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Getcher Steampunk On from Wrathofzombie's Blog » Role-playing

Wrath of Zombie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:42:22 +0000

The other day DriveThru RPG had an amazing GM Day sale. If you didn’t take part of it, shame on you! I was able to buy several awesome steampunk books to use for ideas in my current Clockworks game. I was able to pick up: Several Imperial Age books- Victorian Monstrosities, The GameMaster’s Guidebook to [...]

Are You Ready to Join the Cabal? from Held Action » Role-Playing Games

Held Action — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:30:32 +0000

Before tonight, I thought one of GURPS Cabal’s biggest drawbacks, to a person like myself, who likes to run games in locales he knows personally — namely, New England and northern America — was its entirely understandable Eurocentrism. Given the Cabal allegedly grew out of pharaonic Egypt and the setting itself was devised as a [...]

It’s Called Tabletop Gaming Not “Rebooting My Laptop” Gaming from My Girlfriend is a DM

My Girlfriend Is A DM — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:42:34 +0000

Watching my fellow players and their fixation with technology in the past months has got me thinking quite a bit about the place of technology at the gaming table. They use their iPhones to store their character stats, run searches on their PDFs to locate situation-specific rules and rely on the character builder to track [...]

When the Stars are Right. from The Call of the Dungeon

The Call of the Dungeon — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:42:00 +0000

When the stars are right, my players rock! You see, we had a pretty good session this last weekend. It's been well over 20 years since we'd played Call of Cthulhu and I'd never run the game, but it has quickly become one of my favorite game to referee. We met over at Antihuman's house, who'd graciously prepared fried calamari, grilled shrimp and ... yes, Octopus, all of which was pretty darned

The coolest sounding RPG book I’ve heard of in a while from Mostly Geek » RPG

Mostly Geek — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:40:47 +0000

Lucha Libre HERO! I can’t imagine ever getting around to running this but I like the fact that I live in a word where it can exist. (via Ken Hite)

War Campaign musing from Game in the Brain

Game in the Brain — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:46:00 +0000

I've joined Arm Chair Generals forums to work through some of my campaign problems.One of them, I'm stuck on is military readiness. Using GURPS mass combat, plotting the precise human resource is very hard and difficult when with all the money that goe...

[Thundarr Thursday] Notorious NPCs: Sheriff Korb from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:33:00 +0000

Sheriff Korb
5th Level Pure Human

STR: 16 --- INT: 9
DEX: 12 --- WIL: 13
CON: 14 --- CHA: 11
HPs: 78 --- AC: 8
Mutations: none

Sheriff Korb is the sheriff and de facto ruler of what remains of the Ancient city of Atlanta - now merely a walled-in village of huts. He is an overweight pure strain human who speaks with an exaggerated southern accent. He dresses in a tattered Ancient uniform of the office, and he wears a policeman's badge, a sheriff's star, and other law officer insignia on a sash that runs across his chest. He wants there to be no mistake that he is "the law around these h'yere parts."

Sheriff Korb runs the village out of an old jailhouse in the middle of the town. Assisting him is a loyal group of 8 Pigmen (see MF rulebook, page 88) whom he refers to as "his deputies." These deputies are fairly dim-witted, but they follow Korb's orders without question. The deputies and Korb himself are armed with Laser Pistols Mk1 (5d6 hp damage) as well as Stun Batons to keep the peace. Although he appears slow and clumsy, Sheriff Korb is a crack shot, receiving two attacks per round as well as a +1 hit point damage bonus when fighting hand-to-hand. He also has three Ancient Highway Patrol cars at his disposal that are still functional which he will use to chase down and capture fleeing "criminals."

Sheriff Korb is incredibly corrupt. He's a bully, a coward, a cheat, and a thief who uses his position to push around the villagers. One tactic he has used is to commit a crime himself, then frame an innocent villager. Since he's judge, jury, and executioner, the trials move swiftly and no one is the wiser. Sheriff Korb is also in league with the Wizard Artemus, assisting him in his local quest for power. The Sheriff is perfectly happy to secretly support and assist the Wizard, knowing that he will be rewarded once Artemus is in power.

Sheriff Korb can be easily underestimated by a group of PCs. When first encountered, he should appear as a down-south, aw-shucks, clumsy, good-natured oaf. However, Korb is a ruthless criminal who will use those mistaken impressions to his advantage. When the PCs drop their guard, Korb will use his deputies, his weapons, his vehicles, and his position to frame the PCs for a crime he himself committed. A good adventure hook would be for the PCs to escape from jail and avoid recapture, while trying to clear their names!

NOTE: This villain was inspired by the episode "Trial By Terror" from the classic Ruby Spears post-apocalyptic cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian." Stay tuned each week for "Thundarr Thursday"!

[Let's Study - C:tL] The Court of Winter from Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:00:40 +0000

Sun Tzu one wrote, “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” And none of the other Changeling courts embody this method of victory more than those of the Winter Court. To the Court of Sorrow, being able to avoid the notice of the True Fae is a victory. Every day that their

Beyond Sanctuary: Valdora Balinsdottir from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:45:00 +0000

The sixth and final character in my Beyond Sanctuary Mythic GME Old School Sandbox game. This one turned out to be quite a bit less "old school" then the rest. Valdora Balinsdottir Attractive Dwarven woman with a curvaceous figure, piles of braided reddish-brown hair, and intense brown eyes. Prefers to wear finely crafted armor that strikes a balance between mobility and protection. Wears an

The View from My Chair: Who owns the Universe? from Vulcan Stev's Database » RPG

Vulcan Stev's Database — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:24:30 +0000

My attention was directed to this video today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoc3roT81nU This got me thinking, when it comes to the Universe created by one individual but loved by a very large group of fans, who actually “owns” the universe? In the legal sense the universe is “owned” by the copyright holder. I cannot go around writing stories about [...]

For Those Of You Playing Along At Home from RPG Blog II

RPG Blog II — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:30:00 +0000

The question’s been raised as to precisely which books I’ll be using for our upcoming Traveller campaign. The following are what’s being counted on as of now.

Traveller Core Rulebook OR Pocket Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing): The material in both is really the same. It’s matter of if you want to trade a smaller-sized book for bigger print. I like the Pocket Rulebook, tiny font and all, because it’s a) a bit handier of a size to port about, b) it reminds me more of the Classic Traveller Little Black Books (LBBs), and c) you can find it online for about $20 cheaper, if not more.

Book 2: High Guard (Mongoose Publishing): Since we’re running an Imperial Navy campaign, the careers in this book will be very handy and help diversify character generation a bit.

And that’s it, for now. I’m probably using some charts from the most-excellent Jon Brazer Enterprises, and eventually look at Spica Publishing’s Career Books. Traveller is in many respects the biggest stellar sandbox ever created, but it’s also important when running first-timers through it that you don’t bite off more than they can chew. A few links to the background of the Third Imperium and some recent history of the area of (non-canon) space we’ll be adventuring in should be enough for now.

Of course, I wouldn’t enjoy or run Mongoose Traveller if they hadn’t come so close to the mark of Classic Traveller. They kept it close in design and spirit, while cleaning some things up, adding some new rules without making things too complex (such as the Connections rules), and generally did a pretty nice job keeping the legacy of Traveller intact. Plus, although Mongoose is often faulted for their editing, the original Traveller book was pretty good (except for some issues with multiplication signs, though I hear several supplements had some issues in places). It’s accessible, it’s easily available, and it’s close enough to Classic Traveller where I can use ideas from modern and classic supplements if I so choose. I also like the fact that Mongoose plans on keeping the system the same for their ten-year run of the license. Planned (systemic) obsolescence is no fun if you want support for a game.

I was resistant as anyone to change in Traveller when Mongoose announced the license, but they’ve done well here.

Good news for all Iron Kingdom fans! from Stargazer's World

Stargazer's World — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:24:11 +0000

I almost overlooked yesterday’s post at Purple Pawn. But then I scrolled back and read the headline again: “It’s Alive: The Iron Kingdoms RPG Lives!" I have to admit I had to rub my eyes and reread everything, because I thought I was dreaming. But as is turns out, Privateer Press will be releasing a [...]

Tower Bridge Is Fallin’ Down, Fallin’ Down, Fallin’ Down… from HeroPress

HeroPress — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Last night's Top Secret S.I. session nearly ended in total disaster - with the possible destruction of a major London landmark. But I'm getting ahead of myself.Picking up from the end of the previous episode, which saw Nick's character, Oleg, falling i...

Wold Building Research Mind Dump from Game in the Brain

Game in the Brain — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:56:00 +0000

I broke my own home brew rules. I've gone back to the basics and tried again. This time a little bit more detailed. As I've always got game in the brain here is some of my tinkerings.Transportation and Logistics TL. The size of a state is affected by i...

Beyond Sanctuary: Kandara Tanum from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:35:00 +0000

The fifth character in my Beyond Sanctuary Mythic GME Old School Sandbox game. Fortunately, she is a mage (I was getting a little worried that I wouldn't roll a magic-user). Kandara Tanum Attractive human woman of dark complexion with long, light brown hair. Partial to gold jewelry and dark wizard's robes. Never seen without her trusty familiar, Lanumas. Cliches: Adventuring Wizard of the

Savage Menagerie: Crabhemoth from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:31:00 +0000

No. Enc.: 1d2(1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40'); Swimming: 120' (40')

Armor Class: 2
Hit Dice: 9
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/tendril)
Damage: 3d6+3/3d6+3/hold
Save: L3
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: None

A Crabhemoth (pronounced crab-HEE-muth) is a monstrously large crustacean descended from the Ancient species of horseshoe crab. A Crabhemoth is 20' to 40' long and protected by a hard outer shell. They are always found near large bodies of salt water, be it seas or oceans. It is as quick in the water as it is on the ground, able to swim at its normal land movement rate.

The Crabhemoth has a set of large claws it uses to attack and rend its prey. Each claw does 3d6+3 hit points of damage when they hit. The Crabhemoth also has a set of writhing tendrils near its mouth that it uses to draw prey in. On a successful hit, a tendril will lash around a victim, effectively holding them, although the character can still attack if one arm is free. If another tendril successfully hits, the character is completely immobilized and will start to be dragged toward the Crabhemoth's massive claws. Only other party members will be able to free the bound PC.

Although they apparently have a low HD total considering their size, it is very difficult to harm a Crabhemoth. First of all, the Crabhemoth's shells is coated with a thin layer of a dermal slime poison. If contact is made, the poison will do 6d6 hit points of damage if a save vs. poison is failed. Even if successful, the poison will do half-damage. The creature is also capable of projecting a force screen once per day. This force screen will take 5d6 hit points of damage before collapsing. Contact with the Crabhemoth is impossible until this screen is breached. Combined with an AC of 2, the Crabhemoth is a poisonous, armored, force field-protected tank.

Crabhemoths are fiercely territorial, attacking anyone who enters their area. When attacking, they will often attack who (or what) did the most damage to it, using its instinct to take care of the biggest threats first.

Mutations: gigantism, dermal poison slime, force screen

The Random Esoteric (ahem) “MUTANT” Generator from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:10:00 +0000

After seeing an entry at the Green Skeleton Gaming Guild blog expounding the mutagenic goodness of The Random Esoteric Creature Generator by James Raggi IV and published by Goodman Games, I knew I had to get my hands on it. I've been sitting on my copy for a while now, but I never really took it for a test-run. So, right here, right now, I'm going to create a new Mutant Future creature using the rolls as they happen. Once I've worked my way through the tables, I shall post the end result as a new entry. Let's get to work:

BASIC BODY SHAPE - Rolled 13 - Quadruped. My creature walks on four legs. Good start.

BASIC CHARACTERISTICS - Rolled 20 - Crustacean. So I've got a hard-shelled creature with a set of claw-like pincers. Rolling on the CRUSTACEAN subtable, I come up with Horseshoe Crab. So now we know what kind of creature this thing was before it got dipped in the mutagen. I'll up the legs to six, like to keep it more "crabby." I've also turned to the Giant Crab entry in the MF rulebook for my basic stats.

SIZE - Rolled 17 - Enormous. Gets double HD, add an extra die to damage, and gets an additional 20 feet movement. Giant Crab has 3 HD, so this is a 6HD creature. That seems way too low for something so massive, so let's TRIPLE it to 9HD. Giant crab claws normally do 2d6, so we up it to 3d6. And movement is now 120' (40). Whew, if a Giant Crab is the size of a small car, this creature is the size of a bus. Keen.

MOVEMENT - Rolled 16 again - Swimming. So this thing moves as fast in and under the water as it does on land.

ATTACK METHODS - Since the claws have been established, the table says to use any attacks already suggested and flesh them out instead of rolling. Good idea. The entry for Claw says to add +1 damage per attack die. So my creature just got a +3 damage bonus. Yipe.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES - Rolled a 47 - Prehensile Tongue. A monstrous crab with a tongue strikes me as odd. But how about some cthulhoid tendrils instead? And just big enough to merit a "hold" special attack, so they'll certainly be useful for grabbing a victim.

SPECIAL ABILITIES - Has a 50% chance of something special...and rolled a 75. No Special Abilities.

COMBAT STRATEGY / MOTIVATION - Rolling on those tables gives me a monster that will always attack whomever inflicted the most damage on it in the prior round (it's a survival instinct) as well as territorial, so it will only attack those who wander into its home area. It will break off the attack once they leave the area.

And that's about it for the generator. But it wouldn't be Mutant Future without a few mutations, eh? So the dice reveals that there are 2 Physical Mutations and 1 Mental Mutation. Let's see here:

PHYSICAL MUTATIONS - Since we've used the Giant Crab as our template, we'll just allot gigantism as one of the mutations. Rolling a 9 gives me dermal poison slime. This is one big, poisonous, hard-shelled crab.

MENTAL MUTATIONS - Wow. Just rolled force screen. So not only is this thing armored, it's got a force field around it too. You'll need a tac nuke to scratch this creature.

And there you have it. The Random Esoteric Creature Generator is that easy to use and, as you've seen, some interesting monsters can result with just a few random rolls. Granted, this isn't as bizarre as it could have been, but with the addition of some Mutant Future mutations, we have a creature that will be more than a handful for your PCs.

Stay tuned. This creature will lumber out of the ocean's depths in a few moments...

[Let's Study - C:tL] The Court of Autumn from Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:17 +0000

The Court of Autumn is one of the more interesting Courts since it seems to have multiple layers to them. Known also as the Court of Fear, Autumn Changelings take yet another aspect of coping after Trauma that’s different than that of Spring or Summer. The Autumn Court prepares. In many ways, the Autumn Court harnesses the

The Old Girl: Vehicles as Characters in Your Game from Motor City Gamewerks

Jason Marker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:08:17 +0000

"She's not old, she's in her prime."

I'm not going to lie to you gentle readers, I'm an inveterate gearhead. I love machines of all kinds, but vehicles especially turn my crank, as it were. Anything from a 50cc minibike to a five-kilometre long starship capable of blowing suns all to hell and back, you give me an owners manual and a little time and I'll obsess over every little niggling detail from cylinder compression to the exact placement of the heads. I've also got this tendency to name and anthropomorphize my own vehicles, which is kind of a common quirk among gearheads. I name every vehicle I own out of a mixture of love and superstition, and feel that you can't keep a machine running without love no matter how well you maintain it. Sadly, in role-playing games, modern and future ones at least, any vehicles the players might have are often treated as background. Sort of a simple, bite-sized deus-ex machina that magically moves players from one spot to another in game without a thought. This is a missed opportunity, though. A missed opportunity for adventure and hilarity that can come from making the vehicle itself a character.

The "vehicle as character" gag has been used over and over again in all sorts of media. The A-Team van, KITT, the Millennium Falcon, Serenity, Galactica, HMS Surprise, James Bond's Bugatti, Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang, all important to the characters and to the plot in greater or lesser degree. Some were simple but beloved machines, homes away from home like the Millennium Falcon or HMS Surprise. Others, like KITT or Stephen King's killer Plymouth Christine, were full characters in their own right with personalities and motivations. Whatever their place in the story, they served not just to move the characters from one place to another, but as a unique focus for or extension of the characters' emotions and psyches.

Now, using vehicles and ships as characters in literature and film is easy, but what about in a game setting? How can a game master and his players make their ship or APC or whatever into a living and breathing, or should we say clanking and howling, NPC? Well, take ships for example. Galactica and Surprise and Serenity were mother and home to their officers and crew. These ships sheltered and cared for their crew, protected them from storms and enemy fire and provided a safe and relatively stable home. Now translate that to game terms. What if your players had something like that, a ship or some other vehicle that wasn't just a conveyance but a beloved home. What would they do to protect it? How far would they go to get it back if it were lost or taken from them? Would they give all of their wealth? Would they give their lives? Good role-playing can answer those questions, and game masters should never be afraid to ask them.

Vehicles in a game are also a great way to get your players in trouble and send them off in directions they hadn't planned on. I've used haunted suits of powered armor that came alive for no reason, stow-aways aboard post-apocalyptic RVs and other contrivances to throw wrenches into my players' plans and make their days more interesting. Hell, in Rogue Trader, the vehicle as character is an actual game mechanic! Starships in the 40K setting are thousands of years old and have seen all manner of horror and action and have nurtured hundreds of thousands of crewmen in their time. Over their careers they've picked up a number of quirks, which are reflected in a ship's "complications", her history and the various quirks of her machine spirits. Complications are chosen or rolled for during ship creation, and make for excellent role-playing opportunities. The players' ship could have been sold out of Imperial service or been wandering the void for 10,000 years as part of a space hulk. She could be skittish, reliable, have a nose for trouble or any of a dozen other strong personalities available for the players' and game masters' enjoyment.

So, give it some thought and give it a try. It's yet another way to add some flavor to your game, and gives the players one more thing to sink their teeth into.

Cult of Leithris (map) from Rustfoot

Rustfoot — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:24:00 +0000

One time, on a trip to the southernmost parts of the country, Billobi came upon a band of soldiers in the middle of the green Ogrebelly forest. They wore grey outfits and carried short swords, and had a large emblem on their chest that depicted the trunk of a tree - the symbol of the guards of Ogrebelly.

When he came closer it was obvious that the guards had surrounded something, and - judging from the looks of the men - something truly terrifying. Billobi presented himself for the nearest guard, who immediately hushed him.

"'Tis them cultmen!" the guard whispered. His eyes were the size of plates, and his forehead sweaty. "Crazed people, I've heard they eat mud in the moonlight! But we've got them surrounded..."

The guard pointed at something in the distance, and when Billobi looked up he saw a regular but somewhat misplaced outhouse. It looked completely harmless, and way too small to house a cult of any sort.

"So..." Billobi said with a low voice. "This cult..."

"Schh! Stay here and keep quiet, we're bringing down this cult right now!"

The guards nodded at each other, and walked up to the outhouse. One after one disappeared inside - and never came out. Billobi hid completely silent on the same spot for almost an hour before running away. He never saw the guards again.

Anyone spotting a lonely outhouse in the middle of nowhere can be completely certain it's a passage to the underground cult of Leithris. A ladder leads down into the darkness and the monstrous beings contained therein.

All lairs of the cult lies next to the same underground lake, which connects them and provides means of transportation for the cultist.

Statues of their foul deity can be spotted almost everywhere, luring anyone foolish enough to touch them. The consequences of these actions are unknown.

Link Advice #6 from Earthdawn Blog

Earthdawn Blog — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:06:00 +0000

My Traveller Character Generation Rules from RPG Blog II

RPG Blog II — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:48:00 +0000

To my mind, there are few purer joys in gaming than creating Traveller characters.

Below is my draft for my Traveller character generation rules for our upcoming Imperial Navy campaign. I think doing it this way should create some very competent, interconnected characters:

1) Each character will start with an array of numbers to put into your characteristics. Your standard array is 5,7,7,7,8,9, plus 2 points to put into a characteristic or characteristics of choice (note an average human characteristic is 6-8). Determine characteristic modifiers.

2) Choose a homeworld.

3) Record background skills. Remember, all skills start at Rank 0. If you select a skill again, it becomes Rank 1, and so on.

4) You're starting off as an 18 year-old. Since we're running a Imperial Navy-only campaign, character generation will differ a little here. For your first term, you may either a) directly enlist in the Navy (no need to roll), b) attempt to get into the Naval college, or c) try for another career field. The first option gets you going right away, but there's no chance of commission. Naval college can boost you up to a commission quickly, but if you flunk out, you're back to being a drifter for a bit. Trying for one 4-year term in something else before joining the Navy can give you some great experience, but can delay your chance for advancement. If you're going with option c) and want to make it random, declare for the draft! You'll end up in a random military-related career field for a term.

Every character will get at least one, no more than four terms in the Navy. Naval college graduates are treated as having "Crewman" path (getting the service skills from that path) before they move on to their chosen career field. Remember, if you don't like how something turned out, you get one auto-success and one reroll during chargen!

5) If this is your first time in your career, record your basic training skills. You get all skills listed under Service Skills at Level 0.

6) Choose a specialty. Choose one (and only one) of the Skills and Training tables for this career and roll. Roll on Survival to see if you make it to another term. For our purposes, if you don't make this roll, that's where your current development ends, and will be where you start the game. Good thing you have that free auto-success and reroll!

6a) If you did not succeed on your Survival roll, proceed to roll on the Mishap table. You will remain in the service, but may have some career-altering event in your past. If you made your Survival roll, disregard this step. If you had another career field before the Navy, you may roll on that career's mustering out table.

7) Roll for Events. Some players will want to take every opportunity they can to gain the highest military honours possible during character creation. As a result it is possible for players to go for glory whenever they are presented with a chance for a reward. A character may add up to 3 to the difficulty of the skill roll, making it much more likely to be injured. However, when it comes to receiving an award the modifier is added to the Effect instead.

7a) After your Events, you may optionally make a Connection with another player. For example, if you were injured in a fight against pirates, perhaps you say that Player X's character dragged yours to safety. Each player may do this once during Chargen. If a Connection is made, one additional skill roll is allowed to each player involved. No player may be involved in more than 2 Connections.

8) Roll for advancement, to see if you were promoted. Alternately, you may attempt to see if you gained commission. If commissioned, you immediately become a rank of O-1 (Sublieutenant). Note any bonuses that advancement or promotion grants.

9) After you first Naval term, you may roll to see if you qualify for one of the other Naval career paths: Engineering, Pilot, Gunnery, Command, Support, Small Craft Pilot, High Command, Naval Intelligence and Naval Research. If you fail, you may spend another term as a crewman, studying up and waiting for your big break. Note that you can also automatically join a career field if you meet the minimum number of terms required! Make sure to add 4 years to your age for each term served. If you are 34 or older, roll for Aging modifiers.

10) Each character will receive two free skill ranks to place where they wish. They may use the two ranks to buy one skill they do not have, or may increase any skills by one per rank.

11) Once everyone is done with the characters, the group takes turns selecting skills from the campaign pack. Every selects a listed appropriate skill until there are none left. The skills for your campaign are: Pilot (any) 1, Gunner (any) 1, Engineer (any) 1, Mechanic 1, Sensors 1, Medic 1, Comms 1, Astrogation 1. This represents the vital skills and minimum required training for a viable starship campaign.

12) Don't worry about equipment--weapons, armor, and other equipment are stored in the ship's locker, to be assigned as mission dictates. You don't have much personal space onboard, but you can write down a few personal effects and 1-2 tools of the trade, as needed. Yes, you get a Mulligan Stone (worth one free dice reroll for you or another, non-Referee player). You really, really want to save it in this game.

Get the “World of Darkness” rulebook for free this week from Stargazer's World

Stargazer's World — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:30:52 +0000

I just found out that the World of Darkness rulebook is available for free on RPGNow in celebration of “Read an E-Book Week”. This 224-paged PDF is the core rulebook for all “new” World of Darkness settings like Vampire – The Requiem or Geist – The Sin Eaters. But since the updated Storyteller is [...]

The Haikubot – New Mutant Future Race/Class from Warning - Mutagenic Substance

Mutagenic Substance — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:48:00 +0000

To give credit where credit is due, the original idea for this came from a new player who contacted me and wanted to play a robot. The twist was, instead of rolling for mutations he wanted to have the ability to influence reality by uttering Haiku. &nb...

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 3 from Emergence Campaign Weblog

The Emergence Campaign Logs — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:18:30 +0000

Here we have another player log submission for the Star Wars game. As always, such submissions are worth bonus experience points. – in this case, of course, for Kira Keldav. We returned to the planet of Archegeph after retrieving the ancient Sith Codes from the Galactic Net (the galactic archives are really quite [...]

A Much Belated Runepunk Review from The Geek Life Project » Gamer

The Geek Life Project — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:48:26 +0000

I finally had the chance to pick a copy of Runepunk from Reality Blurs and its pretty good. In case you don’t know they’re the folks who gave us such Savage greats as Realms of Cthulhu and the upcoming Agents of Oblivion. Runepunk keeps the Savage Worlds tradition of off beat settings. It’s unique [...]

Beyond Sanctuary: Liamas Appledore from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:12:00 +0000

The fourth character in my Beyond Sanctuary Mythic GME Old School Sandbox game. Liamas Appledore Young Halfling male with unruly red hair and sideburns; typically wears leather armor and always has a smile on his face. Capable of wearing boots but like most Haflings of this world, he usually chooses not too. Cliches: Fearless Halfling Adventuring Rogue (4), Daring Thief-Acrobat (3), Fun-Loving

Geomorph #19 from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:40:00 +0000

Today's geomorph features a variety of corner transitions. Note the stacked rooms in the north-east and the temple (with spooky altar) in the south-east.

"The Immaculate Weeping Amputation" and Artifact Swords from PLANET ALGOL

Planet Algol — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:55:36 +0000

There's always someone talking about making magic items "unique(er)," which is a commendable goal. I'm rereading Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series and I've been really jazzed on all the hubbub concerning the perfectly-crafted executioner's sword Terminus Est and it's maker. This provides one template you can use to make magic swords "unique(er)":

Perhaps "magic swords" aren't magic, but just the product of ultra-master swordsmiths of the distant past who used art lost to modern men to forge their blades.
Perhaps there was only handful of legendary swordsmiths and almost all "magic" swords are the handiwork of one member of this small pool. Those knowledgeable in such matters can recognize the individual craftsmanship of different sword makers.
"Magic" swords could have some high faulutin' name. Maybe not so much "Heavy Metal Names," but Haiku or Formal/Euphemistic style names.
"Magic" sword doesn't really work in this context if the swords aren't actually magic but the product of super-forging. I'd call them Artifact Swords myself but I can appreciate how one would want to avoid Artifact confusion. You could even give them all sorts of "magic" sword properties such as injuring ghost/insubstantial beings; bonuses versus certain types of foes; radiating light; etc. by attributing such properties to the special materials used in the manufacture of the blade.

I made a table of 100 descriptive words and 100 nouns to generate sword names and it came up with some pretty choice examples, such as:

Inscrutable Scarlet Wing
Disemboweling Virtuous Lady
Impeccable Weeping Amputation
Bloody Bright Fist
Flowing Discerning Thorn
Cleaving Flowering Scythe
Utmost Exterminating Scourge
Dancing Impervious River
Avenging Courageous Blossom

Not everyone's cup of tea but I'm digging the results, especially "The Impeccable Weeping Amputation!" I imagine the sword's name would be graven in ancient glyphs along one side of the blade and the maker's name or sigil would be on the tang or on the blade in smaller script.

Next I came up with the names of some legendary sword-makers of the lost ancient past: Ezvenarian, Zhaiyeen, Srikalvia and Abdieo. I'm thinking that different craftsmen specialized in different styles of blades. Ezvenarian was known for his square-tipped straight-bladed broad, bastard and two-handed sword and Sriklavia for flowing, wavy, almost flame or leaf shaped short sword, falchions, scimitars and broad swords.

Now I need to come up with a sword properties table...

Lost Vegas #2 (A Call of Cthulhu Campaign) from The Dwarf and the Basilisk » RPG

The Dwarf and the Basilisk — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:40:57 +0000

Episode 2: Love’s Lonely Children (Part 2) (an adaption of the Richard Watts scenario of the same name.) Wherein the investigators discover the unspeakable horror responsible for the murder Cast Joe …… James Walker, an antisocial forensic scientist Shannon …… Sister Sarah Anne Flemming, a physically scarred Catholic nun William …… Shane Proctor, an outcast FBI field agent On a blazing hot [...]

[Let's Study - C:tL] The Court of Summer from Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:00:12 +0000

Whereas the Court of Spring revels in desire, the Court of Summer has an entirely different coping strategy to what has hurt them. They seek to hurt them back. The Court of Wrath looks to gather strength in all its forms. Much like a kid picked on and beaten up by bullies, the Summer Court seeks to

5 Traveller Rules from 8:05 p.m.

8:05 p.m. — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:06:38 +0000

The first rule is: design games like adventures. It might sound simplistic but novice and long-time Game Masters alike have stared across the table wondering why their players seem bored. This is actually quite common as the assumed far trader model, combined with the enormity of a sandbox the size of a [...]

Savage Menagerie: Jaguirrel from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:45:00 +0000

No. Enc.: 1d10 (3d10)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')

Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d8 (potential 2d10 additional)
Save: L1
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: None

A Jaguirrel (pronounced jag-whirl) is a small, vicious, tree-dwelling, feline carnivore. Jaguirrels have the head, markings, and temperament of larger felines such as tigers and leopards, but they have the size, speed, and agility of smaller rodents such as squirrels and chipmunks.

Jaguirrels make their homes in trees and in small underground burrows. They are very territorial and will attack anyone unfortunate to wander near their nest. Since they hunt in packs, a PC will encounter 1d10 Jaguirrels in the wild. A Jaguirrel nest will hold 3d10 of the creatures, making for a very violent encounter if one pokes his hand into one.

Jaguirrels normally attack with a bite attack for 1d8 hit points of damage if successful. If a Jaguirrel wishes, it can then commit to a carry-over attack with its disintegration mutation. After biting, if a Jaguirrel makes a second successful attack roll, it will unleash a beam of molecular disruption from the back of its throat, disintegrating whatever body part it had clenched in its teeth. This beam will do 2d10 points of damage (half damage if a successful save vs. energy attacks is made). A successful disintegration attack, however, will drain the animal to 1 hit point and it will be unable to use the ability again for 24 hours. If you encounter a mutant missing a hand, leg, ear, and a few other parts, odds are he may have stumbled onto a Jaguirrel lair.

Mutations: disintegration (special)

Weekend Breakdown from Held Action » Role-Playing Games

Held Action — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:05:59 +0000

Blimey, I had a busy weekend of gaming and gaming-related activity. In particular order — that is, chronologically sorted and neatly placed in nested lists — this weekend, I: Carb and protein and fat and oil-loaded at Handy’s with the Lafayette, featuring country-fried steak in sausage gravy with eggs and hash browns, before going to:. Playing board [...]

Black Rose, Part 2 from The Other Side blog

The Other Side — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Continuing on one of the things I need to figure out is how Ravenloft and Aldea come together. This is a two parter really. I need to figure out game-wise how the fit; is Aldea pulled into Ravenloft, is Ravenloft slowly seeping into Aldea? ...

Another Peek At Chaos Earth: First Responders from Jason Richards cannot be trusted

Jason Richards — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Obscurest. Reverence. Ever.

I still can't help but fiddle with First Responders, even though it is completed and submitted. I have you a first sneak preview a little over a week ago. Here's another one. I have three words for you:

Vehicle Deck Plans.

Don't get too excited. Everything is speculative, so maybe these won't even see print. I certainly can't produce them to a sufficient quality to have them published. That's a job for an actual artist. What I can do is draw to scale and give the artists some guidance. I might even be able to get the actual drawings done. Whatever takes place, I'll make sure these get out, somehow.

Deck plans aren't essential, but they sure can help. I rough them out whenever I'm doing designs in the first place, just so I know where everything goes, and that when I say something holds eight passengers, I know that they'll all fit. They're not necessary for every wagon or hover craft or moving van that comes along, but in futuristic settings it's not uncommon to have unusual designs and configurations for vehicles. In this case, a picture is worth way more than 1,000 words.

I'm not going to tell anything about this beyond what you might be able to glean. Mostly I just wanted to include you, the reader and fan, on the process. Click the image for a larger version and be sure to tell me what you think.

The Week In Geek (extra portion)… from HeroPress

HeroPress — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:00:00 +0000

A tasty extra serving of your weekly round-up of geeky news you might have otherwise missed...(1) Osprey Does Zombies: Well-known military history publishers Osprey is releasing a "zombie-special" in time for Halloween this year. It is already availabl...

Clorencian Times From My Clockworks Game from Wrathofzombie's Blog » Role-playing

Wrath of Zombie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:38:57 +0000

Good day all. I’ve decided to continue with this little project of every so often doing a Clorencian Times piece for my players in our current Clockworks game. I want these to add a little bit of flavor to the world at large. The first one was a peek at things to [...]

Operation Omniscience from Nevermet Press

Nevermet Press — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:14 +0000

This article contains content for Geheimkrieg, Nevermet Press’ alternate World War II pulp setting. Our content is community driven so we want feedback from you. Please leave a comment here, write about it on your own blog, or contact the Lead Designer, Michael Brewer, if you would like to contribute directly. Stuttgart, 01:15, 12Mar42 “Ich hab’s gefunden!” [...]

Enter Traveller from RPG Blog II

RPG Blog II — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:44:00 +0000

I can count on one hand the number of Total Party Kills I've had as a Game Master over the years. Friday night, I almost added one to that number.

I won't go into all the gory details, save it to say the group rolled two of the worst watch encounters back-to-back I have ever seen. The first, a vampire, they managed to mist and drive off (thanks to some quick thinking from the Friar and company). The second, however, was a Behir, and it overwhelmed the group entirely. I ran both right out of the book, and there was a small window to flee, but Friar Charles and the sorcerer Vas both went down permanently. The dwarven cleric Nalgin was rescued by Antigus the Druid, who escaped along with the (new party member) Valrayan the Ranger thanks to their (eventually) displaying the better part of valor.

I felt bad, but that's how the dice roll. It was just a matter of luck running out--no more Mulligan stones, no more d30 supercharge rolls. Just eating it, in a big way. But if there isn't the spectre of catastrophe, you don't have any suspense. I still think I'll be second-guessing a few things for a while, but to overuse a phrase, it is what it is.

Our group had already been discussing playing some different games before this all happened, and this was a pretty good to suspend the Castles & Crusades game for now. We all talked, and we were mostly all ready to try something other than high fantasy for a bit. So, next time, one of the guys will be running a one-off Deadlands session (I get to play for a change!), and the session after that, we do group character generation for Mongoose Traveller.

I'd also like to run Thousand Suns or the new In Harm's Way: StarCluster (which I'm still digesting) eventually, but almost no one in our group has played Traveller before--it's a gamer rite of passage. There's also some demand for Rolemaster, but I'm waiting on some things before I run it again, and the idea was to get away from fantasy for a little bit. I also still have my alt-history/pulp Two-Fisted Tales game under prep/research, and I think we'll get to it. I think the group agrees--there's just too many great games out there to be married to one game into perpetuity.

The basic idea is that all the players will be Imperial Navy, stationed on a science vessel that was part of a small fleet "showing the flag" in a little-traveled backwater full of warlords and hostile aliens. A surprise rebellion destroyed the entire fleet, save this one science vessel, which had to remain behind at a remote starport for vital repairs. Now, an entire sector of hostile space separates them from home.

One 600-ton science vessel vs. an entire hostile sector? A mismatch, I know. It doesn't seem fair to the sector...

Dungeonslayers: Forgeworks from Stargazer's World

Stargazer's World — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:44:37 +0000

Finally the first official supplement for the Dungeonslayers game has been translated into English. Forgeworks by Christian Kennig is a 4-paged PDF containing new weapons, armor, and magic items for his free roleplaying game. The Dungeonslayers core rules didn’t include that many items for your characters and we all know how important loot is! Aside [...]

Happy Jacks RPG Podcast Season 02 Episode 09 from Happy Jacks RPG Podcast

Happy Jacks RPG Podcast — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:35:36 +0000

Stu, Stork and Tappy discuss listener email, a few qualities of great players, DnD4e Martial Power 2 and Player’s Handbook 3. Featured song: The Man Who Doesn’t Like Beer, by the Poxy Boggards, featured on Liver Let Die. We briefly mentioned some fliers to promote the show. Here’s the safe flyer. Here’s the not safe flyer. If you [...]

[Let's Study - C:tL] The Court of Spring from Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:27:20 +0000

The Court of Spring is the most outwardly optimistic of the Changeling Courts, as they revel in their liberation from the Gentry. They represent those who cope with trauma by celebrating, living in the now to banish their past. However, these Changelings don’t submit themselves into wild bacchanalia without reason. The Court of Spring’s true nature

Fantasy Wargaming from Continuing Clockwise

Continuing Clockwise — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:33:40 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, I found a copy of Fantasy Wargaming at Half Price Books last week. This brought back personal memories for me, but also represents a slice of gaming history that I’d like to write about here. This book is delicious with its old school gaming weirdness. The modern gamer in [...]

Beyond Sanctuary: Tenistan Rhial from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:04:00 +0000

The third character in my Beyond Sanctuary Mythic GME Old School Sandbox game. Tenistan Rhial Massively built human male with short reddish-brown hair. Favors plate armor and is always loaded for bear with weapons for any circumstance. Dedicated follower of the Horseman (a Northern pastoralist deity). Cliches: Muscular Human Cavalry Officer (4), Mercenary Outrider Who Is Handy With All Weapons

Geomorph #18 from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:21:00 +0000

Today's geomorph another one with limited connectivity. There is only one route from east to west and another from north to south. Depending on neighboring tiles, there is almost certainly a fair amount of slope to either passage.

Android Features (android substitute for mutations) from Warning - Mutagenic Substance

Mutagenic Substance — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:34:00 +0000

I just found this cool Mutant Future wiki - there was a blank page called "Android Features" which inspired me to create some. I encourage everyone to go add stuff to the wiki! I will now allow any of my players creating an android to subst...

VasaLoppet – The Space Race from The Zhodani Base » Traveller

The Zhodani Base — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:02:21 +0000

The big long-distance ski-race Vasaloppet is on today. It is run from Sälen to Mora (9o km). This has inspired me to think about a long distance space race. We are all familiar with the planet Mora in the Spinward Marches. That should be the goal. As far as I know there is no planet named [...]

More Star Frontiers goodness from T Bone's Games Diner

T Bone — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:10:10 +0000

Ooh, here's an accomplishment most trivial: This site's Star Frontiers to GURPS 4e Conversion Notes page ranks #1 on a Google search for "star frontiers gurps". That just might be my first first ever.

There's even more Dralasite-steeped goodness out there than I realized, though. Check out Star Frontiersman Magazine, a slick-looking magazine of all-new fan material, plus remastered versions of all the original books. That's some serious fandom at work!

For the GURPSters, there's another conversion page out there, GURPS Star Frontiers Conversion, a PDF that starts with this site's conversion but makes changes where the author disagrees. (What items those would be, I don't know; I don't see who made the conversion.)

Those links are now on my conversion page. Hasbro has allowed the Star Frontiers downloads, or so I've heard repeatedly, so both original book PDFs and the remastered goodies appear kosher. Whether you play GURPS, another system, or are open to SF's own rules, it's a full space opera setting ready for the taking. Enjoy!

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Beyond Sanctuary: Arien Fingalen from Risus Monkey

Risus Monkey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:42:00 +0000

The second character in my Beyond Sanctuary Mythic GME Old School Sandbox game. The finished character is presented first, then a description of the cliches, followed by notes describing the process of creating her (and the resulting world-building). Arien Fingalen Beautiful but serious-looking Elf maiden clad in shining mail and green velvet accoutrements. Her hair is like spun gold braided