Call of C'Thulhu musings

 So... I have been working on and off over the past few months on a Call of C'Thulhu campaign. I am in an online fifth edition D&D campaign with some friends, and my one friend's daughter and her friend, but it has become kind of stale, so it was suggested that maybe I can run something when our current year-long campaign comes to an end, which will be soon (we are in the endgame of confronting the big baddie, an undead mind flayer). I decided to work on a campaign that takes place in Winnipeg and Manitoba (where all of us live), and to take advantage of all the assorted mystical weirdness that you can find around you in this place.

Right now, I have two branching parts of the campaign... one that accounts for the weirdness of the wilderness of Manitoba in the 1920's, and one that deals more with Winnipeg, the "Chicago of the North", of the 1920's.

To start the campaign, I plan to have the investigators fall in to the high society circles of T.G. Hamilton, a kind of "medium to the stars". He hosted seances at his home, and was famous for his photos of "ectoplasm" which resulted from these seances. Among his many visitors for a seance was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, so I figure having them rub shoulders with him sets them up for future shenanigans outside of Winnipeg. Anyway, the first adventure is actually a fairly straightforward murder mystery - a two-bit con man convinces the wrong people that he has extraordinary capabilities. When his fraud gets discovered, he is on the run from the cultists he has angered, and the investigators have to try and get to him before the cultists do. There's nothing overtly supernatural in the adventure... there are some seeds laid for the future, but it is all pretty ordinary.

After that, I was planning on running them through The Haunted House (with a little retconning to fit it in to Winnipeg).

Then, there are two choices they can go, depending on whose appeal for help they accept.

The one I am working out right now focuses on a secret cult to Ithaqua, and ties together the seeds of thunderbird nests (a real thing... http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/thunderbirdnest.shtml ), the legend of Manipogo, the legend of the Ghost of the White Horse, Bigfoot, people disappearing after walking three times around the graveyard of St. Charles parish at midnight... and Louis Riel and the Red River and Northwest Rebellions. More on this when I get home tonight. ;)

All Apologies

 When this month started out, I had really good intentions to complete this project, and come up with a new Character a Day for a bunch of game systems, because it sounded like fun. However, I have to apologize for my inability to stick it out so far. After 2 months of limited in person teaching, and 3 months of remote learning, my school is going back to full bore daily classes starting on Monday, with us only having a week's notice to prepare. On top of that, it's the end of first semester in two weeks and report cards are due by the end of the month... well.... it has just been super hectic, and by the time I get home from work, I am done. I will try to throw some more characters up on the weekends, when I have more time to commit to this, but right now, 12 hour days are burning me out from doing anything but zoning out and going to bed when I get home. I will try to put up some Star Frontiers or Unknown Armies characters this weekend. Thank you (all 16 of you who are actually reading this page) for your patience.

A Character A Day (kinda sorta): Deadlands

 First, not that anyone is reading this, but I apologize for missing a couple days. I had to travel for a doctor's appointment, and when I got home yesterday, I wasn't really in the mmod for character creation. Not that anyone is reading this anyways. 8)

But, today we are back at it. Originally, because I am sitting here watching Day 14 of the NJPW 2020 G1 Climax tournament (a Japanese wrestling tournament from last year, for those who think I am speaking in tongues), I was going to make a character for Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game. However, looking over those rules, I quickly realized I would need to read those rules over a little more before I tried that.

So, instead, I decided to try making a character for DEADLANDS, since a friend of mine is interested in running a Deadlands campaign at some point. This gives me an excuse to learn how to make a character.

For reference, I am using the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Deadlands core rules for generating a character.

Step 1: Concept

I am going for it right off the bat. Gunslinger. Not gonna waste any time, or beat about the bush. I am going to spin my slightly differently though, and have my character be an exiled British noble, with a penchant for settling arguments through personal duels.

Stpe 2: Traits

I love systems that use drawing playing cards as a mechanic. Okay, let's shuffle up and deal! 

In DEADLANDS, you draw 12 cards from a 54-card deck (you include Red and Black Jokers), then drop 2 cards, and use the remaining 10 to populate your abilities of  Deftness, Nimbleness, Quickness, Strength, Vigor, Cognition, Knowledge, Mien, Smarts and Spirit. My 12 cards are...

8C, 5H, 3D, 4H, 5D, JH, JC, 10H, 8D, Black Joker, 3C, KH

I am going to drop the 3 of Clubs, and 8 of CLubs, as those are both Level 1 skills. I need to redraw a card for the black joker, to give me a skill level (as a Joker counts as a d12), and I will see about revealing the "mysterious past" element of my character that card gives me. My redraw gives me.... a Queen of Spades. So, no aces, but a King, a Queen and a Joker, so that is almost as good. Knowing I need to have high Quickness and Deftness, here's how I am going to split things up...

DEFTNESS        4d12 (joker)   

NIMBLENESS   2d6 (3D)

QUICKNESS     3d10 (KH)

STRENGTH       2d6 (5D)

VIGOR               3d6 (4H)

COGNITION      2d6 (8D)

KNOWLEDGE   3d8 (JH)

MIEN                  3d8 (10H)

SMARTS             3d6 (5H)

SPIRIT                1d8 (JC)

I think this defines my character pretty well. High Deftness and Quickness, because he is a gunfighter. Low Spirit, because since he comes from across the ocean, it makes sense he would have a lesser connection to the spirits of the Weird West. Higher Knowledge, Smarts and Mien because he would be better educated than many as nobility, and probably command respect. Average for everything else.

Filling out secondary traits, we get...

Grit   0    / Pace   6    / Size   6    / Wind   14

STEP 3: Aptitudes

Aptitude points come from adding your Knowledge, Smarts and Cognition die together. Adding these up, we get 8+6+6=20 Aptitude points.

For automatic aptitudes, I get Climbin' 1, Search 1, Sneak 1, and Knowledge: Home County 2.

Well, I'm a gunslinger, so I need Shootin': Pistols 5 and Quick Draw 5. That leaves me 10 points left.

I am going to add Overawe 2 (to represent his sense of noble privilege), French 1, Academia: History 1, and Gamblin' 1 (because even a gentleman has to make a living). That leaves me with 5 points left for now. I will add Shootin': Rifles 5 for 3 more points, Ridicule 1 and German 1. There. No points left.

STEP 4: Hindrances

Now, I can add up to ten points of Hindrances, which can let me buy Edges or more Aptitudes.

I am going to take Bloodthirsty for 2 pts. (that's why he is exiled), Ferner for 3pts (he IS British, after all), High Falutin' for 2 (he IS a noble, after all), and Doubtin' Thomas for 3. That gives me 10 extra points.

STEP 5: Edges

Well, I have 10 points to use on Edges. After a little perusing, I think I will take Two-Fisted for 3pts, "The Stare" for 1pt, "The Voice" - Menacing for 1 pt (since that gives my Overawe a +2), Dinero for 3pts, and Belongin's for 2pts. That gives him some resources and material weatlh to back up his noble standing, an edge to back up his gunfighting, and two other edges that play into the idea of him being a noble, and demanding respect.

STEP 6: Background

So, the first thing I am going to do is address the "mysterious past" my Joker gives me. I am going to reveal the past, since this isn't a REAL character. Anyway, I draw a card for the "mysterious past", and I get... a King of Spades. A Cursed Relic. Interesting. I instantly come  up with an idea. Since I am playing my character as an exiled British nobleman, sent to the Americas for his penchant of killing opponents in duels, I make the cursed item his family's signet ring, which he always wears.  Since the write-up for a cursed item sasy choosing a mundane item means the character will have Bad Luck until he figures out the curse and rids himself of the item, I have a very creative idea. LEt's say that my character was exiled to the Americas until he could clear his name, because he was always getting in duels with people over his honour. So, let's say that the curse on the ring is one that, any time his honour is at stake, the only course of action my character will allow to restore his honour is a gunfight to the death. No matter how slight the dishonour, he wants to settle it with a gunfight. The irony being, until he renounces the family signet ring, the most personally significant item he owns, he will contantly be getting into gunfights to the death, and will never clear his name enough to be allowed back home. I think that fits the flavour of the curse quite nicely.

Alright, so here's what I got... 

Lord Blair James,  13th Earl of Huntington

Occupation: Gunslinger (he prefers to be called an Armed Duellist)

DEFTNESS        4d12

    - Shootin'    5d12

        - pistols, rifles

NIMBLENESS   2d6

    - Climbin'    1d6

    - Sneak         1d6

QUICKNESS     3d10

    - Quick Draw 5d10

        - pistols

STRENGTH       2d6

VIGOR               3d6

COGNITION      2d6

    - Search         1d6

KNOWLEDGE   3d8

    - Area Knowledge: Home County    2d8

    - German        1d8

    - French         1d8

    - Academia: History    1d8

MIEN                  3d8

    - Overawe        2d8

SMARTS             3d6

    - Gamblin'    1d6

    - Ridicule      1d6

SPIRIT                1d8

Grit   0    / Pace   6    / Size   6    / Wind   14

Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Ferner, High-Falutin', Doubting Thomas

Edges: Two-Fisted, "The Stare", "The Voice" (menacing), Dinero, Belongings

Belongings: matching silver-plated British Webley revolvers (same stats as Colt Peacemaker), 200 rounds of Webley .455 ammo (double cost of .45 ammo, must be imported), matching quickdraw holsters, gold watch, 2 fine suits, fine trenchcoat, riding boots, derby hat, silver flask w/ single malt Glenmorangie scotch, 1 deck of fine playing cards, $500 in gold coins, $500 in cash

Story: Lord Blair James was a minor British noble in an insignificant house of the British royalty. His family disitinguished itself by being an early trading house in the colonies of America, amassing a small fortune which raised the visibility of the house in British society. However, from an early age, the well-educated by but unmotivated Blair showed a particularly vicious mean streak, always getting in fights with anyone and everyone who ever dared question the honour of his family. Little did they know, the reason beyond Blair's fanatic devotion to his family's honor was the family's signet ring, which he never took off. He had received it when his father had died during his travels amongst the the Indian colonies, looking after the family's tea trade. What no one knew, however, was that the ring had been cursed before his father's death, when the elder Lord James had disrespect an Indian yogi of some fame. When he challneged the yogis fantastic displays of physcial prowess as simply "parlor tricks" and smoke and mirrors, the yogi cursed  his family, saying that whosoever wore the fmaily's signet would be cursed to constantly have to defend the fmaily's honour against every slight, no matter how small, until their reputation for violence ruined them. Blair come into possession of the ring as the oldest son (but not yet of the age of majority) when his father died. In a very short time, he gained a reputation as a bloodthirsty young noble, challenging anyone who would question his family's honor to a duel. By the time he turned 20, he had already shot down 15 men. His uncle, considered to be the head of the family until young Blair reached the age of 21, sent him to live in the Americas, knowing that with his reputation and the ill will he was creating, promoting Blair to the head of the family business would ruin them. He told Blair that he would be living in exile, supported as much as possible by his family, but unable to return home to claim his rightful place in British society until he did something to address his reputation as a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. Little did Blair know that as long as he bears his father's ring, he will always challenge anyone who questions his honour with a diel to the death, thus meaning he will never be able to return home until he renounces the one heirloom that connects him to his family. Until then, he lives a nomadic life in the colonies, living off his family's forebearance, and whatever money he can make from gambling. He is usually quite mild-mannered, relying on the common knowledge of his bloodthirsty reputation and his nobility to impress the local populace into quiet subservience. However, woe betide the man who ever questions his honour, or that of his family, for that challenge will be met  by copper-jacketed bullets and cordite.

Well... that was fun. I think that makes a relatively good DEADLAND gunslinger.

A Character A Day: already interrupted

Sorry folks... I have doctor's appointment out of town tomorrow, so I am staying at my parents' place tonight, and don't have access to any of my gaming stuff, so I am going to have to take a night off from character building.

A Character A Day: Marvel Super Heroes ULTIMATE POWERS (continued)

 So, if you were with us yesterday (and sadly, it doesn't look like very many people were), I was working my way through character creation in the Marvel Super Heroes Advace System, using the Ultimate Powers Book. After a lot of rolling and cross-referencing, we left off with the following;

FIGHTING - Poor 3

AGILITY - Amazing 46

STRENGTH - Excellent 16

ENDURANCE - Typical 5

REASON - Excellent 16

INTUITION - Incredible 36

PSYCHE - Good 8

Health 70

Karma 60

Resources: Typical

Modified Human - Skeletal (+1 CS to Resistance to Physical attacks) from Biological Exposure

Weakness: Molecular Allergy, Power negation, Continuous with Contact

Powers:

Hyper-Invention

Hyper-Speed

Vibration

Vibration Control

Sonic Generation

I'm going to make one more change, and dorp Hyper-Invention for the optional power of Sound Manipulation

Okay, so let's put this together. Our hero an intuitive biochemist, able to combine everyday biological compounds into new and interesting formulae. During one of his experiments, our hero (let's give him a name.... how about..... Nate Massif) tested a compound on himself which triggered a large-scale, radical increase in both the density of his skeletal structure, as well as his twitch muscle response. Although with no formal combat training of any type, Massif discovered that not only was he now endowed with strength and agility well beyond that of most normal human, he was able to control the twitch muscle response in his body to such a degree that he can not only control his vibrational rate of his body, allowing him a degree of phasing, but also to vibrate his body in such a manner as to create vibrations outside of his body. Another side effect of this twitch muscle response control is that he has developed hyper-speed. Furthermore, because of his ability to manipulate vibrations and vibrational rate, he is able to use his voice to generate a variety of sonic effects, as well as manipulating other sounds.

Okay, this is actually starting to come together now. Let's see what we have to finish this off.

Power ranks. That would be important. Okay, let's see what get get.

Hyper-Speed - Incredible

Vibration - Monstrous

Vibration Control - Incredible

Sonic Generation - Good

Sound Manipulation - Amazing

Okay, this makes sense. While his vibration control can help with sonic generation, it still requires airflow and control, which is why that ability isn't as strong as the others.

Talent: I do some high rolling, and come up with his talent of Student. Makes sense, as he is a biochemist who is constantly tinkering. Maybe he is working towards his PhD.

Now, what to do with that weakness. What would be a good molecular weakness for a man with total control over his vibrational rate? How about.... okay, work with me here.... how about a tuning fork? If Massif is in the presence of a sounding tuning fork, he is uable to focus his vibrational rate to achieve any of his abilities? Weird, but it works for me.

Popularity wil be 5, as Massif is going to have asecret identity.

Okay, I think we have it. Let's put it all together.

WHISPER IN THE WIND

Nate Massif, biochemistry PhD student

FIGHTING - Poor 3

AGILITY - Amazing 46

STRENGTH - Excellent 16

ENDURANCE - Typical 5

REASON - Excellent 16

INTUITION - Incredible 36

PSYCHE - Good 8

Health 70

Karma 60

Resources: Typical

Popularity: 5

Powers: 

HYPER-SPEED: Incredible

VIBRATION GENERATION: Monstrous

VIBRATION CONTROL: Incredibel

SONIC GENERATION: Good

SOUND MANIPULATION: Amazing

Talent: student

Contact: Dr. Phillip Nardwaur (PhD overseer)

Nate Massif was a foreign student, studying in the US to obtain his bioengineering degree at New York University. A gifted biochemist, Nate was constantly creating new compounds, encouraged by his PhD overseer, Dr. Phillip Nardwaur. Unfortunately, one of Massif's experiments went a little too far, and the over-enthusiastic Massif tested one of his new biochemical compositions on himself. While the experiment caused Massif's skeletal structure and musclature to evolve at an amazing rate, Massif cut corners in develping the compound, and found that his notes were incomplete, leaving him unable to replicate the formula. As a result of his modified body structure, Massif found himself posessing extraordinary strength and agility. He also discovered that he was now in possession of hyper-speed, as well as the ability to to control his vibrational rate to generate and control vibrations, as well as being able to manipulate and generate sound waves for a variety of effects. Unfortunately, this increased ability to control his vibrational rate came at a cost - Massif's powers can be negated by the sounding of a tuning fork within 20 feet of him, because the vibration from the fork interferes with his ability to manipulate vibrations. Massif took the name Whisper In The Wind from a move used by his favorite wrestler Jeff Hardy (Massif is a HUGE pro wrestling fan), and uses his secret identity to test the limits of his new abilities, hoping he can use this hands-on research to help further his efforts to receive a PhD.

There. No picture of the character, but hopefully this will do. This was WAY more involved than I remember, but still a fun mental exercise.

A Character A Day: Advanced Marvel Super Heroes ULTIMATE POWERS

 So, when I was thinking about what kind of character I wanted to create today, I thought I would go a little left field. I used to love Advanced Marvel Super Heroes RPG put out by TSR. I know we didn't play it a ton, and when we did, it was usualy playing pregenerated characters (as my friends and I were all comic book kids). However, I spent a TON of time making up unique super villians, and when I got my hands on the Ultimate Powers Book (which I had to buy at a Kay Bee Toys on one of the family visits to the US, because nobody in Winnipeg seemed to carry anything for Advanced MSH), I was in my nirvana. So, I thought I would open up the UPB and create a super hero. I might even open up the Book of Magic supplement later on, and make a magical character.

Anyways, let's give this a shot!

I am going to follow the character creation guidelines in the UPB, which differ slightly from those found in the boxed Advanced MSH rules.

First step: generate physical form.

Okay, the random percentile dice generator gives us a 53. Modified Human - Skeletal. Ooooo.... interesting. +1 CS to Resistance to Physical attacks, 1 less power, and contact should have something to do with the skeletal modifications. Okay, I like it so far.

Second step: generate origin of power

This time, we get a 66. Biological exposure. Hmmmm.... so, something biological caused his skeletal system to be modified. Not sure where this is going yet, but I have some ideas.

Third step: generate primary abilities

First, I had to consult Dragon #122, which had the errata for the UPB, because the original failed to tell me which column I roll on when determining primary abilities. Once I figured out that I use column 1, I was good to go!

FIGHTING - Poor 3 (rolled a 9)

AGILITY - Amazing 46 (rolled a 97!)

STRENGTH - Excellent 16 (rolled a 58)

ENDURANCE - Typical 5 (rolled a 12)

REASON - Excellent 16 (rolled a 42)

INTUITION - Incredible 36 (rolled an 86)

PSYCHE - Good 8 (rolled a 29)

Hmmm, so he's a lover, not a fighter. Otherwise, I am starting to see some ideas take shape. High Agility and Strength... so apparently, whatever biological exposure this character has had, it appears to have vastly improved his musculature and skeletal strength. 

Fourth step: generate secondary abilities

This just entails doing some addition. So, Health is 70. Karma is 60. We'll worry about Resources and Popularity later.

Fifth step: generate weakness

Okay, now we are getting to the nitty gritty. We get a roll of 22, which gives us a Molecular Allergy. Rolling again, we get a 40, which gives us Power Negation, and our final roll of  32 gives us a duration of Continuous with Contact.So, whenever I am within 20 feet of the stimulus, my powers do not function, and I have a -1CS every ten turns to my Primary Abilities until everything become Typical. Let's see what the powers are before I decide what limits them.

Sixth step: generate powers

Okay, let's do it! I get one less power, so a roll of 67 means 6 initial powers (I assume it means six, since it actually says 2, but the number of initial powers keep increasing by one every level on the table, so going from 5 to 2 to7 seems wrong) dropped down to 5, and a maximum of 8. A 38 means I start with 1 talent, and have a maximum of 6, and a final roll of 7 means I start with no contacts, and a maximum of 2. (That might have to get changed).

I think I had better roll Resources now, since I might need to spend some. So, they start at Typical, as modified by a roll on the Ability Modifier Table in the main rulebook. I roll a 68, giving me Increase by 1 Rank, so my resources start out at Good. I am immediately going to lower my Resources back down to Typical, and add a Contact.

So, 5 powers! Let's see what I get! I roll twice for each power, to get it's Class and Category! 

73 --> Physical Enhancement, 39 --> Hyper-Speed

40 --> Magic, 21 --> Magic Control (double slot)

64 --> Mental Enhancement, 46 --> Hyper-Invention

15 --> Energy Control, 99 --> Vibration Control

43 --> Matter Control, 88 --> Weather

Well..... if THAT isn't a cat's breakfast of powers. I can see three of those working together, but the Magic and Matter Control do not fit at ALL. So, let's look and see if there are any Optional or Bonus powers that I can take to dump those other two...

Well.... looking through the options, I see that Vibration Control has some optional powers, like Vibration, and that has the optional power of Sonic Generation. I am starting to get a picture in my head. So.... I am going to keep Vibration Control. I am going to dump the Magic power for Vibration. I am going to keep Hyper-Speed, and dump Matter control in favor of Sonic Generation.

Wow... this is taking longer than I thought! I think I will stop here for the night, then tomorrow I will pick up with trying to piece together these powers into something workable. thank you for your patience!

A Character A Day: Classic Traveller redux

 Well, that was such a blast making a Classic Traveller character yesterday, I am going to do it again! Let's see what fate gives us this time.

I thought about trying to make an Aslan this time, but I think before I try that, we';ll take anohter run through making a human, and in one of my favoite Traveller classes... the scout. For this initial attempt, I am going to use the "vanilla" process provided in The Traveller Book. I looked through the Scout LBB, but I don't think back in the day we ever used this book to create scouts (although it IS very interesting, and once I read up on it a little more, I might try later this month to make a character using those rules).

All right, let's see what our rolls give us...

11, 8, 5, 5, 7, 6

Hmmm.... he's a strong one. And pretty smart, too. Well, let's get started on our scout.

Name: Alton Zyzyx

STR 11

DEX 8

END 5

INT 5

EDU 7

SOC 6

Fresh out of high school, with a desire to see new places and encounter new cultures, young Alton decide that the Scout Service is the way to go. Because of his high STR, he only need a 5 or better to enlist. And he gets... a 10. The Scout Service is SALIVATING at a specimen like Alton. He enters the field, eager to learn... and rolls a 4 for survival. o_O A freak accident in his first term cuts short another promising scout's life.

Rest in peace, Alton. 

Well... that was anti-climactic.

However, a few years after Alton's death, his younger brother, Beedo, decides to honor his brother's memory by enlisting in the Scouts, and carrying on his brother's legacy. 

Reroll ahoy!

Beedo ZYZYX

STR 9

DEX 7

END 4

INT 7

EDU 7

SOC 7

While not quite as strong as his older brother, Beedo is just as smart, and even more respected in social circles for his desire to uphold his brother's legacy. Like Alton, Beedo eagerly enlists in the Scout Service, needing only a 4+ to successfully enlist... which he does easily. However, carrying on his brother's legacy..... Beedo was tragically killed during another freak accident at Scout School.

Rest in peace, Beedo.

(at this point, I am wondering if perhaps the Zyzyx family should be looking at something.... less dangerous for their children).

Enter Quentin Zyzyx, the youngest of the Zyzyx clan. By now, his family has been ravaged by the loss of his two older brothers. The future of the family weighs on his shoulders.

STR 4

DEX 10

END 9

INT 8

EDU 7

SOC 6

The "runt of the litter", young Quentin is nowhere near as strong as his brothers were, but he makes up for that with his dexterity and tenacity. Unwilling to follow the doomed dreams of his brothers, Quentin instead decides to enlist in the Merchant Service... hopefully it will prove to be less deadly than the Scout Service has shown to be. His Intelligence means he only needs a 5 or better to enlist... and he FAILS! (author's note: UGH!)  Undeterred, Quentin enters the draft, hopeful that he will still be able to follow his dream... and instead, finds himself enlisted in the Imperial Marines! (author's note: why do I not see this going well...) Evidently, his impressive physical skills and high intellgence made him a prime candidate for Marine service. They aren't too worried about his low strength... the Marines will make a man out of him!

First tour of duty: a hardy lad, Quentin looks forward to the thrill of Marine training... and manages to successfully survive his first tour of duty. While he is a hard worker, his inital attempt at attaining a commission fails (rolled a 5). He acquires a skill in swordsmanship (cutlass-1), along with improving his cardiovascular endurance (+1 END) and learning how to handle a vacc suit (vacc suit-1). After a hard term, Quentin decides to try to push himself to further success, and applies to reenlist... JUST managing to successfully reapply (rolled a 6 dead on).

Second tour of duty: felling slightly better about surviving as a marine where his older brothers had both died, Quentin heads into his second term. He easily survives the gruelling training regimen. Quentin again attempts a commission, this time being recognized for his hard work and dedication, achieving the rank of Lieutenant (and the skill revolver-1). Quentin dedicates himself to phsical improvement, building his body through a regimen of fitness training (+1 STR), as well as demonstrating his proficiency in boarding actions with the auto-shotgun (shotgun-1). Enjoying life as a Marine, Quentin opts to reenlist for a third tour. After much discussion on the issue, his request is accepted (rolled a 7).

Third tour of duty: Now 26 years old, Quentin is still easily capable of meetin the requirements of the Marine Corps as he enters his third tour of duty. Now learning to navigate to web of political intrigue that is the officer corps, Quentin manages to impress enough of the right people to receive a promotion to the rank of Captain. Quentin continues to demonstrate his usefulness in boarding situation, gaining another level in shotgun (shotgun-2) as well as learning his way around automatic rifles (auto rifle-1). Now feeling a part of the fraternity of the Marine Corps, Quentin attempts re-enlistment, and succeeds easily.

Fourth tour of duty: now seen as a veteran of the forces, Quentin is still a specimen, easily able to handle the physical requirements of the job. Learning the ropes of the fine art of diplomacy, Quentin continues to move through the ranks, achieving the rank of Force Commander (rolled 10 for promotion). Quentin continues to improve in his abilities with the automatic rifle (auto rifle-2), as well as demonstrating his abilities in understanding and organizing tactical situations (tactics-1). By the end of his fourth term of service, time has yet to diminish Quentin's physical skills. Still enjoying life in the Corps, Quentin decides to re-enlist, and just manages to succeed in continuing his career (rolled a 6).

Fifth term: While Quentin again excels in the field, he is beginning to think about winding his career in the Marines down. Satisfied with his place in life, Quentin is not disappointed when he fails to attain another commission. He spends his last years in service aking it easy, letting the younger members of his group take the lead more and more, and instead spending his time on padding his golden years by fleecing the younger troops of their pay stipends at poker (gambling-1). Realizing his cardio isn't what it used to be (-1 END), Quentin decides it is time to call it a career. Quentin leaves the service with a yearly retirement salary in addition to all the other skills and accolades he has received. (+2 INT, +1 EDU, membership in Traveller's Society, Cutlass, 40,000 cr cash, 4000 cr/year pension)

Force Commander Quentin ZYZYX, Marine Corps (ret.)

age: 38

STR 5

DEX 10

END 9

INT 10

EDU 7

SOC 6

Skills: Cutlass-1, Vacc Suit-1, Revolver-1, Shotgun-2, Auto Rifle-2, Tactics-1, Gambling-1

Benefits: member of Traveller's Aid Society, 40,000 cr cash, Marine Cutlass, 4000cr/year pension

Quentin Zyzyx lived up to his brothers' memories. While not succeeding in entering the Scout Service, he instead carved for himself a long, illustrious career in the Marine Corps, succeeding and excelling where many others thought he would fail. He leaves the service with a wealth of contacts, a cushy pension, and in good health. Content to live out his days travelling the galaxy playing poker, Quentin is still a fomidable force to reckon with, and is not not above out "the little guy" when he feels someone is being treated unfairly.

A Character A Day: Classic Traveller

 Ah, Traveller.... got a character whose stats you don't like? Become a belter.... odds are you will die in chargen. I'll never forget the day my belter survived. He had the most useless set of skills ever, because I didn't really care what I picked, I was just trying to get him killed.

It's been a LONG time since I have made a Traveller character, so this should be fun.

Alright, let's start out with the rolls.

8, 4, 6, 9, 2, 2

Ugh..... maybe he WILL be a belter.

Hmmm.... 2s in Education and Social Standing. I can work with that! I am already picturing some kind of farm-world boy. A big, strong kid who is pretty smart, but never went to school. Sadly, not very graceful. Sounds like a perfect example of an army grunt. Be all you can be!

All right, let's give him a name. I think I like the sounds of Vance Billeck.

Vance BILLECK

STR 8 

DEX 4

END 6

INT 9

EDU 2

SOC 2

Let's generate!

Young Vance has just turned 18. He never finished high school... never really got very much past about grade 6. He's not dumb, just didn't see much need for reading and writing when he was working on a farm. Deciding he wants to see the universe, Vance decides to enroll in the Army. A 6 END gives us a +2 on the roll, so we only need a 3 or better. And we get.... a 10. Success! Let's see if Vance survives his first term or service. No bonuses, so he rolls... a 7. He needed 5+, so he has survived his first tour of duty. That gives him at least Rifle-1. Vance uses this first tour to engage in some personal development, rolling up Brawling-1 (apparently, everybody wants to test the farmboy), and also picks up a service skill of ATV-1 (driving all those tractors back home comes in handy). Vance's hard work does not go unnoticed as he receives a commission to the rank of lieutenant, receiving the skill of Tactics-1 (all those years of paint balling finally paid off), as well as SMG-1. Having enjoyed his first term of service, Vance reenlists, and is easily accepted.

Second tour of duty. Vance easily makes his survival roll. He agains takes an opportunity to develop personally, and gains a +1 to Dexterity, now making it 5. Enjoying the idea of leadership, Vance attempts a promotion, but narrowly misses out, rolling a 5. Only slightly discouraged, Vance reenlists, and succeeds with a roll of 8.

Third tour. After the disappointment of failing to be promoted last term, Vance just succeeds in reenlisting, rolling a 5 exactly. Hoping to improvement his chances with his superior officers for promotion, Vance commits himself to improving his service skills this tour, coming out with Forward Observer-1. However, Vance's efforts are for naught, as he is once again looked over for promotion (everyone just sees him as the same uneducated farm he was when he first enlisted). Not willing to give up yet, Vance reenlists. Unfortunately, his superiors see him as having reached his potential, and his request to re-enlist is denied. Vance musters out with a +2 EDU and a +1 INT (from catching up on his years of missed schooling while part of the forces), one Low Passage (enough to get him back home, or to begin to see the universe) and 10,000 cr.

So, here is Vance Billeck, at age 30, fresh out of the Army.

Lieutenant Vance BILLECK

STR 8

DEX 5

END 6

INT 10

EDU 4

SOC 2

Skills:

Rifle-1, Brawling-1, ATV-1, SMG-1, Tactics-1, Forward Observer-1

Muster: 1 Low Passage, 10,000cr

He wanted to see the galaxy. "Be all you can be!" It's all a lie. It should be, "Be all everyone else will let you be". Vance left the Army disillusioned, bitter and without prospects. They gave him a one-way sleeper ticket back to his homeworld, to be the same farmer they all believe is all he can ever be. But Vance isn't dumb. He's still young, and he know has skills. He's going to take that low passage, and go somewhere where a mercenary can ply his skills. And every chance he gets, he's going to show those "superior officers" that looked down their noses at the "backwater farmboy" just how much trouble he can cause when you put him behind the wheel of a vehicle with a gun in his hand and a chip on his shoulder.

A Character a Day: 1st Edition AD&D

 Right now, my choices are being influenced by the fact that I am rewatching the extended edition of THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. I will branch out a bit into other systems in a few days, but for now,....

First edition AD&D. 4d6, drop the lowest, put in any order. That's how we used to do it.

12, 15, 16, 4 (yes, I legitimately rolled three 1s and a 2), 15, 13

Well..... how am I going to work around that 4? My usual go to's for an incredibly long score is either Charisma, or, surprisingly, Intelligence. I am a long history of playing incredibly dumb characters. I can use it as justification for the stupid things I sometimes enjoy doing as a player. 8) Everything else is decent. And for reference, I used to Google online dice roller for all my rolls.

Looking at the rules, I discover two things I did not remember.... if your INT is less than 5, you can ONLY be a fighter, and if your CHA is less than 5, you can ONLY be an assassin. Interesting. Well, I've never played an assassin EVER, and that is certain to be a controversial pick, so.... LET'S BE A KILLER.

Name: John Doe

Class: 1st level assassin    Alignment: Lawful Evil    Experience: 0

hp: 7 

STR 13 (Open Doors on 1-2, 4% bend bars, +100 encumbrance)

INT 15 (4 additional languages)

WIS 12

DEX 16 (+1 attacking, -2 defensive)

CON 15 (+1 hp,  91% system shock, 94% resurrection)

CHR 4 (1 henchman, -25% loyalty, -20% reaction)

Special abilities: backstab for x2 damage, +4 to hit when striking from behind with surprise, other thief abilities as two levels below), can use poison

Languages: common, dwarven, elvish, orcish, goblin

AC: 6 (padded armour + AC bonus)

Weapons: short sword, 2 daggers, sling

Equipment: padded armor, short sword and scabbard, 2 daggers, 1 sling with 12 bullets, backpack, change of clothes, , two large belt pouches,  1 black cloak, 1 pair high, soft boots, tinder box, 50' rope, waterskin, 1 week iron rations, bedroll, journal of research, quill and ink

Treasure: 42 gp

Story: John Doe isn't really a bad guy. As a child, he was a prodigy, and at the top of his class. He excelled in languages, quickly learning how to speak not only the languages of dwarves and elves, but even the low tongues of orcs and goblins. He would amuse his friends and family as a child by demonstrating his extensive vocabulary of humanoid profanity at parties. However, his other love was chemistry. Some say he should have been an alchemist... except his area of interest was in poisons. He learned all he could of common poisons in school, but soon found his calling would require some extra-curricular activities. Although he knew that many would look down on what he did as wrong and evil, he was scrupulous in making suure that he only practiced his art on the evil and unfortunate - those who deserved their fate, or would not be missed. He considered this a necessary "evil", since society would not indulge in his passion openly. As further research required more and more esoteric ingredients, John realized that he would have to make his own fortune to pay for his research. Using what knowledge he already possessed, he mourned the "accidental" death of his parents as a result of a rare "allergic reaction" from some bad fish before changing his name, and taking his meagre inheritance to continue his studies by practicing his art as necessary on the evil and unlamented. John doesn't worry too much about his victims.... he thinks of them only as "research subjects".

New Year 2021: A Character A Day - B/X D&D

 It's been a long, LONG time since I have done anything with this page. Guess I should clean up some of the cobwebs and get down to business.

I read somewhere about some kind of New Character a Day challenge for the start of 2021. Basically, create a new character every day for January for an RPG of your choice. You could make 31 characters for one game system, or 1 character for thirty-one game systems... whatever turns your crank. So, let's give it a try. Maybe I can stick with it for a whole month.

B/X D&D, 3d6 straight up

7, 12, 14, 11, 7, 6

Hmmmmmm..... those scores say either magic-user or cleric. But, those STR and CON scores are too low for a cleric, so M-U it is. Which is okay, because I love playing M-Us. He won't be a *great* M-U, but let's knock down that WIS score a little to boost his INT.

Glaerad the Game, 1st level Magic User

Alignment: Lawful

AC: 9

hp: 2

xp: 0 (+5% to experience)

STR 7

INT 14

WIS 10

DEX 11

CON 7

CHR 6

Spells (I am going to be merciful, and assume that a magic-user automatically knows Read Magic in his spellbook, so this next spell is in addition to that): Protection from Evil

Languages : Common, Dragon

Equipment: Backpack, two sets of clothes, tinder box, waterskin, 50' rope, bedroll, 1 week iron rations, spellbook, quill and ink

Weapons: dagger

Money: 70 gp

Story: Glaerad was always a sickly young lad. He was always suffering some malady, and was routinely beaten up by the other children of his village, as he was an easy target. However, he was intensely devoted to his mother, he did her best to look out for her youngest child. Although he excelled in school, his pale frame, scarred and misshapen by various poxes and other injuries of youth, meant no one took the young boy seriously. The only other person who ever showed kindness to the lad was a travelling wizard, who would sometimes traavel through the village. He would always stay at the Glaerad's home while in the village. Rumours circulated that the wizard was in some sort of relationship with Glaerad's mother, but the truth is, he was a distant relative, simply checking up on his relations. As Glaerad grew older, he discovered the boy had a slight ability in using magic. Feeling pity for the boy, he taught him the ways of sorcery, and as his first spell, gave him a simple forula which he could use to help protect himself from the many bullies he encountered every day. The boy planned to one day apprentice himself to this wizard, but unfortunately, he was slain by a dragon whilst adventuring. His death inspired Glaerad to dedicate himself to avenging his adopted guardian. As such, Glaerad dedicated himself to learning the draconic language, in hopes it would help him achieve his goal. Sadly, the black cloud of misfortune hung heavy over Glaerad's head. During one particularly cold winter, his home burned down when an untended fire caught the thatch roof of his dwelling on fire, killing his mother. Rumours immediately began to spread that the fire was caused by Glaerad's dabbling in the mystical arts, and soon the entire village turned on the boy, chasing him away to die in the wilderness. However, Galerad's intelligence allowed him to survive the cold winter, and ever since, he has travelled the lands, carrying little more than a spellbook and some clothes, searching for a new master, and hoping to one day avenge himself on the dragon who took his former master from him.

Happy new year!

Boy... I really need to update this more often. Well, another year begins. Last year had some highlights, like attending my first con with PrairieCon in Brandon, going to GenCon, and generally enjoying gaming (not necessarily RPGing) more. This year, I want to run a D&D game... either a one-shot at a con, or maybe try to start a campaign with some of my students. To that end... I've been reading "The World of Titan", a gaming supplement produced about the world where the old Fighting Fantasy games takes place. I like it. Kinda like Warhammer Fantasy, without all the Warhammery bits. Maybe I'll use this as my world. My campaign will be house-ruled LL/BX.

Knocking one off the bucket list

I got a message the other day from a friend of a friend. I used to play Magic with him regularly when I was going to university, but had falen out of touch until recently, when we started to play Magic again. Anyway, he's getting married in the fall. He has decided to hold his bachelor party at.... GenCon. Did I mention he's an unabashed gamer?

So, looks like I get to strike one of my bucket list. I'm going to GenCon this year. 8)

Playing in my sandbox

So, I've been promising this for a while. Here's the map I developed for my sandbox campaign, but I'm not sure if I want to use it. I'm still learning how to use Hexographer, so it's not as purty as it could be, but.....

 

Right now, I'm not sure if this is too big, or too sparsely populated, or what. I bought a copy of the Blackmarsh campaign setting, so I'm reading over how that was done to determine if I am going to overhaul this. To go along with the map, here is my current key, with some notes...

 

1.       Fort Castellan (starting point - I'm using the Keep on the Borderlands, but modifying the characters who populate the Fort a little, and maybe adding a forgotten minor dungeon underneath it, a la the Hackmaster version)

2.       The Caves of Chaos (from Keep on the Borderlands)

3.       The Cave of the Unknown (I am going to use this as my "tentpole" megadungeon, and actually have different ways of accessing it, leading to different areas that may not be available from different areas... for instance, in addition to the surface egress, there will be an entrance from the Caves of Chaos)

4.       The Fane of St. Toad (I am throwing this dungeon in, that I stole from the excellent Michael Curtis)

5.       Elven Temple (I am going to use Rahasia for this, with some modifications, and also have it accessing the Cave of the Unknown)

6.       Quasqueton (using In Search of the Unknown.... this used to be the limits of civilzed society, but not anymore)

7.       Eaglespire Tower (Wizard's tower)

8.       Town of Airdrie

9.       Village of Harrowdown Hills (werewolves!)

10.   Village of Hardscrabble / Lost Lode Mine (I have a few lost mines/goblin warrne modules I've cribbed from the net for this area)

11.   Scaly Mound (lizard men and bullywugs)

12.   Wrathrun Rapids (some sort of watery adventure)

13.   Druid’s Circle

14.   The Mad Hermit of the Castellan Hills (modified from B2, with access to Cave of the Unknown)

15.   Burial mounds

16.   Blue Lake (some sort of big water beastie)

17.   Orc scouting camp

18.   Abandoned elvish town ruins

19.   Dowton Abbey (abandoned) (UNDEAD!)

20.   Abandoned town (weirdness)

21.   Old Marsh bridge

22.   Abandoned mining town / abandoned mine

23.   Sign of the Gutted Goblin roadhouse

24.   Ruins of Blue Lake Bridge

25.   Ruins of Rolling River bridge / haunted battle site (weirdness and undead)

26.   Wrathrun village (inbred rednecks!)

Obviously, I still have a lot of gaps to fill in. That's where I'm stuck.... just how many "extras" should I put in?

 



The Hobbit and other ephemera

Merry Christmas! Since my Christmas was celebrated 2 days ago (while my sister and her husband were still in town), that left me free today, so I went to see The Hobbit Part 1. I ended up seeing the 3d Imax version, just because it was the earliest show. I dunno about the Imax part, but the 3d was wasted - it really didn't need it. I went into this movie with low expectations, as most of the reviews I've heard were not very complimentary, but surprisingly, I really liked it. I think I've read the book something like 15 times, so I felt that the movie was pretty okay. I really like how the kept the mystique of Smaug for the next movie. I didn't mind the dwarves - I know a lot of people complained about how stereotypical they were, but hey, they're dwarves. What did you expect? he other complaint I've heard the most is about Radigast the Brown, but other than the bird crap all over his face, I felt there was nothing wrong with him. Even in the novel, he was portrayed as being a bit "odd", so I didn't feel there was too much out of place here (although I could have done without the rabbit-drawn sleigh). I also liked the little hint of how the dark magic was overcoming him as he cured the hedgehog, because in the story, he is corrupted by the Necromancer. I wouldn't rate it as 5-star, but a solid 4 stars.

Anyway, watching this movie has REALLY got me jonesing to do some D&D. I know that I'm a terrible procrastinator, always starting and never finishing, but hey... that's what happens when you are preparing without a group to play with. I still have a whole bunch of notes kicking around for working on my sandbox.... I even came up with a tentative sandbox map, complete with some interesting locales to visit. I think, at this point, my biggest problem is my vision is too grand, in many ways. For openers, I would love to have a sandbox that features some mountain adventures, some island hopping, dark forests, armies marching across the plains, the howl of wolves across frozen fields of ice, dismal depths... but that's not a sandbox, that's a whole freaking globe. 8) Then, there's my whole problem with scaling maps. I read a lot of blogs, and I look at all the little details they put in to almost every hex, and I start to over detail things. When I made the hex map I'm using, I tried to make it reasonable so that most of the "big events" are a couple days' ride away, but now I want to make smaller and smaller maps, with EVERY hex having something. Is this a normal reaction to stocking a hex crawl?

Anyway, I have some ideas of what I want to do, and I've put some thought into my "tentpole" dungeon. I plan to do some manipulating of Keep on the Borderlands, In Search of the Unknown, Rahasia, and a few other online mini-modules to create the locales. If I have the map and details on my other laptop, I might start posting them later on tonight.

I have also been thinking about a few changes in the cosmology of my sandbox world. Although I had previously done some designing to explain the various races of humanoids, I have been doing some rethinking. To summarize, here's what I'm thinking now:
- everything is descended from elves.
- Dwarves are degenerate elves, who turned away from the surface world, and thus lost their connection to magic over the generations. Gnomes are dwarves who have started to venture back to the surface, and are slowly beginning to reconnect with their magical roots. Goblins are dwarves who were warped by their dark desires/evil natures. Hence, dwarves hate goblins, and vice versa,
- the Elves attempted to create "servitor races" for their worlds. Their initial (failed) experiments created all sorts of humanoid races. As they eventually perfected their craft, they eventually came down to their last two creations - orcs and humans. However, the rejected orcs because they weren't "beautiful" enough, and proceeded to create humans, who lived longer, were smarter, and easier on the eyes. Hence, orcs hate humans out of jealousy. When orcs encounter elves, they either grovel, hoping to be brought back into the good graces of their "masters", or they react with unreasoning hatred, wanting to destroy those who rejected them.
- no one (ie. me) is too sure of what the drow are. Most people think they're just an elvish bogeyman.
- halflings. Not sure. Elves who have rejected the use of magic because of all the misery it has brought, and as such are "changing"? Spontaneous mutation? Another failed elvish experiment that nobody remembers? There aren't going to be very many of them, so I can make up whatever story I want.

Hopefully,  will post some more details of my thought planning later tonight. I would LOVE any feedback that the meagre readers of this blog may offer.

Castles Made of Sand (continued)

More musings on my (hopefully?) upcoming D&D/LL campaign....

Alignments: rather than the traditional view on alignment, here's my take on what alignment means. In a nutshell, Lawful means you believe in and pray to a higher order which organizes your universe (gods, saints, demons... whatever). Chaos means no hokey religions for you.... nothing directs you future but your own actions, and when you're dead, you're dead. Neutrals waver between the two... they'll say that they don't believe in divine intervention, yet pray to the gods when the need arises. I believe we would call them "hypocrites". I have also toyed with alignments meaning: Lawful believes in the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, neutral belives the needs of either side must be weighed to see which is more beneficial, and chaos means the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many. This is still an idea in progress.....

MAGES: oh, boy. I have been doing a lot of reading the last couple of days (of blogs like B/X Blackrazor and Rolang's Blog of Doom) about mages. A lot of what I have read, I am planning to incorporate somehow. I have also been influenced by reading through Joseph Bloch's "A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore" project, and am looking forward to reading my copy of THE COMPLETE B/X ADVENTURER, before I know entirely what I am doing with mages. While I personally have never had a problem with the way mages work (having played them almost exclusively throught my D&D life), I love some of the ideas floating around. As it stands right now, here's what I am thinking...
- mages can use magic swords once they achieve 4th level (still no armor though... for now).
- I am going to go to a more free-form magic system, using the idea of "spell points" for determining how many spells a character can cast (basically, each level of a spell equals that many points, and magic-users get a number of points of spells to cast each day; for instance, a mage that can cast 2 1st level spells and a 2nd level spell has 4 spell points (1+1+2) to play with for the day).
- I have been toying with giving some variety to the types of magic available. For now, magci-users can be Wizards (who have to memorize their spells each day) or SORCERORS (who can spontaneouly cast). The trade-off was going to be, Wizards get a bonus number of spell points (equal to the number of languages they could learn) each day to memorize spells with, while Sorcerors could do the unmemorized "spontaneous cast" of anything in their spell book. HOWEVER..... after reading some stuff today, I think I may throw a few more goofy ideas in. The idea of mages' brains storing spells, so mages can acquire more power by eating other mages' brains, WILL BE  somewhere in my game. I also plan to use ritual magic in some form, where human sacrifice is either a requirement, or gives a mage more power. I also read about "chaos numbers" in Rolang's musings, which I want to incorporate somehow (maybe with sorcerors?) (the idea being every time you cast a spell, you add to your chaos number, which is randomly determined when your character is created, and when they hit their chaos number... strange things happen). I am also considering some sort of system (yet to be developed) where the # of spells per day stat simply indicates the # of spells per day that can be cast AS INTENDED, and allow magic-users the chance to cast more spells than that, with the possibility of tragic consequences (possible failure, unexpected effects/targets, loss of the ability to cast certain/ALL spells, DEATH) if they push themselves.
- I am working on some sort of counter-spell system as well, where a mage can expend spell points to counter an opponent's spell (if they recognize it), or guess at how much energy to expend to counter it.
- I also love the idea that mages have a special attachment to strange hats. This reminds me of Goblin and One-Eye from Glen Cook's BLACK COMPANY series.
- ALL mages need to have a master (who will likely have to be of a level equal to the character + 2) if they wish to advance in levels. They require masters until they reach level 6. Elves too. No master.... no advancement. Yes, it's a plot hook of epic levels, but I LIKE those kind of hooks.

Clerics
- only humans can be clerics, because only humans have souls
- clerics worship saints, and all the spells will be reskinned to represent the specific prayers, orisons and appeals to said saints
- I see clerics as more like paladins, without all the special paladin trappings. I may USE paladins, but they will be "the most holy of the holy" type of warriors.
- clerics may use edged weapons, but the trade-off is, they cannot use healing magic if they do so (the idea being, clerics use non-edged weapons because they are less lethal, and the goal of clerics is to allow their opponents to survive, so they can see the "mercy" of the cleric's faith, and covert, if they survive. Doesn't always work that way, though....)
- every cleric must choose a saint to whom they are dedicated
- I am toying with the idea of allowing celrics the opportunity to try and "miraculously" cast spells without knowing the proper prayer, and depending on their connection with their saint for success. I see cleric spells as different prayers to different saints, and not every cleric will know they proper paryer (or saint) to say in certain circumstances. For instance, if they don't know the name of the saint to whom they must pray for the removal of poison from a comrade (in other words, they don't know that spell), then they can make a suitable appeal to their personal saint, who may or may not answer the prayer, with all the attendent hassles that go with that. Think of it this way.... if you're going on a trip, you would pray to St. Christopher (the patron saint of travellers) for a safe journey. However, if you didn't KNOW that St. Christopher was the patron saint of travellers, then perhaps you would simply pray to St. Francis of Assissi, because he's YOUR patron saint, and hope for the best. This draws on some of the ideas of the Catholic Church, without there being one unifying God.
- clerics will work on the same idea as mages for spell points
- I see most clerics as either "born agains", who have survived some sort of trauma, which they attribute to divine forces, and who now seek out to inform the rest of the world of these forces, or religious brothers/sisters who simply seek to make the world a better (or worse?) place through dedication to the ideals of their saint.... and aren't afraid to bash a few heads to get people to realize this ("tough love")
- druids will simply be clerics dedicated to either natural saints, or the "natural pantheon" of saints (Mother Earth, The Green Man, and a few others I have in mind.... think a mish-mash of paganism and Native American beliefs). They may or may not have access to different prayers that regular clerics (probably "yes", but not sure how to do it yet). I simply see druids as medeival environmentalists - they recognize that the earth was here before them, and will be here long after them, so they should look after it.
- I am toying with including the mystic class in here, as an adjunct to the druids. I see mystics as warriors who have become one with nature, so they would be the "militant" arm of druids. MOre on that later.....

Fighters
- not much changed here. Variable weapon damage is go. I want to find some way of using either weapon specialization, or dumbed down "feats". I still have some thinking to do about this. I also want to find GOOD, USEFUL non-weapon-combat rules. Still reading a few things to figure this out. I want my fighters to be able to portray war-weary soldiers, high seas swashbucklers, brutal barbarians or noble duellists without needin other charatcer classes.
- I haven't figured out what to do with rangers yet. I am thinking of making them a secret society, so characters could only learn ranger skills after being "initiated".

Thieves
- no real changes here, other than wanting to get away from the stigma of thieves being "thieves". They can be scouts, spies, streetwise agents.... they don't necessarily have to be burglars. I half though about rolling rangers into a thief subclass, as rangers are basically podunk thieves who don't steal anything....

For now, I am sticking with the class XP for levels as they are by the books. I did some mathematizin' to figure out what the average XP/level for all the classes were, and though of doing something like 3ed with a unified XP advancement table, but I can't be bothered. I am also thinking about being a little easier on multiclassing for humans. What I was thinking is, if a human wants to multi-class, that's fine... let's say a 5th level magic-user decides he wants to become a thief. He switches to thief, and puts all his future XP towards that. When he gets enough XP, he becomes a 2nd level thief..... but LOSES A LEVEL OF MAGIC-USER. To me, this seems realistic (you wouldn't 'forget' everything of your old class overnight, but this reflects a slow deterioration of your old skills). Plus, after gaining 3 levels as a thief (meaning they are now a 3rd level thief/3rd level M-U), if they want to start being a mage agian, they can shift back.... but then they start losing thief levels as they climb. I haven't put this in practice yet, but it sounds doable to me.....

More later.... it's 2:30 am, time for bed.

Castles made of sand

Some thoughts/background/house rules I plan on implementing in my campaign:

I'm using a B/X / LL hybrid, since they're pretty much the same thing. No level caps for demi-humans. Variable weapon damage. AEC classes are in, but not available to starting characters (I might change this RC "super-classes" instead, like the Mystic). Campaign is going to be more swords and sorcery, with less magic, and pretty much every magic item (especially weapons and armour) will have a name and a story. I will be using "weapons of quality", so it is possible to have +1 weapons without having magic. "Shields Will Be Splintered" is in effect.

The idea for this campaign is very much swords and sorcery. One of the great mysteries of life will be the idea that only humans have "souls", so to speak, so only humans (and in some rare cases, wild elves, which will be explained later) can use divine magic. Dwarves were created without the influence of magic, so they have no magic ability (I was thinking of making them like the Yuuzhan Vong in recent STAR WARS literature, who are a "dead zone" to the Force, but I felt that would unbalance things too much. I am open to suggestions on how to make this work, unless I go with the assumption that PC dwarves are special to begin with, and part of that specialness is that they actually HAVE a connection to magic). Elves think they can connect themselves back directly to the first making, and as such, don't worship gods... they ARE gods. Halflings have seen what misery magic can cause, and have forsaken any desire or ability to use magic (although they can still be affected by it). Humans were created in the distant past as servants to the first races (elves, dwarves and halflings) - humanoids are the failed attempts at creating humans.

Dwarves: any dwarves ancountered outside of their mountain strongholds are either beardless outcasts, or mercenaries who have been cast out, usually for excessive bloodlust. Dwarves have no innate magical ability whatsoever - this explains their obsession with acquiring magic items, and wealth (to purchase more magic items). Dwarves worship their ancestors. Because of their lack of magical connectedness, dwarves cannot be resurrected, reincarnated or raised if killed. Furthermore, a dwarf must make a saving throw even when beneficial magic is being used on them (for instance, if a cleric tries to cast Cure Light Wounds on a dwarf ally, the dwarf must fail their saving throw for it to work). I toyed with giving dwarves a flat percentage of magic resistance, generated at random in character creation, but for now, this will work.

Elves: elves come in two flavours. High Elves are the degenerate overlords of the world, who use both swords and sorcery to impose their will. Wild elves are those who have seen the destruction their brothers have wrought, and have retreated to the wilds, becoming one with nature. PC elves will either be high elves seeking to atone for the damage wrought by their degenerate kin (or perhaps working towards some secret agenda of their sorcerous kin) or perhaps tortured martyrs, while wild elves will either be militant nature warriors, or mystic living weapons. Basically, high elves think of themselves as direct descendents of the gods, while wild elves have turned from that realization, and worship the power of nature. Because of this, wild elves may be reincarnated, but not raised or resurrected, while high elves can be resurrected and raised, but not reincarnated. I am also toying with developing a new spell list for wild elves, which incorporates some "druidical" spells, and take away a few others. High elves will need a master, just like mages (see below).

Halflings: halflings in this campaign are far more philosophical than the standard "hungry burglar" prototype. Halflings have seen the best and the worst of races, and have withdrawn from a society they see as being doomed. Kind of like Elrond in LOTR, without magic or haughtiness.... maybe more like a magic-less Galadriel. PC halflings will always be either youngsters, out on a "learning expedition" to try and understand the other races and where the world is going, or outcasts who, unlike their brethren, feel that they CAN make a difference in the fate of the world. Halflings worship ideas, rather than personifications of those ideas. Also, halflings as a race have eschewed any involvement with magic, so while it can still affect them, they choose not to use it (although they may still freely use magic items).

Okay, this is getting kind of long. More later.

Putting some sand in the sandbox...

Courtesy of the inimitable Jeff Rients...
1. What's the deal with my cleric's religion? Clerics worship a pantheon of saints, who are theoretically paragons of humanity who impressive characteristics and deeds make them worthy of worship today. They have also been known to worship the divinity of nature.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment? Even the smallest town should have a general store or outfitter which can provide basic equipment, and weaponry up to daggers and short bows. Anything beyond that (armor, larger swords, heavier bows, etc.) will require either a blacksmith, or a larger town.

3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended? Good luck... plate mail is extremely hard to come by, often possessed only by the most powerful of rulers, military commanders and religious officers.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land? Depending who you ask, either The Old Man On The Mountain, the Faerie Queen, the necromancer Lim-Dul, or the elvish mage Daerk-xi-Daer
(yes, I am wholeheartedly stealing names from Magic the Gathering. I make no apologies, mostly because none of my players play MTG, so they won't know the difference. Plus, it gives me lots of good ideas to loot)

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land? Lord Caernavon of Caernave, Whispers-In-The-Dark or the Black Knight of St. Erebus

6. Who is the richest person in the land? The great King Mithraz of the southern kingdom of Ghog is the richest man in the world, although others say the hoard of the wyrm Longfang rivals it.

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing? For simple healing, many local hedgewizards and wise women would be able to provide simple magical healing. For more grievous wounds, one would have to seek out a cleric with knowledge of the suitable prayers and orisons of healing of the various saints.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath? Poison: most local hedgewizards or druids would be able to heal natural poisons, but for more exotic poisons, one might need to seek out agents of the Guild of Mute Assassins; Disease: appropriate clerics, probably of St. Asclypus; Curse: most curses can be lifted by witches, but beware - a curse can rarely be truly removed, and often can only be replaced...; Level drain: that would probably require some sort of divine miracle, or a mighty impressive wizard...; lycanthropy: that would need a druid; polymorph: if a wizard did it, then probably a wizard should UNDO it, right?...; alignment change: umm...... CAN that be undone?; death: wow, you don't ask much, do you? I mean, there's only been a couple of saints who have ever come back from being DEAD dead... I dunno....; undeath: umm..... death again?

9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells? All mages require a master until the 6th Level of Secrets has been attained, at the very least. There is rumoured to be the Illuminated Order of Agamotto that mages may join, but you don't find them, they find you...

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC? Most people who advertise themselves as alchemists are charlatans and frauds. One MAY be able to find an alchemist of limited usefulness in a large city, but the best alchemists would be elves, who are few and far between, and do not advertise their services. A reliable sage would only be found in a large city, or perhaps in one of the larger cloistered abbeys. Most other expert PCs would reqiure a sizable city or noble court.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries? Most taverns or union halls will have strong-armed, weak-willed individuals willing to hire on for wealth or adventure. However, for quality sell-swords, you will likely either have to "know someone who knwos someone", or advertise in some rather esoteric channels.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law? Many of the town which have sprung up around religious centers look down on open weapons. Magic restrictions tend to depend on when a mage last wreaked havoc in a town. There are always some out of the way places that may have "interesting" laws, however...

13. Which way to the nearest tavern? Taverns are easy to find, with almost every small town having somewhere for the locals to gather and gossip. They are also frequently found in the roadhouses along well-traveled routes. 1

4. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous? The Immerwolf of Harrowdown Hills and the Beast of Lake Bezan come immediately to mind.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight? There are always petty conflicts brewing between petty nobles on the frontier, and there are always humanoid incursions on the far borders of the realm that require quashing.

16.How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes? There are rumours that in the deserts of Ahbahz in the far south, there exists such savagery...

17.Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight? Many... the Guild of Mute Assassins, the Order of St. Hermas, the Path of Thorns, the Illuminated Order of Agamotto, and many we probably don't even know about... YET.

18. What is there to eat around here? Please.... try the fish?

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for? The Sword of St. Hermas; the Compleat Book of Orisons, Benedictions and Prayers; the Necronomicon; the Lion's Eye Diamond

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure? Longfang dwells in the Spires of Shadows, and his hoard is said to be the largest in all dragonkind...

Any questions? I'll post operative house rules later.

God bless cartoons

I recently acquired the complete season of the new cartoon, AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES. In addition to the episode intorducing Thor helping me to actually make sense of what the THOR movie was trying to establish, I copped an AWESOME idea from the episode. In this episode, Odin banishes Loki to the Isle of Silence, an isalnd prison devoid of sound, so that no one can hear Loki's seductive lies. I thought this was a brilliant idea. Imagine an isolated island under the permanent effect of a Silence spell, where mages are banished. Of course, this would rely on the fact that there is some sort of verbal compnent to every spell, but that would be such a great idea. Imagine the chaos and mayhem you could cause adventuring on that island! I think I am going to put the Isle of Silence into the sandbox I am working on, as a mythical place of some importance, until I can figure out how to properly use such a mcguffin.

Off the Wagon

I live in a small town (population, 75). One of the problems I have is finding anyone to do any gaming with. The best I can usually do is maybe get up a rousing game of Monopoly or Risk with some of my current or former students at the rec center.

HOWEVER... the boyfriend of one of my former students came over the other night to play some crib. We started talking about video games and stuff, and I mentioned how I used to be a big nerd, playing D&D and Magic and stuff.... At the mention of Magic, his eyes lit up. "Magic? Like, Magic the Gathering? You play Magic?" Turns out, he was a HUGE Magic geek, who had quit playing because his friends had all graduated up to poker.

Long story short..... my sickness has returned.

I started playing Magic with ALPHA. Yes, I had 5 of the power 9. I continued to collect and play through university, and finally quit just after Homelands, when I sold my entire set to buy a new personal computer (when a good new personal computer still cost about $2700). I would buy the occasional booster pack or starter deck after that, just to see where the game was. I even bought a Deck Builder's Toolkit last year, and got my old Magic buddies back home to do the same, for a one-day old school throwdown (which annoyed me, because an old friend had a bunch of UNHINGED and UNGLUED cards he used in his deck, which messed me up. I subsequently bought 4 World Bottling Kits 8). I NEVER quit playing my original "Duels of the Planeswalkers" PC game though, and had the new game on Steam.

It hasn't taken me very long to get back into the swong of things. I'm still learning some of the new mechanics, and I STILL prefer the older cards, but I am adapting to designing Modern-legal constructed decks. We have mostly been playing Booster Drafts so far, although I discovered that you can buy 10-card packs of Magic repacks from the Dollar store for a buck, so I bought about...... 60? 80? 100? packages over the past couple months to rebuild my "library". I'd forgotten how addictive Magic was.

Anyway, I have now been scouring online resources for advice on deckbuilding. It's interesting to see how playing has changed over the years. I used to be a good player (not great, but I could hold my own), but I doubt I could really compete anymore. Nonetheless, I'm going to try, and try to have some fun. So far, I have assembled 4 constructed decks I'm messing with... Gobbo Gobbo Hey 2K12; Mean, Green and Ready To Blow; Shutdown Touchdown; and What's A War Without An Army? I am also toying with making a few QL Magic decks with my older cards, and maybe trying out a constructed Modern Allies deck, once I look at what I need for it.

So, anyone out there in my small audience play? Anything I should know about modern Magic? I'm listening. 8)

SCORE! redux

Hey everyone. Long time no post. I know, I know... I'm bad for it. I've been reading lots of blogs though. I haven't forgotten about you all. 8)

Haven't done a ton of gaming anything this summer... it's been kind of a crappy summe, with me spending most of my time prepoping for next school year. Sigh. I have been catching upn on my reading of FIGHT ON! back issues, and I snagged a copy of OSRIC and MUTANT FUTURE.... and LABYRINTH LORD..... and the ADVANCED CHARACTER COMPANION... and the ORIGINAL CHARACTER book... and some Traveller Classic stuff. So gaming is not finished!

Concerning that... I visited my good friend's used bookstore today. I always check his gaming section, although there hasn't been aything in it for a long time... UNTIL TODAY! SOmebody dumped a whole mess of old TSR and other stuff, which I quickly snapped up. All of it was anywhere from $1-$3 each.

- Dragon Lords Monster Manuscript - a monster compendium, based on the old Grenadier Dragon Master miniature lines. IN pretty good shape, too. Off to eBay you go!

- LANKHMAR, City of Adventure - a little water damager, but with all the maps intact and in great shape! Woot woot!

- LANKHMAR: Swords of the Undercity - in almost perfect shape. If I can't find something to pillage, I'll sell it on eBay

- LANKHMAR: Swords of Deceit: - again, minty shape. Pillage or resell.

- T1 The Village of Hommlet - I already have a copy, so this could be a resale special, especially with all the recent potential shown in the module in the OSR blogosphere lately

- C3 Lost Island of Castanamir - I always wanted this module, for some reason. Let's see if it can be useful.

- N3 Destiny of Kings - Another one that looked like it had pillaging potential. If not... yo ho ho and a bid on eBay!

- DL1 Dragons of Despair - I put this in my buying pile accidentally. They also had the next 5 modules, which I might go back and grab, so I can sell the lot on eBay.

- M3 Twilight Calling - Never seen this module, so I picked it up for scouting purposes. It's Tom Moldvay, so it HAS to be good. 8)

- Thieves' World Companion - I may llot this for ideas, but I can think of a few people who might want this. 8)

- Grimtooth's Traps: again, pillage for ideas, or maybe resell.

- The Palladium Book of Weapons and Armour - never even heard of it. Worth a look-see

- Monster File Number One, by Dragon Tree Press - I'm pretty sure this is kinda rare, and definitely old, and I'm sure I can make mroe than the $2 I paid for it. In MINTY condition.

If anyone in interested in working a deal for some of this stuff (if I am amenable), drop me a line at suprunown AT [gee-mail] DOT com.