Query: Maximum Spell Number?

I'm still on vacation, so my time is short at the moment. I do plan on responding to the comments on the last couple posts, and I do intend to continue my "fighter love" series...probably when I'm back in Seattle. However, I'm working on a little "somethin'-somethin" at the moment and I"m looking for feedback from all my knowledgable readers:

What do you think is a good (maximum) number of spells to be cast by a single magic-user during a game session?

Now, in considering this, keep in mind that the "spells per day" in a normal D&D game can be anything from 1 to 60+ depending on the level of the character and the edition/system being used. But consider my question with the following caveats:

• I'm talking about "one game session;" whether or not the character has all the spells in the world or is simply "refreshing himself" by heading back to town multiple times during the game session.
• I am assuming the character is not "adventuring solo," but has a comparable group of fellow adventurers.
• Forget about "attack spells" for the moment, except for maybe 2-3 "big bomb" types (sleep, fireball, etc.) that might be used...I don't want people considering the "infinity-use-ray-of-cold-cantrip" that's used every round of 5E as a spell. It's the same thing as throwing daggers or darts. Just give me "magical effects."
• Add two or three extra to that maximum to take into consideration spells that might be tried but prove not to be useful. Sometimes a magic-user wastes a spell or two in the course of a game session and that's to be expected.
• As with the attack cantrips, forget about detect magic spells and such...unless the spell is used once (like, at the end of the game session on a big pile of possibly-enchanted-items the party has uncovered).

Give me a number that would make a magic-user feel like he (or she) is pulling his weight without upstaging the rest of the party. I am assuming a double digit figure here, but you're welcome to surprise me. Consider the "game session" to be somewhere from 4-6 hours in length.

Thanks, folks!
: )

Top 10 Troll Questions - 5AK

It's been a long day.

But a good one. I mean, we made it back to Seattle safe and sound and found our house hadn't burned down and the beagles hadn't run away and because of a small bout of food poisoning my wife gets to put off flying to South America for at least one more day.

[even sick time with the family is better than no time]

We got up at 6ish after being awake and active till close to three so that we could make the early ferry ride back to Seattle. All went as planned and I managed to keep my eyes open the entire drive (the rest of the fam were crashed out in the back seat) which is, of course, a good thing.

However, even with a siesta this afternoon it's been a looong day. And, yes, I realize no one really wants to hear about that.

We're on a countdown now till the release of 5AK, my only (current) entry into that category of games called D&D Mine or (more prosaically) Fantasy Heartbreakers. That's right: it's really difficult to consider 5AK something much more than a "fantasy heartbreaker," though it bears fairly little resemblance to 1st edition AD&D (the mark of many FHBs)...it's still just another fantasy adventure game with a "team-up and step-up" mentality that does NOT bear the "D&D" stamp of name recognition and so is destined to for second-class (or third-class) status.

Which is fine. The train has left the station, so to speak (or rather, the car is rolling down the hill with the keys locked in the ignition) and there's really no stopping it. I've got a bunch of dice manufactured for the thing, filling bags in my office. The manuscripts are at the printer for their first print run and I will be charged for it, using the money made in my earlier publishing ventures (no "kickstarter" for me!). And...well, that's it. The rewrites are done...I can't change what will be coming out of the print shop at this point. The first printing is going to be as good (or as bad) as it will be and it's pretty much out of my hands.

All I can do now is hock my wares.

To this end, I've decided to dedicate the next few days (and next few blog entries) to talking about 5AK, using topics of conversation I might normally take but solely applying them to the subject of my own game. This will, of course, irritate some of my good readers who could care less about a new fantasy heartbreaker and who want more D&D style subject matter (and who are already tired of my random digressions on all things that pull my attention). So be it. One thing I did NOT do a whole helluva' lot of with my 2nd book (The Complete B/X Adventurer) that I did with my first book (the B/X Companion) was talk about it much, or blog about it much, or mention it in other peoples' blogs or on various forums or whatnot. And you know what? It didn't sell half as well (even counting "print only;" the B/X Companion has sold far more electronic copies than it ever sold in print). Even though there's stuff in TCBXA that is useful to most folks B/X or LL campaigns (unlike the B/X Companion which is mostly only useful to high level campaigns).

So, yeah, I think I'll have to talk it up a bit (or talk about it anyway). I'll try to do a post a day until it comes out, but...well, we'll see what time allows of me.

To start off, we'll try a softball post: Random Wizard threw up a ten question poll on his blog that a bunch of people have been using as fodder for their own blogs, and I'm going to do the same (I did say, "softball," right?)...except that I'm going to apply all the questions to 5AK. This should be at least a little fun, because RW tried to take the most contentious topics for his list of questions. Perhaps it will pique the interest of folks who are curious. Here goes:

1) Race (Elf, Dward, Halfling) as a class? Yes or no? There are no "races" in 5AK, only classifications of adventurers, and there are no "demi-humans" in the default setting, solely in an appendix of optional rules. If the optional rules are used, each is a subclass of a main adventurer class.

2) Do demi-humans have souls? All sentient beings in 5AK have souls, including jinni. Demons, as fallen angels, technically are souls.

3) Ascending or descending armor class? There is no "AC" stat in 5AK, ascending or descending. A character's class of armor (light, heavy, or none) makes it tougher for an opponent to inflict damage (i.e. "to hit" or make a successful attack) but combat is based on the original CHAINMAIL rules, not the alternative combat tables first seen in Book 1 of OD&D.

4) Demi-human level limits? If the optional rules are used, the demi-human subclasses are limited in the maximum level they can achieve.

5) Should thief be a class? Thief is a major class; it has two subclasses.

6) Do characters get non-weapon skills? Thieves (and thief subclasses) have non-weapon, "thief skills." New characters start the game with random advantages that can sometimes resemble (or are, i  fact) "skills."

7) Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)? This is an apples-oranges question. Magic-users use magic. Fighters fight. If you want to do something magical, call on a magician; if you want to kill something, call on a fighter. They have different arenas of specialty in 5AK with very little over-lap. A mage can swing a sword or axe (and if they want to attack/kill something, that's the best way to do so)...but a hero is a lot better at it.

8) Do you use alignment language? No.

9) XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc.)? Define "objectives." There are some XP bonuses in 5AK (usually for one-time experiences), including "milestones," that might be an objective of play, but no one gets XP solely for disarming a trap. XP is awarded for gold and monsters, but the amount of XP awarded diminishes as PCs gain experience (i.e. "go up in level").

10) Which is the best edition: ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next? Well, I'd like to think 5AK is pretty good. Many early editions have their own special charm to them. To answer "which is the best" I need to know "the best what?" Different editions are better (or worse) depending on what you're looking for.

Bonus Question: unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class? There are three distinct XP level tables in 5AK, though thieves and clerics share the same one.

All right...well, that was fun. Tomorrow, I hope to do something a little less softball, and a little more weighty. But right now, it's time to hit the hay. Later!

; )

Making Choices

All right, I give up. Normally, I’m not a guy who likes to quit anything (bullishly stubborn, one might say). But I really don’t have the time to f around with blogger trying to add a poll to the site. I gave it a couple days, and several attempts, on multiple computers, and it’s just not working…and, yes, I have posted polls in the past without issue so I’m inclined to think this is a blogger issue and not “user error.”

SO…folks who read my post yesterday know that I’ve got some upcoming free time to get all obsessive-compulsive with my writing.

[my wife even told me I BETTER do some writing while they’re gone, what with all my usual bitching and moaning of “not having time” to do everything I want]

SO…here’s the deal: as I said yesterday I’d like some feedback from my readers on where exactly you’d like me to turn my focus. Ten days may not seem like a whole lot of time, but I can probably pound out 5-10 good pages a day, and seeing as how some of these projects are already half-way (or further) along, I should be able to finish some of ‘em up. Since I’m giving up on doing a poll, I’ll just ask folks post their choice in the comments section here. Without further ado, here are your choices:

B/X-based Space Opera
B/X-based Supers
CDF (B/X-based cyberpunk fantasy)
DMI – Out of Time (lost world time-warp)
DMI – MDR (post-apocalypse mutants)
DMI – Space Opera
DMI – Supers
D&D Mine
Land of Ash (B/X world setting)
Land of Ice (B/X world setting)
BXC1 (adventure for B/X Companion)
Clockwork (steam-punk Boot Hill)
Other

Now a selection of “Other” should be for something else I’ve previously mentioned or worked on, like one of my one-page micro-games you’d like to see me expand (like Chronicles of Mutation or War of the Mecha) or even an idea I mentioned in passing (like the World War 3, Appleseed-style game, or a B/X-converted Rifts setting similar to Wormwood or Warlords of Russia). Just understand that the choices I’ve listed above are ones that already have some work put into them, so (in theory) they should be easier for me to finish up. And by “finished” I mean, “at least to a Beta format” (worth testing) if not more.

All right, folks, start your commenting.
: )

Unexpected Windfall

Readers who have followed my blog for more than a couple years will have noted drop-off in production from the early days when I averaged something like two or three posts per day. It’s not that I’ve lost (much) steam as far as wanting to blog…it’s just that I have new time constraints with the birth of my 1st child (now 18 months old). Add the responsibilities of being a parent to my regular work, writing projects, and normal household duties and you can see how one’s time just has a way of, well, dwindling.

I nearly considered ending the blog (mainly out of frustration), but a couple things kept me from doing so: A) I still have things to say, and B) this is my main/only way of promoting my books (I have even less time/money to go to conventions and stuff).

Oh, yeah...also C) ego.

Anyway, even though it makes me feel guilty (I haven’t been able to promote my new book as much as I’d like or cruise the forums or other blogs or offer exciting and startling insights into recent developments in RPG gaming)…even though I DO feel guilty, I wouldn’t change my circumstances for anything as my boy is the greatest joy of my life and he definitely takes precedence over any other selfish wants I have. Sorry that’s caused a drop-off in my production but…well, there it is.

SO…it turns out I will be having a rather unprecedented windfall of TIME in the very near future: my wife is going to be travelling for business in August (as she has been doing) and this time she’s taking the baby with her! They will be travelling to South America for 10 days or so, and I will be left here with two beagles and an extreme amount of spare time on my hands.

Not to mention a crushing melancholy while I miss my family.

Now they were gone for close to a week last month, but I spent the time fasting and…along with the melancholy…my energy level was pretty low. This time, I’m going to turn off the television, catch up on my sleep and exercise, and intending to spend my every free moment WRITING.

The question is: writing what? And a million dollar question it is.

Here’s the deal: you folks who reading this are my main target audience. It looks like I’m going to have the opportunity to knock out one or two projects that have been on-and-off the burner over the last several months…and I want to know which ones are of greatest interest to y'all. What would YOU folks like to see me finish up?

For the next three weeks I’m going to be running a poll, asking blog readers to tell me what they'd like to see as the focus of my writing. I’m not going to guarantee that I’ll actually work on the project that gets the most requests, but I DO guarantee I will consider mightily those projects that generate the most reader enthusiasm.

[by the way, if you select the “Other” category, you WILL need to specify exactly which project I’ve left out of the mix (add it via a comment on this post)]

Thanks for your time. I’ll do my best not to get his done.

: )

+++EDIT: Hmmm...blogger had an error trying to upload my poll from the computer by my office. I'll post it later from home; sorry about that!+++

The B/X Witch

So those of you who actually listened to my recent interview with Save or Die have already heard the name of my new supplement, which I wasn’t really quite ready to divulge (they backed me into a corner). For those who haven’t listened to the podcast, here it is:

The Complete B/X Adventurer

Ambitious, right?

The book will compile a few of the goodies I’ve posted to my blog over the last couple years (streamlined and edited, of course), as well as several new classes in the style of the old Bard Games supplements The Compleat Adventurer and The Compleat Spell-Caster. Of course, my classes will be specific to B/X and I’ve decided to spell “Complete” with the usual American spelling.

The witch is one of the new spell-casting classes presented in the book, the others being the gnome, mystic, and summoner. My recent poll of “which one do you want to read about broke down like this:

Gnome 14%
Mystic 12%
Summoner 24%
Witch 40%
None of the above 8%

…with 107 people total voting.

So with an overwhelming majority choosing “witch,” well…here it is:

• B/X Witch
• B/X Witch Spell List

The first download is a 1 page .pdf with the witch class itself, the second is a 2 page .pdf from the “spells” chapter of the book. I haven’t included the spell descriptions themselves (sorry), but the complete list of spells is presented to get you salivating over the possibilities.
; )

Hopefully, Matthew S. will be getting me his excellent illustration in the near future (*hint*hint*) but for now you’ll have to be satisfied with plain old text. Let me know what you think.

Oh, yeah, By The Way: as with all the spell-casters in The Complete B/X Adventurer, you will find that witch magic works fairly different from magic-users and clerics…I don’t believe all “arcane magic” has to function one way and all “divine magic” another; I prefer each spell-casting class have their own unique way of learning/casting spells. Witch magic is based on a combination of popular witch fiction and known folklore, not to mention some of my own thoughts on the Craft. Hope I don’t piss off too many Wiccans!

Blessed be!
: )

How 'Bout A New Poll?

So, Saturday I had my interview with the Save or Die podcast people. Fortunately, it was not "live" and they will be editing it prior to broadcast in a couple weeks. UNfortunately, I still managed to stick my foot in my mouth and/or ramble on more than was quite necessary on several questions. Hopefully their editing will make me sound like less of a simpering idiot/arrogant bastard...but I'm not too hopeful.

ANYway, one area in which I wish I'd stayed a little more tight-lipped was on my upcoming, as yet unnamed (here anyway), B/X supplement. Well, unnamed till the interview...they backed me into a corner! Ugh! Well, we'll just have to talk more about it on the blog in the next week or so. Brian, I hope that cover art is almost done!

; )

I suppose it's time to give folks a little taste of what they'll be finding in the book, so as a "bone" for my readers, I'll offer one of the spell-casting classes for perusal as a downloadable .pdf (the spell lists make them too long to just throw up as a blog post). There's a new poll posted to the blog (over on the right) for people to vote on which class they want to see. You've got a few days to consider and vote.

Oh, yeah...you can still purchase the B/X Companion. The PayPal button has just been moved down under the poll.

: )

Just for Posterity

The top three poll results were:

#1 N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God

#2 Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits

#3 C1: Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

I almost didn't even add C1 to the mix because *blea-ach!* I am so sick of it, having run it so many times. I even converted it to 3rd edition (D20) back in the day, if you can believe it! It says something that I have memorized the spelling of "Tamoachan" that I can type it without having to check the damn wikipedia (or the module cover).

Anyhoo, the poll is coming down now...thanks for playing folks!

; )

Poll Closed - And We Have A Winner!

And wow! What a showdown! When I got up this morning, Queen of the Demonweb Pits was leading the pack, but Against the Cult of the Reptile God made up the difference and pulled ahead in the last couple hours. Wow...where were you guys all week?

So, in anticipation that either might win, I brought both modules with me on my trip. I am currently sitting at SeaTac Airport waiting for my flight to start boarding (in about 14 minutes). It's a six hour direct flight to DC, and I'm coffee'd up and ready to go. Who knows...maybe I'll get to both?

: )

Actually, I'm slightly relieved that N1 ended up winning...being a low-level game it will be an easier B/X conversion than Q1. After all, I haven't yet released my B/X Companion set, so you guys don't know what a level 16 character would look like, right?

; )

Ha!

Anyhoo...I'll try to get everything written up and ready for upload to Media Fire sometime this evening (assuming the Sheraton has WiFi...it should). Now the caveat: there will be no maps or text other than conversion notes printed as I don't want to infringe on WotC's copyright, so you'll need a copy of the original TSR module to make use of it. Unfortunately, it's out-o-print (though the bastards would be well-advised to re-release it...it's a damn dope adventure!), and a little tricky to find. It took me 20+ years to find a copy!

For the folks who didn't see their choice selected...sorry, maybe another time. I see only two people voted for me to chuck the B/X all together (thanks, Kris...I know you were one of them! Don't worry...I DO still want to throw the AD&D sticks with you! Later...).

All right, five minutes till boarding, and I've got to check a couple other things. Blog with y'all later! Prost!

Polls Closing in Under 4 Hours

...and I may be closing them even earlier.

I believe I neglected to mention this: the reason for the short voting time on the poll, is I am going out of town. I'm flying to DC (the other Washington) today and won't be back till Tuesday night. I will be taking my laptop, but mainly I'm hoping to do some writing in my spare time...especially on the plane.

So whichever module wins the poll, is going in the backpack for conversion in-flight. Right now, that looks like Q1, but really it's still anyone's game.

Also coming with me on the plane is Dies the Fire (which I intend to finally finish), copies of B and X, some map paper, and my latest draft of the B/X Companion (going to make sure the table of contents and index all line up good)...and that's about it for entertainment. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

[hmmm...maybe I should bring some dice, too...ya' never know...]

And Now Back to our Regular Programming

AKA Random Blog Fodder

Man-o-man, I seem to have quite a few followers these days…pretty cool considering I’m coming up on my one year anniversary and (nearly) my 500th post to the blog. Apparently the traffic has been noticeable enough that I’m being solicited to link with other random sites for mutual financial benefit.

And now a word from our would-be sponsors:

We love the look and feel of your blog and think that your US and Canadian readers might be interested in a giveaway with our sites www.accent-furniture-direct.com, www.toysandgamesonline.com, orwww.cookware.com.

Accent furniture? Cookware?! I’ve talked about Top Chef, what? Twice? If that!

I don’t have any plans in the near future to stock this site with ad ware…right now, it’s purely for my own (and hopefully others’) entertainment. Plus, I’ve got a lot of images parked here without permission, and I’m afraid someone would sue my ass if I tried to make money off ‘em, even though my “art” (blog) may be considered derivative and their pieces available under fair use practice. Whatever…no ads here except for my OWN games.

New web site coming soon.

In other news, yes, I am fully aware of Dio's passing from this Earthly plane. In the past, I’ve said my piece on this this great human being and (as with Frank) I choose to celebrate his life, his deeds, and his artistic accomplishments rather than mourn his death. And that means I’ve been listening to nothing but Dio and Black Sabbath the last two days.
; )

Let’s see, what else…

Should probably write a thing or two about The Compleat Spell Caster…though since each new class presented has its own individual spell list, don’t expect to see conversion write-ups any time soon.

Speaking of conversions, I’ve been REALLY itching to do a new B/X conversion of an old AD&D module. Unfortunately, as maps and text are copyright of the original publisher, conversion notes won’t be helpful to anyone that doesn’t have the original module (the great thing about my White Plume Mountain conversion was that WotC provided the module as a free D20 edition down load, so the maps and text were available to any that wanted it). What to do, what to do…maybe a new poll should be on the agenda!

Yeah...a new poll is definitely in order.

B/X Companion Poll Closed

Well, the poll is closed and I'll be taking it down. For reasons of posterity, I'm posting the results here:

Out of 95 people that answered:

31% are interested in buying my B/X Companion (29)

49% are waiting to see the price of the finished product (47)

20% are probably not going to purchase it (19)

Considering I've done no advertising for this thing except on my blog, I'm rather pleased. Hopefully, it'll end up being a nice enough package that more folks will be interested.

Mmm...sorry, that's it for tonight. I am really beat and am going to bed.

P.S. My wife is bugging me to review the HackMaster Basic book. Jeez! She's never even played AD&D! Ah, well...this week folks, I promise!

New Poll: Check It Out

Just trying to get some feedback...I'm going to finish the project regardless, but I might as well get the bad news now, rather than wait for later! Oh, and the poll doesn't close till February, so it's totally okay to change your vote...

: )

Love all you folks!

Results of the S3 Poll

I've deleted the poll from the blog as it has run its course. The responses were overwhelmingly positive (77%!) for S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. Of course only 22 people responded. I should probably post this kind of thing over at Dragonsfoot or at RPG.net. But then I'd have to sign up for an account with them and blah, blah, blah...

Of the 6 respondents who have only DM'd the module (including myself) 4 loved it and 2 were "so-so" (I was one of the latter). Of the 9 respondents who had only played the module, 7 loved it and 2 did not. Of the folks that had done both, 6 enjoyed it both ways while 1 found at least one aspect (DMing or playing) annoying or less than fun.

Thanks for the feedback...just goes to show that I really DON'T have a pulse on what folks like!

: )

New Poll: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

So...just winding down for the evening after a couple hours of hiking with the fam (the beagles are completely passed out), and my fantasy football team is all set for tomorrow, and the wife is watching Little Women on the HD...

AND...I've been trying to figure out what I wanted to post for the last hour or so...

[God, sometimes I really want to turn this thing into a political rant forum when I see how F'ing retarded some Americans are. UGH! I can't help being ethnocentric myself...it's human nature...but FUCK I just want to beat some sense into these people...with a cudgel! Anyway...this isn't the proper place...sorry for the tangential venting]

...anyway, I've been reading a LOT o blogs today (well, earlier today), and I couldn't help but take interest in several, throwing my two cents hither and yon (I'm like a goddamn rash all over the internet these days), AND I couldn't help but notice this little piece by Al over at Beyond the Black Gate. Here's the gist of my interest:

I think the OSR really needs a "showcase" adventure. It needs a Keep on the Borderlands or Temple of Elemental Evil of its very own, something shared from group to group regardless of whether they're using LL, S&W, OSRIC, or the systems that orignally inspired them. That's not to say there havn't been some great adventures released for the RCs, there certainly have been. But I think the emphasis of the last couple of years has been on honing the rule sets themselves, diligently recreating the spirit of the three big old-school games into three faithful and marvellous RCs. I'd love to see that level of commitment put into recreating something as epic and iconic as the G or A series of modules.

The other part of the blog is also food for thought, but mainly I think he may have something here...I mean, many OS publishers are putting out a slew of new material, but how many are putting out new modules? Certainly a few, and several of note (if you can believe the blog hype). My thought is: not enough.

But it's tough. Tough because there IS a lack of organization in the OSR...so many independent knuckleheads firing on all cylinders for their own particular pet projects. Tons of creativity, energy, drive...but is there real direction?

No, of course not. We aren't a single company like TSR was or WotC is. There is no one setting project goals for the OSR, no one setting deadlines...hell, no quality control. We are self-policing, and as others have pointed out, we ain't always especially good at it.

However, while it's all well and good to sit around blogging about what we'd like to see happen (for example: writing the new classic adventure of the OSR), the real thing to do is to sit down and write it. Some are already attempting it (you know who you are, even if the rest of us don't), but this is a particular market in little danger of being saturated, unlike say...um...the "new retro-clone" market. Not that quick-start rules, 2nd editions, advanced character editions, and new basic editions truly have worth and value and part of the OSR is a return to the idea that gaming groups are perfectly capable of establishing their own game worlds and adventures outside of pre-packaged game settings and story-pathed scenarios.

But shared adventures...like Keep on the Borderlands, like Tomb of Horrors...create a shared mythology, a shared history, a shared camaraderie, a shared culture. Shared adventures can become the ties that bind between different gamers and otherwise insular groups.

Anyway, as I commented over at Al's, I'm as guilty of sitting on my hands in the adventure department as anyone else. Sure I'm working on my own OS project (my B/X Companion), but as said, there's already plenty of material ready-made to play with (original editions and retro-clones). Maybe we should ALL put off our little projects until we've put out at least one decent adventure with which we're satisfied/proud.

My personal challenge is that my map-making skills are a bit lacking (as far as I'm concerned). Sure, I have some good ideas and I can write and write and write (note the blog), but I prefer to collaborate with someone a bit more skilled in the drawing department.

Enter my buddy Kris, AKA "Dr. Love" AKA "the Doctor" or "Doc" (don't ask...it's a long story in and of itself). I've mentioned Kris before (he's plays the perennial thief) an excellent artist (and fine musician). I called him up today and asked him if he wanted to collaborate with me on an old school adventure module...and lo and behold, Doc agreed! Very cool, as he has rejected other requests for collaboration (despite being a fairly creative dude himself).

So now we finally get to the new poll I've posted to the blog. No, I am not recreating, rewriting, converting or retro-cloning S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. There are some similarities of structure being considered for my new adventure (no, there aren't robots nor spaceships) and I'd appreciate a little honest feedback. I know how I feel about the particular adventure...but I'd like to hear from others. Please post any comments you have about your experience with the Barrier Peaks her on this post. Thanks!

: )