Troll Questions, for D&D and Chanbara (since I'm working on it)

Random Wizard is at it again.  I didn't answer his first round of 10 questions, but these look like ones I can answer quickly and easily, so here goes.

(1). Should energy drain take away one level of experience points from the character? Yes or No? If no, what should level drain do?
D&D - Yes, but my current house rule is that the XP go into a "bank" and can later be given to a replacement PC
Chanbara - I didn't include any level draining monsters or spells/magic items, so it's a non-issue.

(2). Should the oil used in lanterns do significant damage (more than 1 hp in damage) if thrown on an opponent and set on fire? Yes or No? If yes, how much damage should it do?
Both Systems - sure, I like the rules of "movie world" rather than real world for my games.  I usually go with 1d6 damage each round for two rounds.

(3). Should poison give a save or die roll, with a fail rolled indicating instant death? Yes or No? If no, how should game mechanics relating to poison work?
D&D - it can, but most poisons have a duration during which there's a chance to save the PC before death occurs (and some poisons don't kill, merely incapacitate).
Chanbara - I've got a whole big mess of a chart for poisons.  Part of me loves it, because the effects of any poison are random and could lead to death, vomiting, cramps, shakes, diarrhea, or other fun things.  Another part of me thinks the D&D way is easier.

(4). Do characters die when they reach 0 hit points? Yes or No? If no, then at what point is a character dead?
D&D - Yes.
Chanbara - You make a Saving Throw, fail and you die.  Make it and you're dying and will die unless you get some attention/magic within a short time.

(5). Does the primary spell mechanic for a magic user consist of a "memorize and forget system" (aka Vancian)? Yes or No? If no, what alternative do you use?
D&D - Yes, by the book.
Chanbara - No, spells use a variant of the Chainmail caster roll.

(6). Should all weapons do 1d6 damage or should different weapons have varying dice (1d4, 1d8, etc...) for damage?
Both Systems - variety is the spice of life.

(7). Should a character that has a high ability score in their prime requisite receive an experience point bonus? Yes or No?
D&D - yes
Chanbara - still considering it

(8). Should a character with an strength of 18 constitution get a +3 bonus to hit points, or a +2 bonus to hit points, or a +1 bonus to hit points or no bonus to hit points? And should other ability scores grant similar bonuses to other game mechanics?
D&D - BX/BECMI ability modifiers (18 +3, 16-17 +2, etc.)
Chanbara - the highest scores give at best a +2 modifier

(9). Should a character have 1 unified saving throw number, or 3 saving throw types based on ability scores (reflex, fortitude, will), or 5 types based on potential game effects (magic wand, poison attacks)? or something else?
Both Systems - Five saves based on attack type, or in the case of Chanbara, the Wu Xing (Chinese 5 elements, same as Flying Swordsmen)

(10). Should a cleric get (A) 1 spell at 1st level  (B) no spells at 1st level (C) more than 1 spell at 1st level?
D&D - No spells at level 1
Chanbara - there are no clerics, but all spellcasters get spells from 1st level

One day Challenge?

It's the end of the month, so if you're like me and like to read lots of OSR blogs, you've definitely seen this:

I didn't have the time to devote a post a day to these questions.  Hell, a lot of the questions really don't deserve a post all their own.  But hey, if you're curious...

1. How I got started.  I'd been watching the D&D cartoon, reading Endless Quest books, and had seen tempting glimpses of the actual game back in 1983/84.  So for my 11th birthday, my parents got me the Mentzer Basic Set.

2. Favorite playable race.  Humans.  I've played my share of Elves, Half-Elves and Halflings, and rarely Dwarves and Half-Orcs.  I've never played a Gnome.  In 3E, PF, and 4E I've tried a few other races.  But then until recently I've mostly been the DM so I don't get to play a lot.  My current main character is (as you'll know if you read my play reports) a Sleestak, and I'm enjoying that.  But most of my characters tend to be humans.

3. Favorite playable class.  Thieves or Rangers.  I like crafty, sneaky types, where I need to try and use my brain as much or more than my brawn.

4. Favorite game world.  We played a lot of Known World (later known as Mystara).  Lots of good memories of that game.  I don't know if would still interest me now, but I did enjoy it a lot when I was young.  I think all the expansions (Gazeteers, 2E products, etc.) kinda ruined it for me.  I enjoyed the wide open-ness of the setting from just the Expert Set and Isle of Dread.

5. Favorite set of dice/individual die.  The crayon-fillable dice from my Basic, Expert and Star Frontiers box sets.  I use them exclusively for DMing and use other dice when I'm a player.

6. Favorite Deity.  Can't really say I have one.

7. Favorite Edition.  See question 1 above.

8. Favorite character you have played.  Farley the Halfling.  Dex 17, Int 3.  Survived the old Known World campaign, and got up into Companion Set level "attack ranks."

9. Favorite character you haven't played.  Not sure if this means someone else's character, a fictional character I like, or a character I rolled up and love, but never got to run.  So I'll ignore it for being too vague.

10. Craziest thing that's happened to you (blah blah).  So many it's hard to choose only one.  Once, I ran an adventure where the PCs had to break into the castle of Dungeon Master (from the cartoon) and steal his underpants (it was a geas or quest spell I think that made them need to do it). There have been some pretty crazy adventures lately in Ur, but no panty raids yet.

11. Favorite Adventure you have Ran.  Ravenloft.  The original module.  With my old Yamanashi group.

12. Favorite dungeon type/location.  Megadungeon.  Especially the one I'm making.

13. Favorite trap/puzzle.  Can't say I'm partial to a specific one, or even a type.  But if it's clever or interesting, and makes the players think, I like it.  I don't mind gotcha traps, because gotcha traps are more realistic.  But the puzzlers that players (whether I'm one or not) are more gameable.

14. Favorite NPC.  Swarthy the Sailor.  Every time he appeared (in the old Known World game), he was missing another body part or had a change of pirate pet (parrots, monkeys, etc.).

15.  Favorite monster (undead).  I like wights a lot.  Not too tough, but their attack is one of the nastiest in the game.

16. Favorite monster (abberation).  I've always liked the Malfera in the Companion Set, although I suppose that's a planar creature actually.  What are the 3E monster classifications doing in what's supposedly an OSR thing?  Or was this broader than just the OSR?  I only noticed OSR blogs doing it. 

17. Favorite monster (Animal/Vermin).  Giant spiders.  Because spiders.

18.  Favorite monster (immortal/outsider).  Djinn/Efreet.  Lots of fun to use as a DM, because they can be a real help to the party or a big hindrance.  Especially if they're bound by a ring/bottle that summons them.

19. Favorite monster (elemental/plant).  Shriekers.  They don't do anything but summon other monsters or alert monsters that someone's trying to sneak by.  And yet they're worth a fair amount of XP for low level characters.

20. Favorite monster (humanoid/natural/fey).  They're sort of one-trick ponies so I'm not sure why I like them so much, but Red Cap Brownies.

21. Favorite Dragon color/type.  Green dragons.  Mostly because green is my favorite color and it's the traditional dragon color.  Their breath weapon is hard to resist, too.

22. Favorite monster overall.  Orcs.  There are so many interesting ways to use them, but even if you stick to the traditional way, they're still fun opponents to fight.

23. Least favorite monster overall.  Hard to say.  There are a lot of monsters I don't like and will likely never use.  Should I just say flumpf and move along?

24. Favorite energy type.  Well, we got through the silly lists of monster questions, and get this?  Moving on.

25. Favorite magic item.  Now this is a real question.  And a tough one.  The staff of wizardry is pretty sweet.  Until it's out of charges, you can use more spell slots for utility spells and still be able to help the party out in combat in many many ways.

26. Favorite nonmagic item.  Rope.  Samwise Gamgee said it best, it's always a good idea to have a bit of rope.

27. A character you want to play in the future.  A gnome illusionist/assassin.  Because I've never played any of those.

28. A character you will never play again.  Achaz the Elder (Achaz the Younger is still viable).  Achaz the Elder was killed by black dragon breath on his second or third adventure.  His son carried on the family business and had more success.

29. What is the number you always seem to roll on a d20?  One between 1 and 20.  My blue d20 from the Basic Set used to seem to come up 17 quite often.  Could be a flaw in it.  One I'm happy to exploit to my advantage.  But it's probably just all in my head.

30. Best DM you've had.  Justin.  His Vaults of Ur game is tons of fun, and he and I seem to often see eye to eye on what's fun about D&D.

So there you have it, folks.  And while you didn't have to click on my blog 30 times this month to find out all this, I think this way's likely better anyway.  And I don't really care much about my blog traffic anymore.  People that like my stuff read it.  That's good enough for me.  So thanks for reading!

How many baboons...

Thanks to S.P. at How to Succeed in RPGs or Die Trying for linking to this fun little quiz on The Oatmeal.


Created by Oatmeal

Yeah, I'm a lemming

Your results:
You are Geordi LaForge

Geordi LaForge 80% Mr. Scott 75% Chekov 65% Will Riker 60% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 60% Uhura 55% Jean-Luc Picard 50% James T. Kirk (Captain) 45% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 40% Data 40% Deanna Troi 40% Beverly Crusher 35% Spock 27% Worf 25% Mr. Sulu 15%

You work well with others and often   fix problems quickly. Your romantic   relationships are often bungled.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Quiz

Zombies? Bring em on!

Gamquistu - Games, Quizzes and Stuff.

I blame Zhu AND Coop

The current OSR meme, make your blog into an 80's fan-zine.  Here's mine:

And my 20 Answers

I wonder if this meme that Brendan started, being over 24 hours old, is now too stale for the blogosphere.  We've got such short attention spans these days.  Well, here are my answers anyway.  I think I'll put them down here, then re-post them in my Facebook gaming group, just so folks can see where I stand and maybe they'll post their own there.

For reference, this pertains to my Megadungeon, if I ever start running it again.  If I get a game of Flying Swordsmen going over the summer, there will be differences.

1. Ability scores generation method?  3d6 six times, arrange to taste, OR 4d6-L in order rolled.  Choose before rolling, of course.
2. How are death and dying handled?  0 hit points?  See question 1.
3. What about raising the dead?  High enough level?  Cast it.
4. How are replacement PCs handled?  If the party is heading back to town soon, they'll pick you up there.  If that seems unlikely, I'll work the new PC in somehow (I'm not bad at improvising).
5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?  Group, rolled every round.  Saves me a bit of hassle.
6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?  None.
7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?  Chicks dig the horns.  (I assume any suit of armor has a helmet, I don't get all Gygaxian with head injuries and ear seekers.)
8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?  Depends on what level of the dungeon you're on ("Player shots cannot hurt other players...yet.")  Seriously, no, it's again just a hassle I don't think the game needs.
9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?  You don't NEED to run.  But see questions 1 and 2 above if you don't when you should.  If you're clever, though, yes, you CAN kill everything.  It's up to you to figure out how in some cases.
10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?  YES!!!
11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?  YES!!!
12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?  Not very for encumbrance; resources however (torches, arrows, food, hit points, spells, etc.) I do want tracked.
13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?  No training, but I probably won't dole out XP until you haul your sorry ass back to town or camp or something.  Just as I don't require fighter types to tell me they're sharpening blades and polishing armor, your M-U is assumed to be studying spells, and gaining a level is that Eureka moment when it finally makes sense.
14. What do I get experience for?  Gold, monsters, and clever ideas.  Make me gut laugh, and you may get a bonus as well.
15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?  Try descriptions first, and only roll dice if the description fails.  If players just stumble through one missing the clues, I'll make a roll for you behind the screen.
16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?  Retainers are not encouraged or discouraged.  Up to you.  Morale works by the book (BX/BECMI/RC style, not AD&D).
17. How do I identify magic items?  Test them out.  I may also adapt J. Rients' idea that read magic spells can identify what exactly you've got.
18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?  If you find someone who's got a magic item, and make them the right offer, they may take you up on it.  That will more or less be an adventure in and of itself.  You can buy potions by the book in BX/BECMI/RC.  It's called hiring an alchemist to brew them for you.
19. Can I create magic items? When and how?  As per Holmes, M-Us (and Elves) can create scrolls from Level 1.  It takes 100gp per spell level and 1 week of down time per scroll.  Name level spell-casters can make anything, and name level Dwarves can create weapons/armor/rings.
20. What about splitting the party?  Feel free.  Again, I can improvise.  Plus, I get to make two (or more) wandering monster checks ever other turn!

Zak's been asking questions

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

Probably my unique magic items series. It hasn't really affected my occasional players yet, but as a DM it gives me all sorts of inspiration to have a limited number of unique magic items in a campaign, rather than just popping in whatever the random charts spit out, and having the only things with stories attached to them be artifact level items.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

When was, it, last October? November? Ran a couple sessions of my Megadungeon with Classic D&D.

3. When was the last time you played?

Jan. 8, 2012 in Brian's Pathfinder game

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

Terminator: The War Against the Machines (all that future stuff you only see glimpses of in the movies) run with Star Frontiers (minus the Dralasites and stuff).

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Sometimes pay attention and try to think of ways to turn their ideas back on them. Usually, though, I'm going through my adventure notes one more time to jog my memory of what's probably coming up.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

In Japan, we always seemed to get MacDonalds takeout for games. Here in Busan, it's mostly just some chips and whatever drinks we prefer (beer or baekseju if I'm drinking, Coke or Mountain Dew if not).

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

No. Mentally exhausting sometimes, though.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

In our PF game I've been running a Paladin who is trying to clean up the town, scour the dungeon, keep the party from tearing itself apart from internal rivalries, and when I've got a spare moment, visiting my favorite prostitute. He's a busy dude.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

I tend to end up making my (rare) serious settings unserious all on my own. I've yet to have players turn my (much more common) unserious settings serious on me.

10. What do you do with goblins?

Stick them in dungeon rooms, sometimes with some treasure, and usually a few notes on interesting things they are up to.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

See my Beast of the Week series, turning monsters from myths and legends into monsters for the game.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

Lots of them, but the first one that came to mind was in our Gamma World game last year, where Jeremy's mutant bull character bull-headedly blew himself up by trying to bash through a trapped security door with his horns. Josh kept telling him how much damage he'd done and asking him every so often if he wanted to keep going. He did, and at 1000 points of damage, BOOM!!!

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

In real life, the 2E Monstrous Compendium, for stocking my Megadungeon. On the computer, the 3.5 Complete Aracane for building my Birthright PC for Adam's upcoming game.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

I grew up with Elmore art in my BECM and Star Frontiers.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

It has a few times, but as mentioned above, I rarely run serious games so such occurrences are rare.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

Hard to say, but it was likely either with "Isle of Dread" or "Crash on Volturnus," as I ran both of those modules several times.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

Good sized table (plenty of room for character sheets, books, snacks & drinks, plus minis if necessary) in a large room, comfy chairs, adequate lighting, and few distractions.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

I'm liking Pathfinder well enough as a player (doubt I'd like it as a DM after my experiences with 3E), but I also like silly little indie games like "All Outta Bubblegum" or my own "Presidents of the Apocalypse."

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

The Castlevania video games, and Three Kingdoms, the classic Chinese novel.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

Smart, adaptable, with a sense of humor, well-read and well versed in pop culture (to get my lame jokes and odd references used as clues in the dungeon), and willing to play an Old School version of D&D.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

The first time I went to Japan, I visited Kakegawa Castle. I turned the floorplans to that castle into a location in an OA game and had the players' Ninja PCs infiltrate it. Having actually been to the place, and then using it in a game worked well for me in visualizing and describing it.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

A version of the Rules Cyclopedia without the tacked on skill system and expanded Mystara setting, but with the missing tournament rules, and with the original Elmore/Easley art instead of the Terry Dykstra art that's in the RC.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?

My (foreign) coworkers, and my adult conversation students. With the coworkers, it's usually just a "what did you do this weekend" sort of thing with maybe a few questions about how the game works here and there. With my adult students, it's mostly a curiosity thing - they usually don't know what I'm talking about so they ask lots of questions, but usually don't show any interest in playing.

What are we supposed to use, harsh language?

For Greg at Gorgonmilk.

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

Someone had to say it.

So, many of you have likely seen the DM Merit Badges over on Stuart's blog Strange Magic.  If you haven't, go take a look.  They're designed to be a visual shorthand to show players how a GM likes to run their games.

I've been told my DMing style is like a Mel Brooks movie, so the picture and quote above are rather appropriate.  But what the heck, here are my DMing badges:

Gonzo, with a map but improvisation is important.  I tinker with the rules rather than by the book, and don't always make every encounter "appropriate."  I make most rolls in the open, and don't fudge them.  PCs can die, and players need to use their brains to keep them alive.  And if the players come up with a good idea, I'll be sure to use it.

Hey, and I get to use my "Mel Brooks" tag again!

Hot Elf Chick Ninjas!

Jumping on the bandwagon!

For those of you not familiar with Old School Role Playing Games (what we like to call the OSR), welcome!  We're a bunch of cantankerous, friendly, constantly bitching, mostly welcoming, and highly imaginative people who like to play old RPGs (the pen, paper and dice kind, although a lot of us enjoy the computer/video game versions, too), and modern RPGs made with similar design ethos to those older games.

Take a look around, check out the blog roll, and hopefully you'll find some stuff that makes you smile, some stuff that makes you angry, and most of all, some stuff that makes you want to join a game.

The bandwagon still has room for one more hireling

So today's topic around the OSR-type blogs is hirelings/retainers/henchmen.

I'm pretty sure I've blogged in the past about my own early experiences with them, but I'm too lazy to look up a link to that old post right now.  So I'll briefly recap.

Starting with Mentzer, his Basic set tried to discourage retainers.  I'll need to double check the actual books, but the way I read them was very similar to the excerpts of Moldvay Basic that James M., Lord Kilgore, and others are talking about.  PCs can hire help, but they're discouraged from doing so at early stages of the game.

My idea of the 'retainer' that I got from Mentzer, though, was that they were free-lance classed NPCs who would hire on with your group for a share of the treasure.  Sorta like henchmen in AD&D, only contracted on an adventure by adventure basis.  We never got the idea from Frank's set that hiring Normal Man type soldiers/men-at-arms, or other porter/linkboy types was even an option.  Frank's Expert set reinforced this, with the admonition that mercenaries would guard your castle or clear the land of monsters, but wouldn't go down in a dungeon.

Since Frank had stated that it was preferable to have players each play multiple characters rather than resort to hiring retainers, and since we would often just roll up new characters when we were bored (to put off doing homework for another few minutes), we all had a dozen or so characters at any one time, and our adventuring parties usually consisted of each of our 1-3 players playing 3-5 of their characters, plus the DM 'NPCing' some of their own as well.  So we didn't need to hire extra help most of the time.

But that's what comes of playing D&D in a tiny farm community with a very limited player pool.

More recently, I've been encouraging the hiring of NPC help.  Some of my players take to it, some don't.  That's up to them.  I find that having a few hired spearmen along on a dungeon delve, or some extra sacks and backpacks for hauling out loot (or hauling in more oil, holy water, rations, etc.) can help a lot.  But if a group wants to go without them, OK by me.

So what have I got to add to the discussion?  Not much really.  But it was easier posting this than writing up the post that's on my mind, which is all about literary critique theory and how that may possibly be messing up some people's ideas of what RPGs should be about.  I'll save that one until I get over the headache I've got today.

Book Recommendations

Well, the 3-day Chinese New Year holiday starts today.  My wife and I had wanted to go see the Nick Cage movie Season of the Witch, but it looks like the theaters are closed.  At least the ones she checked yesterday are.  So we'll probably just spend the day at home.

If our son takes a nap this afternoon, I'll likely use the opportunity to re-arrange the HeroClix teams I've got put together to integrate the new figures.  I may also do a little stocking in the Megadungeon.  We'll see.

Anyway, I was on Project Gutenberg last night, and found, in their 'Bookshelf' section, a list of "1000 Novels Everyone Must Read" by British newspaper The Guardian.  Here's a cut and paste of the Science Fiction and Fantasy section of the list.

Bold are ones I've read.  Only 25.  Hmmm.  Need more time for reading.  But then, of course, this being subjective, there's plenty of Sci-fi/Fantasy I've read that I think should be on a list like this but isn't.  So take this for what it's worth.

Science fiction and fantasy

• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Non-Stop by Brian W Aldiss
• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
• The Drowned World by JG Ballard
• Crash by JG Ballard
• Millennium People by JG Ballard
• The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
• Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
• Weaveworld by Clive Barker
• Darkmans by Nicola Barker
• The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
• Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
• Vathek by William Beckford
• The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite
• Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown
• Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• The Coming Race by EGEL Bulwer-Lytton
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
• The End of the World News by Anthony Burgess
• A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Erewhon by Samuel Butler
• The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
• The Influence by Ramsey Campbell
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
• Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
• The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
• The Man who was Thursday by GK Chesterton
• Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• Hello Summer, Goodbye by Michael G Coney
• Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
• House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
• Pig Tales by Marie Darrieussecq
• The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R Delaney
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
• Camp Concentration by Thomas M Disch
• Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
• Under the Skin by Michel Faber
• The Magus by John Fowles
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Red Shift by Alan Garner
• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
• Light by M John Harrison
• The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
• Dune by Frank L Herbert
• The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
• Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
• The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
• Atomised by Michel Houellebecq
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• The Children of Men by PD James
• After London; or, Wild England by Richard Jefferies
• Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones
• The Trial by Franz Kafka
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski
• Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
• The Earthsea Series by Ursula Le Guin
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
• Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
• Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
• The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
• The Monk by Matthew Lewis
• A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
• The Night Sessions by Ken Macleod
• Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
• Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin
• The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Ascent by Jed Mercurio
• The Scar by China Mieville
• Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller
• A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller Jr
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• Mother London by Michael Moorcock
• News from Nowhere by William Morris
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
• Ada or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Ringworld by Larry Niven
• Vurt by Jeff Noon
• The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
• The Famished Road by Ben Okri
• Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock
• Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
• The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth
• A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
• The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett
• The Prestige by Christopher Priest
• His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
• The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
• Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
• The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
• Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
• The Female Man by Joanna Russ
• Air by Geoff Ryman
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• Blindness by Jose Saramago
• How the Dead Live by Will Self
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons
• Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Insult by Rupert Thomson
• The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
• The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
• Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
• Institute Benjamenta by Robert Walser
• Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
• Affinity by Sarah Waters
• The Time Machine by HG Wells
• The War of the Worlds by HG Wells
• The Sword in the Stone by TH White
• The Old Men at the Zoo by Angus Wilson
• The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
• Orlando by Virginia Woolf
• Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
• The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
• We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

I'm a Winner! And a PSA (not the G.I. Joe kind)

Well, over at The Missing Word blog, I've been given a Versatile Blogger Award!  Thanks to M.J.A. Ware for bestowing it upon me! 

This means I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself, and pass the award on to seven bloggers I think deserve some honorable mention.  So here goes:

1. I received the Frank Mentzer edited Basic Dungeons & Dragons red box for my 11th birthday in 1984.  I still have, and use, the dice that came with it.

2. I lived in Japan for just slightly under 10 years, and I've been in Korea 3 years and counting.  I can speak Japanese.  I can't really speak Korean.

3. I'm currently working on a screenplay that is a samurai ghost story.

4. I attended the University of Evansville, where I studied Creative Writing.

5. I'm going to begin work on my Masters of TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) this March.

6. My first dog was a dalmatian named Pongo.  We don't currently have any pets.

7. I can cook fairly decently, but my wife is so awesome in the kitchen that I rarely do anymore.

Alright, now it's time to give the Award to some of my fellow bloggers.  These awards are brought to you by the Friends of Starship Warden.  As most of you likely know, game designer Jim Ward, who designed Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, and quite a few other games, is ill.  The disease is treatable, but it's expensive.  If you've ever played a game designed by Jim, based on something he designed, read one of his books, etc. please click on the link and donate whatever you can.  [Josh, thanks for the reminder for me to post this!]

And now, my seven picks for Versatile Blogger Awards! (in no particular order)

Once More Unto the Breach, DRANCE's blog about his journey back into RPGs, and whatever else crosses his mind.  I get inspired and excited by things I read here, as it's fairly different from my own gaming journey over the years.

Back in '81 is Yoyorobbo's gaming blog.  He shares my passion for random small, cheap plastic fantasy miniatures for use in the game.

Countdown to Game Time is Bigby's Left Hand's blog.  It's about games, fiction, comics, and providing groovy stuff to enhance your game.

Dangerous Brian: A Gamer's Blog is obviously by Dangerous Brian.  He's currently doing a series on survival guides for low level characters which are well worth the read, even if you know it already.  Never hurts to brush up on basics.

Errant RPG is Greg Christopher's home of his retro-clone and related stuff.  I've found him to be articulate, creative, and generally thought provoking in his posts.


The Caffeinated Symposium is my real world buddy Dave Cesarano's blog.  He goes on about mostly literature, history, and gaming.  Coffee not included with the price of admission.

The Red Box Blog is The Red DM's blog.  This is one of the newer blogs I'm really digging, especially because The Red DM plays and enjoys all versions of D&D.  He's got a recent series of posts saying just what it is he enjoys about each version, too.  Good stuff, and it's nice to see the mix of older and newer games getting some love in the same place.

Congratulations!!!

Wow, it's taken me two days to pick my winners.  I've got lots of great blogs on my blog roll, so it sorry if you didn't get picked.  Congrats to the winners!  Feel free to snag that snazzy graphic up at the top of the page and pass on the award to other blogs you enjoy!

Ringing in the New Year

A little late in posting this, I know, but it's been a busy couple of days (and we didn't even go to any parties).  Here's how things have shaped up on the first full calendar year that I've been doing WaHNtHaC.

[I installed the Google Analytics tracker on April 1st, all data related to hits/sources misses out on the first 3 months of the year.]

13,478 visits to the blog between April 1 and Dec. 31.

As I stated a few days ago, Google hits have drawn lots of ninja fans my way, so quite a large percentage of traffic to the site is just people looking for ninja stuff (or a picture) and then clicking away.  But here are the top 10 threads on my blog:
1. Oriental Accents: Ninja Week 996 hits
2. Clash of the Titans Movie Review 131
3. How to Tackle a Megadungeon 126
4. Game On 97
5. Tackling the Megadungeon: Scouting 93
6. Zero Sum Gaming 92
6. Luddites vs. Amish 92
8. "Do you want to live forever?" Immortality in Game 91
9. What to do when you're not in combat 87
9. WOTC really needs to get their numbers straight 87

For how people are finding my blog:
2936 hits came from Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess
2125 hits came from Jeff's Game Blog
1637 hits came here directly
1368 hits were Blogger referrals
647 hits were from Google

The big keyword leading people to my site was, surprise surprise,

NINJA!!!!!
Next were the name of the blog in various incarnations
'movie title' + horrible was fairly popular as well, if I'd reviewed the movie
A few interesting ones were "sexy pirate," "m john harrison," "curse client not working," "do you light of lord?," "ode to gibberlings," "origin of Porkins," and my favorite (gotta get in contact with these guys, I could make some money!): "the secret sect of gwidion."

OK, the final bit of Google Analytics data--where are all of you coming from?

No surprise, 8,521 hits were from the USA.
929 from Canada
825 from the UK
776 from South Korea (many by me, obviously)
363 from Japan
296 from Australia
251 from Germany
194 from Italy
186 from Finland
113 from Austria

Posts that got lots of comments included:
Adventure idea that would never work (9)
Social Interaction Rules and the Dick DM (10)
Luddites vs. Amish (10)
Maybe the sky falling is a good thing (9)
What to do when you're not in combat? (9)
Here we go again? (9)
Endless Quest books (11)
These sorts of characters ARE viable (10)

Next, my free downloads:
Castle Mistamere Extension 104 downloads
Great Dungeon Random Encounter Charts 80 downloads
The Derelict 32 downloads
Under the Hillfort Ruins notes 40 downloads
Unique Magic Armors and Shields 41 downloads
Unique Magic Wands, Staves and Rods 47 downloads
Unique Magic Weapons 100 downloads

Finally, I'm up to 89 Followers.  That's pretty impressive.  I don't remember how many I had last January, but I think it was only around 12 or 15.  It's been a good year here for me.  Thanks to you guys.

Games I've Played the Most

Not a list of the best games I've ever played, the most influential or important games I've ever played, or my favorite games.  Just the ones I've sunk the most time in over the years.  (Sticking with RPGs only).  Feel free to leave your own top 5 in the comments.

1. Mentzer/BECM D&D
2. Star Frontiers
3. 3E (3.0/3.5) D&D
4. AD&D (1E/2E)
5. d20 Modern

Yeah, mostly D&D in one form or another.  I've tried plenty of other games over the years, but these are the only ones I've played to any great extent.

Classics Appendix N: My Shelf's Version

Over at Quickly, Quietly, Carefully, Paul listed a version of "Appendix N" that only includes pre-1900 works.  It's a good list.  One of the bookshelves right next to my computer has a shelf with mostly classics, and a little bit of history.  It would make for a very odd campaign, I think, but here it is anyway:

Dante: The Inferno
The Song of Roland (trans. Goldin)
Njal's Saga (Penguin Classics)
Eyrbyggya Saga (Penguin Classics)
The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America (Penguin Classics)
Laxdaela Saga (Penguin Classics)
The Mabinogion (Penguin Classics)
Early Irish Myth and Legend (Penguin Classics)
Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of the Kings of Britain (Penguin Classics)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Penguin Classics)
Tacitus: The Agricola and the Germania (Penguin Classics)
Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul (Penguin Classics)
Homer: The Iliad (Penguin Classics)
Homer: The Oddysey(Penguin Classics)
Poems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia (Penguin Classics)
The Upanishads (Penguin Classics)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Classics)
Sun Tzu: The Art of War
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlusson
Bullfinch's The Age of Chivalry and Legends of Charlemagne
Beowulf (prose trans. Donaldson)
The Saga of the Volsungs (trans. Byock)
[one of my wife's photo albums randomly stuck in here--Not part of Classic Appendix N]
Ronner, John:  Know Your Angels [a 20th Century work, but full of angel/devil lore from antiquity to the present]
Roesdahl, Else: The Vikings
Eckert et. al: Korea Old and New: A History
The Taiheiki
Strange Tales of Liaozhai
Werner, E.T.C: Myths and Legends of China
Mitford, A.B. (Lord Redesdale): Tales of Old Japan
Immortal Poems of the English Language
[an out of place book: Moorcock, Michael: The Chronicles of Corum--I suppose adding this one in might be okay, even though it breaks the rules!]

Classically Trained

I'm sure many of you have seen these sweet T-shirts and caps with the phrase above and a picture of the old NES:

I've seen alternate versions with a NES controller, and even some versions featuring Atari 2600, Coleco, and Intellivision for the really Classical gamer.  Been thinking of picking one up one of these days.

Anyway, my earlier post about Atari's Adventure made me want to come up with this:

I can make versions with the 3LBBs, Holmes, or B/X if anyone'd like.  Just takes a couple minutes in the GIMP.

Update!  For those coming here by Google Search, here's the continuation! All TSR D&D editions.

Game Snobs

Raggi's talking about how plenty of gamers can and do sit down and enjoy many types of games.  There's nothing inherent in 4E D&D or Exalted or Sorcerer that prevents you from also enjoying OD&D or Pendragon or Traveller (and vice versa, of course).  Just like people can enjoy both chess and checkers.  Or bridge and five card stud.  Or Twilight Imperium and Candyland.  (OK, that last one might be a stretch...)

HOWEVER

I know a few, and I know of many gamers who are game snobs.  One guy here in my Board Game Group refuses to play RPGs, and hates any sort of board game like Risk, where almost everything hinges on the luck of the dice.  A friend in Japan couldn't stand older D&D, but loved 3E and 4E (and is into tournament Magic: The Gathering, something I can't stand, although a casual game now and then is fine).

I agree with Raggi that we shouldn't cater to players of other games/editions when we're introducing our favorite games/editions to them.  You wouldn't try to come up with some house rules for Clue to make it more like Settlers of Catan just because one person really likes Settlers and has never tried Clue.  The same should hold true for RPGs.

We just need to accept, though, that some people -- for whatever reasons -- will just flat out refuse to try certain games (or refuse to like them if they do grudgingly try them).  Accept it, find someone else to play with, and move on.

Fantasy Masterworks meme

I've seen this list floating around a few blogs. I'm not sure I'd consider all of these as 'master' works. I actually haven't even heard of a few of them before. And there are several other books I'd consider for addition to the list (assuming they left Tolkien out on purpose even). But here you go anyway.

The farthest back I could trace the list was this site:
http://booktionary.blogspot.com/2010/07/meme-gollancz-fantasy-masterworks.html

Bold-Read it

Italics-Own it but haven't read it

1 - The Book of the New Sun, Volume 1: Shadow and Claw - Gene Wolfe
2 - Time and the Gods - Lord Dunsany
3 - The Worm Ouroboros - E.R. Eddison
4 - Tales of the Dying Earth - Jack Vance
5 - Little, Big - John Crowley
6 - The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
7 - Viriconium - M. John Harrison
8 - The Conan Chronicles, Volume 1: The People of the Black Circle - Robert E. Howard*
9 - The Land of Laughs - Jonathan Carroll
10 - The Compleat Enchanter: The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea - L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
11 - Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees
12 - The Book of the New Sun, Volume 2: Sword and Citadel - Gene Wolfe
13 - Fevre Dream - George R. R. Martin
14 - Beauty - Sheri S. Tepper
15 - The King of Elfland's Daughter - Lord Dunsany
16 - The Conan Chronicles, Volume 2: The Hour of the Dragon - Robert E. Howard*
17 - Elric - Michael Moorcock
18 - The First Book of Lankhmar - Fritz Leiber*
19 - Riddle-Master - Patricia A. McKillip
20 - Time and Again - Jack Finney
21 - Mistress of Mistresses - E.R. Eddison
22 - Gloriana or the Unfulfill'd Queen - Michael Moorcock
23 - The Well of the Unicorn - Fletcher Pratt
24 - The Second Book of Lankhmar - Fritz Leiber*
25 - Voice of Our Shadow - Jonathan Carroll
26 - The Emperor of Dreams - Clark Ashton Smith
27 - Lyonesse I: Suldrun's Garden - Jack Vance
28 - Peace - Gene Wolfe
29 - The Dragon Waiting - John M. Ford
30 - Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe - Michael Moorcock
31 - Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams - C.L. Moore
32 - The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson
33 - The House on the Borderland and Other Novels - William Hope Hodgson
34 - The Drawing of the Dark - Tim Powers
35 - Lyonesse II and III: The Green Pearl and Madouc - Jack Vance
36 - The History of Runestaff - Michael Moorcock
37 - A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay
38 - Darker Than You Think - Jack Williamson
39 - The Mabinogion - Evangeline Walton*
40 - Three Hearts & Three Lions - Poul Anderson
41 - Grendel - John Gardner
42 - The Iron Dragon's Daughter - Michael Swanwick
43 - WAS - Geoff Ryman
44 - Song of Kali - Dan Simmons
45 - Replay - Ken Grimwood
46 - Sea Kings of Mars and Other Worldly Stories - Leigh Brackett
47 - The Anubis Gates - Tim Powers
48 - The Forgotten Beasts of Eld - Patricia A. McKillip
49 - Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
50 - The Mark of the Beast and Other Fantastical Tales - Rudyard Kipling

*I've read a different edition of Conan than that listed, but I've read everything REH wrote about the Cimmerian. I've got the Swords series of Fafhrd & the Mouser except for the final volume so those first two different compilations listed are covered, I've got the original Mabinogion, not Walton's retelling.

I've read 10 out of 50. Not bad. The list still seems pretty arbitrary to me. Maybe I should come up with my own list some day...