I remember the light and magic that lit my mind of fire the first time I played Dungeons and Dragons. My friend had gotten a starter set that had a great fold out map and card standees and all I knew was that I went to deliver a package and up delivering it I was knocked out and woke up in a dungeon behind bars and wanted to make good my escape.
No character background, no story hook other than a basic desire for freedom. After that I was like an addict who couldn't get enough of my next fix. Whenever I went over to that friends house, all I wanted to do was enter that magical land of make believe.
With the concept of armor class and Thac0 I started filling a notebook with all sorts of fantastical creatures during recess while other kids played four-square or tetherball.
Excitedly I showed my ideas to my friend offering them to him as monsters he could use and I was curtly told "you can't do that" There was a Monster's Manuel and published material for the game, you couldn't just MAKE THINGS UP!
So the notebook went on the shelf, followed shortly by a ban from playing D&D from my parents because they'd seen some movie about how it make kids bad or something.
Years later, I introduced my girlfriend to D&D (my parents having given up by that point). I told her she could be anything she wanted and she said "A princess" well what I meant by "anything" was one of several prescribed classes, which she could then put a veneer over and explore a dungeon according to a specific set of rules.
Oh, man I'd become the very thing that took the wind out of my sales so long ago.
Now I play with my kids, and when they come up with an idea we run with it and bend and break rules because while it can be fun to play an exact simulation game, it is more fun to capitalize on imagination.
The rules are there to assist in telling a story, not the be all end all (of course if you want an in depth simulation game, please rule lawyer along).
This works well for weird horror as well.
There is little reason for me to say a player can't be something in a game where the Big Bad is from a different reality all together. In fact, it often works to my advantage as a GM. Having a min-maxed character, a combat monster who cannot be defeated, is often there not because of the "character" but rather because of the player wanting to "win." Having that type of character makes the player feel safe, because they feel the either won't die, or at least are just used to combat being the sole resolution to every problem. This allows for that much more of a shift, because you can change the script for success.
Have a creature that only attacks using saving throws instead of normal combat mechanics. Make it only able to be hurt by something ridiculous like sage. Have one of the PCs give it the common cold and while it is invulnerable to everything else, it dies in a week from the flu.
You can open up your mind to anything as both game master and player when the rules don't matter, and "You can't do that" is removed from the creative process for both players and GMs.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Sunday, September 17, 2017
New adventure
Finally got around to uploading a new adventure. You can find it under the adventures tab or just jump right to it from the link below. The adventure is for all levels (though probably geared to level 1 or 2) and contains adult content.
http://wherearemydice.blogspot.com/p/the-intimate-study-of-johnathan-theeb.html
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Product Review Zweihander
By Grim & Perilous Studios
Available at: Drivethrurpg $27.00 pdf
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210516/ZWEIHANDER-Grim--Perilous-RPG?
Zweihander is a lot of things. Big is one of them. It brings a lot to the table for people who are used to D&D and other OSR products. Most of which are a boon to the gaming experience.
Pros (or at least the cool stuff that caught my attention):
- An interactive combat system. You are not just hit or not. The attacker may hit and the defender has a chance to parry depending on if they held some of their actions.
- Racial malleability. The game has your standard fantasy races, however there is not a fixed template. You get to pick amongst several different facets of the racial stereotype, meaning a party of all elves would still have some differences.
- A solid theme. The mechanics support a very dangerous and gritty theme. Combat is deadly, healing is hard, magic is dangerous, and disease is rampant. The game has a massive amount of material but does not have a pre-defined "world". You could drop it into renaissance Earth, Warhammer's Olde Worlde, your own homebrew or even another campaign world of your choice like Forgotten Realms. Any of these and more will work, as long as you keep that grim & perilous theme.
- A straight forward rule system. The book is massive (You'll never stop hearing this!) But it contains everything you need to play, rules, character building, advice, world building, adventure hooks, bestiary. Because the rules are pretty clear you will find you will have to do very little referencing back as you play, but see the Cons list below for when you do.
Cons
- The writing is a little disjointed. It is a big book 700+ pages. At least three times it told me to ignore the rules if I didn't like them. It tells you alignment isn't a big deal when it is introduced and that picking the path of order or chaos isn't "good or evil" but then pins the corruption rule to it and tells you how important it is to keep that rule.
- Organization. There is a lot of material and as a result sometimes things are presented and you aren't really sure why. Have a disease, in the disease section it says you are hosed as there is no cure, oh wait, in another section there IS a cure, it just isn't common. Want to make the cure, that is in another seciton (which doesn't reference the others). The game is a love letter written to Warhammer 1st & 2nd ed. However sometimes that came a across as the author didn't know how to explain it to someone who had no point of reference to what they were saying. On the bright side, mark or print off the couple of tables you find you will need (like injuries) and the simple rules system helps smooth through these issues.
- Dark humor. Ok this isn't REALLY a con, but the book reads like an inside joke. It repeatedly pushes the grim & perilous nature to the game, the dark seriousness of it all. It makes a specific point to spell out how a combat heavy dungeon crawl like many RPGs focus on will result only in death an misery. Then it proceeds to break the fourth wall and include a dungeoneer class with plenty of references to Gary Gygax. It has Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 3rd ed (WFRP 3e) in the equipment section for sale. It is fun and I smiled, but it is a mix of taking itself very seriously, and not seriously at all which is odd. but hey, it is a game and it makes reading it enjoyable.
But wait there's more!
I never played Warhammer roleplaying before. I add this little caveat because a lot of the reviews I've seen are from people who are already familiar with the genesis of this product. The great thing about Zweihander is that you don't have to know about Warhammer or even like Warhammer to enjoy this product.
I would most closely compare this game to Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP) and Hackmaster. LotFP is more rules light than Zweihander and Hackmaster is more rules crunchy, but they all share a common theme of dark and gritty play with the "becoming a hero" the point of the game, not starting out as one and just adventuring along. These are games of being a common person with greatness thrust upon them. A story of the character's journey as much as the adventure/campaign itself.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
My non-interview of James Raggi
Over memorial day weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Role Play Convention in Cologne, Germany. I was there as part of the SCA, who was conducting demonstrations of various arts and crafts as well as combat.
The day before the convention we were infilling our section equipment and we got off on the wrong floor. And what do I see before me but Mr. James Raggi, in the flesh, checking his cell phone about 10 feet away from me. After quickly confirming that no one in my party had any idea where they were and needed to call our group coordinator to find out where we were supposed to go, I zipped on over to Mr. Raggi to say "hi".
I don't regularly (or irregularly) rub elbows with the rich and famous, but I've seen famous folks before at conventions and kept my cool -they're just people after all right? However, I was in a bit of a shock seeing Mr. Raggi there and as a result felt embarrassingly giddy at the experience and just had to gush and tell him how much I liked Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and how excited I was to see that he was at this convention. He cooly accepted my appreciation for his efforts and pointed off to where his booth was. I told him I'd swing by and check it out. By then the rest of the group had figured out we were supposed to be on a different floor and it was time to start hauling our gear to where it needed to go.
The next day.
I had been rotating in and out fighting for about two hours, happy but exhausted, and finished for the morning. I stripped off about half of my gear (since I was just going to be fighting again in a few hours) but was still a stinking sweaty mess even if I did have a new shirt on.
My wife decided to take me upstairs and check out the vendors, but I had to hold the baby. We looked at various stuff, but I was on a mission- I was going to see the Lamentations of the Flame Princess booth.
A couple of years ago I had gone into roleplaying hibernation. Work, family and so forth were just taking so much time that I couldn't get a group together and couldn't really participate in any regular game, and so my dice were gathering dust. Coming across Lamentations of the Flame Princess re-ignited the sense of wonder and fun that I had for years with roleplaying. As a result I bought pretty much everything I could from the line. Recently a new book was released "Veins of the Earth" and it was massive, which unfortunately meant that the shipping from Finland was going to be about 20 Euro just for one book. I had put it on hold until some other books were released, but hey here was an opportunity to pick it up.
So we stop by the unassuming LotFP booth that is manned by James and only James (see totally on a first name basis now). It doesn't have a lot of the flash of other booths, but had a cool banner and a couple of tables that were crammed full of books and shirts. He had some other customers that he was helping there, but quickly and efficiently handed me a price list that was printed out just for the convention (Seriously, if you can get to a convention with LotFP there you get some great prices!)
He asked if I wanted to check out any of the other books at the table But I had everything he was selling except for the one book. So my lovely wife passed over the money and got the book and a price list because it looked cool. In total, the interaction was short and swift.
I wanted to say a lot more, and ask a bunch of questions and just talk about the hobby in general. However, he was there to do business, there were other customers looking at stuff and I knew I had only so long before I had to be back downstairs for the next combat demonstration.
I would like to point out that I looked like crap after fighting, could still feel the sweat pouring off of me, had a bruise forming on my chin from where a good whack had gotten me, and had a floppy baby hanging off of me. I probably smelled worse than I looked as well.
I went on my way, and just gushed to my wife instead who had raised her eyebrow at me shelling out 60 Euro for a book I hadn't even cracked the cover of, but I reminded her that she loved me and technically SHE had handed over the money and bought me the book as a gift. Then I stopped and told her to hold on.
The other customer was gone and so I went back to at least get a photo.
James smiled and said yes, I finally got out a bit about how I loved the LotFP line, and to keep up the good work. He came around to the front of the booth and asked my wife for a count down for the picture.
5
4
3
2
1
He screamed and head banged like his favorite metal band had just come on stage. My wife nearly dropped the camera she was so surprised (meanwhile the baby had fallen asleep and just continued to be passed out).
So you know what James did? He took another photo with me. And he screamed again.
I still wanted to talk, but I had already gotten so much, and what was I going to ask, probably the same stuff that gets asked in real interviews, and really the last thing I wanted to do was stop him from doing what he was there to do. Spread the gospel of weird horror roleplaying.
So I went on my way and did more fighting and just enjoyed the busy chaos that is working at a convention.
Sunday when we were cleaning up and I was bone tired and exhausted I stopped and thought about how much fun and work conventions are, and I thought of James working the booth spreading the word of LotFP and how tired he must be after two LONG days of work by himself (mind you he is selling books in English at a German convention, and while every German I have had the pleasure of meeting speaks really good English, he is competing against products all around him- in German).
I also thought: Crap. I never introduced myself.
So James, if you ever read this. Hi, I'm Tim and I'm a big fan.
The day before the convention we were infilling our section equipment and we got off on the wrong floor. And what do I see before me but Mr. James Raggi, in the flesh, checking his cell phone about 10 feet away from me. After quickly confirming that no one in my party had any idea where they were and needed to call our group coordinator to find out where we were supposed to go, I zipped on over to Mr. Raggi to say "hi".
I don't regularly (or irregularly) rub elbows with the rich and famous, but I've seen famous folks before at conventions and kept my cool -they're just people after all right? However, I was in a bit of a shock seeing Mr. Raggi there and as a result felt embarrassingly giddy at the experience and just had to gush and tell him how much I liked Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and how excited I was to see that he was at this convention. He cooly accepted my appreciation for his efforts and pointed off to where his booth was. I told him I'd swing by and check it out. By then the rest of the group had figured out we were supposed to be on a different floor and it was time to start hauling our gear to where it needed to go.
The next day.
I had been rotating in and out fighting for about two hours, happy but exhausted, and finished for the morning. I stripped off about half of my gear (since I was just going to be fighting again in a few hours) but was still a stinking sweaty mess even if I did have a new shirt on.
My wife decided to take me upstairs and check out the vendors, but I had to hold the baby. We looked at various stuff, but I was on a mission- I was going to see the Lamentations of the Flame Princess booth.
A couple of years ago I had gone into roleplaying hibernation. Work, family and so forth were just taking so much time that I couldn't get a group together and couldn't really participate in any regular game, and so my dice were gathering dust. Coming across Lamentations of the Flame Princess re-ignited the sense of wonder and fun that I had for years with roleplaying. As a result I bought pretty much everything I could from the line. Recently a new book was released "Veins of the Earth" and it was massive, which unfortunately meant that the shipping from Finland was going to be about 20 Euro just for one book. I had put it on hold until some other books were released, but hey here was an opportunity to pick it up.
So we stop by the unassuming LotFP booth that is manned by James and only James (see totally on a first name basis now). It doesn't have a lot of the flash of other booths, but had a cool banner and a couple of tables that were crammed full of books and shirts. He had some other customers that he was helping there, but quickly and efficiently handed me a price list that was printed out just for the convention (Seriously, if you can get to a convention with LotFP there you get some great prices!)
He asked if I wanted to check out any of the other books at the table But I had everything he was selling except for the one book. So my lovely wife passed over the money and got the book and a price list because it looked cool. In total, the interaction was short and swift.
I wanted to say a lot more, and ask a bunch of questions and just talk about the hobby in general. However, he was there to do business, there were other customers looking at stuff and I knew I had only so long before I had to be back downstairs for the next combat demonstration.
I would like to point out that I looked like crap after fighting, could still feel the sweat pouring off of me, had a bruise forming on my chin from where a good whack had gotten me, and had a floppy baby hanging off of me. I probably smelled worse than I looked as well.
I went on my way, and just gushed to my wife instead who had raised her eyebrow at me shelling out 60 Euro for a book I hadn't even cracked the cover of, but I reminded her that she loved me and technically SHE had handed over the money and bought me the book as a gift. Then I stopped and told her to hold on.
The other customer was gone and so I went back to at least get a photo.
James smiled and said yes, I finally got out a bit about how I loved the LotFP line, and to keep up the good work. He came around to the front of the booth and asked my wife for a count down for the picture.
5
4
3
2
1
He screamed and head banged like his favorite metal band had just come on stage. My wife nearly dropped the camera she was so surprised (meanwhile the baby had fallen asleep and just continued to be passed out).
So you know what James did? He took another photo with me. And he screamed again.
I still wanted to talk, but I had already gotten so much, and what was I going to ask, probably the same stuff that gets asked in real interviews, and really the last thing I wanted to do was stop him from doing what he was there to do. Spread the gospel of weird horror roleplaying.
So I went on my way and did more fighting and just enjoyed the busy chaos that is working at a convention.
Sunday when we were cleaning up and I was bone tired and exhausted I stopped and thought about how much fun and work conventions are, and I thought of James working the booth spreading the word of LotFP and how tired he must be after two LONG days of work by himself (mind you he is selling books in English at a German convention, and while every German I have had the pleasure of meeting speaks really good English, he is competing against products all around him- in German).
I also thought: Crap. I never introduced myself.
So James, if you ever read this. Hi, I'm Tim and I'm a big fan.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
A Paranoia Play Report
I got to be a player rather than a GM in this game, so who knows what else was going on between notes being passed.
Another great day-cycle to be a trouble-shooter in the service of The Computer and Omega Complex. I'd recently gotten out of the med bay after getting pretty shot up during our last mission, thankfully I'd kinda blocked most of the bullets with my hand and the doc-bot in its infinite wisdom had replaced my hand with a cybernetic one rather than trying to patch what was left together.
Well after morning hygiene my comm-pilot activated and let me know that I had a mission briefing to attend. No time like the present!. I was joined in the briefing room by two other red clearance trouble-shooters that I has worked with in the past, Jaxx-R and Dillon, just Dillon. Oh any your narrator? I'm Johnny-R-GUD-1.
I probably should have paid more attention to the orange clearance clone that was there to give us our briefing, but before he could say anything the monitor came to life with the all seeing eye informing us of our mission efficiency from last time. 90% over all effectiveness, 70% loyalty, 80% happiness, but only 40% hygene. The lowest performing member of the team was Kadesh-R-BUB. Shortly after that the orange clone was executed for failing to have all members of the trouble-shooter team at the briefing.
Our new briefer (another orange) was a real knockout. she informed us that we have the privilege of escorting Scrub-bot-007 (Hero of the Complex, you've seen its biopic right?) to Sector 2 Subsection E floor 47. There was an explosion at the sticky syrup factory and the scrub-bots there had become bogged down. Our mission was to escort 007 (Hero of the Complex) to meet with the scrub-bots and provide a re-supply, 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s safety was our utmost priority. We were informed that due to an unexplained problem with several bots being damaged during our last mission all of our weapons were put on a safety linked to 007 (Hero of the Complex) who was the only one who could deactivate the safety.
We then went to R&D to pick up our supplies and meet with 007 (Hero of the Complex). We were issued cleaning supplies, several vats of solvent along with experimental batches 108 (not to be operated by bots) and 107 (we were instructed to report upon their performance compared to the standard solvent) hazmat suits, a flamethrower and a solvent spraying power lifter.
We made pretty good time to Sector 2 Subsection E floor 47 with the only complication being the hordes of adoring fans, on the bright side we picked up a few of our own as we were semi-famous for being 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s security detail.
I did get two unsolicited messages, one asking me to spread a audio file in the security compromised sector and another telling me to cause some destruction and take a photo of it to show I can party. Huh, ok.
The sector was on lockdown. A blue clearance clone made us decontaminate before we went into the sector. This presented a slight complication as the labels for 107 and 108 were scrubbed off by the decontamination process. Oh well, onward!
We followed the trail cut through the sticky syrup that enveloped the sector. It oozed over the floor, and poured through the windows and just about everything was stuck to it. Pretty soon we were seeing graffiti and hearing tribal drums in the background. Just look at the chaos that ensues when security cameras get spotty service!
We pushed on past some broken scrub-bots and the remains of some clones until we encountered a power substation that had been destroyed. The remains of some clones were scattered around like the mess made by a roomba that had run over dog poo. I posed in front of the burned out substation with the flamethrower and sent it to one of the mysterious e-mails. Dillon, just Dillon put on the power suit and started to cut a path through the sticky mess that blocked us from going further while Jaxx and I inspected a tool box and nearby box full of asamov chips, the nifty little components that tell robots not to hurt clones. Huh, what was a box of those doing here? We pressed on, and started to hear the beat of some primal drums beating in the distance. 007 (Hero of the Complex) insisted we press on and not investigate.
Jaxx was really starting to question 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s loyalty He was convince that 007 was leading us to our doom and that 007 (Hero of the Complex)had never really defeated the traitor Laz-O-RUS (apparently on his 24th clone of evil!) Well, there was no time to discuss this further as a rocket whizzed through the air and landed squarely on the power walker operated by Dillon, just Dillon. He existed the injured walker while I screamed at 007 (Hero of the Complex) to let us use our weapons (it agreed as long as we fought for it). We left Jaxx to get 007 (Hero of the Complex) to find cover and stay safe. There were two heavily armed clones coming towards us. I yelled "STOP" from behind cover and they did (!) but before I could discuss anything further Dillon, just Dillon opened up fire on them. The firefight was going well for us when we suddenly heard a shot ring out from behind us. Dillon, just Dillon ran back to investigate and I charged forward to finish off the two anti-robot clones (and loot the bodies - an SMG, EMP rifle, and 4 EMP grenades).
To our horror 007 (Hero of the Complex) was gravely injured as a hole had been shot into its outer shell. Jaxx didn't know where it had come from but was fairly certain he could fix it, though he would need some parts to fix the damaged motivator and voice modulator, until then we could only communicate with 007 (Hero of the Complex) via texting on our comm-pilots. So we left Jaxx to fix 007 (Hero of the Complex) and Dillon, just Dillon and I went back to the broken scrub-bots we had previously passed to get spare parts.
We made good headway and a docbot where I was able to upload the audio file I was given before the mission, we piked up some supplies as well. Unfortunately there was a large group of clones dancing naked (!) around a fire with some primitive weapons. There was no way we could salvage the scrub-bot parts while they were there. Suddenly, and without warning, Dillon, just Dillon stripped off his clothes (!) and went to dance among them. His distraction worked, as I gathered up the parts, but not as he intended. You see, he kind of tripped and knocked some of the dancers over, then when he went to help one up they overcompensated and fell forward plunging their spear into a bystander. Soon screams of "The new guy stabbed Fritz!" were being thrown around and Dillon, just Dillon was being chased by an unruly mob. I hoped to scatter them and so threw a (EMP) grenade into the group. Since I knew it wouldn't really hurt anyone I made sure to yell really loudly "GRENADE!" which caused a brief moment of panic and he almost got away, but then one of the primal clones distented its jaw and shot out a whip-like tongue at Dillon, just Dillon. I went running back (well as fast as I could carrying all those parts) not wanting to waste Dillon, just Dillon's efforts. Thankfully Dillon, just Dillon was able to separate himself from the group, and started to catch up to me. Of course this meant the mob of primals was catching up to me too. So I decided to brake their morale by handing off the spare parts to Dillon, just Dillon and using one hand to spray bullets from the SMG and another to shoot the flamethrower, effectively creating a wall of "nope" for them to try to get past. It worked and they ran off somewhere giving us time to get back. Unfortunately, the sticky syrup had begun to ooze back into our previously clean path and our return treck took a significant amount of time. So much so that when we returned Jaxx, 007 (Hero of the Complex) and our supplies were gone.
A brief interlude.
While we where gone, Jaxx wanted to hack into 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s memory banks and find out what was going on with him leading us, in Jaxx's mind, to certain doom. So he shot open an access panel and was a little too successful. Once we left again he hacked into 007 (Hero of the Complex) and reprogrammed him to be honest (this was a fuzzy concept, so really really compliant was what happened) but was unable to find any compromising data logs or programs. In fact the only thing of note he could find was the memory of when 007 (Hero of the Complex) defeated the evil traitor Laz-O-RUS. Laz-O-RUS was running somewhere and tripped over 007 (Hero of the Complex) and proceeded to fall out of a window to his death. Unfortunately, while he was busy hacking away at 007 (Hero of the Complex's) memory banks he didn't notice the group of tribal asomov free scrub-bots that snuck up upon them and took the whole lot captive. Back at their camp the scrub-bots tried to decide what to do with Jaxx, but he convinced them that he could fix 007 (Hero of the Complex) and since the scrub-bots weren't programmed for repair they agreed, sort of. They fashioned a noose with grenades around his neck so if he tried anything funny they could blow his head off.
Back to the two non-kidnapped clones...
We arrived to see everything gone, but there were some pretty handy tracks leading north through the sticky syrup. So we followed. We crested a hill and saw Jaxx surrounded by a bunch of scrub-bots and 007 (Hero of the Complex) in the center. Suddenly Jaxx lunged toward the scrub-bot chief pulling out a hidden pistol with one hand and pulling off the grenade noose with another. It was all very dramatic and heroic. It was also very dramatic and heroic his head went pop as the grenades blew up sending bits of Jaxx everywhere.
We sat and stared for a moment. I saw 007 (Hero of the Complex), our cleaning supplies piled up, and a bunch of scrub-bots. This was actually what we were trying to have happen. So I worked my way around the edge to get a view of 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s good side (the side NOT showing any damage) and got a photograph of the scene. Looks like our mission was complete. Just to make sure I started recording my comm-pilot conversation with 007 (Hero of the Complex)
Me: 007 are you surrounded by the scrub-bots we were looking for?
007: Yes.
Me: 007, are the cleaning supplies safely in the scrub-bots possession?
007: Yes.
Me: 007, have we completed all mission parameters in accordance with our mission briefing to your satisfaction?
007: Yes.
Me (turns off recorder) 007, one more question, and please remember, high ratings reflect not only upon me, but upon your role as a leader-bot and the computer's planning as well (turns on recorder)
Me: 007, please rate your satisfaction with your troubleshooter team escort on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest.
007: 10.
Me. Thank you 007. It has been a privilege working with you.
And so Dillon, just Dillon and I returned from our mission and hit debriefing, just as Jaxx's new clone was being decanted.
Another great day-cycle to be a trouble-shooter in the service of The Computer and Omega Complex. I'd recently gotten out of the med bay after getting pretty shot up during our last mission, thankfully I'd kinda blocked most of the bullets with my hand and the doc-bot in its infinite wisdom had replaced my hand with a cybernetic one rather than trying to patch what was left together.
Well after morning hygiene my comm-pilot activated and let me know that I had a mission briefing to attend. No time like the present!. I was joined in the briefing room by two other red clearance trouble-shooters that I has worked with in the past, Jaxx-R and Dillon, just Dillon. Oh any your narrator? I'm Johnny-R-GUD-1.
I probably should have paid more attention to the orange clearance clone that was there to give us our briefing, but before he could say anything the monitor came to life with the all seeing eye informing us of our mission efficiency from last time. 90% over all effectiveness, 70% loyalty, 80% happiness, but only 40% hygene. The lowest performing member of the team was Kadesh-R-BUB. Shortly after that the orange clone was executed for failing to have all members of the trouble-shooter team at the briefing.
Our new briefer (another orange) was a real knockout. she informed us that we have the privilege of escorting Scrub-bot-007 (Hero of the Complex, you've seen its biopic right?) to Sector 2 Subsection E floor 47. There was an explosion at the sticky syrup factory and the scrub-bots there had become bogged down. Our mission was to escort 007 (Hero of the Complex) to meet with the scrub-bots and provide a re-supply, 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s safety was our utmost priority. We were informed that due to an unexplained problem with several bots being damaged during our last mission all of our weapons were put on a safety linked to 007 (Hero of the Complex) who was the only one who could deactivate the safety.
We then went to R&D to pick up our supplies and meet with 007 (Hero of the Complex). We were issued cleaning supplies, several vats of solvent along with experimental batches 108 (not to be operated by bots) and 107 (we were instructed to report upon their performance compared to the standard solvent) hazmat suits, a flamethrower and a solvent spraying power lifter.
We made pretty good time to Sector 2 Subsection E floor 47 with the only complication being the hordes of adoring fans, on the bright side we picked up a few of our own as we were semi-famous for being 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s security detail.
I did get two unsolicited messages, one asking me to spread a audio file in the security compromised sector and another telling me to cause some destruction and take a photo of it to show I can party. Huh, ok.
The sector was on lockdown. A blue clearance clone made us decontaminate before we went into the sector. This presented a slight complication as the labels for 107 and 108 were scrubbed off by the decontamination process. Oh well, onward!
We followed the trail cut through the sticky syrup that enveloped the sector. It oozed over the floor, and poured through the windows and just about everything was stuck to it. Pretty soon we were seeing graffiti and hearing tribal drums in the background. Just look at the chaos that ensues when security cameras get spotty service!
We pushed on past some broken scrub-bots and the remains of some clones until we encountered a power substation that had been destroyed. The remains of some clones were scattered around like the mess made by a roomba that had run over dog poo. I posed in front of the burned out substation with the flamethrower and sent it to one of the mysterious e-mails. Dillon, just Dillon put on the power suit and started to cut a path through the sticky mess that blocked us from going further while Jaxx and I inspected a tool box and nearby box full of asamov chips, the nifty little components that tell robots not to hurt clones. Huh, what was a box of those doing here? We pressed on, and started to hear the beat of some primal drums beating in the distance. 007 (Hero of the Complex) insisted we press on and not investigate.
Jaxx was really starting to question 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s loyalty He was convince that 007 was leading us to our doom and that 007 (Hero of the Complex)had never really defeated the traitor Laz-O-RUS (apparently on his 24th clone of evil!) Well, there was no time to discuss this further as a rocket whizzed through the air and landed squarely on the power walker operated by Dillon, just Dillon. He existed the injured walker while I screamed at 007 (Hero of the Complex) to let us use our weapons (it agreed as long as we fought for it). We left Jaxx to get 007 (Hero of the Complex) to find cover and stay safe. There were two heavily armed clones coming towards us. I yelled "STOP" from behind cover and they did (!) but before I could discuss anything further Dillon, just Dillon opened up fire on them. The firefight was going well for us when we suddenly heard a shot ring out from behind us. Dillon, just Dillon ran back to investigate and I charged forward to finish off the two anti-robot clones (and loot the bodies - an SMG, EMP rifle, and 4 EMP grenades).
To our horror 007 (Hero of the Complex) was gravely injured as a hole had been shot into its outer shell. Jaxx didn't know where it had come from but was fairly certain he could fix it, though he would need some parts to fix the damaged motivator and voice modulator, until then we could only communicate with 007 (Hero of the Complex) via texting on our comm-pilots. So we left Jaxx to fix 007 (Hero of the Complex) and Dillon, just Dillon and I went back to the broken scrub-bots we had previously passed to get spare parts.
We made good headway and a docbot where I was able to upload the audio file I was given before the mission, we piked up some supplies as well. Unfortunately there was a large group of clones dancing naked (!) around a fire with some primitive weapons. There was no way we could salvage the scrub-bot parts while they were there. Suddenly, and without warning, Dillon, just Dillon stripped off his clothes (!) and went to dance among them. His distraction worked, as I gathered up the parts, but not as he intended. You see, he kind of tripped and knocked some of the dancers over, then when he went to help one up they overcompensated and fell forward plunging their spear into a bystander. Soon screams of "The new guy stabbed Fritz!" were being thrown around and Dillon, just Dillon was being chased by an unruly mob. I hoped to scatter them and so threw a (EMP) grenade into the group. Since I knew it wouldn't really hurt anyone I made sure to yell really loudly "GRENADE!" which caused a brief moment of panic and he almost got away, but then one of the primal clones distented its jaw and shot out a whip-like tongue at Dillon, just Dillon. I went running back (well as fast as I could carrying all those parts) not wanting to waste Dillon, just Dillon's efforts. Thankfully Dillon, just Dillon was able to separate himself from the group, and started to catch up to me. Of course this meant the mob of primals was catching up to me too. So I decided to brake their morale by handing off the spare parts to Dillon, just Dillon and using one hand to spray bullets from the SMG and another to shoot the flamethrower, effectively creating a wall of "nope" for them to try to get past. It worked and they ran off somewhere giving us time to get back. Unfortunately, the sticky syrup had begun to ooze back into our previously clean path and our return treck took a significant amount of time. So much so that when we returned Jaxx, 007 (Hero of the Complex) and our supplies were gone.
A brief interlude.
While we where gone, Jaxx wanted to hack into 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s memory banks and find out what was going on with him leading us, in Jaxx's mind, to certain doom. So he shot open an access panel and was a little too successful. Once we left again he hacked into 007 (Hero of the Complex) and reprogrammed him to be honest (this was a fuzzy concept, so really really compliant was what happened) but was unable to find any compromising data logs or programs. In fact the only thing of note he could find was the memory of when 007 (Hero of the Complex) defeated the evil traitor Laz-O-RUS. Laz-O-RUS was running somewhere and tripped over 007 (Hero of the Complex) and proceeded to fall out of a window to his death. Unfortunately, while he was busy hacking away at 007 (Hero of the Complex's) memory banks he didn't notice the group of tribal asomov free scrub-bots that snuck up upon them and took the whole lot captive. Back at their camp the scrub-bots tried to decide what to do with Jaxx, but he convinced them that he could fix 007 (Hero of the Complex) and since the scrub-bots weren't programmed for repair they agreed, sort of. They fashioned a noose with grenades around his neck so if he tried anything funny they could blow his head off.
Back to the two non-kidnapped clones...
We arrived to see everything gone, but there were some pretty handy tracks leading north through the sticky syrup. So we followed. We crested a hill and saw Jaxx surrounded by a bunch of scrub-bots and 007 (Hero of the Complex) in the center. Suddenly Jaxx lunged toward the scrub-bot chief pulling out a hidden pistol with one hand and pulling off the grenade noose with another. It was all very dramatic and heroic. It was also very dramatic and heroic his head went pop as the grenades blew up sending bits of Jaxx everywhere.
We sat and stared for a moment. I saw 007 (Hero of the Complex), our cleaning supplies piled up, and a bunch of scrub-bots. This was actually what we were trying to have happen. So I worked my way around the edge to get a view of 007 (Hero of the Complex)'s good side (the side NOT showing any damage) and got a photograph of the scene. Looks like our mission was complete. Just to make sure I started recording my comm-pilot conversation with 007 (Hero of the Complex)
Me: 007 are you surrounded by the scrub-bots we were looking for?
007: Yes.
Me: 007, are the cleaning supplies safely in the scrub-bots possession?
007: Yes.
Me: 007, have we completed all mission parameters in accordance with our mission briefing to your satisfaction?
007: Yes.
Me (turns off recorder) 007, one more question, and please remember, high ratings reflect not only upon me, but upon your role as a leader-bot and the computer's planning as well (turns on recorder)
Me: 007, please rate your satisfaction with your troubleshooter team escort on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest.
007: 10.
Me. Thank you 007. It has been a privilege working with you.
And so Dillon, just Dillon and I returned from our mission and hit debriefing, just as Jaxx's new clone was being decanted.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Product Review: Designers & Dragons
Product Review: Designers & Dragons
http://www.evilhat.com/home/designers-dragons/
Book & pdf $20 Pdf $10
by. Shannon Appelcline
Designers & Dragons is broken down in four separate books. The 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. The breakdown is by what companies were created in that decade. Companies both defunct and still in existence. Each book stands on its own nicely, and at the end of each section is a handy reference on what to read next depending on if you want to follow the books organization or jump from the end of TSR to the beginning of Wizards of the Coast and so forth.
Each volume reads nicely, with a narrative flair that tell the story of the people and the games/companies they made. I wish I had found this gem earlier, or like so many things wish I had a time machine to read this as a kid as it was not only a great read about hte companies and games I love(d) but about companies that I never knew existed, yet either influenced my hobby and style of play, or were more in line with what I was looking for but never knew.
The style of writing does change with more emphasis on mechanics design, especially in the 00s. Of course as with all history, it is easier to understand why a mechanic or idea came about when you can interview the direct source, rather than relaying on interviews of someone that has already passed on.
The indie revolution of the 00s focuses a lot more on the development of game theory and so forth.
Finding out some of the logic about why my favorite lines of games died (it isn't always just sales were low...) was enlightening if bittersweet.
The book may miss your favorite obscure publication, I know it missed one of mine, however the book tries to focus on games and companies that had impact on the gaming community. So certain omissions are to be expected, however, the books are quite extensive and cover as much as they can.
In the world of Amazon and DrivethruRPG friendly neighborhood games stores are getting fewer and far between. Which in turn makes it hard for new games to get exposure and get known. The series serves as a great treasure trove to discover what has and does exist out there and may provide some fun and interesting systems for people to go out any try.
Some personal favorites from the books include:
- Clarifying a rumor I heard as a kid about Vampire the Masquerade.
- As a young player of Vampire the Masquerade I was told that the Tremere clan existed because one of the founders wanted to play their DnD Wizard in the early game. Reading a developer history (Designers and Dragons '90) I found out this had more to do with the acquisition of the rites to Ars Magika by WW, which was going to be the original "history" of the world of darkness. Tremere is a house from that game, and was directly implanted over. The Order of Hermes in Mage:the Ascension is a hold over from Ars Magika as well. Although the idea was scrapped, you can kind of think of Mage: Dark Ages as kind of a re-invention of the Ars Magika roots.
- Why the Warhammer wasn't in Mechwarrior Online launch. The Warhammer is perhaps one of the most iconic mechs from Battletech. I had seen a nearly identical looking mech in the anime Macross, and began to wonder which came first. It turns out that the whole issue comes down to a miniatures production company and licencing (The owners of Macross anime had the design first, which licenced it (and others) to a miniatures company, which sold them to FASA (with a licence), then FASA was later sued by the folks who had gotten the robotech licence and that conflict resulted in it not being there much to the surprise of many fans (along with 13 other mechs). I guess the issue has been resolved since the Warhammer is in the game now.
-What killed FASA and White Wolf
The short version is Microsoft killed FASA and the company that ownes EVE Online killed White Wolf.
http://www.evilhat.com/home/designers-dragons/
Book & pdf $20 Pdf $10
by. Shannon Appelcline
Designers & Dragons is broken down in four separate books. The 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. The breakdown is by what companies were created in that decade. Companies both defunct and still in existence. Each book stands on its own nicely, and at the end of each section is a handy reference on what to read next depending on if you want to follow the books organization or jump from the end of TSR to the beginning of Wizards of the Coast and so forth.
Each volume reads nicely, with a narrative flair that tell the story of the people and the games/companies they made. I wish I had found this gem earlier, or like so many things wish I had a time machine to read this as a kid as it was not only a great read about hte companies and games I love(d) but about companies that I never knew existed, yet either influenced my hobby and style of play, or were more in line with what I was looking for but never knew.
The style of writing does change with more emphasis on mechanics design, especially in the 00s. Of course as with all history, it is easier to understand why a mechanic or idea came about when you can interview the direct source, rather than relaying on interviews of someone that has already passed on.
The indie revolution of the 00s focuses a lot more on the development of game theory and so forth.
Finding out some of the logic about why my favorite lines of games died (it isn't always just sales were low...) was enlightening if bittersweet.
The book may miss your favorite obscure publication, I know it missed one of mine, however the book tries to focus on games and companies that had impact on the gaming community. So certain omissions are to be expected, however, the books are quite extensive and cover as much as they can.
In the world of Amazon and DrivethruRPG friendly neighborhood games stores are getting fewer and far between. Which in turn makes it hard for new games to get exposure and get known. The series serves as a great treasure trove to discover what has and does exist out there and may provide some fun and interesting systems for people to go out any try.
Some personal favorites from the books include:
- Clarifying a rumor I heard as a kid about Vampire the Masquerade.
- As a young player of Vampire the Masquerade I was told that the Tremere clan existed because one of the founders wanted to play their DnD Wizard in the early game. Reading a developer history (Designers and Dragons '90) I found out this had more to do with the acquisition of the rites to Ars Magika by WW, which was going to be the original "history" of the world of darkness. Tremere is a house from that game, and was directly implanted over. The Order of Hermes in Mage:the Ascension is a hold over from Ars Magika as well. Although the idea was scrapped, you can kind of think of Mage: Dark Ages as kind of a re-invention of the Ars Magika roots.
- Why the Warhammer wasn't in Mechwarrior Online launch. The Warhammer is perhaps one of the most iconic mechs from Battletech. I had seen a nearly identical looking mech in the anime Macross, and began to wonder which came first. It turns out that the whole issue comes down to a miniatures production company and licencing (The owners of Macross anime had the design first, which licenced it (and others) to a miniatures company, which sold them to FASA (with a licence), then FASA was later sued by the folks who had gotten the robotech licence and that conflict resulted in it not being there much to the surprise of many fans (along with 13 other mechs). I guess the issue has been resolved since the Warhammer is in the game now.
-What killed FASA and White Wolf
The short version is Microsoft killed FASA and the company that ownes EVE Online killed White Wolf.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Product Review: BENEATH: The Inverted Church
BENEATH: The Inverted Church
For: System Agonistic (your choice of OSR/ D&D Clone)
The book itself had some wonderful cover art of the primary NPC, and is bound a the unique size of 8.5 x 8.5 inches. The pages are a newsprint pulpy paper which gives it a rough feel and slightly grey coloration to the pages, but it wasn't off putting, as the pages felt durable. The black and white interior art is crisp and detailed as well. As a result from the moment you pick up and flip through the book you FEEL like this is going to be a different product. It is clearly labeled as an 18+ product, and it is. As a change of pace from many "adult" products the art is not what makes the book adult. The actual content of the adventure and the choices the players have to make are.
The adventure starts off with the hook to get the players involved, and doesn't fall into the trope of a map or a McGuffin the players are to quest for. Rather, something very strange and horrible has happened and it gets the PCs to start questioning what has happened.
The adventure has a good mix of combat, traps, and non-combat encounters. The primary shtick of the dungeon is that lewd acts have to be performed to advance through mirror-doors throughout the dungeon.
The "big bad" at the end of the adventure has been luring people into the dungeon and converting them to a hedonistic path as part of a plan to breed the perfect race- by having everyone blended. I like this because the monster isn't just a thing that is fought, it is the reason for the story.
As a result the majority of the encounters within are the very townspeople that the players should be saving. Only a few of them are willing to be saved and can leave on their own, meaning the players are stuck between killing them or taking a bunch of unwilling prisoners as they continue on and THEN have to deal with the real combat encounters.
The book has a convenient list of tables and information at the end as well as important information in bold or otherwise marked as you go through the adventure so you don't miss something important.
The book does have some drawbacks though.
The first is formatting. Section headers are on occasion the last thing on a page and Tables are often cut off part way though a page requiring you to flip pages to use them effectively.
The second is that the end feels cheap. There is more to the UnDungeon but the players are prevented from entering it by the very same mirror-door they have been encountering the whole dungeon but it just doesn't work. This is further aggravated by a bunch of soldiers from a nearby battle showing up and descending into the dungeon.
Then you are hit with it "to be continued" Yes this is listed as book 1 from the title page, but I've never met with something so game disturbing. The adventure leaves off at such a point, that I can't logically get the players to go and adventure somewhere else and I can't do anything else here without voiding what will occur in the future books. So until future books come out I expect it would be better to just tie off the adventure by letting the party kill the monsters and ending the threat.
There are some situations that are oddly presented in the book. Like being exposed early in the UnDungeon to people who don't know how the UnDungeon works only to later encouter other townspeople who are hanging out just beyond a trap with no good reason to be. I mean did they walk there and someone set the trap behind them? Were they all just lucky and didn't set them off when undoubtedly the players will? I get it I'm nit-picking now, but the lack of logic bothers me, and I'm going to have to come up with a reason that makes sense within the context of the game.
My final gripe is some special encounters. These are random and require a special trigger to occur but the monster design is just infuriating. The area regenerates the players, and some of the encounters have 250 or more hit points. As a result the game will be reduced to a long slog fest of boring combat rounds unless they think to escape the fight. all together. The end feeling is that these battles are not meant to be won, just an excuse to kill PCs in the most un-creative way the adventure has to offer.
Maybe my gripes will be answered in future books as right now we only get to see a fraction of the whole idea.
All this being said, the adventure has some really neat and novel ideas. Presents some easy to convey visually stunning moments for players to encounter, and will definitely be unlike anything a party has previously encountered. It does a decent job of trying to tell a story even if it leaves it unfinished at the moment, which thankfully can be easily corrected with the production of the rest of the trilogy.
For: System Agonistic (your choice of OSR/ D&D Clone)
By: Justin Sirios
Cost: 15.99 print 6.66 kindle edition
http://www.severedbooks.com/ (redirects to amazon for purchasing)
This is an adventure; so spoilers ahead.The book itself had some wonderful cover art of the primary NPC, and is bound a the unique size of 8.5 x 8.5 inches. The pages are a newsprint pulpy paper which gives it a rough feel and slightly grey coloration to the pages, but it wasn't off putting, as the pages felt durable. The black and white interior art is crisp and detailed as well. As a result from the moment you pick up and flip through the book you FEEL like this is going to be a different product. It is clearly labeled as an 18+ product, and it is. As a change of pace from many "adult" products the art is not what makes the book adult. The actual content of the adventure and the choices the players have to make are.
The adventure starts off with the hook to get the players involved, and doesn't fall into the trope of a map or a McGuffin the players are to quest for. Rather, something very strange and horrible has happened and it gets the PCs to start questioning what has happened.
The adventure has a good mix of combat, traps, and non-combat encounters. The primary shtick of the dungeon is that lewd acts have to be performed to advance through mirror-doors throughout the dungeon.
The "big bad" at the end of the adventure has been luring people into the dungeon and converting them to a hedonistic path as part of a plan to breed the perfect race- by having everyone blended. I like this because the monster isn't just a thing that is fought, it is the reason for the story.
As a result the majority of the encounters within are the very townspeople that the players should be saving. Only a few of them are willing to be saved and can leave on their own, meaning the players are stuck between killing them or taking a bunch of unwilling prisoners as they continue on and THEN have to deal with the real combat encounters.
The book has a convenient list of tables and information at the end as well as important information in bold or otherwise marked as you go through the adventure so you don't miss something important.
The book does have some drawbacks though.
The first is formatting. Section headers are on occasion the last thing on a page and Tables are often cut off part way though a page requiring you to flip pages to use them effectively.
The second is that the end feels cheap. There is more to the UnDungeon but the players are prevented from entering it by the very same mirror-door they have been encountering the whole dungeon but it just doesn't work. This is further aggravated by a bunch of soldiers from a nearby battle showing up and descending into the dungeon.
Then you are hit with it "to be continued" Yes this is listed as book 1 from the title page, but I've never met with something so game disturbing. The adventure leaves off at such a point, that I can't logically get the players to go and adventure somewhere else and I can't do anything else here without voiding what will occur in the future books. So until future books come out I expect it would be better to just tie off the adventure by letting the party kill the monsters and ending the threat.
There are some situations that are oddly presented in the book. Like being exposed early in the UnDungeon to people who don't know how the UnDungeon works only to later encouter other townspeople who are hanging out just beyond a trap with no good reason to be. I mean did they walk there and someone set the trap behind them? Were they all just lucky and didn't set them off when undoubtedly the players will? I get it I'm nit-picking now, but the lack of logic bothers me, and I'm going to have to come up with a reason that makes sense within the context of the game.
My final gripe is some special encounters. These are random and require a special trigger to occur but the monster design is just infuriating. The area regenerates the players, and some of the encounters have 250 or more hit points. As a result the game will be reduced to a long slog fest of boring combat rounds unless they think to escape the fight. all together. The end feeling is that these battles are not meant to be won, just an excuse to kill PCs in the most un-creative way the adventure has to offer.
Maybe my gripes will be answered in future books as right now we only get to see a fraction of the whole idea.
All this being said, the adventure has some really neat and novel ideas. Presents some easy to convey visually stunning moments for players to encounter, and will definitely be unlike anything a party has previously encountered. It does a decent job of trying to tell a story even if it leaves it unfinished at the moment, which thankfully can be easily corrected with the production of the rest of the trilogy.
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