Monday Pointers: In Like a Lion 2011

D4:Art from the Greatest Gonzo RPG of All Time
Most people think Rifts is the ultimate kitchen sink game and in many ways it is. However, the greatest gonzo game in terms of raw inspiration in a small package is Lords of Creation by none other than Tom Moldvay. The art at the link is from the game and if those pictures plus the rules light set of your choice can't spark adventure I probably wouldn't enjoy your table.

D6:Another great description of why D&D (and games like it work)
After playing some indy games Zak decides:
I think D&D works like this: the rules, setting, and DM are relatively serious (or at least intense) so you--the player--don't have to be. You can be drunk and play the goofiest half-troll half-gnome bard in the world and the game will keep chugging along and being a game full of twists and challenges and unexpected delights for all (including the drunk gnome) because it's pre-loaded with serious business.
I think that's a pretty serious insight both into why D&D is top of the heap (which Pathfinder outselling branded D&D doesn't change. I also think this explains why Palladium survives...it's this attitude turned up to 11.

D8:Forget the drip, she'll cost me XP
The Land of Nod presents a very interesting alignment system which provides XP bonuses or awards based on behavior. Better yet Matt walks us through it's logic so you could easily adapt it to your own worldview.

D10:D&D is Dead
Over at "I Waste the Buddha with my Crossbow" a declaration of the death of D&D. What's interesting is this is a pattern I've seen in the boffer LARP world twice with Amtgard (which survived it) and with Dagorhir (which split into two organizations, Belegarth being the other). When you create something that isn't a thing unto itself but a platform for others to build on with their own imagination you run this risk when you release it, that one day it will have a life of its own separate from you. You can either embrace that and be a light in this new world or try to take it back and make all the rules. I have yet to see the later succeed.

The Alternate Thursday Campaign: Initial notes

So, I've been wanting to get a second game going. And a third and maybe a fourth.

Insane I know, but let's start with game two to begin with. Besides, in both The Complete Book of Wargames (A Fireside book) and article about D&D for Games Magazine Jon Freeman noted many people he played with played most days of the week. And yes, they were adults (this was the late 70s).

So, the bullet points:

• The genre is comic book space opera. Think Jack Kirby, Legion of Superheroes, Doc Smith, Robotech, and The War in Space.
  
• This is to be a Palladium based lego game. You need approval before hand but in general you can pick any race class from a Palladium book. I'd like to see the focus be on Heroes Unlimited, Splicers, Phase World, and System Failure. They're also where you'll least likely to get kick back. If you want to be Space Navy, look at the Robotech stuff because I will. We'll just re-skin it.
  
• Don't worry about balance...this is classic OSR gonzo where balance is something you make, not something baked into the characters.
  
• This is comic book space opera. That means you can pick magical characters as well as science fiction ones and superheroes.
  
• This isn't Star Wars. In fact, that's a direction I decidedly don't want to go.
  
• I've just gotten both collected volumes of Jack Kirby's Eternals. You have been warned.
  

Inspiration Art: A Link

Today I'm mostly posting a link for inspirational art because work has been busy. However, the art in question does have me thinking about OSR and what my old school gaming memories are. I'd like to say it will inspire a post but we know how good I am with follow-through.

Wanted, Classic 70s Sci-Fi Posters

However, I am going to post one of his images:

This image, more than any other on the page, screams out what science fiction and fantasy were about for me at the time I discovered D&D. They weren't really separate and were mixed up with Yes and similar album covers, the kind of shows discussed at Space: 1970 (which is what pointed me to the poster site). It's the same frision I still get from Palladium Books stuff and listening to Nightwish. It's something I often try to capture. In fact The World After has huge dollops of it and part of the problems that campaign world has is trying to synthesize that with more serious elements.

Monday Pointers: President's Day

D4: 101 Days of Ersatz D&D
Maybe a slightly unfair thread name, but it works. For those who aren't familiar with RPG.net, for a while a popular thread was "101 Days of X" where someone, in order to combat gamer ADD, decided they would only read/play/run/etc a given system for 101 days. The latest covers Palladium Fantasy. I have briefly discussed an older Palladium game, The Mechanoids before. I love Palladium's stuff and although the system used to get me very wound up one side effect of being in the OSR is caring about that a bit less. It was one of the two systems featured in RPG Legos and the little discussed Dark Etiquette RPG has its roots in my efforts to "fix" Rifts.

D6:Choosing which class to be is for sissies... changelings roll for it.
Jeff Rients gives us an interesting take on changelings for OD&D type games complete with random class progression.

D8:For Extra Pages
Erin is back at THe Welsh Piper with a new edition of Basic Chimera close to being out. I'm glad his sabbatical was only January and part of February in length. I'm also excited about a new Basic Chimera as it's one of two games I'm looking at for an actual campaign in a very changed The Demon Haunted Wordl.

Lost post: Okay, another project to not get around to...

In looking for links I found this draft which I thought I'd actually posted. It's the genesis of the never really followed through which means the title was very accurate. Still, I figured it was worth posting as I have yet to see anyone discuss the kinds of books I brought up. Plus, Diadem of the Stars has been staring at me as I get ready to run Stars without Numbers at the D&D Meetup.

Over at Grognardia the wonderful Mr. Maliszewski asked for review suggestions.

Inspired by having recently purchased Jo Clayton's Duel of Sorcery I suggested reviews of fantasy contemporary to the early editions of D&D because it became incestuous with fantasy fiction. There were, after, a lot of fantasy writers active in the 70s and early 80s who wrote neither pulp fantasy (which was the primary D&D inspiration) or Tolkien pastiche. Some fine examples are Bradley with her Darkover novels, Andre Norton who wrote a great number of Witch World books in the 70s, McCaffrey's Pern, the afore mentioned Clayton and her numerous series (Diadem from the Stars (Diadem, Bk. 1)
was first published in 1977), the Deryni books, LeGuin's Earthsea (and her excellent "The Language of the Night", essays on fantasy writing well worth reading), Xanth, and the entire Ballentine Adult fantasy line (some of which did influence D&D).

The reason I asked is one thing I've realized in getting into the old school movement (and I remarked on this when discussing why "Swords of the Red Sun" failed) is my D&D experience wasn't fueled by Conan et al. The more important realization was my inspiration comes from another line of fantasy (excluding my love of John Carter and his descendants) but something different. When I first got my basic set I read mostly sci-fi and looked for fantasy to fill the gaps. As currently hot I read lots of Pern, Darkover, Witchworld, and so on. While some might argue romantic fantasy owes its roots to these authors I'm disinclined to put them in that school.

Regardless, there are an equally valid influence for old school gaming in the sense that those of us who played back then read them. James said it would be a useful project but passed on it saying he lacked the knowledge (and, although he didn't say as much, I suspect interest in acquiring it).

Monday Pointers: The I hate V-day Edition

D4:Sure, they had Chariots but did they have magic items
Over at Grognardia James M. makes an interesting, but justifiable, addition to his Pulp Fantasy Library: Chariots of the Gods. For those of you who aren't survivors of the 70s this is the iconic "space aliens built the pyramids" book. It's not the most interesting (I reserve that for The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence of Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago) but it is the iconic tome. If you want some science fantasy weirdness or an alternate conspiracy for your Mulder and Scully to run into it's a great choice.

D6:Herb's Horrendous Hiccups
Want a free copy of the next edition of Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy RPG? Well, come up with a prizing winning level one magic user spell. Even if you don't come up with the winning entry you'll have helped create a great resource of first level spells available under the OGL.

D8:My Memory, it is strange
Of course, the first ancient aliens appearance in the OSR to my memory was the heavy influence of Richard S. Shaver's tales of underground mind controlling dero had on Scott's World of Thool. Although the brilliant and very odd Thool is gone for a large part you can still find Shaver's works online.

It's been a short list today, but I've been busy. For those wondering where this weekend's posts went, I screwed up and posted notes for upcoming entries, but starting this week Inspirational Art will start alternating with Inspired Creations which will draw on prior iterations of Inspirational Art for actual things I'm trying to use in game.

Speaking of in game, I'm looking to start an alternate Sunday evenings campaign set in The World After. Long term I'd like to start a third campaign as well for the alternate days featuring the latest ideas for A Demon Haunted World.

Finally, I hope to get a summary of the first four sessions of Crusade Beyond the Door up this week, hopefully followed by tomorrow's fifth session.

Inspirational Art: The Magic Circle by Waterhouse

This is John Williams' second appearance in Inspirational Art. Given my love of Pre-Raphealite painting and background in the SCA this shouldn't be a surprise.

The Magic Cirlce is a particularly interesting painting for RPG inspiration. Well into the 80s our image of what the middle ages, and thus much of fantasy, drew heavily on Pre-Raphaelite imagery. This particular painting, given the simplicity of the subject, emphasizes several of them. He gown, a simple form with a pale but not pastel color, mid-forearmed sleeves, wide facing on the collar and cuffs, is a classic fantasy image. The multiple winds of the belt with the dangling front is classic although Waterhouse paints more of a sash here (perhaps an influence from India parsed through the Victorian eye). The cauldron directly on the fire is another image well known.

While all are good for a GM's use in describing an NPC I'd like to draw particular attention to her implement. The rod, which she appears to be using to inscribe a circle, is neither the staff or dagger, the traditional magic implements in fantasy literature. While D&D has many rods I rarely see them used and almost never see the rod as a standard magician implement in adventures or books. The inclusion of the cauldron inside the circle is also unique compared to more modern fantasy art, writing, and games.

Do these differences represent her specialization or a quirk of personality? Does she wear a sash belt instead of a leather for a reason? What is she brewing that requires it to be protected from the outer world during its enchantment? Why does she use a rod and is it metal, wood, or some other material? What is the decoration on her skirt?

Finally, this image is used at Wikiquotes to illustrate a quote from Good Omens:

Precisely because she was a witch, and therefore sensible, she put little faith in protective amulets and spells; she saved it all for a foot-long bread knife which she kept in her belt.

I see inspiration for an encounter, an interesting NPC, or even an order of magic. Regardless of which you choose, Waterhouse has provided some excellent inspiration.

Monday Pointers: February 7, 2011

D4:Beastermaster: More than a bad 80s movie
An OD&D take on Mowgli, Tarzan, Sheena, and others courtesy of the Land of Nod. I checked and the novel featuring Rima the Bird Girl can be found on Project Gutenberg's website.

D6:Define Old School in Three Sentences
Ever wanted to find a new DIY RPG blog? (I'm hurt, very hurt ;) ). Well, Zak has opened up a post to let us bloggers give you three sentences to convince you to come over.

Could you build a D20 Basic/Expert/Companion?

This is a serious question:

Can you write a version of D20 that covers levels 1-3 and includes all you need to play the classic races (dwarf,elf,halfing,human) and classes (cleric,fighter,rouge,wizard) and fit it in 64 pages?

The World After: Mother of Elves

If elves are the children of disorder and even their creative side is born of chaos one wonders about their history. One unique aspect of elves in Tolkien (and many of his imitators) is that they alone can breed with humans. This suggests some common heritage in the later works (The Similrillon covers the bases for Tolkien).

In The World After elves are the children of creative chaos, specifically the children of Lilith and Adam while humans are the children of Eve and Adam. Their disappearance from this world came with the casting out of Lilith in favor of Eve and their return stems from her ability to return when the order of the world was broken by The Harrowing.

Because they are children of disorder and chaos they have no connection to the power of order and thus are restricted from clerical magic. However, their direct decent from creative chaos give them inherent magical abilities. At the same time that connection skews their magic towards the creative side and thus presents them more limited destructive abilities than human mages while giving them slightly more creative options.