A while ago I picked up a Sci-Fi OSR rpg off of Lulu called Seeded Space. (Here's the direct link.) Now, while this game came out in 2011, I just recently discovered it while perusing Lulu looking for gaming material in general. Even though it is a couple years old, it has come after other OSR sci-fi games. Sci-Fi has always second fiddle to fantasy in RPG's, however, the OSR market has quite a few games in that genre: Stars Without Number, Mutant Future, Machinations of the Space Princess, Bandits and Battlecruisers, X-Plorers, Starships & Spacemen, and Hulks & Horrors to name a few. With all of these games already out there, Seeded Space is entering an already crowded area of my gaming collection. Let's see if it can stand out?
Seeded Space is only available in print on demand through Lulu. I've heard a few complaints about the quality of the print jobs and bindings of books bought through Lulu, but this is as well put together as anything put out by WotC, Palladium, or SJG so no problems there. (This is actually my second print purchase through Lulu, the first being the previous edition of Rogue Space, and both books have been top notch quality.) It clocks in at 112 pages of text. There's no art in Seeded Space, however the author, Scott W Roberts is working on another version of the book with art if this version sells well enough.
Speaking of the introduction, Mr Roberts paints up a vision of what the setting of Seeded Space looks like with FLT travel, vampires, cyborgs, and rampant genetic engineering in a galaxy far, far away in the past or future. Really, the setting is kept pretty vague, which I rather like. So often sci-fi games come tied heavily to the setting, and since I like to do my own thing that's a bit of a turn off. No problem with that here. After the very short intro, he jumps into a quick and dirty conversion of the metric system (which is the measurement standard for the game) and the Success Range System that's used for skills and character abilities. The Success Range System is a simple d6 roll to attempt to roll within a set range based on the character's skill level with a certain skill or ability with the lower the roll the better. Skills are kept to a succinct eight skills: Awareness, Covert, Social, Athletic, Knowledge, Control, Survival, and Technical. While I am used to games with giant skill lists, this short and sweet list should cover just about anything a character would want to attempt and is very keeping with the light feel of the game in general.
Now would be a good time to mention that Seeded Space is built off of Swords & Wizardry, so if you're not really a fan of that retro-clone, you may not like some the rules assumptions in this game. I happen to love S&W, but your mileage may vary.
Character Creation is your standard OSR faire: Roll for the six Attribute scores, pick a race, and pick a class. In addition to the standard character creation steps, characters that are of a certain race can select a character trait. Traits are minor abilities that range from special weapon training to a bonus to rolls against certain effects. Characters can gain Traits in one of two ways: first, they have to be one of three certain races (and Synthetic characters cannot select traits) and have a score of 14 or better in their Prime Requisite stat and one other, or secondly they can select a Trait if they first take on a randomly selected Flaw. Flaws are hindrances ranging to penalties in combat due to drug addiction to being unable to defend against psionic attacks.
Seeded Space has a selection of 11 races for players to choose from. They range from normal humans to genetically engineered humans (Genies) to various anthropomorphic races and Synthetics (robots and such). There are no ability score bonuses and penalties, but there are soft requisites for selecting a species such as with the Zeroes (Space Pilots, think beings live most of their lives in low-G space environments aboard starships): they cannot have their highest stat scores in Strength or Constitution or their lowest scores in Dexterity. I rather like that option as opposed to the hard "Strength 9 or better to play this race" seen in a lot of OSR games. It's a new spin on an old idea that still feels "old school." Each race has their own special abilities and hindrances and if they cannot be of a certain class (Zeroes cannot be rangers, for instance) it is stated in their write-up. The descriptions are short, and even a bit vague. There is only the barest hint of what each race is like personality-wise. That's once again keeping with the feel that Seeded Space is meant to be a base for a GM to build upon.
There are random tables to generating what a character was like before stepping out on the path to fortune, fame, and glory. There is also a table for generating societal quirks and customs should the player feel stumped or can't be arsed to put that much thought into the character.
There are seven character classes to choose from in Seeded Space: Psychic, Fighter, Ranger, Technician, Agent, Specialist, and Medic. Each class has their own special abilities and niche they fill in the galaxy. In keeping with the OSR feel, each class has it's own XP progression. In keeping with the Swords & Wizardry base SS is built on: Saving Throws are one score. It also uses Ascending AC and To-Hit bonuses solely, however.
Lastly in character creation: alignment. There are five alignments in the game: Lawful, Chaotic, Neutral, Good, and Evil. Any character that becomes evil becomes a NPC. I know that alignments are big part of the OSR experience, but I've never much cared for them. However, I do like the looseness of the alignments presented in Seeded Space. They don't feel like a crutch or are written in a way for an obnoxious player to feel he has to play exactly to his alignment at all times no matter how disrupting or aggravating that can be.
Next up is Equipment. This is one of the weakest sections in the book. It's pretty much just the standard Swords & Wizardry items with a few sci-fi bits thrown in. Reading the gear section was like getting doused with cold water. All of a sudden, I felt like I'm reading about a fantasy RPG again. The "Modern" equipment lists includes Muskets and flintlock rifles. Nowhere is there mention of laser swords, power armor, or anything really modern, not to mention futuristic. Very disappointing for a game whose implied setting talks about FTL travel. Now, there are more high-tech items later in the book, so it's not like there aren't any high-tech gadgets but I'll get to those in a bit.
Next up is the standard "How to Play" section. It does cover, once again very briefly, interstellar travel, psychic duels, spacefaring societies, and Technical research. It's all pretty standard stuff. It does go into how vehicle stats are figured up, but the fine details are largely left up to the GM.
Next up is Psychic Powers, which are pretty much just spells. There's nothing wrong with calling spells psionics and using the same rules (though psychics in SS use power points to fuel their powers and aren't bound to memorization like magic-users, but I digress). There are a good selection of powers that range across 6 levels of power.
The GM Information section redeems the disappointment found upon reading the Equipment. Along with the standard info on awarding XP and the like, it details hazards like Brain Damage, which can cause the character to develop different physical and mental maladies. There's a bit about "Cyborg Invaders" that are pretty much Stark Trek's Borg. There's plenty of special rules for Genetic Experimentation, gravity sickness, and alien diseases. There's more hints of the setting that Mr. Roberts had in mind when creating SS here. There are plenty of charts and tables to allow for easy generation of colonies, maladies, planets, systems, and even planet features to help GM's that are in a creative bind or just need something rolled up quick. There was one table that was just...odd to me. It was a table detailing what "ultra-atheist activists" were doing that could be construed as marginally insulting if the reader is an atheist. It really doesn't fit with the chapter, and even for a random "what are the cultists doing" table, there needn't even need a specific line of thought applied to the table. It would have worked better as just a generic cultist table.
The Creature section is next and starts off with the standard explanation of the stats and special rules. The creatures are largely S&W critters with some sci-fi re-imagining for a few of them. There are a few original creatures though. Since the creatures use standard S&W stats, it would be easy to pick up any of the various S&W monster books to introduce a new alien into the game.
The Special Technology and Reward section follows up the bestiary. This is where you will find high-tech gear. Mr. Roberts starts off with details on how gear equals up to psychic powers in the hopes of helping GM's keep the gear on an even keel with psychic characters. Basically, high-tech gear takes the place of magic items. So, even though your character may come from an advanced society, the best you're going to do for weapons and armor is primitive stuff until you find a blaster in an abandoned base or something else along those lines. That's all well and good for a game like Mutant Future, but for a space opera game such design assumptions feel strange and run counter to genre norms. Here you'll find cybernetics, high-tech weapons and protective gear, wondrous medicines, and other assorted goodies.
A short adventure follows the Special Tech section. To be honest, I rarely read the starter adventures. It's rare that I ever use them, and this is no exception. I'll likely read through it someday, and if it blows me away, I'll let you know.
The book is rounded out with a synopsis of the Seeded Space setting and a list of inspirational sources. It's five pages long and details some of the big players in the politics of the galactic arm where most of the action is centered. It's an interesting read, and contains some good ideas. The thing I like the most is how it just brushes the setting without getting bogged down in details. That's something I like the most about SS: the feel of the book from beginning to end is one in which the GM is free to set his own course. He can use this chapter to fuel his own games or can just as easily ignore it entirely to no detriment to the game.
So, what do I really think about Seeded Space? I think it's a fine attempt that falls a bit flat for me. I like the lightness of the rules, but some things are just too vague, like the generation of vehicle stats. Maybe a more bare-bones and descriptive take on space battles would work out in play, but it just doesn't feel like there's enough there to do such scenes justice. Seeded Space really feels too married to the OSR ideals, so much so that it feels like a standard fantasy game with some sci-fi elements bolted on. If that was the original design goal, great, mission accomplished, but it clashes with the introduction and the description of the game. Plus, the lack of art makes SS feel more like a beta of a game than a truly finished product. I totally understand the lack of art, as getting art commissioned is expensive, but there are lots of great public domain pieces out there that would have spruced up the game a bit and give it more of a finished feel. All is not lost, however, there are still good bits here and there that can be ported over into other OSR sci-fi games and Mr. Roberts has some new ways of keeping that old school feel without doing everything the same as it was before that are worth looking into. I just don't know that I can fully recommend the book to anyone that already has one or more of the other OSR sci-fi games listed earlier in this post. Plus, at nearly $15, it is a bit pricey for a game that I likely won't run except in chunks. I really wish there would have been an e-book option. Even at $8, SS would have been more worth the price of admission.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Wow!
So I got my hands (so-to-speak) on the Deluxe Edition of the Sci-Fi Companion for Savage Worlds tonight. It weighs in at 98 rather packed pages. It's likely going to take me a bit to get through all of it and give my thoughts.
I also picked up the latest issue of Fight On!, which is #14. It clock in at 90 pages chock full of OSR goodness.
The Savage Worlds Supers Companion was also released today. I'm still on the fence about picking it up since I don't use Savage Worlds for supers. Still some recent G+ posts converting Marvel characters to SW have me intrigued, but I'll be waiting on some reviews before picking it up.
Enough talk, er, typing! I'm off to read!
I also picked up the latest issue of Fight On!, which is #14. It clock in at 90 pages chock full of OSR goodness.
The Savage Worlds Supers Companion was also released today. I'm still on the fence about picking it up since I don't use Savage Worlds for supers. Still some recent G+ posts converting Marvel characters to SW have me intrigued, but I'll be waiting on some reviews before picking it up.
Enough talk, er, typing! I'm off to read!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Rogue Space Review Update: The Art
I neglected to mention one of the biggest changes in the newest version of Rogue Space: the art. In previous versions, the art was largely public domain pieces with some original work by Valerie Brandon. This gave the book a feeling of being inspired by 1950's classic sci-fi, which CR Brandon said wasn't his intent. This time around, even though there are still some public domain pieces carried over there are a lot more original works by Valerie and Luigi Castellani. These new illustrations give the book a much more contemporary sci-fi feeling than previous versions of Rogue Space. Mission accomplished.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
The Verdict on the new Rogue Space...
This review is a bit more of an update to my original review of Rogue Space found here, as this is really a new edition. The underlying system is the same, but things have been refined and sections have been cleared up and added to. Essentially, much of what I state in that review stands for this one except where I note the differences in this review.
First off, I picked up the pdf version of the book. I plan on picking up the print edition at some point in the future, though. Minus cover, the new version weighs in at 114 pages, versus 64 in the V2 version. Right off, there's almost double the material in this new version of the game. Looking at the contents, there are a lot of new sections that didn't appear in the previous revisions of the game. There are many more (Option) sections to the contents, which really pushes CR Brandon's ideal of Rogue Space being a toolbox for GM's to make of it what they want; which is something that I really like in my sci-fi rules.
Compared to previous versions of the game, the dice system, character generation, and combat are generally the same (roll 2d6 +/- modifiers vs a Target Number; roll equal to or higher than the number succeeds). However, in the Character Generation chapter, we start seeing where CR Brandon's work in refining the system comes into play. Characters still use FASER for their stats, and generate characters in the same manner. In earlier versions, alien races were allowed, and one was presented, but that was it for examples. This time around, we get 4 fully fleshed out alien species complete with descriptions not only about appearance, but on their politics, views towards humans, and hints on using them in your own games. This is a common theme throughout the rules: more examples, more ideas, more options, just more of everything all around.
Some of the new things (beyond 3 new alien species), are optional rules for generating character backgrounds and personalities, Cybernetics rules (a very welcome addition to the rules), Magic & Spells, and rules for Trading/bartering. Armor now has a base damage reduction based on its type, but the original rules of rolling for the amount of damage deflected/absorbed by armor are still included as an optional rule.
The section on Non-Player Aliens is much as it was before, which is a little disappointing. I would have liked to seen a few more examples, but what is there gives a pretty good idea for how to handle alien creatures and a good array of special abilities.
My main, and really only, gripe with the original rules were the rather incomplete-feeling rules for Starship creation. The new version is much clearer, with lots of options for creating a starship without feeling like you need to be an engineer to generate it. Well done.
All and all, this new edition is simply meatier than before without losing any of that rules-light feel that drew me to the system in the first place. This edition is really vying hard to be my go-to sci-fi game. It already was my go-to for when I was short on time and just needed something to run on the fly, but I could see myself really running this for a longer stretch of time. If you're looking for a great rules-light sci-fi toolkit, you can't go wrong with Rogue Space!
First off, I picked up the pdf version of the book. I plan on picking up the print edition at some point in the future, though. Minus cover, the new version weighs in at 114 pages, versus 64 in the V2 version. Right off, there's almost double the material in this new version of the game. Looking at the contents, there are a lot of new sections that didn't appear in the previous revisions of the game. There are many more (Option) sections to the contents, which really pushes CR Brandon's ideal of Rogue Space being a toolbox for GM's to make of it what they want; which is something that I really like in my sci-fi rules.
Compared to previous versions of the game, the dice system, character generation, and combat are generally the same (roll 2d6 +/- modifiers vs a Target Number; roll equal to or higher than the number succeeds). However, in the Character Generation chapter, we start seeing where CR Brandon's work in refining the system comes into play. Characters still use FASER for their stats, and generate characters in the same manner. In earlier versions, alien races were allowed, and one was presented, but that was it for examples. This time around, we get 4 fully fleshed out alien species complete with descriptions not only about appearance, but on their politics, views towards humans, and hints on using them in your own games. This is a common theme throughout the rules: more examples, more ideas, more options, just more of everything all around.
Some of the new things (beyond 3 new alien species), are optional rules for generating character backgrounds and personalities, Cybernetics rules (a very welcome addition to the rules), Magic & Spells, and rules for Trading/bartering. Armor now has a base damage reduction based on its type, but the original rules of rolling for the amount of damage deflected/absorbed by armor are still included as an optional rule.
The section on Non-Player Aliens is much as it was before, which is a little disappointing. I would have liked to seen a few more examples, but what is there gives a pretty good idea for how to handle alien creatures and a good array of special abilities.
My main, and really only, gripe with the original rules were the rather incomplete-feeling rules for Starship creation. The new version is much clearer, with lots of options for creating a starship without feeling like you need to be an engineer to generate it. Well done.
All and all, this new edition is simply meatier than before without losing any of that rules-light feel that drew me to the system in the first place. This edition is really vying hard to be my go-to sci-fi game. It already was my go-to for when I was short on time and just needed something to run on the fly, but I could see myself really running this for a longer stretch of time. If you're looking for a great rules-light sci-fi toolkit, you can't go wrong with Rogue Space!
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Savage Worlds Sc-Fi
I'm still tearing through my copy of Rogue Space, which has also kept me from getting my full review of Seeded Space finished as well...and while I'm not ready to give a full verdict yet I will say that I'm very pleased with the purchase.
Another book that I've been anxiously awaiting is the Savage Worlds Sci-Fi Companion for the current edition of the game. I've got the original, and it was good, but it felt a bit thin. That's always been one thing that fans of Savage Worlds have been clamoring for: better support for the Sci-Fi genre. Now, there have been some great 3rd party settings and sourcebooks that have helped fill the void like Slipstream, Savage Space (which you can find here for free), Interface Zero, Mercenary Breed, and High Space, among others. While many of those are fine products, they also largely have a focus on particular sub-genres. At any rate, the new SF Companion was due out today, but it's been pushed back a week so the guys at Pinnacle can apply some last minute "spit and polish" to it. While it's a bummer that it didn't come out today (I was looking forward to picking up my copy as soon as I got home), I can wait another week.
I've put together some sci-fi rules for Savage Worlds that I feel pretty good about. It covers pretty much all of my desired "sweet-spots" for my ideal sci-fi/fantasy game. However, I set it aside when I got bit by the OSR bug and discovered systems like Stars Without Number, Starships & Spacemen, and the like. Heh. Once again my gamer ADD has reared its ugly head. I now have my sci-fi heartbreaker, Stars Without Number, Rogue Space, and Savage Worlds all once again vying for my interest!
Another book that I've been anxiously awaiting is the Savage Worlds Sci-Fi Companion for the current edition of the game. I've got the original, and it was good, but it felt a bit thin. That's always been one thing that fans of Savage Worlds have been clamoring for: better support for the Sci-Fi genre. Now, there have been some great 3rd party settings and sourcebooks that have helped fill the void like Slipstream, Savage Space (which you can find here for free), Interface Zero, Mercenary Breed, and High Space, among others. While many of those are fine products, they also largely have a focus on particular sub-genres. At any rate, the new SF Companion was due out today, but it's been pushed back a week so the guys at Pinnacle can apply some last minute "spit and polish" to it. While it's a bummer that it didn't come out today (I was looking forward to picking up my copy as soon as I got home), I can wait another week.
I've put together some sci-fi rules for Savage Worlds that I feel pretty good about. It covers pretty much all of my desired "sweet-spots" for my ideal sci-fi/fantasy game. However, I set it aside when I got bit by the OSR bug and discovered systems like Stars Without Number, Starships & Spacemen, and the like. Heh. Once again my gamer ADD has reared its ugly head. I now have my sci-fi heartbreaker, Stars Without Number, Rogue Space, and Savage Worlds all once again vying for my interest!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Weekend Roundup: New Rogue Space Rules and Big Changes in Store for Star Wars
First off is the new edition of the excellent indie Sci-Fi game, Rogue Space is out now! Go pick up a copy here. I picked up the pdf edition myself and hope tear into it tonight and tomorrow and get my thoughts posted on it in a few days.
The second bit of news is actually a few days old. Disney has appointed a committee to go through the Star Wars timeline and determine what is and is not official canon for the Star Wars universe. (Read the article here.) Seeing as how they are going to be making movies that take place after Return of the Jedi, I'd say it's a safe bet that most, if not all, of the post-RotJ novels and comics will be declared as non-official. I'm not certain how I feel about this. It's no secret that the quality of many of the novels isn't spectacular, but I've never considered SW novels to be any worse (or better) than most other shared universe genre fiction from Star Trek to Forgotten Realms. If most of the Expanded Universe is declared invalid, I hope they don't totally scrap many of the characters. I'd hate to never see Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker, Anakin Solo, Jacen and Jaina Solo again. Plus there's the scenes of Anakin appearing to Leia, and her eventual forgiveness of her father. Still, at the same time, I do trust Disney to treat Star Wars right. They've done a fantastic job with the Marvel franchise (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding), and I hope to see that same level of creativity and care taken with my beloved Star Wars.
Speaking of Star Wars and Marvel, Dark Horse comics, who has been publishing Star Wars comics since 1991, is losing the license to do so after this year to Marvel. (Read about it here.) Seeing as how Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, this move has likely been in the works not long after the ink dried on the sale bill for Star Wars. I have no doubt that Dark Horse will do fine without Star Wars, but I will miss their take on the SW universe, which has been fantastic, especially the last few years. Really, some of my favorite EU stories have come out of the various Dark Horse SW lines. Still, some of my all time favorite Star Wars stories came from the campy and oftentimes downright silly, Marvel series from the early 80's. Marvel is slated to start publishing Star Wars comics in 2015.
The second bit of news is actually a few days old. Disney has appointed a committee to go through the Star Wars timeline and determine what is and is not official canon for the Star Wars universe. (Read the article here.) Seeing as how they are going to be making movies that take place after Return of the Jedi, I'd say it's a safe bet that most, if not all, of the post-RotJ novels and comics will be declared as non-official. I'm not certain how I feel about this. It's no secret that the quality of many of the novels isn't spectacular, but I've never considered SW novels to be any worse (or better) than most other shared universe genre fiction from Star Trek to Forgotten Realms. If most of the Expanded Universe is declared invalid, I hope they don't totally scrap many of the characters. I'd hate to never see Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker, Anakin Solo, Jacen and Jaina Solo again. Plus there's the scenes of Anakin appearing to Leia, and her eventual forgiveness of her father. Still, at the same time, I do trust Disney to treat Star Wars right. They've done a fantastic job with the Marvel franchise (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding), and I hope to see that same level of creativity and care taken with my beloved Star Wars.
Speaking of Star Wars and Marvel, Dark Horse comics, who has been publishing Star Wars comics since 1991, is losing the license to do so after this year to Marvel. (Read about it here.) Seeing as how Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, this move has likely been in the works not long after the ink dried on the sale bill for Star Wars. I have no doubt that Dark Horse will do fine without Star Wars, but I will miss their take on the SW universe, which has been fantastic, especially the last few years. Really, some of my favorite EU stories have come out of the various Dark Horse SW lines. Still, some of my all time favorite Star Wars stories came from the campy and oftentimes downright silly, Marvel series from the early 80's. Marvel is slated to start publishing Star Wars comics in 2015.
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
First Post of 2014: The Holiday Haul!
I hope you all had a great holiday season. As I look forward to a new year filled with more writing and hopefully one filled with even more inspirational sources, I'm going to spend some time looking back as some of the stuff I picked up during Christmas that are great imagination igniters.
Oblivion, the recently released movie with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. As a movie, it's merely alright; an enjoyable popcorn flick. (It was one of those movies that I figured out fairly soon into the movie what was going on, which dampened my enjoyment.) However, the tech and the imagery is fantastic. I like the contrast between the crisp and clean living quarters and tech of the "team" and the dingy and dirty world of the marauders. Very usable for settings in which there is a large tech gap between cultures on a world. I need to get stats written up for those wicked drones, by the way...
On the book front I did get some great offerings.
First off is A Field Guide to the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith. This is a sort of bestiary of fae creatures from various cultures (though primarily Celtic). It is beautifully illustrated throughout by Heinz Edelmann. While many of the creatures found in the book have been translated into D&D stats over the years, not all have been. Even with those that have been statted out in game, not all are fully faithful to the legends or the information in the book is different enough to really throw a curveball to players that think they know exactly what they are up against.
I also received two great Sci-Fi art books: Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art and Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History both are filled with evocative and inspiring images for those looking for something non-gaming related to get those creative juices flowing.
With some holiday cash in hand, I binged a bit on some post-holiday sales. At Half-Price Books I picked up Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It and Star Trek: New Worlds, New Civilizations. OotW is heavily illustrated (which is primarily why I bought it) and talks about the wide and varied sources that have brought the sci-fi genre to where it is now. The writing is a bit stiff in spots, but so far I am enjoying it. ST: NW, NC details 18 locations from Vulcan to Ferenginar to the Q Continuum; all with great illustrations from an impressive list of artists.
Lulu recently had a 40% off sale, so I stocked up on several early issues of John Strater's NOD, which I cannot recommend high enough. Most of each issue is related to Swords & Wizardry based hex crawls surrounding a general theme (though I understand later issues tend to be more Blood & Treasure based, but are still easily usable with S&W), but some issues have articles pertaining to one of the various games that John has put out. (Seriously, he is insanely prolific! I also recommend checking out Blood & Treasure, Mystery Men, and Tales of the Space Princess.) I've found NOD to be one of the best and cost effective resources for S&W (and D&D clone-related gaming in general) on the market.
I also picked up a OSR-inspired rpg called Seeded Space by Scott Roberts. Seeded Space is essentially D&D in space. It falls into much of the same realm as Hulks & Horrors. I'm working up a full review, but bottom line is that while it doesn't tread new territory, it is still a good game and toolkit to kitbash from for use in your favorite OSR-inspired sci-fi game.
Oblivion, the recently released movie with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. As a movie, it's merely alright; an enjoyable popcorn flick. (It was one of those movies that I figured out fairly soon into the movie what was going on, which dampened my enjoyment.) However, the tech and the imagery is fantastic. I like the contrast between the crisp and clean living quarters and tech of the "team" and the dingy and dirty world of the marauders. Very usable for settings in which there is a large tech gap between cultures on a world. I need to get stats written up for those wicked drones, by the way...
On the book front I did get some great offerings.
First off is A Field Guide to the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith. This is a sort of bestiary of fae creatures from various cultures (though primarily Celtic). It is beautifully illustrated throughout by Heinz Edelmann. While many of the creatures found in the book have been translated into D&D stats over the years, not all have been. Even with those that have been statted out in game, not all are fully faithful to the legends or the information in the book is different enough to really throw a curveball to players that think they know exactly what they are up against.
I also received two great Sci-Fi art books: Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art and Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History both are filled with evocative and inspiring images for those looking for something non-gaming related to get those creative juices flowing.
With some holiday cash in hand, I binged a bit on some post-holiday sales. At Half-Price Books I picked up Out of This World: Science Fiction But Not As You Know It and Star Trek: New Worlds, New Civilizations. OotW is heavily illustrated (which is primarily why I bought it) and talks about the wide and varied sources that have brought the sci-fi genre to where it is now. The writing is a bit stiff in spots, but so far I am enjoying it. ST: NW, NC details 18 locations from Vulcan to Ferenginar to the Q Continuum; all with great illustrations from an impressive list of artists.
Lulu recently had a 40% off sale, so I stocked up on several early issues of John Strater's NOD, which I cannot recommend high enough. Most of each issue is related to Swords & Wizardry based hex crawls surrounding a general theme (though I understand later issues tend to be more Blood & Treasure based, but are still easily usable with S&W), but some issues have articles pertaining to one of the various games that John has put out. (Seriously, he is insanely prolific! I also recommend checking out Blood & Treasure, Mystery Men, and Tales of the Space Princess.) I've found NOD to be one of the best and cost effective resources for S&W (and D&D clone-related gaming in general) on the market.
I also picked up a OSR-inspired rpg called Seeded Space by Scott Roberts. Seeded Space is essentially D&D in space. It falls into much of the same realm as Hulks & Horrors. I'm working up a full review, but bottom line is that while it doesn't tread new territory, it is still a good game and toolkit to kitbash from for use in your favorite OSR-inspired sci-fi game.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
The Dark Side of Imagination
I think having a healthy imagination is a very good thing. However, it can have its drawbacks. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm playing bachelor this week while my family is out of town. While I enjoy a little peace and quiet, being in a house all alone is a bit...odd...when you're used to being in a home with three other people. The lack of laughter, crying, the TV, or just the sounds of the boys' bedtime music playing leaves me with nothing other than the creaks and groans of the floorboards. Now, I don't believe in the supernatural. The only ghosts and goblins waiting in the shadows are those found in my games and writing. However, there are times when my imagination runs away with me, and I'm currently dealing with one of those times.
My parents gave my 1 year old a giant singing reindeer for Christmas. This thing is almost taller than Grayson, and its sitting down! When we got home from my folks house after Christmas, I placed it on the futon in our basement play room. It "stares" at the stairwell leading upstairs, and it's the first thing you see when you come downstairs. It just sits there (unless you press the button on its hoof, then it sings carols) staring blankly with its beady little black eyes. I hadn't payed it much attention until today. I was getting recycling gathered to take to bins and I looked at it. It almost seemed like it was staring back at me. The thought gave me chills.
Now, it's dark out, and the thought that gnaws at the back of my mind is if that thing is monstrous? It could silently stalk me throughout the house. I'm sitting at my desk in my man-cave and that thing is right outside. I find myself glancing into the playroom half-expecting to see a shadow. Every time I walk out into the playroom, I expect to see a subtle shift in the way its sitting on the futon, or even a dramatic change in position to set me screaming like a wildman out into the night!
It's all crap though. These images are just the by-product of an over-active, and likely over-indulged, imagination. I'm not honestly scared of a partially animatronic stuffed reindeer, but my imagination won't let loose of the idea. Maybe I'll put the reindeer in my son's room so I won't have to see it...but then it could start plotting with the Elmos he got for Christmas...everyone know how evil those things are...
My parents gave my 1 year old a giant singing reindeer for Christmas. This thing is almost taller than Grayson, and its sitting down! When we got home from my folks house after Christmas, I placed it on the futon in our basement play room. It "stares" at the stairwell leading upstairs, and it's the first thing you see when you come downstairs. It just sits there (unless you press the button on its hoof, then it sings carols) staring blankly with its beady little black eyes. I hadn't payed it much attention until today. I was getting recycling gathered to take to bins and I looked at it. It almost seemed like it was staring back at me. The thought gave me chills.
Now, it's dark out, and the thought that gnaws at the back of my mind is if that thing is monstrous? It could silently stalk me throughout the house. I'm sitting at my desk in my man-cave and that thing is right outside. I find myself glancing into the playroom half-expecting to see a shadow. Every time I walk out into the playroom, I expect to see a subtle shift in the way its sitting on the futon, or even a dramatic change in position to set me screaming like a wildman out into the night!
It's all crap though. These images are just the by-product of an over-active, and likely over-indulged, imagination. I'm not honestly scared of a partially animatronic stuffed reindeer, but my imagination won't let loose of the idea. Maybe I'll put the reindeer in my son's room so I won't have to see it...but then it could start plotting with the Elmos he got for Christmas...everyone know how evil those things are...
Friday, December 27, 2013
Post Holiday Musings
I hope you all had a great holiday season, and will have a safe and happy New Year to boot! It was a pretty good Christmas here. Now my wife and kids are halfway across the country enjoying some time with her brother and his family. So, here I sit in a quiet house with the next couple of days all to myself. In order to fill the deafening silence that now permeates the house, I've devoted some time to watch some Deep Space 9 (I'm nearly done with season 6, and therefore the series as a whole with only season 7 left to watch) and getting my copy of Descent 2nd Edition and the expansions organized (I just picked up The Trollfens expansion today). As is typical, DS9 got me thinking about my set of sci-fi rules that are in a constant state of revision and re-configuring, and organizing Descent got me thinking about another project that I've long thought about: designing a D&D inspired board game in the vein of Warhammer Quest.
I love dungeon crawling board games. Ever since I first played Hero Quest, I've been hooked. Warhammer Quest is still my all time favorite dungeon crawler. The tables that allowed the party to discover what happened to them whilst travelling to and from a dungeon, and what happens to them in town along with tables and charts of encounters in various locations made for a great time. Plus, WQ is deadly. Getting a character passed the first Battle Level is a badge of honor. Still, the game does have its flaws, the first being that is it so blasted deadly that it's hard to hold some players' interest after losing yet another BL1 character early on in a dungeon due to a random encounter with 1d3 Minotaurs! Anyway, I've got a ton of dungeon crawler board games from HQ and WQ to the D&D Board Game (and expansions) that were only released in Europe to the new D&D games, to Descent and its multiple expansions and some lesser known games like Darkworld and Dragonfire. That's not even counting the mountain of D&D minis and the unpainted minis. With all these games at my disposal, surely there would be a way to draw them all together to make one helluva dungeon crawler?
First off would be the rules. I would like leveling to high levels to be possible. Since its a board game, it needs to play fairly fast, which is oftentimes a downside to many dungeon crawler board games. There will be charts and lists to simulate random encounters. Plus, and this is the big one for me, the system should be able to handle both GM-driven and solo play.
Why solo play? For starters, it turns what can often times feel like a competitive game with one player running the monsters with the rest trying to defeat or outwit the GM's monsters and such into a cooperative encounter with all players getting to feel the danger of playing a character whose life is in constant peril. Plus, since my wife isn't big on these kind of games, and my sons are still a bit too young yet, solo play is often times the only way I can play.
I'm thinking of going with a d20-based system mixed with some of the class ideas found in Descent. This will allow for a variety of classes and allow the level of scaling that I prefer. Monsters would be the standard D&D fare, but some powers and such would have to be tweaked not only for solo/random play, but to also speed things up. Such as spell lists for monster spellcasters would have to be truncated/modified to in a set of powers. The same goes for certain powers like a vampire's bite.
Treasure would be randomized, likely using a modification of the random treasure tables I wrote up for Swords and Wizardry. Some items that have little use in the dungeon or that are hard to use in solo play will have to be left out, but by and large most items would be fine to use.
The dungeon tiles would be pulled from the various sets that I have, but I'd likely end up using WQ's since all the cards and tiles are already right there and ready to use.
Now, with all this musing, you'd think I'm starting to get something more substantial on paper, right? Wrong. I've tried working this idea for a long time now. While its something that I'd like to someday get off the ground, it's nothing more than mental calisthenics right now.
My primary focus in my writing is my sci-fi rules and setting. Work continues, and due to the quiet and alone time I'll have this week, I hope to make a lot more progress that I've been able to over the last couple of months.
So, with that, I'm going to get back to work. Until next time...
I love dungeon crawling board games. Ever since I first played Hero Quest, I've been hooked. Warhammer Quest is still my all time favorite dungeon crawler. The tables that allowed the party to discover what happened to them whilst travelling to and from a dungeon, and what happens to them in town along with tables and charts of encounters in various locations made for a great time. Plus, WQ is deadly. Getting a character passed the first Battle Level is a badge of honor. Still, the game does have its flaws, the first being that is it so blasted deadly that it's hard to hold some players' interest after losing yet another BL1 character early on in a dungeon due to a random encounter with 1d3 Minotaurs! Anyway, I've got a ton of dungeon crawler board games from HQ and WQ to the D&D Board Game (and expansions) that were only released in Europe to the new D&D games, to Descent and its multiple expansions and some lesser known games like Darkworld and Dragonfire. That's not even counting the mountain of D&D minis and the unpainted minis. With all these games at my disposal, surely there would be a way to draw them all together to make one helluva dungeon crawler?
First off would be the rules. I would like leveling to high levels to be possible. Since its a board game, it needs to play fairly fast, which is oftentimes a downside to many dungeon crawler board games. There will be charts and lists to simulate random encounters. Plus, and this is the big one for me, the system should be able to handle both GM-driven and solo play.
Why solo play? For starters, it turns what can often times feel like a competitive game with one player running the monsters with the rest trying to defeat or outwit the GM's monsters and such into a cooperative encounter with all players getting to feel the danger of playing a character whose life is in constant peril. Plus, since my wife isn't big on these kind of games, and my sons are still a bit too young yet, solo play is often times the only way I can play.
I'm thinking of going with a d20-based system mixed with some of the class ideas found in Descent. This will allow for a variety of classes and allow the level of scaling that I prefer. Monsters would be the standard D&D fare, but some powers and such would have to be tweaked not only for solo/random play, but to also speed things up. Such as spell lists for monster spellcasters would have to be truncated/modified to in a set of powers. The same goes for certain powers like a vampire's bite.
Treasure would be randomized, likely using a modification of the random treasure tables I wrote up for Swords and Wizardry. Some items that have little use in the dungeon or that are hard to use in solo play will have to be left out, but by and large most items would be fine to use.
The dungeon tiles would be pulled from the various sets that I have, but I'd likely end up using WQ's since all the cards and tiles are already right there and ready to use.
Now, with all this musing, you'd think I'm starting to get something more substantial on paper, right? Wrong. I've tried working this idea for a long time now. While its something that I'd like to someday get off the ground, it's nothing more than mental calisthenics right now.
My primary focus in my writing is my sci-fi rules and setting. Work continues, and due to the quiet and alone time I'll have this week, I hope to make a lot more progress that I've been able to over the last couple of months.
So, with that, I'm going to get back to work. Until next time...
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Still Kicking
Haven't been very active of late around here. There's been a lot going on both good and bad keeping me away from getting much writing done. I will have a very rare stretch of time after Christmas all to myself in which I plan to devote to making some serious progress on some of my projects. Until then, I'll leave you with this: go rent/buy Elysium. It's a great flick that's rather Mass Effecty in its tech and imagery. (Plus, it's just an all around good movie.)
Thursday, December 05, 2013
HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Kickstarter is Dead
As many of you likely know, the Kickstarter for HeroQuest 25 has been on hold for a while now due to some (surprise, surprise) legal issues. As I was going through my email this evening I get this message from Gamezone:
Last Friday we were surprised by the pause placed on our kickstarter Project of HQ25. We wrote a communiqué to you, which was also posted on our site heroquestclassic.com. In our letter we tried to communicate to you in the clearest fashion what was happening and as well to share with you all, our petition to kickstarter to have the project reopened. To do all of this publicly was to us the correct way for you as our backers to be informed of the situation and the most correct and transparent way to communicate with you as well, as our backers you have the right to know what was going on with this project.
We have done what you have ask for, we have waited in silence for KS’ answer. It has arrived. KS would prefer to keep the project on hold and wait for us to come to an agreement with third part.
The KS answer can be seen at this LINK (http://gamezoneminiatures.
KS’ position does not agree with as at all. The situation produced by the pause of the project has been harmful.
We do not feel that our legitimate rights over the Trademark have been protected and above all we do not wish to do business with third part under threats or duress of any sort. As a result we are proceeding to solicit KS to cancel our project on their platform.
Is this the end of HQ25? Of course not! Keep reading!
We accept the all of the respectful critics that has come our way because we learn from these things and if someone thinks differently they are free to express those opinions. What we do not accept is the disinformation y distortions that have been happening during the project's pause on KS in which we have remained silent and waited.
During these past few days our creative design crew has still been working on the development of various components, the same as always, the idea being to not lose any energy with this controversy.
The thirteen on the gallows, as we have fondly started calling the 13 professionals that are implicated in the creation of the project, have as a priority the development of this commemorative game.
We are truly more worried about you, the backers. We want thank you for the messages of support that have been rolling in. The public reaction to the news of a new edition of this classic provided undeniable and sincere joy to many. We will hold onto this as the rout to follow.
After this communiqué is sent out we will proceed to ask KS to cancel the project on their platform. After this is done we will immediately restart and continue the HQ25 project. More info atheroquestclassic.com. Therefore the HQ25 project will return to active status. We will move from victims to survivors and conquer as we go.
We understand that KS has a larger public base than any other crowed funding platform today; we understand that moving the project to another site will mean that out backer support will decrease. However we are ready and willing to continue this campaign in a place that will offer us the correct guaranties for our trademark. We would prefer to raise fewer funds and still move forward with and produce it in time for the 25th anniversary.
We await your support and enthusiasm in this renewed crowed funding campaign.
Again, we would like to thank our backers from the bottom of our hearts, please do not regret supporting us. Let us all together get this back on track and make this dream a reality.
Gamezone Team"
"Dear Backers
Last Friday we were surprised by the pause placed on our kickstarter Project of HQ25. We wrote a communiqué to you, which was also posted on our site heroquestclassic.com. In our letter we tried to communicate to you in the clearest fashion what was happening and as well to share with you all, our petition to kickstarter to have the project reopened. To do all of this publicly was to us the correct way for you as our backers to be informed of the situation and the most correct and transparent way to communicate with you as well, as our backers you have the right to know what was going on with this project.
We have done what you have ask for, we have waited in silence for KS’ answer. It has arrived. KS would prefer to keep the project on hold and wait for us to come to an agreement with third part.
The KS answer can be seen at this LINK (http://gamezoneminiatures.
KS’ position does not agree with as at all. The situation produced by the pause of the project has been harmful.
We do not feel that our legitimate rights over the Trademark have been protected and above all we do not wish to do business with third part under threats or duress of any sort. As a result we are proceeding to solicit KS to cancel our project on their platform.
Is this the end of HQ25? Of course not! Keep reading!
We accept the all of the respectful critics that has come our way because we learn from these things and if someone thinks differently they are free to express those opinions. What we do not accept is the disinformation y distortions that have been happening during the project's pause on KS in which we have remained silent and waited.
During these past few days our creative design crew has still been working on the development of various components, the same as always, the idea being to not lose any energy with this controversy.
The thirteen on the gallows, as we have fondly started calling the 13 professionals that are implicated in the creation of the project, have as a priority the development of this commemorative game.
We are truly more worried about you, the backers. We want thank you for the messages of support that have been rolling in. The public reaction to the news of a new edition of this classic provided undeniable and sincere joy to many. We will hold onto this as the rout to follow.
After this communiqué is sent out we will proceed to ask KS to cancel the project on their platform. After this is done we will immediately restart and continue the HQ25 project. More info atheroquestclassic.com. Therefore the HQ25 project will return to active status. We will move from victims to survivors and conquer as we go.
We understand that KS has a larger public base than any other crowed funding platform today; we understand that moving the project to another site will mean that out backer support will decrease. However we are ready and willing to continue this campaign in a place that will offer us the correct guaranties for our trademark. We would prefer to raise fewer funds and still move forward with and produce it in time for the 25th anniversary.
We await your support and enthusiasm in this renewed crowed funding campaign.
Again, we would like to thank our backers from the bottom of our hearts, please do not regret supporting us. Let us all together get this back on track and make this dream a reality.
Gamezone Team"
So the Kickstarter is dead and will likely move to a different crowdfunding platform, so while the Kickstarter may be dead, the project will likely live on. However, those pesky Trademark issues aren't likely going to go away so it'll probably remain unlikely that we'll see distribution stateside. This whole process though has left me with the feeling that "there's something rotten in Denmark." While I'll watch HQ25 to see where it ends up, if anywhere, and I do hope that Gamezone can get in going and be able to distribute it in retail outlets...it won't surprise me in the least if they hit yet another dead end. I wish Gamezone all the luck in the world with this, but I'm glad I didn't pony up any cash for it and likely won't unless it hits retail outlets.
Monday, December 02, 2013
Slarecians: The First on Mars
Slarecians are an evil race of humanoids found in the Scarred Lands campaign setting for D&D 3 and 3.5 editions. I've long loved the mystery of these beings and how all that has been left behind by them either causes fear, kills without mercy, or sows discord. As I was starting work on my sci-fi setting, I knew that I wanted the first colonists on Mars to find that they weren't the first to set foot on the red planet. I wanted an alien race full of dark foreboding and mystery. The Slarecians are a perfect fit, and below is how I'm fitting them into my setting.
In 2036, the first Martian colony was established in a joint US and EU venture. A couple months after the establishment of Burrough's Promise, a surveying team found a strange metal arched doorway at the base of Olympus Mons. The metal was unlike anything that had ever been seen before. It was nearly impervious to harm and had an oily sheen not unlike what is seen when oil and water are combined. Completely by accident, the door was opened by one of the survey team. They retreated from the site and called in an archaeological team. Mission Control also had a security force go with the team to explore the opening. What was found was evidence that humans weren't the first species to visit and colonize Mars.
The site was dark and contained featureless walls of the same strange metal. Hallways created a maze like effect, but all seemed to eventually end in a central domed room. The central room was adorned with stone plinths and altars with strange, and as several members of the exploratory team recounted, insidious-looking runes carved into them. In the center of the chamber was a stone archway adorned with more of the wicked-looking runes. One of the researches touched a rune on one of the altars, which turned out to be control panel of some kind. The room was bathed in light from an unknown source; it seemed to come from everywhere. The runes on the central arch lit up as well. What happened next was not fully understood until after the Fraal made contact with humankind due to a total failure of the vid-comm systems each member of the team was equipped with. The bits that came through were disturbing to say the least. A number of creatures poured through the archway, which appeared to be a portal of some kind. Other than clips of screams, gunfire, and brief glances of the hunched, gaunt, humanoid monsters, nothing else was seen. Within seconds the life signs of all members flatlined. The security detail stationed at the opening to the site was ordered to cause an avalanche to block the opening since tests on the metal concluded that nothing less than a nuclear explosion would have much chance of affecting the metal.
The Olympus Mons "tomb" shocked the US and EU leaders; all of whom covered up all news of the discovery and the events that followed. It didn't take conspiracy theorists long to notice that a permanent UN military base was set up near Olympus Mons, however. Some of them even got close to what the UN was protecting/hiding. This disaster also colored perceptions of aliens by the US and EU, which is why relations with the Fraal were very cold and cautious to begin with.
It was the Fraal that provided the Earth governments with information that filled in the gaps on just what that site is. The Fraal had encountered other Slarecian ruins on other worlds in their history. What little they knew was that they were a seemingly long-dead Precursor species. All that remained of their culture was the ruins made out of what the Fraal called "Slarecian Steel". They culture, from what little they could discern was devoted to "esoteric sciences" like dimensional travel, torturous surgeries, horrific genetic testing, and psionic potential. Near as the Fraal had been able to piece together at the time was that they traveled the cosmos by way of the stone arches like the one found at the Olympus Mons site. The Fraal strongly cautioned the Earth governments to leave these sites alone. While the Fraal were also keenly interested in Slarecian research into psionics and would also like to know more about the history and culture of the species, every site, while different save for the existence of at least one stone archway and being made out of Slarecian Steel, is deadly beyond all comprehension. To this day, the Olympus Mons site has never been excavated, the defenses have only been strengthened over time.
Slarecian ruins have been found on other worlds the galaxy over, all of whom are instantly declared off-limits by any government ran by leaders with even an ounce of sanity. However, there are those that hear tales of untold riches in technology, science, or simply precious metals and jewels that tempt fate and try to explore a Slarecian site. Some of the horrors encountered are: Slarecian Ghouls, these twisted, savage beings are living creatures. Some scientists theorized that this is what became of the Slarecians, while others contest that they are likely the result of genetic testing or were specifically bred for defense. Either way, these creatures are the most commonly encountered threats in Slarecian ruins. Slarecian Gargoyles are automatons of psionically animated stone. Slarecian ruins are often adorned with statues of these winged creatures, as well as of Slarecians themselves, but only the winged statues are animated. They attack with intense savagery, but little cunning, unlike Slarecian Ghouls. One of the most insidious dangers is the Language Virus. This is a psionically spread virus that breaks down the ability of those affected to understand what anyone else is saying. So far, no cure has been found for the disease, and thanks to the ability for the virus to spread via psionic energy any who contract the disease, especially psions whose mastery of psionics only increases the transmission range, are either killed or simply left behind.
Many Slarecian ruins are destroyed by orbital barrages when discovered, so those that wish to try and profit from such sites typically have to work fast. There are credits to be made plundering Slarecian ruins even in spite of the dangers. Slarecian items are powerful in the hands of a psion and go for high prices on the Black Market (the sale of such items is banned by most stellar nations). Some psions have found chambers that when the correct rune is activated, allows them to expand their psionic potential with relative ease. Even Concord scientists would love to study the Portal Arches found at every Slarecian ruin site. The possibility of being able to unlock dimensional travel is hard to resist.
It is the possibility of dimensional travel that leads many to believe that the Slarecians are still out there somewhere, but only the insane would ever want to meet one.
In 2036, the first Martian colony was established in a joint US and EU venture. A couple months after the establishment of Burrough's Promise, a surveying team found a strange metal arched doorway at the base of Olympus Mons. The metal was unlike anything that had ever been seen before. It was nearly impervious to harm and had an oily sheen not unlike what is seen when oil and water are combined. Completely by accident, the door was opened by one of the survey team. They retreated from the site and called in an archaeological team. Mission Control also had a security force go with the team to explore the opening. What was found was evidence that humans weren't the first species to visit and colonize Mars.
The site was dark and contained featureless walls of the same strange metal. Hallways created a maze like effect, but all seemed to eventually end in a central domed room. The central room was adorned with stone plinths and altars with strange, and as several members of the exploratory team recounted, insidious-looking runes carved into them. In the center of the chamber was a stone archway adorned with more of the wicked-looking runes. One of the researches touched a rune on one of the altars, which turned out to be control panel of some kind. The room was bathed in light from an unknown source; it seemed to come from everywhere. The runes on the central arch lit up as well. What happened next was not fully understood until after the Fraal made contact with humankind due to a total failure of the vid-comm systems each member of the team was equipped with. The bits that came through were disturbing to say the least. A number of creatures poured through the archway, which appeared to be a portal of some kind. Other than clips of screams, gunfire, and brief glances of the hunched, gaunt, humanoid monsters, nothing else was seen. Within seconds the life signs of all members flatlined. The security detail stationed at the opening to the site was ordered to cause an avalanche to block the opening since tests on the metal concluded that nothing less than a nuclear explosion would have much chance of affecting the metal.
The Olympus Mons "tomb" shocked the US and EU leaders; all of whom covered up all news of the discovery and the events that followed. It didn't take conspiracy theorists long to notice that a permanent UN military base was set up near Olympus Mons, however. Some of them even got close to what the UN was protecting/hiding. This disaster also colored perceptions of aliens by the US and EU, which is why relations with the Fraal were very cold and cautious to begin with.
It was the Fraal that provided the Earth governments with information that filled in the gaps on just what that site is. The Fraal had encountered other Slarecian ruins on other worlds in their history. What little they knew was that they were a seemingly long-dead Precursor species. All that remained of their culture was the ruins made out of what the Fraal called "Slarecian Steel". They culture, from what little they could discern was devoted to "esoteric sciences" like dimensional travel, torturous surgeries, horrific genetic testing, and psionic potential. Near as the Fraal had been able to piece together at the time was that they traveled the cosmos by way of the stone arches like the one found at the Olympus Mons site. The Fraal strongly cautioned the Earth governments to leave these sites alone. While the Fraal were also keenly interested in Slarecian research into psionics and would also like to know more about the history and culture of the species, every site, while different save for the existence of at least one stone archway and being made out of Slarecian Steel, is deadly beyond all comprehension. To this day, the Olympus Mons site has never been excavated, the defenses have only been strengthened over time.
Slarecian ruins have been found on other worlds the galaxy over, all of whom are instantly declared off-limits by any government ran by leaders with even an ounce of sanity. However, there are those that hear tales of untold riches in technology, science, or simply precious metals and jewels that tempt fate and try to explore a Slarecian site. Some of the horrors encountered are: Slarecian Ghouls, these twisted, savage beings are living creatures. Some scientists theorized that this is what became of the Slarecians, while others contest that they are likely the result of genetic testing or were specifically bred for defense. Either way, these creatures are the most commonly encountered threats in Slarecian ruins. Slarecian Gargoyles are automatons of psionically animated stone. Slarecian ruins are often adorned with statues of these winged creatures, as well as of Slarecians themselves, but only the winged statues are animated. They attack with intense savagery, but little cunning, unlike Slarecian Ghouls. One of the most insidious dangers is the Language Virus. This is a psionically spread virus that breaks down the ability of those affected to understand what anyone else is saying. So far, no cure has been found for the disease, and thanks to the ability for the virus to spread via psionic energy any who contract the disease, especially psions whose mastery of psionics only increases the transmission range, are either killed or simply left behind.
Many Slarecian ruins are destroyed by orbital barrages when discovered, so those that wish to try and profit from such sites typically have to work fast. There are credits to be made plundering Slarecian ruins even in spite of the dangers. Slarecian items are powerful in the hands of a psion and go for high prices on the Black Market (the sale of such items is banned by most stellar nations). Some psions have found chambers that when the correct rune is activated, allows them to expand their psionic potential with relative ease. Even Concord scientists would love to study the Portal Arches found at every Slarecian ruin site. The possibility of being able to unlock dimensional travel is hard to resist.
It is the possibility of dimensional travel that leads many to believe that the Slarecians are still out there somewhere, but only the insane would ever want to meet one.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The Article that Changed it All
Like many sci-fi fans, I take great interest in astronomy and the goings on of the world's various space agencies. Thanks to a link on the Stars Without Number Facebook Page (here is the link), I'm changing a key element of not only my sci-fi setting, but also the rules that I'm working on. Essentially, NASA could very well be on their way to creating a "warp drive." The current work is based on a paper written in 1994 by physicist Miguel Alcubierre. By creating a bubble in space/time behind a starcraft and a space/time sink in front of the craft, a starship can be propelled through space fast faster than the speed of light, but since the space around the starcraft is unchanged it is not breaking the speed of light itself and therefore not meeting with a very messy end. The idea was scrapped as unfeasible due to the mass energy needed to subject enough force on space/time would be equal to that found in Jupiter. However, further research shows that with some tweaks to the Alcubierre Drive, the mass energy needed may only be around 1600 pounds of mass energy.
If this research yields practical results in testing, this means that we could travel the 4.3 light years to Alpha Centauri in weeks rather than entire generations living and dying on the journey. Day trips to Mars (or anywhere else in the solar system for that matter) would become feasible. We could easily harvest resources from the asteroids, moons, and planets throughout the solar system and beyond. Seeing how quick new technology can develop (as stated in the article, we went from only being able to generate 5 Watts of power via nuclear fission to 4 Megawatts in a year), if the practical tests yield the desired results, we could be traversing the stars before we know it. Just thinking of the economic, political, sociological, and even theological (should we happen to find proof that life exists elsewhere in the galaxy, that is) ramifications begins to blow my mind. Sure, this tech is all theoretical now, but the very idea that such travel is at least mathematically possible is exciting in the extreme.
If the Alcubierre Drive becomes reality, it's just another in a long line of technological advances that have been predicted by Star Trek (at least in some small way). Those shows continually show that they were ahead of their time.
What does all of this mean to my setting and system? Well, I'm scrapping the idea of Drillspace and the Elder Relays. Warp Drives are now the principle means of transportation throughout the galaxy. I may still use Relays, but they will be an invention of the current species roaming the galaxy other than some unknown ancient species. This means I need to go back and re-write some aspects of the setting background, since the Elder Relays were an integral part of the setting. Plus, the removing of the limitations of travel via Drillspace will have significant ramifications on the setting as well. That's not to say that I won't have limits to what speeds an Alcubierre Drive can attain, but space travel will be a lot more straight-forward, safer, and simpler.
We truly do live in an exciting age!
If this research yields practical results in testing, this means that we could travel the 4.3 light years to Alpha Centauri in weeks rather than entire generations living and dying on the journey. Day trips to Mars (or anywhere else in the solar system for that matter) would become feasible. We could easily harvest resources from the asteroids, moons, and planets throughout the solar system and beyond. Seeing how quick new technology can develop (as stated in the article, we went from only being able to generate 5 Watts of power via nuclear fission to 4 Megawatts in a year), if the practical tests yield the desired results, we could be traversing the stars before we know it. Just thinking of the economic, political, sociological, and even theological (should we happen to find proof that life exists elsewhere in the galaxy, that is) ramifications begins to blow my mind. Sure, this tech is all theoretical now, but the very idea that such travel is at least mathematically possible is exciting in the extreme.
If the Alcubierre Drive becomes reality, it's just another in a long line of technological advances that have been predicted by Star Trek (at least in some small way). Those shows continually show that they were ahead of their time.
What does all of this mean to my setting and system? Well, I'm scrapping the idea of Drillspace and the Elder Relays. Warp Drives are now the principle means of transportation throughout the galaxy. I may still use Relays, but they will be an invention of the current species roaming the galaxy other than some unknown ancient species. This means I need to go back and re-write some aspects of the setting background, since the Elder Relays were an integral part of the setting. Plus, the removing of the limitations of travel via Drillspace will have significant ramifications on the setting as well. That's not to say that I won't have limits to what speeds an Alcubierre Drive can attain, but space travel will be a lot more straight-forward, safer, and simpler.
We truly do live in an exciting age!
Monday, November 25, 2013
The HeroQuest Kickstarter is Live!
Check it out here. It's already funded (no surprise there). Supposedly, the only way you can get one Stateside is to go through the Kickstarter or take your chances on either the secondary market or buying a copy and having it shipped from Spain (ouch). If you want the base set, it'll set you back $89, which really isn't that bad for a dungeon crawler. However, if you want the game and all the unlocked extras: $150. Now, shipping is estimated to be $50.
I want this. I want this really bad, but no matter how much I love HQ...I just don't think I can plunk down $200 bucks for it when I have an original with most of the expansions sitting on my shelf. Here's to hoping I hit the lottery in the next 31 days...
I want this. I want this really bad, but no matter how much I love HQ...I just don't think I can plunk down $200 bucks for it when I have an original with most of the expansions sitting on my shelf. Here's to hoping I hit the lottery in the next 31 days...
The Silence is Deafening
I've been pretty quiet on here of late. I've devoted my sparse free time to working on my organization project and other house projects to get ready for the cold winter weather. I have done a little bit of work on on my SWN/Alternity rules and I think I'm about ready to playtest some options that I'm considering as far as how Armor will work (make you harder to hit vs reducing damage). Once those are tested and I decide which way I want to go, the lion's share of the "heavy lifting" on the system will be complete. I can thing FINALLY devote time to setting details.
However, there has been an idea brewing in the back of my mind. While I was cataloging the D&D 4th Edition part of my collection I got to looking through the rules again. I like 4th Edition...well, I like aspects of the rules. I'll never run it again as is because it felt lifeless and not really a roleplaying game. As a tactical game, it's pretty good. Combat takes far too long, but I've got some ideas on how to cut that down. Taking a cue from the great D&D board games: Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, and Legend of Drizzt, I think 4E could be made into a decent Warhammer Quest styled dungeon crawler boardgame. I'm just in the brainstorming part of the process right now, but I'm toying around with the idea of taking the base idea of how the board games build a dungeon and how the creature AI works and applying it to the fuller 4E rules. There are things that will need to be simplified and things like HP totals will need to be reigned in. Characters will level up as in 4E and the monsters will be in line with how they are written in 4E rules.
Like I said, this idea is still very much in its infancy, but I do think that the 4E rules would make a much better board game than they ever did as a full RPG for me. Still...it's not like I really need ANOTHER project to add to the pile...
However, there has been an idea brewing in the back of my mind. While I was cataloging the D&D 4th Edition part of my collection I got to looking through the rules again. I like 4th Edition...well, I like aspects of the rules. I'll never run it again as is because it felt lifeless and not really a roleplaying game. As a tactical game, it's pretty good. Combat takes far too long, but I've got some ideas on how to cut that down. Taking a cue from the great D&D board games: Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, and Legend of Drizzt, I think 4E could be made into a decent Warhammer Quest styled dungeon crawler boardgame. I'm just in the brainstorming part of the process right now, but I'm toying around with the idea of taking the base idea of how the board games build a dungeon and how the creature AI works and applying it to the fuller 4E rules. There are things that will need to be simplified and things like HP totals will need to be reigned in. Characters will level up as in 4E and the monsters will be in line with how they are written in 4E rules.
Like I said, this idea is still very much in its infancy, but I do think that the 4E rules would make a much better board game than they ever did as a full RPG for me. Still...it's not like I really need ANOTHER project to add to the pile...
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Be Still My Beating Heart!
I have long wished for a new edition of classic dungeon crawling board game, Hero Quest. It's the game that really got me on the road that lead me to D&D and roleplaying games in general. Now, it appears that a new edition is coming to Kickstarter on November 22. While this makes me, as Deeter would say, "as happy as a little girl" I shudder to think what this is going to cost. My hope is that this will eventually see release on the open market and not just be available to backers since, well, the great money-sink that is Christmas is right around the corner and the budget just can't fit something like this into it. Still, a new edition to the grand-daddy of all dungeon exploration board games is coming back, and that is seriously exciting news (at least to me)!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Organization Madness
I haven't been too active on the blogosphere lately. I've been working (when I can) on my SWN/Alternity/D20 Future mash-up, but time has been short on that front lately. Hopefully, after this weekend, I'll be able to devote more time to getting those rules finished up and then dive into writing setting details and performing conversions. However, I've started another undertaking that's chewed up way more of my scant free time...yes, I am a glutton for punishment.
I've begun to re-organize and catalog my gaming material. Like many gamers, I tend to buy a lot of gaming material, way more than I'd ever use even if I spent every weekend rolling bones. Then I've also scoured the internet and saved a ton of material that I find interesting from fans the world over. I've organized things fairly well, but I'm finding I've got duplicate files in various folders and sometimes I just can't find what I'm looking for because I filed it away in an incorrect folder accidentally or my thoughts on what the book really was has changed over time. All of this has lead me to the conclusion that's it's high time I catalog my collection.
The catalog is a simple spreadsheet listing Title, System, Genre, Product Type (Adventure, Core Rules, Races, Characters, Bestiaries, etc.), Product Line (general D&D, specific settings, etc...), and Notes on the file/book (if needed). Most of my collection is in pdf's these days. They are just more convenient to having a dead tree copy sitting at my desk...for the most part. When at play, I tend to print a lot of stuff, so I guess I'm not really saving that many trees. I just like being able to carry my collection around with me on my laptop or a flash drive. Plus, it saves precious shelf space in my cramped and cluttered man cave. I've spent more than I care to think about at RPGNow.com, though that has slowed down since I've become a father. Anyway, this process of cataloging has also turned into a process of rediscovery of things that I downloaded on a whim and I'm looking back through, which makes it more fun and also more time consuming. I'm making all sorts of notes to go with many of the files about cool monsters to convert to this system or that and other thoughts to help remind myself why I should take another look at a product.
The other part of this Organization Madness is changing how I have things organized. Now, I have things broken down by system by and large. D6 material under the D6 folder, D20 under the D20 folder, and so on. However, I'm going to move things into a specific lines and then by genre, so all my sci-fi stuff will be under the Sci-Fi folder and all the Fastasy lines will be grouped under Fantasy. I've gotten to the point in my gaming "career" that I have my favorite systems that I use for specific genres. Marvel Super Heroes for anything supers, Swords & Wizardry for D&D style gaming, SWN/Alternity for sci-fi and so on. Since I'm so conversion happy, I'm to the point where I'd like everything organized by the genre. I haven't actually started on that aspect of the Great Organization Project, but it's definitely something I'm leaning towards.
Cataloging my gaming material has got me wondering, how much more stuff do I really need? My wishlist at RPGNow is still hovering around 400 items ranging from super-villains to bestiaries to rules that sounded interesting, but I just could justify spending the money on at the time. Every now and then I'll go through and buy around $20 worth of smaller items just to knock it back and to add more fodder to the conversion fire, which in reality I'll read through the file and then likely not look at it again for a long time. For me, I think the issue is that I'm a collector at heart. Well, that and I like to be exposed to new takes on aliens, races, classes, settings. Still, when do you say enough is enough? Due to my buying habits lately, I've hit that point due to necessity. However, I still add items to my wishlist and I still check ENWorld for news about new material coming out, so I'm still interested in possibly picking up more stuff in the future. It's a sickness!
Anyway, that's enough of my sleep-deprived ramblings. Hopefully, I'll get the organization and cataloging done soon and I can focus fully on my sci-fi home system. The same old routine: far too many irons in the fire...
I've begun to re-organize and catalog my gaming material. Like many gamers, I tend to buy a lot of gaming material, way more than I'd ever use even if I spent every weekend rolling bones. Then I've also scoured the internet and saved a ton of material that I find interesting from fans the world over. I've organized things fairly well, but I'm finding I've got duplicate files in various folders and sometimes I just can't find what I'm looking for because I filed it away in an incorrect folder accidentally or my thoughts on what the book really was has changed over time. All of this has lead me to the conclusion that's it's high time I catalog my collection.
The catalog is a simple spreadsheet listing Title, System, Genre, Product Type (Adventure, Core Rules, Races, Characters, Bestiaries, etc.), Product Line (general D&D, specific settings, etc...), and Notes on the file/book (if needed). Most of my collection is in pdf's these days. They are just more convenient to having a dead tree copy sitting at my desk...for the most part. When at play, I tend to print a lot of stuff, so I guess I'm not really saving that many trees. I just like being able to carry my collection around with me on my laptop or a flash drive. Plus, it saves precious shelf space in my cramped and cluttered man cave. I've spent more than I care to think about at RPGNow.com, though that has slowed down since I've become a father. Anyway, this process of cataloging has also turned into a process of rediscovery of things that I downloaded on a whim and I'm looking back through, which makes it more fun and also more time consuming. I'm making all sorts of notes to go with many of the files about cool monsters to convert to this system or that and other thoughts to help remind myself why I should take another look at a product.
The other part of this Organization Madness is changing how I have things organized. Now, I have things broken down by system by and large. D6 material under the D6 folder, D20 under the D20 folder, and so on. However, I'm going to move things into a specific lines and then by genre, so all my sci-fi stuff will be under the Sci-Fi folder and all the Fastasy lines will be grouped under Fantasy. I've gotten to the point in my gaming "career" that I have my favorite systems that I use for specific genres. Marvel Super Heroes for anything supers, Swords & Wizardry for D&D style gaming, SWN/Alternity for sci-fi and so on. Since I'm so conversion happy, I'm to the point where I'd like everything organized by the genre. I haven't actually started on that aspect of the Great Organization Project, but it's definitely something I'm leaning towards.
Cataloging my gaming material has got me wondering, how much more stuff do I really need? My wishlist at RPGNow is still hovering around 400 items ranging from super-villains to bestiaries to rules that sounded interesting, but I just could justify spending the money on at the time. Every now and then I'll go through and buy around $20 worth of smaller items just to knock it back and to add more fodder to the conversion fire, which in reality I'll read through the file and then likely not look at it again for a long time. For me, I think the issue is that I'm a collector at heart. Well, that and I like to be exposed to new takes on aliens, races, classes, settings. Still, when do you say enough is enough? Due to my buying habits lately, I've hit that point due to necessity. However, I still add items to my wishlist and I still check ENWorld for news about new material coming out, so I'm still interested in possibly picking up more stuff in the future. It's a sickness!
Anyway, that's enough of my sleep-deprived ramblings. Hopefully, I'll get the organization and cataloging done soon and I can focus fully on my sci-fi home system. The same old routine: far too many irons in the fire...
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Happy N7 Day!
For all you Mass Effect fans out there, I hope you have a great N7 day! Sadly, I won't be able to partake in any festivities until later on tonight, but I'll be pushing back against Reaper, Collector, Geth, and Cerberus forces as soon as I can!
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Swords & Wizardry Complete FOR FREE FOREVER!!!!
Tenkar's Tavern has set up a Dropbox link to the pdf version of the Swords & Wizardry Complete rulebook. This is now free because Frog God's current Kickstarter got enough backers, so as a thank you they have made the rules freely available as long as there is an internet! Click on the link above and get a copy of what I think is the finest fantasy RPG ruleset on the market today!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Character Death in Comics
FAIR WARNING: There will be Spoilers below dealing with the Batman and Captain America histories. So if you're waaaaaay behind in your reading of those titles and don't want to have anything ruined, you'd best just skip this post.
I mentioned in my last post (and in my post about how I plan to use Batman in my MSH setting) that I'm not a fan of DC's decision to bring Jason Todd back from the dead and that I found Marvel's handling of the Winter Solider to be much better, yet still annoying. I wanted to touch on that some more.
My first real superhero comic was Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. It was the issue in which Supergirl dies in Superman's arms after the might of the heroes of the DCU storm the Anti-Monitor's fortress. Up until that point the closest I came to superhero comics was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I was still reading a lot of Disney comics back then also. I knew about Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk and alot of other heroes thanks to Saturday morning cartoons, but I never asked mom or dad or grandma to buy me an issue until I saw that iconic cover.
I took one look at that cover and thought "Wow! I've gotta read that!" It still stands as my all time favorite single issue. I read it and re-read it over and over. Even though I was hopping into the middle of an important storyline in the DCU (at that time) and didn't have a clue who most of the characters were, I didn't care. Supergirl's sacrifice. Her dying in her cousin's arms. The memorials held by the other heroes on the various other Earths. It damn near brought the 8 year old me to tears. That issue set me on the path to a lifetime love of comics. A death story did that.
Cut to three years later and what I consider to be two of the best Batman storylines ever were released: The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family. The Killing Joke featured the paralyzation of Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl at the time, and set her down the road to becoming Oracle, an overall better character than she ever was as Batgirl. However, in A Death in the Family, Jason Todd is brutally murdered by the Joker. His death dealt a far worse blow to Batman than any cleverly conceived deathtrap ever could. He was overcome with guilt at the loss of a boy that was not just a comrade, but in many ways a son to the Dark Knight. It made an otherwise lackluster character into a cornerstone of the Batman mythos.
Then in 2005, DC just had to bring him back from the dead. Now there's a new guy in town who is nearly as good as Batman and Nightwing, only he's willing to use guns and kill the bad guys! In one fell swoop they erased the weight and meaning of Jason Todd's death. A death that still carried weight nearly 20 years after it happened. Especially in the DCU with their near constant retconning and rebooting of the universe, that was a big deal.
So why do I make sure a big deal about DC bringing back Jason Todd, but not with Marvel bringing back Bucky? Both were rather goofy characters. Jason Todd was introduced to Batman readers when he was boosting the tires of the Batmobile for crying out loud! Bucky was a rather lame sidekick in a time when just about every hero was facing certain danger with a young boy at his side...yes, that also deserves a "for crying out loud" as well. In all honesty, I really think it has a lot of do with not having much of a connection at all with the original Bucky. I knew who he was through references in modern Captain America books, but the original was hokey, like a lot of comics back in that day. Ed Brubaker, who returned Bucky to life, wrote a great storyline to reintroduce Bucky into the Marvel Universe and updated his "death" from 1940's sensibilities to something more modern. None of the weight of Bucky's loss was destroyed. It actually added something to the Captain America mythos rather than just adding another angsty anti-hero to the rosters.
I've ran many super-hero campaigns over the years, and I've seen my share of character death. Most were ignoble deaths due to stupidity or simple bad luck, but some were great moments in my gaming history. I'd never dream of returning one of those heroes back from the dead...well, I shouldn't say never, but I'd never return a hero as an angsty anti-hero unless he already was an angsty anti-hero that is...It would take what was a great moment, one of those rare times when a game had the right combination of players that were fully invested in their characters and the story and their great roleplaying, and then flush it all away because I couldn't find some other comic book cliche to exploit for that night's adventure.
I mentioned in my last post (and in my post about how I plan to use Batman in my MSH setting) that I'm not a fan of DC's decision to bring Jason Todd back from the dead and that I found Marvel's handling of the Winter Solider to be much better, yet still annoying. I wanted to touch on that some more.
My first real superhero comic was Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. It was the issue in which Supergirl dies in Superman's arms after the might of the heroes of the DCU storm the Anti-Monitor's fortress. Up until that point the closest I came to superhero comics was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I was still reading a lot of Disney comics back then also. I knew about Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk and alot of other heroes thanks to Saturday morning cartoons, but I never asked mom or dad or grandma to buy me an issue until I saw that iconic cover.
I took one look at that cover and thought "Wow! I've gotta read that!" It still stands as my all time favorite single issue. I read it and re-read it over and over. Even though I was hopping into the middle of an important storyline in the DCU (at that time) and didn't have a clue who most of the characters were, I didn't care. Supergirl's sacrifice. Her dying in her cousin's arms. The memorials held by the other heroes on the various other Earths. It damn near brought the 8 year old me to tears. That issue set me on the path to a lifetime love of comics. A death story did that.
Cut to three years later and what I consider to be two of the best Batman storylines ever were released: The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family. The Killing Joke featured the paralyzation of Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl at the time, and set her down the road to becoming Oracle, an overall better character than she ever was as Batgirl. However, in A Death in the Family, Jason Todd is brutally murdered by the Joker. His death dealt a far worse blow to Batman than any cleverly conceived deathtrap ever could. He was overcome with guilt at the loss of a boy that was not just a comrade, but in many ways a son to the Dark Knight. It made an otherwise lackluster character into a cornerstone of the Batman mythos.
Then in 2005, DC just had to bring him back from the dead. Now there's a new guy in town who is nearly as good as Batman and Nightwing, only he's willing to use guns and kill the bad guys! In one fell swoop they erased the weight and meaning of Jason Todd's death. A death that still carried weight nearly 20 years after it happened. Especially in the DCU with their near constant retconning and rebooting of the universe, that was a big deal.
So why do I make sure a big deal about DC bringing back Jason Todd, but not with Marvel bringing back Bucky? Both were rather goofy characters. Jason Todd was introduced to Batman readers when he was boosting the tires of the Batmobile for crying out loud! Bucky was a rather lame sidekick in a time when just about every hero was facing certain danger with a young boy at his side...yes, that also deserves a "for crying out loud" as well. In all honesty, I really think it has a lot of do with not having much of a connection at all with the original Bucky. I knew who he was through references in modern Captain America books, but the original was hokey, like a lot of comics back in that day. Ed Brubaker, who returned Bucky to life, wrote a great storyline to reintroduce Bucky into the Marvel Universe and updated his "death" from 1940's sensibilities to something more modern. None of the weight of Bucky's loss was destroyed. It actually added something to the Captain America mythos rather than just adding another angsty anti-hero to the rosters.
Bringing characters back to life has always annoyed me a bit. It can be done right and can further a storyline without diminishing the hero's initial sacrifice, but oftentimes it just feels lazy and that the writers have run out of ideas. Jean Grey of the X-Men has died and been reborn more times than a soap opera starlet, but it at least makes some sense thanks to her connection to the Phoenix Force. These near-constant deaths have left their mark on the flame-haired mutant, and have actually added to the character. Character deaths should mean something. The Death of Superman was a great moment, but they brought him back before the body could even get cold. Sure, he's a cornerstone of the DCU and one of major pop icons of the last century, so there wasn't any way that DC was going to leave Kal-El dead, but he was barely dead long enough for the tears to dry off of Lois' blouse before returning. It took what was, what should have been, a high-water mark for DC and tarnished it for the blatant money grab that it so obviously was.
I've ran many super-hero campaigns over the years, and I've seen my share of character death. Most were ignoble deaths due to stupidity or simple bad luck, but some were great moments in my gaming history. I'd never dream of returning one of those heroes back from the dead...well, I shouldn't say never, but I'd never return a hero as an angsty anti-hero unless he already was an angsty anti-hero that is...It would take what was a great moment, one of those rare times when a game had the right combination of players that were fully invested in their characters and the story and their great roleplaying, and then flush it all away because I couldn't find some other comic book cliche to exploit for that night's adventure.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Captain America and Some Random Comic-Related Thoughts
I finally got around to watching the preview for Captain America: Winter Soldier. I'm really looking forward to it now (not that I wasn't before, but even more so now). I was never a big fan of Cap back when I read comics religiously. His solo title in the 80's and even much of the 90's felt so hokey, too boy scout like. It was like Cap took Superman's "aw shucks" and patriotism and turned it to 11. Even going back and re-reading some of the comics from that time those feelings are still conveyed, but I like them a lot better now. Back when I was reading comics as a kid, I leaned more towards the grittier books or books where the characters were outsiders. Punisher and the X-Men drew me in a lot more than Cap. Even with Cap leading the Avengers, I liked him more, but he still felt far too "Pollyanna-like" for me. So when the first Captain America movie came out, I went into it thinking that would likely be OK but it would fail to satisfy. However, while Captain America is still very patriotic the Pollyanna is wiped away. Now, I won't get into the sometimes jarring CGI to make Chris Evans into a frail-looking weakling in his pre-transformation form, but I thought the movie was well done other than that. Cap felt more human, more real, and overall more inspirational than he ever felt to that 8-16 year-old me that was heavily reading comics.
Cap's transformation in my mind was further expanded by The Avengers. Steve Rogers really felt like a man out of time, a guy still reeling from losing everything he had known and being thrust into a situation of global proportions alongside literal gods. I had my doubts that they could pull off Cap being a leader, but they did a great job of it and showed what I always wanted to see out of Cap: a born leader and a man that, while flawed, exhibits the qualities that we want to see in ourselves.
Granted, I'm being a little harsh on the comics. It's hard to keep the core of a character on display issue after issue for decades without the message overshadowing telling wildly divergent stories. To do so would make the core message a ham-fisted sledgehammer that would only serve to drive readers away. Movies, with their smaller time set and greater focus, can to that so much better (though many movies fail to deliver or end up being ham-fisted in their own way). Thanks to Captain America and Avengers, I'm more of a fan of Captain America than I've ever been before.
That all brings me to Winter Soldier. Now, most of us that read comics know who the Winter Soldier is. However, unless they do some serious retconning or outright ignoring what happened in the first movie, I don't see how they can mimic that in the movie. (By the way, Marvel's handling of the Winter Soldier, while still somewhat annoying, was way better handled than DC's bringing back Jason Todd, who in my not overly humble opinion, should have stayed dead with a capital D, but I digress.) Still, even possibly losing that emotional element, this promises to be another great Marvel movie.
Why is it that Hollywood can do such great stuff with Marvel properties (X3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the two FF movies, and Daredevil aside), but nothing can seem to be done with DC properties that aren't Batman-related? (Really, until the last three Batman movies all but two of those have been absolute stinkers.) DC has some great IP, so surely a good movie can be found there? I haven't seen Man of Steel yet, but the reviews have been so mixed that I don't know what to expect. Green Lantern could have been good if they would have stuck to an origin story for the first movie and built up to fighting Parallax in a more natural progression instead of mashing two movies into one.
I once read somewhere on the net the big difference between Marvel and DC that I think plays into why DC movies tend to, well, suck (that aren't animated, seriously DC animated movies have been quite good). Bascially, this user said (and I'm paraphrasing here): in the Marvel Universe it's men pretending to be gods and in the DCU its gods pretending to be men. That's a big difference. Even in the case of characters like Thor, who is literally a god, he is a very human and flawed being and therefore more connectible and believeable. Superman is a god in every sense. He tries hard to blend in with humanity, but he just so good, so pure, so much better in every imaginable way that it's tough to write a storyline that doesn't end up being too cliched. I've heard that Man of Steel tried to up the angst, and it's been a regular complaint about the movie because it's so far off the mark for the character. (I guess I'll find out for myself once it hits Redbox.) It's almost like the writers for DC's movies can't wrap their head around how to make a movie revolving around characters with so much power that will still be interesting and connectible.
Cap's transformation in my mind was further expanded by The Avengers. Steve Rogers really felt like a man out of time, a guy still reeling from losing everything he had known and being thrust into a situation of global proportions alongside literal gods. I had my doubts that they could pull off Cap being a leader, but they did a great job of it and showed what I always wanted to see out of Cap: a born leader and a man that, while flawed, exhibits the qualities that we want to see in ourselves.
Granted, I'm being a little harsh on the comics. It's hard to keep the core of a character on display issue after issue for decades without the message overshadowing telling wildly divergent stories. To do so would make the core message a ham-fisted sledgehammer that would only serve to drive readers away. Movies, with their smaller time set and greater focus, can to that so much better (though many movies fail to deliver or end up being ham-fisted in their own way). Thanks to Captain America and Avengers, I'm more of a fan of Captain America than I've ever been before.
That all brings me to Winter Soldier. Now, most of us that read comics know who the Winter Soldier is. However, unless they do some serious retconning or outright ignoring what happened in the first movie, I don't see how they can mimic that in the movie. (By the way, Marvel's handling of the Winter Soldier, while still somewhat annoying, was way better handled than DC's bringing back Jason Todd, who in my not overly humble opinion, should have stayed dead with a capital D, but I digress.) Still, even possibly losing that emotional element, this promises to be another great Marvel movie.
Why is it that Hollywood can do such great stuff with Marvel properties (X3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the two FF movies, and Daredevil aside), but nothing can seem to be done with DC properties that aren't Batman-related? (Really, until the last three Batman movies all but two of those have been absolute stinkers.) DC has some great IP, so surely a good movie can be found there? I haven't seen Man of Steel yet, but the reviews have been so mixed that I don't know what to expect. Green Lantern could have been good if they would have stuck to an origin story for the first movie and built up to fighting Parallax in a more natural progression instead of mashing two movies into one.
I once read somewhere on the net the big difference between Marvel and DC that I think plays into why DC movies tend to, well, suck (that aren't animated, seriously DC animated movies have been quite good). Bascially, this user said (and I'm paraphrasing here): in the Marvel Universe it's men pretending to be gods and in the DCU its gods pretending to be men. That's a big difference. Even in the case of characters like Thor, who is literally a god, he is a very human and flawed being and therefore more connectible and believeable. Superman is a god in every sense. He tries hard to blend in with humanity, but he just so good, so pure, so much better in every imaginable way that it's tough to write a storyline that doesn't end up being too cliched. I've heard that Man of Steel tried to up the angst, and it's been a regular complaint about the movie because it's so far off the mark for the character. (I guess I'll find out for myself once it hits Redbox.) It's almost like the writers for DC's movies can't wrap their head around how to make a movie revolving around characters with so much power that will still be interesting and connectible.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Phantom Hits
This post is about some behind the scenes stuff, so bear with me. I had over 500 hits on this blog the other day, and over 400 the day before. After the initial "WOW!" factor wore off, I checked my stats to see just where in the hell these hits are coming from and found some really questionable traffic sources. I've seen a few of these before and after a cursory search found that I shouldn't check out those links. Now, this is something that Blogger users have been wanting Google to fix for a long time now. It was just surprising that my little blog was blitzed all of a sudden.
Well, now, I'm seeing a much more believable level of hits from sources that make sense. I don't know what happened, whether those spam sites were shut down or Google blocked them, but I have a much better idea of just how much my ramblings are garnering.
So whatever the case may be, if Google blocked those obvious spam sites that were artifically inflating my blogger ego or whatever, I'm happy to see it.
Well, now, I'm seeing a much more believable level of hits from sources that make sense. I don't know what happened, whether those spam sites were shut down or Google blocked them, but I have a much better idea of just how much my ramblings are garnering.
So whatever the case may be, if Google blocked those obvious spam sites that were artifically inflating my blogger ego or whatever, I'm happy to see it.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
My Gamer Profile
So this has been going around recently, so here's mine:
My RPG Profile
I'm currently running (at home): Nothing
Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include: Nothing
I'm currently running (online): Nothing
Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include: Nothing
I would especially like to play/run: Swords & Wizardry, Stars Without Number, Alternity, My own house system, Marvel Super Heroes
...but would also try: FATE, Star Wars Edge of the Empire, Numenera
I live in: Kansas City, MO home of the world's best BBQ
2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like: Rogue Space, Mutant Future, Blood & Treasure
2 or 3 novels I like: I tend to read more series than just one-off novels: Stephen King's Dark Tower series (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower), Chris Claremont and George Lucas' Shadow War series (Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn, and Shadow Star), and Bernard Cornwell's retelling of the Arthurian legends (The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur)
2 or 3 movies I like: Empire Strikes Back, Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China
Best place to find me on-line: Google+, my blog
I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: old school or sci-fi
I really do not want to hear about: storytelling games or politics (though I have strong opinions if the door is opened)
I think dead orc babies are ( circle one: funny / problematic / ....well, ok, it's complicated because....): Problematic. They aren't worth any XP, so it's a waste of time slaughtering them.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Reaper Bones II
The Kickstarter for Reaper Bones II is in its final day. I missed the chance the first time around and it looks like I'm going to again this time as well unless I get an instant infusion of a large sum of cash. Since that's not likely to happen by late tonight I'll just have to sit back and watch others unbox their new figs later on next year.
You know, I'm OK with that.
It's been a couple years since I last dragged out my tackle boxes of pre-painted minis for use. Yeah, a couple years. It's been over 5 years since I last painted a fig, and I've got a vast army of unpainted and terribly expensive metal figures sitting on shelves in my man-cave. Why on Earth would I want to add hundreds more to the collection that may never see the glory of even a "tabletop worthy" paint job? Coolness factor I guess. There are some really great minis in the Bones II Kickstarter. That said, I've got hundreds of minis ranging from D&D to Star Wars to Heroclix to Reaper to Rackham to Games Workshop and on and on and on. Other than generic sci-fi figs, I've got my bases pretty well covered. In a pinch, I can always print out cardstock stand-ins for anything that I don't have covered.
Still, I'm sure there will be this nagging feeling of regret when the kickstarter ends, and another round of intense envy upon hearing people getting in their orders. At the end of the day though, I'm covered, and that's money that I can use on things that my boys can have fun with now as opposed to a few years from now (if they follow their dear ol' dad into the gaming hobby that is).
Maybe next time, Reaper, maybe next time.
You know, I'm OK with that.
It's been a couple years since I last dragged out my tackle boxes of pre-painted minis for use. Yeah, a couple years. It's been over 5 years since I last painted a fig, and I've got a vast army of unpainted and terribly expensive metal figures sitting on shelves in my man-cave. Why on Earth would I want to add hundreds more to the collection that may never see the glory of even a "tabletop worthy" paint job? Coolness factor I guess. There are some really great minis in the Bones II Kickstarter. That said, I've got hundreds of minis ranging from D&D to Star Wars to Heroclix to Reaper to Rackham to Games Workshop and on and on and on. Other than generic sci-fi figs, I've got my bases pretty well covered. In a pinch, I can always print out cardstock stand-ins for anything that I don't have covered.
Still, I'm sure there will be this nagging feeling of regret when the kickstarter ends, and another round of intense envy upon hearing people getting in their orders. At the end of the day though, I'm covered, and that's money that I can use on things that my boys can have fun with now as opposed to a few years from now (if they follow their dear ol' dad into the gaming hobby that is).
Maybe next time, Reaper, maybe next time.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
House System Table of Contents
I'm knee deep in getting my house system (a hack of SWN, Alternity, and D20 Future) written up. As I was working on the Character Creation chapter I figured it would be a good idea to develop an outline of how I think everything should be organized. The main rulebook is going to be (hopefully) more of a toolbox with not much setting material. I just want to get the nuts and bolts finalized before I start adding on the paint and polish. Without further to do, here's my first draft of the Table of Contents for my House System:
1. Introduction
2. Character Creation
16. Xenobestiary
1. Introduction
2. Character Creation
- Overview of Character Creation
- Ability Score Generation
3. Species
- Standard Species
- Hybrid Species
- Player Generated Species
4. Skills
5. Perks & Flaws
6. Attributes
7. Equipment & Services
- Weapons
- Armor
- General Gear
- Basic Services
- Medical Services
8. Systems
- Combat
- Character Movement
- Vehicle Movement
- Space Tavel
- Space Combat
- Skills
- Environmental Effects
9. Psionics
10. Mutations
11. Cybernetics
12. Robots
- Robot Creation
- Robot Examples
- Robots as PC's
13. Vehicles
- Land
- Air
- Sea
- Space
- Mechs
- Space Stations
- Vehicle Creation
- Vehicle Examples
14. Experience & Achievement
15. GM Resources
- Planet Generation
- System Generation
- Sector Generation
- Alien Generation (Sentient and Non-Sentient)
- Factions
- Society Generation
The various examples will likely only be a few in each category. (So these rules won't sport all 60 base species available when I finally get a chance to actually play a game in the Galactic Concord setting.) Just enough to show off various techniques for creating aliens, vehicles, starships, and so on.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Hybrid Races
I've been working on the Character Creation chapter of my "house system" and I've gotten to the point where I want to make a decision about whether or not beings from different species can mate and therefore determine if I need to write any rules to govern such beings without having to write a million and one hybrid races individually. In the case of the Asari, the answer is a resounding "yes", but they don't necessarily need to mate in conventional sense to produce offspring and all young born from mating with an Asari are Asari in most every discernible way. Star Trek gives many examples of different species that can produce offspring: Humans and Betazoids, Humans and Klingons, Bajorans and Cardassians, and so on. Such pairings are also found in other series like Farscape (although Humans and Sebaceans are so similar genetically that it doesn't stretch the imagination too far) and Star Wars. Plus, since this setting is very much in the space opera vein as opposed to trying for a more hard sci-fi angle, it's not too far out of the norm to draw upon fantasy ideas like the half-elf, half-giant, and the like.
I'm inclined to allow such beings as supported in the setting, and I think I have a decent idea of a relatively easy way to handle these beings. However, there would have to be limits like only near-human species would be genetically compatible enough for such pairings. So there wouldn't be any Dralasite/Vulcans running around. Species that are decidedly more insectoid (Verpine), animalistic (Wookiee), or just weird (Founders, Dhamrin) simply wouldn't be allowed except as some GM plot device. After all, who am I to say that some Gene-Splicer couldn't create some sort of hoary abomination to unleash upon an unsuspecting galaxy?) I'm thinking of adding in a section to the species details that states whether or not they are genetically compatible with other species, much like what I'm doing to state whether or not a species can have psionic abilities, has a sufficiently malleable genetic structure for mutations, or has a physiology incompatible for cybernetics. Sex isn't typically something that I cover in my games (the times that the "brown-chicken, brown-cow" has occurred, it's all happened "off camera") and it's a subject that can make some people squeamish for a variety of reasons, so I'd like to handle the issue as gently as possible without tip-toeing around it like I'm writing for a pre-pubescent audience that giggles as the merest mention of anything slightly adult in nature. I'm not sure if I'll end up adding such an entry to the background information for each species, but in light of possibly (well, very likely) adding of the hybrid races rules it makes sense.
So I put the question to you, loyal reader of this rather haphazard blog, would such rules be a turn-off to a game even with the knowledge that the campaign is decidedly sci-fantasy (and even possibly a bit "gonzo" in spots) or would it still feel alright and keeping in the spirit even if the idea of different species mating and creating offspring is scientifically ridiculous?
There are also other species in the galaxy that can mate with other species similar to the Asari parthenogenesis or by means of genetic manipulation. The Satyrix (of Iron Kingdom fame) can mate with humans and other near-humans thanks to changes made to their genetic make-up to make up for the fact that they simply do not bear enough males in their society. The Valkyria (from the Savage Worlds setting, Slipstream) can mate with certain other species as well that are similar enough to their own genetic make-up. Therefore, there are instances beyond the Asari where other such beings can mate with others, but in each case the offspring is almost always the same as the mother.
Anyway, that's what I was working on at the moment and decided that I'd write about it. Any thoughts?
Thursday, October 17, 2013
SWN/Alternity/D20 Future Hack Update
Well, it's back to work for me and I didn't get to post nearly as much as I hoped. However, I haven't been totally unproductive. I've got a lot written and I think I've got some solutions to issues that have cropped up with making changes to the skill systems. I should be able to be to a playtestable state here pretty soon.
I was home during my time off with my 1-year old son, so I spent most of my time trying to keep him out of everything. During the quite times, I sat down with Jeff Rovin's "Aliens, Robots, and Spaceships" making notes for items that would make a good fit for the setting. I've got a lot to work on just from that book once I get the system to where I want it. I've also been making notes on an updated timeline for the setting. I want to get the dates nailed down for the major events in galactic history so that the background info is nice and coherent. As things progress, I'll be posting more of these updated setting details.
I was home during my time off with my 1-year old son, so I spent most of my time trying to keep him out of everything. During the quite times, I sat down with Jeff Rovin's "Aliens, Robots, and Spaceships" making notes for items that would make a good fit for the setting. I've got a lot to work on just from that book once I get the system to where I want it. I've also been making notes on an updated timeline for the setting. I want to get the dates nailed down for the major events in galactic history so that the background info is nice and coherent. As things progress, I'll be posting more of these updated setting details.
Friday, October 11, 2013
SWN/Alternity/D20 Future Hack: Character Creation Overview
This is still very much a work in progress, so things will likely change several times before I feel like it's truly ready for full-on play.
Character Creation Process
1. Generate Ability Scores: Roll 3d6 six times and apply those scores to the six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). This can either be done in order or by rolling the six scores and then assigning them to the desired stats to fit the player's vision for the character (this is, of course, up to the GM).
2. Select a Species: Choose one of the species available for play (if the campaign allows more than just humans, that is). Apply any ability score modifiers listed for the species, and make a note of the species' six free broad skills and any other special rules that may exist for that species.
3. Select a Class: Choose one of the classes available for play (Combat Specialist, Diplomat, Freelancer, or Technical Operative, Psions are also available for campaigns that allow the use of Psionic skills). Either roll for starting Hit Points, or apply the maximum (depending on which option the GM prefers for the campaign) to the HP total. Make a note of the class' Base Attack Bonus, Initiative bonus, Saving Throw bonuses, and Special Ability.
4. Determine Cybernetics and/or Mutations: If the campaign is making use of Cybernetics and/or Mutations and if those options are available for starting heroes, determine these options now and make a note of them and their effects on the character sheet. Characters that start play with cybernetics wave the cost in credits, but must still pay the skill point cost to ensure that their bodies are properly prepared for the installation of cybergear (see the Cybernetics section in the Equipment chapter for more information).
5. Purchase Skills: Starting characters have a number of skill points to spend on their starting Broad and Specialty skills based on their Intelligence score. Free Broad Skills listed for each species are considered automatic, so no cost is applied to those Broad Skills (though any Specialty skills will need to be purchased as normal). Specialty skills are capped at Rank 3 for starting characters. Make sure that if the character's species is one that allows a bonus to skill points or Broad Skill selections that you factor those into your purchase plan for the character. Also, make sure you note which skills are considered class skills for your character based on his class. Class skills cost one less skill point than the listed cost. Note that not all skill points need to be spent during character creation and can be saved for later.
6. Select Perks and Flaws: Starting characters may purchase (with Skill Points) up to three perks and select up to three flaws.
7. Select Attributes: Select one motivation, one moral attitude, and up to two personal traits for your character. These attributes help to define your character's personality.
8. Purchase Equipment: Each class has a number of credits (either generated randomly or by a preset number up to the GM) that they can spend on starting personal equipment.
9. Finish the Character Sheet: Make a note of the character's weapons and/or armor stats. Figure up the character's Defense Score and Attack Bonuses for their purchased weapons/attack forms. Make a note of the character's Psionic Energy Points, if playing a Psion or Diplomat/Psion. Name the character, and get ready for adventure!
There you have it, the Character Creation Process for my "Frankenstein's Monster" of an RPG system. A few things that I want to point out: the system of advancement for characters is the Alternity system. Characters will gain 1-3 points per adventure with a possible 1-2 bonus points depending on GM fiat based on in-game performance (clever play, great roleplaying, etc...). Once the character has accumulated enough Achievement Points, he/she can then spend those points on skills or bank them for later. Upon reaching an Achievement level, the character rolls for additional hit points, and may see an increase in one or more Saving Throw Bonuses.
There are three Saving Throw categories: Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower.
Attacks are rolled against the target's Defense Score, which is 10 + Dexterity Modifier + Armor Modifier. If an attack rolls is equal to or higher than the target's Defense, damage is rolled. If the target is wearing armor, the Armor Score is subtracted from the damage before it is subtracted from the character's HP total.
Purchasing skill ranks conveys a +1 bonus to a skill roll using that skill. Broad Skills do not convey a bonus, but instead allow the character to use their Ability Score modifier on a general skill roll. For weapons and martial arts skills, ability score modifiers are always applied, but having a Broad Skill allows the character to use his Base Attack Bonus to modify the attack roll. Therefore, a character using a blaster pistol who does not have the Ranged Weapons Modern broad skill would only be able to apply his Dexterity bonus to the roll.
Most everything else will essentially stay as written in SWN except where it needs to be tweaked to be brought in line with the skill system.
Character Creation Process
1. Generate Ability Scores: Roll 3d6 six times and apply those scores to the six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). This can either be done in order or by rolling the six scores and then assigning them to the desired stats to fit the player's vision for the character (this is, of course, up to the GM).
2. Select a Species: Choose one of the species available for play (if the campaign allows more than just humans, that is). Apply any ability score modifiers listed for the species, and make a note of the species' six free broad skills and any other special rules that may exist for that species.
3. Select a Class: Choose one of the classes available for play (Combat Specialist, Diplomat, Freelancer, or Technical Operative, Psions are also available for campaigns that allow the use of Psionic skills). Either roll for starting Hit Points, or apply the maximum (depending on which option the GM prefers for the campaign) to the HP total. Make a note of the class' Base Attack Bonus, Initiative bonus, Saving Throw bonuses, and Special Ability.
4. Determine Cybernetics and/or Mutations: If the campaign is making use of Cybernetics and/or Mutations and if those options are available for starting heroes, determine these options now and make a note of them and their effects on the character sheet. Characters that start play with cybernetics wave the cost in credits, but must still pay the skill point cost to ensure that their bodies are properly prepared for the installation of cybergear (see the Cybernetics section in the Equipment chapter for more information).
5. Purchase Skills: Starting characters have a number of skill points to spend on their starting Broad and Specialty skills based on their Intelligence score. Free Broad Skills listed for each species are considered automatic, so no cost is applied to those Broad Skills (though any Specialty skills will need to be purchased as normal). Specialty skills are capped at Rank 3 for starting characters. Make sure that if the character's species is one that allows a bonus to skill points or Broad Skill selections that you factor those into your purchase plan for the character. Also, make sure you note which skills are considered class skills for your character based on his class. Class skills cost one less skill point than the listed cost. Note that not all skill points need to be spent during character creation and can be saved for later.
6. Select Perks and Flaws: Starting characters may purchase (with Skill Points) up to three perks and select up to three flaws.
7. Select Attributes: Select one motivation, one moral attitude, and up to two personal traits for your character. These attributes help to define your character's personality.
8. Purchase Equipment: Each class has a number of credits (either generated randomly or by a preset number up to the GM) that they can spend on starting personal equipment.
9. Finish the Character Sheet: Make a note of the character's weapons and/or armor stats. Figure up the character's Defense Score and Attack Bonuses for their purchased weapons/attack forms. Make a note of the character's Psionic Energy Points, if playing a Psion or Diplomat/Psion. Name the character, and get ready for adventure!
There you have it, the Character Creation Process for my "Frankenstein's Monster" of an RPG system. A few things that I want to point out: the system of advancement for characters is the Alternity system. Characters will gain 1-3 points per adventure with a possible 1-2 bonus points depending on GM fiat based on in-game performance (clever play, great roleplaying, etc...). Once the character has accumulated enough Achievement Points, he/she can then spend those points on skills or bank them for later. Upon reaching an Achievement level, the character rolls for additional hit points, and may see an increase in one or more Saving Throw Bonuses.
There are three Saving Throw categories: Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower.
Attacks are rolled against the target's Defense Score, which is 10 + Dexterity Modifier + Armor Modifier. If an attack rolls is equal to or higher than the target's Defense, damage is rolled. If the target is wearing armor, the Armor Score is subtracted from the damage before it is subtracted from the character's HP total.
Purchasing skill ranks conveys a +1 bonus to a skill roll using that skill. Broad Skills do not convey a bonus, but instead allow the character to use their Ability Score modifier on a general skill roll. For weapons and martial arts skills, ability score modifiers are always applied, but having a Broad Skill allows the character to use his Base Attack Bonus to modify the attack roll. Therefore, a character using a blaster pistol who does not have the Ranged Weapons Modern broad skill would only be able to apply his Dexterity bonus to the roll.
Most everything else will essentially stay as written in SWN except where it needs to be tweaked to be brought in line with the skill system.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
SWN Hack Thoughts
I started looking back over what I've done with hacking up SWN to better fit what I want out of a sci-fi system. I'm thinking of switching gears to make the "house system" more in line with Alternity. I'm thinking of using the Broad/Specialized skill structure and cost per skill level as Alternity as well as the level benefits. This also means that character creation would likely end up being more point-based and may also see the inclusion of Perks and Disadvantages. Since the underlying system will still use SWN/OSR mechanics (although I use Ascending AC), I'll still need to work out some of the finer details, but I fully expect to keep things like Cybernetics and mutations pretty much as they are lined out in SWN and Other Dust.
One other change I'm considering is applying Alternity's Low Impact/High Impact/Energy damage resistance models. That means that a character's agility would be the primary thing keeping them from getting hurt with armor lessening damage. I've always liked that idea better than armor making a character harder to hit, but I've typically balked at using armor that way since it's more bookkeeping. It's something that I'm batting around and may likely change back as I test the changes.
I don't know that I'll ever be truly happy with the house system or find a system that fills most of my want list from a sci-fi system, but I hope to get the character creation and monster creation systems down in the near future so I can start in on statting out species and creatures and get down to the really fun part of world building for me, which is fleshing out the galaxy and overall setting details.
One other change I'm considering is applying Alternity's Low Impact/High Impact/Energy damage resistance models. That means that a character's agility would be the primary thing keeping them from getting hurt with armor lessening damage. I've always liked that idea better than armor making a character harder to hit, but I've typically balked at using armor that way since it's more bookkeeping. It's something that I'm batting around and may likely change back as I test the changes.
I don't know that I'll ever be truly happy with the house system or find a system that fills most of my want list from a sci-fi system, but I hope to get the character creation and monster creation systems down in the near future so I can start in on statting out species and creatures and get down to the really fun part of world building for me, which is fleshing out the galaxy and overall setting details.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Some Things to Check Out
First off is Reaper is having another massive Kickstarter campaign. Check it out HERE if you haven't already. Really, as quickly as this KS is drawing in cash, I doubt that many of you haven't checked it out. I've been hearing that they hit their initial funding goal in 2-3 minutes and crashed (or at least wreaked havoc on) Amazon's servers! Amazing! Much like the last Reaper Bones KS, I'm not taking part and it's killing me. I just can't justify spending on it...unless I hit the lottery tonight, and then it's backing time! In all seriousness, if you are in need of a ton of figures at an amazing price, this is the project to back.
The second thing I would like to draw your attention to is The Vaults of Pandius has put out the first issue of a new online magazine devoted to the world of Mystara called "Threshold". You can download the issue HERE (link goes directly to the pdf). This first issue covers the Karameikos region in the Known World. I've only had a chance to glance through the first issue, but I'm loving what I'm seeing and I hope that this mag continues on for a good long while.
The second thing I would like to draw your attention to is The Vaults of Pandius has put out the first issue of a new online magazine devoted to the world of Mystara called "Threshold". You can download the issue HERE (link goes directly to the pdf). This first issue covers the Karameikos region in the Known World. I've only had a chance to glance through the first issue, but I'm loving what I'm seeing and I hope that this mag continues on for a good long while.
(Semi) Regular Transmissions to Resume
Thanks to the government shutdown, I'm going to be a stay-at-home-dad for the time being (unless a new employment opportunity opens up, that is) and so I'll be able to devote some more time to the blog than I've been able to of late. I'm not sure yet what I'll cover, but since I've been in a sci-fi kick of late (once again) I'll probably focus my efforts there.
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!
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