I 'd still love to do my Adventure Time (Labyrinth Lord + Mutant Future) mashup game sometime.
It would be a blast.
Plus I think I have found the perfect muse in adding my Witch class to the mix (since we have seen a lot of witches in Adventure time already).
Witchcraft by ~EllisSummer on deviantART
How awesome is that! Maybe it's just me, but I think it is awesome.
Showing posts with label old-school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old-school. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Confession Time: Gamma World
I have never played Gamma World. Not even once.
I have barley even cracked open one of the books.
It hasn't been out of lack of want, more it has never been in the same place I have been for any amount of time. Also, and this is the biggest deal, I don't own a copy of any of the 7 editions of the game. Though if I were to play it I would want to play the original first edition (pictured).
Yes I know I have easy access to Mutant Future, it's not exactly the same thing is it. Very. very close yes, but not the same.
Part of the problem, for me at least, came from the fact that GW was always the 70s view of technology and by the time I had thought about playing it it was the mid 80s. We knew then (and even when it was written really) that mutations don't happen like that.
Trouble is I let that get in the way of what could have been a great time with a game.
It struck me that the time is right for a Gamma World like game again. Post-Apoc (with or without Zombies) is fashionable again. Hunger Games, Revolution and even specials on History Channel are all about what to do during and after The End.
What has has really got me thinking about shows like the obviously D&D and Gamma World influenced "Adventure Time". I did a couple of posts on the show a while back featuring the stars Finn the Human and Jake the Dog.
Honestly if I were to ever play a "Gamma World" style game it would most likely be Mutant Future. 1st Edition Gamma World typically goes for a lot of money on eBay whereas Mutant Future can be had for under $25. But still. Having a copy of this would make for a nice addition to my game collection. I'll have to keep looking and find one at a good price. I do enjoy the challenge of finding an out of print game.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Blast from the Past: Sun Priest
I was cruising around the blogs today and I discovered a link to a old Netbook released back in 1998.
Back then the members of the online mailing list ADND-L got together and collaborated on a netbook of new material for the then reigning edition of D&D, AD&D 2nd Ed. They took their project one step further and had an introduction written by none other than Gary Gygax himself.
The book was called "Unearthed Arcania" (note the spelling).
You can grab a copy here: http://www.saintsilver.com/zayix/new_site/Media/netbooks/Unearthed_Arcania.pdf
or here:
http://gnba.netdemons.com/books/olik/Files/UnearthedArcania11_W97.zip (zipped Word 97 format).
One of the contributors was none other than yours truly.
My contribution was a new Priest "Kit" (read sub-class), the Sun Priest.
The Sun Priest shares some DNA with the Witch. As I was working on the Witch class I also had plenty of research and material left over. I also created a Healer class, a Necromancer variant and the Sun Priest.
I think I should update it someday for either Basic Era (BFRPG, LL) or Advanced Era (OSRIC, LL-AE) play.
I had mentioned my Sun Priests very, very briefly before. I think it might be fun to revisit the class with 14+ more years of perspective.
Back then the members of the online mailing list ADND-L got together and collaborated on a netbook of new material for the then reigning edition of D&D, AD&D 2nd Ed. They took their project one step further and had an introduction written by none other than Gary Gygax himself.
The book was called "Unearthed Arcania" (note the spelling).
You can grab a copy here: http://www.saintsilver.com/zayix/new_site/Media/netbooks/Unearthed_Arcania.pdf
or here:
http://gnba.netdemons.com/books/olik/Files/UnearthedArcania11_W97.zip (zipped Word 97 format).
One of the contributors was none other than yours truly.
My contribution was a new Priest "Kit" (read sub-class), the Sun Priest.
The Sun Priest shares some DNA with the Witch. As I was working on the Witch class I also had plenty of research and material left over. I also created a Healer class, a Necromancer variant and the Sun Priest.
I think I should update it someday for either Basic Era (BFRPG, LL) or Advanced Era (OSRIC, LL-AE) play.
I had mentioned my Sun Priests very, very briefly before. I think it might be fun to revisit the class with 14+ more years of perspective.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Ordinary World
Ordinary World
Ordinary World was the working title of a new game I was working on. It was going to be modern supernatural and use this new system I was developing that I had code named "The Power of Three" system.
The basic premise of Ordinary World was the players would be playing supernatural types just trying to get along in a world that didn't believe they existed and considered them monsters. In a way sorta like "Being Human" the RPG, but also elements of all the things I like in modern supernatural fiction.
I wanted to have the experience of writing a new game from the ground up and I wanted to do something in a realm I am really familiar with. Trouble is every time I would bring this game up to friends they would remind me I already did all of that with Ghosts of Albion.
So sometime this past Summer I shelved Ordinary World.
No sooner had I done that than I had this great idea for an Old-School game that I was calling Monster Mash. The rules would have been Labyrinth Lord compatible and instead of heroes you would have played the monsters. In particular the old Universal Pictures Monsters, so vampires, golems, werewolves and ghosts. I would have made it compatible with The Witch since one of my big influences for this was the video to the Rob Zombie song, American Witch. I thought it might have been a fun beer and pretzels sort of game.
In truth I probably came up with it while listening to Hellbilly Deluxe one too many times. I even had an adventure partially written "Dr. Satan Needs Blood!".
Last week I was still thinking about these two when I had an idea of bringing them together. When it also dawned on me that I had other WiPs, some from the earliest days of this blog.
Generation Hex was this really cool, awesome idea I had for Unisystem/True 20/Mutants & Masterminds or whatever system I happen to really enjoy at the time. Simply put it was a game to play kids in a magical school. Since that time this sort of thing has been better done by Witch Girls Adventures.
I also have material laying around for Licensed properties that never saw the light of day and I am now the owner of again (the RPG material, not the properties). One was d20 and the other True20.
So. What's a guy to do?
Well the natural thing is to bring them all together under one system to do the one thing they all kinda of were doing anyway.
A few caveats though.
I want to use an old-school system. I think it would be a great addition to all the material we have out there now and NOT redo something everyone else has already done.
I want to be able to play any character I want. If I come up with an idea or see something in a book then I need to have a system that can do that.
While it is an Old-School game, I don't want to forget about the advances made in other games. There are a lot of great games out there and they are great for a reason. This my chance to distill that into a new game.
So. Look for more information coming from me on this. I think this is one I will design live on the blog. Posting ideas, sending up files for playtests. Things like that.
First thing I need to figure out. What system should I use?
Ordinary World was the working title of a new game I was working on. It was going to be modern supernatural and use this new system I was developing that I had code named "The Power of Three" system.
The basic premise of Ordinary World was the players would be playing supernatural types just trying to get along in a world that didn't believe they existed and considered them monsters. In a way sorta like "Being Human" the RPG, but also elements of all the things I like in modern supernatural fiction.
I wanted to have the experience of writing a new game from the ground up and I wanted to do something in a realm I am really familiar with. Trouble is every time I would bring this game up to friends they would remind me I already did all of that with Ghosts of Albion.
So sometime this past Summer I shelved Ordinary World.
No sooner had I done that than I had this great idea for an Old-School game that I was calling Monster Mash. The rules would have been Labyrinth Lord compatible and instead of heroes you would have played the monsters. In particular the old Universal Pictures Monsters, so vampires, golems, werewolves and ghosts. I would have made it compatible with The Witch since one of my big influences for this was the video to the Rob Zombie song, American Witch. I thought it might have been a fun beer and pretzels sort of game.
In truth I probably came up with it while listening to Hellbilly Deluxe one too many times. I even had an adventure partially written "Dr. Satan Needs Blood!".
Last week I was still thinking about these two when I had an idea of bringing them together. When it also dawned on me that I had other WiPs, some from the earliest days of this blog.
Generation Hex was this really cool, awesome idea I had for Unisystem/True 20/Mutants & Masterminds or whatever system I happen to really enjoy at the time. Simply put it was a game to play kids in a magical school. Since that time this sort of thing has been better done by Witch Girls Adventures.
I also have material laying around for Licensed properties that never saw the light of day and I am now the owner of again (the RPG material, not the properties). One was d20 and the other True20.
So. What's a guy to do?
Well the natural thing is to bring them all together under one system to do the one thing they all kinda of were doing anyway.
A few caveats though.
I want to use an old-school system. I think it would be a great addition to all the material we have out there now and NOT redo something everyone else has already done.
I want to be able to play any character I want. If I come up with an idea or see something in a book then I need to have a system that can do that.
While it is an Old-School game, I don't want to forget about the advances made in other games. There are a lot of great games out there and they are great for a reason. This my chance to distill that into a new game.
So. Look for more information coming from me on this. I think this is one I will design live on the blog. Posting ideas, sending up files for playtests. Things like that.
First thing I need to figure out. What system should I use?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Halloween Sales
It is that time of year.
DriveThruRPG is offering a Halloween Sale.
The one that caught my attention was the sale Troll Lord is having on Castles and Crusades.
If you ever wanted to try out the C&C system, this is a great time.
DriveThruRPG is offering a Halloween Sale.
The one that caught my attention was the sale Troll Lord is having on Castles and Crusades.
If you ever wanted to try out the C&C system, this is a great time.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Monstrous Monday #4: Witch Monsters
For today I want to do something a little different.
The Witch came out over the weekend and I want to talk about the relationship between witches and monsters and why there are monsters in a "class" book.
There are essentially two types of monsters that come up when talking about witches in myth, legend and fairytales.
1. Monsters that are associated with witches. These would be things like familiars or created monsters.
2. Monsters that are witches. The hags and crones of myth, but also some vampires and werewolves.
I'll cover these both with some examples from The Witch.
Monsters Associated with Witches
Witches have a number of "monsters" that are often associated with them. Familiars and created monsters are the most common. In The Witch I cover familiars quite a bit as a character option, but I also include a lot of special familiars. The Brownie, or brown man, is known to many gamers. What many people don't know that the mythology of the brownie is tied to old pagan beliefs. The Cait Sith, or faerie cat is another type of creature that indicates the presence of a witch, or in the case sometimes is a witch.
Other creatures pose an interesting problem because of how they are portrayed in myth is sometimes different from how they are portrayed in the rules. Gnomes are a good example. In the games (and SRD) they are a player character race, but in many pagan myths gnomes are creatures of earth, something like an elemental, that can aid a witch. To split the difference I made their magic more witch like than other portrayals. Witches are often found in the company of trolls since both are fairy tale and fantasy staples. These trolls are not the green, rubbery type, but more of the creatures of earth found in Norway.
For created creatures, I have included the Druther, which is a special form of a wood golem that I created in my games years and years ago. Another original monster is the Batling, a monster created by witchcraft, but has an ecology of it's own.
Plus we should not forget flying monkeys as a more recent example.
Monsters that Are Witches
Witches in fairy tales are often monstrous looking women and not normal human women with a particular career choice. These monsters are covered well by the Hag monster in the rules, but there are a lot of different types of hags. There are swamp hags, hags that live in ginger bread houses at the edge of forests, hags that live under the sea, or rivers, cold wastelands or ones that steal into homes to take your souls, breath or children. I want to cover as many of these as I could and enhance them with rules I have in the book.
There are other creatures too that often blur the lines between creatures. The Baobhan Sìth blurs the line between witch, faerie, and vampires. The Strigoi is described as a witch and a vampire. The Boroka is witch that under a curse and is also a cannibalistic monster. The Rusalka is an undead witch.
There are many more, and I still have quite a few on my hard drives. These though I think represent a good cross section of with related monsters.
For your consideration, the monsters from the Witch.
Baobhan Sìth
Banshee
Batlings
Bendith Ý Mamau
Boroka
Brownie
Cait Sídhe
Druther
Earth Troll
Elf, Gypsy (Ranagwithe)
Fen Witch
Green Jack
Hags
- Annis
- Cavern
- Green
- Ice
- Moon
- Sea
- Storm
- Swamp
- Wood (Makva)
Imp
Jack-O’-Lantern
Night Hag
Rusalka
Scarecrow
Strigoi
Winged Cat
Winged Monkey
The Witch is out now at DriveThruRPG in ebook format. Print copies are on the way.
There are essentially two types of monsters that come up when talking about witches in myth, legend and fairytales.
1. Monsters that are associated with witches. These would be things like familiars or created monsters.
2. Monsters that are witches. The hags and crones of myth, but also some vampires and werewolves.
I'll cover these both with some examples from The Witch.
Monsters Associated with Witches
Witches have a number of "monsters" that are often associated with them. Familiars and created monsters are the most common. In The Witch I cover familiars quite a bit as a character option, but I also include a lot of special familiars. The Brownie, or brown man, is known to many gamers. What many people don't know that the mythology of the brownie is tied to old pagan beliefs. The Cait Sith, or faerie cat is another type of creature that indicates the presence of a witch, or in the case sometimes is a witch.
Other creatures pose an interesting problem because of how they are portrayed in myth is sometimes different from how they are portrayed in the rules. Gnomes are a good example. In the games (and SRD) they are a player character race, but in many pagan myths gnomes are creatures of earth, something like an elemental, that can aid a witch. To split the difference I made their magic more witch like than other portrayals. Witches are often found in the company of trolls since both are fairy tale and fantasy staples. These trolls are not the green, rubbery type, but more of the creatures of earth found in Norway.
For created creatures, I have included the Druther, which is a special form of a wood golem that I created in my games years and years ago. Another original monster is the Batling, a monster created by witchcraft, but has an ecology of it's own.
Plus we should not forget flying monkeys as a more recent example.
Monsters that Are Witches
Witches in fairy tales are often monstrous looking women and not normal human women with a particular career choice. These monsters are covered well by the Hag monster in the rules, but there are a lot of different types of hags. There are swamp hags, hags that live in ginger bread houses at the edge of forests, hags that live under the sea, or rivers, cold wastelands or ones that steal into homes to take your souls, breath or children. I want to cover as many of these as I could and enhance them with rules I have in the book.
There are other creatures too that often blur the lines between creatures. The Baobhan Sìth blurs the line between witch, faerie, and vampires. The Strigoi is described as a witch and a vampire. The Boroka is witch that under a curse and is also a cannibalistic monster. The Rusalka is an undead witch.
There are many more, and I still have quite a few on my hard drives. These though I think represent a good cross section of with related monsters.
For your consideration, the monsters from the Witch.
Baobhan Sìth
Banshee
Batlings
Bendith Ý Mamau
Boroka
Brownie
Cait Sídhe
Druther
Earth Troll
Elf, Gypsy (Ranagwithe)
Fen Witch
Green Jack
Hags
- Annis
- Cavern
- Green
- Ice
- Moon
- Sea
- Storm
- Swamp
- Wood (Makva)
Imp
Jack-O’-Lantern
Night Hag
Rusalka
Scarecrow
Strigoi
Winged Cat
Winged Monkey
The Witch is out now at DriveThruRPG in ebook format. Print copies are on the way.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Something Wicked this way comes!
I am proud and excited to finally say my Old School source book The Witch is finally out!!
Grab my latest project!
Currently available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG with the Print copy on the way.
Grab my latest project!
Compatible with most "Basic Era" games.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Getting Ready for the Witch
I just sent my final copy of The Witch back to the publisher to get uploaded to DriveThruRPG soon.
I honestly can't wait to get this out to you all. It seems like I have been working on it forever. I started this blog in fact as a design blog to talk about the development of Eldritch Witchery and The Witch.
A number of the monsters, magic items and spells that appear in the book I have posted here.
My desire to do this book for "Basic Era" games was partially due to my involvment in the old-school game movement, but also because I had been going back to my copy of Moldvay's Basic Book and some of his ideas on what a witch should be. I also wanted this book to capture what I felt were some of the best books on witches from the early days of the game.
My goals were simple.
All with years of playtesting.
I am hoping to get a preview up for you all here soon.
I honestly can't wait to get this out to you all. It seems like I have been working on it forever. I started this blog in fact as a design blog to talk about the development of Eldritch Witchery and The Witch.
A number of the monsters, magic items and spells that appear in the book I have posted here.
My desire to do this book for "Basic Era" games was partially due to my involvment in the old-school game movement, but also because I had been going back to my copy of Moldvay's Basic Book and some of his ideas on what a witch should be. I also wanted this book to capture what I felt were some of the best books on witches from the early days of the game.
My goals were simple.
- Make the book feel like something I would have wanted to buy in 1982/83.
- Make the witch more than just another type of magic-user, but still allow her to be easily added to a game.
- Keep what was best of the old school, but still keep in mind all the developments of the last 30 years.
- Elmore art. I might get grief for this, but ever since Dragon #114 came out I wanted a witch book with art from Larry Elmore in it. I am in a position to do that now. It's not the entire book, but there are some choice pieces in the 120 pages.
So what do you get in The Witch?
Well I was reading that selling points that do nothing but list a bunch of numbers turn people off. On the other hand I have had some people ask me what they are getting.
- The Witch class
- Five traditions of Witchcraft with Occult Powers
- Rules for Familiars for Witches and Magic-Users
- New rules for Cantrips for your Basic game
- Over 300 spells
- Witch Ritual magic and spells
- Rules for Covens, Covensteads and example covens.
- New witch related monsters
- Magic items and artifacts
- Plus appendices on
- Using the Witch in your Advanced game
- Demi-human witches for games that have class and race seperate
- The Wizard, a magic-user class that is different from the Witch
I am hoping to get a preview up for you all here soon.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Witches: Hex from Skylanders
It is no secret that I am a fan of the game Skylanders. I even got caught up in all of the hype about collecting the figures and everything. I am embarrassed (a little) to discuss the lengths I went too to get some of these figures. There were other parents right there next to me, so I figured I was in good company.
Well just when we all thought the madness was dying down, Activision is releasing the new Skylanders Giants this weekend. New game, new figures, and your old figures can now go to level 15 (previously only 10). Here we go again.
I don’t think it is a stretch to guess that my favorite character in the game is Hex, the dark elf witch of the “undead” element. Early this year I stated her up for Dungeons & Dragons 4e and Pathfinder using their respective witch classes.
Given there is a new Skylanders game AND my new books are on the way I thought I Would stat her up once again for The Witch and Eldritch Witchery.
Here she is as for The Witch. I picked this one since her background is about serving some "other world power".
Hex, 13th Level (Maleficia Tradition)
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 15
Hit Points: 30
Alignment: Neutral (maybe a little Chaotic)
AC: 6 (talisman of protection)
Occult Powers
Familiar: Floating Skull
7th level: Evil's Touch
13th level: Devil's Tongue
Spells
Cantrips: Chill, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Spark
First: Cause Fear, Ghostly Slashing, Minor Fighting Prowess, Sleep, Spirit Dart
Second: Agony, Blast Sheild, Death Armor, Phantasmal Spirit
Third: Feral Spirit, Ghost Ward, Speak with Dead
Fourth: 3 Dance Macabre, Phantom Lacerations, Spiritual Dagger
Fifth: 2 Death Curse, Dreadful Bloodletting
Sixth: 2 Death Blade, Wall of Bones
Seventh: Wave of Mutilation
All in all, I like it. She might be a better Necromancer to be honest, but this works well.
Want to see how she would look for my other book "Eldritch Witchery"?
Head over to the Elf Lair Games blog and see, http://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2012/10/witches-hex-from-skylanders.html
Well just when we all thought the madness was dying down, Activision is releasing the new Skylanders Giants this weekend. New game, new figures, and your old figures can now go to level 15 (previously only 10). Here we go again.
I don’t think it is a stretch to guess that my favorite character in the game is Hex, the dark elf witch of the “undead” element. Early this year I stated her up for Dungeons & Dragons 4e and Pathfinder using their respective witch classes.
Given there is a new Skylanders game AND my new books are on the way I thought I Would stat her up once again for The Witch and Eldritch Witchery.
Here she is as for The Witch. I picked this one since her background is about serving some "other world power".
Hex, 13th Level (Maleficia Tradition)
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 15
Hit Points: 30
Alignment: Neutral (maybe a little Chaotic)
AC: 6 (talisman of protection)
Occult Powers
Familiar: Floating Skull
7th level: Evil's Touch
13th level: Devil's Tongue
Spells
Cantrips: Chill, Daze, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Open, Spark
First: Cause Fear, Ghostly Slashing, Minor Fighting Prowess, Sleep, Spirit Dart
Second: Agony, Blast Sheild, Death Armor, Phantasmal Spirit
Third: Feral Spirit, Ghost Ward, Speak with Dead
Fourth: 3 Dance Macabre, Phantom Lacerations, Spiritual Dagger
Fifth: 2 Death Curse, Dreadful Bloodletting
Sixth: 2 Death Blade, Wall of Bones
Seventh: Wave of Mutilation
All in all, I like it. She might be a better Necromancer to be honest, but this works well.
Want to see how she would look for my other book "Eldritch Witchery"?
Head over to the Elf Lair Games blog and see, http://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2012/10/witches-hex-from-skylanders.html
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
This Week in the OSR: Megadungeons
So this latest issue in the OSR seems to be about and around the Mega-dungeon.
There are a lot of reasons for this but they are better explained elsewhere.
http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=24039
http://aldeboran.blogspot.com/2012/10/schroedingers-room-and-fuck-diddles.html
http://muleabides.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/in-defense-of-the-megadungeon/
http://wondrousimaginings.blogspot.com/2012/10/played-dwimmermount-last-night-sucked.html
http://warlockshomebrew.blogspot.com/2012/10/empty-room-syndrome.html
http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/lessons-from-running-mega-dungeons.html
Me? I am not trying to stir up any shit. Here are my points of view.
There are a lot of reasons for this but they are better explained elsewhere.
http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=24039
http://aldeboran.blogspot.com/2012/10/schroedingers-room-and-fuck-diddles.html
http://muleabides.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/in-defense-of-the-megadungeon/
http://wondrousimaginings.blogspot.com/2012/10/played-dwimmermount-last-night-sucked.html
http://warlockshomebrew.blogspot.com/2012/10/empty-room-syndrome.html
http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/lessons-from-running-mega-dungeons.html
Me? I am not trying to stir up any shit. Here are my points of view.
- James is good guy. We don't see eye to eye on most things, but I enjoy his blog still. He will get done when he gets done.
- That being said, I hate to see the Kickstarter well poisoned or tainted. Delays are happening in about half of the kickstarters I have funded, while I am not mad or even irritated, I am getting a little anxious.
- Mega-dungeons are not my thing. Sure I get the appeal, but give me the outside or the city or the planes. One could argue that those are just different kinds of mega dungeons. One might be right.
So it's Friday and typically slow around here. So I wanted to capture your thoughts on this.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Review: The Secret Fire
The Secret Fire came out to much hoopla and goings on last year.
I have always meant to review it, but never sat down to do it. Now, depending on my mood I go back and forth between this being a great homage to old-school play and even to Gygax himself to it being a fantasy heart-breaker with delusions of godhood. It will be interesting to see where I am by the end of this review.
Like I mentioned above The Secret Fire came out to much hoopla last year before Gen Con with this whole campaign blitz on how it was going to change role-playing and how it was going to be the biggest thing since D&D. I talked a bit about that around Gen Con back when it had changed it's name from Legends & Labyrinths to The Secret Fire. http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-is-secret-fire.html
Of course give yourself some credit if you get the reference correct.
It didn't quite set the world on fire. Secret or otherwise.
But I can't blame the author, George R. Strayton (also the screenwriter for the Dragonlance animated movie and some episodes of Xena), for being excited. I would, and have, done the same.
One thing I am going to give the Secret Fire right now. It has style. The art is not fantastic and the formatting is a bit odd, but I enjoy looking at this book.
Forward and Introduction
Ok this part is cool, if maybe a touch corny. Learning to play D&D on Halloween 1979. Sure that sounds cool and I don't doubt it, but if that were true for me I might not say that because so many wouldn't believe. But that is not the point here. I know this, that kid learning to play D&D on Halloween would have loved the hell out of TSF. Oh. I gave the game a freebie now I need to take one away. Look I know this game is important to the author but reading THE SECRET FIRETM all the time is really annoying.
All that aside, I like this part. Why? Cause Strayton deep down is a kid that loves to play D&D and this is his 300+ page love letter to it. I like that he wants you play normal folk that could get killed, I like that he was "stuck with the dwarf" back then. If this is his mission statement then I am all aboard with it.
PART 1
Quotes from Gary Gygax are good. Quotes from Gail Gygax advertising your game, not so much. One more point given, one more taken away.
Part 1 is your typically "what is role-playing chapter but also some descriptions of what makes TSF different. I am torn on this one. While I like that this is not the kindergarten discussion on what is role-playing and what do you do, there also seems to be a lot back-patting here. TSF does this better and TSF does this... great, but tell me that in the game sections. BUT....I also often lament that we don't see enough of what makes Game X different than Game Y. If he makes good on these promises then we should be ok.
PART 2
Character creation. The classes, or callings, are pretty straightforward; cleric, warrior, thief and wizard. The big four really. They have some neat features. Levels only go to 10 and you know what, I kinda like that. The races are also the common four, Dwarf, Elf, Human and Halfling. I would have liked to see some more, but there are some neat twists to the races. Tables of what the races do, like Many Dwarfs...(roll a 1d20) and Some Dwarfs... (roll a 1d20), that is kinda cool really. Easily added to any sort of D&D-like game.
Instead of hitpoints we have wound levels, similar to some damage track systems I have seen. I like how damage effects movement and combat. Again, nothing revolutionary here, but still nice.
There is a random table of personality traits as well. I am sure would like this, but I prefer to figure out my character's personality in the playing, not the the rolling.
PART 3
This is the chapter on character Trademarks. They act like qualities/perks/drawbacks from other games. Interesting. Given the amount you can get I would have liked to have seen more, but this is a good list.
PART 4
Your weapons and equipment chapter.
PART 5
Energy Points are discussed here and are used to power "Special Effects". In a way they work a bit like Drama, Hero or Fate points. While like like these kinds of mechanics, they are not really "old-school" since they allow the player more control over the dice. While a plus in some respects I think the old-school purists will dislike it.
PARTS 6 & 7
Details the Elder Gods and prayers respectively. Prayers are of course the spells that Holy-men can use.
PART 8
Details the spells in the game. Like the Prayers, there are a lot of unique sounding names for some familiar looking spells. I like that. "Read Languages" sounds dull, but "Comprehend Texts (The Great Unknown)" sounds so much more...eldritch.
PART 9
Details the skills characters can have. The advice listed is that most time the character succeeding or failing should be obvious. This chapter should only aid in the cases where success is uncertain.
Skills are a roll-under mechanic compared to the necessary ability. The listed skills modify these dice rolls (3d6 to 7d6).
PART 10
Details adventuring. Not a bad chapter, but mostly narrative.
PART 11
This chapter details Engagements or what if typically called combat.
PART 12
Scenario Design. Lots of advice and random tables to stock your dungeons.
PART 13
Is monsters. The stat blocks look pretty familiar and would not be difficult at all to add to any other game.
PART 14
Treasure. What I liked most here was the creating Talismans. I have done talismans as well and they are a little different here than mine, but still fun. Like the spells there are a lot of unique items here. If you need to spice up your magic items, then this is a good place to start.
PART 15
Details the world. Not a lot of detail mind you, but enough to keep you busy.
PART 16
Deals with level advancement. How to do it, what to do about it and the like.
PART 17
Is an adventure, the Dungeons of Madness.
There are also a few Appencies, including a combat chart, links to the Gygax Memorial Fund, and a bit on why the game was made AND, interestingly enough, an alternate XP point award table to things the players can do outside of the game. I have done this with my kids to great effect.
The Appendix D, or suggested reading does come of as a bit pretentious. But...these are all in fact good books.
Bottom line
Again, this game didn't, and probably won't, set the world on fire. BUT there is a lot of cool things here that can be easily added to a D&D, S&W, ACKS or B/X Companion game.
It is easy to see what the author is trying to do here. I get it. I think the game though comes off a little like D&D + Fate.
I will also add that TSF character sheet is one of the coolest ones I have seen. It, like the game, as a sense of style I really like. Another point in favor of this game, the website for the game is full of all sorts of goodies. http://www.secretfiregames.com/
I guess in the end I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and use it as a kick-ass resource. It is a good enough game by itself, but I plan on using it as an add-on.
Like I mentioned above The Secret Fire came out to much hoopla last year before Gen Con with this whole campaign blitz on how it was going to change role-playing and how it was going to be the biggest thing since D&D. I talked a bit about that around Gen Con back when it had changed it's name from Legends & Labyrinths to The Secret Fire. http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-is-secret-fire.html
Of course give yourself some credit if you get the reference correct.
It didn't quite set the world on fire. Secret or otherwise.
But I can't blame the author, George R. Strayton (also the screenwriter for the Dragonlance animated movie and some episodes of Xena), for being excited. I would, and have, done the same.
One thing I am going to give the Secret Fire right now. It has style. The art is not fantastic and the formatting is a bit odd, but I enjoy looking at this book.
Forward and Introduction
Ok this part is cool, if maybe a touch corny. Learning to play D&D on Halloween 1979. Sure that sounds cool and I don't doubt it, but if that were true for me I might not say that because so many wouldn't believe. But that is not the point here. I know this, that kid learning to play D&D on Halloween would have loved the hell out of TSF. Oh. I gave the game a freebie now I need to take one away. Look I know this game is important to the author but reading THE SECRET FIRETM all the time is really annoying.
All that aside, I like this part. Why? Cause Strayton deep down is a kid that loves to play D&D and this is his 300+ page love letter to it. I like that he wants you play normal folk that could get killed, I like that he was "stuck with the dwarf" back then. If this is his mission statement then I am all aboard with it.
PART 1
Quotes from Gary Gygax are good. Quotes from Gail Gygax advertising your game, not so much. One more point given, one more taken away.
Part 1 is your typically "what is role-playing chapter but also some descriptions of what makes TSF different. I am torn on this one. While I like that this is not the kindergarten discussion on what is role-playing and what do you do, there also seems to be a lot back-patting here. TSF does this better and TSF does this... great, but tell me that in the game sections. BUT....I also often lament that we don't see enough of what makes Game X different than Game Y. If he makes good on these promises then we should be ok.
PART 2
Character creation. The classes, or callings, are pretty straightforward; cleric, warrior, thief and wizard. The big four really. They have some neat features. Levels only go to 10 and you know what, I kinda like that. The races are also the common four, Dwarf, Elf, Human and Halfling. I would have liked to see some more, but there are some neat twists to the races. Tables of what the races do, like Many Dwarfs...(roll a 1d20) and Some Dwarfs... (roll a 1d20), that is kinda cool really. Easily added to any sort of D&D-like game.
Instead of hitpoints we have wound levels, similar to some damage track systems I have seen. I like how damage effects movement and combat. Again, nothing revolutionary here, but still nice.
There is a random table of personality traits as well. I am sure would like this, but I prefer to figure out my character's personality in the playing, not the the rolling.
PART 3
This is the chapter on character Trademarks. They act like qualities/perks/drawbacks from other games. Interesting. Given the amount you can get I would have liked to have seen more, but this is a good list.
PART 4
Your weapons and equipment chapter.
PART 5
Energy Points are discussed here and are used to power "Special Effects". In a way they work a bit like Drama, Hero or Fate points. While like like these kinds of mechanics, they are not really "old-school" since they allow the player more control over the dice. While a plus in some respects I think the old-school purists will dislike it.
PARTS 6 & 7
Details the Elder Gods and prayers respectively. Prayers are of course the spells that Holy-men can use.
PART 8
Details the spells in the game. Like the Prayers, there are a lot of unique sounding names for some familiar looking spells. I like that. "Read Languages" sounds dull, but "Comprehend Texts (The Great Unknown)" sounds so much more...eldritch.
PART 9
Details the skills characters can have. The advice listed is that most time the character succeeding or failing should be obvious. This chapter should only aid in the cases where success is uncertain.
Skills are a roll-under mechanic compared to the necessary ability. The listed skills modify these dice rolls (3d6 to 7d6).
PART 10
Details adventuring. Not a bad chapter, but mostly narrative.
PART 11
This chapter details Engagements or what if typically called combat.
PART 12
Scenario Design. Lots of advice and random tables to stock your dungeons.
PART 13
Is monsters. The stat blocks look pretty familiar and would not be difficult at all to add to any other game.
PART 14
Treasure. What I liked most here was the creating Talismans. I have done talismans as well and they are a little different here than mine, but still fun. Like the spells there are a lot of unique items here. If you need to spice up your magic items, then this is a good place to start.
PART 15
Details the world. Not a lot of detail mind you, but enough to keep you busy.
PART 16
Deals with level advancement. How to do it, what to do about it and the like.
PART 17
Is an adventure, the Dungeons of Madness.
There are also a few Appencies, including a combat chart, links to the Gygax Memorial Fund, and a bit on why the game was made AND, interestingly enough, an alternate XP point award table to things the players can do outside of the game. I have done this with my kids to great effect.
The Appendix D, or suggested reading does come of as a bit pretentious. But...these are all in fact good books.
Bottom line
Again, this game didn't, and probably won't, set the world on fire. BUT there is a lot of cool things here that can be easily added to a D&D, S&W, ACKS or B/X Companion game.
It is easy to see what the author is trying to do here. I get it. I think the game though comes off a little like D&D + Fate.
I will also add that TSF character sheet is one of the coolest ones I have seen. It, like the game, as a sense of style I really like. Another point in favor of this game, the website for the game is full of all sorts of goodies. http://www.secretfiregames.com/
I guess in the end I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and use it as a kick-ass resource. It is a good enough game by itself, but I plan on using it as an add-on.
Friday, August 24, 2012
The OSR is Dead, Part 1.5
I want to add some more substance to this, but until then here are some links of where my thoughts are at.
http://swordsandwizardry.blogspot.com/2012/08/d-and-retro-clones-big-reboot-arrives.html
http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2012/08/where-d-goes-so-goes-hobby-so-whats-next.html
Some discussion on my Google+ site
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101143993996952001933/posts
And some commentary on the Keynote
http://www.twitch.tv/wotc_dnd/b/328881758
http://www.advanceddungeonsandparenting.com/2012/08/d-keynote-focus-on-vision-rather-than.html
http://www.heropress.net/2012/08/wizards-keynote-address-at-gen-con.html
http://towerofzenopus.blogspot.com/2012/08/overreaction-saturday.html
More this weekend.
http://swordsandwizardry.blogspot.com/2012/08/d-and-retro-clones-big-reboot-arrives.html
http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2012/08/where-d-goes-so-goes-hobby-so-whats-next.html
Some discussion on my Google+ site
https://plus.google.com/u/0/101143993996952001933/posts
And some commentary on the Keynote
http://www.twitch.tv/wotc_dnd/b/328881758
http://www.advanceddungeonsandparenting.com/2012/08/d-keynote-focus-on-vision-rather-than.html
http://www.heropress.net/2012/08/wizards-keynote-address-at-gen-con.html
http://towerofzenopus.blogspot.com/2012/08/overreaction-saturday.html
More this weekend.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Is the OSR Dead?
So I made some interesting, though not entirely new or unique, observations.
The OSR, as a Movement, is Dead.
This is the point of view of Tavis Allison who gave a talk about the OSR at Gen Con this past week. Tavis has the street cred to back up his claims too, author of The Mule Abides blog and the Adventurer Conqueror King game system.
Though he has his reasons, I think I am looking at something slightly different.
I am not talking about the lack ENnies or even representation at Gen Con.
There was the the OSR Publications booth, which was great.
I am talking about the OSR as a movement. If the stated goal* of the OSR was to get old-school style gaming back into the hands of gamers, then one only needed to go to the Wizards of the Coast booth and buy a copy of the 1st Ed AD&D books, or listen to their keynote address about the availability of older products, or go play D&D5.
(* lets be honest here, no one ever stated any goal of any sort)
If the goal was get products to go mainstream, well the OSR Publications booth was a good step in that direction. George Strayton of the Secret Fire RPG was an industry guest of honor at this past Gen Con as well. Castles and Crusades (one of the earliest Retro Clones in my opinion) never seemed more popular.
So if the OSR as a mission was get "old school" products in the main-stream, then that goal has been met.
The movement then is dead. Why? Well if the "R" mean Revolution, Revival or Renascence, then the goals have been achieved. Old School is back.
The OSR as a community or even as a loosely affiliated publishing movement will live on. Much like the Indie Press Revolution (who, to be perfectly honest, does everything the OSR could do and does it well).
There will still be sites and blogs that support old-school play. They existed before the OSR movement and will (in some form) afterwards.
I fear though that for many that the "R" stood for "Resistance" as in the alternative not because they liked old school play so much, but because they hated the "new school" of 4e or even 3.x. Well for them I fear the battle wages on and it will never be won. TSR is never coming back to life, WotC owns D&D and there are many that enjoy the newer games.
In any case the OSR will change. Not because it wants to, but because it will need to to stay relevant.
I will have to post on this topic more in a bit.
The OSR, as a Movement, is Dead.
This is the point of view of Tavis Allison who gave a talk about the OSR at Gen Con this past week. Tavis has the street cred to back up his claims too, author of The Mule Abides blog and the Adventurer Conqueror King game system.
Though he has his reasons, I think I am looking at something slightly different.
I am not talking about the lack ENnies or even representation at Gen Con.
There was the the OSR Publications booth, which was great.
I am talking about the OSR as a movement. If the stated goal* of the OSR was to get old-school style gaming back into the hands of gamers, then one only needed to go to the Wizards of the Coast booth and buy a copy of the 1st Ed AD&D books, or listen to their keynote address about the availability of older products, or go play D&D5.
(* lets be honest here, no one ever stated any goal of any sort)
If the goal was get products to go mainstream, well the OSR Publications booth was a good step in that direction. George Strayton of the Secret Fire RPG was an industry guest of honor at this past Gen Con as well. Castles and Crusades (one of the earliest Retro Clones in my opinion) never seemed more popular.
So if the OSR as a mission was get "old school" products in the main-stream, then that goal has been met.
The movement then is dead. Why? Well if the "R" mean Revolution, Revival or Renascence, then the goals have been achieved. Old School is back.
The OSR as a community or even as a loosely affiliated publishing movement will live on. Much like the Indie Press Revolution (who, to be perfectly honest, does everything the OSR could do and does it well).
There will still be sites and blogs that support old-school play. They existed before the OSR movement and will (in some form) afterwards.
I fear though that for many that the "R" stood for "Resistance" as in the alternative not because they liked old school play so much, but because they hated the "new school" of 4e or even 3.x. Well for them I fear the battle wages on and it will never be won. TSR is never coming back to life, WotC owns D&D and there are many that enjoy the newer games.
In any case the OSR will change. Not because it wants to, but because it will need to to stay relevant.
I will have to post on this topic more in a bit.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Witch Books, Part 4. The New Old
The New Old.
These are new products to play old school style witches. Generally speaking these are all throwbacks to the Basic or First Edition days for games like Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC or any OSR game.
Classic Fantasy Review: Volume 1, Issue 2
This might be one of the first Old-School style witches that I purchased. In this supplement for OSRIC we get the Diabolical Witch. A witch that gains her powers and spells from the various demon and devil lords. Its a cross between a cleric and wizard, maybe with more emphasis on the cleric side of things. The level progression is closer to the cleric than the wizard to be honest. There are new spells, just a redistribution of current OSRIC spells. They get a number of special powers, some make sense (clerical turning and shapeshift) others not as much (limited thief abilities). A nice feature is how witches of different demon lords, devils get different powers.
Darker Paths 2: The Witch
I am always a bit hesitant to review other peoples work on witch-related classes since I have products of my own out there. I fear of being too critical or too lax, each to out weigh the other. In the end I think I just need to review the product as is. Like DP1: The Necromancer this product is for the "Adventures Dark and Deep" RPG, OR any other near-clone of AD&D. Also like the first Darker Path book this presents the witch as an evil character class; not the Earth loving priestess of old faiths or even the spiritual seeking witches of modern tales. This must be recalled when reading the rest of this book. These witches are more Baba Yaga and not Circe for example. There is the obligatory disclaimer on Contemporary Witches and how this game is not that. (As an aside, as someone that has written these myself this one does seem more of a disclaimer of "don't email me" rather than a "I am not trying to offend", but that could just be me. EDITED: I did get an email clarification on this and the author was very much in the "I am not trying to offend, but these are different things" camp, which is cool by me.)
Witches in this game are all evil and their main ability is Wisdom. Their Charisma must start high, but it degrades as the witch rises in level. Interesting. I am not sure I like that since it seems here that Charisma is used as an "Appearance" proxy and not as a "Force of Personality" one. It would make it hard to make a character like Circe, who was evil, attractive and had a lot of force of personality, as a witch in these rules. That is fine, she would have to be something else, but I do want to point it out.
Witches advance to 13th level; so reminiscent of the druid. She has a nice variety of spells to choose from (more on this) and there are rules for her brewing potions and poisons. Like other witches of folklore, this witch can also have multiple familiars. A nice touch in my mind.
The spells are the real gem of this book. Nearly 50 new spells there are a lot of classics here. There are spells on Candle Magic (and done differently than my own) and nearly every base is covered (curses, storm summoning, afflicting others).
Like with DP1, the art is a mix of new and public domain art, but all of it is appropriate to the feel of the book. In the end this is a very good evil witch class. It does make me wonder how the author might do a good witch.
ACKS Player's Companion: The Witch
This one is not out yet for the public, but I have seen the witch for it. It was actually based on some OGC I produced a while back with some significant changes. I didn't write it, but it has it's DNA in stuff I did write. So I have recuse from a proper review, but I will say this: I like it a lot. It is compatible with my two other "OSR" witches but still covers new ground on it's own. At the same time is still new and fresh.
The Complete B/X Adventurer: The Witch
I have talked about the the TCBXA before, but I want to focus on the Witch class from it.
For starters the class works best if you also own the B/X Companion.
I have to play special attention to the witch. Not just because it is a witch class, but because it is different than the other spell using classes. For starters the witch can cast in groups to cast higher level spells. That is a nice feature really and something very much in tune with the archetypal witch. The witch is the class in the book that is stated up all the way to 36th level AND built to gain powers to that point, also something I rather like. Why? Because a 36th level witch is the only class that can cast 10th level spells. Yup. This one goes to 10!
Crafting spells. The witch does not memorize a spell, but she does have a limit on how many she knows. The witch needs both a high intelligence (to know the spell) and a high wisdom (to learn and scribe it down in the first place). So a first level witch with a high Intelligence knows 1+Int mod 1st level spells. She can also scribe spells of 1st level + how ever many extra levels equal to her Wisdom mod. I like it. It is a nice quick way to know what can be done. In fact I would like to use that for clerics since gods should know ahead of time what spells their flock need and then they just give them to the cleric at that time.
For the witch though I would reverse it. Intelligence to write or scribe the spell and Widsom to know how many they can cast. Witches are often called the "Craft of the Wise" afterall. But all in all I like it.
10th level witch spells are nothing at all to sneeze at. This is a powerful witch class.
The 10th level spells are a nice solution to the "Coven spells"/"Powerful magic" vs independent witches. I can't see too many witch covens in groups. Maybe two or three at a time. With what JB has done here is given us a way to have powerful magics in groups at lower levels and keep those same magics out of the hands of solitary witches till much later. This then does not make them a more attractive solution over Wizards/Magic Users.
These are new products to play old school style witches. Generally speaking these are all throwbacks to the Basic or First Edition days for games like Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC or any OSR game.
Classic Fantasy Review: Volume 1, Issue 2
This might be one of the first Old-School style witches that I purchased. In this supplement for OSRIC we get the Diabolical Witch. A witch that gains her powers and spells from the various demon and devil lords. Its a cross between a cleric and wizard, maybe with more emphasis on the cleric side of things. The level progression is closer to the cleric than the wizard to be honest. There are new spells, just a redistribution of current OSRIC spells. They get a number of special powers, some make sense (clerical turning and shapeshift) others not as much (limited thief abilities). A nice feature is how witches of different demon lords, devils get different powers.
Darker Paths 2: The Witch
I am always a bit hesitant to review other peoples work on witch-related classes since I have products of my own out there. I fear of being too critical or too lax, each to out weigh the other. In the end I think I just need to review the product as is. Like DP1: The Necromancer this product is for the "Adventures Dark and Deep" RPG, OR any other near-clone of AD&D. Also like the first Darker Path book this presents the witch as an evil character class; not the Earth loving priestess of old faiths or even the spiritual seeking witches of modern tales. This must be recalled when reading the rest of this book. These witches are more Baba Yaga and not Circe for example. There is the obligatory disclaimer on Contemporary Witches and how this game is not that. (As an aside, as someone that has written these myself this one does seem more of a disclaimer of "don't email me" rather than a "I am not trying to offend", but that could just be me. EDITED: I did get an email clarification on this and the author was very much in the "I am not trying to offend, but these are different things" camp, which is cool by me.)
Witches in this game are all evil and their main ability is Wisdom. Their Charisma must start high, but it degrades as the witch rises in level. Interesting. I am not sure I like that since it seems here that Charisma is used as an "Appearance" proxy and not as a "Force of Personality" one. It would make it hard to make a character like Circe, who was evil, attractive and had a lot of force of personality, as a witch in these rules. That is fine, she would have to be something else, but I do want to point it out.
Witches advance to 13th level; so reminiscent of the druid. She has a nice variety of spells to choose from (more on this) and there are rules for her brewing potions and poisons. Like other witches of folklore, this witch can also have multiple familiars. A nice touch in my mind.
The spells are the real gem of this book. Nearly 50 new spells there are a lot of classics here. There are spells on Candle Magic (and done differently than my own) and nearly every base is covered (curses, storm summoning, afflicting others).
Like with DP1, the art is a mix of new and public domain art, but all of it is appropriate to the feel of the book. In the end this is a very good evil witch class. It does make me wonder how the author might do a good witch.
ACKS Player's Companion: The Witch
This one is not out yet for the public, but I have seen the witch for it. It was actually based on some OGC I produced a while back with some significant changes. I didn't write it, but it has it's DNA in stuff I did write. So I have recuse from a proper review, but I will say this: I like it a lot. It is compatible with my two other "OSR" witches but still covers new ground on it's own. At the same time is still new and fresh.
The Complete B/X Adventurer: The Witch
I have talked about the the TCBXA before, but I want to focus on the Witch class from it.
For starters the class works best if you also own the B/X Companion.
I have to play special attention to the witch. Not just because it is a witch class, but because it is different than the other spell using classes. For starters the witch can cast in groups to cast higher level spells. That is a nice feature really and something very much in tune with the archetypal witch. The witch is the class in the book that is stated up all the way to 36th level AND built to gain powers to that point, also something I rather like. Why? Because a 36th level witch is the only class that can cast 10th level spells. Yup. This one goes to 10!
Crafting spells. The witch does not memorize a spell, but she does have a limit on how many she knows. The witch needs both a high intelligence (to know the spell) and a high wisdom (to learn and scribe it down in the first place). So a first level witch with a high Intelligence knows 1+Int mod 1st level spells. She can also scribe spells of 1st level + how ever many extra levels equal to her Wisdom mod. I like it. It is a nice quick way to know what can be done. In fact I would like to use that for clerics since gods should know ahead of time what spells their flock need and then they just give them to the cleric at that time.
For the witch though I would reverse it. Intelligence to write or scribe the spell and Widsom to know how many they can cast. Witches are often called the "Craft of the Wise" afterall. But all in all I like it.
10th level witch spells are nothing at all to sneeze at. This is a powerful witch class.
The 10th level spells are a nice solution to the "Coven spells"/"Powerful magic" vs independent witches. I can't see too many witch covens in groups. Maybe two or three at a time. With what JB has done here is given us a way to have powerful magics in groups at lower levels and keep those same magics out of the hands of solitary witches till much later. This then does not make them a more attractive solution over Wizards/Magic Users.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
And Another Kickstarter
Just when you thought your wallet was safe there is another "must join" kickstarter, and this one has some serious Old-School roots.
Jeff Dee is recreating all his old art from the old B/X Basic and Expert sets.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffdee/re-creating-my-artwork-from-original-dungeons-and
Here is one of my faves.
And of course he did the immortal Morgan Ironwolf.
So check it out and you too can get some cool art from and old-school master.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffdee/re-creating-my-artwork-from-original-dungeons-and
Jeff Dee is recreating all his old art from the old B/X Basic and Expert sets.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffdee/re-creating-my-artwork-from-original-dungeons-and
Here is one of my faves.
And of course he did the immortal Morgan Ironwolf.
So check it out and you too can get some cool art from and old-school master.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeffdee/re-creating-my-artwork-from-original-dungeons-and
Monday, July 30, 2012
OSR Monster project
Re-blogging this from Rended Press.
http://rendedpress.blogspot.com/2012/07/status-update-osr-ogl-blogosphere.html
http://rendedpress.blogspot.com/2012/07/status-update-osr-ogl-blogosphere.html
As of today, the OSR OGL BLOGOSPHERE MONSTERS PROJECT has 26 entries.I have sent a couple of monsters in. It would be nice to see some more!
I'll close the file sometime during the afternoon of August 1.
Remember: This is open to any creature you've posted on your blog at any point in 2012!
So come on, people. Do the cut & paste!
Note: Please only share material that you feel comfortable appearing in a half-assed, crazy, DIY fan compilation.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
My Kids are Awesome!
With the new reprints of 1st Ed AD&D now out my kids want our next game to be a 1st Edition one!
How freaking cool is that?
We have done just about everything we have set out to do in 3rd Ed and our 4th Ed game is still moving right along.
So what should we do then for 1st Ed?
I know I am going to throw in some house rules.
I know I am going to use ideas from ALL the retro-clones where appropriate. So it will be less of a 1st Ed game in rules, but certainly one in terms of tone and spirit.
Here are the adventures I want to use. Again, I like sticking with these old school modules.
T1 Village of Hommlet, levels 1-2 (IF I don't use it in the D&D4 game)
B1 Into the Unknown, levels 1-3 (my go to starting module)
B2 Keep on the Borderlands, levels 1-3 (how can I NOT do this?)
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill, levels 2-4
X2 Castle Amber, levels 3-6 (love this freaky module, though it sticks out as the only Non-Greyhawk one)
A1-4 Slave Lords, levels 4-7
C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness, levels 5-7
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, levels 8-12
G123, Against the Giants, levels 8-12 (I also have the Stone Giant one from Dragonsfoot)
D12,3 Against the Drow, levels 8,9-14
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, 10-14
S1 Tomb of Horrors, levels 10-14 (IF I don't use it in the D&D4 game, it is an AD&D classic)
CM2 Death's Ride, levels 15-20. (Again, unless I use it in my current 3.x game which the boys want me to do)
AND if their 4.e group does not get to the end, then I could use the Bloodstone H series too. But that is getting WAY ahead of myself.
If you look over my previous plans here and here, you see I am sticking with the modules.
I am running the HPE Orcus ones for 4e, and used many of the other classics in my 3.x games.
So far the boys have gone through B3, B4, S2, S4, WG4, I1, and X1 for 3.x (and a bunch I made up when they were younger like "Cave of the Rainbow Dragon" and "The Stinky Cave"), and H1 Keep on the Shadowfell for 4e. So they are getting, as my youngest put it this morning, a full Dungeons & Dragons education.
Again. This is going to be a lot of fun! I am not expecting this one to start anytime soon, I still have a 3.x game to finish with them.
We have done just about everything we have set out to do in 3rd Ed and our 4th Ed game is still moving right along.
So what should we do then for 1st Ed?
I know I am going to throw in some house rules.
- 1st level HP will be equal to Con scores for all characters and NPCs include 0-level humans.
- I will be using bards, I am just not sure which one yet.
- Double damage on a natural 20.
- Will use strict multi-class and dual-class rules.
- If it is written down somewhere and it works with AD&D1, 2 or Basic D&D then it will be considered for this game.
I know I am going to use ideas from ALL the retro-clones where appropriate. So it will be less of a 1st Ed game in rules, but certainly one in terms of tone and spirit.
Here are the adventures I want to use. Again, I like sticking with these old school modules.
T1 Village of Hommlet, levels 1-2 (IF I don't use it in the D&D4 game)
B1 Into the Unknown, levels 1-3 (my go to starting module)
B2 Keep on the Borderlands, levels 1-3 (how can I NOT do this?)
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill, levels 2-4
X2 Castle Amber, levels 3-6 (love this freaky module, though it sticks out as the only Non-Greyhawk one)
A1-4 Slave Lords, levels 4-7
C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness, levels 5-7
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, levels 8-12
G123, Against the Giants, levels 8-12 (I also have the Stone Giant one from Dragonsfoot)
D12,3 Against the Drow, levels 8,9-14
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits, 10-14
S1 Tomb of Horrors, levels 10-14 (IF I don't use it in the D&D4 game, it is an AD&D classic)
CM2 Death's Ride, levels 15-20. (Again, unless I use it in my current 3.x game which the boys want me to do)
AND if their 4.e group does not get to the end, then I could use the Bloodstone H series too. But that is getting WAY ahead of myself.
If you look over my previous plans here and here, you see I am sticking with the modules.
I am running the HPE Orcus ones for 4e, and used many of the other classics in my 3.x games.
So far the boys have gone through B3, B4, S2, S4, WG4, I1, and X1 for 3.x (and a bunch I made up when they were younger like "Cave of the Rainbow Dragon" and "The Stinky Cave"), and H1 Keep on the Shadowfell for 4e. So they are getting, as my youngest put it this morning, a full Dungeons & Dragons education.
Again. This is going to be a lot of fun! I am not expecting this one to start anytime soon, I still have a 3.x game to finish with them.
The Complete B/X Adventurer is Mine!
NOTE My updated review is here:
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-complete-bx-adventurer.html
I got my copy of the Complete B/X Adventurer in the mail yesterday.
It certainly lives up to it's hype and to it's predecessor the B/X Companion.
You don't need the B/X Companion to use this, but it certainly helps.
It reminds me a lot of the old Bard Games "The Compleat ______" books. That is a good thing in my book.
I will get a proper review up soon. But here is the brief one.
I like it. I like the witch class but the summoner might end up being my favorite.
Can't wait for the PDF so I can have it on my tablet.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-complete-bx-adventurer.html
I got my copy of the Complete B/X Adventurer in the mail yesterday.
It certainly lives up to it's hype and to it's predecessor the B/X Companion.
You don't need the B/X Companion to use this, but it certainly helps.
It reminds me a lot of the old Bard Games "The Compleat ______" books. That is a good thing in my book.
I will get a proper review up soon. But here is the brief one.
I like it. I like the witch class but the summoner might end up being my favorite.
Can't wait for the PDF so I can have it on my tablet.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Review: Wizard's World (1983)
What can one say about Wizard's World?
Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is derivative. But that is looking at it in 2012. To look at this game as it was meant to be seen you have look at it with 1983 eyes.
This game offers some interesting twists beyond the typical D&D knock-off. First I love the art in this book. Sure there has been better art, much better art, even in books from the same time. But there is such an honesty about it that I enjoy. And I LOVE that cover.
The attributes are nearly the same, enough that conversions are easy. The charts all go to 30 which is nice.
Ok so we have a bunch of classes, many of which would drop right into AD&D, OSRIC or what ever Clone you enjoy. There are a number of fighter-like classes, that honestly only differ a little bit from each other, but that is fine. Some martial artists, some magic using types, 14 total. What is cool is there is Vampire class! Something we won't see again till D&D4 or until I did my own (link). We have all the standard races plus some new ones, Metamorphic Dwarfs and Demon Halflings. Honestly the book is worth it just to be able to say "Demon Halflings"!
There are 22 pages worth of spells that go all the way to level 10.
Rules follow next which is primarily about combat, weapons, poisons, potions and the like. A little bit on magic items.
Monsters follow. There are a few, but almost no overlap between here and what you might find in a typical monster manual for a game. There are dragons, but very different from what we are used to seeing in "D&D".
Some suggestions for play and threadbare character sheet.
Ok what is good about this game? Lots really. If you play D&D or some old school game you would be hard pressed not to find something here to use. Did I mention the Demon Halflings yet? There are plenty of monsters and lots of spells.
What is bad? That is subjective. If you are not a fan of old-school play or expect full color art then you will be disappointed.
What did I like? Nearly everything really. I have to hand it to Dan Procter and Goblinoid Games for becoming an old-games preservation society. This game isn't going to win any awards now nor would it have won any then, but it is a fun trip into the past when many games were little more than a few pages, a staple and your friend's brother to do the art.
At 80+ pages this is packed.
If you wanted to play this system and say use one my of witch classes from either The Witch or Eldritch Witchery then I say you would need an INT 11 and WIL 11. Choose spells from the witch lists and use those or the WW spell that was most similar.
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