Tuesday Morning Musings (On A Wednesday)

So...a real "throwback" post: I'm sitting at a restaurant, eating breakfast and blogging. Haven't done that for a while. 

But here I am, waiting on an eggs bennie while savoring my coffee and being glad to be out of the cold for a minute (it's about 10 degrees below freezing at the moment, despite the sunshine). 

[food just arrived]

[okay...food is finished]

I am out of practice, obviously. I cleaned my plate before reopening my laptop. Might have to order a piece of coffee cake, so that I can sit here a while.

Oh, who am I kidding. I was going to order the coffee cake regardless.

I think that judging the Adventure Site Contest took a bit out of me. Maybe. It's hard to say for certain. But I just haven't been all that interested in "adventure writing/design" since that last post posted. Now, of course, I have other things going on. The boy is getting ready to graduate (and has been applying to high schools). Volleyball season has started (both kids are playing; I'm, again, coaching). Snow. Travel (heading to California this weekend to see my father). Other stuff. Taxes are around the corner...although I already had to start some of that for the financial aid applications.

Gaming has been of the "war" variety. I've been revisiting BattleTech recently. The boy got the new BT set for Christmas, and we've yet to play...reading through it, I didn't see much difference (if any) from my own version of BT. And then, while cleaning out my mom's house, I found a brown paper-wrapped box set of classic BT (the 2E version, which was the version to carry the moniker BattleTech, rather than Battle Droids). The box included all the original box stuff (maps, counters, sheets, etc.) plus CityTech (and all its paraphernalia) AND a copy of first edition MechWarrior. I have no idea where any of this came from...I still possess all MY old BT stuff (including CT, AeroTech, and MW), and no one in my family (besides me) ever played...so where did this all come from? A real mystery.

[the paper wrapper, had "Battle Tech" handwritten on it in what appeared to be my brother's handwriting...however, he professed complete ignorance of it. Given the addled state of his brain these days, this may mean nothing...he's killed a lot of brain cells...but I'd think I would have known/remembered if he ever played. And so far as I recall, he never has]

Then there's Axis & Allies. The boy and I are once again engaged in battle for global supremacy the last couple-three days, though I expect it to end in the next turn or two. We aren't the hardcore type that play with "bids" and specific "opening moves" and both of us are too stubborn to simply concede after losing one capital or another. As the Allies, I made blunders allowing Italy to control the Mediterranean and most of Africa and the Middle East...meanwhile, Japan/Tokyo was just captured by ANZAC after successive waves of UK and US forces wiped out the Imperial Navy. Right now, it's a race for Moscow from every side, and while I'm pretty sure the "good guys" will prevail, fortune can be a fickle bitch. We'll see. 

Anyway, we've already decided to play another round (reversing our roles) and I'm anxious to show him "how it's done." He remains convinced that the Allies are "O.P." due to the financial might of the Americanos, and of course, there's some truth to that...if you play a cautious game and allow the Allies time to muster their resources. By the time Japan decided to go to war, I was dug in at Fortress Philippines and the Pacific was mine for the taking. 

[I will note that my son tends to beat me...or, at least, break even...when we play on only one side of the Global A&A (i.e. either Pacific OR Europe). However, when we play the entire world, I find it much easier to distract and harass him into making errors, using forces from one board to support the other...it was especially evident in this game where he was worried about putting down the "annoying" UK or Russian or Chinese forces instead of focusing on taking the Victory Cities he needed to win the game. I suppose that's an example of "playing the opponent;" I know I have MY weaknesses in play that he exploits, too]

Why are war games so fascinating? I suppose they're not...at least not to everybody...but, to me, they're such a different form of entertainment. In a way, they are like a puzzle one is trying to solve...while your opponent constantly changes the shape of that puzzle (and simultaneously competing against you). But to what end? So you can cheer and brag? We're just going to reset the puzzle and fight the (same) war again...as we've already done numerous times. 

War games are NOT like D&D. As a DM, I am "setting the board" for the players, but I am not trying to solve a puzzle in competition with them...only the players are working at puzzle solving. And I am not allowed to change that puzzle (in play)...as the DM, I am only allowed to run the puzzle, "playing" the puzzle (I suppose) to the best of the puzzles' ability. Actually, scratch that...I'm not playing anything. The puzzle plays itself; I just roll the dice and arbitrate results.

I guess I'm a puzzle creator?

Playing a war game...like A&A or WH40K or BattleTech or Blood Bowl or Car Wars or whatever...is very different from running an RPG. The players facing each other over the gaming table are adversarial (which is how I see my role as a DM, by the way...that's another post), BUT they are on equal footing. The forces may not be symmetrical, the level of skill/knowledge/experience may be different, but generally speaking, they are playing by the same rules. The opponents are competing to solve the same puzzle.

When I run D&D, I'm not trying to "solve" anything.

You do not have to be a puzzle creator (or have any ability to build puzzles) to run D&D as a Dungeon Master. And you need a lot more skills in your toolbox than just "puzzle building" to be a competent Dungeon Master. But refereeing an RPG is a very different animal from a playing a "war game." A very different animal indeed.

My thoughts of the morning.

[UPDATE (posted Wednesday): the war is all but lost for the Axis. The German forces have broken on the mass of infantry and Allied aircraft that defend Moscow, the Japanese forces reduced to three land units and a fighter, marauding in the USSR, Gibraltar has been taken, the German and Italian navies sunk, and the Americans just took Rome, while the UK marches through north Africa towards Cairo]

[Diego conceded this morning]

Break

I'm taking a break from running D&D.

I write that sentence, and then I stare at it. Then I stretch, then I write this sentence. In about thirty seconds I'm going to get up and microwave another cup of cold coffee, maybe use the bathroom, then return to the keyboard.

[*sips hot coffee*]

Almost a year ago, I made a decision to really get back into AD&D, or at least make a valiant stab at it. I wrote a few posts about rangers and illusionists, and I watched (or listened to) a LOT of webcasts on AD&D, the best of which are the two Grogtalk dudes in Florida who I find HIGHLY entertaining (their antics, self-deprecating humor, and snarky comments often make me laugh out loud).

But it's hard to run an AD&D campaign without like-minded players. And I have no such players at the moment. OD&D has been quite enjoyable...better in many ways than AD&D. Customizable as it is, it's quite easy to make it as "Advanced" as you want it. But the same old gripe returns: why bother doing the work, when you can just play the (Advanced) game that already exists?

[*sips coffee; thinks for a moment*]

There are two issues that arise from the game I've been running. One is the small pool of players I have available: I don't want two or three viable regulars; ideally, I'd like five to seven. Even four players is too small a number for the type of game I want to run.  The other problem is the age and ignorance of the kids. Or just that they ARE kids...I'm not saying kids can't run or play D&D, just that I'm not comfortable running the type and style of game I want with kids. Not with my own, not with other peoples'.

[*sips again; pauses again*]

Taking a break from running doesn't mean taking a break from reading or designing or (possibly even) designing for the game. It just means what I wrote: I don't want to run a D&D campaign at this time. And this is sad because...well, the game is meant to be played, right? And if I'm not playing or running the game, do any of my jotted thoughts or designs or writings count for much? I can't see that they really do...and consequently that makes me feel...I don't know. Like a fraud, I suppose.  At least, like someone who has no right (or less right) to talk and write and theorize and design then someone actually doing the work of playing and running the game.

Plus it's sad because...well, because I want to run, but I'm tired of being frustrated. Someone once said something like "no gaming is better than bad gaming" and I wasn't so very sure I agreed. Certainly, I would have had a harder time buying into that expression back when I lived in Paraguay. Now, well...I'm starting to come around to the idea.

So, I'm taking a break. Been playing quite a bit of BattleTech the last week. Been considering running some Boot Hill and Top Secret for the kids (my kids, anyway). Maybe some Marvel Superheroes or D6 Star Wars. Lightweight stuff that requires little in the way of world building or investment.

I can't run D&D that way anymore. I mean, I can, but dammit, it's not satisfying. Not to me, anyway.

[*pauses to get reheated coffee from the microwave*]

One-off games of D&D are not my thing anymore. The game is designed for longterm play and development over time. That, at least, is how I derive the most enjoyment: watching characters (my own or those in my campaign) go from being pawns and patsies to individuals of note and legend. Watching their impact on the fantasy world. Seeing how the setting changes based on the actions of the protagonist characters.

Those other "lightweight" games? They are designed for minimal impact. The Succession Wars continue whether or not the Mechwarriors' lance is wins or loses a battle. A gunfighter in Boot Hill may affect the fate of a small western town, but the mythical west continues unheeded. The actions of the agents in Top Secret cannot stop the Cold War, only foil (possibly) some villainous scheme bent on world domination...and failure simply means an end to the game itself (always with the possibility of starting it up from scratch). The same holds true for Star Wars and Marvel: the game is structured and limited by the impositions of the genre and setting.

Which makes for easy, light gaming...if not especially deep or enriching stuff.

Oh, I have toyed with the idea of doing something non-D&Dish but equally "deep:" adapting something like Heroes Unlimited to the concepts found in Savage Worlds' Necessary Evil or even LESS conventional (like The Boys)...but again, I don't really have the players to do that sort of thing. Mature gaming demands maturity, and I don't just mean the ability to curse and drink beer. I'm talking about the ability to be amused by something more than the vicarious thrill of sniping law enforcement with imaginary firearms...enjoying genre conventions while subverting them requires one to understand them, no? Eh...like D&D, that's a lost cause at the moment.

Anyway. It's Friday, and it's Memorial Day weekend and for the first time in its nearly fifty year history, there will be no Folklife Festival in Seattle. This is the extremely depressing for Yours Truly but, you know, people are dying all over the country (still)...I mean, what are you going to do? And depression and disappointment are par for the course these days. Maybe I'll get around to doing my taxes or something.

Regardless, D&D will NOT be on the menu.

Hope the rest of y'all are doing well. I know this whole post is kind of a bummer, but I hope the the near future holds good things (and good times) for all of you.

Later.

Rooting Against the Players

I am not a thirteen year old boy anymore.

But I remember being a 13 year old (barely) and having friends who were 13 year old boys and what our D&D games were like.

*sigh*

As usual, apologies for the lack of posting. I've been in a bit of a...a what? Malaise? Is that a word?...lately that I just can't quite shake. Activity, keeping busy (running errands, gaming, working around the house) helps. Sitting in front of the computer, writing, does not. Not that I have excessive amounts of time to do that...the kids, when awake, need near constant attention, and when they're asleep, the malaise is generally pulling at my eyelids, too. Daily naps have become, more-or-less, a necessity simply to retreat and recharge my batteries from the constant interaction with my family.

Ugh...apologies. Didn't want to get into all that. Just wanted to offer a reason why it's hard to bring myself to the keyboard recently.

Back to the kids...while it's certainly interesting to be involved in campaign play with children, I can't say I'm finding it especially enjoyable. There's so much that children just don't know, so much information they don't have. Not just life experiences, but knowledge and ideas. Hell, vocabulary.

But, that's the bed I've chosen to lie in. And regardless of the sophistication (ha!) of any adventure design or narrative prose I might contribute to the mix, in the end things generally come down to a D6 roll for initiative, a D20 roll for attack, and...well, you know the rest. Basic arithmetic.

The kids, being of different ages (and, thus, different stages of life development) provide an interesting snapshot of different approaches and priorities in gaming. The six year old is most likely to think out-of-the-box in terms of game play; her grasp of the rules isn't strong, and she approaches the game with her imagination, often trying to befriend or communicate with monsters. The nine-year olds are straight-forward game players: their first instinct is to go for the sword (if they think they can beat an opponent) and loot the bodies. One exhibits more caution than the other, though this manifests as "hanging back," not in taking any separate or different approaches to encounters and challenges.

[interesting that the "cautious" player is a fighter while the the "gung-ho" player is a magic-user who hurls one dagger before charging into melee with his second. Seems to work for them, though]

The thirteen year old. Mmm. I ask him to roll for initiative and he asks what die to roll; same with attacks. Told there's an evil high priest bent on taking over the world and he wants to find the guy and join his cause. Capture a band of mercenaries via a sleep spell and he wants to tie a guy up, pour oil on him, and light him on fire. Just to watch him burn. Find some mysterious cave fungi and he wants to try eating them; same with dead insects. Find a cold, natural tunnel covered in a thin layer of frost and he wants to get on his shield and see if he can "sled" along its length; failing to scoot more than a few inches, he decides to pick up shield, move a few feet, and try it again. And again.

Having been a thirteen year old once upon a time, I understand about the need/desire to push buttons and boundaries, to experiment with what is possible. I get that. Some folks might even feel that it's appropriate (or important!) to engage in some "asshole behavior" not only to assuage curiosity but to "try on" the behavior and integrate the experience into the developing psyche. I'm sympathetic to this point of view myself (I'm of the belief that repressing developmental experiences can lead to worse behavior in adulthood...and that being an asshole in youth doesn't mean you become an asshole in adulthood, so long as you have the proper guidance, teaching, and parenting).

But, as I said, I'm not thirteen anymore. And I'm not terribly interested in indulging in bad behavior, or having it indulged in at my gaming table.

This is the problem with having a mixed-generation group like this. When I was a young teen, I was gaming with other young teens (boys and girls) and, out of the sight of any parental supervision, we explored our own imaginary transgressions. Pushed each others' buttons. Acted like assholes. Laughed uproariously. Eventually, somehow, still growing up to be well-adjusted members of society.

That's not where I'm at anymore. And it's irritating to have to pause the game and explain why, no, it's NOT a good idea to murder the matriarch to whom you owe 10,000 gold pieces for a raise dead spell because, A) you might need her services again, and B) she's a respected figure in the city that you use as a base of operations, and C) the temple is full of under-clerics, followers, and temple guardsmen.

I haven't done a whole lot to curtail the bad behavior, other than letting the chips fall where they may, but it's hurt and frustrated the other players...in our last session (yesterday) the boy's nine year old sister did not attend (claiming excessive school work) and I'm not so sure it didn't have something to do with the prior session's incident of torturing a prisoner to death for no reason. I find myself rooting against the player, hoping karma catches up to him before he causes more harm (to his own party)...and THIS is a bad place to be in as a DM. Not when it's already a challenge to maintain one's impartiality.

At the end of our last session, heavily wounded and burdened with treasure, the party decided to make a three day journey through the swamp in which the adventure is located, back to the tiny village that was the nearest "civilization." I explained that this wasn't the best idea; that they should try to stay on dry ground, at least to heal up a bit, rather than drag their wounded (at at reduced pace) through knee-deep water, infested with mosquitoes and snakes and whatnot, risking infection and disease. The magic-user was too weak to even walk (having been reduced to exactly zero hit points), and the kid didn't even want to spend the time to build a litter for him, preferring to sling him over his back, risking further injury or reopening of wounds. In the end, they compromised, building a litter with broken spear shafts, but deciding to make the hasty journey regardless.

First instance of
disease rules.

This morning, I decided to check the chance of the party contracting an illness or parasitic infection. Because I find the Blackmoor (Supplement II) rules to be both less informative and too specific for my tastes, I went with the more abstract rules in the DMG, as they are familiar to me; as I've written before, we were pretty By The Book back in our AD&D days. While I gave all the characters (except the paladin) a chance of contracting an illness, only two did: the party's dwarf henchwoman and the thirteen year old's fighter. Both earned gastrointestinal disorders: the dwarf's mild and chronic, the fighter's acute and fatal...karma indeed.

Of course, the party's paladin can cure disease once per day, so normally this wouldn't really be an issue. But would she use it on such a despicable human being who engages in torture and mayhem? Should she be allowed to? A lawful cleric might not even be granted the ability to heal such an individual, but paladins' powers are largely undefined (they appear to come from the character's own "innate goodness"). Since I do use alignment and class strictures, I had toyed with the idea of removing the character's paladin status for standing by while the fighter burned the mercenary alive (only dismissing the penalty as there had been nothing the paladin could do to prevent it from occurring at the time).

Mmm...decisions. I have a few days to consider before our next game session. In the meantime, I've introduced the classic BattleTech role-playing game to my kids and the children are having fun managing a mercenary company (lot of nice economic nuance in the old Mechwarrior RPG).  More on that later, perhaps. Turns out that my giant pile of hoarded role-playing games is a nice resource for a cloistered family. I'm debating if, perhaps, I should pull Boot Hill from the pile.

Anything to stave off the malaise.

[thanks for reading, folks]

5 Minute Game Design

My wife got back into town last night, and she was kind enough to let me sleep in this morning (she got up and took care of the beagles). Unfortunately, the early morning, pre-waking hours are usually my only time to write, so my continuation of my DragonLance posts will have to wait. Sorry.

SO, to make sure I still write something (I'm really trying, folks), here's a little game I designed with my 7 year old last night, while waiting for the pizza to arrive at our table. In truth, I did most of the design, but Diego provided me the materials I had to work with: a miniature spiral notebook (2"x4"), a couple pencils, a stick from Pick-Up-Sticks, a handful of (small) random plastic minis, and a bagful of assorted dice. Oh, yeah...and he wanted me to try to duplicate our "robot game" that we used to play down in Paraguay.

Here's what I came up with on the fly:

Each robot is represented by a single model, and three randomly-determined abilities: armor, firepower, and speed.  Abilities are determined as follows:

Armor: Roll D10+10
Firepower: Roll 2D6+6
Speed: Roll D4...add the result to the difference of 20-Armor (more armored mechs are slower)

Speed determines the number of actions your mech has:  1-4 one action, 5-8 two actions, 9+ three actions. An action may be a "move" or an "attack." One move is one-half the Pick-Up-Stick (there is no action spent to change facing).

An attack is made against any opponent within range, providing line-of-sight isn't blocked by items on the table (pints of beer, bottles of cheese or chili peppers, etc.). Range for all robots is one Pick-Up-Stick. To make an attack roll D20 under your 'bot's Firepower. Success inflicts D6 damage, subtracted directly from Armor (while it never came up in our battles, I would have awarded a "critical hit" on any roll of "1," inflicting double damage).

When a robot's Armor is reduced to zero, it is destroyed.

All 'bots must begin at a range greater than one Pick-Up-Stick. All players roll D6 ("initiative") to determine turn order. Turn order does not change during the battle. You are not required to utilize your full number of actions on your turn, but unused actions are lost.

[sorry...I don't have any photos to post]

Anyway, it was a fun little game to play while we were waiting for our pizza. Sofia (my four year old) won our first battle (I had the smallest, fastest 'bot; Diego had the heaviest, slowest) through a combo of luck and courage (okay, mostly luck). Feel free to use it as a jumping off point for your own Pizza Night games. Diego and I are already thinking of ways to expand the rules.
; )

Mecha War III

That's the new title for my updated version of the game formerly known as War of the Mecha. It's my third pass at the concept, that's why it has the number. Get it?

Anyway, play testing was substantial today and I seem to have gotten all the bugs out. For those who enjoyed the previous version, this is (in my not so humble opinion) very much improved. You can download it here:

Mecha War III

For ease of use with my four year old, I mocked up some data profiles of mecha using the configuration rules; the designs are inspired by "classic" battle mechs (as will be apparent to longtime BattleTech players). You can download my "sample sheet" here. Just cut 'em apart and you're ready to play (assuming you have some dice and Legos). Whether I'll bother to redo the Clan Invasion and War Campaign rules...well, I don't know (you folks can probably figure those out yourself).

Today's final battle: a four-on-four between myself and Diego that lasted four turns. The sides:

D: Zeus, "Dino-Rex," Phoenix Hawk, and Wasp (about 235 tons)

JB: Atlas, Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, and Commando (about 240 tons)

Things started out fairly even as the mecha closed to striking distance. The Rifleman was able to draw the Dino off to the flank into a set of ruins, while the Wasp and Phoenix Hawk took the direct approach through the large lake that dominated the center of the battlefield and the Zeus took the circuitous route around the side. The Zeus and Atlas traded shots with the Atlas losing an arm in the bargain.

Hard to hit.

Feeling a bit desperate, JB deployed a jump-jetting Shadow-Hawk from the swamp on the opposite flank, hoping to draw the attention of the Zeus. The plan worked better than he could have hoped as the Zeus's concentrated fire failed do more than scratch the 'Hawk (despite dropping any kind of shooting penalty for "cover" from the rules), and the assault mecha was caught in a wicked cross-fire, being brought down by several missile salvos from the Atlas. Coming to a mutual decision to end the game after the fourth turn, the Rifleman and Dino-Rex opened fire at close range with every weapon in their arsenal, but neither was dealt a killing blow and both survived their massive heat build-up thanks to good dice rolls. The Wasp and Commando show-down was likewise inconclusive (both remained standing and functional) though the Wasp was relieved of all weapon systems thanks to a massive critical hit, leaving nothing but strong language to throw at his foe.

Diego said afterward, "I think I won this one."

I love BattleTech; have loved it ever since my buddy introduced it to me circa 1985. The concept is really no sillier than Car Wars and offers the same type of nutty fun without the fuss and muss of phase tracking and maneuver/turn cards. This new "micro-version" is a real joy to play, even with a four-year old (who sometimes gets distracted by the plastic sea life we use in our terrain features), and I'm glad I took the time to put it together. I really wish I could get some cheap plastic miniatures or models in the 100mm range...I'd love to do some painting, and I think D would, too. He really had a good time coloring the mecha portraits that we cut out and taped to our Lego stacks for figures.

*sigh* Any gaming is better than no gaming.

A Tasty Little Evening

The bartender was absent from the local joint last night, so I was able to instruct and supervise Melisa in the proper construction of a delicious dry gin martini. "Ooo...it's so blanco!" she said. By which she meant "clear" (instead of yellow or pink or brownish which has been their last few attempts). Very, very nice...I'm going to have to get her to make me a couple-four more of those over the next week so that she can solidify the instructions in her brain (Melisa's our regular waitress at the place).

By the time we got home, I was pleasantly (i.e. mildly) shnockered, and it was time to get my game on. Turns out, teaching a four-year old to play streamlined BattleTech (which is what War of the Mecha is) isn't all that tough, and the kid loved it. He would have played all night, but my loose sense of parental responsibility required me to get him to bed by eleven. Besides he had gotten to play a good long time in the afternoon prior to his siesta ("I'm too excited to sleep, papi!").

An archer is caught in the kill zone between two mountains while seeking to avoid a "swamp" of baby toys.

This was actually my child's first toe-dip into wargaming...we don't have hex maps here, so we were using actual measuring sticks, turning squares, and "terrain." It worked well, and I was pleased with the restructuring of the rules for D6-only play. Some folks might be a little confused as to why I would bother...isn't BattleTech already a D6-based game? Yes it is, but one that requires entirely too many random tables and chart consultation (I have a little more patience than a four-year old, but not much...for a war-game, I want my rules constrained to a single page). Anyway, it worked well and Diego was surprisingly good at managing his heat accumulation while coordinating two mechs simultaneously.

My Warhammer lost an arm to a critical hit. D's favorite mech was the Yu Huang, but he decided to rename it "Dino-Nex."

[Diego had wanted to play with a four-mech squad, but I put my foot down...plus we were running out of Legos since he insisted on building the mechs so big. To be fair, he was using an assault-class mech, so it was supposed to be big. I guess my old age makes me inclined to be pragmatic (save some blocks for the other robots!) about such things. *sigh*]

I will try to get the Crowns of Blood thing posted before I leave town, but it's going to be tough. Diego really prefers playing with papa (today it's Star Wars), which leaves me little time for writing, what with the other stuff I've got to do to prepare. Later, gators.
: )

Free RPG Day - The Haul

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, step-dads, grandfathers, etc. out there! Without our fathers...um, pretty much none of us would be here. We should all feel grateful for that.

On the other hand, being as this is my second Father's Day as a father, I feel most grateful for my own son, who allows me to celebrate the day as a "dude of honor." He's just such a joy!

Taking a break from my magical musings for the nonce...yesterday was Free RPG Day and I was down at Gary's Games bright and early (9am) to pick up the latest-greatest. Skipped the Pathfinder and 4E offerings as I'm totally uninterested in those games (to put it mildly). Here's what I DID get:

ConspiracyX Introductory Game Kit (think of a mash-up between Men In Black and the X-Files): if you're into alien conspiracies as entertainment, this might be an RPG to check out. If you're not whole hog on the idea, the pedestrian plot and fairly boring mechanics might not be enough to juice you on it. I found the ESP mechanics/concept to be the most noteworthy think in the kit; definitely an interesting and cool design choice.

Battletech: A Time of War Quick-Start Rules: This appears to be Catalyst Games' attempt at remaking Mechwarrior (the original outside-the-mech RPG of the BT universe. As far as I'm aware, this would be the first official remake of MW since FASA's original went out-of-print. The mechanics are a little jazzed up (i.e. "more complex") as might be expected as they are based on the latest version of BT: Total War, and yet some things (like the damage monitor) seems stream-lined (no hit locations) even as they add a separate "fatigue track" (something I've always found problematic in practice with multiple RPGs). I don't know...I liked MW but could never get around to playing it because, well, if you're playing BattleTech then you generally want to be stomping around in giant robots. However, I will say A) the mechanics are fairly close to the original (which is a plus), B) the "Edge" mechanic (an additional attribute that acts as a drainable "luck" resource pool) is cool, and C) all the sample characters are neat and look like fun to play, i.e. role-play. The adventure's kind of neat, too, as a one-off.

Shadowrun Quick-Start Rules (on the reverse side of the Battletech QSR): Since I've heard nothing about Shadowrun coming out with yet another edition, all I can figure is this a promotion for the current (4th Edition) game from Catalyst...something to get the word out, and get people to come on board. So it's pretty much the same-old-same-old with the addition of "complex actions" versus "simple actions" and yadda-yadda with a lot of recycled art (all stuff from the basic book or prior adventure supplements). For me, the most interesting thing about the QSR is its length: 19 pages (not counting a 6-page adventure and 8 pages of pre-gen archetypes). I wrote whole game dealing with a lot of the same subject matter with little more than 3x that many pages.

Cosmic Patrol Quick-Start Rules: The Kahn Protocol (also, surprisingly, from Catalyst): Cosmic Patrol actually has all the look and flavor of an indie-game, in that it is whimsical (1930-60s pulp sci-fi...you know, bubble helmets, rocketships, Martian axe-women, etc.) and story oriented. Traditional GM duties are shared between all players in a rotating "Lead Narrator" role, the game works in rounds (my term) where everyone contributes to the story at hand while attempting to hit plot points and accomplish mission objectives to create a coherent narrative. At the same time, the game can't get away from "standard" RPG tropes: each player has a character, with standard attributes (brawn, brains, fighting, luck), health points, weapons, armor points, and equipment (though that last one is actually more of a metagame mechanic than actual "gear").

The funny thing about Cosmic Patrol is it is extremely similar to my first attempts at a "story now" game, even down to the subject matter (spaceship crew), when I was first introduced to the concept a few years back. As with so many of my projects, this one never quite achieved "lift-off" and part of the reason was difficulty finding a way to reconcile a narratavist agenda with typical RPG systems. I'm not sure Cosmic Patrol pulls this off (in many ways, it reminds me more of a story-telling game say, like Once Upon A Time, than an actual RPG), but it's pretty ambitious that they'd put this together, and I wouldn't mind giving it a whirl and seeing how it works.

Only War: Eleventh Hour (an intro to Fantasy Flight's latest WH40K-themed RPG): This appears to be the game I thought Deathwatch was supposed to be...basically, the 40K version of WHFRP but with non-space marines. I don't know...maybe that's what it is. The pre-gens are Catachan Jungle Fighters and Ogryn (i.e. Imperial Guard troop types for those who know WH40K) with all the usual ability scores (including Fellowship) plus skills. Yay, skills. In all seriousness, I know I have a hard time being impartial with games like this because I love the idea of playing military sci-fi RPGs...but I could only wish the character profiles looked a little simpler to put together, as I would hope that any 40K RPG makes it exceptionally easy for PCs to meet horrifying, messy, and/or grimly amusing death. Look, the armies of the 40K universe are terrifying warmongers...as individuals, they're even less "heroic" than an old school D&D adventurer. That doesn't mean they can't attempt...or even succeed...at missions of "heroic" proportion. But let there be no tears shed for the fallen members of the Imperial Guard...and certainly no tears shed by players forced to go through a drawn-out chargen process to create a new Guardsman.

Dungeon Crawl Classics (that's the title of the Free RPG Day offering, but it's not the RPG itself): This is a pair of single-session adventures for use with the DCC system, plus an adventure design competition (and a chance to win some money). The adventures are titled The Undulating Corruption and The Jeweler that Dealt in Stardust and I've yet to read either (my playtesting of the DCC Beta convinced me that DCC isn't a game I'm interested in playing). So why bother picking up a copy? Actually, I picked up TWO - first because, though I don't like the DCC system, I love the game's style and themes (very pulp sword & sorcery) and want to see if anything here could or should be translated into my D&D Mine system (which I hope to run in a very S&S fashion myself...once it's at the point of running anything). Secondly, a buddy who was in Eastern Washington over the weekend asked me to pick him up a copy since he wasn't able to make it to the shop.

Aaaaand that's about it. Gary's took the opportunity of Free RPG Day to clear some shelf space and so I was able to pick up a copies of Agent X (free) and Coyote Trail (half price), but those are full RPGs that I haven't had the chance to read; if I have anything useful to say about 'em later I will, though I believe both are out-of-print as of this date. It was quite a pile of goodies I brought back from the store Saturday...a good way to kick off the weekend and Solstice.

Have a good week, folks!

; )

The Downside of Initiative

One of the things I had to clean up when I went back to the design board on the new game was the initiative rules, which previous play-testing revealed to be fairly flawed. I’ve posted my “evolved feelings” on initiative previously and if anything, those feelings have just grown STRONGER over time.

After skill systems, “initiative rules” may be THE worst system to infest role-playing games.

Now before I start my rant proper, let’s talk about the idea of the “turn” in general gaming. In many, many games…not just RPGs…including almost any game involving cognitive strategy, the play of the game is divided into turns or “go’s” which alternate between players. This element of “taking turns” not only helps organize the flow of the game, it ALSO acts a theoretical equalizer between players of differing physical ability.

Here’re a couple simple examples: in the card game Slap Jack, there is no alternation of turns. The game “turn” is a round (nice term) of play in which all the players flip over a card. If a Jack turns up, the first player to SLAP it takes all the cards in the round. Cognitive strategy has little to do with it…card counting doesn’t matter much when everyone is focused on the play…instead the observant eye and quick hand is what carries the day. Physical attributes, in other words, which gives ME a distinct advantage over, say, a 6 year old child or a 90 year old invalid.

Compare that to the game of Chess: physical attributes count for nothing in the game. I may have no trouble arm wrestling Stephen Hawking, but if he cared to set his mind to it, I’m sure he could take me apart over the chess board. On the other hand, if we played a “speed game” and made no accommodation for his disability I might be able to run the clock out on him.

But most strategy games from Go to Checkers to Backgammon to Scrabble (yes, Scrabble) have no time limits to their alternating turns save that imposed or agreed upon by the players. Fortunately, these games are simple enough…and the possible actions LIMITED enough…that they can still be finished in a reasonable amount of time, regardless of the relative “slowness” of a player’s cognitive strategizing.

[can you see where I’m going with this discussion?]

War games…of the type from which D&D is descended…is akin to these board games. They require thinking and strategy, not physical ability. If I’m playing Warhammer 40K with a short kid, we get him a stool to reach the table and help him move his pieces when they get to the center of the table. It’s not a matter of who rolls the dice faster or harder; placement of cannon on the miniature battlefield takes little effort, just thought. Aside from reading and learning the rules, the most challenging part is painting all the damn minis (or coming up with the money to purchase all the damn minis, if you’re in to the GW games).

They also require alternating turns. Well, perhaps they don’t require it, but it would be pretty tough to track the flow of the game if everyone was rolling dice willy-nilly and removing pieces simultaneously (or as quickly as they could manage it). It would be CHAOS…kind of like actual battlefield conditions probably (depending on what era of war we’re talking about). But war games are not about the REAL chaos of war…they’re strategy games A LA chess…or perhaps reenactments of famous engagements (for Civil War and Napoleonic buffs). And as with those other alternating-turn strategy board games the play of the game is still SIMPLE and the possible actions LIMITED in scope, allowing turns to be accomplished relatively quickly, only slowing down when scores or hundreds of miniatures are involved.

D&D is descended from these games, by way of the Chainmail (medieval miniatures) wargame; is it any wonder that the designers (avid wargamers) used wargaming conventions in the form of alternating turns? Not to my mind…not with the original design of the game: its discussion of “sides” and “referees” and “campaigns;” not to mention the ability to hire and field mercenary soldiers of all stripes (archers and heavy foot and horsemen of various types). The initiative system presented in D&D helps to organize the game turns in a D&D combat because, like those war games, it is a cognitive (thinking) game, not one in which the physical attributes of the players/referee has impact on the outcome (thank goodness, as many of my fellow players outweigh and out-muscle Yours Truly!).

However, despite being a game of “imagination” and wide open to player action, D&D provides specific rules of engagement which are (at least originally) very SIMPLE and LIMITED in scope. You want to attack your opponent? Okay…given the “forces” (i.e. characters) on your side, what do you want them to do: melee, missile, or cast spells? Period. Done. And look how easy it is to resolve those actions in OD&D:

Melee: roll D20 to determine if attack successful (chance of success determined by character level versus opponent armor class). Only adjustments are from magic weapons and armor. If successful, attack does D6 damage (some monsters do more).

Missile: roll D20 to determine if attack successful, possibly with +1 or -1 for DEX. Otherwise, procedure is same as melee.

Magic: does caster have spell? Cast it. Resolve effect. Possibly roll saving throw. Done.

And that’s it: simple and limited and then the other team gets their “go,” and if combat isn’t resolved we play another round until one side breaks morale or is destroyed, falling to the crushing blows of their opponent.

Now as many critics of D&D’s combat system have pointed out, real combat isn’t anything like the civilized, alternating turns of the initiative sequence. I know this from my own experience with very civilized “sparring bouts” (martial arts, fencing, and a little casual brawling). Even in the sport of fencing, where one has issues of “right of way” and first action, things go pretty quick (and degenerate into body-on-body fairly readily)…and in epee it’s perfectly acceptable for two fencers to score simultaneously.

I remember as a kid absolutely hating the Battle Tech turn sequence, because while it resolved actions in initiative order, all combat was considered to occur simultaneously and it was possible to mecha would head-shot each other in the same turn, resulting in a draw. Now…well, I think the argument could be made that Battle Tech combat is far more “realistic” than that of D&D: the use of initiative rolls simply to order the declaration of actions and organize the players is about as good a use of the system as there is.

But that’s not really what I’m railing about. While I like the idea of simultaneous combat (especially in warfare) there ARE times when one side will act before the other…when one side gets the jump on the other or the other side hesitates, for example. Even without THAT “realistic” consideration, I’m fine with resolving combat (not just declarations) in “initiative order.” It’s an easy, straightforward (if arbitrary) procedure for resolving a cognitive game like D&D.

But oh boy do I HATE “individual initiative.”

The more I experience it in any form, the more I am absolutely certain that the whole premise blows chunks. Whether it’s D&D or Shadowrun or just about any other game you care to name, the resolving of combat actions based on individual initiative rolls (as opposed to group initiative rolls) is terrible from just about every perspective one can examine:

- Speed of play
- Ease of play
- “Realism”

Hmm…I’m a little short on time right now, so I’ll be revisiting this theme in a future post. However, suffice is to say I think there’s a sea change that would be a welcome occurrence in the way RPG designers (and players) think about the initiative sequence in combat…and I’m talking about the granular gamist types (like me) not just the narratavist proponents who want combat-as-a-whole to be “about something.” In my games, combat is about kicking someone’s ass. And I want to do it in the most efficient way possible.

Okay…To Be Continued.

Vulture Droids

No not the things in the Star Wars prequels. I'm talking about one of my many guilty pleasures.

It's been a looong day folks. Not that they aren't all long days these days, but most of today I felt less than stellar (I'm fighting some sort of hay fever or something). And the only thing going through my head this afternoon was the Vulture mecha, aka the Clan omni-mech Mad Dog.

Now, I should probably note that I haven't played an actual game of BattleTech in years...like so many years ago it was before there was even such a thing as Clans.

"Back in MY day," says the Old Geezer, "we used cardboard cut-out figures and maps with little hexagons; none of these new-fangled miniatures and terrain model."

I never bothered keeping up with BT over the years. I've picked up the BT Compendium (used) and I've read up on the "on-going timeline" via the internet, but I wouldn't know a damn thing about the clan mechs themselves if it wasn't for video games.

Yes, I do play video games...or I have. Haven't played any for many months now (the amount of free time remaining to me is near zero), and that's just fine. Like television, you rarely miss it when it's gone.

['course I'd probably spring for a new 360 if they came out with a Rock Band disk containing the music of Queensryche's The Warning...I've had that one stuck in my head for awhile now]

Video games can definitely be fun, especially for games like BattleTech; that is, war games with a ton of minutia (critical hits and hit locations and weapon variation and special options, etc.). But for the table-top I want something simpler (like my War of the Mecha game). It demands a faster pace...even when I played BT in the past it was sloooow...at least if you were using more than a couple mechs on each side of the engagement.

But sometimes I miss that minutia...endo steel structures and ferro-fibrous armor and the distinction between pulse lasers and beam lasers. Mech construction is one of those little "games within games" that is so much fun. I've used snatches of this and that off the web to deconstruct Clan mechs using the BT Compendium even withOUT the actual Clan stats.

Yes, I am a big nerd. You don't have to tell me.

Unfortunately, having deconstructed 'em...like the ultra-cool Vulture/Mad Dog...I simply have no desire to do anything with 'em. I mean, I'd like to drive one and blast shit, but actually playing BattleTech sounds so tedious. And frustrating. Trying to play the way the game is written (as opposed to using my micro-version) would consist of me spending a lot of time teaching someone...or me getting totally pwned by someone who's an even bigger nerd than me.

[I have a similar issue with other table-top war games...Warhammer 40K, for example]

Anyway, that's just what I'm thinking about...and I really wanted to post a good pic of the Vulture. Tomorrow, I've got some orcish scenarios to finish statting out.

G'night, folks.

: )

Campaign and Conquest

Unlike the last post, this one IS game related.

Sorry for the delay with this...I would have had it up yesterday, but was having trouble with my Mediafire access. All fixed now.

The Glenn at the Seeking Wing's recent enthusiasm for my one page microgame, War of the Mecha inspired me to whip up yet another supplement for the mecha mayhem, this one entitled War of the Mecha III: Campaign and Conquest. It provides rules for running an on-going campaign (planetary assault in this case) with specific mission objectives, victory scenarios, and rules for promotion in rank (as well as being busted down for failure). Fully compatible with War of the Mecha and WotM II: Clan Invasion! this game provides only additional rules, not revisions or changes. If you don't like the original, you'll have to make your own house rules! You can download it here:

Campaign and Conquest

Glenn: You are responsible for coming up with your own "combined arms" rules for armored vehicles, infantry, and air support. I think I'm creatively "tapped out" for now!

; )

...and Speaking of Endless War...

Wow...check this out!

Glenn Jupp of The Seeking Wing is a role-player and war gamer who has a not-too-uncommon BattleTech fetish and started developing an old school BattleTech game using a combo of Mekton and MicroMechWarrior. That is, until he somehow stumbled across my War of the Mecha one-page RPG. Now he's not only playing WotM (with miniatures!) he's posting pix on his blog AND developing his own minutia and random tables for the game.

That's pretty damn cool, for a number of reasons.

First off, it's great that someone's actually using the rules. I liked them a lot myself, developing them because of my own BattleTech fetish.

Second, they actually work! And manage to capture the feel of BT without all the extra rolling...my whole design objective! Fantastic!

Third, in addition to providing someone with enjoyment (my numero uno priority), they're inspiring someone to add their own creativity to the mix (with salvage rules, extra crit tables, and the possible development of random missions and war campaigns). That is super-hip. Creativity breeding creativity can only lead to a more fun (and interesting) world.

Finally, Glenn's own sharing has inspired me. I don't have all the cool minis and such he has but I have a whole box of cardboard terrain and mecha cut-outs (i.e. the BattleTech boxed set) that I may just take down to the Baranof on Thursday. I mean, I plan on running D&D, too, but maybe a little mecha-inspired mayhem as a prelude would be cool. Hell, we can at least use the counters to represent goblins and such in our B/X game.

Super cool. I love this blogger stuff.

: )

P.S. Here's the link for the War of the Mecha supplement, Clan Invasion!

The Mean Streets of Skara Brae

There are some items and events from my past that have effects that carry over even unto the present day…film and fiction from my formative years that STILL impact my imagination and my ideas on both “what’s cool” and what I’d like to see in my gaming. Some of these things are sooo far back in my memory that I can only recall snatches of them…like the black and white serials of The Masked Marvel that I remember watching on TV circa 1975 or ’76 (age 2 or 3 in other words). Just these “remembered flavors” of the past have influence over my psyche…and when I’ve managed to reclaim some of these things (thanks to the magic of eBay or Scarecrow Video, I’ve not been disappointed.

In no particular order, here are some of the items that go into making up MY personality matrix:

Films
- Star Wars
- The Hobbit
- The Last Unicorn
- At the Earth’s Core (with Peter Cushing)
- The Secret of NIMH
- Dragon Slayer
- Xanadu (which, strangely enough, did more to encourage an interest in Greek mythology than Clash of the Titans!)

TV
- Sid & Marty Croft stuff, but especially H.R. Puff & Stuff, Land of the Lost, and Dr. Shrinker
- Tales of the Gold Monkey
- The Day After
- Shogun (to a small degree)
- Logan’s Run (ditto)
- The Masked Marvel

[I should note that I’ve watched a lot of TV over the years, including a lot of the “boy fantasy” crap of the 80’s: The Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, Buck Rogers, The A-Team, The Hulk, etc…none of this seems to have had a recognizable impact/influence on me]

Books & Comics
- Mainly Marvel comics of the early ‘80s
- Old DC horror comics, westerns (Jonah Hex), and WW2 (the Unknown Soldier, etc.) that I’d find around my grandma’s house.
- Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series
- Many random Halloween and/or Witch-themed books

Games
- Dungeons & Dragons (of course!)
- Dungeon!
- Risk
- Dark Tower
- The Bard’s Tale

When I say these things have an influence on me, I mean that they exert influence even when I’m not directly referencing them. While the list is by no means exhaustive, I think I’ve really captured most of it…other influences on my imagination and gaming are more directly referenced in my mind…for example, I’ve seen The Road Warrior many times…when developing a post-apocalyptic game I often consider how (or if) that film does or should influence the material.

MOST influences on my writing/gaming/preferences ARE conscious. I say, “right, I want something that feels like Indiana Jones.” But sometimes I do weird things and it’s only later that I say, “huh…I think that came from waaaay in the back of my subconscious.” Like maybe my “borg love” has to do with watching the Six Million Dollar Man duke it out with replicants or something. Or maybe that was J.J. Hands.

ANYway, it’s the last thing on the list that I wanted to talk about: the old Electronic Arts computer game The Bard’s Tale.

Back in 1985, this was the game EA was known for, not console sports games, and whenever I see the name Electronic Arts, this is the first thing that pops into my head. No, EA didn’t design Bard’s Tale, but they distributed it and their logo was featured prominently on the box…a box that was necessary to keep around as it featured a map to the town of Skara Brae.

Skara Brae…oh, the frustration you caused me.

I was reminded of Skara Brae recently when contemplating my recent D&D sessions (yet another trip to the Baranof is scheduled for tonight…looks like there will be four of us for a change!). Skara Brae was a dark and dangerous town. Worse than film portrayals of Detroit...I mean BAD. Even a heavily armed party of half-a-dozen couldn’t walk more than a block or two without getting jumped by a bunch of monsters…and that was in broad daylight! At night, it was even worse, and the vermin would be all over you like stink on shit. Really…two steps and whoa! ANOTHER encounter.

At higher levels of experience it was easy enough to avoid these monsters simply by ducking down an alley (i.e. typing “Run”). And one would have to do this in order to get anywhere in a timely fashion (just running down to the corner store? Careful…there’s a half-dozen orcs down on the corner spoiling for a rumble). At the lower levels however, monsters were much more likely to catch you and force combat.

And this led to a lot of death.

See, players used to playing oh, say, D&D were going to want to make their own party of adventurers for a computer game like Bard’s Tale. Not that “Omar” or “El Cid” aren’t fine names and all, but I always enjoyed making characters after the players in my OWN game. Plus, didn’t you want to have a Halfling Monk? I ALWAYS wanted to make a Halfling monk! And let me tell you THAT little guys was NO ONE to F with once he hit level 12 or so.

But getting to level 12 was a bit of a problem. All your characters started with only the most basic of basic equipment…I think a robe and a staff was all any character received at 1st level. And since the shop was down the street from the guild hall (yes, you belonged to an Adventurer’s Guild…just like Dragon Quest!), and you had to walk down the street to get there, and the intervening streets were teeming with threatening monsters…well, your party suffered an awful lot of TPKs.

Not that you had the money to afford a whole lot of fancy equipment anyway…your 1st level characters just weren’t going to survive very long on the streets. And the handful of times YOU got the drop on a single orc or two? You’d probably end up with three gold coins (and at least one or two dead halflings) for your trouble.

Getting to that 2nd or 3rd level was pretty f’ing tough in other words…unless you wanted to A) use the pre-generated party (“the A-Team”) or B) take all of the pre-gen party’s stuff and equip it to your own characters. The pre-gens were pretty weak, too, but they had a single HUGE advantage…the bard owned a magic item called a “Fire Horn” that could breathe fire on an entire group of critters. Without El Cid and his magic dragon breath, you would die many, many times until you put together a big enough string of lucky victories to level up. I don’t remember ever doing this myself…I ALWAYS took the Cid’s fire horn.

Even with the fire horn, you were likely to get smoked a helluva’ lot…and since you were broke and lowly, your options for raising party members was, well, non-existent. You ended up heading back to the Adventuring Guild…often…to drop off corpses and roll up new characters. Praying that you could level up a few party members before your fire horn ran out of charges (it wasn’t an “endless fire horn” after all).

Does this remind you of anything? It reminds me of my recent gaming sessions with my brother and Steve. All this party death and not a single character going up in level…just more “go back to town and roll up new guys” going on. In four sessions, my brother has created four characters. That’s Skara Brae statistics, folks.

Now granted, he’s had some bad luck as well as some bad planning…but is it possible that he’s in need of his own fire horn?

Maybe not…after all, Shmutzy DID have a wand of fireballs...which he used to injure his own party members nearly as often as his opponents. As I said, poor planning has been part of his woes. We’ll have to see how tonight’s game goes.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about this morning…that and the old encounter tag line from Bard’s Tale:

“Once again you face DEATH ITSELF in the form of [insert monsters here]!”

The Compleat [sic] Spell Caster (#1)

[okay, deleting EVERYTHING and starting “from the top”]

I want to play a magic-user.

I’ve never had a player character magic-user in an old school game, and it’s time I tried one out. I’ve heard/read that the magic-user is the preferred class of the “power gamer,” but even at my most munchkin-y, I never got around to playing one. Personally I found them to be rather BORING.

I mean, no armor, no weapons, no balls…um…I mean, you know, “skulking around in the back.” Just not my style. Now, if I’d been introduced to the example of Gygax’s own Mordenkainen, or Ian McKellan’s portrayal of Gandalf…well, I might have seen some different possibilities for the class.

Unfortunately, I didn’t (the players who ran MUs in our games…especially ones that started with 1st level characters…learned the “skulking habit” from an early age).

[SIDE NOTE: probably an interesting avenue of gamer anthropology/psychology there to explore]

Besides…who wants to play some elderly scarecrow with a Father Time beard?

And anyway… a “magic-user?” How generic a term is that? Well, “fighter” is pretty generic, too…but I didn’t play them back in the day, either. D20 and its Feats helped open the joys of fighters to me (and even after Feats helped drive me away, I still have a great appreciation for the fighter and its malleable nature), but not the magic-user. Shit, ever character in the game has the ability to “use magic,” including barbarians!

But I understand that the original character classes were just that: CLASSES of adventurer. Not “careers” or “professions.” Not “skill sets.” They were CLASSIFICATIONS. What does this guy look like Bob? “He’s a fighter.” OR “he’s a magic-user.” OR (in B/X) “he’s a dwarf. What you don’t know what a dwarf is? Short, bearded Viking-types with axes and hammers! Sheesh!”

Now, of course I have the wisdom and maturity to see the magic-user ARCHETYPE like the fighter, can be configured to a wide variety of personalities and appearances, especially in B/X play (man, I LOVE you, B/X!). There’s no minimum Intelligence for the B/X magic-user (all INT influences is rate of XP gain!) so your magic-user can literally look like any other character…well, without the armor and weapons, of course.

Still, I’ve got to say that one needs a little imagination and creativity to roll with a “non-traditional” magic-user. And some folks could sure use a little inspiration or “jumpstart” to go that path.

The Compleat Spell Caster IS that jumpstart.

Published in 1983 (yes, an actual copyright this time!) by Stephan Michael Sechi and Vernie Taylor of Bard Games (a non-TSR publisher), this little supplement carries the promise of injecting a little magic into your fantasy adventure game (my phrasing, not theirs). It includes several new classes, new spells, magic items, and a ton of interesting demons (uh-oh!) all for the bargain basement price of $3.

Well, it was $3 used anyway.

Here’s the thing: At first glance, The Compleat Adventurer (the other Bard Games supplement I possess) has more immediately useful and useable information. The classes are cool, thought provoking, and have interesting effects (when adapted) without breaking any of the existing rules of the game. That’s cool.

By contrast, The Compleat Spell Caster has a bunch more stuff that I would leave on the sideline. Demons? Meh…AD&D has ‘em (and they’re fairly easy to adapt to B/X). Familiars? The same. Magic items? Meh. New classes? Well, there’s only five (though they list six). Even the spell lists seem to contain (at first glance) a LOT of “dross.”

However, after checking it once, and checking it twice, and giving it one more skim I see something of really excellent value here.

Ideas. New ideas.

New directions to go. Magic-users may be generic and archetypal, as are clerics (men of the cloth, “faith users,” “miracle workers,” whatever you want to call ‘em).

The Complete Spell Caster says: “Hey, what if classes were professions?”

Which of course is what AD&D did, too (a druid is specific type of cleric, an assassin is a specific type of rogue…these aren’t “CLASSES” of adventurer). But TCSC goes one better; it re-classifies all spell-casting adventurers as, well, “spell casters.”

Check this out – Forget the following table:

CLERIC
- Druid
MAGIC-USER
- Illusionist

We’ll rename magic-user to “Wizard” (just go with me on this) and clarify a cleric to be a specific type of spell-caster (NOT a “divine caster”), and instead check THIS paradigm:

DEMIHUMAN
- Dwarf
- Elf
- Halfling
FIGHTER
SPELL-CASTER (“magic users”)
- Cleric
- Druid
- Illusionist
- Mystic
- Necromancer
- Sage
- Sorcerer
- Witch/Warlock
- Wizard
THIEF
[now, of course I could add in the new classes from The Compleat Adventurer, as well as any existing fighter and thief “sub-professions,” but we’re just checking out Spell Casters in this post]

How cool is that? Personally, I think it’s pretty darn cool. No longer is Magic-User the top dog and other spell casters simple knock-offs. They’re all just spell-casters, of which the Wizard is but one type.

I’ve always liked games that had different types of magi. It appeals to me…it seems more “real world.” After all, there ARE various traditions of magic in real life (Hermetic mages, Wiccans, Kabalists, voodoo doctors, Christian mystics, Taoist sorcerers, whatever). They all work magic in their own style, with their own specialties, based on their own traditions and rituals. That’s cool. That’s strange and arcane. That’s something I WANT in my fantasy game.

Warhammer Fantasy RPG (the original) has a TERRIBLE magic system based on the Warhammer war game. But it has a super-cool list of magical professions, including the Necromancer and the Demonologist. Come on…who DOESN’T want to be a demonologist?

Heck, even the old ECA video game Bard’s Tale, HEAVILY based on D&D, didn’t have simple “magic-users.” Instead you had Magicians, Conjurers, Sorcerers, Wizards, and (in later sequels) Chronomancers and Geomancers. Each had their own spell list. Each had their own (cool) specialty.

Why can’t D&D be the same?

2nd edition AD&D tried doing specialist wizards, but personally, I always found these SUCKED. That’s because they tried to categorize specialists by simple spell categorization type (“abjuration, evocation, conjuration, divination, etc.”). All 2nd edition did was take the MU class, and tried to break it into component parts…how frigging unimaginative is that?

God, 2nd edition is a soul-less bitch of a game sometimes.

What would have been COOLER (albeit harder, poor over-worked game designers of 1987) would have been to make multiple specialist spell-casters and give each their own coherent, distinct spell lists. Like what Sechi and Taylor have done with TCSC.

Personally, I’m not sure they (Sechi, Taylor, and Bard Games) go far enough. I know I’ve blogged about doing an updated, complete conversion and compilation of The Compleat Adventurer for B/X. THAT might have to be put on-hold for a truly updated conversion of TCSC, first.

In fact, I’m slightly annoyed with myself now. My B/X Companion…while still super-cool, don’t get me wrong…goes the “traditional” way of detailing Magic-User spells up to 9th level and Clerics up to 7th level. Why? Why would I do this? Why not make both go up to 7th…or both go up to 9th? Why make magic-users the spell-casting power houses of the game.

Well, actually, because they are. I mean, in B/X that’s ALL they’ve got…whereas clerics have a lot of other goodies.

Um…so why give ‘em (MUs) such a leg up over Illusionists in AD&D? That I can’t answer. I wonder if Gygax could have justified it.

My First Published Supplement!

No, not the B/X Companion (May, remember? And anyway, still waiting to hear back from my guy doing the cover...uh-oh!).

Nope, I've just made available my first micro-supplement for my micro-game War of the Mecha. The supplement (also one page) is called War of the Mecha II: Clan Invasion! and it is to be used in conjunction with WotM. You can download it from mediafire right here.

It's easy to see how game products (and supplements) can so easily spiral out of control. Once you get a halfway decent idea (including streamlining or re-inventing someone else's game!) you can find yourself wanting to add "just one more paragraph" (or page!) as new ideas pop into your head. The trick is to hold yourself to the minimum (a one-page micro or 64-page RPG) and then allow players to make it their own.

Because, face it: no matter how big and bulky you design a game, people are generally going to tinker with it (and in fact, the bigger and bulkier you make it, the MORE people will tinker with it to make it manageable). Look at this recent post over at the Black Gate (and the comments on the same): here are folks willing to play 4th edition D&D (something I am NOT) but they're just changing the damn thing to fit their own "fun." What's the point of Hasbro publishing an extra 20-30 pages of rules and instructions when people just throw 'em out anyway? People who want additional complexity will ADD IT THEMSELVES (I know we always did as kids!). What...are people too stupid to write their own random charts?

Anyway, the Clan Invasion! supplement is NOT needed to play War of the Mecha, but it can add an extra dimension to your WotM campaigns (players can create Clan characters or GMs can use the Clans as uber-adversaries). There's also a little addendum with (hopefully) useful info for WotM, but nothing that is necessary to play the original micro-game.

Enjoy!

; )

B/X BattleTech

No, no...I am just kidding around.

That's not to say I wasn't thinking about it earlier this week! However, considering the original BattleTech rules were shorter than B/X why would I try to out stream-line an already stream-lined game...of course, I could do a B/X version of MechWarrior.

No, no! Seriously, I'm just joking!

Instead, though, I figure it's about time I threw my gentle readers a bone in the form of yet another one-page micro-game, this one totally inspired by the original FASA BattleTech. It is called WAR OF THE MECHA and you can download the .pdf from MediaFire right here.

See, don't say I never give you people anything!

[by the way:War of the Mecha is a table-top war game, which means it will require some props...i.e. tokens or miniatures or counters...to play out the game. It does not have a fancy watermark like Clockwork or the Chronicles of Mutation because, frankly, I could not find a non-copyrighted mecha illustration on the web that didn't suck. If anyone wants to gift me with one, I will update the document for everyone's benefit and enjoyment]

And you thought BattleTech required three huge volumes to play!

; )

TOTAL WAR

[no, this post has nothing to do with the Middle East]

And while I’m thinking about it…Happy Earth Day!

So just in case anyone was wondering, I get easily distracted. No I do not have ADD or ADHD, but I do have something I like to call “Wandering-Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder” or WOCD. Something sparks my interest or curiosity and then I dive the hell into it and plumb the depths for awhile, only occasionally coming up for air…at which time, sometimes something new will catch my wandering eye.

From an astrological point of view, this can be linked to a Mercury in Scorpio in the 12th House…not only do I need to plumb the depths of things I study, but I do this about EVERYTHING not just particular arenas (though escapist fantasy stuff and the occult holds the biggest “draw”). The Mars in Aries ruled by Mars in Aries accounts for the “wandering attention span” and the fact that it is in direct opposition to Uranus (pronounced Urine-Us, not Your-Anus) means that the more prohibited I am from doing something, the more likely I am to fight like hell to do it.

All of which is to say that I COULD have fixed my computer and internet connection (or at least made some attempt to do something practical that I should have been doing), when in fact I was really just distracted by BattleTech.

I have said before that, pacifist though I am, I dig on military fiction, especially of the speculative (sci-fi) variety. BattleTech is a guilty pleasure in which I’ve occasionally indulged for…well, shit, nearly a quarter-century. That is a long-ass time for something that started life as a board game with a single not-quite-64-page rulebook (I think it’s more in the 30-40 page range).

Of course, look how much time Dungeons & Dragons has sucked from my lifespan…talk about obsessions! : )

So my buddy, the Doc, picked up an old Xbox game called MechAssault which is completely and utterly based on BattleTech, and then I picked it up (I owned it before, but had sold it awhile back), and then decided it just wasn’t “BattleTech” enough, and went down to Gary’s for “board game night” where I thought I might be able to entice a few folks to break out the old hexagonal battle map. Problem is, I don’t own anything BUT the map (and the rule books, of course…the OLD rules that is), and I was also looking for any BT miniatures I might borrow for the evening.

Instead, Tim produced a used copy of the original BattleTech boxed set, complete with cardboard stand-ups, the same game my buddy Scott had owned “back in the day.” The same set I had originally learned to play on (and Scott had shamelessly targeted my Rifleman’s head with a Marauder PPC…why in God’s name would you design a ‘mech with only 6 points of armor on the head? Even a 20 ton Lotus has more!).

Ahhh…BattleTech.

So I bought it, of course. And I skipped Board Game Night at Gary’s and spent the weekend indulging in BattleTech…including looking for freeware java apps on-line that would allow me to run huge as BattleTech scenarios like I used to with MechForce on my old Amiga 500 (I told you I’ve been doing this for awhile). Well, I couldn’t find MechForce for the Mac but I DID find an app called MegaMek that is a near perfect duplicate of the current version of BattleTech (sans MechWarrior rule stuff). Unfortunately the campaign builder only works with Java6 and Mac hasn’t bothered making that, so I have to edit everything line-by-line by hand and…

…well, you can see how my obsession with this stuff led to me being “off-line” for a few days. One thing leading to another to another, etc.

So, I’ve come up for air and decided that it’s time to take a big ‘ol break from BT (editing code and programming languages is NOT my forte, and my frustrations have been piling up). Plus I’ve got other stuff to do. AND BattleTech “Total War” is NOT the same BattleTech of my youth anyway.

Though it seems more like a miniatures/war-game, I always considered BattleTech an RPG. If your character sheet has a place for your character’s name (not to mention skills: piloting and gunnery), then as far as I am concerned, you are playing a role. If I am imagining myself to be some dude named Bob in a 60 ton, 15 meter tall, be-weaponed construction, by God this is an RPG…and if I’m commanding a lance or company of these mechwarriors, you better believe I’ve got names and call signs (and possibly personalities) for each of ‘em…usually based on friends and relatives (just easier that way).

Of course, that makes it tough to watch ‘em get shot all to pieces…but doesn’t it make you fight harder, too?

Of course, BattleTech DID have a role-playing game attached to it called MechWarrior. I don’t know if MW has been incorporated into the current three-volume-set of BattleTech Total War or not. I re-read MechWarrior over the weekend and man oh man, this is a vastly under-rated game, in my opinion.

In fact, I’ve often heard it remarked (or seen written) that MW is considered a spin-off game to BT…an RPG “based on BattleTech.” Frankly, I find this pretty insulting. Without MW…including it’s wonderful background material, BattleTech as a game loses a lot of my interest.

I’ll say this here and now: as far as original science fiction backgrounds/alternative histories/game settings go, I find the MechWarrior/BattleTech universe to be the most interesting, imaginative, and compelling story published in RPGs. Really.

Star Frontiers, Traveller, Aeon Trinity...even Warhammer 40,000 (I know there’s a lot of Rogue Trader fans out there!)…in my opinion, none of them holds a candle to the BattleTech universe, at least the original material up to the 3rd Succession Wars (I don’t have the later rules, so I can’t really judge the whole Clan Invasion thing, though on a superficial level I think the alternate-evolution-based-on-eugenics-and-warrior-lodge thing is cool…and better done in many ways than the Legion Astartes background of WH40K).

Even without the giant robots, I find the whole BattleTech story extremely interesting and compelling. As I said, I find it by far the most interesting ORIGINAL background material written for any game (I’m not going to judge it against games where the background/setting comes from fiction established in other mediums…for example, Star Wars…but it sure beats the hell out of plenty of those). Which is all the more surprising considering how many of the original mech designs were ripped off from other sources, including Robotech (the anime TV series) and Robotech (the 2-Issue comic book series that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the Japanimation). The former provided the mech designs for the Wasp, Stinger, Phoenix Hawk, Crusader, Warhammer, Rifleman, and Marauder. The latter provided the designs for the Wolverine, Griffon, Shadow Hawk, Battlemaster, Thunderbolt, and Goliath. In fact the only mech from the original game NOT appearing in one of these two sources is (as far as I can tell) the 20 ton Locust. No idea where the game authors got the Gooney-Bird.

Despite not originating a single mech design (apart from the Locust) the background/history of the BattleTech universe (at least its skeleton) was already incorporated into the game, appearing in the side bars of the original rule book. MechWarrior fully fleshed the thing out and provided a great galaxy to scheme and intrigue in “outside of the mech.”

However, it appears that the game, because of its nature, tended to attract wargamers that weren’t interested in role-playing and repelled role-players that weren’t interested in the basic premise of mech combat.

Excuse me…I know there are plenty of folks out there that enjoy both aspects of gaming, but I’m talking about people interested in more “hard core” role-playing, not just “how much XP do I get for the mission and how do I level up my character’s piloting skill?” There’s plenty of room in the MechWarrior RPG for exploring other aspects of the BT universe without needing a Mech…or an Aerospace vehicle…or whatever.

It’s a shame because it’s a pretty nifty little system. Oh, it’s simple enough to use (base skill roll based on ability score plus skill level, hit points by location determined by overall “Body” score, simple point-buy character gen taking up about four or five pages total in the rule book), and immediately adaptable to the BattleTech game (if you DO want to keep exploring the “war campaign” aspect of the game). But the story ideas ingrained in the game: from court intrigues and diplomacies, to pirate kingdoms, to missing/recovery Lost Technology, to ComStar and the Word of Blake, to the alliances of the periphery, to assassination attempts and spying, to infiltration and sabotage, to jumpships and gladiator games, to political positions and acquisition of titles and land (planet!) grants…all of this is the stuff to make a great sci-fi RPG, even withOUT the “giant robots.”

Anyway, now the game is about “Total War,” a phrase reminiscent of WH40K’s tag line about there being only war in the 40th millennia. Which is fine I suppose, but I’m kind of “war-gamed-out” these days. As I said, I’ve come up for air from my BattleTech obsession, and I see that it doesn’t have what I want…mainly the role-playing aspect that I desire as much as the mech-on-mech combat. So fun as it is to re-tool and re-design the existing mechs for optimal efficiency (Step One: give the Rifleman more armor…on the head!...and make sure it’s using DOUBLE heat sinks), BT is going on the shelf for awhile. At least till the next time my wife is out of town and I’m thinking about Board Game Night at Gary’s.

: )

Rise And Be Healed!

Here I was going to write about my Tomb of Horror experiences, but I guess I should throw in another two cents on D&D spirituality by continuing my discussion of the power of the Normal Man.  In this instance, the Divine power of the Normal Man.

Anyone ever play Bard's Tale?

Bard's Tale is pretty obviously based on Dungeons & Dragons.  You put together a party of adventurers, each one being a different race-class combo with a set of familiar stats, levels, experience points, hit points, etc.  All very recognizable to the average old school D&D player.

However, there are a couple major differences.  One is the lack of any kind of "alignment" characteristic. Another is the complete absence of any kind of cleric/priest class. Oh, there's a paladin, and at least a couple of the magic-user classes (there are four: conjurer, magician, sorcerer, and wizard) have spells that "heal" or duplicate traditional clerical spells.  But otherwise, there's no "representative of the gods;" at least not one that joins your adventuring party.

That doesn't mean the game is atheistic or even monotheistic...there are temples and shrines all over the game, each dedicated to a particular patron god.  Mechanically speaking, they are all the same: they serve the purpose of providing healing services (to any who can afford it). Turning stone to flesh, removing poison, exorcising possession, raising from the dead...all can be had at any temple for a price.

Who the heck are these guys?  They're not adventurers or you'd certainly hire one to tag along. They seem fairly amoral...as long as you have the gold, they aren't asking where you got your wounds, and if you don't have the money, they'll turn you away at the door, nevermind the "good" quest your on. Alignment be damned!  What kind of alignment do you think the "Thief Temple" has?

Earlier, I wrote how I believe the whole idea as clerics as church leaders is kind of a big steaming pile.  Clerics (the class, not the clerk) are the crusading templars, the holy (and unholy) zealot warriors, the champions of their patron deity.  This isn't St. Augustine...this is Joan of Arc, people. A little crazy, and powered by faith.

In my last post, I expounded a bit on the place of the Normal Man in relation to the PC adventurer.  Basically, the adventuring character (PC or NPC) is an exceptional person that learns from experience, growing in power, while the Normal Man does not.  He may be a peasant or a blacksmith, a soldier or a king, a (B/X) bard or a beggar...with the appropriate skills for his profession. But he does not have the extra combat abilities that are gained from surviving perilous adventures.

What's to say that the high priests and ministers of the temples aren't Normal Men as well? I mean, the bishop that ministers to his diocese is no different from the stay-at-home duke; that is, he is too concerned with the day-to-day administrations of running a church to run around slaying dragons.

I think the problem most people have with accepting this paradigm shift (and it requires one...ever since 2nd edition AD&D started calling clerics "priests," or ever since performingthe Marriage sacrament became a clerical spell in the Unearthed Arcana) is in fact the way spell acquisition is handled.

Clerics gain spells by going up in level, therefore priests (who, in a fantasy world, provide magical healing through spells) must also rise in level.  Otherwise, whose performing all those raise dead miracles at the local shrine?

Um...how about the deity of the shrine worshippers?

How about THIS for an idea.  Temples are staffed by Normal Men...from the lowliest acolyte on the totem pole to the Pontiff himself (or Reverend Mother...whatever).  All are Normal Men, who know only the duties and doctrines of their god(s).  However, by following the doctrines of their deity, they can ask for intercessions on behalf of the faithful (either the truly devout or those willing to pay for the service).  The deity grants the healing power (removes a curse, cures the lycanthropy, heals the disease), and the adventurers are free to go their merry way.

Doesn't that make more sense?

It does to me.  Clerics are the crusading knights; it's difficult for them to learn powerful healing spells (they have to be "high level" to raise the dead), because they spend so much of their time in weapons and combat training.  Yet once they do prove their faith to their god, they have the miraculous ability to perform healing magic "in the field."  The Normal Men (priests) of the temple need to perform long-winded rituals, light incense, sacrifice animals...all that stuff that takes time and money.  The cleric (paladin-templar) simply "lays on hands" and the miracle is granted!

Now onto the subject of alignment.  I already said that the idea of evil in a D&D world is kind of absurd: there are player character actions which can be compassionate or reprehensible, and there are opponents of player characters that may or may not be intending harm (see detect evil in the B/X game).  There is a third piece to be considered when it comes to deities, one I think Raggi gets pretty close to in his last couple posts even if he doesn't make it quite this succinct:

Deities don't care about alignment. Deities care about people following the tenets of their (the deities) doctrine.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions after all. Look at all the discussions around the blogs about how following Good sometimes means killing a lot of people (normally considered Bad, right?). Good, bad, that's not what the deity cares about.  At least not in D&D which draws so much from old swords and sorcery literature.  And those use Old Time religion of the pre-Vatican II variety.  If you don't show up for Church, you're going to hell (unless you atone).  If you sleep with the wrong person, there's going to be a stoning (with rocks, friends).  And that sacrifice to Ares or Zeus better be the right type and at the right time or you can count on a plague or drought smiting your land.

Wow, hopefully I got my point across.  This post is getting long, so I better sign off and let it stew a bit.