Lost in the Dark

Ugh.

So it would seem that The Forest Oracle adventure still has few things to teach me...mainly that the thing needs even more work than I previously assumed. Last night the party entered the tunnel pass known as the Horns of the Dragon, an old dwarf mine that also doubled as a quick road through the rocky hills. Shenanigans ensued as the party figured out the best way to lead/drive their horses and mules into the subterranean caverns, but it all was worked out (it helped that Sonia the Magic-User had a secondary skill of animal husbandry).

Because the box text in this section of the adventure is small, I read/paraphrased it in order to provide the players with some description of the environment. As we came upon the first branch off the main tunnel, I read:

About 5,500 feet into the tunnel another tunnel leads sharply off to the south...

Wait. What?

5,500 feet converts (in D&D terms) to 550" in the underground. The slowest party member has a movement of 9" per ten minute turn, meaning it would have taken roughly 61 turns to cover that distance, a bit more than 10 hours. The party had only brought ten torches with them: enough for ten hours.

But at the time I was running the game I wasn't thinking hard about this...or doing these calculations...because I was already juggling a party feud (one player wanted to leave the party to explore the side passage while the other was adamant they stick with the main trail). In the end, the party ended up splitting, with both groups plunging their separate ways into darkness. I 'hand-waved' the issue, figuring I'd do the math later. Besides, it was always possible that Kitiara and Raistlin had stolen the halflings' lantern back at the Wildwood Inn (plus their four flasks of oil...).

More shenanigans ensued, mainly with players continuing to bicker at every crossroads reached, until the more "adventurous" PC was finally killed by fire beetles while exploring a side avenue. As it was time to check on my soup (and he had to make a new PC) we called the evening's session.

The problem is...and to be clear, I am totally blaming the author and editorial staff at the old TSR...the problem is the map of the tunnels has no recorded scale AND is drawn on hex map in a winding fashion. Caverns are given dimensions in their description ("roughly 1500' x 1500' and 20' high," for example) but, being natural caverns (or dug-out mining operations), none are regularly shaped. Trying to calculate the scale by working backwards from the description is still an "eyeballing" procedure. 

What I ended up doing (this morning) was assigning a figure of 500' per hex, as this seems to match the dimensions of the most regular caverns (per their descriptions), even though it does NOT match the narrative text boxes for the tunnels themselves (if it did, that first side tunnel would have been 6,500' from the entrance, not 5,500). This makes the entire length of the main tunnel, from entrance to exit, roughly 32,000 feet...about 6 miles. Which makes sense when compared to the main wilderness map, because six miles is the distance given between the entry and exit of the pass (the wilderness map DOES have a scale...two miles per hex).

But while the party can make 20 miles per day in the outdoors (about one hex per hour), there's no way for them to navigate at that kind of speed though the old tunnels. Littered with debris from numerous cave-ins, fallen timbers, and old mining equipment, a journey of six miles (at their speed) will take about 59 hours. Assuming 10 hours of marching per day, that's still six days underground, even assuming zero detours into side passages.

Ten torches and four flasks of oil aren't going to cut it. 

Now, if they'd actually beaten the beetles and made off with their luminescent glands, that would be something (of course, if the half-elf cleric had lived through the encounter, they'd also have his daily allotment of light spells at about an hour a pop). As it stands, they're not quite hopelessly lost in the dark, but nearly so. The party did acquire a +1 broadsword from the bandits, and that will shed light in a 20' radius when drawn from its scabbard, but we'll have to see if they remember that (Kitiara is carrying the sword, but she has her hands full with spear and shield at the moment). 

Anyway, it's just as well that we stopped the adventure where we did last night. Turns out, the party was walking for about 25 hours straight.  *sigh*

This is my mistake...I was so busy worried about un-stupid-izing the encounters in the module that I didn't pay close enough attention to the actual logistics. I will endeavor to do better going forward.

Diego's new character, by the way, is a dwarven thief. Here's hoping he bought a lot of torches.

This is how I picture Thisvynn
the NPC dwarf of N2...kee-rayzy.

I, Jackass

Was just informed by a potential Patreon supporter that his contribution to my cause was denied. I assume that's due to me failing to complete the set up of my income information with the Patreon site.

Obviously I don't really want folks' money. (*sigh*)

Things should be working now. And I should be starting to post again soon...I'm leaving Veracruz this afternoon, and should be winging my way back to Seattle tomorrow. I hope everyone's having a happy Thanksgiving today...probably my All Time Favorite holiday (the food, the family, the football...plus the next day off!). Wonderful as Mexico is, they're a little short on starch and gravy combinations...which I, as a natural born Americano, sometimes crave.

Ah, well. There's a sandwich shop in my neighborhood that does a Thanksgiving-style sandwich all year long. I'll be sure to stop by in the next few days and indulge.

Cheers to everyone!

: )

The "Thanksgetting:" turkey, stuffing,
cranberries, and gravy + bacon.

National Blood Bowl League

This should be my last Blood Bowl post for a while...everyone can heave a sigh of relief.

I've been blogging about Blood Bowl since 2009...basically since I began this blog. Not terribly surprising since I've been playing the game since the second edition (published 1989) and been a ravenous fan of my hometown team since pretty much its inception.

[okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration...I wasn't a "ravenous fan" at age three (though my parents perhaps were)...my love for the team started circa 1983 with the inaugural season of Chuck Knox. I would have been nine years old at the time. I was already playing Dungeons & Dragons back then]

I've written before how I enjoy slipping on my gamer glasses and viewing the National Football League through a Blood Bowl perspective...it continues a snarky tradition of the "fluff" that I first encountered in 2E BB when the designers took the time to file off the NFL serial numbers for their own fictional Blood Bowl league, with teams like the "Darkside Cowboys" and the "Kichargo Werebears." It's all meant to be done in good fun; as I explained in this earlier post (from 2012):

The humorous fantasy world of Blood Bowl isn’t built on the standard, “logical” fantasy tropes. We’re talking about a fantasy world that imagines fans of many disparate cultures (Chaos mutants and high elves and orks and hobbits) rubbing shoulders in the stands and waiting in queue together for half-time refreshments. It’s not a RATIONAL fantasy world; it’s a silly and entertaining one. Sure the orkish team might eat any fallen opponents that aren’t carted off the field fast enough…but I don’t think that reflects necessarily on any real life pro-football team associated with the orks. Just as an orkish Blood Bowl team doesn’t really reflect the nature of ork tribes found in “standard” fantasy games and fiction (i.e. bloody awful, genocidal maniacs championing the cause of Chaos and evil by their very nature). In a standard fantasy world, one wouldn’t deal with an ork tribe in any way except at the end of a sword…in the Blood Bowl universe, one might trade them a high draft pick in exchange for a star blocker and a guarantee they won’t snack on the Halfling cheerleaders in the 3rd quarter.

Choosing the proper fantasy "team type" for the various NFL franchises is a mental exercises that I find amusing, engaging, and nicely intersects my love of both the sport and the game. Also, it's great for helping with color schemes for my painting (I must have enough BB minis these days to field 20+ teams). Generally, I base my decisions on a team's history and tendencies and overall "character" though I try to keep a particular proportion of species to the league (rarer team types show up in fewer numbers than, say, human or orcish ones), and this has been further influenced by the teams offered in various editions of the game, now in its 7th (?) edition.

While some teams are easy to pigeonhole as a particular type (the Seahawks have always been orcs, for example), others have been a lot harder to figure out, and many have shifted conceptually in my mind, generally due to rising and falling fortunes. For example, for the longest time I pegged the Buffalo Bills as a "human" team, generally based on my memory of them as a powerhouse in the 90s with an all-around slate of stars (Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Don Beebe, etc.). However, their two decades of missing the playoffs (only one playoff appearance...in 2017!...since 1999), and a general failure to hit on draft picks, free agent trades, and coaching hires, has caused me to revise my opinion of them to a "halfling" team (nothing says futility like a team of halflings). A consistent lack of "team identity" contributes to this. Plus, of course, Buffalo wings.

[halflings in the Blood Bowl setting, are more known for their chef skills than their play]

The solid Bills' teams of the 90's are more the outlier...they show the potential of the team (yes, halfling teams can be competitive...I've seen them win tournaments in my home games. They're just a challenging team to use). Anyway, as I'm using the current 32 team league as currently constructed, I generally give more weight to team histories since the realignment in 2002. Generally.

With that being said, here's how I see the NFL currently; there are quite a few differences from my thoughts back in 2010, when I first went through this exercise:

AFC East

Bills: Halfling
As explained above.

Dolphins: Wood Elf
They thrived for years on a good passing attack, but they've just had a tough time (in recent decades) in putting it together. Wood elves are notorious for being very expensive and very fragile and running them for long term success is a tricky bit. The 'Fins miss Don Shula.

Jets: Halfling
Like Buffalo, I had these guys down as "human" for a long time, but despite a handful of playoff appearances the J-E-T-S have been a mess for a long time. Joe Namath's famous bravado I chalk up to that of a precocious (and slightly skewed) Hobbit, who somehow managed to survive long enough to acquire a decent suite of passing skills. The antics of these guys (name me a Jets QB of the last 15 years and I'll name you a ridiculous incident or scandal associated with him) borders on the comical, and halflings are the court fools of the Blood Bowl circuit. Prove me wrong Adam Gase.

Patriots: Dark Elf
I've held the Patriots to be elves for a long time, but I long ago changed my mind to think of them as the Dark variety, rather than High Elves. Sure there's the whole cheating thing, but more than that is the fashion in which they thrive in the passing game without the use of star wide receivers. Dark elves don't have true "catchers" (haven't since 2nd edition anyway) instead making use of a running game and dangerous "bashy" types (witch elves, assassins, etc.). For a while in 4E they were allowed to field a minotaur, and I'd be willing to stat one out as Rob Gronkowski. Anyway, they always seem to be playing cold night games in December (and January) and that's says "Dark Elf" to me far more than the sunny goody two-shoe variety of point-ears.

AFC North

Bengals: Wood Elf
Best as a fast, passing attack, but prone too breakage and expensive.

Browns: Chaos Dwarf
Mostly hobgoblins.

Ravens: Chaos Renegade
I had these guys as Norse for a while. They're not. They're a bashy group of miscreants that sometimes get the combination right. Lamar Jackson is a skaven...we'll see how long he lasts before his leg gets broken a la Randall Cunningham (yes, I know he's compared a lot to Michael Vick, but his physical profile is much more like Cunningham, and Vick was a far better passer). "Chaos Renegade" is a new team type for the latest BB edition, a throw-back to the original Chaos All-Stars of 2E that features neither Beastmen nor Chaos Warriors, just cast offs from various team types (generally of the evil variety) and a bunch of Big Guys (trolls, ogres, minotaurs). Tough to reign in, but Harbaugh's proven to be a solid coach.

Steelers: Orc
I kind of hate this pick because I hate the Steelers, but it fits, and Pittsburgh's wa-agh is nearly as good as Seattle's. Also, I dislike it because "Big Ben" Roethlisberger is far easier to model as a chaos warrior than an orc thrower...I guess you just have to give him a couple "+s" to strength (he's still tough to bring down). On the other hand, Roethlisberger's been more injury prone in recent years which fits with an orc thrower's lesser AV (armor value) score. Yeah, orc.

AFC South

Colts: High Elf
Is there anything more High Elf than a team that sported Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, and Andrew Luck? Come on. Plus those Royal Blue jerseys and shining white helmets? Really?

Jaguars: Amazon
I'm relying a bit on fluff here, but the Jags have had such a difficult time finding consistency over the years that it's tough to go on anything else. Besides the jaguar is found in the same region of the world from whence come the warlike Amazons (in the Warhammer world). And Gardner Minshew's headbands and cut-off shorts would certainly fit with normal Amazon attire.

Texans: Undead
See this post.

Titans: Goblin
I held these guys as orcs for a long time, but they're not. Just a bunch of goblins with the occasional troll or goblin looney/fanatic/bomma/pogoer thrown into the mix.

AFC West

Broncos: Dwarf
Nothing changed from 2010. Manning had to fall down to dwarf levels of effectiveness to wind up on this team.

Chargers: Elf Union
I'm convinced. The chargers are elves, not orcs as I wrote nine years ago. They're not quite Wood Elves, but they are much more of the "traditional" (2E) elf team that the latest Elf Union type seems to model. From Fouts to Rivers these guys can sling the rock...and face all the usual downfalls of that team type. LaDainian Tomlinson was one of those rare (and expensive) elf blitzers that thrived in both the running and passing game.

Chiefs: Human
I have gone back and forth on this one. How do you classify a team that had both Christian Okoye and Priest Holmes? Tony Gonzalez and Derrick Thomas? Trent Green and Patrick Mahomes? Marty Schottenheimer and Andy Reid? Though they haven't had a Super Bowl championship since 1969, they've had success and consistency, but in vastly different ways. As such, I'm most inclined to make them "humans" with the occasional ogre ally, rather than a pure ogre team as I wrote previously...comparing them to the Oldheim Ogres (hardly a successful franchise) is grossly unfair. They've showed versatility and the ability to thrive in multiple strategies, even as ultimate victory has often eluded their grasp...that's part and parcel of a human team in Blood Bowl.

Raiders: Goblin
I don't know what I was smoking before. The Raiders are a goblin team, just for their pure goblin mayhem. There are no Chaos Warriors or Beastmen on this team...just goblins (they traded their troll to Chicago last year). Jon Gruden is a goblin. Raider Nation are goblins. The Oakland Colisseum (don't give me this "RingCentral" BS) is as goblin a stadium as they come. And Las Vegas is a city packed to the brim with goblins and their ilk. Goblin goblin goblin.

NFC East

Cowboys: Dark Elf
Any team that chooses Pepsi over Coke is evil. 'Nuff said.

Eagles: Human
Ugh...this one is so hard. I keep wanting to make them skaven or "underworld" (skaven-goblin) but mainly due to the city's rather notorious fanbase. But they're humans. Hooligans, sure...these ain't the Bright Crusaders (maybe if "Saint Nick" was still starting for the team?), but that's not reflective of the team on the field. The Eagles have been at their best when they've been an all around, versatile team. Balanced is the proper term...which is another trait indicative of the humans in Blood Bowl.

Giants: Dwarf
Nothing's changed here.

'Skins: Orc
Ditto these guys. Amazing the difference that ownership and coaching makes...just like in Blood Bowl.

NFC North

Bears: Chaos
Still an easy pick.

Lions: Underworld Denizens
I've upped my opinion of the Lions. With the addition of the Underworld Denizens team to BB (a combo of goblins and skaven based on the famous Underworld Creepers), I'm inclined to upgrade them from a pure goblin team...they've just had too many stars that fail as "goblins." Matthew Stafford...man, Detroit is going to miss him when he's gone...as I'm sure they miss Calvin Johnson.

Packers: Human
The prototypical "human" team.

Vikings: Norse
Ha ha very funny. But this is another tough one. Fran Tarkenton versus Daunte Culpepper versus Kirk Cousins? Plus throw in Adrian Peterson, Chris Carter, and Randy Moss. The one constant seems to be a very tough defense, on both good teams and bad. Give me the slow-footed Norsemen who all carry the "block" skill.

NFC South

Buccaneers: Chaos Dwarf
Still.

Falcons: Skaven
Still.

Panthers: ???
I'm at an absolute loss. I have "lizard man" written in my notes, but that's one Blood Bowl team I've never owned, used, or played against so I really don't know how they handle. I mean, Steve Smith was small and speedy like a skink, but he was also a mean SOB who didn't shy away from contact. Is Cam Newton a kroxigor? What about Kerry Collins or Jake Dehomme? And how do you classify Kuechly, Peppers, and Olsen...let alone Christian McCaffrey (Kyle Allen is just "Collins 2.0"). The Panthers have had success, but not fantastic success (a couple Super Bowl appearances but no trophies). They fling it around a little too much to be called a serious running team, but they run too much to leave that out of the discussion...plus a feisty, tough defense that (for me) takes human teams off the table. Plus there's "River Boat" Ron Rivera, willing to gamble on crazy schemes and unorthodox coaching decisions. They're a little too coherent to be called a Chaos Renegade, but maybe straight Chaos? Maybe...Newton could definitely be a solid Chaos Warrior out of the Carolina wasteland.

Saints: Nurgle
See this post.

NFC West

Cardinals: Undead
I know I've referred to the Cards as halflings many times over the years. But two things have changed my mind on them in the last decade+ besides they're changing fortunes. One is the continued presence of the immortal Larry Fitzgerald; apparently, the star is a vampire who sleeps away the off-season in a restful torpor, only to be revived in August by whichever necromancer has taken the helm of the franchise. The other reason is that Arizona is where old players go to resurrect their careers.

Forty-Niners: Dwarf 
The running game is imperative, but it seems to be back, as is the violent defensive front. Dwarves are a pain in the ass...just like the Niners. They have all the tools they need to become a new force in the west, if they can get competent play out of "Jimmy G."

Rams: Skaven 
Nothing's changed here. Steve Jackson's been replaced by Todd Gurley. Aaron Donald provides a lot of destruction in a small (for a defensive lineman) package. And Sean McVey is doing what he can to recreate his own "greatest show on turf" with an elaborate offensive attack. Moving the team from the subterranean caverns of the St. Louis "Dome" to the glitter and sleaze of Los Angeles means nothing: the rats are still the rats.

Seahawks: Orc 
And the orcs are still the orcs.

All right...that's waaaay more than enough. Sheesh! In between actually watching football and doing the usual family stuff (including multiple games of Blood Bowl with the kids), this post took nearly three days to write. As I wrote at the top, this should be my last BB post for the foreseeable future...and probably my last post period for a bit. I'm heading out of town at the end of the week for an early vacation and we won't be back till after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Later Gators. : ) 

The Problem With Cry Dark Future

Over at Save Vs. Poison, DM Wieg has been working up his own version of Cyberpunk 2020 using Sword & Wizardry as a base. Which is hip and all, but not really my cup-o-tea. I lost interest in CP2020 about the same time as I actually had a chance to play it. Maybe a little later (I sure did buy a lot of material for the game considering how little use I got out of it...though how could anyone pass up a supplement called The Chrome Berets?).

I love this supplement.

ANYway, he asked me to take a look at what he was doing based on my work on the as-yet-unpublished Cry Dark Future, which made me actually dig out and look at Cry Dark Future and see just why the hell it ISN'T published yet. After all, I finished the writing quite a while ago, it worked fine in play-testing (got great reviews from one game group), and was even able to attract interest at the one Con I took it to. Since I'm willing to pay for art these days, and have a printer (and the money to pay said printer), why haven't I just put it out there for the world to give me their dollars? Heck it was even edited...twice.

Because. That's why.

Because it's not great. I mean, it's just B/X Shadowrun, folks. And that's not good enough.

Part of the whole raison d'être for writing the thing was me realizing A) Shadowrun is just D&D with guns and cybernetics, and B) The B/X system is easy enough to mod, and C) why not bring a simpler, easier, friendlier system to the whole Shadowrun concept? So that's what I did...I mean, the game is STILL "Shadowrun"...you won't find Vancian spell lists for example the way the White Star folks (for example) crammed the magic-user and cleric lists into their game.

Shadowrun is a nice enough game. I've gotten some mileage out of it in the past (much more so when I was a teenager), and the recent editions have some truly excellent artwork of a kind I find particularly inspiring.

[I also very much enjoyed the first three novels set in the Shadowrun 'verse; some good stuff in there dealing with the types of issues rarely if ever seen in play at an actual SR table]

But remember that angsty post I wrote about 5 minutes before starting this one? The one in which I said I should be designing and developing games I want to run? Okay, B/X Shadowrun isn't really a game I want to run. Shadowrun isn't a game I want to run.

[sorry to Greg, of course...and all my friends in the U.S. Navy who happen to LOVE Shadowrun]

But that's a concept thing, and there's more to my dislike of my own game than the basic concept (which, by the way, should probably be enough!). There are a number of problems inherent in the design. Chargen, being based on Shadowrun, was too fiddly and took too long (there's a reason why every single edition of SR has included a list of standard archetypes for ready play, rather than making chargen a central part of play). Parts of combat (like bullet counting) are too fiddly. Magic, heavily based on Shadowrun, was too loose and grab-ass for my taste. And, if memory serves me right, there were some problems with the whole "random-monetary-reward-for-job-generator." Though truth be told, any game in which you're playing for money and the money allows you to buy all "system upgrades" (bigger weapons, better cyberware) has some inherent flaws of "game currency" built into the long-term play of the game. I know I found that in my days of playing ACTUAL Shadowrun, too.

[in D&D, for example, no paladin just goes into a shop, plops down his money, and purchases a +5 Holy Avenger. Even if you find a mage willing to create one for you...and you have the money...the DM can make the finding of the magical ingredients exceptionally difficult or challenging; it may even be easier to simply search out legends of an existing holy avenger (no doubt guarded by a host of fierce creatures). But in Shadowrun, the right contacts coupled with the proper credstick will get you anything you need with regard to gear, weapons, and cyberware...heck, even spells and magic items]

So, yeah...there are/were some inherent "system failures" in the game as written, mainly due to me adhering too closely to the structure and system of Shadowrun.

But the whole SR concept is...well, it's fairly unappealing to me at this time. It's dated, sure...the whole "Cyberpunk" thang is pretty dated. But just because a genre is dated doesn't mean it's bad, or lacks value. Many genres over the years have been considered "dead" only to make startling comebacks (the western, the space opera, '30s pulp adventure all come to mind). Many concepts considered "traditional cyberpunk" may be dated, but the idea of a dystopian future ruled by soulless corporations is still a pertinent subject of fiction and role-playing.

Does this illo really suggest "cyberpunk?"

No, it's the introduction/overlay of fantasy tropes/species into an existing structure (i.e. "the real (future) world") and the assumed outcome ("adventurers") that bugs me. It's the idea of going on "missions" for those same soulless corporations...the same way a party of D&D characters get hired by some mysterious figure in a smoky tavern...that bugs me. Scurrilous rogues trying to make a living in a largely lawless fantasy world is more believable to me than the SINless squatting abandoned warehouses filled with stashes of high-tech gear. Are you really stuck eating nutria-soy glop while sporting state-o-the-art combat enhancements? Who pays for the WD40 when your bionic blades get squeaky?

Fact is, there are cooler ways to structure a mash-up of fantasy and futuristic, which is why I started rewriting the whole damn game. The problem is, even though I was doing so (re-conceptualizing the setting as something more post-apocalyptic...kind of a Dark Sun meets Bakshi's Wizards meets Heavy Metal meets Appleseed meets the Deathlands novels)...AND fixing the other problems (the reward system, the fiddly chargen, the magic system, the bullet-counting, etc.)...even though I was doing that I found:

A) I wasn't terribly excited about the prospect of running such a game, and
B) The re-writes were taking a LOT of work.

[and would require even more work for a book worth publication...more play-testing, more editing, etc.]

And so the thing got back-burnered, and I just haven't gotten back to it. THAT is the problem with Cry Dark Future. It wasn't good enough as originally conceived/written, and I my dwindling interest in rewriting a post-apocalyptic fantasy game just to make use of a handful of B/X-based guns/cyberborg systems wasn't enough to sustain my writing/design stamina. That's why CDF may very well NEVER see the light of publication in any format.

Which is kind of depressing when I consider how much work I put into the thing originally (and later) and how I dismantled my old D&D campaign to do a bunch of play-testing for something that just ended up scrapped.

Like I said, I'm feeling a little angsty at the moment.

I'm sure this isn't the final word on CDF, by the way. I have hope that someday, something called "Cry Dark Future" will be published by Yours Truly in some format or other. It might even be before I get back from Paraguay (which for the interested means "before August"). But it's really not one of my priority projects at the moment. Just so folks know.

Nerfing Aquaman (Supers! Revised)

One of the reasons I'm really starting to groove on the DC superheroes (more than heroes of the Marvel stripe) is the manner in which their powers are handled. There is a tendency amongst DC heroes to be limited to a single power set (with a couple notable exceptions) rather than possess a number of fairly unrelated superpowers. Consider some of the older heroes: Flash (super speed), Green Lantern (power ring), Green Arrow (archery), Batman (uber-detective), Hawkman (flight)...rather than characters with multiple powers with which to overcome obstacles, you get a single superpower that must be used in a variety of creative, stunt-y ways to overcome a variety of challenges. For me, it's a very Old School approach, which I appreciate.

Use Flash as an example: here's a guy who in the game terms (of some RPGs) has a host of powers...phasing through objects, deflecting bullets, "decreasing gravity" by speeding up molecules, breaking time and dimensional boundaries, etc. But those are all products of a single power: he's really fast. He doesn't really have multiple powers, his comic writers are just trying to figure out different ways to use the powers he has. Contrast that with some of the popular heroes of Marvel like Captain America (perfect physical specimen, longevity, tactical supremacy, unbreakable shield), Wolverine (super senses, claws, regeneration, adamantine skeleton), any member of the Fantastic Four (yes, Reed Richards super-brain counts as a different power from his stretchiness), Thor, Spider-Man, etc. Even the idea of the "brick" type superhero (the big dude or dudette who is both super-strong AND damage resistant) is something far more prevalent in Marvel comics than DC...yes, Superman fits the bill (he IS the original, after all), but even Wonder Woman while strong, wasn't naturally invulnerable to damage (originally, anyway). The number of "bricks" one finds in Marvel is staggering: from Cage to Colossus to Thing to Hercules to Sasquatch to Wonder Man to...well, there's a bunch. An new one born with every super-team that rolls off the shelf.

Aquaman, like his DC brethren, derives his powers from a single source as well: his undersea heritage, The ability swim fast, fight well (underwater), talk to fish, breathe water (duh), and manipulate watery effects (at least, in the old Aquaman cartoon of the late 1960s), not to mention his Atlantean minions all combined to make him a fairly effective and power superhero...in his own element. Part of the reason Aquaman gets such a bad rap (and, yes, I was as guilty as anyone when it came to bad-mouthing the sea king in my youth) was his appearance/presence with those air-breathing superheroes known as the Justice League, AKA "the Superfriends" and his taking part in their surface world (and outer space) adventures. Environments where his powers were diminished or outright useless.

Best Used in Solo Player Campaigns

I've mentioned before that my boy is a big fan of Aquaman. That's because his introduction to the character was by way of YouTube videos of the old '67-'68 cartoon that featured Aquaman as a solo hero in his own environment. We watched a lot of these when we were stuck in the Asuncion Sheraton hotel for five weeks (when we first came to Paraguay). Now that we've downloaded and watched more of the old Superfriends cartoon (and their battles with the Legion of Doom) I can see why I considered him such a punk as a kid. The guy does nothing. He is routinely left behind or relegated to the sidelines, existing only to be captured or voice some simplistic exposition when danger's afoot. When not riding his Sea-Doo (because it's a faster way for him to travel than by swimming?), he is most often seen riding "shotgun" in Wonder Woman's invisible plane which (humorously) reminds me of guys who couldn't get it together enough to get a license or a car and were thus relegated to the passenger seat of their girlfriend's car.

[back in the day, we had rather derogatory terms for this status of male (see the TLC song "No Scrubs") but as a somewhat more mature adult I try to refrain from such judgmental name-calling. Besides, I was "that guy" for a number of years myself. ; )]

At best, Aquaman's portrayal could be described as "lame," like a limping horse (in terms of being a superhero, anyway). But really, he was just a fish out of water, and diminished by the limits of the 20 minute, Saturday Morning format. Because I'm sure that creative use of his underwater abilities could be found, given a little extra time and brainpower.

Enter Supers! which I mentioned a couple days ago (before the specter of illness again struck several members of my household and thus curtailing my writing/blogging time...AGAIN). Supers! uses a quick and easy D6 system (roll handfuls of D6s and total for results) that emphasizes creativity (via narrative control) without being terribly "abstract-crunchy" in a FATE-y kind of way. Which I like a lot. It allows for power use in a very traditional comic book style, where a single power can be used for multiple stunts.

For example, your Incredible Hulk clone is fighting against some sort of flying menace that he can't reach because his feet have been encased in concrete by some typical comic book-y weirdness. You can still use your Super Strength to attack his winged opponent by (for example) "clapping his hands with such power as to buffet his foe with gale force winds." Roll the dice associated with the power. Similar to Villains & Vigilantes, which had an extensive cross-reference table for power use (attack) versus power use (defense), characters in Supers! have more options than the simplistic strike and parry/dodge of Heroes Unlimited...it just dispenses with the V&V table, instead relying on narrative creativity and a simple D6 total vs. total roll-off. Combat is thus only restricted by a player's imagination and the limit of "one-use per round" for powers/abilities.

[in the Hulk example, the villain might use his rating in "Super Flight" to defend against the green goliath's attack...but then he wouldn't be able to use the power for his own attack in the round, needing instead to select a different power or ability]

The default setting for Supers! has players build characters out of 20 dice total...that's not a whole helluva' lot compared to most point-buy chargen systems (Wild Talents is in the several hundred range, and even Mutants & Masterminds 1E defaults at 150 power points). What's especially impressive is you can create most "Justice League" level powerhouses with about 30 dice. That's a pretty impressive feat considering compared to the full page stat blocks of DC Adventures.

As an example, here's a serviceable write-up of Aquaman (30 dice):

Resistances (all start at 1D):
Composure 3D
Fortitude 3D
Reflexes 2D
Will 3D

Aptitudes (all start at 1D):
Athletics (Swimming) 5D
Fighting 3D
Presence 3D

Powers
Summoning (underwater only) 6D*
Super Strength 5D
Water Powers (underwater only) 6D*

Advantages/Disadvantages
None*

*NOTES: The complications added to his powers give them each a +1D bonus. I could easily add some advantages/disadvantages like Wealthy and Allies (to reflect his King of Atlantis heritage) and Enemies (like Black Manta and Ocean Master), but it's not terribly necessary. There isn't really a disadvantage that models his need to occasionally immerse himself in water ("danger of drying out") but this could be achieved by adding a "circumstance" complication to Super Strength and some aptitudes (like fighting) and resistances (like fortitude).

Summoning allows a character to summon mobs of mooks or a henchmen to fight for you, and this adequately models his ability to summon schools of sea life or large sea creatures (though only underwater)...this could even be applied to summoning "Atlantean soldiers" and the like. Water powers gives a person the ability to breathe underwater, create/manipulate water effects (like in the 60's cartoon), walk on water (which Aquaman can't do but the complication nixes this), and swim at 150mph (25mph per die)...the latter is faster than any non-supercavitation torpedo (or sea animal) though considerably slower than the Mach 10 or whatever the hell is his official speed...10,000m per second I read on one web site.

[one thing I dislike about DC superheroes are their seeming Godlike powers, which is more a reflection of "power creep" over the years...and an attempt to model comic book stunts that defy physics...as opposed to any real, sit down discussion of what's, say, actually IN the utility belt or a character's top speed. This is a product of the medium...an artist thinks it would be cool (and/or story appropriate) for a character to "swim up" a waterfall, and only later does a fan figure out how much speed is required for such a feat. Modern hydroplanes are capable of 200mph on straightaways, and that's with very little of the boat actually touching (and dragging) the water. I'm happy with 130 knots of speed, even if it's not "canon"]

Anyway, this a pretty competent Aquaman, though certainly more effective underwater than on dry land. Still, very easy to model using the rules as written for Supers!

Unfortunately, Supers! (as I mentioned before) had a couple issues that made it less-than-perfect. Sure, it didn't have EVERY power, advantage, and disadvantage one might want, but it certainly had enough (and modeling others ain't terribly hard). No, the problems were mechanical ones, and I broke down and purchased the Supers! Revised Edition (both PDF and print copy) to see if they fixed the issues. It did have very nice reviews, after all.

Welp, after reading the PDF I can happily report they fixed both issues. The first was Composure attacks that (previously) allowed any Cop with a decent Presence skill to shout down most any character with their authority. This has been changed so that a character can explicitly defend using powers OR aptitudes ("Hulk not surrender! Hulk smash!!!"). The second issue was that the activation of an advantage gave the GM a pass to activate a disadvantage...which didn't always make sense (why do I need to bring Ocean Master into a space scenario?) or...didn't make sense (the disadvantage  of "Normal" is already accounted for in chargen so how can it be "activated?"). Not to mention the characters that had ads without disads and vice versa. Now, they don't work that way...they're just always "on" (and several have been modified from how they appear in the basic game. "Normal" is gone completely, which isn't a terrible thing).

But even as they fixed these broken mechanics, the Revised edition has also "fixed" a bunch of mechanics that didn't require fixing. They've added ads that are prone to min/maxing (like nonsentience and big size) and ones that weren't necessary due to minimal effect or existing aptitude (feign death and intimidating) and disadvantages that are difficult to enforce or of minimal impact compared to the advantages they bring (mental hindrances, for example, have no real bite, nor ugly characters that stay in their masks).

They've added some needed powers that were missing from the first edition (Absorption for my Sebastian Shaw clone and the new Mimic Aptitude and Mimic Energy powers). But they added some that really stink, like Super Aptitude which completely undermines the whole Aptitude concept/mechanic (riddle me this, dumb-dumb...what's the point in spending dice to increase multiple specialties beyond 3D when you can simply buy "super aptitude" at 4D or 5D. Broke your own damn game). And they changed powers that didn't need changing (like Super Brain, Super Science, and Super Senses). This, plus the addition of dumb aptitudes like Awareness (great...add an unneeded system of surprise mechanics) and Sleight of Hand (to pick pockets?) plus extra complexity in combat (even with regard to fighting mooks!) just makes one go UGH!

However, the worst they've done is to nerf Aquaman.

Whereas the original edition of Supers! allowed one to easily model the King of the Sea with the selection of Water Powers...a power that would be seldom used in the game due to its incompatibility with most surface adventures...they broke up the power set into separate powers that must be purchased individually: water breathing (now an advantage), super swimming, life support (because being able to live underwater also allows you somehow to live in a volcano or outer space??), and (presumably) elemental control water.

Aquaman hate. That's what it is.

*sigh* I know, I know...this post is too long. Sorry. We'll cut it off there.

Interlude: Squire Roll?!

So...someone familiar with 3rd Edition Pendragon, please tell me where I will find the section on "how to make a Squire Roll."

The index has two entries for squires: page 25 (what a squire is), and page 45 (adding the squire to your character sheet). On page 45 it states:

Usually a squire's success at performing his duty is determined by attempting a Squire Roll (see the Game Mechanics" chapter).

In the Game Mechanics chapter, we find the following under the section Actions Permitted in Melee:

• Make a squire roll to get help or a new weapon. If more than one squire is available, multiple rolls may be made as one action. See below for the Squire Roll definition.

Um...okay. Where? There is no further information on "squire rolls" in the Game Mechanics chapter (at least, none that I found).

The next reference to "Squire Rolls" (other than one or two examples that seem to presume one already knows what a Squire Roll is and how to make one) is in The Battle System section in Chivalric Duties (page 163). Here we find:

Squires perform a wide variety of duties in battle, all for the simple trouble of a Squire Roll. They may:

• bring a new horse or weapon.
• escort prisoners away.
• drag an unconscious knight off the field.

Once a squire is used in battle he is gone for the duration, unless he is sought after and found during a disengaged session. Thus the usefulness of multiple squires is apparent.

Indeed...squires sound very useful, and this Squire Roll mechanic sounds like a nice, simple way to deal with knightly minutia in a streamlined manner. Now, where exactly do I find the mechanic of how to make one?

I'm appealing to Pendragon players here...and specifically 3rd Edition players. Give a brother some insight, huh?

[yes, there is more info on squires in the Knights Adventurous supplement, though it is not specifically listed as "errata." I want to know if I'm missing (what is obviously) an important, standard mechanic from the default game or was it truly left out as a gross oversight/editing error. In statting up my own rules/setting, I prefer to start from the "default" system (rather than the more elaborate KA material) whenever possible]

Thanks, folks.

"Um...squire roll? What's that?"

Fighting Women (Redux)

[checking my privilege as I walk through the Valley of Darkness]

So in the comments section of this morning's post explaining my reasons for male-female specific mechanics (found in the chargen section of ability scores), Monkapotomus wrote the following:

"Ultimately I suppose it is no different than racial caps on attributes but it seems strange to me that you would have a specific type of female character in mind that you want to model but not a specific type of male character you want to model."

Ouch. That hurts.

What Monk has hit on, is a basic in fallacy in my thinking and design process. "Justified" or not, my design choice places a restriction on the character concepts of half the population...and no corresponding restriction on the other half.

Yes, any player can choose to play a character of either sex. Over the years, I've had several players (both male and female) choose to "play for the other team." But the majority of the time, my players (both male and female) have preferred to play characters with whose sex they gender-identify. All the women with whom I've played (more than a dozen as I count in my head), more often than not, chose to play female characters...regardless of whether they were straight, bi-, or gay.

[yes, even when playing fighters in 1st edition AD&D with its sex-related strength restrictions]

As Monk says, it's not really the arbitrary cap that I'm using that's a problem...especially considering I have a particular concept that I'm trying to model. But I'm only trying to model something for female characters...characters that will (probably) usually be played by female gendered players. And yet, I'm saying to the male folks, "Have at it! You can do anything you want! You're male, after all!"

Which is, of course, unfair.

So much as it irritates me to A) admit I was wrong, and B) change my carefully crafted mechanics (I thought it was a pretty neat effect/cool, myself), I will be rewriting this part of the book. Players can still swap (one) ability score for another, so I'll leave it to them to decide what they want to model conceptually. And that freedom of choice will be the same for all players, regardless of gender.

Sorry for my short-sightedness. Thanks for calling me on it.
: )

Stop looking at me like that! It's being changed!

DF 34: Just the Facts, Man

Mmm-mmm-mm. A lot to talk about, and not sure where or how to begin.

Fortunately, I was already able to “decompress” a bit with Tim (with whom I rode to and from the convention yesterday). Otherwise, this might just be a spewing of random, unconnected thoughts into the cyber-verse. Let’s see, where to start that will express my thoughts and capture my feelings?

Hmmmm…

Dragonflight ran from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon. Due to my regular obligations (work, family) I was only able to participate Saturday and Sunday. I signed up to run games in every available four-hour time slot during those two days…a total of five. Unfortunately (or not) I only ended up running in a couple of slots. I’ll give folks the briefest of briefs regarding WHAT happened, then I’ll dig a bit more into my impressions and analysis of events as well as “what I learned.”

Saturday I rode in early enough to set-up for 9am time slot in which I planned on running 5AK. This was to be a demo and I had a bunch of books in a suitcase for sale. As per the last Dragonflight I attended (2010?) the show was at the Bellevue Hilton and the (non-Pathfinder, non-indie) role-players were put down one particular corridor, waaaay off from the rest of the convention (war gamers, board gamers, dealers, etc.). This hallway has a couple conference rooms (with tables) attached to it, but also tables in the hallway itself…my table (where all my events were scheduled) was one of the ones IN the hallway, the second table from the very end of the hall, in fact. Geographically speaking, I was one table away from being the farthest away from the action of anyone there.

By 9am I was set-up. After a while of no one showing up at my table (no one had registered on the sign-up sheet either) I pulled my laptop and started making notes for Sunday’s game (specifically some pre-gens for 5AK , which I would be running a second time in the 9am time slot). I did not go out hawking players or stragglers to the table. I did not sign up for anything else myself. It is possible that someone was off-put by my laptop use. Whatever the reason, no one showed up for the game.

Around sometime between 10 and 11 I went upstairs for a coffee and breakfast sandwich from the Tully’s in the Hilton lobby. I then reviewed the other RPGs going on and decided to instead hit the “Story Game Lounge” where Ogre was again facilitating the a slew of various indie-RPGs for the malcontents that don’t want to play GURPS or Dungeons & Dragons. We played eXXXtreme Street Luge where your character has ability scores based on his comparison to Vin Diesel. That was fun, if pretty light-weight.

In the 2pm time-slot (might next one) I was scheduled to demo Cry Dark Future, and I had three people show up for the short adventure I’d written up. Unfortunately, my print-out of CDF is in an extreme state of disrepair at the moment, being a jumble of loose pages, notes, and edits as I work through the publishing lay-out I want (this was something I hadn’t even considered when I was putting together my “prep” for the convention…I was just like, “oh good; I have a copy of CDF in this binder, already printed,” but didn’t bother putting it into a reasonable shape for playing). Despite the lack of organization on my part, the game went off with very little hitch and the players appeared to enjoy themselves. One of the players wanted to know if CDF was available yet for purchase which of course made me realize the stupidity of demoing a game that’s not ready for sale.

[later that day, I would receive unsolicited feedback from another one of the players purporting to be game designer with 15 years of experience. In a nutshell, he would ask why I was bothering with such a project. More on THAT conversation in a later post]

My 7pm time slot was slated for the B/X adventure I had just written and play-tested Thursday. As with my 9am time-slot, no one showed up. There seems to have been some confusion because folks had been looking for a B/X game and instead ended up at the single table running Labyrinth Lord (and there were double digits worth of people at that game)…perhaps because that table was in one of the well-lit conference rooms while I was still down the at the end of the hallway (though now with dimmer lighting since the sun had gone down).

This actually turned out to be a mixed blessing because our babysitters flaked out and my wife was able to pick me up early, rather than dragging the toddler out to Bellevue after 11.

Sunday I was back at the convention early again, and hit up Tully’s first. Even though folks did not come to my B/X game the night before, I had had the chance to talk to several people…about both B/X and 5AK…and drum up a little interest. This time I did NOT pull out the laptop and (instead) had a nice display of books and such to entice folks. However, the 9am spot was pretty darn slim (for ALL tables in the role-playing hallway) and in the end only one individual took the plunge, enjoying the game enough that he was interested in buying it, save that he didn’t have enough cash on hand (and I didn’t have a phone app to run a card). I did get his email info, so that’s probably at least one sale.

Having only one player to run for (and having used pre-gens to boot), the adventure didn’t take all that long, so I was left with time on my hands to play. Again, I checked out the other games being run (including Shadowrun 4E, and more GURPS) and decided instead to head to the Story Games Lounge, where I got involved in a pretty beefy game of The Dresden Files.

[I have no experience with Dresden…neither the fiction or the TV show nor the game, but I have played Spirit of the Century before, which uses a similar version of the “Fate” system].

The game was going well and around 1pm I decided to cancel my last game of Sunday. That was my Star Wars supplement for Bezio’s X-Plorers, which I had planned on demoing at the con. There were several reasons why I decided to cancel. Firstly, after my CDF experience I realized it was pretty frigging silly to demo a game that was neither published (by anyone!), nor in any state ready to sell/give away. Second, I had done the least amount of prep-work of any of the games I’d scheduled to run (no pre-gens, for example). Third, I’ve only even PLAY-TESTED the rules once and the results had been, well, mediocre. Finally, I’d seen a ton of Star Wars games (RPGs) at the con already…using GURPS, D20, and other designers’ original systems…and had seen the lack of response most received, so I figured this would end up being another event with an empty table.

So I excused myself from Dresden to go write “cancelled” on the sign-in sheet. This would be the first thing written on ANY of my sign-in sheets (since even the players who had showed up to the other two games hadn’t bothered to register before sitting down). Or, rather it would have been the first thing…except that four people had already signed up for the game!

So I had four players (none of whom were anyone I knew) out of a six seat table, no pre-gens, nor print-outs, and only about 45 minutes before the time slot started. So I sat down at a quiet table with my lap-top and copy of X-Plorers with the determination to “make it work.” Or at least the intention.

That’s when I found my computer was dead.

Which I still don’t understand: I had charged it all night and it had held its charge fine the day before (from its Friday night charging). Hell, I’d just used it that morning (at around 5am) to print up the 5AK pre-gens I’d written (at the con!) the day before.

Frankly, I figured my 2008 laptop had simply “given up the ghost,” but when I brought it to an IT guy he did indeed confirm the battery was dead…and later Sunday night when I had it plugged directly into a power cord it turned on (that was the reason for my “test post” yester-eve).

However, at the moment I didn’t have a power cord. I had brought one the day before, but had used my computer so infrequently (there was no wireless access for convention goers) that it hadn’t been necessary…plus I had charged it the whole night. I had decided not to bother packing my cord…and since I use an older Mac (and all the folks with laptops at the con appeared to be using PCs), I was SOL.

And so were my players. There was NOTHING printed of the game…it is, entirely, stored electronically and was thus locked into a device to which I had no access. And so I was forced to cancel my game anyway, except NOW I was left with the embarrassment of apologizing to the players for being a complete dumb-ass.

Which I did. The four guys all showed up…punctually at 2pm. Young guys (certainly younger than me…I’d put them in the 20-25 year range) of exactly the type I’d like to expose to some “old school” style gaming. And me with nada to show ‘em. In hindsight I probably should have broken out another game to see if they wanted to try it…but I was so disgusted with myself and embarrassed by the incident that I just wanted to bring the whole thing to a close. I think they ended up playing 4E Shadowrun.

So, having (unsatisfactorily) resolved that, I went back to the Story Games lounge, where Dresden was still going on (I’d been absent for an hour or more) and helped resolve the story and its climax. That was fun. After Dresden, I helped Tim pack up his stuff and then hitched a ride back to Greenwood where the rest of my day was fairly mundane…though I was completely exhausted from the experience.

Let’s see…I want to read back over what I’ve written so far…

[okay, yes…a lot of pathetic parts to the story, but at least it’s honest]

So THAT is what actually happened at the con…I’ve left out a few things (like my wife and child taking me “off-campus” to lunch at Chipotle which turned into an absolute cluster) or anything non-convention related (like our current nightmare houseguests that decided to “invite themselves” into our lives this week). And, oh yeah: I completely forgot to mention my awesome score at Sunday’s auction (said score taking place between my one-player run of 5AK and my adventures into the world of The Dresden Files)…but that’s one that really deserves its own post, too.

But otherwise, that’s all the (basic) stuff that happened to/for me at this year’s Dragonflight. Over the next couple days, I’ll try to post up my thoughts and feelings on the whole deali-o, as well as my encounters with a number of game designers of various stripes and what I learned from them and about them and about the business of marketing one’s game in this kind of venue/setting.

Later, gators!

Apologies to WotC

When I posted yesterday about the new release of Dungeon! I had more than a few unkind words to say about WotC's re-release of the classic board game. I need to retract a few of those words.

First off, regarding construction: I was incorrect earlier when I said the cards of the new game were smaller and flimsier than those of the original. A side-by-side comparison shows they are exactly the same size, and the thickness extremely comparable (it's difficult to tell for sure because of the slick/laminated surface of the new cards...but slickness does not automatically equal "flimsy").

The board of the new game is quite a bit larger, and while the construction doesn't appear to be as durable (to my eyes and touch) as the original, it is quite sturdy and should hold up to plenty of handling. In addition, the SIZE of the board should facilitate play with larger numbers of players, which is a good thing in a game that does well with more than two or three players. The addition of the random tables and objectives/goals to the board itself means that even if you lose the rule sheet, the necessary charts will still be available. This, too, is good game design.

Yesterday's post implied shoddy/cheap construction based on being made in China. This was an unfair comparison, especially considering I have no idea where my 1981 copy was manufactured. Probably in Japan or Hong Kong, though I could find no "made in" stamp anywhere on it. My personal preference for American-made products is just that...a personal preference to support "local" manufacturers whenever possible. But really, who's to say whether it could have been constructed as well here as overseas...in the end, that was just a petty jab.

My main gripe about the new game was the missed opportunity and the needless relabeling of things (like the character figures) for no good reason other than to support WotC's "brand recognition." I prefer an "old school" approach to character design, after all, and like my wizards to be wizened, bearded humans...not eternally youthful members of a pointy-eared elder race. And the "dwarven cleric" is just stupid (I stand by my earlier remarks on that score)...but again, this is mainly a gripe about style of presentation. No, it doesn't make sense to a person familiar with either D&D or (classic) Dungeon! and as a "gateway game" it will only introduce the words "dwarf" and "cleric" into the vocabulary withOUT introducing anything of the character concept. As I said, a wasted opportunity. But I guess they felt the terms "hero" and "superhero" were too cheesy and/or dated. I'm not a master of brand marketing, so what the hell do I know?

Likewise, I can't fault them for adding "variety" and brand IP to the original monster cards...I just think they did so in a lazy manner. And I don't think there's room for much denial that this WAS a lazy design choice. Especially as they did nothing to update the "prizes" (where's the rebranding there, huh?). However, the overall game play of the Dungeon! board game will not suffer for these aesthetic choices...the game play will be almost entirely the same as the original game, which is a good thing considering the quality of the original game.

So there...a few kind words sprinkled on WotC as a bit of an apology. If you own one of the classic versions of Dungeon! (in a more or less complete state), there's really no reason to buy the new version. But if you DON'T own an old copy and want a fun game to play with your kids (or your buddies over beer), the WotC retread is a pretty decent option. However, I'd suggest NOT using the terms like "rogue" or "cleric" or "elven wizard" and grabbing some neutral-looking pawns. Or better yet, some old miniatures that could be used in place of the cardboard cut-outs. It's a little confusing otherwise.

[by the way, there will be more Dungeon! posting in the near future, but I felt it necessary to issue this retraction sooner, rather than later. Thanks]

Okay...Not So Bad

All right, all right…I might have been being a little toomuch of a perfectionist.

Spent an hour or so looking over the proofs in the light of day, and they’re really not as bad as my first pass made me think. Yes, my wife dislikes the font I’m using for the cover title, and it’s not as beefy as I’d like, but it’s not terrible. My son thinks I should have used different colors…but he’s two years old, and after careful questioning, what he REALLY wanted was multiple books in a variety of colors (and also, his favorite color is PINK and I failed to make any of the three volumes pink which was a major disappointment for him). And the cover color will probably changed at the printer anyway.

A couple of the images DID turn out looking a little cloudy…but I know that a least a couple of those are my own fault (due to messing with the stupid “picture effects”) and are thus fixable while others seem to be an issue with Kinko’s printer ink (some of the shading on tables and charts has a “fade-in-fade-out” thing going on), which should be correctable with my normal printer. I might also be able to get cleaner illos to replace some of the lower resolution images.

So in actuality, there’s really own one main issue/gripe with the books and that’s the margins (top and bottom) which seem to have somehow expanded through the magic of Kinko’s booklet digitalization process. The actual PDFs (which is what I’ll probably be making available for download, as that’s what people want on their tablets) still look great…quite readable and nicely laid out. It’s only the book version that seems to suck, perhaps due to the need of the printer to have an edge to grip. Or something. See, this is why I hate (or fear) technology…I just don’t know enough about this shit to even say what’s going on.

The margins I’ve got on the book seem to be plenty small and don’t need to be adjusted…it’s more the “booklet creation” process that needs to be adjusted (and my printer can work with me on that. Hell, I suppose I can just cut off the top and bottom edges (which seems to be what TSR did with their booklets “back in the day;” they’re a bit shorter than the normal A5 height of 8.5”.

SO: having noted a few typos that need to be corrected (for example, I see at least one place where I used the old term “necromancer” instead of “sorcerer”), at this point I think I’m about set.

-          Need to put in my order for the custom dice.

-          Need to paste my ISBNs and update my Bowker’s account with the new books

-          Need to make sure all images are tight

All right, all right…I am feeling much more optimistic about this project than I was last night. Some of my enthusiastic giddiness is starting to come back. And that’s a good thing.

: )

Reviews & Typos

So I was recently flooded with a rash of orders for my most recent book The Complete B/X Adventurer which immediately made me figure Mr. Maliszewski over at Grognardia must have gotten around to doing a review (he purchased a copy a few weeks back, but I generally don't solicit reviews and I know he's got an already busy blogging schedule so I haven't been bugging him). Lo and behold, there it is...not nearly as favorable as his review for my earlier B/X Companion, but still fairly complimentary and I am extremely appreciative of his kind words.

One thing though that he pointed out...and that I have had others point out as well, both in on-line reviews and pointed emails...is the issue of damage for firearms (rules for which are included in the book). True, I generally use the "all weapons do D6 damage" standard rule in my own B/X games, but I did have a variable damage option in my original firearms blog post (from which the section in the book is derived). Unfortunately, the single sentence got "eaten" by an illustration of a flintlock that I threw into the text, and none of my proof readers caught the omission (and why would they? They were mainly checking for grammar and spelling errors).

So here it is, for those who'd like it...sorry about the delay (it will be corrected in future printings, I promise!):

If using the optional Variable Weapon Damage rule, all weapons listed here do 1D8 damage.
 

 All right, hope that answers that. Of course, not having such a sentence, people who buy the book can freely pencil in whatever damage they feel is appropriate for their own game, and certainly one might consider D6 or D10 to be a fair range of damage potential. I mean, whatever floats your goat, right?

; )

Damn This Technology!

I cannot get blogger to add a poll "gadget" to the blog...it continues to say "correct errors on page" but it doesn't tell me what those errors are. Spelling errors?

I might have to do this the Old Fashioned way. Ugh!

: (

Correction

Just FYI:

I've edited the psychic powers chapter of Land of Ice so it's less fiddly and more "psychic friendly."

Sorry about the earlier weirdness.

; )

War of the Mecha (Revised Edition)

You can download it here.

Why the revision? What's different?

Well, I started tinkering around with the original rules trying to recreate my favorite mecha (i.e. the standard mechs from the 1st edition of BattleTech game, aka "The Unseen") and found myself unable to do so. Ridiculous. And yet it only took a few slight adjustments to get it the way I wanted.

Now you should be able to recreate everything from the Locust and Stinger to the Commando and Valkyrie to the Wolverine and Griffin and Phoenix Hawk and Shadow Hawk to the Crusader and Thunderbolt. Some of the larger assault mecha are trickier, but they're definitely doable...with the exception of heavy and assault mechs that are jump capable.

But those were kind of silly anyway, right?

I could post a bunch of conversions (from BT to WotM) but what fun would that be for you all?

Okay, now that THAT's out of the way...

Folks, I am extremely busy of late. My own health has greatly improved (except that I only got three hours of sleep last night), but I've switched offices and am in a real state of transition at my regular work. Until next week, please expect posting will be light around these here parts, as the little free time I have will (I hope) be spent finishing up my various writing projects, all of which have been "back burnered" of late.

For those who are curious, here's what I'm working on:

- supplementary rule book for B/X (kind of an "Unearthed Arcana" / goody collection)

- introductory module for the B/X Companion

- still have that "Shadowrunny" type game to clean up...damn, it's only half a dozen pages shy of completion, I might as well knock it out.

- developing an idea for a 2nd high level B/X module

Finally, all this mecha talk has got my brain percolating about something else. NO, not a remake of BattleTech! But definitely mecha related. I'm still not sure the idea would be good enough to develop as a full-blown RPG...but if it's not than it's a project I don't want to start on. I'm not interested in creating any board/war games right now.

Now, if y'all don't mind, I'm going to do some dishes and hit the hay. Adios!

: )

Dave Ruins Things for EVERYone

So it's Saturday night, and I've been a lot of thought to some serious edits of my fantasy-punk game since Thursday night's play-test session..

Thursday's game saw the continuation of the assault that started the week before, but with the missing players (four of 'em) arriving late to the scene and joining the raid, mid-firefight. That all worked out fine (still digging the team leader mechanic...it works great for split parties and maintaining order overall)...though much like B/X Dungeons & Dragons, a skirmish level combat system has the tendency to bog down once you get more than a dozen combatants involved.

Not that things were all that much back with Shadowrun...

ANYway, that wasn't la problema. The problem was, some folks were disgruntled by the way things were going down, specifically by their own lack of effectiveness compared to other characters' "ultra-effectiveness."

Actually, "disgruntled" is too strong a word. Definitely, there was some acknowledged poor dice rolling on the parts of some individuals (which ultimately led to a number of folks being killed/taken out). But other characters certainly seemed to have more than a leg up on others in combat...receiving multiple attacks, striking first, and being nearly impossible to hit due to their low armor class (natural 20s needed).

Which kind of sucked considering other players had prioritized specifically for combat...and were weaker in combat than the guy who had assigned 0 priority to combat.

The problem folks, is physical adepts.

I've been starting to think that I may have made the game a bit too close to Shadowrun over all. Not surprising really, because my initial thought was,

"Shadowrun has a terrible game system...I could do better just converting the whole thing to B/X."

Voila...I end up with what might as well be called B/X Shadowrun (go figure). And yet I've borrowed and stolen and spliced pieces of other games (Cyberpunk 2020, Twilight 2000, Advanced Recon, Rifts) along with different genre movies (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Strange Days, RoboCop) to give it the stuff I want.

However, there is a TON of recognizably Shadowrun stuff in the game, especially with regard to the magic system, and I'm starting to wonder...do I really WANT a Shadowrun-style magic system?

Do I?

Definitely the physical adepts are problematic. Sorry, Dave...but after thinking about it for three days we may have to ret-con your character into something entirely different. See, I don't mind a player prioritizing RESOURCES and blowing their money on cyberware that makes them into a combat badass (with wired reflexes and bionic parts). In MY game, the trade-off results in Charisma loss, rather than some abstract, do-nothing stat like "Essence." Turning your character into a killing machine makes him/her a lot less likable a person.

So what, you say. Charisma is a "dump stat" anyway, right? Nope...at least, not if you want to do things like use your Contacts...which is important to folks who want to, say, purchase or repair damaged cyberware. Not if you want to interact with folks on a level besides "waving gun under nose."

But while cyborgs have to contend with their own loss of humanity and alienation, the "physical adept" (a kind of "magic cyborg") takes no penalties for becoming a "super-soldier."

• It doesn't matter if they lower the priority on resources; they only need a little cash for a few basic weapons and they can have as many of the advantages a million credit cyborg does.
• It doesn't matter if they lower the priority on skills; their adept abilities can make them highly effective artificially ESPECIALLY with combat.
• And because "adept status" is only priority B (as opposed to a priority A full magician), the character can have fat ability scores (at priority A) that simply get pumped into the stratosphere with their adept powers.

The end result is a character who's just a little too perfect. Steve-O may have been a walking cyborg nightmare, but he was still a nightmare...relegated to waiting in the car (or in back alleys) while the "grown ups" were having conversations with NPCs. His job was to walk point and take that first bullet.

But the adept? He makes the snipers and bruisers look redundant when he can dance around and shrug off gunfire and still "stealth" and "computer hack" and use that 18 charisma to negotiate with fixers.

Even in Shadowrun, the physical adept seems a bit of a sink for min-maxing madness...and yet, it's been included as an option in every edition beginning with the 2nd edition. After play-testing a few weeks, I'm about 90% certain I'm dumping it from my book. Hey, it's just more room for illustrations, really.

But now that I've opened this can of worms, I'm thinking about starting from scratch on the ENTIRE magic system and making it something that doesn't even resemble Shadowrun. I like the whole Shaman versus Sorcerer thang...and I LIKE the idea of minor magic-users (with lower magic priority). And I REALLY like the non-Vancian magic system.

BUT there are other magical traditions that I'd like to include...like witches, for example. Dammit, I blame Tim Brannan in part for this. I started reading his Other Side blog due to this A-Z thing and his hardcore witch-blogging has completely reinvigorated my own interest in the subject. I, too, have at least one half-written witch RPG on the drawing board (and a 2nd with witchy over-tones), as well as a B/X witch character class in an incomplete supplement and at least one (also incomplete) B/X adventure module in which "witches" feature prominently. Ugh...shouldn't witchery be a part of any "dark fantasy" game?

Or is that too much like The Dresden Files?

Point is, I feel like my game it is FARTHER AWAY from completion than when I started, even though I've nearly finished writing the damn thing. Writing's been nearly finished, sure...but now rewriting (and re-conceptualizing!) may be necessary on a major scale.

Plus all this A-Z blogging is giving me the itch to play Dungeons & Dragons again.

(*sigh*)

So, Yeah...Lameness

Finally got the internet back up-and-running again...it's been down all day. Which is ridiculous considering I just picked up a new wireless thingamajob a couple weeks ago, but I'm procrastinating on figuring out how it works because my track record with technology ain't all that great.

At least it was sunny today...the fam and I spent a lot of time out-and-about.

: )

But now I'm back so just wanted to check in regarding last night's play-test at the Baranof.

Kinda' lame.

And due mostly to me, on all counts. In fact, I will take the full blame for a totally "blah" game session. Here's why:

#1 Bad introduction buddy: we had yet another new player down at Ye Old Baranof last night...Tim from over at Gary's. Which means that even with a couple people missing, the table still had EIGHT players...not counting Yours Truly. (*sigh*) Which is fine except I completely glossed over character creation, trying to get back to the adventure.

Now normally, that's not much of a problem...unless you're, like, trying to play-test a new game that no one knows the rules to except you. But Tim's an old hand at the RPG rodeo, so I wasn't worried about him picking it up (plus he watched another chargen session). No THAT wasn't the problem.

The PROBLEM was that both Tim and Randy made new characters and they both made full-on sorcerers...the first ones in the game...and I completely blew off (duh) explaining how magic worked and what their characters were capable of. "Here, pick some spells off this list," I said.

How retarded of me. This then just ended up bogging down the game in multiple places because I kept offering information in a piece-meal and half-assed fashion. And it never even occurred to me (at the time), 'hey...maybe I should just give these folks a quick crash course in:

a) what magicians can do

b) what their specific spells do

c) how summoning, binding, and banishing works

d) how astral perception, projection, and warding works

You know the basics...so that they weren't just left thinking they'd be relying on their handguns or something.

Ugh...which was compounded by:

#2 Where the hell's the prep? I spent most of my free time Thursday writing...specifically vehicle descriptions and rules. While I got that done, I left off prepping the adventure for the night figuring, oh it will take care of itself. I AM using a pre-packaged adventure after all (Shadowrun, converted to my own system), and one I'm very familiar with...what's there to prepare?

Well, how 'bout the wrap up of the mission the team just completed...not just the pay-out, but the XP totals. What with different PCs showing up from session to session, I could have made a chart of everyone's "take" beforehand. Heck, I could have prepped "cheat sheets" for the magician characters (that will happen next week).

What about the transition to the NEW mission? One thing I forgot about these old Shadowrun missions...they are "railroad central." Each chapter has a "debugging" section...basically a couple paragraphs to tell the GM how to get the players back on the (train) track, should they somehow jump the rails. That's not a method of play I've used in a looooooong time. Truth be told, I think I'm creative enough at improving "on the fly" that I should be able to adapt scenarios to player choices withOUT resorting to railroads.

Fact of the matter is, I've been a bit lazy about this whole adventure. I mean, I AM still play-testing after all, and a railroady Shadowrun conversion is probably a fairly good vehicle for this kind of thing. But I get annoyed with myself when a session isn't as fun for the players...I mean, even though they're helping me by play-testing they're here to have fun, too....and when I'm "off the ball" and the pacing is crap and the story is railroady and I don't even have a good handle on my own rules...dammit, I should do better.

A little prep work goes a long way.

#3 Subdual damage: This was f'd in so many ways and needed correction/clarification. It's now been fixed (had a chance to do some editing this morning since the internet was on the fritz).

***

So, yeah, it was a low energy evening, that wasn't nearly as "kick-ass" as last week's extravaganza. And that's the thing...I want to set the bar high and top it...again and again. Instead, I had players distracted with their own IPhones, downloading illustrations from the 4th edition of Shadowrun...and my own personal lameness as a GM wasn't doing anything to keep them engaged. Which makes me kind of bummed...I won't have a chance to ...

[sorry...just dozed off for a few minutes! I need to go to bed!]

...won't have a chance to redeem myself until NEXT Thursday.

OKay, okay...I really need to hit the hay. Talk at y'all shortly.

: )