No Elves! Still Going Strong

Several old RPGs (defined as out when I was a kid some 30 years ago!) are still active and experiencing modest resurgences.  Almost all driven by fans and hobbyists (not industry) and often for the love of the game (rather than $$$).

It use to be, in the dark ages before large drives, fast networks, and free creation tools, if you wanted to get something out there to other gamers you had to charge a large amount just to cover production and shipping. Now there is the option, if you want to share and be shared, you can. The future of RPG hobby has never looked better.


Everyone has heard Hasbro's announcements about releasing old TSR titles.

Still no Elves, but there are new! Talislanta supplements. All of Talislanta and more has been released under Creative Commons License.  Talislanta is one of the reasons I need multiple clones that can pursue all this cool stuff I can't seem to find time for...

The Iron Crown

Rolemaster Remastered (and Spacemaster, HARP Fantasy, HARP SF, and campaign settings).  The long running http://www.guildcompanion.com/ I don't follow things too closely, but I believe guild companion folks have bought the rights or something like that. I keep getting email newsletters announcing various products being available on PDF



And there must be enough interest to warrant a new edition and playtest.  Just wish more of that "interest" lived in Austin, TX!

wicked cool

Tekumel.com overhaul.  I actually don't remember Empire of the Petal Throne from back in the day.  I probably saw ads or heard mentions, but never saw game or knew anyone who knew anything about it.  I discovered Tekumel from reading various bloggers, Grognardia, Hill Cantons, Jeff Rients.

There will always be a (hard) core of base of fans for EPT.  It might never "break out".  But, that doesn't really matter. My goal for next NTRPGCon is to get into one of the EPT games.

dude, I'm old!

Star Frontiers Remastered The first "fan remake" I found, Amazingly Excellent. Better production values that original!  Get's my Drasilite all bubbly!  Really, really gonna have to start a Sci-fi campaign in 2013.


Don't even want to get into Harn, or I'll never get this posted...



Those are mine, there are others.  What are yours?

NTRPGCon 2012 Game Fest

More NTRPG posts

With so many interesting games each North Texas RPG Convention it is hard to choose. One must opt between trying new systems, getting in on games GM'd by industry legends, and sessions/GM's that ya know from past years are just plain darn fun.

This year my Saturday morning finalists were Cavemaster (a new system by Jeff Dee), Metamorphosis Alpha (DM'd the author, James M. Ward). But, I chose Star Frontiers (DM'd by editor, Steve Winter) cause it was the 2nd RPG I owned as a wee teenager and I've never played it!



I played a Vrusk technician (I hoped for a Drasalite cause they are rad). Our UPF team was dispatched to a remote system with a research station whose orbit has suddenly started to decay.  An hour and half (real time) into searching the surface for the previous team and source of strange energy emission.  The con organizers came in with a surprise!

Steve Winter - Star Frontiers

In this room three other games were going on at same time.  Each group of players left there characters as they were and moved together to another game.  Every hour and half we all switched games again.  Finally arriving back at our original, ready to wrap up the adventure.

I really dug this "Game Fest".  Pretty ideal for me, getting to play and try out four games for "price" of one.  It was a bit disjointed and had less "success satisfaction" for finishing original game as we didn't do the "hard" middle parts.  Kind of just swooped in at end to reap rewards ;)  If there were fewer games (3 instead of 4), time in each was longer 2.5 hours, and a max of 30min spent on learning / exposition at start of each "move" would improve any future Game Fests.

But, regardless, I really give props to Doug Rhea, Mike Badolato, and the other NTRPG Convention organizers for trying to innovate and keeping the convention new and interesting.

Favorite quote of the Game Fest right after Doug told everyone to leave characters, pencils, and their dice. "I'll leave my wife before I leave my dice."  Doug recanted, allowing gamers to leave only their characters.

Jeff Dee - Cavemaster

Cavemaster was next up after SF. I played Fire Hair, red headed, keen-eyed, cavewoman hunter.  Great system.  My Cavemaster play review.

Frank Mentzer - Boot Hill
Map Prop

Went from wearing bikini furs and throwing javelins at wolves to escorting  Sister Sarah's two prototype armored wagons from Dallas to parts further west.  Boot Hill is dead simple.  And deadly.  We left for next game with a big'o pile of Mexican soldiers with two Gatling guns having got the drop on us.  Hope the next group didn't get themselves all perforated.

James M. Ward - Metamorphosis Alpha
Starship Warden Levels 

Starship Warden Elevator Panel

Played the Starship Warden's crew.  Neat setup.  Oldest player played Lieutenant, the youngest "Sarge".  The LT gave orders *only* to the sergeant.  The sergeant was responsible for keeping rest of us privates alive inspite of the LT's orders.  Although, not everyone is suited to giving orders or interpreting them "creatively".  I ended up killing* the LT and myself with a death rifle I was not rated for.

* actually being put in cryostasis. Due to Game Fest James wasn't allowed to actually kill any characters, vexing him greatly ;)

Neat Weapon for Sci-fi

I loved the rocket rifles and needlers from Star Frontiers.  This Real Life weapon reminds me of those. Funny that it was developed by "Tickle Me Elmo" dude, Bruce Lund.

Lund recalled seventh-grade science demonstrations in which an electric current is passed through water, producing oxygen and hydrogen gas. Mix the two together, add a spark and boom!

The application was an ideal fit for Lund's combustion technology, which can measure out the appropriate amount of gas for each shot.

The weapon's effectiveness has been tested on blocks of gelatin that simulate human flesh; the projectiles hit with considerable force, but do not penetrate.

The muzzle velocity is normally set automatically, but at the military's request it has a manual override, so the shooter can dial it up to maximum power and fire lethal shots.

Variable Velocity Weapon System

Star Frontiersman Issue #14 Released

The very excellent Star Frontiers retro-clone (they call it remastered) fans have delivered the next release of their game magazine. Star Frontiersman Issue #14, "Yazirian Power".

The actual download.


Cover (at right) by C. J. Williams


The Free RPG Blog review Remastered Alpha Dawn book.



Table of Contents

• Technical Journal - Chemical Drives, by Richard “Shadow Shack” Rose
• Optional Rules
  
  
  • Knight Hawks Expanded by Larry Moore & Brian Conway
  • Character Generation Tables by Larry Moore
  • Adventure Bots! Part 2: What You Really Need to Know About Role-playing
  • Robots by C. J. Williams
  • Cyberbionics by Bill Logan
  • Dralasite & Vrusk Ablative Sheets by Chris Harper
• Game Report - The Dominion by Richard “Shadow Shack” Rose 
• Adventure! - Star Rover artwork and NPC’s stats
• Equipment
  
  
  • Flamethrower Gauntlets by Ryan Baker
  • WarTech LWS by S.E. Roberts
  • Variable Sword by Chris Harper
  • PDG Robotics by Gary Cliff – Georgie – BD Cerridwen
  • Power Armor by Brian Cliff
• Frontier Fiction
  
  
  • Interview with an old space by pariah (Jess Carver)
  • Memory by Tom Verreault/jedion357
• Adversaries
  
  
  • General Yan-Soon and the Sovereign Dominion Authority
  • Time Line by Richard “Shadow Shack” Rose
• Yachts and Privateers Return - Remastered Dragon #88 by Douglas Niles
• Encounter Writing Competition - Get your pencils ready for a contest!
• Encounter Tiles - Map tiles to get your Game On!
• Adventure Layouts - Standard module layouts by Larry Moore
• World Works Mars Station Review - Table top terrain review by Tom Verreault/jedion357
• Classifieds - Everything you don’t need but want

You got some Star Frontiers goodness? Contribute it for inclusion in the next Star Frontiersman.

RPGs I desperately want to play

The Philippine Gamer posted a list of RPGs he hasn't played but desperately wants too. Sounded like a good idea.


Games I should or will own if they ever get freakin released

Shard - been waiting for it to be released. I guess I played it, but game store demos don't count. Do they?

Mutant Future - obvious choice ;) I'd also like to run a Spaceship Warden campaign.

Anyting run by various OSR bloggers whose game session reports I read with jealousy.


Games I actually own.

Labyrinth Lord / BECMI - This one is easy to achieve I just need to show up to the Sunday game at Dragon's Lair.

Star Frontiers - I've had this since it was originally released. NEVER played it. So sad.

Traveller - Mongoose pocket edition. Sanbox style. Actually thought bout doing Star Flight / Ur-Quan masters type of campaign.

HARP - and/or Cyberspace and/or Spacemaster, been a fan of Rolemaster since highschool. Actually played a little in college. Can be cool if you view it as a bunch of houserules to be used to construct a game system.

Ars Magica - Oh please! But will never happen. Great ideas on entourage play, non-balanced characters, coven(domain/kingdom) creation/management, and magic. Oh lord! The magic, it is soooo awesome.

Nephelim - another oh please / never will happen. I got a fair amount of supplements neat stuff for use in other games.

Hidden Invasion - I don't know buttkiss about the mechanics TriTac? But it says "Fantastic Science Fiction Role Playing" and "High Adventure Across the Galaxy" on the cover so I bought it, for $5.00! Premise goes like this "You and other random people (aka the party) get abducted by 50's era flying saucer. You all break loose, fight, kill your abductors and take over the ship. Rest of game is flying around the galaxy doing cool shit with your UFO saucer and other rad alien technology.

HackMaster Basic - "desperate to play" might be pusing it. Probably will happen when I get some time and can run a 1-shot at the FLGS.

Oriental Adventures - AD&D. But really any fantasy, 1970'sish, kung-fu action game will do, I have a couple. Is "Ruins and Ronin" an actual thing or just a plan?

Free RPG, Why Buy?

Look at these Free RPGs!

That's only the ones reviewed by the Free RPG Blog. If you can't find something interesting there to play or riff ideas off of, man, I just don't understand you. And if you think it's all low production, amateurish schlock. One, you're wrong and two, get off your high-horse you pretentious wanker.


There is a nearly endless stream of creative, innovative fan-based material on the net or printed at cost like Fight On! More than you could easily get through. Tis why the Free RPG Blog is one of the most important blogs/resources the RPG community has. Finding, filtering, and reviewing some of the hoard that is out there for all to use. Rob Lang is most deserving of a Tip of the Hat.


From that list of reviewed free RPGs I've played (and would recommend) FUDGE, Brutal, the unrevised JAGS, FATE, Star Frontiers (back in the day). I'm really interested in trying out Midgard and Dominion Rules. And so want to run a short campaign of Digitally Remasterd Star Frontiers. Also ripping tons of great ancient flavor from Zenobia.


There's really no need to buy another RPG product ever. For me games have always been a hobby, not an industry. Never wanted to make it a job and after discovering FUDGE I understood there was no need for publishers. Of course I still buy stuff (although often used and mostly from small pubs). Except for a few major players, publishers are all right. They just don't provide a needed service anymore. But neither does Starbucks.

Nature is weirder than anything in the Fiend Folio

As a cynical young kid looking at my otherwise awesome Star Frontiers SF1 - Volturnus Adventure module I thought the Roller(pictured below) was the stupidest, most retardedly "never could evolve" creature I would ever see. I felt insulted that the author expected me to dumb enough to believe in this
Little did I expect that later in life when I was just as cynical but not as sure "I knew everything" that through the Internet, specifically Wikipedia and Google Image Search, I would discover creatures just as stupidly retarded and some more so. The kick in the nuts being these creatures actually existed, had actually evolved right here on my little blue marble. Touché Nature, I shalln't bet against you again.


Everyone knows about the Platypus, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed, egg laying mammal, its venomous leg spurs and electrolocation (finds prey by electric field).

And also probably about my little friend the Star Nosed Mole. An extradimensional invader from beyond if I ever saw one. Was this the original inspiration for the Elder Gods. What is that, 15%/10% Claw/Tentacle by body weight?


I must admit my absolute favorite is Hagfish Slime!

"When captured and held e.g. by the tail, they secrete the microfibrous slime, which expands into a gelatinous and sticky goo when combined with water; if they remain captured, they can tie themselves in an overhand knot which works its way from the head to the tail of the animal, scraping off the slime as it goes and freeing them from their captor, as well as the slime."

I'm certain that aquatic orcs raise Hagfish as disgusting defenders of their kelp bed homes. Probably have a couple Goblin Sharks around too. Oh they start off just looking a bit odd. Then they gets scary as hell once their Alienesque retractable jaw launches at you. After that encountering Buzzsaw Sharks would be a relief.

Of course this is merely the first step in a watery arms race with the aqua elves, prancing about on their sea-unicorns. But if this video with annoying music is representative the Lords of Chaos have already conquered the seas.


Next time your megadungeon gets invaded by giant ants model the interloper's nest after these real Pogonomyrmex Badius homes (warning lots of words, scroll down for pics)

Sucker footed bats, furry yellow crabs, samurai headed crabs, this monster crab, actually I don't have time to list all the weird ass crabs.

Some creatures don't look all that other worldly, but their behaviors sure ain't right. "After the female wasp lays her eggs and follows through with pollination, she dies, allowing the fig to consume her corpse!" BTW did you know goats climb trees.

The bizarre of the bizarre are definitely prehistoric/extinct animals. I challenge you to spend an hour or ten surfing round next time you're at a loss for something unsettling to subject your players to.

Links O' Plenty

I have, oh I don't know, about 3d4 * 100 RPG related links. Thought to put a selection of them in the sidebar but my two abridged blogrolls are already longer than Jörmungandr. (and yes I look at every post from the RPG reading list, tech not so much) Then I remembered every blog needs a reoccurring filler post and since Shatnerday, Manly Monday, and exhaustive rules analysis have been taken I'm fancying links! In truth links have been taken too, more than once. But instead of links of other blogs and recent activities these will be (mostly) oldish static resources.

I'm guessing we all know about The Acaeum detailing D&D products. This is the one I started with. It might be retrostalgic false memory but I remember staring at that cover (and the City of Brass on the DMG) and fantagasmining over how I could imagine a world and then "go" there and do stuff instead of just reading about what someone else did in a novel. Heady stuff for a 10yr old. Hmmmmm, this hobby is so kick ass.

RPG Search Engine, this search is just for Grognardia.

Dungeon Magazine interactive index. Nice options to limit by edition. Cause you know even if we claim to not participate the edition wars we all have a favorite.

If you can't find it in one of these indexes (Tholos, Dragondex) then it probably was never printed in Dragon Magazine.

Holy Fantastic Star Frontiers Fan Awesomavaganza! I bow unworthily and present The Star Frontiersman. That is how the D&D old school revolution should look. Star Frontiers was my first Sci-Fi RPG. I freakin loved the Ares section of Dragon Magazine, star cops! If I had more time I'd so start a Star Frontiers game, I'd make people play it.

ZeFRS forget old school when you can have crazy color chart school! I think Evil DM turned me onto this. And I normally would resist reposting but I adore alternative mechanics.

Hey it's the EFF of the RPG World. Free RPG Community "Our mission is to promote users' rights to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute roleplaying games by supporting free content roleplaying games."

Free RPG Manager, does stuff but I only want that map maker. I have a thing for mid-old school hex maps like from the Known World Gazetteer series. I wish author would release v2.0, or the source, or anything. I even donated some money to his paypal account. Just look at those screen shots, yum!

Talking about the Known World, there's more known than you might have imagined. Looks like we have a settings theme going on so lets link to this Birthright Netbook and the Birthright.net Fansite. Can't forget about HârnWorld, Lythia.com is the place for that. I never really knew about Arduin until reading oldschool blogs. I'll have to check out Arduin Eternal in detail.

3.5 D&D has so many rules. Luckily there are hypertext SRD's to help make sense of it all. What's this? How'd that ODD The Marches stuff get mixed in here? Well since that's there might as well as link to Philotomy's ODD Musings as well.

You're probably better off if you never click here. Remember I warned ya. Well that's enough for now, until next Woden's day then.