The Savage Sword of Scadgrad

How to Cleric in Moog

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 03:48:00 +0000

This is a quick, down and dirty guide for Clerics and other faith-based characters in the World of Moog. It is written for 5E but much of it can be easily used for Old School version of the setting. OK, so maybe 1200+ words isn’t all that brief.

Human, Dwarf and Halfling Good and Neutral aligned PC clerics worship either The Five (The Gods of Law), one of the individual Gods of Law or the Mother Goddess C’pu (alternately named C’ephu). Halfling clerics being extremely rare will in almost all cases choose to worship Vat Oldy M’m. Heretics of the Ardahune (pronounced ard HOON, basically any human with levels in Barbarian) people of the North have different names for most of the Gods of Moog. Quite a few of their clerics worship Thaumus the Wanderer (similar to the Hindu myth, except in this case a rather viscous snapping turtle that rises from its sleep to lift the world of Moog, carrying it along on its back as it crawls across the Void) , The Great Dragon (actually Ourbosas the Dragon Goddess of Destruction) or Korn the God of Battle (Note that Korn is actually a despicable God of Chaos, but there’s no convincing the Ardahune of this). In all cases, choose whatever domains you wish as the faiths and Gods themselves are just not all that codified. The Gods of Law are completely disinterested in the affairs of men. The Gods of Chaos are far more active and seek to destroy and corrupt. C’pu and her mortal followers actively oppose them.

C’pu: Mother Goddess and Principle Deity of the setting, a typical Earth Goddess and a rare source of Goodness in the otherwise grim setting

The Gods of Law

· Axyay Gr’gg: God of Sorcery and Treasure

· Sear’n On: God of Knowledge, Engineering and Enlightenment

· Helmso: The Bloody-handed God of War, Battle, often confused with Korn

· Vat Oldy M’m: The Laughing God, God of Luck, Patron God of Halflings

· Mentrekfranz: God of Valor, Patron God of Henchmen and Adventurers

Dwarven Dieties
There is probably no difference whatsoever in the Dwarven faith and that of the more common faith of men and halflings. They do however use the following naming conventions:

· The Stone Mother: C’pu?

· The Jarl: Axyay Gr’gg?

· The Smith: Sear’n On?

· The Warrior: Helmso?

· The Tinker Vat Oldy M’m?

· The Skald: Mentrekfranz?

Elves Good and Neutral aligned Elven PCs venerate all of the non-evil Godlike beings to varying degrees. Players may choose to worship the entire pantheon or pick from one of the divine beings discussed below.

Principle among all Gods is C’ephu al Lunanari whom the Elves hold in the highest regard. Ourbosas Balorian is considered a neutral entity, equal in power to C’ephu, and venerated for her Fire aspect and the life-giving gift of sunlight. Even more troubling to the other Good Folk is that Elves tend to admire and even share some degree of affinity with dragons. As the progenitor of all dragon kind, Ourbosas is viewed as a source of great knowledge and the deepest magics. Elves do not view her as a purely evil entity, and this of course is pure heresy in the view of Humans and Dwarves. Halflings are too busy eating and drinking to care.

Yet another heretical aspect of the Elven theological view of the cosmos, is that the Five (as they are known among the human and dwarven clerisy) are actually lesser beings known as Vylldane, still powerful, but no longer True Amesha. There are in fact, several additional entities known to Elves that humans and dwarves appear to have little knowledge. These beings are just slightly less powerful than the two Greater Amesha and are known as Dolor Ami.

Moreover, a close study of the Elven mythos suggests that the Elves see the world in terms of a strict hierarchy of sentient life, a pyramid scheme of sorts where divine and semi-divine beings attempt to work their way up the ladder of Ascension. A few of these ascendant Dolor Ami are held in great reverence by the Elves. Korenuos God of War and the Wilds, Yeeshan’th Goddess of Art and Music, Selsitheench God of Magic and Norlorg God of the Woods are the most prominent though there are a few others. It is not lost upon the clergy of Human and Dwarf that these entities are astonishingly similar to the four Ruinous Princes of Chaos. Elven clerics expect to be viewed with suspicion by clerics of the other races, but this doesn’t seem to trouble them. This is mostly due to the confidence, pure arrogance even, that the Elven view is far closer to being correct and that the others are simply jealous of the superior Elven standing in the great game of divine Ascension.

What About Druids? How Do They Work?

Druids are found mostly among Men and rarely among the other races (but hey this is 5E so it’s fine to roll up a cringe-worthy Dwarven Druid so we can all laugh at you). The druidic faith is very close to that of the Elves and in fact, the earliest druids were taught their faith by the Wood Elves of the Gloamingwood (pamphlets were most likely involved). Druids should pick either a lesser God detailed in the Elven entry above as a patron or Ourbosas or C’ephu. Druids of the Ardahune race of men usually choose to venerate Thaumus the Wanderer, but there are exceptions.

We Were Promised Paladins. There Are Paladins in Moog Right?

A few, yes, Paladins in Moog are either squeaky clean do-gooders (the Hands of C’pu) who follow C’pu and go about righting wrongs, rescuing princesses and the like or they’re fiery zealots (the Hands of Helmso) who wield their sword for the glory of Helmso. Members of the former are admired by all, with the noted exception of the Murder Hobos in an adventuring party who have to walk on eggshells around them. The latter are frankly terrifying to most folks and even the most pious among the clergy believe the Hands of Helmso take things a bit too far. Both have a Knightly Order located in Vermistadt and as knights they are afforded a wide degree of rights and privileges in the city. You should probably be playing a human if you’re a paladin but there could be rare exceptions.

And Rangers? Aren’t They Divine Casters as Well?

These characters are not necessarily a devout group, but they do know how to draw energy from the same sources of power that fuel druidic magics. Assume that your PC has more than a passing familiarity with the Druidic faith and follow the directions in the earlier entry for Druids. This faith would be actually quite strange for a Halfling or Dwarf, but those sorts of characters likely grew up in an extremely isolated and rural setting and knew only the druidic faith in their youth.

Closing Thoughts

It should be noted that in some cases, there appear to be holes in the belief structures and even conflicts among the Good Folk of Moog. This is by design as players and NPCs are not meant to know or even understand the fullness of the cosmos and its mysteries. Roleplaying in Moog occurs at a time of great, even appalling ignorance. Your PC might be certain of the correctness of his beliefs and outraged by the conflicting believes of others. It’s possible even that you’re not all that religious in the first place and are in essence a clever fraud. Alternatively, perhaps your PC fully accepts that ignorance is the lot of mere mortals and is completely open and accepting of all faiths of the Good Folk of Moog.

The Mythology of Moog

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:58:00 +0000

Mythology of Moog

The following is a long-accepted translation from the Codex Incarnaeum which describes the birth of the world. The views expressed in the translation, with some ethnic and regional differences, are widely regarded as genuine by most scholars, though the High Elves of the Island Kingdom Immensea hold that this is but one interpretation of ancient events. Elves are difficult in that way and don’t really discuss creation or theology with Men or Dwarves. Most men, dwarves and halflings hold this to be as close to canonical, or fact if you will, as one might get in these ill-informed times.

Oswald Myrthenbaum

The Esoteric order of the Dragon, 4019

THE SONG OF OURBOSAS
And so, it was before the sun burned bright in the Void that Great Ourbosas, She Who Soars in the Void, Maker of All Things, brought forth a shimmering and perfect egg. “BEHOLD,” she spoke unto the nameless spirits that attended her “HERE IS MY MOST PERFECT AND DREADFUL DAUGHTER, AND WITH HER I AM WELL PLEASED.”

Here, we see the words of Great Ourbosas set in all capitals reflecting her divinity and great power over all lesser beings. It should be noted that this may be due to the original text of her words be set in the Dark Tongue, which lacks the upper case and lower-case structure of Common.

Oswald Myrthenbaum

The Esoteric order of the Dragon, 4019

Casting their eyes upon the magnificent egg and the unborn godling contained within, the obedient Amesha roared and capered with great, and rousing approval. There were however among the Amesha, five rather disgruntled and relatively bored spirits who were never as attentive as Great Ourbosas would have liked and seeing their feigned disinterest at the presentation of her heir, set her into a rage.

The Amesha who remain unnamed in this passage may well be in fact the Dark Gods of Chaos, but scholars are unsure of this. That there may be more Amesha than is commonly thought remains a possibility. Certainly, the High Elves suggest so and name these beings Ami.

Oswald Myrthenbaum

The Esoteric order of the Dragon, 4019

“I CAST THEE DOWN LAGGARDS. DOWN FROM ON HIGH. DOWN UPON THE SURFACE OF THE MOOG EGG SHALL YE ABIDE UNTIL MY BLESSED DAUGHTER ROUSES HERSELF FROM HER GREAT SLUMBER.” Thus, spoke the Great Dragon Goddess and behold the five were made small, given weak forms and made to crawl upon the face of the Egg of Moog until the End of Days.

Then did Great Ourbosas belch forth a mighty gout of God Flame and thus was the sun lit so that it might warm the Egg in the Void. Then, did She Who Soars in the Void command that shimmering jewels should be hung in the sky so that the Moog godling would not grow bored with the limitless and featureless Void around her, and thus break free from her Egg before the appointed time. The obedient Amesha leapt into the reaches of the Void hanging the stars as the Great Dragon Goddess bade them. All save C’Pu, First Among the Amesha who was given the task of watching over the slothful five, ever mindful that they should make but little mischief on the Egg, nor escape through some trickery or spell.

And here is the source of the first great schism. C’Pu, known as Ami CePhu Lunara to the Elves is regarded as an equal to Ourbosas by Elven folk (and others) and that the two are in fact, the only Greater Amesha. Furthermore, it is suggested by the High Elves that the translation here is “laughably inaccurate” and that in fact Ourbosas’ God Flame rages above us as the Sun. In essence, according to Elven lore, Ourbosas IS the sun and C’Pu is the moon. Indeed, some Elven Priests among the Wood Elves of the Gloamingwald, hold C’Pu or CePhu as being the Greater of the Two Goddesses. The commonly held notion in Vermistadt that a sunny day bodes an ill omen springs from this belief, heretical though it may be to much of the local clergy, that the sun is a “great and evil dragon goddess”.

Oswald Myrthenbaum

The Esoteric order of the Dragon, 4019

Thus, was Moog created and the lesser gods imprisoned. On the second day of Moog, were born the great dragons, the lesser children of Ourbosas who sprang forth from the dark places of the Moog Egg and multiplied in great numbers. In the Great Days of Boredom that came after, as the Moog Egg hung in the Void, so then did the gods fall to bickering among themselves and so they crafted many servants to entertain them. The servitors of the gods; men, elves and dwarves, soon fell to fighting among themselves, as the lesser gods had hoped all along, being fond of petty violence and bloodshed. This continued for an Age until C’pu, who had always had a soft spot for the elves, brokered a peace between man and elf.

The dwarves however were having none of this peace stuff and continued to make war to the delight of Helmso and Sear’n On, until C’pu taught them the joys of mining and gem-cutting. This worked for a time. Soon enough though, the dwarves, being petty and small-minded, not unlike the lesser gods really, decided that the lands of Men and Elf had nicer deposits of ore and gemstones. Finally, C’pu came to realize that the dwarves remained committed to violence, grudge-holding and a general attitude of poor sportsmanship and envy. Even the dragons were complaining at this point and the Five had grown bored again and were no longer paying close attention, so C’pu seeing no other choice, summoned the dwarven lords and their emissaries to her great temple. There she taught the dwarves the deep magics of distilling and brewing and at last, their greed and avarice were appeased or besotted depending on which side of the conflict you ask.

It is worth noting here that there is no mention of the fanciful Turtle God Thaumus and his long journey across the void which we find in the Ardahune legend The Song of Thaumus. This largely discredited origin myth of the barbarians of the north has quite a few similarities to the more accepted tale found in the Song of Ourbosas. It appears that the Ardahune faithful worship mostly the same five Gods of Law and C’Pu but have in essence, adapted the names via their own crude, guttural utterances which pass for some sort of spoken language. The Thaumus Blasphemies as they are known by the High Church of Vermistadt have filtered into the imaginations of many of the small folk of the Olde Duchy.

Oswald Myrthenbaum

The Esoteric order of the Dragon, 4019

The Old DM Returns

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 14:55:00 +0000

Wow, how did it get to be 2019? So, I'm back to posting again, mostly as a means of writing updates for my comically grim setting of Moog. I'm presently playing 5E D&D, running sessions on Roll20 and a couple of Face-to-Face games. I currently stream one of the Roll20 campaigns on Sunday nights at 9:00 EST. We're currently doing the Dragon's Demand, an excellent little mini campaign by Paizo. It's meant for Pathfinder of course, but converting to 5E is relatively simple.

I'm still making fantasy RPG art of course and I hope to be sharing some more images over the summer. I've recently been enjoying making a few png tokens for my Roll20 games. They're goofy of course and inspired by Adventure Time. My kids of course love them, but I get that they might not
be grim enough for some of our players. That's OK I guess since the PCs tend to hack the monsters apart pretty quickly anyway, right?

That 1d6 Dungeon You Always Wanted

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:40:00 +0000

Or rather, the one one I always wanted. I thought that for one of the sub-levels of Scadwrath Castle, I'd do something quite silly and off-the-wall. After all, the setting Moog is a very silly, gonzo place and this just struck me as something that should be there, someplace. The idea is that, maybe I want to hide something in this dungeon, or maybe the baddies have kidnapped a princess and spirited her away in one of the six sectors (there is no shortage of princesses available for kidnap/rescue cosplay in the city of Vermistadt, which lies above this massive dungeon, if that's the sort of thing your adventurers are into). So, roll a d6 and that's where the goodies/Rod of Seven Parts/Princess Buttercup (you get the idea) is/are located.

Now, I originally got this idea from Zach S's awesome city street idea in his Vornheim book. Seriously, you must have that book. Go buy it here if you don't already have it. And yes, yes I grock the whole architectural impossibility of it all, but hey, there are massive, cyclopean stones here, eldritch magic, etc. There are 5 levels here keyed up for you to do as you will with it. There's even an exit to wherever over there near areas 45 & 87. Hell, I don't even know where that goes. I color coded them so it's easier to see where one level ends and a new one begins.

Like the other maps for Scadwrath Castle, there are plenty of pools, statues, etc. so you can have fun bedeviling the poor saps who wander into the place. The checkerboard floors (constructed from marble one supposes) are of course harmless, but placing a trap on just one of them will scar your players for life. You can chuckle with maniacal glee from that point forward as they pointlessly take all sorts of time to circumnavigate a pretty, but otherwise normal floor whenever they encounter them in the future.

As for the backstory and the key, yes, I will probably provide a fully keyed version at some point and may do the entire thing (12-ish levels not counting the upper works of the castle itself) just so my kids can put it to good use some day. The maps are part of a massive, active dungeon complex that lies beneath the gonzo city of Vermistadt. It's basically a 0E or 1E WHFRP city that sprung up over a series of ruined dwarves mines and ruins. The castle, belongs to a mysterious and powerful duke who maintains his own little duchy within the city walls. Part of the complex houses his Shadow Born undead legion which he keeps in top fighting shape by throwing a never ending stream of eager and obviously, slightly deranged adventurers at them. The adventurers who fall in the initial levels just unwittingly signed up for long term service in his Grace's legion, but hey, there's an awesome dental plan. Consider it a Roach Motel for greedy adventurers, thinning the herd so that only the truly epic delvers can pass on into the higher levels of experience.

So, yeah, use it as you please, but of course I retain copyright on it (as well the other stuff on this blog) for print purposes, etc.

Link to pdf download is HERE. The original was drawn is the weird little square sketchbook I have lying around. It's roughly 8" x 8" so, you may need to adjust your printing accordingly.

To All the House Rules I've Loved Before

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:17:00 +0000

I'm sure many of you DMs out there are tinkerers like myself. I do the same thing in my professional life to be honest. I can rarely leave good enough alone and I seem to always be tinkering with classes that I've taught for 10+ years just to see if there's a better way to do things. I suppose it should come as no surprise that I've tinkered around with most ideas for house rules at one point or the other. Shields Shall be Broken, Critical Hits & Fumbles, the d30 rule, you name it, I've pretty much tried it.

Shields Shall be Broken I found this one to be very flavorful, but it's just a bit too cumbersome really. In essence, this is a get-out-of-jail free card for your fighter types. Now, I'm all for making fighter types more attractive, but our group grew tired of it very quickly. I do think it's one of the best bennies you can throw to low level fighters, but what about orcs, hobgobs, and other mooks? Shouldn't they exploit the rule also? In the end, it started to become a joke in our groups and seems no different than situational giving your melee combatants additional hit points.

The d30 Rule I still like the hilarity of this one and could probably be talked into using it again sometime. The one thing that bugs me the most though is that occasionally, it makes a mockery of your Big Dramatic Chapter Ending Battle. Surely this could be fixed by giving your Big Bad Evil Guy d30 Immunity or the like, but to me, that seems a little inelegant. I mean, your players are going to want to save the roll 'til the absolutely most critical moment of the evening. No doubt they're going to feel a bit cheated when every Boss Monster happens to be wearing his Cloak of d30 Immunity. It's a fun rule, I'm sure others have found a work-around for the issues our groups had with it, but it just made for too many anti-climactic moments in our games so we stopped using it some time ago.

Critical Hits & Fumbles OK, so I get that EGG completely hated the notion of these, but to me, they're still fun and make combat more varied and exciting. They've been around since, oh, I don't know, the early 80s I guess, and I always enjoyed using them if and when you can find the sweet spot for using them in your game (that is to say, the implementation that makes combat more exciting without overwhelming the PCs). If my Google Fu is correct, it was Dragon Magazine Issue 39 that brought us that lovely Good Hits and Bad Misses article and that was the first time I used them (much to the consternation of my dubious players at the time). I modified it though so that we only used the chart on a natural 20 or a 1 just for simplicity (and still do). Initially, after much bloodshed and hilarity, it became apparent that allowing every scrubby kobold a chance at beheading the PCs is simply too much (or maybe not depending on what you're trying to achieve with your game).

I do agree that the 3.X solution is quite elegant (certainly one of the things that 3.X got right), but it adds more dice rolling than I really want in my Old School games. Over the years, I've tried the absolutely murderous Rolemaster Charts, took a shot at adapting the hysterically gory WFRP 1E criticals, the Paizo critical & fumble cards (which I quite like for d20 sorts of games), and now have arrived full circle back to the good ol' charts from Good Hits and Bad Misses. I think the sweet spot for old school play is simply saying this rule applies to all PCs, Named NPCs and Boss Monsters. I warn my players that most encounters, but certainly not all, will contain a Boss Monster, a leader type who won't always self-identify, but will usually become apparent that he has a tub-load of HPs and seems to be better at fighting than the other scrubs. Needless to say, this make something like a Boss Ghoul with 3 shots at dropping a 20 on you an enemy that even experienced characters will respect.

Death & Dismemberment I've tried a couple different versions of these charts and finally got around to making my own. It makes for a very gritty campaign as PCs and followers will lose limbs and the like as well as having very funny (or serious I guess if your group looks at it that way) death scenes. This does give low level guys a bit better odds at survival unless of course the bad guys are the carnivorous types that immediately begin chompin' on fallen PCs, provided of course that someone in the party survives the encounter to bind their wounds. When characters are bleeding out due to this rule, I allow anyone to apply first aid simply by moving to them (in lieu of attacking or casting a spell).

The one thing that bugged me about the other charts was that a guy would hit the ground and on some rare results, would simply spring back up with renewed energy to continue the fight. On most results though, the character would fall to the ground gravely wounded, their fate uncertain until someone could get to them to check out their condition. I decided that for my campaign, I didn't like the idea of a character jumping and getting right back into the fight, so I devised a series of modifiers for the roll and developed new benefit for those lucky enough to roll an 11 or 12. It works for my Gonzo Old School Setting of Moog, so try it out if you like the idea of the Oscar Scenes for your characters and their followers.

PDF download of Death & Dismemberment for Moog is HERE.

Binding Wounds After Combat I'll confess that I have no idea where I got this one. I know that some folks use a d3, but I like the d4 and I allow any character to do the wound binding (only once per combat in which you have taken damage and immediately afterwards). It's particularly useful at low level when many clerics may have little (if any, depending on which rule set you're use) healing and helps the party keep exploring rather than the old "hey, we're out of healing, guess it's time to head back to the pub for pints lads" paradigm that occurs otherwise. This rule is essential I think when playing in large groups or with kids or newbies. It also takes care of the situation, that I find to be all too familiar if I'm being honest, where no one wants to play the Cleric.

Saving Throw as an Indicator of Class-Related or Race-Related Skills, Knowledge, etc. Another one that I'm not really sure where it came from, but I use it in every old school game I run. In my games, characters are generally "adventurers". The ranger knows the stuff that rangers know. Thieves know the best place to pawn stolen goods and the like. If players want to add a bit of background by utilizing the secondary skills chart from the 1E DMG, that's fine by me. I usually play with the conceit that Magic Users and Elves know about ancient mysteries in much the way that Gandalf or Elrond would. I will typically use the Paralysis save unless I'm playing S&W White Box which has only 1 save (which I love, love, love). It's not perfect by any means and yes, dwarves and halflings in this sort of situation tend to benefit from their superior saves, but you can limit that by deciding that their breadth of knowledge isn't quite as extensive as other races. I certainly find it adequate at representing a workable set of skills without becoming overburdened by a full blown d20 set of skills.

Beware of Scadgrads Bearing Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:40:00 +0000

So, it’s been entirely too long since I’ve paid enough attention to this blog. I think I’m lucky enough to be that rare gamer who suffers from too many games. Yes, that’s right folks, I could place blame on my lack of productive blogging on things like work, fatherhood, MMO play, my music, painting, etc. Truth is though, I simply play a lot of games and that’s how I choose to spend my hobby time. Currently, I have a weekly Friday game, a once-a-week online game (MapTools and Ventrillo), and a 2X month game with my kids and their friends. I also have a few other games that I run from time-to-time. So yeah, busy gamer, that’s me.

On the other hand, I have made all sorts of things that I intend to share with the gaming community and plan on doing so over the next few updates. This first piece is a rather large sub-level of my own massive, old school dungeon (Scadwrath Castle). I wanted to have a go at drawing dungeons without grid paper, drawing them in my sketchbook. Honestly, before I started reading Dyson’s blog, I had never even considered doing such a thing. Not sure how successful this one is, but man, it’s big enough that you could explore for hours and hours. It consists of 95 rooms, 5 different levels most of which are finished rooms and passages, but a few caverns. I’ve color-coded the hand lettering so that you can more easily see where the level changes are located. I’ve stocked this myself and will probably upload that at some point.

On the other hand, it would probably be more fun to see what folks out in the OSR can do with it.

Download a PDF of the dungeon HERE. Note that the original is about 8" x 8" so you'll want to click the "fit page" radio button on your print dialogue window. I've left room at the bottom of the PDF so you can write notes if need be.

New Banner, Finally...

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:45:00 +0000

Finally finished the new banner that I've had kicking around for several months. Just couldn't find the time with work and campaigns to finish it up. Certainly an improvement over the old woodcut version and this time I went with more of a contemporary comic book look.

The scene in question there is from our own little run through the G-series about a year ago (yeah, I've had this piece lying around for a bit). Dan's fighter Lucius (my buddy Dan over at Tales From the Tower) laid an utter beating on the doomed guards of King Snurri. He had help of course, but I like the idea of one Warrior against those 2 Fire Giants. Artistic license and all. So what do you think, did I do OK?

More stuff later....

Still alive and thoughts on S&W Core Hardbacks

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:12:00 +0000

Hey Gang,

So yeah, been a while and I need to get cracking again (real life, work, gaming, EVE, running, playing music, etc.). I have a new banner in the works for the old blog and some awesome stuff for your Old School Games in the works. Additionally, it looks like I'll be contributing some more illos for the Petty Gods project. I'm certain that everyone who would be reading this is aware of the project, but here's the link just in case.

Petty Gods

Right, so about the S&W Complete hardbacks.

ZOMFG

That is some kind of crazy good cover. Erol has outdone himself and he really just gets better and better. The man really needs to step it up though with a better web presence. I'm not sure it would garner any more work for him, but fan boys such as I could more easily drool over his latest works that way. Just sayin'...

Aside from the awesomeness of the cover, what about the rest? Yeah, well, it's standard fare from Frog God Games which means, it's pretty darned good. I've been a fan of "Necromancer now FGG" since their early days of Crucible of Freya and of course Rappan Athuk. Bill and the folks at FGG never disappoint.

At some point though, the burning question becomes, "which of the various S&W products should I get?" My response is, well ALL of them of course. I have played countless hours with Whitebox and though it is certainly my favorite, I wish that the S&W Complete hardbacks had gotten in my hands sooner. In short, this vision of the game (correct me if I'm wrong, but it basically presents 0E at the point just before 1E took over as the dominant expression of our beloved game) is the ideal way to play 1E if you want to play it with kids or very casual groups. You get MOST of the iconic 1E character classes and the demi-humans are expressed as separate races rather than a class unto themselves. It is a very nifty, self contained game that you could utilize to run content from 1E to 2E without much adjustment at all really.

Now that we think about it, maybe that Gygax guy was on to something after all

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Sweet, sweet logo

Not to be snarky, but this may be the most surprising Fantasy Heartbreakers in the history of RPGs. Yeap, Jonathan Tweet’s 13^th Age — which I must say has a truly delicious type treatment used for the logo — could quite possibly the most ludicrous idea I’ve seen in some time. Yes, that’s right, the 2 masterminds of 3.X and 4.0 (oh yes gentle reader, Rob Heinsoo the genius behind 4.wtvr is along for the ride) are now applying their formidable design chops to bring you their own version of Gary’s game.

“Our goal with 13th Age is to recapture the free-wheeling style of old-school gaming by creating a game with more soul and fewer technical details.”

Uh huh.

You can read more pearls of wisdom from the designers HERE.

Isn’t this the same guy who was telling us how BAD D&D was before himself, Montus Cookus Maximus and that other dude ripped the soul out of our game? Remember how “problematic all those saving throws” were? And of course, AC and thAC0 were so totally screwed up that no one even played D&D anymore. And perhaps the most egregious of sins, the one that absolutely HAD to be stomped out. I’m looking at you Mr Long Sword with your d12 for damage vs Lg targets. Don't stop me, I'm on a roll here.

Oh well. I wish these 2 OSR Converts well with their little game. Perhaps they have enough name recognition among the younger set of fans that this OSR game will bring in some new blood. I expect that it will certainly be a snazzy-looking product, but I think I’ll hold out for Monte’s Ptolus Whitebox Edition.

Bitter Vet Rant OFF.

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:01:00 +0000

A bit of Art History for everyone, love me some Caravaggio. Aside from being one of the most gifted painters to ever push paint brush, Caravaggio rejected earlier notions of depicting religious figures as idealized representatives of the perfected human form. Instead, he used models chosen from everyday life, thus injecting a sense of realism that became a hallmark of European painting for centuries to come.

Is It Simply Nostalgia?

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:19:00 +0000

Whitebox RAWKS!

The Old School Gamers group on Facebook is now over 1200 strong and it's certainly made Facebook a more compelling site for this old grognard. If you're not in that group, by all means jump in and enjoy the discussions. At any rate, a recent post by old school TSR artist Jeff Dee sent the reader to a new school blogger who is an unabashed fan of post 2E and holds the rather bombastic position that old school games "suck". Jeff asked us all to post on the Facebook group our own thoughts on why this guy is wrong. Clearly, his intention was to generate traffic to his blog and surely there's no harm in that I think. The gentleman is
entitled to his opinion and all that (though he should be thrashed for his choice of font imo). One assertion that always rears its ugly head in these debates is that OSR players play the old games often for reasons of nostalgia.

Is it nostalgia? Do you get a sense of "the good old days" when you play B/X or AD&D today? Do you find yourself recalling those glory days of yesteryear in your Mom's basement?

I just don't have those moments really.

Occam's Razor suggests that those of us who still play, or in my case devolved back to playing, the older games do so primarily because we prefer those rules. Since it's usually the DM in the group who is the straw that stirs the drink if you will, I think that there is simply a percentage of players, that is to say DMs, who enjoy the experience of running the game using the old rules. It really is quite different than running 3.X or 4E and I think the new 5E design team would do well to consider the "DM Fun" aspect of old school gaming. Take 0E for example. I thoroughly enjoy running a good session of Whitebox. There's absolutely zero nostalgia factor for me with Whitebox since it predates my introduction to the hobby by about 5 years. There are no memories to rekindle and it is entirely the same for all of the dozen or more players with whom I've played Whitebox. It's simply a very liberating framework of a game for the DM and it's quick and easy to learn.

And finally, how much does the burn out created by grid-based combat, particularly in the case of the guy providing the grid and running the baddies, factor into ones desire to move back to earlier modes of gameplay?

For me, this is a very big deal and I suspect I'm not alone here, though it's pretty clear that I fall in the minority (as a non-Pathfinder, non-4E DM). I think one of the flaws of 3.X style gaming, and 4E really gets carried away with this, is that your game becomes overly focused on the use of the 5-foot square grid and the miniatures. This leads to lengthy combats, which again, that's a feature for folks who dig that mode of play. But I also think it can lead to burnout and in my case, that's a large part of why I still like the old games. They don't grind me down as a DM and I have more fun running the game.

PDF for 20 Zombies Now Available

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:37:00 +0000

Sorry for the delay, but I wanted to include an illustration of my own for the first page of the pdf. I think the illo ended up looking like a Charlie Adlard drawing stumbled into a B/X illustration (with apologies to EO and the wonderful Mr Willingham), in a funny sort of way. I had hoped to complete it sooner but band practice for all of our St Pat's gigs and other stuff just seemed to get in the way (including the Dice Drop table which I needed for a 1E start up session).

The Download is at MediaFire HERE.

So, there it is, enjoy and fill those halls with loads of zombies you evil necromancers.

Dice Drop table for AD&D Quick Start PCs

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Dice Drop for Quickstart Weapons and Such

Here's a Dice Drop table for you to use to get CharGen accomplished quickly and get those adventurers down into the dungeon where they belong. You simply need a d6 & a d10, dropped into the center of the table. The sum of the 2 numbers (tricksy multiplication maths) produces starting gold (assuming they've spent most of it on weapons and what not) otherwise, the numbers on the dice mean nothing. The location of the d10 is cross referenced to the left banner for starting kit for all characters.

Armor and weapons are also determined by dice location on the table. Fighters get their pick from where the d6 & the d10 land. Other character classes are just a bit more complicated. All of the details are on page 2 of the PDF.

PDF download from MediaFire HERE

JUST AN UPDATE
We used this today in our startup for an AD&D campaign at our FLGS and characters were up and going quite quickly. Of course, I had already tried this many times in "dry runs" as it were, but it was rewarding to use it in an actual session. You can probably adapt this for other fantasy RPGs and if so, just LMK how you did so.

PRINTING NOTE
The actual pdf will probably exceed the margins on most household or office printers so make sure you "shrink to printable area" when you print. You should get best results on a laser printer as they are typically capable of printing with much smaller margin space than an inkjet printer.

Let There Be Zombies; 20 Delectable Zombies for Your Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:32:00 +0000

PDF Download from MediaFire HERE.

I loves me some zombies and I’m quite sure that a lot of other DMs share my fondness for the Restless Dead. So to that end and in spite of the fact that the bog standard B/X or AD&D Zombie is already made of complete and utter win, sometimes you may enjoy throwing your players a curve ball. Maybe the old ruined keep was once home to a perverse cult of necromancers and the zombies therein are substantially different than the run-of-the-mill variety. Perhaps the zombies found dwelling in the Forbidden Crypts of Omeror, Petty God of Gratuitous Bloodshed and Violence are of a particularly vile strain. Or maybe a glowing green comet just struck that small village lying in the path of the hapless heroes.

1. Rabid Zombies: The zombies in this dungeon are not undead (can’t be turned) so much as they are “stricken by some bizarre disease” that fills them with a hatred for the living and a desire to spread their disease through blood, which they freely belch and spew. All combatants within 5’ of these fellows need to save each round vs poison or contract the disease. Failure means conversion to a Rabid Zombie within 2d6 rounds (DM takes control). The disease requires both a Cure Disease and Remove Curse to cure those afflicted. Rabid Zombies fight in a berserk fashion and add +2 to attacks. Consider 2HD***** for awarding experience.

2. Bloated Zombies: These poor wretches are filled with all sorts of unpleasantness and explode in spectacular fashion when a killing blow is landed. All living creatures within 30’ of the exploding zombie are covered by vile substances and fluids requiring a save vs poison. Failing this save results in violent sickness, throwing up, etc. Those sickened fight at -2. Missile fire, undead turning and spell casting are impossible during this period of illness, which lasts for a full turn. The Bloated Dead are hefty fellows and have HD 3+2. The DM should count them as 3HD** for awarding experience.

Liam (age 7) renders a particularly gruesome Minecraft Zombie

3. Rotting Dead: Sharing the same shuffling, brain-dead characteristics of the standard zombie, your PCs in their initial encounter with the Rotting Dead will surely be reminded of a certain zombie subtype created by a well-known vampire many, many years ago. These zombies are quite sturdy in spite of their withered and rotting appearance and have 4HD. Any blow of 5 or more HPs removes an arm/claw, which continues to fight on its own (doing a d6 of damage on a successful hit). A Rotter that loses both arms, still fights on by biting viciously. Claws are Scrubs (any blow of more than 2 points rolled on a damage dice destroys them, otherwise place a wound token, glass bead, etc. beside the mini, or make a note if you’re rolling without miniatures) but fight as 4HD monsters. Award experience as 4HD***.

4. Stirge Zombies: Possessing a ferocious thirst for mortal blood and attack with great ferocity these grizzly undead can make for a very dangerous encounter and are often confused with vampiric spawn. Any successful hit by 5 or more indicates that the zombie has become attached to its victim just like a Stirge. On subsequent rounds of combat, 1d3 of blood loss is inflicted and the undead will continue to pummel their victim at +4 to hit. Stirge Zombies may only be removed after their demise or by making a successful open doors roll, which causes a d3 damage of torn flesh. Consider 2HD*** for awarding experience.

5. Relentless Zombies: Whatever Hell-wrought energy that animates these zombies gives them a superior toughness. They are 3+3HD creatures and Regenerate 3 HPs per round. They can withstand tremendous abuse (bashing weapons do a mere 1 point of damage) and enjoy the effects of a Stoneskin spell when first attacked. Given their Hellish nature, these undead turn as Mummies. Consider 4HD** for awarding experience.

6. Brain-Hungry Zombies: The dreaded hordes of Omeror, Petty God of Gratuitous Bloodshed and Violence hunger for the flesh of the living, particularly brains and other squishy bits. These fiends are very dangerous to hirelings and the like as their predatory senses guide them to attack the weakest members of a party. Woe to anyone who falls unconscious during melee since d3 of the Brain-Hungry zombies will immediately begin to feed on the poor unfortunate (thus killing them). These undead are not all that different from the standard undead variety, though they are considerably slower with a Move 60/20. The key difference though is that a “headshot” is required to finish the Brain-Hungry Zombie. They will remain at 1 HP until someone succeeds in a headshot, thus dispatching them. Any Brain-Hungry that is successfully targeted by a headshot must save vs Paralysis or be slain, regardless of HP totals. Consider 2HD* for awarding experience.

Clare (age 4) gets into the action with this awesome Green Zombie

7. Brain-Dead Zombies: These beings aren’t really undead at all, but are rather dead bodies animated by evil, possessing spirits. Unlike other undead, they have no connection with the Negative Material plane and are in fact a construct similar to a flesh golem, only far weaker. To further confuse the issue, they are not overtly hostile and only shamble around out of curiosity. They will attack if the PCs become aggressive, but they are otherwise content to follow the PCs at range. Creepy no doubt, but otherwise harmless. Play these as normal zombies with the only change being their immunity to turning. Experience as 2HD*.

8. Voodoo Zombies: Victims of devilish Ju Ju these are living humans who only vaguely resemble zombies. Still, there is enough similarity that PCs will initially be confused. They are of course immune to Clerical turning, but fight as a 2HD Berserker in every fashion. Consider 2HD* for awarding experience.

9. Frenetic Zombies: Some unknown, yet Hellish energy animates these restless undead. They are very fast (Mv 150/50), add +1 initiative (even if group init is used), and have an AC of 6 due to their agility. Due to their speed, they get 2 attacks per round (d6), but are a bit less sturdy than the standard Zombie (1HD +4). Consider 1HD*** for awarding experience.

10. Rapidly-Decaying Zombies: These undead are in an advanced state of decay and are literally falling to pieces as they attack the PCs. The first hit from weapon or spell, causes a random limb or other bit to fall to the floor with a sickening splat. The zombie of course, ignores all damage from this first blow. Any successful turning attempt destroys these creatures as they literally fall apart in their attempt to flee. Consider 2HD* for awarding experience.

11. Legions of Hell Zombies: Hell spawn zombies have a particularly evil aspect about them and each encounter features an additional number of zombies which are Newbs (Any successful attack that rolls more than a 1 on the damage dice will slay Newb.) even though they attack at full value, etc. Newbs are indistinguishable from the regular monsters of their type, and kindly DMs may or may not allow extra attacks for fighters if they are only engaging Newbs. Add 100% to the normal zombie encounter numbers, all of which are Newbs. Hell Zombies are menacing in the extreme and this in addition to their numbers will cause all henchmen and hirelings to check morale at a -2 penalty (-25% for OSRIC) or flee as per a Fear spell. Standard experience award.

12. Knights in Rotting Satin Zombies: These undead fellows are quite often confused with animated statues or similar. Once engaged in melee, it becomes quite obvious from the stench that they are indeed undead of some sort. These zombies are identical to the standard zombie, except they have AC 3 and move of 90/30. Consider 2HD** for awarding experience.

13. Flaming Zombies: My son Connor’s idea… These shambling fellows are the product of some fire-obsessed necromancer and their combustible animating fluids cause them to smolder in an alarming fashion as they shuffle toward the hapless PCs. Striking them with edged weapons of any sort will cause them to spark and begin to burn violently for d6 turns at which point the flammable necromantic fluids expire, leaving the zombie to continue its undead existence as a normal zombie (should it survive the efforts of the PCs that is). While burning, they do an extra d6 damage and will set things alight much as a Produce Flames spell (bad news for PCs toting lanterns or flasks of oil). Consider 2HD** for awarding experience.

14. Acid Zombies: Connor again… These deliciously-decaying zombies are quite obviously in an advanced state of decay and have an odd, stringent odor about them. They are in fact animated via some bizarre, Herbert Westian fluid that is itself a very potent acid. Each blow from a weapon of any sort will create a splash effect that potentially ruins both the weapon that struck them and the armor of the splashed victim (normal save for those items vs Acid, does not affect magical items). Those splashed by the viscous reanimating goo suffer d3 damage from incidental acid. Consider 2HD*** for awarding experience.

15. Gelatinous Zombies: Extended exposure to some unknown vile, briny substance has played havoc with the necromancy which animates these unfortunate souls. The resultant undead creature though bloated, vile and thoroughly revolting in both aspect and odor, is actually a rather weak example of its kind. Damage from Jelly Zombies is a mere d3 and their AC is one point worse than the standard Zombie. Such is the revolting nature of these creatures that PCs suffer a similar effect to that experienced when fighting Ghasts. Consider 2HD for awarding experience.

16. Zombie Giants: Typically only encountered alone, in pairs or triplets, these ghastly nightmares are often turned loose into the world by powerful necromancers to wreak vengeance on the living. Zombie Giants are usually of the Hill or Stone variety in life and share the same HD, Move, AC & Damage abilities that they possessed before being animated. Some unknown Hellish energy drives them to collect the corpses of their fallen foes, stuffing them into their garments, bags, etc. all to be used in later encounters. They employ these bodies as both missiles to be hurled at opponents who do not close with them (doing 3d6 damage out to 150’) and as makeshift melee weapons when battle is joined. The sickening damage caused by these “weapons” can cause a random disease (save once at the end of combat, and only once, vs poison if stricken by either missile or melee attack) and extreme nausea to anyone within 10’ of the Zombie Giant or anyone stricken by one of the disgusting missiles (a failed save equates violent, disabling nausea). Victims are unable to take normal actions other than movement and may save vs poison at the start of each subsequent round at -2, success indicating that the victim has “emptied their tummy” and may fight on as normal). Note that the disease effect and the nausea effect can only be triggered once per combatant no matter how many times they are hit. Zombie Giants carrying d6+2 of their special weapons and will close to combat once there supply is down to a single corpse. Of course, they are more than happy to restock with the PCs’ limp bodies should the opportunity present itself. Experience should be awarded as per the HD of the original Giant w/ 4 special abilities (as an example, the B/X Hill Giant converted to a Giant Zombie would be worth 8HD**** for calculating XPs).

17. Zombie Hordes: Yet another favored troupe of the Necromancers of Omeror, Petty God of Gratuitous Bloodshed and Violence, these undead minions seek to wear the PCs down through weight of numbers, overpowering them and pulling them to the ground in order to more readily dine upon their innards. A true Zombie Horde is represented by an additional 400% zombies added to the encounter and the entire group of zombies are considered Scrubs (any blow of more than 2 points rolled on a damage dice destroys them, otherwise place a wound token, glass bead, etc. beside the mini, or make a note if you’re playing without miniatures). Zombie Hordes are pathetic combatants and attack in a swarming manner. Opponents engaged by 2 or more Horde Zombies take automatic damage (d2 if the PC is wearing chain mail or better, d4 if less than chain mail) though from the sheer weight of numbers. At the end of each round, if a target is engaged by 2 or more Horde Zombies, they must make a save adjusted by any Str bonus (Petrify/Paralysis seems the likely saving throw, individual DMs may decide some other means is appropriate). Failure means they are pulled to the ground where the Horde Zombies can really get at them, with damage rising to d6+2 and d10+2 according, once again, to the relative armor of the victim. Tackled victims may fight from a prone position OR attempt a saving throw (as above) to rise to their feet. Individual Horde Zombies attack for only d3 damage if unable to gang up on an individual. Horde Zombies are very difficult to Turn, being Turned by clerics and the like as if they were 5 HD undead and then only ½ the normal number will flee. You really do have to mow these guys down. Consider 2HD** for awarding experience.

18. Cyborg Zombies: Yet another example of a creature that ostensibly, looks like a zombie, but is actually something else entirely. These zombie-look-alikes are in fact a very advanced Animated Statue (Iron type see p 98 LL) with zombie skin stitched over the iron frame and then slathered in blood and gore. Of course, being statues, they’re immune to Turning and will certainly puzzle your PCs as their weapons become jammed into the armature of the creature. Particularly diabolical DMs, or those who have higher level PCs no longer concerned with common zombies, may decide that perhaps the underlying armature is in fact a Command Cyborg from Mutant Future (MF p. 68). Experience should be awarded based on the actual creature used (either animated statue or the Commando Cyborg which will require some XP calculations on the DM’s part).

Connor's (age 10) wicked Flying Zombie

19. Flying Zombies: One final idea by Connor… Surely the result of some delirious necromancers fevered dreams, these wretches possess rudimentary wings, mere strips of necromantic skin stretched from wrist to ankle, allowing them to attack from above the hapless PCs. Due to their agile nature and speed, these undead gain a +1 to initiative and unlike the common zombie do not strike last in the round. Flight speed is 150’ (50’). Consider 2HD** for awarding experience.

20. Doom Zombies: The apex predator of all zombie kind, the Doom Zombie is occasionally mistaken for a ghoul due to the ferocity of their attack. They are however a zombie and in fact, a variant of the dread JuJu Zombie. Doom Zombies are superb combatants with M 120 (40) AC 5 HD 5+3 Attk 3 (d3, d3, d8, special) and possess all the characteristics of undead. Unlike standard zombies, they roll initiative normally and are immune to electrical, cold and magic missile attacks in addition to the standard undead spell immunities. Any opponent struck by both claw attacks will be savagely bitten for an additional 2d4+2 damage. Most frightening of all is the Doom Zombie’s delayed Regeneration ability. A Turn (10 minutes) after being dispatched, if the bodies are not completely burned, disintegrated, or the heads removed, they will bounce back up at 50% of their original HP total and ready for more carnage. Some Hellish magic imbues the Doom Zombie with the ability to track the living and they will pursue PCs with unerring accuracy (90%) often doing so after the initial encounter once they have reanimated. Such is the strength of the necromantic magic that created them, they are turned as a 6 HD Undead. Truly they are fearsome foes and wily necromancers will often include them within a pack of normal zombies to disguise their true nature. Other zombies will of course follow the Doom Zombies. A skilled cleric may discern them from the standard zombie by their more substantial bulk and the leathery nature of their hides. Consider 5HD***** for awarding experience.

Just a final note on Newbs and Scrubs, this is a trope that I developed and it is clearly derived from both Savage Worlds and 4E D&D. It certainly makes combats entertaining and may puzzle your PCs the first time you use it. Alert them to the fact that some of the creatures you are using have special qualities that are keyed to minimum weapon damage. Alternatively, if you’ve only a few players, you can simply watch the damage dice they roll. The number on the damage dice is key here so total damage is irrelevant. It simply comes down to “did you roll a 1 or a 2”. Newbs die in droves and Scrubs very nearly so.

Vermistadt and 20 More Questions Answered

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 02:40:00 +0000

So, I'm quite late to Jeff's original challenge, but since I'm fleshing out Vermistadt for an upcoming 1E AD&D campaign, I thought I'd go back and tackle those original questions. The setting is really meant for 0E D&D (though most of it was from a mini campaign I developed for Advanced Heroquest many, many years ago), but I see no reason that it can't host some 1E AD&D play.

What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
The Gods of the world of Moog and by extension the City State of Vermistadt, are a dark and dour lot, wholly unconcerned about the grim existence of their mortal supplicants. At best, they are distant, pitiless figures who like Howard’s Crom value courage, tenacity and persistence. Clerics are empowered with spells and use them to try and further the religion of their deity, but it is a difficult task particularly since the agents of the Dark Gods are aligned against them. Evil is ever present in the world and the Dark Gods happen to be far more active than their counterparts.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
There are markets in most neighborhoods within Vermistadt though certain rare items (plate mail and firearms for instance) may not be readily available and you’ll need to travel to a different neighborhood within the city.

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
That’s a tough one. There are master armor smiths in the city, but not many of them and they’ll be located in the more wealthy boroughs, where you may find travel a bit difficult. I’d recommend talking to the locals who trade in weapons and arms.

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
Most would answer The Green Lady, Queen of Spring, The Emerald Witch, Her Most Benevolent and Serene Majesty Caelfyrnael the Dread Queen of Vermistadt. Now, most would say that because they fear her spies and assassins, widely held to be hiding everywhere in the city. Those who dare speculate on such matters might suggest that, though the Dread Queen is indeed fearsome, that her sister the Summer Witch Maethnir is considerably more adept at the deep magics. The learned understand that the wizard Rambrecht Hofstetter whose tower lies in the Ten Markets neighborhood is virtually unsurpassed in the Arts, though his rival the wizard Faustus Niederlitz of Blighting (the Coliseum district) is equally admired for his abilities. Beyond the city gates, Dietmar Tolzen, the Archmage of Isendorf is reckoned to be a wizard of unsurpassed lore and arcane acumen.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
The current Champion of the Pits is Klaus Konigsman though many would argue that gladiatorial sport does not compare with the daring do of adventuring and mercenary work. The swordsman and famed adventurer Johannes Hirtzelteuber of the legendary Young Rascals mercenary group is widely esteemed for his skill with the blade. The dwarf Baragon the Bald carries a fierce reputation as being a slayer of both men and fell beasts. The master duelist Elendaine Swiftwing is also a terrible foe, known throughout the city for his skill with the rapier.

Who is the richest person in the land?
Again, we must discount the Dread Queen and her vast estate and holdings, but beyond Her Most Benevolent and Serene Majesty, this must surely be Lord Mandred Falkenheim. Lord Falkenheim is of course the patriarch of the great Falkenheim family, the first name in the gold and mineral trade so closely associated with Vermistadt.

Where can we go to get some magical healing?
There are six temples in Vermistadt and the priests there can often be found administering to the sick and needy, though a tribute of gold talons is typically a requirement. Most neighborhoods have a practicing alchemist or two that you should get to know.

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath? The Sisterhood of Our Lady of Mercy that administers to the poor and others in the Temple of C’pu are known for being the most benevolent healers in the city. Supplicants are rarely turned away, though some may not willingly agree to their price, nor the tenets of the Faith of C’pu.

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
There are a few in fact, and players may apply for consideration at such time as they can demonstrate the ability to cast second level spells. The Esoteric order of the Dragon is the most highly regarded and consequently the most selective. The Consorts of the Lady are firmly aligned with the Dread Queen and her court. Though they enjoy much largesse within the city due to their status, the Consorts are not entirely an independent organization and are often regarded as nothing other than talented thralls. The Ancient Order of the Laughing Mage is a pseudo religious order and secret society which adheres to the teachings of Vat Oldy M’m. A number of noteworthy magi are members of this guild, Faustus Niederlitz being the most well-known. The Silent Fellowship, another secret society with a presence throughout the Duchy seems to be actively working against the crown which is off-putting to say the least, at least within Vermistadt itself. Membership is widespread and it’s a common belief that both Rambrecht Hofstetter and Dietmar Tolzen are among the leadership.

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC? Vermistadt has fourteen distinct neighborhoods and most support an Alchemist. The Royal Academy and the Grand Library of Vermistadt are both excellent places to procure a Sage or do one’s own research if one is so inclined.

Where can I hire mercenaries? Mercenaries may be found throughout the city. Generally speaking, it’s best to hire criers and post notices while working the local taverns in order to attract the best candidates. Certain neighborhoods are best avoided due to the scoundrels and lowlife that reside there. On the other hand, if you’re actively seeking murderers, cutthroats, and other low-born villains well then Blackhill, the Dumfries and the Devil’s Breakfast Table might be where you should be focusing your recruiting efforts.

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law? The Law in the city is quite harsh and armed folk of low-born status, which is almost everyone really, are considered a threat to civil society. Insurrections can begin with the single thrust of a war sword and the Dread Queen does not allow folk to travel Her streets in armor, brandishing weapons of war. Certainly the Watch are exempt from this edict and are found throughout the city. There are a few exceptional neighborhoods, where a nobleman of long, distinguished lineage maintains the peace for Her Most Benevolent and Serene Majesty. In these districts, the noble is responsible for arming his men and the local militia.

This certainly creates an opportunity where thieves might expect to profit, should they be successful in evading the Watch or the Militia. To that end, no Gentleman, not even one who is of low-birth is forced to walk the streets unarmed. Daggers, rapiers and flintlock pistols are considered fashionable and along with cudgels and quarterstaffs give no offense, nor pose little threat to Her Majesty’s peace. Similarly, leather jerks, outer garments and the like maybe worn with no more than a buckler.

Wanton sorcery is considered an affront to civil society and imposes an extra level of Circumstance when employed in the commission of any crime. Of course, those who are in a proper Wizard’s Guild are not as concerned so long as one does not burn down an Inn or the like.

Which way to the nearest tavern? Out the door, and left down Leasing Street, then take the 2nd alley on the left. Stairs up at that point lead you to the Randy Ferret and it’s a proper tavern for the locals. Since you’re clearly not from Butchertown, you may wish to keep walking on Leasing ‘til you hit Tanner’s Way, bearing right there. Just a few short steps you’ll see Handsome Molley’s a fine inn for visitors such as yourself.

What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous? The Black Wyrm of Cragnaowan is a plague upon the country folk living in the low hills northwest of Ründfell. The demise of that fell beast would certainly profit its slayer. The Beastlord of the Southern Gloamingwood is also a notorious villain, sending frequent war parties to harry villages throughout the Duchy.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight? Not really. Things are quite peaceful here in the Duchy. The last war of significance was during your Grandfather’s time and took place in another region of the Olde Empire. It was quite a long and sordid affair concerning land disputes and the rights of succession of some Duke or Lordling. Mercenaries from Vermistadt were involved, but history suggests that the Dread Queen remained neutral.

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes? Absolutely. The Royal Coliseum in Blighting is one of the city’s noted landmarks and many adventurers and mercenaries have gotten their start in the pits. One can also find considerable sport in the prize fighting and wrestling of Grievinghall. Most of these events take place in the large taverns of the old fishing village, now the principle port of Vermistadt. Larger events are scheduled in the Royal Gymnasium also located in Grievinghall.

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?Indeed there are, but they are so numerous that it would be deserving of its own post. This is a massive city so intrigue and "sinister agendas" are sort of stock and trade. The Ancient Order of the Laughing Mage and The Silent Fellowship mentioned above certainly have agendas that players may find themselves aligned against though some groups may wish to align themselves. Within the neighborhoods, there is generally an organization or two that holds power and certainly presents a challenge or opportunity for the players. Some of these groups like the Young Rascals are rightly famous and known throughout the city. Other are more secretive like the Minions of the Beggar king.

What is there to eat around here?
Vermistadt is a river town that's grown into a thriving city so fish, eel and mussels are still found in abundance. A wide variety of goat cheeses are also popular among the populace. Salted shiners, pickled and wrapped in brown bread is a local favorite.

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
Beneath the very cobblestones of Vermistadt itself, the buried city of Hollowheim awaits the bold explorer. Abandoned by the dwarves in ages past, Hollowheim has 5 known entrances, 4 of which are fiercely guarded by certain organizations. There are rumors of other means of egress, but these secret entrances are either jealously guarded or lost and forgotten.

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
One need look no further than Hollowheim beneath the city, rumored to be crawling with dragons and other fell beasts.

20 Questions for AD&D in Vermistadt

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:24:00 +0000

I thought I’d take the opportunity to join in the fun, so here’s my answers to 20 Questions regarding my Vermistadt setting for 1E AD&D

Ability scores generation method?

Method 4 produces the sorts of dudes I’m interested in. For those who can’t recall, it’s 12 different sets 3d6 stats in order. This gives you a very workable PC while maintaining the feeling that Rangers, Paladins and others are a premium class and very rare. This is a gritty campaign so the 4 basic character classes will be the norm.

How are death and dying handled?

By the RAW, at 0 you go unconscious and start to bleed out, expiring at -10.

What about raising the dead?

Sure, if you’ve got the funds and there is someone in the neighborhood willing to do so. Expect to pay a premium and probably “owesky” someone or some institution a major favor.

How are replacement PCs handled?

You come in at the average experience level of the party.

Initiative: individual, group, or something else?

By the RAW of AD&D so, group initiative and all the merry segmented madness that IS AD&D initiative. If you haven’t read the ADDICT document over on Dragonsfoot, you can if you wish. Otherwise, I’ll walk you through it as we go.

Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?

Yeah, I think so. We’ll use the Pathfinder cards and just wing it. I like random stuff and since it’s been a while since we played full on Crit/Fumble, what they Hell.

Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?

You betcha, I’ll be using the LL rule otherwise which would mean your naked skull is AC 10 adjusted by magic and DEX and intelligent foes will be swinging at it.

Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?

Yeap, so says the RAW.

Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?

This is AD&D so yes, evading is part of the game.

Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
Yes. They add a tremendous amount of tension to the game.

Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?

Yes, again, this is AD&D.

How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?

Reasonably so; I think resource management is one of the features of the game.

What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically?

You may only level up when returning to the City and training expenses, taxes, living expenses, etc. will be assessed at that time. This will require some 250 gp per the new level you are attaining. Spells generally must be found, however, you do have a mentor in the campaign who will give you a random, yet suitable spell at each level until such time as you reach 5^th level. You’re on your own at that point.

Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?

Experience is awarded at the end of a session and if you’re in the City, well, certainly you can level up.

What do I get experience for?

Killing dudes/things and taking their stuff. Also, acquiring/using magic items and the much beloved Carousing rolls that may take place from time to time.

How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?

Check by description, then the DM secretly rolls dice for you.

Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?

To some extent yes and morale works exactly as per the RAW which is best interpreted via OSRIC imo.

How do I identify magic items?

With the spell Identify and its resultant cost. Bards might also be available and friendly wizard types.

Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?

Generally no, though you may occasionally trade for them. Potions are available from an Alchemist, though these are primarily curatives.

Can I create magic items? When and how?

Sure, but we can worry about that once you hit Name Level.

What about splitting the party?

This happens from time-to-time and isn’t usually all that big of a deal.

Cultural Weapon Choices

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:47:00 +0000

A lot of my posts are directly related to the campaigns I run, primarily B/X D&D with bits from 1^st ed AD&D. Of course, given the fact that my players range in age from young 20-somethings to 40-somethings, it’s just much easier to base our game on Labyrinth Lord since it is currently in print. This particular entry stems from my desire to add a bit more flavor to our campaign, some granularity without adding too much fuss and muss. Would it work for the average OSR campaign? Sure, if the DM wants to reward players who subscribe to cultural norms, this idea should do just that.

The idea here is that cultures (in my campaign, the various sub-races of humanity, demi humans, etc.) often gravitate toward weaponry and styles of combat that they perceive as being best, even when there may exist other choices that would otherwise be superior. There should certainly be some cultures that place great emphasis on the spear and shield maybe, or perhaps the short sword (gladius for example), or even the hand axe (the franciscan throwing axe). Now certainly, the DM could go a step further and make actual variants of each of these, but that certainly makes the game a bit more complicated and you’ll need to seed some of those into your game world loot tables. This technique makes the weapon immediately superior to other hand axes for instance and that’s fine, but what if we viewed it in different terms?

What if instead of, or even in addition to, a plausible tweak to the weapon itself, we offer a tweak that suggests that these cultural fighting styles actually have meaning? That is to say that Aesclepius who is a fighter having spent his entire young life in a culture that valued the spear and shield approach to battle, followed up by a short sword when the fighting gets incredibly close and personal. The idea here is to allow a form of weapon specialization to reflect that, gained at 2^nd and 7^th level and available to fighters (or in my Avelorn campaign, everyone in the fighter column). There is no double specialization so you would be forced to choose 2 different weapons (which need not be chosen from the cultural list). You receive a very simple +1 to hit (which is plenty really), but if you follow your cultural bias choosing a weapon from those listed, you receive a +3% XP bonus for choosing one cultural weapon and then a +2% XP bonus should you choose the 2^nd one at 7^th level. Here’s a collection of the cultural weapons in my Avelorn Campaign:

Star Elves (Elf Class)
long sword, short sword, long Bow

Moon Elves
Elven sword, long bow, spear

Sea Elves
Elven sword, Sea bow, Dragon spear

Human, Volkyr
Sea bow, Dragon spear, long sword

Human, Thugee
Thugee axe, battle axe, great sword

Human, Theban (Ardrois)
spear, short sword, long sword

Dwarf
battle axe, short sword, crossbow

Dwarf, Bhakshani
battle axe, great axe, hand axe

Dwarf, Guild
battle axe, spear, crossbow

Halfling
sling, short bow, short sword

Of course this list could go on to great length given the needs of your campaign, and it’s not a major benefit, but certainly the choice of two of the cultural weapons would be the equivalent of an extra boost in your prime requisite. The weapon spec aspect of it could be as robust as the 1^st ed version in UA if you like (that’s more than I want, but YMMV). This approach represents a small incremental improvement for fighters, but the effect will encourage your players to contribute to the sense of place that you’re trying to establish in your setting, and they get a nice little bonus for doing so. Add a small smattering of special weapons (like the Dragon spear and Thugee axe that I mention above) and you’re starting to get those little details that enhance a campaign without adding too much complexity.

Off the Reservation, Thoughts on the 5E Train Wreck

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Although we don't currently see universal consensus on this, it seems likely that there are a handful of things from prior editions that we don't want to bring forward into a new iteration of D&D. Not everything about every version of the game was absolutely golden.

For example, it would be difficult to imagine that THAC0 would make a comeback. Armor Class values going down to represent them getting better. System shock rolls. Racial level limits. Gender-based ability score maximums. Lots of bonus types. And so on. But here's the thing: if I'm wrong about that, get involved in the open playtest when it starts and let us know. If you would like to see things like that be a part of the core rules set, or if you would use rules like that as optional modules, that's the kind of information we are looking for in order to make this a game you want to play.

Further, there's stuff that is kind of on the fence in this regard. What about a system that resembled the weapons versus armor table in 1st Edition? Could we make that work as a part of a simulationist rules module? Maybe. Racial class restrictions? Sure (but why?). Are these good ideas? Bad ideas?

Monte Cook

Bad Ideas.

Unless you care nothing about all of those players who’re going to be lapping up the 1E AD&D books, and that will be a substantial number unless I’m mistaken.

Anyone familiar with Monte Cook's work should have seen this coming. Let's face it, here's a guy that has never seen a rule that he couldn't improve, a game or system that he couldn't make even more complex. Maybe it stems from his early association with Rolemaster, but Ol' Monte likes it crunchy and has a casual disregard for the 25 year history of D&D before he deconstructed it. Now, don't get me wrong, the guy is a fine writer and prolific, but I've seen enough of his work to know what's coming. With 3.0 D&D, Monte and the gang decided that having multiple saving throws was "inelegant" and so, we got saving throws paired down to 3. Now of course, given one more go at destroying D&D, saving throws are apparently gone altogether (as evidenced by playtest reports circulating in the blogosphere).

Not content to be boxed out by Monte and the gang, I made a valiant though brief attempt at participating in the screaming going on in the D&D Next forums over at WotC. I shouldn’t have wasted my time. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that D&D Next is nothing more than an attempt to hold onto the 4E crowd while figuring out some way to bring the Pathfinder players back into the fold. Almost nothing I’m reading makes me want to play this new abomination and certainly nothing about it seems an improvement over Pre 3E D&D, nor will it be a better game than Pathfinder.

The Ford Edsel Model of Design

I’m not surprised that WotC is going down this road again. Surely, in their eyes at least, the previous approach of “survey the fan base, then build a system that matches up with the results” seemed to have hit the mark. I’ve long maintained that 3E wasn’t just successful because of the profound changes it made to 2E, but largely due to the enormous amount of marketing WotC threw at it and what should be obvious to anyone, the OGL and SRD. I posit that equal sales numbers (possibly better) would have occurred had they simply did a slight tweak to the 1E rules accompanied this with the same marketing effort plus the OGL and SRD.

That obviously didn’t happen though and after a while, a percentage of players grew tired of Monte’s and Skip’s “grid-based combat game in the guise of an RPG” and moved onto other things, a good number even moved back to prior editions. In the due course of time, WotC decided that they needed another reboot and allowed the smart guys over at Paizo to polish their “grid-based combat game in the guise of an RPG” while they moved onto a “grid-based combat game in the guise of an RPG” which, on some level, looks like it was meant to plant a meat cleaver into the Skull of Fantasy Flight Games’ Descent. This resulted in yet another fracturing of the market.

And now, they’re about to fracture the market once again.

I’ve argued for over a decade now that the 3E design team had one fatal flaw, a flaw that continues to this day. TSR did not fail because there was anything wrong with D&D. It failed as a going concern because of what was wrong with TSR. Once the IP was liberated the only thing that WotC really needed to do was put their own stamp on D&D.

We don’t really need another fantasy RPG, but that’s exactly what WotC is doing here. This will be Monte’s 2^nd or 3^rd Fantasy Heartbreaker to use B/X Blackrazor’s terminology and somehow it’s supposed to unite or unify the editions. How can you do so when you’re dead set on getting rid of a great many of the things that make those editions unique? The mounting evidence suggests that Uniting the Editions is nothing more than a marketing ploy.

For more on Monte's lunacy, check out Will's excellent post HERE.

Averlorn House Rules and Clarifications for B/X D&D UPDATED 1/17

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Here are the current house rules that we're using in our B/X + AD&D (LL/AEC is our clone of choice) game. We've now move beyond the village of Hommlet and are exploring the area.

ABILITIES: Create 3 or 4 characters by rolling 4d6 drop the lowest. Choose the best set of stats and retire the other characters. Abilities for Prime Reqs may be adjusted as per p. 7 LL Choosing a Class. This approach that produces relatively heroic OD&D characters, yet makes Rangers, Paladins and others quite rare and "fun to shoot for" when rolling up a new dude. Characters with a total of “0” in ability bonuses may be considered hopeless and re-rolled.

HIT DIE: Basic Hit Dice as per AEC

HP AT FIRST LEVEL: Reroll 1s & 2s for a primary character at first level. After that reroll 1s at every level.

SECONDARY SKILLS: Pick 1 or roll 2. Alternatively, ignore this and your PC had a very average upbringing and began life as a wandering adventurer at an early age

SIMPLE ALIGNMENT: You can have Good or Neutral tendencies, but keeping it simple is cool.

RACE AS CLASS: Dwarf, Elf, or Halfling can use either option (essentially choosing a B/X character or a 1e AD&D character). NPCs, hirelings, etc. are almost always racial class for simplicity.

DEATH AT 0 FOR EVERYONE BUT...: PCs, NPCs, Boss Monsters, Big Scaries, etc. (let's call 'em Star Players) get a chance to hang in there via the Death & Dismemberment roll (we'll use my own chart from Moog with death usually occurring at -10, thus allowing your friends time to save you). Recovery times for nasty wounds may be greatly reduced by various healing spells. Cure Serious for instance will completely heal a broken limb.

NO SHIELDS FOR ARCANE CASTERS: Arcane spell casters need to travel light, hands at the ready to cast, etc. This brings some degree of balance to the Elf class.

VARIABLE COMBAT DAMAGE: As per the B/X Companion, p 24, basically, use the weapon you find to be most fluffy, damage is determined by class and weapon size.

WEAPON SPECIALIZATION: The Fighter Column gains weapon spec at 2nd level, then again at 7th level but may not double specialize. One of the weapons chosen MUST be a cultural weapon detailed in the Player's Guide (or ask your DM). Bonus for all weapon spec is +1/+0.

SET SPEAR & LANCE ABILITY: As per RC all members of the Fighting Column may do this though halflings may not use the lance attack.

FIGHTER COMBAT OPTIONS: As per RC, kicks in at relatively high level, 12th for most of the Fighting Column, 11th for Elf and Halfling class.

THE FIGHTING COLUMN MAY CLEAVE: Swinging again is fun and heroic in HtH, though only once per round and you must be in range. Mooks are 1hd or less, at 5^th level, 1+ hd creatures get added to the list. At name level, you may cleave a number of time per round equal to 1+ your DEX bonus.

20 IS A CRIT FOR STAR PLAYERS: Max Damage. 1s always miss and always fail a saving throw.

DWARF, ELF & HALFLING CLASS: switch over to the RC level system (and benefits therein) once they achieve a level beyond their LL progression.

HIGHER LEVELS FOR DEMIHUMANS: May advance beyond LL AEC limits at a 50% penalty to bonus points, applied BEFORE any bonus from Prime Req.

RITUAL SPELLCASTING: From Beyond The Black Gate 2010 Compendium, available to both divine and arcane casters.

DWARVES & BATTLEAXES: Like peanut butter and jelly, dwarves may use them and in the hands of a dwarf, it functions as a Bastard Sword.

TWO-WEAPON FIGHTING: +1 to hit and you will hit with whichever weapon you consider to be your main weapon (stating so at the beginning of combat)

TWO-HANDED WEAPON: +1 Damage, strikes last when using individual initiative.

LEVEL DRAINING: New save each day to remove a lost level.

IDENTIFY SPELL: All wizards have this one and after handling an item for a day, they discern all of its properties. The Elf class has some ability here as well needing a 5 or 6 on a d6 and may try on subsequent days if they fail to identify the item.

CHARGING: You need at least 10 feet of space, straight line required and a clear path to your target. You receive +2/+2 and lose your Dex bonus to AC, or a flat -2 whichever is higher. Both penalties and bonuses last until the start of your next action.

MOVING PAST READIED OPPONENTS: Isn't really supported in the rules. Doing so triggers an attack from enemies just as if you'd fully retreated from combat (including the bonus). You may avoid this by making a Dex roll on 4d6 (your Dex stat or less).

DECLARING ACTIONS: Only spellcasting need be announced and you do not have to name the spell until you cast it it. Losing the spell due to combat damage causes you to lose a spell of your choice.

MOVEMENT: Simple movement here. All PCs can move 30 feet in a combat round, double that if they charge or hustle (which is simply a move and do nothing else sort of action). Running has its own rules, but for our purposes in combat, you run at either 120' (leather or less), 90' (chain or less), or 60' (heavier than chain mail) depending on your armor.

ENCUMBRANCE: Simple rules here. Your Max load is 160 pounds and coinage weighs very little in our game. Carrying over 100 pounds of loot will reduce your combat speed to 20 feet and your run to 60'.

GenCon Saturday Night

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Well, 4 days of crazy gaming and generally goofing off are now coming to a close. I spent the day going to seminars, closing up my business in the auction room (bye-bye 4E stuff) and shopping for the wife and kids. The boys will be elated with the new LEGO mini fig bits that I picked up with the proceeds from my auction items.

The auction is really a great way to fund a few of your purchases when you come to GenCon. Most of us who've been gaming for a while, probably have a few surplus items lying around, and it just makes sense to run 'em through the auction. The company that runs the auction gets into you a bit with commission and what not, but it's still nice to be turned loose into the exhibit hall with some spare cash in your pockets.

Swords & Wizardry Whitebox Tonight at GenCon

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:07:00 +0000

Posting from my Droid here but just wanted to see if anyone wants to game while here at the con. I'll be in the lobby outside the RPG area in the JW Marriot, near 201.

GenCon Day 2 More Madness

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:09:00 +0000

OK, so yesterday's Will Call line was maybe 45 minutes. Day 2 was a nightmare for those poor devils. I heard 2 hours and it was certainly The Mother of All Convention lines, doubling back upon itself before running out the door, down the street and God knows where. I think that next year to spread the OSR cheer, some of us should run games of S&W Whitebox up and down the line just as a service for our fellow gamers. Speaking of the OSR:

OSR Booth FTW!

So, yeah dropped by first thing and threw down on some OSR goodies. I'm going over there to hang out for a bit, maybe run into some of the blogging crew. Hopefully run some S&W Whitebox tonight. I had to hit the auction first thing this morning to drop off some items. I always dig through the stuff I don't want pile of junk to fund more goodies.

Oh yeah, shock of all shocks, old Scadgrad got in on a Pathfinder session where I got to play a Ninja. So, of course I flipped out and did some backstabbing for like a gazillion points of damage, which of course the bad guys shrugged off because they have like 5X gazillion HPs. Was a good session though and the DM ran a fun, loose game with not too much in the way of power gaming. Ninjas are so sweet. :)

Scadgrad is da Black Ninja lurking on da rooftopz

GenCon Day 1 The Will Call Line; a Cautionary Tale

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:07:00 +0000

Made it to Indianapolis in about 10 hours, easy ride up with the Mrs and Dan over at Tales from the Tower. Had some rain a bit of the way, but all-in-all, not bad. Wednesdays are pretty much just a get here and get your stuff stowed away. I really must warn you about the perils of the Will Call line. In the name of all that does not suck, please get your registration sent to you via mail so you don't have to participate in this frosty Hell:

OMFG Look at this Damned Line

The line stretches all the way back to Chicago. I'm not kidding, it's just simply ridiculous. One can walk right up and register off the street in just a very few minutes, but woe be the gamer who registered early and decided to brave the Will Call line. I think most of these poor souls waited at least 45 minutes and I heard of some hour-long waits. Ouch.

In other news, LEGO Minotaurs are way cool:

Holy Minotaurus Batman!

I'll have some more pics tomorrow. Also, I just downloaded my S&W Tome of Horrors Complete and it's everything that I thought it would be. On a quick skim it's just an incredibly impressive collection.

More tomorrow...

Off to GenCon

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:34:00 +0000

D is for Demon (Vrock)

Leaving for GenCon in the morning, very early in fact. It's about an 11 hour drive from Richmond and I'm droppin' the Mrs off at her BFF's house in Cincinnati. The kids are off to spend some time with the grandparents. I suppose next year, the 2 boys get to tag along with dad. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing some of the OSR crew and picking up some nifty OSR product. I'll try to post a few times with pics of the entire sordid affair.

I finished up my grades today for my 3 online class and so now I've a few days to get back to the drawing board. Still have a bunch of demons to draw and it looks like I'll be pitching in some illos for Mythmere's new monster book.

In other news, I've conscripted the other artists in the family to help me with my next d20 list. I'll have some grubby Zombie variants when I get back from Indy complete with guest illos from the wife and 2 of the kids.

Swords & Wizardry Whitebox with the Kids

noreply@blogger.com (T Mullins) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:51:00 +0000

OK, well, of course the illustration here as nothing to do with the post, but I just like to share the illos I'm doing as I get to them. These dudes are of course one of 12 demon illos I'm working on right now. I've got a fair few monsters to draw in the coming months which should be fun.

D is for Demon (Manes)

So, Swords & Wizardry Whitebox, right, what about that then? Well, last week the fam and I went back to Tennessee for a visit with the folks. I actually brought along S&W W to get a "face-to-face" session in with a few friends with my old RPG group. In fact, we still game together on Sunday evenings, playing a bit of LL/AEC down in the depths of Stonehell. We use MapTools and Ventrillo for our game now and though it's not as cool as sittin' around the game table, it's still fun to game with dudes who are scattered all around the country.

I have no clue what the current version of WotC's D&D Essentials looks like, but man, 0E is the way to go for introducing new players to fantasy RPGS.

At some point during our visit, my 11-year old nephew picked up my S&W W book and began leafing through it. He's an avid video gamer and is very familiar with CRPGs so all of the sudden, he was full of questions. My two sons of course have done a bit of dungeon delving with Dad, so they were excited to play and soon we'd pulled in a couple of other cousins. Before long, we had a quick group of 3rd level heroes readying to explore the depths of Dyson's Delve, which, given the relatively small size of its levels, makes it perfect for speedy play.

I would wager that over the next two days of the visit, we probably spent six or eight hours at the game table. I have no clue what the current version of WotC's D&D Essentials looks like, but man, 0E is the way to go for introducing new players to fantasy RPGS. Like most folks who run 0E or S&W W, I tweaked the system somewhat, using the B/X version of the Elf, EGG's 15+ Ability bonus and EGG's Death at Minus Character Level, but it's a Helluva little game. I'll confess here, I came to D&D in the Moldvay era and soon "matriculated" to 1E AD&D and until last week, I had no experience with 0E. After all these years of RPGs, it's abundantly clear to me that one really needs to actually spend a few hours playing the game before you really grok the game. Sure the paucity of hit points, the D6 for all wepaons, etc. seem limiting, but man, it's still a great little game. Why the Hell WotC/Hasbro isn't still selling this old gem is beyond me. Seriously, Monopoly as a board game is far clumsier than 0E and yet it continues to sell, probably with a set of rules that pre-date the LBBs.

OK, off the soapbox. If you're like me and missed out on the LBB era and you want a nice travel edition of D&D, you should really give S&W Whitebox a try.