L is for Labyrinth Lord

Last Monday I talked about Basic Clones.

Today I want to focus on one of them since it will tie well into tomorrow's M post.

Today L is for Labyrinth Lord.

Again, what is a basic clone?  Well a basic clone is a new game, using new rules to emulate an older game.  In this case the rules are D&D from 2001-ish (called 3.0 or 3.5) to emulate "Basic" D&D from 1980-82.

Why would someone want to play a game that is 20 years old?
Well D&D Basic is long out of print.  D&D 3.x (the 2000s version) is a great game, but the complexity is also much greater.  D&D Basic is easier to learn, faster to play and perfect if you are teaching younger kids how to play.  But I can't buy copies of D&D Basic anymore.

I can buy Labyrinth Lord.

Goblinoid Games is the publisher of LL and in many respects could be considered one of the pioneers of the both the Retro-Clone game (their game GORE simulated Call of Cthulhu) and OSR (Old School Renascence).

Labyrinth Lord specifically is most like the B/X version of Basic, or the Moldvay, Cook/Marsh edited versions.  Which is great because that is the version I enjoyed the most and talked about last year.

You can get Labyrinth Lord in three different "Editions", though all work roughly similar.
Labyrinth Lord - the original.
LL: Advanced Companion - which sets out to emulate AD&D 1st Edition
LL: Original Edition Characters - which emulates the original D&D from 1974

All are compatible with each other, maybe more so than the games they try to emulate.

There is another game, Mutant Future, which uses the LL rules and is the subject of tomorrow's post.

But the one thing that occurs to me is this.  Since LL and Mutant Future do use the same rules, it gives you a chance to do some really weird things.  Actually the first thought I had was this "Labyrinth Lord + Mutant Future = Adventure Time!"

Adventure Time is a cartoon about a human boy named Finn and his magical dog Jake.  It takes place in the land of Ooo which seems to be a post-apocalyptic Earth.   The Dungeons and Dragons elements are all over the place including liches, gelatinous cubes, displacer beasts, dungeons, magic swords, Finn even calls himself a Paladin.   If that is not enough then check this out from Wizards of the Coast, http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4spot/20110408

The world of Finn and Jake is totally D&D...and Gama World.  So if we want one system to do it all it needs to be LL + MF!

Finn  (for Labyrinth Lord)

7th level Human Paladin (Fighter)
Age: 14

STR: 13		Breath Attacks: 9
DEX: 16		Poison or Death: 8
CON: 15		Petrify or Paralyze: 10
INT: 13		Wands: 9
WIS: 12		Spells: 12
CHA: 13

AC: 7
HP: 50

To Hit AC

-6	-5	-4	-3	-2	-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5

Sword +1, Backpack, Awesome Hat!

K is for Kids' Games

Last week I talked about Faery's Tale and I have talked about Witch Girls Adventures in the past.
This week I have more games for the younger crowd.

Kids, Castles & Caves

KCC is a very cute game.  It is an interesting one since it is t touch higher on the complexity scale than other "Kids" games.  That is not a complaint, but rather a nice little change.
Anyone familiar enough with any other RPG will pick this one up in about a minute.   Less than that if you eve played Basic D&D.
Classes and Races are the same thing, so you have "Wizard" "Knight" "Dwarf" and the cast of regulars, but also "Fairy" which is nice.
The classes have 3 levels each, which is plenty really since by the time the kids get to level 3 they will be ready for some more grown up games.
Everyone has something they can do every round so that is also good.
The game is simple, easy to learn and use and makes good on it's promise is something you can do with your kids in an afternoon with little to no prep time. At 28 pages it is the perfect length.

If you are a gamer and you have little ones, then this is a great way to introduce to our hobby!

Kids & Critters RPG Trilogy

An absolute steal at this price.

For under 3 bucks you get 3 complete games for kids.  

Tales from the Wood where you play creatures from The Wood.  Think Watership Down.

Lashings of Ginger Beer is about playing a kid in Idyllic England, so it might actually work best for adults.  Most similar to kids adventure tales. 

It's a Dog's LIfe is the best of the three where you play a Prairie Dog out on the American Plains with heavy American Indian/Native American influences.

All three games are simple to learn and easy to play.

These games require a bit more abstraction to play than some other kid games, but nothing a little kid with a great imagination couldn't handle.

Meddling Kids

So what is Meddling Kids? Well it is an introductory RPG for "kids of all ages" but recomended for ages 7 and up. The writing is very clear and concise and frankly one of the better "intro" games I have seen. It is designed as an intro game and is listed as "Stage 1 of the Starter System". I don't know if other stages were produced or not, but the feel here is one of "this is your first game so have some fun, and when you are ready we will have more for you". As with most starter sets there is lot the seasoned (or grizzled in my case) player can ignore, but it was still a very fun, light and fluffy read. 

The premise is simple. You create a teenage mystery-solver who belongs to a clique of other liked minded teens. Like in the TV show that this is so obviously taken from, different teens of various social standing and family incomes mix together well in a group united by their love of solving a mystery. Or maybe it's the talking dog. Or dune buggy. Or chimp. Or genie. Or...you get the idea. If you grew up in the 70s-80s then you know what I mean.

Character creation is simple. You create a background for your character, then are given points for Stats and Abilities. Pretty simple. Since we are talking about cartoons your Teen is put into an Archetype. So think Jock, Brain, Fluff, Goof and so on. 

The system is a simple one of Stat plus a roll based on Abilities plus a d6. Compare to a Target Number or resist the roll of something else.

What sets MK apart though is the use of the "Wild Card" character. This is a character, usually an animal, that hangs with the clique and is run by the GM. Not an NPC or even GMPC (though very close). The Wild Card is the one that helps in the adventure/mystery. So yeah, think Scooby Doo, or even Jabber Jaw or Captain Caveman. It is a fairly clever idea really and one of the only games I have read that encourages a GMPC like character. 

The book is small, less than 100 pages with pretty clear large fonts, so this is not a hefty tome to learn, it is a simple game that does exactly what it sets out to do and it does it rather well.

It is a great game to teach the little guys how to play using something that both parents and kids will know all about.

J is for Jorune

Jorune, or rather The Skyrealms of Jorune, was a classic Science Fantasy RPG of the early-mid 80s till the 90s and it is today's J post.

Jorune was not like anything I had ever seen before.  By the mid 80s I considered myself knowledgeable, but not yet worldly in my RPG knowledge.  I knew the big players, could ID the smaller ones and knew enough to know more existed.  But Jorune was new. It was weird and different.  And the art blew me away.

Have a look at the cover.

Look at the creature lying prone, he is obviously a great person and he is passing on his knowledge/magic/Isho to the older male.  The female is caring for him and the large reptile man. Well while he could be seen as scary, he is obviously here giving comfort to the grieving.

Jorune was a planetary romance.  Humans had inhabited the planet of Jorune and then lost contact with Earth.  Add some advanced genetic engineering, local wildlife and a heavy dose of magic and you get islands floating in the sky 20 years before Avatar hit the screens.

I do not have many regrets in my RPG career.  I have played some epic games. Worked on some fantastic games. But one thing I do regret is I never got a chance to play this game.  Though to be fair on myself, I never knew anyone that had played this either.

Jorune was published in 3 editions by two different companies till 1992, sadly none of the copies are still in print.  You have to find them on eBay or sellers like Nobel Knight Games.

Nothing represented the Silver Age of the RPGs better in terms of really cool, lets get as far away from D&D as we can sort of game.

Links

• Wikipedia
• Return to Jorune fan site
• Grognardia Retrospective
• Skyrealms of Jorune at Nobel Knight, Skyrealms, 1st and 2nd editions
• Skyrealms of Jorune at Nobel Knight, Chessex/3rd edition
• Gomo Guide To Thoneport, the newest Jorune product that you can still buy.

White Dwarf Wednesday #12

April 1979 I was buried in one of the worst snow/ice storms that the midwest had ever seen. So much so that even after the Snowpocylspe of 2011 people still talk about it.

At the same time White Dwarf jumps from 28 pages to 32.

In addition to that, Issue 12 ups the quality of the cover art too.

This issue's editorial lambasts the people that photocopy games to give (or worse sell) to others.  I know my first character sheet was a bad photocopy as was my first copy of White Dwarf.  Sorry. I was kid.  Again this could run today, just replace "photocopiers" with "scanners".

We start the issue with and expanded Fiend Factory.  Future Fiend Folio alumni include, the Assassin Bug, Grell, Hook Horror, Giant Worm, and the Githyanki.  We also get an Iron Pig and Desert Raider which seems to be a combination of Sand People and Freeman from Dune.  Easier to see why these were not included.  The stats still include the Monstermark numbers.

Lew Pulsipher gives us an article on Dungeon Equipment.  Many of these should be included in any standard equipment lists to be honest.  Love the idea of silver smiths silvering weapons as part of the economy and I never thought about nose plugs.

Open box gives us two classics, the Arduin Grimorie and Pellic Quest.  In the big surprise of the day the Arduin Grimorie only gets a 4 out of 10 from Don Turnbull. But looking back at these I think the OSR tends look at anything from the time with rose colored glasses. I think Turnbull was more likely correct.

Bill Howard gives us a mid-level adventure for D&D in the form of "The Pool of Standing Stones".  I liked the White Dwarf adventures, they seemed to be different enough from the ones in Dragon that I could ascribe a quality to them, a "White Dwarfiness" if you will.

We get some new magic items like the Sword of Thieves and Earnings of Control.  We also get some corrections to the Barbarian class.

Don Turnbull looks into the new Player's Handbook for AD&D. Interestingly enough he can't find "Hobbits" in the book and never mentions Halflings.

The rest of the magazine is ads with the Gamma World ad in the back again.

White Dwarf is certainly maturing.  It is more on par with the early Dragon magazines, maybe not Dragon of 1979, but certainly 1977 or 78.   The amount of ads have increased to about 12-13 pages per issue.  I do not know how that compares to Dragon from the time.

Reminder, A to Z post will be later today.

I is for the Imperial Age

The Imperial Age from Adamant Entertainment  (who also gave me last year's I for Icons) is a great collection of Victorian Age source books.  Designed to support D20 Modern, they can be used with just about any Victorian RPG.

They are "out of the box" compatible with OGL Gaslight for example and there is even a True20 source book that combines the materails of many of the books listed below.
I have been using them with Ghosts of Albion, mostly the background information and some of the game-specific material.  But I find that stylistically they tend to support games like Victoriana a little bit more.

I bought a lot of these books when they first came out, but "sat" on them while I was promoting Ghosts of Albion.  I didn't want to get distracted.
Now Ghosts is out there doing it's own thing so I can talk more about the Victorian games I really enjoy.

All the Imperial Age books are all well written and features art from the age, either public domain art and paintings as well as some original art.  In all cases the art is very evocative of the time and very well done.
The books are all easy to read, with clean layout and font sizes.  They can be printed with ease without killing your printer cartridge.

The GameMaster's Guidebook to Victorian Adventure (31 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50046/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A fantastic guide for running a Victorian Age game.  Plenty of background is given about societies, countries and people of the time.  Quick overviews of  Victorian thoughts on sex, the occult, and other countries  can add plenty of flavor to any game. As well as Alternate-versions of the Victorian setting such as Steam-Punk, Horror, Supers and Alt-Reality.
On the d20 specific side of things, a number of feats are given to be used (but can easily become backgrounds or qualities, depending on what your game needs) and even some advise on converting "Thrilling Tales" Advanced Classes over to Imperial Age.
The advice given is quite good, but the book almost pays for itself in terms of the near complete list of weapons (in d20 format) used.   There is a brief timeline and some references.
If you enjoy Victorian games like I do then this is a great product whether you play The Imperial Age, another d20 product or something else all-together.

Imperial Age Magick (36 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/23630/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

I love Victorian era games and I love games with magic in them.  So this book was a no brainer for me to pick up.  Using the vernacular "magick" this book present magick as seen through the eyes of the Victorian.  There are rules to magick and there is heavy reliance of the lieks of Dee and Crowley.  But that is what makes this book cool.
Magick is presented in three different styles; the common d20 magic, a skill based magick, and a school based magick where there are many different types of magick being used at the same time.  The GM needs to decide how magick works and what level of magick is the game; everything from High (D&D like) Magic to Low or No magic at all.
Plenty of background is given for the various types of magic and the authors really did their homework in terms of reading Dee, Levi and Crowley (among others).
d20-wise there are new feats and new uses for skills.  All easily adaptable.
There is a section on magickal gear which I would have liked to see more of to be honest.
The chapter on "Running a Magickal Campaign" bears special mention since it is above and beyong the Imperial Age normal game, but it also has plenty of ideas for all Victorian RPGS.
There are some very useful Appendices, including a Hermitic Scholar class (why it wasn't in the main text I am not sure).
This book is not the end-all be-all of magick in the Victorian age or games, but it is a solid resource full of great advice, ideas and tips.  My only gripe is there could have been so much more added.  But this is balanced with the cover price I guess.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Alienist (12 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/27944/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

An Alienist is what we would call a psychiatrist today.  But in the terms of the Imperial Age game, he is a psionic parapyschologist.
The archetypical Alienist would be Dr. Seward from Dracula (sans psionic powers) or maybe even Hannibal Lector for an evil one.
This book also deals with the psychologically disturbed and how some of them can manifest wild psionic powers.  So not quite the crazy one sees in Cthulhu by Gaslight, but more so than Masque of the Red Death.
I give this book credit for coming up for something very original.  I think it is more closely tied the to campaign than say some other Advanced Classes like the Monster Hunter, but I can see this working quite well in say a Rippers game.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Monster Hunter (6 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/23185/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A new advanced class for bumping back the things that go bump in the night.  The monster hunter here is a combination of Van Helsing and Alan Quatermain.
There are some good ideas here, but nothing new or earth shaking.  The class itself is solid and something any d20 character would take a level or two in.
I would have liked to see some monster hunting societies, but I am not complaining for the price.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Scientific Detective (7 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/20900/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Playing Sherlock Holmes.
Having been re-reading a lot of Holmes lately I find this class spot-on.  If the Monster Hunter class is for fighting monsters, then this class is designed to stop crime.  The two work well together since they cover such different grounds.
There is a new feat and a repeated one from Monster Hunter (Gentry).
Again, great value for the price.

The Imperial Age: Advanced Class - Gentleman Scientist (13 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/58374/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

If the Scientific Detective book allows you make Holmes, and Monster Hunter make (a younger) Van Helsing, then this book allows you to make a Victorian fantasy Tesla.
If you are looking to turn The Imperial Age into a more Steam Punk style game, then you need to start with this book.
Plenty of new feats are included to allow your Victorian Weird Scientist to make their inventions.
Outside of the d20 realm this book is also a great guide for any sort of weird/super science for the Victorian Age.  While specifically that, it is a great start.

The Imperial Age: Anarchism (11 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51417/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A little history is helpful here.  Anarchism was a big deal to the Victorians.  Not just in terms of a political movement, but in terms of what it meant.  Society was everything to the Victorians, Anarchy was the opposite of that.
So first off, major kudos for the authors for recognizing this.  It is an edited and thumbnail version, but this is a game book, not a textbook.
While this book is about anarchism, it is also full of things those other misfits of society might need: namely the adventurer.
The book has plot hooks, points of view and what anarchism means in a game world.  So all of this (the first 3/4s of the book) can be used in any game.
The Anarchist Advanced class is pure d20. The new feats are a good, useful bunch that other character might want to take.

The Imperial Age: British India (67 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51230/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Most Victorian Age games give a paragraph or two about India, which is too bad really.  Victoria herself was known as the "Empress of India".
A good overview of the British involvement in India is given.  Again, this is not a textbook, but a game book.  There are plenty of places to get more detail, but I think what is here is a great start.
Since so much of the British involvement in India was political and military, overviews of the Government and Military, both in England and India is also given.
I like the authentic maps.
In an interesting addition, several Esoteric Societies are included. Obviously due to their ties with anything "Oriental".
A GM's section on running a campaign in India is presented covering Fantasy, Horror, Occult and Engine based game.
We don't get into any d20 specific information till about 46 pages into the book (almost 3/4ths through the book).
d20 specific info includes a section on creatures (wish there more, but this is good), weapons and feats.
The book ends with a set of reference books and films.
All in all I thought this was a great book for any Victorian-era game.  I would love to see more, but I think the book did what is set out to do.
What I can't get from this book I can get from here: http://books.google.com/books?id=-kAuAAAAYAAJ

The Imperial Age: Engines (67 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50458/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Rules and ideas to turn your Imperial Age game into a Steampunk or Gearpunk game.  This book goes beyond what is presented in Gentleman Scientist and presents a new campaign model.
More so than the other books in the Imperial Age line this one has more d20 information.  There is also less "history" than the other books.
Despite all of that, this is a good supplement to add all sorts of things to your game.  If you are a fan of Steampunk/Gearpunk and your current Victorian Game of choice does not support it, then this is a good choice.  If it does then this is a great source for more ideas.

The Imperial Age: Faeries (78 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/55203/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

The Victorians loved faeries.  Even the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loved them a believed they were real.  This book help you do that for your game as well.
Plenty of faerie races are given along with their d20 stats for playing them as characters.  These will work well in any d20 game regardless of the time period.
A new mechanic is introduced, Traits, but familiar if anyone has played Unisystem or GURPS.  In fact it is because of this that makes this book more easily ported over to games like Ghosts of Albion or Victoriana.
Traits and Drawbacks can be bought to customize characters.
Rules for Fey-Touched characters are also given.
There are some monsters stated, mostly these are fey creature that would not work well as characters.  Plenty of new feats and an advanced classes.
Advice is given on the Faerie lands and how to run games that involve the fey.

This might be my favorite of the Imperial Age books just in terms of material to be used.  The organization of the material is kind of all over the place and the art is not quite a good as the other books, but that didn't matter to me since I was most interested in the words on the page.

The Imperial Age: Fantastical Races (70 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/59412/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

D&D style races in your Imperial Age game.
This book is a nice companion to Faeries in terms of expanding the fantastical elements of your game.  Also with a little bit of work they could also expand it more into horror.
In addition to the expected Dwarf, Elf and halfling, we also get Beastfolk (similar to the ones found in Victoriana and Gaslight), Celestial Blooded, Demon Blooded, Dragon Blooded, and Lizard Folk.
There are plenty of Paragon Classes for each race as well as feats.
Some campaign ideas are presented, but I feel some of them are getting farther and farther away from the Victorian norm.
Though it is a very fun book and has some great ideas.

The Imperial Age: Fisticuffs & Swordplay (25 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/55763/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Fightclub for Imperial Age.
Information on Fisticuffs, Bartitsu, and swordplay.  Plenty of background and history and bunch of new feats.
Very useful in a game where guns might be rare.

The Imperial Age: Grimoire (75 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/54275/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

This book picks up where Imperial Age Magick left off.
The Imperial Age: Grimoire covers grimoires, or magickal texts.
Included is information on how to find these books, how to read and use them and what must be done to unlock their secrets.
There are some sample grimoires detailed, with their spells and some secret societies.  A lot of information is included here and could easily be adapted to any game.  I am thinking of Cthulhu by Gaslight in particular.
Some new and many old OGC spells are also included.  They are all by design d20, but can be converted.  This makes up a lot of the book, but it is needed.

All in all a great book.

The Imperial Age: Hell Hath No Fury (35 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/54789/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Hell Hath No Fury is a "Penny Dreadful", an adventure for the Imperial Age Game.  Designed for newer characters (2 to 4 1st level).
The author takes care to let you know that while the Imperial Age can cover a variety of Victorian game types, he had to make some assumptions to have a pre-written adventure work out, so this one is described as Occult Steam.  I like that.
The adventure is presented in Three Acts and moves at a brisk pace.
The mystery reads like a "Penny Dreadful" and has the feel and atmosphere of a Victorian mystery.   I don't want to spoil things, but this is a fun adventure for the first time players.

The Imperial Age: London (82 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/51552/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A history and overview of the greatest city of the British Empire.  What I liked were the inclusion of the real maps from the time, but improved over how they were presented in the India book.
There is even a brief description of some of the neighborhoods, Gentlemen's Clubs and important sites.  Background on the Peelers is also included.
The book is an overview and doesn't go into great detail in any subject.  Though it is not supposed to be a textbook or a history book, a little more would have been nice.
All in all though it is a fine book.  Perfect for any Victorian game since the d20 content is minimal.


The Imperial Age: Spiritualism (17 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/25602/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Spiritualism was a big part of the late Victorian age.  Not simply Occult, Spiritualism dealt specifically with the communication with those beyond death.
The first part of this book details this well.  The second part discusses how all of this plays out in the Imperial Age game, including the different sorts of campaign modes one might choose.
We are also given a new Advanced Class, the Medium and plenty of new feats, magic.
Again, most of this book is "system free" so it can be used in any game.  The d20 specific stuff is still quite useful.


The Imperial Age: The Price of Immortality (34 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/58698/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

Another Penny Dreadful for The Imperial Age.
This one takes advantage of the material found in the London book, so having that on hand is helpful.
It is obvious that the author(s) have learned more about adventure design since "Hell Hath No Fury" since this is a more complex plot and a more detailed adventure (despite being the same size).
A very entertaining adventure that plays to "The Imperial Age's" strengths well.

The Imperial Age: Victorian Monstrosities (89 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/50829/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

A monster book with more.  Many of the most frightening creatures we know today have their roots in Victorian literature and history.  Dracula, Carmilla, Jack the Ripper, Half-human mutants, cults.  All can be found in the pages of Victorian origin.
More than just a monster book (though it is that as well), this presents some "history" behind the monster.  I am reminded of some the more detailed Monster Hunter guides I have seen for other games.
There is so much here that it is difficult to quantify it all.  But there is a lot and a lot of it is very, very good.
The stats are all d20, but the backgrounds work for any game.

The Imperial Age: Victorian Occupations (16 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/56646/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

This book has the distinction of being the first Imperial Age book I bought.
These are optional, alternate occupations for d20 Modern characters.  Though the background works for any game.
Not a lot of detailed material, but a lot of material all the same.
If you need a list of professions then this a good place to go.

The Imperial Age: True20 Edition (271 pages with cover and OGL page)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/63405/Portal-Jumper?affiliate_id=10748

True 20 is a perfect solution for all sorts of Modern d20 based games for me and Imperial Age shows why. The rules are adapted from the Imperial Age supplements for d20, so a lot here has been seen before, but all of it looks new through the lens of True 20.

All the Imperial Age products ooze style and this one is no different. There may be better Victorian Age games out there, but one can't deny that this is a great product and a welcome addition to any Victorian gaming library.

H is for Hellcats and Hockeysticks

H is for Hellcats and Hockeysticks.

This is a fun little game from Andrew Peregrine (of Cubicle 7). In this you play a student at the all girls St. Erisian’s School.

Right off the bat, er stick, you are warned that the "Headmistress" (the Game Master) will not be fair, but arbitrary, has favorites, will smack your hands with a ruler if you do something stupid, and can be bribed.  You know this will be a fun game!  Also I should point out that this game is about the English school system rather than that of the American one.

Character creation is really fast.  You start off thinking about who your student is (the introduction reads like you are sending your daughter to the school, which I thought was clever). Pick a Clique (like a class/archetype), Curriculum (clique based skills), other Skills, Willpower, Traits, Rivalries and Secret Fear.    Pretty much any clique you can think of is here; the nerd, the goth, the sporty girl, the pretty one, the ninja foreign exchange student.  If you ever watched the movie "Spice World" and thought the girls needed to have more action scenes, then you should stop reading this review and pick up this game now.

Skills are ranked 1 to 5 (novice to expert) and cover a wide variety of subjects. To resolve tasks you roll a 6-side die and then an additional die for each level of the skill you have.  So if you are trying to blowup the chem lab and you have a 3 in Chemistry then you roll 4 dice. The Headmistress compares this to her rubric (table of difficulties) and lets you know what you have done.  Some levels are impossible to reach, but the Headmistress will make you roll anyway because that is the kind of evil person she is.
Willpower is your main "Ability" and can change from game to game.

Of course my favorite part of this game is picking your "Best Friend" and "Rival" from the other player characters.  You also have to pick something about each characters you also loathe.  Yes you are encouraged to be a bunch of smiling back-stabbers.  It's like "Pretty Little Liars" or "Heathers" the game.  I like that, you can revoke a friendship. There are some fun rules around that as well.

Combat is detailed (and thus tacitly encouraged) including a really neat idea of "Bidding".  Using this adds a little extra realism and drama to the combat.  For example a character want to club some guy on the head with her hokeystick (I should point out that this is field hockey, not ice hockey which uses a different stick), she bids "I'm going to fight dirty" and "HE'll never hit a girl".  To give her an extra edge.  The Headmistress, being the wholly vile human she is, bids back "He is bigger than you" and "You have been running all the way here, your knackered."  The idea is you and the head mistress go back and forth like this, adding a bid each time, till one your can't think of anything else.  Page 60 has a whole list of ideas.
Damage is represented in loss of willpower and how long you are out of the action.  No one actually can die in this game, but you can be hurt. A lot. Since the loss is to Willpower that also effects how well you can do other things.   The system hand waves things like swords and guns by saying basically if you get hit with these you are going to be out of the game for a long time if you even survive.  How's that for deadly?  Besides, there is a fun in that?  Combat in this game should be about cat-fights, the occasional brawl and maybe knocking out a boyfriend or two.

There is a section on fears, car chases, and all sorts of other mayhem.   There are also great sections on Weird Science and Magic.  Just in case you also wanted to "The Craft".

There is the Headmistress' guide to the school (background) and faculty as well as other schools in the area.  After all there has to be an all boys schools as well.

There is a section on running games for H&H, including how to run Player-Driven plots including a great 2d6 adventure generation table.    By my calculations that gives you over 1,450 plots.  We are also given a number of adventure seeds to use and a complete short adventure.

Finally the list of inspirations is notable for the only RPG I have that lists D.E.B.S. as must see movie. But it also lists "Hex" and "The Craft", two faves of mine.

This is a really fun game and one I'd love to try at a Con sometime.
Of course I am tempted to do a mash-up of this and Witch Girls Adventures.

More Kickstarters!

Yup, another kickstarter.

This one is for the "Witch Girls Book of Shadows" which is an update to the very popular Witch Girls Adventures game.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/channelm/witch-girls-book-of-shadows-witch-girls-second-edi

Kickstarter is becoming the go-to place to see what sort new indie games are coming up.  I am really looking forward to this one.

G is for Gaslight

You may have noticed that really enjoy Victorian games.  One of my favorites is Gaslight from Battlefield Press.
Gaslight also comes in two flavors, OGL (d20) and Savage worlds edition.

Both have the same backgrounds, material and allow you play similar games.  But each does have rules and material specific for their systems.

Gaslight
OGL and Savage Worlds
If you enjoyed the old Masque of the Red Death game, or just Victorian Gothic games in general then this is a great choice.  What is particularly nice about this nice about Gaslight is how much history is included in the book.  While that might be your thing, this is quite important for a Victorian game.  There is also a great overview of the whole world, not just England.  For these alone Gaslight is a worth the price as resources for any other Victorian game. Gaslight does give you more than that.  There are new races you can play, such as werewolf and vampire, which are found in many games. But also the more uncommon Beast Men (which I have only seen in one other game) and the unique (as far as I can tell) Wildlings; or unaging wild children.
There are plenty of new options for all sorts characters, of any race or background. Not to mention new magic, groups, and plenty of foes to face.
I compared this game to the old Masque of the Red Death. Well if MotRD is "Dracula" then Gaslight is "Varney the Vampire"; less familiar, but maybe a touch darker.

The OGL edition is a complete game, over 300 pages of everything you will need to run a Gaslight game including a complete section on classes.  The Savage Worlds edition requires a copy of the Savage Worlds rules.

They layout is simple and easy to read and the art is authentic Victorian illustrations and maps that give a real  authentic flavor.
Battlefield Press provides a lot of freebies and support for this game and that pushes up a bit in my opinion.

Zatannurday: Life in Fishnets

What do Zatanna and Black Canary have in common?
Other than being ass kicking DC women?

That's right, kicking ass in fishnets!

Well DC Women Kicking Ass has some updates on the proposed Paul Dini penned "Bloodspell" featuring Zatanna and Black Canary.

Here is the article from last year.
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/5084195737/dinifishents

and an update from a couple of days ago.
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/20183762520/bloodspell2

I hope it happens.   I recall him joking about this a few years back.  With Zee and Canary very popular on Young Justice, this just might be the right time to do this.

Here are the pics:

and one more.

A to Z post later today!

Because I am a glutton for punishment...

Another blogfest.

But this one is only for one day and not till May.

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2012/04/friendly-to-z-challenge-and-next.html

Looking forward to it!

F is for Faery's Tale

Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. 

Children already know that dragons exist. 

Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. 

-G. K. Chesterton (attributed)

One upon a time… is how most faerie tales begin.  It is also how many RPGs can start as well.  Both are flights of fancy, imagination, wonder, danger and magic.
The biggest Fantasy RPG of history, Dungeons and Dragons, shares many of the same elements of faerie tales, but D&D can be hard to learn, difficult to master and sometimes even scary.  Not the game you might want to introduce a 6-year old to.

Well thankfully there has been a trend in the last few years in gaming; the trend to write games for a younger audience.  Faery’s Tale represents one of the best of this trend.

Published originally by Firefly Games, http://www.firefly-games.com/, and presently by Green Ronin, Faery’s Tale is an enchanting game great for kids, and sophisticated enough for adults.

For starters you play a faery, a denizen of the Bright Wood.  You can play a Friendly Faery like a pixie, sprite, brownie or a pooka. Or you can play a Dark Faery like a fallen faery or a goblin.   You can encounter intelligent animals, other faery types, hags, witches, trolls, even humans and dragons.

Characters are defines, stat wise by their Attributes (Mind, Body and Spirit) and Gifts (magical abilities).  There are also boons, titles and charms.  Archetypes are called “Patterns” and think it gives it a nice mystical feel.  Some faeries have natural gifts, others can be “bought”.  Titles can likewise be bought.

The rules themselves are very easy.  It is a simple dice-pool system based on the number you have for your necessary Attribute and Gift.  So sneaking past a sleeping dragon might need Body and Acrobat. So if your faery has a Body of 2 and Acrobat 3 you roll 5 dice.  Odd numbers are not counted and evens are a “Success”.  The Narrator or Game Master decides how man Success are needed to complete the task.  So she decides 3 Success are need to sneak past the dragon then they need at least 3 dice to come up to even numbers.  A 6 “explodes”, allowing you to roll it again for maybe another success.  That simple. All sorts of contests can be resolved this way.

The book gives all sorts of examples of play and suggestions, all the while never forgetting that the target audience for this is children and their adults.

Frankly. I love this little game.  Like many I think I bought it to see what I could mine for other games, but finding not only a good little game but an extremely well written and though out one that works for both children and adults.

If you have young children that you want to introduce to gaming, then this is the game for you.

I also have to add.  The art in this book is fantastic.  It captures the feel of the game perfectly.

I can see using this in conjunction with or even as a part of another game.  Something like Witch Girls Adventures, Ghosts of Albion or even D&D 4.

E is for Eldritch

Eldritch

I love that word.  So much cooler than "magic" or even "arcane".  Eldritch implies something old, even occult.  If you put the word Eldritch in your book's title, chances are not just good I'll look at it, it is nearly a guarantee.

Eldritch Wizardry

This is one of the first books I ever got for OD&D.  It took me a bit to realize that OD&D was essentially the same as Holmes Basic D&D (I had not gotten my 3 LBBs yet).  But I loved this book all the same.  It introduced Druids (which I played like a witch), psionics and demons to D&D.  I had of course already seen all of these in AD&D, but to have this little book was like finding some lost, eldritch even, treasure.
Of course I could never buy this one near me.  The cover prevented that, heck even the game store I ordered it from (which would late go on to become my Favorite Local Game Store) even kept it behind their counter.  Thankfully I had parents that didn't mind me spending my hard earned money on this stuff and I think I paid 18.00 for my old copy.  Which at the time seems insane for such a small book! (1985).
Today, good copies are much more expensive and even fair quality ones go for more than twice what I paid.
Despite the fact that the "D&D" I play now is fairly far removed from this book, and other books have super-ceded and surpassed it, I still like to pull it out every so often and remind myself of the wonder it used to bring me and how can I capture that same feeling for others. Plus I am convinced that this cover inspired this newer picture of Demogorgon (who was introduced in this book) from Hordes of the Abyss.

Eldritch Secrets Vol 1.
This extremely attractive book is full of all sorts of new spells, feats and magic items for all the spell-casting classes in Pathfinder (or the 3.x product of your choice).
The vast majority of this book is devoted to spells and there a spells here for every need and situation.  There a few new feats and some magic items, but the spells here are the main course.
There are several useful Appendices including Spells by Descriptor, School and use.

At 12 bucks this product is not exactly a steal, but really, really close.  The art and layout is fantastic and you get a printer friendly version as well.

Eldritch Witchery

This is the only book in my list here I have not bought.  That is because I wrote it!
It is due out from Elf Lair Games sometime (it's still in editing and layout).

With this book I wanted to capture everything eldritch about the witch class.  So unlike some of my other books, this book also has a Warlock class.  It is also different from my Basic D&D book "The Witch".  Though all three classes together would make a nice full picture of the witch as she has appeared through out the history of RPGs.
Plus this book is designed to be used with the Spellcraft & Swordplay game.  It *can* be used with OD&D/S&W, but you would need to modify somethings a touch.
Obviously this is my homage to Eldritch Wizardry, though there is plenty more to my EW. No psionics.

Other "Eldritch" Games 
I also bought these games based on the title alone.

Monte Cook's Book of Eldritch Might and The Complete Book of Eldritch Might.
The definitive sources for magic in the 3.x game.  I have these, but never really used them very much.  They were great reads though.

Eldritch Role-Playing System
I agree with what some others have said, cool concept, cool game, bad layout.  Still though.  There is some very cool ideas here. I enjoyed it and can mine it for ideas for other games.

Eldritch Ass Kicking
This is a rather cool game of magical battles.  I got it when it first came out, but forgot about it.  I looks like a very fun game or maybe even ideas for a sub-game in a larger magical based one.  I do like how the skills were used and how it is expected that wizards do everything with magic.  So this not a magic-lite game!
I also love the art work, but I have been a fan of Thomas Denmark's art for a long time.
There are even some add-ons for the game.

White Dwarf Wednesday #11

It's still Wednesday!

White Dwarf issue #11 has the magazine continuing it's stride.  We are getting close to the time when I had started playing, so I am coming into territory I find a little more familiar.

First off, is that a spacesuit she is wearing?  I am not sure, but I know this is not Dragon.

Getting right in to the articles, we have some new firearms for Traveller.  I think I had a bad photo copy of this article cause I remember trying to convert it to Star Frontiers some years later.  I remembered it because of the Stormtrooper on page 7.  Try doing that these days!

The Fiend Factory introduces us to some familiar to us now; the Witherstench, Sheet Phantom, and the Berbalang.  The others were also interesting and I am getting more curious on how the monsters were chosen.

What might be the highlight of the issue is the one page rules (and 2 page map) on the D&D bar fight.  I wonder if Lew Pulsipher has updated this at all?  Challenge to the OSR: Come up with rules for a bar fight, accounting for all the things found in a bar and make it easy and fun to use!  Right now I could print thi sout and use it in 3.x or 4e without much work.

Open Box gives us a review on Runequest (9/10) and SPI's Middle-Earth (5/10).
Also we are treated to a review of D1, D2 and D3 in their original format. Don Turnbull gives it a rare 10/10.  But this is a classic, reading the review gives you the sense of when this was all new. AD&D has arrived and the RPG hobby will never be the same.

We are treated(?) to an April Fools class, the Weakling.  We will see something similar in a future Dragon article, the Hopeless Character.
More of Four Winds and ads.

Speaking of which this the first issue where we are treated to this ad:

I have heard that this is Gary Gygax's daughter.  This ad is so 70s. The future is silver hot pants and big laser guns.

Willow and Tara: Doctor Who Adventures in Time & Space

I think it is an obvious conclusion, but if Willow and Tara had been characters during Russel T. Davies run of Doctor Who, they would have fared far, far better than they did on some other show.  Heck even under Steven  "Tipping the Scales" Moffat they would have been better off.

But that is the fantastic thing about RPGs.  They let us go places and do things we otherwise never could.

So what you have Willow and Tara been like as companions to the Doctor?

Willow, the Doctor, Tara and the Dodecahedron (my clock-face d12)

Well let's take them back a bit to when they were younger, maybe when Tara first showed up on the show.  Given that it is tempting then to use my WitchCraft RPG stats as a point of origin.  But there is an issue with that.  There is no magic really in the Doctor Who universe.  There are plenty of things that look like it and there are psychic abilities, but nothing like the magic I typically have the girls doing.  So for completeness sake I am going to look at stats I did about the same time the 10th Doctor was doing his thing. Something like my Fudge, Chill or Mutants and Masterminds stats. So maybe instead I'll go with their ages then.

So here is an idea.  Play up Willow's tech back ground a lot more.  She becomes, what is known in the game is a Boffin. Some one that can argue with the Doctor on tech and science. Sort of like what River Song can do now or how Romana was.   Tara is still shy and quiet, but she has a very good reason, she is psychic.  Like scary psychic. Makes for some great plots and gives me something weird and alien to work with, maybe even giving her some Carrionite ancestry.

I like it.

Willow Rosenberg (circa 2006)

Story Points: 12

Attributes
Awareness 2
Coordination 2
Ingenuity 6
Presence 3
Resolve 4
Strength 2

Skills
Athletics 1
Convince 1
Craft 2
Fighting 1
Knowledge 4
Marksman 0
Medicine 2
Science 4
Subterfuge 0
Survival 1
Technology 4
Transport 1

Traits
Ambidextrous (not in the book, but in my reality), Attractive, Boffin, Photographic Memory, Technically Adept, Insatiable Curiosity

Equipment
Laptop, Smart Phone (PDA Phone)

Home Tech Level: 5

Nationality: American
Profession: Software Engineer
Education: B.S. in Computer Science, 2003 University of California, Magna Cum Laude


Tara Maclay (circa 2006)

Story Points: 10 (2 points used)

Attributes
Awareness 4
Coordination 2
Ingenuity 4
Presence 2
Resolve 3
Strength 3

Skills
Athletics 1
Convince 0
Craft 1
Fighting 1
Knowledge 3
Marksman 0
Medicine 1
Science 2
Subterfuge 1
Survival 1
Technology 2
Transport 1

Traits
Attractive, Animal Friendship, Empathic, Psychic, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Code of Conduct, Eccentric

Equipment
Cellphone

Home Tech Level: 5

Nationality: American
Profession: Part time QMHP.
Education: B.A. in Art History, 2003 University of Southern California, Cum Laude,
M.A. in Psychology, Counseling emphasis, 2005 University of Southern California.

Looks good to me.  Now to see if they will ever run into Vastra and Jenny.

D is for Doctor Who

One of my favorite TV shows ever is Doctor Who.
I discovered it back in the 80s on PBS and was hooked.  Of course my dream was always to have a Doctor Who RPG.  There was a Doctor Who by FASA, and I liked it, but I never got a chance to play it much.

Well 2005 rolls around and we got a new Doctor Who on TV! Yeah! and A few years later we also got a new Doctor Who RPG! Double Yeah!  And I got to play-test it!!

And I know I am not the only one excited about it.  Doctor Who related posts are some of my most viewed.

Well there is a new version out and I wanted to let you all know about it.


Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space is a great and worthy game to bear the name of the highly acclaimed "restart" of the Doctor Who series.

Using a simple 2d6 + attribute + stat + mod, roll over target number system, DW:AiTaS though goes beyond what is typically since in RPGs. Talking and Running are preferable to fighting, just like in the show and there many ways to measure success.

The system is really, really simple. In fact once you get the hang of it it "disappears" much like Unisystem does.

The system is similar to Unisystem and even GURPs, but not as "crunchy". This is a game of normal humans and the occasional alien battling foes that out match them, out gun them and out "tech" them. You are going to need to be very clever or lucky (or both!). While this could have fell into the Call of Cthulhu end of the spectrum on hero survival, heroes are expected to survive and even win.

There are two versions of this game out.  The Original or 10th Doctor version and the new 11th Doctor version.

For the 11th Doctor edition what do have?  Well the trade dress and artwork is all from the 11th Doctor/Moffat era.   But if that were all then there would not be much need to buy this.  There is an easy to use "Read This First" file, all the important stuff in two pages.  There are characters from the Matt Smith run, so The Doctor, River, Amy and Rory. All the new monsters (and the old faves) like the Atraxi, Cybermen, New Paradigm Daleks, and the Silurians. In fact there is quite a bit of "new stuff" that feel this is much more of an update than a simple re-edit and design.

Note: If you have the 10th Doctor version then C7 has the files you need for free.

Now the game is supposed to be played with 2 6-sided dice (2d6 in RPG parlance), but I have this cool 12 sided die with clock faces instead of numbers that is so perfect for Doctor Who that I can't not use it!  Plus as many Who fans know, the d12 is important to Who history.

I have done some character write-ups for Doctor Who: AiTaS, check them out.

• Madame Vastra and Jenny: Everyone's favorite katana wielding, Victorian lesbian Silurian/Humans consulting detectives/warriors for hire.
• And Count Dracula
• And something special later on today!

Dave Chapman did a fantastic job with this game. Not just the writing, but the whole concept.  I love it. I only wish *I* had been the one to do it!

C is for Cthulhu by Gaslight

What do you get if you mix the horror of H.P. Lovecraft with the Gothic Horror tradition of the Victorian age? You get today's C post, Cthulhu by Gaslight.

I love Victorian era games.  They are my favorite actually.  Cthulhu by Gaslight has always been one of those rare hard to find treasures.  Whether or not you play it as a gothic game, a period horror game, a darkly inspired Sherlock Holmes meets Dracula game, or as a Call of Cthulhu game there is something here for all sorts of horror game fans.  It is the chocolate peanut butter cup of horror games; two great tastes that taste great together.

The book is divided up in terms of creating your Victorian age character, the Victorian world, Strange Britain, Gaslight Adventures and an a very nice Appendix on Victorian literature and some handouts.

The Victorian Age Character chapter is typical of a Call of Cthulhu game. Skills and professions are discussed. Some familiarity with Call of Cthulhu is helpful here since this book assumes you have a copy of Call of Cthulhu.  Te times assumed here are 1890 to 1900.  No discussion on Victorian Age characters is complete, or really can even begin without a discussion on social class, which we get during character occupations. This section is expanded over the 2nd Edition with inclusion of common terms from the age.

The Victorian World covers the world of the British Empire including it's place in the world, a time line of important dates and biographies of important people from the time.  My favorite part is the locations in and around London.  This chapter is well researched and great for any Victorian era RPG.

Strange Britain is a great overview of the occult scene in Britain in the 1890s.  Lodges, Fortean events, and a gazetteer of strange sites in the British isles. All of these are great for all sorts of games.  The Cthulhu mythos portion comes later and has some new ideas for old monsters, both mythos monsters and classic ones from the British Isles. The chapter continues with some fictional characters from the time.  Though one might want to figure out how some authors can appear with their fiction creations.  My favorite part though is the Martian Invasion.  H.G. Wells meets H. P. Lovecraft.  Some Victorian adventure campaigns are then discussed.

Gaslight Adventures helps Keepers (Game Masters) with some ready to run adventures; "Night of the Jackals" and "The Burnt Man".

The Appendix is full of great information about various sources of information on Victorian England, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper and Britain in general.  Though if I have a quibble it is that the sources are a bit dated, nothing for example from the last few years.

All in all the 3rd edition is a great update of this great game.

You can buy Cthulhu by Gaslight from Noble Knight Games or DriveThruRPG for older editions and DriveThruRPG for the new 3rd ed.

The "New" Conan movie

Hey all.  Quick one.

I am over at Jason Vey's blog talking about the newest Conan movie.  Anyone else see this?  Come by and let me know what you thought.

http://overpricedpopcorn.blogspot.com/2012/03/review-marcus-nispels-conan-barbarian.html

B is for Basic Clones

I was going to do Bunnies and Burrows today, but I wanted to stick a little closer to my home turf for this one.
BTW if you like, check out Bunnies and Burrows. It really is a classic and a piece of RPG history.

But today I want to talk about Basic Clones.
In the OSR (Old School Renascence) a Basic Clone is a game that emulates the rules of Basic D&D, or about the time frame of 1978 to 1984.  I talked about the D&D Basic Game last year and ACKS yesterday.  In fact I talk so much about it here it has it's own label, Basic.

D&D Basic was always my favorite system for quick and fast play.  D&D Basic has been long out of print and usually can only be found at places like Noble Knight Games or Ebay. So I was thrilled when the Basic clones began to come out.

Basic Fantasy is one of my favorites.  It is a simple game that covers the Basic D&D feel, but incorporates ideas from the later Advanced D&D game. Namely is splits up race (elf, human, dwarf) and class (fighter, cleric, magic-user).  In other words it was D&D like how I used to play Basic D&D anyway.  It is flexible, easy to use and totally free.

Labyrinth Lord is the biggest and arguably the most popular Basic clone.  It is closer to Basic D&D than BFRPG is, but for me it lacks a little of the charm.  Not to say that LL isn't great, it is and both lovingly sits on my shelf.

Dark Dungeons is another Basic clone aimed at emulating the old Rules Cyclopedia.  It is a good effort but feels a bit off to me.  Can't quite figure out why though.

Last year I also talked about the Companion rules. When the B/X version of Basic came out we were promised a book called the Companion rules that would take characters from 14th level to 36th level.  We did get one, but is was part of the BECMI version of Basic and thus not 100% compatible and you would have to be a HUGE D&D geek like me to even care about the differences. Or you have to be these guys, since they wrote their own.

B/X Blackrazor came out with his B/X Companion which I have talked about extensively here and is currently sold out. But it is a great book.

Another book is called the Companion Expansion by Barrataria Games.  It didn't get the same level of hype as the B/X Companion, but it covers much of the same ground.  I have not looked at them together to see how they cover similar topics, but they seem very compatible.  You can get the PDF of Companion Expansion for free at DriveThruRPG and a print copy for 16 bucks at Lulu.

My love for Basic D&D and the Basic clones is what prompted me to make my new witch book, The Witch, for Basic Era Games.  Look for that later this month!

A is for Adventurer Conqueror King System

Welcome to the April A to Z blogging Challenge for 2012.
My name is Tim Brannan and this is my blog, The Other Side.  This month I am going to review Role Playing Games.  I am going to give you my opinions, overviews, reviews and maybe even some fluff or crunch.

For my "A" post I want to talk about Adventurer Conqueror King System.

ACKS (as it is also known) is what is known as a "Retro Clone", that is it takes a modern rule system (the d20 SRD) and make it emulate an older game.  In this case Basic/Expert era (1980-1982) D&D.  I discussed Basic D&D during last years A to Z challenge.

ACKS though is more than that.  Part of the game's premise is it has a definite beginning and end.  In game play characters are limited to 14th level.

Unlike other "Basic" retro-clones (like Basic Fantasy or Labyrinth Lord), ACKS also uses a skill system and complete rules for running and maintaining a kingdom of your own. Typically these kind of rules have shown up in later "Companion" rules.

Depsite the fact that there is nothing here I haven't seen before, I really like ACKS.  My son has been playing in a weekly ACKS game and I helped contribute to the Witch class in the upcoming Player's Companion.

Speaking of witches, my own witch classes from "The Basic Witch" and "Eldritch Witchery" are compatible with the ACKS witch.  You can use the same spells, traditions and magic with all three.  In fact having all three gives you a more complete class.

I have spoken about ACKS before here and here, but the one thing I haven't mentioned is that of the recent batch of retro-clones, ACKS is the best looking one.

Player's Companion promises to be very interesting and hopefully it will take the game to new areas.

Follow my posts for more games!

A to Z Challenge

Tomorrow begins the April A to Z blogging challenge.




This year I am doing it not just once, but twice.
I have signed up my other blog, The Freedom of Nonbelief, to the challenge as well.
I felt that my other blog could also gain from the exposure and it would help me collect my thoughts some on what I think that blog should be about.
So please join me over there as I go through the A to Z of atheism, skepticism and free thought.

Here at the Other Side, I am going to be doing the A to Z of RPGs. I am going to pick a game for each letter and talk about it. I am though having trouble with the letter I. I am thinking I should do In Nomine, but not sure yet.

I am open to suggestions!

If you are coming here from the Challenge, then please leave a link back to your own blog.

Zatannurday: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

Continuing my exploration of the new Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game. So here is everyone's favorite Sorceress Supreme, it's Saturday it must be Zatanna!

We worked this the same night as Justice.  Again, I am happy with this build and see it as a nice compliment to the DCA/M&M3 stats.   Both have a place in my world.

Name: Zatanna
ID: Zatanna Zatara (public)

Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6 (Zee is not a team player, but she has teamed up with John Constantine, Hawkman and Batman)

Distinctions:
Most Power Magician in the World (she is. And all the supernatural baddies know it too)
Celebrity in the Spotlight (Everyone knows who she is and she likes that)
Shades of Grey (Zee sees more grey than most Supers, even ones in the Marvel-verse)

Power Sets
Magic/Sorcery d12
Magical Spells d12, Blast d10, Senses (magical) d10, Teleport d10
Limit: Must be spoken backwards
SFX: Tantric Healing (can reduce stress)
SFX: Area Attack

Specialties 
Mystic d10 (pretty much knows it all)
Cosmic d10
Menace d8
Psych d8

Milestones
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
1xp You uncover some plot that is magical in nature.
3xp You discover some new magical tome or artifact.
10xp You defeat the main villain without magic.

Daddy Issues
1xp You meet someone from your father's past.
3xp You take trauma from one of your father's old enemies or friends.
10 xp You must send your father's soul back to the afterlife to defeat the bad guy.

What Does D&D Sound Like?

What Does D&D Sound like?










D&D sounds like Dio.