! It is said that there are almost 900 monsters. How does someone do such a thing without a few hundred person editing team?

Players Manual Hard Copies Now Available!

I'm pleased to report that the Adventures Dark and Deep™ Players Manual is now available for sale in both hard cover and soft cover versions through the BRW Games online store.

The soft cover costs $19.95 and the hard cover costs $29.95. Each comes with a complimentary pdf version.

If you purchased a pdf copy of the book before now, in a day or two you'll be receiving a special offer via email that will allow you to purchase either book for $9.95 off the cover price, so you're not penalized for buying the pdf early.

Thanks to everyone who supported the Kickstarter for the book, and everyone can also look forward to the Game Masters Toolkit, which should be available in the May-June time frame.

Enjoy!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Hero's Mag Redo 1985 Version with Modern Innovations

Well it has went through many innovations. A freeform version, a version that took into account armor damage stopping ability and a universal chart. Just not as fun as the old roll vs AC so I just went back to that version. You get to buy your powers and for the most part they are preset and preloaded. No fiddiddly power levels and such.

For example: You want to be a human torch type dude? It will cost you 16 Power Points!
Elemental Body Flame: + 9 AC, has body of pure fire, can fly, burn things at +2 with 1-10 damage. P16

Want to be a master of magnetism?
Elemental Power Metal: +3 Magnetic Ray 1-12, Control Magnetism +5 P8

Sample Villains
Gonion: Brute 16PP
Super Strength +8 1d12, Armor +6 AC16, Endurance +2d6.
AC16 HD12d6

Gravitas: Controller 19PP
Elemental Power Gravity: +3 Graviton Ray 1-12, Control Gravity +5, Fly 100MPH +5AC in Flight, Accuracy +2, Acrobatics +4 AC.
AC14/19 MAC10 HP10d6

Silver Fist: Cybernetic Ninja 19PP
Martial Arts: +4 1d8, +4 to block/parry, Acrobatics +4AC, Cybernetic +3 AC, +3 Super Strength 1d6, Super Senses +2
AC17 MAC10 HD10d6 Cybernetic Martial Attack +7 1d10 (One dice up due to Cybernetic Strength)

Overcast: Teleporter 12PP
Teleport 1000ft., Agility +2. Punch +0 1d4
AC12/22 MAC10 HD10d6 Move10mph/1000ft 1sec.

Kinda close to getting done but not really.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Your Own Fantasy World.

Just a little exercise. Take your city you live in and using THESE rules below make a fantasy version of YOUR city you live in. Take real world people and convert them into NPCs. Take all of your old characters, adventures, dungeons, and villains from the past and put them in the history. Make a graveyard for dead characters. Write at least a page and draw a map. Make yourself into an PC/NPC based on your gamer street cred.

Lake Charlemagne Core Rules
1.Take your current modern city’s population and divide it by 10. This is your fantasy city’s current population.
2. Use the standard method for character creation. Standard races and classes unless allowed by the DM. Get some
players. Be honest. (THIS WAS 3.5 but now it would be Pathfinder. Not my favorite set of rules but the setting was made based on these rules.)
3. Now start creating maps based off of real world geography. Use most of your main streets and waterways. If living in
dangerous areas the cities need to be walled. Many of the bridges can be replaces by ferry crossings although huge bridges
and landmarks should be converted into gigantic ruins. Add in the demi-human races and their areas. For instance in
forested areas and parks add elves and gnomes. Any rocky areas add Dwarves and such. Don’t forget to add areas where the
foul humanoids live. The world has to be still untamed.
4. We will use the core rulebooks at first and go from there.
5. Every Player and DM MUST contribute to the setting by writing up at least a shop or building in the setting. Yes the
players help write the game making it more theirs. Remember to not go too far.


Other Rules. Time units and Calendar. There are 365 days in a year. Unless the players want to write up a special calendar
then we will use the standard earth calendar, as in days of the week and names of the month. There will be 365 time units
that a character must spend as he plays. One day equals 1 time unit. A week is 7 time units. The starting day of the first
official game will be Jan. the 1st. Year unknown until we come up with a story.

Hell if you make a setting close enough to another it would be bad ass role playing for a bunch of people to get together to go to War or have Espionage or combine settings.