Ode to Dave Arneson

I know I posted about the first dungeon adventure on Dave Arneson Day and that post was inspired but a lot of talk about Dave and the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor that was being released about that time. This in turned spurned a lot of talk about how Dave Arneson and the twin city gamers played back in the day before we had all these crazy rule books that are thick enough to stop a bullet. The truth is, they adapted some rules from various war games and board games but a lot of it was very narrative based.  For an example of this, someone asked the Secrets of Blackmoor crew about how they handled various things such as hit points and below is the conversation;

David Wesely who is the creator of Braunstein also commented in a recent online conversation about later editions of Dungeons and Dragons and their complexity;

Dave Arneson created his own fantasy setting called Blackmoor. There have been a handful of Blackmoor campaign books that ranged from the original Dungeons and Dragons days to the 3.0 era. Some of the best information can be found online at The Blackmoor Archives. 

Regardless of that quick history lesson, I was very inspired to create a game that would be in the spirit of Dave Arneson and I hope what I have came up with would be something he would be proud of. I decided to call it "Way of the Forgotten Hero". I named this because I view Dave Arneson has the forgotten hero of table top gaming.

Character Creation

1.Write down a name, be creative and clever.

2.Choose a profession. A profession can be anything that is job focused and setting appropriate. Examples are Alchemist, Assassin, Barbarian, Beastmaster, Beggar, Blacksmith, Dancer, Executioner, Farmer, Gladiator, Hunter, Magician, Merchant, Mercenary, Midwife, Minstrel, Noble, Physician, Priest, Sailor, Scribe, Slave, Soldier, Temptress, Thief, and Worker.

3.Write down three different words or phrases, called traits, about your character. Traits should be specific and not overly good. Traits can also include racial distinctions (elf, dwarf, etc.) and possible social affiliations.

4. Write down any equipment you think your character should have with them or that would fit your character concept and 20 gold.

5. Your character has 15 hit points.

Tests

When resolutions are not clear, the referee will call for a test. Players roll 1d12 vs. a Target Number determined by the referee (though this knowledge is usually kept from the players):

Routine: 6+

Challenging: 8+

Heroic: 10+

Legendary: 12+

If any of your traits, profession*, or equipment can help then add +1 per trait, profession, or equipment that helps to the test. If any of your traits, professions, or equipment hinder the situation you suffer a penalty instead.

*Professions cannot be used for direct combat.

Opposed Tests

Opposed tests happen when two sides are trying to achieve different goals but are in direct competition (ex. Arm wrestling). When this happens, both sides make a test a whichever side has the highest result wins. Some situations may require more then one test to accomplish the task.

Combat

The referee calls for initiative and everyone makes a test. The highest result goes first and everyone else follows in a clockwise order from whoever went first.

Characters get two actions per turn. They can move and take one of the following:

• Draw Weapon/Item
• Use Magic 
• Focus (+2 to next attack) 
• Defend (+2 to Defense until the beginning of next turn) 
• Attack (Melee or Ranged)

All opponents that are considered a trained combatant (this includes the player characters) are considered to have a Defense of 6 and everything else has a Defense of 4. To make an attack, the player makes a test vs. the targets defense. If the attack is successful, damage is subtracted from the targets hit points.

If miniatures are used, the player can move their miniature a normal pen length during their move action.

Gear

Some gear provides +1 to rolls. Weapons deal 1d6 points of damage. When two handed weapons are used, the player rolls 2d6 and chooses the highest. Light armor provides 1 point of damage reduction and heavy armor provides 2 points of damage reduction. Shields provide a +1 bonus to defense. Attacks and other damaging effects always deal 1 point of damage regardless of damage reduction from armor or other sources.

Adversaries

Most NPC’s and basic creatures possess 1-6 hit points and deal 1d6 damage. The more powerful the creature the more hit points they will have. Very rare abilities or creatures of unusual size can deal multiple d6’s of damage.

Magic

A character must have a trait related to magic to be able to use magic. Magic users can produce various minor effects, hinder an opponent for 1d6+1 rounds, and shoot bolts of energy that deal 1d6 damage. All uses of magic under duress require a test. On a result of 1, they magic user suffers burnout (cannot use magic) for 1d6 rounds. Each burnout result increased the range of burnout by 1 in the same day, after the 1st burnout result the range becomes 1-2, etc.

Advancement

After each session, the referee awards 1-3 experience points. When 10xp are accumulated they can be spent to gain 1d6 hit points OR an additional trait. If a trait is chosen, it should relate to the growth experienced during the story.

The entire PDF of Way of the Forgotten Hero can be found here for free.

Review: Star Dogs - Player's Handbook

I came across this game by chance and I was immediately drawn to it by the cover alone. When I started to read through it, it did a lot of things I liked.

As a disclaimer, a PDF copy was provided for purposes of review.

Presentation: The cover is vibrant and draws you in with visions of Flash Gordon, Ice Pirates, Star Wars, and so much more. I am also strangely reminded of Emperor Zurg. I am not sure if that was intentional or not but expanding the Buzz Lightyear universe is game worthy.The interior of the book is very well organized and has a clean layout that is mostly single column with a few pages consisting of double columns. There is black and white artwork that is seeded throughout that help conveys the intended tone of the game. The art style changes throughout the book but it makes sense and is not jarring.

Character Creation: Making a player character is done in the usual d20 fashion;

1. Roll 3d6 (adding them together) for the attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. It says that you can rearrange them if you want so they do not have to be in order (stating this in the rules makes me happy). The attributes use the -3 to +3 modifier spread. 
2. Choose a Race. There is a lot of cool options here the imply setting information. You have humans, Synthoids that are vat grown organic beings with an AI consciousness, Androids that are a AI consciousness in an cybernetic body, Robots that are an AI consciousness in a pure metallic body, High Gravver that are beings from high gravity worlds, and Low Gravvers that are beings from low gravity worlds. You also get to check if you are Khybe sensitive (10% chance on a d100. Khybe is like a mystical force that grants the beings who can use it various abilities). 
3. Choose a Class. There are also options here the help convey the setting. You have the Fighter, Rogue, Technician, Delegate, Pilot, Cultist (Oh ya - people that hang on to ancient and illegal religions), and the Khybe Monk (kinda like a Jedi). 
4. Record Skills. Your class determines your starting skill points and the type of skills you have access to. The skill list is nice and compact that covers more of the technical abilities. The skills are Drive Hovercraft, Pilot Spacecraft, Computing, Surgery, Electronics, Mechanics, Robotics, Interstellar Navigation, Religious Knowledge, Law Knowledge, Alien Lifeform Knowledge, Planetary Survival, Space Survival, Underworld Knowledge, and Diplomacy.
5. Optional Boons and Banes. You can choose one Boon if you take one Bane.
6. Starting Credits and equipment. 

Resolution: The game uses an OSR style of the d20 engine. For combat, it is d20 + mods (attack bonuses, attribute bonuses, etc) vs. Armor Class and yes, it uses ascending armor class which makes things run so much quicker and smoother. Armor class starts at 11 (unarmored) to up to Heavy Armor which is 17. Dexterity bonus modifies this. Shields ass +1 AC and then there is energy shields that absorbs x amount of laz shots.

For things outside of combat and saves, it is a d20 roll under your attribute score and you succeed on or under the relevant score. In the rules, if something is really easy you can drop down the die to a d12.

Skills start at level/rank 1 and classes give bonus skills to start out with in additional to all level one characters have 1 skill point they can put in a skill of their choice. All skills are tied to attribute bonuses which they benefit from. To make a skill check, roll a d12 and on or under your current skill level you succeed.

The game also uses the advantage/disadvantage mechanic which if a player makes a roll with advantage they roll 2d20s and choose the result they want and if they roll with disadvantage then they still roll 2d20s but the GM chooses they result. This mechanic replaces having a bunch of negative or positive bonuses to add.

Star Dogs also has a section on cybernetics which have prices and installation rules. During installation there can be minor or major malfunctions. Those tables are a fun read!

Finally, we have ship and vehicle combat. Vehicles have an AC rating, HP, Shield Points, Weapon Points, Passenger Points, Cargo Points, and attributes. Weapon points determine how many weapons in can have installed, Passenger Points determine how many people the ship or vehicle can carry, and Cargo Points represent how many galactic pallets the ship or vehicle can carry. Combat functions just like regular combat but damage is scaled up her down depending if it is ship vs. ship or ship vs. hover craft or ship vs. foot (or people).

Crunch: As far as crunch goes, the level of complexity is your standard OSR far. Low numbers to add, d20 vs. target number, d20 roll under attribute, and x in 12 skill system instead of x in 6. The resolution mechanics all work together really well and ship combat is a breath of fresh air. In a conversation I was having with the author, he stated "I couldn't find a game that had a smooth and streamlined ship combat system, so I decided to make my own." 

One of my favorite things about this game systematically speaking is how it handles different distances. Each scale (foot, hovercraft, and ship) have the Close/Nearby/Far Away but the definitions change depending on scale. For example, lets use Close. For on foot close is defined as standing next to, for in a hovercraft close is defined as about a building away, and for a ship close is defined as in visual range.This is really a breath of fresh air because ship combat and distance is where a lot of sci-fi games turn into calculus. 

Star Dogs also provides a quick one page monster creation engine. 

Final Thoughts: The Star Dogs players handbook clocks in at 25 pages which include the cover, full page art, and table of contents. Everything within these pages hints at a larger then life space opera borderline gonzo setting which is great. Though, what really got me was the premise;

In the far flung future,

in a galaxy that never really existed,

the Grand Empire of Order is locked in eternal

struggle against the Tiamatic Cult of Khybe.

In the midst of this never ending conflict between

law and chaos, 

a group of Star Dogs

(interplanetary ne'er-do-wells)

band together to scam the universe out of

as many credits as possible...

 

 Some other highlights are:

• Roll under system
• x in 12 skill system for very technical focused skills
• beautifully simple ship and vehicle combat

I think the flavor is great and the mechanics are fun and not overly complicated. I can see this easily competing with replacing any type of space opera game on the market today. The most interesting thing about the Star Dogs Player's Guide is that that author stated, "that is was written as a vehicle for the Star Dogs Referee Handbook". The Referee handbook clocks in at 62 pages that are bursting at the seems with system agnostic setting generators for just about everything you can think of. Yes, I will be reviewing that book at a later date.

With that being said, I do wish there was a list of all kinds of cybernetics - especially after so much thought and detail was put into the various minor and major malfunction tables. I also think that the HP levels are really low for PCs and Vehicles/Ships and can limit the more space faring heroics and epic space chases or battles. 

• You can find the PDF here.
• The Physical Copy is here.

Oh, and you can say what you want about Tarkin, but he did reduce Alderaan's unemployment to zero.

Chronicles of Neverwhere: Graduation Night

The torchlight flickers off the bare chests of the graduates from the Crimson Company. These graduates are led blind folded and bare footed down narrow passages into the deep underground where their only sense of direction is the rope they are holding on to that connects them with the person in front of them and the person behind them. They are all eventually led down into a large carved out chamber where tall stone doors stand.

Each graduate is led through these doors one at a time and as they step through the doors they close with an audible bang. Then, as they are guided by the arm deeper into this secured chamber, they are met by a sharp object pressed against their chest over their heart that pierces the flesh. Then the graduate is led around the chamber and forced to recite various things from his training as the blood freely flows.

After what seems like hours the graduate is led to the altar against the north wall of the chamber and the blindfold is removed. As the graduates eyes adjust to the candlelight they see before them an dark wood altar with a skull, arrows, a small leather bound book that has a nautical compass embossed on it, some antlers, a bowl of what appears to be salt, and a crimson cloak. The graduate soon realizes someone is standing next to them dressed in traveling gear and draped in a crimson cloak. The person looks at them with a mask covered face, grabs a handful of slat and pushes against the graduates wound in the chest and it a deep voice they hear, "repeat after me" and the oath begins...

"Night gathers, and now my duty begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no partner, hold no lands, have no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher in the woods. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Crimson Company, for this night and all the nights to come."

After the oath ends, the masked person picks up the cloak on the alter and holds it to the graduates wound. The graduate feels a strong cold sensation before the cloak is removed and draped over their shoulders. As the graduate looks down to inspect their wound, the realize it is completely healed and the only evidence of it every existing is a crescent shaped tattoo like scar.

The graduate is then led into a different chamber where the commanders of the three different divisions of the Crimson Company make their selections from the fresh members and the appropriate symbol appears on the back of their cloak. This is where the wait for their colleagues to go through the same initiation they did before they all are led up a winding spiral staircase to a dinner hall for a feast and a night of merriment.

Review: Supercrew

In the Supers genre of games, there is a lot to choose from and to me most of the games out there fall short in either capturing the soul of the genre or in the mechanics. I have ran and played in a lot of different supers games in my time and for awhile I lost my drive for supers games until I stumbled across The Supercrew. This is one of those games that flies under the radar because it is independently published, written, and drawn by Tobias Radsater who lives in Sweden.

Presentation: The entire game is designed and presented as a 30 page comic. As you read through the comic book you are take through a one shot premise, character creation, the system, and all of the how to do x, y, and z's. The one shot premise is highly entertaining because all of the characters start out as going to a Dungeons and Dragons session and during the game they receive notice of impending danger and then proceed to make separate excuses to leave the game. This naturally leaves the game masters head spinning. The art is simple yet it fits the genre and the style really well - it is very four color.

Character Creation: Character creation happens in of two ways per true super hero game fashion. You can roll for your abilities and define them randomly or you can make up whatever abilities you want to design your superhero. You choose or roll for three abilities and decide which one will have a Rank of 3, a Rank of 2, and a Rank of 1. To help focus your decisions, you are given a table that includes (you use it to random roll as well) attribute, super power, attack, equipment, control, and skill. In addition to this, you get to define three tricks that help make your hero more unique and they can be used once per adventure. Each trick is attached to an ability and has a different effect that changes the die roll. Another neat little quark to this game is that the character sheet has space for you to draw your heroes costume and it is part of the process.

Here are some examples of characters:

Captain America

 ABILITIES

1: Absolute Peak of Human Physical Ability

2: Vibranium Shield

3: Inspirational Leadership

TRICKS

Reroll (Inspirational leadership):  Patriotism
Change roll to '5' (Vibranium shield): Throw shield
Effect 2 (Vibranium shield): Defend others

Rorshach

 ABILITIES

1:Gas Powered Grappling Gun

2: Street Fighter "The city is afraid of me"

3:Detective "Last night, a comedian died in New York. Somebody knows why. Somebody knows."

TRICKS

Reroll Gas Powered Grappling Gun):  Unexpected Action "Tactically brilliant and unpredictable"
Change roll to '5' (Detective): Gain Information "Give me the smallest finger on a mans hand. I'll produce information."
Effect 2 (Street Fighter):Everything is a Weapon - in the story he uses a toilet bowl, a fork, cooking fat, and a cigarette as weapons.

Resolution: The mechanics are straight forward. For each rank you roll that number of six sided dice and each result of a 4, 5, or 6 counts as a success which is called an effect. 6's explode and are re-rolled to add additional effect. Though, there is a caveat to using your Rank 3 ability and that is it costs an hero point to use. Players earn hero points by using their Rank 1 abilities. This creates an interesting type of meta currency that does not hold over to future sessions. A hero can also get a once per session anecdote bonus when the recall something from a previous story.  Heroes can team up to give the lead hero an extra dice to roll for an task.

Certain challenges of a static nature have an effect rating which acts like a difficulty class and you need to meet or exceed that effect rating. Sometimes these can be extended challenges while other times you have one shot. 

Combat runs just as smooth. Everyone chooses an ability and rolls for Effect, each character acting in order of Effect (ties act at the same time). If you are attacked, you can respond with a reflex defense or a powerful defense. A reflex defense only gives you one die, but if you use a powerful defense you lose your attack (and you can't powerful defend if you already attacked this round). Effects are subtracted and the result is applied to Toughness (this game's version of hit points; all heroes have 3, villains can have more). When you get to zero Toughness, you are knocked out (nobody ever dies in Supercrew like usual four color fashion). You can treat obstacles as either simple difficulties to equal with Effect, or as full-blown opponents with Toughness, abilities, and Tricks (the rule book has a great example of the Supercrew "fighting" a building fire). 

It is very important to remember that this is a narrative focused game and with that, here is some sage advice:

•  "...you don't have to roll any dice to use your abilities. Instead you roll the dice when you want to achieve something with an ability."
• "A lot of the game is about the narration, rather than tricks and abilities being hard and fast. You roll for effects and *then* get to decide how that effect was achieved. So if you have what seem to be non-combat skills, maybe you're using them to represent that you've researched your opponent in advance, or you're inspiring another character who has sneaked in a quick shot. It's not a rigid fight-sequence game like some others, and rewards imaginative narration."
• Social and other situations determined by the narration. 

Crunch: None to speak of. 

Final Thoughts: I have had the chance to run this and play in a few times and it is a lot of fun as a one shot and as a campaign. I think Supercrew has two really strong points. The first one being is that players roll their dice first, act in the order of effect, and then describe their actions. The second strong point being is it really forces the players to think creatively because due to the lite mechanics (and per design) abilities are not meant to have single uses. You can do whatever you can come up with when using your abilities and invent new ways to defend, attack, save a kitten, or even talk to the girl at Starbucks. The sky is the limit for your narration. Honestly, if as a GM you need the players to roll the dice in a social situation then decide of the character would be good at it (2 dice) or bad at it (1 dice) taking into consideration their background and the situation itself (alternatively, make dice allocations on role play effort and creativity). 

I think this game has so much potential but is not well known or overlooked because it is seen as one shot fodder. This game has gotten me out of my superhero slump and I want to run or play in a supers game again.

You can find it here;

PDF at LULU

Sadly, the POD is no longer available but I just printed it out at Staples. 

Additional Resources:

• The Fortress of Solid Rules (a fansite that has not been updated in a long time though there is some great information on it. The post about sustained campaigns being one of my favorites)
• House Rules
• Male Character Sheet
• Female Character Sheet
• Blank Character Sheet
• Deluxe Character Sheet with House Rules
• The Supercrew Papers  (Lots of stats for various characters, etc.)

Chronicles of Neverwhere: Expanded Setting

In the beginning.
Once upon a time, long after the battle of the Gods and Titans an evil Witch King drunk on the stolen power from a fallen titan rose to power. He demanded that his people forsake the Gods and worship only him.  Eventually, the people turned against him and pierced his body with arrows and swords after a costly battle. The Witch Kings blood seeped into the ground, and his malevolence spread. It warped and twisted everything it touched, causing great upheavals as the land revolted. When everything settled, it brought a terrible cold. The people called this the White Curse, and learned to endure it. But the Witch Kings spirit also endured. As time passed, he grew stronger in the afterlife, ever yearning to return and take revenge. The twisted lands began to hear his call. Now, the veil between the living and the dead grows thin. Horrible shadows slip into the world, and old artifacts of the Witch King begin to awaken.

The Premise Continues...
As the campaign begins, 400 years have passed since the death of the Witch King. To most his demise is just a myth, created to explain the hard facts of life: its damned cold, there are monsters outside, and sometimes your kids are born twisted. These facts of life are harder for
some then others though. All elves, dwarves, and halflings have been struck by the curse. Their ancient cultures in ruins.

The White
The curse has truly changed the land. Earthquakes have buries cities, toppled mountains, turned the flow of rivers, and ruined dwarven kingdoms. The old roads and caverns of the underground are treacherous, and you may run into sunken buildings that nobody has entered for centuries. A perpetual winter has transformed the wilderness, which is now simply called "The White". It is full of goblins, orcs, wild animals, and monsters, sometimes made more dangerous by the curse. From the ruins of old come fiercer beings still, seizing the chance to gain power: Great Wyrms have been sighted on numerous occasions.

It takes courage, proper equipment, and skill to brave the White. This is one of the reasons why the Crimson Company rose to such prominence in the last 200 years. Though, tt is best to find a ship and travel along the coast or on the large lakes and their connecting rivers. The waters hold monsters too, though, drifting ice and even icebergs make ship loss common. When there are no waterways, getting aboard a rock snail or following a caravan with some proper giant guides are good if not entirely safe choices. Travelers stick to the known routes even when the run below ground.

Civilization
Decent folk seek refuge near rivers, hot lakes, in villages protected from the wind, in large walled cities, and in Vorn, the largest city in the lands which is located in the mountains. But you cannot hide from the curse. It seems to make people more cunning, greedy, and sometimes prone to violence. Human communities are crowded and rife with intrigue and social strife.

Religion
People of different cultures worship similar Gods, though sometimes under different names. It is said that a Gods power is relative to its following. Open worship of any non-human Gods have been banned by the Council of Vorn but it can only be enforced within large cities. Amongst humans, there are the following;

• Correan: The very picture of the paladin's ideal, Corean is an unflinching crusader among the gods. He has the strength of mountains, and his smoky armor reflects his ties to the earth and the metals that run through it. He bears a longsword that he forged himself from scraps gleaned from a titan's forge - that of Golthagga, who was the first to taste the blade's edge. Corean is generally unwilling to compromise, although he generally errs on the side of compassion rather than on the side of law. Many people praise him as the ideal of virtue, although more people pay lip service to him than are willing to live up to his standards.
• Madriel: Madriel flies on wings of peacock feathers, an armored angel with a spear formed from the purest, whitest sunlight. Although relentless in her struggle against suffering (and particularly against her rival Belsameth), she is the most merciful and compassionate of the gods. Her temples are popular across Neverwhere, particularly in areas where people pray for fertility to return to their fields.
• Tanil: Of all the gods, Tanil is most likely to spend some of her time quietly walking the face of Neverwhere. However, this doesn't make her sociable - she prefers back roads and untrod wilderness to highways and villages. The ultimate champion of the underdog, she is the queen of archery and stealth, generally favored by rogues, bards and wayfarers. She appears as a lithe archer wearing flexible bronze armor. Her arrows are silver-tipped, as she dislikes the poor treatment of animals and considers the world's werebeasts an insult.
• Hedreda: The Lawgiver is keeper of all the things that civilized beings have learned, and is the patron of society itself. He is the ultimate impartial judge, striving to make certain that each person receives what he or she has earned (for good or ill). He's commonly shown as a stern man in somber robes, crowned with gold and wielding a massive two-handed hammer. 
• Denev: The only surviving titan, Denev sided with the gods - in particular, her children - against her brothers and sisters who ravaged Neverwhere. However, the long battle left even more wounds on the world's surface, driving her to retreat to its heart in frustration and fatigue. She still answers prayers from those who venerate her, and is honored by the other gods. She is not a generous or merciful mother, though; she respects nature at its bloodiest as well as at its most beautiful. She is rarely depicted in humanlike form - tales paint her as a mountain range or forest come to life - although she is said to wield a stone sickle when roused to make war. 
• Enkili: The real wild card of the gods, Enkili can't really be said to be on anyone's side - not even his own. His tempestuous and stormy personality is mirrored in each freak storm or sudden calm. He commonly shapeshifts from form to form, even changing gender so regularly that no two temples portray the same image of him (or her). As the trickster figure of the pantheon, he also gets into trouble far more often than any divine being should. When he uses a weapon, he commonly wields a thunderbolt-hurling flail that lashes so wildly that others doubt it's under his control.
• Chardun: Tyrant among gods, Chardun exemplifies the worst traits of the most despotic generals, emperors and masters. His weapon is a golden macelike scepter that's stained deeply with blood. He wears the white regalia of a conquering hero, but his robes and sandaled feet are splattered with blood and dusted with powdered bone. He is particularly venerated by militaristic people with powerful ambitions, but anyone who craves domination is a worthy follower. A general who seeks a throne and a man who covets absolute obedience from his woman are both near to Chardun's black heart.
• Belsmath: The vulture-winged goddess Belsameth is the incarnation of everything people fear about the night. Her basalt throne sits on the dark side of the moon; her power over the moon grants her power over lunacy and makes her the patron goddess of Neverwhere's werebeasts. Her preferred weapon is a jet-black dagger, and she is favored by evil sorcerers and witches, Neverwhere's harpies, wily and murderous goblins, and of course by werewolves and their like.
• Vangal: The volcano-god Vangal is the very embodiment of war. He is commonly depicted as a huge charioteer in filth-covered armor, beard and dreadlocks matted with blood. He wields two massive axes still encrusted with the blood of the titans he overcame. He has few human followers, as it's said that when he gains sufficient power, he'll bring about the destruction of Scarn itself. The few cults dedicated to him, called the Horsemen, are much-dreaded doomsayers and warriors.
• Ded: Is the only new good that appeared 200 years ago. He is a harsh and unforgiving God of Laws, has several churches and knightly orders, the White Cloaks being one of them. Ded also has a traitor son who name has been banished from existence. He is still worshiped in mystic blood cults under the name of the Bleeder. Bleeder cults are outlawed in most civilized areas and their priests are feared by all.  
 

The Shadow Realm
The Shadow Realm, also called "The Black"; is just that: a shadow of the world of the living. It is void of color and filled with undead, shadows, and other frightful creatures. The Witch King is a force to be reckoned with in there, but there are older and more powerful beings still, and they have their own agendas. The Shadow Realm is just as much phenomenon of time as it is one of space and dimension. It currently follows the lay of the land as it used to be, before the cataclysmic death of the Witch King. There are mountains, rivers, lakes, roads, and buildings in there that are ruined or do not exist in the world of living anymore. There are no nights or days, and winds and weather changes are rare (and usually ominous). Most of the time, there is just a perpetual autumn, gloomy but
comparatively warm. Flora and fauna in the Black are strange. Fungi, moss, poisonous fruit trees, and white grass abound, and the animal creatures in there are barely recognizable to a visitor from the land of the living. Sometimes, you may encounter objects or individuals that seem to come from another world entirely. Scholars and scientists that study his subject say that the Shadow Realm moves, and that it has never been this close before. But the world is old and filled with mysteries. There are old inscriptions on stones, weapons and magically preserved tomes that tell of means to travel the Black. Ancient entrances and exits are hidden throughout the land, and those know know where to look can find them.

The Twisted
The twisted are victims of a terrible curse. Most have been disfigured, a lot or just a little. Some seem to have been changed on the inside instead, becoming indifferent, cunning, ingenious or suspicious. Ordinary people fear and animals fear, exile, enslave, persecute, or even kill the twisted. It is a powerful social stigma that some say is the true nature of the curse.

Major Organizations

• Watchers: A secret society sworn to lift the curse and prevent the Witch King's return. They hunt down shadow creatures; try to expose the lurking Witch Cult and work against the spread of evil. They also delve into the mysterious of the past, in order to better understand the curse and learn how to undo it.
• Witch Cult: Members are loyal servants to an undead master, sworn to see him return from his shadowy exile. They work with the horrid messagers of from the Shadow Realm, topple just rulers, rediscover evil artifacts in sunken ruins and help spread the curse. They fight against the Watchers and back stab their allies to advance in the cult's hierarchy.
• White Cloaks: The White Cloaks are a strong religious organization with political ambitions. The members believe that the curse is a test of perseverance. Those who endure shall be rewarded by the God of Law (Deb) in the afterlife. They organize correction camps for the twisted, who they believe to be morally corrupt and sometimes show off examples of cured twisted individuals. The White Cloaks are growing in numbers, and fast. They offer their services as peace keepers and work to outlaw all beliefs except their own and want all magic users to be tested for the curse. There are three types of White Cloaks. Most are unarmed and unarmored missionaries. The Knights are the armed peace keepers. They are equipped with chain mail, shields, and swords. The priests are learned and a lot of times spell casters. They wear light armor and carry daggers. All wear variants of the White Cloak that has given them their name.

• Rat Kings Thieves Guild: They are the second largest and prominent guild in the lands. They are largely secretive and retain their power and control through cunning and the use of black powder. Their members were the ones that invented it and hold the monopoly. All sales go through them in way or another and stock is closely monitored. 
• The Crimson Company: The largest guild in the lands. Their organization is split into three divisions; The Garrison Division (which are paid city and town guards. Their coast of arms bear a twin rose motif), The Imperial Division (which are king/queens/palace guards. Their coat of arms has a unicorn motif), and the Scout Division (which are the pathfinders, the monster hunters, the trouble shooters, the postal carriers, the artifact finders, and the civil servants that conduct rites of passage such as funerals/marriages/baby naming/etc. Their coat of arms have a crossed wings motif). They arose as a neutral power after the death of the witch king to help the common man. 

• The Bleeder Cult: A mystic blood cult that follows the God known as the Bleeder. They hold secret rites and are usually indistinguishable among the common man.

Review: Cha'Alt Ascended

 

When I did my review of Cha'alt I mentioned Cha'alt Ascended as an additional resource. I figured it was time that I did a review on it so people know what it is.  

As a disclaimer, I was given a copy of the PDF for review purposes.

Cha'alt Ascended is a list of 63 "old school" feats designed for Cha'alt and Crimson Dragon Slayer d20. The feats remind me of a mix of 3.x feats (from Dungeons and Dragons 3.0/3.5, Pathfinder, etc) and the ideas behind World of Darkness Merits and Flaws. Though because it is designed to be old school, it is less about numerical bonuses and tactical advantages and more about cool things your character can do. I view these as more class abilities light or mechanical value for background skills. Which, I like a lot better then just adding +x to y. 

Another really great thing Cha'alt Ascended provides is a table with 20 random background events to help breathe more life into your character. 

Presentation: The pdf is full color and the pages look like parchment. The organization is great and there is a mix of drawn and live action art/pictures. There is also a great full page art depicting H.P. Lovecraft in a therapy session with some hilarious dialog.

                                                      

Character Creation: None

Resolution System: Honestly, this is basically system agnostic for any OSR style game. Here are some examples;

 

As you go through the various abilities you will notice there is some terms used in them that are not found in the Dragon Slayer d20 rules. There are also some abilities that provide a benefit like an animal companion but does not provide stats for said companion. This does not bother me as it is easy to figure out a mechanical or narrative benefit for it (quickest would be to use advantage or in regards to the animal companion, work with your game master and roll something up. The power level of the companion is probably going to change depending on the level of the character) - a feature not a flaw. I view all these abilities as feats so to me, they are not one shot wonders/tricks. Going back to the example of the animal companion, if it dies then you can get another one.

If you look for balance (balance is an illusion), you will find a power scale with lows, highs, and mids. In addition, some of these abilities are more narrative driven while others are more mechanically driven. If you think some are over powered for your game or play style then adjust them, this is one of the benefits of using a rules lite system. Honestly, just let your PC's be badass and do crazy things with overly complicated plans.

Crunch: The only additional rules included would be regarding sorcery (which is interchangeable with wizardry) and is actually more of an alternate rule for magic use. In Crimson Dragon Slayer d20 magic use costs HP (this is a common OSR theme and not the first time I have seen it). The Sorcery rules allows the wizard to cast a number of spells per hour equal to their level without any detriment. After that, they become exhausted, which means they move at half speed and make rolls at disadvantage but can still cast magic. This brings to mind the wizard from Discworld and the one from Dragonlance ("I think I remember that fireball spell...").

Final Thoughts: I think this is a great asset to just about any OSR style game and I would highly recommend picking it up and using it (for just about anything really). It helps flesh out characters and give them their own uniqueness. My favorite thing about this is that it gives a great baseline for players and game master's to create their own.

I love the idea of the Sorcery alternate rule because as RAW, wizards are on the low end of HP. Though, I do think this idea can be greatly expanded. Maybe have it include a mishap table. Something like become exhausted or have a chance at a mishap - each choice of mishap increases the chances.

A final note is with the release of Crimson Dragon Slayer Revised, some of the abilities in Cha'alt Ascended overlap and function differently with some of the additional rules in Crimson Dragon Slayer Revised. I prefer the Crimson Dragon Slayer Revised versions of those abilities that overlap (ex. two weapon fighting).

You can find the PDF here.

Dog Days: Session 7

 

After a nights rest after talking to the Captain the party set out back to the spot of the ambush armed with a map of the area that was provided by the Captain. Per the direction of Ghost, the party decided to head towards the hills as there was rumored to be some caves there. 

The trek through the woods went on for awhile without incident as Roger proudly flew is wolf banner just in case they run into the wolves unexpectedly. It was then that Phanes noticed the background noises of the woods were missing and right before he could mention this to his fellows, the ambush was sprung by faeries! Phanes and Roger took the initial brunt of the ambush before the party was able to rally and fight back. As Roger regained his senses from some vicious faerie magic he planted the banner in the ground before drawing his weapons to join his companions. Even though the party valiantly cut down many faeries they were still outnumbered and their wounds started to mount. 

When all seemed hopeless, howls echoed through the woods and a band of wolves showed up through the trees and bushes. The lead wolf noticed the banner and barked orders to help these strangers that were fighting under a wolf banner. This turned the tide of the battle and eventually the last remaining faeries retreated. In the aftermath of the battle, Thorin found a wounded but alive faerie and that faerie was tied up and the entire company was taken to the wolves encampment by the caves of the hills.

Thane and Ghost explained the situation of the town and why the party was investigating the situation they learned that wolves have been killed in the same way of the townspeople and it has been happening for about five years as well. The wolves also told them that they indeed have the shipment of steel and they told them that they would freely give it to them if they helped them solve their murders as well. About this time some of the wolves came into the tent and explained that their prisoner is awake and should be interrogated. 

During the interrogation the faerie ended up admitting that they have been responsible for the murders and both sides and did it in such a way that it pitted the wolves and the townspeople against each other. This was because both parties were responsible for destroyed sacred lands and shrines. The wolves were responsible in trampling a faerie circle that they ran through in their hunting path when the settled permanently into the area. Then the blacksmith of the townspeople cut down some memorial spirit trees for fuel for his forge and other building requirements. 

The faerie was convinced to deliver a message to its leader describing a possible peace treaty after it was agreed that the faeries wounds will be completely healed and granted safe passage. The faerie said they will leave a message regarding their answer and where the meeting will be (if any) in two days time.

The party returned to the town to speak to the Captain and start planning for this three way peace treaty.

Chronicles of Neverwhere: An Introduction

The Seeds of Inspiration

For a long time I have been wanting to put together a campaign and run. Over the last few years between time, the waxing/waning of motivation, gamer ADD, lack of people to run it for, and countless other reasons my campaign has never happened. Though, at this moment despite various obstacles I find myself motivated, inspired, and I have people to run it for.

My main inspiration for the core concept of this game as come from three places. The first one bringVincent Baker's Dogs in the Vineyard (sadly the game is currently unavailable but additional information can be found here, here, and here.) Secondly, from the work done regarding the Ashen Company on the Runehammer Forums and Justice: An Ashen Company Adventure. Finally, I cannot forget the Night's Watch from Game of Thrones.

The base setting is heavily influenced from Warhammer Fantasy with ideas mined from The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.

So, the world is dripping with the usual fantasy tropes, politics, chaos, corruption, a dash of black powder, and beings that just want to see the world burn.  

The Premise
All characters are members of the Crimson Company (they get their name from the crimson cloaks they wear which acts like a badge of office) which is a company of Rangers that are set up like a guild. The Crimson Company has authority to seek out corruption, act as law officers, and sit in as a judge if necessary (their authority is recognized throughout the various lands and kingdoms - think something like the UN). Though, with that being said the Rangers mostly deliver mail, assist towns with problems, protect people and towns from monsters, retrieve artifacts from forgotten places, etc. The Rangers get a monthly stipend for travel and food, access to some specialty items,  and must submit a percentage of their wealth found to the guild in addition to logging in magical items.

The System of Choice

This is where I have went round and round with myself to decide what system to use. I have done a lot of prep work using differences systems then decided to scrap it at the last minute and look for something else. I have finally decided on using The Black Hack Second Edition along with some of my rules variants (One of the systems I have had to mess with the least).

Setting Notes

I am keeping the setting vague for various reasons and some of them I cannot discuss because I know my players read this blog. Mainly because I want to the world to be a living, breathing, and growing situation so my players can add to it. There are a few points to note about the setting:

• The war between the Gods and the Titans (from Scarred Lands) did happen in the distant past of Neverwhere. 
• I am using the pantheon from The Scarred Lands.

• There is a strong element of Chaos and and the substance warp stone which both cause mutations and other nasty effects. I was going to post my page of rules regarding that but I want to keep it a surprise when my players encounter mutants or suffer the taint themselves. 

Well, that is it for now. I hope to have a Session 0 up in a few weeks or at least some more setting information.

Dog Days: Session 6

Thorin gained passage on a ship called the Wave Runner that was heading to Retriever. During the voyage the crew of the Wave Runner spots another ship (which is called the Golden Dragon) and assumes it is a pirate vessel because the other ship starts to close and fire on the Wave Runner. Both ships circle each other and shots are exchanges as minimal damage is sustained by both ships. Eventually both ships get close enough to board each other and mass melee ensues. During the battle, Thorin notices his other companions on the Golden Dragon and sees Phane mouth the word "slavers". As Thorin fights his way to his companions he finds Ghost in trouble and kills his now former shipments to save Roger and this leads to Thorin obviously switching sides. As the battle quickly turns in the favor of the Golden Dragon Roger and Phane slip below the deck and set a fuse to blow up the Wave Runners gun powder stores. During their trip down, Phane and Roger do not notice any slaves. 

Both Phane and Roger return to the deck of the Wave Runner as the battle ends and the Captain of the Wave Runner is killed. The Golden Dawn sets sail away from the Wave Runner to find a port for repairs and the party reunites as the Wave Runner explodes in the distance. During Thorin's introduction to the Captain and the first mate of the Golden Dragon, Phane informs the Captain that there was no slaves on the ship and he demands to see the Wave Runners manifest. An argument ensues the ends when the Captain yells to everyone that he will share the manifest when he is done studying it and anyone that thinks differently can swim with the fishes. Ghost escorts Phane away from the Captain to avoid anymore trouble.

The Golden Dragon finds a port a few days later and docks for repairs. As most of the party stays with the ship to help with repairs Roger heads to the local tavern and Thorin decides to track down the local blacksmith to see if he could trade some work for new armor. The blacksmith did not have any work that Thorin was qualified for but did mention a few weeks ago his shipment of steel was stolen by wolves and if I am able to return it he would make me armor and pay Thorin 500 gold. 

Thorin finds Roger at the tavern to explain to him the job opportunity. During their conversation, Thorin learns that Roger has been talking to the barkeeper and has learned some interesting things that shed light into the Blacksmith. About five years ago there was another blacksmith in town that did better quality work but he died in a mysterious fire and he was not the last person that has died mysteriously over the years. In addition, the current blacksmith does shoddy work on purpose so he is needed to keep fixing door hinges and other things around the port. The barkeep also knew about the missing shipment of steel and offered the party 2,000 gold to give the steel to him has he has a plan to run the blacksmith out of business and out of town. 

Roger and Thorin then return to the ship and explain the entire situation to the rest of the party. It was decided that the party will return the steel shipment to the bartender. The party takes the night to rest and then heads to the blacksmiths at first light. The blacksmith says he will send his son as our guide to lead us to the spot of the ambush. 

 

As the party travels to the ambush spot the kid opens ups and explains that the murders have been happening for five years and the bodies are usually found skinned. The kid also explains that he has fleas that talk to him and tell him things which is one of the reasons why he is able to keep safe. The party finally makes it to the ambush site and finds a note nailed to one of the bodies, the note reads;

"this is revenge for the murders" 

The kid interrupts the parties discussion and says the fleas are telling him that it is not the wolves fault - they just retaliated. Roger decides it is time to pull out his wolf banner and the kid says the fleas told him the banner will keep them safe. During the following discussion it is decided that whoever is doing the killing they are killing both the wolves and the townspeople. The townspeople suspects the wolves and the wolves suspect the towns people. The party decides to head back to town to talk to the local guard captain to see if they can get more information before setting out to track down the wolves. 

Regis the guard captain offers us a reward if the party helps him solve the murders. The captain goes on to explain that the bartenders wife was murdered shortly after the last blacksmith was, The captain continues to explain that the current blacksmith borrowed a lot of money from the bartender to start up his forge and never paid the bartender back so the bartender tries to sabotage the blacksmith every chance he gets. 

First Role Playing Experiences

The other day I had random memories flood back to me and it made me realize something. That something was that when I am asked what were my first gaming experiences I usually talk about World of Darkness 2nd Edition and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition. For whatever reason, I forgot to mention what they actually were back in 5th grade before I discovered dice and rule books.  

 

In 5th grade I lived in a small town and a lot of the neighborhood kids were older. My next door neighbor R started a "game night" where we would all hang out in his room and pass a notebook around creating group fiction. Though, before the story started we all made characters and listed some of the abilities we had. R listed what were basically Dungeon and Dragons/Diablo/fantasy archetypes or classes. I choose the Paladin because I thought it was awesome that I could enchant any weapon to catch on fire, heal people, and grow wings for some amounts of time. R had various rules for how abilities would affect the story and how long they would last. We met once or twice a week and some of us were regulars while other players rotated. Between sessions one of us would take the current notebook home to add more story and a plot hook. I do not remember how many of those composition notebooks we ended up filling up but R's dresser was stacked with them - a safe guess would be far into the double digits.

I do not remember when we made the transition into X-Men inspired by the comics and the awesome 90's cartoon but we did. Though, there was a main difference - it went from notebooks to live action. We all started playing LARP X-Men throughout the neighborhood and the elementary school grounds that was within walking distance. We each got to pick three characters and rotate through them as needed. I remembered that my choices were Cyclops, Mr. Sinister, and Gambit (ya, I know there was some meta in that decision). We all contributed to creating a stack of mission cards/plot points and those were used but a lot of time in game the story just kind of unfolded. The interesting thing about this experience as I compare it with my later LARP experiences is that there was no fancy costume requirements, no props to think of, and no GM/Storyteller or other Staff, everyone was a player and the story just evolved through interaction with the random aid of those mission cards (which were written on 3x5 index cards). A lot of time was spent running around the neighborhoods, wrestling in the grass, and exploring Goonies style. 

Both of these first experiences took up all of my 5th grade year and spilled over into my 6th grade year. My memory is not perfect as it has been so long ago but my favorite thing about these memories is how organic and simple it was. No politics, no alternate motives, no edition wars, no you can't play because you don't have x/y/z, or rules lawyering. 

But I digress, I need to remember to tell people about these experiences next time I asked what my first RPG was...

Dog Days: Session 4 & 5

Below are quick recaps of three sessions that I missed due to life. These were written by another player.

Session 4

Felcher and Thorin separated from Phane, Roger, and Ghost.  Thorin and Felcher went with the villagers into the mountains to protect them, to meet in the nearest city at a later date.  Roger, Ghost, and Phane traveled towards the city.  They crossed paths with numerous soldiers setting out for war with the cat empire, who had declared war on the triumvirate.  They continued on and helped a merchant replace his wagon wheel, which was broken.  They traveled on with him to the city and left word with one of his colleagues to give to Felcher and Thorin that they were going to get passage on a ship to the Island of Retriever.  

Session 5

Roger, Ghost, and Phane traveled towards the city to book passage on a boat with the merchant.  They were stopped three times by highwaymen asking for a toll payment.  Ghost paid the toll each time.  However, when they were stopped by the actual guards who were supposed to be protecting the roads from highwaymen who requested a toll, they refused.  They argued and nearly did battle until the toll was paid eventually.  Once arriving at a border city, they discovered that wolves had attacked the city and destroyed it.  Roger assisted the wolves in tracking down a missing cohort and fought against some dogs they were in battle with.  He received a special banner which would grant protection and safe passage by wolves.  They got to the city and booked passage on a ship.  Ghost was on guard duty at the aft of the ship and discovered a pirate was closing in on them.  They did battle with the pirate ship and defeated its crew and sank the ship.