Sunday, July 31, 2011

Gen Con Countdown

Going to Gen Con!  YEAAHHH!
I so need this vacation.

I'f you want to come by and say hi, here are the games I am running.  I like to get to the table early to set up.

RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4

RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4

RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4

Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast.  The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.

Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year.  If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.

I am also running S4 with my boys in our hotel Saturday night.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Zatannurday: Secret Seven

Zatanna is one of the characters of the Secret Seven.
What is cool is she gets to share some page time with another one of my faves, Raven.

But what is going on with Zee's outfit??
Preview of Flashpoint: Secret Seven


Thanks to DC Women Kicking Ass.
This is not from the reboot but rather the alternate timekine/world of Flashpoint, so maybe we will be spared this one again.  I mean I know that Zee is no prude, but this looks like she was shopping over at Marvel. ;)

And I don't have the vaguest idea what this one is about.


This one though, one of the covers is kinda cool.


Zee has this whole Fairuza Balk thing going on.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Ghosts of Albion at Cyphan Con

I am at the Cyphan Con here in Chicago (ok, at Rosemont).


I am in the Gatwick Room of the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont.

  • Friday 7/29, 1:00 to 5:00 for Ghosts of Ablion: Obsession
  • Saturday 7/30, Noon to 4:00 for Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria!

Come by and see me!
If you tell me you saw it on my blog then I'll give you something special.  No idea what that will be to be honest, but I'll find something!!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Dinosauria! Characters: Walter Edwards

Players of "Obsession" will see a familiar face here.

Chief Constable Walter Edwards
Life Points 43
Drama Points 20

Attributes
Strength 3 (+1 Peeler)
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 2
Perception 3
Willpower 2

Qualities
Acute Sense (Vision) (2)
Contacts (supernatural)
Hard to Kill 3 (3)
Peeler (5)
Nerves of Steel (3)
Situational Awareness (2)

Drawbacks
Obligation (Important) (Peeler)
Recurring Nightmares (1)

Skills
Armed Mayhem 4 (+1 Peeler)
Art 0
Athletics 4
Crime 3 (+1 Peeler)
Driving/Riding 1 (+1 Peeler)
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 4
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Languages 1 (English)
Marksmanship 2
Notice 5
Occultism 2
Physician 1
Science 2
Wild Card 0

Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +8
Initiative: +4
Armor: 0
Fear:
Actions: 1 Mental /1 Physical

Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Dodge +6 — Defence
Grapple +8 — Resisted by Dodge
Punch +7 6 Bash
Pistol, small +6 9 Bullet
Truncheon +7 9 Bash

Chief Constable Walter Edwards is no stranger to the occult nature of his city. While he was a regular Peeler he saw something that very humans ever witnessed. He saw a large man trying to rough up a working girl. Edwards, believing he was stopping a potential beating of a dolly-mop rushed in, truncheon ready. What he saw when he got there was not to be believed. The “man” was over 7ft tall and had horns growing from his head and had fire for eyes. The creature laughed a horrible, inhuman laugh, and it ran and jumped over a 12ft. wall. The papers were soon calling the creature the “Spring Heeled Jack”, but you know he was something like the Devil.
He met up with others then, some who had similar stories, other who seemed as strange as the creature, but he learned of a new world that day.
Edwards was given a gift, a special pair of glasses that allow him to see the supernatural world. Ghosts, lines of power, faerie creatures and worse walked the streets of London.
Edwards has starred into the Abyss and it starred back at him. Though unlike so many others he had the courage to take the next step, and the next and the next. Monsters or humans, he represents law and order in this city and law and order he will have!

Heartbreak & Heroines: Dead

I got this email a couple of days ago to let me know that the game Heartbreak & Heroines was no longer going to be funded, and presumably not made.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/caoimhe/heartbreak-and-heroines-rpg

I talked about this game in this post, and I mentioned then I was excited about it.
Almost immediately the controversy started.
There were many posts and threads on RPG.Net including a number of banings, one of which was the author.
Then even more controversy started.  
I wont get into the details, but here are some links.
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?584800-H-amp-H-System-Notes-and-Development
http://errantgame.blogspot.com/2011/07/well-this-is-disturbing.html
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?585252-Recent-Off-Board-Allegations

I don't pretend to know what happened really. The allegations are ugly.

The only thing I do know for certain is now this game is not going to be funded. That likely means it won't get made.

This is a shame really.

There seemed to be some very interesting game design elements and I liked the idea of a game.
This game, and other games that try to do something different like Blue Rose, are needed in this biz.
If anything the various RPG.Net threads, and the speed in which it made it's goal in donation, demonstrate that a game like this is needed and desired by many.

Hopefully someone else will pick up the challenge.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

More procrastination

I KNEW rereading the Gord the Rogue books would come in handy one day.
That and all the hours I spent editing the D&D related Wikipedia articles.


Tim took the Hardest Gary Gygax Quiz in the World and got 100%!


You are a Gary Gygax Dungeon Master. You are a world expert on Gary Gygax. My guess is you are either a former TSR employee or an extremely obsessive fan. You can be proud of your in-depth knowledge - few are so expert in any subject! Also, I would like to be in your D&D group.


Paladin Code: You completed this quiz without using Google.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Here there Be Dragons: Aži Dahāka

We have the first monster we want to show off for Liam's book "Here There Be Dragons". This one has roots in ancient myths, and also something we have wanted to use for a while.

BTW we are not 100% set on what version of the game system we want to use.  I opted for Basic tonight since I have been in a Basic mood.  Liam wants 3.5.

I am releasing the following text as Open under the Open Gaming License.
Aži Dahāka, the Demon Dragon is copyright 2011, Liam Brannan

Aži Dahāka
Armor Class: -5 [24]
Hit Dice: 22d8+21** (120 hp)
No. of Attacks: 3 bites or Breath Weapon or Claws
Damage: 3d6 / 3d6 / 3d6
Special: Claw Attack, Breath weapons, Poison
Movement: 60 ft. / Fly 120 ft.
No. Appearing: 1 (Unique)
Saves As: Fighter 24
Morale: 11
Treasure: Fx3
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 10,000

Aži Dahāka is believed to be the offspring of the Mother of All Dragons and the Prince of Demons. Certainly his heritage is evident in his form. He has three dragon heads, each of red, blue and black dragons. He has a long black, serpent like body with two tails and four wings.

Aži Dahāka is a unique creature and has been worshiped as a god in the past. He has divine parentage but is wholly a mortal beast and can be slain, though with difficulty.

Aži Dahāka is not the smartest of dragon- or even demon-kind, he is however a very clever combatant and knows how to take advantage of many situations. If he is out numbered he will attempt to reduce the opposition with his breath weapons.

Bite: The primary attack of Aži Dahāka is his massive bite. He may attack with all three heads per round on separate targets. On a roll of a natural 20 Aži Dahāka bites the victim whole and swallows.
Aži Dahāka has a second set of teeth in his throat that can automatically do 1d8 points of damage per round unless the victim is freed.

The bite of Aži Dahāka also includes a very deadly poison. Each successful hit that causes at least 1 point of damage will require the victim to make a saving through vs. Poison.

Breath Weapons: Aži Dahāka as appropriate has a breath weapon for each head. Though the chaotic nature of his birth has gifted the black head emits an electrical blast, the blue head breathes fire and the red one spits acid. Each head will do 2d10 (2-20) hitpoints of damage per attack. Aži Dahāka may attack with two heads simultaneously per round.

Claw Attack: Aži Dahāka can rear up on his hind legs to make a claw based attack. This is the only attack he can make in that round. He can rise up and attack with both claws. The attacks do 1d10 points of damage each and can hit creatures normally immune to normal attacks, i.e. requiring magic to hit.

Aži Dahāka is a strong fighter, but knows the value of retreat if the combat is going against him. If forced to retreat, he can alter his skin color like that of a octopus and blend into the background. This gives him 95% invisibility. Since this is a natural effect, See Invisible or Detect Magic will not locate him.