Joethelawyer's Wondrous Imaginings

Cthuhu Lives!

2012-01-27T12:14:00.002-05:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21353-zoologger-unique-life-form-is-half-plant-half-animal.html

Helluva Move With AD&D, M&M. Now How About Some Modules To Go With The Books?

2012-01-19T21:53:00.001-05:00

PDF's would do, I'm sure. And as long as you're releasing SOME of the PDF's.....

To Answer Zak's Question: "What will you give us if you're wrong?"

2012-01-16T21:03:00.001-05:00

Well, nothing actually. I figure the OSR is blessed enough by merely having me in their midst. :)

I will, however, do something for WOTC. Something pretty important to me and personally meaningful.

It would be very very easy for WOTC to make me wrong, because I mostly just care about this whole thing for two reasons, and one far more than the other.

The first reason I care is because next year, in about 15 months, I will be buying my nephews their first RPG for their birthdays. One will turn 7, the other 8. That's the perfect age to get them into gaming. I've been investigating systems, and talked with my brother as to the best system to get them started on. After evaluating all the clones, and all the original editions, we settled on Mentzer as the very best game to get young kids into D&D with. Since it's hard (not to mention expensive) to find a mint edition somewhere, no less 2, I figured I would just print and bind the pdf's in hardcover down at Kinko's or Staples. They will each get a DMG and a PHB out of it. My brother and I have been looking forward to this for years actually, sitting down with my brother and his son and our sister's son and playing a real game of DnD. (Not just the 10 minute sampler things we tried with them a couple times to gauge where they were at in terms of being able to play a meaningful game.)

If WOTC actually does the impossible and puts out the "Core D&D" or whatever they choose to call it, and it's even 90% as good as Mentzer, WITHOUT skills/feats/AOE's/powers/dailies/tactical grid shit/miniatures, then I will make it the first game my 2 nephews, and later my 4 other nephews and nieces, are introduced to. That's about the biggest compliment I can give to WOTC, and the thing which has the most meaning to me as a player and an uncle to future gamers. I'll make this new edition the one my nephews and nieces look back at 20 years later with fondness, as they pull out the well-worn dog-eared books and say "Yeah, this was my first edition of D&D. I played it with my father and my uncle down in the basement on the pool table."

The second reason I am interested in the core edition is because once in a while I run games at cons. If I'm wrong, and the core is as described above, 90% like Mentzer, etc., then I will run a core game at a con. However, if they make the game in such a way as to cause all these problems, with players coming in with an expectation that they can play their 4e fey-dragonborne-wildling with 465 feats and other special abilities at first level, next to the rest of the group who are playing core characters, then forget about it.

Anyhow, that's what I'll do if I'm wrong. It's simple to do, as I really only care about the core game, how close it is to Mentzer, and the expectations the system sets as to its players ability to create and play whatever character they want to play. I just care about the former far more than the latter. And honestly, in spite of my disgust with all things WOTC since 4e, I hope I am wrong. I'd hate to see the game go out of print, for sentimental reasons mostly.

5e, Cook's Latest Column...How Can This Work?

2012-01-16T12:16:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I really want 5e to work out and be the edition that unties them all. Based on some of the comments I am seeing from on high, I don't think it will be what I am looking for or would play. My understanding is that we could basically buy the the equivalent of the Mentzer red box, then buy a booklet that expands it with classes, one with skills, one with feats, one with powers, etc. That way we AS DM's can build our own system. The AS DM's is important.

In his latest column, Cook says:

"Now imagine that the game offered you modular, optional add-ons that allow you to create the character you want to play while letting the Dungeon Master create the game he or she wants to run. Like simple rules for your story-driven game? You're good to go. Like tactical combats and complex encounters? You can have that too. Like ultra-customized character creation? It's all there."

That's a problem for me. As a DM, creating a game I want to run is very much dependent on rules. I refuse to have skills, feats, powers, etc in my game. If the players want tactical combats and complex encounters, they can go play with a DM who wants to run that sort of game. Setting up an expectation in players minds that they can and should be able to make up whatever character they want, using whatever modules they want, and tough shit the DM will just have to adjust because the rules allow for it and it is simple to implement is a crock of shit. It's designed solely to sell the maximum amount of modular expansions. That's not a game I am going to play.

As for this:

"Second—and this sounds so crazy that you probably won't believe it right now—we're designing the game so that not every player has to choose from the same set of options. Again, imagine a game where one player has a simple character sheet that has just a few things noted on it, and the player next to him has all sorts of skills, feats, and special abilities. And yet they can still play the game together and everything remains relatively balanced. Your 1E-loving friend can play in your 3E-style game and not have to deal with all the options he or she doesn't want or need. Or vice versa."

Not going to happen. I don't care if they think they can pull off such a system or not, nor do I care if they do. The expectation among players that they can jump into my Basic game with powers and dailies is a complete turn off.

Maybe my point of view is a bit different, but I always thought it was the DM's role to pick system, setting and style of game, and the players either want to join said game or not.

A Simple Solution to the 5e Conundrum

2012-01-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

Instead of trying to figure out how they can possibly make a universal modular system that appeals to all players of all editions....

Why don't they just re-release all of the old editions?

Does that just make too much sense to ever be implemented?

The Most Fearsome Beast a DM Can Throw at his Players---Beware, Blood and Gore

2012-01-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

We've sure come a long way since Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins....

Hey Mike and Monte---Will 5e be OGL? GSL?

2012-01-09T19:41:00.000-05:00

Think about it, they should know the answer by now. Even if its not OGL, if they are making a backwards compatible edition, and if I make a module for it, I should be able to claim compatibility with 5e via OGL right? Are they going to make all of it OGL? Parts of it? How about some of the 4e terms they purposefully created for the sole purpose of fucking up the OGL as relates to 4e? If so are they thereby opening up 4e to the OGL retroactively if you use its weird-ass terminology?

The answer to these questions really are an important indicator of where they are coming from with respect to their customers.

That, and if they start selling the older edition PDF's again.

Facebook Run By the CIA

2012-01-01T00:27:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xAq6QFt8sXU

Geek's Paradise: LOTFP Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown Arrived in Hardcover, Star Wars the Old Republic Ass-kickin', and 10 days off!!!

2011-12-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

What to do, What to do...

First off, I took a look at Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown, and they are awesome. Best presentation yet from LOTFP. Cool maps, great looking books and good layout. The contents will have to wait to be read in depth, as I am an 8th level Jedi Counselor right now, and off to kick some ass! This fucking game is the WOW killer. Amazing.

Merry Christmas to all!

Fuck WOTC and their Christmas Layoffs

2011-12-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

The Christmas layoffs continue.

Good luck to Rich Baker and Steve Winter, and whoever else may have gotten the axe today. Hope you land on your feet soon guys.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/315183-layoff-rumors-wizards-coast.html

Chaos! Embracing it as a DM

2011-11-15T20:03:00.004-05:00

One thing DnD gave me through all these years of playing and thinking about it is it developed that part of my mind that asks "And that what would happen, based on all the variables in the equation, to the best of your ability to predict based on all you know of the world about you and human nature, etc." I am weird in that I can lay in bed for like half a day at a time, not moving, looking at the ceiling, playing my equivalent of DnD chess, figuring out all outcomes and responses. Its like playing Chess against myself in my head. Worked hard at that training ability during a period of depression in college. Weirdly, its helped me as a lawyer, though I hated the practice of law with a white hot passion.

As far as DnD goes, no surer way to a railroad can possibly exist. I've taken that road in the past with players, they hated me for it, and I don't want to go there again.

What I do now instead, in order to keep the both the players and me on our toes, is keep throwing shit into the equation, so that I can't predict the outcome right away. I just threw a war on so many fronts with so many players and variables at my players, that I have no idea how it will turn out. And that's a good thing I think. No risk of railroading them, their input matters as to the outcome, and lots of spontaneity in the game session as I have to figure shit out on the spot.

I kinda like it that way. I think its essential for a Sandbox campaign. The one I am running basically is harsh and gritty, using LOTFP Grindhouse as a ruleset, where all the people in power operate essentially as clever sociopaths. I guess I'm succeeding in the goal, because last week one player said I'm like Tony Soprano as DM.

Now I just have to try not to think about it at night as I try to fall asleep. No surer way to sleepless nights can possibly exist.

Real Drow Gear

2011-11-11T22:50:00.000-05:00

This is pretty awesome!

http://sharpener.deviantart.com/gallery/9267646#

Hey Christian, Wouldya Rather Roll 20 Natural 20's In a Row or Ride This BEAST!?!?

2011-11-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

You're the only surfer I know, so whaddaya think? I woulda shit myself just looking at that wave from the beach....

A Deck of Many Things Dealt by a Devil

2011-11-06T00:35:00.000-04:00

So my group avoided this encounter (part of their blowing to utter shit the campaign I had developed thus far, but hey, its a sandbox and kinda fun when that happens) so I decided to post something they would have encountered had they hit the deepest darkest part of the mine....

The setup is this: There is a powerful Devil and his entourage sitting around a large table. The Devil offers a pull on his specially modified Deck of Many Things to the group---said modifications being unknown to the players. Part of the mods allow the devil to keep dealing it, over and over, but just to others, without it disappearing. Also, he managed to corrupt a lot of the cards.

First rule: Anyone in the group who wants to draw has to announce it before anyone else in the group draws, and also must announce how many cards they will draw in advance. They won't get another chance later. Then they are forced to draw that many cards, regardless of any later regret over the decision....if they don't draw the Devil gets to draw for them with the effect going to the player. The Devils like it when this happens. :)

The original language of each card is written after the name of the card, and the part in parentheses is what I added as an evil DM by way of Devilish Card Corruption (TM).

Now some of you may think that some of the stuff below is kinda harsh, but anyone who is stupid enough to draw from a Deck owned by a Devil deserves the consequence. :)

Note: under the part dealing with a keep, my players were currently adventuring in mines under the Keep on the Borderlands, so they would have come up after adventuring and have to deal with a full scale mutiny. Would have loved it if that happened. :)

Sun (KD) Gain beneficial miscellaneous magic item and 50,000 XP (Roll on the tables in the DMG—XP comes evenly from all your party members on a 10 xp to you = 1 xp from them basis.)

Moon (QD) You are granted 1-4 wishes (Must take them immediately, and write them down on a piece of paper within 1 minute per wish, real time.)

Star (JD) Immediately gain 2 points on your major ability (taking those 2 points from a randomly rolled character in the group)

Comet (2D) Defeat the next monster you meet to gain 1 level (To the death, monster is randomly rolled and appears before you. None are allowed to interfere. AD&D DMG Appendix L conjured animal table, one level higher than you are. None can interfere, so I hope you're all healed up.)

Throne (KH) Gain charisma of l8 and small keep (Keep you are in, or the closest keep to them, after there is a bloody mutiny. Deal with the political consequences. If two or more characters draw this card, each gets an equal amount of the forces, which are arrayed against each other when you enter the keep)

Key (QH) Gain a treasure map plus 1 magic weapon (Map to the nearest cursed item, Any weapon on either the sword or misc. as long as it is a non + something weapon. The plus is stripped out.)

Knight (JH) Gain the service of a 4th level fighter (4 hd Devil who refuses to leave you, or disguise his true identity---ever)

Gem (2H) Gain your choice of 20 jewelry or 50 gems (Roll in DMG for value, owners appear in front of you, and you are forced to kill them one by one so you can get their treasure. Most innocent and pure people you can imagine. Others are prevented from interfering. The Devils all laugh with glee!)

The Void (KC) Body functions, but soul is trapped elsewhere (In a gem the Devil holds, may give it back for a favor of the group as a whole)

Flames (QC) Enmity between you and a devil (One of the sub-devils in the group around the table)

Skull (JC) Defeat Death or be forever destroyed (Stats per the DMG)

Talons (2C) All magic items you possess are torn from you (Goes to the devil, may give it back for a deal)

Ruin (KS) Immediately lose all wealth and real property (Goes to the devil, may give it back for a deal)

Euryale (QS) Minus 3 on all saving throws vs. petrification (or you can choose another party member to have -6 without them knowing it was you who did it to them)

Rogue (JS) One of your henchmen turns against you (Someday....you don't know when or who or why, but you are certain that one day it will happen and at the worst possible moment)

Balance (2S) Change GODS or be destroyed (Randomly rolled, or can voluntarily choose the Archdevil that this Devil serves)

Jester (J) Gain 10,000 experience points or 2 more draws (XP is due to fighting in a pit in another dimension, on a plane of Hell, over and over again, sometimes dying, always being resurrected, winning enough fights to gain the xp taking years, leaving you permanently horribly scared and grey-haired. All this takes place in a wink of an eye. Aged 5 years.)

Fool (J w/ TM) Lose 10,000 experience points; draw again (mandatory draw again)

Vizier (AD) Know the answer to your next dilemma (but be unable to communicate it to anyone in any way)

ldiot (AC) Lose 1-4 points of intelligence, you may draw again (or choose to have someone else in the group lose 1-4 points of intelligence without them knowing it was you who did it to them)

Fates (AH) Avoid any situation you choose. . . once (must declare the situation now, 60 seconds in real time to write it down)

Donjon (AS) You are Imprisoned (In a force cage right there. Devil may cut a deal for freedom)

Gary Cooper Woulda Been an Old School Player

2011-11-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Take it from Tony...

He would never whine about balanced encounters and character deaths.

Looking for Apothecary/Alchemist/Herbalist/Poison Recipes/Formulas

2011-10-30T10:52:00.000-04:00

Stuff that would fit something more old school in style. In other words, don't have the concoction simply heal or harm for some numerical value on some stat or attribute, like newer editions do. Looking for the oddball shit, like "Halts male pattern baldness, with the potential side effect of turning your fingernails purple." I'm using LOTFP, but anything along that line that can be ported over to an older DnD style game would be much appreciated.

Even more of a bonus would be a list of places where to harvest some of the ingredients, like "The flower blooms only on the full moon if the full moon falls on the same day as the summer solstice." Or, "Must be extracted from the brain of a living Unnderhuld, and there is a 10% chance upon extraction that the juice reacts violently with the air, causing noxious fumes..."

That sort of thing. Thanks!

Unconventional Gaming

2011-10-28T23:36:00.002-04:00

So I'm running a DnD campaign using LOTFP Grindhouse rules, and typing this with a Capt. Morgan buzz, so fuck typos.

I find myself playing a neverending game. By that I mean it continues in between the "official" game days in a lot of ways.

Here's some shit I find myself doing these days that I've never done before:

Between game days, we run PBEM (Play By E-Mail) to work out lots of stuff. Very helpful in terms of details and world building.

The players email me specific stuff they want their characters to do on their own, like investigate the polititcal structure of a town. I send them the info they are looking for. Fills in the gaps, and lets me take the time to detail something I would normally take less time to do less thoroughly in-game. Makes for a richer experience I think.

Players call me on the phone and we discuss ideas both in character and out of character. Not that we geek out and talk in funny voices and shit, but we do say shit like "my character would do this..."

This weekend we can't get together formally, but we are going to try to do a Skype or Google Plus game for an hour tomorrow night, where the players take sides in a side battle that will indirectly affect their characters for good or for bad. For some characters, more directly than indirectly.

The gameday never really ends. It always ongoing, in one medium or another, all the time.

Here's the biggie---In-game, I usually have the characters roll almost everything the DM would roll, other than secret door search checks and the like. For example, if there is a saving throw for the big bad guy, I elect a player to roll it to see if the bad guy makes it or not. I let one player roll the attack roll for a bad guy who is attacking another player character. I let another player roll the damage dice. I let one player roll the dice to determine which PC the big bad guy will attack that round---which is hilarious if he rolls for himself. Sometimes I let one player roll for initiative for the bad guys, Is this sadistic? I love it when a player has to roll for the opposition and the roll's outcome could potentially be something that fucks him, a party member, or the group as a whole.

I do it in an effort to be transparent, and because it gives me a thrill to see how things will turn out. I love the randomness of it all. Plus, its a thrill to be sadistic I think :)

Anyhow, that's my update.

Anyone else do shit like this? What else are you doing that I might want to try along these lines?

LA Area DnD Players! Join Satine Phoenix's DnD Meetup and Eat Pancakes!

2011-10-11T20:28:00.000-04:00

Check it out!

"DnDMelt is Los Angeles and Hollywood's Premier Dungeons and Dragons Gaming venue for gamers of all ages and experience levels. We have groups for character creation and basic gaming for beginners, one shot games anyone can join and on going Campaigns for those who long for Epic adventures. 4E, 3.5 ... whatever your flavor we will have a place for you. Located at Meltdown Comics at 7522 Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90046. Our General gaming days are Thursdays 5-10pm and Sundays 11am - 6pm. Walk-ins welcome tho RSVP is preferred so I can organize the right amount of DMs to players. Striving to band our DnD Community together DnDMelt offers more than just a place to game, we offer monthly Memberships, Raffles and Mixer Events. need more information? want to be a part of our DM Crew? Feel free to ask: ~ Satine Phoenix: DnD@meltcomics.com"

Book Review: A Thief in the Night

2011-10-10T21:00:00.013-04:00

About a month ago I reviewed a new book by David Chandler called Den of Thieves. It was a great book, that left me looking forward to the second book in the series. Well, the second book came in the mail free last week! I guess because I took the time to review the first one. My thanks to Harper Collins Publishing.

Anyhow, if someone sends me something for free, I feel its only right to review it. I'll always be honest, too, which I guess is the reason people don't send me anything for free to review. :)

A Thief in the Night picks up a short time after Den of Thieves leaves off. The thrust of this book is a delve into ancient dwarven mines.

As he did in the first book, Chandler turns some common tropes and assumptions people have about swords and sorcery books on their heads. There is moral ambiguity, suspicious paladin types, creepy elves, ancient double-crosses that play a part in today's world, weird magic, and a group that is often at odds with each other and seem to be using each other to pursue their own goals at times. Picture Gandalf's Company of Nine as a bunch of selfish Neutral types with conflicting goals all entering Moria together and you get the idea.

That being said, it was a good ride, and kept me guessing as to how it would turn out for various characters, who would live, and how things would resolve as to the big-picture. The good thing about flipping some assumptions on their heads is that the reader is always trying to figure out if other assumptions might be flipped, and how other aspects of what you expect to happen will be affected. When neat happy endings aren't the expectation, it keeps the reader on their toes throughout the story.

The book is well-written and kept my attention the whole time, which is rare for a book these days. Its book two of the Ancient Blades Trilogy, so if they keep up this release schedule, book three will be out in a month or so. I look forward to it!

ConstantCon Game: Playing in Kyrinn's World of Urutsk--Orgies and Feral Chicks...

2011-10-09T11:47:00.006-04:00

I have to admit that I never took the time to really get into Kyrinn's world. I knew from some of her blog posts that her world was extremely well developed--- she had been working on it for decades or something. As you all know, I'm a one trick pony in that I just play regular ol' DnD, and this world and game system seemed to be too different for me to be able to sink my teeth into and enjoy.

Anyhow, when I saw her running Constantcon games on Google+, I was reluctant to join in for the above reason, and also, to tell the truth here, because she was a woman. I've never played DnD with a woman before, other than my sister when we were kids, so that doesn't count, and Zak's Mandy in a Constantcon game once. I'm not exactly the most classy guy in the world, and when I play a Constantcon game, I usually like to have a couple beers in me, kick back, relax and enjoy myself. That usually involves juvenile/crude/classless humor or comments and/or character actions and interactions. Most women don't seem to be enchanted with such behavior in other aspects of real life, for some unknown reason, so I figured it wouldn't go over well in playing the kind of DnD I like to play with women in the group. What can I say---I guess I'm still single at 41 for a reason. :)

Anyhow, the other night I asked if anyone was running a pickup game, and Kyrinn offered to run one for me. She grabbed another player, a girlfriend of hers, and we were off. Now I'm sitting her thinking "Shit, I've got to be on my best behavior. Try to sober up. It's gonna be a rainbow and butterflies type game. We're gonna chase leprechauns or some shit."

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the first situation my character encountered was being dropped into an inn on the outskirts of civilization where people were fighting and killing each other, and fucking in various corners. The first being I encountered was a feral wolf-girl who eyeballed my food, and once I fed her wanted to fuck. So I obliged, of course. One flaw all my characters I've ever played enjoy, is that if someone offers to bang you, take them up on the offer, no matter what their race. I call this the Captain Kirk rule.

Next thing you know, there is a spell being cast on the whole bar, trying to put us to sleep or something. I made the save only because the feral chick just bit me in the neck after sex. See how the Capt. Kirk rule rules? So I loot some purses while they're all half asleep, and run outside. (I should probably add here that my character was a LOTFP Grindhouse Specialist. Kyrinn simply converted whatever I wanted to do to her game system seamlessly, based on my stats and abilities and stuff.)

Once outside I meet my Kyrinn's girlfriend's character. She is on her way in, I warn her off, and when I see two more of those caster race people coming towards the inn, I hightail it to the bushes, chivalrously leaving my newfound companion to deal with their shit.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, I keep an arrow aimed at the whole exchange from the bushes. A fight ensues, we get the hell out of there after I throw burning oil on the tent house where a ton of people are being entranced by 3 of the enemies' companions. They break off their attack, and we run into a cleft in a wall, looking for "old gold."

After a bit of delving, we come to a room with a bunch of weird chicks who keep petting us down, trying to draw us in, putting us at ease. My paranoid "I'm just a first level thief and nothing good can come of someone wanting to make you feel at ease in a dungeon" DnD reflexes kick in and overwhelm any twinge of chivalry I have, and I hightail it out of there too, with the feral chick (who I named Kim, after a crazy ex-girlfriend I had in college) accompanying me, having already peed on my leg in fear.

Little did I know that if I just stayed I would have partaken in a harmless orgy. Shit! Capt. Kirk would be disappointed in me. My only solace is the fact that Kyrinn and I were on the same page in taking some perverse enjoyment in making her girlfriend blush for like half the game. :)

Lest you think that this was the best part of the game---fucking feral chicks and orgies and a DM who can "go there" as well as any I've played with in terms of the down and dirty shit of life in a game---this was the least part of my enjoyment of the game. The best part was Kyrinn's world itself. The level of detail is unparalleled in any game I've ever played in. She has like 7000 years of history timelined in great detail, including all aspects of races and cultures, geography, npc's, etc. It's something else to see in play. Her descriptions were in such detail that I've never felt so much like I was in a certain location in my head while playing a game. I still have a very clear image in my head of everything that transpired, as if I watched a movie a few times. It was fantastic.

The magic and weirdness level were spectacular. I couldn't figure a lot of stuff out, it didn't fit any known paradigm I am used to dealing with, and it was scary/creepy/twilight-zonish/wtf is going on here! She's an excellent DM, the world is amazing, and the game she creates for the players is cool as hell. I'm hoping we can make it a regular weekly event. You're missing out on something great if you don't join in.

Lyrics That Either Have or Could Have Inspired Awesome Game Sessions

2011-10-06T22:32:00.003-04:00

We all know of songs that were inspired by some bit of fantasy literature, or even DnD. Zeppelin comes to my mind most often in this regard. (from like 2:50 on for a minute or so)

Let's flip that around. Here's the question---have you ever had a specific bit of song lyric that inspired something in your game? Either a monster, encounter, theme, adventure, or something else? If not, can you think of a part of a song's lyrics that you would love to do something with because it's so fucking awesomely evocative of something cool for DnD?

Name the song, specific part of the lyric, artist, album, and what you've done with it (or want to do with it), and tell us how it turned out. It you want to be really cool, link to the YouTube video and tell us the minute/second mark of the lyric. :)

Edit to add: Maybe it's the 6-pack talking, and I know its hardly METAL!!! (though a great tune), but I'm thinking there is something that can be done with Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence. There's some creepy shit in them thar lyrics...

Retarded Mearls-ism of the Day

2011-09-17T17:53:00.001-04:00

mikemearls tweeted

"I think the secret to #dnd is that you can memorize all the rules and still not understand the game."

Hey buddy, if you don't understand the fuckin' game, resign and get someone in there with a clue. Spare us all the misery of a 5e designed by you and your team. Stop wasting time trying to sound all deep and philosophical. It's just a game for Chrissakes.

On Mages and Thieves in My Game

2011-09-05T13:39:00.000-04:00

In my in-person game, using Grindhouse rules, here's how I'm handling Mages and Thieves...

Regarding thieves and thieves guilds---Guilds don't exist. As far as thieves go, you have a few basic types.

1. Opportunist---he sees something laying around, no one is looking, he takes it. Not his chosen profession. Usually has a job, and the job is the place he may steal from. Dockworker stealing an extra bottle of rum when no one is looking, for example, or something he can sell to buy necessities, or a bit of bling to make himself feel better about his shitty lot in life. He may even feel guilty later. But he usually has a need for cash. Desperate types of poor people fit this mold.

2. Crack-head type: Has to steal to fill a need---whether food, drugs, gambling, bookie is chasing him down, etc. Usually a loner.

3. Small-time crook---loser, lives on the edge of society, does a job here and there to get by. May have a few friends who do it. Been caught before, in jail before. Probably will never rehabilitate, as they are lazy and stupid and good for nothing. Usually blows his money on cheap women and cheaper booze. Has a big mouth.

4. Struggling professional crook---takes pride in his job, tries to be better at stealing. Largely self-taught, lives in fear of getting caught by both the law and other criminals, as he tries to poach targets others may be interested in. He has enough talent to encroach on someone's territory to be noticed.

5. Group of thieves---those who consider that they have a territory, otherwise same as #4 above. By territory, I mean usual targets or types of targets. They may know people from #1,2, or 3 above who help them out. Usually friends from way back, like they grew up together and know each others strengths and weaknesses well, and have a form of loyalty and trust.

6. Good group of thieves--same as #5, but pull off better heists, and have a lot better contacts in both the underworld, and maybe even among the populace and legitimate society.

7. Organized good group of thieves with some pull---Same as #6 but they know a lot more people, and have a lot more pull. May know judges, police, etc who can get them off. Still a very small group though. Damn near impossible to break into groups 5 6 and 7 unless you hang with them a long time, and prove yourself.

8. Pick pockets---self explanatory, run the gamut from bad to good. Usually those without hands are bad, having been caught.

9. Con men--self explanatory.

Low life society consists of fences, pawn shops, seedy bars, drug dealers, crack head-type informants, beggars, urchins, seedy bartenders, men who can be hired for a job---whether to rough someone up or to kill them.

What all these people have in common with each other is they have a culture, a shared language, a shared background (knew each other for a while), loyalty of a sort in that they have been tested and either talk to the cops, or they don’t, or do talk only when certain situations occur. They also know each other, if not by name then by reputation. They know who is "them" and who is "us." There is no professional brotherhood of thieves or of the underworld. There is just them and us, on all levels of society. And if you aren't one of them, then you're a target, a mark, or a threat. None of which is good for you.

To the extent that you're not one of them, but you look like you can handle yourself, have lots of battle scars, look like a badass, or have either a reputation somehow that they've heard of that intimidates them, or that you remain a mystery enough that they can't quantify of classify you, if you walk into the dock area with any of the characteristics listed above, then you might, just might, walk out alive and not get killed just on the off chance that you might have something on you worth more than 1 copper.

It's not like in AD&D when a thief walks into town, asks the guard at the gate where the thieves guild is, checks in and registers as a wandering thief, and promises to kick in a share of theft to the guild while in town. In your case, a newb and a rube, right off the farm, with no contacts and no connections, they'll think your a cop, or a target/threat/mark.

Which brings me to Specialists in the Grindhouse ruleset. The way Raggie describes them, and the way I also like to iook at them, is people with skills useful in various things. There are Indiana Jones types for dungeon crawling, hunter/trappers, tinkerers, thieves, fences, assassins, and many more. All are specialists. How you specialize is determined by the skills you select and what you do with them. Now, having grown up on a farm, your stealth comes from hunting and trapping, your tinkering comes from messing with farm gadgets and game traps, your slight of hand comes from card/coin tricks practiced all night because you're bored shitless and have nothing else to do, etc. That's not to say that you can't easily transfer those skills to some other profession, but their base is on the farm. In other words, you're not a thief---YET. But you definitely have larcenous tendencies. :)

If you want to pursue that route and develop along those lines, no problem, have at it. If you want to go the Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider route, feel free. You could also be the best hunter and trapper in the land. All are specialist roles. Where you take it is up to you. But I just didn't want you to go into town thinking specialist means thief, and expect them to welcome you with open arms. You'd most likely be killed the first night, dressed like you don't belong, looking right off the farm, with no backup, local contacts, or reputation.

The dagger you wear might be worth more than any two guys have to their name, and those two guys will likely be waiting outside the inn with a couple wooden planks to beat the shit out of you, take your dagger and all your possessions, and roll your body in the river. Picture a white boy right out of some spoiled rich city going to the worst neighborhood in the biggest shithole city in mexico, all alone, dough-faced and innocent looking, and asking around about wanting to put something on the black market. That's about how it would turn out...

Fighters:

Live by the sword and die by the sword. Once you've killed a few times, you become desensitized to it enough that it becomes easier to do it again. Fighters know that of other fighters, and so are always on guard and wisely trust no one. They always expect the ultimate in violence from any situation---death---and prepare accordingly.

Wizards:

Wizards in this world have a recent dark history. About 2000 to 5000 years ago, it isn't clear exactly, the Pantheon wars took place. As a result, Clerics lost much of their power, as they were blamed for the wars that decimated humankind, and were thus allowed to exist only if they didn't get too powerful. They were allowed to live for their ability to heal, and their ability to be used by the ruling warlords and mages to control the small-minded masses through petty superstitions and rituals. They lost much of their powers, as their pantheon and deity specific spells were lost to them. Many clerics still hunt lost ruins today, looking for old prayer books that may have survived the millenia of destruction.

The mages became the powers of the land. Of course, about 1000 years ago, the mage wars erupted, as 10 of the most powerful mages vied for power over the world. The mages all had their own plan for power. One mutated animal/human and even /plants into monsters hybrids (hence owlbears, griffins, etc today). One dealt with Demons, one Devils, one elements/elementals, one functioned on charming all humans around him, one gained mastery over the natural world, one in illusions/mind affecting spells, one in necromancy, one specialized in augmenting the powers of the mind through magical means, and one through summoning foul beasts through portals to many planes of existence.

The cleric wars were the equivalent of two kids fighting with sticks as compared to the mage wars. The cleric wears had humans fighting humans. The mage wars had total and complete chaos and anarchy, where the creations and summonings and powerful magics got out of control, slaughtered millions of every lifeform on the planet, and shattered and changed the face of the earth in many places.

Any animosity people felt towards clerics is pretty much gone now, and the distrust is aimed directly at mages. They don't go around with pointy hats and magic robes to identify themselves. They don't form guilds, for fear of persecution from people worrying they may grow strong together again. Some hide out in small villages and after long periods of time gain the respect of the locals, but only the locals. To them he is "their" mage, to outsiders, he is still something to be feared and mistrusted. Many bury themselves in disguise in cities or in lost places across the countryside, to live in seclusion, for fear of witch hunters.

Because magic is so scarce in this world, the only true power a mage has in his or her spells and spell book. The lessons of betrayal and backstabbing learned by the mages during the war, when one-time mage allies turned on each other, were burned into the DNA of mages today. Basically, it takes a lot for one mage to trust another. They all view the rest as potential competitors for power. The only means of competition is spells and/or magical research and knowledge. Therefore, the sale of scrolls or spellbooks is the act of a weak mage, who doesn't care about his power. He will likely be eliminated and his shit taken. Also, if a mage buys a book of first level spells, it could be considered a sign that he is weak, can only cast first level spells, and he may be attacked by someone who can cast second level spells. Or it could be a trap set by the first guy to lull the second guy into a sense of power, so as to turn the tables on him. In any case, it generally never happens, because, like I said, who gives away their power?

Spellbooks to some mages are like trophies of war. The more spellbooks you have, the more mages you killed to get them, since that's usually the only way a spellbooks passes from one mages hands to another mages hands. Lots of spellbooks have bloody handprints on them.

Thus, unlike most DnD modules of the 80's we were used to, there is no friendly mage in the village dispensing unlimited scrolls and potions to promising adventurer mages of like alignment. To give away what makes you more powerful than someone else to that someone else is foolish. Think the mentality and culture of the Sith Lords, and you're close to the mark. Perhaps even better, think the Highlander movie and TV series. The mages teach apprentices so that magic doesn't die out, they train a newly recognized force practitioners in the dark ways of the Sith, they train newly awakened immortals in swordfighting, but when you hit a certain point, "There can be only one!" (or at best two, in the eyes of the Sith.) It's time to get the hell out of the nest, fly away, and become a practitioner of your own.

Of course, if your teacher was a close relative, and there is a close bond, that may be a reason people group together and trust each other. This goes back to the thief associations thing above. Long periods of trust and loyalty being tested, usually having grown up together in the same family or neighborhood, etc. For mages though it is a bit different, because to gain power, they usually have to travel far and wide and kill other mages or raid places to find lost knowledge. Hard to build long-lasting associations that way. That's also why its so rare to see more than one mage in any group of explorers---they don't want to share a damn thing with another competitor.

And of course, since magic is so rare, you'll never find any for sale, or find a buyer for your shit you loot. There simply is no black market THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF for such items. The scarcity of all magic makes any magic very powerful, therefore you either have to have the means to protect and guard your shit against the most powerful beings of the world who want to take it from you, or you keep your mouth shut about it. Waving around a flaming longsword in a bar fight is a sure way to attract unwanted attention from dozens of people much more powerful than you.

Of Slingshots and Catapults

2011-09-03T18:52:00.000-04:00

At my niece's 4th birthday party today, my 7 yr old nephew says "Uncle Joey, wanna see my slingshot I made!?"

Of course I do, having made my share at his age. His elastic broke, and they didn't have any stronger ones. Aha! I think to myself. Time to break out those big thick "Johnny Bench Batter Up" style elastics I've been hoarding for just such an emergency.

Then I ask him "You know what's better than slingshots? Catapults!"

A couple quick sketches later, he announces he wants to make a catapult. So home I go for handsaws, nails and the Johnny Bench Batter Up elastics.

Of course, his promises to help, as well as those of my 6 year old nephew, last about 10 minutes, tops.

But I built the fucker anyhow. It ain't pretty, but it shoots a rock a good 6 feet, with a strong tailwind. :)

To give an idea of the size, the longest log is about 3 feet long. Had some difficulty with the part that holds the rocks, but like all good home projects, all it needed was some duct tape. Badass!

All Day Hurricane Google+ Constantcon D&D Event! Play 'til the Power Goes Out!

2011-08-26T20:05:00.001-04:00

Because I've got nothing better to do than drinkin' a 6 pack or two and eating cold pizza while the world ends---I'll be running D&D over Google+ this Sunday, starting at 1 pm Eastern USA time. I may run Castle Zagyg Upper Works, or a classic module or two. Ruleset = AD&D/Osric. Basically, I'm gonna play 'til the power goes out, or I pass out, and hope that there is no work the next day, 'cause like, hangover...

If interested, go to my Google+ page at 1 pm EST Sunday. If I still have power, I'll be there.

(I'm Joe Thelawyer on Google+)

Funny Reviews of All Editions of D&D

2011-08-19T21:03:00.000-04:00

Seeking Advice: Original Dragonlance Modules for the Nephews' First Real D&D Long-term/Campaign Type Experience?

2011-08-18T23:16:00.003-04:00

Here's the deal: I have 2 nephews, age 6 and 7. I'm thinking they're just about the right age for some sort of regular D&D gaming. I've played a couple random one-offs with each of them, to give them the flavor, where I made it up as I went along, and they rolled dice to do certain things, and we all had a good time. They played Jedi, of course. :)

Much as I'd like to introduce them to what we all love, the old school sandbox style of play, I think they're too young. I'd like to give them some sort of story, like a series of TV shows that builds to a season finale. I'd like to make it as fun as I can for them. Most likely playing with us would be my brother, who I've gamed with forever. He can help guide the kids towards the obvious best ideas and actions, thus ensuring a good time. It seems that Dragonlance may fit the bill, despite it being the doom to old school gaming by some.

I've never actually run any of the modules, although back in the day I made up a variation on them which my players enjoyed, based on the Chronicles book series, adapted for their characters who were trapped in the DL universe. I have most of the modules, just missing a few, which I could acquire easily I'm sure.

Honestly, what I like about it is the railroad-y story aspect, though it goes against all I'd like to play in now. I think the kids would like it. I think it would give enough guidance and direction to help ensure they have fun all along the way, especially if they know they are building towards something big, one module at a time. I think the aspect of having what looks like a big huge season finale type thing would get them more into it. Plus, its a simple story, which I know I can dumb down to make it age appropriate if needed without losing the best parts of it.

What do you guys think? Anyone have any experience with either the DL series, or with introducing kids of this age to a long term game?

Thanks!

Awesome Rob Kuntz Interview!

2011-08-15T18:55:00.000-04:00

A while ago Rob and I spoke about potentially doing an interview. We talked via Skype, and it was very interesting. I jotted down some notes, which I then sent to him in the form of questions, in order to flush out some of his more interesting points. He mentioned that he had one big interview that he was working on with another blogger first. I think this may be the one he was speaking of. It's awesome. Read it!

Even if we never get to finish up our interview, I have to say Rob is one of the most interesting people I've met, and he has insights into the game, and its history that no one else has, due to his involvement in creating the genre. A lot of that comes out in the interview above. I hope he does one day finish his memoirs so we can have more insight into those early days of the hobby.

Book Review: New Swords and Sorcery Trilogy---Den of Thieves, by David Chandler

2011-08-07T21:19:00.002-04:00

David Chandler sent me an email asking if I would be willing to review his new book, Den of Thieves, the first book in the Ancient Blades Trilogy. He said it was in the swords and sorcery style, part of a three book series, where each book will be released two months from each other. My first thought was "Shit, free book, I'm all for it." My second thought was that I was glad someone was trying to keep that style of fiction alive. I'm tired of epic fantasy, I think it's been done to death. I felt the Black Company lost its way after the first three books, and George R.R. Martin gives me a headache with all the complexity. The best series I am reading now are the Dresden books, by Jim Butcher.

When you think of swords and sorcery, its scary to realize that an author today has to compete against the greats---like Leiber, Moorcock, and Howard. These people are legends. That's because there just aren't that many people writing good swords and sorcery style books these days. With that in mind, I started reading his book, prepared to be disappointed by comparison to the Godfathers of S&S.

Far from being disappointed, I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Without giving away too many spoilers, the main character comes from nothing, bastard child of a whore, surviving by quick wits and quicker feet. You can't say he's "a lover, not a fighter," because he's neither. He's just a guy trying to get by in a harsh unforgiving world. The book is set entirely in a city, reminiscent of Lankhmar, where life is cheap. Magic is mysterious and to be feared, takes a harsh toll on its practitioners, and was much more powerful in the past than the present. Religion really does not dominate the story at all.

There are elves and dwarves, but they are not what you would expect at all. Only the dwarves are represented in this book, and only by one character. They seem to be rare indeed.

There is one ancient order of knighthood, given 7 blades with which to slay demons, but even they have fallen. One of the side conflicts of the book has to do with a knight who essentially said "fuck these vows, I'm gonna get mine." He kept his sword, and puts it in service to the highest bidder. Even the virtuous knight of the story is shown to be weak through self-delusion about the world around him.

The story itself has several twists and turns, and the hero of the story has to basically think his way out of situations, fighting only when he has to, while avoiding several groups who all want his head for one reason or another. Through it all, he does what he has to do to survive, forced by self-preservation to make harsh decisions.

That being said, it's not all grim and dirty. There were several funny moments, and interesting supporting characters, like the women of the whore house the main character grew up in, and a ghostly presence I won't say too much about, so as not to ruin your fun. I also like the moments of perspective the author gives his characters, so that you understand who they are and why they are that way. It makes it a much richer read than I expected.

The book moves along at a good pace, and I never once found myself getting bored. About my only criticism was that the main character spoke much more eloquently that I would have expected, given his background. Also, the accent of the ghost took a bit of getting used to.

This is a book that turns certain themes on their heads. The main rogue is not dashing, good looking, or rich. You question whether the "princess to be rescued" is even worth saving. The fallen are not redeemed. The virtuous are not worthy of admiration. Yet in spite of all that, or perhaps because of all that, it's a damn good read.

It reminds me of Moorcock saying that his Elric character was like the anti-King Arthur. Weak, from a decadent empire, and destroyed his homeland--- as opposed to strong, from Camelot, and protector of the realm. Chandler does something similar with this book, and pulls it off rather well.

I think it was a very good book, and I am looking forward to the next one. It seems to be available now on Amazon, though the official release date is August 11. The series website is www.ancientblades.com

Enjoy!

Star Wars Old Republic Trailer

2011-08-07T10:47:00.002-04:00

In case you haven't seen it---pretty badass!

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/return

Is There Any Doubt That Paizo Rules the RPG Industry?

2011-08-06T23:24:00.000-04:00

The swept the ENnies, beating WOTC wherever they competed. The only Gold WOTC won was for a "boardgame", in the category of "Best RPG Related Product" or some shit. Too many jokes come to mind for that one.

ICv2 released its latest quarterly report, and Paizo wins yet again.

What a sad ending for what was once a good company.

Congrats to Old School Hack! Gold ENnie!

2011-08-05T19:53:00.000-04:00

for best free product.

NPR is Having a Vote on the Best Sci-fi/Fantasy Books of All Time

2011-08-04T18:28:00.002-04:00

Check it out...

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894873/vote-for-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-titles

Game of Thrones Spoof

2011-08-04T18:00:00.002-04:00

Hilarious!

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6579356/game-of-thrones-rpg

On the Use of "He" or "She" in Gaming Material

2011-08-02T21:18:00.003-04:00

Both Zach and Odyssey have interesting points to make.

I'll just say this: I'll put "she" in there all over the place if I ever publish something.

So you know how big a moment this is:

In college in the late 80's (yeah, I'm an old fuck) I worked at a convenience store which sold cigarettes. One of the perks of the job was that I got first dibs on any cigarette schwag they passed out to get people to smoke more. I had unlimited t-shirts, lighters, mugs---and my most prized possessions--Virginia Slims boxer underwear. They were marketing to women, and women in men's boxer's was hot at the time. (Shit, it's still hot to me.) The more boxers I had, the less often I had to do laundry. #Winning!

Anyhow, Virginia Slims' slogan at the time was "You've come a long way baby!" So I had like 7 boxers with that slogan tattooed all over it. As a guy who grew up watching All in the Family and thinking that Archie Bunker was usually right BACK THEN-- because that's just how I was brought up--- (yeah, I'm an old fuck)---

--take a look at this, and repeat after me: We've come a long way baby!

http://bp1.blogger.com/_6zvQXAuXZsA/RsD2jyzcpSI/AAAAAAAAAJg/dws61aCqtaA/s1600-h/AnActual.jpg

Now excuse me as I continue to watch/listen to Lady Gaga's live performance on Howard Stern, and get choked up, after hearing her describe what it's actually about...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_GMgkcc2KM

#evolution-of-an-archie-bunker-chauvenist

#Emo-moment

#plus-she-is-hot

#wonder-what-she-would-look-like-in-a-chainmail-bikini

#ok-so-maybe-i-am-still-a-pig

Hasbro Q2 2011 Earnings Call---Something Interesting in it This Time

2011-07-27T18:39:00.000-04:00

From Seeking Alpha:

"And one of the key consumer insights that we are seeing as we do quantitative research is that face-to-face gaming are still something people really want and they seek out. And our Games business can absolutely grow. In fact, in the second quarter, our International games business grew. We've been working through the issues in our U.S. business, but overall, you will see more marriages of digital and analog. You'll see more new reinventions of our analog business and off-the-board games that will come into the future. So we think you can grow both."

No surprise there as to the first part---they probably spent 5 million bucks to research that though. The rest of it gives credence to the speculation that 5e will be a combination electronic and face to face experience.

80 Pages of Typewritten Campaign Notes from the 70's

2011-07-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

This is pretty damn neat!

http://www.risusmonkey.com/2011/06/ryth-chronicle-1975-1977.html

One Man's Reaction to the Death of Eddard Stark

2011-07-22T20:12:00.001-04:00

This guy has a lot of rants ahead of him, if he gets this worked up at Ed Stark's death...I can't say as I disagree with the guy. I pretty much said the same thing when I read the books...I may have said it a bit differently, but definitely with the same feeling. :)

Cornholio Returns!

2011-07-22T18:40:00.000-04:00

YES!

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/675057/beavis-and-butt-head-sdcc-11-sneak-peek.jhtml?xrs=playershare_fb

I'm on Google + Now

2011-07-13T14:59:00.000-04:00

Looks interesting. Search for Joe theLawyer to find me. Let's see how this thing works.

The Real Reason T$R Crashed and Burned

2011-07-12T12:30:00.002-04:00

Finally revealed.

Good god.

WTF was Wildspace anyhow?

Vanguard: The Spiritual Successor to the Original Everquest

2011-07-12T09:36:00.000-04:00

MMO Salvation has arrived!

I posted a while back on the original Everquest, DDO, and made an analogy as to how EQ was like old school DnD, while DDO was like new school. I lamented that there were no longer any sandboxey MMO's out there, nothing in the style of the original EQ.

Now there is. Vanguard is an MMO which was designed in part by the original EQ designers. It has the same exact feel. Dying sux, you loose xp, you need to loot your corpse if you can, the whole world is one big instance, and you get your ass kicked all over the place. It's not for pussies who want instant gratification, like WoW seems to cater to.

Vanguard apparently sucked when it first came out 3 1/2 years ago. They spent a lot of time fixing up things, and now it runs really well. I became disenchanted with DDO at the high end game. Endless grinding for gear is all the game is about, repeating the same boring quest over and over again in the dim hope that you might get the thing you wanted out of it so eventually in a year or so you can make that item you want. Boring as shit.

We'll see how Vanguard goes, as we get into it more. But it seems that they are having a huge new influx of people. I definitely don't see a lack of people to group with. Check it out, its a good time.

If 5e is More Old School, How Long Before Someone Retro-Clones It? Does WOTC Then Have to Sue All Clones?

2011-07-09T12:12:00.002-04:00

That seems to be where Mearls is heading with 5e, with all his koombaya posts on how all editions are the same at their core. It seems to be the most long-winded sales job/market research project of all time though. What if, after all the blather, they actually put out an edition of D&D which is familiar to players of older editions? Does it fall under the OGL? In whole or in part? How much I guess would depend on how many new terms they invent just for the sole purpose of making sure it doesn't fall under the OGL, like dailies, powers, healing surges, etc.

Let's say that for the most part, it does fall under the OGL. How long before someone tries to clone it?

The bigger question, what would WOTC do? Would they go after them?

I can't see how they wouldn't be forced to.

Executive who doesn't know what a d20 is: "Hows sales of the new edition going after we sunk a million bucks into its development?"

Mearls: "Well, it was good the first couple days, we made $50,000, but then someone cloned it and is giving it away for nothing."

Executive: "You're fired, you're whole team is fired--(oh, you have no team left?), and the remaining 2 people at the company who know what those funky dice are--- they're fired too--- and we're suing!"

Would they then be forced to go after the other clone publishers?

Note: I'm not saying they have good legal ground to stand on---but we all know that just the cost of defending a lawsuit would halt production of many clones and force a "I won't do it anymore, I promise, just drop the lawsuit" type of agreement.

So, the question is, are we better off letting WOTC go down the path of developing one wretched abomination of D&D after another, so they aren't forced to recognize what we are doing with clones?

Do we want them playing in our sandbox again?

There Needs to be a Skype Pick-up PnP D&D Game Hub

2011-07-08T21:01:00.000-04:00

So I'm sitting here tonight, bored, nothing on TV, no movies to see, a rainy lazy night. I don't want to login to any MMO-type games, and I've read myself to death already today. What I want to do is join a pick-up D&D group---right now. But I can't, because although somewhere I'm sure there's a Skype game going on, where they need and would welcome another player, I don't know about it.

One of you business savvy computer type people ought to get on that project, right away. You can have scheduled events that people sign up for, and also pickup groups that people list on the spur of the moment, and others can drop in on, if they're having a night like mine, and play a quick module.

Inspiration: the DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online) MMO. You login, see quests listed for a certain level, see people already in the quest, and you click on it if you want to join. Bingo, instant gaming. Works sometimes, but as we all know, a D&D MMO just ain't the same as real PnP D&D.

WOTC 5E Conjecture by Davis Over at Troll Lord Games

2011-07-08T17:18:00.000-04:00

Check it out...

Out of Work Adventurer's Resume

2011-07-08T15:09:00.000-04:00

Goals: To Attain Godhood...or failing that, To Crush My Enemies, See Them Driven Before Me, and Hear the Lamentations of Their Women

Work Experience:

CY 387-389: Ran my own keep. Duties included slaying wandering monsters in the surrounding area, defending against enemy encroachments on my territory and that of my leige, and ensuring high morale through bribing my henchment with magic items.

Notable achievements: Slaying the Red Dragon Thorax in 5 rounds.

CY 381-387: Member Band of Psychotic Gentlemen, adventuring company. Duties: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before, and then to kill everything I see and take all their shit.

Notable achievements: Survived Zagyg's Castle down to level 13

Education:

Prized student of Brimdar the Grim, noted warrior.

Skills: None. I'm Old School Damnit!

References: None, regrettably If they were worth knowing, I generally killed them and took their shit.

Paizo vs. WOTC: The Torrent Wars. Paizo Wins Again!

2011-07-08T13:57:00.000-04:00

So I'm sitting here thinking that a measure of how popular a product is would be a measure of how many people would go to illegal lengths to acquire it. In the RPG world, one measure would be torrent downloads of books.

A quick search on Google produced two links which purported to have basically all that Paizo has produced, and all that WOTC has produced, in two separate downloadable packages. I used links from the same torrent site, as well as made sure they were recently tracked/updated at the same time, in an attempt at making this an accurate comparison. (I almost provided the links used, but didn't want to make it easy or seem to encourage illegal downloading. This was purely a shit-stirring intellectual exercise).

The scoring system? Basically look at how many leeches, meaning people who want the stuff, are online with a torrent client trying to download it.

The score: Paizo 169, WOTC 13. Meaning that only 13 people are trying to download all of WOTC's 4e stuff, as opposed to 169 trying to download all of Paizo's.

Paizo wins again!

Disclaimer: I don't advise, advocate,condone, or recommend that anyone actually go out and download this stuff. Give your money to the people making it. Buy it. It's a tough economy, the designers and publishers need the cash. Plus, it's illegal. Plus, they are tracking it big-time now. There is a strong likelihood that you will get caught and get your ass thrown in jail. Plus, don't be an asshole. Before the accusations start coming, for those of you not in the know on Torrents, its not illegal to do a search on Google to see what's available, as far as I know. It would be illegal to download it.

Female Armor---Sucks? Nope.

2011-07-07T13:06:00.000-04:00

Check it out...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6550847/female-armor-sucks

Movie Review: Transformers 3---It Sucked. Don't waste your money.

2011-07-04T11:16:00.002-04:00

Review complete.

If 4e Went Out of Print, WTF Would You Buy on EBay to Play 4e Four Years From Now?

2011-07-03T02:32:00.002-04:00

Think about it. I'm looking to buy a Rules Cyclopedia, and cruising EBay, and it hit me. If I want to buy 1st edition books now, the list of books needed is known and straight-forward. Same with 2e and 3.x 2e has the players options thingy to deal witth, which isnt a big deal, and 3.0 and 3.5 are 97% the same.

When we're in the 6th edition days, when D&D is a boardgame with magic-type cards, and some 4e grognard tells his friends to buy 4e books off of ebay to play in his game, WTF does he tell them to buy? The PHB is essentially useless as a book, due to like 500 pages of errata. DDI is offline or updated to 6e, since they only support the latest edition, as we all know. And I still don't know where this whole Essentials line of products fits in to the scheme of thing. The Rules Compendium? The other books suggested by WOTC to buy? WOTC's lack of willingness to number their latest editions by edition? Their refusal to admit that there is a new edition at all with Essentials---or at least a half edition? What the hell does a prospective player buy 4 years from now when WOTC is on 6e?

BTW, I don't thing WOTC has begun work on 5e yet---because they have not publicly denied it over and over again.

Paizo Outsells WOTC in RPG Books

2011-07-02T19:30:00.000-04:00

When Lisa Stevens, Paizo owner and CEO, was asked "...you're saying that it's your belief that the Pathfinder brand has a higher sales volume than the D&D brand"

Her response:

"At this time in history, that is what I have been told by people in the hobby distribution trade, the book trade, and other avenues that both games sell their products into. If you talk to the various retailers, it is a mixed bag, with one telling you one thing and another a different story. But when you talk to the folks who sell those retailers the product that they sell, then you get a clearer picture.

And I am just talking table-top RPG business. I am not talking about board games or card games or video games or whatnot. Just books and digital copies of those books for use in playing a table-top RPG.

-Lisa"

Congrats!

Read it here, as well as the rest of the discussion.

True Blood: Did it Jump the Shark Tonight?

2011-06-26T22:22:00.002-04:00

I know I'm not the only fan out here in blogville. Whaddaya think---did it jump the shark? It seemed so gimmicky, the jumping ahead 1 year in time. And WTF is with the fact that we're 45 minutes in before I see one tit? Not even some gratuitous side boobage before that point. Not saying I watch JUST for the tits---but it helps.

Goddamned disappointing.

On Making a Living in the RPG Biz

2011-06-24T18:34:00.000-04:00

Two interesting articles, on the heels of the recent WOTC layoffs...

http://www.deadlyfredly.com/2011/06/deadly-living/

http://www.robertjschwalb.com/2011/06/crapping-on-your-dream-freelancing-101/

A New Round of WOTC Layoffs

2011-06-23T20:24:00.004-04:00

Update: Monte Cook is offering condolences via twitter to those laid off. Let me offer mine as well. Good luck to you all.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd%2Fdragon%2F20110623ampersand

They have an earnings conference call with shareholders coming up at Hasbro, and this is typical corporate proactive CYA behavior when a division didn't meet their earnings goals.

What's With all the Zak/Raggi Hate Lately?

2011-06-15T23:39:00.004-04:00

It seems to be building up lately for some reason. I think part of it comes from jealousy---like this guy here.

To make such a personal attack is so childish as to only come from something like jealousy and/or insecurity. After all, Zak is well known, respected, an author/artist and successful in many fields. That Kent dude---well, let's just say that when comparing "size," and showing a picture of the guy and saying "little fucker", we all know what the insecurity about size is really based on here. He must have done a torrent search for some of Zak's films. I met Zak in NYC for his show last fall. He's a nice guy. (And by the way, the art is not photoshopped stuff. It's all hand made, paint on paper stuff.) And judging by the women he was with, the "size" that Kent seems to be really insecure/jealous about likely isn't a problem for Zak. By mentioning that Zak looked gay, even more indications that there is something else going on there with Kent...Perhaps a tingle down below in the dirty places when viewing a pic of Zak? After all, there was a desire to seek one out...

As for that Errand guy, any Psychology for Dummies type book will give insight into the sexual repression disguised as morality going on there. It reminds me of the kid in 1st grade pulling the pigtails of the girl he likes, trying to get attention and yet be mean at the same time, because he's just a bit confused. The way he alternates back and forth on his attacks between Zak and Raggi though, about the only thing I can figure is that he wants to be the middle bar in the Eifel Tower.

Can't we all just get along?

D&D Shiterial Chronicles, Volume One, Episode One

2011-06-12T12:36:00.000-04:00

Shiterial = Material you read while taking a shit.

Therefore:

D&D Shiterial = D&D material you read while taking a shit.

You see, I'm not such a deep thinker as to go on about the esoterica of D&D's history for page after page, or to post about subjective issues like morality in D&D, and judge others by my own moral standards, like some dumbshit motherfuckers do.

However, I've found that personally, I'm at my most contemplative about life and the meaning and the nature of the universe while taking a good shit. Buddha had his tree, I have my toilet. I figured I'd combine that moment of perfection and oneness with the universe with reading D&D stuff from the bygone era and see where that leads me.

This morning's zen moment:

Did you guys know that on page 22 of the Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets there is a half a page devoted to sharks, with a ton of different kinds of sharks, what type of water they are in, and their chances to attack people? Pretty cool!

Regarding the Morality, Art, Heroes, Anti-Heroes, Nihilism, Roleplaying Question of the Day

2011-06-11T00:41:00.003-04:00

This scene sums up my point of view on every aspect of the debate. I just can't explain how.

Plus, its just badass in its own right. :)

This is Great!

2011-06-10T21:44:00.000-04:00

Enjoy!

Remember when it was this simple?

2011-06-09T20:50:00.000-04:00

My 6 year old nephew, setting up the epic battle between Thor and the army men. In this picture he had his mother take with the cell phone, he had to make sure I knew that Thor was on the side of the good guys, along with his robot buddy. Because Thor is obviously the good guy, the army men must be the bad guys. Duh!

I suspect that neutral alignment is going to be a difficult concept to get across to him. :)

Goodman's New Game--DCC RPG

2011-06-08T20:18:00.003-04:00

Skimmed thru it. Won't play it.

Art: I could give two shits about art that reminds me of art from D&D books in the 70's. Call me a heretic, but I didn't think that the original D&D art was that great in the first place. It was cartoonish. People in my high school could doodle better crap than that at their lunch break.

I'm not at all a sophisticated or classy person. For art to be good to me, it has to either 1) make me scared, 2) make me cry, 3) make me happy 4) make me say WTF!?!?! or 5) give me a boner. That's it. 1970's D&D art does none of that.

Ask yourself---is the artwork good in its own right? Or is it good because it just reminds you of happier more carefree days of playing D&D all weekend with your friends in the 80's?

Spells and their tables: Yeah, lets complicate shit unnecessarily. Good idea. No one really likes reliability in their spellcasters anyhow.

Dice: Where the fuck do I buy them? Its hard enough to get people to play your old school games now---so lets throw in some required dice that no one owns and has never heard of before whydontcha.

Ask yourself this: Is the game just overall neat on some indescribable level? Reminding you of good times in the past? Will you just be stealing stuff from it? Using it as inspiration? Or will you actually play the thing?

It seems to me that the value in a game is proven when people actually play the thing with other people, and as a result those other people then go out and buy it. If that doesn't happen, what's the sense? Go ahead, steal shit from it, read it and get ideas, take a stroll down artwork memory lane. But if you do so, call it what it is---a splatbook, or a source of alternative rules, like Arcana Unearthed.

If most people use it as a splatbook, or source of inspiration or a source for some alternate rules, then as a game in its own right it is a failure.

I'll take some bloggers word for it that it is old school in style. If thats the case, and it draws more people to the old school tables, than hurray. I hope it works out that way. I just don't think it will, because of the above.

We'll see how it works out.

Looking for Some Advice Running a Skype Game, Both Practical and on Supplemental Programs

2011-06-04T08:26:00.000-04:00

I've never tried a Skype game before. Any advice on how to go about it? I am also looking for supplementary programs--one to do some sort of whiteboard, and program where I can upload images to the group for all to see. No dice rollers needed, I'll trust everyone to make rolls and report honestly what the roll was. No grid combat tools needed to tell where the characters are at any given moment---I'm going to do the narrative combat thing. Also, it doesn't have to be Skype--as long as it does everything above and is free to everyone to use, its fine by me. Any suggestions as to supplemental programs or advice on anything else that you've learned in running Skype games?

Thanks!

PS Still looking for players---I have a couple at this point, but the more the merrier. Interested? More here.

The Two Greatest RPG Books I've Read in Over a Decade---Maybe Ever------and I Never Heard of Them Before Last Week...

2011-05-29T21:44:00.000-04:00

Warhammer's Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness (1988) and the 1990 follow-up The Lost and the Damned. God! Damn! These are awesome. I'm not that big into artwork, doesn't really do it for me in an RPG book---but the artwork in these books is heads and shoulders above anything I've ever seen in any RPG product---ever. And the content is doubly awesome. Massive work of the imagination, full of all kinds of useful stuff related to demons/daemons/chaos.

Zak S. mentioned it offhandedly in one of his Vornheim/Grindhouse podcasts, and I'm glad I caught the reference.

Get them. Get the older versions, before they got all Puritan with the art.

How come they don't make shit like this anymore? Seriously? The company who can put out stuff like this today WINS. Period.

Vornheim Reviewed (and my 200th post!)

2011-05-25T21:40:00.003-04:00

When I first got Vornheim it was the pdf version. I started to quickly skim through it. My first reaction:

WTF?

I skipped the intro and TOC, like I usually do, and went for the first thing after that---a sideways map which I couldn't figure out where or what anything was at a glance, and two pages of a tower unlike any DnD map I've ever seen. They weren't in a style I was used to. So I skipped to the content section. Not seeing a detailed static city plan with all the numbered buildings, my second reaction: WTF? So now I skip to the tables. Ahh, old familiar territory. I like these. I'll go back and read them later, but they're probably the mushroom tables and other weird stuff Zak used in the IHIWMA show, so they likely won't be that useful to me, because people always put stuff from their own games that no one else would use into these things. Then I got to the pages with the numbers all around them. Back to: WTF? Next: Map of the city---how is this at all useful? I can't make out the turns in the road. No numbered buildings, nor any buildings with names on them. Load up the WTF again.

So I skipped reading it in any detail and went back to Grindhouse, which was my more immediate need anyhow, as I was prepping for a game in which it is the base system.

Then Vornheim came in the mail with the boxed set---(note to self---never be a tightwad and choose the cheapest shipping option from Finland again. Raggi's cost-saving delivery system apparently consists of strapping packages to the backs of polar bears and sending them on a leisurely swim across the North Atlantic.)

The first thing I'm confronted with (once I took the dustjacket off it to protect it from tears----I'm like that) is the cover with all the confusing numbers on it that was at the back of the pdf. Because I couldn't make sense of it earlier with a 2 second glance, I skipped it. The rest of the book, content-wise, was more interesting when actually reading it in book form. I could actually focus in and twist and turn pages around to see the stuff which was harder to see on the computer (I don't like playing with pdf sizes, or rotating them, etc. to read something on a screen. Pain in the ass/laziness.) Also, the city content is written in such a way that isn't extremely Vornheim-specific, so it can be lifted for home campaign use.

Upon closer inspection of the charts at the end, they turned out to be way more useful than I figured they would be. They are, as I heard Zak describe it later, good tools to develop your own Vornheim. They were the tools he used to make his city. They are tools to make the city your own, create your own Vornheim. They weren't the random mushroom effect charts from the IHIWMA series that I expected them to be. Neat stuff. Besides, paraphrasing Zak here, who wants to spend a week memorizing the ins and outs of someone's setting, just to have the characters skip the bulk of it and go shopping?

At some point after this I IM'd with Jim that I liked Vornheim, but still couldn't figure out Zak's weird table on the cover thing and some of the other stuff like the city buildings thing.

Then I listened to one of the podcasts that Zak and Jim did, while I was playing the D&D Online MMO. (Khyber server, toon is Drakenforged, if any readers play on there). Anyhow, while slaying gnolls out in the Menechtarun Desert, I hear Zak start to describe the number grid thingy. I hid the toon in a safe place, pulled out the book, and started to follow along. In a few seconds of explanation I got it. The shit's simple as hell. And also potentially one of the most useful things ever made for a DM. Pure fucking mental laziness on my part that I didn't invest the less than 10 seconds of reading which it would have taken to learn the thing in the first place.

That goes back to my first impression of reading the pdf---it's not the standard RPG book. I looked for familiar things and didn't get them. Which really shouldn't surprise me, since it came from Zak. I mean, the guy created this. And he wrote this. The only things readily familiar in style and form were the random charts in the back of the book, so I wrote off the bulk of it at first glance, since it didn't fit my preconceived notions of what an RPG book ought to be.

Don't do that.

You'll miss out on an awesome tool.

I'm glad I gave it a second look. It's a damn good book, full of useful stuff. And its small too. One of my first thoughts when I saw it was "Goddamnit Jim, aren't you ever going to print something the size of the old 1st ed. PHB like I've been asking you to for like forever now? At least it would have made the text easier to read." Based on the podcasts though, I think if he ever did that, Zak would fill up the extra space with even more material at the same font. As well he should. It's good stuff.

I think the size of the book is actually a good thing, because no matter how many other books you have in your DnD-night bag, I guarantee you this one will also fit in there. You can always have this with you in every game. It's a zero-encumbrance item. Plus, now that I've given it a good read, I can't think of anything I would leave out of Vornheim. Based on that, I'll deal with the font because I like the content, and the only way to get all that content into 64 pages was to lay it out like Zak did.

Anyhow, I don't have a formal rating system of stars or thumbs or anything as I rarely do reviews, so I'll just finish by saying its a damn good book with pretty useful tools. You may have to drop your preconceived notions of what an RPG book ought to be, like I had to do, in order to really appreciate it. I'm glad I bought it. I'm gonna use it.

Hasbro Doesn't Even Sell the Latest Version of D&D on Its Webpage

2011-05-25T18:27:00.005-04:00

Check it out. I was taking a look at the latest quarterly report for some mention of D&D (none again, as usual) and decided to see what they have for sale for D&D on the Hasbro site. The boxed set of D&D they have up there, along with 6 other items, seem to be ancient. Maybe you guys can tell me, is that boxed set from the 3.0 or 3.5 days? It certainly is not Essentials, and doesn't appear to be 4e by the description.

Too bad its not a complete product listing from a few years ago, or we may have been able to get the pdf's for sale via a loophole caused by Hasbro's apathy for the brand.

What a Goddamned Ripoff!

2011-05-21T09:59:00.001-04:00

Apparently the world is ending sometime today, I scheduled an Old School D&D Meetup for tomorrow, and my birthday is Monday. Shit.

Adventurer Coaching --- Funny as hell

2011-05-15T11:34:00.001-04:00

Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i5Yw4ZoDO0&feature=player_embedded

Its by the guy who owns this site:

http://www.dungeonbastard.com/

His tweets are funny too. :)

http://twitter.com/dungeonbastard

CRAP! Blogger Deleted the Post Wherein I Wrote the D&D Clone Which Was Guaranteed to End All Edition Wars and Unify All Roleplayers Under One Game!!

2011-05-13T17:57:00.000-04:00

Due to the combination of cough medicine and Captain and Coke that night, I forget what I wrote down, and didn't save it anywhere else.

Alas....

Game of Thrones

2011-05-11T19:17:00.000-04:00

I just read this post, and have to say I agree with her that Game of Thrones is hard to watch.

I was just saying the same thing to my brother the other day. He hasn't read the series yet, and I have. For him, it's a must see event every Sunday. For me, I know how things go, who dies and when, and what senselessness there is in many of the deaths of some of the people I grew to care about. The whole series is depressing, as I turn each page wondering who the author is going to kill off randomly in the next chapter. I find myself watching the series with the same sense of dread as reading the books, especially since the series makes me like some of my favorite actors even more, due to their excellent acting. Plus, having nephews and nieces the age of the kids on the show, it breaks my heart to see what they have gone through, and knowing what they will go through is even more gut wrenching. But damn its a well done series, in terms of an adaptation to the books they were based on, as well as the sets and acting.

The Story of Donut Cores and Forgotten Rums, By Sean K. Reynolds--Goddamn Hilarious Inside Look

2011-05-08T11:39:00.000-04:00

This is hilarious, an "an allegorical story about writing fantasy books," purely fictional of course. ;)

"This is a story about the elves who work in Gameland. The elves write recipe books ... two kinds of books in particular: books about Donut Cores, and books about Forgotten Rums. The Donut Core books had a lot of recipes (the elves called many-recipe books "crunchy books" for a reason that is too long to relate here), and gave a lot of suggestions about things you could make with Donut Cores, but didn't have a lot of history and interesting descriptions of where the Donut Cores came from, their history, or famous people who used Donut Cores. The Forgotten Rums books were less crunchy, but had the stories behind the Rum recipes, history of where the Rums come from, and information on the people who make those Rums. Still, the elves knew that a lot of people like the Donut Core books and a lot of people like the Forgotten Rums books, so they continued to make both kinds...."

Continued on Sean's site.

More interesting posts by Sean on tons of topics here.

Paizo to Release an Introductory Boxed Set for Pathfinder

2011-05-05T19:21:00.002-04:00

Check it out. I wish them all the best with this. Anything that is sold in mainstream stores that is stylistically closer to the game that I like to play is a good thing. Increases the chances of getting players in my games.

I just wonder...will it be more like Holmes which lead players to AD&D by design, but leading folks to Pathfinder? Or more like BECMI and stand alone as a game in itself, a more simplified Pathfinder, taking characters to high levels with more releases?

Edit--Seems more like Holmes---see this discussion... where Jason answers the question

If they wanted to, they could do both I think. A rules light PF would be a good game.

Why PC's Strive to be Kings

2011-04-29T18:43:00.000-04:00

R.I.P. Joe Bageant. The best writer of the past couple generations.

2011-04-25T22:45:00.003-04:00

No, not Fantasy or D&D related author. But a man whose passing and writings are worthy of note.

Read some of his essays here....

It's the Stuff the Rules Don't Cover That Makes Old Style Gaming Great

2011-04-18T21:16:00.002-04:00

I was reading LOTFP Grindhouse today, and came across Raggi's Contact Outer Sphere spell. It's a divination spell to ask the stars something, with the chance of an honest answer tied to the chance of being possessed. The more honest the answer, the more chance you have to be possessed. There are no rules on possession, no grids of types of monsters, or of types of actions a possessed character has to do. It basically says you're possessed by some entity. That's it. And that's fuckin' fantastic.

Those types of things are the best part of the game to me. The stuff that calls for a creative and inspired DM work of imagination, on the spot, which has a big effect on the game at hand. That's what I like about the older style games the most. I especially enjoy it when one random creative thinking-outside-of-the-box action sparks a whole chain of creative cause and effect between the players and DM. No rules can be written to govern such things, and my favorite memories of gaming come from those moments. That's what attracted me to this hobby in the first place back in '84.

I was thinking about newer rulebooks and the road they went down. I think that in order to attract new DM's, and therefore gaming groups, there was a decision made to make it easier for the DM by giving him rules to handle every situation. This could, however, potentially have the effect of weakening the creative muscles of all involved. People tend to think that because so many options are covered by rules, that they ought to do one of those options. It just becomes the simpler road to take. With its rules for darn near every event, I think it could have the effect of making people less inspired to take creative license in their game. This is not to say there aren't creative people playing newer style games---I'm just saying that some of the more creative types might enjoy an older style game more, but just haven't played it, due to the lack of exposure, and the DM and game system not encouraging that sort of play.

One positive aspect of this new type of game is that you really don't need a DM with a lot of experience. One could make the argument that with 4E you could get by without a DM at all. With the delve format, and starting positions given, as well as bad guy tactics laid out, all you need is a player willing to volunteer to move the bad guys around and be responsible for keeping track of their stuff. The benefit to this is that games aren't hindered by lack of a good DM. The DM doesn't really matter that much. It makes it easier to get people together to play, not needing to track down a good DM. Not to say that there aren't great DM's running 4e games---it's just that the barriers to entry aren't as high for DM'ing as it is for older style games in order to have a good DM run a good game, according to the rules of the system and expectations of the players.

From what I've seen of the OSR, we have a bit of a different problem. There are a lot of DM's with decades of experience, for whom random PC possession is not daunting, but an event that gets our creative juices flowing, especially on the diabolical or whimsical side. We could likely deal with the consequences of the creative ruling we made regarding the possession, and whatever the player throws at us while possessed. The problem that a lot of us face, from reading boards and blogs, is finding groups to play with. We have a lot of DM's, but not enough local interested players. We have to do stuff via Skype, at cons, etc, in order to get our creative rocks off.

It seems to be due mostly to our age and the family commitments that go along with that, both for ourselves and our players. People are too busy to get together as often as we would like. As people take new jobs and move away, or have kids and fall out of the habit, or just take a break and never get back to it, it seems our groups aren't what they used to be. Not that we can ever go back to the 2 or 3 day marathon sessions we used to do in high school and college, but most of us are lucky if we can fit in a couple 4 hour games a month.

It seems that a natural way to bridge the gap would be to expose some newer edition players to older system games. The only way to do that would be for us old bastard DM's to go out and try to expose our games in public to the players of later editions. Those of us who are lucky enough to have regular gaming groups are likely to be playing at someone's house, not go to Cons, and just happily chug along. Consider playing with your regular group out somewhere in public within view of other newer edition gamers, where they can get a glimpse of your game. Who knows, you might get some interest, and grow this thing of ours. Run a game at a local Con, or advertise at a local gaming store. I really think it's the only way, outside of procreation and exposing our kids to older D&D, to grow the old school thing.

I'm going to do that with the Grindhouse campaign I am starting. I am doing it in a big room full of of kids playing Magic type card games, and near a group of Gen Y'ers which plays 4e. Who knows, I may get some drop-ins. :) Maybe some of the dads who drop off and wait for their kids to do the card games might fondly recall their own days of geekery, and try my game for a few hours. Trying to put asses in seats, as Chgowiz puts it. Not to say that I'm even that good a DM, but hell, you gotta try to do the best with what ya got. I'll let you know how it goes.. :)

Flier Announcing My Old School Campaign

2011-03-19T13:22:00.000-04:00

Used an ad James Raggi made as a base, added some stuff form Mythmere's Old School Primer, put some of my own spin in, and here you go...it looked a bit prettier in flier form, but this is the best I could do with the blog

Traditional Vintage Fantasy Role-Playing

“I know you desire to leave these valleys and make your mark on the world. I don’t know what you'll find. Many have attempted the dangerous trek over the mountains, and none have returned. They may be out there right now, fighting for power, or being thrown in a ditch to feed the worms. Perhaps it’s true that a new age is dawning. Whether it be forged by faith, steel, or magic is yet to be determined. Which race will rule is unclear. One thing is certain—the future will be forged in blood. Ancient powers, long lost mysteries, and tomes of lore must be pried from the horrors of ancient ruins. They will discovered by the bold, held by the strong, and wielded by the ambitious. The currency of power is blood---hopefully blood of your enemies and rivals.

THIS IS OLD SCHOOL

Old School is the excitement and the terror of exploring someplace new, strange, and dangerous. You’re not supposed to be there, and you'll only survive by your own skill and wits.

Old School is when the Game Master is not on your side. The system is not on your side. They are neutral and will just as soon kill your characters to death as watch them succeed and grow. You can fail---which makes success all the sweeter.

Old School is defeating challenges by realizing that player skill is far more important than what's on your character sheet.

Old School is a fantasy world, with all its perils, contradictions, and surprises: it’s not a “game setting” which somehow always produces challenges of just the right difficulty for the your level of experience. You have no “right” only to encounter monsters you can defeat, no “right” only to encounter traps you can disarm, no “right” to invoke a particular rule from the books, and no “right” to a die roll in every particular circumstance.

Old School is the freedom to try something crazy without worrying that it will screw up the plot, because the plot is something you create through your actions, and not an “adventure path” to follow through to its predetermined end. You are in charge of your own destiny, not the DM, in pure sandbox campaign style, and can do anything you want in the campaign world.

It's a game of ambition and power

NOT A GAME OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL.

NEW CAMPAIGN FORMING

(Players who like to min/max, use mini's on grids rather than narrative combat, who like to play goody-two-shoes type characters, who are rules lawyers, whose favorite alignment is chaotic-stupid and don't understand that actions have consequences, and those who lack ambition and the desire for power and glory, need not apply. )

Paizo is Creating a Retail Store Index---Spread the Word

2011-03-17T20:39:00.000-04:00

Spread the word to your FLGS. The more stores that participate, the better the index will be.

http://paizo.com/retailers

Real Life Zombie Flies? WTF?

2011-03-04T17:48:00.004-05:00

Check it out...If this doesn't inspire a new monster you should turn in your DM Screen.

The Greatest Paradox in Geekdom

2011-03-03T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ina fight between Star Trek the original series Redshirts and Star Wars A New Hope Storm Troopers, who would win?

On the one hand, the Redshirts have to die.

On the other hand, Storm Troopers can't ever hit anything they aim at.

Who wins and how?

WOTC Poll Results Up

2011-03-02T18:29:00.002-05:00

I made a big deal about it last week, and someone brought it to my attention that they are now showing results.

It looks like they are giving out the results with the following week's article and poll. This week's poll is a 2-parter:

How much player content would you feel comfortable reading and incorporating into your campaign each year?

and

What kind of stuff do you want the most?

They seem to be doing some real analysis on how to go forward with their product lines.

Annoyingly, whereas the last article had a link for discussion that took you to the specific discussion of that article, the link for discussion under this article drops you into what appears to be the top level of the WOTC boards. I wanted to read what others had to say, but I am not going to spend all night looking for the right discussion thread. Way to go...

I assume we will get the results next week. I would rather see the results as we go, so we can see the number of votes before we vote, and then see after we vote the new total, to see our vote accurately reflected. Not that I have trust issues or anything...

B2 Keep on the Borderlands: Declared "An Endearingly Bad Module"---by ............?

2011-02-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

"It really is too late to warn you about this one, isn't it?

Better late than never.

The Keep on the Borderlands (KotB) literally serves as exhibit A in the great case against Dungeons and Dragons. Rife with crimes against logic, coherence and good roleplaying, a reviewer can only look at this product the same way that a traffic cop looks at a ten car pile-up: with an eye on how this happened and who's to blame.

First, let's point out what makes this module so endearingly bad:"

Note: This is not this blog owner's opinion....

Read the rest here, and note the author.

An Open Poll Question Related to pdf's, as Opposed to WOTC's Ninja Market Research Disguised as a Poll

2011-02-24T18:38:00.001-05:00

So I'm over reading Mike Mearls' latest article called Miniature Madness, and it was interesting. His opinion in the article also shows he leans old school in terms of some game style preferences. There was a poll at the end which interested me. So I clicked my answer, while wondering what everyone else would say. Then I looked for a result, to see how my answer compared to the rest. And I couldn't find the poll results anywhere.

WTF?

All I got was a "Your vote has been recorded!" msg.

Maybe I'm a retard, or maybe one of my many Firefox add-ons is blocking it, but I can't find a link to the results anywhere, not even in the discussion associated with that article. If it's buried somewhere else, or right in front of my face and I'm missing it, please let me know and I'll happily eat crow. Shit, It wouldn't even be the first time today I had to.

If you're going to ask members of your community for opinions via a poll because it's an interesting topic, don't you think you ought to let us know the results? After all, without our input you would have nothing.

Of course, if it's part of some super secret market research, then the polite thing is to let us know that ahead of time, so we can decide if we want to be part of some market survey, which will affect future products, which are part of a hobby we care about.

Anyway, maybe I'm just being a prick here, but I don't like being part of a market survey unless I know about it ahead of time. Be upfront about it for Chrissake. Have a little integrity. Why do I care? Because frankly I don't trust WOTC to represent the survey results accurately if it suited their marketing needs to do otherwise. Call me paranoid, or a distrustful bastard, but they lost some credibility in my eyes. I used to work for a big company who would do marketing surveys tainted and twisted to their sales needs, or to back-up and give legitimacy (ass coverage) to previously made executive decisions (stupid ones usually). So it's not exactly unheard-of.

If you're going to add a survey as part of an article which has a discussion link associated with that article, I think it's fair for a reader to assume they'll see the survey results so they can talk about it. To go and pull this ninja marketing survey on us is basically just using us for your own purposes, without any sort of consideration or warning. No one likes being used.

Maybe I'm just pissed at myself and projecting the anger at WOTC because I keep forgetting, we aren't considered a community of fellow hobbyists by the owners of the trademark. We're just a pool of potential purchasers. If I had kept that in mind, I wouldn't have been duped. I keep forgetting, they just don't give a shit unless they can get us to buy something from them.

Anyhow, my survey. Based on his last article.

Simple question, respond in the comments below: Would you pay a subscription if that was the price of being able to purchase WOTC pdf's of older products? How much would you pay? What if the pdf's weren't portable, in that they could only be read through the interface of proprietary software?

Discuss below. Anonymous posts will be deleted on this poll and all future polls I may post, as I believe if you want to express an opinion in a poll, you ought to have the balls to attach your name to your opinion.

My take---I would never pay a subscription. I just want to be able to go to a site and buy Temple of Elemental Evil at a reasonable price for a pdf version, without any strings attached, ninja surveys required, or subscriptions or proprietary software needed.

Your take?

Oh Yeah Mearls? Then Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

2011-02-20T01:52:00.003-05:00

I just read this:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110208

It's your call for unity letter, all editions are D&D, koombaya, yada yada. It's all useless sentiment without action.

Want to heal some old wounds? Want to make amends? Want to bring more people together? Want to stop some of the hatred towards WOTC?

Re-release ALL older edition materials in pdf. Every edition, everything ever published. And don't do it through some goddamned subscription.

We know Hasbro has a bad quarter. All income would be appreciated. Virtually zero overhead, pure profit. Pitch it that way. Do whatever you have to do. Just make it happen.

The Final Word on CKG PDF Pricing

2011-02-19T15:28:00.004-05:00

From my man, Jimmy. I think his comments below can also be extended to their pdf price...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcsNbQRU5TI

Castle Keeper's Guide: Pdf Pricing---EPIC FAIL

2011-02-16T21:08:00.001-05:00

It's the long awaited tome---the DMG for Castles and Crusades, essentially. Thought to be DnD Vaporware, it finally arrived. I got my credit card out, assuming I would have it on my screen in mere minutes.

But a pdf priced at $31.99? Seriously?

After what Paizo did, I seriously doubt anyone can ever get away with charging more than 10 bucks for a pdf again and hope to make decent sales. For 10 bucks I'll buy anything in pdf format, sight unseen, just to take a chance. A pdf purchase is ultimately a gamble, and at 10 bucks a good one. For 32 bucks I want a goddamned hardcover book with 3-d chicks in chainmail bikinis showing me just how cold it is outside.

Granted they give a preview of the table of contents on the sales page, but without actually thumbing through the whole book in a store (right, like gaming stores exist anymore) I'm not sure of the content and if it will be useful or not. But 32 bucks isn't worth the gamble.

That being said, the guys at TLG are among the coolest guys in gaming. I like their attitude and wish them all the best. I wish they would do an alternative to the Siege Engine thing, as I don't like it in the slightest, but hey, what can ya do.

Latest Hasbro Earnings Report---Interesting Hints on Direction

2011-02-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Here From Seeking Alpha

Notably, Hasbro had a bad quarter and had to explain why, and what they are doing to make sure it doesn't happen again. My memory may be bad, but this is the first time I recall this happening.

As usual no direct mention of D&D. WOTC comes up in the context of:

"Our team at Wizards of the Coast is already successfully bringing the digital and analog worlds together, enabling consumers to enjoy Magic: The Gathering across multiple platforms.

The combination of the traditional Magic: The Gathering trading card game with Magic: The Gathering Online and Duels of the Planeswalker on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation 3 and on the PC produced strong growth in Magic: The Gathering players and a more than 30% increase in the brand's revenue in 2010."

Leading me to think Dancey is correct, and this may be the last paper D&D edition.

This is interesting as well:

"Sean McGowan - Needham & Company, LLC

On Games, can you drill down a little bit and give us a sense of where there was strength in Games and where there was weakness, and how much of that do you think will carry forward into the new year?

Brian Goldner

Yes. Sean, it's Brian. In the Games business, if we look at the fourth quarter, particularly after Thanksgiving and just before Christmas, the consumer demand had really fallen off. And we learned some valuable lessons as we sort of pulled apart the business and did some analytics. ...... As you know, we have this great, big, broad portfolio of games and yet, our message is we're probably too defuse, too numerous and didn't have the impact, the breakthrough impact that fewer campaigns might have, focused around some of the bigger brands. And again, something that we're changing immediately as we go forward....

.....Certainly, we're too diffuse, and we're going to tear that back and focus in on the most innovative and biggest game-changers, if you will. "

I would expect less advertising than ever for D&D based on that statement.

More on Classes in my New Setting/Campaign

2011-02-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

As for character classes, things in this setting are a bit different than is typical.

All races can be any class, with some restrictions on level based on what race they are. Only humans can be barbarians. There are more druids among the wild and wood elves than the other elven races.

Humans can be dual-classed, in that he can change from one class to another. He keeps his current HP, Saves, and Attack roll, unless his current level in the new class yields a greater value than his old, but all experience gained is divided in half until he gains the same experience he had in his former class. Except as noted above, until his new experience equals the old, he must also only use gear of, and act only as, the new class in all situations. A cleric who changes class from a cleric to some other class other than Bastion can never regain his cleric abilities. A character who changes to the mage class must undergo between 5-8 years of magical training, determined by intelligence, before he can gain one level in that class. Other classes may need training as well for some lesser duration. No one can multiclass into a barbarian, since barbarian is a race as much as a class.

The demi-human pantheons created their races with the ability to be many classes at once. There is no limit to the number of combinations a demi-human can be, though there are level limits.

Training is an important factor in a character's development. Just because a character gains sufficient experience in a class to advance a level, doesn't mean he automatically advance. No one can go to sleep with enough experience to get to level 5, and wake up level 5 the next day. All characters must train for an amount of time equal to 1d4 weeks plus 1 week for each level the character has advanced to. This represents the digesting of the experiences he just had, as well as time training to gain the skills of the new class. In any case, after 5th level, no human can gain more than 3 levels per year.

Level advancement training times for demi-humans is significantly longer, ranging from months of training needed for some halfling levels, to years needed for elves at the higher levels. This is primarily the reason why humans were seen as such a threat to the elder races.

Fighters: The grunt soldiers of any operation, fighters excel at combat. They are trained in all forms of basic non-exotic weaponry and armor, and have been fighting and dying for causes and lies beyond their comprehension for millenia. Some do it for the love of combat, some because its all they know. HD d10.

Thieves: If someone has something desirable, there are always those whose desire will cause them to take it. Beyond the blunt “kill 'em and take their stuff” approach, there is the subtle way. In and out with the item, with no one the wiser. This is what thieves excel at. They can only wear light or no armor if they want to be effective at the sneaky stuff, and they generally use the most basic of weapons, though nothing says they can't learn how to use martial weapons and heavier armor, at an xp cost of course. HD d6

Assassins: Wars have need of assassins. A good assassin can save the lives of thousands of troops by taking out a leader and demoralizing the enemy, causing them to run away to fight another day...or not. They are skilled at the sneaky arts like thieves, as well as all weapons and armor, disguises and poisons. Formerly the black ops outfits in wartime, they have branched out since the last wars, and now serve whoever pays the highest. HD d6

Woodsmen: Deadly foes in their home terrain, whether that terrain be mountains, woods, the underground, or anywhere else civilized men shun. They are skilled in tracking, hunting, bows or other missile weapons appropriate to their environment, survival, and sneaking around while using the natural terrain to their advantage. They are also usually trained in special ways to kill the most fearsome beasts in their local environment. They are rarely surprised by foes, their senses having been honed to razor sharpness by the forces of nature. It is said that some woodsmen have made alliances with elves, and have been taught the basics of magic, while others have aligned themselves with druids and have learned the basics of druidic spellcraft. Rarest of all are the woodsmen who have aligned themselves with the wild elves, and have learned both forms of magic. These are also the least likely woodsmen to wander very far from home. It is said to be harder to progress in experience, the more one has to learn. HD 2d8 at 1st level, 1 d8 after.

Clerics: The once dominant force in all societies, their power has waned over the centuries. In addition to what is described above, it should be known that clerics can wield only the weapons associated with their god. They can wear any armor. All that they seek to achieve in life is for the benefit of both their own power and that of their god. HD d6

Bastions: These fierce warriors fight for their gods. They are considered the martial arm of the church. As such, they follow the church's tenets as do the clerics, but their focus is not on followers, but on conquest for the greater glory of their god. They always operate in conjunction with a cleric and local temple of their god. Any plunder they gain is given to the church for the greater glory and power of their god. They can only use the favored weapon of their god, but can use any armor, as well as any other items their church gives back to them. As a result of their devotion, they are gifted with the ability to cast low level spells at higher levels. HD d10

Druids: Believers in the divinity of the planet, and in her perfection before the outsider gods dropped the abominations they called “life” onto her, druids would like nothing better than to see the end of all god-created life on the planet, even though it would result in their own destruction. It is believed that upon the annihilation of all such life, they would be joined in union with the Earthmother forever. Once all races are either destroyed or worshiping the Earthmother, they feel the Earthmother will have the power to expel every aspect of alien gods from her surface. As such, druids generally seek to destroy clerics whenever they can, and then try to take their followers. Especially friendly with the more primitive subsets of the races, like wild and wood elves, primitive humans, and barbarians (whom they see as their special tool of vengeance on “civilization”), they seek to preserve nature from the destructive forces of man wherever possible. Since the last war, they have gained in followers, since many people turned from their gods, and from civilization as a beneficial force. Especially helpful is that unlike clerics, druids do not have to seek out ancient lore to gain the power to cast higher level spells. The intuitive knowledge to cast such spells comes to them directly from the Earthmother. HD d6

Barbarians: Wherever living is the toughest, and conditions the harshest, there barbarians have carved out a space. They are stronger, quicker, and tougher than most men, but also more stupid, less wise and overall aren't the most charming of people. In general they are distrustful of magic, except that wielded by the local druid. Having absorbed the druids' nihilistic attitude on life, they live to crush the life out of the softer weaker races, and destroy all vestiges of civilization. That being said, there are always those freaks of barbarian nature, who having been shunned, expelled, or just out of some odd curiosity, wander into civilized lands to see what more there is to life. They often retain some of their old ways, but usually are more open-minded (yet suspicious) about new things. Basically, the only barbarians one is likely to meet are those wanderers, or members of a horde. Either way, it would be prudent to step aside for them and let them pass. HD d12

Mages: Shunned, feared, respected or revered, depending on the region and situation, mages are at times the weakest or most powerful members of any group. Many mage disciplines and specializations were developed and lost during the last war. Mostly all that remain are the standard class...but who knows what arcane treasures that shell of a tower on the mountain will yield. Initially the weakest of any class, as was demonstrated during the war, mages can rise in power to challenge the gods themselves. HD d4

More on Good and Evil Missing From My Setting, Clerics, and their Role

2011-02-09T18:31:00.001-05:00

My brother and I had a discussion about the concepts of good and evil in the new setting I am working on. I explained to him that the concepts of god and evil as motivating forces don’t exist in any meaningful way. Imagine a world whose entire history has been war in the pursuit of power. Don’t picture life as you know it in sunny ol’ Connecticut. Picture life having grown up in one of those African countries where millions are hacked to death with machetes, where women are raped and their bodied mutilated on a daily basis, where babies are torn from their mother’s wombs just because one tribe doesn’t want the other tribe to continue. That’s more like the world everyone lives in here. The fairy tales tell stories like this. Their history is made up of this. There has never been a god of goodness, peace and love. It is and has always been kill or be killed, survival of the fittest. Even Halflings are more jaded, cynical, and untrusting than in most settings. If the average level of “goodness and fellowship among men” on earth as we know it is 5 on a scale of 1-10, in this setting it is 3 at best. People are in survival mode, fearful, untrusting of strangers, prejudiced, and suspicious. It’s like a dog that has been trained to fight in pit fights. Go try to pet one and see what happens. At best, you have groups banding together for mutual protection and safety. Trust is hard earned, and comes after a long period of demonstrated behavior.

Dovetailing with this was Clovis’ question about my most recent post, wherein she asked “If there is no active role of the gods or divine intervention; what is the purpose of the cleric? Who is to counterbalance dark magic and demonic forces?”

That question assumes clerics play a role of good guy against bad guy. The active role of clerics in my setting is to gain power through might, gold, and magic in this world, in order to attract followers for their gods, in order for their god to gain in power, which results in the cleric going up in levels. That’s it. There are no gods of good, nor gods of evil. No gods of death nor gods of light, dawn, and new beginnings. The clerics act more like the mafia, in that they act as a force of protection or aid for their followers, while trying to take other faiths’ territory (followers) and erode their power bases. As long as the end result is greater glory for their god, the means don’t really matter except on an individual basis, as to what each cleric is willing to do in pursuit of power. The religion itself doesn’t dictate means to an end, it just sets the overall goal. Clerics try to attack, sabotage, and ultimately conquer other faiths, even at times other faiths of what were formerly their original pantheon. In exchange, they give their followers aid and protection against threats, whether the threats be enemy faiths, evil demons, or the loanshark looking to collect money on an old debt.

Devils, Demons, and the forces of darkness are no different, and very often less of a real threat, than the clan of elves over the hill, the tribe of orcs on the march through your pasture, or the cleric down the street who kidnapped your kid, blamed it on someone else, and “miraculously” rescued him in order to get you to convert to his faith.

Turning undead doesn’t exist as a clerical ability. Any spell with an alignment in its name, like detect good or protection from evil does not exist. There is no balancing of dark magic and demonic forces, because clerics themselves are sources of dark magic and demonic forces. Whatever it takes to get followers.

For example, take the goddess of agriculture. Normally considered in most versions of D&D to be an airy-fairy type goddess, usually peace and goodness, with pseudo-hippies as followers. It’s different in this setting. Imagine you’re cleric of the goddess of agriculture in a small farming village. You’re the main cleric in the village, the serving the god with most everyone in the village as his followers. The cleric wants to protect his god’s power base by way of protecting the followers interests so they don’t leave him in favor of worshiping another god. If the settlement up the river damned the river which provides irrigation water to your followers’ farms, you need to do something about it. If the cleric of the god of agriculture has an amulet to raise the dead, he may sneak into the graveyard of the village up the river, raise the recently deceased members of the village, and let them loose on the village. While dead grandpa is killing his baby grandson in the crib and then feasting upon him, the Bastion who works with this cleric will lead a hit squad to assassinate the village elders and village clerical leaders, while the rest of the followers smash the damn, and loot possessions of all those who don’t convert to the faith of the goddess of agriculture. Since her might is obviously superior to the patron god of the village that damned the river, as demonstrated by the death and destruction they just witnessed, it is likely there will be some converts.

People tend to view others from their own perspective and life's experiences, and expect people to be similar, which is why this approach seems foreign to many. After talking with my friend who survived Haiti under the Duvalier family, and my friend from Serbia/Yugoslavia who survived the perpetual wars there, I know that this way of thinking about and viewing the world would not be at all foreign to them at all. It would be an intuitive way of looking at the world.

Maybe if I didn't call them human, elves and dwarves people wouldn't be shocked at the grim outlook, and it wouldn't be a shock to the sensibilities at how these folks in my setting act and view the world. The definition of human is a broad vague concept, depending on your point of view. Chimps share 99% of the same DNA as human beings, but they clearly are not human, right? How much empathy for your fellow human beings do you need to have to be considered human? People would be shocked at how many sociopaths are running around. Most of them are made, not born, but a shocking percentage of people are born 100% sociopathic---meaning they are born lacking any capacity whatsoever for human compassion. They would feel absolutely nothing if they stuck a knife through a kid's eye. Many of these people end up in jail, but what about the smart ones who know they are different, and realize that because human beings naturally never expect monstrous behavior from other human beings, they can take advantage of that lack of understanding and work their way to the top? These people end up at the top of the political, military and corporate establishments, where such behavior is rewarded because of the success it gives these establishments.

Definitions and social norms change depending on the time and place people live, as well. Consider the Romans—it was common practice to conquer a land, kill off any person able to fight, and sell the rest into slavery. Slavers followed the army around. They would literally commit near genocide almost everywhere they went. It was common practice, normal, and the slave thing was just another way to make money, not only for the slavers but for the soldiers who joined in hopes of plunder---just just gold, but rape and slaves.

Anyhow, if you want to put into story game terms, I am exploring the theme of greed, ambition and power through an rpg. Which I think is closer to the roots of where rpg's came from than many realize, what with the purge of all of that in second edition with the code of ethics and all that. Many people have never been exposed to such a game, and for many it is a taboo subject, violating political correctness.

I know the theme is not for everyone, but for me its far more interesting than the cliché and simplistic battle of good v evil.

(This viewing others through your own lens thing also explains why modern liberals are failures)

Read all columns by that author here.

Player Background Info For My New Campaign: Setting, History, Race, Class, and Alignment

2011-02-07T19:54:00.006-05:00

Trying to make up for my Joesky failures of the past, one massive post at a time. :)

First draft---whaddaya think?

The world you live in is a dark place since the Wars. The Wars, spoken of for dozens of human generations, are shrouded in myth. What is known was mostly passed down by word of mouth, and likely corrupted by the ages. The longer-lived races may have better knowledge of the ancient lore, but who can trust them?

With that being said, this is the ancient history, as passed down to me.

It is well known that the gods created all of the earliest intelligent life on the world. Various groups of gods pooled their power to create Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, and much later the Humans. This was for the sole purpose of gaining power through the races.

It’s a tricky business, gaining power from your creations. On one hand, you have to expend a good amount of your godly power to create the races in the first place. That’s why the gods joined together in pantheons and did it as a group. The only way to counter-balance that expenditure and gain power in return is to give the creation a bit of free will, and a drive to gain power for themselves. Through worship of the creator gods by powerful individuals, and their followers, that power is then reflected back towards the gods, feeding them power.

Limits were put on the early races. They were given lifespans of hundreds of years, but out of fear their creations would become too powerful, inherent limitations were ground into the very essence from which the races were made. After all, a lifespan of hundreds of years would allow ego and ambition, if allowed to run unchecked, to enable a being to grow strong enough in power to potentially challenge the gods themselves. Or at least peel off some of the god’s followers, which defeats the whole purpose of creating life in the first place.

For millennia, the earliest races walked upon the earth and clashed with each other. They each learned to draw their sources of power from both arcane and faith-based magic, as well as from taking from the earth’s creations what they needed. Dwarves sought power through metals, Gnomes through gems, Elves through woodlands, and Halflings, well, they were another story.

Halflings don’t seem to seek much in the way of power at all. They simply seek to be left alone and live their pastoral lives in peace, enjoying the bounty the earth provides. They were a threat to no one, but more importantly had nothing anyone else wanted. So they managed to survive, and even thrive in some areas. It is suspected that the pantheon of gods that created them simply screwed up, or gave up on them after receiving very little by way of reflected power from them. Maybe they erred and invested too little of their own essence in their creation. That chance that they erred is more likely than you would suspect, because gods do make mistakes, as evidenced by Humans.

At some point, after thousands of years of the original races inhabiting the planet, an equilibrium of sorts was reached, and the races thrived in their own environments, clashing only occasionally. The elder pantheons were pleased, as their power continued to grow through their creations.

This was not to last long. Other gods became jealous. As a result of that jealousy, from the wastelands of every region of the planet sprung forth the race of Humans. They were noticeably less long-lived than other races, which is likely a countermeasure to their pantheon of creator gods giving them virtually unlimited potential to gain power. Such a decision was viewed by the elder pantheons as extremely foolish, and as a result humans were warred upon incessantly by the elder races. They were nearly exterminated time and again, but they learned to survive.

The elder gods gave their creations access to strange and powerful magicks, meant to alter the very essence of the new races, stunting them physically, mentally, and destroying their potential to gain power. These Race Plagues and Curses, as they were described, were devastating, both to Humans and to the original races. It affected every generation touched by the plagues and curses. As a result, horribly mutated creations were let loose upon the lands by way of the humanoid races.

Other pantheons, taking advantage of the chaos, took the opportunity to insert their own races onto the planet, hoping to gain bases of power. Such creations as Giants and Beholders now stalked the land, resulting in even more chaos and war.

Over the course of many thousands of years, the longer-lived races eventually felt the toll in their ranks. Their power waned, and that of Humans, Goblins, and the other intelligent races grew. A new equilibrium was gained in the world. It appeared that the gambit of the Human pantheon paid off, and their races now had a huge foothold in the world, and power was gained and reflected upon said pantheon, greatly increasing their ability to cause other races to spring forth on other planes of existence.

It is falsely believed by many, if not most, that the gods actually take part in the day-to-day affairs of their worshipers. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the most influence a god can have on a follower’s life is in the initial creation of that race. After that, the race continues on a course of existence, based primarily on the drive, limitations, and other components of the make-up of the race. A God never takes an active hand in any individual's life. To a God, their creations are no better than machines which they created that either give them power or do not. The gods don't care what they let loose upon the world or the course of the world's events except to take superficial notice so as to fine-tune their creations for the next time they decide to infest another plane of existence with life. They notice us as individuals, or even as groups, less than we notice ants. A simple analogy would be that the gods create the bow, create the arrow, pull back and let loose. What happens to the arrow, where it lands, how it flies, is out of the control of the bowman as soon as he shoots it. Them getting involved enough to let loose plagues and curses through their followers, is an event which may happen every 100,000 years.

Just as the elder races formed distinct subgroups, such as mountain dwarves and hill dwarves, wood elves and high elves, so did the humans have subgroups. Human subgroups, however, were dependent mostly upon where they were created, and which pantheon created them. It is unclear which pantheon created which species of human first, but the model was eventually adopted by all the new upstart pantheons.

At first, the character and culture of human settlements and regions was reflected by the character and culture of their creator pantheon. However, interbreeding and the growth of massive population centers, such as the fabled port city of Lukan, or the Mountainhold of Throm caused a dilution of racial distinctiveness. It also caused the breakup of power-base of the clerics of the human pantheons. Through the pantheon, certain aspects of cultural identity were imbued into followers. Now, people chose to worship one god, or even many, of different pantheons, while ignoring the rest of the pantheon, ignoring their cultural heritage.

This caused great dissension amongst the gods of the pantheons, as they sensed their power supply failing, in essence. They looked for the beneficiaries of that power, and tried to take it back. That being said, Zeus didn’t hurl thunderbolts and Odin. The battle took place on a metaphysical level far beyond human understanding. What the humans did understand, however, was that certain gods of certain pantheons warred within their own pantheons as well as against other pantheons. This manifested on this plane of existence as followers of Zeus hurling thunderbolts at followers of Odin. A battle which lasted a millisecond in the lives of the gods, until they realized what was going on, who they were taking the power away from, and decided it was still more profitable to work together, resulted in decades of war within the human races and pantheons

The elder races wisely stood back and watched the humans decimate themselves. Powerful magicks were unleashed upon the lands, and channeled into creations like owlbears, undead, and golems. After decades of war, the end result was the same as in all wars---famine, disease, breakdown of culture, generations scarred by violence, loss of knowledge and wisdom, and a breakdown of society into rule by those who were themselves rules by the basest of human drives and emotions. It was a time where survival of the fittest was the rule, rather than the exception. Also, as a result, the pantheons of the humans were forever broken. One was as likely to see followers of Thor as of Amon-Ra in the same village. Clerical power was never fully regained after these wars.

The spells a cleric of a particular god can have are determined primarily by how closely he mirrors and acts on the tenets and beliefs of that god in his daily life. The closer he is a mirror of that god, the more power of that god he can channel. The more power of the god he channels, which results in a gain of power through followers and power bases in the material plan., the more power he is given to understand the deeper mysteries of his faith. Most clerics have access to all of the lowest levels of spells, based on intuition. For every point of wisdom bonus, the cleric has access to that level of spells. However, the highest level of spells must be taught to the cleric by an elder, or through some of the great tomes of mysteries. Once the cleric understands the mysteries and arcane lore, he has the insight to use those rituals and higher-powered spells the same way as the lower level ones---he meditates on the mysteries of his faith, and calls forth the power of his god when needed. The gods let this bit of power be drawn from them because they must. There is no choice. It is part of the race creation process, part of the power that must be given to their creations in order to let them reflect the power gained through exercising their god’s power back at the gods, through worship, followers and worldly power.

Because there were so few clerics of power to survive the wars, it was now more difficult to regain that power by the surviving clerics. There was no one to train younger clerics, no one to teach the mysteries to the newer clerics. The younger ones, the ones left behind after the war, had to learn over the course of decades what would have take years, prior to the war.

A human age governed by military might and magic dawned. Many humans decided that clerics and gods were to blame for all the wars and suffering of the past hundred years, and so any clerics of great power were assassinated as soon as they were found. Lesser clerics were kept for their ability to heal, and to help control the members of the population which still had faith, but any of those which gained enough power to be a threat to the established order were killed.

Through lichdom and other foul means, mages were able to extend their lives long enough to gain the power which the elder pantheons of gods feared they might gain. Long life, combined with unparalleled ambition and virtually no limitations on power resulted in the perfect deadly combination of the next era in humankind’s history. Within 500 years of the Pantheon Wars, the Mage Wars erupted.

Ironically, the drive behind the mage wars was so that the mages themselves would be objects of worship, and so be able to gain a foothold of power amongst the gods, whose clerics they worked so diligently to destroy.

Rumor has it that there were 9 mages of power who warred not only amongst themselves, but on all human races and civilizations. The major differences between the this war and the last was that the mages wanted the worship of all sentient beings, so they warred upon all of the elder races as well, or else used them as pawns or troops (willing or otherwise) in their drive for power. The elder races, having not partaken of war in generations, were soft. It was decimation.

Once the dust settled, every place on the planet was scarred by war in some way. Some of those of the elder races who allied themselves with the mages, and became corrupted by that alliance, fled underground, forever changed. Some branches of the elder races were wiped out entirely, with only ruins showing they once existed.

It has been hundreds, if not thousands of years since the Mage Wars. No human I have ever met knows how long. All that is known is that they are over, and have been for many generations. What lies beyond this village, beyond this valley, is unknown. I have only imparted such knowledge to you as has been given to me, the stories, rumors, and myths of civilizations past.

I know it’s your desire to go forth from these valleys and explore and make your mark on the world around you. Your desire for exploration, to test yourself against the world and gain power for conquest, burns deeply within you. I don’t know what you will find. All I can say is that of all of the many who have attempted the dangerous trek over the mountains, none have returned. They may be out there right now, striving for power, ruling a kingdom, or being thrown in a ditch to feed the worms. Perhaps it’s as the old witch says, and a new age is dawning. Whether it be forged by faith, steel or magic is yet to be determined. Which race will rule it is unclear. One thing is certain--it will be forged in blood. Ancient power, long lost mysteries and tomes of lore must be pried from the denizens of ancient ruins. They can only be rediscovered by the bold, held by the strong, and wielded by the ambitious.

Good Luck. Here's a copy of an ancient map which shows the route our earliest ancestors took to this hidden valley. If you look here.....

--------------------------------

As you can see, the demi-human races have level limits, as in AD&D. Significantly, the PC's are limited to playing humans in this campaign. The demi-human regions, as well as their history and culture, are just as important and interesting as the dungeons and cities the pc's explore, lost or otherwise. I am treating demi-humans as encounters in and of themselves.

They are not what you would expect. An elf maiden doesn't sit around all day whittling a piece of wood she has been working on for 13 years. Dwarves are not stereotypes from the Hobbit. They all have ambition and drive. In that regard, they are not much different from humans, except that they are less intense. Contrary to popular belief, they don't sit around for days contemplating where to plant a tree, or what to have for dinner.

Clerics of different faiths are often very different from each other in the spells and powers they can wield. As described above, clerics like magic-users have to go out and seek out the ancient lore and mysteries of their faith to gain in power. To do it oneself through contemplation, without a guide or teacher, whether through a person or a book, dooms clerics to lower levels of spell use.

Also, in many places the demi-human pantheons stayed together. In some they were as shattered as the races which formerly worshiped them. In some regions there is fierce antagonism between races, in other regions it is just the opposite. Strange and unlikely alliances have been formed. It is all determined by how the war affected that particular area.

A bit about alignment: Law and Chaos don't exist as game concepts. There is simply “Us vs. Them”. Every intelligent species develops a system of internal order and governance when members of that species gather to intentionally live together. Those systems are as different from each other as the races and their regional histories are. When one group looks at another group's system, it seems foreign. If either that system or race is perceived as a threat, it must be conquered.

All systems of order and governance are based on power and control. Each system was set up to give those leaders of each race a way to have power over and control other members of their race. Often they served a dual purpose of power over one's race as well as a means to gain power over other races. The initial form of the institutions and structures with each society may have been for various reasons, ranging from benevolent rule to tyrannical oppression to sheer survival, and everything in between.

People aren't chaotic or lawful as it has been traditionally defined in D&D. They could have a personality which seeks power over themselves or others, drive and ambition, and therefore they choose to gain that power through the structures of society or outside its bounds. Some may try to conquer said structures, from without or from within, as a way to gain power over others, or over themselves and their own destiny.

As for the means of that acquisition of power, that leads us to the inevitable good and evil discussion. Good and evil as rigid concepts (and therefore as game mechanics, like spells and class benefits) do not exist. What we consider good and evil can be simply defined as what we are willing to do to get what we want in life, in terms of impact and effect on other living things.

All life is inherently destructive of other life on the planet. It has to be for survival's sake. Individuals have a choice on how destructive they are, which is primarily based on cultural upbringing and life experiences giving them an internal sense of awareness and sensitivity to their effectively being as one with everything in the universe, or not. When these factors come into conflict with what we want out of life and what we will do to achieve our desires, that's when it gets interesting.

From sociopathic not giving a shit about human life at all, to love and peace Christ kinda stuff, people run a range of what they would do to others to get what they want out of life. For simplicity, you can rank it on a scale of 1-10, from sociopathic serial killer, to Christ. Expanding upon that, people also have the same scale of 1-10 for what they would do to gain power in terms of who they would harm for: Their own family, their extended family, their town, their region, their country, their sub-race (nordic or asian for example), their race (human) Demi-humans, intelligent life, mammals, all animals, all life on the planet, the planet itself as an entity, the universe as a whole, and so on. You can fill in the blanks. Note: there is no game mechanic for this, and I don't want any numbers or scales for each of the above. Simply pick a personality to begin with, and stick with it consistently, unless it changes in game through role-playing.

All players can be whoever and however they desire as regards to this aspect of their personality. This I will warn you: being all peace and lovey and on the eternal bandwagon of oneness with the universe will get you killed really fast. The rest of the world is bigoted, prejudiced, lives in fear, and acts like it is in survival mode. It's a harsh, dark, gritty place, where such sappy sentiments result in the death of you and the ones you say you love.

That being said, most people don't give a shit about any of that. They lack the drive, ambition, will, and inherent capability in terms of brains, balls, and skill to achieve very much. They settle for a hum-drum life. They exist to be followers, lemmings, only making waves when their very existence is threatened. Most just want to live, eat, fuck, drink, propagate, and die without having to do too much or challenge themselves.

Adventurers, on the other hand, are cut from a different cloth entirely.

(More to come soon!)

This is a Pretty Cool Con Development for OSR Gaming

2011-02-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

I was checking out the details on TotalCon, and noticed that they had a subsection for Old School RPG's. A good chunk of the games are being run by Frenk Mentzer, Tim Kask, and Jeff Talanian, but there are also other DM's running various older and clone systems. It's nice to be able to look in one place for all the old school games, rather than dig for a few in a list of hundreds. Also, by breaking it out like that, I think it makes it more noteworthy. People might check out some of the games to see what the big deal is, in that the OS games have their own category. Hopefully more Cons will do this.

Interesting Article on Generation Y , Today's Job Market and their Expectations---Draw Your Own Connection to D&D's Game Design of Recent Years

2011-01-27T20:20:00.001-05:00

From The Atlantic---Some Quotes:

"....Using national survey data, she’s found that to an unprecedented degree, people who graduated from high school in the 2000s dislike the idea of work for work’s sake, and expect jobs and career to be tailored to their interests and lifestyle. Yet they also have much higher material expectations than previous generations, and believe financial success is extremely important. “There’s this idea that, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to work, but I’m still going to get all the stuff I want,’” Twenge told me. “It’s a generation in which every kid has been told, ‘You can be anything you want. You’re special.’”

In her 2006 book, Generation Me, Twenge notes that self-esteem in children began rising sharply around 1980, and hasn’t stopped since. By 1999, according to one survey, 91 percent of teens described themselves as responsible, 74 percent as physically attractive, and 79 percent as very intelligent. (More than 40 percent of teens also expected that they would be earning $75,000 a year or more by age 30; the median salary made by a 30-year-old was $27,000 that year.) Twenge attributes the shift to broad changes in parenting styles and teaching methods, in response to the growing belief that children should always feel good about themselves, no matter what. As the years have passed, efforts to boost self-esteem—and to decouple it from performance—have become widespread.

These efforts have succeeded in making today’s youth more confident and individualistic. But that may not benefit them in adulthood, particularly in this economic environment. Twenge writes that “self-esteem without basis encourages laziness rather than hard work,” and that “the ability to persevere and keep going” is “a much better predictor of life outcomes than self-esteem.” She worries that many young people might be inclined to simply give up in this job market. “You’d think if people are more individualistic, they’d be more independent,” she told me. “But it’s not really true. There’s an element of entitlement—they expect people to figure things out for them.”

Ron Alsop, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the author of The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace, says a combination of entitlement and highly structured childhood has resulted in a lack of independence and entrepreneurialism in many 20-somethings. They’re used to checklists, he says, and “don’t excel at leadership or independent problem solving.” Alsop interviewed dozens of employers for his book, and concluded that unlike previous generations, Millennials, as a group, “need almost constant direction” in the workplace. “Many flounder without precise guidelines but thrive in structured situations that provide clearly defined rules.”

All of these characteristics are worrisome, given a harsh economic environment that requires perseverance, adaptability, humility, and entrepreneurialism. Perhaps most worrisome, though, is the fatalism and lack of agency that both Twenge and Alsop discern in today’s young adults. Trained throughout childhood to disconnect performance from reward, and told repeatedly that they are destined for great things, many are quick to place blame elsewhere when something goes wrong, and inclined to believe that bad situations will sort themselves out—or will be sorted out by parents or other helpers."

--------------------

Jesus Christ, Old School D&D must be like Kryptonite to them...they have a good chance of dying, it's hard to progress, they have to think outside of the box to survive, and there are far less rules to go by.

And before you say it, yes, I know, you and all your friends, and all the people you have ever met, and all the gamers you've ever played with, and everyone at GenCon, and every RPG gamer who ever lived is completely different and doesn't fit this description and stereotyping and categorizing people is wrong and blah blah fuckin' blah. Go fuck yourself. WOTC seemed to see enough validity in it to restructure their game around the assumptions above...

So is the WOTC Sky Falling, Ryan Dancy?

2011-01-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

His very interesting response is HERE, partly in the post, but mostly in the comment he made below it....

Women in RPG's: Or, What the RPG-Verse Needs is its Own Don Draper

2010-12-31T00:26:00.002-05:00

People seem to be talking about how to market to women in RPG's. Read the links below to get the gist of the positions, but Zak seems to say that you shouldn't direct the artist or you'll get shit art that doesn't appeal to anyone. Trollsmyth says come on now, how about the Sistine Chapel... RPG's just haven't been marketed correctly yet. Greg seems to say that people are basically stupid and don't know what they hell they want, and are easily convinced through sales and marketing techniques. Oddysey has something against voodoo mind control for some reason.

I am more in agreement with the "most people are stupid" approach and can be lead to do whatever clever marketers/admen/politicians/propaganda artists want them to do. It's all in how you sell it.

Let the master explain:

DON DRAPER ON SELLING TO WOMEN

DON DRAPER ON LOVE

And, just to prove the the guy knows all there is to know about women:

DON DRAPER'S GUIDE TO PICKING UP WOMEN

Thoughts on D&D's Endgame Back in the Day

2010-12-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

The main goal for my AD&D MU was to build his 500 foot "Tower of Epic Phallic Symbol" so all would know his power. All the campaigns centered on looting gold and magic for the purpose of gaining power in the campaign world. Adventure and exploration were what you did to gain money and magic in your quest for world domination and reputation. It was a game of ambition. It wasn't about the combat...you fought only when you had to. Fighting wasn't balanced and all wussified with an expectation of success based on your uber-build...there was actually a more than decent chance you would die back then. Why attempt it?

That's still the way I play today. That sort of mindset is frowned upon in society these days. The political correctness of the 90's did a lot to kill off a generation of gamers who may otherwise have appreciated such a style of gaming.

I remember in 1976-77, in Second Grade, after gym class, whoever won whatever game we played that week got the right to sing at the top of their lungs a portion of the Queen song "We are the champions, my friend...", and shout out the part "NO TIME FOR LOSERS" and taunt the other team. What did that do for us? Whoever was on the losing team wanted to win next week and we would practice and try harder. We wanted to be winners and be able to wear the mantle of winners for the week. It made all of us better.

Now, everybody gets a trophy for showing up. You're a winner just for fogging up the mirror held under your nose. That sort of mindset isn't one that encourages the type of game I play. The endgame with latter editions is assumed to happen, rather than something that exceptional players strived for and achieved only after the harshest of trials. Now you get it just for completing X # of tactical combat encounters which you knew you'd win anyhow, because the rules are designed to let you win.

A New Year's Prediction for WOTC and all D&D Editions

2010-12-24T12:32:00.001-05:00

Seeing WOTC's Legal Dept. up to their old tricks again with Crystal Keep, and noting that they are deleting older edition articles off of their website, I think there may be a method to their madness. My prediction:

Why aren't they doing this? That's the real question. Here's my theory and prediction:

Mearls isn't as stupid as his predecessors from a business sense, he likes older editions, and he is aware of the PR blunders of the past. The only reason to repeat one, even to a lesser degree, would be to have a positive side to it---or at least something WOTC can spin as a positive to the fans, while at the same time making money off of it.

Which leads me to think that there will be a re-release of older material, like as in ALL of it, going back to the OD&D books, in a way that WOTC can make money from it.

The real money-maker for the company now is DDI subscriptions, as opposed to book sales, because everyone knows the books will be outdated due to errata in a matter of months. What better way to get people who want nothing to do with paying a subscription to DDI because they don't play 4,e than to release all material for all older versions of the game? How many people would pay 10 or 20 bucks a month for access to everything?

Short of that, if the technology isn't there, they will release everything in pdf format, rather than DDI, thus making up for their massive blunder of a couple years ago.

They've blown their load on Essentials, they've scaled back book releases, there is no new revenue stream on the horizon with the current system, or at least nothing that's going to significantly jack up profits using the IP they are currently in bed with. What they are doing now is a preemptive strike to protect their future plans and revenue streams, as much as it is a way to preserve, even if temporarily, the current hegemony (wished for in their own minds) of 4e.

Making older versions available electronically is a win win for everyone, from their perspective.

My only question now is whether they will go after the clones.

Anyhow, you heard it here first if it comes true. If not, eh...who reads these silly blogs anyhow. :)

WTF...Crystal Keep, Fantastic d20 Resource, Taken Down by WOTC Years After They Abandon the d20 Paradigm

2010-12-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

Seriously...

It was a great resource for charts and tables. It was around for years while d20 was WOTC's system of choice. Now, if you go there you see this:

http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/index.php

Douchebags.

Hundreds of Free Authentic Maps of England, Scotland, and Wales, From the Middle Ages to the Present

2010-12-19T13:37:00.001-05:00

Really cool gaming resource.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genmaps/index.html

I noticed a lot of similarities in style between some of the really old ones and the Darlene Greyhawk Maps.

Enjoy

Thoughts on Some of the New Editions and Clones, Plus a Con Report, and Some Other Random Shit

2010-12-18T16:50:00.002-05:00

I purchased the S&W Complete the other day, and I love it. All the classes of AD&D, races can be other classes, full spell list yet simplified spell descriptions, and simple combat. It's simple and perfect for me, a guy whose preferred system is AD&D, yet who has forgotten the finer details of the game. Even though I have like 6 AD&D players handbooks, if I ever get a group together again, I'll do S&W Complete.

I downloaded Adventures Dark and Deep, Joe Bloch's version of 2e AD&D designed as if Gygax had written it, based on comments Gygax made over the years. I liked it, especially the variety of casting and bard classes. It reminded me of AD&D plus those old "Compleat" books of the early 80's. It looks like it has the makings of a great game, but as for me, I think I'm just a bit too old to invest the time in learning a game with so many similarities to the game I know, yet which require me to really get into the rules to determine the differences.

I DM'd Lamentations of the Flame Princess at the CT Old School Con in October. The system is simple and works fine. The only issues I had with it were some of the redundancies with the skill systems, which apparently will be fixed in the new Grindhouse Edition. I really liked how they did thieves skills. About the only thing I didn't like about S&W Complete was the thieves skills section, wherein they kept the generic progression, making all thieves of the same level the same. I would definitely import over LOTFP's skill system to S&W Complete. LOTFP is very compatible with older editions, with monster conversions and the like easily done on the fly.

A brief note on the Old School Con---it was a blast. Tavis Allison and I did something neither of us had done before---we ran a simultaneous dungeon crawl. 2 groups, same time, 2 different DM's. If they encountered each other, then so be it.

The setup was fun. Tavis and I got together the night before with Tavis' long time friend and with another player to roll up characters and get the LOTFP system down. One neat thing we did: each of us created 3 or 4 magic items, which would be randomly selected by the players the next day. The items couldn't be class specific, could not be a numeric giving item (i.e. a plain old plus 4 longsword) and had to be weird, as befitted a Gygaxian campaign in Zagyg's castle. They were great fun to make and play with. Tavis has them, and promised to post them to his blog sometime, so keep an eye out.

We had the groups pick different entrances, then let them loose in the dungeon. The goal of the groups, the measuring stick we used to determine which group won, was two-fold. The first criteria: which group reached the deepest level of the dungeon. The second criteria: if both groups managed to reach the same level, was which group got the most treasure won. The one caveat to this is that the groups had to survive the dungeon. Not that they had to get out by the end of the session, but they had to all be alive when the time was up.

It was an interesting dynamic, the simultaneous co-dm'ing. We used Castle Zagyg Upper Works for the upper levels, and then Castle of the Mad Archmage for the lower levels. There was no freakin' way we could possibly memorize all the encounter areas in enough detail to be fully versed in it, and Zagyg would have been the harder of the two to do that with, with its detailed descriptions. We read enough of UW to get the basic story of each area, and ran with it. Mad Archmage was easier to play on the fly, as the room descriptions were mostly non-existent, because it was a bare-bones dungeon written in the old school style.

Tavis and I sat literally back to back at two tables, thinking we would be able to hear each other and incorporate what the other group had done on the fly. It turned out that we couldn't really hear that well, with all the people talking. We basically updated each other every so often with a quick pointing out on the map where each group was, and what they had done since the last update.

The one problem we ran into was when Tavis' group left Zagyg via a tunnel down, and we couldn't find out where that was on the Mad Archmage levels. It didn't give an actual level number, it gave a name of a level. We had the benefit of having Jeff Talanian there with us, who co-wrote the Upper Works with Gygax, but he wasn't sure how Mad Archmage synched up. Tavis made his best guess. Later, I determined what level it actually was, which meant that our groups were now actually on the same level. No bullshit, it truly ended up that way.

Now the juices were flowing, as Tavis and I knew but the players didn't. We kept each other constantly updated via whispering back to back, so I'm sure the players knew something was up. At one point, while the group I was DM'ing was in a tough fight with a couple of devils, our table was literally surrounded by Tavis and his group. Initiative was rolled between the groups, and Tavis' group won. First up was their magic-user, who when asked what he was going to do, replied "Fireball. Going for the win baby!"

And a toasted flesh win it was. Their group wiped out my group, taking one of them prisoner after killing the devils.

We played one more game later that night, with the survivor leading another group into the dungeons, picking up where they left off. This time, since there was just one group, Tavis DM'd and I assisted with monster lookups and prep work. Because the last group went the furthest in, they won the Major Award, a 6-pack of Old School Mountain Dew (the throwback version, with sugar rather than corn syrup.)

Other than the Con thing, the only D&D I've been playing lately has been with my my nephew, who is 5 yrs old, when I babysit for my brother. As I've said in other posts, I think kids are natural role-players, as it's all the same as all the other games of make-believe they play. Rules are irrelevant. He treats it like a Live Action Role Playing game. He doesn't just tell me he is sneaking around, he gets down and crawls around under the tables to sneak up on the bad guys. Every once in a while we roll dice to see how something goes, and I just tell him what he needs to roll to do something based on how hard I think it is. I just tell him what numbers need to come up on the 20-sider to make what he wants to happen actually happen. It just adds some randomness and suspense to the game. I swear I've learned more about the Old School style gaming with the 5 yr old nephew in a system-less make-it-up-as-you-go game than I have in 25 yrs of gaming.

One thing I'm excited about is my purchase at Anonycon---The Dresden RPG. Readers of the blog know I'm a one trick pony, in that I only play and know D&D, but I love the Dresden books so much I wanted to get the game. Though my crusty old synapses resist learning any new game, this is made simpler by virtue of the fact that it is a highly entertaining system to read, as it is written in the voice of the characters of the novels. Apparently Jim Butcher had a lot of input into it, and it really shows. It's almost as entertaining to read as the novels themselves. I plan on spending some time over the holidays break reading the books, learning the system, then trying to entice my wayward fellow D&D players to give it a spin. I'll probably DM, since being the only single guy w/o kids gives me the most time to get the game down.

Other than that, not much new. Been doing some writing, which I hope to post here someday when it won't embarrass me too much to have it read by others.

Singing out...

101 Followers!

2010-12-02T23:29:00.000-05:00

Funny thing is, I haven't posted much lately. Seems the less I say, the more people appreciate it. Go figure. :)

Anyhow, 2 Con reviews this weekend. Cya!

Ryan Dancey and Cultural Underpinnings and D&D's Appeal, 1974 as Compared to Now

2010-11-30T00:41:00.001-05:00

Ryan Dancey continued a thread on the RPGSite, talking about how some aspects of Dogs in the Vineyard can be used to make D&D a better game and appeal to more people. He focused on social interaction game mechanics to get back those players who have been left out by the recent edition's approach to get the same type of people who play MMORPG's. It's an interesting discussion, but my thought was that the loss of a certain type of gamer which D&D appealed to in the past isn't due to a rules focus, but due to changing cultural paradigms. From what I posted there:

I think there are certain cultural underpinnings that have changed since 1974. The game appealed to me in the early 80's because of the promise that through exploration in pursuit of lost treasure and magic my pc would become rich and powerful enough to conquer and rule everything around him---or at least set up a tower and get 20 sp per day from each of the inhabitants after clearing the land around it.

Any social interaction that needed to be done was with that focus in mind, and was handled with some basic charisma checks along with roleplaying out the encounter. The basic rules framawork gave us what we needed to pursue our common goals as adventurers in the style of Howard's Conan.

To the extent that RSD says the assumption is to join together and collaborate on a story with Dogs, I have no idea. I've never played the game. I just play D&D, and play it basically the same as I did in 1983. We collaborated on goals prior to playing, not on the story we wanted to tell. We all wanted to become the biggest most powerful badasses in the game world so as to rule that game world, or as big a section of it as we could wage war on and conquer. That had very little to do with what was on our character sheet, and more with the money and worldly power we had amassed. That approach is very much non-conformist, and not an approach people who are brought up to follow rules would take. To the extent that it appealed to people in 1974 on college campuses is not surprising, considering what was going on in America the 5 years prior to that.

Look at what is going on today in America, especially as to how kids are being raised. They are being trained to be docile sheep, lead around by the nose from one organized play activity to another. The spirit of play (as well as the ability to be critical thinkers) has been crushed out of most of them. To go out into the woods with other kids from the neighborhood after school with a bow and arrow you made from sticks and string pretending to be an explorer in the amazon doesn't happen that much. To stand out and apart from the herd and be rewarded by society and your peers as happened in the late 60's and early 70's is unheard of. More than likely it will get you punished in some way.

Maybe the Dogs approach to RPG gaming is what appeals to the new generation of kids and RPG'ers because of how they are being brought up with different cultural underpinnings than were in place in 1974. Maybe RSD is onto something, being more in touch with current demographic data.

All I know is that for me, a game of D&D without the exploration for the pursuit of power and glory is missing its heart and soul....and that's what I have seen the 3.x/PF and 4.x games degenerate into. Mindless pointless tactical miniature combat games.

More of a story is needed with these latest incarnations, true, but the story develops from the players goals for their characters and what they do to achieve these goals. Pathfinder's adventure paths are the antithesis of what is needed. They're essentially another organized play event, much like soccer at 7 and band at 8:30. The characters are being railroaded through their life, much like the kids who play them are.

Story as an end in itself, or as the primary focus of the game and the game's mechanics, misses the point. The story is what happens as you play, in totally random and unpredictable ways, as you strive to achieve the goals you set for your character.

If the goals of the game in 1974 don't appeal to players today, and you strip them out, then all you're left with is one hollow combat after another to level your character to make him uber in his own right, as compared to other pieces of paper he encounters at that particular tactical miniature encounter. There is no bigger picture.

I blame a lot of this crap on the goody-two shoes approach TSR took with 2nd edition, making everything good v. evil with good always prevailing, and evil never portrayed in a favorable light. That set of assumptions fucked up the game and tore it from its roots. Socially, all that shit hit around the same time as Political Correctness, where certain ways of being were looked down on from snooty-assed cultural overseers, and enforced through lawsuits and school and workplace behavior, which trickled down to influencing daily social interaction, because hey, you never know who you might work with/for someday. I call it the wussification of America. Shit, kids can't even get into a fight in school anymore without being arrested. WTF?

Fuck all that.

If RSD can bridge the game between the older rule sets and the expectations and assumptions based in the cultural mindset of kids today and get new gamers, more power to him. I'll bet you they won't like or understand the game of D&D that I (and most of you it seems) play.

Conn.'s First Old School/Vintage RPG Con, Oct 16!

2010-10-06T16:50:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder:

The first annual Connecticut Old School/Vintage RPG Gaming Convention, FalCon, is being held Saturday October 16th, 2010 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 PM at the Falcon Grove in Middletown, CT. The address is 144 Prout Hill Road, Middletown, CT.

The con is focused on older RPG's, not just older versions of D&D. It promises to be a great time, and lots of slots are already listed. You can pay at the door.

Check out the site for more info:

http://www.fal-con.org/

Hope to see you all there!

EVE: A Sandbox Space MMORPG Based in Part on Traveller

2010-10-06T10:47:00.004-04:00

The game has been out for a while, but I just heard of it. Has anyone played this? Check these links out....looks awesome as hell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq2oxt7Nrxo&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYEaPLCCIrY&NR=1

Unlike most MMO's, it seems to have one server, meaning anyone who plays the game interact with each other. That's 300,000 people. Even more interesting, there appears to have been a huge secret infiltration over the course of a year from one massive guild to another, resulting in switching sides in the middle of an enormous battle, resulting in major gamechanging events, as the formerly larger guild fell.

A game that allows for such sandboxyness to take place gets a thumbs up without me even having to play it.