My heart is happy

I have fond memories of those old green spine books from the magical island across the sea from me.

(this post was started awhile ago, and I'm finally getting back to it).  

These books were my first introduction into this role playing world.  I remember having a shelf full of them when I was a kid.  Listening to Nirvana Nevermind on a cassette and rolling dice on my lap, instead of doing homework.

When I first jumped onto google plus, I think my first search term was Fighting Fantasy.  Shortly after I found the OSR.   Shortly after that I created a community for Advanced Fighting Fantasy.  I then grabbed the NEW version of AFF by +Graham Bottley .  I dubbed it AFF 2.0, I think it stuck.  I love that there was a vibrant community around all things fighting fantasy.  All this is possible because of the internet.  I remember being a nerdy kid thinking "I wonder if other people know how cool this is?".   I didn't know that it was HUGE in the UK (yonder magical island across the sea from me, where there are pubs on every corner, note I must go there).

My interest in AFF & FF has been reignited latetly, as I've been reading a few of the solo books in my spare time.  Crown of kings & armies of death.  Which has got me thinking about either writing my own rules hack, re-buying the original dungeoneer or just running AFF 2.0.  The other night I found a PILE of resources out there for AFF.  

The original advanced rules were broken, there was a lot of things like leveling up that just made heroes gods eventually.  That being said, the simplicity of the system is JUST AWESOME.  And honestly I think it would be perfect for 1 shots or even a 3-4 session type game.  Part of the reason I don't know if I would run Aff2.0 as a one shot is that not everybody has the rules handy.  (especially if playing online).  So what I might do, is just go ahead and create a house rules document with the basics.  Possibly use a few tweaks from Troika, AFF 2.0 etc.  Basically something that allows a quick start type of game.  (speaking of quickstarts there's one for aff 2.0). 

If you haven't heard about TROIKA! you should go and check it out.  It's a throwback to the original set of advanced rules, however there's lots of fun little tweaks.  From a brief little read, there is a world behind the rules, classes, backgrounds that all tie in.  (A full review is upcoming).  Here's the blurb.

Troika! is a complete role playing game, giving you everything you need to create characters and lead them through the hump-backed sky towards adventure.

The game is a response to decrepit UK RPGs. A "retro" RPG rebuilt without sentimentality, corpses of darlings litter the streets.

The game is 56 pages and includes:

Unified art direction by Jeremy Duncan.

A fully automated character creation system to represent the vagaries of fate.

36 backgrounds. You have no influence on who you were, only on who you will become.

A setting baked into the rules and resistant to untangling.

Plainly expressed rules, easily accessible and highly modifiable.

Art Version

Pay What You Want Version (No art) 

Just a few thoughts on Troika while I'm rambling here.  I really like it!  However the baked in setting and background isn't really my cup of tea currently.  To a degree the backgrounds sort of remind me of Barbarians of Lemuria (another wonderful system that's easy to run). 

So in my quest last night to find some interesting resources I found the following cool shit: 

*This site is an amazing resource of all the advanced books (detailing the world, the mechanics etc): https://projects.inklesspen.com/fatal-and-friends/kayumi/fighting-fantasy/  (detailed in here is also explanations as to why the original advanced game was broken).  This explains a lot of the issues

*Note that's basically where I'm going to get my home brew version.

*Fan written adventures for AFF (and version 2.0): https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Fan_Written_Advanced_Fighting_Fantasy

*A Fifth Edition conversion of "The warlock of firetop mountain":  https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HyE1NYoSf

*Dyson Logos redrew the map for "warlock of firetop mountain".  https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/01/26/the-warlock-of-firetop-mountain-combined/

*A bunch of fan rules: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1788&Itemid=37

*A pile of monsters: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445&Itemid=65

*adventure sheets: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1407&Itemid=68

*Dysons review on AFF2.0: https://dysonlogos.blog/2014/08/07/advanced-fighting-fantasys-reboot/

What I've always loved about the system is the simplicity.  That and the idea of just being an adventurer (in the books).  You start off with a backpack, a sword and a torch and your wits.  Love it. 

The 10,000 hour rule

The 10,000 hour rule is a strange thing, I was thinking about it this morning and then did a few google searches (it seems to be slightly debunked, I'll provide links). 

Here's the rule:  A common theme that appears throughout Outliers is the "10,000-Hour Rule", based on a study by Anders Ericsson. Gladwell claims that greatness requires enormous time, using the source of The Beatles' musical talents and Gates' computer savvy as examples.  LINK


However I believe in it.  I personally don't think I've got anywhere close to 10,000 hours writing RPG material.  Same goes for mapping.  This year I think I will try to get a few more hours into it.  I doubt strongly that I will hit that 10,000 mark.  (A perfect example of this is probably +Dyson Logos , I'm sure he's put more than 10K hours into mapping.)

I can say for certain that I've spent that amount of time engineering recordings (and I've got decent at it).  I've definitely spent that time playing guitar (although maybe not the right kind of practice which is probably the key to the whole thing!), I believe that I'm the "world's okayest guitar player" at this point.  I can't really rip, but I can learn a song pretty fast (from memory) and I've laid down acoustic rhythm tracks to a click on more occasions that I can count. 

As far as writing/mapping is concerned I'm going to keep working at it.  Try and practice the things that I need to work on. 

For writing I need to really work on the following: 

Writing better descriptions.
Making sure that everything is open ended (not railroads).
Trying to not fall into the usual traps/troupes
Being creative with traps, rumours, monsters

For mapping 

I need to start drawing buildings not just underground dungeons
I need to work on overland maps, come up with a interesting style (I quite like what +Deven Rue does!)
I need to put some more weirdness into dungeons, more natural traps, holes, cliffs etc.

So here's my sorta random 2018 plan, spend more time working on the above.  Maybe I can even come up with a schedule for myself (I tend to stick to schedules if I create one).  I'd like to find a half hour a day to work on either/or.  That doesn't seem like a lot, so hopefully I can stick to it!

Random Debunk links that I haven't actually read: 
https://lifehacker.com/the-10-000-hours-rule-is-a-myth-1819512038
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-study-destroys-malcolm-gladwells-10000-rule-2014-7

PS:  Totally random, but I think I'd like to do another collaborative dungeon again in January!  Quite possibly a sequel! "Return to the blue baron's palace".  I'll need a few more ideas about how to get it going.  Hit me up on Google plus to discuss your ideas. 

New adventure in the works

Just started working on a new adventure this week.  I decided to use blueholme, as it's just a wonderful system to write for.  As well I went and mined Dyson's blog for a cool map.  (something that I am probably going to do more often!).

The adventure is inspired by a local metal band that I'm friends with.  I actually talked to them about it and they are super cool with it!  So there will be a little cross promo going on, which is going to be fun.

There is something that I really like about writing adventures for levels 1 -3.  Maybe its because a LOT of games start off that way.  Maybe it's the ease of having less rules, less damage, the very real possibility of character death (that's probably it actually).

I can't honestly wait for the new Blueholme Journeymanne Rules to be in my hands, however from a writers stand point the Prentice rules just turn my crank!

I'll keep you posted on the progress.  Thus far I have 19 rooms.  Now to just come up with a cool name for the series of adventures I have planned (yah I just said it... series.....).  Stay tuned!