Revamp in Progess

Out with the old Template, in with the New Template.

Very much a work in progress.

Feel free to throw your two cents below... I'm not too proud to take advice ;)

DC Adventures - Quick Start

I know I'm overdue on the next install of the Quick Start listings I've been putting together, but I'd hate to see this one fall thru the cracks.

 

The DC Adventures Quick Start highlights the new DC Adventures game, which is built upon the Mutants and Masterminds rules, of which you can also grab a quick start for here.

DC Adventures Quick Start is a mere 9 pages (the M&M quick start is 34 pages, but who is counting?).  What I do find strange is that the new quick start uses Superboy and Smallville as its hooks... didn't we just get a Smallville RPG?

I've been waiting for a DC supers game since the old Mayfair days... now where is my Marvel Heroes RPG?

LotFP - Weird Fantasy - Weird New World

Lamentations of the Flame Princess - Weird Fantasy - Weird New World is James Raggi's sandbox setting for the Weird Fantasy Ruleset (although it should work with any of the retro clones without much work.

So, why check out Weird New World when fantasy settings are a dime a dozen these days?  Simply because they ARE a dime a dozen these days, and James never plays it safe or close to the vest.  This is not  your normal fantasy setting, but you probably guessed that already.

 

James gives us a cold land further divided by climate zones, a weather severity system (which will effect gameplay), random encounter charts (land, sea and ice), encounter areas and notable landmarks, some detailed encounters, elves that make the Drow seem tame... in the long and short of it, typical Raggi... if there was a typical Raggi.

The man crams a lot into 28 pages.  Most if it is snippets, short pieces to get you thinking about how you want to flesh things out.

Now, could I run this as is?  Nope, its a sandbox, a very large sandbox, and James plants some very nice seeds.  You need to make this your own before you can run it.  Which is fine by me.

Did I mention its a very lethal setting, or did you just assume that with James writing it? ;)

Gamers Seeking Gamers

It appears ENWorld overwhelmed it's servers when it went live with its Gamers Seeking Gamers service over the weekend.  Which tells you there are a lot of gamers seeking game groups, and / or game groups seeking additional players.  Which is good.  Heck the service is good for the hobby, especially from a site that gets traffic like ENWorld does.

Gamers Seeking Gamers is a way for you to find other gamers in your area. But not only that - you can find conventions, events, online groups, and more!

You are able to seach by location - you tell Gamers Seeking Gamers where you are, and then tell it how many miles away from you you'd like to search (and yes, you can change that to kilometers if you want to!) Gamers Seeking Gamers will then show you a map and a list of matching gamers, events, regular games, conventions, and groups within that area.

You can even filter your search results - you can narrow the list down by age group or by which games people are interested in. 

Which makes for a very interesting tool.  Not sure I'll use it much myself, as I have enough trouble trying to schedule  my old gaming group to gather once a month via Fantasy Grounds 2.

Throwing Stones - Sorta

I'm nearing the halfway point of my vacation, and so far I've had:
     - an explosive case of food poisoning
     - passed a kidney stone (apparently - I wasn't going to retrieve it to be sure)
     - received Gold - A Web Series - Season One DVD to review
     - got myself a reviewer's PDF copy of DC Heroes
     - got to spend lots of bathroom time with LotFP's Weird Fantasy
     - other assorted crap too minor to mention

One hell of a mixed bag.  Then again, I seem to always get sick on vacation, which is why I haven't had to take a sick day in almost 3 years... sigh.

Tomorrow I set up my new Mac Mini, with switches to share my monitor and other peripherals with my PC.  Hopefully more quality time with Weird Fantasy and DC Heroes too.

LotFP -Weird Fantasy - My Thoughts

Its weird, but the last pieces of the boxed set I'll probably put some serious reading time into are the Rules and Spells books. This is for the simple reason that the rest of the boxed set steps pretty far from standard fair.

I'm not saying the rules are standard OSR clone-age, but the rest of the set stands unique enough to get preferential reading treatment, and micro reviewing on this blog.

Never got the chance to run thru the tutorial, but i will try to in the next few days.

Game on!

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LotFP - Weird Fantasy - Tower of the Stargazer

Lamentations of the Flame Princess - Weird Fantasy - Tower of the Stargazer.  It's a hell of a lot to write to name one of  James Raggi's latest works, but it is worth it.  It's included in the Weird Fantasy boxed set that James just released, but its also available separately.

So, what do you get for your purchase?  More then you might expect.  You get 16 pages crammed full of text,  a wrap around cover which, just like TSR's old modules, includes all the maps the DM needs on the inside cover, and cover art by Peter Mullen.

Now, as for those 16 pages full of text?  James outdid himself.  Seriously.  The adventure itself is excellent and extremely deadly (as one would expect with Raggi writing it).  Its not just another Wizard's Tower.  But that's not where the value lies.  The value is in James' notes. Notes on the playtest, what worked and what didn't.  Notes on WHY he wrote something one way, and not another way.  Notes that just about any DM will read and say "I just learned something useful".  All that hidden like little Easter Eggs in an an already sweet piece of work.

I really need to sit down with the Tutorial Booklet.  I suspect there will be things to learn there too.

LotFP - Weird Fantasy - Referee Book -

I'm not sure if James plans to make the Referee Book from his Weird Fantasy boxed set available as a stand along product, but he should.  I've read numerous books on DM'ing, GM'ing, Ref'ing, etc... and not one spoke to me in a real man's (or person's) language and terms.  James is spot on way more often then not, and where we disagree its more on a level of play styles - and even in these cases I can see and understand what James' point is.



Rule 1 won me over:  "Don't be a dick."

So right, yet so often left unsaid.

Back to Weird Fantasy reading...

Superhero Summer

I'm amazed at the number of superhero games that are / have been / will be released this summer. 

Icons was released earlier in late spring / early summer.  Its a nice little game from the designer of Mutants and Masterminds, and offers a quick and easy method to get you Superhero fix in.

DC Adventures was just released on RPGNow yesterday, although I think there is a revision going on with the PDF file.  I got an error with Adobe Reader, but Sumatra read it fine.  It's syncing to my iPad as I type.  Nice rainy day here in the Pocono Mountains makes for great reading time. It's engine is the Mutants and Masterminds system.

The Smallville RPG landed last week.  I haven't checked it out as I don't watch the series, but I have heard  good things about the series, so I may have to check it out as I run thru the other superhero rpgs.

Then of course there is Wild Talents 2nd Edition, which I had overlooked until I noticed the current superhero explosion currently in effect.  It came out earlier this year, and I must say it looks nice.  The One Roll Engine looks interesting, tho' I'd like to see it in play  Then again, I'm a bargain hunter at hard, so the earlier Wild Talents Essential Edition for only 5 bucks is very attractive.

Feedback when I get thru some reading, although I may be running the tutorial from LotFP Weird Fantasy as a single player adventure with a DM later tonight or tomorrow.  If I do I'll post the results and review.

Gathering of Fools Recap

Amazingly enough, Army of Darkness was NOT on the list of things to do or watch.  No idea how that fell thru the cracks.

We did however, watch The Hunt for Gollum.  Very well done, especially considering it is a fan movie.  Better then most of the made for SciFy Channel stuff in any case. 

Family Guy, bad Heavy Metal videos, classic arcade games like Gauntlet 2 on the PS3... plus beer, chips and beef jerky.  Classic Fools Fare.  Oh, and some Krod Mandoon.  My god but that show left little to the imagination.

In the end I gave everyone copies of Dark Dungeon, and they got to do a last man standing with generic level 1 fighters for a copy of the collectible Swords & Wizardry Whitebox boxed set (a copy of the S&W Quickstart rules went to the three eliminated).  Probably the first time I had the classic group rolling dice in a meaningful manner in 13 years... it was a blast.  Think I've hooked 'em, no to reel them in ;)

I Looted the Birthday Beast

and all I got was a lousy t-shirt.  Not!  heh

I feel truly blessed, as I received presents way beyond what I deserved.  I'll be hitting Amazon pretty hard in the next couple of days and will need to hit Microcenter soon to spend my new gift card.  Got some new Teva sandals which will be worn at the Gathering of Fools in lieu of socks ;)  Even got a handly dandy Apple Keyboard and Stand for my iPad.  Most excellent.  Oh, and of course Monty Python's Holy Grail  ceramic goblet.  Good one.

Number one b-day loot?  I Hate Your Guts, by comedian Jimmy Norton (also a regular on the Opie and Anthony Satellite Radio Show).  This book was delivered to my Kindle app on my iPad thanks to my son Chris, who figured out the prefect gift without any help from me (i just said get me an iTunes gift card).  I'm a real proud poppa.

Of course, his other idea was to put money on my Paypal account so i could by some of those silly RPGs at RPGNow.  He really knows me well ;)

I get to give gifts out in about 3 hrs at the Gathering of Fools.  Awesome vacation so far.  Heh

Pending Gathering of Fools

Today is my birthday.  I have hit the grand old age of 43, an age I never would have imagined people actively roleplayed at when I was 13.  Go figure.

More importantly tomorrow is the seasonal (more or less) Gathering of Fools.  The core of my old High School / College / Life Before our own Families and Responsibilities Group gets together every few months to shoot the shit, have a few beers for old fiends we've lost, watch Army of Darkness for the 27th time, eat lots of beef jerky and basically act like we did 25 years ago.

I like to bear gifts when possible during these gatherings.  Castles & Crusades books, OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry... I've given them all out.


Tomorrow I get to give out copies of Dark Dungeons, some Swords and Wizardry Quickstarts and a single copy of the Swords & Wizardry Whitebox Edition in the collectible box.  Think I'll run a mock combat with the S&W rules, last man standing gets the boxed set.  Should be a blast.

Posting may be light the rest of the weekend.  Or not.  One never knows what may spark a post ;)

Warrior, Rogue & Mage

Warrior, Rogue & Mage from Stargazer Games is a free, lightweight fantasy RPG.  Its a complete game in all of 40 pages, including setting.

In this game, the classic class names from fantasy RPGs are instead your attributes.  Once you wrap your head around that a few times you'll be fine.

In simplest terms, Warrior defines your combat abilities,  Rogue your stealth and Mage your academic / magical abilities.  Add in skills (that are linked to your attributes) and talents and you've pretty much defined your character.

Simple games can be a lot of fun, but they take the correct group.  A 40 page PDF is not going to cover all possibilities, so common sense and GM fiat may be needed at times.  Still, for a quick and easy system Warrior, Rogue & Mage reminds me in ways of Ancient Odysseys - both games are easy to pick up and get gaming with pretty quickly.

Decent layout and nice enough artwork makes this a keeper.  Warrior, Rogue & Mage is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

LotFP - Weird Fantasy in Hand

Gotta give props to Jim and the Finnish mail service.  I got my copy of Weird Fantasy this afternoon, the 28 of July - Jim shipped o the 26th.

Lots of goodies jammed in the box.  Its a tasty box too, or at least my cat thinks so.  She was nibbling on the edge.

The first parts I plan to read are the Tutorial (to see how well it might actually explain role playing to those outside the hobby), and the two included adventures:  Tower of the Stargazer and Weird New World.  Need to step away from my iPad for a bit it seems ;)

Heck, the dice may be small but they look to be decent quality.

I'll give a review after I read thru everything.

Dungeon Demon - Mapping for this Dummy

I have spent years trying to use a computer program for my dungeon mapping.  Campaign Cartographer is an amazing program in the right hands - those hands are not mine.  Dundjinni is another excellent mapping program.  I came closer to success with this one, but still far from pleasing, and it takes me forever.

I stumbled across Dungeon Demon from Rusty Axe Games last nite, a surprisingly intuitive mapping program for the mapping impaired.  I was able to put a no frills 4 room dungeon together in about 10 minutes, suitable for my online Virtual Table Top of choice, Fantasy Grounds (tho iTabletop may be knocking on that door soon).  I figure if I spend another 20 minutes making it all pretty I'll be pretty well set.

It won't overwhelm you with options, and will probably be seen as a mapping program with training wheels for the mapping masters out there, but I need the training wheels :)

This is a first for me.  I'm actually kind of excited.  Another excuse for not running a game removed from me.  Going to need to get off my ass and DM soon it seems.

If I get anywhere near passable I'll post some on the blog, just don't hold your breath ;)

No More Core 4e Books?

Found this linked on Louis Porter's Facebook page. Will be interesting to see how this plays out if accurate.

ManaNation has received a tip that Wizards of the Coast has decided to end the print run of the Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Core Handbooks, instead aiming to turn the game in the direction of “Dungeons and Dragons Essentials”, a product to be released later this year. The first product for the Essentials line is starting with the ‘Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game’ also being called ‘the Red Box’ and is due to be released on Sept. 7th, 2010.

It is our understanding that they are not going to be reprinting any of the three main books, the Players Handbook, Dungeon Master Guide and Monster Manual from this point on to allow them to be phased out. No other books have been mentioned.

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Location:No More Core 4e Books?

EGG's Lejendary Adventures - Quick Start

Lejendary Adventures was Gary Gygax's most recent game system.  Somewhere in my piles and shelves and closets of gaming goodness, I have both the full sized paperback books and the boxed set published by the Troll Lords.

These days it is out of print.  As Gygax Games has yet to decide what to do with the property, it may be out of print for a while.  That being said, DragonsFoot has a decent amount of material for use in the game.  More to the point, they have the PDF version of the Lejendary Adventures Quickstart available for download.

On the day we remember the man who did much to bring about this hobby of ours, why don't you download a copy of the Lejendary Adventures Quickstart.  Designed by the man.  Played by the man.

Heck, I'm gonna download another copy myself.  So I can give it a good reading.  I never got to play on the man's porch, but I've gotten the chance to spend many a year with his creations.

Roll them dice lads and ladies.

edit:  fixed the damn "G" for "J" deallie - Gary's f'n with me from above I tell you! ;)

Encounters Mag - Aussie for Classic Gaming

The lads down under have been putting out a free PDF magazine called Encounters.  There is a nice amount of material to borrow or steal for your D&D, LL, S&W, or other assorted old school styled gaming.

Very high production values and a decent page count, this quarterly magazine would have me subscribing if it offered such, but it's free, so I'll need to remember to track it down very few months.

Issue 2 of Encounters was just released.  Do yourself, and your gaming group a favor, and grab a copy.

Quick Start Rules - The Listing - Part the Seventh

Yep, the Quick Starts just keep rolling along.  Seventh posting and no where done.  Free is fun ;)

HELLAS: Quick Start Rules - Hellas is an exciting fusion of high drama, action-adventure, romance, mythology-infused space opera and science fiction - all that seems to be missing is the kitchen sink.

S.A.V.A.G.E. Essentials Rulebook - (Survival and Victory after Global Extinction) - Stripped down core rules for free.  When the author says "for experienced gamers only", I lean toward beleiving him.  Still, mightbe some stuff stealable for your Mutant Future game.

Promethean: The Created Demo - Promethean: The Created Promo -  Think Frankenstein and Golems.  Its set in White Wolf's World of Darkness.  Hell, with of of the WoD quickstarts, you could game for months and not spend a cent.

SLA Industries FREE Rulebook - Not a quickstart, as the quickstart's link appears to be dead.  Instead, its the full core rulebook.  Spies, espionage, magic, biogenetics and more.  Over 300 pages.  Full game.  'Nuff said.

Destination Now Known

Christian over at the Destination Unknown blog has gotten back to the zine business. The latest can be downloaded directly from his site, or for the lucky few a paper copy will be arriving in the mail.

I'd link it up for ya, but still haven,t figured how to do that from the iPad. ;)

I'll edit this tonight for linkability.


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edit:  Got mine in my snail-mail box today.  Woot!