This year, my theme is "Wasted Lands as my Dungeons & Dragons Replacement."
And to put my money where my mouth is, I am going to make Wasted Lands versions of 31 of my past D&D characters from the last 45 years. Now I understand that most people will have no interest at all in *my* characters. So this will be less about how to convert that character on a one-to-one basis and more about how to get the proper feel for the character, and the particular version of Dungeons & Dragons being used.
I am also going to bring in bits from NIGHT SHIFT to show how flexible O.G.R.E.S. is and talk about Thirteen Parsecs a bit too.
But the real goal here is to show how you can have fun with a great fantasy RPG and support the small publishers out there at the same time.
Yes, yes. D&D is a fine game. We would not be here 50 years later if it wasn't. But there are also other great, games that offer the D&D "experience" and none of the D&D overhead.
The center open leads to a long tunnel going down. At the end of this tunnel is an alcove. Stepping into the alcove activates the portal. The portal leads back to the surface.
Through the portal, the surface world can be seen.
The portal is one way, once through the characters can not go back.
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That's it! 12 levels, 365 rooms. Undead, goblins, spaceships, and more. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Armor of Shadows, this black leather armor casts both Mage Armor and Intangible Cloak of Shadows. The Queen doesn't wear this armor due her other protection magics.
Helm of Telepathy
Helm of Darkness. As a Helm of Brilliance, but only darkness.
Cauldron of potions
Amulet of Protection
5x Bags of holding
There are no traps here. The Queen honestly did not expect anyone to get this far.
Thirteen Parsecs: Adventures Beyond the Solar Frontier is the latest tabletop role-playing game project from Elf Lair Games, producers of Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars and Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age. It forms the third of our trilogy of core games - we've given you modern and fantasy, and now we bring sci-fi to the forefront with the same rules, completely customizable and ready for you to build exactly the type of science fiction gaming you want. As always, it's your game your way when it's Powered by O.G.R.E.S.!
I am so excited for this. I have been dying to work on a solid sci-fi game since forever.
What is Thirteen Parsecs?
Like our other games, NIGHT SHIFT and Wasted Lands, Thirteen Parsecs is an O.G.R.E.S.-powered game. So if you have played a classic RPG then you know how to play this one already.
Also like NIGHT SHIFT, Thirteen Parsecs will be a "toolbox game." We are going to give you the basic rules and structure for all sorts of Science Fiction style role-playing. So whether you want to play heroic characters in an epic space opera, explore strange new world with a group of explorers, battle alien threats, deal with a post-apocalyptic hellscape, or tackle humankind's first leap to the stars, then this game is for you.
BUT that is not all. Like NIGHT SHIFT we will encourage you to make your own worlds and setting to make it the sci-fi game YOU want.
I have been talking for years, decades even, on how there has not been a sci-fi game that connects with me. Thirteen Parsecs will change that for me. Here are the worlds I am planning to bring you as my contribution in one form or another.
This one began as a bit of joke and I have tried in different systems. It is "Smokey and the Bandit" meets "Blake's 7" with a dash of "Red Dwarf" and "Quark." It is supposed to be silly fun about the lives of long-haul "truckers" on the edge of the Solar Frontier. The Colonies need their light beer too. I am planning on designing this to work with any of the other settings we have.
I have talked about this one a lot, my "Star Trek meets Cthulhu." The deal here is that Jason also has one he wants to do and so does our other member Derek. So it is very likely they will all get combined somehow into something new and better. The basic idea here is "In Space, the stars are always right."
My love letter to 80s sci-fi horror. This one might appear later due to space (heh) issues. If you enjoyed movies like "Lifeforce," "Galaxy of Terror," and "Xtro" then you will find a lot to love here. This one is explicitly a NIGHT SHIFT/Thirteen Parsecs crossover game, so I might wait until after the core rules are published. Essentially I want to create the future as we saw it from the mid-1980s.
I have more ideas and these are only mine. Jason and Derek have a ton as well.
This crypt has three openings opposite the entrance: straight ahead, to the right, and near left.
The opening to the left leads to the Queen's vast occult library.
This room is filled with scrolls, books, and other volumes of learning.
Spending a week here would allow a character to gain a level of experience. These books can be taken, but the entire collection of these books (225 total) must be accounted for.
The large double door to the the next room is triple locks (needing three separate rolls to open) and each lock is trapped with a fatal poison. Getting past these will take an expert thief.
This large circular room is the goal of your quest. This is the crypt of Darlessa, the Vampire Queen.
Her sarcophagus is located in the middle of this room. A combined strength of 35 is needed to lift of the stone lid. Once open the PCs will have one round to attack her before she is revived. They have +2 on their initiative rolls.
The Vampire Queen is dead but far from helpless. She is shocked you made it this far, but she is prepared all the same.
Darlessa, The Queen of Vampires
Female Vampire Witch, Demonic Tradition
No. Enc.: 1 (Unique)
Alignment: Chaotic (evil)
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Fly: 180’ (60’)
Armor Class: -5 (bracers of defense, amulet of protection, ring of protection)
Hit Dice: 13
Attacks: 1 (touch, see below) or spell
Damage: 1d10, drain 2 points of Constitution, Witch Spells
Save: W13
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XXII
XP: 11,400
Str: 18 Int: 15 Wis: 14 Dex: 18 Con: (18) Cha: 22
In addition to the powers of a vampire, Darlessa has the following witch spells and Occult Powers. She casts spells as a 13th-level witch.
Spells by Level
Cantrip (3+5): Alarm Ward, Black Flame, Daze, Knot, Mend, Mote of Light, Object Reading, Spark
1st (4+3): Burning Hands, Cause Fear, Everlasting Candle, Hecate's Spiritual Dog, Minor Curse, Read Languages
2nd (4+3): Agony, Bewitch II, Burning Gaze, Enthrall, Ghost Touch, Produce Flame, Rite of Remote Seeing
3rd (3+2): Astral Sense, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Danse Macabre, Toad Mind, Tongues
4th (3+2): Arcane Eye, Bewitch IV, Elemental Armor, Moonlit Way, Phantom Lacerations
5th (2): Death Curse, Greater Command
6th (2): Death Blade
7th (1): Wave of Mutilation
Magic Items
Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Amulet of Protection* (also prevents cleric turning), bracers of defense, ring of protection, ring spell storing (3 stored Magic Missile spells).
Her coffin can be destroyed after she is dead. There is a spare coffin underneath this one. Even if her body is burned, she can come back due to the dark necromancies she has practiced for centuries.
