I spent some time earlier today walking through an old cemetery - or at least old for the States as I know our European friends have a different timetable as to what is old ;)
I wasn't just surprised at how weathered the stones looked, but how they tilted and fell over during the course of 200 years or less. Not from abuse, but from wind, rain and the settling of the soil. I found it to be quite amazing (I filmed some and hope to get that posted over the weekend). It got me thinking about how the window dressing that we usually see in our adventures leaves out such effects of time.
I think there is a random table or two hiding there. I need to get to work and unearth them...
Upon finding Middle Earth Roleplaying 2e (otherwise known as MERP) under my bed, I got to thinking about the different versions of Lord of the Rings based RPGs that I own.
The first was the MERP boxed set from Iron Crown Enterprises. I played the shit out of this game. Rolemaster rules that the average gaming group could actually master. Very sandboxie in nature, as there were tons of setting books released, not much in the way of adventures.
Then we had The Lord of the Rings Adventure Game. I'm not even sure if I still own it. From what I can recall, very dumbed down.
MERP 2e was next. Somewhere between MERP 1e and Rolemaster in complexity, I don't recall if we ever played with the 2e rules.
The Lord of the Rings RPG from Decipher was licensed from the movie if I recall correctly. Tons and tons of shots from the movies were included. Not much if any real art. I bought the core book, left it as bathroom reading for 6 months and never got past skimming it.
The One Ring - this is the latest and it landed at Gencon. I only have this in PDF so far. I need to spend some more time with it. At first glance it seems fairly faithful to its source material.
That doesn't include games like Midnight, which is essentially LotR with the evil, alternate director's cut ending. Well done but a depressing setting to play in.
Oh, and ICE published some endless quest style books using the LotR license.
I hesitate to call this a review, as it is less review and more "first view" of the 6D6 RPG, at least with my eyes viewing it.
Now, if you want the one minute summary you can view the video on youtube. It's stop motion and brought back memories of Gumby for me, but it's also a better summary of how the game is played then I could explain in a thousand words. See, a (moving) picture IS worth a thousand words.
Did you watch it? Good. I didn't produce it it, the 6D6 guys did. Just over a minute it length, it hits the post perfectly. Much longer and it would have lost my interest. Amazing what a one minute video can get across to someone.
Okie, here the next link. The 6D6 Ultra-Lite rules. It's a free download. It's billed as a 30 second introduction to the 6D6 rules. I'd say it's closer to two minutes myself ;)
Alright, now that we are up to speed, more or less, I'll give some of my impressions of the 6D6 Core rules:
The use of cards, and in some instances actions similar to "tapping" actions from card games like Magic the Gathering and the like, may help make this a crossover game for those whose gaming experience is limited to or centered on such games. Note: The cards are not collectible. You are printing them out yourself. They are practical, not pretty, which is fine by me.
Less crunch, still crunchy - by this I mean the game is not written to be a realistic simulation. Modifiers are generally 1D6 (plus adjustments) for each card you can play. Its the play that becomes a bit crunchy, at least if you've been playing the standard types of RPG for the last 30 years (like I have). The card system IS a different system, and it does take some getting used to. I had a hard time grokking it myself until I found the youtube video I linked above. It's not overly complicated - it's just different.
Its surprisingly flexible. I thought the cards would result in the limiting of choices, but with the number of combinations that can be played (as long as the player can weave a plausible explanation for the situation in question) it covers a lot of possibilities. Hey, and you can create new cards!
The cards themselves are like skills, or feats, or equipment, or mental and physical abilities - but they are used in different ways. Not all can be available at once. There is strategy involved in what you play and what you have prepared to play.
Monsters and adversaries are defined by cards too. This part seems like it can get a bit confusing if you are running more then a small handful of monsters at a time. Well, that's true in most RPGs, but keeping the cards in order for multiple foes seems to consume both time and table space. There has to be a way to streamline it
Well, as I said in the beginning, this is less a review then a "view".
I need to print out a set of cards and try some mock encounters and generate a character or two. I'll post the results when I get it done.
Recently I found a deal on a Roomba iRobot robotic vacuum cleaner. I've been reading about them for years it seems, but this time I finally stepped up and got one of the basic models. I'm in love.
Actually, my fiancee loves it too, as do my parents, who ask if they can borrow it constantly (I know what will be on their Christmas list).
Charge it up and let it roam. It does a very decent job at vacuuming (not perfect, but who is?). It handles all floors but shag - and shag is so yesterday anyway.
Right now I have it vacuuming around me as I work on some reviews for later. I like the future. Still waiting on my flying car though ;)
You know what the best thing about renovating / digging through crap that you haven't looked at in years is? Old becomes new again ;)
I've already spoken about rediscovering my AD&D 2e collection, or at least most of it, as some of it is mixed it with my general RPGs that are now boxed up (for the most part). Still, I've been digging out a few gems, like the D&D Cyclopedia, The MERP Softcover book (I have the earlier boxed set buried somewhere), Pendragon, GURPs Discworld, and some more GURPs sourcebooks (GURPs was THE universal system before Savage Worlds' simpler system took much of that corner of the hobby).
So, not only am I far behind in the new games that I need to review, but now I have the urge to reread some of the old games that I haven't touched in 15 years or more. I'll try and get a review up later tonight of one of the newer games. Then I want to spend some time with MERP and maybe compare it to the newly released LotR RPG.
As am sitting at my desk at work, digging myself out of paperwork, it suddenly full dawned on me - I don't have much in the way of free time until after my wedding. How the hell did that happen?
After November my son's classes are over, renovations will be done, trips to The Bronx will no longer be needed - I think the New Year will bring some fairly regular gaming back into my life.
Oh, wait - football season starts soon. Okay, Sunday's will still be shot for a while... heh
Earlier today I posted a bit about the AD&D 2e Handbooks. You know, the books that took AD&D into the never ending, unbalanced world of "splat books". Moving stuff (like my bed) earlier tonight uncovered my collection of 2e Complete Handbooks. (As an aside, the binding on my 2e Player's Handbook is shot to shit).
I'm not even sure if I have a complete collection of the "Completes" - I'll list what I have in no particular order:
Complete Psionics Handbook The Complete Ranger's Handbook The Complete Book of Humanoids The Complete Book of Elves (an evil, unbalanced addition if any are) The Complete Paladin's Handbook Complete Thief's Handbook Complete Fighter's Handbook The Complete Book of Dwarves The Complete Bard's Handbook The Complete Barbarian's Handbook The Complete Druid's Handbook
Somewhere the Halfling and Gnome book is hiding. I know I have it, but those buggers are sneaky ;)
The Code of the Harpers kinda fits the overall definition of "kits" too.
Were they f'n insane? I must have been insane, as I bought the suckers (tho' as I stated earlier, the Mail Order Hobby Shop was nice enough to fill in some gaps).
I played a lot of 2e back in the day, but my fondest memories are of 1e. Without the bloat, Without the kits. Without the later Player's Option: Combat & Tactics. Still, there's a years worth of posts in those books, I am sure... heh
You have to have been a gamer for a bit to remember the Mail Order Hobby Shop. Before you had stores with a virtual presence on the 'net, you had stores with a physical presence on a street. Such it was with the Mail Order Hobby Shop, TSR's storefront in Lake Geneva.
There were ads in Dragon magazine, which makes sense, as Dragon was mostly a house organ and the Mail Order Hobby Shop was part of that house. I don't know how many of you dealt with the MOHS to make your purchases, but I did - once. I ordered a poster and one of the Complete Handbooks for AD&D 2e.
What I received was nearly a dozen different Complete Handbooks and no poster. Apparently, they sorted their orders by first name and sent my book with some other "Erik's" books, and the poor guy got my poster. I set it all aside when I realized the mistake and called them. Someone answered, had no answer for me, took my name and number and promised I would be called back.
The did. I was told to ship it back at my expense. After they verified the books were all accounted for and not used, I would be issued a credit for my shipping. I told them I wanted them to pay the shipping up front or a check to refund the shipping cost, not store credit. It was their mistake, not mine, and I was willing to do the footwork to return it, but I wasn't settling on store credit. I was a college student with little cash on hand. Credit wasn't going to pay my bus fare to school.
They insisted on store credit. I refused to pay for their mistake. I was called a thief. I reminded them I was willing to fix their mistake, but I wasn't going to pay for their mistake. The call ended. They never contacted me again.
I wasn't surprised to see TSR have major financial problems a few years later. My one interaction with their retail end was full of numerous failures.
It's a great way to get a good peek at some of the work put into that awesome book. I'm still waiting on my hard cover copy (love the PDF... so I'm not complaining TOO much ;)
Oh, and theres some other stuff for free too. I'm just too busy looking at the Lair write ups, which is silly, as I have them in the ToHC: SW PDF. It's just that they are such a nice neat package here.
Having survived the weekend, I must say I'm disappointed that I didn't any real RPG reading in (let alone gaming in) although we did get to play a game of Ticket to Ride. Yes, I squashed my competition underfoot! (heh... my mother and my fiancee - yes, I show no mercy).
As I've stated before, I am WAY behind on reviews. It doesn't help that I'm easily distracted by the new shinnies ;) I'm going to try and get to 3 or 4 a week for the next few weeks - lets see if I come anywhere near the pace.
Did you see the announcement for Tunnels & Trolls 8e over the weekend? The Trollgod himself sent out an email that it wasn't happening anytime soon, if ever. Still, it got me thinking... What would I want to see "fixed" or "added" to the next version of T&T? For me, the answer is -
I want to see a unification of the 5x and 7x rules. I want something that fixes 5x level advancement (and the ability increases). I want something that fixes 5x ability increases (and level advancement attached to abilities). Is that too much to ask? Probably, but I'm asking anyway ;)
Well, you cant have a Hurricane visit without spending some personal time with her, so the family and I headed out to Rockaway Beach to meet her. She was still causing havoc at the water's edge as you can see below:
Additionally, you can go to the MTA's own Flicker Album to see the problems in store for those seeking to commute into and within NYC over the coming days. Flooding is the word of the week.
About to play a game of Ticket to Ride with my lady and my mother. Mom's been going thru withdrawals over the summer months it seems ;)
The rain was the worst of it. The basement got damp but didn't flood. I did get a leak in the roof which sucks, as it came thru the ceiling in one of the rooms I just renovated. Still, we have power and the worst seems to be over.
Didn't get recalled for the weekend, so I guess I'll find out how bad things are at work when I return tomorrow morning.
Osr anchorites?
-
It's been a long time since I listened to any osr podcasts. Anchor was a
lot of fun. I'm not sure if the community is still going? I deleted the
app ...
Fudging, lying and cheating
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*[D&D] is a game, and outcomes shouldn’t always be predictable! Removing
the risk of failure also removes most of the fun. *(From an upcoming random
encoun...
Playtest Sessions 8-11
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I stopped posting session summaries for my games a few months ago because
it seemed like nobody was reading them, but I recently heard from a couple
of p...
Miskatonic Monday #271: Tiger in Human Skin
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Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series
of books for *Call of Cthulhu* under the Miskatonic University Library
Associat...
Monstrous Mondays: Faerie Lord, Rübezahl
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[image: "Rübezahl" by Moritz von Schwind (1859)]
"Rübezahl" by Moritz von Schwind (1859) I am working on a post for
tomorrow, and while doing some reading...
The Palace of Evendur
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By Tom Garner Crawler Solo B/X Levels 1-3 Your party is approached by a
local storyteller who spins a tale about the empty and overgrown Palace of
Evendur,...
d100 Terrible Encounters For Charginspire
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I will make sets of d12 encounters for the terrain types of terrain around
Charginspire and the mudland wastes. These are probably worse, being
dangerous...
Chaos War Dogs
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Welcome back to the Vault! My gaming partner and I had a fun day at the
Meme Team doubles last weekend, placing mid-table results wise. My eye is
now lo...
Preparing Paper
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I am in the throes of preparation for reviving the mouldering corpse of my
old space opera campaign. When it was last active, some considerable time
ago,...
OSRIC Player's Guide
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There is a new *Player’s Handbook* -- er, *Player's Guide *-- for OSRIC
(the “retro-clone” for first edition *Advanced Dungeons and Dragons*)
available. ...
Blade & Haversack
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Long time, no speak. Been busy, living life, working, etc. Not much time
left for gaming stuffs. Recently chatted with a fellow I have known for a
long tim...
Mongoose Traveller Mid-Campaign Thoughts
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I'm three sessions into my *Mongoose Traveller *campaign. That's one
session of lifepath character creation and two of regular play. So far
we've had a l...
New edition of Starmada! Huzzah!
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So Daniel Kast's *Starmada* has a new, 30th anniversary edition out. You
can get the pdf from WargameVault (the wargame store of the DriveThru
people) or...
Emperor Queen
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No, I am not crazy
The 1980s and 90’s rock band Queen, fronted by Freddy Mercury, directly
sings the story of the God-Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 4...
Gratification in the Gaming Age...
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There's no doubt we live in an age of instant gratification. There isn't
much we can't get immediately. Instant books, instant food, games, and
instant mov...
On Sinless Art
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I just want to share some of the art from the project.
Get your own copy:
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472142/Sinless
---------...
ShadowDark Magic Items
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The next campaign I run will use the ShadowDark RPG. I'm not sure when
that'll be (I'm hoping a little later this year), but ShadowDark is my
choice. I'v...
Corkboards & Curiosities: a New Angle on DMing
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Here's a new YouTube channel that's absolutely worth your time. There's
some clever ideas in this video I will absolutely be implementing in my
campaign...
Xandering, Jaquaysing, or Arneson-ing the Dungeon?
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Yet another gamer firestorm arose shortly after the passing of Janelle
Jaquays when it was noted that Justin Alexander had changed a rather well
known p...
The 4th Category
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New Year, New Release — and this one is a monument all to itself, a great
fit for the 50th Anniversary of the launch of D&D™...
Introducing *The 4th Cat...
GLOG Class: Bioweapon
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I got this idea from mad gods on bear blog.
Crab Evo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
A thousand soldiers were slain. Too many to be tragic--this is just a fact...
The Economy Engine, v0.2
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I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to
a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition
Dungeon M...
D&D Turns 50, and Something Else Turns 200
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2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of *Dungeons & Dragons*.
Nailing down the exact release date of a product as informally produced as
D...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
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A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
The Allsoul's Fire
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Unbenownst to the bards, their music and tales are no mere diversion, but
the carrier signal of a great mind that spans all of humanity. Deep
thoughts li...
What Else Have I Got in Me?
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Brechewold's been done for a little while. Still incredibly pumped to have
this labor of love out in the company of LotFP's marvelously creative body
of ...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Happy New Year, and the annual DriveThruRPG report.
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Happy New Year
I wish everybody a Happy New Year! I have much to be thankful for in 2023,
especially family, friends, and work. I want to thank everyone wh...
Time Rolls On
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Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it
will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both
goo...
Play Report: Skull Mountain
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At the end of the last Skull Mountain session the PCs had retreated to
safety at Owen's redoubt, met with visiting elves, and recovered from
injuries ...
Clerics of the Flanaess, Part 1
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It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these articles, but the pages of
Dragonne Magazine have once more released their secrets from that alternate
unive...
-
Heya folks, the 21st Salt Mine book, Import Export, has hit the digital
shelves! In the 21st book we follow Aaron Haddock-codename Stigma-as he
tries to ...
Moving On...
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So, my D&D 5e experiment has blown up the lab in a puff of green smoke
leaving my face blackened like Wile E. Coyote after a failed roadrunner
Acme trap...
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh
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People often consider megadungeons boring. Not because the play style is
boring, but because they are in the same locale for a majority of the
campaign. If...
The Blade Itself
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I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one
in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to
his wo...
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII
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Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend
at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving,
TX, ...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
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*"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good
regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does
some s$&...
Clean Your Room
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Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter!
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I can't believe I didn't post about it here!
The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are
on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...
Maximum HP 004, one week to go
-
Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing
through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet.
We...
Steve Jackson Interview
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James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
Undermountain Map Origins
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As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't
actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety.
This post d...
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales
-
Hello Folks,
The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018.
I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current
fo...
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials
-
*Minotaur*
*Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9
*Prime Requisite:* STR and CON
*Hit Dice:* 1d10
*Maximum Level:* 8
*Armor:* Leather, including shield...
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA
-
Init +0
Melee Atk
• sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3)
Ranged Atk
• hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than
5')
AC 14
HD 12d...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
-
*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets
-
In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one
for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants
and...
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video
-
A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We
miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video
Note - The original video...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
-
The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
-
This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
SHORT BREAK.
-
I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the
New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor
-
Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation
with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not
doi...
New website!
-
Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
-
If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Mord Mar - Session 6
-
We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This
week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to
school and ...
A Small, Quiet Plea
-
There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social
grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is
my hobby....
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken
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Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread:
“Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics,
or ro...
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party
-
Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in
style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our
now-15-ye...