Heavy Metal Swords

Here's a concept to run up the flagpole. Magic swords must be named after a rock ‘n’ roll song, preferably metal.  Maybe if a song becomes sufficiently awesome in our dimension it hardens into a blade in the D&D universe. Or maybe I just want an easy way to give cool names to swords.

Rainbow in the Dark - Possesses Prismatic Spray powers that only work underground or at night.  Each color can be used once per day.  The red ray is available to wielders of 2nd level or above.  Another color becomes available every other level.  (I.e. you must be 14th level to get access to all 7 colors.)

Seven Seas of Rhye - Vorpal against anyone who has betrayed the wielder.

Ace of Spades - Wielder can inflict d6 damage on self (blood runs from hands) for an additional +2 to hit and double damage.

Cry for Eternity - A.k.a. the Blade of Unrelenting Vengeance.  The wielder cannot be killed until they have achieved revenge or they drop/sheath the sword, but rather can shuffle on as a revenant-like shell of burning hatred.

Heaven and Hell - Can cut through illusions, dispelling them instantly.  Double damage to anyone who has ever lied to the wielder.

Hand of Doom - Any humanoid slain by the sword rises as a ghoul.  The wielder commands the last victim to rise as henchghoul.

I think that turned out pretty good. I'd probably have never written a magic sword tied to social situations like betrayal or lies without this song-based prompt. I'd probably make all the swords written under this system +1 in addition to whatever other powers they possessed.

Anybody else got any ideas for swords based on songs?

This post probably Not Safe For Work (or anywhere else, really)

It's all my fault.  I accept full responsibility.  It all started when I posted this picture to Google+:

And labeled it "Your new PC".

I didn't expect people to help me assemble a party.  Joe D kicked off the effort with this Mage of Great Power:

Dean Collins added this guy, the enigmatic Mullet WinCE:

Kreg Mosier adds two adventurers to the team:

Gus L seems to have lined up a bard for the team:

And Harley Stroh offers "this unicorn, as a mount and guide":

it came from a comic book

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories is a bigass hardbound collection of artsy-farsty "indie" style comics. It's really great, even if it doesn't feature the spandex-clad fisticuffs I normally want out of a funny book. And I even found a few items in the book that absolutely begged to be swiped for gaming.  For example, here's a panel from Charles Burns's Curse of the Molemen. The anthology only includes a small excerpt of the total story, so I can only guess that the dude below is one of the aforementioned Molemen. But I'm going to put him to another use.


LAAZGHUL
# Encountered: d6 (2d8)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 2 (claws) or 1 (head beamer)
Damage: d4/d4 or see below
Save: Fighter 3
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: XXI/B

Laazghuls are mutant relatives of ghouls and have all the normal undead immunities. They cannot paralyze with a touch like their more common kin, but may use the emitter array on their heads to blast foes. Roll on the chart below, either for each laazghul or the entire group, to determine what their skull zapper shoots.  Range for all attacks is 90'.

1. Heat Ray - 3d6 plus save or metal objects melt
2. Cold Beam - 2d8 plus save or frozen to spot for 2d6 turns or until chipped free
3. Napalm Gout - 2d6 plus d6 for next d6 rounds
4. Hypno Ray - save or switch sides for 2d6 turns
5. Pulse Blaster - 3d6 no save, but to-hit roll required
6. Lightning - 6d6 save for half

Laazghuls turn as normal ghouls.  Anyone killed by Laazghul claws will rise in 3 nights as a Laazghul.  Those killed by their head beamers are probably too zapped to return from the dead as anything.

I wonder if this ever happened.

It's 1979 or 1980 and you're a bright, imaginative youth living in a remote rural part of the United States.  Maybe once a month or so you get to the nearest town where you can buy a paperback novel or a comic book with your meager funds.  On one such expedition, you find the blue Holmes Basic D&D on the shelf of a toystore or the toy section of a department store (even a hardware store isn't out of the question).  For purposes of this hypothetical, we'll assume your usual bookstore doesn't stock D&D stuff.

You read the book several times, only dimly understanding at first, and eventually run the game for a circle of friends that become the only game group for miles around.  The game is played off and on for a year, maybe two.  Perhaps after everyone gets several characters each to third level, interest begins to wane.  You decide to re-read the rules and try to suss out how higher level characters work based on the mention of higher spells, extrapolating the XP charts, etc.  But on this read-through you re-discover something glossed over in early attempts to understand the book: mention of an Advanced version of the game.

You resolve that the next time you go to town you will check for Advanced D&D at the place you bought your original D&D set, but you don't find any Advanced D&D.  Maybe they sold out or maybe the person responsible for ordering stock doesn't think the toy section of hardware store needs expensive hardback rulebooks.  But you do find this:

That "Expert Set" up in the corner sounds kinda like an Advanced version of D&D, so you plonk down your cash and bring it home.  It turns out to be exactly what you need!  More spells, more monsters, more treasures, rules for characters to 14th level and lots of clarifications of the rules you didn't understand (like how elves work).  There's a passage explaining that this Expert Set is designed for a new version of the rules you are using, but also there's advice for how to use your version with the Expert book.  You keep the scroll rules from the original book and your slightly wonky initiative interpretation (you don't even realize it's a house rule), which uses Dex somehow and allows daggers to strike twice under some circumstances.

The Expert rules mention two other texts.  In a couple of places a Companion rulebook is mentioned that will allow for even higher level play.  You spend years bugging the staff where you got the Expert set.  Every time you're in town you go an ask them if the D&D Companion set is out yet.  Eventually some of them recognize you and shake their head before you can even ask.

Meanwhile, it turns out that your cool weird aunt, the one who lives in a distant college town, was actually paying attention when you were yammering on about the Best Game Ever and actually tracks down a copy of the other rulebook mentioned in the Expert rules:

Go ahead and look at the bottom of the first column of page X25 if you don't remember this book being mentioned in the '81 Expert rules.

So now you got this weird little booklet from 1976 with strange rules for mass combat.  Some of the stuff in this book you can adopt right away, like the weapon reach rules or the morale rules (which are pretty sparse using Expert without Moldvay Basic to explain them).  The rest of it requires a lot of work to understand and obtaining a large quantity of figures, which is probably not practical given that you are so far out on the edge of the hobby's supply chain.  So you either don't do mass combats despite owning these rules or else you go on to make your own armies out of haphazard materials.  Maybe you even sculpt your own armies out of clay or whittle them or something.  That's what M.A.R. Barker did for Tekumel back before the hobby had a commercial sector attached to it.

Meanwhile, 1984 rolls around and your long-promised Companion rules finally appear!

There's lots of cool stuff here: new weapons, new class options, crunchy unarmed combat, level charts to 25th, weird monsters (including bigger dragons) and the War Machine, a less mini-focused and better written mass combat system.  Combining the War Machine with Swords & Spells allows you to play out in detail battles the PCs attend while the overall war is somewhat more abstracted.  Too bad the level charts don't go to 36th as promised in your '81 Expert rulebook, but the Companion rules promise a Master set that allows for characters up to 36th level as well as the chance to attain Immortality.  Pretty cool!

So there you have it.  A scenario under which over 4 or 5 years you can draw a line across 4 different editions of D&D and still be playing "by the book".  That '81 Expert rulebook connects you to three other editions.

answers for Random Wizard

 Original questions posted here.

(1). Race (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) as a class? Yes or no?
In most games I run, yes, that's the normal set-up.  However, I would be open to accommodating someone that really wanted to play a Dwarf Druid or whatever.

(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
Souls are not explicitly discussed in the rules I tend to favor (BX).  However, the Raise Dead spell does not distinguish between humans and demi-humans, so I think the answer is "yes".  (Note that the Reincarnation spell suggests that at least some members of the following species also have souls: Gnomes, Neanderthals, Blink Dogs, Pegasi, Unicorns, Rocs, Pixies, Sprites, Rock Baboons, Lizard Men, Apes, Centaurs, Werebears, Kobolds, Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins, Gnolls, Bugbears, Wererats, Ogres, Werewolves and Minotaurs.)

(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
Descending.  Sometimes I'm a grumpy old man who likes things the way they used to be.

(4). Demi-human level limits?
Yep, but then I also assume human level limits.  For most campaigns the limit is either 20th (per the Field Guide to Encounters) or 14th (the upper limit of Expert D&D).  Not that it comes up much.  I usually run lower level games.

(5). Should thief be a class?
Yes, but it is often gimped by harsh rules and/or adjudicated poorly by the DM, myself included.  Opening Locks should allow one to earn another roll by continuing to work on it (and maybe giving the DM an additional Wandering Monster check).  Finding and Removing Traps rolls should be the last resort of a lazy thief; good descriptions of precautions should preempt the need for a roll.  Picking Pockets and Moving Silently should be much easier if the thief can arrange a distraction.  Climbing Walls should only be rolled when the obstacle is something no ordinary person can climb.  Hiding in Shadows should only be rolled if there's no actual intervening cover.  Hear Noise is okay, I guess.

(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
Yes and no.  Beyond thief skills I don't use any skill mechanics, but if someone said to me "my halfling is a decent cook" I would take that seriously.

(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Yes.  If you keep your adventure tempo low they are always better than fighters, assuming one encounter per day and a Sleep spell.  But by fifth level the fireballs come out and everyone knows who the boss is.

(8). Do you use alignment languages?
I usually don't.  But I think I can make it work in threefold alignment games, using them as religious languages for the churches of Law, the covens of Chaos and the druids of Neutrality.  In five- or ninefold games it's just ridiculous.

(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
XP for monsters (100 times hit dice overcome), XP for treasure (1 per GP) and XP for carousing (typically 100-600 per drunken bender).

(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
I prefer Moldvay Basic and Cook/Marsh Expert, but I do not claim that is an objective choice.  Anyone claiming any edition is objectively superior to another is probably either a shill or a patsy.

Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
XP chart by class, please.  I'm all in favor of crummy classes and anyone who plays one should get a bit of an XP aid for doing so.

non-mechanical charsheet fodder

So here's a thread I started on Google Plus that I wanted to save.  Here's what I said:

I think it was the Compleat Arduin where I saw a character sheet with a spot to fill in your PCs best friend. I thought that was a brilliant example of the kind of non-mechanical info we need more of on our charsheets. Please help me brainstorm some other ideas.

Here's what everyone came up with:

*****
Favorite Oath, Curse, Swear or Expletive:
Favorite Intoxicant:
Monster or Animal That Gives You the Willies:
More usable by the player then the character; but theme song.
no. 1 friend, rival, enemy.
What are they afraid of?
What would they be doing if they weren't adventuring?
What family role do they play? (parent? kid? foundling? weird uncle?)
Siblings
Prized or lucky posession.
Most influential person -- -- they don't necessarily have to have even met and they might be entirely fictional. Alexander the Great's might be Achilles, for instance.
Favorite item of clothing
Most shameful act
How/where did they acquire their weapons/armor/spellbook etc.
biggest flaw or greatest fear, family and/or business ties. One one conveyed something in game for the GM to use. 
"I'll get that guy...someday" 
Why are they adventuring in the first place?
Important Person, a formative or influential person in the PC's history.
Hiding spot. What's hidden there.
Favorite food
accent/regional dialect (some people can't do voices but want their characters to have them anyway)
most important memor(y/ies)
most important possession and/or person
family's social/economic standing
favorite hobby when not bashing heads in
most applicable diagnosis (since most adventurers are actually pretty crazy or dramatic sorts)
Why can't you return home for some time, if ever?
[Seems like brevity would be key if you wanted these things on a character sheet.]
In #torchbearer you have best friend, enemy, parents, mentor and home
What are they going to do when they get out of this shit? (War Movie rule #38 they need to harp on that in conversation right before they get it.)
Annoying catchphrase, ofc.
Civilization level
Favorite bar/tavern/pub
favorite drink order
most successful pick up line
preferred hangover cure
Morning Temper
Mannerisms and quirks
"Tell" when lying
One thing loved/hated
Secret dream/secret shame
Personal strength/personal weakness
Favorite color (Blue!)
Beliefs about the causes of diseases and infections
Favorite LoTFP publication
Political position on the association between rats and copper pieces
[Let 10,000 designs bloom around the idea of quick-starting a character with an online dating profile instead of the traditional sheet!]
Hero from childhood
"Signs" from Over the Edge: Tell-tale signs that hint at your character's abilities without stating them explicitly (for instance, "thick veins and beefy arms" could be the sign for high strength.
I've used Drive (something like Sex, Money, Fame, Knowledge) that the character is motivated by, and Aversion (something like Commitment, Attention, Work) that the character seeks to avoid.
Rival's been one I've had fun with. "why can't you go home" also seems incredibly useful. 
Who do you hate in the party
Who do you like/need/love in the party
What's the worst thing you've ever done
Commonly used expletives
Most shameful desire
Failed Profession
Some for more modern/Sci Fi feel, some just taking the piss, some of more general application

• PCs favourite TV/holovision program 
• PCs favourite fast food 
• If this was PC was a kind of fruit what kind would he/she be? 
• How much this PC hates telesales calls 
• Hours spent noodling on the internet per day 
• Favourite vacc suit/combat armour air freshener scent 
• Tattoo, location and how badly it is misspelt 
• Organ Donor Card? 
• Length of criminal record in feet and inches 

Battle scars and Amputations
Parasites
Where they've stashed the loot.
*****

So that's some good stuff, but also a lot of stuff.  How should we navigate all these good ideas?  The DM could pick a few categories.  That would be a signal to the players that those things were important to the campaign somehow.  Allowing players to pick would give them interesting ways to round out their characters.  Or you could turn your favorites into a random chart and have everybody roll d3 times or so.

Original post.

a thing I made

Over the summer I've had the opportunity to take a very brief "Intro to Photoshop" class, which only gives me more tools to pull crap like this:

Artist ARP (who I don't know from Adam, but here's his tumblr) re-colored the Jack Kirby-penciled cover of issue #3 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which features the highly non-canonical adventures of that big creepy monolith from the movie.  You can check out the original cover here.