Mark Plemmons's page

Mark Plemmons wrote:

By the way, we've just added a new FREE adventure PDF for HackMaster Basic (White Palette, Ivory Horns) to our website.

White Palette, Ivory Horns is a classic adventure in the old-school tradition, White Palette, Ivory Horns takes place in and around the village of Vew, on the edge of the untamed Legasa Peaks, and features a variety of combats and challenges designed for three to five 1st level characters.

Much obliged, i actually ran a few games set somewhere to the North west of P'Bapar (3.0 Kingdoms of Kalamar) as a result of reading a Kalamar story in KODT dealing with Bandran any chance those stories might be reprinted?

No plans for such a reprint now, but the upcoming "Frandor's Keep" adventure module is set in P'Bapar.

By the way, we've just added a new FREE adventure PDF for HackMaster Basic (White Palette, Ivory Horns) to our website.

White Palette, Ivory Horns is a classic adventure in the old-school tradition, White Palette, Ivory Horns takes place in and around the village of Vew, on the edge of the untamed Legasa Peaks, and features a variety of combats and challenges designed for three to five 1st level characters.

Greylond wrote:

K&Co no longer has a license to use anything D&D/AD&D, therefore they had to create their own game system. Completely different but VERY, VERY Good.

How different?

I suggest checking out the free previews for an overview. :)

Speaking of which, I've added a new Index PDF to the list of downloads on the HackMaster Basic page, for those who want it.

We've just uploaded the Quick-Start rules from the book as a free PDF download on our HackMaster Basic web page. (These are not the full character creation rules, but an abbreviated and modified version to help you roll up a character faster.)

There are also several other free PDF downloads on that page, including character sheets and other previews.

It will be a few months until I return home and start up another fantasy campaign, and I have started thinking that I might want to just get away from D&D and all its baggage for a while. I love D&D, don't get me wrong. It could, though, be nice to explore some new pastures. So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.

Don't forget that the new HackMaster Basic edition is scheduled for end of June... :)

Spoilers for various and sundry messes around the DC Universe lately: [spoiler hidden].

I think you've hit the nail on the head re: Batman.

I probably read some of the older ones before, but the first one I remember strongly was #302 - the one with Mekt and Garth fighting on the cover (http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Legion_of_Super-Heroes_Vol_2_302.jpg). I don't think I can pick a favorite, though. There's too many good ones! ;)

I have a few scattered issues which I haven't read yet. When I bought them I thought they were another Legion comic line. I have heard that other people have liked it though. I haven't read it so I really can't say if it is good or bad. I just try to limit my purchases to Legion comics in order to not get carried away with titles.

I think it's definitely a must if you're a Brainiac 5 fan, since Vril Dox's personality is basically an adult Brainy who's been accustomed to being right so many times he can't imagine being wrong. :)

One of the other things I liked about it was seeing a few of the Legionnaires' homeworlds, like Colu, 1,000 years before the LSH. When LEGION was being published, both it and LSH occasionally had occasional references to the other series, but many of them you'd only notice if you were reading both. I remember an LSH issue (after the 5 year gap, I think) where Ultra Boy or some other character was viewing some tech room and said "how old is this junk?" then when he moves away you can see an old rusted LEGION symbol on the wall.

POSSIBLE SPOILER PARAGRAPH:

There were major crossovers, too, like the introduction of the amnesiac Phantom Girl as Phase (though DC's "Zero Hour" event retro-actively cancelled this out and said it was really PG's sister who was on the same shuttle as PG when she disappeared...). Later on, LEGION issue 50's "Whatever happened to the Durlan?" story was pretty big too.

I haven't read L.E.G.I.O.N. so I can't really comment on that. From what I heard it isn't actually a Legion comic, so I doubt I would buy it. Correct me if I'm wrong here.

Well, everyone has different tastes, but I really liked the series.

The wikipedia link is pretty unilluminating, but here it is anyway. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.E.G.I.O.N.

L.E.G.I.O.N. making a comeback even though it is not a Legion comic per say but a spin off...at least that is my understanding of it. Strictly Rumor.

They will move the Legion to the 21st century. Strictly Rumor.
I SURE HOPE THEY BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL LEGION AND THAT THEY ARE NOT OLDER, BUT RATHER REMAIN TEENS OR IN THEIR VERY EARLY TWENTIES......

I think DC must have another big "reboot" (fourboot? fiveboot?) planned for the Legion. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense to stop everything like this. If they just wanted to cancel a poor-selling series there are plenty that do much worse than LSH.

Personally, I'd like to see a new series with the adult legion (as seen in the recent "Superman and the LSH" storyline). I think that storyline probably got a lot of long-time Legion fans (including DC writers/artists) excited about seeing the adults again. BUT I don't think that DC is going to cater to the old-school fans over trying for a younger, wider, audience. But then why cancel it? Argh. I'm on the treadmill!!!!!! :)

I'd love to see a L.E.G.I.O.N. series again.

I can't imagine the rumor of moving the LSH to the 21st century is true - that wouldn't make any sense at all. :(

It is my belief that the drow are an aberration that was never meant to happen, and so when I include them, I try to have very specific reasons why they exist. I wouldn’t bother coming up with a complicated reason for bugbears or most other monsters, but I take a Tolkienesque view of elves, and like the Kinslaying of the Silmarillion, it is important to remember that actual people and events is what lead to the drow downfall. In other words they were once normal elves corrupted by malevolence. I think this is important to keeping the drow believable instead of some generic “underground elf.”

SO I try to use the elven strengths: pride, courage, unwavering will, as the causes that lead to the inevitable sundering of the elves. In the beginning the world was made for the elves, seen as perfect mortals fashioned by loving deities in their image, but what the deities didn’t realize was that rigid elven virtue is itself a vice. They become too proud, too powerful, too envious and so the wars happen. It is this tragedy of elvenkind that I find stirring and want to include in my campaigns. And though it’s just a first draft, I am really digging the Romeo/Juliet side of this campaign. I might build on that somehow.

(Incidentally, it is humanity with all its degradation and vice that is seen as the improvement on elves, as it is these very vices that give men an ability to adapt that elves sorely lack.)

Good ideas - you might want to look at Blood & Shadows. It's a different world, but there's a ton of cultural info and history that I think would mesh well with where you're going.

I recently began running a campaign set in the Wild West. This has been a refreshing change for both me and the players, and has bought with it some new RP situations.

However, so far I've found the process of adventure creation more based around incidents than longer story threads... i.e. encounters with outlaws, hucksters, missionaries and greedy landowners etc. I've been able to develop some medium term story threads but am finding it a challenge to develop more 'meaty', longer adventures in this setting.

I'd welcome any ideas you may have or adventures you've enjoyed in similar settings : )

Thanks

Pardon the spam, but have you looked at Aces & Eights yet? It was designed with long-term campaigns in mind, and there's a chapter devoted to how to run a western campaign.

There's an early module with a fox-were that has a detailed history of how she got cursed. I have to find it in storage.

That was released for D&D 3E as Aldriv's Revenge.

Mark Plemmons wrote:

crosswiredmind wrote:

Mark Plemmons wrote:

The direct link to the 16-page preview PDF is HERE, for those who are interested.

Mark,

How soon will print on demand be ready?

I'd guess by the end of next week, but that's not 100% certain. Depends on the schedule of our production manager.

Oh man, is there an estimated price for the print copy? I might have to get my hands on this book.

No definite price point yet. Looks like the print version won't be out until end of July or maybe early August. Our production manager is in the Army reserves, and in a few days he's got to go away for a couple of weeks.

You can always console yourself with the PDF version in the meantime, though... :)

Mark Plemmons wrote:

The direct link to the 16-page preview PDF is HERE, for those who are interested.

Mark,

How soon will print on demand be ready?

I'd guess by the end of next week, but that's not 100% certain. Depends on the schedule of our production manager.

I do have a question for you Mark. What kinds of mechanics are in the pdf? Do you just have some rules for races and sub-races and channel divinity feats, or do you also have new classes, paragon paths, and feats?

Take a look at the preview - page 5 lists all the new mechanics. There aren't any new classes, paragon paths, or feats (other than the 43 channel divinity feats for the cleric). Writing up a new class will be a massive amount of work now, thanks to all the new powers and such, but we (or a freelancer) may rework the classes from the Player's Guide to the Sovereign Lands at a later date.

Chapter One: Races of Tellene does include rules suggestions for ways a DM can create races (like the half-orc) and subraces (like the deep gnome) that don't exist in the current PHB. I didn't want to create new rules for WotC's common humanoid races outright, since they'll probably appear in a PHB 2 or similar supplement.

Wait a second, I thought Kenzer wasn't going with the GSL. Or did they change their mind? Or are they trying to go around it? But the preview makes explicit references to the PHB, I don't see how they couldn't use the GSL this way. Or maybe Kenzer figures their big enough to fight off WotC if the lawyers come-a suing.

No, this 501-page setting PDF does not use the GSL. You don't need to use the GSL to create 4E-compatible products, as long as you don't tread on WotC's legal territory (similar to how a computer company makes a game/virus program/etc that runs on a Windows PC without asking Bill Gates permission...). Fortunately, David Kenzer is a lawyer, and knows what to do (or avoid doing).

The direct link to the 16-page preview PDF is HERE, for those who are interested.

They're back, and more like a fantasy adventuring party than ever before. This book is full of action and the one liners had me ROLLING. I strongly suggest this book- it may just get you reading marvel regularly again.

Were there any references to the original series?

Mark Plemmons wrote:

The next edition of HackMaster will retain the attitude that people love about HM and old-school D&D, without copying it.

Mr. Plemmons, I checked out the provided link. What's the release date status on 5th edition?

The current plans are:

Basic HackMaster - Summer 2009
Advanced HackMaster - Summer 2010

On a practical note; would the (apparent) clause in the GSL, forbidding simultaneous production of products for two editions of D&D, have interfered with the right to print 4E support and Hackmaster at the same time?

Whilst not strictly OGL (and thus, not explicitly called out in the GSL text), Hackmaster is a variant of AD&D 1st Edition. Has there been any attempt to rescind or shorten that licence, or does it stilll have a long time to run?

Our license with Wizards expired a few months ago, and we didn't try to renew it (though I doubt WotC would have been interested, had we wanted to).

As for the GSL, I haven't paid much attention to it since we don't plan on using it. Seems to me that the GSL will only provide its users with some semi-official logos to put on their products, in exchange for a lot of hoops to jump through. Heck, if I were going to start up my own company and make a 4E-compatible product, I'd just do that: write my own book, avoid reprinting anything WotC owns, and call it 4e compatible. No need for a license of any kind. (Same way that every other business in the world makes products compatible with those of another manufacturer; auto parts and computer parts springing first to my mind.)

The next edition of HackMaster will retain the attitude that people love about HM and old-school D&D, without copying it.

Seriously, though, you might want to check out the discussion threads about the next edition of HackMaster, like this one:

5E HackMaster - Ask the Design Team

pming wrote:

Hiya.

Why don't you pop over to the Kenzer & Co. boards and ask him? Nice boards, overall, and you can directly talk with the 'big guys'. Dave, Jolly, Mark and the whole crew over there are *definitly* gamers! :)

( http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/ )

trying to be sneaky about it. :)

It's not working. :)

---------
Mark Plemmons
Kenzer and Company
Art Director, Editor, Writer, Convention Manager
www.kenzerco.com
---------

I was actually scared by that promo. I thought they were scrapping the print edition and were going digital like some magazine we know.

Nope, there are no plans to go digital. PDF is just a good way to distribute a promotional issue.

There's a special promotional copy of KODT #132 that you can download for free - here's the LINK. That's a good way to check out what you've been missing. :)

Aces and Eights is a fantastic book. I have yet to play the game, but I picked it up at Gencon purely by looking at it. The book itself is gorgeous, and its totally worth the price simply to sit on my shelf.

That aside, its a really great looking game. From what I have read, combat is quick and deadly (as it should be in the wild west). Because of this they make most other events into mini-games. Instead of skill rolls like d20, everything has some sort of little game to figure out the results, this includes playing cards, to panning for gold. It's also very true to the wild west, and would give an excellent game to those interested in the genre.

I HIGHLY recommend it.

Aces & Eights is on its way back from the printer. We've just solicited some material for July (though I expect the books to be back before that), and will have more in August.

By consumer demand, we're offering several versions of the Aces & Eights RPG - deluxe hardcover, softcover, and an abbreviated Player's Guidebook - at different price points.

We've also got an exciting deck of vintage western playing cards - perfect for any card player as well as for use in Aces & Eights gaming sessions.

I've been rereading my Legion collection lately, too, and trying to figure out what I've got and what I'm missing. I'll post both in case somebody happens to have any duplicate copies lying around :), and in case you may be able to tell me about something I don't know about.

From what I can tell, here's WHAT I'M MISSING:

ARCHIVES 10-12 (not sure if I actually need 11-12)
Action Comics #850
JLA (current) #7
Karate Kid 1-15 (exists?)
LOSH (v1; 1972-1973; all reprints) 1-4.
Legion (v3) 37
LOSH (v4; 1989-1984): Secret Files 2
LOSH: Science Police 1-4.
Legion Lost 1, 8
Superboy/LOSH (v2) 208-209
Superboy's Legion 1
Superman #671-673
LOSH (WB animated) 1-11
Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze # 1–4
Countdown, #50–48,#45,#42–41,#39–37,#35–34,#31–27
Countdown to Final Crisis, #26–23,#21–20,#15–
Supergirl (vol. 5), #21–22

Here's WHAT I HAVE:

Superboy/LOSH 197-313 (v2), Tales of the LOSH 314-354
Annual 1-5

LOSH (v3; 1984-1989) 1-36, 38-63.
Annual 1-4
LOSubH Special

LOSH (v4; 1989-1984; Five Years Later) 0-106
1,000,000
Annual 1-7
Secret Files and Origins 1

Legionnaires 0-63
1,000,000
Annual 1-3

The Legion 1-38
Secret Files 3003

Legion of Super-Heroes (v5) 1-current

Action Comics 591
Braves and the Bold 179
DC Comics Presents 13,59
Legion Lost 2-7, 9-10
Legion Worlds 1-6
Cosmic Boy 1-4
Inferno 1-4
JLA 8-10
Legends of the Legion 1-4
Legionnaires 3: 1-4
Secret Origins 8, 37, 42, 46, 47
Secrets of the LOSH 1-3
Showcase '95: 6
Superstar Holiday Special
Timber Wolf 1-5
Who's Who in the LOSH 1-7
Green Lantern 98-99
Impulse 21
Superboy's Legion 2
Superboy (1995 series) 19, 21, 45
Supergirl Annual 2
Superman (1987) 8
Teen Titans (2004) 16
Teen Titans/The Legion Special
Valor 1-23

L.E.G.I.O.N. 1-70.
Invasion! 1-3.
Adventures of Superman Annual 2,4
Annual 1-5
Trinity 1-2
Green Lantern 44-45
Darkstars 11-12
Lobo 7-9
Lobo Annual 1
R.E.B.E.L.S. 0-17.
Showcase '96 #12

Title says it all - issue 132.

Yep - but for a limited time (maybe 1d4 weeks), so don't wait too long. :)