One comic book feature I want to see in D&D more

When you enter a wizard's chamber he's levitating about 2 feet off the floor in Lotus position.

Monday Pointers, DragonCon 2011 Edition

D4: The breadth of inspiration
Rob Knutz's recollection of where many items in his and Gary's early campaign drew inspiration.  If you think that because you're playing a fantasy game means Iron Man comics and the products of Campbell's Golden Age are off limits you really need to read this.  He explains much better (by showing, not telling) the idea I was after with the big list.

D6: Opening Pandora's Box again
Timeshadows is right.  I've played T&T since 1979 and it's my go to game for one-shots and convention games.  Which is why I'm running it at Consticon.

D8: A Far Northern Land
Thanks to Lin Carter's anthology Lost Worlds, specifically his two "collaborations" with Clark Ashton Smith I got interested in the idea of a Greenland that was tropical and temperate instead of covered in an ice sheet. Wikipedia identifies Smith's Hyperborea with Greenland although I'm not sure why (anyone got some pointers on that). Regardless, Wikipedia also provides us a map of Greenland sans glaciers with an awesome inland sea.

D10: Infinite Stars
Stars Without Number now has its own fanzine.  While you're grooving in post-Scream space check out the game's blog (just click on its title) for a bunch of clippings: little editions including some previews of  a Terra Post Dust supplement and the merchant version of Skyward Steel as well as adding wizards from your favorite old school game to SWN.  You could also use SWN's psi class as an alternative to supplement three psionics.

I'm going to Consticon

Event: The Stone Roses 

System: Tunnels & Trolls (5.5/7.5 Mash-up) See below if you don't own T&T

When: 

• Atlanta, GA:Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 12:00:00 Noon 
• Midnight between Saturday, September 3, 2011 and Sunday, September 4, 2011 
• Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 8:30:00 PM 
• Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 16:00:00 

Players: Room for 4

What to bring: 1st level character, human/elf/dwarf/hobbit. If you don't own T&T get the basics of 5th edition here. There are only three more things you need to know:

1. Roll a wizardry stat 3d6 (all kindreds have an x1 multiplier). This powers spells instead of strength.
2. Warriors add their level to their combat adds 
3. Pick one talent (acrobatics, slight of hand, herbalism, musical insturments) and set it's initial value to an appropriate attribute + 1d6. When it fits you'll use it instead of a stat for a saving roll.

Contact info: herb (dot) nowell at webmail of that big search engine which does G+ or here.

Inspired to run EPT

If you live in greater Atlanta, I will be running Empire of the Petal Throne at the D&D meetup on September 10th after being inspired by Victor's thread at Original D&D Discussion.

Twenty Questions about The World After, Part II

The first eight questions

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

Three societies of mages are openly known. The White Order of Vijerra is known for spells of protection and divination.  Membership in the White Order is perhaps the best protection against Hierarchy harassment although it also involves swearing off many practices including most offensive spells. 

Many adventuring mages owe allegiance to Società del Spinosi Rose which places emphasis on the dangers of magic and how that danger leads to its thrill.  Members of the Società are the most free in exchanging knowledge.  As you might guess their relationship with the Hierarchy is opposite that of the White Order.

Finally, rural mages who mostly work with practical magics are members of a fairly informal group known as The Brotherhood of the Hedge.  While they do share solutions to common problems the biggest purpose of the Brotherhood is to provide lodging and board for mages as they travel to attend to issues or gather components.

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

Most experts can be hired in Quavveniec although you'd have better luck finding an alchemist in Quatruscaj.

Where can I hire mercenaries?

Normal human mercenaries are found in Quavveniec as well as the city of Ypubina in the east where warriors gather to be hired to fend off the Hetokipp.

Human and monstrous mercenaries are found plying their trade in Quatruscaj.

Finally, all the Astrinoff princelings hire mercenaries in Vijerra to the north.

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

While magic isn't outlawed it's chaotic nature will lead to hassles for using it in Hierarchy controlled cities, especially Quavveniec. Every usage will be scrutinized and officials of the Hierarchy will use even the appearance of disrupting order with magic as a reason to assert any practitioner and his associates as an agent of chaos. This is doubly true of Elves.

Which way to the nearest tavern?  

Coyppored has two taverns and one inn.  The Il Flagon Ultimo is the rougher of the two taverns.  It customers tend to be guards for travelers leaving to the north and crossing the mostly open lands between Coyppored and the land of the Urgah Emperors and the Astrinoff Princelings they nominally rule.

The more gentile tavern, often frequented by those whose guards are drinking at Il Flagon, is The Adorable Fork.  Owned by a famed priest of Saint Rachel the Cook it often gets visitors from Quavveniec for his cooking.

Finally, the Inn of the Two Geese, is a comfortable and rather large inn.  While it has a common room with acceptable road fare the occupants of it's three opulent rooms in its side annex tend to dine at The Adorable Fork.  In fact, the owner built the annex specifically to accommodate travelers from Quavveniec and other places heading to Coyppored specifically for said meals.  In its main building are several multi-person rooms on the second floor.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

To the east the Soypvensu are bracing for a new campaign of conquest by the Hetokipp Warlords.

To the northeast the Urgah are preparing to try to unify the Astrinoff princelings under their rule. At the same time the Astrinoffs continue their on-again/off-again war with the Dukes of Dybrug and Apris (wars which supposedly date to before The Harrowing).

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

The Grand Arena of Quatruscaj is legendary for grand battles between heroes and monsters as well as the wealth winners can gain.

Did you know Castles and Crusades is on Sale?

Well, it is.  You can get the player's book and the monster and treasure book for a mere $20 in hardback.

I was actually an early adopter of C&C.  In fact, that is probably what I should credit my return to TSR D&D. 

Twenty Questions about The World After, Part I

Specifically, they concern the Coyppored region.

The questions come from Jeff's Gameblog:

What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

You cleric is either a member of the Hierarchy or one of the Cults of the Thousand Saints.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

The closest place to get supplies is the town of Coyppored in the shadows of Mount Pabnaff.

Where can we get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

The City of Quatruscaj is the best bet. Of course, Quatruscaj is in the center of a blasted waste and mere travel there is to risk death from Demons or the Curse of the Watery Blood.

You could get it done in Quavveniec which is much closer. It is about a day's travel to it as opposed to nearly a week's travel for Quatruscaj. Still, Quavveniec is the seat of the Hierarchy and having a monster with you could cause trouble.

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

Parkin of the Still Pastures. He lives in his tower to the far north among the Astrinoff.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

Ag Ribapid, whose mercenary band has never lost a battle.  He is currently serving to the east against the Hetokipp Warlords.

Who is the richest person in the land?

The great spice merchant Am Rroc Ypopo in the city of Quavveniec.

Where can we go to get some magical healing?

In Coyppored is a shrine to Holmes the Physician, one of the Thousand Saints whose priests are well versed in healing.

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Minor diseases, poisons, and curses can be curred at the shire to Holmes by the local priest. Cures for more serious diseases, poison, and curses, as well as other serious offenses against the laws of nature are to be found in Quavveniec by priests of Holmes and the Hierarchy.

A cure for death is known to be possible but is considered an offense against the natural order and rare is the cleric of any order who is willing to undertake it. However, there are tales of witch doctors among the Hetokipp who are willing to traverse the spirit realm to restore the soul to the body.

Monday Pointers, August 22, 2011

D4: We are more metal than you, period
Just go listen...it's all about the lyrics.

D6: Taking a bite out of the dungeon
While this class might seem odd or useless I think it's classic golden age D&D where anything is possible.

D8: Sexy wood nymphs no more
Over on The Barbaric Frontier M.P. provides us with a horrific take on the dryad.

D10: The only thing we have to fear
An interesting alternative rule for "save for flee" horror effects.

D12: Don't use rules to be lazy
Although the author focused on 4th edition you could argue the trend started with AD&D or maybe even Greyhawk itself.  So when you read it don't get hung up on the title or the specific game mentioned.  Grok the idea.

Dead Sea Inspiration

Did you know one of the Dead Sea Scrolls was copper instead of being papyrus or parchment?

Oh, it's also a treasure map.

Well, it's more a description of over sixty locations all but one of which are caches of gold or silver. The logical candidate for the source of them is the Second Temple but others exist. However, before you go get your shovel and metal detector consider these sample locations:

In the salt pit that is under the steps: forty-one talents of silver.

In the cave of the old washer's chamber, on the third terrace: sixty-five ingots of gold.

I think this is a great item to use to kick off a campaign. Give your party of adventures descriptions of a large number of treasures that are obscure references. Make sure the list is also valuable to some other group and let competition and investigation get the sandbox rolling.

For example, imagine instead of trying to write your own Temple of Elemental Evil or using T1-4 that in the moat house in Hommlet the party finds a copper plate describing obscure places across the Flanaess where agents of the Temple stashed it's treasure after the Battle of Emridy Meadows.

Now, instead of heading in the ruins of the temple they're encourage to race agents of the Temple to regain the treasure. Perhaps this could include parts of the artifact needed to stop the Elder Elemental Evil. Certainly, it will trip up people familiar with the "plot".

More details can be found on Wikipedia.

Mash-up Campaign Idea

A while I wrote about trying to actually build a campaign out of this great description of D&D from Jeff Reints:

You play Conan, I play Gandalf.  We team up to fight Dracula.

Last time I tried to translate it somehow but this weekend I had an insight that lead me to want to take it literally: Gandalf doesn't have to mean Lord of the Rings.  It can just mean The Hobbit.  If you limit the influence of the Gandalf source to just that book you can have a VERY different setting.  With that revelation I think you could actually build a setting where Gandalf and Conan are actual NPCs or will be at some point.

Using Jeff's old alchemical formula to limit my fluff sources I would use:

1. The Hobbit
2. Conan stories are harder because the logical choice for one book would be one of the current volumes from Del Ray. The problem is they include fragments, critical commentary, and worst of all the essay The Hyborian Age.  However, Project Gutenberg Australia comes to the rescue.  Howard's stories have fallen into the public domain down under and are all available. Because we're supposed to have one book's worth let's create our own volume, Conan: The First Year, containing stories published from December 1932 to November 1933.  That gives us the first six stories.
3. Finally, we want something that isn't obviously a fantasy book.  We still need Dracula.  For that I look into D&D's history and grab Hammer Films's Horror of Dracula. After all, Peter Cushing's van Helsing is the origin of the cleric.  An interesting alternative would be the first volume of Marvel's Tomb of Dracula (using one of the Essential or Omnibus editions).

Given I'm stealing Jeff's ideas left and right I should probably grab one in the gripping hand as well.  Taking the idea he suggested based on Oriental Adventures and that Matt showed can be done in Pars Fortuna.  Use the classic rules of D&D but not the races, classes, spells, and monsters.  While I wouldn't reject all spells, monsters, or magic items certainly new classes would go a long way towards changing the nature of the game.  If we use non-AD&D TSR D&D as our base race is class as well.

Off the top of my head (I haven't read The Hobbit this millennium) I'd having the following classes (with the iconic character they represent):

• Hobbit burglar - Bilbo
• Barbarian - Conan
• Wizard - Gandalf (Wizard, not magic-user...much more closely aligned to the specific character)
• Dwarf - Thorin Oakenshield and his band
• Bowman - Bard the Bowman although you might generalize this to weapon master.
• Vampire Hunter - van Helsing
• Wood Elf - The Wood Elf King (Elf fighters with woodland abilities)
• Sage Elf - Elrond (Elves with magical abilities more related to healing and helping to match the idea of the Last Homely House)

Monday Pointers, August 15, 2011

D4: If this is half-baked I wish I baked half as well as Tim
So, Tim over on The Other Side has a great idea on how to run a campaign using, in succession, every version of D&D treating all non-advanced or numbered editions as one (which is reasonable).  My biggest question is would I portray the core NPC as Bob Newhart or Noah Wyle.

D6: Evolution of the Rust Monster
If only Darwin knew the possibilities he had discovered.

D8: The List
Want an original, clone, or riff on TSR D&D here's a great starting point.

D10: You have to have your local nitro play it though
Over at Mule Abides a series of posts have been going through book 2 of the LBB, Monsters & Treasures.  It expects a lot of intelligent magic swords and they could have big effects on the world.

One Hard Part of DMing

When your group falls apart it's hard not to take it personally.

You Should Always Be Rolling

One of the differences between Empire of the Petal Throne and most versions of D&D is in EPT you have to re-roll your hit points each time your hit dice change.  The wording in the LBB certainly allows for this as a possibility.  This rule has caught on in the OSR and is an optional rule in the current S&W White Box (in earlier printings it was the standard rule).

One by-product of this rule is you can build tables without the fixed hit points at any stage of a character's advancement.  This is especially true if constructing a white box style class that always uses d6 for hit points.

I discovered this while translating the Kyssai race from Matt's Pars Fortuna to Ruins & Ronin..  They have up to 9 d6+1 hit dice (the average is the same as a d8 or the same as the post-Greyhawk fighter) and then a constant +2 at levels 10+.  While it would be easy to write a chart that started at 1+1 and ended at 9+9 at 9th level I decided I wanted to roll the maximum d6 (given we're re-rolling each time) and have the average be within 0.5 hit points.

This leads to the following chart:

Level	Hit Dice
1	1+1
2	2+2
3	3+3
4	5+1
5	6+2
6	7+3
7	9
8	10+1
9	11+2
10	12+3
11	14+1
12	15+2

No, levels 10-12 are not wrong. I concluded given we're re-rolling why not continue re-rolling instead of using just a flat amount. Sure, it means at higher level you'll head even higher in hit points if you roll better and over time (given you can't fall) characters will approach the max hit points (69 max versus 92 at level 15) I don't think this will necessarily break down that badly as the increased randomness also risks you being at 17 instead of 24. Even if you didn't continue after the fixed level the change from narrow range fighter dice (1d6+1 might average the same a d8 fighter but it's on a 2-7 range, not 1-8) provides a more interesting process if you're using the re-roll rule. Then again, the WB fighter is 1 dice per level except at level 1 where he gets a +1. Perhaps the conversion should just be which average matches up to the Core version.

Monday Pointers: August 8, 2011

I've posted non-gaming Monday pointers before but starting today I'm shifting my selection process from mostly interesting gaming stuff I've read lately to stuff that has affected my thinking on gaming recently.  Some of it is as much inspirational links as anything else.

D4: Well, actually there are five elements, not four
I found this link doing research for tomorrow's gaming material post.  I did not realize there were two systems of five elements in Japan, that one might be traceable to Indian influences, or that one of them was an organizing principle of The Book of Five Rings.  If you want some alternative inspiration for spells, classes, adventures, and so on this is a good starting point.

D6: Every hero needs a companion
Given my interest in using S&W for new things, most obviously Rifts Done Right, I'm surprised I hadn't seen this website before I discovered it this weekend while researching a "no core classes" Whitebox S&W game.

D8: Things to do today
Jeff Rients has an interesting series of posts about what is on the to do lists of classic D&D NPCs by race and level.

D10:  A Different Approach to Layout
As I consider combining my notes into a book from my usage and maybe one day publishing (I am in the OSR after all, aren't we all ideologically required to publish :) ) I'm looking to use more traditional layout methods.  If you are working on a lower powered laptop and don't want to use high requirement software you might try troff and company.

A List Revisited...

Just over a year ago I wrote a random list of things for a D&D world.  It was a list of items to use as inspiration for a world designed for discovery through play.  While I'm not one for retrospectives I thought I'd revisit it with thoughts, additions, and subtractions.

I have comments or changes for some originals:

• An 80 page spiral notebook: You're much better off with a loose leaf with tabs.
• Ten random pre-80s comic books: This very much came from the Ken St. Andre quote "my conception of the T&T world was based on The Lord of The Rings as it would have been done by Marvel Comics in 1974 with Conan, Elric, the Gray Mouser and a host of badguys thrown in" combined with some of the reading I'd been doing at the time: Jack Kirby's Demon and Marvel's Weirdworld and Planet of the Apes comics.  These days I'd cut it down to three issues, maybe five.  Also, each issue needs to be from a different series.
• A Horseclans or similar 80s pulp fantasy novel. I pretty much stand by this one.  I think a list of novels that are representative might be a good idea to post at some point.  Although, see below for an alternative.
• One old school rules set from D&D (up to 2e), T&T, the retro-clones, and EPT....the shorter the better. Another one I'd stand by except I'd expand the list to include pre-AH Runequest, Elfquest, and The Palladium Fantasy RPG (any edition).  I'm also not as focused on length, if you want a big volume with lots of spells and stuff, go for it.
• One each of pre-100 The Dragon, Knockspell/Fight On! I'd expand the list to include The Rifter as well as the many old school fanzines beyond our two semi-pro zines.  Pick four or five issues but no more than one from a title with less than fifty issues and no more than three from one with more than that.

All of the rest of the original list I stand by without addition or comment:

• A list of languages
• A list of names, male and female, for two cultures.
• Two levels of a mega-dungeon
• Three unique monsters
• A villain one step ahead of the characters
• A rival party of adventurers (unless I knew I'd have two groups)
• A legend of ancient Rutas or treasure that references forgotten Rutas
• A brief history of the current age 8751 words in length (give or take)

I would like to add a few more items:

• One non-vanilla supplement, something like a Palladium Rifts book or even some of their fantasy line, an Adurin book, The Wyrmship Technical Manual, or even a copy of Oriental Adventures.
• A book of myths and legends that is either broad in sources (like the various Fairy Books compiled by Lang) or, if uni-cultural, does not focus on Greek, Roman, Celtic, or Nordic myths.
• A fantasy fiction anthology.  In fact a pair of anthologies are better than one anthology and one novel in my opinion.  However, make sure they have different settings or themes.  If both are setting centric that's a great source for your name lists.
• One movie or 2-4 episodes of a TV show (2 if it's an hour show, up to 4 if it's a half hour show).  Being able to "show, not tell" always helps explain the world to your players.

The main idea with lists like these is to get you:

• A limited palette.  The more you study creativity the more you realize how limitations drive creativity. When it's 4d6 arrange as you want (or worse yet, point buy) you get the guy who is always Drizzt, the guy who is always Aragorn, always Conan, and so on.  3d6 in order means you have to stretch to be what the dice give you.  This works in creating worlds as well as adventurers.
• Focus.  If you can add anything on your shelf at anytime it gets hard to focus and just build things.
• More non-gaming material.  One of the trends I think the OSR has risen against is gaming inspired by gaming.  The original list had one gaming on it.  The updated one has two.  You build a better game, IMNSHO, if most of your inspiration when away from the table isn't gaming focused.

May Project: Geese Part 1

The third story in Sword and Sorceress VIII is Geese by Laurell K. Hamilton. Yes, it's by that Laurell K. Hamilton. You would think with my love of Harry Dresden, Rachel Carson, and Mercy Thompson that Anita Blake and especially Merry Gentry would be regular reading for me but they aren't. This is the first Hamilton I've read and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

This is the first of two posts bringing elements from the story to the May Project Setting setting.

Perhaps I had been a goose for too long. Perhaps it was time to become human again, but the desire was hazy. I was no longer sure why I wanted to be human. I could not quite remember the reason I had hidden myself among the geese.

Quote from Geese, copyright Laurell K. Hamilton.

The protagonist of the story begins it changed into the form of a goose. She is at the edge of losing her human identity and fully becoming a goose when she is shocked out of the form by an attack on children.  While contemplating as a goose at the beginning she mentions spending summers in the form giving it an apparently unlimited at will duration.  Clearly, though, the longer one stays in the form the more likely one is to never return from it, a common idea in folklore and fantasy stories.

Gelace's Forms of Hiding
Magic-User Level 4
Duration: Unlimited (but see below)
Range: Self

The caster to shifts into the form of a normal animal smaller than herself.  The assumed form cannot have more hit dice than half the caster's level (round up) nor may it have more than half mass than the caster.  The caster gains the physical capabilities and statistics of the new form but initially retains her mental abilities.  Special abilities the caster has, such as spell casting, are not available while in the changed form.  The caster does retain memorized spells while in the animal form despite their inability to cast spells (although, see below).  Any geas or quest spell on the caster becomes inactive while in the animal form but will immediately return in affect upon returning to human form.

The spell is unlimited duration in the sense that the caster may remain in the form as long as they desire.  However, prolonged form changes risk the caster's mental abilities shifting from their original form to match that of the animal form.  To shift back to human form the caster must make a successful save versus spell.  A failure means the caster must wait at least a month before making another attempt to shift back.  They may gain a bonus to this saving throw by channeling a memorized spell into it.  They bonus is the spell level divided by 3, rounding to nearest (so at least a 2nd level spell must be sacrificed to gain any bonus).

While in animal Every month the caster spends in animal form she must make a save versus spell.  Every time the caster fails this roll they gain a cumulative -1 to their restoration saving throw.

History: The Ballad of Gelace and Lonan tells that Gelace  said to have spontaneously created this variation on the more common Polymorph Self trying to escape the death of her entire family at the hand of the Baron Madawoc.  After several years in hiding (a period unduplicated since) she returned and killed the Baron, gaining both her family's land and Madawoc's traditional lands for herself.

As per the licensing page the material in this box is available under Open Gaming License or the Creative Commons. While I prefer the Creative Commons because the text is based on OGL material I do not believe it is proper to offer this under the CC.

Monday Pointers, August 1st Edition

D4: G+ Game Tips and FAQ for those going to Constantcon 2011
How big is Constantcon 2011? Big enough that my "I play RPGs as a social activity which means other people in a room not chatting on the Internet" self is going.

I may even try to run a game.

D6: My newly found blogging love
Very interesting ideas and very prolific.

D8: Orientalist Adventures
A very old (April 2008) post but one I read for the first time last week.  It really got me thinking and had me looking to buy a copy of AD&D OA, which I've never owned.  His challenge to use the old rules but just gut the meta-data (classes, spells, etc) has come to fruition at least once with Matt's Pars Fortuna.  It would be interesting to do an Indian Adventures (IA) that was a mismash of everything from the Mahabharata forward.  Instead of cavaliers we'd have bow specialists who ride in chariots while the general fighter would remain the same.  Assassins (or thieves if just doing B/X versions) would be replaced by the thugee. I'm not knowledgeable enough to suggest variations of clerics (lots of options, but how to make them "Indian" in some generic western stereotype sense) or magic-users.

D10: Fantasy India D&D Resources

Someone gathered what they could find in physical books at Amazon though. He does mention the pdf only Sahasra which is for 3.5.  There are several books which are on my wish list.

D12: Need A New TV Series?
One last link on the India theme is this series from the late 80s of the Mahabharata.  I've watched the first episode and enjoyed it although I suspect I'm missing most of it.  Sadly, it is not on Netflix although Michael Woods's The Story of India is (also in book form).  His  In Search of the Dark Ages and In Search of the Trojan War have been useful in the past (the former has no TV series, the later's series is also on Netflix) and I suspect all of his books are a good source for GMs.