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Anyone ever played it? I bought scads of dice when it came out from TSR and then again later after the new gang took over, but it was always hard to find players. There have been severals substantial sets of errata over the years too; so, make sure that you are playing the same version of the game. In service, Rich
* Elder Sign - good, cooperative game with evolving strategies * Apples to Apples - fun when you need a break* Flux - shifting rules with deeply embedded strategy * Gladiator - old Avalon Hill game; you can obtain copies of the rules off of numerous sites on the Internet. It is especially fun if you run it in the tourney mode * Wizard - solid, fun card game * Wizard Kings - board, war game using the blind system facilitated by blocks from Columbia Games That should be enough to get you started. in service,
I do use some "save now or die" house rule mechanics in D&D 4e. If there is no fear of death, no matter how extreme the threat and silly the PC actions then you're missing out on some potential excitement, fun, and creativity at the gaming table. In service,
Greetings Netizens, This thread is intended to have DMs share some of the most useful gaming aids that they have used in 4e games. Here is my top X list: * Dry erase vinyl grid
In service,
The campaign, "forward to the past," is set in an old Judges Guild sector. The premise was an entire Imperial battlefleet simply **vanished**. After a few missions to test the PCs' mettle, one of their unassuming henchfolk revealed that she was part of the inner circle of the Emperor. He needed the incident investigated discretely. The ensuing adventures took the party to an apparently natural world that should be billions of years old that is actually less than 50,000 years old by date testing! The party found many varieties of ecologically impossible species, many conforming to mythological creatures from the various sentient races. The apparent TL of the civilizations on the world were in the 3-4 range. Eventually the party discovered some very, very long lived creatures in the caverns beneath the planet that told an intriguing tale. That led the party to look at ancient astronomical histories ... that eventually led them to ... something extremely cool. The whole campaign is a grand exploration motif, and what keeps the players coming to the table is that there are some real moral challenges presented to the players, e.g., "are there some things that are too dangerous to know?" Does that help? in service,
I did it as a magical transformation story arc - the party had to perform a quest and then get transformed back to their original forms. They liked it so much that we ended up playing B&B again several times over the years. In service,
I was wondering if there is a rpg out there that is fighting maneuver heavy. I already have the Book of Nine Swords and I am looking for something along the same line. It can be any game system. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate any input. If you are looking for a purely tactical system, I recommend using AH's old Gladiator system. In service,
I've run campaigns using many different systems in the Duchy of Kernan. All I ask is that you footnote the URL. In service, Rich
I just added a new song for an upcoming adventure to my site. The new song is called the Caves of Chaos. If you listen to it from start to finish it tells a story, it grows on you! Enjoy! In service,
I just added a new song for an upcoming adventure to my site. The new song is called the Caves of Chaos. If you listen to it from start to finish it tells a story, it grows on you! Enjoy! In service,
I just added a new song for an upcoming adventure to my site. The new song is called the Caves of Chaos. If you listen to it from start to finish it tells a story, it grows on you! Enjoy! In service,
And they smell GREAT! Singing Bunnies & Kobolds - DEATH TRAP!. In service, Rich
I am more interested in the thinking behind the positions so if you would, please explain why you feel the way that you do on the subject. It is fine for my campaign. Others might object. There have been Cat People in D&D since 1979 (and probably before). In my campaigns, I often add funny or cute elements just to keep things lively. I have had deadly, serious campaigns, and I have had entirely lighter ones. Here is an example of some recent fun: Singing Bunnies & Kobolds - DEATH TRAP!. The key is that whatever you put in should fit with the feel of your particular campaign. If Cat People do not work, don't use them. In my current campaign using D&D 4e, I do not have Tieflings as PCs. It just does not fit with the campaign concept. In service,
Greetings Netizens! There have been some decent video game module creation tools for a long time. With the recent simplifications to some of the 3D modeling tools, e.g., Art of Illusion, Blender, etc., I thought it might be fun to produce some 3D visual props for my players. As a test case, I put together a fun, silly example just to see how well the technology might work. Check out the following, fun example: Singing Bunnies & Kobolds - DEATH TRAP!. Has anyone used 3D tools extensively as a source of props for your gaming sessions? In service,
Atlas Games used that idea in Seventh Sea, and the creators of Exalted also used the minions as a sub-element of the boss idea. And, reasonable deployment and use of minions does add some tactical challenge to a session. In service,
So, reading this read does anyone out there think that the computer IS better than table top? The computer is better than table-top when it comes to doing all of the really horrendous calculations, table updates, etc. in a very, very large wargame with logistics, political will, research, etc. all thrown in. Back in the day, we used to spread big WW II table top simulation games over entire living room floors and spend two plus hours per turn calculating things out. Besides the real-world issue of finding the space to set-up the game and the tedious nature of the calculations, there is the issue of finding players. The computer is always ready to play. That said, I have had probably two dozen table-top gaming groups over the years play in my world, and nothing compares to the joy that comes with socializing and playing in a table-top group. In service,
Maybe if they do another one the bad guy could actually be human or something other then vampire or lycon. I heard from Hollywood Insider that in the next film they inject some of the serum into a cow and derive Chromosome Adapted Super-Human Bovine, or you could just use the short title "CASH Cow." Boooooo! Booooo! Hisssss! Yes, yes, I know. I'll be here all week. ;-) In service,
Dead Can Dance. I've used 'The Host of the Seraphim', 'Rakim' and 'Yulunga' for a dark atmosphere in the past. Wrexham: I'm a big fan of "Dead Can Dance" too also "This Mortal Coil" and "18 Angels." Sound tracks from fantasy games also work well as background music for gaming. I like the songs at this site too: Gaming Music. This particular song is a good one: Heroic Journey. In service, Rich
LoL - I actually went to the link, and The Onion appears to have gotten it about right. Good post! In service,
You're absolutely right. That was my meaning when I said, "(By the by, it is equally frustrating to watch a character die off only to find out that his double was killed. That is like reading a whole book and finding out that the entire story was just a dream.)" In service, Rich
I played WoW from August 2008 to June 2011, the game was pretty good but I ended up quitting after the new Cataclysm expansion. One of the big draws to WoW(for me at least) was the promise of continuing the plot of Warcraft III, and once that was done and I got my Shadowmourne, I felt a sense of closure and being "done" with the game that was immensely satisfying, and had no interest in Cataclysm beyond a day or two being a Worgen named Wolf with a wolf pet named Wolf. LoL! Yes! I can see the appeal of that! I should have quit back in August when I got shut out of the Northend quests after installing Cataclysm. I was trying to finish the Northend up, but, when I leveled to 81, I could no longer apply to parties doing Northend dungeons. Later, I went back and tried to do the dungeons on my own, but, even at level 85, I was not able to solo the final dungeon quests in the Northend. Also, my guild basically just dried up about five months into Cataclysm. There must be a fairly substantial loss of US players at this point if my server realm is representative. When the Kung Fu Panda expansion was announced, I realized that was no longer in the demographic of interest for the game. That is in no way a dig at Blizzard. What they have done is amazing! It is just like saying that you no longer want to play Chutes and Ladders. That takes nothing away from the classic game or Parker Bros (now part of WotC). In service, Rich PS I was always tempted to write a short story where a character performs a bunch of quests only to find that the lairs he cleaned out and the villains he vanquished have all inexplicably returned from the dead! :-D It would have to start and end with the character at a sanitarium, perhaps doing a flashback.
Just posted several more RPG mood music creations to: Enjoy! In service, Rich
Thanks for the offer, but I have the Starter Version (the one capped at level 20), and am unlikely to be able to upgrade soon, so I don't really need the money. I had an account from 2008-2011 and just canceled. Yes, it was only $15 per month, but I found that I only played 1-3 times per month, generally while waiting at an airport. Humor Begins Also, with the release of "Kung Fu panda - the reckoning," it appears that the new, targeted demographic is being pulled away from watching Elmo. It is tough to be in a party dungeon delving when you hear one of your party members say, "mommy, I made a poopy on the 'puter." Humor Ends ;-) In service, Rich
A Dance with Dragons (DwD): A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five Dancing in the Doldrums I never liked the series, because GRRM played with your emotions from the first book, and he reveled in causing grief to good characters and rewarding evil. Somewhere between book three and this book, five, the series has completely run out of steam. George R.R. Martin writes excellent dialogue and sparkling prose, but his "terror tactic" writing (where he builds up a point of view character only to be cut-down in cold blood, e.g., Spoiler:
Ned Stark, Rob Stark, Kevin Lannister, the Onion Knight, the King Beyond the Wall, et.al.) has finally produced the result that it is nearly impossible to care about any of George's characters. (Why invest the emotional energy when the character is likely to die, no matter how improbable the reason?) Neither the murder of the Onion Knight nor the murder of the King Beyond the Wall had to occur to promote the plot in DwD. (By the by, it is equally frustrating to watch a character die off only to find out that his double was killed. That is like reading a whole book and finding out that the entire story was just a dream.) The plot is soooooo plodding in DwD that you have to wonder if the purpose of the glacial pace is only to wring out another novel from a cash cow. The filler pages go on and on and on about flora and fauna. Our Dragon Queen decides to Spoiler:
hang out across the sea when given the opportunity (13 vessels) to go home and reclaim her birthright. She also cages up her dragons (well, the two that she and her minions can fool or capture). What?!!? While character development and change are important in great stories, this particular change seemed to be a pre-mature birth. It just makes the series drag on and on. When Tyrion Spoiler: Of course, George will just kill Tyrion off in the first chapter of the next book as a way of saying, "nah-nah-boo-boo" to his few remaining readers.
falls off the side of the barge into the deadly water, I actually felt relieved, but, since Tyrion is George's alter ego in the series, the dwarf is improbably back a few chapters later. (The means of recovering the dwarf that fell down into the murky river and was essentially drowned is glossed over in the book.) Jon Snow ends up Spoiler: Why? Who knows?
helping out our usurper king too. And the god of the deep ends up being ... I can't even bear to say; it is sooooo silly. Then, there is the Deus ex Machina and returned minor character at the end of the book who Spoiler:
kills off K. Lannister. The character's appearance is not so much a dramatic plot twist as a "head scratcher." It completely destroys suspension of disbelief. Also, the character, who was previously portrayed as completely amoral if not actually evil, now "rides in on the white charger" as the savior of the Seven Kingdoms. What?!?!? Why?!?!? Actually, more to the point, it is hard to even care. In service, Rich
Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Sympathy for the Devil: Aged as well as a nicotine-addicted, beach bunny If if you have not read the series then I would not start. Thirty years ago, my friends had nothing but praise for several fantasy series: Lord of the Rings, the Iron Tower, the Narnia books, and Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. At the time, I enjoyed the Iron Tower series, but did not have time to read the other three. Life has been a whirlwind since then, and finally I have had a chance to go back and read some of these "classic" fantasy series. The Iron Tower series holds up. The writing is tight with interesting characters and real growth in the protagonist. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit also have aged well. (The prose can be a little dense at times; today's writers do not typically spend three to four pages describing the flora in a random meadow en-route to a destination. But, the plot, the development of the characters, and the sweep of the saga make this one of the best fantasy trilogies of all time.) Narnia is a fine series. It is different than Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings was really written for the adult community. The Narnia series was written for children. I look forward to reading Narnia to future grandchildren. On to our White Gold wielding friend ... be warned, spoilers follow ... Spoiler:
The protagonist is a leper by the name of Thomas Covenant. He is a wretched, bitter creature who was deserted by his wife and son, and Covenant returns the scorn of the world wit two heaping scoops of indignation and rage. There is really nothing ... nothing appealing about him. Mr. Donaldson clearly did his research on leprosy, but I found it very, very difficult to relate to Thomas Covenant. In the first book, Thomas takes a stroll into town for no particular reason. His phone bill is being paid for by someone else. It could have been for charitable reasons, but Mr. Covenant assumes in his bitter, paranoid mind that someone has paid for his bill, because society wants to shun him. As a protest against the world, Mr. Covenant decides to stroll into town to pay his own bill. That will show them! Er, um, ok, ..., Covenant meets an apparently homeless man who we find out in book three is actually God. God gives Covenant a contrived piece of advice. After a completely abortive attempt to pay the bill, Covenant gets hit by a police car, and, when he passes out, he is magically teleported to "the Land." This where Donaldson does his best. The Land is a detailed, interesting fantasy world. (While I don't mind a little "purple prose," i.e., superfluous description, Donaldson does manage to pack 53 pages of action into 1100+ pages of description.) Covenant finds himself as potentially the only hope to defeat the evil force at work in the world. So, how does Covenant react to this? He is a total jerk. He ends up raping a woman in the first three days he is there. Covenant poops on his friends. He acts the coward, and Covenant rejects his fate -- hence the title, Unbeliever. Through an unlikely series of happenstance and against Covenant's nature and choices, he does end up helping out the natives of the Land, but there is an outstanding prophecy that spells doom for "the Land," but hey, who cares? There is some sub-plot about Covenant coming to the Land as a leper and being cured while in the Land. Why would Covenant want to go back to the "real world"? Who knows. In any event, Covenant returns to the real world. This brings us to book two. Covenant is feeling bitter and angry and decides to visit the nearest, large town just to stir things up. He heads to a cocktail bar where ... dum - dum - dum ... his estranged wife is performing. After Covenant is run out of town on a rail by the local sheriff, Covenant's wife calls him. While she is talking, Covenant is drawn back to the Land. He falls, hits his head, ... and, he petulantly wants to go back to the real world as soon as he arrives even though his inaction and self-absorbed ways leads to the death of several characters. This book is more of the same, but it takes more than half of the book before Covenant finally decides to aid the Land. This book introduces another character from the real world. In this case, he is a blind man. The blind man does not want to return to blindness in the real world. Over the course of the book, Covenant, who is deeply, deeply committed to his estranged wife and marriage as shown in the first several chapters, manages to fornicate and spawn a child. Ummmm ... what? OK, OK, so, just push the "suspend disbelief" button. Anyhow, the Staff of Law is broken during the final events of the novel. Enter book three ... more of the same. In chapters 20 and 21, Covenant finally channels his rage into defeating the adversary and eventually the Illearth Stone. In a deus ex machina, Covenant's property is saved, and he is the town hero, because at one point he randomly saves a run away girl.
Awful!!! In service, Rich
12. The hero and his rugged band have defeated the Bad Guys(tm). He kisses the plucky girl (who first opposed him but ended being his ally during the film) to the hearty whoops and hollers of his band, and, then, he and his new missus ride off into the sunset together -- to catch a ship to sail with Elron to the Western Lands -- oh, sorry. In service, Rich
Greetings Netizens, I am heading to St. Johns tomorrow to visit my youngest daughter, who is a chef there. I asked a few folks about what to do there as a gamer. The best response I heard was: B - eaches
Did I get that right, or have some of you had a different experience? By the by, I try to avoid the "red, angry, burn-me" that rolls across the sky. In service, Rich
In our game, we have a rule where if you can't explain with a straight face why your character would be where they are at and go with the group as it exists, you can't play it. It depends on the gaming system and the group. If the gaming system and envisioned world is inherently comical, e.g., TOON, then it makes perfect sense that players be laughing while describing their characters actions. On the other hand, some players have a knack for interjecting humor even into very serious contexts, and the rest of the group appreciates it. (Think of classic horror movies where something funny proceeds something grim, adding to the effect.) in service, Rich
*laughs* Well, that is a stereo-type. Hmmmm ... it would be interesting to do a survey of average education and income levels for folks who have gamed for at least a year at some point in their life and do that survey at say age 45. My guess would be that the "socially adept" rabidly non-gamers who were stud-muffins and "uber-kewl" in high school probably would not fare as well with a mid-life check. I would expect to see the creative and clever gamers tending to do better at life over the long-term. My son, raised as a gamer, told me that the lessons that he learned in the Zhalindor campaign literally saved his life on more than one occasion in combat in the Middle East. I used role-playing as a tool with my principals to prepare for a variety of situations and missions on the ground in as diverse and grim a set of circumstances as you can imagine. Socially adept? I'm not sure what that means, but I would hazard to guess that role-players end up being "better" at life in terms of position, income, and generally happiness over the course of their lives. in service, Rich
Games can last for a long time, can't they. And of course we need to eat, so if you eat during a game. What is your favoured fare? I combine cooking with the session. For example, tonight, the group will feast on slow cooked, marinated BBQ on potato rolls along with drop sugar cookies, baked salmon with fresh Bearnaise sauce, and basil and rosemary baked beef hotdish. We have a variety of dips and dipping implements as well. The group reacts well to a combination of very tasty and traditional gamer fare, e.g., snack foods. In service, Rich
Check out the Maps --> Battle Mat section at: In service, Rich
I have the Mountains of Madness adventure, and it is a beast. It is the most detailed rpg adventure I have ever seen for any system. In addition to the actual adventure, there are massive amounts of supplemental material in the book. I recommend any rpger lover checking it out. Even if you never end up running it. It truly looks like a labor of love- in fact it looks completely cost ineffective, and it baffles me that this book ever got published, though I'm glad it did. I enjoy both playing and "keeping" for CoC. I special ordered this supplement/campaign pack and got it as soon as it was released. It was too much to digest and play through. The detail was amazing, and the story line was great. It was just too much. Even with a rabidly supportive gaming group (at the time) that would play using almost any system or through any adventure with me, I do not believe that I could have maintained the immersive environment long enough to have gotten the group through the adventure. If a setting is too like the real-world then folks often find it boring, and if the setting is too different then it is hard to relate. This was somewhere in the dangerous middle. It was set in Antarctica. So, it was a little different, but not enough to sustain interest over the long run. And, arctic conditions tend to be deadly. As the keeper, you would be tempted to spoon feed the survival details, ignore them (making the setting less interesting), or emphasize them (likely killing off all but the most hardy parties). There was also a surprise, moral quandary at the end that would have driven many gaming groups apart at the player level. In service, Rich
40? 40! I remember 40! Har, har! Anyway ... I wrote a bit about Old School Gaming here: http://zhalindor.com/oldschoolgaming.htm . Gaming was different "back in the day." Some of it was more fun. Some of it was not so great. Do I enjoy the same things. Hmmmm ... I usually GM/DM/Ref. I enjoy producing some nice quality props, sessions with good plots, engaging NPCs, and seeing my parties have fun around the gaming table. So, yes, I really do enjoy the same things. I'm not sure what the question about dramatic changes means. I think you are asking if we feel that there have been dramatic changes. Mike Stackpole would say that there have been six generations of RPGs; each generation was significantly different from the previous. I cannot quote each of the generations off the top of my head, but I tend to agree with Mike. Yes, systems are more polished now with much higher production values. Yes, systems tend to come packaged with settings. Yes, there are more tie-in products that can be used explicitly or implicitly in the gaming, e.g., combat tiles, novels set in the gaming world, etc. Role-playing expectations have changed. (Please see the article about Old School gaming above.) Do I yearn for the good old days? No, not really. There was much fun back then, and it was great when I had less responsibility and more time to prepare for sessions. All that said, I would not trade life now for life then for any amount of money. I'll take the limited bad now for the much greater good. :-D What will still draw me to game? Really, it does not take much. A good group is the biggest draw. I currently have an absolutely fantastic group that I DM for. They are not only super players, but they are great people. What a blessing! In service, Rich
Over the years, I have GM'd for a couple of parties that wanted to play evil groups. The pattern was the same in both cases. The party started off by doing naughty things like embarrassing haughty NPCs. Then, the party moved on to petty crime. Then, more serious crime, and then, eventually some player crosses the line into truly horrific, anti-social role-playing actions. Yuck! I don't Ref/DM/GM for evil groups anymore and have not for around 15 years. In service,
*shrugs* I'm a grognard, too--or was, I suppose. I started with the original red box playing in the kitchen of a friend in school. (I was a halfling!) Ah ... now the folks at Judges Guild knew how to put together a campaign ... completely full of illogical silliness, but much of their material was a lot of fun. You could buy a whole campaign for ten bucks that might last for years. Of course, the products were full of typos and printed on newspaper. So, the campaign could last for five years or just three sessions until a dire incident with a rogue soda destroyed everything. :-D In service, Rich
See, the proper approach is to hand out this useful rules accessory before the game, and make sure everyone is familiar with it! Sure, especially for a One-Shot or game at a big CON like GENCON or ORIGINS. In my on-going Campaign, it is easier for me to bring the folks along and ease them into rules changes. All my players previously played WoW. I jokingly mentioned at an early session that there was not a graveyard that one resurrected at, and there was genuine disappointment. In service, Rich
I'll be completely honest: this disturbs me. You're clearly more invested in this discussion that I am. My sincere apologies. Honestly, I had no intent to disturb you, and I was not trying to degenerate the discussion into a Flame War. I'm a huge believer that good-hearted, clever people can disagree about something and still walk away being good-hearted, clever people. Also, I wasn't trying to imply that having a super deadly campaign was a good approach to making a campaign more serious. My whole post was trying to show that some things are harder (for me) in 4e than they were in earlier editions. There are many that feel the same way that I do. That does not make me right, but it makes it less likely that I'm insane. :-D There are some folks that do not feel the same way. You and Jeremy are in the "do not" camp, and I am absolutely fine with that. My players, who have been enjoying a relatively serious, detailed 4e campaign for over a dozen sessions would generally be in your camp. For a guy who has been DMing/GMing/REFing/being a Keeper since the mid-70s, I find it harder. Check out my 4e Campaign at the Bold Beginnings WWW Site. You might be pleasantly surprised. You can see a difference in tone though from campaigns set in the same world using other RPG systems. Check out Mark Thomas' excellent reference pages from his time in Zhalindor and the Rise of Lichlord as an example of a Zhalindor campaign from 1990-92. In service, Rich
Sure! RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, etc. were all level-less systems. in service, Rich
As for anyone who is going to argue that it is just a combat system with no chance for roleplaying, that is just a corollary to the stormwind fallacy. Roleplaying is not opposed to optimization because roleplaying has nothing to do with the system, and thus a system cannot preclude roleplaying. The system determines the outcomes of most things, and it directs the flavor, but how much RP is involved depends on the DM and players. Frankly one of the best RP sessions I had was that one session of 4e because we had a great DM, and I'd be happy to play 4e again if he were running it. I have run a 4e Campaign now for nine months. I would not argue that 4e is only a combat system. What I would say is that pure role-playing and non-combat applications are more of a stretch for 4e than say AD&D or 2nd Ed. AD&D. There were spells in the first two editions for non-combat applications that lasted potentially for days. So far, there are no equivalent "powers" in 4th Ed. D&D. There is a single chapter on skills and a few pages that describe "skill challenges" as being a potential non-combat action mechanic while there are hundreds of pages that talk about combat. It is fair to say that pure role-playing and non-combat encounters are more marginalized under 4e. In service, Rich
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