Jeffs Gameblog

Short answer: 1st edition DMG

2012-02-02T09:15:00.001-06:00

In the comments to yesterday's Gameblog post Hartful asks "What would you recommend must reads from old editions as a DM?"

The original cover.

Like it says in the title, the first edition Dungeon Masters Guide is the first thing you ought to read. It's the only RPG book I read from cover-to-cover every two or three years. Not only is the classic Gygaxian prose in full effect, but it's just full of stuff that you can use in any fantasy game, not just D&D: random NPC personalities, gem types, herbs, random dungeon charts, siege engines, castleworks, government types, noble titles, gambling methods, crazy mofo artifacts, ships, potion ingredients, etc., etc. I have yet to run a fantasy campaign without opening this baby up at least once, no matter what rules I use. Comparing the 1st edition DMG to the lackluster 2nd edition version really shows the difference between a competent game designer and an actual ludo-genius like Gygax.

Cover of later printings.

The DMG is the reason why I'm so excited about the forthcoming AD&D1 reprints from WotC. The Monster Manual is only so-so. If I had to pick a single 1st edition monster book to use for all future gaming this would rank 4th or 5th on the list with the Fiend Folio at the top. It's main value back in the day was basically "Holy crap! Look at all these monsters!" and "Wow! They do games in hardback now?!" The Players Handbook is good not great. Warts and all, the DMG is one of the best texts ever produced by the hobby. Even if you don't own the rest of the line and have no plan on playing AD&D, you need a DMG.

The other TSR items I would definitely recommend for new DMs especially are the two early adventure modules B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. Both have great advice and provide examples of what you can do in your games. Just don't assume they're the only way to play.

Non-TSR items would be a whole nother post I think. Maybe tomorrow.

Let me tell you about my favorite band

2012-02-01T16:01:00.003-06:00

It was summer 1982 when I picked up my first album. I was a dumb kid and I didn't know what hard rock or heavy metal were, I just knew I liked the cover art. Back to Basics, the fourth album from Wisconsin band Dungeons & Dragons, totally blew my mind. It was like the Death Star exploding, but in music form. At the time I didn't realize that Tom "the Bomb" Moldvay was new to the band, replacing original guitarist Dave Arneson. I just knew I liked the sound. Probably my favorite tracks are the opener, "The Life and Times of Morgan Ironwolf" and track eight, "Blood-Thirsty Thoul".

As soon as I could I tracked down the only other record by D&D available in local stores, their masterpiece Diabolical Advances. This album was heavier, more complex and darker than Back to Basics. You wouldn't believe the hours I wasted trying to figure out the lyrics. "Segment by Segment" and "Battle of the Psi Lords" still baffle me to this day. I've looked the lyrics up online but I'm just not convinced that Gygax is speaking English in these songs.

My buddy Dave was one of the first people I turned on to the Dungeons & Dragons sounds. He somehow managed to track down a copy of 1983's Towards Immortality before I did. The sound was a lot like Back to Basics, but clearly it was lightened up for radio play. Even so, track three, "The Death of Aleena" anchored this album to the stuff we already knew. Dark, heady stuff for a kid. It was about this time that the first greatest hits album for the group appeared, Unearthed, which featured stuff from albums we hadn't even heard of and a great cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Career of Evil".

The 1989 release Second Chances was the first time as a kid that I realized a band could change in ways that you didn't want them to. Me and my friends still bought and listened to this album, but we could hear the corporate-rock glitz screwing up the heavy sound we used to love. So we turned to other bands, mostly Van Halen and BattleTech, as I recall. The EP With Skill and Power only cemented my opinion that D&D was going in the wrong direction musically.

By 1999 I was old enough to feel nostalgia for the good ol' days, so the release of Third Time's the Charm was welcome. It wasn't the smack in the face of Diabolical Advances or Back to Basics, but it had an interesting sound of its own. The punkish "Behold the Icons" and the utterly inexplicable "Attack of Opportunity" were pretty grating, but I really enjoyed most of the rest of the songs on this one. I played this and the follow-up live album, Half A Loaf of Rock You more than any record I had bought in years. The new greatest hits album, the unimaginatively-titled Unearthed II, was also pretty great.

It was about this time that I decided to track down the one that started it all, the original 1974 album, Medieval Fantastic. I couldn't believe how raw this sound was! It was almost like an American version of Motorhead, fast and crazy and not giving a damn what you think. I was a new rock and roll fan all over again. The last track on this one, "Eldritch Wizardry" remains one of my all-time favorite songs. It was around this time that I also started hunting down the bands that followed in the wake of D&D's initial success, particularly The Judges and The Dave Hargrave Project. A couple of D&D cover bands, particularly the Labyrinth Lords and Raggi & The Flame Princesses, also found a spot in my collection.

What's funny about the '77 D&D release, Surgeon of the Underworld, is that I owned it for years, as I bought it during the gap between the With Skill and Power EP and Third Time's A Charm. But it wasn't until a couple years ago that I actually bothered to give it a listen. What a fool I was. Here in one disc was everything I loved about the entire D&D corpus. To this day I can't believe that both "The Wonderful Scrolls of Doctor Holmes" and "Melee Resolution" were omitted from both Unearthed volumes. They had room in Unearthed II for a cover of "Sunshine Superman" but for nothing from this album? WTF?

Which brings us to Fourgone Conclusions. I know a lot of people like this one, but it just doesn't do anything for me. The new sound is too J-poppy for me or something. And firing original bassist Mike "the Maniac" Mornard and replacing him with the drummer's son was a terrible idea. Who the hell does that? I'm glad the band is back in the studio working on a new album. If The Essentials live album is any indication, they seem to be leaning a little bit towards that original sound. I guess we'll see.

Dang it. Who blogged about 10' corridors?

2012-01-31T10:37:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty sure someone this weekend blogged about how in the 1st edition DMG section on minis Gygax makes it clear that 3 figures should be able to fit abreast in a 10' corridor. I have been considering using one square = 3.33 feet for a new tactical display I've been toying with building but I usually use 2 figures per rank in 10' wide corridors. But if someone really wanted to try for 3 I wouldn't object. It would just be more cramped and possibly more fumble prone. (You know what I need? A chart full of non-combat fumbles. Torches dropped for no good reason. Stumbles leading to noses broken on flagstones. Spilled backpacks. That sort of thing.)

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that to use the AD&D rules as written to determine the number of people in a rank you also have to look in the Players Handbook. I'm thinking of the Weapon vs. Armor Type chart here and the column labeled "Space Required". You can only fit one character wielding a Bec De Corbin, Footman’s Flail or Two-Handed Sword in a 10' wide space or two characters using Bardiches, Halberds, Lucern Hammers or Morning Stars.

Sure, you could squeeze a couple of spearmen next to that maniac with the two handed sword, but you're going to feel like a chump if he accidentally whacks you with that big clumsy blade.

I should point out how this situation is just one of many rules where half the info you need is in the DMG and the other half is in the PHB, like how both books have spell sections or to roll to-hit you need the DMG but to roll damage you need the PHB. Or how the crappy psionics rules in the back of the Players Handbook requires the crappy psionics rules in the DMG to function crappily.

Also worth noting here are the marching order rules in Empire of the Petal Throne: three characters abreast is standard just like in the DMG; four may squeeze in if none of them are fighters; only two may fight side-by-side if one wields a two-handed weapon, except for a two-handed sword. If you wield a two-handed sword you take up the whole dang rank by yourself.

Caves of Myrddin con session #3

2012-01-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

Man, I don't remember all the details to yesterday's end-of-the-con run and I can't find my notes at the moment, so I'm just going to hit some bullet points.

The head of the Spaniard now sits atop a stake outside Castle Bottreaux. He was found monkeying with the infernal machine inside one of the cliffside caves. He tried to parley with the party in Spanish, but they bumrushed the dude and murdered him for the reward money.
Father Daffyd, a Welsh priest, fell in the pit trap in front of the shrine of the anti-Madonna. This stone statue of the vampiric virgin beheading the Christchild was carried up to the surface (no mean feat, given the Shrine is well below the bottom of the Vast Spiral Stairs below the Smoking Tower) and carried to the Abbey. The Abbot ritually desecrated the statue, then it was busted to shards by two burley brothers wielding mattocks. The pieces were then buried.
Speaking of the stone stair, most of the party fought a Naga on the stairs. She charmed two party members but their threat was countered by good spell deployment. I fumbled a constriction attack by the Naga and it knotted itself up for three rounds, during which time it was hacked to pieces. Brother Cadfael's nephew/hopeless loser Courtney the Hideous spent the whole fight dangling from a rope, calling out nervously "Hello? Is anybody up there?"
The next trip into the dungeons the party decides to descend via the hatch in the North Tower. Harold the Adequate pops open the hatch and invited poor Courtney to go first. Courtney sighs and complies, as usual. Neither Harold nor Courtney noticed there were no stairs here and the poor kid fell twenty feet to his death. Several sessions back this same Harold was the one who "saved" Courtney from green slime by horribly burning his face, giving the hireling his appellation "the Hideous". Courtney was given a proper burial, unlike several PCs this weekend.
Also fun: Harold and Cadfael's previous adventure had been online. This was there first face-to-face game together.
The party explored the level accessible only via the tube previously covered by the metal grate. You know, the one with the two demon statues. The visited the Fairy Land Annex, fought spider-crabs, and nearly succumbed to some sort of ammonia base gas several times. They also almost encountered the mad gnomes, who the fairies warned "will give you wedgies or steal your cheese".
My hat off to Liddia the Elf, the only newly made character to survive all three sessions and make it to second level in the process.

Vithujin reports

2012-01-29T19:03:00.000-06:00

Caves of Myrddin con session #2 report here.

Caves of Myrddin con session 1

2012-01-28T07:34:00.000-06:00

Man, going to night class, then running an online game at 4:30 am, then working a full day and then running a 7pm to 11pm con game was a stupid, stupid plan. Maybe if I was ten years younger I wouldn't feel it so hard, but right now I'm still pretty wrecked even after 7 hours of sleep.

But anyhoo, on with the session report. I had six players last night. Nick, one of my Wednesday night crew, signed up, so he played Vithujin, a.k.a. the infamous Elfy Don't. I'm feel honored and gratified that a guy who plays my game for free every Wednesday would be willing to pay for an opportunity to play some more, but for some reason I also find it hilarious. Either way Nick's a good guy and welcome in my game anytime. Nick was extremely cool about not rubbing his extra levels and knowledge of the game in the other players' faces.

Next up is Shannon. She and a couple friends (one of them her husband maybe? I forget) are regulars at my Winter War games. It was good to see her again. She played Linnea the Magic-User until an Arduinian morghoul (Like a ghoul, but even more so. Grodd bless Dave Hargrave) floated across a pit and ripped her in half. The party was totally patting themselves on the back about putting that pit between the monster and them. When it just floated across the looks on their faces were priceless. Later Shannon played Sophina the Dwarf and kicked some serious ass with a battle axe. I forgot to ask her if her dwarf had a beard.

Matthew is a reader on the Gameblog and I got the impression that he boned up on the campaign matter. He played Dandy Wasdewy, a Welshman and thief with one hit point. Later he became known as Deadly Dandy Wasdewy, because of his affinity for scoring lethal criticals on monsters. He killed the morghoul with a wicked crossbow shot and literally plucked out the black heart of a frog-demon with a spear. The heart is still on his spear, beating malevolently.

Jim is an older guy with a beard and noted that he had an OD&D boxed set on a shelf somewhere. He played an elf whose name I forget and was probably the most careful mapper I've seen. Due to his precise mapping he located a 20' x 10' secret room with a silver idol of a dude with a goathead holding lightning bolts. This was sold to a "collector of curiosities", which is Wasdewy-speak for "we sell it to the local coven of Satan and make up a cover story for the cleric."

Moira played Liddia the Elf. She was the party sleep spell machine. She also was very helpful in keeping Ian, her little brother, under control. Ian played Ian the Cleric. He was the youngest person in the group and combined the player personality type of Crazy Try Anything Guy and Doesn't Understand That Actions Have Consequences Kid. Just the sort of dude I want in a con game. He kept trying to find the rumored magic pig that grants a wish if you eat it. He nearly found himself in William of Crevan's dungeon for braining one of his lord's peasant's prize porker.

Probably the highlight of the evening was when the party discovered the lair of Joe Mama's Mama, a big ugly troll in a pink floral muumuu. They figured out out it was his mommy because they found a framed photo of him in a place of honor on her bookshelf.

today's experiment

2012-01-27T09:17:00.003-06:00

I want to talk a little about today's game outside of the usual "here's what the drunken henchman tells you" context. As you may have heard one of the claims being made about the new edition of D&D is that it will accomodate characters from previous editions. My impression from the early presentation was that you'd be playing a 1st edition assassin and your buddy next to you would have a 4e warlock and it would somehow all hold together without the DM going insane or you lusting after the warlock's feats and powers. I think the folks at Wizards have backed off this claim slightly in the past couple of days. The real deal seems to me that the default PC will look a lot like a 1st or 2nd edition character, but lots of 3e and 4e fiddly bits will be available as options. I dunno. I have no direct info.

Either way, I got to shooting my mouth off about wanting to try running characters from divergent editions side by side, as sort of a control group. Can an ordinary DM make this work without benefit of a 5e rulebook telling him how to get it done? Zak made me put up or shut up, so here's the roster from todays game:

Niles Calder ran Louie le Mouche, a 3rd level rogue made under 2nd edition Advanced D&D
Arthur Fisher ran Clark Clarkson, a (2nd level?) half-orc cleric of Hieronymus Bosch, a 3e character
Zak Smith ran Vortullak the Untamed, a 1st level Warlord made with 4e
Mike Fernandez ran Tufi, a 1st level Gungan Jedi made with Star Wars Saga

Mike was a last minute sub. Originally Peter Robbins was going to play a character from the World of Azamar, a fantasy rpg I know nothing about, but he had to cancel.

The real trick to making this hodgepodge group was deciding which mechanics were owned by the PCs and which were owned by the DM. For example, when the dragon breathed fire everyone used my save chart. What their Reflex save was didn't matter one bit. But when they cast spells they used the rules for their own edition as best as we could. The only place this felt strained was when Zak used one of his Warlord powers to swap places with a giant golden spider that was trying to kill them. That felt really dissociated and like it had nothing to do with my game. I explained it away as some sort of secret anime powered weeaboo magic, but it still felt a little grating. Zak's potential damage output was also hella higher than the 2e and 3e guys. The jedi just sliced through all kinds of shit, as would be expected. He came real close to beheading the dragon.

So anyway, I'm now convinced that something like WotC's plan is feasible, assuming the 4e stuff is toned down a bit to bring the numbers more in line with previous editions.

Caves of Myrddin update

2012-01-27T07:42:00.000-06:00

So the Dragon of Dundagel seems to be in a bit of a mood today. He's been seen flying around the countryside, plucking up peasants and dropping them from great heights, panicing herds and flocks, and he even set fire to the village of Endelstow, home of everyone's least favorite cleric:

Vicar Sithney finally has evidence to support his claim that the adventurers at St. Emmet's are making things worse, not better.

In totally unrelated news, a slightly charred Vortullak the Untamed returned from the dungeons today. His companions Louie le Mouche, Clark the Half-Orc and Tufi the Rabittduck are nowhere to be seen. By some strange coincidence Vortullak is offering for sale a map he claims leads straight to the dragon's lair. Opening bid is 200gp.

he paid, he can call it whatever he wants

2012-01-26T10:56:00.001-06:00

Vithujin the Elf, occasional survivor of the dangers under Dundagel, has returned once more to the guesthouse at the Abbey of St. Emmet. Once there, he immediately begins making arrangements for a celebration he calls the "Woed Ruckus", a week long marathon of feasting and wenching. Reaching into the pouches at his belt, he pulls forth gold, and even platinum coins* to pay the locals for their various services.

As a joke, Vithujin has payed for some fliers to be made up. He intended to send some invitations over to the scoundrels at Le Lepin Bleu (Hugo le Bâtard's manor), but due to heavy drinking and gross overpayment the fliers end up in every settlement surrounding the Abbey.

Let the Woed Ruckus begin!

Our generous host Vithujin the Elf, the Pantless Pilgrim, the Demon Freezer, and only person to have successfully prodded the Dragon of Dundagel and been remortaled to talk about it; is throwing a party.

Already in attendance are those persons possessing a gentle spirit, quick wit, or firm backside.

Now the rest of you need to show up.

The plan is to fill the Abbey with songs, stories, and seductions for a full week.

St. Emmet's antennae will be flailing wildly.

*DM's note: this is the first appearance of platinum pieces in the Wessex campaign. They are stamped ARTHUR REX.

I love toys like this.

2012-01-26T06:17:00.000-06:00

Here's a nifty toy for making viking type fantasy ladies, shared with me by someone in my Google+ feed. The site that hosts this game has a bunch of other fantasy character makers, including a few for male characters.

medieval Flemish names

2012-01-25T15:13:00.000-06:00

One of the more common types of mercenary for hire in Wessex are Flemish crossbowmen. King Stephen's chief lieutenant, William of Ypres, is Pretender of Flanders and imports boatloads of these guys. A few of them are bound to make their way into private contracts with adventurers. They are considered more trustworthy than Welsh bowmen.

FLEMISH NAMES

d% Flemish male names
1 Ada, Adam, Addi
2 Adolf
3 Aio
4 Albern, Albert
5 Alem, Alda, Alfer
6 Alting, Alto, Alwin
7 Andree, Anno
8 Arnold
9 Ato, Avo
10 Baderic
11 Baldo, Baldric
12 Bartholomei, Bartold
13 Benjamin, Benno
14 Bern, Berner, Bernhard
15 Bero, Betto
16 Boldewin, Baldwin
17 Bono, Buddo
18 Brio
19 Cono, Conrad, Constantin
20 Dago, Dagmar
21 Dietmar, Ditmar
22 Diggo, Dodo
23 Ebbi, Ebberich
24 Ecco, Edo, Eno
25 Egmund, Ekbert
26 Eio, Elli, Ello
27 Emeric, Eric
28 Eoban
29 Etto, Evo
30 Falko
31 Fastrad
32 Finn, Fot
33 Folmar, Fulmar
34 Franco, Franko
35 Gaiko, Gebbo
36 Gerald, Geri, Gherard
37 Getti, Goto
38 Gorgii, Gregorio
39 Gunther, Guthar
40 Henryk
41 Herard, Herman
42 Hiddo
43 Hige
44 Hoo, Hubert
45 Iger, Igmar, Igo
46 Immo
47 Io, Ionis
48 Isa, Isaac
49 Ivi, Ivo, Iwain
50 Jalo
51 Jo, Johannes, Jonathas
52 Knut
53 Kraft
54 Laurentius
55 Lela
56 Liddo, Liopold
57 Limmo
58 Ludbert, Ludolf
59 Manno
60 Martino
61 Mauricius
62 Meiner
63 Menfrid
64 Meniko, Menko, Meno
65 Nandino, Nanno
66 Norbert
67 Odric, Oger
68 Oleman, Onolf
69 Osi, Otto, Ovo
70 Pappo
71 Paio
72 Paulus, Petrus, Phillipo
73 Rainer, Reinold
74 Rette, Rin
75 Richard, Ritger
76 Robbert, Robert
77 Rodolf, Rupert
78 Rutger
79 Salomon
80 Saxan, Saxbert, Saxo
81 Selo
82 Sibert, Sibold
83 Sicco, Sikko, Siger
84 Simon, Sosso
85 Stefan, Stephan, Steppo
86 Tammo
87 Tete, Tette
88 Theodi, Tedi
89 Tibbe
90 Tiego, Tio
91 Ubbo, Udo, Uno
92 Wago, Waldo
93 Walfrid, Walther
94 Wana
95 Waszo
96 Wenzo, Wigo
97 Wilbrand, Wilfrid
98 Willem, Willibrord
99 Windelmar
100 Wio, Wolber

d% female Flemish name
01-02 Adela
03-04 Agatha, Agnes
05-06 Aia
07-08 Alda
09-10 Aldwi
11-12 Ama, Ata, Ava
13-14 Benedicta
15-16 Betta
17-18 Berta
19-20 Dida
21-22 Enna
23-24 Erlinda
25-26 Ermina
27-28 Evergerd
29-30 Fida
31-32 Fokka
33-34 Gela
35-36 Gertrude
37-38 Ghisela, Gisla
39-40 Gutha
41-42 Heiga
43-44 Helena
45-46 Hema
47-48 Hera
49-50 Ide
51-52 Ige
53-54 Imma
55-56 Iudith
57-58 Laurentia
59-60 Ligef
61-62 Luua, Luva
63-64 Machtild
65-66 Maga, Magin
67-68 Megina
69-70 Menika
71-72 Murina
73-74 Notha
75-76 Oda
77-78 Ogiva
79-80 Olge
81-82 Oza
83-84 Sita
85-86 Sophia
87-88 Suvi
89-90 Susanne
91-92 Tetta
93-94 Tiada
95-96 Uda
97-98 Wela
99-00 Yolande

I haven't done any research into Flemish surnames. Since we're talking about a small region across the sea appending "of Flanders" would obviously work. Here's a quickie d6 chart if you really need one:

1. of Kassel
2. of Gent
3. of Bruges
4. of Dunkirk
5. of Antwerp
6. of Limburg

I think all those places are in Flanders.

now with labels!

2012-01-25T12:00:00.001-06:00

Does this map make sense to anyone?

2012-01-25T10:21:00.001-06:00

I wanted an easy way to explain the umpteen ways into my dungeon. So I made this.

and now for something completely different...

2012-01-24T11:51:00.003-06:00

So Erin over at Lurking Rhythmically has whipped up a My Little Pony rpg based on the mechanics of Unknown Armies. No foolin'. And it's pretty great. Her "Failure is Awesome" skill improvement mechanic makes more sense to me than pretty much any other approach I've seen and the method for tracking and expending virtues is very nicely done. And the whole thing is only six pages long, so even if you have no interest whatsoever in magical ponies it won't take long to skim for mechanical goodies.

Go here to check it out.

All I did here was put "my little pony vader" into google
image search, confident that I would get some sort of result.

random medieval Welsh names

2012-01-24T09:54:00.002-06:00

d100 MALE WELSH NAME
01-02 Adaf, Ada, Adam
03-04 Blethin, Blethint
05-06 Cadugan
07-08 Candalo, Candalou
09-10 David, Deykin
11-12 Dehewint
13-14 Edenevet
15-16 Edenowen, Edenewen, Edeneweyn
17-18 Ener
19-20 Eynon
21-22 Gogan
23-24 Griffid, Gryffid, Gryffyd
25-26 Griffri, Griffry, Gryffri, Gryffry
27-28 Gronou, Groneu
29-30 Gurgenu, Gurgeneu
31-32 Heylin, Heilin, Heylyn
33-34 Hova, Howel
35-36 Iarward, Iarword, Ioreword
37-38 Idnerth, Idenerth
39-40 Ieuaf, Ieuan
41-42 Iockin, Iockyn
43-44 Iohannes
45-46 Ithel
47-48 Ivor
49-50 Kedivor
51-52 Kenuric, Kenneric
53-54 Kevenard
55-56 Leget
57-58 Lewelin, Lewelyn
59-60 Lowarch
61-62 Madin, Madyn
63-64 Madoc, Madok
65-66 Meiler, Meyler
67-68 Mereduth
69-70 Meuric, Meurik, Meuryk
71-72 Moridic, Morydic
73-74 Morvran
75-76 Phelip
77-78 Reys, Reis, Res
79-80 Ririd, Ryryd, Rerid, Ryrid
81-82 Robert
83-84 Seysild
85-86 Tegwaret, Thomas
87-88 Trahaern
89-90 Tuder
91-92 Wasdewy
93-94 Wilim, Gwilim
95-96 Win, Wyn, Gwin, Gwyn
97-98 Wion, Wyon, Gwion, Gwyon
99-00 Yagov, Yago, Iago, Iagov

d30 FEMALE WELSH NAMES
1 Alicia
2 Angharat
3 Dudgech, Dugech, Tudgech
4 Eduduwel, Erdiduwol
5 Elena
6 Enith, Enid
7 Eva
8 Ewerich
9 Generys, Generis
10 Genithles
11 Gwen, Wen
12 Gwerith
13 Hunith
14 Lewke, Leweke, Leuke
15 Mabilia
16 Maderun
17 Margareta, Marured
18 Mary
19 Mevanou
20 Milisandia
21 Morud, Morwid, Morwith
22 Morvel
23 Nest
24 Perweur
25 Tangwistel
26 Wentlian, Wentlyan, Wentliana, Wentlyana
27 Wervel, Wervill, Wervela, Wervilla
28 Wir
29 Wladus, Wladusa
30 Wledyr, Wledir, Wladur

Obviously some results are of the 'roll then pick' variety.

Surnames can be constructed in the usual medieval ways. The "son of" term is either ap or ab, with the Latin filius also sometimes employed. So Mereduth, son of Phelip would be Mereduth ap Phelip, Mereduth ab Phelip or Mereduth filius Phelip. "Daughter of" is verch or filia. "Wife of" is also used, either wreic or uxor, but I'd be surprised as heck to see a PC named after her husband. Sometimes the possessive suffix -i is appended to the second name, such as Mereduth ap Phelipi. Place-based surnames either use de or no marker. E.g. Eva from Cardiff is either Eva de Cardiff or Eva Cardiff.

Please do not ask me how to pronounce any of these names.

My friends! The bargains I have for you!

2012-01-24T07:48:00.000-06:00

Merwik the Merchant, chief supplier of miscellaneous equipment in and around the Abbey of St. Emmet, now offers pre-selected dungeoneering packages.

custom screen inserts

2012-01-23T10:07:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned before, I use one of those customizable GM screens that came out a few years back. Its got six landscape-oriented pockets, three facing the players and three for my super secret charts. My new outside sheets are sort of a hodgepodge pictorial history of the campaign thus far.

4 things cool FLAILSNAILS PCs should have

2012-01-22T09:44:00.002-06:00

Strange Titles and Alternate Names
I try to do this in my Wessex reports. Òengus isn't just some magic-user, now he's Òengus the Somnomancer. Philip of Luxembourg is also Philip the Black also Philip the Bloody. Father Jack is The Drunkest Priest in Cornwall (no mean feat). But it also can occur naturally, such as when Redwall the Thief became Boner the Pig.

Weird Friends
"You used to adventure with a psycho clown who played an accordian? Me, too! We looted a mummy's tomb together in the next universe over." [proceed to get stinking drunk together]

Knickknacks from Other Dimensions
Even something as prosaic as a bucket of lard can be special when it comes when a distant world.

Something to Swear By
More players should pepper their in-character speech with their own custom battle-cries or bloody oaths. "By Crom!" "Demon dogs!" etc, etc.

Wanted: Dead or... well, just dead actually.

2012-01-21T17:11:00.001-06:00

The wizard known only as the Spaniard has disappeared from the dungeon of Bottreaux Castle while awaiting trial for black magic, arson and frightening sheep. William of Crevan, castellan of the castle, offers 1,000gp for the Spaniard's head. He warns not to try to take the Spaniard alive.

For sale: unknown spellbook

2012-01-20T12:29:00.002-06:00

Skeree the Bonewoman, Father Jack, Òengus the Somnomancer and Finn the Thief managed to wrest a large tome of spells from the clutches of an evil sorcerer. Òengus would love to use these spells, but the book is in Latin and he cannot read a word of it. So they have decided to offer it for sale or trade.

Note that the local witch advises that the book contains enchantments up to the fourth circle of power.

Send all offer to me, jrients/gmail/etc., with the header "spellbook". With my local con next weekend (three sessions of Caves of Myrddin, bring your FLAILSNAILS pc or roll one up) this sale probably won't conclude until the week after next.

(No, you don't get to know the spells ahead of time.)

Caves of Myrddin: meet Skeree the Bonewoman!

2012-01-20T08:45:00.000-06:00

In her own words:

Me and Angus and Girl and Jackfather and Robert Butler and Dane-he-give-me-20-gold go out in cold country. Sky is wet and foggy and ground wet. Many black flyers. We look for beast (500-gold-worth! Seems many) but find Sorcerer! Sorcerer have smokenet and big chunk of meat (is good. I eat) and candlehand and bone hut (is not men bones. I check) and smokefish and pointy drawing. And Sorcerer has pool and Leg find men bones in pool! No good. Maybe Sorcerer is try to trap beast. Maybe Sorcerer beast. I face Sorcerer two times and I hit Sorcerer good two times and I live! But that is end of story and still beginning story now. Blackflyers are Sorcerer-friends! They tell him we hiding. Sorcerer him try to Sorcerer us two times. Once with purple ball. But I put Sorcerer down. And Jackfather or maybe Angus take candlehand and is makes smoke and we all run away and no look back. And I put Sorcerer down with axe and Leg and me and Robert Butler carry Sorcerer to Jackfatherfather Haddock. AND HE NOT KILL SORCERER! AND MAYBE HE FIX SORCERER AND SORCERER GO OUT AGAIN! I no understand. And Haddock say we bad and go back in caves and no find Sorcerers on cold country. If I know this I no take Sorcerer Jackfatherfather Haddock but I talk Sorcerer in cold country and I kill Sorcerer. But I put Sorcerer down and I take Sorcerer skullthing. Is good. Nobody die!

Father Jack's version of events can be found here.

MY HEAD A SPLODE

2012-01-19T09:05:00.003-06:00

In case you haven't heard Wizards of the Coast is doing a short reprint of the original three 1st edition core rulebooks. They're due in U.S. and Canadian hobby stores (and nowhere else) in April. New cover art but same interiors. The slim ones will set you back 35 bucks, the DMG is $45. Proceeds go towards the Gygax Memorial Fund (the independant entity already working towards getting Gary a statue in Lake Geneva). Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

The pricing is totally fair, assuming the print, paper and binding quality is high. When the MM first came out in 1977 it retailed at $9.95. That's $35.38 in 2010 dollars, according to this inflation calculator. "I can get the originals cheaper on eBay!" someone will say. DO SO! If you don't already own the first edition DMG you are missing out on one of the greatest texts in the hobby.
A new boxed set with an old cover didn't work, so they try old hardbounds with new cover art? These guys are a little weird sometimes. I hope the cover art positively screams "No, this is really the old stuff! We aren't pulling your leg this time!"
Any players from back in the day or newbies without a clue in your family: here is their next birthday or Christmas gift from you.
If these sell well enough more reprints are likely to follow.
This isn't exactly what I want, but I know an olive branch when I see one. With a gesture like this on the table it would be obnoxious not to give the 5e playtest process a try.
That being said, there's no reason to stop holding WotC's feet to the fire. Will the binding be the same as the originals? How much of each sale goes to the Gygax fund? These and other questions should be asked and answers should be forthcoming.

Blackmoor is everywhere.

2012-01-18T14:07:00.001-06:00

I knew I had these images somewhere, but today I finally dug them up to share.

Blackmoor has its own world, which got a hardbound late in the 3.x era. It also appears on the Greyhawk map. And if you go back in time in Mystara, you'll find Blackmoor there as well. It's also to the northeast of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Dig it:

Note that Rob Conley's Map 19 just north of the Wilderlands (found in Fight On! #3) would be due west of Blackmoor. I wonder if they line up? I should dig out my copy of FO! 3 and check.

This placement of Blackmoor ruins my earlier proposal but I think that you *might* be able to work it out so that Greyhawk and the Wilderlands stand side-by-side with Blackmoor in the center-north. Either way, the two campaign worlds are connected by this strange northern realm AND both lurk in Mystara pre-history. How cool is that?

Of course, they're not all really the exact same Blackmoor. But a boy can dream.

I vaguely remember Arneson once noting that the Outdoor Survival map was connected to his First Fantasy Map as well, but so far I haven't tracked down the reference.

Wizardly Wednesday

2012-01-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

More wizards should be like Dr. Strange.

23 answers for Zak

2012-01-18T05:58:00.005-06:00

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

My carousing house rules.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

Last Friday.

3. When was the last time you played?

About a week ago.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

The future itself has been kidnapped by the guy the Vampire Lord of Crows answers to.

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Look at the map and imagine where a wandering monster should be placed.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

During game store sessions I will sometimes buy a Payday bar from the counter. The large amount of peanuts allows me to pretend it's not as bad for me as the other candy bars.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

Yes. If I'm not tired after a session it means I've phoned it in. I end my Friday morning sessions early enough to get a 20 minute rest period in before I go to work and I usually need it.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

In that Outland session I played in I really enjoyed fighting a giant but otherwise normal snake in front of an evil idol. That's some real Conan shit going down.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

Bouncing back and forth between deadly earnest and slapstick humor is the way I like it. Which is good, I guess, since most players seem hellbent on playing that way. Maybe all these years of DMing has left me with Stockholm Syndrome.

10. What do you do with goblins?

Some days I use them as stand-ins for 20th century middle class values. They're there to comment on the game and the PCs' miscreant behavior. Other days they're just these little dudes with spears trying to stab you.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

A photo of Salvador Dali.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

Vithujin the Elf mistaking the Dragon for one of those winged cobras and getting incinerated for picking a fight with it. Though I was the only one at the table who thought that was funny. The way table crosstalk resulted in Serpentor becoming a saint in Wessex was also pretty hilarious.

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. I have an idea of using it for a game set in Iceless-Antarctica-as-Atlantis. So far I can't make up my mind whether I want to hack it to a BX version of the overall concept or try to run it straight.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

The creeping weirdness of Erol Otus, the explosive imagination of Jack Kirby and the heroic figures of Frank Frazetta all rolled into one super-artist.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

Only once in a great while, I think. But you'd have to ask them to know for sure.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

I love running modules, even crappy ones. I know some DMs aren't cool with running anything that isn't your own material, but I love the challenge of "how can I make this piece of crap work?" Probably the best time I've had running a module would be the last time ran Rat on a Stick, when the players built a killer parade float.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

A round table on a deck overlooking a big lake on a sunny, cool, windless day.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

Nobilis and Andy Hopp's Low Life, maybe? Though I'm not sure if I'd try playing Nobilis again.

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

Old Brit Lit on one side (Hardy, Keats, medieval chronicles) and Kirby comics on the other.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

The kind who is happy to get into trouble.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

I've used my experiences as a Freemason to inform my presentation of evil cultists. :)

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

I'm still hoping that some computer-savvy person will take all the available retroclones and such and put them together like this.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?

I sometimes bounce stuff off my wife or she'll ask what happened when I get back from the game store. She thinks rpgs are very silly but she's also very supportive of me and my silly hobby.

[Zak asked these questions here.]

FLAILSNAILS: Conan = You.

2012-01-17T10:01:00.000-06:00

[FYI: This post is not official FLAILSNAILS doctrine. Beyond the simple agreement to be cool to each other, which I consider to be the spirit of the original conventions, there is no official FLAILSNAILS doctrine. Nor is there a central committee capable of handing down an official doctrine. FLAILSNAILS is a non-centralized, non-localized network of autonomous GMs and players, bound together by mutual respect and love for the game. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something and should not be trusted.]

You know what's one of the neat effects about running your FLAILSNAILS character through multiple campaign worlds? It becomes crystal clear (from your point of view) who the protagonist of this saga is. It can't be anybody but your PC because the rest of the cast keeps changing. In most rpg campaigns I get a nagging little feeling that the real star is the party (whoever is in it this week) or the setting (if you're playing in that kind of game).

You can go through umpteen PCs and the party somehow remains intact. How many times have you seen a total party kill followed by a totally new group of PCs picking up the adventure right where it left off? Makes my dude-of-the-moment seem a little less grandiose every time that happens, like any old cookie cutter dungeon jerks can finish this all-important quest. And while I like a well-crafted campaign as much as the next guy, a crummy setting pretty much forces the heroes to the forefront.

Speaking of crummy settings: Hyboria. Don't get me wrong here. Those old Conan tales are on the very short list of fantasy fiction I will read. (I honestly don't know how so many of you slog through so much drek in search of the occasional good fantasy novel. Howard. Tolkien. Lovecraft. Vance. Smith. Dunsany. That's the pretty much all of Appendix N that I can stand.) But seriously, Hyboria is a jumbled-up mess of patchwork sections of any nation that ol' Two-Gun Bob wanted to use for the latest Conan romp. Nothing more. And that's why it's effin' brilliant for gaming. Not that we should be running Hyboria. No, no, no. But I think we could do good work emulating it's seat-of-the-pants rip-off-whatever-you-can methodology.

And whaddya know, that's pretty much how FLAILSNAILS operates. I run a little piece of the setting right here. Evan runs another section, totally unrelated to mine, over there. Jeremy runs a third chunk of the multiverse on over there. If you look too closely they don't fit that well together, the way the medieval Aquilonia and sorta-Renaissance Zingara don't really compute in the same setting. But as a backdrop for the adventures of your mighty hero? Works just fine. In fact, you could string together individual sessions in faraway settings the way L. Sprague de Camp introduces each story in the old Ace editions of Conan, with a brief intro paragraph of connective tissue:

Fed up with civilization and its magic, Conan rides back to his native Cimmeria. After a month or two of wenching and drinking, however, he grows restless enough to join his old friends, the Aesir, in a raid into Vanaheim.

Or you can keep a log of each adventure, like this crude one I have for my FLAILSNAILS guy Young MacDonnal.

8-10-11 Donnal was 1 of 4 crappy 0-level PCs (3 of 8 total) to survive the canonical DCC intro adventure “The Portal Under the Stars”. DM: Shawn Sanford (arcadayn). Fellow players: Zak S. Looted the weapons and armor of the War-Wizard.

11-19-11 Donnal adventured briefly with Zaunn the Mighty (Niles Calder), Redwall the Thief (now Boner the Pig, Jeremy Deram), Agnes the Amazon (?). Visited Nightwick Abbey (Evan van Elkins) for about 10 minutes before DMs internet went out. Donnal refuses to discuss what happened that fateful day.

1-10-12 - Stan [Donnal's henchman] begins adventuring with Donnal. Sold mithral from 1st adventure to a sage in Jeremy Deram’s Outland. Adventured with Blixa the Thief & Abe (Zak S), Steve Albertson’s Tengu thief Scarecrow Hooker & his henchman the dwarf Barkbeard Woodsack, Kyrinn Eis of Urutsk's 0-level troupe (Doc Sampson, alchemist; Ozzy Sweetleaf, goblin glassblower/astrologer; John Plisskin, carpenter; Hell Tanner, tanner). Ransacked the Mysterious Cave Epsilon. Gained pet psionic lizard guy.

There's nothing particularly special about this little twerp of a fighter 2. Seriously, his only bonus in life is a Charisma of fifteen. There are better PCs out there. And guys with a lot more kickass adventures under their belt. We're basically all treading jeweled thrones under our feet. So do yourself a solid and savor this stuff. It's not about the party. It's not about some quest. It sure as hell ain't about the setting. FLAILSNAILS is all about [your PC's name here].

Caves of Myrddin and Environs

2012-01-15T09:48:00.001-06:00

Here's a quickie close-up of the hex on my Wessex map where all the current action is taking place.

The Abbey of St. Emmet - The guesthouse of this religious institution serves as the headquarters for most of the adventurers in the region. Peasants for miles around come to the abbey church for their religious needs. The Abbot is able to provide clerical spellcasting up to fourth level and the house of Ewella the Alewife stands just a stone's-throw from the Abbey. She even delivers.

The Ruins of Dundagel - This is where the Caves of Myrddin and other dungeons can be found. The last dragon in England lairs somewhere below the ruins, reputedly sleeping on a hoard that includes Celtic, Roman and Arthurian treasures.

The Village of Camelton - The nearest town of any size. Unfortunately some out of control carousing a few weeks ago resulted in much of the town burning to the ground. Efforts to rebuild are well under way. Fortunately the home of the local arcane caster-for-hire, Dremelza the Witch, was not destroyed in the fire. She's grouchy enough as it is.

Porthemmet - A small fishing village on a lovely beach. Notable only because most of the equipment purchased locally pass through here, imported by the merchant Merwik the Merry.

Village of Endelstow - Adventurers are not particularly welcome in Endelstow. The Vicar of the local church is kind of a douchebag.

Le Lepin Bleu - Successful adventurer Hugo le Bâtard bought a little fixer-upper manor a while back and a few others have gone in together to turn it into the Blue Rabbit, Cornwall's premier wretched hive of scum and villainy. More details on this to follow as they develop.

Castle Bottreaux - Local seat of Norman authority. Recently the Castellan has been making inquiries regarding the villain responsible for setting Camelton ablaze, but the numbers are against him. He just doesn't have the manpower to risk a full on conflict with the dozens of adventurers hanging about the Abbey. The wizard James of Dillington and his entourage are currently guests of the Castellan.

Bodmin Moor - This moor extends into adjacent hexes. The Beast of Bodmin, some sort of shadowy hell-cat, wanders here at night. Recently the mysterious sorcerer known only as the Spaniard has been seen on Bodmin Moor as well.

PS: This map took no more than 10 minutes to make with Hexographer.

Blessed Saint Serpentor preserve me!

2012-01-14T06:55:00.002-06:00

These local Cornish saints
are weird, man.

So yesterday Philip the Bloody, Gilgamesh the Macho, Sufflebrot the Elf, Brother Cafael (and the brother's unfortunate nephew) visited the dungeons of Dundagel. They bumped into Blixa the Thief and Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter (who apprently woke up hung over inside the dungeon) just as a brief firefight broke out between the adventurers and the Purple Raiders. A well-placed sleep spell dispatched most of the raiders, leaving only their phaser-wielding leader. Abe killed her, but not before everyone in the party saw Philip summon the Vampire Lord of Crows to do his bidding! Well, it was a phantasmal force of that guy, anyway.

Later the party fought a giant tick that tore Gilgamesh a new poop chute where his throat should be. The wound was a fatal Arduin Grimoire critical hit, but somehow he survived and somehow the intervention of Saint Serpentor was involved. I was there. I was the DM. And I still don't understand exactly what happened.

Sometimes what happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon, I guess. Either way Philip the Bloody now owns a phaser, Gilgamesh sports a terrible scar on his neck, and my campaign has a new saint.

Here's a little game for the comments section. Suggest an apocryphal miracle of St. Serpentor. I'll go first.

Saint Serpentor drove the snakes into Ireland.

brief Caves of Myrddin update: dragon at large

2012-01-12T12:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the lazy bastards lounging around the Abbey guesthouse received a report that the dragon had been spotted ten miles north of the dungeon. Grabbing their gear as quickly as possible, they high-tailed it to the south tower of the dungeon, in hopes of finding the great beast's hoard while it was far, far away. They never found the dragon's lair, but these guy crawled and rappled up and down and all over my crazy vertical map. They eventually found some treasure: a few hundred gold pieces, an ancient jeweled cup (now for sale, only 850gp!) and the magic Sword of the Frozen North, now wielded by the elf Vithujin. Foes they faced included a pack of giant rats, some winged demon beast they luckily killed before it utterly wrecked them and... Gleichman the Vampiric Warpoodle! The famous doggie was wandering the dungeons, thirsting for blood, utterly confused by undeath, and despondent without his master. They put the poor beast out of its misery. They also deactivated some sort nefarious trap and carried back the forty 4' or 5' long steel spike involved. Most of these are now for sale from Merwik the Merry Merchant for 20gp a piece. They're very nicely made, balanced for throwing and pointy enough to go straight through a mofo.

awe, wonder, and G+ hangouts

2012-01-12T11:40:00.002-06:00

Above is the new background image for my work desktop. My boss has pictures of her grandkids, I go more for images of sci-fi majesty. This is either promo art or the concept piece for the final scene of the 1985 non-classic The Quiet Earth.

I've only seen this flick a couple of times over the years. My distinct impression is that most of the movie is only okay, not particularly awesome, but the final scene is 100% kick-you-in-the-brain great. I'm going to spoil it here, since we're talking about an old movie nobody watches: the hero dies, then mysteriously wakes up on an unknown beach, and this Saturn-looking world rises over the weirdly-clouded horizon. No explanation, roll the damn credits.

Somehow in just a few seconds of poorly-animated matte painting cheesiness, this scene captures nearly all the enigmatic majesty and power that 2001: A Space Odyssey tries to reach in its approximately 400+ minute final act.

I don't use visual aids much when gaming around the tabletop. Passing around a picture to gawk at seems to really break the enchantment for me. But posting a link in the chat window of a Google+ Hangouts game seems to work a lot better. In Jeremy's recent Outland session he shared a picture of a monster to great effect.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating that we flash pictures on the screen for every little thing in a G+ game. The point of using hangouts isn't to act as a subsitute for our imaginations. But I like the idea of once in a while being able to wow the players with a really kickass picture, like an alien sunrise or a particularly messed-up demon or something. In fact, that might be the missing puzzle piece for a good sci-fi exploration game.

latest Caves of Myrddin cast member

2012-01-11T16:21:00.001-06:00

Spotted wandering the nearby moors...

Reputedly a sorcerer in league with the Devil...

No one knows his name...

They simply call him the Spaniard.

poll results

2012-01-11T12:10:00.002-06:00

(I still disagree with 111 of you.)

video time

2012-01-11T07:46:00.002-06:00

I know this is meant to be humorous, but I basically agree with this dude's advice.

Thanks to E Foley, a.k.a. GeeksDreamGirl, for sharing this on Google+.

a grab-bag post

2012-01-10T13:26:00.000-06:00

The PDF version of The Miscellaneum of Cinder, my 2009 compendium of random tables, will no longer be listed for sale at lulu.com. Instead, a free version is now listed at the OSR Conservation Process. If you want the print version, that is still available at lulu via this link. Note that the OSR-CP version lacks the much-maligned purple cover.

You know what's missing from standard D&D character sheets? A spot for an animal companion. Even if you don't have a familiar or a magical talking dog or psionic chameleon, there ought to be a place for your donkey or warhorse.

Do class abilities migrate in FLAILSNAILS games? For example, I let a Lamentations of the Flame Princess-derived magic-user fire a bow and wear leather in my Wessex campaign, since Raggi's rules allow that. Should I have enforced the BX rules on that guy? And if not, does that mean my PC gets the funky bonus die from his one level as a DCC warrior and the cleave ability standard to fighters in Outland? I kinda like the idea of adventurers collecting weird abilities based upon where they were when they leveled up, but I don't want things to get out of control either.

I've re-read a bit of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed the past couple of days. I don't really have any more to add to that. I just think that it was a pretty cool idea. It seemed daunting at the time to replace all the standard 3e classes and races with new ones. Would it be easier for me to pull off today? I dunno.

Young MacDonnal visits Outland

2012-01-10T10:16:00.001-06:00

After some godsawful dungeon delve you pull into your usual watering hole. There's a couple of new guys at the bar. One, a stock third-rate greybeard wizard in a shabby robe, is already draped over the bar half asleep. The other is a towheaded, Shaggy-bearded kid of a fighter. They look like any two dungeon losers you'd find guzzling cheap ale in a thousand places like this across the multiverse, except for the lizard. Floating in the air above the kid's right shoulder is a weird chameleon-looking critter, maybe about 2 feet long from nose to tail.

"Oh, that?" says the kid, "That's Elford. He's some sort of puh-sigh-on-ic lizard guy. I met him in Outland. My name's Donnal, pull up a stool and I'll tell you all about it."

This kid seems friendly enough and he offers to buy the first round, so you join him.

"There's some weird caves in Outland just a couple miles west of the last imperial outpost, just past the southern woods. If head down the old road and end up at Blackmire Village you've gone to far.

Well, he looked like a pirate, anyway.

"Anyway, my buddy Stan here," he gestures towards the nearly unconscious mage, "and I joined up with this group of adventurers. It was one of those classic full-blown fellowships really. We had the infamous Blixa and his talking dog Abe, a goblin named Ozzy Sweetleaf, the green-haird alchemist Sampson, a pirate named Plissken, a tanner from Hell, a weird birdguy named Scarecrow who has jedi powers and a dwarf. Stan, what was the dwarf's name?"

He pokes the wizard a bit.

"What? Huh? Uhh, Blackbeard Nutsack, I think."

"Thanks. Like I said, a big party. We just needed a magic ring and some hobbits and we'd have a blockbuster. So we decide to visit this cave high up on a ledge. What was the name of the cave, Stan?"

Stan ruffles through a few sheets of stained and torn paper and does his best to focus his besotted eyes on the scribblings written thereon.

"The Mysterious Cave of Epsilon!" he proudly declares.

"So that's where we find this guy, just past the chamber with the upside down pointy snails. Watch out for those if you ever visit the place. The northern passage out of that cavern leads to where we found Elford. We never explored past that point, so there might be treasure down that way. I don't know. I think we cleared the rest of the Epsilon cave.

"Elford can communicate telepathetically, but only speaks to me for some reason. He directed us to some treasure. I think rather than eating bugs and stuff like a normal lizard, he puh-sigh-chick-uh-lee feeds on the cheap thrills of following adventurers around. He led us to a chest made out of some magical zappy metal-"

"Electro-titanium!" Stan interjects.

"-in a room full of orange-glowing fireflies. Watch out for those. They tend to explode. Our bird buddy thought he'd snack on one of them and nearly blew his face clean off! Elford also showed us the way to a room with an altar built to some sort of devil lady. There we fought a bigass snake and defeated a poison gas trap. The snake wrapped around me at one point and squeezed so hard I thought my eyes would pop out of my skull.

"So when I first met Elford he offered me a deal that if he could follow me on adventures for a full week, he would give me the ruby that grows in his head. But at one point Scarecrow used his jedi powers to pull it out and ruined the gem. I don't really hold it against the guy. It must be tough going through life as a bird man. Being hunted by Darth Vader can't help either. And Elford here does seem to be of the party of the Devil, so stealing from him isn't really a sin, I reckon. So now Elford is stuck with me until his ruby regrows and he can pay me as agreed. A deal's a deal.

"I may have to go back to those weird caves some day. On the way to Epsilon we spotted a witch or an amazon or something cavorting topless near the pond. Girls don't dress that way where I'm from.

"Anyway, your turn to buy a round."

an open letter to WotC

2012-01-09T09:56:00.000-06:00

Dear Wizards of the Coast,

Today it was announced that you are planning a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons and that you want fan input.

This is a good thing. D&D is the flagship role-playing game, virtually synonymous with our great hobby. A new edition that takes full advantage of the growing interconnectedness of the world sounds to me like a vision full of promise.

It would please me greatly for your new edition of D&D to succeed. I want it to be a fun game. I want lots of people to play it. And I hope you make a nice profit selling it.

I would very much like to participate in the process of shaping this forthcoming edition. I'd love to involve my home game group, my online campaign with 30+ players, the players and DMs of the growing FLAILSNAILS network, and the readers of my blog.

But I don't want to be involved if you are going to insist that my friends and I participate with one arm tied behind our backs. A new edition of D&D shouldn't be just about building upon the successes and minimizing the failures of the previous edition, it should about re-evaluating all the prior work in the field.

Therefore, I am asking that as part of this process you re-release the PDFs of the prior editions. If you truly want the feedback of the fans, then surely it makes sense that you would want feedback from well-informed fans? Additionally, making the PDFs available again would be a gesture of goodwill to the players of prior editions and would go a long way to showing us that you are serious in your desire to reunite the D&D community behind a fan-powered edition.

Sincerely,

Jeff Rients
Jeff's Gameblog

Type V

2012-01-09T07:50:00.000-06:00

"Dungeons & Dragons’ designers are also planning to undertake an exceedingly rare effort for the gaming industry over the next few months: asking hundreds of thousands of fans to tell them how exactly they should reboot the franchise."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/arts/video-games/dungeons-dragons-remake-uses-players-input.html

a blast from the past

2012-01-08T20:23:00.001-06:00

For some reason I was thinking about Mazes & Monsters again today.

Lot item from the GaryCon II silent auction: one (1) VHS copy of the Tom Hanks classic Mazes & Monsters and one (1) claw hammer.

Jason Cook, creator of the video, writes "So, I won the Mazes & Monsters + hammer silent auction at Gary Con II, but the results were announced too late to have an audience big enough to smash the video in front of, so we decided to do something creative. It was all shot in only about an hour, but was a lot of fun. Make sure to watch the entire 2:30 for the full effect."

I would be remiss if I posted this stuff and didn't link to Blog of Holding's efforts to reconstruct the original M&M rules. It's pretty awesome.

more Warfare from the Age of Awesome

2012-01-07T04:30:00.000-06:00

...It was agreed upon that the figures had to come from a swordusing culture written about by a famous fantasy (not science fiction)author. This brought us back to the number of figures we should useand in the interest of getting the game started less than three hours late,we decided on an arbitrary fifteen figures plus one special being relatedto that culture. Almost everyone started reaching for their storm giantsand dragons, but Monty with a wicked smile on his face pulled out fifteen Viking type men and women and an old dude in a chair. He haddone an unusually fine painting job on them, but they were verycolorful for Vikings. I figured the guy in the chair must have beensomeone mighty special with an artifact or something and we all startedmaking guesses on the weapons the puny Vikings were going to use. Itjust wasn’t Monty’s style to bring out a batch of humans that could getblown away by something small like Ernie’s squad of iron golems orJake’s flight wing of red dragons. Then Monty hit us with thebombshell. Since he was limited to sword using cultures written aboutby fantasy authors he had decided to use the fifteen toughest NorseGods with Odin leading them. We all started shouting unfair at once,while we were putting away our dragons, golems, and undead andbringing out tougher things.

After long debate, in which our first move was to make Monty putaway his Gods, we decided on a new definition. We would use figurestaken from sword using cultures. It had to be written about by a notedfantasy author. The fifteen figures had to be normal everyday beings ofthat culture with normal weapons and armor for that culture. Thespecial being could have one weapon not above plus three, specialarmor not above plus three, or one spell, and they couldn’t be so strongthat a direct hit from a panzerfaust couldn’t kill them with one shot.That last point was brought up by the Tractics boys, but it still soundedgood to the rest of us.

Mounts and movement factors were discussed when Tom broughtout sixteen knights on sixteen platinum dragons. We thought thatknight types generally were found on chargers (not the cars, he hadthose too) and this was how they were to be mounted. Dave pulled outsome really strange Petal Throne things that nobody could make headnor tails of. I think he called them hooggies or something like that, butwe made him put them away stating that they were never written aboutin a fantasy book. After all was said and done we had a pleasant mix ofknights, dwarfs, elves, ogres, winged men from Mongo, nomadic horsearchers, elephant riding Greeks, giants, Swiss pikemen, and Romans.

Monty and I had wisely held back when everyone was digging into theirbushel baskets of miniatures and bringing out things. In fact, whileeveryone else was grabbing figures Monty and I were deciding terrainand who would be on whose side. I said a desert area with a few bigsand dunes and little other terrain would be fun and everyone but Petewith the wood elves agreed (he was shouted down). Monty decided afree for all with no one siding with another would be good. The pointwas brought up that natural enemies like giants and dwarfs shouldn’tever fight together no matter what (which really hurt the twoDiplomacy buffs that had the dwarfs and giants). Finally Monty felt hecouldn’t hold back anymore and brought out sixteen of the prettiesttyrannosourous Rex you ever saw. He also brought out two comicbooks and a novel none of us had ever read to support his use of them.Over a loud and long protest by the single F.I.T.S. [Fight in the Skies, precursor to Dawn Patrol - Jeff] lover in our groupwho wanted to argue logically for the fact that such a group wouldnever realistically come together. All the rest of us surveyed the playingarea; with its assemblage of monsters, magic, men, and his flying menof Mongo, and laughed him into silence. It was my turn to place myfigures on the board and while I took out by black enamel coffer fromits fishing tackle resting place I started to talk about Edgar RiceBurroughs. I mentioned the fact that no one could doubt thatBurroughs was one of the greatest of fantasy writers. I saw the beads ofperspiration start to form on eleven foreheads. I also mentioned as Iopened the black coffer shielding its contents from all the others thathis Mars series was certainly a culture using swords. I saw the Tracticsand Diplomacy boys turn pale and Monty tried to pull back hisdinosaurs, but I held his hand.

With a gleam of triumph in my eyes, I pulled out sixteen of thenicest, best painted set of green martians the world has ever seen. Eachone had a radiation rifle, a radiation pistol, and two swords at hand. Icould see the looks of fear in eleven eyes and the grim determination ofeleven jaws. The battle was brief and when it was over the heapedbodies were laid around the martians inches deep.

--"Monty Haul and his Friends at Play", James M. Ward, The Dragon #14, May 1978.

Rafm's Custom Characters line

2012-01-06T10:48:00.000-06:00

For a couple years back in the eighties Canadian-based minis manufacturer Rafm sold the Custom Character. Each CC pack came with a body (early on you got two!), three different heads, various weapons, shields and items and often some cool extra bits. Here's all the images I've found scouring the internet for these guys.

Neat lantern.

This goblinoid champion wears a loincloth but no pants.

The pet rat is cool.

The guy with the boomerang has a flaming torch in his other hand.

At $2.50 a pop these guys were about twice as costly as other figures for your PC.

Back in the day my buddy Dave had at least two packs he mixed and match to make unique characters.

I think the Evil Warlord in the middle has a pet demon perched on his arm.

I love the hat and moustache on the guy with the lantern.

Baldy MacBeardo with the scroll on his pack is looking wicked as well.

Dave had this guy. I remember the bandana around the neck and buckskin pants.

That outfit plus the Native American and Old Timey Prospector go a long way to support my pet theory that some of these sculpts are left over from earlier historical figure lines.

Snake in basket and sundial!

Who doesn't need accessories like this?

Is that middle Female Thief holding an anarchist bomb, like from the cartoons?

Skinniest. Barrel. EVER.

Those guys are so pissed at the wine supply being shorted they're attacking the poor thing!

That's not a shuriken, that's the frickin' Glaive from Krull!

I think there's a campfire in that last pack. Sweet!

Those last three are from someone selling three sets for seventeen bucks apiece on eBay right now.

You can see the dwarf set over at Stunties.

Okay, now that you've seen my exhaustive presentation on this old figure line, here are my questions for the audience: Is anyone doing this sort of thing today? If not, why not? With better material and production methods, this concept could be implemented with five times as much coolness. Hell, imagine using 3D printing so you can select individual parts.

Caves of Myrddin: reptile hulks & saucy statues

2012-01-06T09:51:00.000-06:00

So today's party was supposed to be Brother Cadfael, his pack handler, his horribly disfigured nephew, Sir Hugo le Bâtard, Blixa the Thief, his talking dog Abe and newcomer Darf of the Donkey Ears (a dwarf). But Sir Hugo, Blixa and Abe were so drunk the night before they couldn't make it. They all have afternoon hangovers to look forward to when they finally wake up. You ever heard the sounds a talking dog makes when he's hung over? That can't be pretty.

The ones they fought had been
properly primed and painted.

So Brother Cadfael led his NPCs, Darf and new recruit Thull under the East Tower (a.k.a. the Gatehouse). They took the stair down from the Chamber of the Roots and passed the Archway of the Two-Bodied Dragon. There they slew a pile of trash, fought a trio of Reptile Hulks and located the remains of a slain sandworm. Darf was nearly slain in the fight against the Reptile Hulks; one of them scored an Arduin Grimoire critical against the little weirdo, ripping his throat wide open. Brother Cadfael's timely cure spell is the only thing that prevented his death.

The main loot of the adventure was a pair of statues, each 3' tall or so, depicting the White Queen of Dundagel. You know those silly cheesecake statues you see in comic shops? Kinda like one of those depicting Emma Frost, but made of grey stone and wearing a crown. They tried to sell them to their bleary-eyed friend Sir Hugo, who is known to be into that sort of thing, for 1,000gp but he was short on cash. So they settled with selling them to a merchant for 750gp. Now if Hugo wants them later he'll have to pay 1,500gp.

Everyone has Level Limits exactly backwards except Timrod and me

2012-01-05T09:32:00.000-06:00

In yesterday's lively discussion about the sucky AD&D subsystems poll, Timrod of Unfrozen Caveman Dice-Chucker writes:

I might be the only person ever to say this but I actually liked demihuman level limits, and I played demihumans all the time. It was kind of satisfying to know that you'd taken your character to the pinnacle of his ability. Also, my old gang usually retired our characters by the time they reached 7th or 8th level, so unlimited levels were wasted on us.

Preach it, brother Timrod! I'm right there with you!

Let me walk the rest of you through my thinking on this one.

One of the great lies (or at least horrible misunderstandings) we repeat over and over again is that there are no victory conditions in RPGs. I've seen some variant of "there are no winners in RPGs" written in lots of "What the crap is a role-playing game?" chapters. What all these passages should really say is that there are no fixed victory conditions in RPGs. This is one of at least two ways that RPGs trump the bejeesus out of other game forms, the other being that you can attempt all sorts of plays not anticipated by the rules. That second one we all know and understand. It becomes especially clear the first time you play a computer "rpg" and you think of 14 reasonable things you'd like to do that the stupid machine won't let you even try. "Why can't I attempt to climb that dang wall, you stupid game!?" etc., etc.

So one of the ultimately cool things about RPGs is that each player can invent their own victory conditions. Usually there's simple survival and a bland default one based on genre ("Get a million gold pieces", "Stop the bad guys from wrecking Gotham", "Don't let the Rooskies win the Cold War" etc.) but those are pale imitations of the real deal where a motivated player takes the reins and says "Screw those guys at Hogwart's! I'm starting my own magic school!" or "I'm gonna get those vampires that killed my dog!" or any of an infinitude of other options.

(Incidentally, this is one of the easy ways I can tell whether an indie game ~~sucks donkey balls~~ isn't my cup of tea: If the victory conditions are inflexible I probably don't want to play it.)

So here's a self-established victory condition: I'm going to play a half-orc. I'm going to make him a cleric. And I'm going to be the best damn half-orc cleric possible. It's a humble goal, and a little metagamey, but also objectively achievable, unlike becoming the greatest wizard ever, which depends on a lot of campaign-specific mumbo-jumbo.

So I say, take some of those "crappy" class and race combos dictated by Crazy Uncle Gary's level limit rules. Play that halfling up to max level. Spend some of your hard-earned gold on a retirement party and use the rest to buy a well-appointed hole somewhere nice. Then go for a gnome fighter or a half-elf ranger or something equally nerfed. Eventually the landscape will be dotted with your smugly non-dead ex-PCs. What do those guys with unlimited advancement have to show for all their toils?

I just got a package from a magical place...

2012-01-05T07:52:00.001-06:00

Poll time! What part of AD&D sucks the most?

2012-01-04T11:12:00.001-06:00

Solely for curiousity's sake over to the right I'm asking folks familiar with 1st edition AD&D to vote on the most obnoxious subsystem in those rules. If you click on "Other" please leave a comment here explaining your choice.

EDIT: I feel like a moron for omitting both gender-based stat limits and unarmed combat.

Wizardly Wednesday

2012-01-04T04:30:00.000-06:00

Gameblog reader and all around cool guy Jeremy Deram sent this to me. I showed this to my sister-in-law the feminist theologian and she immediately said "Hey! It's two out of every three guys at Pennsic!" For those of you not in the know, the Pennsic War is an annual conflict between two kingdoms of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The loser of the war is stuck with the realm of the Pittsburgh until the next annual get-together.

Q: How Much Is One Ounce of Mithril Worth?

2012-01-03T19:52:00.001-06:00

My criminally under-used FLAILSNAILS pc is a 1st level fighter of no particular talent named Donnal MacDonnal (called Young MacDonnal back home, since his dad is also Donnal MacDonnal). Donnal's first adventure was as a zero level farmer run under the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg beta rules. Since then he's had in his possession 1 ounce of mithril he found on a dead dwarf or something. There's not much else for Young MacDonnal to do with this stuff but sell it or trade it, so I've been trying to figure out what it might be worth.

If the value is in the DCC beta rulebook I can't find it, so I've been looking at some other sources. The first place I turned was the AD&D Dungeoneers Survival Guide, recalling a mention of mithril in the mining section. Unfortunately, this otherwise exhaustive tome only details how rarely you find the stuff, not what its worth should you actually find it.

Mithril Pieces are the high end coin in MERP and Rolemaster, replacing the platinum piece of D&D. Mithril Pieces are rare and unlike other coins their value tends to fluctuate. Intended to be worth 100gp each, mp are often traded at less than 'face' value, typically 50gp each but sometimes as low as 10gp each. MERP coins are one quarter of an ounce each, so if Young MacDonnal visited Middle Earth he could probably get 40 to 400gp for his mithril. That's a crapload of money. MERP/RM money through me for a loop as a kid, because standard adventurers start out with 2gp, but prices for normal gear are normally in silver, bronze and copper. Platemail costs 50sp, for example.

My last source is the Hypertext D20 SRD. To purchase a miscellaneous item out of mithril costs +500gp per pound. A pound of gold pieces is worth 50gp (fiddy coins to the pound), so 50gp made out of mithril would cost 550gp. Yes, I know there's no such thing as gold made out mithril. Therefore one mithril piece costs 11gp (Is that the same value as Impervium in Encounter Critical? I'll have to check.). Normally a coin weighs a third of an ounce, so I guess that'd mean Donnal owns 33gp worth of mithril. That get's us within spitting distance of the bottom of the MERP valuation.

Of course the real answer is that the mithril is worth whatever the GM says it is. Anyone care to toss out what they think 1oz of mithril is worth in their campaign?

By the by, the more I think about it, the less I am inclined to sell this stuff for cash. If Donnal is dirt poor and needs to eat, that's one thing. But otherwise, I'm thinking the better bet is to hold onto the mithral in hopes of trading it to some fantastic being for a non-monetary boon of some sort.

The Fantastic Adventures of Sir Nebbish

2012-01-03T11:46:00.000-06:00

This scan is a page from the 1981 Heritage USA sales manual/catalog, the kind of thing meant for the hobby stores rather than the consumer. Has anybody played the Heritage fantasy system Knights & Magick, mentioned in the last paragraph?

Warfare in the Age of Awesome

2012-01-02T19:27:00.002-06:00

"Finally, we held the ultimate playtest - eight people each designed their own armies, using the recently developed "Creating Armies" rules. The TSR designers are a sneaky, underhanded bunch, and they all pored through the manuals trying to create the nastiest, most powerful, most outrageous armies they could find. The final battle took place on three planes (Ethereal, Astral, and Prime Material) with about 40% of the total forces invisible when the game began. There were devas, planetars, mezzodaemons, galeb duhr, and 10,000 gibberlings - each with a sword and a girdle of storm giant strength. There were catapults firing mirrors of life trapping that contained powerful monsters. There was a force of 220 invisible shadow dragons. There were three hundred-handed giants (see the Legends and Lore volume for details). There were drow cavalry on nightmares (they didn't last long). It took 8 hours of playing time (and 4 large deep-dish pizzas) to get through two turns . . . but it was an incredible amount of fun, and a lot was learned.

That led to the sixth draft . . . and eventually to the seventh."

--Michael Dobson, describing his work on the original Battlesystem supplement, Dragon #100 (August 1985), p96.

number 20 assumes actual pants pockets...

2012-01-02T06:56:00.000-06:00

Earlier today Gameblog reader Logan Smith contacted me looking for a random chart detailing what you found while searching dead humanoids. I know I've seen such things before, but I didn't have one handy. So I whipped this up instead.

What's In the Dead Orc's Pockets? (2d10)
2. mysterious gem inscribed with rune, radiates magic
3. horrifically spiky sex toy
4. membership card for the Faceless Goons Union, Local 342
5. orcish-gnollish phrasebook
6. a dwarf beard or elf scalp
7. scrap of paper marked in orcish “I.O.U. fiddy gold - Hrunk da Ogre”
8. pet rat (2 in 6 chance bitten for 1 dmg, 50% diseased)
9. key to a nearby door or chest (50/50 chance)
10. d6 gold pieces
11. 3d6 silver pieces
12. half eaten onion, turnip, parsnip, etc.
13. pair of knucklebones (50% chance loaded)
14. vial of vile hooch
15. holy symbol of some evil religion, wooden
16. thumbscrews
17. small tin of black lotus powder (d6 doses, the cheap knock-off variety that still gets you high but tends to kill repeat users)
18. treasure map (35% chance ineptly made)
19. small pot of pepper (worth d4gp or so in some pseudo-medieval campaigns)
20. hole in pocket; you just accidentally touched orc nuts, dude!

six starter demons

2012-01-01T12:37:00.000-06:00

These freaks have been generated for use with the Summon spell from Lamentations of the Flame Princess Grindhouse Edition, using the procedure on pages 143-148 of the Rules & Magic booklet. The demons below should hopefully be enough to cover the ref's ass for a session or two should a PC start with Summon in their spellbook.

Fang-Fronded Frog, HD 0 (d6 hp), AC 12 (9[10]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 120' (leap 150'), Morale 10, no additional powers

Prehensile Machine Seaweed, HD 0 (d6 hp), AC 12 (9[10]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 120', Morale 10, no additional powers

Thorn-Winged Transparent-Feathered Canine with Incomplete Genitals, HD 1, AC 21 (0[19]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 180', Morale 10, no additional powers

Seaweed with Running Teeth, HD 1, AC 12 (9[10]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 120', Morale 10, Stone Shape at will

Gossamer-Eyed Slime with Adhesive Shell, HD 2, AC 17 (4[15]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 60', Morale 10, immune to normal weapons, Phantasmal Force (at will, one at a time)

Excrement with Adhesive Feathers, HD 2, AC 12 (9[10]), 1 attack d6 damage, Move 120', Morale 10, Cloudkill (at will, one at a time), vulnerable to electricity (+1 damage per die)

current Caves of Myrddin PCs by class

2011-12-31T06:56:00.003-06:00

Fighters - 10
Clerics - 6 (a vast improvement since last I looked at these stats)
Magic-Users - 6
Thieves - 6 (incredible, considering how much the class sucks)
Dwarves - 3
Elves - 3
Halfling - 2
Pigs - 1

Caves of Myrddin update

2011-12-30T10:45:00.001-06:00

Harold the Adequate, Farley the Dwarf, Courtney the Loser and the Brothers Hoyle and Cadfael explored below the West Tower. They all returned alive, but Courtney was missing most of the flesh on his face (green slime cured by fire). A cure light wounds turned much of the poor bastard's face into scar tissue rather than blackened skull, but either way he's now Courtney the Hideous. And Brother Cadfael picked a fight with the crows near the end of the session. He comes back covered from head to toe with tiny wounds from pecking beaks.

The group explored under the west tower, in places west and northwest of the Goblin Village. They eventually stumbled upon a Temple dedicated to Satan in his form of the Tempting Serpent and looted a bunch of gold religious implements. This stuff was worth quite a bit to certain anonymous locals, resulting in massive carousing that got a bit out of hand. The party spilled out of the Abbey and into the countryside and somehow the nearby village of Camelton caught fire. The good news is that the witch and her hut were in the part of the village that didn't burn. The bad news is that, in wake of the disaster, local prices for certain goods have gone up. Check the latest version of the chargen doc for the new prices. (Hint: stuff made out of wood is more expensive now.)

One of the players convinced me to try enhancing play with Twiddla.com, a group drawing program. Below is the map we made. Although the map was very helpful, I disliked flipping back and forth between it and the G+ Hangout screen. Google+ Hangouts works for me as an online gaming venue because I can see the participants react in real time, so I'm not sure if I will try Twiddla again.

question for 25mm enthusiasts

2011-12-29T16:39:00.001-06:00

What minis manufacturer, currently in production or long gone, makes the shortest halflings? I got some 1:72 plastic fantasy figures (as mentioned here many moons ago) for Christmas. The makers of these figures also offer packs of elves and dwarves, but no hobbity types. My attempts to google up 20mm halflings have failed. So now I'm looking for particularly small 25mm halflings, if anyone can recommend such. Metal or plastic is fine, but absolutely no footwear, please.

my new favorite boardgame

2011-12-29T14:54:00.003-06:00

I beat my brothers-in-law and nephews at 7 Wonders twice today. These are all smart dudes and I usually struggle to not come in last. So now I will insist we play this game at every family gathering. More seriously, this is a fun little card-laying game of civilization building that involves passing cards to the player next to you and not being able to use all the good ones, so you get the double frustration of giving good cards to one player and getting crap from another. Good times.

Another game we played was Egizia, which has a cute little ancient Egyptian monument-building theme. The two frustrations in this one are the player before you swiping your action, and not being able to pick the option you want without screwing yourself out of future actions. The latter is represented by little landing boats along the Nile; you can only go downriver, so if you pass something you can't go back and get it. Another fun one.

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-12-28T05:06:00.000-06:00

Here's the wizard from Regular Show.

Here's the wizard from Regular Show peeing in a bush

while he leaves his reality-altering magic keyboard

sitting on a bench in a public park.

Hijinks ensue.

two more minis

2011-12-27T10:12:00.000-06:00

These aren't really part of the group I showed earlier, but I found them during my search and thought they needed to be shared.

Hobby Products (later Mega Miniatures), Metal Magic line

C1019 Villagers and Townspeople

C1019e, "Rat-Catcher"

Sadly, a small but vicious dog is not included.

Heritage/Elan Merchandising, Lord of the Rings Diorama Sets

1701 Bilbo's Birthday Party

1701e, "Gandalf with Fireworks"

A picture of a wizard with an armful of primitive rockets is enough to get any DM's brain going. Now imagine a variant MU class where Gandalf is the sole exemplar. At some level you gain the ability to create fireworks!

serious dungeon adventurers in 25mm

2011-12-27T04:32:00.000-06:00

You know what's missing from most miniature representations of dungeon adventurers? Backpacks, sacks, and friggin' light sources. On a lark I combed through the Lost Minis Wiki to see what I could dig up in the way of minis that looked like they were properly equipped for dungeoneering. Below is every photo I found.

Adiken Miniatures, Nin-Gonost line,

AF-040, "Eric, Squire with Lantern"

Asgard Miniatures, Dungeon Adventurers

DA-33, "Human Magic-User"

Is that a coil of rope maybe? That would be cool.

As I recall a fair number of other Asgard figures came with backpacks and other equipment.

Grenadier and later EM-4 Miniatures, Fantasy Warriors Blister Packs
906, "Fighters and Companions"

Heritage/Game Figures Inc., Dungeon Dwellers Figure Sets
1215, "Henchmen"
They also appear in Heritage's Dungeon Dwellers box 3501 Adventuring Characters.

Grenadier, Small Boxed Set
2004, "Hirelings" (also Dragon Lords 2004, "Hireling Crew")

These guys are awesome. James Maliszewski talked about them here. Hireling H is pounding in an iron spike. Isn't that great? I have yet to see another guy like that. Several figures here also appear in the Grenadier large box 5001 Dungeon Explorers.

Dude with torch about to throw a flask! Sweet!
"Magsman w/ oil"

from Grenadier Small Boxed Set 2008, "Thieves"

Unidentified figure with a great array of equipment.

I like the substantive backpack on this guy,

Ral Partha, Fantasy Adventurers

03-081 or 61-050 or FA06 (appeared in 3 different production runs)
"Thief with Longsword in Ambush"

How do you get the bard to stop playing his damn lute?
Make him hold the torch!

Ral Partha, Fantasy Adventurers

61-006, "Bard with Sword/Lute"

Ral Partha, Fantasy Adventurers

FA37, "Questing Ranger with Torch and Sword "

Ral Partha, Fantasy Tribes Fighters

Boxed Set FTF300 Defenders of Law

FTF55, unnamed
I don't know what all this guy is carrying,
but here sure has a lot of it!

Ral Partha, Larry Elmore Collector Series

02-802 "Journey to the Gathering"

The sacks these two are carrying aren't much,
but the little weird dude also has great pouches.
This duo are based upon the classic Elmore piece below.

Ral Partha, Larry Elmore Collector Series
Boxed Set 10-310 Silver and Steel
"Female Warrior with Sword & Torch"

Ral Partha, Weird Fantasy line

WF-03 "The Complete Adventurer"

Probably the most realistic D&D mini ever made.

Reaper
02572, "Overladen Henchman"

Reaper
02638, "Adventuring Accessories"
Add some useful equipment to other figures!

There are a few more properly figures out there. The HackMaster mini line features a few hirelings carrying substantive gear. I think I've seen a Grenadier figure with a 10' pole at some point. I'm pretty sure the Iron Wind Metals store (who now sell a bunch of Ral Partha's old designs) carries at least one fighter with a torch not in the Lost Minis Wiki. The D&D type comic Nodwick got a figure line at one point and the Nodwick mini is hauling a bunch of stuff on his back. The Rafm Custom Character line is woefully under documented on the internet, but several figures in that line came with all sorts of great equipment. Back in the day my buddy Dave had one Custom Character that had a big ol' wineskin. We loved that. Many CC figs also came with backpacks. And I haven't really sifted through the complete Reaper line yet. I love Reaper's sculpts, but the fact that torch or lantern aren't even options in their awesome Figure Finder is not a good sign.

three faces, two eyes

2011-12-26T19:49:00.002-06:00

Stumbled across this Warhammer mini, I'm not sure how.

Dude is called "Tzeentch Champion with Two Swords"

but my first thought was "Holy crap! A sword-swinging Tirapheg!"

The tirapheg is a pretty obscure critter.

This picture is the Tirapheg as presented in the original Fiend Folio.

For lots of tiraphegy goodness, check out Tirapheg Week

over at Max's blog Malevolent & Benign.

While searching for that second image,

I found this unreleased Citadel mini of the Tirapheg.

Poor bastard had one of his arms broke off.

two news items

2011-12-26T13:07:00.001-06:00

1.) Merry Day After Xmas! The Secret Santicore pdf is out! In case you're out of the loop, this was an OSR project where people emailed Jez of Giblet Blizzard with a request for some sort of game type project (I asked Santicore for a map, for instance) and in return you got someone else's wish to fufill (I ended up writing a brief adventure). The whole 104-page thing-a-ma-bob is available for free download here.

2.) I'm going to be honest here, I had never of Diehard GameFAN until today. But I can't disagree with whoever they are when they hand out two of their annual tabletop awards to Lamentations of the Flame Princess (Best OSR Title) and Vornheim (Best Campaign Setting). Well played.

Caves of Myrddin update

2011-12-26T03:30:00.002-06:00

Today marks an unprecedented in the history of the expeditions to the Caves of Myrddin and the dungeons below Castle Dundagel. Abbot Wendron pays a personal visit on the guest house where most of the adventurers stay between delves. Normally he stays away from the place so he can plausibly deny knowledge of the shenanigans that go one there, but through a discreet messenger he quietly gives you one hour's notice of his visit, giving you a chance to tidy up a bit. The following is his address to all those present:

The peace of Christ and his servant Saint Emmet be upon you all.

My friends, three days ago my brothers and I had to bury one of your number, a lad named Gomma. We are all born into this vale of tears not knowing the number of our days, but knowing that the numbering will be short. That he died young does not trouble me, especially considering the dangers he accepted in plumbing the hell-tainted depths of the nearby dungeons.

What troubles me was that he death was unnecessary and avoidable. Though slain by one of the numerous deathtraps below the ruined castle, what truly killed Gomma was foolishness. Not his own folly, though perhaps he was not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, but rather he was slain by the folly of another. It seems several of you have taken to bringing some chalk into the dungeon and mislabeling things, in hopes of luring your fellows away from treasure and towards deadly traps. It was one of these chalk messages that led to Gomma's demise.

Men, this horse hockey has got to stop. I know that there is a finite amount of treasure in those haunted crypts and each of you wants it all for himself, but ask yourself who these subterfuges really serve. Every time you draw one of these deceptive signs the Vampire Lord of Crows licks his beak in anticipation of fresh blood. Every time you get out your chalk in hopes of tricking other adventurers the Dragon of Dundagel laughs and counts his gold, secure in the knowledge that you are helping to protect it!

There's no point in attempting to enforce my wishes with an array empty threats. I can't police what happens down in those hellholes. So I won't huff and puff and threaten to withhold our hospitality here or our clerical aid should my advice be ignored. But consider the words of this old man as friendly advice. Nothing would please me more than for you to kill all the monsters, find all the gold and most of all, come back alive. So do yourselves a favor and worry less about the handful of competitors for the loot and worry more about the horrid monsters that oppose you all.

And for Christ's sake, clean this place up a little. What is that smell?

note to Blair/One Dudebird

2011-12-23T14:04:00.002-06:00

Yes! Merwik the Merchant still has those wicked suits of armor in stock!

To quote an earlier post:

A breastplate and helmet combo will set you back 100gp. Here's how they work: They protect you the same as ordinary chain and helm HOWEVER they're slightly lighter, so you can outrun someone in chain. It's not enough to up your movement rate but if you're both, say, fleeing a monster the other guy gets eaten and you get away. Also, while wearing this gear you look just like a kickass fighter from an Erol Otus illo. Thes items go to the first nine FLAILSNAILS players to comment in this thread indicating that they are spending the 100gp. They are sized for humans and elves.

Running Some Numbers: Sea Voyages

2011-12-22T06:45:00.000-06:00

Today I want to do a little hypothetical. Let's imagine that some of the players in my Caves of Myrddin campaign lay their hands on a map showing the location of the mythical island of Antillia, somewhere to the west/southwest of the British Isles. How much would it cost to travel there? I'll use the prices in the 1981 D&D Expert book to guide the calculations.

In my opinion, the first thing the party should do is hire a captain. In my experience most players want to buy the ship first, but how the heck would their PCs know whether they're getting a good vessel or a lemon? Starting with the captain gives you expert advice on every other aspect of the problem. The normal cost of a captain is 250 gp/month. He'll work for the PCs at least one month before the actual expedition.

Since the only navigational aid in the party's possession is some musty scroll probably found in a stinky old dungeon, the captain urges the party to hire a navigator right away. "You don't want the navigator plotting the course as we leave the harbor, after all." The navigator earns 150gp per month and will also work for at least one month prior to setting sail.

The captain and navigator study the scroll and estimate it will take a week to get there. The party decides that this initial voyage will be a short one: a week there, two weeks of scouting out the island, and a week back. So they will only hire everyone else in the crew for one month. So the captain and navigator will end up costing a total of 800gp.

Meanwhile, the Captain has located a small sailing vessel he deems likely to not sink between Wessex and Antillia. The cost is 5,000gp, plus 1,000gp for each lifeboat (it can hold up to two). Our heroes decide they only need one lifeboat, since it will hold the entire party and they don't really care whether the crew lives or dies. So they spend 6,000gp on the vessel itself, including the ship's boat.

Sailor's earn 10gp per month and at least 10 are required to operate a small sailing ship. One of the more grizzled players urges the party to hire 15 sailors. He fears the DM will kill some of the sailors and then pimp over the party somehow when the ship is understaffed. That'll be 150gp for the crew.

So the party has spent 6,950gp and maybe thinks they're ready to go. The DM smiles and reminds them they have to feed everyone for a month. Including the PCs and their henchmen, that's approximately 25 mouths. We'll round up to 28 people for a consumption rate of 4 week's rations per day. For the first week everyone could eat standard rations for 20gp a day, or 140gp. The remaining 3 weeks will cost 60gp a day for sea biscuit and beef jerky (iron rations), or 1,260gp. That's 1,400gp for food.

Drink is a little trickier to calculate. How much hydration does one wineskin provide? I don't really know. PCs in my game tend to guzzle the whole damn thing when adventuring gets rough. So maybe I'll just arbitrarily decide the expedition needs 10 barrels of wine at 100gp a piece, or 1,000gp total.

Some of the players will probably complain on spending 2,400gp for food and drink, but them's the breaks. If they're smart, they'll round up to 3,000gp as cushion for windless seas and other emergencies leading to a longer expedition than planned. They'll also bring 600gp in extra food and drink for each time they plan on carousing while on this little voyage.

So here's the final tally for our hypothetical sea voyage:

  500gp captain
  300gp navigator
6,000gp vessel + boat
   150gp sailors
3,000gp food & drink

9,950gp TOTAL

Note that's a small boat, no mercenaries to guard the ship while the PCs are playing away team, and no money spent on miscellaneous equipment the party might need once they make landfall. And only a two week window to find anything interesting (i.e. loot to make the voyage profitable).

Wizardly Wednesday: it's Adventure Time!

2011-12-21T07:30:00.002-06:00

Dig this super sweet Ice King fan art! Here's the artist's deviantArt gallery.

a good start

2011-12-20T15:46:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid all the coolest swords & sorcery books had art like this on the cover. Naked or nearly naked people are just as important an element of the genre to me as blood-drenched swords and dark pacts with infernal intelligences. So for my next campaign, set in ancient Japan, I kind of want to get some of that sword & sorcery mojo going, so instead of this sort of thing:

I sort of want the visual aesthetic to be more like this:

I've been scouring the internet looking for Frazetta style S&S art depicting Japanese people, but so far my results have been limited. If I settled for 'big eyes' style anime art, I could easily come up art, but that's not what I want. So the search continues.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to use a new house rule for the next campaign. I'm already leaning towards Lamentations of the Flame Princess as the system, and its use of an ascending AC system actually makes this idea dirt simple:

The Frazetta Nakedness Rule: PCs (and key NPCs) use their Dex score as their unarmored AC, or the normal unarmored base, whichever is higher.

Even with 3d6 in order, that ought to get a few people running around without armor, especially if the price for decent armor is kept high and magical armor of the plus variety non-existant. One of the ways LotFP cleverly avoids a lot of bloat is by keeping all ACs low and eschewing plus weapons/armor.

stuff you might like to know

2011-12-20T10:01:00.003-06:00

Remember when Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa precipitated the end of Western civilization? A new, deluxified edition is out from the publisher everyone loves to hate, James Effin' Raggi, a.k.a. the Lamentations of the Flame Princess dude. Also released by LotFP is an entirely new weird ass sandbox from Mr. McKinney, entitled Isle of the Unknown. I haven't seen the inside of either yet, since they're coming on the slow boat from Finland, but the original Carcosa was one of the best things published by the old school ruckus and the previews for the new books look like they're full of kick ass. You can order you own copy (print and/or PDF) over at the LotFP store. Also get Vornheim while you're there, if you don't have it already.

There's a new issue of Fight On!, the flagship print magazine of the old school ruckus. What is this, number thirteen?! Damn! I can't even friggin' keep up with the awesomeness! Every issue is cram-packed with content. I think I have a couple of tiny stupid die charts in this one, but the real reason to pick it up are the ten different adventures! Direct links to ordering print and PDF copies are here and here. If you're new to FO! (or like buying the same stuff twice) then you should also check out this sweet compilation of the first four issues.

I've been asked if there's any chance that I will have a draft of Fleet Captain, my reto-stupid spaceship project, available for some playtesty action over the holidays. Sadly, I don't think that's going to happen. The project has not been forgotten or dropped, though.

Finally, I want to share a really dumb online cartoon series that David Insel, one of the Encounter Critical inner, inner circle, pointed me to recently. Check out the awesome majesty of Gundarr!

thinking about magic again

2011-12-19T05:56:00.002-06:00

Dig this diagram. I've switch from MS Paint to Google Docs for my inept chart needs. I like the results.

Anyway, in my experience maybe 90% of PC magic-users stay in the center blue area. There's a couple possible reasons for this. One is that most versions of the game require serious gold and/or XP requirements to get into the green region. If you need to be an MU11 to make items, then most MU will never do it. Another is that some players are more casual than others. Some dudes just want to throw fireballs, no big whoop.

Another reason many MUs never engage the spell research and magic item creation rules is that they don't realize that they have these powers. The chargen handout for my World of Cinder campaign specifically noted spell research as a class ability for magic-users and elves, but I'm not sure anyone ever actually wrote it down on their character sheet. "I can cast sleep right now" tends to overshadow "with a few weeks and a couple thousand gp (that I don't have), I can make up a new spell".

Then there's that outer area. I think many players don't realize that this region even exists. Maybe it doesn't in some campaigns. Whether the DM acknowledges it or not, the "Anything goes" region is in play if there's ever some evil jerkwad trying to conquer the world with one of those big apocalyptic not-on-the-spell-list rituals. In the Caves of Myrddin, at least two players have gotten some work done in this area. A certain elf knows how to create a magical safe room, where no evil creature can set foot. And one of the magic-users is on the verge of being able to contact a demon. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

"magic_missile_is_so_boring_i_never_pick_it" - Zak S.

2011-12-18T17:09:00.004-06:00

It's just a spell that does damage at a range, right?

Magic Missile Manifestation (d20)

1. Summon Ghost Arrow
2. Laser Beam Finger
3. Ebon Flame Gout from Palm
4. Icicle Spray from Fingertips
5. Sparkly Rainbow Gesture
6. Summon Nano Black Hole
7. Throw Fire Shurikens
8. Bees from Mouth
9. Lightning from Eyes
10. Fingers Briefly Become Long Snakes
11. Heat Wave From Forehead Cooks Foe's Innards
12. Spheres of Eerie Light Up From Ground
13. Slime Erupts from Target's Pores
14. Summon Biting Skulls
15. Eyes Open In Palms, Shoot Purple Beams
16. Spit Lava
17. Conjure Vortex of Green Fumes
18. Call the Hideous Cackling from Nowhere
19. Blow Kiss of Death
20. Projectile Vomit of Acid

DMs may opt to track specific formulations, or simply each caster has their own version, or maybe you have to roll every dang time you cast.

simplified turning chart

2011-12-17T12:19:00.000-06:00

Caves of Myrddin update: revenge!

2011-12-16T07:17:00.000-06:00

Philip the Black, Luxembourg's premier necromancer, starts the session off right by blowing a carousing roll. It seems he got drunk and tried out a new blasphemous ritual 'involving' Ewella the Alewife's favorite goat. Philip is now #2 on her personal grudge list. How long does Ewella hold a grudge? The #1 spot is held by her husband, who has been dead for over twenty years.

So the next morning five set out from the Abbey: a hung over Philip of Luxembourg, the dwarven duo Farley Sheehan and Tarlo Tunnelcutter, Blixa the Thief and his dog Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Somehow eight returned, in two waves. About two and a half hours after the party left three completely naked buxom lasses show up at the Abbey, one of which carries the key to Blixa's room. This giggling, bouncing trio introduce themselves as Shuddatha the Eviscerator, Ha-Vhlacho the Time-Beast and Oggonith of the Severed Star. They report that Blixa freed them and three of their sisters from a magical painting, but the others were petrified by a medusa in the courtyard of the ruined castle.

When the party returns a few more hours later, Philip of Luxembourg is literally completely covered in blood from head to toe, dripping all over the place and reveling in it. Like at the end of Carrie or when blading at a wrestling match gets totally out of hand. Farley Sheehan is bloody up to his knees and the rest of the party is fairly bloody as well. They report two separate run-ins with vampires somewhere under the old gatehouse (a.k.a. the east tower). First, they found vampiric Frida Kahlo asleep in her coffin. She was clutching a magically trapped painting that drew the two dwarves to the center of the multiverse. Farley is still a little goggly-eyed from doing the electric slide with Azathoth. (Tarlo made it out of the painting, but later fell in a pit and died. That's D&D for you.) Anyway, they staked the bejeesus out of Frida and disintegrate her corpse with sunlight and holy water. Blixa took her magical paints and brushes and painted an escape hatch onto the canvas.

Later the group found a spot presumably close to the dragon's lair, as the floor was covered in a sufficient quantity of sloughed-off giant reptile scales that Farley now sports a shield like the one in the film Dragonslayer. Not wanting to run into the dragon, the party elected to explore another part of the dungeon. They soon ran into Billy's replacement character, a cleric. I don't recall the dude's name.

They encountered the cleric just before examining a strange chamber. The floor is stained with blood. Blood-stained holes one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter pierce the ceiling. In the center of the room is a squat basket/vat type thing, like you would crush grapes in to make wine, but nearly full of blood. Just as they begin speculating about the purpose of the room they hear people talking as they descend a nearby spiral staircase. "Why were three naked women in the courtyard anyway?" "I don't know man. What a waste they're statues now." "Yeah, stupid medusas." It's wandering monster time and guess who the dice say show up?

Holy crap! It's Lenny and Squiggy!

The two vampires responsible for killing Blixa's war poodle Gleichman stroll into the room and start slurping up blood. Too bad the party heard them coming, as they spiked the stuff with holy water. Smoke starts pouring out of their mouths and noses when suddenly Philip bursts out from under the surface of the blood, laughing like a goddamn psycho, silver dagger and holy water flask in hand! The dwarf and the cleric appear from behind half-column supports along the wall, with Blixa and Abe attacking from the rear. The party came loaded with garlic and holy water and stakes, so they eventually overwhelm the two dorkiest vampires under Dundagel and manage to avoid losing any levels in the process. Billy'c cleric earns bonus style points by pushing his holy symbol right into Squiggy's stupid face, burning him so deeply a cross-shaped section of smoldering, blackened skull is revealed. In the end one vampire is complete disintegrated and other is staked, then beheaded, then melted with holy water. Revenge is a dish best served bloody.

Back at the Abbey, Blixa publicly counts out 1,000gp to each of his fellows. He then disappears into his lady-laden room. Farley and the cleric go get themselves cleaned up, then Farley starts buying drinks for everyone. Philip the Bloody cackles something about the truenames of demons and resumes his horrid experiments.

All in all, a pretty kickass day in the history of the Wessex campaign.

Caves of Myrddin update: goblin gold!

2011-12-15T10:13:00.001-06:00

So the Wednesday night group made out pretty well last night. Based upon the drunken ramblings of the elf Vithujin(a.k.a. Elfy Don't, a.k.a. the guy on the Abbott's pooplist for prancing about the sanctuary stark naked) and Brother Cadfael's hopeless loser nephew (unlike Fred the Dwarf's henchmen, he's not loyal or smart enough to keep his lips shut), here's what the rumor mill says:

Most of the adventure was spent in the magical land of the goblins, where it was winter outside the goblin forest.
Monsters fought included a giant silver spider, some sort of land-catfish with a purple worm style maw, a giant pterodactyl that tried to carry off their guide Turg, helpful giant ants and a wizard made of cancer that tried to forcefeed himself to Gomma the Fighter.
Loot carried off included a bunch of unrefined gold nuggets, some gold 'coins' shaped like tiny foetuses, some Satanic dinnerware (sold to the local coven), some wavy-bladed swords, a dozen scrolls of black papyrus and some breast plates and helms of unusually light metal and wicked design.

Since nine sets of breastplate and shield were sold to Merwik the Merchant, these items are now available for sale. A breastplate and helmet combo will set you back 100gp. Here's how they work: They protect you the same as ordinary chain and helm HOWEVER they're slightly lighter, so you can outrun someone in chain. It's not enough to up your movement rate but if you're both, say, fleeing a monster the other guy gets eaten and you get away. Also, while wearing this gear you look just like a kickass fighter from an Erol Otus illo. Thes items go to the first nine FLAILSNAILS players to comment in this thread indicating that they are spending the 100gp. They are sized for humans and elves.

Additionally an incident occured in the main hall of the Abbey guesthouse, where PCs stay between adventures, so you all get the real deal scoop. Gomma the Ugly made it known that he wanted to try and sell the Zircon Ring of Olorin, a minor artifact he's owned for several sessions and not used much. James of Dillington, an NPC wizard, showed up to offer 2,500gp for the ring. Before they could close the deal Lankii the Elf, a fellow member of Gomma's party, objected vehemently, arguing that the item was much more useful than any amount of gold the wizard could offer. When Gomma ignored the elf and tried to close the deal Lankii threw a charm person on Gomma to prevent the sale. Once the spells started to fly James the Wizard backed out the room and hasn't been seen near the Abbey since.

Later, Gomma got turned into a toad for talking trash to Dremelza the Witch, but Lankii saved him by trading away one of the Black Scrolls to placate the witch. Gomma's player was on fire last night, I tell you. He also needed to be rescued from the cancer wizard's cultist goons. Good times.

Wizardly Wednesday: Who the What?

2011-12-14T17:00:00.000-06:00

Aruman the Red, from Ralph Bakshi's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

The name of this dude was changed from Saruman to Aruman to avoid the Saruman/Sauron confusion that tripped me up the first time I tackled Tolkien as a kid. Why he needed red robes, I don't know. Maybe it looked better with that grey beard?

initial thoughts on classes of the Saikaido Campaign

2011-12-14T12:46:00.004-06:00

So I'm working on this mythic/faux-historical Japanese campaign. Today I wanted to talk about classes.

Bujin (fighter) - Well-heeled samurai, wandering ronin, or desperate peasant-turned-bandit, all these fall under the bujin class.

Sohei (cleric) - You're a monk so into Buddha you can drop miracles. PC sohei are probably troublemakers kicked out of respectable monasteries. The cops and/or monks from a rival temple may be looking for you.

Onmyoji (magic-user) - Ancient Japan actually had a government bureau of magic-users. Most onmyoji stay in the capital and draw decent paychecks for little work. PC onmyoji tend to be unlicensed renegades and/or power-hungry maniacs. Female onmyoji operate as a sisterhood outside the legal sanction of the bureaucracy, but since their order was founded by an imperial princess they have a certain romantic cache that makes them less spooky to the common people.

Ninja (specialist/thief) - I got nothing more to say about this class other than "Yes, you can play a ninja."

Wo (dwarf) - Not as beardy as their Occidental cousins, most Wo go for neatly trimmed facial hair, maybe just a moustache or even -gasp- clean shaven. Many have facial tattoos, looking a bit like an actor in a kabuki play. The Wo try to participate in mainstream Japanese culture, but because of their long lifespan and tendency to sleep for Rumple Stiltskin lengths of time, they can't keep up. Like if in a modern setting game you had a short dude in your party that dressed and talked like William Shakespeare. The Wo aren't quite over the fact that suddenly (in their terms) some emperor living on another island is in charge around here and tend to be skeptical of imperial officials.

Korrobukura (halfling) - These hairy little people live in holes in the ground and generally try to stay out of everyone's way. Their numbers are dwindling in the south (where the campaign is set).

Spirit Folk (elf) - Mostly human in appearance, every spirit folk has some sort of 'tell' that distinguishes them: odd colored hair, a tail, animal ears, impossibly long elf ears, a third eye that opens when casting spells, a long lizard tongue, etc. The clans of the spirit folk claim descent from old imperial lineages on one hand and various kami (spirits) on the other, making most of them hella arrogant. Since I envision spirits in this campaign as tending to be inhuman and weird, the Spirit Folk are kind of like what if happy shiny half-elves really had the Innsmouth Taint.

belated Caves of Myrddin report

2011-12-12T10:33:00.000-06:00

So in last Friday's game a couple of PCs caroused successfully, so I should really share some drunken news about the ol' dungeon situation.

Durgar Ironfoot, Skole the Viking and Philip the Black spent some time digging through the big pile of rubble that used to be the main keep of Castle Dundagel. Well, Philip the Black didn't actually do any of the digging. He let his henchweenie do the work for him. Near sundown they cleared a narrow accessway to a wide set of stair leading down into some unknown part of the dungeons. The number of sinister crows in the vicinity had been steadily increasing as nightfall approached, so the party decided to get back to the abbey before the sun set.

The next day, with the addition to their party of the cleric Geoffroy of Cornouaille they descended the stairs in search of treasure and glory. As I recall the only treasure found was a magic-user scroll with a spell from the Arduinian Age, mostly the poor deluded fools encountered brain-hungry zombies, rabid rats (one of which killed Philip's henchman) and several trapped doors. The expedition ended prematurely when the dwarf Durgar narrowly avoided the gaze of a trio of medusae, who then proceeded to chase the party right out of the dungeon.

So if you encounter one or more snake-haired ladies on the grounds of the ruined castle, you know exactly who to blame.

video time

2011-12-10T17:17:00.001-06:00

Big thanks to Stuart over at Strange Magic for sharing this on the Google+.

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-12-07T05:06:00.001-06:00

My buddy Pat photoshopped a new face onto Gandalf to make me a photo of James of Dillington, the NPC wizard who has been seen skulking about the Caves of Myrddin. He used to look a lot more wrinkly, but Finn the Thief, a PC in my Wednesday night game, sold old James a Potion of Longevity. James is currently the guest of William of Crevan, the castellan of nearby Castle Bottreaux. Staying at the Abbey guesthouse is for chump adventurers with no connections.

two from Google+

2011-12-05T14:27:00.001-06:00

Since G+ is so ephemeral I thought I'd save a couple items here. First up, an idea of mine that a few folks seemed to like:

Today's stupid XP/class idea for old school D&D: Rearrange the XP bonus for stats so that a LOW stat gets you a bonus.

If you have a low Int, you get an XP bonus for playing a fighter.
If you have a low Str, you get an XP bonus for playing an MU.
If you have a low Dex, you get an XP bonus for playing a cleric.
If you have a low Wis, you get the bonus for playing a Thief.
You could use Cha for dwarves (all dwarves tend to act like Grumpy of Snow White fame) and Con for elves (elves have always struct me as slightly consumptive).

And here's a question I asked and the respones:

"If you dig Frank Frazetta then you should check out the work of ________"

Jeffrey Jones
The Brothers Hildebrandt
Boris Vallejo

Who else?

Answers: brom, Don Maitz, Julie Bell, Simon Bisley, Alex Ross, Mike Hoffman, M.W. Kaluta, William Stout, Roy Krenkel, Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni, Joe Jusko, kent williams, Sam Keith, Barry Windsor-smith, Cary Nord, Robert E. Howard :), Ken Kelly, Glenn Orbik, George Barr, virgil finlay?, Michael Whelan, Chris Achilleos, Don Lawrence, Frank Schoonover, Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, Richard Corben, J. Allen St. John, Bob Guccione :-)

The Caves of Myrddin Thousand Yard Stare Club

2011-12-05T09:08:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I've got 32 people on my player list for the Friday morning Caves of Myrddin game. Each week I draw four names at random to get on Google+ and play. So far 25 players have got a chance to play. Most of those folks have played once, twice, maybe three times so far. Here are all the people that have played more than that:

Blixa the Thief (Zak S) - 6 expeditions to the Caves
Hugo le Bâtard (Jeremy Duncan) - 5 expeditions
Philip of Luxembourg (Evan Van Elkins) - 4 expeditions
Pavel the Great (Mátyás Hartyándi) - 4 expeditions

Zak tops the list largely because he stays up late and is two time zones over, so if someone no-shows he's available whenever I broadcast the message "Need replacement player right now!" The other three guys have just had the dice go their way when it came time to select players. Actually being available for the play time also helps. A couple of other people would be on this list, but they couldn't make one or two sessions when their number came up.

I'm bringing this up and identifying these guys because they all happen to be cool dudes. If you're going into my stinky little dungeons and want some clues on how to survive and thrive, these would be choice guys to hit up for advice.

Caves of Myrddin: fear the Vampire Lord of Crows

2011-12-03T09:09:00.001-06:00

[The following was written by Evan of In Places Deep in a blatant attempt to cash in on his own Xp-for-session-reports houserule. Well it worked. Future explorers of the Caves of Myrddin may score +10% or 100xp, whichever is greater, for supplying a good summary of the session. N.B. I have made one edit to the following text, removing the italics. I hate it when gamefic is italicized.]

The following letter was found discarded next to an inebriated messenger boy.

My dearest Susan,

My return from Ireland has thus far been inauspicious, and I regret that my failing health will prevent me from visiting you in your bedchamber. Since I was unable to bring you an treasures from the Emerald Isle, I thought I might win some more prizes from the ruins of Castle Dundagel. Oh, how wrong I was.

In the company of one of your husband’s boorish knights, whom I hired to serve as my body guard, as well as two stout fellows and another fighting-man I headed out to the ruins of the castle. Since the Dragon had been seen entering the southern tower, we elected to check the northern one to avoid its ire. If only we had known what perils awaited us. We explored the tower itself, which seemed rather non-descript aside from the presence of a coffin which I now believe must be the resting place of a vampire.

While investigating the roof I was once again mocked by those hideous crows. I managed to kill one, and I intended to turn it into one of those taxidermic displays you so love. Now I cannot look at the thing after the horrors I saw in those dungeons!

After leading into the dungeon proper one of the dwarves abandoned us to die leaving us only with a cryptic warning to “watch out for cage traps.” Would that I knew what he meant because it could not have been as terrible as what we experienced. Exploring the chambers more, I found an area that looked familiar to me. Just as I did, we were assailed by misty figures who soon materialized into vampires.

Luckily, I had brought a large number of flasks filled with holy water. These were quite effective against the creatures, but not before the most terrible of their number – a crow faced monstrosity whose terrible visage will haunt my dreams forevermore – raked me with his awful talons. The shock of this still haunts me, and I find it difficult to remember the incantations that were once so easy for me to rattle off.

On the positive side, the mysterious power I learned in Ireland was of used to me as I used it to slay one of the vampires, which once was a woman. While I have this small victory I am still gripped by the horrors of the things I witnessed. I saw the crow-headed master of vampires burst into flame, but I know he still lives.

Incidentally, your husband’s stooge whom I had temporarily borrowed met his end in those tunnels. I have included the sum of 600 solidi to make up for his loss.

Hopefully I will recover soon and be able to see you once again, my love.

Your snuggle-bear

Philip of Luxembourg

Caves of Myrddin: holy crap, the dragon!

2011-12-01T06:20:00.001-06:00

Oh, wait. That's not the dragon. That's the sandworm that ate Finn the Thief's cook Jaan somewhere on the second level.

Here's the dragon. Spotted flying not far from the Abbey and reportedly eating cattle from a nearby farm. To get a sense of scale, this beast is just the right size to squeeze down a standard 10' wide dungeon corridor.

And here's Finn the Thief and Vithujin the Elf after Vithujin picked a fight with the dragon. More info on that mess here. Fortunately, they had bought life insurance for 1,000gp a piece. I really ought to start rolling a chance that the Bishop is away on business when you need a raise dead cast.

Also of note: reports of giant spider activity between the Chamber of the Roots and the entrance to the level with the goblin village.

Hedley Lamarr, High Priest of Evil Chaos

2011-11-30T08:45:00.001-06:00

I've been thinking about Raggi's advice (in both the LotFP rpg and the Random Esoteric Creature Generator) that we should use real people more and humanoids less for our cannon fodder. It's a concept that has real possibilities. It adds a little dramatic oomph to encounters with 1 hit die goobers that might otherwise degenerate into "oh, more orcs" and increase interest in actual monsters by reducing the volume of encounters with such weirdies.

But if you knock kobolds, goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, gnolls and bugbears off your standard encounter lists, then who the heck will man the Caves of Chaos? This might seem a minor point to you, but when pondering big changes to the game I often think about The Keep on the Borderlands as something approaching as Platonic ideal in the realm of D&D. If a proposal renders module B2 unplayable, then I'm not sure I want it.

But then I thought about Blazing Saddles.

I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.

The Borderlands are basically the Old West redacted to Mythic Caucasia anyway, so why not draw on a source like this?

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-11-30T04:43:00.001-06:00

The evil wizard Kelek, from the D&D cartoon. Also available in action figure form.

Dig that classic look.

Kelek rode around on a dire wolf, which I think is pretty badass.

He also had a sweet secret hideout and a siniser plan to gain magic power by stealing unicorn horns.

Blessed Saint Emmet

2011-11-29T06:29:00.001-06:00

Artist/cool guy Jez Gordon (also responsible for the new DungeonFu thing-a-ma-bob for G+ gaming) hooked me up with a photoshopy of St. Emmet, the patron saint of the monastery where most of the Caves of Myrddin PCs chill out at between adventures. (Since Hugo the Bastard bought his own manor house a few miles away, some adventurers have been staying there instead. As I understand it to get an invite you have to speak French with an outrageous accent.) Thanks to various shenanigans, one of my Wednesday crew officially owes St. Emmet two personal favors.

Ol' Emmet here is the lesser known and more apocryphal brother of St. Perran, patron saint of tin-miners and Cornwall in general. Why St. Emmet has the head of an ant is subject to a wide variety of conflicting local tales, some of which cannot be repeated in polite company.

Thanks, Jez!

two quick thoughts

2011-11-27T09:33:00.001-06:00

1) Here's a new skill idea for Lamentations of the Flame Princess weird fantasy yadda-yadda: Jack-of-All-Trades. Defaults to 1 in 6 for all adventurers, maybe 2 in 6 for whichever of the demi-humans in your campaign are likely to have a lot of jobs during their extended lifespans. The basic deals is that J-o-T works like the language rules. You need to know if your PC can help sail the ship or make a horseshoe? Roll JoT. If successful, add "sailor" or "blacksmith" to your list of secondary skills. Not suitable for all campaigns.

2) Is wizardry systematic or ad hoc in your campaign? (Or maybe there once was a complete system of magic in the golden age and the present MU rules represent a fragmentary understanding of that system.) Are spells part of a metaphysical schema or are they just the list of known effects caused by certain words, gestures and cogitations? Do your NPC magic-users tend to have ability outside the core system of spell memorization? Can PCs gain similar special abilities? One of the neat things about the feat system in 3.x was its potential to give individual MUs different relationships with the spell system.

No Caves of Myrddin tomorrow morning

2011-11-24T04:13:00.001-06:00

Sorry, folks, but it looks like the car will be packed so tightly I'm going to have to choose between taking my game crap or taking my school crap. The end of the semester looms large and I got stuff I got to get done.

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:05:00.001-06:00

Most wizards need spellbooks or wands. Not this guy.

emergency Caves of Myrddin session special guest report

2011-11-19T17:39:00.001-06:00

It was a wet and overcast morning as I Zaunn the Mage departed for Nightwick Abbey. I was accompanied on my third expedition to Nightwick by Redwall the scoundrel, who insists I call him "Boner", two fighters called Donal and Agnes the Average. We also had Agnes's torchbearer and our dogs. We had a total of 5 dogs with us, since I had replaced Riddler and Lemming with "Steve" and "Thingy". Gentle Ben decided to stay behind and celebrate, I mean drown his sorrows at the loss of his master last week.

This time we headed to the South Tower, noting as we went that a series of ruined arches had appeared over the week. We're sure they weren't there last week but appeared to have been there for centuries.

Entering the south tower we discovered that it's interior was pretty much identicle to the north, right down to the trapdoor with a rusted ladder beneath it. We repeated last week's plan of using a rope spiked into the floor and lowered down the trapdoor. Beneath was small room with a door to the west, a long staircase that corkscrewed down and a corridor with a door in the eastern wall, opposite the stairs, and a door in the western wall. We headed to the western door and Boner caught a strong wiff of mold. We were debating if we should try it or the easter door when across the astral plane, in the distant mystical realm of South Knoxville some arcane structure called "The Internet" collapsed.

Suddenly Boner and I, along with out loyal hounds, found ourselves transported to the world of Wessex. There we met with the rogue Blixer, who talked us into aiding him in hunting some vampires. He and his talking dog, Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter led us into the Caves of Myrddin where he tied up a thrice blessed donkey and the dogs. He and Boner hid behind a secret door while I sat in a nearby tunnel with Steve and Thingy.

In time misty forms drifted into the cavern and solidified into four vampires. One of them decided to feed off of the donkey and a moment later I heard Abe say "Woof woof", which was the signal. I flung out my holywater soaked net and was able to cover three of the four undead. Boner and Blixer both missed with their nets but I was able to upend the bucket of holy water we'd soaked the nets in over the uncaptured vampire. He and the vampire who had tried to feed off of the thrice blessed donkey were destroyed while the other two turned into fog and escaped.

Boner found a vampire fang and intends to make it into jewellery while Blixer found a treasure map to a location nearby. On our way there we met a friend of Blixer's, Philip the Black (or something) the four of us were able to locate the treaure cache in an unexplored area of the dungeon. There we found a pile of treasure including a magical flaming sword which Boner claimed, and a scroll of spells which I took. We shared the gold amongst us and headed back into town to celebrate.

This is where everything went terribly, terribly wrong. In our drunken stupor Boner was transformed into a pig, Philip became the property of the Castellan's wife and I was married off to Kerra, the pox-faced daughter of the local alewife. It's a dark day, a dark dark day.

another Caves of Myrddin

2011-11-18T07:22:00.001-06:00

Hi! Abe here again! Me and Blixa and a donkey and some other people just got back from the stinky hole. Well, the donkey and one of the people didn't make it back. The donkey was killed waiting for the rest of us to get back. He couldn't fit through a hole we went in. The people was stabbed by a boney man with no meat.

I got a boney man legbone to chew on! I also ate a spider that I found in a goblin house. It was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside! Before that I tried to catch a big rat, but it went down a rat hole before I could get it. All the people made a giant stick out of smaller sticks, but when they were finished they didn't throw it for me even once. Instead they used it to poke the Magic Chair of People Talking.

Two of the people got into an argument over another stick they found. I thought they should have given it to me! But instead they split it. One guy got the hard part and the other the paper inside it. The guy who got the paper is dead now though. The guy who got the hard part was sad when his donkey died. I was sad too. Donkeys aren't stuck up jerks like horses.

brief Caves of Myrddin update

2011-11-17T18:53:00.001-06:00

Dang I'm bushed tonight but tomorrow's group needs to know some of this stuff.

Wednesday night at the Armored Gopher I had seven players, which has been about the usual number lately. Good guys the lot of 'em, too. Here's the roster:

Tom and Nick played the elves Lankii and Vithujin
Louis and Wheelz ran the fighters Gomma the Ugly and Will Die Too
Carl was the cleric known as Ethelred the Unready
Dane as Finn O'Malley the thief, with his personal chef Jaan.
and Chris ran Frederick the Dwarf, with his three henchmen

According to the various accounts of the the henchmen the party launched two expeditions, the first to locate the magic chair that turned Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter into a talking dog. Everybody who sat in the chair got magical stat boosts, but two guys also melted. Their gooey remains had to be hauled halfway across the land to get raise dead spells out of the Bishop of Cornwall. The second expedition focused on exploring a magical portal to the fairy realm of the goblins. Several goblin lairs were looted of magical goodies and a giant attack platypus was slain. A goblin was captured by the group after several others were slain in a fight. Turg the Goblin is now Frederick's fourth henchmen, the limit allowed by his Charisma. (It's been a long time since I've seen anyone run up against that rule.) The party also rescued a fighting man named Thurstan. He was party of a small party scouting out the upper levels on behalf of a wizard. Thurstan now serves Finn. They never encountered two known threats: a giant spider lurking in the north-west section of the dungeon and some sort of diabolical tiger-man.

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-11-16T06:16:00.001-06:00

Gemini the Wizard here is one of the few badguys to live long enough to tangle with Thundarr the Barbarian in two different episodes. I love the wizards in the world of Thundarr. Almost all of them are mutated techno-monsters who left their humanity behind long ago. Gemini's particular deal is that he has two faces and a spinning neck. Most of the time you can deal with the friendly, benevolent, soft-spoken face. But piss him off and his head rotates 180 degrees and the angry, yelling, zap-you-with-eyebeams persona emerges.

Sniderman has D&D type stats for Gemini over at The Savage AfterWorld.

Fleet Captain: what the hell is wrong with this crate?

2011-11-15T07:48:00.001-06:00

I'm going to try to get back on track with this spaceship game. If you recall from earlier posts, one of the key ways ship classes in Fleet Captain differ from one another is how they suck.

Ship Design Flaws (roll d20 for each class of vessel)

Tends to Explode - Every turn of live comba the ship has a 1 in 20 chance of exploding for no apparent reason.
Fast Decompressor - The first hit to do Hull Damage also causes one point of Crew Casualties as redshirts are sucked out into space.
Torpedo Jams - Any roll of a ‘1’ on a torpedo attack disables torpedoes for the rest of the game.
Rustbucket - 1 in 6 chance of a critical with every hull hit.
Simply Mediocre - All die rolls at -1. A ‘0’ move is a normal Drift.
No Safety Rails - All Crew Casualties are doubled.
Poor Fire Control - 1 in 6 chance of targeting ship adjacent to foe, whether adjacent vessel is friend or enemy.
Unstable AI - On any turn this vessels does a Full Drift (neither moves nor fires) there is a 1 in 6 chance the main computer gets bored and murders sufficient crew to cause one Crew Casualty.
Psychosis-inducingly Bad Decor - If the Captain is eliminated from play the crew mutinies; ship takes no action but Full Drift for rest of game unless Boarded and Captured by a friendly vessel.
Weapons Blind Spot - No fire possible along one hexline (see chart).
Shield Flaw - Shields one die smaller along one hexline (see chart).
Engine Imbalance - All vessels in this class tend to pull either to the left or right (determine randomly). All non-turning Forward movements must drift in that direction.
Dubious Aerodynamics - Automatically take d4 hull damage whenever passing through an atmosphere.
Convenient Airlock Access - Boarding attempts are +1 against you.
Excellent Broadcast Antennae - All mines, seeker missiles, drones, etc., are +1 to attack you.
Faulty Astrogation Sensors - Rolls are -1 to avoid asteroids, black holes, etc.
Puny Retrorockets - 4+ on d6 that any Drift move marker must be treated as a Forward Move at smallest die engines.
Insufficient Lateral Bracing - Any maneuver involving more than one hexside’s worth of turns does d4 hull damage.
Flame Protardent Materials - Fires roll 2 dice each turn.
Roll again twice.

Why 13th c. Japan?

2011-11-15T05:43:00.001-06:00

Gameblog reader Quibish asks:

I'm curious why the time around the Mongol invasions appeals to you more as a campaign setting. Were you wanting to avoid the firearms of the later years, or is there something going on in 1274-1281 that is just too good to pass up?

This question is in response to the chart I posted last week listing possible pseudo-historical campaigns to run. I've settled on 13th century Japan, particular the southernmost of the 4 big islands, as the site of my next campaign for a couple of reasons. I've picked Japan off of that list because I'm hoping to lure my nephew into a game or two and at any given time he's obsessed with Naruto, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bleach, etc.

The Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281 make interesting bookends to a campaign, especially if you center the action on Kyushu, where the Mongols actually landed. Any political equilibrium on the island is disrupted by the first invasion. This attack on the status quo creates a space for PC action (and by action, I mean "bad behavior"). The second invasion was seen as inevitable. You don't send the troops of the grandson of Genghis Khan packing and expect that to be the end of the affair. That means official attention was directed more towards preparing the coast against a new Mongol landing and less in the direction of protecting tombs and ruins from PC predation.

The firearm thing Quibish raises is another issue. Gunpowder is rare and mainly takes the form of Dodongo-disliking Batman-can't-get-rid-of anarchist-flinging bombs. Most days I'm just not keen on arquebuses in my D&D. Ray guns, yes. Historical firearms, not so much. That's just the way I feel about these things. Though there is this one great scene in a Zatoichi film (I forget which one) where some peasants want to rescue their friend from the cops. They're peering over a ridge and one of them says the equivalent of "Holy crap! They've got two guns!" That amused me.

Also there's a bit of an advantage to picking a more obscure period. You aren't going to find a ton of players with fixed opinions about the Anarchy, the way you might by running a game set in the War of the Roses. Running a game set in the same period as James Clavell's Shogun creates a set of expectations. I'd rather spend the campaign filling in a relatively blank slate than fighting preconceptions.

Finally, I'm enchanted with the idea of ending a campaign with the PCs giving Kubla Khan the finger or dying in the attempt.

Caves of Myrddin update

2011-11-11T07:52:00.001-06:00

Hi! My name is Abe! What's your name? Do you want to sniff my butt? I already smelled yours. You should do something about that.

Anyway, I just got back from the stinky hole that smells like rat poop and lizard breath. It was so much fun! I went with my master Blixa and some other people, one of which was very small and had furry feet that smelled like mushrooms.

We fought a big lizard! Was that the dragon everyone is so worked up about? I got to bite it but it wasn't very tasty. Do you have any food? I like cheese and sausages best. We found some cheese in a goblin house and my master gave me a piece of it. It was yummy! But then a storm blew in. The thunder scared me. But before that we found a magic chair. I sat in it and the magic made all the people smarter so they could understand me.

Then I found a rat hole but the rat was too deep in it for me to bite. You know what's even better than biting rats? Chasing them!

draft Wessex romance rules

2011-11-09T15:18:00.000-06:00

These mechanics are based on Emmet F. Milestone's "Kirk on Karit 2" for Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, originally published in Different Worlds #4. You can read the original rules here.

FALLING IN LOVE

When characters of appropriate gender and orientation encounter each other for the first time a Romance Roll must be made for each of them. Romance Rolls are made in accordance with the following procedure:

1. Romance Rolls are made in order of the character's Charisma scores, with the most Charismatic character rolling first. In the event of a tie, Wisdom is used as a tie breaker, but with the less wise character going first.

2. A potential beloved is identified. Generally this will be another character present of appropriate gender and age. Characters with higher Charisma scores will be favored. The player of the character identified then rolls 4d6, which is adjusted by their Wisdom modifier. If the sum obtained is less than the Charisma of the potential beloved, the character identified in step 1 is smitten, i.e. you are trying to roll high to save versus emotional complication.

3. Whether a Romance Roll results in physical lust, tender affection, dumbass puppy love, Princess Bride-style True Love, etc. is up to the player, as is what their PC will do about it.

4. The DM may modify or disallow Romance Rolls based upon the species of either party. Halflings and humans might fall only in love with a 5d6 roll, for instance. And then there’s that whole mess about dwarven women and beards...

5. A character will not fall in love with more than one character during the course of a single session.

6. Once any character has already fallen in love, the DM rolls 1d6. A result of 3+ indicates that no more characters will fall in love during the scenario, except as the result of a successful wooing. Wooing uses the normal NPC reaction charts, modified by myriad factors including such things as social class, needing a bath, gifts offered, etc.

These rules are obviously incomplete. Their main function is to get PCs into trouble, and I believe they may be sufficient to get that ball rolling.

Wizardly Wednesday

2011-11-09T09:24:00.000-06:00

This fellow is Beorht, a wizard from "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court", an old episode of the original Transformers cartoon. I dig his natty old patchwork of a green robe. If I recall the cartoon correctly at one point he uses rat tails as a spell component. Here's a close-up of Beorht with his owl familiar:

Six Gods of Mangalla

2011-11-09T05:14:00.002-06:00

Based upon nearly five minutes of research I decided that Mangala, the Sanskrit name for Mars, was one of the better-sounding names for the planet in an ancient tongue. So now Mangalla with two l's is the name of the ancient Martian setting I mentioned earlier in the week. I don't have any real plans to pursue this campaign soon, but I woke up early with a desire to write a pantheon for Mars that was non-anthropomorphic to the point of abstraction. Here we go.

RANDOM PATRON GOD (d6)

1. The Benevolent Lightning
Other names: The Holy Thunderbolt, The Electric Ecstasy
Holy symbol: jagged lightning bolt, usually displayed horizontally
Clerical restriction: must pass through doors and archways backwards
Clerical bonus: cast lightning bolt as a 3rd level cleric spell

2. The Authorless Glyph
Other names: The Rune at the Five Corners of Time, The Self-Inscribor
Holy symbol: transparent amulet (usually glass) with cleric's personal rune on one side and the rune of their home temple on the other, so that when held up to the light it casts a shadow superimposing the two characters
Clerical restriction: must obey all written communications signed with the personal rune of a High Priest
Clerical bonus: use magic-user scrolls provided they can cast spells of a comparable level

3. A Suffusion of Yellow
Other names: An Amber Void, A Jaundice Upon the Cosmic Flesh
Holy symbol: A body part painted yellow or made of gold, yellow gems, etc. The specific body part varies by individual church (e.g. A Temple of A Yellow Eye, A Cathedral of A Golden Hand). A piece of yellow clothing or golden jewelry covering the appropriate part also functions as a holy symbol (a yellow eyepatch, a golden gauntlet).
Clerical restriction: All clerics of 2nd level or above must consult one of the Seven Yellow Oracles at least annually and follow their crazy-ass dicta.
Clerical bonus: All henchmen/hirelings are +2 loyalty/morale.

4. The Dancing Sky
Other names: The Celestial Promenade, The Eternal Embrace of the Moons
Holy symbol: a bell inscribed with astrological symbols (must be rung vigorously to turn undead)
Clerical restriction: Cannot eat red meat except for certain holy feasts
Clerical bonus: knock once per day (3 times a day for clerics of 9th level or higher)

5. The Circle of Circles
Other names: The Universal Circumscriptions, The Sphere of Spheres, The Point of Points
Holy symbol: a series of linked circles of differing sizes
Clerical restriction: cannot take the same route back to a place as they took going there
Clerical bonus: +2 saves vs. poison and petrification, a result of 20 or higher on such saves reflects the venom or stoning effect back onto attacker

6. The Vital Center
Other names: The Heartbeat of the World, The Bottom of Down
Holy symbol: arrows converging on a point, the number of arrows usually indicating the level of the owner
Clerical restriction: must greet every stranger with a brief blessing
Clerical bonus: half damage from falls

The restrictions and bonuses are linked; failing to abide by one forfeits the other. Getting the bonus back probably requires penance or an atonement type spell. No attempt has been made to balance each restriction against its bonus or to balance the restriction and bonuses among the various priesthoods.

Note that alignment and religion do not map to each other on Mangalla. One may encounter a lawful Patriarch/Matriarch or chaotic Evil High Priest(ess) of any god.

here's a chart I update periodically

2011-11-07T12:29:00.001-06:00

This is my working list of vaguely historical D&D settings I might like to try. Some of them I've talked about here before. Since finally giving one of these a go and running my Wessex stuff I find I really like the groundedness of using a real piece of history as a launching point. It makes the crazy stuff D&D adds all the more ridiculous in comparison.

things to talk about

2011-11-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

Noisms at Monsters and Manuals things we need to talk more about some stuff.

Book binding. (I can't be the only person who bemoans the way new rulebooks tend to fall apart like a sheaf of dry leaves after about 5 seconds of use). I've all but given up on buying game bookss that aren't stapled in the middle. That limits me to smaller books but I'm okay with that.

"Doing a voice". How many people "do voices"? Should they? How do you get better at "doing a voice" if that's your thing? I do voices. I'm pretty sure they're terrible and have no idea how to improve other than listening to Billy West, John DiMagio, etc. discuss the craft on the commentary tracks for Futurama. They often discuss starting with a known voice and layering in the emotional tone of one or more additional voices to reach an amalgam. So don't shoot for just Merlin from Excalibur, try mixing it with the exasperation of Bones from Star Trek to achieve a new character.

Breaks. How often do you have breaks within sessions? I run short sessions, usually no more than three hours. One five or ten minute break seems sufficient.

Description. Exactly how florid are your descriptions? I try to keep it minimalist. My feeling is that if you suggest rather than explain the player's imagination will do a better job than I will.

Where do you strike the balance between "doing what your character would do" and "acting like a dickhead"? Most the PCs in my games are dickheads in various ways. I only care when the players are being dicks to each other. My personal rule of thumb is that the DM gets to be the biggest dickhead at the table. Anyone being more dickerly than me is asked to tone it down or leave.

PC-on-PC violence. Do your players tend to avoid it, or do you ban it? Or does anything go? I don't ban it, my games actively discourage though. If the world is dangerous enough smart players will figure out that the other PCs are their only allies.

How do you explain what a role playing game is to a stranger who is also a non-player? (Real life example: my friends and I were playing in the local M:tG club space. A M:tG groupie teenage goth girl came over and asked, "What are you playing?" "[We answered.]" "Sounds kind of gay.") Do people really need to explain what D&D is any more? I guess I once explained to an old lady it was like doing an action adventure series on the radio, but with dice instead of a script.

Alchohol at the table? Never really played with booze on the table. I run at a gamestore and I'm sure it wouldn't be legal.

What's acceptable to do to a PC whose player is absent from the session? Is whatever happens their fault for not being there, or are there some limits? I don't take attendance. If you don't show up the game goes on without you. No big whoop.

Caves of Myrddin Friday update

2011-11-04T09:35:00.001-05:00

Seven went into the dungeons below Castle Dundagel today: four Frenchmen (the fighters Hugo le Bâtard and Beaumont, the magic-user Philip the Black and Beaumant's servant Benoit), the Welsh cleric Cadfael and two Flemish mercenaries. All but the unnamed mercs made it out alive. No one caroused (we ran out of play time) and Benoit is not the kind of henchman who runs his fool mouth, so information is sketchy. Here's what you manage to learn about the expedition:

Cadfael is sporting a puncture wound on his neck. The party maintains it was stirges and not a vampire that left this wound. They insist that no vampires were spotted, but Benoit is covered in blood and filth upon the party's return. Way more blood than the henchman himself could have spilled and lived.

When they arrive back at the Abbey the party is lugging a large rolled-up tapestry. Hugo installs this tapestry in the hall of a manor house a couple miles away, which he recently purchased from an absentee Norman lord. The tapestry depicts a woman dressed in white, albeit not very much white, and wearing a crown. Imagine Emma Frost from Marvel comics but with a big red tiara with a giant ruby set in it. This lady stands between Castle Dundagel (in its glory days before it fell to ruins) and an army of vaguely humanoid monsters, her hands raised as if throwing a spell at the badguys.

In local news unrelated to today's expedition, an old magic-user named James of Dillington has been seen in the vicinity. Gossip suggests he's currently the guest of the castellan of Castle Bouttreaux, the nearest Norman stronghold. James of Dillington sometimes associates himself with a band of mercenaries, drunkards and leches known as the Brotherhood of the Golden Scabbard.

quickie Myrddin update

2011-11-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

I'm super busy, so I can only hit the highlights, mainly for benefit of the next group visiting my dungeons

Two expeditions, each 11 or 12 men strong, entered the dungeons, one from the East Tower (a.k.a. the Gatehouse) and one from the West Tower. Lenny and Squiggy were not sighted.

Loose-lipped hirelings suggest that a previously unexplored level was accessed via both routes.

The level contained robed ghouls with a penchant for lighting torches, minotaurs playing Twister and spiders emerging from mirrors. The party sold a mirror along with some other ancient furniture and Twister is now a past-time for adventurers staying at the Abbey guesthouse.

Lankii the Elf is now waging a one elf war against the mocking crows that alight on the tower tops.

The grey mold seems harmless.

Operational instructions for a strange machine were found written in chalk in an out-of-the-way place.

A strange hatch was opened, draining a pool that had a rotting goblin corpse floating in it.

Frito the Halfling was killed messily by a ghoul and William of Didol had his throat cut open by a minotaur.

Frederick the Dwarf now sports a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Power.

A carousing mishap involing a goat and the castellan's wife landed Lankii the Elf in the dungeons below nearby Castle Bouttreaux, but his elvish friend Vethusian (which I am horribly mispelling) was able to get him released.

Everything shall be splintered

2011-11-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

If my read of the OSR is right Trollsmyth's "Shields Shall Be Splintered" is one of the more popular houserules the scene has come up with in the past few years, though not everyone approves of it. E.G. Palmer makes a case for broadening the basic concept, while over on Planet Algol people who show up after the session starts may end up being splintered.

I haven't used Trollsmyth's specific rule much, but the thinking behind it resonates with me. The basic concept behind the Shields Shall Be Splintered rule is dirt simple: instead of dying, you offer the DM a sacrifice of some sort. A substitute. A scapegoat for your sin of getting killed, if I want to be egomaniacal about it. Blood for the blood god lurking behind the screen. Whether that means your precious magic sword just broke blocking the deadly blow or you pushed your shield carrier in front of the monster matters little to me, as long it has actual value to the player and the escape is at least slightly plausible.

Thinking about this leads me to one of the key reasons some players in my groups tend to always end up with the highest level characters. Some players take "You are dead" as a reason to immediately crumple up the old charsheet and reach for a fresh one. I respect that. But the canny players see the declaration of their demise as a challenge, the opening salvo in a high stakes negotation. I won't stand for outright bickering with the DM, but I'll gladly listen to brief argument outlining special circumstances I might have overlooked. And I love any clever excuse to give a PC one last die roll to save their necks.

So next time your DM tells you that your PC is dead take a quick mental survey. Is there anything, anything at all that could save your PC? Look over your equipment lists and magic items. Double check your spell, class and racial abilities. Think about clever ways to use those resources. Find an NPC to take the fall. Hell, suggest breaking the rules as you understand them. For example, by the rules there's no way you could cast a Fly spell in the brief period it takes to fall 30' onto some poisonous spikes. But why not try "I mumble the Words of Flight as fast as possible before I hit the bottom of the pit"? Even if you only get a 1% chance of success out of the DM, you've at least turned death into a chance for life.