Dexcon 17 and OSWARP in New Jersey (July 4th Weekend)

On Fourth of July weekend, I’ll be heading across the mighty Hudson River to the hinterlands of Northern New Jersey for DEXCON, specifically to take part in OSWARP (Old School Wargames and Role-Playing) mini-convention. It will be playtests galore as I bring the first two parts of The Four Phantasmagorias DCC RPG adventure series to the table, and the second playtest of my upcoming METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA adventure. Event registration is now live, so if you’re in the tri-state area and looking for some Old-School gaming (and are free Fourth of July weekend), consider coming on down.

In addition to my own humble presence with DCC RPG and MA, old-school games such as D6 Star Wars, classic Traveller, Swords & Wizardry, Stars Without Number, OD&D, AD&D, Adventures Dark & Deep, Call of Cthulhu, and Champions are on tap, as are a bevy of new school games and classic wargames. I’m still hashing out the details of my weekend, but I’ll certainly be around for Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday.

Here’s the scoop on what I’m running:

R0235: Dungeon Crawl Classics; "The First Phantasmagoria" presented by Michael Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at DEXCON 17! Strange symbols appear on you flesh and the most learned minds in the realm cannot fathom why. Perhaps those eldritch priests who serve the Great Dreaming God, Cthulhu, can help decipher them. What could possibly go wrong there? "The First Phantasmagoria" is the beginning adventure in a multi-part adventure saga from Goodman Games. Thursday, 8:00PM - 12:00AM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun, All Ages. 

R0269: METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA (1976); "Level of the Lost" presented by Michael Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at DEXCON 17! A formerly sealed section of the Warden has been opened and rumor has it that one of the fable command rings awaits beyond the entrance. Does your band of explorers have what it takes to overcome the hazards of the Level of the Lost and emerge with this potent artifact? This adventure is highly dangerous, but highly fun! Friday, 2:00PM - 6:00PM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun, All Ages. 

R0288: Dungeon Crawl Classics; "The Second Phantasmagoria" presented by Michael Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at DEXCON 17! Venture back to the Drowse to enter the Forest of Childish Delights. Inside lies another part of your quest for the Four Phantasmagorias. But things (and people) turn weird once they cross the verge of the woods, so be forewarned. This may make overcoming the eclectic collection of enemies birthed from bloodstained fairy tales a tad difficult to overcome. "The Second Phantasmagoria" is the second adventure in a multi-part adventure saga from Goodman Games. Friday, 8:00PM - 12:00AM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun, All Ages.

Hope to see some familiar faces (I know I will just looking at the folks who are running games) and to meet new gamers. Feel free to bring stuff for me to deface if you want my scrawl on something. Depending on my final schedule, I may actually play something this time around, too.

The Last, Long Mile of the Stonehell 2 Journey

I've been keeping the masses informed about the progress of the Stonehell Dungeon sequel over on the books' Facebook and Google+ pages, but new milestones have been reached. I thought I'd share that report here, along with a preview of the cover art and links to other associated projects.

Stonehell Two Status Report (5.3.14)

I’m extremely pleased to break the month-long silence with news that all the last elements of the book are coming together. As predicted, I didn’t have much to report as the book’s progress relied on other people’s contributions and wasn’t directly in my hands. It amazing how things move forward when I’m not the one responsible for pushing the project along. This report brings us two big pieces of news: the finalization of the sequel’s cover art and the edited manuscript back in hand.

J.A. D’Andrea, who did the cover of the first Stonehell book, is providing the cover art for the sequel. I’m always greatly impressed by J.A.’s work, but his piece for the sequel really struck a chord. He did a magnificent job of expressing the depths of Stonehell Dungeon and the strange mentality that accompanies those who tread its halls. I’m proud to feature this one on the cover, not only because it’s good, but because having J.A.’s work reappear makes a nice book-end for the Stonehell series. Other pieces of art are also trickling in, meaning that I’ll soon have all the components needed to push on to final layout.

I have also received the edited manuscript back from the outside editor. I’m happy to report that my own three passes over the draft were not in vain and that the editor found only minor corrections that need to be implemented. This was a great relief, as my mind always suspects the worse when I send things off for others to review. However, in this case at least, the worry was unfounded.

Here’s what remains to be done on the punch list:

1) Implement the minor changes required by the manuscript.

2) Collect the last stray pieces of art.

3) Finalize the layout by adding the art, tweaking the format, and including the various legalese, index, credits, and “special thanks to” sections.

4) Compose the cover.

5) Get a printer’s proof made and review it.

6) Make any final changes required by the proof.

7) Publication.

As you can see, there’s still a little work to be done, but we’re heading into the last mile of the journey. Unfortunately, and you knew there had to be an “unfortunately” if you’ve been following this project, I’m running into a time crunch. The success of the Metamorphosis Alpha Kickstarter left me with a few pressing projects that need completion ASAP. I need to get these off my plate before I can attend to the sequel. I also have North Texas RPG Con in a month and must complete the last adventure that needs writing before I get on the plane for Dallas (space remains in at least two of my games if you’re interested). I’d hoped to be able to debut Stonehell 2 at North Texas, but, barring a miracle of time and effort, I doubt this will occur. Rest assured, I’m eager to complete Stonehell 2 and bid a fond farewell to the project. I’ll continue to push ahead when I can and I’ll keep you informed of my progress.

Once again, I thank you for your patience, but know that we’re almost there. In the meantime, I ask anyone who enjoys my work to check out the latest Goodman Games’ Kickstarter for The Chained Coffin, a new adventure penned by me that centers on a hexcrawl through a “fantasy Appalachia” as inspired by the work of Manly Wade Wellman. The Chained Coffin is one of my favorite works to date and I think it demonstrates admirably the goal of DCC RPG going back to the source material of the hobby and doing new and interesting things with the Appendix N material.

METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA: 1976

You may have heard the news already, but I’ve yet to chime in on the latest announcement by Goodman Games that emerged from the chaos of Gary Con VI. Yes, it’s true: the original METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA rules as written by James. M. Ward is being re-released in a deluxe collector’s edition!

Late last year, I started receiving some very cryptic emails from Joseph Goodman inquiring about my familiarity with METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA. I knew the game, and had the uncommon honor of adventuring aboard the Warden three times under Jim Ward’s mastery without the loss of life or limb. I was hoping these email were leading in the direction they seemed to be going, and, sure enough, once the legalities and contracts were obtained, I got the invite to climb aboard the doomed Warden for another go-around.

For those of you unfamiliar with METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA, it is the original science-fiction roleplaying game released by TSR back in 1976. You play the role of a primitive tribesman aboard the generational starship, the Warden, bound for a distant star. Generations ago, catastrophe struck the Warden, killing a large percentage of the crew and colonists, and mutating many of the survivors. Over time, those left alive on the Warden forgot their original mission and plunged into a state of barbarism. The decline of civilization was so thorough that the survivors forgot they were aboard a starship, and developed tribal communities in self-contained levels of the ship that defined their entire world.

As a player character, you begin the game in these small enclosed worlds but eventually discover the truth of your predicament, acquiring knowledge of the Warden and learning to use many of the weird artifacts (lasers, vibro blades, Geiger counters, etc.) left behind by the original crew. If you survive long enough (a difficult task given the hostility of the mutated creatures that prowl the ship and the lethality of radiation still lingering in places), you may eventually gain control of the ship and perhaps even guide it to safety on a new world.

Although METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA didn’t have a long printing life during the TSR days, the game, unlike the PCs who explore the Warden, proved notoriously hard to kill. METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA is the urtext for GAMMA WORLD, and many of the mutations, mutants, and technology found in that first post-apocalyptic roleplaying game first appeared in MA. And like GAMMA WORLD, a game which has gone through seven or eight editions, METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA endured beyond its original print run. TSR released a version of the game for it AMAZING ENGINE system in 1994, Fast Forward Entertainment published a 25^th anniversary edition in 2002, Mudpuppy Games produced the fourth edition in 2006, and there is currently work on a 5^th edition of MA by Signal Fire Games. On top of all this, the original 1976 rulebook is available for download and print-on-demand from WardCo.

“So why in the blazes in Goodman Games producing a deluxe collector’s edition of the original rules?” you might ask. The answer is based on playability, longevity, and historical importance.

The original rules, as available from WardCo., are identical to the 1976 TSR release—and that includes the minute font they were printed in. If you’ve never seen the original rulebook, the type is very small and the layout is in dual column format. That might have been a good idea in 1976, but as many gamers get older, their eyes aren’t what they used to be and the tiny type becomes difficult to decipher. The Goodman Games print run will be an oversized 10.5” x 14” book, allowing the original rules to be printed at 110% size. This will alleviate the eyestrain factor.

The Goodman Games version also collects a vast amount of material released for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA under a single cover. Magazine articles about the game, James M. Ward’s short story, “Footprints in the Sky,” a new introductory adventure, special advice essays written especially for the deluxe edition, and other useful material will all be compiled in the Goodman Games edition. To ensure this material survives, say exposure to cosmic radiation (or regular game use), the deluxe edition will utilized high-quality binding, that used by collegiate text, to keep the book intact for decades to come. It’s a book you’ll be proud to have as part of your RPG collection, yet tough enough to actually use at the table.

The collector’s edition release also allows Goodman Games to provide support for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA in the form of published adventures, something that MA has been lacking for many years. Four (and maybe five if the Kickstarter hits its stretch goals) adventures released by Goodman Games are planned for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA in the coming year. The first, The Android Underlords, was available for purchase at Gary Con VI and was written by yours truly. The opportunity to contribute even a little bit to the Warden’s long history was a dream come true for me, and when the creator of the game praised the adventure, it was a fan’s dream come true. If Jim likes it, you know it’s both good and worthy of bearing the METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA title on the cover.

Once the Kickstarter funds, there will be another three adventures produced, one by Jobe Bittman, another by me, and a third by the captain of the Warden, himself, James M. Ward. Should the Kickstarter hit $37,000, a fifth adventure, author to be determined, will be published as well. Even if you decide that the collector’s edition isn’t your cup of tea, you might consider contributing to the Kickstarter to get the complete run of adventures, all of which can be played with the WardCo version of the rules or easily adapted to other RPG systems (like DCC RPG, for instance!).

Before I go, it bears mentioning that the deluxe collector’s edition is being produced under a license that allows a single printing of the book. Once this run is gone, so is the deluxe version. Those who don’t get aboard the Kickstarter now will have to rely on the secondary markets—where it will command an extravagant price—to obtain a copy.

Hopefully, my ramblings have piqued your interest enough to back the Kickstarter, but if not, there are other ways to get involved with the original science-fiction RPG. Consider checking out one or more of the following METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA forums for more information about the game and to meet like-minded mutants:

The Official METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA forum
The Goodman Games forum’s METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA section
The METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA Facebook Group
The Google+ METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA Community

Throwing Rocks in Texas (Part 3)

Saturday kicked down my door like a fighter with 18-double-aught STR and dragged me back into the sea of con attendees. After surviving another go-around with the hotel restaurant for breakfast (I chose to order food rather than sample from the worn-down looking buffet), it was back to the Longhorn Room for a session with a surprise twist: “Expect the Unexpected.”

I knew what the surprise was before going in, having had the beans spilled to me by Doug the night before after I mentioned that I was going to try to sneak into Frank Mentzer’s Boot Hill game. Boot Hill was one of those titles that I always wanted to try, but my FLGS never seemed to carry a copy of it back in the day. Having a chance to correct that gap in my gaming experience with Frank at the helm was a welcome one. But, alas, there was a catch.

“Expect the Unexpected” was a take on the premise from the TV show “Quantum Leap.” Each participant would play at one table for a pre-determined period, then “jump” to another table, picking up a PC left behind by the group that just departed. The referees were all industry folks and the games a peculiar, but entertaining lot. Jim Ward was running Metamorphosis Alpha, Frank had Boot Hill, Jeff Dee was running Cavemaster, and Steve Winter had brushed the dust off of Star Frontiers for the session. I started in Jeff Dee’s Cavemaster game along with seven other Neolithic wayfarers.

I mentioned Cavemaster earlier and how much I was impressed with it. It’s even better with a group. Jeff gave us the plot: a wandering band of cavemen and cavewomen traveling to meet up with our tribe at our traditional nomadic hunting grounds. We were out of food and hoon-gry, which is bad news if you’re a cavefolk. The party was comprised of “classes” one would expect in a Paleolithic setting (hunters, gathers, warriors, shaman, and me, the smart one), all of whom brought their own specialized talents to the game. The gatherers found enough food for us to survive one day, but it was evident we needed meat. Luckily for us, we soon found a quartet of peccaries drinking from the river and it was on!

Neat mechanics aside, I had a better time trying to hunt those four pigs than I’ve had looting a dragon’s lair. The players were all getting into the caveman shtick (speaking in broken English, giving ourselves names like “Healing Milk,” “Flame Hair,” “Deer Runner,” and “Fire Maker,” and grunting and hooting whenever appropriate) and knowing that if we failed to get enough meat to feed us all for a few days it would result in a long starvation or the invention of cannibalism. The stakes felt much higher and therefore the fun was increased. When we successfully brought down three of the four wild pigs, it was if we had accomplished something important and tangible, something very much unlike killing an orc and taking his copper pieces. We’d managed to dress the pigs and start weaving baskets to carry all that glorious meat when it was time to switch tables.

 We found ourselves aboard the Warden in Jim’s Metamorphosis Alpha game and he took no time in presenting us with plenty of opportunities to kill ourselves. This was the second time I’ve had a chance to play MA with Jim and I had a massive karmic debt to pay for last time. I was fully prepared to throw myself on the proverbial (or more likely in Jim’s game, not-so-proverbial) grenade to save the party. Unfortunately, due to the stipulations of “Expect the Unexpected,” Jim could only banish the clumsy, stupid, and unlucky to the cryo-tubes—a fate I somehow avoided once more without tossing my fellow PCs under the space bus. I maintained my 100% survival rate in Jim Ward’s games and now hang up my uniform and retire terrified, but undefeated. I’ll not miss the R radiation-emitting space slugs that were the doom of so many others.

Next up it was off to Boot Hill and we found ourselves in—as Frank stressed—the historical Old West. Most of us were unfamiliar with Boot Hill, so Frank had to eat up a lot of time giving us the gist of the mechanics, but we did manage to fight off some Indian raiders, equip some armored wagons, and buy some dynamite for the next party to jump to the table to have fun with. Frank later confided to me that the session we were playing was inspired by “Star Wars” and just had the obvious serial numbers filed off. In retrospect, it’s obvious, but also genius.

One last leap before our return to the world of Cavemaster landed us in the bowels of an alien city—Star Frontiers time! Fending off robots and Sathar, we worked our way through the crystalline underbelly of the metropolis in search of missing scouts and really managed to screw ourselves up when we drove into a claymore mine and blew up. But, as was quickly pointed out, that wasn’t going to be our problem anymore in about ten minutes. My apologies to the group that came back and found their PCs all banged up.

Star Frontiers was one of those games that I enjoyed in theory when I was younger. The “Knight Hawks” expansion was one of my favorites, but the alien races and default setting never did anything for me. Having experienced it again and become re-acquainted with its simple d% resolution system and skills, I’m tempted to hack it together with Traveller and a slew of other sci-fi influences and give my own spin to it. File that under the “someday campaign” list we referees keep.

At long last, we cavemen returned to our homeland to discover ourselves in the middle of a pitched battle with cannibal, armor-wearing Neanderthals (we missed the pterodactyl fight). Ultimately, we defeated that enemy and rescued our fellow tribes-people from becoming supper, and even managed to begin retro-engineering the concept of armor to make ourselves invincible in the Neolithic world.  “Expect the Unexpected” was a very, very fun stretch of hours and I hope the experiment is repeated at future cons.

Next Up: The Not-Be, the Toads, and Farewell

I am a Complete Bastard

Just got home from Gary Con and it'll be awhile before I can decompress and sift through the outstanding experience for choice nuggets. Until then, this post explains the above.

Lurking in Lake Geneva

Event registration for GaryCon went live at 4 PM EST today and, like some of you, I was perched at my computer ready to snatch up seats in my first-choice games. Unfortunately, 30 GP just doesn’t buy what it used to and conflicts forced me to make some hard choices. Hopefully, I’ll be able to correct that at GaryCon V.

For those of you attending (or just interested in what I’ll be playing in Wisconsin in two-month’s time), I’m registered for the following events:

Friday @ 2 PM: “Legends of Wargaming: DUNGEON! With Dave Meggary.” It’s been forever since I played Dungeon! and the opportunity to play it with original designer was simply too good to pass up. Its low cost in Gary Points and short duration made it a perfect choice to ease into the Lake Geneva gaming scene.

Friday @ 6 PM: “OD&D with Tim Kask.” It came down to either playing AD&D with Frank Mentzer or OD&D with Tim Kask in this time slot. Having had the opportunity to play OD&D with Frank last year at my local con, I decided I’d give Tim’s game a whirl and let someone else take a seat for Frank’s game.

Saturday @ 12 PM: “We Got Ourselves a Real Bug Hunt!” Metamorphosis Alpha with Jim Ward! As much as I wanted to sit in on Jeff Rient’s “Caves of Myrddin” at 10 AM, I simply had to play a game with Jim before I left Lake Geneva and, due to scheduling and my flight times, this was my only opportunity during GaryCon. I’ll have to catch Jeff’s game on Goggle+ one morning to make up for it.

Saturday @ 6 PM: “Gary Con Open – Mission Critical.” An old school convention tournament game in Lake Geneva: How could I say “No” to that?

I’ll be arriving at the Lodge in Lake Geneva around 5 PM on Thursday. Since Thursday night and Friday morning is free for me (barring gaining a seat in a game with openings), I’ll probably break out Stonehell or a super secret playtest during those times, so if you’re in town and are also free, track me down!

Metamorphosis Alpha: “The House on the Hill” Now At Reduced Rate

Craig J. Bain from WardCo. chimed in on my last post to say that his Metamorphosis Alpha adventure, “The House on the Hill” is now available at the reduced rate of $13.99 for the rest of January. If you’re looking for an introductory module to run along with your brand-new printed copy of Metamorphosis Alpha, here’s your chance to pick one up and save some scratch. From the adventure description:

This is an introductory adventure for the classic sci-fi advenure RPG, Metamorphosis Alpha. The book includes a sample adventure set in a Round House Modular Dwelling Unit (RHMDU) and also includes tables for generating your own RHMDUs and ensuring that each of them is unique.
The adventure is designed to be challenging (despite the size of the RHMDU) and humorous, yet deadly to the unwary or over-confident.

Swing by CreateSpace and pick up your copy today!

If You’re Thinking of Buying Metamorphosis Alpha…

…you should probably know that Lulu is offering 25% off with the coupon LULUBOOK305. That coupon is good until January 31^st, 2012. That applies to all Lulu purchases, not just MA, so feel free to pick up a few other goodies while you’re at it!