Review: Epoch

 

I am sure that Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal altered my brain chemistry and since then I have had stone age and that era adjacent on my mind. My love for Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, Land Before Time, and reading The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was too young notwithstanding. 

Olde House Rules claims inspiration from the legends of stop motion animation Ray Harryhausen (probably One Million Years B.C. being up at the top of the list) and Willis H. O'brien as well as the Aurora Prehistoric Scene Model Kits. This is in addition to the comics Tor and Turok, Son of Stone. 

Disclaimer: I was gifted a PDF copy of Epoch with no expectations. In addition, Olde House Rules and I have collaborated on various projects.  

 

Presentation: The PDF clocks in at 42 pages which includes the cover, legal pages, table of contents, and dedication. Epoch is presented in an old school type writer style of font with numerous full page black and white wood cut art pieces. The game opens up with an "official" letter from an archeologist to another colleague that talks about enclosed/collected material proving that history got a lot of things wrong and humans existed along side the dinosaurs and so on. Then the game pages follows and you start with an introduction on what is role playing and explanations on dice before getting into the game proper. 

 

 Character Creation: Character creation is straight forward and follows these steps:

1. Choose a Clan/Tribe from the two options. The BONE CHILDREN (homo neanderthalensis) are short stocky and have dense bone structures which provides them strength above and beyond normal means. The other Clan/Tribe The STONE PEOPLE (homo sapiens) are physically modern
   humans that lack the might of their counterparts but posses a unique relationship with luck that allows them to succeed automatically at times. 
2. Roll 3d6 in order to determine SKILL scores (and their modifiers) for the following: Animism, Crafting, Gathering, Hunting, Knowledge, and Stalking. Skill scores can range from 3-18 and the Skill modifiers range from -3 to +3. Players can then swap two skill of their choice. There is also a section that discusses different options if a player rolls badly...
3. Any character with a 9+ in Animism may choose to become a Shaman... 
4. Choose a Skill to Specialize in. 
5.  Start with 10 Hit Points.
6. Record Tribal Language (Bone or Stone) and the common trade language. Characters with high knowledge are able to speak all three languages.
7. Players receive 5 Barter points to equip their character at the beginning of the game. Barter points represent general trade goods or artifacts. For game purposes, characters may wear clothing and
   carry a single weapon of their choice, plus 10 additional artifacts provided these are small enough to fit in a sack or sling over one shoulder. 

Resolution: Resolution follows a strait forward system of rolling 2d6 + Skill Modifier vs. a Target Number to accomplish most tasks. The target numbers are split in sections of Easy, Moderate, Tough, and Formidable with a number range for each section. The bottom of the total range starts at 5 and ends at 13+.  If a character has a specialty in said skill, the player rolls 3d6 and adds all dice together to determine the total vs. the target number. 

Combat uses the same basic resolution but when combat happens, the game switches to rounds and follows this formula:

1. Determine Initiate by placing all combatants in order of their speed (which is determined by the type of furs/armor of the beast) that ranges from 0 (the fastest) to 3 (the slowest). If participants are tired on a tier, the adversaries go first unless the Player Characters have a clear advantage. 
2. Characters act in the established initiative order and attacks are made using the standard resolution rules vs. defense (which is determined by type of beast or furs worn). 
3. If an attack is successful, damage is rolled based on beast size or weapons used (1d6-3d6). The total on the damage roll is subtracted from the opponents HP table.
4. When HP reaches zero. death is the result.

There are some other subsystems that are important to note:

• An optional system for medicinal herbs
• Rest/recovery 
• Advancement 
• Environmental Hazards 
• Bone Tribe/Clan Strength is narrative based
• Stone Clan/Tribe possess an action pool that let them automatically succeed due to their natural adaptability and tenacity 
• Item Breakage 
• Rules on Rations (food and water)
• A full bestiary where each creature may have a hides and meat rating to determine food and raw supplies that can be farmed from the creature

Oh ya, how could I forgot Shamans? If a character has an Animism score of 9+ (as previous mentioned) the player may choose to be a Shaman. Shamans follow a different advancement table, acquire the power of a totem instantly, and have the ability to cast spells at level 2. 

When a Shaman reach level 2, they acquire a couple of spell points that are used to cast spells. The cost of the spell varies by strength and each spell as its own effect, duration, and range. There is a list of 10 thematic spells that match the setting. 

Final Thoughts: Epoch - A Game of Stone and Spell walks a line between the realms of ancient and modern game theory. You can see the influences from the original three brown books and other games from Olde House Rules offerings with new innovations. It is also important to note that it should be read in its entirety due to the flow and to make sure things are not missed. 

One of the things that I found pretty cool is that instead of just using the default six attributes, Olde House Rules turned them into skills and in doing so evoked a simpler yet very theatrical world that matches the flavor of the setting. 

Epoch captures the vibe of the "Stone Age" with prehistoric trappings perfectly and you can also see Olde House Rules inspirational sources shine through the writing. Reading through it sparks inspiration for the implied setting and it can lead to endless adventures. 

The game is toted as a survival game which is reinforced by the need to eat and drink at predetermined intervals or suffer consequences (this makes foraging and supplies important), basic but no nonsense encumbrance rules, large creatures are dangerous (require a plan and numbers to tackle successfully or characters are going to get chomped up!), and an initial idea that the group of characters acts as a hunting party. This creates a wild and deadly (while not overtly deadly) universe where survival comes first and adventures come second. 

Finally, the game is presented in way that the Referee can choose to run it without any weirdness/supernatural or decide to crank the weirdness/supernatural up to 11 (and everything in-between).

With that being said, I would have loved to see more setting information and hex/world map. Though, that is because I just love the era (setting, idea, etc) and I want more. 

You can find Epoch and other information here:

• Drivethrurpg 
• Character Sheet 
• Olde House Rules Website  
• The first Supplement by Etheral Games: Red Ochre & Ruins 

 

Legacies of Exera: Session 20

 

After licking their minor wounds, the party trudges on through the maze of tunnels running afoul of various traps that ended up spilling into a large cavern and the party pauses trying to figure out how to move forward while avoiding more traps. Gareth ends up sending his conjured pets forward the apparently trigger the remaining traps. In one of the trapped areas, the platinum is found along with a strange holy symbol that depicts a broken arrow. After further careful exploration the party discovers a ledge at the end of the large cavern that drops down into an even larger cavern that extends in multiple directions into the darkness. 

As the party repels down into the area and start to discuss how they are going to carefully find a way out of this area, a large purple dragon comes stalking out of the darkness which triggers some choice words from Harl, Gareth, and A’anri. Taking the initiative, Helestina uses her magic to increase the size of both Claren and Enama as they charge to meet the dragon head on to keep it form advancing any further. Between dealing with the large characters the dragon is able to duck behind an alcove using its breath weapon before it ducks back around the corner which greatly reduced the efficiently of the other characters ranged tactics. Soon enough, the dragon realizes it is going to lose this battle and transforms into what appears to be a Drow to try to escape down one of the far tunnels but Gareth does not miss a beat and teleports both Claren and Harl into the tunnel right behind the escaping Drow where the Drow was cut down.

As the party regroups and shakes off the surprise of fighting either a dragon the shapeshifter into a Drow or a Drow that shapeshifted into a dragon. Though, as the corpse of the Drow did not return to dragon form, it was decided the latter was the case. The party did not have much more time to discuss the philosophy of the situation as three dwarves appeared on the ledge of an outcropping in Snow Flurry uniforms demanding that the part needs to return to the city as the Snow Flurries are taking over the mission. After some back and forth, Gareth gets a deep sense of darkness emanating from the supposed Snow Flurries moments before negotiations break down and the dwarves fire arrows at the party. Gareth is able to quickly teleport the three imposters high into the air and each imposter met their end with a sickening splat on the cavern ground, afterwards they reverted to larger squashed spiders.

_______

PLAYER NOTES: The Rogue player dropped out and I have to say, dealing with traps and other situations where a Rogue would be helpful made this session interesting. Despite our best efforts, a series of traps were triggered and conjured pets had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Then after we think we have a moment of reprieve, a dragon rises out of the darkness to try to eat everyone - even though at the time we did not know it wasn’t a real dragon per say, we still all had some choice Geralt quotes around the table. Then there was the imposter Snow Flurries situation. At first I was excited as it was pretty convincing that the King or the officers of the mine decided to send reinforcements. The roleplaying back and forth was nice but then Gareth sensed darkness in them and all bets were off. I have not puzzled out yet of the duergar and the Drow are working together, if something else is going on, or if it is some underdark shenanigans. We will see - there are some clues but I think the answer is tired into the history of the fallen dwarvem kingdom that Sirabolter was built on top off. 

Review: Streamlined Superheroes

It is no secret that I have been a longtime fan of superheroes and have been a reader of comics since I was little. It was common sight to find me running around with a Batman action figure in one hand and a tattered comic book in the other hand. This love of superheroes eventually transferred over to my enjoyment of tabletop gaming and I have had some great experiences with Aberrant and other systems. Though, supers is one of the genres where the games are commonly complicated and stuffed full of rules. This has led me to search for supers games that are rules light but cover some of the important aspects of the genre. This has led to discovering Supercrew (which is an unknown game that deserves more recognition), leaning on  Triumphant, and writing Onedice Supers. 

I came across Streamlined Superheroes by John Fredericks when I should have been in bed and was mindlessly scrolling through youtube. 

Presentation: The PDF clocks in at a total of 17 pages that include the cover, an introduction page, an introduction adventure, a character sheet, and a rules summary. It is presented in a standard two column format with a font of something adjacent to Comic Sans. It is organized as overview/character creation/rules format.  

There is some full color art that ranges from 1/4 page to 3/4 page coverage. The art is a mix of public domain art and I believe some art that the author drew himself. The mix of the art brings a feel of the old school newspaper style four color comics from the 70s/90s as well as keeping the DIY vibe alive.

Character Creation: This section starts out with this paragraph to get you in the mood, "What kind of hero will you be? You might want to play your favorite comic book or movie hero, or one of your own creations. They’ll need a superhero name, and a “real-life/alter ego” name as well. A page of blank character cards is at the very end of this book, or just grab an index card and write down what you need." Then the section breaks down the various steps of getting your character down on paper that follows:

1. Place four predetermined values in the attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma.
2. Choose a combination of four powers and skills/professions. There is some suggestions given about how it is common for characters to have three powers and one skill but this is not a hard rule and these choices vastly depend on character concept. Each of these four are called "Effects" and each is assigned an effect die out of a d12, d10, d8, and d6. A list of powers and skills are provided to assist the discerning player. 
3. Choosing a weakness is optional and characters can only have one. A weakness provides a negative effect that can be exploited to hinder the hero or represent items that can be broken/stolen/disarmed. A weakness provides an additional d6 effect option. 
4. Characters have a starting Hit Point rating of 20. 

Resolution: The core resolution is a simple two step process. The first step is to determine success by rolling 1d20 + Attribute vs a target number of 10+. If the roll is successful, then an effect dice is rolled to determined the amount of success. The effect is chosen by the player to determine how the hero is attempting to overcome an obstacle or solve the problem. The result on the effect dice subtracts from the Hit Points of the opponent or the Hurdle Points of a Stressful Situation (like disarming a device, etc.) There are some subsystems that affect the above core resolution or alter it:

• If there not a creative way a character can use an effect in a given situation, the effect die is a d4 that represents general skill/common sense/etc
• In a non-combat situation, an effect roll of 6+ is considered an exceptional success
• Advantage/Disadvantage is used instead of modifiers by rolling 2d20 and choosing the highest or lowest
• Group Checks
• Opposed Checks
• Assist Rolls
• Called Shots
• Ensnaring 
• Retreat
• Reaching Zero Hit Points

Combat utilizes the same core resolution but adds in a initiative system that provides three options. The first option is a narrative approach where an hero acts, then an opponent, then an hero, and so on until everyone involved in combat has acted and a new round starts. The order is chosen by whoever wants to go and whatever opponent the game master wants to use. The second option is acting in descending dexterity order where ties act simultaneously. The third and final option is to use side based initiative with a d6 (1-3 opponents go first, 4-6 heroes go first). Regardless of which method is chosen, initiative stays the same for the entirety of the combat.

• In true four color fashion, supers done die. When reduces to zero HP they are just knocked out until the next scene when all of the action is over. HP is full recovered when they become active again
• Vehicles are treated has an effect die, having their own

There is also advice for designing opponents that range from henchmen all the way up to major opponents, determining how to scale stressful situations and how to allocate Hurdle Points to those situations, and setting a timer for those stressful situations. 

Finally, there are rules for advancement. When the characters advance is determined by pure GM fiat and allows an increase of an attribute (to a maximum of 8) and to increase an effect die by one step (to a maximum of d12). 

 

Final Thoughts: Streamlined Superheroes lives up to its name and they mechanics do not get in the way of any four color action. What I enjoy about this game is that (like the other games I have mentioned earlier) is it encourages players (and by extension) the GM to become creative with effects and how to use them to handle situations in unconventional ways. The various sub systems all play off of or utilize the core resolution mechanic without adding any additional crunch outside of remembering how to do a group roll or an assist. The entire game does what it sets out to do to capture the four color comic vibe in an easy to play package. It was also refreshing to see that powers are considered to be "always" on or always usable and does not require a roll unless it is a combat situation, being used in a stressful situation, or chance of failure would be interesting. By extension, this same logic is applied to skills as well but skills are generally not meant to be singularly specific skills like woodworking (though they can be and some of the example characters have a more specific skill). They are more meant to cover professions or possible a cliche. So, instead of listing woodworking as an effect, a more appropriate effect would be carpenter or something similar.  

 

The game also provides examples for heroes, villains, stressful situations, and combat. 

 

I also enjoyed (and I found it a unique take that I have not seen before) how armor/toughness/rock skin/etc is handled. You basically have the maximum effect due to the supers HP but that effect cannot be used for anything else. 

 

Though, with that being said there are a few caveats and things that I would have liked to see or clarifications needed:

• More examples
• Explanations in some areas are vague (reading the rule summary helps), especially when it comes to Ensnaring. How I understand that specific circumstance may be different that what was intended but how I read is that Ensnaring Effects break the normal combat sequence in that instead of rolling an attack "to hit" the opponent makes a save to avoid the situation, and if the opponent fails then they are stuck and allows a test to break out every round. The HP of the bond is equal to the maximum result of the effect die (12/10/8/6). 
•  Examples of social situations 
• As a DIY guy myself and as someone who cannot afford an editor for their own work, I never begrudge anyone int he industry for typos or formatting errors. Though, there is some.  
• More of the authors Art!

You can find the game and other resources here:

• Drivethrurpg 
• Sharp Mountain Games Youtube Channel
• Review by Solospelunking Table Talk 
• A four part solo play by Magehammer's Game Table  
• A Quick Look by Tabletop Wanderer 

 

SoA: Development Log 5

 

The Appendix N found in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragon's Manual is famous and has even been expanded in later editions. As I am working on Secrets of Arn, I decided to include my own Appendix N to share with everyone where my inspirations have come. In my Appendix N, I have included a healthy list of movies, books, documentaries, Manga, and non-fiction selections. A handful of books from my last appear on the original Appendix N but there is also a lot of book that do not appear on the list that I highly recommend. Of course, there were no movies, manga, or non-fiction on the original list so that is going to be new for everyone. 

Without further ado, my Appendix N...

 

Film

•  Sorceress, 1982
•  Conan the Barbarian, 1982
•  The Last Unicorn, 1982
•  Sword and the Sorcerer 1982
•  The Last Unicorn, 1982
•  Krull, 1983
•  Fire and Ice, 1983
•  The Beastmaster, 1983
•  Deathstalker, 1983
•  The Flight of Dragons, 1984
•  Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, 1984
•  LadyHawke, 1985
•  Legend, 1985
•  Masters of the Universe, 1987
•  The Princess Bride, 1987
•  Willow, 1988
•  Dragon Slayer, 1992
•  Dragon Heart, 1996
•  Princess Mononoke, 1997
•  13^th Warrior, 1999
•  Spirited Away, 2001
•  Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004
•  Genndy T.’s Primal, 2019

 

Books

•  The Barsoom (Martian) Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1912-1914
•  The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1918
•  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937 (1st Edition Text)
•  Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, 1950-1956
•  Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954-1955
•  The Dying Earth by Jack Vance, 1950
•  Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard, 1950-1954
•  Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock, 1963
•  The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, 1964-1968
•  Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock, 1965
• Dune by Frank Herbert, 1965
•  Eye of the Overworld by Jack Vance, 1966
•  Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1968-2001
•  Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Series by Fritz Leiber, 1970-1988
•  The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, 1970-1991
•  The Riverworld Series by Philip Jose Farmer, 1971-1983
•  Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, 1976
•  Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, 1984-1985
•  The Black Company by Glen Cook, 1984
•  The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist, 1982-1986
•  Redwall Series by Brian Jacques, 1986-2001
•  Dragon Prince Series by Melanie Rawn, 1988-1990
•  Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind, 1994
•  The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobbs, 1995-1997
•  Game of Thrones Series by George R. R. Martin, 1996-Present
•  Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, 2001
•  The Blade Itself by Joe Abercombie, 2006
•  The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks, 2008-2009
•  The Magician Series by Lev Grossman, 2009-2014
•  H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction, 2011
•  Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence, 2011-2013
•  Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, 2012
•  Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 2016
•  The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, 2016
•  The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark, 2017
•  Aching God by Mike Shel, 2018
•  The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, 2019
•  The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, 2021
•  The Hollows Places by T. Kingfisher, 2022

  Documentaries

• James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, 2018
•  Secrets of Blackmoor, 2019
•  The Dreams in Gary’s Basement, 2023
•  Adventure Never Ends: A Tabletop Saga, 2023

 

Manga

•  Record of Lodoss War, 1986-1989
•  Berserk, 2003-2022
•  Delicious in Dungeon, 2014-Present

 

 Non-Fiction

• Sly Flourish’s The Lazy Dungeon Master by Michael E. Shea, 2016
•  Life in a Medieval Village by Gies, 2016
•  Life in a Medieval Castle by Gies, 2016
•  The Ultimate RPG Game Master’s World Building Guide by James D’Amato, 2021
•  Tony Bath’s Ancient Wargaming, 2021
•  Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs, 2022
•  The Elusive Shift by Jon Peterson, 2022
•  The Ultimate RPG Backstory Guide: Expanded Genres Edition by James D’Amato, 2022
•  The Game Master’s Guide of Proactive Roleplaying by Jonah & Triston Fishel, 2023
•  Playing at the World 2e by Jon Peterson, 2024

If I am being honest about this list, I would say start with the nonfiction.