Tuesday, January 11, 2011

“Roont Urt”

Roont Urt The mental auditions to choose what game I intend to run after Watchfires & Thrones runs its course continue. It was my original intent to run Gamma World, but, although that continues to be the front-runner, a few dark horses have entered the race. Whether these go the distance or are mere phantoms conjured by Gamer A.D.D. remains to be seen.

Assuming I continue with the Gamma World plan, I intend to run it as a wide-open sandbox. My re-acquaintance with the rules has shown me not only how suitable Gamma World is for this type of campaign, but it actually seems to be the default setting for the game—something that escaped me in my youth. With more wisdom and greater experience in this type of campaign, I foresee a heck of a lot of fun in exploring a post-apocalyptic sandbox.

I’ve started doing the initial planning for a Gamma World sandbox by following Rob Conley’s incredibly useful step-by-step process. Although certain other projects got in the way of progress, I have completed the first step: the initial conceptualization of the larger world in which my sandbox will be located. Although a simple one-page sketch map is suggested, I’m more of a poster paper/colored pencils man. After all, why settle for sketching when you can create art!

I didn’t worry too much about pinning down scale at this point and size. This map is more in preparation for the day the characters find a bubble car and start zooming around the lower atmosphere (intentionally or not) and set down in some unknown region of the world, henceforth known as “Roont Urt” rather than the more prosaic “Gamma Terra.” If things look a little askew, that’s completely intentional…and part of the fun of exploring the campaign world. The initial sandbox would likely be set in the orange region in the lower left-hand portion of the map, right around where that mountain chain ends in a “Y”.

Next step: Naming regions.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Ka-Ching!

As a rule, I do not fall into the category of a Monty Haul-type referee. I can be downright stingy, in fact. My players can attest that they’ve gone into Stonehell and come back out with the pocket change that a pair of sentries had on them. Sometimes they’re even operating at a loss when they go delving.

Not today though. At our first session since the holiday break, the party found two of the largest treasure hordes on the second level of the dungeon. The amount of money and experience they hauled out was damn near obscene. Because of this, they actually ran into the rule that stipulates a PC can never advance more than a single level as a result of an adventure—something which has occurred only one or two times in my games in the three decades I’ve been playing.

Watching them deal with the logistical problem of getting the sheer amount of coinage they stumbled onto back to the surface was extremely entertaining. Rations went flying, coils of rope were discarded, torches jettisoned, and all that dungeon trash that adventurers tend to accumulate (“I take the orcs’ longswords! We can sell them back in town.”) got dumped without ceremony. When all was said and done, only two of the six PCs had a weapon in hand—the rest had their mitts filled with sacks.

They crawled back to the surface at the breakneck speed of 30’ a turn, were almost robbed by a gang of bugbears, dodged kobold javelins, crossed the Pit of Great Annoyance on a rickety ladder, and faced a mass of seven zombies that stood between them and the stairs to the surface, but they made it out alive and filthy rich. Of course, the next time they might not be so lucky, but this uncertainty is one of the more enjoyable factors about the old style of gaming. There are few attempts to balance risk or reward in the early editions, so any trip could end in a windfall or a wipeout. It is that uncertainty that makes me come back for more, both as a player and a referee. I wonder why anyone would want it otherwise, but it takes all types I suppose.

After all the PC deaths that have occurred and the near poverty the adventurers endured since the campaign began, it’s great to see them have a big win. The power level of the campaign is slowly growing, which not only adds to the survivability of the PCs, but also gives me greater leeway with what I can introduce into the campaign—and I have some interesting plans…

All in all, today was a good day for gaming and it was precisely what I needed to get me to refocus after the three weeks off. I’m looking forward to next week’s session. I see an overland journey on the horizon, something we haven’t done since the original campaign world. The sandbox is waiting for the PCs…and some hexes are hungry.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

IƤ!!!

At long last I can break my silence since Dan Proctor has officially announced it.

Without saying too much about the supplement just to be safe, this is an incredibly cool book and I’m honored that I was asked to be a part of it. My response on seeing Dan’s manuscript was, “It’s like you took the Cthulhu Mythos chapter from the unexpurgated Deities & Demigods and turned it into a sourcebook of its very own!” Dan did an amazing job on this one and I think a lot of folks are going to impressed by the stuff in there. You’ll find it awful stuff, by which I mean you be both “full of awe” and hopefully disgusted too. I know I blew out the “weird gear” in my mental transmission doing my section of the book and I hope the pain and madness comes through in the text.

Pick this one up when it hits the market. The psionic system is worth the price of admission alone. Your players will hate you for it.

Modern Map Suggestions?

In light of my own advice, I’m giving some serious second thought as to what RPG I’d really like to run after (or even before) my Labyrinth Lord game winds down. There are a few candidates, all of them having the common factor that they are not fantasy-based titles. I need a little break after living, breathing, and most importantly, writing fantasy stuff for the last two-plus years.

Strangely enough, when it comes to modern setting games, my biggest hang-up is mapping. My modern games are more character-driven than location-based, and I’d prefer to spend time diagramming the relationships between various factions and individuals instead of detailing the office that the players operate out of. When such detail is needed, I can always draw upon real-life experience if necessary, quickly sketching out an old work place or what have you to use in a pinch.

The problem with that, however, is that, after a time, all the offices start looking the same, the churches have the same layout, and even the corner store get repetitive. So to combat this, I’m looking for suggestions on gaming resources filled with modern location maps. I see that there are a few such things on rpgnow.com, but the reviews on them are not great. Does anyone have something they can recommend based on actual use?

My only requirement is that it has to be either a PDF (I’m not buying actual books this year) or a web resource. It should also have the widest range of locations possible from the mundane (convenience store) to the uncommon (funeral parlor). I don’t need them to be usable with miniatures, but being able to print them out and keep on hand for the next time the PCs chase the bad guy into a construction site would be a bonus. Cheap or free is always appreciated too.

Any suggestions?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Now Available for Pre-Order

Today is Dungeon Crawl Classics Day over at the Goodman Games website.

Glory & Gold Won by Sorcery & Sword

You’re no hero.

You’re a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets. You seek gold and glory, winning it with sword and spell, caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished. There are treasures to be won deep underneath, and you shall have them.

Return to the glory days of fantasy with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Adventure as 1974 intended you to, with modern rules grounded in the origins of sword & sorcery. Fast play, cryptic secrets, and a mysterious past await you: turn the page…

Rules Set: DCC RPG, an OGL system that cross-breeds Appendix N with a streamlined version of 3E.

Designers’ Diary: Learn more about the RPG design in our regular entries.

Community: Discuss the DCC RPG on our forums!

Open Playtest: The core rules for the DCC RPG will be released in a free, open playtest in mid-2011. Watch this page for more details.

Support: Goodman Games will support the DCC RPG with an extensive line of adventure modules and select other materials going into 2012. More details coming soon!

Licensees: Select publishers will be offered licenses to publish supplemental material for the DCC RPG. If you are a publisher interested in learning more, please contact us.

Designer and writer: Joseph Goodman
Additional writing: Harley Stroh
Cover art: Doug Kovacs
Interior art: Jeff Easley, Jason Edwards, Tom Galambos,
Friedrich Haas, Jim Holloway, Doug Kovacs, Diesel Laforce, William McAusland, Brad McDevitt, Jesse Mohn, Peter Mullen, Erol Otus, Stefan Poag, Jim Roslof, Chad Sergesketter, Chuck Whelon, Mike Wilson Special thanks to the playtesters at DunDraCon, CondorCon, GenghisCon, GaryCon, North Texas RPG Con, Mount LeConte, GameFest, SaurusCon, Anaheim Mini-Con, Tacticon, Fal-Con, Dicehouse Games, Comic World, and elsewhere!

GMG5070, hardcover, $34.99. Pre-order now!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Anyone Need a Motto for 2011?

Some years ago, I worked in a wine & liquor store (two of them, actually, but never mind that). I had to acquaint myself with various vintages of potables to better serve the customer base that would come in looking for the perfect grape to accompany their dinner. In the process, I gained some familiarity with both the Wine Spectator and oenophiles (or as we called them, “grape nuts”). And although my palette never quite developed to that of a connoisseur, I did acquire a working knowledge of the grape.

There is a saying amongst wine aficionados that goes, “Life is too short to drink cheap wine,” and one must admit that there is a certain wisdom in those words regardless of whether you imbibe or not. Our time here is limited and we already spend much of it doing things we’d rather not have to. So why on Earth would we settle for anything less than the best when it comes to the things we do enjoy? It is with this mindset that I present to you a motto for 2011:

“Life is Too Short to Play Bad Games”

I’ve spoken briefly on this subject previously, but I think it bears repeating, especially with a brand new year ahead of us. You should all be out there playing the game you want with the group you want and should never settle for anything but the best in your gaming entertainment. You can be playing the title you want with the players you prefer—provided you’re willing to put the effort into making it happen. Some games might be easier to find groups for than others, and you might get lucky with the first gaming group you build, but it’s much more likely that you’ll eventually find who and what you want to be playing with if you keep up the effort.

Need proof? Look no further than fetish websites and forums (and by “look” I mean that figuratively if you’re at work right now). There are a whole bunch of people in this world whose freak flags flutter in some pretty bizarre winds, yet they’re finding people to play their various games with. By that measure, your desire to play that wonky home-brewed Castle Falkenstein campaign you made up that time you dropped acid isn’t quite so unlikely now, is it? You might have to make a few attempts to get the perfect mix, but nothing comes easy in the world and you’ll find the effort is far outweighed by the reward.

I’ll mention that when I say “bad games” I’m not making any value judgments on what title you enjoy. What gets me going might not do the same for you and vice versa, but all that means is we probably shouldn’t be playing in one another’s groups and be out finding our comrades in dice (or chips or cards or whatever). In any case, I wish you luck and may you find your perfect group of gamers and most excellent campaign in 2011.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Portents, Plans, and Expectations

A fresh year. Is there anything else so full of possibility?

Having had a few weeks to recoup, catch up, and prepare for 2011, I’ve made some plans, decisions, and resolutions like many of you. Some regard my gaming, others are more personal improvements, but all are intended to make 2011 at least a moderately better year than 2010. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

The biggest decision, and also the one that most impacts you, the reader, is that I’m 99% certain that this will be the last year of The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope. For several reasons, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve taken this particular blog as far as I can based on its original mission statement. Rather than slowly grind it into the muck of mediocrity, if not outright suckitude, I’d prefer to call it a night while the Society is still a shadow of its once-pertinent self.

As it stands at the moment, I suspect that I’ll keep the place running long enough to finish off the Stonehell sequel, my Labyrinth Lord campaign, and the one last project of mine that has been shuffled to the backburner so many times I can’t remember what it was that I started cooking. The blog’s 3rd anniversary would be in August, and ending the blog after a respectable three-year run appeals to me greatly, so we’re looking at the “Closed” sign going up towards the end of the year and not tomorrow. I hope that is a some consolation.

This is not a decision I made lightly or in anger. It’s just that time. I never signed up to keep this place running in perpetuity and I’m feeling anxious to try the next thing in my life. I’ll be continuing to create material for other venues and I’ll likely keep Secret Antiquities running, but the Society is entering its twilight months—unless something changes dramatically. One should avoid saying “never” or “always” after all.

Speaking of the Stonehell sequel, this will be the year for it. I hate leaving projects unfinished and despite my tendency to take up other people’s offers of work in lieu of my own, I will get the sequel completed and available by the time the year or blog winds down (whichever comes first). I will do my best to keep the quality of the sequel equal to or better than its predecessor. To do anything less would be an insult to you fine people. Remember though that quality takes time, so don’t expect the sequel out next week. And no I don’t have the slightest idea when it will appear yet either. You’ll be amongst the first to know if you continue to follow this electronic fish-wrapper in the coming months.

Expect to see my name attached to at least one project put out this year by another entity. I’ll speak more on it/them when I’m allowed, but all you need to know now is that they are very cool things.

Perhaps my most outrageous resolution for this year is to not buy any books until I’ve finished the humongous backlog that accumulated last year. As a bibliophibian, this will be a difficult one to adhere to, but I’m pretty adroit at keeping to things I put my mind to. I’m allowing myself to purchase a tome or three if I get a gift certificate or the like to a bookstore, but other than that, I’m on the book wagon until the box of to-be-reads is empty. And yes, this includes game books too.

I’ll be trying to reduce my backlog of unpainted miniatures as well, but that’s what every mini painter says at this time of year.

That’s where I stand on this warm January afternoon here in New York. I’m looking forward to the coming year not as a time of endings but of new beginnings. I hope that you can join me in this outlook. I’ll miss this place from time to time once it’s closed, but I expect whatever comes next will be at least equal in its utility, coolness, and all out funkiness. But that’s a long way down the road right now, so let’s have some fun while she lasts.