Thinking about Birthright

The Birthright Campaign Setting was an attempt by TSR to introduce empire-building into AD&D. Although the execution was remarkably sound, the idea never really caught on and the line was unable to set itself apart from more popular settings at the time. Still, I think it is worthy of praise, so I do so now. In some ways, the setting is very conventional. The PC races are the same, although often with a twist. For example, there are five human races, the Anuireans, the Brecht, the Khinasi, the Rjurik and the Vos. They are modeled on High Middle Age French/Normans, Hanseatic League/Venetians, Arabs, Celts/Norse and Russian/Tatars respectively and each has racial ability adjustments, just like non-humans. The races tend to mix less than in standard D&D campaign settings and, in fact, many elves are murderously hostile towards humans.

Beyond the superficial differences related to races, gods and classes (i.e., true wizards are very rare), there are two basic concepts in Birthright that set it apart from other settings. The first of these is bloodlines. Centuries past, a great battle took place in which both mortals and gods took part. The most powerful of the deities was the evil Azrai and the only way he could be defeated was through the combined sacrifice of all the other gods who opposed him. The resulting release of divine energy blasted down upon the battling mortals below. Those closest to the gods, the earthly lieutenants of the gods themselves who contested atop Mount Deismaar, absorbed so much of the divine essence, they became gods themselves and took over for the deceased gods they followed. Beyond that, many of the lesser, but still potent mortals, absorbed smaller amounts of divine energy and became blooded. Blooded individuals (called scions) enjoy special powers from their bloodlines. These bloodline powers resemble spell-like abilities or feats and the strength and derivation (i.e. which god's essence was absorbed) of one's bloodline determines the strength, number and types of bloodline powers that manifest. Bloodlines can also be strengthened by way of bloodtheft, that is, the killing of other scions (in a precise manner). As such, many weaker scions are advised to hide their bloodlines lest more powerful scions choose to slay them for their bloodline strength. The most powerful scions tend to be evil because they are typically imbued with the bloodline of Azrai, the most powerful of the gods, and because they have few qualms about wanton bloodtheft. Over time, the effects of their bloodlines tends to twist them into monstrous form. These abominations, called awnsheghlien, are generally extremely powerful versions of more common monsters, such as The Gorgon or The Vampire. Many of the more powerful awnsheghlien even rule their own kingdoms.

The second unusual aspect of Birthright derives directly from the first. Regency is power that a blooded ruler derives from the land and peoples he or she rules. This power can be used for the benefit and expansion of the ruler's holdings, which, in turn, may enrich his bloodline. There are four types of holdings, law, temple, guild and source, and it is typical for different regents to control and draw regency from different holdings within a kingdom. For example, the king may control some or all of the law holdings (depending on how tyrannical his rule is) in his kingdom, while the guildmaster controls some of the guild holdings and a large multinational church may control some or all of the temple holdings. Source holdings are magical in nature and are controlled by wizards through the use of ley lines. A powerful wizard may control source holdings from several lands across the continent. Since few unclaimed territories remain, expansion is typically achieved at the expense of other rulers. There are rules for mass combat, which are functional, if a tad clunky, as well as more treacherous means of conflict resolution, like assassination and subterfuge. Many of these actions could lend themselves to role-playing, making it possible for groups to play alternate non-regent characters working in the service of their regent characters.

-Rognar-

The Drow War: A Review

I've always been a fan of adventure modules, I had a ton of them back in 1st edition days but I've managed to stay rather restrained in recent years. The other day I came across a super adventure. It spanned levels 1-10 in 256 pages, while books two and three went from 10-20 and from 20-30 respectively.

Now the title seemed rather cheesy. Drow War? How cliche can you get but I took a closer look at the first two books and I'm so glad I did. Drow War: Book 1: The gathering of the Light by Adrian Bott is great. The setting is supposed to be transferable but probably would not be worth the effort. The characters themselves are called the Starchosen and are sent by the forces of light to combat the rising darkness (the Drow) in a prophesied conflict that occurs every thousand years.

The adventures themselves are well written and interesting with a good variety of environments. Most adventures have multiple solutions and there is often so much to do that the heroes will have to pick which problems they wish to solve as they are often on a time limit and won't be able to do everything.

The adventure has two massive battle that the heroes will be able to take part in and influence the outcome. Each part of the adventure is influenced by what came before so the DM will have to keep decent notes to ensure that things run as they should.

A major part of the quest line was for each hero to recover their soul item. This is an item that each hero carries and it powers up as they do (usually a sword, shield or armor but rules for other items were present.)

There are a few problems with the book. I haven't tested the mass combat rules but I noticed the way that the command score was generated and I didn't like it. If the party lacks a fighter, your command score is going to be poor. Some of the maps were a bit confusing and I think at least one was missing. There were a few typos but nothing that could not be figured out.

Its almost half a decade old now and was written for 3.5 so to convert it to Pathfinder would require a bit of work. I think the effort would be worth it. There are lots of great ideas packed into this book and it might be fun to give a shot someday, although I think I'd actually prefer to run the second part which I may review later. I would have to find some way to give the players all of the background they'd be missing from the first book however...

Kingmaker begins

Rising from the ruin of our unfinished Blackmoor mini-campaign, we rush headlong into Kingmaker. No question, this AP is different from any of the others we've played. I've read it's very "old-school", but to be perfectly honest, I don't remember doing a lot of hex-mapping back in the day. My recollection is that we spent a lot of time underground, be it in the Tomb of Horrors, the Lost Caverns of Tsocjanth or the Temple of Elemental Evil. I suspect my 15 year-old self would probably have viewed this sort of systematic mapping exercise as a bit like homework, something I had little patience for if memory serves. However, that was before I learned the joys of turn-based computer strategy games like Sid Meier's Civilization, which bear a much closer resemblance to Kingmaker than anything I remember doing with AD&D.


There is one AD&D 2e campaign setting which does come to mind, however, when I read the player's guide for Kingmaker and that is Birthright. TSR started getting very experimental with 2e campaign settings, releasing oddities such as Dark Sun, Spelljammer and Planescape, but Birthright may have been the most unusual. It could be played as a straight-up medieval fantasy campaign, but it also had the option of playing as rulers of small kingdoms, battling to expand and develop one's holdings. There were cards for various military units that could be purchased to build your kingdom's army and rules for governance and economics. It was a remarkably well-done setting, one of my personal favourites, and won the Origins Award for the Best Rolepaying Supplement of 1995, but it never achieved much market success. There were just too many D&D campaign settings back then

The Dying Earth - mine at last

In my youth, I was a prodigious reader of science-fiction and fantasy. Tolkein, Asimov, Clarke, Donaldson, Brooks, Eddings, Herbert, Haldeman, Heinlein, Moorcock, Lovecraft, Howard, Norton, Lieber, Zelazney and so many others, I read them all, every spare moment. When others my age were going to the high school dance, I was locked away in my bedroom reading (or playing D&D, of course). But through the years, one writer had always eluded me, Jack Vance. He was right there in the heart of D&D, Vancian magic, but I could never find a copy of The Dying Earth in the bookstores and this was a time before Amazon or eBay. If the local bookstore didn't have it, you were out of luck.

Jump ahead to today. I'm all grown up with a wife and kids, a job and a mortgage. I don't have much time for recreational reading anymore, but lo and behold, a chance trip to a big bookstore and there in a corner of the fantasy section is Tales of the Dying Earth, a compilation of all Vance's Dying Earth works. I had to have it.

Now, I have to make time to read it.

-Rognar-

The 50s version of Empire Strikes Back.

OK this is pretty awesome. What if Empire Strikes back came out 30 years earlier?



It isn't sized properly and I don't feel like fixing it so just click on the link to go back to Youtube to watch it properly.

D&D is Metal or Metal is D&D

In the wake of the recent passing of Ronnie James Dio, a lively discussion about the relationship between role-playing games (D&D in particular) and heavy metal music has erupted over at Grognardia. The subject has been thoroughly explored and I agree pretty much with James M's view on this, but with two cultural phenomena so near and dear to me heart, I can't let this pass without something to say.

First off, as a metal fan, the connection between heavy metal and D&D is obvious to me. When you see an album cover featuring an axe-wielding warrior, you don't think jazz or disco. There are exceptions, of course, but typically fantasy art and imagery is associated with metal. This wasn't always the case. Sure, Black Sabbath was dealing with occult themes since its inception, but these early efforts were directed more towards gothic horror. Fantasy themes were more prevalent in the music of Rush and Led Zeppelin, bands which were, at most, proto-metal. When D&D began to expand beyond its midwestern US roots in the late 70s, the dominant force in heavy metal music was the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" or NWOBHM. The most prominent bands to come out of this movement were Judas Priest (some would argue they predate the NWOBHM), Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon and Venom (also Def Leppard, but they sold out, so screw those guys). In the early days, fantasy themes were not common in the music of the NWOBHM bands. Traditional rock n' roll themes of cars and motorcycles, sex, drugs and crime were more prevalent, along with a smattering of the occult. It was really in the early 80s that fantastical imagery began to take hold in metal, coinciding with the growth of D&D as a cultural phenomenon. I would suggest this was no coincidence and that D&D was influencing heavy metal as much, or more than the music was influencing rpgs.

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign, recap pt.5

Forced to abandon our favoured Saturday night game time, we gathered on Friday night, tired, distracted and a bit giddy, to begin the onslaught on the Temple of the Frog. Clearly, nothing good was going to come from this.

Earlier we had the opportunity to witness the might of the Frog as a foolish froghemoth decided to assault the town. Although several unfortunates met their demise in the gaping maw of the beast, the temple guards and the monks were able to muster quickly and drive off the monstrosity. The monks were armed with strange rod-like weapons that shot beams of light which caused great damage to the froghemoth. They were truly impressive.

The next day we prepared our infiltration. Now GWAR isn't the most stealthy band of warmongers to ever grace the lands of Blackmoor, so we used all the stealth magicks we had at our disposal to at least get them into the temple undetected. From that point on, the gnome alchemist scouted ahead using his sneaky juice and a little bit of trickery to get around. At one point, he happened into a room full of swarms of dire tadpoles which bored into his flesh. They had to be carved out with a dagger. Worst of all, the gnome was rendered visible as a result and had a lot of perceptive bad guys to slip past to get back to his comrades. Naturally, the gnome was spotted and it was on.

The party did have some element of surprise, so the resistance was a bit disorganized at first. We killed a few temple guards and one of the weird monks with the deadly beam rod. We fought our way to the room with the man-eating tadpoles and this time we were ready. The alchemist lobbed an acid bomb into the room and the tadpoles were destroyed. Then GWAR charged in...and were promptly trapped as giant stone blocks descended on both sides of the room, sealing both exits. Then water started filling the room...and then sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads (ok, I made that last part up). Fortunately, the members of GWAR ate their Wheaties that morning and some heavy lifting was able to extricate them from the room. The gnome fiddled with the mechanism and locked the trap, preventing further problems (snicker). We knew there were guards beyond, so our warlock decided to try to bluff them into opening the door. Dressing as a guard, he convinced them that the intruders were defeated and that he needed to enter to make a report. The bluff check was made and the door was opened. Two-thirds of GWAR then busted in, but fatigue and questionable judgement struck Dark, the cleric. He decided to cast obscuring mist while remaining inside the tadpole room. The spell worked fine, but it did nothing to prevent one of the guards from tripping the trap again from his side. The stone blocks fell, the water flowed and Dark was all alone in the room. It was now a race against time. The guards had to be dispatched so the trap could be disarmed and Dark spared. To add to the difficulty, another of the beam weapon monks appeared with an ogre zombie. The fighter, the barbarian and the warlock battled inside the guard room, the cleric practiced breath-holding techniques and the gnome used his wall-climbing juice and his fast-running juice to go around the other way and flank the bad guys. It was close, but the battle was won and the cleric was saved. We did a bit more exploring, briefly held a female rogue prisoner (before killing her because she wouldn't spill the beans) and very nearly caused one of the captured beam rods to explode, but we finally succumbed to fatigue. The Frog would live for another day.

-Rognar-

Another god is felled

In a week that already brought the sad news of Frank Frazetta's death, another god in the pantheon of my youth has fallen. Ronnie James Dio died today of cancer at the age of 67. Dio rose to prominence in the mid-70s alongside Ritchie Blackmore in the band Rainbow, but his true greatness only became apparent when he took over lead vocals for Black Sabbath following the departure of Ozzy Osbourne. He would later release several solid solo projects through much of the 80s and continued releasing studio albums until 2004, including a brief reunion with Black Sabbath and the release of Dehumanizer in 1992. I will be listening to Sacred Heart on the commute tomorrow.

-Rognar-

RIP Carl Macek

It has just come to my attention that Carl Macek (September 21, 1951 – April 17, 2010) has passed away. As you may or may not know, he was the guy that took the various Japanese series, re dubbed and rearranged them and gave us the great Robotech cartoon. Robtotech was always one of my favorites as a kid and I still play the theme song today (and have the entire series on my computer). I just thought it should be noted here. I would not be at all surprised to see some cross over between the D&D and Anime worlds.

The latest purchase from my FLGS, pt.11

Pathfinder Companion: Adventurer's Armory
As Obiri mentioned below, the Blackmoor campaign is coming to an end and with it, my brief exploration of the new Alchemist class. I haven't decided what I will play in the new Kingmaker AP that we will be starting in a few weeks, but with the new options available in the Adventurer's Armory, I'm leaning towards giving alchemy another try.

At a mere 32 pages, the Adventurer's Armory is little more than a pamphlet, but there's lots of crunch in that tiny package. New arms and armour, equipment and alchemical items are introduced. Also, prices for a lot of things that were not given a gp value before are included, such as animals and black market items (including slaves, in case you want to buy their freedom, of course). There are a few new feats, new traits and new rules for using alchemical items as spell components to improve the effects of spells. Finally, there is a new concept, the channel focus. Basically, it is a pseudomagical item that can be activated by the channel energy class feature. For example, a consecrated weapon can be activated as though the Channel Smite feat were used, but the weapon will hold the "charge" for up to 24 hours or until released, doing half the cleric's channel energy damage (Will save for half) to the target in addition to the normal weapon damage. It is also possible for someone other than the cleric to wield the weapon.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on....tribute to Frazetta

With their usual biting wit and obvious affection, Zack and Steve pay tribute to the art of Frank Frazetta.

Frank Frazetta

-Rognar-

Kingmaker!

In less then 48 hours we'll be playing through the last part of my mini Blackmoor campaign. I always have such grand aspirations with these things but I find being the DM very draining. I cut a huge side adventure out and one night to explore the Temple of the Frog really isn't enough.

Anyway, it was a fun interlude to let the Kingmaker adventure path get a little a head of us so we don't run into a situation like we did with Council of Thieves where Paizo fell behind schedule and we did side quests for 2 months.

Picking a character class is always a fun task for me as you can tell from the many character related posts I make. I rejoined the group at the tail end of Age of Worms never really having played 3.5. Making a decent 17th level character with no real experience is quite a task. Since then each character gets a little stronger as I try out new things and learn from earlier character's weaknesses.

I've been especially proud of the last 3. Mendle was build using Pathfinder's beta rules for the Second Darkness AP. An elven wizard who didn't like to get his hands dirty; he specialized in cloud spells and debuffs (his Enervations and Rays of Enfeeblement were notorious for turning BBEGs into sissies). For our last 3.5 campaign (Legacy of Fire) I played Vendlon (see my campaign blog for details). An Archivist who started out rather weak but was a true combat monster by the end of the campaign though the use of Persistent spells via Divine Metamagic. I went somewhere a little different during the last campaign. Alphonso the paladin was nearly indestructible and shows that in Pathfinder, paladins are the ultimate in defensive tank. Sure I kicked some BBEG ass but that was largely due to the nature of the campaign (lots of devils and undead). The rest of the time damage was fairly mediocre and he had rather limited mobility.

So with Kingmaker on the horizon (we'll likely start in early June) I am still pondering what to be. I never did try out my Summoner vs the evil PCs but I think I've lost some interest in that class for now. For now I have it narrowed down to 4 choices.

The first is Melina the Witch. She is character that is a cross between Mendle and Vendlon and would hopefully prove to be as effective as both. An excellent debuffer with a nice selection of many of my favorite cleric and wizard spells.
The second is Samson the Inquisitor of Abadar. A decent archer, a solid skill monkey and tracker, mixed with decent cleric spells. I haven't played the skill monkey in a while and I think this guy could be fun.

The third is Jonathan Bevari (version 1). A fighter archer, this guy will be able to lay down some serious damage. My main concern is that he'll get boring. I mean when all you largely do is stand in one place and do full round attacks with a bow it might start to get a bit boring.

So I came up with Jonathan Bevari (version 2). A falchion wielding fighter. The guy is the anti-Alphonso. He is all offense and little defense. Most critters will die in a round or two but with a mediocre AC, and poor saves, I fear this guy may not live long. Tayloritos gave me a good idea with his evil PC. Jon v2 will use the the Lunge and Stand Still feats to keep opponents from moving past him to help protect the back line. I have to admit that I am strongly tempted to play this guy as it is something I haven't tried before. I'd just need lots of back line support to stay alive.

I am Whiplash

I went to see Iron Man 2 last night. It was good. If you liked the first Iron Man, you will probably like the sequel (a bit less, perhaps). I'm not going to review it, however. Rather, I want to talk about the character of Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash...or Crimson Dynamo...or something). This character was brilliant and a good template for DMs trying to come up with a compelling villain. [Minor Spoiler Warning]: I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say, Vanko combines two elements that make a great villain. First off, he is the antithesis of the hero, Tony Stark, even though he comes from a similar place. His father and Stark's father were partners at one time, until that collaboration was harshly terminated. From that point on, the lives of Vanko and Stark went in radically different directions. Secondly, there is a definite "tail wags the dog" theme going on in the interaction between Vanko and the character of Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell), a jealous rival of Stark. The dynamic of puppet and puppeteer has rarely been better presented.

One more thing, if there is ever a shortage of Awesome in Hollywood, blame Mickey Rourke. He is clearly hoarding it.

-Rognar-

By the way, I notice it has been a full week since my last post. Shame on me. I risk losing my legions of fans. However, in my defense, I have been quite busy on my other blog.

The latest purchase from my FLGS, pt.10

Traveller Book 4: Psion by Lawrence Whitaker

Since rediscovering Traveller a few weeks ago, this time in its current Mongoose edition, I have grown to appreciate the depth of the system for dealing with all sorts of different science-fiction genres. I suppose Mongoose has come to a similar conclusion as they have begun adapting several of their licenses to the Traveller system, including Babylon 5 and Judge Dredd. Obviously, incorporating such a wide variety of campaign settings demands that the core rules have to be made more flexible and nowhere is that design imperative more obvious than in the psionics rules, as described in Traveller Book 4: Psion. In the "Third Imperium", the default setting for Traveller, psionics play a prominent, but subtle role. One of the main races contending the Imperium for control of the galaxy is the Zhodani, a race of humans in which the ruling caste is made up of telepaths. Mistrust of the Zhodani leads to similar mistrust of psionically-gifted individuals within the Imperium. Therefore, those with latent psionic abilities often have a difficult time finding training and support. Even those who do have developed psychic powers often refrain from using them as many planets have laws forbidding their use. Psionics in the default Traveller setting are, therefore, generally weak and often discarded completely. On the other hand, psionics in Babylon 5 are front and center. Such powers can decide the fate of whole civilizations.

To accommodate such a wide range of psionic capabilities, the rules have been greatly expanded in two important ways, psionic strength and advanced talents. In the traditional Traveller game, psionic strength is a 2d6 roll with a -1 DM for each 4 years of adulthood spent without training. This would give a typical starting psionic character 6 or 7 psi points. Since even something as basic as reading someone's thoughts would cost 2 to 3 points, and a psionic assault would cost 8 or 9 points, we are obviously not looking at high-powered psychic abilities here. Psion introduces new levels of psionic power with examples of campaign settings where such levels would be appropriate. For example, a hard sf setting with prominent psionics, such as Babylon 5 would have a power level of basic psi + Int DM, just a slight boost (and a bit low in my estimation). A science fantasy setting such as Judge Dredd, on the other hand, would have a power level of basic psi x 2. At the very top of the scale is what is referred to as transcendent culture sf (Dune being an example). An appropriate power level for such a campaign is given as basic psi x 2.5.

Beyond the basic psionic talents of telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, awareness and teleportation, Psion introduces a bunch of advanced talents, some of which will knock your socks off. Among the most powerful of these are dimensional manipulation (i.e. interdimensional travel), ship integration (i.e. folding space), tapping (i.e. psychic vampirism) and temporal manipulation (yeah, time travel). These new advanced talents really open the door to using Traveller as the be-all-and-end-all of sf game systems. I've definitely found my system.

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign, recap pt.4

After resting up, following our little dust-up with the slavers in the ziggurat, we decided to explore the rest of the dungeon. We found a large statue of some sort of frog-like humanoid and more of those mysterious runes. After setting off a "trap" that cures wounds, we found a room with a large, rune-covered structure that emitted sparks and gouts of flame. After some examination, we determined it to be some sort of seal, imprisoning a powerful evil. Naturally, we set about trying to break it. The warlock hit it with an eldritch blast and got hosed with acid for his trouble. Touching runes and throwing rocks proved equally futile. So we did what any self-respecting party of adventurers would do, we gave up.

We headed back to South Pym. Since we had no further opportunity to cause mayhem at the ziggurat, we figured it was time to settle the score with Toxinu, the cartographer that sold us the magic map. We arrived to find his shop burned down and him gone. It was proving difficult to find someone or something to kill today. That's when a representative of Master Bilch, the self-appointed mayor of Boggybottom approached us. He said Bilch wanted to meet with us in Boggybottom and that we had some mutual interests to discuss. Given that this was a trip of several weeks, there was some reluctance to drop everything and head off to meet Bilch. After much discussion, it was decided to go to Boggybottom, but not before going back to Lake Gloomy. We had heard from Senora, the wizardess who first directed us to Toxinu, that a more powerful member of the Cabal was in Lake Gloomy, appointed by the King to administer the Barony of the Lakes until the fate of the baroness was determined. We figured he might be able to translate our mysterious writings for us.

We went to visit to new ruler of the barony and after a convincing performance from our silver-tongued warlock, he agreed to look at the writings. After a couple of days, he told us that the writings were over 10,000 years old, of a language associated with an ancient empire that ruled these lands long before men. He also told us that there were two different dialects present. Most of the writings were of the same style, but one set which we had found on one tablet in the ziggurat were of a different and possibly newer version of the language. He also informed us that he had sent for a scholar who was an expert in such matters.

The next day, when the expert arrived to study the writings, we were offered a hundred gold pieces and sent on our way. It was all we could do to avoid slaughtering half the town in retaliation. Instead, the gnome maxed out his stealth capabilities and headed in to the baroness' keep to spy on the proceedings. It took all the patience the gnome could muster, but he was able to view the scholar's notes. he determined that the writings fortold of the release of an evil frog god when a set of indeterminate conditions were met. This suggests the current activities of the Frog are aimed at bringing this prophecy to completion.

At this point, we figured it was time to pay a visit to Master Bilch. A long voyage and some pointless reconnaissance later, we finally managed a meeting. Bilch revealed that he had a slaving operation of his own and that he assumed we originally showed up in Boggybottom to cause him trouble. Once he concluded that we were after the Frog, a rival of his, he decided to seek an alliance so that we could work toward bringing down a common foe. He suggested we attempt to sign on with the Frog. He told us of a Frog recruiter he had uncovered in Kenville and a password to use to establish contact. The stage was set for the final climax.

Following some parting macho posturing, we left Boggybottom and headed for Kenville. We found the recruiter, an incautious drunkard, and made contact. In no time at all, we were on a boat headed for, you guessed it, Frog Island. We were blindfolded for the last couple hours of our trip and when the blindfolds were removed, we disembarked and entered a scummy, foggy little hamlet named Frog Town. We had a look around and quickly noted the slave pens and a large temple surrounded by a stout wall. It was clear, we had found what we were looking for. That night we asked a few questions and did a bit of spying at the temple. Although it's doubtful what we discovered would be of much help in the upcoming battle, we did uncover a fair bit of simmering animosity between long-time residents of the town and the relatively new Froggies. Would the locals be of any use? That remains to be seen. Next session, the confrontation.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on F.A.T.A.L....the horror, the horror

Zack and Steve have entered the dung pit. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here:

FATAL

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign, recap pt.3

When we last left our intrepid adventurers, we had just wiped out an Afridhi hit squad. We continued on toward the settlement our warlock had spotted the night before. The stealthy gnome took out a sentry, allowing us complete surprise. A group of about 30 armed Afidhi and a sizable number of slaves were gathering up supplies and heading for the river. Apparently, some sort of base was being built, but our arrival compelled the Afridhi to pack up and leave. We split up into two groups. The gnome and the warlock moved quickly and stealthily to the river to cut off retreat, while GWAR set themselves up on the ridge overlooking the camp to rain death down upon them.

What followed was carnage. It turned out the hit squad we wiped out earlier included most of the high-level members of their group. Even though their sheer numbers proved somewhat dangerous, and at one point, the gnome found himself in a bit of a tight spot, in the end, no Afridhi lived to see another sunrise. We had captured two barges loaded with supplies and a group of slaves willing to help us transport the barges to the nearest town in exchange for their freedom. Although we learned little, except that the Afridhi were searching for some sort of artifact, we did come away from the expedition with a sizable haul.

Of course, we still had a reason for going to Tiger Island, to learn what we could about the silver ore we had taken from an earlier group of slavers, and we hadn't accomplished anything as far as that was concerned. So we decided to return. We hired a smuggler to take us back (and didn't kill him). We completely searched the island. We still didn't find any silver mines, but we did uncover a partially buried statue that the Afridhi had been excavating. The statue itself was missing, but the base was intact and bore some writings in a strange language none of us could decipher. With no magical means of translating the writings, we transcribed them for later analysis. We then recovered the boat we originally came to the island on and went back to the little fishing village we first headed out from. Since we had killed the fisherman whose boat we were using, we decided it was best to slaughter the village as well, lest we be accused of going soft. With the deed done, we decided to head back to Lake Gloomy in hopes there would be someone there who could translate the writings we had found.

Lake Gloomy was as bizarre as ever. We couldn't find anyone in town with the necessary skills to translate the writings, although in truth, we didn't spend much time looking because we got sidetracked. Clearly something was amiss. There were significantly fewer children in town than when we had last been here. When asked about it, the locals simply claimed the children had left to join the circus. No one seemed the slightest bit bothered by this, suggesting some sort of magical compulsion was at work. We decided to seek an audience with the Baroness, whose keep was just outside of town. Upon arrival, we learned that the Baroness and her personal retinue (that sizable force of cavalry we had encountered a few days earlier) had also disappeared. Holy hell, this dung pit was getting deeper by the day.

We were told that the Baroness was last headed south to another craptastic little resort town called South Pym. The main claim to fame of this lovely vacation spot was the acid rain. Yes, apparently the rain in South Pym dissolves metal armour and weapons in short order...and it rains a lot. We also got word that a member of the Wizard's Cabal lived in South Pym and she might be able to translate our writings. So, despite the grave misgivings of our metal-clad contingent, we headed for South Pym.

Upon arrival in South Pym, we learned from the local authorities that the Baroness and her road crew had disappeared utterly and completely while investigating something in the swamp. Not a single scrap of evidence as to their whereabouts was uncovered. The guard offered to have one of his men lead us to their last known location, an offer we graciously accepted. But first things first. We needed some way to deal with the rain. No way was GWAR going to walk around in leather gherkins wielding pointy sticks. We headed off to see the town's alchemist, a gnome (apparently gnomes control the alchemy racket in these parts). He had a supply of an alchemical agent that could protect metal for awhile. We bought the entire stock. Then we headed off to see the wizardess we had heard about. She turned out to be less than we had hoped and was of little use, although she did direct us to a mapmaker in town who had a map with similar writings on it. The cartographer did indeed, have such a map, a treasure map, in fact, which he was willing to sell to us. Since no one in our party can Sense Motive worth a damn, we had little reason to doubt it was all legit, so we bought the map.

After noting that South Pym also seemed to have a relative scarcity of young'uns, we asked around and indeed, the "circus" had come to town here too. If we had any discernable conscience at all, we would probably have been outraged by now. As it was, we mostly noted it as curious and went about our business. So, at this point, we had intended to go have a look after the Baroness, but suddenly the gnome and the barbarian had a powerful hankering to follow our newly acquired map instead. It seemed a tad unusual, but every one went along since, you know, that gnome is a smart little fella.

The "X" on the map was a ziggurat mostly buried in the swamp. We entered through the top and explored around a bit. We found some tracks that led to a lower level where we eventually ran into a small group of sightseers, a child, an armsman and a spellcaster. Needless to say, the child was actually a halfling rogue and hostilities quickly ensued. The wizard in the back hit us with a slow spell that was effective against most of us. That cramped our style a bit, but all it meant was that it took us a little longer to beat them down. We actually managed to take the fighter alive and question him. He revealed that he was a Frog's man and he was able to point out on a map where he was intending to take us if he had successfully subdued us. As he spoke, he was finding it hard to breathe. Some sort of magic effect was finishing what we started. Before we could learn any more, he was dead.

We decided to call it a night.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on AD&D 2e Monstrous Compendium, pt.2

Zack and Steve are at it again.

Monstrous Compendium

-Rognar-

A 1st level eidolon build

Let's see what we can come up with that can survive as the main meat shield.

Base: Biped; Evolutions: Improved Damage, Con +2; Feat: Toughness

Eidolon 1
Str:16 Dex:12 Con:15 Int:7 Wis:10 Cha:11
AC:13 HP:10 Fort:+4 Ref:+1 Will:+2

Attacks: 2 claws melee +4 (1d6+3/x2)

Skills: Perception +4, Climb +7, Stealth +5, Acrobatics +5

The summoner could share a mage armour spell with the eidolon, giving it an AC:17, that would help.

-Rognar-

The latest purchase from my FLGS, pt.9

The Unknown Regions - Star Wars Saga Ed. by Gary Astleford, Owen K.C. Stephens and Rodney Thompson

And so it ends, the association between WotC and the Star Wars franchise, as The Unknown Regions, the last publication of the Star Wars rpg hits store shelves. It holds a few surprises, not least of which is the number of prominent alien races detailed. I will have to go back through my SWSE library, because I find it hard to believe races such as the Nikto, Shistavanen, Anzati, Chadra-Fan and Ishi Tib have not previously been described.

There are, of course, a few new talents and feats, although at this stage, there's precious little that is interesting or new in that well. Some of the new equipment is good though as it has a distinct exploration theme, something that hasn't really been delved into in the game so far. I was especially pleased to see an homage to the Landmaster in the form of the "Jaffryes Universal Automotive ARK-II Series Landmaster" vehicle. True aficionadoes of sci-fi TV and movies might also recognize the ARK-II reference, and, of course, "Jaffryes" alludes to Dean Jeffries, the builder of the original Landmaster and other famous vehicles such as the car used in the Green Hornet series and the cars in Death Race 2000.

There are, not surprisingly, quite a few planet descriptions and mini-adventures with an exploration theme in the book. Although I would categorize this material as fluff, it looks quite useful. Perhaps it is my interest in the subject matter that affects my view on this, but the mini-adventures all seem pretty good. Overall, I'd say this book is one of the better supplements to the game, not on par with Knights of the Old Republic or Jedi Academy Training Manual, to be sure, but pretty solid.

-Rognar-

New eidolon build

After reviewing the comments, I have made some changes. Although it goes against my instinct to avoid wandering around with a giant monster in tow, I have gone with Obiri's suggestion of making the eidolon large. I dropped one pair of arms, so it has fewer attacks, but better attack and damage and more hps (due to higher Con). The AC ends up being the same, despite the larger size. It also has 10 ft. reach.

Base:
Biped: AC:+2 natural, Str:16 Dex:12, Free evolutions: Limbs (arms), Limbs (legs), Claws

Evolutions:
Limbs (arms)
Str +2
Simple Weapon Proficiency
Martial Weapon Proficiency
Resistance (fire) 5
Large size

Feats:
Lightning Reflexes, Multiweapon Fighting, Imp. Natural Armour (x2)

Level benefits:
Str/Dex:+4, AC bonus:+8, BAB:+8
Ability score increase: Str:+2

The total Str is 32, +11 bonus
AC:25 (+14 natural armour, -1 size, +2 Dex)

Attacks:
lg longsword +1 [+17 melee (2d6+12)] and 3x lg shortsword +1 [+17 melee (1d8+6)]

-Rognar-

Critique this eidolon build

I've been looking at the new Summoner class in Pathfinder lately and the prominent feature of the class is the eidolon, a summoned monster companion that can be customized by the summoner with a variety of design features. The main strength of the eidolon appears to be multiple attacks. It can be designed to have claw, bite, slam and/or tail slap attacks which can be given further abilities such as bonus energy damage or the ability to overcome various forms of DR.

Having said all that, I have designed a 10th level eidolon with an emphasis on using weapons. Let me know what you think.

Base:
Biped: AC:+2 natural, Str:16 Dex:12, Free evolutions: Limbs (arms), Limbs (legs), Claws

Evolutions:
Limbs (arms) (x2)
Simple Weapon Proficiency
Martial Weapon Proficiency
Resistance (fire) 5
Str +2 (x2)

Feats:
Lightning Reflexes, Multiweapon Fighting, Imp. Natural Armour (x2)

Level benefits:
Str/Dex:+4, AC bonus:+8, BAB:+8/+3
Ability score increase: Str:+2

The total Str is 26, +8 bonus

Now, this build has six arms total, so I arm the eidolon with a +1 longsword (primary hand) and five +1 shortswords (off-hands). It has a total of seven attacks per round as follows:

longsword melee +15/+10 (d8+9)
5x shortsword melee +15 (d6+5)

It also ends up with AC:25

Now, as far as I can tell, it's all legal, although I'm not sure about the total no. of attacks. At 10th level, the Max. Attacks for the eidolon is 5, but it says that applies to natural attacks. So, by the letter of the rule, using weapons should exempt it from that limit, but perhaps the spirit of the rule is being broken. If the DM decided to apply the maximum to all sorts of attacks, I would change one of the Improved Natural Armour feats to a Shield Proficiency feat and change one of the +1 shortswords to a +1 heavy shield. This would reduce one of the attacks, but increase the AC to 27. I believe the second longsword attack should still apply since it is derived from high BAB, rather than multiple limbs. Thoughts?

-Rognar-

WEG is done

While not official, this interview makes it clear that West End Games is done. At this point, my only interest is what Bill Coffin will do (if anything) with the gaming rights to Septimus. He might stay with d6 Open since he's already written it and the system will be OGL. However, I think the d6 system is dead as a supported line and it doesn't have the fan support needed to follow the OSR model. I'm going to go on a limb here, but if Septimus continues to be supported, it will be using the Traveller ruleset. I see a great resurgence in this system lately, thanks largely to Mongoose (although oddly, Marc Miller continues to publish a parallel version as well). I think Traveller is a better fit for the setting than say, FATE v3 or Savage Worlds.

-Rognar-

Edit: I have just learned that Bill Coffin did intend to release Septimus using FATE back when the original problem with WEG occurred in 2008. Therefore, I amend my prediction. Although I would prefer it to be ported to Traveller, I think it far more likely we will see a FATE-based Septimus in the near future.

Rippin' on AD&D 2e Monstrous Compendium

Was there ever a more questionable design decision in the history of D&D than the Monstrous Compendium? I still have that massive binder with hundreds upon hundreds of sheets of monsters, of which maybe a tenth were even remotely useful. Every new supplement that came out had a few more sheets to add, eventually leading to the most unwieldly product in the history of tabletop rpgs. Mercifully, the folks at TSR eventually released the hardcover Monstrous Manual with all the useful monsters in it, allowing me to pack away that behemoth for good. Zack and Steve have something to say:

Monstrous Compendium

-Rognar-

New classes

One fun thing about being the DM is that I get to try out various monsters and classes and throw them at my players and see how they do. Usually as a player I have to wait for my PC to die or for the next campaign to start to try out something new. I think one of the reasons we tend to go through adventure paths so fast is our short attention spans. There is always something new to try.

I've been evaluating the new Advanced players handbook classes and some of them really appeal to me. I was really looking forward to the Alchemist. What I got was something I have mixed emotions about. I think this is one of those character classes that does quite well at low levels but isn't really specialized enough at high levels to shine. I can also foresee problems when you are going through a dungeon and use up all of your bombs in the first fight or three leaving you with little else to do but buff a bit.

I have no interest in the cavalier. I'm not big on mounted combat since horses don't generally mix well with dungeons and although the class has some neat flavor it just doesn't appeal to me. At least so far.

The original version of the summoner was WOW. Insanely over powered but wow. Both the summoner and his pet were as tough as any other PC. It was like playing two wicked characters that have good synergy with each other. Of course the class got beat with the nerf, err I mean balance stick in the final preview. Now the class is something of a mixed bag. It is good a low levels, really shines between 6-12 (in fact I think my test summoner is going to give the party some serious hurt), but gets really weak by the high levels. The pet just doesn't have enough evolution points to do anything well and the summoner himself can really only summon and buff - but not nearly as well as a regular wizard who can do lots of other tricks as well. I can understand that they don't want the Eidolon to be better then a fighter and the summoner better then a wizard but both become rather meh 16+. Again, these are only test PCs I've built so maybe someone else can do better.

I had high hopes for the inquisitor but was left feeling a little empty. I have since created a couple test characters and I think that it might be a decent class after all. In fact for Kingmaker an Inquisitor will probably be my back-up character depending on the make-up of the rest of the party. The Inquisitor is a nice bland of ranger and cleric.

I don't like the oracle at all. I have to admit I was so turned off by the first release I have not spent much time looking at the second. Its basically the spontaneous casting version of the cleric. I'm not a huge fan of the sorcerer and I find that in general divine spells are even worse for this sort of things. How often do you have to cast the same buff in combat? I'm sure there is some awesomeness somewhere in this class but I just don't see it yet.

And then we have the witch. When I first read through this class I thought it was awful. A limited spell list of mostly buffs and debuffs and a bit of healing magic. Most hex powers had a range of Touch and were SLA so they provoked AoO. Yuck.
Now version two is much improved. Most hex powers have a range of 30' and they are now considered supernatural abilities so they don't provoke AoO. The abilities themselves can be quite nasty. Those of you that played Legacy of Fire probably remember the accursed Pugwuppis. The little critters had an aura of unluck forcing you to roll everything twice and take the worse result. Well the witch has a similar power and although it only effects one opponent at a time, I'm sure your allies will be grateful its not an aura. I've always liked debuffing the bad guys and doing crowd control on enemy hordes so I actually like the witches abilities and spell list.

Role-playing in Canada

We Canadian gamers understand that the gaming world considers the Great White North to be a fairly dull place. Few tabletop rpgs bother to include much information on Canada in their real-world game settings, so those few exceptions that do are all that much more appreciated by us. With that in mind, I would like to acknowledge the publishers who have published game settings with a Canadian touch.

Of course, top of the list has to be Palladium. More than any other game designer, Kevin Siembieda has been very good to his Canadian fans. Rifts Canada and Free Quebec are two of the most obvious examples, but he has also included Canada in many prominent roles in his Rifts game, including the Calgary Rift, Iron Heart and Lazlo.


Less well-known, I suppose, is the White Wolf publication Montreal by Night for Vampire: The Masquerade. I never played the game, as I am totally disinterested in Gothic horror. However, I appreciate the effort on the part of White Wolf, especially since I lived in Montreal for quite a few years and truly love the city (and the hockey team).

Recently, I have noticed a game called API Worldwide by Third Eye Games. The API stands for "Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.", so that should give you some idea about the nature of the game. The first sourcebook released was API Worldwide: Canada, so thanks to Third Eye Games. I might even check out the game some time for no other reason than that.


So, does anyone else know of any rpgs in which a little love was sent north?

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign, recap pt.2

The time had arrived to leave Boggybottom. We had accumulated a fair bit of treasure, much of it in the form of magic weapons and armour, which had to be sold off. So, we headed back to Vestfold. We hoped to learn more about the Frog, but our contact Walter was not familiar with the name. After spending some of our blood money on wine, women and song, we were on the road again. We headed to Lake Gloomy to seek out Yanos Hunter. Since Lake Gloomy could be accessed by land from Vestfold, we decided to buy horses, or in the case of the gnome, a mangy, ill-tempered riding dog. Lake Gloomy was weird, to say the least. The town was immaculately clean, from its polished bronze gates to its litter-free streets. There was a definite Potemkin village vibe in this place. We had no luck finding Yanos Hunter in Lake Gloomy, but we did hear that servants were being hired in large numbers to work on the new fortifications in Ram's Hold, a fort on the far western edge of Blackmoor territory. This sounded suspicious, so we headed west to see what was going on on the Afridhi frontier.

We encountered a group of "merchants" heading east along the road, who we promptly killed. Not surprisingly, they too were slavers, either that, or they were planning to sell shackles and rope in Lake Gloomy. We also found some unusual silver ore in a hidden compartment in their wagon. Another enlightened discussion with the recently departed indicated that this latest group of slavers was recruited in Southport. Yikes! That be Afridhi territory. This was turning out to be big.

We continued on the road toward Ram's Hold when we encountered a large company of mounted knights. We briefly considered our options and decided to keep a civil tongue. Good thing too, for it turned out to be the personal entourage of the Baroness of the Lakes. She had been inspecting the repairs of the fortifications in Ram's Hold. We learned that no new fortifications were being built. As we suspected, the Lake Gloomy recruitment drive was a sham. Stupidity can be a harsh mistress.

We continued to Ram's Hold and our worst fears were realized. The place was crawling with halflings. Ugh! By this point, we knew there would be no point looking for information on the slavers since they bypassed this town, but we were able to gain some information about the silver ore we had recovered. A local jeweler suggested it probably came from a place called Tiger Island. We had a decision to make. Follow the clue about Southport or Tiger Island. In the end, it was decided to go to Tiger Island. It was closer and it wasn't in Afridhi lands.

We hired a local fisherman to ferry us to the island, then promptly killed him and seized his boat. Hey, that's just how we roll. Our warlock did some airborne reconnaissance and found evidence of a large settlement in the high ground at the west end of the island. The next day, we headed west, then noticed some sentries, who also noticed us. We knew they would come for us, so we prepared an ambush. Once the enemy appeared, we demonstrated our usual tactical brilliance by breaking cover and charging blindly. It was a tough fight. They had spellcasters among their ranks and many hit points were expended. Khaeliss, our fighter, even hovered briefly at death's door, but ultimately we prevailed. As we gathered the dead and looted their remains, one unmistakeable conclusion was drawn. These were Afridhi warriors.

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign, recap pt.1

Dark, Brogesterfel, Shiz, Khaeliss and Crushack are hired by some guy named Walter to find out more about an uptick in slaver activity in the Great Dismal Swamp. In the finest rpg tradition, Walter's patron is unknown to us, but we happily take the job anyway. It pays well (1000gp per man) and we collectively lack any real moral compass anyway. Heading out of Vestfold, the gateway between the more respectable parts of Blackmoor and the swampy, dismal bits, we charter a boat to Kenville, the first port-of-call on the way into the swamp.

Managing to successfully avoid killing anyone in Kenville, a feat we would not achieve again, we soon learned that some slaver activity has been rumoured in Boggybottom, a scummy little hole to the south. We travelled there overland, acquiring a cow along the way. Upon arrival, we proceeded to the seedier of the two local taverns, the Soggy Bottom Bar and Grill (off Route 9). We didn't learn much there, but we did manage to needlessly kill a bunch of people, steal the cash box and take the corpses away for later animation. So, all-in-all, it was a fairly successful outing.

The next day, we headed to the only other watering hole in town, the Wet Whistle, and got down to the business of actually gathering information. We soon learned about a couple of working girls who have been picking up strangers, who have not been seen again. We went on stakeout and soon found out that the local lovelies were setting the guys up to be shanghaied. We crashed the parties, there were some deaths, but we managed to accidentally take a couple of guys alive. That led us to our fateful encounter with the elven slavemaster, Zedd, and his gang.

The ensuing dustup left Shiz, Zedd and three of the slavers dead. Moments later, Korianton, a friend of Shiz, arrived bearing an important message for our dearly departed evoker. Naturally, upon learning of the demise of Shiz, he promptly offered to join our group and we accepted, no questions asked. I said NO QUESTIONS ASKED!

The next day, Dark had a brief, but informative discussion with the dead elf and we learned about the Frog. At first, we assumed the Frog was a person, although later information would indicate that it was actually an organization. Anyway, Zedd was a Frogger,....or Froggie or something. Finally, we had a clue.

Of course, by now, we had attracted some attention. We had killed some slavers and caused some local disruption to their operation. An attempted assassination was inevitable. Stealthy Brogesterfel took out the assassins with a couple of well-placed acid bombs. We found a note on one of the dead rogues with our descriptions. Another round of speaking with dead people gained us a name, Yanos Hunter, and a place, Lake Gloomy.

...break, time to go home, more later...

-Rognar-

Adventure Path vs Sandbox

We played another session of my campaign Saturday night. I think everyone had a good time and this time there were no character deaths, although Tayloritos character dropped to zero hp, staggering him but not killing him.

The PCs are an interesting bunch although they are designed to do an adventure path and are not as effective in a sandbox. Part of it is play style. The adventure paths move you along the story with very little effort on PCs parts. Information gathering is limited to a dice roll or two and its usually pretty obvious where to go next if you have any choice at. Roll-playing (combat skills) is more important then Role-Playing (non-combat). I think part of the reason this has been so entertaining is that everyone has been willing to take part in the non combat parts of the game - brawling with drunks, flirting with floosies, robbing sleeping guards and containing their hatred of halflings!

With this campaign I am trying to make the world as real as I can so there is lots of stuff going on, much of it not related to the main plot at all. Throw in a few red herrings and it can be pretty difficult to figure out how to advance the quest. The PCs are starting to be more tactical in combat laying ambushes and shutting down enemy casters but they still have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. A classic moment was when Dero-bane said, "Maybe we should interrogate these guys" only to realize the last one had just been killed. Ooops. Speak with Dead is nice but when the dead are compelled to speak they will be cryptic and vague.

But all is not lost. There are still several clues left to follow up and the plot is still advancing even if they don't see it yet. The PCs now have a name to attach to the enemy but its nature is still unclear.

And they got their first taste of Afhridi and caught a glimpse of the Baroness of the Lakes. Cool!

Catalyst drops Eclipse Phase, CthulhuTech

From the Eclipse Phase website:

Catalyst Game Labs is currently engaged in negotiations to end its agreements with WildFire and Posthuman Studios. Once the terms are finalized, Catalyst will no longer publish CthulhuTech or Poo: The Card Game for WildFire, nor will they co develop and publish Eclipse Phase for Posthuman Studios.

This is probably for the best. Catalyst is a damaged entity now and any further collaboration between it and the companies who own those IPs will only result in damage to those brands. I don't know what will happen with Eclipse Phase, but I predict CthulhuTech will be returning to the loving embrace of Mongoose. Since Wildfire has entered into an agreement with Mongoose to publish Cthonian Stars, it's clear the previous break was amicable. If Wildfire has no problem working with Mongoose on this project, my guess is they will be willing to entrust CthulhuTech with it as well.

-Rognar-

One side note, does this mean CthulhuTech.com will now include a page for Poo: The Card Game? That would be awesome. Just think of the cross-marketing opportunities. The first supplement should be called CthooPoo.

Miniatures

I posted some time ago that I always liked to find a picture of my character to help me get a feel for it. The problem is that its not always easy to find exactly what you are looking for and I lack the skills to draw what I want well. I am also too lazy to take the time to learn to draw well.

I'm not sure why, perhaps looking at all of the great minis most of my fellow bloggers here have, but I thought about starting to paint my own minis. If you've ever looked at the various mini sites out there they have minis of every shape and form. Enough to meet most of your cool adventurer ideas. There does seem to be a heavier weighting towards the stereo type - the barbarians, knights, rogues, and rangers. There are too many female characters, most of which are half naked.

Anyway, Derro-bane was kind enough to loan me his painting supplies and a couple practice minis. We went down to the FLGS on Sunday and asked a bunch of questions to Chris - the guy doing the mini painting demo. I sat there for about 4 hours and ended up with a mini that didn't look that awful. It is certainly not going to win any awards, but it looks as good as any pre-painted mini. It is a good start.

I am enjoying painting so far. I need to get a bit braver and start trying some harder techniques like shading. I have a few sweet minis ordered that may represent my next character and I'd like them to look nice. Its really hard to find a decent gnome miniature.

Rippin' on The World of Synnibarr

Always a favourite on the list of the worst tabletop rpgs of all time, The World of Synnibarr, written by Raven c.s. McCracken (one of real characters in the industry), has recently enjoyed a bit of a rehabilitation. This is largely because McCracken has buried the hatchet with some of his old foes and because some truly horrible and offensive games like F.A.T.A.L. and RaHoWa (I won't pollute my blog with links) have arisen to knock TWoS off its dubious perch. Despite this, Zack and Steve are, once again, merciless.

The World of Synnibarr

-Rognar-

By the way, that pic of McCracken, I totally looked like that, ca. 1985, even the cheesy 'stache. My budget for medieval arms and armour was much smaller, however.

4e revisited

It may be time to give 4e another chance. Finally, the book the old-school new-schoolers like me have been waiting for.

-Rognar-

Blackmoor campaign - the party

First, there is our offensive line, looking like members of GWAR:

Dark (played by Thungkhtt) - Half-orc cleric of Calelrin (god of murder and deceit), hilariously forced to be the "face" of the party
Khaeliss (played by Tayloritos) - Human fighter, likes to play with fire, favourite combat maneuver is disarm
Crushack (played by K) - Human barbarian, man of mystery

Then there is the back-up:

Brogesterfel (played by me) - Gnome alchemist, master of the Molotov, smart, stealthy and weird
Shiz (played by D-bane) - Human wizard (evoker), imprisoned for fifty years, old and frail, now dead
Korianton (played by D-bane) - Human warlock, the new guy, friend of the late Shiz, tends to fly or hover a lot (arthritic knees, I suppose)

Finally, there is God....(played by Obiri)

-Rognar-

The history of "Roll for Initiative"

As some of you may have noticed, this blog has been around for quite awhile, going all the way back to September, 2005 and predating most of the prominent gaming blogs of today. Back then, blogs were still cool and Twitter was something a bird did. In the early days, it was just D-bane and me. Obiri was MIA. Obviously, we weren't serious bloggers back then. There are only 15 posts in the first 9 months and most were movie reviews. Then it all stopped in June, 2006. My oldest daughter was born that month and my interest in blogging went from almost nil to completely nil. Interestingly, the blog and my firstborn were conceived at about the same time. I now have two daughters, with no intention for further procreation. I have an active gaming group and a lot more things to talk about in the gaming arena. Also, D-bane ran into Obiri at the 'Box and that gaming relationship was reforged. So, I revived the blog and as you can see, its new incarnation is far more lively (this is the 200th post since the revivication).

I also had a political blog back then which was much more active than my gaming blog. I grew tired of all the circular discussion and acrimony, however, so I discontinued it. I no longer wanted that stuff to be out there for the world to see, so I completely overwrote it by creating my other gaming blog Rognar's Space Horror RPG Blog using the same URL. I rarely miss the old blog, as I found enlightened debate hard to come by on the Internet (yeah, I know...d'uh!).

-Rognar-

New Campaign

Last night the new campaign began. Because most of us are fairly familiar with our normal setting I decided to set this one in Blackmoor. A second change, all of the characters are evil. Playing Evils is always fun for the players but a bit tougher for the DM since evil characters are much more unpredictable.

I think everyone had a good time doing silly voices, beating bar patrons senseless, ripping random people off, and setting their houses on fire. The final encounter of the evening was a bit tougher then I expected. The CR was quite high but when its the first (and only) encounter of the day, everyone has lots toys available to use.

I almost felt sorry when Derrobane's character met his end to a double rogue ambush. They were actually in place to keep the wizard from casting spells but one scored a critical hit and the 70 year old wizard was rather frail. Shiz, rest in peace.

The PCs killed the leader of the slavers quickly and after that the slavers fought less effectively. One of the rogues managed to escape so we'll have to see how that effects what's to come.

The final battle from the last campaign inspired me to make the environment more important in battles. The trees and bushes allowed the rogues to slip to vanish, but I'd like to introduce more hazards like quicksand, deep water, cliffs, traps. They make the fights more strategic allowing both sides to take advantage of them.

I'm looking forward to our next play night to see what happens next!

(Ed. note: We have been tasked with the job of investigating an increase in slave trading in the Great Dismal Swamp. Whole villages are being wiped out. Why such a vile group as ours has been hired to do this is not clear.)

Rippin' on Vampire: the Masquerade

It's about damned time.

Vampire

-Rognar-

Cthonian Stars, Lovecraft meets Traveller

Coming this summer, from the guys that produce CthulhuTech, Cthonian Stars is Lovecraftian sci-fi using the Traveller game system. This could be interesting, although I confess I find the Traveller system a little bland, with its emphasis on combat avoidance. It may be realistic, but not especially heroic or exciting. Of course, until CthulhuTech came along, rpgs that revolved around the Cthulhu Mythos tended to have a similar emphasis. I suppose my interest in Cthonian Stars will depend largely on how the guys at Wildfire chose to present it. I'm also somewhat hesitant to buy a product published by Mongoose. My first copy of the CthulhuTech core rulebook, an original Mongoose edition, fell to pieces in a matter of hours. I had never seen such a poorly-bound book before. I have heard they have improved their quality since then, but once bitten, twice shy.

-Rognar-

cross-posted at Rognar's Space Horror RPG Blog

Conflict Roleplaying looks cool

Some nights you really want to roll some dice, but you can't get the whole group together. Conflict Roleplaying just might be what you need to scratch that itch. Get together with a buddy, roll up some Pathfinder characters and throw down. Probably not something you would want to encourage in regular play, but could be useful in running gladiatorial combats.

-Rognar-

h/t Mad Brew Labs

Nogra the ghoul assassin, remember him?

A pretty cool character from our D&D 3.5 days. I can't remember if he survived? Obiri, we had quite a battle, no?

Nogra - Evolved Ghoul Rogue/Lurking Terror 3/3 (8 HD)
Str:16 Dex:22 Int:14 Con:N/A Wis:14 Cha:18
HP:58 AC:25 (+6 Dex, +2 natural armour, +5 armour, +2 ring)
Spd:30ft.; Init:+10
Fort:+2 Ref:+10 Will:+9
BAB/Grapple:+5/+9

Feats: Weapon Finesse, Ability Focus (paralysis), Improved Initiative, Improved Turn Resistance

Skills: Move Silently +17, Hide +17, Spot +13, Climb +14, Jump +16, Balance +14, Use Magic Device +12, Tumble +16, Listen +9, Intimidate +9

Special Abilities: Darkvision 90ft, +2 natural armour, sneak attack +2d6, evasion, trap sense +1, fast healing 3, turn resistance +6, hide in plain sight, undead immunities

Attack: bite +11 melee (1d6+3+paralysis+disease/x2)
or punching dagger +13 melee (1d4+5/x3)

Special Attacks: paralysis (1d4+1 rds., Fort DC 23)
ghoul fever (1 day, 1d3 Con + 1d3 Dex, Fort DC 21)
haste (self only) 1/day 8th level caster

Items:
+3 leather armour
+2 ring of protection
+2 punching dagger
1 vial of dragon bile poison

I recall because of his undead immunity, he would envenom his bite attack by chewing on a sausage casing full of poison. This is the kind of character that's hard to build in Pathfinder. I'm not sure why they changed the rules for monster characters.

-Rognar-

Catalyst Game Labs in trouble

Another gaming company in trouble due to negligent financial practices, if you believe the press release or outright embezzlement, if word in the blogosphere is to be trusted. While most of the discussion revolves around Shadowrun, CGL also publishes Eclipse Phase (although they don't own the IP), a game I am quite keen on. I will be watching this closely to see how it shakes out. Certainly it's bad news, but if Palladium can survive something like this, maybe Catalyst can too.

-Rognar-

The slow death of West End Games...

...is apparently on again. Over at RPG Blog II, Zachary Houghton has a post on the latest news (if you want to call it that) about WEG and Septimus. Eric Gibson (owner of WEG) has been so out-of-touch lately, even the author of his shiny new game setting, Bill Coffin, can't seem to contact him. Mr. Gibson responds with some lame excuse about being too busy with school. I echo the sentiments of Houghton and many of his respondents. It's time for Mr. Gibson to get out of the business, or at the very least, sell off the Septimus license to someone who will be able to publish and support it, so Bill Coffin can make some money from his work.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on Original D&D

Ooooo, this one's going to generate some buzz on the interwebs. Zack and Steve at SomethingAwful.com take a swipe at:

Original D&D

-Rognar-

Note: Don't worry, they save the last parting shot for 4e

The Sandbox campaign

Our group mostly plays published Adventure Paths. We're all busy professionals and don't have tons of time anymore laying out expansive campaign worlds with dozens of adventure hooks and encounters prepped. I don't have the spare brain capacity to memorize the stats of a dozen monsters (it doesn't help that 3rd edition+ monster stats are so much more complex then earlier editions). I would love to open up the world to everyone and say "Go play with what you want" but I honestly don't think I can handle that anymore.

Since I am trying to avoid a narrow path where the story drags the PCs from one encounter to the next I've decided to go with a mystery type adventure. The clues are hidden in various locations and its up to the PC to solve the mystery. Of course, events will going on in the back ground that will also effect the main plot. I don't want to script things to much since interesting things often occur during play sessions and it would be nice to be able to run with them.

I'm a bit concerned about pacing. I've been watching our CoT sessions and we seem to get through about 3 major encounters a night and so I've tried to plan accordingly. I've been trying to come up with some interesting encounter designs. Too often it's just fighting in a room. I can foresee some environmental obstacles coming into play which can either be a boon or bane.

Pathfinder + d20 Modern, Hmmmm

Okay, I like Pathfinder and I like d20 Modern. So, do they have anything to offer one another? That is a question I have to ask myself as I ponder the P20 Modern patronage project. For an initial buy-in of $50US, you get a .pdf and a hardcover copy of the finished project. For a $100US buy-in, you get a signed copy. This is no fly-by-night operation either, with big name designers Owen K.C. Reynolds and Stan! on board. They have to raise $70K by the end of April and they're way short of that right now, but as the date gets closer, I'll have to give it some serious thought. The truth is, d20 Modern is already a pretty solid game. I'm not sure what "pathfinderizing" it will actually do to make it better.

-Rognar-

Review - Mindjammer campaign setting

Last month, I reviewed a FATE-based space opera game called Starblazer Adventures. Well, DriveThruRPGs just had another sale in time for me to buy the first campaign setting, called Mindjammer. The setting envisions a future in which humans have been expanding out into the galaxy for thousands of years using sublight ships. Naturally, contact with most of the colony ships is lost along the way and the ones that do maintain contact with Earth take decades or centuries to send and receive replies. Then, about 200 years in the past, Earth develops FTL capability and expands outward to reestablish contacts with the human diaspora and create the Commonality, a loose association of human colonies. Millennia of divergent development has created a plethora of different cultures and societies, some of which are not too happy to be receiving visitors.

Culture plays an interesting role in the setting. It provides aspects to characters derived from them, as one would expect. However, cultures also have their own rules for interaction with one another. The actions of characters can even result in societal changes, if a particular culture is not equipped to adequately deal with the stresses of making contact with the wider galactic community.

Another aspect of the setting is the Mindscape, a futuristic equivalent of the internet. Taking a page from the Traveller game, space travel is FTL, but interstellar communications are not. Therefore, AI spaceships, called Mindjammers, serve as nodes in the Mindscape, ensuring that all people of the Commonality have access to up-to-date information. Humans access the Mindscape directly via implants. This creates a sort of shared consciousness allowing the sum of all human knowledge to be available, although finding what you're looking for is not a trivial undertaking. The Mindscape also allows humans to display pseudo-psychic abilities.

Overall, Mindjammer is less pulpy than the default Starblazer Adventures setting, incorporating some cyberpunk elements and a more sophisticated approach to alien contact. I'm still not completely sold on the FATE game engine, being a fan of rules-heavy game systems and tactical combat, but it is growing on me and the wealth of good ideas in Mindjammer make it a goldmine for any space opera game.

-Rognar-

The paladin is Doctor Manhattan, the fighter is the Comedian

As I watch Obiri's paladin dish out 60 to 80 pts. of damage per round, inspire his allies, heal his wounds, save against everything and even turn on the charm when it's called for, I am left with one undeniable conclusion, the Pathfinder paladin is the ultimate base class in the game. So here we go. In a few weeks, we are going to start up an evil campaign. Who's going to DM this? Obiri! The guy that just spent the last six months playing the most potent PC I can recall seeing in years, maybe ever. Boys, I advise running away as fast as you can from even the rumour of a paladin in the upcoming campaign. We are going to get spanked.

-Rognar-

What is your favourite spell?

Is there really any better spell in D&D 3.5/Pathfinder than magic missile? In a game which features energy resistance and ranged touch attacks and evasion and concealment and cover and saving throws, isn't it nice to have the old standby to fall back on. That maximum 5d4+5 pts. may pale in comparison to the 10d6 or 15d6 spells of higher levels, but at least you feel confident of actually doing damage with a magic missile. The same can't be said of fireball. Sure, you occasionally get thwarted by a brooch of shielding or spell resistance, but compared to all the options available to defend against most other offensive spells, I'm happy to put up with a fizzle once in awhile. My vote is for magic missile.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.6

The latest effort to reconnect with the bands I loved in my youth takes me, once again, to Saxon. The quintet from Yorkshire went off the rails in the mid-80s, attempting to emulate the hair metal sound of bands like Def Leppard and Whitesnake and doing a piss-poor job of it. It wasn't until the 90s that Saxon began to rediscover its NWOBHM roots and produce quality music again. One of their better efforts was the 1999 release Metalhead. Although a bit uneven, there are several solid tracks on the album, including "Are We Travellers in Time", "Sea of Life" and "Conquistador" (which Biff Byford annoyingly insists on pronouncing 'con-KWISS-ta-door'). Saxon, as it turns out, was quite prolific in the 90s, with Forever Free (1992), Dogs of War (1995) and Unleash the Beast (1997) still to come on my list of albums to check out. I can't wait.

-Rognar-

Psycho-killer, qu'est que c'est?

So apparently this homicidal prof down in Alabama was into D&D and maybe even LARPing! Whatever. If LARPing is going to make someone flip out and shoot up the place, it's time we started taking a hard look at these guys, Redneck LARPers:



After all, their weapons are real.

-Rognar-

Random chargen? I hate it.

Hot topics in the RPG blogosphere always seem to start with something James Maliszewski has to say. Suddenly, his post on the unforgiving nature of Traveller character generation, something of which I have very painful memories, has spawned other posts, rebuttals and comments. I don't really know if any insight can be drawn from all this discussion, but I can tell you why I hate random chargen, because I am a monumentally lousy dice-roller. It's absolutely true. In AD&D, I was almost never able to roll minimum stats for any class at all. Literally, even getting a single 9 on 6 rolls of 3d6 was only achieved after multiple attempts. We had to house rule the chargen process to allow me to play the class I wanted because actually getting a 9 on the appropriate roll to play a wizard or a fighter was astronomically unlikely for me. For all you old school guys who insist the old dice-rolling approach was best, try this, instead of rolling 3d6 for your next character, just roll 2d6+1. That way, you will get a distribution closer to my rolls for the two decades I spent playing AD&D 1e/2e.

-Rognar-

The economics of poison

I've never really given much thought to the use of poison in D&D 3.5/Pathfinder. Some monsters have it and can, on occasion, use it to good effect, but players rarely use it. First of all, there is the danger of a self-inflicted poisoning, a risk to which only assassins are immune. Also, poisons don't seem all that effective against any of the really powerful monsters you might actually want to use it on. Sure, you could use something like black lotus extract with its hefty save DC and its truly scary 1d6 Con damage per round, but at 4500 gp per dose, it isn't even remotely cost effective. Spells and swords can accomplish even more and generally don't cost a thing. However, with the addition of the alchemist class in Pathfinder, the use of poison is going to become more common and it may be time to examine the economics of poison (and alchemy in general).

I remember in the olden days, we used to butcher every poisonous monster we killed, trying to extract the precious poison glands for our own use or resale (assuming there wasn't a pesky paladin in the party). Of course, there was always a risk of being poisoned (an exaggerated risk, in my opinion), but it was worth it. There is, of course, nothing preventing a group from doing the same in Pathfinder, but, depending on how firmly the DM adheres to treasure rules, adjustments would have to be made to include the value of any poison in the treasure of the encounter. This could get tricky since a monster may have multiple doses or it might use up all its available poison in the fight, so the value of its poison could vary wildly and may, in fact, be more valuable than any treasure such a monster might be expected to possess.

Next, there is the question of how to extract the poison. In older versions of D&D, it didn't matter, you just did it and hoped the DM didn't have a fight with his girlfriend the night before. These sorts of things are more formalized now, so some sort of skill check is called for. An appropriate knowledge skill might be a possibility, but that means a different skill for different types of monsters. Also, knowledge skills usually involve theoretical, rather than practical knowledge, like knowing where the wyvern's venom sac is located, but not necessarily how to extract it intact. Craft (alchemy) includes the ability to make poison, but doesn't really seem to imply the anatomical knowledge of poisonous creatures. Survival would seem to skirt along the edges of this activity, since it includes tracking and hunting. It wouldn't be a stretch to include butchering monsters for their valuable body parts and it is a class skill for alchemists, leading me to believe that is what the Pathfinder design team has in mind.

The upshot of all this is right now, poisons are way too expensive, even if you make your own, to be a significant part of any PCs bag of tricks. The alchemist class will likely require some rule changes to make poison use more accessible.

-Rognar-

The Landmaster

Over at EXONAUTS!, Jay has an excellent post about space age vehicles. It got me to thinking about just such a vehicle that is near and dear to my heart...and it's real! I'm talking about the Landmaster from the 1977 post-apocalyptic movie Damnation Alley. Built by Dean Jeffries for a whopping $350,000 US (well over a million in today's dollars), the Landmaster still exists today and is fully functional (except for armaments, I'm sure).

I give you, the Landmaster:




-Rognar-

cross-posted at Rognar's Space Horror Blog

Review - Starblazer Adventures

As part of the New Year's sale at DriveThruRPG, Starblazer Adventures by Cubicle 7 was available for a mere $10, so I bought it out of curiousity. For those unaware of this game, it is slightly-pulpy, FATE-based space opera game based on a '70s-era British comic book series. The game setting is enormous, weighing in at over 600 pages, yet still manages to feel a tad light on crunch. I think this may be a function of the modified FATE system used in the game. Actions are resolved by rolling 2 d6s, one designated as a negative die before the roll. The positive and negative dice are added together to give a result from -5 to +5, with the highest probabilities being the closest to 0. Added to the result is a modifier resulting from skills and other factors. This modifier will typically range from +1 to +3, although higher modifiers are possible. In addition to skills, characters also have stunts and aspects. Stunts are a lot like feats (or in some cases, class features) in the d20 system. They typically allow you do something with a skill you wouldn't normally be able to do, or give you a positive modifier to a skill under certain circumstances by accepting a negative modifier on other skills.

Aspects are rather less well-defined. They are brief phrases that describe motivations, personality quirks or background information of a character that can be used under certain circumstances to cajole the GM to allow some benefit. Alternatively, the player can use an aspect to his character's detriment, in order to earn fate points. Fate points are at the very heart of the FATE game system. Spending fate points allows a player to temporarily take control of the story. They can be used for a variety of things from adding an additional +1 modifier to any dice roll to powering some stunts to compelling a negative result from an opponent's aspect. While GMs do have veto power over the use of fate points, they are encouraged not to use it unless doing so would cause serious problems for the story.

Not surprisingly, Starblazer Adventures borrows heavily from the Starblazer comic books, incorporating story arcs, recurring characters and technologies from the comics directly into the game setting. The setting itself is divided into three eras, although other settings are possible. The three main settings are the Trailblazer Era, in which mankind first takes to the stars (think Enterprise or Star Trek), the Empire Era, in which a human empire battles across the galaxy with other great alien empires (more like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Babylon 5) and the Cosmopolitain Era, in which a galaxy-spanning empire made up of many races including humans maintains the Pax Galactica (best analog might be the Old Republic era of Star Wars).

Overall, the game is pretty good, especially if you are looking for a bit of pulp or campy feel to your space opera campaign. The FATE system tends to encourage a bit of whimsy on the part of the players, so serious or gritty campaigns probably won't work as well unless the GM and the players are all on the same page. I would never use the FATE system for my space horror campaign setting, but if you're looking for "a wee bit o' fun", this might be just the thing.

-Rognar-

Another House Rule: Blasters

Not the Star Wars kind.

Evocation in 3.5 and Pathfinder sucks as a school of magic. Between massive hit point inflation and caster level caps Evocation just doesn't pack the punch it used to. In fact I would argue (and do quite frequently) that evocation spells are a waste of a spell slot.

Sure it's nice against low level mooks but why not just let the melee types feel awesome for a bit. Between SR, Saves and Energy Resistance, why bother?

So for the up coming campaign I am ruling that energy type spells are not effected by spell resistance.

Comments?

Have we seen the last of Axis & Allies miniatures?

I made a rare visit to the WotC website today and scanned through the brands...Magic: the Gathering, Heroscape, Dungeons and Dragons, Duel Masters, Axis & Allies, Star Wars. It got me to thinking. With the Star Wars license gone, has the streamlining stopped or are there other product lines on the chopping block. Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons have to be considered core brands and pretty well untouchable. Heroscape is the only one of the brands commonly seen in mainstream toy stores like Toys-R-Us, which likely makes the Hasbro overfiends happy. Duel Masters is a CCG based on an anime property, pretty much an obligatory product line for a card company. So, that leaves Axis & Allies. Hasbro owned Avalon Hill and rolled it into WotC when it bought the company. It already owned Milton Bradley (man, Hasbro is the Evil Empire of gaming) which developed the original Axis & Allies boardgame, and promptly switched that product line to Avalon Hill. At this point, the various versions of the boardgame, a few other boardgames such as Diplomacy and the miniatures lines are the only Avalon Hill properties actively being produced. Of these, the minis lines are clearly the most neglected, with only two sets being released in 2009. Pre-painted plastic minis are apparently quite expensive to produce, certainly more so than the unpainted play pieces of a typical boardgame and while the Axis & Allies brand is well-known, it's mostly because of the venerable boardgame, not the minis. So, I think all signs point to A&AM being the next property to face the firing squad.

-Rognar-

Further note: Hasbro also owns Parker Brothers, the makers of Monopoly and Risk. In other words, they bloody well own everything. I add Hasbro to my list of other companies and organizations I hate; Microsoft, Disney, the New York Yankees...

The latest purchase from my FLGS, pt.8

With the end of the Star Wars Saga Ed. coming soon, I actually have the opportunity to own the entire game, every hardcover published in the product line. To that end, I picked up Galaxy of Intrigue, the penultimate sourcebook in the SWSE series. I knew before I bought it that it would be one of, if not the weakest product so far and in that regard, my expectations were realized. However, it does have just enough crunch, combined with my inherent collector's obsessive-compulsiveness, to compel me to buy it. The main selling point is updated stats for a number of fairly important alien races, such as the Bith, the Defel, the Gotal and the Neimoidian. Although these races had been described in past releases, they had not been given the full treatment. No doubt, the SWSE braintrust had been saving them up for just this reason.

There are some new feats and talents, as well as equipment and droids, but Galaxy of Intrigue is, without a doubt, the fluffiest book so far, knocking The Rebellion Era Sourcebook off that pedestal. Still, some the fluffy bits, like the numerous mini-adventures, are not completely devoid of merit. A seasoned group of SWSE players probably won't find much that's indispensible in Galaxy of Intrigue, but new players and GMs, especially those with an interest in "cloak-and-dagger" gameplay will find a lot of useful material.

-Rognar-

Further note: With only The Unknown Regions remaining to be released, a lot of the "Expanded Universe" stuff will not get covered in SWSE. One notable omission is the Yuuzhan Vong. Although there have been fragments of info about this race scattered through several books, it has never gotten a sufficiently detailed description to create a campaign centered on the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. My suspicion, however, is that few tears will be shed by diehard Star Wars fans.