I have a guest post up over at Blogging A to Z today.
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
I talk about my past participation and my new Monstrous Monday blogfest.
So far turn out has been great!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
What is going on at White Dwarf?
If you come here for my White Dwarf Wednesdays you know I am a big fan of early (pre #100) of White Dwarf.
While I was not a fan of WD after it became devoted only Warhammer I didn't fault it because that was the trend for magazines at the time.
I might be stuck still in the 80s but White Dwarf did move on, in fact there was a recent posting about how we are going to be getting a new and improved WD magazine, http://lasgunpacker.blogspot.com/2012/09/white-dwarf-relaunch.html
But it also looks like Games Workshop is having troubles with some of the older issues. Namely being able to prove what they may or may not own.
A post over at Pork's Expanse explains it better: http://theporkster.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-gw-owns.html
As does Russ Nicholson himself, http://russnicholson.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-horror-of-it-all.html.
I really enjoyed Russ' art in WD's golden age, and I hope he can get this all sorted out.
This and the latest Kickstarter-based-project drama though shows me one thing:
I don't have a clue about what drama is going in the various gaming blogs.
Well, unless I start it of course. I don't think I am being particular obtuse and I do read all the same things everyone else is (I assume). I mean I am not reading message boards hardly anymore (ha! see what I did there) and my Google+ participation is not as high as it could be.
I'll see some good posts and think to myself, "that is a good post, but what the hell are you talking about?"
Maybe it is the nature of blogs. We sometimes feel that everyone is reading the exact same things we are because they are reading at least some of the same things we are.
Random thoughts on a Sunday.
While I was not a fan of WD after it became devoted only Warhammer I didn't fault it because that was the trend for magazines at the time.
I might be stuck still in the 80s but White Dwarf did move on, in fact there was a recent posting about how we are going to be getting a new and improved WD magazine, http://lasgunpacker.blogspot.com/2012/09/white-dwarf-relaunch.html
But it also looks like Games Workshop is having troubles with some of the older issues. Namely being able to prove what they may or may not own.
A post over at Pork's Expanse explains it better: http://theporkster.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-gw-owns.html
As does Russ Nicholson himself, http://russnicholson.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-horror-of-it-all.html.
I really enjoyed Russ' art in WD's golden age, and I hope he can get this all sorted out.
This and the latest Kickstarter-based-project drama though shows me one thing:
I don't have a clue about what drama is going in the various gaming blogs.
Well, unless I start it of course. I don't think I am being particular obtuse and I do read all the same things everyone else is (I assume). I mean I am not reading message boards hardly anymore (ha! see what I did there) and my Google+ participation is not as high as it could be.
I'll see some good posts and think to myself, "that is a good post, but what the hell are you talking about?"
Maybe it is the nature of blogs. We sometimes feel that everyone is reading the exact same things we are because they are reading at least some of the same things we are.
Random thoughts on a Sunday.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Zatannurday: DC Adventures
It is not the best Supers RPG I have ever played, but it is certainly right up there. It is quite a bit of fun and based on the same rules as Mutants & Masterminds. (For the record, I think I enjoy Mutants & Masterminds 2n
Not a lot of material has come out for it yet as compared to the old DC Heroes or even the various Marvel Games. But that is ok with me. I enjoy the DC Universe so much more.
DC ADVENTURES Hero's Handbook
The main core rules book.
DC ADVENTURES Heroes & Villains, Vol. 1 and
DC ADVENTURES Heroes & Villains, Vol. 2
Details of all the heroes and villains (or at least the major ones).
Of course all the new M&M 3rd edition materials can work with this. In particular I found these very useful to help flesh out her world:
Mutants & Masterminds Power Profile #12: Magic Powers
Mutants & Masterminds Power Profile #13: Illusion Powers
And of course my favorite villain, Dracula.
Zatanna is featured in both the Hero's Handbook and Heroes & Villains Vol. 2.
Honestly, I love these books, even if I don't get much of a chance to play. They remind me of the old Marvel Phile in Dragon mag and the Who's Who in The DC Universe.
I love how it describes her other costume more "traditional" than the tux and fishnets.
Reading this I had forgotten about "Bewitched". After reading the Books of Magic, I don't think she really "hangs out" there, but is at least known. Bewitched would be a great location in any game. Putting it in San Fran in my games would ad least gather the attention of the Charmed Ones, but in a DC/M&M game leaving it at 666 Haight St. Though that is a real address. It would have to be like 12 Grimmauld Place in the Harry Potter books. Magical types can see it, but the mundanes can't.
Just wish I had more time to game!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Something Wicked...
Eldritch Witchery is now down with finals edits and sent back to the publisher.
The Witch needs one last look and then finish up layout.
Things are shaping up for a very good time here at the Other Side.
You might notice a new poll in my blog sidebar.
The Witch is done, but I would love to cut down the page size a bit. So, I am thinking of taking out the monsters. You can still get the monsters in EW and some will be posted here. Ultimately it depends on the layout, but I wanted to hear what you all think.
So vote and let your voice be heard.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Things are shaping up for a very good time here at the Other Side.
You might notice a new poll in my blog sidebar.
The Witch is done, but I would love to cut down the page size a bit. So, I am thinking of taking out the monsters. You can still get the monsters in EW and some will be posted here. Ultimately it depends on the layout, but I wanted to hear what you all think.
So vote and let your voice be heard.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I am not afraid to admit this,
But I am in constant awe over the level and depths of research J. K. Rowling did for the Harry Potter series.
Just even the care and attention that went into the names of, well, everyone.
Doing some research on some other topics and it keeps coming back to something I read in Harry Potter. That then leads me somewhere else.
I think what I need to do know is re-read all the books and I will also admit that I am looking forward to her new book, The Casual Vacancy. It sounds, as my friend Andrew puts it, Fab". It sounds like a good British black comedy.
I also think it is a crime there is no official Harry Potter RPG.
Just even the care and attention that went into the names of, well, everyone.
Doing some research on some other topics and it keeps coming back to something I read in Harry Potter. That then leads me somewhere else.
I think what I need to do know is re-read all the books and I will also admit that I am looking forward to her new book, The Casual Vacancy. It sounds, as my friend Andrew puts it, Fab". It sounds like a good British black comedy.
I also think it is a crime there is no official Harry Potter RPG.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Review: Rogue Mage (2012)
What if someone held an apocalypse and nobody came?
That is an over-simplification, but it is the jist of what I get from reading a little bit of the Rogue Mage series by Faith Hunter. Now I need to be upfront here about a few things.
1. I have never read the Rogue Mage books, but they are something I have been aware of and I have been meaning to check out.
2. I know Christina Stiles and have worked with her (somewhat) in the past.
That out of the way, lets look at this game.
Rogue Mage is a new RPG from Christina Stiles and Faith Hunter, published by Misfit Studios.
It is a modern supernatural game, so I am already inclined to like it, but also inclined to be critical of it. I will work to balance this for this review.
The game is a d20 based one, but not 100% d20. There is a list of changes for those of us that pick up a d20 game and try to go as we always have. So no attacks of opportunity, no hp, no classes, no levels and so on. Mostly this resembles Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed quite a bit. The damage tracker is similar, but simpler. There is a Toughness save (like M&M) and Combat is a skill (like other games). So mechanics wise this is really an elegant system, but it doesn't add a lot of new material.
So like M&M all you need is a d20 to play.
Also this is the Player's book only. The Game Master's Guide will be out later.
Chapter 1 covers the basic rules of the game. I thought this was a touch odd, since we have not rolled up any characters yet, but I think the reasoning is that the rules are so simple that leading off with them allows you to read them once and then easily refer back to them as needed.
Chapter 2 covers the setting. You don't need have read the Faith Hunter books to use this game, something I think is very important. The books look good and I am looking forward to reading them, but I have this book now. Briefly the world changed with the return of the Seraphs on June 12, 2011. Day before my birthday. The war that follows engulfs the world and leaves it in shambles; in fact it is known as the Last War. The present day is 2117 (or 105 PA, post ap). Given Rush is in concert as of this writing 2112 would have been cooler for me, but hey. Immediately I am drawn to the parallels between this game and Eden's Armageddon. Except in Armageddon the war is still going on and it's 2018 (that seemed SO far away back when I was playtesting the game). The world though in Rogue Mage is more messed up with the new Ice Age and all the plagues. Tech is all over the place with advanced technology in the regions away from the ice to steam powered retro-tech.
Chapter 3 is Character Creation. There are abilities and skills familiar to most d20 games. Characters though have points in which to buy these similar to many other non-d20 systems and M&M. In addition there are Talents, Drawbacks and Magic. First up are the character races; neomage, third-generation kylen, human, seraph-touched, rogue daywalker, and second unforeseen (mule). These are detailed in the book and fit into the cosmology of the game. Races can be bought with character points, or in the case of humans, character points are awarded back to you. Attributes and skills are bought with points. Talents can either be normal, special or supernatural and have varying point costs. Drawbacks give you back points. There are also Luck points (think Hero or Drama points) and a virtue/taint tracker which is a new twist.
There is a character creation walk-through and many sample characters.
Chapter 4 deals with abilities; Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and so on and saves.
Chapter 5 deals with skills. The list is a familiar one for anyone that has played a d20 game in the last 12 years. Of note though, Combat is a skill now. I rather like that to be honest. A trainable skill instead of a built in aptitude.
Chapter 6 covers Talents. Think of these as something similar to Feats or Qualities, or most like the Powers in True 20. Many of these are Feats from the SRD, but that is fine because they still work here. As you can imagine there are a lot of them here, a little more than 30 pages worth. Then we also get the Drawbacks. These are like negative feats. They take something from you, but you get Character Points in return. We get 10 pages of those.
ASIDE: While this game diverts a bit from the d20 mainstream, there is enough here that is the same to make you wonder if your other d20 resources might work with it. For that answer I would have to say I see no reason why not. Sure you are deviating from the source material more, but mechanically speaking, unless it relates to levels, classes or HP I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Chapter 7 is Magic. There is a lot here, not just in terms of rules for magic, but the spells themselves. Over 46 pages. Again some spells from other games could be converted and used here. One would need to figure out the point cost for casting them. I wonder if the spells from the d20 Call of Cthulhu would be compatible? Or even BESM d20 Advanced Magic. If so, then this game would open up a wealth of playing options.
Chapter 8 details Virtue, Money and Luck. Virtue and Taint stand in for the basic alignment system, but this also has more in-game effects. Virtuous characters are more resilient to some magics for example.
Wealth is a score, rather than a track-able resource like gold pieces. And Luck Points, like I mentioned are like Hero or Drama points.
Chapter 9 discusses Secondary Characters, aka NPCS.
Chapter 10 has equipment. It is an interesting mix of future and past tech and high tech and magic.
Chapter 11 details combat. Combat normally gets it's own chapter, but I would have figured it a little closer to skills. No matter, it is here and it tells you what you need to know. Of importance here is the damage track and conditions rules. Remember, there are no HP here, so this is how you know if you are good or about to die. This combat makes this game a bit more deadly than your typical d20 game.
We end with some fiction from Faith Hunter (each chapter had some too) and an Index.
The layout is clean and easy to read. The art is really good as well and really captures the feel of the game well I think. It is all black and white so it won't kill your printer.
There is a lot I really like about this game. First it has so much potential with things I am already doing. Secondly the fact that is also seems to fit in mechanically with a bunch of books I already have is also great.
I think I would have loved to have seen this as a Unisystem game. But I know there are a lot of reasons why that could not have been done. Plus the rules from Mutants & Masterminds, as I have done in the past, can be tweaked to give you a Unisystem like experience. To be 100% honest if there is anyone out there that could be trusted to do that it is Christina Stiles and Misfit Studios.
Something though is keeping me from absolutely loving this game though. I think it is because I have not read the books it is based on yet. I also think there is not enough information here on how to run a game. That is not a big deal for me really, I have 100s of books that tell me that. I don't know how to run one in this universe.
But these are not the shortcomings of this book; only my understanding of the world of this book.
I do hope the Game Master's Guide comes with a sample adventure.
Here is what I do know. Misfit Studios has done a a great job in the past with Unisystem products and Mutants & Masterminds ones. This rule set seems to be a perfect middle ground for them and I hope that we get to see it for more games.
1. I have never read the Rogue Mage books, but they are something I have been aware of and I have been meaning to check out.
2. I know Christina Stiles and have worked with her (somewhat) in the past.
That out of the way, lets look at this game.
Rogue Mage is a new RPG from Christina Stiles and Faith Hunter, published by Misfit Studios.
It is a modern supernatural game, so I am already inclined to like it, but also inclined to be critical of it. I will work to balance this for this review.
The game is a d20 based one, but not 100% d20. There is a list of changes for those of us that pick up a d20 game and try to go as we always have. So no attacks of opportunity, no hp, no classes, no levels and so on. Mostly this resembles Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed quite a bit. The damage tracker is similar, but simpler. There is a Toughness save (like M&M) and Combat is a skill (like other games). So mechanics wise this is really an elegant system, but it doesn't add a lot of new material.
So like M&M all you need is a d20 to play.
Also this is the Player's book only. The Game Master's Guide will be out later.
Chapter 1 covers the basic rules of the game. I thought this was a touch odd, since we have not rolled up any characters yet, but I think the reasoning is that the rules are so simple that leading off with them allows you to read them once and then easily refer back to them as needed.
Chapter 2 covers the setting. You don't need have read the Faith Hunter books to use this game, something I think is very important. The books look good and I am looking forward to reading them, but I have this book now. Briefly the world changed with the return of the Seraphs on June 12, 2011. Day before my birthday. The war that follows engulfs the world and leaves it in shambles; in fact it is known as the Last War. The present day is 2117 (or 105 PA, post ap). Given Rush is in concert as of this writing 2112 would have been cooler for me, but hey. Immediately I am drawn to the parallels between this game and Eden's Armageddon. Except in Armageddon the war is still going on and it's 2018 (that seemed SO far away back when I was playtesting the game). The world though in Rogue Mage is more messed up with the new Ice Age and all the plagues. Tech is all over the place with advanced technology in the regions away from the ice to steam powered retro-tech.
Chapter 3 is Character Creation. There are abilities and skills familiar to most d20 games. Characters though have points in which to buy these similar to many other non-d20 systems and M&M. In addition there are Talents, Drawbacks and Magic. First up are the character races; neomage, third-generation kylen, human, seraph-touched, rogue daywalker, and second unforeseen (mule). These are detailed in the book and fit into the cosmology of the game. Races can be bought with character points, or in the case of humans, character points are awarded back to you. Attributes and skills are bought with points. Talents can either be normal, special or supernatural and have varying point costs. Drawbacks give you back points. There are also Luck points (think Hero or Drama points) and a virtue/taint tracker which is a new twist.
There is a character creation walk-through and many sample characters.
Chapter 4 deals with abilities; Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and so on and saves.
Chapter 5 deals with skills. The list is a familiar one for anyone that has played a d20 game in the last 12 years. Of note though, Combat is a skill now. I rather like that to be honest. A trainable skill instead of a built in aptitude.
Chapter 6 covers Talents. Think of these as something similar to Feats or Qualities, or most like the Powers in True 20. Many of these are Feats from the SRD, but that is fine because they still work here. As you can imagine there are a lot of them here, a little more than 30 pages worth. Then we also get the Drawbacks. These are like negative feats. They take something from you, but you get Character Points in return. We get 10 pages of those.
ASIDE: While this game diverts a bit from the d20 mainstream, there is enough here that is the same to make you wonder if your other d20 resources might work with it. For that answer I would have to say I see no reason why not. Sure you are deviating from the source material more, but mechanically speaking, unless it relates to levels, classes or HP I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Chapter 7 is Magic. There is a lot here, not just in terms of rules for magic, but the spells themselves. Over 46 pages. Again some spells from other games could be converted and used here. One would need to figure out the point cost for casting them. I wonder if the spells from the d20 Call of Cthulhu would be compatible? Or even BESM d20 Advanced Magic. If so, then this game would open up a wealth of playing options.
Chapter 8 details Virtue, Money and Luck. Virtue and Taint stand in for the basic alignment system, but this also has more in-game effects. Virtuous characters are more resilient to some magics for example.
Wealth is a score, rather than a track-able resource like gold pieces. And Luck Points, like I mentioned are like Hero or Drama points.
Chapter 9 discusses Secondary Characters, aka NPCS.
Chapter 10 has equipment. It is an interesting mix of future and past tech and high tech and magic.
Chapter 11 details combat. Combat normally gets it's own chapter, but I would have figured it a little closer to skills. No matter, it is here and it tells you what you need to know. Of importance here is the damage track and conditions rules. Remember, there are no HP here, so this is how you know if you are good or about to die. This combat makes this game a bit more deadly than your typical d20 game.
We end with some fiction from Faith Hunter (each chapter had some too) and an Index.
The layout is clean and easy to read. The art is really good as well and really captures the feel of the game well I think. It is all black and white so it won't kill your printer.
There is a lot I really like about this game. First it has so much potential with things I am already doing. Secondly the fact that is also seems to fit in mechanically with a bunch of books I already have is also great.
I think I would have loved to have seen this as a Unisystem game. But I know there are a lot of reasons why that could not have been done. Plus the rules from Mutants & Masterminds, as I have done in the past, can be tweaked to give you a Unisystem like experience. To be 100% honest if there is anyone out there that could be trusted to do that it is Christina Stiles and Misfit Studios.
Something though is keeping me from absolutely loving this game though. I think it is because I have not read the books it is based on yet. I also think there is not enough information here on how to run a game. That is not a big deal for me really, I have 100s of books that tell me that. I don't know how to run one in this universe.
But these are not the shortcomings of this book; only my understanding of the world of this book.
I do hope the Game Master's Guide comes with a sample adventure.
Here is what I do know. Misfit Studios has done a a great job in the past with Unisystem products and Mutants & Masterminds ones. This rule set seems to be a perfect middle ground for them and I hope that we get to see it for more games.
White Dwarf Wednesday #31
The editorial is kicked off by Ian Livingstone celebrating the 5th birthday of White Dwarf. The first 10 readers that send in a completed feedback form will get a White Dwarf t-shirt! Also we are again promised a monthly White Dwarf. Let's wait and see when that happens.
Paul Vernon is back and this time he is building towns for D&D. The Town Planner starts it's run this issue with Part 1: Designing and Running Villages. Again, a great, timeless/editionless article. In fact there in nothing here that could not be used with any FRPG.
In an another return Ken St. Andre is back with a mini Tunnels & Trolls solitaire adventure. How mini? Well the first page of the The Mad Dwarf is taken up by an image of said dwarf. The adventure itself runs along the bottom two inches of the magazine for the next 7 pages and then another 6 pages after a bit. So a little more than two pages really. It is done like this due to the "programmed" nature of the solitaire adventure (ie if you do X go to A, if you do Y go to B).
Some new Traveller material in the form of Prior Service from John Conquest. An aside, I never quite understood why any sword type is considered to be basic training in some of the Traveller military. We always played it off as the same reasons Marines get a sabre with their dress uniform. Oddly enough the Marines in Traveller don't get a sword, but the Navy gets Cutlass-1.
Open Box has some cool SciFi entries this month. Task Force Games brings us Federation Space, the Federation controlled area of Starfleet Battles. John Lambshed gives it a 8/10 and says it is a must buy for Starfleet Battles fans. FASA releases four Traveller books this time, Ordeal by Eshaar, Action Aboard, Uragyad'n of the Seven Pillars and The Legend of the Sky Raiders. They are generally well liked, but have their issues. Bob McWilliams gives them 6, 5, 8, and 8/10 for novices and 7, 6, 8, and 9/10 for experts.
Thieves get some love in two books by Gamelords, Thieves Guild (I-IV) and The Free City of Haven. Lewis Pulsipher generally likes them and gives them 9, 7, 7, 8 and 9/10 respectively.
Letters focuses mostly on questions from/about the DMG.
Lewis Pulsipher is back with another article that made that big packet of articles I was reading about this time. Arms at the Ready takes all the weapons tables in AD&D and shuffles them up. Now you can look at a weapon and then see how the attacks are by character class and level. This might not seem to be such a big deal today, but back in the AD&D days various weapons had different attacks versus different ACs. For example there might be no change at all to AC 5 but AC 4 had a +1 to hit. Of course this is because it was called "Armor Class" and not "Defense Score", AC 4 was a different type of armor than AC 5. A point Lewis makes in the article.
RuneRites is back again for Runquest. This time Geoff Winn has Crime and Punishment on the mind. This really is a good companion piece to the city rules above. Sure is for Runequest, but it is also generic enough to work with any game, with some tweaks. The great thing about the early days of gaming was how free everything was. I remember using the RuneQuest demon rules from WD a lot with D&D. This article would work even better.
Starbase has your Traveller needs covered. That is if your need is Additional Deflector Systems. If it is then Antony Cornell and Martin Barrett have you covered. I can easily see this converted over to Star Frontiers, in fact that is what I was starting to do around this time (though SF does not grace the pages of WD till later on).
Treasure Chest has more Amulets & Talismans, this time sent in by readers. Some interesting items too.
Fiend Factory is still doing themes. This time it is a theme+adventure. In Search of A Fool is described as a "D&D" mini adventure. The stats are D&D and not really AD&D, though odd bits of AD&D are mixed in. The monsters this time are all faerie creatures like the Daonie Sidhe (fae), the Leanan-Sidhe (vampire, and different than my own), Lorelei Willow (plant, sounds like something I'd come up with) and the Dendridi (a type of gnome). The adventure is very brief, but great for a side trek. Honestly I read it and it sounds like something I could drop into a 4e game in the Feywild with no modifications.
News, classifieds and ads follow.
All in all this issue felt more "80s" than previous issues. Great content that worked well together.
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