Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Never Was for Unisystem (and maybe other games)

Note:  This actually started out as a typo over on the Eden Studios message boards.
Someone (sorry forgot who) asked "What was the greatest monster that never was" but had meant to ask "what was the greatest monster that ever was".  Or something to that effect.  So I decided that the greatest monster was "The Never Was", a manifestation of the fear, uncertainty and doubt that can plague someone.  This can be used in any game, but was written with Unisystem and Ghosts of Albion in particular in mind.



The Never Was

“Fear? We have demons aplenty for that. The Never Was has a subtler palette but is no less of a threat.”
- From the Journal of Tamara Swift

Life is beset with obstacles, roadblocks and some outright tragedies. A promising young doctor has to drop out of medical school to care for her elderly father. A car accident cuts short not a life, but the career of an aspiring musician. An unexpected pregnancy keeps a young couple from moving out of state to pursue a dream job.
These things are not uncommon and most times they are random and beyond the control of the people involved. Sometimes they are even the crossroads people need.

Such is not the concern of the Never Was.

The Never Was is a manifestation, not of our fears, but of our doubts, insecurities, and hesitations. Those moments of “could I?”, the decisions that later lead us to question the alternate. It, for an “it” it is, feeds on these doubts, these moments of regret that people inflict on themselves and thus cause us to doubt all our actions. Whether it is a demon, a type of faerie or something more primal is unknown.

The Never Was in Your Game
Anytime a character regrets a decision or hesitates on an important choice the Never Was can manifest. The more important the individual, ie the more effective their choices have (such as the Cast on the rest of the world) the more likely they are to be its prey.

Once manifest the Never Was often appears as a paragon. It is everything the character wants to be but isn’t due to their own doubts. Buffy would see the Never Was as competent Slayer, firm in her duty and resolve. Others would see similar paragons of themselves. The Never Was seeks to undermine the Cast in their own rolls, make their uncertainty and doubt grow. All the time it feeds on these negative emotions.

As it feeds, it causes more and more doubt. For every Act, the Never Was preys on the Cast a Willpower roll (doubled) is required to make any but the most basic of decisions. For every failure, all future checks are at a cumulative -2. This will progress until the end of the episode.  (This could also be a Will save at -2 for d20).

Defeating the Never Was
The Never Was is easily manifest, and just as easy is the way to defeat it. The Cast members must remove their own doubts. This is not though accomplished as easy. Usually, this is accomplished in a symbolic way; the defeat of some enemy that has bested the Cast before. It could be completing a difficult social task, such as finally getting the never to ask a particular guess star on a date and getting them to accept.

The Never Was is not a combat creature. It’s ability scores are always that of the character it is emulating, only greater. The Never Was though is not without weaknesses. For all it’s the power it is an empty creature, hollow. Getting it to face its own inadequacies will cause it to feed on itself. By this, it means usually having the Cast confront their own weakness (which is also in the Never Was) and turning it into their strength. The quiet, shy Cast member still has her friends. The dumb, combat character has a heart of gold or is loyal. The hesitant character still makes the right choices in the end.

Defeating the Never Was should be an affirmation of the character’s will to continue their good fight, or just their will to live.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Essentials. D&D 4, Phase 2.

I picked up the new Essentials book, Heroes of the Fallen Lands, yesterday.  I'll pick up the Rules Compendium a bit later.  First I want to see is Essentials is the way to go for D&D4.  So far it looks like it is.

There is a lot going on in HotFL.  First there is a thin meta-plot running through all the new D&D books; once the world was great and powerful, but now great kingdoms have fallen and the world is slowly emerging from darkness.  It is a neat idea, but to do it in my own games I'd figure out what exactly happened.  I like what WotC did with the Realms, maybe I'll try something like that. It is like Blackmoor after the global shift, or Krynn after the Cataclysm or even Greyhawk after the Rain of Colorless Fire.  But until then let's talk about what I do have and so far that is just HotFL and the "Red Box". HotFL picks up where the Red Box leaves off, but one can start here as well.

HotFl gives us four classes, Cleric, Fighter, Rough and Wizard.  There are "builds" for each, which remind me a lot of the old 2nd Ed AD&D "kits". All the classes have a build and the Fighter has two, Knight and Slayer.  The Cleric/War Priest also has two Domains (from 3rd and 4th Ed).  So my first reaction is that this D&D is trying invoke memories of older editions.   The next book in the line, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, gives more classes, druids, paladin, ranger (with two builds),  and the warlock. So I am certainly going to pick that up.  The roles (striker, defender, leader and controller) are still around, but their role seems a bit diminished.  In fact they are only mentioned in terms of what they do in combat, not much else.

There is some recycled art here, that is fine, and some new art as well. The big thing here is how the rules have been re-laid out.  Melee and Ranged attacks are presented now in the same format as an "at-will" power.  While not exactly, it is good to see this.  Also included are bull rush, attacks of opportunity and grab.  Brings everything inline nicely.

The main races are still here.  There is still the Eladrin-Elf split and Halflings look more and more like Kender everyday, but this should please most everyone except for the gnome fans.  Races get a bonus to one stat and a choice of a second stat.  Seems ok to me.  Makes the races a touch more flexible I think.

In general character creation is streamlined and made easy.  Now like many old-time players I never had an issue with D&D character creation in any edition, but there is a new level of clarity here that I really like.  Alignments are more streamlined, though they are the same as the D&D4 PHB ones.  I do miss "Chaotic Good" and "Lawful Evil" I just don't miss the dogmatic adherence to them.  I like that my devils are now "Evil" instead of "Always Lawful Evil".   There are some more bits on fleshing out your character's personality, but this is D&D not Vampire the Masquerade.  The section on the Gods seems the least changed.  

There is an entire chapter on Powers. Great detail is gone into what powers are, how they work and what happens with them.  A greater distinction is made now between Martial powers and magical ones.  Obviously this is get at the criticisms of "why can my rogue only do this once per day?"
The four classes make up the bulk of the book.  Again I see many similarities here with 2nd Ed AD&D with it's Classes and sub-classes and kits.  So you can be a Fighter, but the type of fighter you are is either a Slayer or a Knight.  Yes Slayers and Knights can also use each other's exploits (Martial based powers).  The powers again a clearer and better explained.

Races come after the classes, which might seem a bit backwards to many, but I'll go with it.  Other than some changes to their bonuses they are mostly the same, even the same art for the most part.  Skills and feats are likewise only tweaked here and there.
There is some equipment listed as well.  But no rituals.

What strikes me most is how much care and attention has been given to re-writes.  Sure there will be many that look as Essentials and say they have all this stuff. And for the most part that is true.  But there is enough changed here and presented in such an ordered fashion that to me at least it was solidly worth the 20 bucks.  It is also a great idea as a gift to that non-roleplaying friend that wonders what it is you do all the time.

So who is this for?

D&D4 has some problems it must overcome first.  The biggest is who should play it followed by why should they choose this over some other game.

The first part is easy really.  The game is aimed at all players.  While the Red Box is firmly aimed at starting players or lasped players, Essentials is for everyone past the Red Box stage.

But that is not Essentials biggest issue.  Essentials is now fighting for a market that is populated by Pathfinder, OSR books (which is still not a majority by any stretch of the imagination) and most of all D&D 4.  Yes, Essentials biggest rival is it's own older brother.

(yes that binder is full (almost) of errata.  What would rather have, a company that never put out errata or one that puts out too much? It also has my favorite bits of various third party products.)

I think it is obvious that Wizards would love to see all "D&D" players, regardless of current system come back and try D&D 4 again, via the Essentials line.  And I also think that their work has been earnest.   I still think that D&D4 is one of the most well designed games of the last 10 years.  By the way, in case you are keeping score, Essentials was released almost 10 years later to the day as D&D 3.0.

While I am not quite crazy enough to suggest this, but I would think it would be nice if the members of the OSR gave D&D4 Essentials a try.  Of course I tell D&D 4 players that they need to play 1st ed AD&D and/or try out one of the clones all the time too.

(the Heir Apparent?)

In the end I give the new D&D 4 credit.  They seemed to have learned from past errors and they have listened to the fans and have tried to build a D&D4 that appeals to most.  Sure some people will hate it, there always are people like that, but I think that if you liked D&D 4 you should like this.

If you want to read more about the new direction for 4e, there is an interview at The Escapist with Mike Mearls.

Monday, September 13, 2010

DriveThruRPG Blog Support - September

To help me thank you the loyal reader, DriveThruRPG has given me a code for you to use over the next month.

The gift code HotAugustGames2010 gives 20% off all products of the following publishers:

Cubicle 7
Dream Pod 9
Fabled Environments
Fat Dragon Games
Goodman Games
Erisian Entertainment  - have not seen their products before, but they look neat.
Generic Universe Publishing
Holistic Design
Kallisti Press - Their "Full Light, Full Steam" is really cool.
Louis Porter Jr. Design
OtherWorld Creations
Palladium Books
Rogue Games
RPG Objects
Savage Mojo

Enjoy!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

D&D4 Essentials Round-up

Ok, D&D 4 Essentials is now out.  I have the "Red Box" Starter and will be picking up the new "Heroes of the Fallen Lands" soon.  With yesterday as World Wide D&D day (and the 10th Anniversary of me picking up the "new" D&D 3.0 Players Handbook) I thought I would see what others are saying about their experiences with the new books.  Now I did not get a chance to play yesterday myself.  Most Game Days I never make it to my FLGS, but usually get a game in here at home.   But some still managed to make it and post some of their thoughts.  Even those that didn't make have something to say.

You have read my thought here and here.  How do others think?  Well I guess it depends on who you ask.

Rob Conley over at Bat in the Attic has review of the starter set, http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2010/09/essentials-of-d-starter-set.html.  He thinks the team at Wizards gets an A for effort, but more was needed.  I tend to agree with that, but keep in mind that anyone, like myself or Rob, who has a copy of one of the old Basic rules from the 80s is not the target audience here.  I think he sees that as well.   In the end he mentioned the game he played was fun.

Paul at the Hopeless Gamer gives a very detailed review/overview of Heroes of the Fallen Lands,  including comparisons to the D&D 4e books from two-years ago.  http://thehopelessgamer.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-d-4th-ed-not-45-heroes-of-fallen.html  Not to spoil the big reveal, but he does it anyway, D&D 4 Essentials is not D&D 4.5.  If you are a D&D4 player now and are on the fence about Essentials, then this is a good read.

Points of Light is a D&D blog that is heavy on the D&D4 content.  Antioch posted his take on the new Essentials as well.  http://daegames.blogspot.com/2010/09/heroes-of-fallen-lands-review.html as well as his earlier post on the Starter Set, http://daegames.blogspot.com/2010/09/essential-impressions.html.  His impression is that this adds a new starting point for players of the game.

And finally Tim Shorts over at Gothridge Manor says, make it you own Game Day and play what you like.  He admits that 4e is not for him but he can see why people like it.   I think his plan to play some Old School games next year is good one.  I think more 4e players should try their hand at a Pre-1985 version of D&D sometime.  http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/2010/09/red-box-game-day-or-how-i-learned-to.html

Of course not every likes the new retro-turn of D&D, James and his readers over at The Underdark Gazette point out that Wizards already had a retro game, AD&D 1st ed.  http://underdarkgazette.blogspot.com/2010/09/retro-game-experience.html.

I think through all of this one thing that is clear is that Wizard's attempt to get a "retro experience" is being perceived very differently.   I played the new Essentials.  I liked it, a lot. It felt retro.  But really if I want retro I have the those games already, I bought them when they were new, 4E scratches a different itch.

I am looking forward to hear and seeing more of the new Essentials line, but mostly I am looking forward to just getting down and doing some gaming.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Dragon and the Phoenix: Episode 3

Episode 3: The Serpent of Destiny 


December 13, 2002 Friday

The cast are transported to the legendary Thebes of the Gods. Here they learn that the god Set has been corrupting Willow with magic for his own nefarious needs. The God Osiris also has issues with Willow. The Goddess Isis intercedes when they learn that Willow and Tara’s battle with Leviathan was foretold on millennia old cartouches. Isis gives Willow an amulet to protect her from dark magic.

Story Arc and Game Design elements: Willow receives The Ankh to protect her from “dark magic”. Try to make some sense out of “dark magic addiction” to a group that has a collective 90+ years on writing about magic and witches. Do away with magic addiction rules.
Soundtrack: Santana “Black Magic Woman”.

Notes and Comments:I can't tell you how much I hated the magic addiction rules. Well, not the rules themselves, but the concept from the show. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! It was everything I felt went wrong with the show. Playtesting rules for them was like polishing a turd.  We opted for a different metaphor.  We originally wanted to go with Taint from WitchCraft.  But for various reasons we didn't.  I think if I were to do this again I might go with Taint and the Ankh would still draw off the Taint from Willow.  The Ankh plays a greater role in the Willow-centric episode "Shadows in the Rain" later in the season.

We also wanted to add more mythos for other cultures to our game, this is the Egyptian one. Dealt with the whole Osiris nonsense. We began more myth building here and establish that Willow and Tara had been through other lives before and were together then too. Their connection to Leviathan via Set is also established.

Author Kirk Baldridge was one of the people that helped me with the Road Stories ideas and this was his second adventure.  His first was second season episode, Deep in the Heart. 
The cover was designed by Kitten artist Shinnen, whose work I have always liked.  The interior art was done by me and featured some Egyptian cartouches that detailed the events coming up in the series. These disparate events and prophecies became part of the larger Elder Prophecies which has appeared off and on throughout all my games.  Again basically saying that if a world does not have a living Willow and a living Tara it is doomed to be consumed by Leviathan.  Sorry for your world if this not the case. ;)

The plot kicks up next week in Episode 4 where we meet our enemy and Tara becomes a stripper.

What is Old School?

I read a lot of old school and OSR (not always the same thing) blogs.  I admire the passion felt by these players and I can understand where they are coming from even if I can't honestly consider myself part of the "old school movement".  After all what I share with these folks, outside of age, is we all started out pretty much the same.  As the years went by we all tried different games.  The main difference is that these players went back to those older games and I kept going on.

I love my old D&D books, I love my clones, but I also like Pathfinder and D&D4 and a slew of other games that are no where near D&D.  But this all has gotten me thinking.

What is Old School?

Is it just playing an older, maybe unsupported, set of rules?  Is it a DIY thing related to the first point?  Is it objecting to a rules-set? (cause I have to say that by in large the old school crowd seems to bitch more about D&D4 than the D&D4 crowd does about old-school).  Is it doing more with less?

What makes you want to play OD&D or one of it's clones, cousins or copies?

I'll be blunt about my reasons, it's nostalgia, pure and simple.  I like to play the older games because I liked them 20+ years ago.

Tell me your reasons why you play an old-school version of D&D (original print or clone).

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ken St. Andre responds to James Shipman

Long time readers here know of the whole James Shipman debacle.  Briefly he stole art and content and is selling it as his own.  Here are some links to bring you up to speed.

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2009/12/outlaw-press-uses-stolen-art-and.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/01/more-from-outlaw-press.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/06/outlaw-press-is-back-and-still-stealing.html

Well there is new movement on this front, none other than Tunnels and Trolls' own Ken St. Andre.

Ken has posted and open letter to RPGNet

An open letter to James Shipman from Ken St. Andre:
James,

I received your package yesterday with some surprise. Received six copies of the revised Gristlegrim Dungeon. This dismays me, as I told you to quit publishing it back in January of this year when I broke with you. If this parcel was an attempt at a reconciliation between us, then I appreciate the effort you took, but I reject it. Our friendship and partnership is broken and done forever. I do not wish to collaborate on Gristlegrim or any other project with you. Not now! Not ever again! You had no right to add your material to my work. You have no right to continue publishing and selling it. Please stop!

James, you no longer have any right to publish or sell my works. We have no written contracts. We have no formal accounting of royalties. Your habit of sending money and or copies of the items is no longer good enough. Any informal agreements we may have made in 2009 and earlier are terminated on my side of the deal. I no longer wish to associate with you, either professionally or informally.

Find some other outlet for your creativity. Leave me, and leave Tunnels and Trolls, alone. I am rejecting any further association with you.

I hope this is clearly understood. Do not publish anything with my name on it as author. Do not presume to collaborate with me on my projects. Do not keep attempting to infiltrate trollhalla.com under false names--you are banned and unwelcome on that site. Do not attempt to rewrite the history of Tunnels and Trolls on Wikipedia or any other online sources. Do not send me money. Do not send me product. I do not want it from you. However, I am under no legal obligation to send back things that arrive unsolicited in the mail. I won't waste the money or the effort to send them back. I am not interested in theatrical gestures. I simply wish to terminate our association and to move on with other things in life.

I hereby reclaim my rights to anything I ever gave you to publish. In particular, I assert my right to the novel Griffin Feathers which consists entirely of my own work with some input in the short sections of the book from the members of Trollhalla.

I am forwarding the "royalties" that you sent me to Jeff Freels, the artist whose work you have re-used to illustrate this version of Gristlegrim. He deserves compensation for his work.

James, I am not angry at you, and I do not hate you. I simply will not associate with you ever again. For several years we were, I thought, very good friends. Outlaw Press did a lot for Tunnels and Trolls. You know why that time has ended. Let it go. Move on.

James, I will be publishing this letter in open forums on the internet, so that all the world can see how I feel, and how I react to what I can only believe are attempts to manipulate me and to gain control of Tunnels and Trolls. If you have no ulterior intentions, then forgive me for being suspicious, but I no longer feel that I can trust you.

James, you have your own unique style of creativity. Please go and do your own thing, and stop messing with me and with Tunnels and Trolls.


Sincerely,
Ken St. Andre

He also posted it over on the Big Purple, http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=12781787#post12781787