X-Wing or Y-Wing?

I've always had the sense that my sci-fi inspirations were outside of the mainstream. A good example would be my love for the largely unloved Y-Wing fighter. In that final assault on the Death Star, as a small squadron of rebel pilots flew out to meet their destinies, it was obvious the X-Wings were the stars of the show, and why not? Just look at it:


The very personification of cool, a hunter, fast and deadly. It looks like a modern fighter jet with just enough stylistic changes (like lack of tail) to make it look futuristic. But it doesn't look like a spaceship to me. Spacecraft don't need wings. Yes, I know they are actually X-foils, but they look like wings and that makes it look like an airplane to me. Contrast that with the rugged and unsexy Y-Wing:


Instead of wings, it has nacelles. Also, there is very little effort at aerodynamics. Real spaceships don't need aerodynamics, except when lifting off from a planet. In a couple hundred years, when starfighters battle for supremacy in the skies over Mars (it will happen and it will be awesome), I think we will see a lot more Y and a lot less X in their designs (insert Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus joke here).

-Rognar-

Traffic report

Now that I have run my traffic counter for a few days, I'd say my initial excitement has worn off. We do get a lot of views from all over the world, but the average viewing time for the majority of these is only a couple of seconds, not long enough to even read a single post. It makes me wonder if most of these are not even real people, but just automated spambots. Not surprisingly, our biggest source of traffic is us. Roughly a third of our traffic comes from Calgary and it is generated from 15 unique visitors. Since most of us view the blog from multiple locations (home, work, mobile), it's possible most of those unique visitors are still us (and our friend from Citadel). In a way, it's reassuring since it appears nothing I write here will come back to haunt me if I decide to enter politics.

-Rognar-

Kingmaker - game design by committee

So, we finished the initial part of the Kingmaker adventure path involving the exploration and mapping of part of a region known as the Stolen Lands and have now been given a charter to set up a fief in the territory. We have had a chance to examine the new rules for creating and ruling our new lands. Any hopes that these new rules would compare favourably to my beloved Birthright Campaign Setting have been dashed. There are nearly a dozen rulership positions that need to be filled in order for the newly-established barony to function effectively. Certainly, every lordship needs a Treasurer and a High Priest, but many of these jobs seem to be the same thing with a slightly different focus. For example, the Warden administers to the defense of the realm, but the General leads the army and the Marshal organizes patrols and administers justice in rural areas. I guess if we were comparing this situation to a modern nation state like Canada, the Warden would be Minister of National Defense, the General would be Chief of Defense Staff and the Marshal would be Minister of Public Safety. It seems like a lot of redundancy for a small medieval fiefdom, however.

Even stranger, the occupant of each position appears to be qualified based solely on his or her ability scores. Our tiefling sorcerer with the Cha 20 would make a more effective High Priest than our actual priest of Erastil who only has Wis 18, because class and level seem to be completely meaningless as far as ruling our fledgling state is concerned. In any case, despite being a monarchy, we are given the option of swapping places after each turn. Each turn is a month, so if the Ruler wants to see how his ministers live, he can switch places with a different one each month. Maybe he'll try out Spymaster next month, then take a turn as Grand Diplomat after that. I don't know if this was inspired by reality TV, but even post-war Italy didn't turn over governments that quickly.

I hope more detailed rules will be revealed in future issues of the Kingmaker AP, because what we have right now seems bizarre to me.

-Rognar-

Build a better poison

Apparently, the brain trust at Paizo reads this blog, or maybe it's just a case of great minds thinking alike, but back a few months ago when I first started looking at the new Alchemist class, I suggested that the rules governing the use of poison would have to be changed to make them worth it to play an alchemist. Well, the second preview of the Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide has been posted and I direct your attention to this:

Concentrate Poison: The alchemist can combine two doses of the same poison to increase their effects. This requires two doses of the poison and 1 minute of concentration. When completed, the alchemist has one dose of poison. The poison's frequency is extended by 50% and the save DC increases by +2.

I think poisons are still too expensive, but options like this certainly make them a lot more attractive. Maybe, my next character will be another alchemist.

-Rognar-

Another look at Weird War II

Aside from the corebook, Weird Wars: Blood on the Rhine, the Weird War II line includes sourcebooks for North Africa (Afrika Korpse), the Pacific theatre (Land of the Rising Dead), the air war (Dead from Above) and a bestiary (Horrors of Weird War Two). I really like Weird Wars: Afrika Korpse with its promise of ancient horrors buried in the sands of Egypt, but to really capture the Weird War II mood, I think the best supplement is Weird Wars: Hell Freezes Over - The Russian Front. It was in the east that the Nazis committed their greatest atrocities. The death camps, the einsatzgruppen, the seige of Leningrad, the battle of Stalingrad and the relentless brutality of the Russian winter, even the mundane horrors of the Eastern Front were almost too terrible to imagine. Throw in Nazi sorcery and weird science, as well as fiends from Russian folklore awakened by the anguished screams of millions of victims, and you have quite a potent mix.

Weird Wars: Hell Freezes Over - The Russian Front was one of the last supoplements published for Weird War II. It introduced three new base classes, the Cavalryman, the Commissar and the Siberian Shaman. The last of these is the first base class with supernatural abilities. Of course, the Grunt, Officer, Scout and Resistance Fighter base classes also have equivalents on the Eastern Front. There is one new prestige class, the Guardsman. The Red Army has no equivalent to the Commando (although Russian partisans may take that PC), so the Guardsman fills the role. However, the Guardsman is more of an elite fighter than an infiltrator. The Soviet version of the ISO, called SOPA, has its own versions of the OSI Adept, OSI Operative and OSI Chaplain (although the SOPA Chaplain is very rare due to the hostility of the Communist Party to the Russian Orthodox Church).

As with the corebook, this book contains a history of the war (obviously in this case, concentrating on the Eastern Front) and a good accounting of arms and equipment not previously detailed in other books. There are many new feats, including weird feats, a concept first introduced in Afrika Korpse. These are feats which provide some supernatural ability, but come with a disadvantage. For example, Below Zero Resistance gives a character unnatural tolerance for cold temperatures. On the other hand, such a character finds more temperate conditions uncomfortable, even dangerous.

There is a sizable selection of new monsters as well as a section on vampires. In Weird War II, the Nazis have an obsession with vampires. Senior Nazis, including Hitler, seek the gift (or curse) of immortality offered by vampirism, so as to ensure the 1000-year reign of the Third Reich. Much of the efforts of the SS blood mages in Eastern Europe are directed toward acquiring this power.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on White Plume Mountain

Zack and Steve at SomethingAwful.com have decided to abandon their exploration of Marvel Super Heroes and have returned to the one what brung 'em, D&D. Their latest target, the classic module, White Plume Mountain.

White Plume Mountain

-Rognar-

Is there anybody out there?

It turns out, the answer is yes. I was playing around with Google Analytics yesterday and installed a traffic tracker on this site. In the one day it has been active, we have had 21 unique visitors from seven countries including Brazil, Australia and Israel. Now I'm sure some of you more tech-savvy readers will probably yawn at this revelation (no doubt, our resident computer guru, Obiri, will chuckle at the old greybeard), but I actually find this pretty darn cool. We don't really do this to attract a following (although we certainly cherish every one of our regulars), but it's nice to know someone is actually reading some of our stuff.

-Rognar-

What excites me in 2010?

This year has so far been a bit of a bust for me as far as cool new releases go. Paizo has just released the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: GameMastery Guide, the first core rulebook of 2010 and as far as what I look for in a rulebook, this offers nothing. On top of that, the problems over at Catalyst Game Labs have done a real number on the release schedule for Eclipse Phase. Posthuman Studios, the creator of Eclipse Phase, is back on track with a new publisher, but the release date of Sunward: The Inner System is still something of a mystery (fingers crossed for GenCon).

Fortunately, the second half of 2010 looks a lot more promising. These are the upcoming releases I am particularly excited about:

Chthonian Stars - Wildfire and Mongoose Publishing (expected release: Oct., 2010)

It is a good time to be alive. The nations of the world still exist, but they have become more civilized. Countries resolve their disputes through the forum of the United World Council. Colonies of mutual cooperation exist throughout the solar system. We have stretched to the edge of our known world.

But, alas, it is not to be our time.

Something approaches, a thing on an orbit from far away. Seemingly a large shard of dark matter, this object is known in obscure prophecy as the Chthonian Star. It is a thing that has been traveling through the universe on its oblique trajectory for millions, if not billions, of years. It is a part of the natural cycle of things, on its eon-long orbit. The Chthonian Star is the thing that caused the end of the dinosaurs, among other things. Now, again, it is awakening things long thought lost or dead, things that have slumbered awaiting its return.

Created by WildFire, the team behind the award-winning CthulhuTech, Chthnonian Stars is an original setting for Traveller. It brings a Lovecraftian flair to the Traveller family of products, in a near future setting where mankind has expanded out into our solar system, where old things are beginning to awaken.

This is the core setting book, with everything a new players needs (other than the Traveller Core Rulebook). It includes robust setting material, including a look at the planets and colonies of our solar system, new technology and starships, and a peek behind the curtain at the occult history of our part of the galaxy. It also includes new optional rules for character generation, including point allocation and half-terms, and new rules for psychology and combat.

Traveller Book:9 Robot - Mongoose Publishing (expected release: Oct.,2010)

From the characterful and sophisticated droids of film to simple drones, this book will allow players to construct and play a variety of robots covering all Traveller universes. From the Third Imperium to Judge Dredd, robots rapidly become ubiquitous items on high technology worlds, and this book will allow you to construct, outfit and modify robots of any type with a simple to use yet comprehensive system.

And of course:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player's Guide - Paizo Publishing (expected release: Aug., 2010)

Explore new and uncharted depths of roleplaying with the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide! Empower your existing characters with expanded rules for all 11 Pathfinder Roleplaying Game core classes and seven core races, or build a new one from the ground up with one of six brand-new, 20-level base classes. Whether you’re designing your own monstrous helpers as an enigmatic summoner, brewing up trouble with a grimy urban alchemist, or simply teaching an old rogue a new trick, this book has everything you need to make your heroes more heroic.

The Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

The 336-page Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide includes:
Six new base classes: the monster-hunting inquisitor, the explosive alchemist, the noble cavalier, the prophecy-haunted oracle, the monster-crafting summoner, and the hex-weaving witch

More than a hundred innovative new feats and combat abilities for characters of all classes, including Steal, Point-Blank Master, and Bouncing Spell

Variant class abilities, rules subsystems, and thematic archetypes for all 11 core classes, such as the antipaladin, the hungry ghost monk, and the urban ranger

Hundreds of new spells and magic items, from phantasmal revenge to the Storm King’s Cloud Castle

A wealth of fantastic equipment, such as fireblast rods and fortune-tellers’ cards

New prestige classes like the Master Chymist and the Battle Herald

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

-Rognar-

Update: Another title which interests me is The Chronicles of Future Earth from Chaosium, but alas, this seems to be another game supplement with a migratory publication date. Maybe another GenCon release...

A look at Weird War II

There has been some recent interest from members of our gaming group for a World War II campaign following an apparently awesome game at PaizoCon with a similar theme. For this reason, I have decided to take a look at my Weird War II game materials. I will start with the first book, Weird Wars: Blood on the Rhine.

Weird Wars: Blood on the Rhine is a d20 OGL publication by Pinnacle Entertainment Group set in World War II. It can be played as a straight WWII rpg, but personally, I don't think the d20 system is well-equipped to capture the gritty realism such subject matter should possess. However, the Weird Wars series is not intended to be historical anyway. All manner of fantastical, occult and weird science elements have been included from Nazi blood mages and Waffen-SS wehrwolves to haunted tanks and the shadowy Allied espionage unit known simply as the OSI. The book starts out pretty mundane. The first five chapters include a brief history of WWII, a description of important organizations (i.e. the Gestapo, the SS, the Resistance) and individuals (i.e. Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Rommel), character generation, equipment and combat. All characters are assumed to be Allied military personnel or members of the Resistance and none start with supernatural knowledge or ability. The base classes are Grunt, Officer, Medic/Nurse, Resistance Fighter and Scout. There are several new feats and skills, although only the Prayer skill has any supernatural application. The equipment lists are quite extensive, including American, British and German arms and vehicles. Combat is somewhat more deadly than in D&D 3.5. Most rifles do 2d8 pts. of damage, mines and grenades do even more, armour classes are quite low (AC 14 or 15 being typical at low to mid-levels) and healing is far less effective.

The weird stuff starts to make an appearance in Ch. 6 with the introduction of prestige classes. The Commando and Sniper prestige classes are still mundane, but the OSI Chaplain, the OSI Adept and the OSI Operative have supernatural abilities. The OSI Chaplain can invoke miracles by using the Prayer skill, the OSI Adept can cast spells using any runes he knows and the OSI Operative eventually gains the ability to employ magic items. After that is a chapter describing magic in the Weird War II setting. It is less powerful than in D&D 3.5, but still potent. Divine magic requires a successful Prayer skill check and any successful casting causes some non-lethal damage to the caster in the form of fatigue. Arcane spells are cast using runes. Adepts learn new runes as they gain levels and may cast any spells that are based on those runes. Again, spellcasting is very fatiguing and adepts suffer non-lethal damage every time they cast. The next chapter deals with haunted vehicles, followed by a GM's section that includes background information on the OSI and the SS blood mages, as well as a bestiary. Finally, there is a short starting adventure entitled "Dogs of War". Given that the cover art for Weird Wars: Blood on the Rhine features a werewolf in a Waffen-SS uniform, it's not hard to imagine what the title of the starting adventure refers to.

Next time, I will take a look at Weird Wars: Hell Freezes Over - The Russian Front. After all, the horrors of the western front pale in comparison to those in the east.

-Rognar-

A look back at Space Opera, pt.3

Part 3 - the Setting

Space Opera has a default setting, much like Traveller although it is much less developed. Much of the setting detail is revealed in the miniatures game Space Marines which serves as a companion game to Space Opera. It is in Space Marines that we learn about the various races that are described in generic terms in Space Opera. Humans/humanoids comprise several star nations which fill the various space stereotypes; Terran Union ("The Federation"), Azuriach Imperium ("Space Nazis"), Galactic People's Republic ("Space Commies"), Mercantile League ("Space Capitalists"), Ranan Horde ("Space Mongols") and IRSOL Confederacy ("Space Elves"). Beyond these, things really start to get cheesy. You have two feline races, the sensuous, hunter race called the Avatars and the technophile MekPurrs. The democratic, but militant canines are called the Rauwoofs, the traditionalist, monarchist bear-people are the Blarads, the flightless, egg-worshipping bird-people are the Whistlers and the fecund, expansionist lizardfolk are called Hisss'ist.

While hostility between the races is common, the Azuriach Imperium and the Hisss'ist seem particularly prone to aggression, they are still considered to be player races. There are, however, several truly alien races which are considered to be NPC races only. These are the Bugs, the Klackons and the Mertuns. The Bugs are pulled right out of "Starship Troopers" (the book, not the movie). They have workers, warriors and brain bugs, they use advanced technology (though primitive by human standards) and the communicate by telepathy. Individual bugs (not brain bugs) are fairly unintelligent, but not mindless. They are capable of some independent action, though tactics and coordination are limited. As such, they tend to utilize swarm tactics, sacrificing individual warriors the way humans would spend ammo. Klackons are large, intelligent crabs. They are more sophisticated than the Bugs and may engage in trade with other races. However, they are just as likely to eat foreign emmissaries as parley with them, so caution is always warranted. Finally, the Mertuns are technologically-advanced octopoids who are always seen in personal tripod units when encountered by other races. They are not so much evil as simply alien. They have little interest in other races except when they have something the Mertuns want.

Part 4 - final thoughts

Although for the most part, Space Opera is not a game I can recommend, there are some parts I quite like. Two things in particular, come to mind, space combat and worldbuilding. In the case of the former, it is not so much the mechanics of space combat I find appealing (they are, in fact, just as complicated as the personal combat rules). Rather, it is the basic assumptions I like. Ship-to-ship combat in Space Opera takes place at ranges of tens or hundreds of light-seconds. None of this "don't-shoot-till-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes" Star Trek space combat. Considering that naval combat today typically takes place at ranges beyond the horizon, it's hard to understand why spaceships would have to be bow-to-bow before opening up on each other. Of course, when you are firing at a ship that is 300 LS away, if you use conventional EM-based weapons and sensors, you're never going to hit a darn thing. After all, what you are seeing is the location of the enemy vessel five minutes ago. So Space Opera ship weapons and sensors utilize tachyon technology. Also, there isn't the variety of spaceship weapons that you find in some space games. I've never been all that impressed with massive catalogues of weapon technologies, many of which seem to be variations on a theme, like lasers, blasters, masers, grasers, phasars, proton beams, etc. In Space Opera, you have nova guns (a type of tachyon particle beam), megabolt torpedoes (a pulsed nova gun) and startorps (a powerful guided missile), that's it. Nova guns are based on "Precursor" technology, so there is no issue with more advanced weapons coming into the campaign.

As mentioned above, the other thing I really like in Space Opera is worldbuilding. Anyone who has ever played the game or even read the rules can't help but be inspired by reading the descriptions of increasingly more hostile planet types and the sorts of effects they have on characters and creatures inhabiting those worlds. Section 15.5 is my personal favourite, going into detail on how the combination of axial tilt, orbital eccentricity and location relative to the stellar ecosphere affects climate. The thought of getting stranded on a type 12 planet (extreme orbital eccentricity leading to the planet passing right through the stellar ecosphere) and facing whatever local fauna is tough enough to survive such conditions, is the stuff of nightmares. There are loads of good stuff in there for GMs running space-based rpgs to mine.

-Rognar-

A look back at Space Opera, pt.2

Part 2 - Personal Combat

I think the best way to grasp the beautiful insanity of Space Opera combat is to go through a single attack step by step. Our subject is Trooper Borman of the Terran Union Guard. Trooper Borman is armed with a 7mm blaster rifle, the standard weapon of Terran light infantry. A platoon of Azuriach CAP (combat armour, powered) troopers is approaching across the scarred battlefield. The Azzies are equipped with jump belts and are moving quickly. Trooper Borman has to make every shot count.

Trooper Borman sights up an approaching Azzie and at about a half a klick, he fires off a burst. He’s prone and the target is at medium range, so his base chance to hit is 60%. He and his company are under fire from enemy mortars, however, which gives a -10% penalty. Borman has blaster rifle/5 skill, which gives a +10% modifier. The target is moving fast, which gives a modifier of -25%. Therefore, his hit % is 35%, but he fired a burst, so he gets three attack rolls and hits on one.

Next, hit location is determined. The roll indicates a lower abdomen/groin hit. Ouch! That could hurt. However, he still has to penetrate. The Azuriach Imperium believes in the power of heavy infantry and its troopers are among the most heavily-armoured to be found anywhere in explored space. Borman’s target is wearing a Marauder-class PAPA (power-assisted, personal armour) unit, so he needs a 7+ on a d10 to penetrate. He rolls an 8, his lucky day.

Having successfully wounded his enemy, Borman now has to determine how severely. He rolls a d20 with a +2 wound factor modifier for his weapon. He gets a 15, a critical wound for a lower abdomen shot. The damage is 2d6+13 pts., but there is also a 12% chance of an instant kill. He fails on the instant kill check, but still does a lot of damage. The Azzie CAP trooper fails his Shock CR and goes down. The impact of the crash probably finishes him off.

So, to summarize, a successful attack in Space Opera will require, a hit roll, a hit location roll, a penetration roll, a wound severity roll and a damage roll, with an instant kill roll being a possibility as well, a minimum of five rolls. Needless to say, on the GNS plot, Space Opera is firmly entrenched in the simulationist corner

-Rognar-

A look back at Space Opera, pt.1

In my early days of tabletop rpging, I always played with the same group of guys. We went to school together, we were friends from a time before we had ever heard of D&D and as far as we knew, the only company that made games was TSR. Now, that's not to say we only played Dungeons & Dragons. We had a spirited Star Frontiers campaign going for awhile and even gave Gamma World a try (although we found that one a bit silly). Anyway, my gaming horizons began to expand after my first gaming convention. It was Halcon, in Halifax, Nova Scotia and it was probably around 1983. I decided to run a Gamma World game at the convention (after extirpating all the talking chickens and other annoying aspects of the game setting). I had a group of guys sign up for my game who were already playing together. It was like I was a guest GM at their home game. They completely destroyed my game, but I learned a lot about running a tournament game and it turned out, these guys were pretty cool. They even invited me to join their group. Now, my regular group of guys were playing pretty sporadically at this time, so I decided to take them up on the offer. I was a student and a nerd, so I had all the time in the world for gaming. Heck, I probably could have participated in half a dozen different games at the same time back then. Anyway, these guys played a foreign game from an unheard-of publisher. That game was Space Opera and the publisher was Fantasy Games Unlimited. It was like a whole new world had opened up for me. Then I started reading the rules and it was like "What the F...! You guys play this?!" So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the most complicated game system I have ever played (and yes, I did play it, for months).

Part 1 - Character Generation

Chargen starts out pretty straightforward with the selection of character class. There are only six classes and this will be the last time I will ever have to use the word "only". The classes are Armsman, Tech, Research Scientist, Medical Scientist, Engineering Scientist and Astronaut. The Astronaut is sort of a jack-of-all-trades type of character which incorporates combat and technical skills sets together. The others are fairly self-explanatory. Your choice of class gives you a number of points that you can use to top up some of your rolls in the next stage, which is the generation of personal characteristics (i.e. attributes). There are 14 such characteristics. Yes, 14. They are Physique, Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity, Empathy, Intelligence, Psionics, Intuition, Bravery, Leadership, General Technical Aptitude (GTA), Mechanical Aptitude (MechA) and Electronics Aptitude (ElecA). Each is determined by a percentile roll which is then converted to a value between 1 and 19 using a table. For some stats, bonus points provided by the character class are needed to get the highest scores.

After generating personal characteristics, homeworld characteristics are generated and these can result in further adjustments to personal characteristics. For example, high gravity worlds give bonuses to strength and agility, while simultaneously reducing physique. Planets with extreme climates tend to give constitution bonuses.

Next comes the determination of the character's race. It is a veritable parade of furries, as a variety of manimals (Canines, Felines, Ursoids, Saurians, Avians, Pithecines) stand shoulder-to-shoulder with humans and humanoids to defend the galaxy from the various evil squid-people, crab-people and bug-people. Of course, this being Space Opera, one doesn't simply choose a race, one must qualify by having suitable personal characteristics. Humans and Avians have no prerequisites, so lousy dice-rollers always have a refuge, but if you have the stats, you can play the awesome Ursoids (bear-people) or most desired of all, Transhumans (supermen that resemble Vulcans). The more difficult a race is to qualify for, the more benefits one derives from it. Thus, a player lucky enough to have rolled great personal characteristics will be rewarded with even more benefits. Although it is nearly impossible to achieve, if a player is lucky enough to qualify for a Transhuman, he will truly dominate.

Calculation of the various derived characteristics is next. These include carrying capacity (Transhumans are nearly as strong as Ursoids), damage factors (i.e. hit points, Transhumans rule), stamina factor (again, Transhumans have the advantage) and movement (Transhumans can run as fast as the cat-people and for as long as the dog-people). There are also a ton of other things like shock resistance, fatigue, wind, balance and initiative, but you get the idea.

Career experience is determined next and this is somewhat reminiscent of Traveller, although with far fewer steps. The number of tours is determined by a single roll and any service may be selected if the PC has the required personal characteristics. A roll is made for each tour to determine promotions and then severence benefits are calculated.

Finally, skills are purchased. Each character receives a certain number of skill points determined by his personal characteristics and the duration of his service as well as a small number of randomly-rolled general skill points. These may be used to purchase skills, most of which have 10 levels each and some have prerequisites. For example, taking a level in Hyper-Dimensional Physics requires equivalent levels in both Nuclear Physics and Force Field Physics as well as a minimum intelligence of 13.

Watch for my next post as I describe Space Opera combat. You will not believe it.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on Marvel Super Heroes, pt.2

Zack and Steve continue their analysis of TSR's Gamers Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Abomination Thru Dreadnought. Considering there are four such handbooks, I hope they don't pummel a deceased equine on this one.

Marvel Super Heroes

-Rognar-

Second dispatch from PaizoCon

Derobane-bane has been rubbing shoulders with some big names in the business. Yesterday, he played in a marathon session with Erik Mona behind the screen. Erik Mona was the former editor-in-chief of both Dragon and Dungeon magazines and is now head publisher for Paizo. D described Mr. Mona as having prodigious stamina, showing no signs of fatigue after nine hours of DMing. He also said Mr. Mona is very skilled at bringing his NPCs to life.

After his marathon gaming session, D later found himself having a discussion at the lounge with a friendly British guy who turned out to be none other than Wayne Reynolds, the artist most responsible for the Pathfinder style. He produced the cover art for both the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and the Pathfinder Bestiary, as well as the famous (and, in some cases, controversial) iconic portraits.

My envy is growing by the day.

Update: Let the games begin
Derobane-bane
Tayloritos


-Rognar-

First dispatch from PaizoCon

Our own "Derobane-bane" and frequent commenter "Tayloritos" are in Bellevue, WA this weekend for PaizoCon 2010. We have received our first dispatches from the guys. They've met fellow gamers from Montreal, New York and Manchester (England, I presume) and last night, Tayloritos had supper with Dave Gross, author of several Forgotten Realms novels for WotC and more recently, the upcoming Prince of Wolves for Paizo. Mr. Gross is an expat American living in Edmonton.

Keep those updates coming, guys.

-Rognar-

Eclipse Phase and CthulhuTech reunited

The well-publicized flameout of Catalyst Game Labs and the subsequent departure of Posthuman Studios (Eclipse Phase) and Wildfire (CthulhuTech) led to much speculation about the future of those games. Fortunately, some former employees of Catalyst have come to together to form a new publishing company called Sandstorm and it has lured back both companies. Happy days are here again.

-Rognar-

Rippin' on Marvel Super Heroes, pt.1

Zack and Steve are back (finally) and they have something to say about Marvel Super Heroes. I am fairly indifferent to most everything about the superheroes genre, but its inherent homoeroticism seems like fertile ground for mockery.

Marvel Super Heroes

-Rognar-

The latest purchase from my FLGS, pt.12

Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Treasures Revisited

The latest release in the Pathfinder Chronicles line delves into ten of the greatest and most iconic magic items in the history of D&D; the bag of holding, the helm of brilliance, the deck of many things, the cube of force, the vorpal sword, the well of many worlds, the sphere of annihilation, the staff of the magi, the horn of Valhalla and the figurines of wondrous power. This lavishly-illustrated, 64-page book contains a wealth of information (and a fair bit of useless filler) on each of these items.

Each entry includes a reprint of the description of the base item as presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, followed by a "Utility" section describing how the item may be used. This section is fairly handy because it describes a few uses that some players maybe haven't considered, although if any party has a spare Type IV bag of holding that they use to carry water, they might be a bit too well-equipped.

Next is a section called "Related Items/Spells". This section is clearly filler. Why yes, now that you mention it, a handy haversack is rather similar to a bag of holding. Thanks for pointing that out.

After that is a section entitled "Campaign Role". This bears a lot of similarities to the "Utility" section, but there are some additional bits of useful stuff in there for DMs because it provides additional tactics that a villain might use against the party if he was in possession of the item or ways to defeat a party which relies on such an item too heavily.

The crunchiest section is next, that being "Variants". Each item has several different versions with stat blocks. Some of these are simply variations on a theme, like the helm of electric radiance, a variant helm of brilliance which employs electricity-based spells instead of fire-based ones, but there are some pretty interesting artifact-level items in there as well. My favourite is Shelana, the Mother Deck, an intelligent, superpowered deck of many things that is believed to be the precursor to all lesser decks (nitpickers will note that the entry on the Mother Deck is not actually in the "Variants" section, but has a section all its own, see below).

The next section deals with details of each item related to the Pathfinder campaign world of Golarion. This is largely historical detail which may be of some interest to DMs using this setting.

Finally, there is a loose section describing various odds and ends associated with each item. Spells, feats, extra-powerful unique versions (like the aforementioned Shelana, the Mother Deck), alternate theories on the origins of some items, etc. This a mixed bag with some really cool stuff and some pedestrian bits. Your mileage may vary.

Overall, Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Treasures Revisited is a decent offering. If it sounds like something that interests you, I suspect you won't be disappointed. If, on the other hand, this sounds like something of limited value, you will find more than enough wasted space between the covers to confirm your suspicions. I give it a thumbs-up, but not a wholehearted endorsement.

-Rognar-

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...