Runequest - The Schism

It appears that Runequest will be coming in multiple flavors. We have Openquest, which is built on the Mongoose Runequest Rules (1st edition I believe but I may be wrong) using the OGL. Then we have Legend (formerly Wayfarer), which will replace MRQ2, as Mongoose lost the license for Runequest but apparently owns the rights to the rules - but as they are OGL now, anyone can publish them.

Which leads us to Runequest 6e, a joint venture with the trademark owners of Runequest (Issaries assuming I spelled it right). RQ6e will be written using the MRQ OGL rules, by some of the folks that wrote the MRQ2e rules.

Confused yet?

All of these revisions should be fairly compatible, and both Legend and RQ6e are seeking to be backwards compatible with MRQ2e.

Releasing your rules under an OGL lets out the genie out of the bottle and theres no putting it back. The question is, does this dilute the value of Runequest or enhance it? Or does it just muddy the waters to all shit?

I expect a lot of confusion myself. Still, I've owned RQ since the original Chaosium 2e and the Avalon Hill 3e. I like the system. I hope it survives the latest transition.

Yet More Free RPGs For the List (Thanks to Padre)

Padre pointed out some omissions from the Free RPG list I'm putting together (and slowly reviewing, and even slower to putting brief descriptions all on one page).

I'm putting some up now from Stargazer Games and I'll add them to the sidebar shortly.  In no particular order:

Resolute, Adventurer & Genius - This is the pulp remix of Warrior, Rogue and Mage.  Short, simple, easy to learn and free.

From the blurb:
Resolute, Adventurer & Genius is a simple, lightweight roleplaying game of pulp-style action and adventure. Explore lost ancient ruins! Thwart the plans of evildoers and madmen! Face the mysteries of the unknown! This book contains the complete game rules, including character creation, combat, equipment and chase sequences as well as hints for playing pulp-style games in different decades, from the 1910s to the 1940s and beyond.

Arcane Heroes - You want a short and sweet fantasy themed game that you can read in 5 minutes?  This one clocks in at 6 pages ;)

From the blurb:

Arcane Heroes is a rules-light roleplaying game set into a fantasy world filled with magic, wonders and epic adventures.  Characters in Arcane Heroes are members of ancient bloodlines which have produced many great heroes (and dreadful villains) in the past. But the world has changed, the industrial revolution has shaken up the old order. The ancient bloodlines are all but forgotten, but in these dire and gloomy times, heroes are needed more than ever.  Arcane Heroes uses a simple dice pool mechanic and contains all the rules needed to play a game.

Chronicles of the Four Dragons - Looking for a Far East styled RPG that is rules light?  This might be for you.


From the blurb:

Chronicles is a rules-lite, anime-style fantasy game which uses a pretty easy dice pool system and four classes: the Warrior which is attuned to Earth, the Archer which uses Air magic, the Monk who draws his power from Water and the Sorcerer who is a master of Fire magic.

The Dragon Empire

CotFD is set into the Dragon Empire, a vast nation based on medieval Japan and China. For many centuries it has been ruled by the Dragon Emperors who are descendants of the Four Elemental Dragons themselves. For a long time the empire prospered but recently things are starting to get out of hand. Barbarians attack the empire from the outside, while corrupt bureaucrats and local warlords attack it from within. But new heroes have arisen. They wield the power of the four elements and fight to restore peace and order in the Empire!

The Travellin' Dice

My fiancee was helping me pack for the ride back to the city. She noticed a rattling in my messenger bag so she opened one of the compartments and found a set of polyhedral dice.

She laughed. "Do you expect a random gaming session to pop up?"

Of course I don't expect that, but ya never know.

I didn't tell her there was a second set in my computer bag. The abuse may have been a bit much ;)


- Posted from my iPhone

The Mundane Gives Value to Rarity

As I mentioned earlier today, I'm spending the weekend at my family's place in the Poconos.  I'm a city boy that spent my summers in the country, and for a number of years had 2 gaming groups - one in the outer boroughs of NYC, and one up here in the Poconos.  I like to think it kept me in balance during my formative years ;)

In my time in the country I've seen numberless deer (including an albino one), numerous wild turkeys and pheasants, black bear and their young, possums, skunks... not counting owls, hawks, hummingbirds and I'm sure an assortment of animals I've forgotten.

I've never seen a fox until tonight, in my own backyard.  I thought it was a very large cat until it stood up and pranced off - and it was f'n cool as all shit!  Cause I've never seen one before.

One thing that Raggi definitely got right with his Weird Fantasy rules was the importance of making certain adversaries rare or even unique.  It makes the moment special and stand out amongst the mundane.  Where he get's it wrong in my opinion, is he leaves out the mundane and fails to provide the rules necessary to create the special and unique.

Tonight's fox sighting was special not just because I'd never seen one in the wild before, but because I'd seen so much of everything else and had yet to see a fox.  If everything is special and unique then they fail to be special, and unique loses value.

I just wish I had a camera with me so I could have taken a pic.  Eh, my mind took the pic, and that's the same camera I use while gaming.  It will have to suffice ;)

The Free OSR List Mini Review - For Gold & Glory

For Gold & Glory is a retroclone for AD&D 2e.  It is still a work in progress.  Monsters and magic items still need to be edited and added, and the spell list only goes up tot he letter "E" at the moment.  That being said, the rules of 2e are certainly there.

Heck, there's even THACO - To Hit A Combat Opponent.  Nice way to get around the old definition of THAC0 ;)

I expect this to be a nice, PDF portable reference for those looking to plat with the 2e rules.

From the Author's website:

For Gold & Glory is a retro-clone of the “Advanced” Fantasy Role Playing Game (2nd Edition); designed by David “Zeb” Cook, developed by Steve Winter & Jon Pickens, and published by TSR in 1989. It served as an expansion on the rules written by the game’s original creator, E. Gary Gygax, and also brought the product into a more mainstream environment with unique campaign scenarios and friendlier writing in light of ignorant attacks against its subject matter. As a retro-clone, FG&G makes use of Wizards of the Coast’s Open Game License to create a derivative product provided no copyright is infringed upon.

What For Gold & Glory Is: FG&G is an attempt to create a close adaption of the 2nd Edition rules. It contains all information culled from the three “core” rulebooks, with the exception of optional rules, into a single product. The intention is to preserve a source that’s long out of print. The 2E books were, in some cases, poorly organized and ill suited for quick player reference. Although most books can be purchased cheaply, my goal is that you will turn to this product, quickly reference what you’re searching for, and return to your game without having to scour several documents or cart around a dozen books.

A few changes have been made to correct errors or bugs in the original publication particular when it comes to item creation rules. There are corrections to odd omissions between 1E and 2E such as some druid spells changing spheres (and thus druids losing access to staple spells) and illusionist spells. Overall, the changes are large enough for me to consider FG&G an original product (to avoid copyright infringement) but minor enough to be easily portable with little-to-no adapting on the player’s part. If you’re reading a 2E book then you can plug it into FG&G with no extra work on your part. If you can’t do this, I’ve failed in my goal.

Weekend Woodlands Escape

Escaping for the weekend to the Pocono Mountains. Will try and get a review up tonight. Got to travel light with my iPad and my RPG collection on Dropbox ;)

Pic from the front patio;



- Posted from my iPhone

Review - Savage Worlds Deluxe - Powers - Part 2

Note - thru 7/19 Savage Worlds Deluxe is 20% off

I think I could run a Savage Worlds game just fine, so long as no one chose anything from the "Powers" section of the rule book ;)

The reason I say this is not because the powers look all that difficult to grasp, but for someone that grew up on D&D and the like, it's a whole new language to learn. I think the next time I get to play in a SW game, I'm going to play a Powers user so I can get a hands on feel for the system.

Now that that is out of the way, the powers section looks really nice. Powers are initially broken down by Arcane Backgrounds - Magic, Psionics, Weird Science, Super Powers and Miracles. Trappings and Effects allow powers to be tweaked and individualized, so no two fireballs (or anything else) will necessarily be the same from different casters. I like the ability to individualize powers while still keeping to a defined list. It's a pretty neat system, I just need to get comfortable with it.

I really like the total package that is Savage Worlds Deluxe - I just need to spend some time as a player before trying to run a game with it.

The Games We Played When We Didn't Have Enough People to Roleplay

These days I play my RPGs via online chat or a VTT. If we don't have enough to game, it's basically a wash.

Back when I played in my High School, College and the years immediately thereafter, we'd pull a game off the shelf (usually my shelf) and get cracking. We had a decent assortment, and there were times that we would opt for one of those games on the shelf over the regular campaign even if we had a full group. Depending on the amount of time we had, we would sometimes do a board game and role-play. Ah, the sweet days before real responsibilities.

The games we played, in no particular order were:

Risk - the classic. My version had the caltrop plastic pieces that were murder on bare feet. My box has been taped many times, but it's still complete. No one wanted to ever use the pink army, go figure.

Ameba Wars - this was one of those boxy bookshelf game boxes. I haven't played or looked at it in over 15 years, but the sic-fi game was always a good time

Nuclear War - card game from Flying Buffalo. Holy crap but this could get intense. A card game based on the fear of mutual destruction, it fit in well for the mindset of the average college student in the late 80's to mid 90's.

Wabbit Wampage - kill the rabbit game from Pacesetter - this didn't come off the shelf as often as others, as it didn't play as well as it should have. Not sure why that is. Maybe it felt more like a game, and less like Bugs and Elmer then it should have.

Chaos Marauders - Game Workshop's card game. Now this was a f'n blast! Up to 4 players, so if we had 5 or 6 at the table it wasn't a choice, but folks would demand a session of Chaos Marauders every chance they got. I may need to bring these to the next Gathering of Fools.

Talisman - the classic game of killing things and taking their stuff. Fun to play. Repeatedly. Until you had the sessions that never seemed to end (especially when using the add-on boxes). Of the games on this list, I'm sure this was played by more readers of this blog then any of the others.

Well, that's my old groups list.

What's you list?

Trying to Identify an Old Commodore 64 RPG - Memory is Murky

Now, before I describe the game the game in question, it might be Realms of Darkness, but I don't think so.

It was an RPG that included player handouts on fake parchment paper in the game box. At certain points of the game, you were told to refer to one piece or another. It was great for game immersion (and as a form of copy protection too I guess). It was the best computer based RPG I had played (or tried to) until that time

My copy was buggered, and the disc drive would crash on loading about 9 times in 10 for that game only - it could take me an hour or more to even get the game started. At some point later in time, I couldn't even do that.

Any ideas?

The Free OSR List Mini Review - Errant

What is Errant? It's an Old School RPG wrapped in New School sensibilities. It's kinda like a half-breed, or a hybrid. In any case, it works.

It's the 6 stats you already know, determined by rolling 3d6 six times and arranging in as you see fit. There are attribute test you can make against your attributes - level is not taken into account, so forget what you might have learned in Castles & Crusades and the like.

Then there are class skills. When using a class skill, you get to add your level if it's a skill you know. Which does correct a situation with C&C's Siege Engine - all skill attempts get level as a bonus in that system if I recall correctly.

Schools of Magic are arranged by school and color coded , which makes reading the list a snap. The spell descriptions themselves are generally one paragraph and easy to reference. Here's the kicker tho - casting spells require the caster to expend hit points to cast. Nice twist, and it adds a bit of strategy to the caster classes. The spell casting system would have been a good fit for LotFP Weird Fantasy's default setting - requiring casters to give of their own health and energy to cast certainly adds to the suspense.

In many ways, it looks like an Old School RPG made with New School advances in presentation. Heck, it's even laid out for ease of reading on a tablet, like my iPad.

My one gripe, and it's a small one, is that the bookmarks could be broken down just a bit more. For example, under "Classes", we could have further bookmarks for each of the classes. As it is, we just have a general "Classes" bookmark.

Of course, most PDFs aren't even bookmarked at all these days and there really is no excuse for that.

Amazing art throughout. No porn. Slightly disappointed with that... not! ;)

From the blurb:

Errant RPG is a retro-clone that captures the basic playstyle of the classic game while introducing a variety of modern innovations to improve play.

Key Innovations over the Classic Game:
- Race and Class as separate choices
- Inclusion of a wider range of classes like Bards and Paladins
- Removal of the Cleric class and replacement with a Scholar class
- Even distribution of spells across the schools so that school choice for specialization is balanced
- Expansion of Saving Throws to cover a wider range of instinctive reactions
- New Language mechanics that makes a distinction between vernacular and written languages
- A Luck Mechanic to help new character survive a dangerous world
- An Ambitions Mechanic to give your character goals
- Replacement of Alignment with a more flexible Karma system
- A new method of resolving damage/injury/death once you run out of hit points

Palladium Fantasy - Has It Ever Been RetroCloned?

I know Kevin protects his property more vigorously then a mamma bear, but I was wondering if anyone had ever RetroCloned Palladium's Fantasy RPG?

In theory, it shouldn't be too hard, as it is quite obviously built on the framework of D&D, and thus the OGL.

I am not looking to put another nail in the endless coffin known as Palladium Books, a company that rises and falls more often then the tides.  I enjoyed RIFTS for it's fluff, even if the rules were a horrid unbalanced mess, and that was my first taste of the Palladium system.  Palladium Fantasy I discovered later, and I found a lot to like.  Just wondering how well it would mesh with the OGL.  So Kevin, if you are reading this, it's just conjecture at this point.  A mental exercise.  No need for a Cease and Desist at this point.  Save the money.  ;)

When Less is More

I really need to learn some time management skills. There must be an app for that ;)

In any case, I squeezed more into one evening yesterday then any sane man would, yet I still didn't get everything accomplished that I wanted to - but I accomplished what I needed to.

I think the same can be said about many things. You want to accomplish A-Z, but you NEED to accomplish A, D, E and S... anything beyond that is just gravy.

When I was writing my version of the Bard Class for the next KnockSpell, I had a huge list of things I wanted to do with it. Once I got started, I quickly saw I had to prioritize what was needed to make the class work. The rest could wait, or maybe wasn't even really needed. Less can be more.

With the Bard Class, I cut out new spells / songs and magic items. They weren't needed to make the class work. As for class abilities, if there was something already defined elsewhere in an OGL, why reinvent it. It took a lot of effort to reign myself in ;)

So, tonight I prioritize and remove some floor molding in advance of installing my flooring. Not going to go crazy, just the side I'll be starting in. Then read some RPG rules. Maybe a post. Then, if there is time, watch the first episode of Game of Thrones. I've put that off long enough I think.

Of course, the chances of me sticking to tonight's plan is slim to none, but one has to try ;)

Double Rainbow (sorta)

We had a short sunshower / thunderbumper last evening and I caught these pics of a rainbow after stopping at a cash machine for dinero.

You can sorta see the hint of the second rainbow in the first shot.

Now where the hell is my pot of gold?!?










- Posted from my iPhone

It's High School

When my son asked me to explain my job to him (as he is now thinking careers and such) I told him that being a cop was like spending an extra 20 years in High School. Same practical jokes. Same bullies. Same horsing around. Same authority figures, both good and bad. Same close friends, and just like High School, most of them are friends because of similar interests. Same assholes, and most of them are assholes because they enjoy being that way. Don't show up for the day and you'll get a phone call and possibly a visit.

Except that in my case, you also get a gun and shield, the authority to takes someone's freedom from them, and the responsibility to protect life. But it's still High School. If you didn't enjoy the antics and drama from High School it's going to be a long 20 years on the force.

If someone asked me about about our corner of the Blogosphere at this point in time, I'd probably have to give a similar answer. It's High School, just without the school work. Oh, and it's virtual.

I happened to like High School a lot, even in the crappy NYC Public School System.

Progress is Painful

This is getting painful - literally.

The renovations are causing more aches and pains then I'm used to. Progress is a beautiful thing despite the discomfort. Maybe as the flooring gets going I'll post pics as it progresses.

Once these two room are done I'm tapping out and hiring a professional for the kitchen ;)

Review wise, I reread some of Errant while dealing with an hour and a half texting marathon with a co-worker that is out sick with kidney stones. Weird combo, I know, but it worked. Production qualities are top notch, although I'm sure Greg would say it's not up to his new standards. Picky SOB ;)

Demolition Man

(not my closet - but double the size and add more wood and you have an idea)

(oh, and my holes are smaller - so far ;)

When I got home from work I returned to closet demolition.  95 degrees on the back porch and just a bit hotter on the second floor with no A/C.  The closet is / was about 8 feet wide and just about as tall, solid wood construction.  It's just too damn shallow, and the clothing bar is way too high for my Rachel.

As I did my destruction, I realized I had a Tunnels & Trolls game tonight.  Kinda buggered my time available to do reviews.  Lo and behold, I checked the message board and this week is a wash.  Looks like we may be heading to every other week, which works well with my free time.  So, reviews were back on.

Until I checked my email and found my Pergo laminate flooring, which was supposed to take 3 days to process and 3 to 6 days to ship, putting it mid to late next week, is arriving this thursday.  Sixteen boxes.  I need the space where the closet is just to store the crap as I install the first room.  So back to more destruction and less blogging.  This is my 10 minute break to cool off  before my next round.

Fun fun, but it's getting there.

So, punting until tomorrow for the next review.  Sorry Greg, hopefully tomorrow.

K, back to breaking wood...

The Return to Normality

Greg should be happy. If all goes well, should have a mini-review of Errant posted some time tonight. Heck, if I'm really lucky, I may even get the next part of the Savage Worlds Deluxe review posted tonight too. That part will deal with the powers / spells section of the rules.

Its nice to see things returning to normal. Of course, I need to spend at least an hour or so when I get home demolishing that damn closet. It's getting there. I'm tearing down the "Old School" closet so I can build a "New School" closet. How ironic ;)

Why Do We Blog in This Corner of the Blogosphere?

Blog - web log: a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; "postings on a blog are usually in chronological order". (source ordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)


Community - A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals (source google.com)


Troll - (bold is added by me) In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory^{[citation needed]}, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[2] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. (source Wikipedia)


I know this has been said to death, and everyone has been putting in their 2 cents in the past couple of days, but I need to say my little piece on the matter.  I don't have the prose of others, and as we've seen my poetry can be a bit forced, but I'm going to borrow a minute of your time anyhow.


Why are you here?  Why do you read these gaming blogs?  If you blog yourself, why do you blog?


Probably because you enjoy all of the above, or you wouldn't be doing it.  I highly doubt anyone is getting paid to read or write this stuff (not counting the lads and ladies that are actually publishing - heck, many of them aren't getting paid either).  No one is forcing you into the blogosphere.  You are here because you enjoy the community, the camaraderie, the attention to some extent, the joy of giving to others of yourself and your skills.


So why the fascination with shitting on people?  Not all of us.  Not most of us.  Way less then some of us.  The aberrant few.  The type that kicks puppies and tortures kittens.  The type that sets a fire, then waits for the fire department to respond and watch them put it out as they risk their lives.  The type that would rather watch someone trapped in a car accident then help - not out of fear for their own safety, but the joy of watching the suffering.  I've dealt with the above in my career, and they are not wired like normal folk.  


Online communities have the same types of aberrant individuals as normal communities, but in far larger numbers.  Anonymity.  It lowers inhibitions.  Those that would never act out on these impulses in their "real life" are more apt to do so online.  A "troll" in your community, amongst your neighbors, would not last long.  Online, "trolls" have the ability to regenerate like an AD&D Trolls of old.


Of course, online communities also allow those that are painfully shy to open up.  Anonymity.  It lowers inhibitions.  


The blade cuts both ways.


If this were a forum, a strong hand by moderators would keep the "flame wars" and "trolls" under control.  In this community, the OSR Blogging Community, there is only us.  


We are not friends, at least not most of us.  Online acquaintances at best.  But we share a hobby and a community.  A good, healthy community pays dividends on a daily basis.  I'd like to think this is a good, healthy community.


K, done preaching.  Off my soapbox.  Carry on, nothing to see here!

Organizing The Disorganized Way

I really have way too much gaming material that I've accumulated over the years. More then I even realized, as I have it spread out in 3 rooms and a corner of the basement. Truth to tell, I forgot about the stuff in the basement until this past saturday. I went looking for a fan and low and behold, I found my stash of 3e gold (or fool's gold, depending on the publisher).

I also found a bag of Genesis games, which I promptly trashed (yea, I could eBay it but its not worth the hassle). I also realized my son has his computer graveyard in the same corner. I think I'll to start going thru stuff in the coming weeks. It's a good thing I just ordered a dozen office file boxes. I just need to empty out that basement corner so I can start organizing before the fiancé realizes the amount of crap I have and orders a purge ;)

I am NOT organized by nature. Surprise surprise... heh.

Still, the next stage of renovations is me putting in two rooms worth of flooring. I need to organize before I can start that, and the stuff shipped today. I can finish demolishing a closet in the heat, or I can organize crap in the cool basement. Tough one. I need room for my game collection, so I guess I do both.

I need another vacation ;)

Do You Use Any Online Resources to Assist Running Your Campaign?

With the slow rollout of Google+, it got me thinking about the online sites that can be used to help run a campaign. There are forums, sites like Obsidian Portal, email, blogs... and a crap more that I can't even think of at the moment (but I am sure some of you will).

What do you use? Is it as useful as you had hoped? If not, why not?

Yep, another list I'll be putting together in the future I expect, and I'll need some help on this one ;)

Thanks!

Google+ Invites For Those That Want

Apparently, I'm a Google+'er.  Go figure.

No idea how many invites I can give out.  No idea if you need a Google account to sign up.  Doesn't matter.

Drop an email in the comments below and I'll give them out as I can.  Should be less then 24 hour turn around as long as I have invites to give.

I think Google+ can be a handy gaming tool to handle events between sessions, and even work as a replacement for chat based online RPG sessions.

It almost makes me want to forgive Google for f'n up Blogger this week ;)

Blogger is Really Screwing With My Mojo These Days

Why couldn't Blogger / Google have done a Beta testing of the new software before going live with this aberrant piece of shit?

I'll get a real post up later I hope...

Trying Out Some Software For Blogging Assistance - OmmWriter (OSX)

New Age text editor OmmWriter (for OSX) is the latest software I'm trying for my blog writing.  It isn't blogging software in the strict sense.  I'll still need to copy n paste this into Blogger (with MarsEdit it posted stuff direct).  Still, if it helps me get my thoughts on page just a bit easier all the more power to it - and me ;)

I'm pretty sure the New Age background music is going to annoy the living crap outa my son.  This should be fun... heh

That being said, I'm open for other thoughts on blogging software for the Mac, as the PC only gets booted for gaming these days, rare as it is.

How Do You Handle a Campaign That is Designed to Change Midstream (ex: Evernight) Tracks?

What I mean by the title of this post is this:  in a campaign like Evernight for Savage Worlds, the PCs go into the campaign expected a fairly typical Fantasy genre campaign... which quickly becomes fight for survival against an alien invasion from beyond.  Do you tell your players up front what the plot twist is going to be, or do you spring it on them in the hopes that they'll accept it?

In my looking at settings for Savage Worlds, I've been rereading bit and pieces of Evernight.  Great concept, horrible execution.  This is railroading at it's very best (worst).  Assumptions are built into the storyline that force the PCs to go a certain way or the GM finds them off script, off the reservation and himself scrambling to plug the holes.

Do you tell the players that the train is heading in a certain direction and they need to follow along?  Do you strip Evernight down to it's core concepts, and let the game go where it may?  The second option requires a strong and skilled GM.

This crap keeps me up at night.  I find it real frustrating that a cool concept like Evernight could be so poorly executed.

Saturday Matinee Movie - Season of the Witch

Is it just me or it Nicholas Cage in just about every third movie released these days?  That being said, I liked Season of the Witch.  Even more surprisingly, my fiancee enjoyed it too.  Yep, she stayed awake throughout  the whole thing.  Good thing we found it on Amazon on Demand.

The storyline of escorting the witch to here trial at the abbey could easily be stolen for an RPG scenario if it hasn't already.  The twist near the end was actually kinda neat and wasn't telegraphed from a mile away as most movies tend to do with their twists (or maybe I'm just good and connecting the dots as they are presented).

Some of the acting is a little stilted, and there isn't much of an attempt to speak with authentic accents, but really, who cares?  The story makes for a great ride.  Besides, I think Nick Cage with an English accent would be painful to listen to.

Last week I had my fiancee watch Dust to Dawn for the first time.  I told her it was a movie that abruptly changes gears, but didn't tell her the twist.  This time, when the dead monks started dropping like ninjas, she said: "Holy shit, this just became a Zombie Movie without dropping the actually story.  They shoulda done that with Dusk to Dawn."  She may be right.

In any case, as a gamer and a fan of fantasy (and a history major) I will put my stamp of recommendation on Season of the Witch.  There are some good lines in it too that I wouldn't mind using at the gaming table.  I might need to watch it a second time to write them down ;)

Blogger's New Interface Blows

Anyone else having issues with Blogger's new interface?  When I mentioned earlier this week I planned on trying out some new blogging software, I had no idea Blogger was going to be playing around with it's software.

This shit sucks.  My previous attempt to post had no less then 2 dozen error messages pop up, then it refused to post.

I really will need to step on to some real blogging software.  It was the plan anyway.

Sigh...

The Troll Under the Blog and Other Short Tales - Forthcoming

I had the main outline of The Troll Under the Blog worked out Wednesday nite when I was driving to pick my son up from his EMT class. Which of course means my outline has faded a bit, as I never actually wrote anything down at the time or immediately thereafter. I do my best writing while driving. I need a voice recorder for my car ;)

In any case, I'll try to get it written out this weekend if all goes well. Oh, and maybe a Tale of the Blue Knight (but don't hold your breath fro the second one... heh).

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane - Skulls in the Stars

After watching the Solomon Kane movie on DVD last weekend I decided to pick up The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane in Kindle format on Amazon for both my fiancee and myself. Last nite I finally got around to reading the first short story Skulls in the Stars. I must say, I like it.

I'm the first to admit I've never read Howard's original works before. Everyone knows of Conan. I read the Marvel Comics series, played the Play By Mail game back in the day, have the TSR and Mongoose RPGs, watched the original movie and caught some of the recent TV series. Never read a short story or novel.

I think I'm hooked now. Skulls in the Stars held my attention from the first paragraph. Guess I'm back to reading fiction on a semi-regular basis again. It's a good thing.

The Free OSR List Mini Review - Dark Dungeons

The free OSR rulesets are a special bunch.  They seek to clone, or clone and house rule, earlier editions of the Dungeons & Dragons rules.  God bless the OGL, and it's empowering those that enjoy Old School gaming.

Dark Dungeons is a clone of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia.  The D&D Rules Cyclopedia is itself a mash-up of BECMI Dungeons & Dragons - the series of boxes sets that took one from 1st level to 36th level.  If you've tried to find yourself a copy of the D&D RC on eBay or such, you would see that it is pretty sort after.  Dark Dungeons gives you the RC in a revised edition that attempts to correct some of the contradictions between the different boxed sets.

I have this in both dead tree and PDF formats and it is extremely well done.  The PDF is free ;)

Free Traveller Campaign - Secret of the Ancients

I've posted about this when the early chapters were released, but somehow I missed the whole thing hitting 256 pages in length, with 10 chapters and an intro.  Where the heck have I been?

In any case, it's complete and it's free.  How cool is that?

I'll be adding this to the Free Resources List shortly.

Sometimes Ya Gotta Be the Guinea Pig

I'm going to try some new blogging software when I get home tonight if all goes well.

Hopefully it's as painless as the below interaction (my mother's cat Fritzy and my son's cavie Opie).









- Posted from my iPhone

(edit: added some extra pics)

I'm Proud to Be a Part of This Community

Sometimes it takes a bit drama to appreciate what you have. Yesterday, the OSR blogging community had its share of drama and it's members showed the appreciation for what they had. We circled the wagons and came to the aid of one of our own. This really is a "community" in the best sense of the word.

It really does make one wonder how f'ed up an individual has to be when they are constantly negative and downright evil in their nature. In their "real life" outside of blogging they must be an object of such scorn and ridicule that all they can think of is attacking others anonymously on the internet. It is pitiful. Pity YDIS. I do.

The Once and Future Troll

There once was a troll, with a loud bark
Empty of soul, it was gruesome and dark

All it could do, all it could be
Was petty and mean, for all to see

Loving attention and the misery of "tags"
It made a home amongst dung and rags.

Throwing it's shit to see what might stick
It was too dumb to know how bad it was sick.

Pity the troll, for in truth it is ill
Beware the troll, it will never get it's fill.


My poetry might suck, but you sir, are a sick little fuck.

Digging Up Dragon Roots

Anyone besides me remember C.E. Rocco's Dragon Roots Magazine? It was attempt to publish 3e and 4e articles in the same magazine. The website at www.dragonroots.net is still live, but it hasn't been updated in at least a year.

Four issues were published. 0-3, and issue 4 had a cover posted, but apparently there were printer issues and I don't think it was ever released. There was also some sort of GenCon special for 2010 planned (again, a cover was posted) but I don't think it was ever published.

It looks like you can still order back issues, but the forum has been dead for over a year, and DM_Rocco hasn't posted to ENWorld since April, 2010.

I was the vocal voice that got PDF issues of the magazine reduced in price from their printed brethren.

It was an interesting magazine that suffered from the one man-all hats syndrome. I don't think I had any outstanding issues left in my sub, but like many things in this hobby of ours, paying in advance of an item being published is often a gamble (Mishler's Wilderlands for example) and you have to be willing to write it off if it never pays out.

Anyone know anything else about Dragon Roots? Any updates?

Green Lantern Flamed Out in the End

Last thursday I dragged my son to a matinee showing of Green Lantern in 3D.  He had a ball busting mine online by calling me "Such a Kid!" since I decided I had to see it in 3D.  Whatever, he got to go for free, and at 18 he's a lot closer to being a kid then I am.

I really wanted to love the movie.  I'm a big GL fan, having found comics right after the "DC Implosion", and Green Lantern / Green Arrow was the one series I never wanted to miss.  Hal Jordan is the "true GL" in my eyes and all that crap.

So, I enjoyed the background of the character, the special effects, the revamp of Pieface to drop that horrible nickname, seeing the other GLs, the arrogance of the Guardians, knowing I was seeing Hector Hammond the moment he hit the screen... I had a fanboy blast.

And then the final combat.  The big climax.  The "what the f' just happened to my movie?!?" moment.  Really, what the f'?  I don't want to spoil it for anyone(so some of you may want to stop reading now) but when a planet killer doesn't just swarm and implode a private airport, let alone get defeated buy a rookie Green Lantern when previously it was eating the best of them for breakfast, my ability to suspend disbelief is greatly hampered.  When the best of the Corps show up to save Hal's bacon from burning but after the menace is defeated, all I could this is "they could have done that at any f'n time".

I haven't been this disappointed in a movie ending since The Abyss.  What a waste.

Ah well, maybe the DC Universe Reboot will breath life back in the comic lines.

My Little Girl

Today was my first day back to work after a week of vacation. My little girl made sure i was awake, then wanted to snuggle. Needless to say, I was a few minutes late this morning. ;)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Random Morning Thoughts

If 3x is a D20 system, what "die" would represent Savage Worlds? All? The D4-12 System?

If Woody had gone straight to the police, I'd be out of a job sooner then later.

If knowledge is power, and the internet gives nearly infinite access to knowledge, why is the average person so misinformed?

As I am packing up my RPG collection for renovations, I never realized how much of this shit I actually have. Even the fiancee had that "Holy Shit! Maybe we do need to rent a storage unit" moment. And she hasn't even seen half of it yet. ;)

When we got home from her sister's on Sunday evening (from the July 3rd / 4th party), she said: "I'm going to use the bathroom. You go do a blog post". She knows me way too f'n well.

All for now...

Review - Savage Worlds Deluxe - The Rules - Part 1 - Rolling the Dice

I think my earlier issues with Savage Worlds were linked to the concept that an Attribute or Skill isn't a number, but a die.  If ever a game called for the use of those funky Dungeon Crawl Classics odd-dice, it seems it would have been SW.  I'm glad it doesn't call for them, but I can see where it would work.

In any case, in Savage Worlds Deluxe,  your Strength score is indicated by a die - D4 would be the low end of the chart, D12 would be the normal mortal high end of the chart.  Skills are linked to attributes, in that it costs 1 point per die "step" to increase a skill up to it's matching attribute and 2 points per die "step" to surpass the matching attribute.  As you have limited pools of points to increase your Attributes and your Skills as a new character, there is a bit of a balancing game that needs to be achieved.

Oh, and there are Edges and Hinderances, that add bonus or penalties depending on the circumstances, but I'll get back to that at a later point.

In addition to the die that is linked to your Attribute or Skill, all PCs get a Wild Die.  This is an extra D6, and the PC or Wild Card (some NPCs are Wild Cards) gets to chose the higher number rolled of the two dice.  If you roll the max possible on a die, you get to roll again and add the total.  So if you roll an "8" on a D8 during a Trait test or Damage roll, you can "Ace".  I'm not sure if a Wild Die can "Ace".  I think they can, but I'm not 100% sure (just found it - yes, they can Ace).

If both dice come up ones, or "Snake Eyes", it's a critical failure, and the GM gets to screw with you.  Hey, shit happens ;)

Can't forget bennies.  They are similar to Fate Points from Warhammer RPG's 1st and 2nd editions.  They can be used as a do-over, or to mitigate damage.  Use 'em or lose then, you get them back at the next session, so holding them for too long can be a waste.

Again, presentation is key, and SW Deluxe "feels" much more user friendly then it's predecessor.

More in Part II

The Free OSR List Mini Review - Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game

The Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game, hereafter referred to as BFRPG, is a clone of Basic / Expert Dungeons & Dragons.  More accurately, it is probably a houseruled clone of Basic / Expert D&D, as it separates class from race and defaults to ascending AC.

Things to note:

-Spells are limited to 6th level spells
-As best I can tell, no race has a level limit aside from the general class limit of 20
-It is surprisingly complete for 152 pages - monsters and magic items included
-Information on strongholds.  Don't think I've seen this in other clones (not 100% sure, mind you)
-Available in PDF and OpenOffice formats, making it very easy to house rule the documents for your own use.

BFRPG has a very active community and a plethora (I love that word) of adventures and supplements free available to add to your game and your campaign.  Heck, even if you play another clone, this is a great community to find quality additions to the OSR clone of your choice.

Savaged Holiday Weekend Update

Wow.  I'm really liking the SW Deluxe PDF.  It seems much more digestible then the SW Explorer's Edition.

So, I've searched my account at RPGNow and see I've purchased some settings for Savage Worlds in the past, such as Day After Ragnarok and Winterweir and have some reviewer comps for others.  I'm in for a world of reading.

So, I'm aiming to alternate the Mini Reviews of the Free OSR RPGs with Savage Worlds reviews - I do need to finish work on the next part of the Savage Worlds Deluxe review.

Keep the suggestions coming.  Remember, I blame the White Haired Man!  ;)

Looking For Suggestions on Savage Worlds Settings

I haven't decided which system I'm going to use for sure this fall, but I'd like an idea of the available settings available for Savage Worlds.  Sure, I can find them on the web, but I'm looking for the opinions of those that have run or played in them.

Yes, I've been reading thru the Savage Worlds Deluxe PDF in my spare time this holiday weekend.  Can you tell? ;)

Was True20 Green Ronin's Attempt to Put Out a "Savage Worlds"-type RPG?

I ask this because I was very enthused about True20when it was released and the micro-settings that went along with it.  Of course, that was me with little Savage Worlds experience.  Now that I am reading Savage Worlds, I'm beginning to see some thematic similarities.

Now, I know neither one is the first attempt at trying to put out a "universal" RPG.  I do believe GURPS was  the first commercial success.  You could also peg the Hero System as one of the big boys.  The thing is, True20 and Savage Worlds try to make the universal aspect user friendly - the previous two games are  crunch heavy.

True20 seems to be the barely living dead these days, with Green Ronin's DC Adventures and Dragon's Age RPGs taking the front and center positions.  I thought I read somewhere that the rules designed for Dragon's Age are going to be Green Ronin's next "go to" ruleset.  Which kinda leaves True20 pushed to the curb.

Does anyone have experience with both True20 and Savage Worlds?  Are they both aiming for the same type of player base (although True20's roots in 3e may be seen as a strength for some and a curse for others)?  Any preference between the two?

Traveller is Coming to the iPhone Near You

I don't have a habit of clicking on ads, but when I saw one for Traveller-AR, I couldn't resist.  Apparently there is a company looking to release MMORPG based on the Traveller Universe and putting it on the iPhone.  Count me as "intrigued".

The concept could work, and the beta graphics look nice - but the proof is in the pudding, so I will reserve full judgement until it is closer to release.  I did, however, sign up for the beta.

Here's their video on YouTube:

New Additions to the Free RPG List

I'm thanking the Trollish Delver for these additions.  Witchcraft and Neverwhere I knew about but forgot.  Tales from the Wood and the Four Color System I have somehow missed in my web walking.

Witchcraft is from CJ Carella and uses the Unisystem

Neverwhere draws upon the writings of Neil Gaiman - 'nuff sais!

Tales From the Wood lets you play as creatures from the English Woodlands

The Four Color System is a free superhero RPG (cloning MSH)

The Free OSR RPG List "Mini Review" - Adventures Dark & Deep

Adventures Dark & Deep is a "what if" retro rpg. What if Gary Gygax hand't been force out of TSR? Unearthed Arcana and some of the issues of Dragon magazine gave hints as to Gary's vision of AD&D 2e, but we never got to see the project published, let alone completed.

With Adventures Dark & Deep we are given a possible version of what that would be, thanks to Joseph from the Greyhawk Grognard's Blog. I'll borrow from one of his forum posts at Adventures Dark & Deep and let him give a better summary then I just did:

The concept behind Adventures Dark and Deep (ADD) is a "what if?" scenario. Specifically, what would a 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons have looked like if Gary Gygax had stayed with TSR, and the game was developed along the lines he had been planning? The broad concepts were printed in Dragon magazine, and we saw some of it in 1985's Unearthed Arcana, but the coherent re-writing of the system, and the inclusion of intended new material, never happened. Gygax left the company, went on to develop many other games, and AD&D was taken in a very different direction in its published 2nd edition.

Adventures Dark and Deep is an attempt to reconstruct what such a 2nd edition would have looked like if Gygax had remained at the helm. New classes, including the mountebank, jester, mystic, savant, and bard, are included. Psionics is gone, as are monks and half-ogres. Assassins are relegated to optional status. Mages get to specialize in types of spells, with bonuses and accompanying detriments. Combat is streamlined and rationalized. The various spells, races, magical items, and classes from UA are integrated into the Players and Game Masters books, and all the creatures from the Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, and Monster Manual II are brought together into a single book, and more (and more variants) are added. Monsters have variable-type hit dice; larger, tougher creatures might use a d10 or d12 to determine hit dice, while physically weaker creatures might use a d4 or d6. In addition, the monsters are reorganized, making it easier to find a desired sort of creature by environment. A skills system is introduced, but one which doesn't undermine the coherence of the class-based system.

I don't have any special insight into Gygax's thought process regarding what a 2nd edition would have looked like, but I have studied what he's written about it, both in Dragon magazine and on various online fora over the years, and I think I've got a pretty good idea. It's a reconstruction, if you will, but it should make a ripping good game once its all set.


The presentation of the rules thus far is adequate (no bells or whistles), but it's the implementation of the rules where Joseph excels. This does feel more like a Gygaxian version of the 2e rules then the ones we were given. We'll never know exactly where EGG would have taken 2e, but this would have been a fine path.

Savage Worlds Deluxe - First Look

I don't know what I was expecting when I started virtually flipping thru the Savage Worlds Deluxe PDF, but I don't think it was this.  This isn't the SW EX edition, which is a nice, compact yet fairly plain - no, this edition has all the bells and whistles... I like it.

The presentation of the rules, physically (or is it electro-physically in a PDF) rivals that of Paizo.  It might even exceed them, but I'll hold off on declaring that for sure.

Now, maybe it's because I have a bit of a grasp of the rules in action after last weekend's playtest, but the presentation seems well written and understandable.  There's even little "notes from the editor" type stuff, to explain why something was added or removed, or why it is done a certain way.  It's a nice touch.

The artwork is very evocative without being "preachy".  Well, maybe preachy isn't the right term, but it doesn't need to be shocking to be effective.  It hits all the main genres and then some.

That being said, I could probably have done without the full page ads / art pieces for some of the genre / plot point adventures they are selling.  Right there in the first handful of pages too.  Eh, I still liked them.  Had no idea Space: 1869 was stepping into the Savage Worlds world.

Did I mention it has some very well done bookmarking?  A PDF without bookmarks, especially full length games, are pretty much only half done.  When I pay for something, I want it to be the best that it can be.  It looks like Pinnacle has done some good work here.

I'll get to the rules in the next part.  It's a holiday weekend, so don't hold your breath too much ;)

Saturday Afternoon DVD Mini Review - Solomon Kane

Let me be clear... I do not know much about Solomon Kane with the exception of what I read in the Savage Worlds Solomon Kane RPG.  Oh, and I really need to re-read the RPG, as I forgot pretty much all of his background except for the funny Pilgrim hat.

As a movie, it was pretty good.  Acting wasn't bad, script wasn't too hooky, ending was (like in most movies of it's type) lacking.  Still, it was pretty good.

Good enough to get my fiancée off the couch she was dozing on and get her sitting on the floor in front of the TV.  She was enjoying the fight scenes as much as I was.  Solomon is pretty kick ass.

As best I can tell, the film's story isn't based on any of the Solomon Kane stories the Robert E. Howard wrote, but it tells of Kane's origin.  It's an interesting take on redemption.

It has gotten me to further consider running a game using Savage Worlds, and the Solomon Kane RPG to boot.  Need to dig it out of the storage closet I think.

Of Savage Worlds and Solomon Kane

Last night before going to sleep (more accurately, early this morning) I picked up the PDF of the Savage Worlds Deluxe rules and promptly transferred it to my iPad for reading. I'll try to post some first impressions later today, but I like what I see so far (playing with the system last week sure didn't hurt in understanding the system either - thank you White Haired Man).

Earlier this week I read that Solomon Kane was never released here in the States, not even on DVD. I tracked down a DVD of it on Ebay that SHOULD play on my US Zoned DVD player. I'll find out later today and hopefully have a review.
edit: the DVD plays fine!

Oh, and thanks to the Trollish Delver's blog, I've realized I've missed a few more free RPGs. I'll post them later.

Time willing, I'll also start the capsule reviews of the Free RPG list...

YOU Make the Call...

Although I have a crapload of stuff I need to review already (I'm going to count LotFP Weird Fantasy and Vornheim as complete unless I am suddenly inspired) I am considering picking up the Savage Worlds Deluxe ruleset in PDF  to give it a real review.  What say you all?

As for the Free RPG lists I've put together, I'm thinking of adding a page to the blog that lists them all, with a three or four sentence description of each (and links to any reviews I may have done).  The links will remain on the main page, but the new page would give the reader a fairly quick summary of each to help decide if the DL is worth it to them.  A bit of work, so I'd do it piecemeal.  Again, any thoughts?

Actually, come to think of it, I should probably do a short blog post / mini-review on each in order.  Then include a link to that post on my Free RPG page.  Greg would finally stop hounding me to get around to reviewing Errant (he's hounding me for good reason - I'm easily distracted and it's long overdue ;)  This would take some time, but would it have value to the community?

Please, leave your thoughts after the beep... BEEEEEPPPPPP!

Here's Some More Free RPG Day Goodies!

Pinnacle put up their Savage Worlds 2011 Free RPG Day The Wild Hunt up for free in PDF on their site.  You can grab the free Savage Worlds Testdrive Rules while you are at it.

Stone Table Games has posted their Aspect starter rules and adventure Here There Be Demons.  You'll need to register for their forums to download.

The Tunnels & Trolls 2011 Free RPG Day release Rescue Mission is not yet available in PDF, but the printed copy is available for $2 for Flying Buffalo.  While you are at it, grab the 2008 Free RPG Day release from them.  With shipping (in the states) the 2 will cost you $7 shipped.

Found Some More Free Mapping Resources

Somehow, someway I stumbled across the blog grandexperiement over at LiveJournal.  I must have read the link on someone else's blog, clicked it, left it on my iPad and restumbled across it this morning.  Therein I found links to two nice mapping applications, the first tile based.

Pymapper looks to be an easy to learn, tile based mapper.  I don't ask for much, but this looks like it might deliver.

The other is ditzie.  It is web hosted, so your choice of OS shouldn't matter.  This seems ideal for PbP games, as the map can be updated online.  Pretty cool.

Adding the above to the map resources on the left...

When Google Goes Bad...

Every once in a while, someone posts the "would you believe the search phrase that someone used to find my blog?" type of post.  It's kinda like the Hot Elf Chick deal a few months back, but that was an attempt to make it work for us.

Today, I found not only a truly bizarre term was used to find this blog, but the term actually put my blog in 5th place on the 1st page of the search.  I just feel bad for the guy (I assume it's a guy) who landed here with the search phrase: "bluemen masturbation images" and got a blog post about Sorcery & Super Science's The House of Blue Men ;)

The Overlooked Blogs Collection - @Padre's

It's been a long time since I've done an overlooked blog post, and it's way overdue.  In any case, this overlooked blog post is for @Padre's.  You might remember Padre from the blog Grievous Injury, which I inadvertently help implode (well, Blogger's paid service for domain names imploded it, but I led Padre to the path ;)

Padre is an old school gamer in the true sense - the man plays DragonQuest.  Now, my personal experience with DragonQuest is limited - I own a copy of the second edition that I traded WEG's Junta for, and promptly filled it away with a bunch load of other RPG's from the era that I never got around to playing.  Still, Old School Gaming is similar in flavor no matter the system one uses.

Padre is not a shyte stirrer.  He actually thinks before he posts, go figure... heh.  I have a few things I can learn from the man myself it seems.

@Padre's is a new blog, but it's own old blog in truth.

Tell Padre I said hello :)

Sometimes it Just Doesn't Fit

In the current state of renovations at Tenkar's Residence (not the Tavern, which has had its own renovations recently), I've been looking to "get rid of stuff".  My sister and her husband had stored some stuff here before I had the need for "more space".

In recent days my son and I  delivered their grandfather clock and her wedding dress that was hanging in the closet I shall soon be demolishing.  Today, we had planned on bringing her her highboy.  Down a tight flight of stairs, out the stairs in front of the house, and into the back of my Hyundai Elantra hatchback (its a real cruising car).  As Maxwell Smart would say: "Chief, we missed it by 'this much'".  Needed another inch and a half of trunk space.  My son measured, but he didn't take into account the need for wiggle room.

What does this have to do with gaming?  The best (in my book anyway) RPGs leave the GM and the players some 'wiggle room' - rules that can bend without breaking.  The early editions (and clones) of D&D are this way, although I think 3e and 4e have much less space for wiggle.

"Wiggle room' allows the game system to adapt in minor ways to the needs of the users as opposed to forcing the users to full adapt to it.

In my case, lack of 'wiggle room' means my brother-in-law needs to cash in a favor and borrow a van from someone.  It better be soon too.  I'm going to be putting to flooring in those two rooms and I dont need to be moving his sucker back and forth damn it! ;)

I've Got About 5 Months To Plan an Online Campaign - Open For Suggestions

I figure I'm looking at the end of November, beginning of December for the start of my online game. Which of course means I will have 5 months worth of second guessing, changing, gamer's ADD and all other sorts of distractions between now and then. Why 5 months? Cause I'm getting married in just over 4 months. heh ;)

In any case, I need to decide on a system. While Savage Worlds was lots of fun last weekend, I don't see myself as having enough system knowledge to run it properly. Besides, they just came out with a new edition of the rulebook, just as I started to learn the old.

Tunnels & Trolls is a strong candidate, but with Fantasy Grounds lacking even a community written character sheet, I would probably find myself falling back on GameTable as the VTT. I really would like to get some value out of my Fantasy Grounds Ultimate license at some point.

Swords & Wizardry Complete is also a very strong choice. I could probably run it using the Labyrinth Lord ruleset for FG2. Wouldn't mind seeing the Bard class I wrote in action.

If you had asked me last year, I would have said Castles & Crusades, but the campaign I was playing in shows little sign of being revived. It's been revived once already, at the cost of most of the original players. I don't think Sak will be as successful a second time. C&C is a good system, with lots of support via Fantasy Grounds rules and modules. I just don't see it as my classic "go to" old school game anymore.

I could run LL, but from my perspective, S&W has it beat by a hair when it comes to how I'd want to run an OSR style game. Then again, there is the LL ruleset for FG2 ready and waiting.

As much as I like the FATE system, I've never actually played the FATE system, so what looks good on paper may not play out as well in real time gaming.

I think I'll need to work on some map creation skills on top of all of this. I know CC3 and Dunjinni are a bit beyond my skills (believe me, I've tried). I think I need to visit the Map Links to the left side and start playing with them a bit. That, and I'd like to find one that is OSX friendly. After switching to a Mac Mini for most of my computing last year, I really dread booting up the old Win 7 box.

Any ideas? Thoughts? Systems that I might have missed? I'm open to listening.

Productive Working Vacation So Far - Posted From Work

This week I'm on vacation - except for today. Tonight I have a retirement party to attend, and rather then drive into Manhattan tonight on my own time, I figured I'd just go to work for the day and hop a ride downtown to the party later. Needless to say, I dropped myself into a large pile of poo. Poo cleaning is almost done ;)

I've been painting and wallpapering for a few hours each day so far. Tomorrow morning may finish the wallpapering (if i'm lucky). I have some carpentry work I need to do on some archway molding, need to dismantle an ancient and insufficient closet, order new flooring and then instal the above.

I've also been trying to get some RPG reading in, and I'm hoping to catch Green Lantern tomorrow or Friday.

At least I can't say I've been wasting my time like usual ;)

Nine Years Ago Today...

Nine years ago today, I was promoted to the supervisory ranks of the NYPD.  I quickly realized it was more important to play the role of a boss that knew what he was doing then be a boss that was pretty unsure of himself and nervous as all heck out of fear of screwing things up.

Years of role playing, mostly from the DM's chair, sure came in handy in those early days.  It wasn't that I hadn't used those skill previously, on the streets as a cop in the South Bronx, but I hadn't tried using those skills on my fellow officers.  Those years of rolling dice have done me some great service over the years.

Of course, if I were growing up now, I'd be more likely to be honing my skills in MMORPGS or first person shooters.  I'm sure I'd find some use for those skills, but for me, I prefer the skill-set that D&D gave me.

Go figure.  D&D helped qualify me for life ;)

Mini Review - Tavern By The Sea (Tunnels & Trolls)

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to look at a new Tunnels & Trolls solo (I'm waiting on my 2011 Free RPG Day T&T Solo to arrive in the mail).  Today, we give you Tavern By The Sea, by Ken St. Andre and Andy Holmes.

Here's the interesting thing about Tavern By The Sea - there's a Mini-Adventure snuggled in the back of it. I love the T&T solo, but adventures for use by a party are few and far between.  Frargg--The Pirate Nest isn't huge (its about 6 pages long), but with the exception of Outlaw Press products, this is the first GM Adventure for T&T I can recall being released in... 20 years?  more?  The last was Isle of Darksmoke as far as I can remember.

Oh, apparently part of the 2011 Free Game Day release is a GM adventure.  Damn cool!  Seriously, if you want to put Tunnels & Trolls into the hands of more gamers, you have to give them a game they can play with others.  Want to add more solo players?  Bring in more players in general.

Where was I?

Ah, yes, Tavern By The Sea.  The solo by the same name is 20 pages of the total 32 pages (6 for the GM adventure, cover, ads, art are the rest).  For T&T 7.5e, and characters of 3rd level or lower.  You can use it with earlier editions of T&T, but from my experience the power curve in 7.5 is noticeably higher the 5.5 or earlier.  Don't say I didn't warn ya.

You can start a new character, and there is a twist in that you can roll a die to give your character a little background history.  Oh, and a house rule allowing the roll of 4d6, dropping the lowest (with TARO, dropping the lowest might not always be the best choice).

If I told you the solo doesn't take itself, or you, too seriously, would you be surprised?  I wasn't either.  Fun T&T soloing to be had.

Now if Ken and Rick could just get this stuff out even quicker ;)

Supreme Court Strikes Down California Violent Video Game Ban

The First Amendment of the US Constitution is an amazing little piece of law.  It now covers (or always covered, but now covers by ruling) video games.  I'd hate have seen Dragon Age or Fallout or even Fable restricted by some NC-17 rating, because in many ways they are just as violent as Call of Duty and GTA.  RPGs, by their roots and nature, are violent little beasts ;)

From the majority opinion:

Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas—and even social messages—through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, “esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority.” 

A List is a List is a List - Tweaking in Progress

Well, I think I'm going with:

Free OSR RPGs (derived from D20 / earlier versions of D&D)

Free Classic RPGs (GURPS / Traveller / Runequest / Gore / Lost Souls and the Like)

Free Modern RPGs (Risus / FATE / PDQ and the like)

When I get the chance I'll try and group within each list by genre.

Once this damn list building is done, I can get back to reviews, the next RPG "porn" release, funky dice and all the other stuff that seems to stir the shite on the interwebs ;)

Need to Divide the Free RPG List - Any Thoughts?

The Free RPG List I've been putting together has grown in leaps and bounds, and is set to grow even more with the suggestions I've received so far today (let alone further suggestions and games I stumble upon).  I'm not just throwing any game into the list, but I think the list needs to be broken down further.

I'm thinking:

Free OSR Games (for the D&D clones, sims, variants, etc)

Free Old School RPGs (anything from the mid 90's and before - T&T, Gore, West End Games D6, Lost Souls, OpenQuest, etc)

Free RPGs - General (Risus, PDQ, stuff from Greg at Dark Horse Games, Stuff from the Free RPG Blog, etc)

Free RPG Day Quickstarts (for this year, last year and possibly 2009) - this list would probably be the last one done

Any thoughts, suggestions, changes?

How Many Freely Available RPGs Are There?

Well, it isnt infinite, but the list on the left of this post just keeps growing.  It seems I'm constantly having those "how the hell did I forget THAT one?"

Added, in no particular order of preference to the List of Free RPG Rules:

Bill Coffin's Septimus and the D6 core Bundle from West End Games.  The same engine that powered Star Wars back in the day.

FUDGE, cause, like, its  been around forever (and is a pretty cool ruleset)

Old School Hack - hey, people play it and like it.  It's Old School and New School.  It's a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

The System - Old School crunch heavy.  Missed it the first time around, which isnt a surprise.

Pars Fortuna - a Swords & Wizardry variant - 'nuff said!

Lost Souls (i own a 1st printing), Legendary Lives (another 1st printing), Khaotic (never owned) and Crimes People Play (never released back in the day) original published by Marquee Press and released to the masses for free in PDF by the author, Joe Williams.  Good stuff from the early 90's.

Oh, and Mapping Resources is now its own list.

A Busy Day - And Another Free RPG Day PDF is Released

Went to Home Depot to grab some laminate flooring samples, as I'll be using laminate for the flooring in the bedroom / office area.  I think we settled on an oak laminate.  Also put up another wall worth of wallpaper, which should leave me about a wall and a half to go.  Only have one day of work this week (Wednesday), so if I can get the wallpaper done and the flooring ordered and the archway molding rebuilt (which may be tomorrow's project) I'll be thrilled.

The Black Crusade Free RPG Day freebie has been released in PDF.  It comes in hi-res and lo-res versions:  (thanks again to Walking dad's thread on ENWorld)
 Broken Chains (high res pdf, 41.7 MB)
Broken Chains (low res pdf, 2.9 MB)
Broken Chains Bonus Characters (high res pdf, 15.7 MB)
Broken Chains Bonus Characters (low res pdf, 888 KB)

At this rate I'll need a link list of the Free RPG Day PDF releases.

edit:  and added Old School Hack to the Free Games List

Adding Dave's Mapper to the Resources List

Rob Lang's Free RPG Blog is a treasure trove of RPG goodies.  Last week he highlighted Dave's Mapper, which uses geomorphs to make some gorgeous rpg maps.  This looks like a blast to use, let alone use the results.

Also, to the RPG list, I'm adding adding Dragonquest, the old SPI fantasy RPG.  As long as a game is played, it lives, and this game is still being played.  Thanks Padre.

I'm beginning to things Maps and Tokens need their own list.