Friday, December 6, 2013

The Greater Good

I'll admit it. I am a total Harry Potter fanboy.
Loved the books, loved the movies, loved the hype.  JKR can do no wrong in my eyes and I hope she sleeps on a bed made of gold like Smaug (though in truth she supports more charities than most groups of people).

I have read the books a number of times. Have seen all the movies multiple times and I want to throw it out there that if ever a Harry Potter RPG ever gets made then I want my name on the short list of authors.

So anytime there is something new in the Potterverse I am pleased.
The newest new thing is a fan movie called "The Greater Good".



It deals with the end of the friendship and relationship between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald and the lasting effect it had on the Dumbledore family and eventually on a boy named Harry Potter.
This 17 minute film is based around a brief narrative in The Deathly Hollows.

Watch it and make the next magical battle between wizards you have this cool.



Links

TBBYANR: Old School Edition

I have not done one of these in a long time so I thought this might be a good occasion.  There are a few old-school blogs out there I follow and really enjoy.  I think you should add them to your reading list.

Halls of the Nephilim
http://punverse.blogspot.com/
I have talked about Justin Issac's blog in the past.  He recently hit 200 posts so he has been chuggin along doing his thing for a little bit now.  Justin spends his time looking for a good Old-School game to play, currently he is trying out the home team favorite from Elf Lair Games, Spellcraft & Swordplay and Pathfinder.  He is know currently working through the 30 days of Dungeons & Dragons, so that will be interesting. Other topics that come up are Doctor Who, Mutants & Masterminds and one of my favorites Succubus Sunday.
If you enjoy my blog then check out Halls of the Nephilim. Justin is doing a lot of cool things.

Dark Corners Of Role Playing
http://darkcornersofrpging.blogspot.com
Eric Fabiaschi runs this and Swords & Stitchery - Old Time Sewing & Table Top Rpg Blog.  Both are great, but I want to focus on his Dark Corners blog today.  DC is a great resource for anything vaugly D&D-pulpy.  The blog mostly focuses on the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea RPG.  Maybe it is my new-found love of this game, but everything posted here is brilliant. Recently he has posted links to a number of out-of-print pulp mags for use in your games. Also a good number of new monsters, all with a pulp-D&D feel to them.  Sure they are all 100% compatible with any Basic-era D&D clone of your choice, you miss a bit not using AS&SH.
Eric is right around 230 posts or so, but there is a lot great stuff; so a high signal to noise ratio.

Both of these blogs are great resources and both are currently tackling a lot of the same topics that interest me.  So there is more value there too.

My advice is to take some time and go over both blogs. Read their past posts and comment.
But most importantly add them to your reading lists!

Special Note: If you are looking for other blogs to read Dyvers has a huge list of gaming blogs he has linked to and reviewed. Go there and check it out! http://dyverscampaign.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-great-blog-roll-call.html

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Krampus, The Christmas Demon

Today (December 5) is the eve of Saint Nicholas Day. It is also the time when the pagan demon Krampus walks the earth in search of bad girls and boys.

I had done Krampus a few years back for Ghosts of Albion.  Though today I'd like give him a try is old-school/retro-clone stats.  As before I am taking a large number of liberties with this write up.  So please keep that in mind.

Krampus, The Christmas Demon
Long ago, long before children would know of the kindness of St. Nicholas there was a demon that tormented the long Alpine winter nights.  This demon, know locally as Krampus (from the word meaning Claw) would torment children and punish wrongdoers. Sometimes Krampus would even carry off a child that had been particularly wicked.
The trouble was that Krampus was more or less in a pact with the parents of the region that had used him as a means of controlling unruly children. Over the decades since their un-witting pact Krampus had grown in violence and deceit.
That is till the coming of St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas was able to confront the demon and was well on his way to dispatching the fiend (Santa was a bit more of a fighter in those days) when the issue of the pact was brought up.  The pact made with the demon was strong, and even though not one adult in area had made it an overt one, built up over the centuries with a little tale here, a story there, made it as strong as any pact sealed with a soul.  St. Nicholas then employed Krampus as a personal assistant, he could still torment bad children, but now under the eye of St. Nick himself.  Krampus also got more children as he traveled with St. Nick. Since St. Nicholas was know as Sinterklass in some areas and Father Chritmas in  others, Krampus also received more names such as "Belsnickel" or even "Black Pete".
Sometimes it is even said that his travels with St. Nicholas has tempered his evil.
Or maybe he is just bidding his time.

Krampus
Armor Class:  2 [17] (hide)
Hit Dice: 6d8+5* (32 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws /  bite / birch switches
Damage: 1d4+2 (x2) / 1d6  (bite) / 1 (birch switch)
Special: Acute Senses (taste, sight, smell), Cause Fear (Cha: 2), Unique Kill
Movement: 60’
No. Appearing: 1 (rumored to be unique)
Saves As: Fighter 6
Morale: 12
Treasure: None, Krampus carries a bundle of birch switches to hit bad children with
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
XP: 500

Combat
Krampus will only attack bad children and typically only with a single whack with a birch switch.  If attacked though Krampus reveals that he is in fact a demon with claws and bite.

Description
Krampus appears as a particularly nasty looking satyr or demon.  He is covered in fur, but is sometimes wearing a coat covered in soot.  He has one cloven hoof and one animal-like paw for feet.  His legs are like that of a goat and his upper body is humanish.  His hands are human, but end in terrible claws. His face is a twisted snarl of evil, with goat like eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.  His long tongue lolls out of his mouth and constantly drips saliva.  Despite this he can still speak eloquently.  He uses his tongue to lick a person, typically their face, to know if they are naughty or nice.  His head supports to long curved horns.  He smells of burnt coal. He is sometimes seen carrying an old rusted chain. It is not clear if the chain is for himself or for the children he terrorizes. He also carries a satchel of switches that he uses to beat children with.
His overall appearance is menacing and demonic. He cowers though from any stern word from St. Nicholas.
Krampus does have a weakness.  If given a piece of fruit, typically an apple or an orange, by a child, he will sit down to eat the gift, sharing it with whomever is there and engage is polite conversation.  Krampus will then leave the area, harming no one.

Krampus may be a demon, but he is fair and impartial. "Good" children have nothing to fear from him, "Bad" children are only punished in relationship to the severity of their "naughtiness".  Of course Krampus will attempt to use any trick he can to get someone onto his naughty list. For truly evil children he carries a sack to put them in. He will either drown them or take them off to Hell.
It is suspected though that he in fact feeds on the children's fear and the tales told by the parents.

Krampus is most often seen during the first two weeks of December.  All other times he is bound to his cave somewhere in the Alps.  There is no known way to dispatch of Krampus permanently.

Like many of the supernatural creatures associated with Christmas, as long as one child believes then he will return next year. He can be killed but will return next year.

Krampus is kinda like the Grinch really.  Except a Grinch that eats bad children.
Though given how Cindy Lou Who turned out the Grinch might reconsider.




AS&SH and Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts: Plays Well With Others

I often buy games together. Recently my two purchases were Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea and Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts. While not explicitly designed for each other, they share a common DNA in terms of Basic D&D via the d20 SRD.


AS&SH has a number of new classes, in particular magic-using  ones.  MT&DP is nothing but new classes and spells. AS&SH is a grittier, almost primitive, experience. MT&DP is straight up Basic/Expert/LL with spells that go up to level 10.   So where does the commonalty lie?

Ok take the MT&DP classes and limit them to 12 levels only.  Typically not an issue. And in some cases also reduce the spells to just 6th level.  Use the Magician as the base class. As far as the powers each class gets, well I would deal with them on a class by class basis.  Maybe give them some of the spells as powers.

Let's take the classes in detail.

Cleric and Wizard 
These classes are pretty much the standard archetypes, use the classes in AS&SH instead and swap out spells as desired.

Elven Swordmage and Elven Warder
These classes can't be used, no elves, but you could make a Swordmage or Warder and split their Casting Ability and Fighting Ability evenly.

Enchanter
Similar to the other Sub-classes"

Fleshcrafter 
This class has so much potential in AS&SH.  Given the horror elements in the game (and even the mythos elements) this classes takes on a more malevolent tone.

Healer
A subclass of the cleric. I would reduce the fighting ability, so "0" for levels 1, 2, 3; "1" for 4, 5, 6 and so on for a maximum of of 4.

Inquisitor, Merchant Prince, Unseen
I think these guys would work a little like the warlocks.  The warlock is a bit of a fighter and mage, so these classes are all a bit like thieves and mages.

Necromancer
AS&SH has a necromancer. Just use these spells.

Pact-Bound
This is closer to the concept of the Warlock

Theurge
These guys are neat ideas.  They are close to what would be a cultist in AS&SH. Spellcasters learning from long lost liturgical texts.

So a lot of really good choices.   Honestly there plenty of class choices in AS&SH already, but these can give your game an interesting twist.  Plus they feel right together.

Links

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Red Sonja: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

My exploration of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea continues with one of the more iconic Barbarian characters ever.

Red Sonja: Queen of the Frozen Wastes by BelleChere
Red Sonja of course comes with a Hyperborean pedigree. Though maybe not as much as say Conan, but Conan isn't a red head rocking a scalemail bikini either.

I went back to look over her builds for both Spellcraft & Swordplay as well as Barbarians of Lemuria.  The intersection of both games could be best described as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.

I thought also that given the level maximums I'd raise her to 10th level.

Red Sonja of Hyrkania
Barbarian (Fighter): 10th Level
Race: Hyrkanian (similar to the Vikings)
Secondary Skill: Hunter/Trapper

Strength: 18*
Dexterity: 16*
Constitution: 17*
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 18

Casting Ability: 0
Fighting Ability: 10

Hit Points: 76
Alignment: Chaotic Good
AC: 4 (special scale mail)
Weapon Mastery: Sword, Battle Axe (2 attacks per round)

+2 bonus to all saves

I think it is a good build to be honest.  A lot of the Barbarian powers/abilities work well with the concept as to be expected.  I didn't list them all here; they are in the book.

Looking forward to seeing what else I can do with this game.

White Dwarf Wednesday #89

It's the end of the 80s for White Dwarf. Not the 1980s, but the issues.  White Dwarf 89 takes us to May, 1987.  Our cover art is another Chris Achilleos one. But unlike the past ones that invoked a strong Heavy Metal feel this one is pure Warhammer to me.  Of course this is tied in with their big Citadel Miniatures give away.

Mike Brunton discusses the give-away in the editorial.  They giving out £2,000 worth of minis, a grand prize of £1,000 and four £250 prizes.  The details are in the center pages, more on that when we get there.  In other editorial news WD will celebrate it's 10th anniversary (they say birthday) and they are raising the price to £1.25! Ok to be fair there has not been a price increase in a while and we are just under 70 pages. They are promising an extra 16 pages of articles. We are already at a lot more cool than the previous few issues.
There is also an apology to West End Games for the tone and content of their remarks made in WD87 about "The Price of Freedom".

Open Box covers a few of the "home team" games like the Rogue Trooper board game and supplement for Judge Dredd ("Slaughter Margin").  The one that interested me then and I'll admit now, it the slick new Traveller 2300 game.  I remember playing this one in college a bit my freshman year. I remember a lot of talk about merging it with Twilight 2000, but I never saw it happen.  In their token D&D review Graeme Davis takes on module X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord.  He was disapointed by it, claiming it was just like the like the adventures they were doing 5 years ago (1982) which I guess would make it a big seller now.  I also didn't care for it, but for different reasons.  My reasons were it wasn't what I thought it could be; a nice tie-in with Death's Ride.  Again it would not be for another year or so till I got my hands on this one.

Awesome Lies, the news/gossip column (if I can call it that) is next. But there are some tidbits here of interest. The mention West End Games grabbing the Star Wars licence. A note about the post-TSR career path of EGG at New Infinities with Frank Mentzer and Kim Mohan.

Critical Mass covers some of then new books. Fredick Pohl's The Coming of the Quantum Cats is reviewed and I ate that book up. Wow. It was one of those books that went right into my game playing.  My then DM and I, already big on the idea of the multiverse, went all out gonzo on it.  In fact a lot of what makes up my Mystoerth world had its beginnings here and with this book.  It's funny how even sitting here now more than 25 years later how much of the book is coming back to me.  Though this review seems rather down on all the titles.

Thrud battles the Ramones from Space. Or something. Can't tell and don't care.

Be Afraid Be Very Afraid covers phobias in Call of Cthulhu. It is a laundry list from the DSM.  Hell maybe even from the same DSMIII-R I still own.  Generally speaking I don't like how most games handle insanity, madness and mental disorders.  I was a QMHP for years working in a center for schizophrenics. Most games get it so horriblly wrong as to be laughable. Call of Cthulhu is a notable exception even if it is simplistic and hand-waves a lot of the details; it works for the game.  This article is neat reading, but not much in the way of good game content.  By that I mean that one gaming group might use 2, maybe 3 of these, ever.

Next is a Paranoia scenario, Do Troubleshooters Dream of Electric Sheep.  Is it me or do all of these look the same? I think it must be me.

On Ealden Bergen is an "Adventure" or is is a supplement from Iron Crown Enterprises about Robin Hood. It is designed to be a "system-less" system but obviously based on Rolemaster. It reminds me in many ways of the their later Nightmares of Mine horror book.   It could be adapted and used with other systems, but a working knowledge of MERP or Rolemaster is really needed.  So much for "Systemless".

No we get to the middle and the contest, Ravening Hordes.  Simple, write a Warhammer Battle scenario and send it in by August 3, 1987.  I'll update when the winners are announced.

Friends in High Places is a generic fantasy RPG article about deception and intrigue in your games.  It is a pretty good read really. It discusses who the npcs are, what are their motivations and then what are their means of getting to them. Heavy on court intrigue, I think it is a good thing to try out.  Granted, Vampire will come along in a few years and take this to the Nth degree, but this is a cool look at the state of FRPGs in a post AD&D world.

An ad for the Snarf Quest book. Which is interesting given that Larry Elmore is just now starting a Kickstarter for a new Snarf Quest book.

'Eavy Metal covers painter Phil Lewis. I know a couple of the guys that are big into painting these days and they have their own "stars" and "rogues" just like all sorts of other fandoms.  Me. I am lucky if I can draw a straight line with a ruler and laser guide.

Character advancement in Warhammer Fantasy.  I can't but help think that many of the topics that were covered for D&D 8 years ago, RuneQuest 6 years ago and Rolemaster 4 years ago are now being recycled for Warhammer now.  Still. If you are using secondary skills in your flavor of D&D today then there is some ideas here.

Three pages of Unearthed Arcana errata is next.  I am of the mind that if I didn't read it and my players never read it then the errata didn't matter.  Sure it made for some weird ass rules, but often we would house rule them away anyway.  The bits about Method V is a laugh though. It's like reading some grognard blog posts today about D&D4/Next.  More proof that gamers never really change.  If the pages were falling out I'd consider sticking them into my UA, but they are still in there.   Did any of you ever care about the errata for UA?

Letters are next. Do you  remember the old Monty Python skit where they read letters that were supposedly sent into the show? I recall one from Richard Nixon...that is the feeling I get here.  I think at this point people where writing in just to get their name published; the 1987 version of "First!".

Small ads and then more ads.  There is a great Citadel miniatures ad for Daleks and Cybermen.  I have a few of the Daleks still myself.

A big issue, but not really full of anything I found interesting for gaming, just nostalgia.  We will see where the next 10-11 issues take us.