Building a Better Bard - Final Tuning - Part VI (Swords & Wizardry)

I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my S&W Bard - dropping some ideas for now (like using the Cleric Turning Table for charming) but I may add options later.  Simpler is better, and I need to get this done this weekend and get it sent off to Matt.

Wish me luck ;)

Is it Just Me...

or is Blogger still acting a bit flakey?

Ah well, in any case, I have dirt under my nails from gardening, paint all over my hands from - you guessed it - painting and I'm trying to post with my feline daughter sitting on my mouse and purring incessantly.  I guess I'll give Blogger a few more hours before I post anything worthwhile.

Still, I feel a bit like Christian today - gardening AND home improvements and it's not even 4:30.  I just need to squeeze in some gaming and it's a trifecta ;)

And Then There Were...

Well, I'm really hesitant to post the next part of my Building a Better Bard, as it is written down in random notes that I collect, prune and purge as I post them to the blog.  With Blogger having some "issues" recently, I'd hate to post something and then have it disappear (like yesterday's post did for a bit ... but now, its back).

So I'm gonna round out the Bard in Pages, then copy it over to Blogger.  Crap, I  really should use that nice Print to PDF Button on these posts to save everything.  That would make way too much sense ;)

I'm kinda happy I was too busy to post much the last few days... I think some of my fellow bloggers can relate to this man:

I feel his pain.  Its been that kind of a week...

Damn You Blogger!

EDIT - Blogger is obviously up!

Blogging my Blog via Blogger
Seemed wise at the time.
Now it's down and
All I can do is whine ;)

All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go...

I was all set for the first session of a new Tunnels & Trolls Campaign (via Google chat) that a couple of fellow bloggers are involved in when the GM had to cancel for real life issues. Alright, I wasn't all set as I hadn't even bought weapons for my Wizard and I barely made it home in time, but I was close to being set ;)

It was all for the best. I need to flesh out my Wizzie and allergies have been kicking my ass this week. I doubt I would have made it to the planned end of the session at midnite. I was lights out last nite at 1015, which was probably for the best.

Still, I am psyched. I miss the C&C via FG2 campaign that is currently on indefinite hiatus. This should be a blast when it gets up and running.

Building a Better Bard - A Bard Gotta Have Skills - Part V (Swords & Wizardry)

Yes, our bard needs some skills to go along with his non-offensive song list.  Originally, I wanted to use the Charisma Score's determination of the number of henchmen / followers to directly correspond to the number of uses of his various skills / powers, but that strays a bit far from S&W's way of doing things.

Lets see:  From the thief, we will give him Hear Noise, Read Languages and Delicate Tasks (Pick Pocket Only) as a thief of equal level.

From the Fighter: Bard Sub-Class in NOD Issue #1 (it's an awesome publication and the first issue is free, so grab a copy for yourself) we are going to borrow Inspiration, Legend Lore, Fascinate and Heroism.  Really, why reinvent the wheel when the wheel is pretty damn good?

Weapons:  All but two-handed melee
Armor:  Chain Mail, Ring Mail, Leather (no shield)
Attack: As Cleric
Save: As Thief

Next up - the experience table

Mini Review - CC1 Curse of Crosskey (Labyrinth Lord w/ AEC)

Curse of Crosskey is a Labyrinth Lord (with the AEC) adventure for character levels 3-4.  As with most of the adventures that fall under the general banner of the OSR, you should be able to use this with S&W, C&C, OSRIC or any of the other D&D / OGL based rulesets.  Good, that's out of the way.

Take off the cover, OGL and title / contents page and it comes in at 11 pages for $1.99.  Not a bad return on your investment, but if you want to get a real return on your cash you will need to invest time and effort.  This is a sandbox style adventure that starts with the ::SPOILER ALERT!!!:: players getting shipwrecked on a mysterious and magically infused island.  So yes, the plot hook is very specific: your party is forced into survivor / explorer mode.  As you need to put them in that situation, how you set things up is very important, thus your investment of time and effort.

There is a lot that is hinted at in this adventure that can be fleshed out by the GM... heck, it probably needs to be fleshed out.  Especially the ideas to conclude / continue the adventure.  In many ways, I feel this is less a sandbox adventure as it is a sandbox micro-setting.

Three new magic items and two new monsters round things out.

From the blurb:

The Western Star, sailing on a clear sea, is suddenly caught in a mysterious storm appearing out of the blue. Skies darken as fierce wind and driving rain lash at the ship, sending it crashing upon the shore of Crosskey Island. Those fortunate souls that survive must find rescue before their supply of food and water run out. Some of the passengers seem to have plans of their own. Will the "Curse of Crosskey" finally be revealed?

Apparently I Work Better With a Short Time Limit

I'm working fast and furiously on the Bard for S&W with the hopes of getting something complete enough to submit to the next Knock Spell. The cutoff is May 15th, so I've got 5 days to go. Knowing me, that is better then having 15 days to go, as I'd probably let that clock run down to 5 days before getting myself moving.

Need to work on class abilities and the expo charts next, then tie it all into one neat package.

Building a Better Bard - Singing Spells - Part IV (Swords & Wizardry)

Part of my love of Bards probably goes back to the Spellsinger series of books by Alan Dean Foster.  It wasn't the best fantasy series, but for me, it defined that "Bardic Moment".  Bards are cool.  Bards also need spells.

So, here's my proposed spell progression:

Level Spell   1     2     3     4

Bard    1       1
Level   2       2
            3       3
            4       3     1
            5       4     2
            6       4     3
            7       4     3     1
            8       4     3     2
            9       4     3     3
          10       4     4     3     1
          11       5     4     3     2
          12       5     4     4     3
          13       5     5     4     4
          14       5     5     5     4
          15       5     5     5     5

And the proposed spell lists:
(M = M/U Spell, C=Cleric Spell, D=Druid Spell)

1st Level Spells / Songs
1 - Charm Person (M1)
2 - Detect Magic (M1)
3 - Hold Portal (M1)
4 - Light (M1)
5 - Read Language (M1)
6 - Sleep (M1)

2nd Level Spells / Songs
1 - Cure Light Wounds (C1)
2 - Mirror Image (M2)
3 - Phantasmal Force (M2)
4 - Hold Person (C2)
5 - Detect Evil (C1)
6 - Pyrotechnics (M2)

3rd Level Spells / Songs
1 - Suggestion (M3)
2 - Protection From Normal Missiles (M3)
3 - Silence 15'R (C2)
4 - Protection Against Fire (C3)
5 - Slow (M3)
6 - Obscuring Mist (D2)

4th Level Spells / Songs
1 - Charm Monster (M4)
2 - Confusion (M4)
3 - Hold Monster (M5)
4 - Neutralize Poison (C4)
5 - Clairaudience (M3)

To Be Eighteen Again

My son turns 18 at the end of the month. Amazing how time flies. I remember sitting down and helping him with math homework in elementary school. Now he wants an Emergency Medical Technician Course for his birthday. Basic math to EMT... overnite it seems.

When I was 18 I lived to game. If we were off for a week from school, we probably gamed each and every day. Dungeon Magazine was gold when it first came out, as I devoured adventures as a GM like they were going out of style.

Work? As little as possible. School? Grades came easy for me. College was a vehicle for more gaming, work was there to buy more gaming books.

I had little focus, no idea what I wanted to make of my life.

My son has found his focus. Grades may not come as easy for him as they did for me, but he's about 10 years ahead of me at that age. I didn't find my focus until my late 20's.

Can ya tell I'm proud? Of course, I still need to turn him into a gamer like his old man ;)

Building a Better Bard - Part III (Swords & Wizardry)

Looking at the Bard, I see him with weapon training a bit better then the thief, so we will give him the Cleric / Druid / Monk combat chart.

As for Saving Throw, he will save as per the Thief / M-U table.

His Prime Attribute will be Charisma. To make it more relevant, we will give him an extra 1st level spell / song for a Charisma of 15 or better.

As for spells / songs, we will raid the spell lists of the M-U, Cleric and Druid. He will gain spells / songs at a slower rate then the main casting classes: at Bard - 1 : 1st level spells, Bard - 4: 2nd level spells, Bard - 7: 3rd level spells and finally at Bard - 10: 4th level spells. Spell progression table and spell lists are being tweaked (and probably hard to format on my iPad, so they will need to wait at least until tonight).

I want to make using an instrument beneficial to the Bard, so I am thinking using a two handed instrument while casting a spell / song adds 2 levels to the caster's effective level (but it also means no weapon in hand while casting).

I still need to work on other class abilities...

The Draconic Archeologist: Bringing You The Death Angel - The Dragon #6

Ah, the cover to The Dragon #6 - again, a little fan-artish, but still better then the hippy dragon from the first issue.

Reading the early Dragon issues, you would think that games like Metamorphosis Alpha or The Petal Throne were going to be the long term keepers.  They seem to have just as many articles, and with less crunch, more fluff - in many ways giving more value then the D&D articles.  As I'm focused on the D&D articles, that means I'm skipping on some major parts, like the in-depth Legions of the Petal Throne Painting Guide by M.A.R. Barker himself.  I didn't know anyone really cared that much about painting the military figures for an RPG.

There were ads for both OGRE and Monters! Monsters! (a T&T variant).  Kinda warms my heart.

Then we have an article on Determination of Psionic Abilities that were introduced Eldritch Wizardry.  I didn't realize that there weren't any rules to determine such in EW.  I may need to reread that.

Hmmm, an article on morale in D&D.  Way too chart-ish for me use, but the hobby was in love of huge charts back in the day, so it is a sign of the times.

The Featured Creature was the Death Angel.  Nearly impossible to permanently defeat, I don't recall these creatures making any of the MMs in AD&D.

The ad for the D&D Geomorphic Dungeons is interesting - no wonder I never liked to leave empty space on the graph paper when I mapped dungeons out in high school - TSR didn't like empty space either!

Mini Review - Chthonian Stars Core Setting (Traveller)

You enjoy your sci-fi, but you also have a hankering for horror.  Maybe your Delta Green campaign just didn't have heavy enough weapons for your taste.  Well, someone put your Cthulhu in my Traveller, and the combo is awesome!

I really enjoying working my way thru the Chthonian Stars Core Setting for Traveller.  It's not a mash-up I would have thought up on my own, but its a very good match. The books is full of short fiction, which normally I can't stand, but in this case it is very evocative of the setting and a good tool to engage the reader.

It scales down the default Traveller setting to just our (now fully colonized) solar system, and I think the change in scale works very well in making the horror more immediate.

Character generation is changed a bit from regular (Mongoose) Traveller, as many careers have been adjusted to the new setting.  New space ships, which makes sense, as they are made for traversing the solar system.

We are given three short adventures, which is nice, but I would have appreciated a page or two of adventure seeds.  Maybe I missed them, as flipping thru a PDF does have disadvantages over print.

Overall, I'm very excited by the Chthonian Stars Core Setting.  I might find a use for my Traveller core rulebook now.  If nothing else, the setting book deserves a second read thru.

From the Blurb:

2159 AD. It is a good time to be alive. The nations of the world still exist, but they have become more civilized, and we have expanded into the rest of our solar system. But, alas, it is not to be our time. Something approaches, a thing on an orbit from far away. Seemingly a large shard of dark matter, this object is known in obscure prophecy as the Chthonian Star. It is awakening things long thought lost or dead, things that have slumbered awaiting its return. The Unified World Council sends out special teams of sanctioned Wardens, whose job it is to ascertain the new threats to human life, to learn everything they can about them, and fight them wherever they are found.

Chthonian Stars is an original Lovecraftian horror setting for Traveller.

This Core Setting Book:

• Provides a detailed exploration of our fully colonized solar system, only a few hundred years in the future.
• Introduces exciting new optional character design rules, including advantages and disadvantages, as well as career half-terms.
• Introduces new rules for fear and madness, as well as optional rules for character survivability.
• Brings to life many familiar Lovecraftian horrors for Traveller, as well as a host of new and original ones.
• Details more than a dozen new spaceships.
• Includes three ready-to-run adventures, to get groups running quickly.
• From the award-winning team that brought you CthulhuTech.

Building a Better Bard - Part II (Swords & Wizardry)

Geordieracer cost me about 90 minutes of sleep this morning.  I was foolish enough to check my phone for emails as I stumbled to the bathroom, and I caught his comments on the Bard I'm looking to write up.  Using a variation of the Cleric's turning table to affect the Bard's reaction from others is a nice twist.

S&W doesn't have a Morale Rating for monsters and NPCs, but I'd suggest a successful check against the table will encourage hirelings / henchmen to hold out just a little bit longer.  A "D" result may make them even stronger in their resolve, but you would still have to roll, and a "1" would still be a failure.

Same chart could be used to swing the natives more in your favor IF they can understand the Bard.  It could also be used to see if the Bard makes a little coin as the party stays at the local inn.

See what you did to me Geordiracer?  My precious sleep was stolen from me so I could think about THIS! heh...

Thanks GR, it was a great seed to get me thinking.  Keep 'em coming.

(BTW, that's Roman Numerals in the title - its a "two", not an "eleven" ;)

Free Adventure From Expeditious Retreat

Advanced Adventures #10:  The Lost Keys of Solitude is free thanks to Joe Browning thru this monday.  Normally 7 bucks, the man is just giving it away.  Do him a favor and grab yourself a copy.

See, if you followed his blog, you wouldn't need me to tell you ;)

Building a Better Bard (Swords & Wizardry)

Well, actually, it's more like building "A" bard for S&W in the first place. NOD #1 has a Bardish class (closer to a Skald in my vision of things) built upon the fighter class as a base.

For my vision of the Bard, I'd build it upon the thief. Thief HD, weapons, combat chart, armor restrictions (I'd add chain mail to the mix). I need to go thru the S&W spell lists to figure which are appropriate for my vision of the class. Pick Pockets is the only thief skill I see it keeping.

Then I need to define a charming ability, lore, inspire bonus... the little things that make a "bard" a "Bard".

I've been hooked on bards since issue 56 of the Dragon (that version is a little too powerful for my taste these days).

Free Comic Book Day is Tomorrow

I know we are all looking forward to Free RPG Day, but tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. It's a good day to remind your local comic book shop that you also play and buy RPGs.

I have a feeling Thor is going to be heavily pushed in any comic book store you walk into this weekend. Ack, I need to find some time to catch that movie myself.

Yes, I like comic book hero movies, I just don't have much of an affinity for comic book RPGs (or MMORPGs either - City of Heroes was way too much Running-Around-the-Block for my taste).

Taking a Peek at Some Free Mags

The great thing about RPGs in general is that they thrive on ideas.  As a GM, I can find ideas from almost any source, but it's pretty cool when I can find them for free.  Now, the magazine I'll be highlighting are in PDF form and are NOT OSR - but two are for Pathfinder (so much of it is easy enough to mine) and the other is from Mongoose (which means it is simply full of stuff).  Besides, just because you dig the OSR doesn't mean it's an exclusive relationship.  You are allowed to see other games.  really.  I won't tell.

So, let's move on to the mags:

Highlight of Pathways issue #3?  The article that list the items from #30 Intelligent Magic Items - All I need is a one or two sentence description to drop these into S&W or T&T, and that's what we are given. Perfect.  Worth the price of admission Rite there (bad pun).

Game Geek issue #17 - Not up to the standards of Pathways (much closer to fanzine then magazine), the article on mounts and warhorses should be pretty portable.  The rest?  Ehh

Signs & Portents #91- the grandaddy of the 3, it also has the most to offer.  How about a 13 page adventure for RuneQuest II?  Suitable for use with OpenQuest or conversion to the OSR rules of your choice.  Saweet!  Or some hooks for Traveller (about as old school as you can go) and even an adventure.  Maybe some enchanted tree offerings for your game?  It's here and more.  Heck, there's even some EarthDawn stuff inside.  Talk about flashbacks.

There ya go.  Some free loot.  Go forth and read...

Looking For My Stray Thoughts...

As I was lying in bed last nite, in that weird not-quite-asleep state (I was waiting for my son to come home from his 4 hr Auxiliary Police shift) when the thought for a damn good blog post occurred to me. I really liked it. I know I did, because working it out in my head helped keep me awake.

Of course, it has totally escaped me now. I can remember thinking about it, but I can no longer remember what "it" is. Or was. Whatever. Sigh.

Better luck next time I guess...

The Draconic Archeologist: What the Heck is an Anhkheg? - AKA The Dragon #5

When I started this series of posts, I optimistically thought I would be doing something on the order of 5 posts a week on The Dragon.  Reality, I think, will put it at 3 a week or so.  So be it.  Focusing on the D&D stuff contained within.   Now, on to The Dragon Issue #5.

First things first - this is a cool cover.  More like fan art than professional, but very Swords & Sorcery-ish.  No hippy dragon either.

Lets see, what do we start with?  A seven page article / thesis on Witches in D&D titled:  Witchcraft Supplement for D&D.  Unknown author as apparently he (we know from previous issues women don't play D&D) failed to attach his name to his submission.  Like many of the early D&D articles, they don't follow a standard format.  What?  You say you want an example?  Okay:

WITCH MAGIC

Witchcraft, including those spells which resemble Clerical or wizard spells,

will not effect Djinn, Efreet, or Clerics of any alignment. These 3 character types

are immune to witchcraft.

All witches (except for a Priestess) have saving throws equal to warlocks.

For your saving throws against witchcraft, treat all witch magic as a “spell” on

the Saving Throw Matrix.

A good witch may normally perform 7 spells per day from the following

table. There is, however, a 4% chance that any good (Lawful) witch encountered

is ancient, thereby qualifying her as a Priestess. A Priestess may use the ten ordinary

spells daily, and once each week may employ one of her own, more powerful

spells. (Be sure to check every good witch encountered for category.)

Yep, I think I'll pass too.

Hey, look at that.  Two short Metamorphosis Alpha articles from James Ward.  I forgot the man could write quality (sorry, I'm still bitter about Crusader Magazine).

Featured Creature - The Anhkheng:  I don't know who named the silly thing, but the art is by Erol Otis, and it still resonates 35 years later.  Amazing stuff.  Oh, there's some stats and a paragraph of fluff.  Sorry, I'm still looking at the art.

Yes, the abundance of fiction is still annoying me.

Wizard Research Rules - it includes a nice random magic weapon table.  Look at that - True Ring Making - I think I'll make one for my Hobbit... I mean my "Halfling".

Which of course leads us to the famous article - Gandalf Was Only a Fifth Level Magic-User.  I've seen this discussed on the 'net since I first found out about the 'net.  Interesting read.

Damn it!  Thrity-two pages isn't so long when u take out the ads and fiction and non-D&D stuff...