Many NPCs and Megadungeons

So have you noticed that since 3E on up UNLESS you had a Character Builder of some sort that NPCs were hard to make?

Even if you made them in 3E that would be cumbersome to run and ever more so in 4th edition.

Notice from 2E on down that a huge party of PCs and NPCs were easy to make and run? I mean I use NPCs as cannon fodder to keep the heroes alive. Not a problem when you can make one up in less that a minute. Just try running a party of 8-10 players with 12 or so NPCs in the 3rd or 4th edition. It works in 3rd edition BUT they will have full stats IF you use the rules as written. If not they will be massive unskilled retards. God I would not even have enough room on my table for a 4th edition game of this sort.

Now for something completely different!

With the 4th edition the age of the Megadungon is over for the modern gamer. Just go and try and make one. I already have for LL/S&W. You go make one for 4th edition with at least 100 rooms per level. See you in a 100 years. We of the OSR shall enjoy the mysteries of the huge Megadungeon!

Happy Jacks RPG Podcast

http://rpgpodcasts.com/show/HappyJacksRPGPodcast

They were my first podcast.

They still are the best so far compared to all other podcast that I have listened to.

Swords and Wizardry Complete Rulebook

Full power old school feel!

This book expands the Swords and Wizardry Core Rules (http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/) to cover all of the early phase supplements from the 1970’s. It creates a 1-volume resource allowing the players and game masters alike to create and run adventures and campaigns that will last for an entire lifetime. The game is supported by a vast array of adventures, and other resources that are produced by Frog God Games.

This is the game you played 20 years ago. It’s true to the original style and philosophy that made the game great. No “Spot Checks” here. Simple, flexible rules that allow players and game masters alike to roll play and roleplay. This stand-alone tome provides all the rules you need to play the game. Its easily transferable as a rules set for other retro-clone games as well as those old dusty modules you still have in the attic.

In 1974, Gary Gygax (1938-2008) and Dave Arneson (1947-2009) wrote the world’s first fantasy role-playing game, a simple and very flexible set of rules that launched an entirely new genre of gaming. In the year 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (holder of the “Dungeons & Dragons” trademark) released the “Open Game License,” which allows third parties, like us, to use various intellectual properties historically associated with the Dungeons & Dragons game – although not the actual trademarked name itself, and with specific terms and restrictions.

This book is an unofficial, “re-stated” version of the original Gygax & Arneson rules (0e), created using the Open Game License. This original game consisted of a boxed set of three booklets: Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. Four supplements were also written by Gary Gygax, Rob Kuntz and others between 1975 and 1977, containing options for expanding the game with new rules. Collectively, all those booklets are often referred to as “0e,” standing for “zero edition,” and we mention the “Original Game” from time to time in this book, as a reference point. Swords & Wizardry re-describes selected rules from all seven of the Original Game booklets, taking some and leaving some. In general, Swords & Wizardry adopts class, monster, and spell rules from all the supplements, but sticks to the simpler combat mechanics from the boxed set and the first supplement only. Tim Kask, the first editor of the Dragon Magazine(TM), the first employee of TSR, Inc., and the editor of Supplements 2-4 for Original Dungeons & Dragons (TM), has more to say about that in the Foreword.

The Swords & Wizardry rules are extremely short, compared to the multi-paged rule-libraries required to play most modern role-playing games. Yet this game contains within itself all the seeds and soul of mythic fantasy, the building blocks of vast complexity, the kindling of wonder. “Edition Zero” is so powerful because it’s encapsulated in a small formula, like a genie kept imprisoned in the small compass of an unremarkable lamp. Take this framework, and then imagine the hell out of it!

Estimated Retail Price: $39.99, limited edition signed, numbered, hardcover (100 copies) and pdf, $19.99 perfect bound softcover and pdf (200 copies only of the first printing), $9.99, pdf only.

Estimated Page Count: 128
Authors: Matt Finch
Scheduled Release: November 2010

Empire of the Petal Throne

Wow just looked at a PDF of the game. A reprint from 2000 from Tigree Enterprises that is now Defunct! Wow what a piece of work.

I quit playing 4E for an undetermined time and other musings

Well I told my gaming group that I was just burnt out on 4th edition. Yep I know that is former post I said I was going to put away my OSR setting and embrace the 4th edition and just shut up and play!

AND play we did. I was playing a cleric. The battles were few but LONG. We had in the past discussed that the players need to know their characters and use strategy. Much strategy was used and many monsters fell. It still took too long and many battles just drug along.

Due to my job I had to give up the DM chair and we had some of the other members running games.

The system is fairly clunky. The monsters have a full page of stats. Why? Worst of all everything except minions has way too many hit points. Why would someone design a game in a way that purposefully makes battles last over 30 minutes?

I thought they play-tested it for over a year. How can there be so much errata? Then the Essentials are coming out which is a whole another version.

I remember one battle where a character did over 30 points of damage to a gnoll and this had just only bloodied it after 20 minutes of battle.

Slow. boardgamish, no story just battle, well I just stopped having fun or at least very much fun.

I had suggested many times for my group to try my LL mega-dungeon but I always got the blow off and the statement "I only like 4th". I always stated that we did not have to stop playing 4th but every so often try another system.

The standard answer was "I only like 4th" even though many of them have never played anything else or very little of anything else. In the past when anything else was going to be ran they would not show up that day.

So we were back to the every Saturday only playing 4th edition and it stopped being fun. I mean I love my group of friends but every weekend we were just playing a game and using per encounters, dailies, healing surges, too many hit point, too much math, too many rules, and it just got all the same. I asked my wife and my 14 year old what they thought. They too had not been having fun for a long time either. That settled it.

What about the fear of your character dieing? What about running out of spells and supplies? What about having to go back to town to heal up? What about it being a challenge?

A game where your character had fought and clawed his way for every XP he ever got.

SO..

I told my players for an undetermined time no 4th for me and soon I will be playing something else. The reaction was not surprising and I was not surprised by "I only like 4th and only want to play 4th" and one of the players said that if any other game was ran "he would not be attending".

I was even schooled on how I should have finished the 4th game that we were playing and then they would think about another game.

I did not recall asking them to stop playing 4th nor would I ever. I do not want this to end friendships but they seem to be taking the less than savory path. I will continue to be friendly and hope the best for them.

I only asked for them to try another style of gaming and was shot down for at least as long as I have had this blog save a few sessions.

OTHER MUSINGS

So the new Red Box is out? It only cover 2 levels. Gee sounds like a sample more than a game sight unseen. Gee I told WOTC to do that back on their forums during the first really crappy 3rd edition boxed set.

It's causing a stir and that is good and now the OSR Game Writers need to get off their asses and make a real basic set.

There needs to be a LL/AEC, OSRIC, BFRPG. and/or S&W (S&W is already kinda basic though) intro/basic set.

It should cover all the races and all the classes up to 5th level.

Have a selection of monsters and a guide on how to play as well as an adventure included.

Make it cheap. Get it out there!

A boxed set? Possibly but the OSR publishers need to get off their asses and take advantage of what is going on.

The OSR in me never died.

Well after a few more sessions of 4th Edition I decided to bring out my LL/AEC setting and work on it again. Not that the 4th edition sessions went "bad" per say it's just they didn't go "well". I had to give up the reigns of the DM as well as I have a LONG day that involves waking up a 3:25 in the morning and then getting to bed at 100:00 at four days a week and the fifth is an 8 hour shift but the 71.5 mile drive one way is the killed plus the 25 minute bus ride, plus the almost a mile walk. See very little time for rules intensive RPGs. Funny I can still create for the LL/AEC as all I think of is the story and then the rules just allow me to just write them down in minutes. The 4th has some good qualities and really good story ideas but it still does not offer that "certain magic" that the OSR does. I just recently reconnected with a few Old Schoolers in the area and may see if they want to play some RPGs old school style.

D&D Essentials and other musings

So what's the opinion on this new cost efficient version of D&D? Any of you Old School Gamers have any interest in it at all? After looking at a few examples it appears to be the very same ol 4th edition just presented in a different format. I still see many 4th edition "purist" especially the ones I know freaking and fuming about the whole thing. I kinda like the small 6 x 9 inch booklets idea.

Possibly (but unlikely due to life and time constraints) one day I will try to write my RPG that is a mix of the old and new school.

Old school simplicity with the new school options.

Let's face it some of the rule restrictions and such in the world of old school gaming is just stupid. Level Limits being the most and racial class restrictions as well.

In the new school it's monster stats that are as long and complicated as character stats, too many hit points, too much math, way too many rules.

Someone needs to mend these with a really cool game that mixes the old and new in a simple way.

It might just be me (or somebody else with time and a life).

Cracks Forming?

Wow the essentials has quite a few 4th edition players and DMs paranoid! More on this on a later post.

Once again another session of 4th edition that went well EXCEPT that more that half of the party got bored. Once again through no fault of anyone at the table the combat went WAY too long.

I once again asked about the S&W and LL game that we played in the past and was told by another memebr guilty of falling asleep during 4th edition games MORE that anyone else that she did not really like the old school gaming for no real clear reason other than not alot of stuff that I can do and not alot of hit points. It was too easy to die in the old school games.

What? Only one PC died and he replaced his character in about 5 minutes as that's all it took to roll one up?

Later on my wife said the same thing? What?!?!?!? her character made it to second level?

Cracks are forming as we level up and combat no matter what get's more and more boring even though we can do some really cool stuff the slower less gamer-centric players get left behind in the dust of the complication. They get to made to feel stupid and slow as the gamer-centric players get the rules.

In the old days only the DM needed to know the rules and the players just played. In fact it was not until the 90s that I learned the rules. I started in 81 or so.

The Players

PLAYERS:
Tony - Per'en Moonbeam - Elven Cleric of Corellon
Larry - Travok Ironfist, Nala - Dwarven Invoker of Moradin, Dragonborn Fighter
Amy - Darlet of Ashton - Human Fighter
Tabby - Shyla - Elven Seeker
Jade - Wynne - Elven Rogue
Machelle - Piper, Piper II - Shadar-kai Assassin, Shadar-kai Warden

The New Game

Well the last 4th edition D&D game was a success. Everyone had fun and using the old school techniques it really went well. I decided to use the Dungeon Tiles that I had acquired and I must say they are an excellent product. Most of all the players are having fun. I have decided to use my monsters in order and stove pipe the dungeon forgoing a premade map. I will go over the details of the story so far in a later post.

Time to give up on the Old School (well mostly)

Well it looks like my group has won.

They just don't dig the old stuff, or will even try it. They have had good times but the OSR type of gaming just don't have the features they like.


SO I just have started only writing adventures for the 4th edition only and will put my OSR stuff on the shelf to collect dust.


Most of all are they having fun? Do I push the OSR and not play at all or run the games they want? I would rather game then not.

Old School Gaming the Album

Old School Gaming the Album

What music do you like during Fantasy gaming? Yes someone already posted something like this somewhere back awhile ago. BUT

List a few of your favorite artist, songs or Albums for gaming moods.

Here are a few of mine.

Lorena McKenitt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B7sH5QLyXY

Dead Can Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJhVM930YXY

Danzig's Black Aria
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=BBDDEC6562D9CC82

Tool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo


Iron Maiden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Snehl2bAk

LotR Soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=408lJ0svE0Q

Braveheart Soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wvapr8WvBs

Rob Roy Soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpN93TT8nT4&feature=PlayList&p=EC1E2301EC61B7DA&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=22


What are yours?

Now a message about Wine from Dr Steve Brule!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91dLiozxRY0

The Ancient Ways of the Grain Goddess

The Ancient Ways of the Grain Goddess



As written by Celenoious the Sage from the university of Raven's Keep.

Let's face it the religion of the Grain Goddess Keres whose spiritual leader is Shel-Elene (the ugly Baroness of Raven's Keep) is not a very good deal for worshipers. First of all many a young maiden is expected to have relations with the male hierarchy of the church set up by her husband the Baron Strah-Kahar.

He being the Lord and Savior of the Temple of the Horseman God, know in other parts as Kerne the Hunter, Mal the Slayer of Invaders, and Tyre God of War. Only fellow nobles are allowed to be Horsemen and worship in his temple.

All who are filthy foreigners and not of the ever dying Hattir blood. They are the filthy stinking Mastdellian race whose symbol is a Mastodon when the feel not putting up the raven.

The religion is supported to keep the baron's wife busy with silly intrigues all set up by the Baron to keep his ugly fat ignorant wife occupied. Tis sinister as they practice many lotteries that end up in death by stoning, drowning, stabbing, and poly-morphing if not even more sinister things.

Wort of all is the Wicker Man! Woe to ye who are the victim and fool of this ritual!







The baroness conveniently tries to kill any of the baron's other mistresses, slaves, and whores to keep her place that she soon knows will be taken away if she be not ever vigilant, treacherous, and militant.

The baron usually cares not as there are many stirges in a cave as he always says. He also says there are many goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins, and orcs to stab in the dark! Oh what a sense of humor our leader has.

The the worship of the Grain Goddess Keres is a filthy foreigner religion that is slowly taking over raven's Keep as the Mastdellian filth keeps moving in.

They are trying to breed us out as the Baron and the Nobles have the right of First Night with our brides.

They shall one day push the people and we shall have enough!

October Surprise!

Many economist are saying get ready for the October Surprise!

Another wave or Mortgage Rate Resets! Just like the kind that started the bailouts we oh so love!

My question is if the holders of the mortgages are currently making money and IF the rate goes up causing a default wouldn't you just NOT raise the mortgage rate and allow the person to keep the house?

What exactly happens to a house that sits empty for any period of time? What are these idiots going to do with these thousands of empty houses that nobody will buy?

Are these idiots TRYING to crash the economy on purpose?

Worst of all look at the peak of ARM Rate Resets in 2011.

What will most likely result is a devaluation of the actual value of the greenback and then people we are in real trouble. Depending on how much the greenback devalues we may see our beloved USA become a third world country.

This Dungeon

I have found a few pictures of what ruins and dungeons look like. This is a test of what this blog can do.


Stairs down









We make it to a door


















We find an atrium





















Suddenly goblins are coming...






If you don't put lots of space the images will overlap.

You think you can take these Dungeons?

This is a little experiment to see how much I can post on a blog.




I am the guide for the adventurers. They are young and stupid full of piss and vinegar and gold.

Stupid all stupid they are they actually "want" to go deep into a dungeon. I bring them to the entrance. The foolishly make noise and sounds of glee. If I did not need the money and not have these men working for me oh how I would get a young wife and start a farm BUT all my gold goes they way of drinking.

There are the two young lovers. The Thief and the Druid. She could do so much better.








The Wizard











The Fighter










Not enough to enter this dungeon. Me and my men grumble at these idiots. The entrance looks like this...











Will we survive?

Hero's Mag Setting

I have this world that I have used for years in various incarnations. Here is what I have so far from the North American Continent.

Mega-Earth present day:

North America was slit up into five distinct nations after the civil war with many smaller city states in between. These nations are roughly called the United Megalopolis North America. These nations are nothing close to being United.

United Megalopolis North America 1-7
Republicia
The nation that is the remnants of the old USA. It is in the current midst of an economic crisis and is bogged down by wars in the middle east. This area is know as the East Coast or Neo England. It is primarily thought of as a Republic but it is at the begging stages of a Fascist State.

Steelton
A corporatist owned industrial giant that has been rotting from the inside due to free trade. Much of Steelton's factories are closed down. This area is know as the North East or the Great Lakes Nations. The nation is owned by warring corporations.

Tropica
The nation of sun and sand also know as the Southeast Coast or The Peninsula that goes out into the Gulf and Atlantic. It is ran by various families of great power.

Confederation
The southern gulf coast is home to the Confederation Megalopis. The Confederation is the very successful nation that won their freedom from the former United States which is now Republica. The Confederation has many petroleum refineries and very good farmlands. The Confederation has not been without it's problems as the slave rebellion in 1962 will attest. On that year slavery was finally abolished but it nearly tore the nation apart. Justice Johnson lead the rebellion and is still alive today. It is a very loose libertarian and/or anarchist state.

Desert
This is a nation know as the high desert. It is a highly religious area and is quite self sufficient. It is ran by a theocracy and various warring sects.

Rain
Know as the Nortwest this area is a mecca of industry. It is ran by various powers of all kinds.

Liberalia
Know as the East Coast this area is a huge Socialist Democracy. It is ran by the state but there are many factions all at war.

The Black StairsNPC party idea

Well up till 3:40 in the morning drinking fine vodka(because I ran out of bourbon) and working on my huge maps. About a hundred rooms per level. It's going to be a massive undertaking for anyone to take on this dungeon.

Once again I came up with a twist. One of the monsters I rolled up was an NPC party.

Now that can be interesting in itself as on a previous session the NPCs that were not hired went to the dungeon to explore on their own and best of all attack the weakened party to steal their stuff.

But why not give them more of a story?

When the players reenter the Black Stairs there will be a letter claiming the dungeon to the Raven's Keep Adventuring Society. The letter will also say that only sanctioned RKAS members may enter the dungeon if not legal action will be taken on the offenders. On the back will be a waiver of liabilities and a HUGE list of more that 15 NPCs in the party.

How will the players react to this? This is the dungeon that they bled in many times and now some upstart is claiming it?

This should be pretty good...

FALLOUT3 PC

Fallout 3 is just one of the best first person RPGs ever made.
The graphics and game play are fantastic if you got the machine with the ass to run it. If you don't have the machine to run it the enemies won't render at a distance but they still can shoot you.

The story is gritty and very deep as you explore the wastelands of a futuristic art deco Washington DC wasteland.

The game is huge with months of game play. Its so big that you wonder how did they have the time or budget to make a world on a massive scale.

If your looking for something to take up far too much time then F3 is the game to be.

The Black Stairs

Well this week I am going to work on my old school dungeon The Black Stairs.

I will incorporate story into a megadungeon and it will be good.

Am I going to try and publish it? Hell no!

So far as my other projects are in limbo as well.

This is going to be a character grinder that does not forgive but any who survive shall be wealthy and gain levels.

It shall be at least 4 sheets of graph paper per level with some even larger.

One requirement I have is it shall not be work but pleasure and enjoyment.

Gamers and Health

With so many Original Gamers dying off this last few years at way of a too young of an age in my opinion, is the gamer lifestyle a killer lifestyle?

Are there things that we need to do more like watching what we eat and getting exercise?

How many of us have had a checkup in the last few years?

Many of us need to make a change on how we live or die too early.

Plus there is still LOTS of gaming to do so I ain't got time to die.

Hero's Mag: My Super Hero RPG Concept!

This is my nearly freeform Super Hero RPG.

You don't roll up a character you write up one.

I have tried this "system" with many different genres and it really works with good role players but not at all with min-maxers and rules lawyers.

It's basically a freeform system with an Outside the game and story mechanic to decide what happens. Try it out and see. Soon buildings and cars will be flying!

Hero's Mag

Hero's Mag is a superhero game that takes minutes to make a character and provide hours of fun. The only dice you need for this game is a 20 sided dice. Roll the dice and see what result you come up with from the chart below.

THE NOVEL RPG UNIVERSAL CHART

20 Perfection
18-19 Extremely Good
16-17 Very Good
13-15 Good
9-12 Average
6-8 Bad
4-5 Very Bad
2-3 Extremely Bad
1 Disastrous


WRITING INSTEAD OF ROLLING A CHARACTER:
When you want to make a character you need to forget all that you know about attributes, hit points, and anything else you have learned from other RPGs. Remember what you have learned on Free Form RPG boards on the internet. If they work there they will work here. There is a dice roll mechanic but it exist “outside” the game itself. The players write up Characters and give the Characters reasonable powers and equipment based on the power level being played. The game master will have the final say on “how powerful” your character is.

First chose a power level of your character.


Four Color – This is you standard superhero comic book. In this level cars get throw around the place and building are leveled.
Teen Supers – Here the players are young super powered beings with the problems of youth and the problems of superpowers.
Street Level – In this play level the players are against street thugs and mafia. There are a few superheroes and supervillains lurking around but most are low powered.
Epic – Here are the planet sized adventures where the planet, solar system, galaxy, or the very fabric of time and space is in danger. Seven points (or more) Perfection Maximum.

Second Choose a Concept. There is a large list of Super Hero Concepts farther back in the book.
There may be a concept that I missed that's fine write it up and submit it for a future Hero's Mag's Ultimate Concept Book.



Third elaborate on the character's concept.

Here are a few guidelines called the 7 Ms. Discuss the 7 Ms of the character concept if they are above or below average. Might or how resistant to damage and harm. Muscle or how strong you are compared to an average human. Moves or your agility and speed. Mind as is how strong mind is and will power. Manipulation as in your personality and manipulative ability. Martial as in your raw brawling ability and Missile as in your accuracy at ranged combat. What is his physical description? What is his personality?

Forth discuss your Powers, Abilities, Devices, and Skills.

How powerful they are and what they do. It's fine to add an array of powers, devices, and abilities just don't go overboard.

Fifth is background.

Does your character have a life other than super heroics? What does he do for a living? What hobbies does he have? What is his social status and wealth? Many of these backgrounds will provide skills and abilities that may provide useful in some game events.

Sixth is Mental and Physical Condition

Does your character have a bad back? Is he afraid of the dark? Has he an addiction to drugs? Is he completely healthy? All these are noted on the sheet. This is also the area where you note damage from combat.

Seventh is Equipment

What do you have equipment wise? You and the game master get together and discuss your hero's equipment and then your person equipment such as home and cars.

Eighth guideline is all these “rules” are just guidelines! The point is to have fun!

Example One: The LIZARD LAD
I am making a character with the powers of a lizard. I decide I want him to have chameleon skin , wall crawling, great leaping ability, prehensile tongue, and regeneration. I want him to be able to be able to dodge bullets so his great leaping ability should do the trick, be fairly strong as to be able to throw at least a mail box at someone. He could opt to just have better than normal strength but the power of super strength is way cooler. He has to be mostly naked for his chameleon power to work until he finds a super laboratory. I will make the story up that he was studying different lizards when he was caught in a strange dimensional warp that molded the lizard's DNA in his laboratory to him. What he does not know is this was done by a supervillain in order to mold him into a lackey. I also decide that the player is a recently graduated shy kid that had very little going for him. No college or future just a dead end job at a laboratory. The lab was at the local college so he was made fun of by the college kids. He now lurks the city streets looking for trouble as The Lizard Lad. He is unknown in the Confederation.

Example Two: STONE
Stone is a Brute. He is Super Strong able to lift weights as large as a train. His skin is super tough able to withstand any bullets and even some missiles and explosions. He was transformed into to Stone as a child when he was exposed to an alien radiation from a UFO crash. He is currently a very popular super in the Republicia Nation.


Example Three: SAMSON
Samson was an Epic super from the great world war and still survives today. He was though killed as he was seen being destroyed by the galaxy eater back in the early 90s. Samson has Super Strength able to lift a train, able to fly, is invulnerable to most physical damage, has x-ray vision, and laser eyes. Samson had always been a devout Christian and since he returned in the early 90's has been seen wearing upside down crosses and marking himself up with satanic symbols. There are stories of him victimizing women and children. Some say Samson was destroyed and something evil came and took his place.


Game Master Section

If a character tries to do something and is able to do with ease the charter succeeds. If there is a pivotal time in the adventure the Character rolls on the chart. The roll is not modified in any way. The result is read from the vantage of the skill of the character. For example if a skilled person and an unskilled person both get a Very Bad result it will mean different things for each Character. A skilled person may have his result shifted upwards to Bad while an unskilled would leave the roll as it is. A bad roll is not always a failed attempt to do something. It also can be a change of plot against the positive flow of the Story. This is actually a good thing as it makes very exciting stories. Damage is judged from the weapon used, the protection offered from cover, armor, and stamina and the result of the Plot Roll. Make it dramatic!

Combat

Each player declares what they are doing based on their descriptions and power levels. Each player rolls and attack and defense plus any other rolls they are doing. The higher result usually wins unless the other player pulls a cool stunt or is just far more superior.

The effects of combat can be very detailed from a detailed description of each body area to a simple Uninjured, Scratch/Beat Up, Injured, Severely Injured, Incapacitated, and Dying. It all depends on how you want to run the game. It is up to the players and the game master as well as the dice to figure out where your character stands. Mental states can be done this way as well. You have to decide how much damage or effect was done according to the power and skill level described in the characters text minus any relevant defenses.


Minions and Goons

Minions – Minions are weak bad guys that are wiped out in usually one hit. Most won't have powers but will have weapons and possibly armor and devices.

Goons – Goons are more powerful bad guys that work for large organizations and more powerful bad guys. Some goons will even have powers or super equipment but are still quite weak compared to a four color hero.

EXAMPLES OF SUPER COMBAT:

Example 1:
Lizard Lad is at the museum crawling on the ceiling looking at the different displays of tribal mask. An accidental electrical surge blast the largest tribal mask and it opens up a dimensional portal. Out leaps Utor. “Where am I? Some strange world full of weak humans! I shall rule them all!” Utor decides to pick up giant stone statues and throw them at security guards that have came in response. He rolls a 13 which is a Good result. The Game Master decides that is good enough to wipe out the guards as it shift up to an Extremely Good result unless... Lizard Lad decides to leap in midair and knock the stone statue aside and gets Injured.Lizard Lad rolls a 15 which is a Good result as well modified to a Very Good result. The game master decides he does it but how does he land? He ask for another roll. Another 15 is Good which becomes a Very Good for the Agility but back down to a Good for the injury which in this case the Lizard Lad lands flawlessly.
“ Hey ugly we were all enjoying a great day at the museum until you showed up. Why don't you go back to where you cam from” Lizard Lad leaps forward to knock the crap out of Utor and rolls a 12 Average modified up to a Good Result minus his Armor which goes down to an Average result. The both trade blows and nothing happens except for much of the museum getting damaged.


Example 2:
Scope come up on the warehouse where the Mafia Kings gang was rumored to be. He climbs up the fire escape and gets his throwing sticks ready. Scope had the uncanny ability to throw and almost never miss. The warehouse went up five stories but Scope saw all he needed from the second floor. Blade the Sword Master, Machine Gun Eddie, Sledge Hammer Pete, and Sally the Purse plus ten thugs (minions) from the Mafia Kings Gang.
Scope is Stealthy and rolls a 17 which is a Very Good result which is pushed up one level to an Extremely Good result. In other words the player and game master decide that Scope gets to sneak in without a problem. He sees two of the thugs talking to each other and decides to throw a few throwing sticks to knock them out. He has the Bullseye skill/power and rolls a 5 which is a Very Bad result! His Bullseye skill/power brings the result up to an Average which means that only one bad guy got knocked out and the other one is alerted. He begins to scream and alert the others and fires his pistol at Scope rolling an 18 Very Good result with his average skill. Scope attempts to jump out of the way AND throw a stick rolling an 13 which is a Good result. The game master decides that Scope can jump out of the way but his stick misses. The four goons call for backup and begin to head upstairs. The thug fires again getting a 15 which is a Good result. Scope decides to collapse a crate shelf with a stick throw on top of the thug and jump to the side and rolls a 6 which with his agility and his Bullseye Skill combined, the game master decides that the shelf is collapses but Scope gets Injured from the bullet. Damn! He got shot in the shoulder the Game Master Decides! This will make everything a bit more difficult. Sally the purse makes it upstairs and begins throwing ink pens and coins at Scope with deadly accuracy rolling a 10 Average roll. Scope rolls a 6 which is a Bad result and the game master decides that Scope is injured and is flung into a bunch of boxes. He returns fire at Sally the Purse rolling a 5 or Very Bad result. Sally easily dodges the stick and returns a volley of old dirty change rolling a 14 which is a good result. Scope rolls a 5 which is a Very Bad result and Scope is knocked back out the window he cam and falls two stories into the trash heaps below. Scope is now Severely Injured. Scope decides to get a super team together and gets away through the back alleyways.

A Few Adventure Concepts

The Game Master writes up adventure. The Game Master would make up a few villains and a few normal people to interact with.

1.Villain of the Week
2.Crime Spree
3.Terrorist Take over
4.Ancient Evil Awakens
5.Enemy Country Invades
6.Alien Attack
7.A Team of Villains Form
8.A Super Power Villain Attacks
9.Another Superhero or Superhero Team have a disagreement with the Players.
10.Player is Framed
11.Giant Monster Attack
12.Natural Disaster
13.Burning Building
14.Government Agency Begins to Attack or Harass the Players.
15.Lost or Hidden Country in Trouble.
16.Strange Dimensional Portal Opens.
17.Family or Friends Kidnapped
18.Villains Approach Players to Fight a Greater Evil.
19.Demons, Devils, Ghost, or Other Supernatural Enemies Attack
20.Make Up Another or Choose One

EXAMPLE OF WRITING AN ADVENTURE AND A VILLAIN

The Game Master rolls a 16 which is “Strange Dimensional Portal Opens”. A primitive Wildman appears and begins a rampage that the players must stop. The game master decides to name the Wildman Utor the Barbarian.

UTOR
Utor has superhuman agility and superhuman strength able to leap at least three stories into the air and throw a car. His skin is super tough able to withstand small gunfire though larger calibers will harm him. He has primal sense of a predator able to see hear and smell like a devilish hunting beast. Utor sees this world as a place full of weak victims. He goes on a wild rampage taking what he wants. It will be very bad for everyone if he is not stopped and he becomes acquainted with this world.

Super Hero Concepts




Here is a Concepts List and a few suggested skills.

Absorber – You have the ability to absorb physical or energy damage and make yourself more powerful.
Acrobatic – You are a highly trained acrobat capable of doing incredible feats of crime fighting daring.
Agent – You are a super agent of some government agency. You have many weapons and devices each issue.
Alien – You are an alien from another planet with strange and terrible powers.
Amphibian – You are a hero with the ability to breath underwater and withstand the great pressures of the deep.
Android – You are a highly advanced living machine of great power. You can have many powers and abilities.
Angel – You are a divine being of great power. Most angels have wings.
Arachnoid – You are a hero with the powers of wall crawling and web spinning as well as incredible feats of agility and perception.

Battlesuit – You have a powerful Battlesuit with sensor array, flight system, weapons systems, and super strength.
Beastman – You are a hero with beast like powers such as claws, tracking, and quick healing.
Birdman – You are a winged hero. Many are mistaken for angels.
Blaster – You have the power to project powerful blast of energy of your choice.
Bowman-You are a skilled archer with many arrows of different powers.
Brute – You are a super strong and super tough able to withstand huge amounts of damage.
Bullseye – You have the ability to throw or shoot any item and not miss.

Controller – You can control some kind of energy or force of your choice.
Contaminator – You touch either poisons, weakens, or diseases others.
Crazy – You are a hero or villain with a gimmick such as clown makeup, riddles, or something from arty to silly.
Cyborg -You are half man and machine of great power.

Detective – You are a costumed detective fighting against the underworld with your stealthy ability, fighting skill, and devices.
Density Control – You can control your density where you can become incorporeal or immovable.
Demon – These are fallen angels. Most seek to cause trouble on this world.
Devil – You are a powerful evil god of fearsome appearance of some ancient time.
Drainer – You have the ability to drain other heroes powers for a short time and use them
Driver – You drive a very special vehicle full of weaponry and devices.


Elemental Body – You have the ability to change into something else such as fire, stone, metal, liquid, or whatever you think of.
Elemental Control – You have the ability to control a form of energy or matter.
Emotion Controller – You control the emotions of others.
Explosive- You have the ability to release large amounts of energy damaging all people in the area.

Gadgetry Master – You are a heroes full of devices each issue.
Genius – You have super high intelligence able to create new science, devices, and come up with plans.
God – You are an ancient god of great power.

Hex – You have the ability to make other have really bad luck and hurt themselves.

Immortal – You are a hero that cannot die
Immovable – You can plant yourself into one place and cannot be moved. This makes you kind of a brute.
Insectoid – You are a hero with the powers of an insect such as flight, stinger, wallcrawling and any others you think of.
Invulnerably – You cannot be harmed by most physical damage. Most Invulnerable people are quite strong as well.

Knight -You are a highly trained hero trained in martial weapons and with powerful armor.

Lucky – You can make yourself lucky to win against opponents.
Lycan -You are a were creature. Most Lycans are werewolves but you can be of any other kind of were creature.

Mage -You are a master of magic. The mage is the most common name but there are many others such as Wizard, Warlock, Witch, Druid, and whatever you think of.
Martial Artist – You are a master of the martial arts. There are many titles such as monk, kung-fu or karate master, ninja, and whatever you can think of.
Master of Disguise- You have the skill to change your appearance to completely fool others.
Mecha – You have giant robot that you drive around.
Merc – You are a highly trained solider of fortune with many weapons. You are trained enough to take on supers.
MIXED – This is a character that is mixed with many of the other clinches.
Morph – You can shape shift into anything you desire.
Multiplier – You can make copies of yourself that function independently. You are a one man army.
Mutant – You are an evolved human of great power. Most mutants are hated due to their fearsome power and unusual looks.

Ninja- Many Ninja are simple shadow assassins but there are many super powered beings that are also ninja.
Nullify – You have the power to nullify others powers.
Omnivore – You have the ability to bite through anything and digest it.
OTHER SKILLS and ABILITIES – Any other skills and abilities not listed here.

Perfect – You are a super strong, invulnerable, flying super person with possibly x-ray vision and laser eyes.
Psion – You are a master of mental powers such as mental blast, force fields, telekinesis, and any other cool neat psionic powers.
Phase – You can become incorporeal and phase through solid objects. You are able to damage things from the inside out.
Plantman – You have the abilities of plant and human. You must decide what these powers are as there are thousands of plants.

Reptileman – You are a person with the powers of a lizard, frog, turtle, or some other kind of reptile.
Robot – You are a free willed machine.

Shooter – You are a hero with a special type of super gun that does different types of damage.
Size Changer – The kind of hero who can get bigger and/or smaller.
Speedster – The super fast speeding hero.
Spinner – A rotating and spinning character.
Streetwise – The skill of knowing the street.
Stretchy – You are a hero with the ability to stretch.
Super Soldier – You are a highly trained and genetically altered soldier.
Summoner – You can summon minions of some kind to fight for you.
Swashbuckler – The fancy talking sword/bow/whip/throwing dagger using throwback from another era who is dashing and heroic.

Teleporter – You have the ability to jump from one place to another without crossing space.
Time Traveler – You can travel through time.
Tunneler -You have the ability to tunnel thought the earth.

Undead – You are one of the living dead that exist to fight evil or get vengeance with many powers.
Unstoppable – You are the type of hero that can ram into things like a bull or rino and cannot be stopped by normal means.

Vampire – You are one of the undead of great power that must feed on blood to survive. Vampires have many different powers but common ones are gaseous form, bat and wolf form, claws and teeth, regeneration, and super strength and speed.
Wealthy – You are super rich and can afford almost anything.
Weapons Master – You can use ancient weapons of all sorts with superior martial skill.
Wildman – You are a primitive hero in a modern world. You have superior hunting, fighting, and survival skills.

Comicpalooza

http://www.comicpalooza.com/

I am going to Comicpalooza this weekend in Houston, TX.

If any of you are going let me know! Would love to meet fellow gamers and roll a few dice.

What to do? Should I use OSRIC or LL and the AEC?

Should I use OSRIC or LL and the AEC?

Both are good.

Both have merits and such.

My FIRST experience with gaming was the Basic Set with the Earl Otus cover so LL is a natural fit and with the AEC it plugs in the "advanced" style of play with the "basic" style of play.

OSRIC is the "advanced" style of play apologetically.

Which system do you like out there and why?

TARGA Controversy and the OSR.

TARGA Controversy and the OSR.

As an almost libertarian (in belief but not in the party) and almost anarchist I never want the freedom of speech and expression of another held back as long as I know what their content of information is.

The poster of the "I Hit With My Axe" did nothing maliciously. He posted what he felt was TARGA worth news. The short film was from the Blog "DnD with porn stars".

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/

They seem like sweet cool girls and from the short snippets seem to really be gaming.

http://traditionalgaming.wordpress.com/

A few people were surprised by the content and dropped out of TARGA.

My suggestion (and there will be no more discussion with this) is invite back the people that quit and promise to post a warning on any possible adult content BUT for the most part try and keep TARGA growing and out of controversy.

I live in South West Louisiana and did suffer through the D&D Inquisition of the 80s. We don't need that to happen again but at the same time we don't need to dumb down and edit OUR games for the approval of others who HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH GAMING lest we have another 2nd edition AD&D!

TARGA is a great thing and this needs to first be made whole then this situation moved on from.

Chase Dat Gold!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tovznQvqVok

Chorus:
Oh, no! Here we go, with the flow (here we go).
Chasin' gold 'cause that's the goal, or so we've been told (with the flow).
I think we've all played that role, so I don't care what you say (chasing gold).
'Cause everyday we role play. Everyday we role play (ooohhhwowowohh).

Verse:
I'm not a 9 to 5'er, a daily grinder.
I smack a wench in the mouth, just to remind her (smack her in the mouth).
I'm not a stranger to danger. I, myself, am a Ranger.
I got a Dark Elf and a Wizard in my crew. So, don't think we're afraid of you.

I'm a Dark Elf, I'm my bad ass self (that ass is so bad).
Slitting throats, killing folks, trying to be myself.
I'm like, "Don't be mad because I'm bad." You know,
I was born that way. It's like being gay (Uncle Larry!).

Chorus

Verse:
Rule # 1: No hitting in the face.
Rule # 2: If you get hit in the leg, drop to your knees and let out a shout. If you get hit again, then you're out.
Rule # 3: Memorize these...(Follow these rules)

Look at their face, see their fear.
A puff of smoke and the wizard appears (wizard appears).
I don't care if you stare at my wicked warez,
my Wiccan flair, my white flowing wizard hair.

Chorus

Verse:
Wait, is this like playing WOW?

No, Ogre licker. I'm a real wizard kicker. If you snicker, it will trigger my sword to grow bigger.
To all you WOW kids: you know what joblessness is, or who's job it is to gargle goblin jizz (gargle goblin jizz)?
And it's not PC in this PVE to diss another brothers MMORPG.
But it aint PVP, this is you versus me, and I make all my weapons out of PVC.

I'm true to this game. I got a unicorn tattoo.
So, all you role playa haters. Is this real enough for you?
I'm a wizard. I'm an elf. I like sparring. By yourself.
You both suck. Rangers rule. I challenge you to a duel.

(We're jousting on Sprees)

Watch me hack. Watch me slash. Watch me steady, spend that cash.
Maidens sing their siren song. Let me see that iron thong.
Chastity belts really turn me on. Wizard staff grows hard and long.
L to the A to the R to the P-ing. Hand to the hilt, grab the sword and swing.

Chorus

Just got my OSRIC Economy Version.

Just got my OSRIC Economy Version. IT is in my hands. IT only was around $15 with shipping. IT is perfect bound. Everything you need is here! Totally worth the price. Nice high gloss cover. All B&W inside. The binding seems very good. Lulu I love you!

Got my LL and AEC in as well.

OSRIC 2.0 Review

OSRIC 2.0

What a game!

Nothing new here under the sun but the organization and presentation of the entire project is just amazing. It allows OGL publishing of the first edition rules of some certain game we all know. After trying and trying to write my own retro clone mixed with new stuff and giving up for the millionth time yet again I stand looking at OSRIC in amazement.

Overall I love it!

Character Creation is what we all know. Simple and fast compared to "modern" rule systems. Still full of Class and Race restrictions that make no sense but to some it is a tradition. However I will play it like the rulebook says to and make up the rest.

The Initiative system is going to be really interesting. My group says they will try it soon. They play 4th edition mostly. They were not impressed with S&W even though it was some of my best GMing I have ever done.

Some of the artwork is as good as mine which is not saying much but other bits of artwork are fantastic. The OSR need to embrace the professional and the amature artist and this book reflects this.

The Spell List is detailed and I have yet to find any problems.

The equipment list is lacking transports and there is an absence of Ship Combat. There also seems to be no construction and siege rules as well. There is no Mass Combat. I am sure that the writers are working on it as we speak as another book is coming out. With the talent here it will be good.

The Monster list is HUGE. The writers put the treasure roll WITH the monster description. Genius and LOTS of work. It will make running monsters very easy for the GM. I just wish there was a monster chart with the basics of all the monsters just like on the old DMG.

The non OGL text on how to play and such are done so very well and does it's job in stirring up the old school feeling of the dungeon crawl.

Tables and more tables. Just fantastic! I wish the writes would make a book of more tables and these were done so very well!

My question is how did just a handful of people rewrite and organize this OGL project so very well? OSRIC is an obvious labor of love, done by people who love the hobby and are keeping Old School Gaming alive.

I still don't understand Old School dissenters of the OSR. Their hobby will die as they know is because the old games are sold no more except used. This piece of art will keep it alive.

This rulebook is perfect as it is and needs to stay unchanged.

A Messy Recap of my Old School games.

Here is a recap of all the adventures that have been played in my Raven's Keep Sandbox Setting.

After this point I will be using OSRIC as opposed to S&W. Hopefully more to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJhVM930YXY

Listen to Dead Can Dance while you read! You can thank me later!

Wow I played Swords and Wizardry last night with my two girls. They were both elves. My 11 year old rolled a fighter elf and my oldest 13 year old rolled a fighter magic user elf. I had them hire four Men at arms and then sent them into the dungeon. They were there to rescue the Baron's Daughter who had been kidnapped by the Kobolds. Bloodrock Keep was the ruins they haunt and had never been a problem until now. The heroines went in swords swinging and lost the initiative and two of the four retainers died right away. The girls managed to fight off and kill the rest of the kobolds. They then went back to town and hired a set of twing chin and shield fighters, a thief, and a second level wizard. They kicked in the door of the next room for a surprise attack and did they ever miss! My two girls quickly dispatched two of the surprised guards and the Mage and rogue killed two as well. The next round one of the fighters were dead as well as the mage. The rest of the combat ended messily with all the guards being killed. Only one of the fighters and the thief was left. In the corner of the room was a cell that contained a 2nd level elf. While they were talking goblins busted in from the north room and killed the fighter and the thief NPC. The more experienced elf NPC showed the players the use of a bow and the goblins were killed. They will play again soon.

A Human Fighter and two Female Elves.

The Fighter had been traveling for the last 14 days from the Capital to Raven's Keep. A few hours before the city he met up with two female elves. Two Adarian Elves who told a story of the baron of Raven's Keep ravishing an elvish princess of their tribe and now they were at war with the baron. The Fighter groaned as he knew these elves would be trouble.

As they approached the city there was a great crowd of people and screams of pain! There was a man burning at the stake! A few rotting bodies hung by the neck from the wall, people in brass pots with only their heads sticking out who would be left to die slowly in their own filth. Stocks of ten with four unfortunates in them, to be left for days outside the city walls and anything could happen to them.

Then there was this raven haired girl with bright blue eyes and pale white skin. She wore strange black and red leather armor. She and two guards were at the top of the great stone wall some 20 ft high. She was abut to be hung by the neck until dead. The elves began to complain and the fighter told them this is the law and this is crime and punishment. As they were discussing the girl who was proclaiming her innocence and said she had spurned the baron, was throw off the wall and the noose caught on (1d6 damage) but it did not snap her neck but she would die (1 pt of damage a round) soon. One of the elves pulled out her bow and shot through the rope allowing the girl fall. The rather large crowd went wild and began to run into the town as someone screamed goblins attacking! The elf maidens quickly escorted the girl back into the city where she disappeared into the crowds. The fighter suggested that they do the same.

They found a rowdy inn and found rumors of all sorts of things going on. The baron was a womanizer, slavery was very popular here, two dungeons Bloodrock Castle and the Black Stairs beckoned adventurers to explore them and a few adventurer parties had went but never returned. Much adventure was to be found here.

A sage of great wisdom invited the party for a drink and told of Bloodrock Castle and a Tome that he wanted for a hefty price. He would tell them of the location and they would return him the Tome.

SO they went....


Drunk and stupid the Fighter and the two elf maidens were. The entire group of five hirelings had died in the first three rooms of Bloodrock Castle. The first room was a portrait room with pictures of great art that fell apart when touched. Filthy kobolds ambushed us and killed two of our nameless hirelings. The next room a former bedroom of a rich maiden, has human bandits that wiped out the rest of our retainers when goblins from the third room came in and ambushed from behind. It seems that old school has more deadly consequences than new school gaming. Lucky the players let their retainers die and they had to flee back to the inn to wait for another adventure. They sit there now drinking and regretting the senseless deaths of their retainers. Maybe they will be more careful next time

Expedition to the Black Stairs Part 1


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 greenhouse.
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!

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!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABVhBrm6Nk

My post on Back Screen Pass - A DM's Secrets

The 4th edition has it's great parts.

There are some really cool things about 4th edition such as my sorcerer, rouges, and the whole at will, per encounter, and per day powers setup.

Where it goes wrong is too many modifiers, too many hit points, not enough damage done to monsters, too long of combats as you go up in levels.

In fact last night it took 9 hours to do 3 encounters.

It's a completely different play style from any other version of D&D.
There is no fear of death as your character can mow through most encounters.
You have no need for NPCs and if like in the old days one would hire NPCs the DM would have lot's of trouble running the monsters and NPCs.

In S&W, Basic and OSRIC I can run HUGE combats with a party of five, plus ten NPCs against 20 orcs with no slow down of the story.

I am trying to convince my group to try OSRIC in an old school dungeon crawl as they did not dig S&W or BFRPG. I got dungeons ready to roll just need a few more overly long sessions of 4th to convince them.

Don't get me wrong there are some things I like about 4th edition just liking the system less and less every game.

The original post
http://backscreenpass.blogspot.com/

My review of Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion

Well well Mr. Proctor has outdone himself this time.

That little raised eyebrow that I first had when I saw Labyrinth Lord for the first time with all it's "Basic" rules and restrictions that just never felt right after playing more advanced versions of our favorite game. But still there was that yearning for that simple game I played at 11 years old. So simple yet so full of possibilities. A character made is minutes with weapons and armor and equipment ready to adventure. Yes almost perfection.

BUT

The "advanced" version had overcomplicated stats and rules that made me wish and wash for my many years of gaming. Alas it solved the "issues" I had with the "basic" version of the game but it came with more rules and restrictions.

But ALAS! There is the Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion! It is a merge of the Basic and the Advanced! Still keeping those magic set of rules I love only slightly altering them with a few advanced options.

Is this the system that I shall choose for my Old School Renaissance setting? Save for a few minor house rules this may be it.

The classes capture the "advanced" without clogging one down with many modifiers that did scare away some recent makers of characters. They became bored and one even fell asleep before finishing an OSRIC character. This will not happen here! A mere five minutes and one is adventuring!

No goblin horde is safe and no dragon sleeps soundly! Might add that the monster list for Labyrinth Lord now grows quite LARGE with a great many monsters added.

This is a good thing for the magic spark that ignited my passion so long ago exist here.

Still it is the days of the mega dungeon! The feeling of being deep underground exploring the ancient carved out dungeons that lead deep into the depths of the ground opening into the mythic underworld!

My perfect Classic Fantasy RPG Again!

Take the simplicity of 0E and S&W.

Add attribute modifiers of B/X.

Attribute checks like D20 and C&C per the class.
No skills or feats!

Add many of the classes of D20 3.5. At least 15 classes.
Cleric, Thief, Wizard, Fighter, Barbarian, Druid, Bard, Sorcerer, Assassin, Paladin, Knight, Ranger, Monk, Psionic, and Warlock.

At least 10 races.

Simple spell list at first as I have killed myself in past efforts with a "big ol spell list".

Monsters as simple as 0E and S&W. As many monsters as possible.

Old school art. Self published.

What system to use for my OSR expeirence?

Well I have thought in the past that I could just write up the perfect RPG. I can't. Real Life issues take up too much time. I do have time to write a bit here and there BUT what system will do what I need it to do?

I was driving back home on a surprise weekend off and it hit me. Castles and Crusades. It's got all the goodies of the old school mixed with the new school BUT most of all it's easy to run and play. It's easy to write for as well.

Well it will take very little time to "convert" my adventures to C&C.

My group still has the 4th edition blinders on but this weekend there will be another victim running 4th edition and I will be the player! Aha! I shall reek havoc on his poor brain!

I also shall let him borrow my old C&C rulebooks as well. Then he shall see!

WOW! I just talked to Ernie Gygax!

I was on facebook and he was online. He was just a cool guy. I thought that any Gygax would be a multi-millionaire and not have to work. Come to find out he is not super rich. Huh? Who would have figured?

He invited me to Gary Con.

As of this time there will be no action taken on C&C Castle Zaygig. Gary's assistant that worked on CZ will be at Gary Con so beg him to finish CZ!

I invited him to join the OSR movement.

The History of RPGs in Lake Charles, La? Boring?

The History of RPGs in Lake Charles, La or should I say the history of gaming in South West Louisiana?

I am attempting to find out the history of Role Playing Games in the Lake Charles area and surrounding SWLA in the late 70s and early 80s specifically, but also up to the current age we live in now.

This may be a hard task but will be a cool endeavor IF I succeed in getting a loose history of such a arcane subject. This will not be an easy task.

Of course history is always told by the victors and will change in time.

Hell I may even awaken some old school gamers from their slumber and reignite the old gaming flame.

Huzzah!

DIE! NPC DIE! Musings on newer editions and OSR.

Some (not all) of my players who are 4th edition players complain that the old school games are just too deadly (but back to that later).

I just bet if they were running the clunky 4th edition rules they would not be so loving of the game. After a long absence from gaming, we as a group are trying to get back into our weekly game.

The problem is I have forgotten the many rules that drive the 4th edition. Like the 3rd edition the 4th edition has it's problems. While the 3rd edition was a complete monster to write for it was fairly easy to run. It just took HUGE amounts of time setting up the stats.

The 4th edition is not at all hard to set up with the DDI tools they provide. But running it is becoming a monster.

If everyone does not know their character the game stops. All information is printed on cards from the character creator for ease but still some of the players just don't learn their class. At the same time they don't want try try something with less rules.

For me my cleverness as a Dungeon Master is zapped due to having to keep up with the per round conditional stats and modifiers. Too many damn hit points! Every monster is a full character! I like less rules and more story.

I keep getting that look from some (but not all) my players when I suggest "let's play something else like S&W?"! The 4th Edition D&D is not a religion or cult but there always seems to be the fanatics. I swear to god it's a look of disgust at any idea that we actually try something else. I am an edition whore who will play any version and like it BTW.

Well friends 4th edition is burning me out.

The old versions too deadly eh? Well I just am going to have to amp up my 4th edition games if I decide to run anymore for awhile as I will be working many hours the next few weeks. It will be deadly at the Old School level.

When I pick up a copy of Swords and Wizardry plus my short and few house rules it just allows me to create. I don't need a computer program to assist me. I write these wonderful dungeons and make these cities like Raven's Keep and the entire land in just a few hours.

BUT back to the point of this musing.

The game play flows FAST! Blood flows! Very few rules to keep up with. AC, HP, Mov, and damage. I can run a huge group of monsters and NPCs with not the least bit of pause to look up rules. But players die. They die very easily and quickly. Many of the times they die with long range weapons in hand that would have dropped the monsters before they even got to the players. Strategy is what it is called.

The main strategy that I use is called DIE! NPC DIE! This saves the player's lives when they don't use strategy, for a short time at least. When there is a chance for an enemy to shoot at the party they always aim at the NPCs first. NPCs in my games die like sheep to a slaughter.

Now there is a small chance a stray arrow or attack will hit the players but the random dice roll always leans to the NPC. Many players have gotten mad when their characters had a crush on the NPC but ultimately it the player's fault if the NPCs die in droves.

I also try and help the players with the NPCs as well. Many of the NPCs will use the Ranged Weapons on the monsters while they are closing on us strategy. The NPCs will also scold and advise the players that are not using strategy. There is one NPC I really like a wise Elf bowman who has amazingly wiped out many a goblin with his bow. If I can ever get the players to play some old school I might just get to run him again.

If your Old School game is too deadly try serving the party to the monsters in courses. First as an appetizer a delicious NPC then for the main course the Players, UNLESS they decide to make it real hard for them.

Well will have to start a job for the next 10 days or so so no gaming for me for awhile.

Raven's Keep

Just to help inspire others here are my incomplete notes for The Little Barony: Raven's Keep. Left very bare so that story can be added.

1.Baron's Keep F10 Stra-Kahar
2.Baroness' Temple C7 Shel-Elene Worshiper of the Goddess of Grain Keres.
3.Temple of the Horseman God
4.Stewart's Home: Many saves and servants.
5.Barracks
6.Lockclank Prison
7.Blacksmith Dwf8
8.Stables
9.The Blue Boar Inn T7
10.The Store Room
11.Carriage House
12.Front Gate
13.Back Gate
14.Temple of the God of Luck: Old Pagan God
15.The Muddy Axe Inn
16.The Wizard's Shop
17.The Shire Reeve
18.Adventurer's Guild
19.The Brotherhood (Rangers)
20.The Arena
21.Lady Arlena's Brothel
22.The Lord Mayor & Courthouse
23.Barber and Surgeon
24.Bath House
25.Play House
26.Opera House
27.Slave House
28.Museum
29.Graveyard
30.University: There are various mage orders at odds with each other. They will take it to the streets after dark. There are other non university mage orders but the University Mages believe themselves the authority over all mages. They are trying to get the authority to have a Mage License.
31.Wellspring
32.House Blood Rateveur
33.House Paldinor
34.House Arcanos
35.House Crimson


Adarian Elves are considered criminals
Baron and his women
Baron's son and daughter
Dungeon below the city.

Eastern Front is where most of the slaves in the west come from. Zeuzalonian from the Land of Zeuzaylon. Looks are above average. Most braid hair upon adulthood and they wear Romatoga a light cloth wrapped clothing.

The Zeuzalonians are the lowest of all people followed by the Hattir, Dwarves, Halflings and any other foreigners.

To the NE there is the Gras-zi. They have jet black hair and pale skin. They are know as a race of “Thieves”. This native race has very few people left as the Mastdellian Empire conquered them long ago. Very prized and sought out as slaves.

There are the people of the NW Desert know as the “Juin”

The Hattir are the natives of the western borderlands that were conquered by the Mastdellian Empire.

The Mastdellian Empire are the people of the eastern kingdom some 14 days away to the east.

Elves are mistrusted. There are the Adarian (Adara) and the Felsparaians (Felspara). The Felsarians come to trade wines, skins and weaponry. The Baron ravaged an Adarian Elf Princess and now there is a state of war and any elf found to be Adarian is to be imprisoned and interrogated.

Crimes:
Any insults by a lower.
Murder
Thievery
Rape
Duels are good if both agree.

Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 3rd Edition

GREETINGS!

Well I was one of the dum...I mean people who bought the $100 WHFR3rd.

Have not played it yet.

SO far it appears that I bought $30 worth of game for $100. When I actually get around to testing it out it actually might be worth the price. It might just be the best damn thing ever. I am going to keep telling myself that.


I think that a $100 price is going to kill this edition of the game and for the most part it will rot on the shelves. Once I get over what I think I will try it out.