Rambling about adventures.

The other night I wasn't able to sleep because I was thinking about Swords & Sorcery (I've been reading a lot of Conan), as well Fighting Fantasy & Thunderrift.  A few things I've come up with.

The next time I run a campaign I'd like to do the following.

*  Use Advanced Fighting Fantasy or Basic Fantasy, which is less mechanics.
*  Focus more on roleplaying & storytelling and less on "roll playing".
*  Very good aligned "heroic" type stories.

I'm caught between wanting to run Thunderrift or Allansia.

Thunderrift 

After reading Thunerrift, its a perfect campaign for a very LOTR type setting.  Elves, Dwarves and Humans and all the tensions that come along with it.  However I think in order to suit my needs I'd like to change the history a bit.  Within Thunderrift there was a great plague & evil that spread accross the lands.  (yadda yadda, Sauron).  Rather than run the module exactly, what I'd rather do is the following.   The council still exists, and the pacts made by all the good aligned races still exist.  However, another plague has swept thru thunderrift decimating the races of Dwarves & Elves.  Few exist, and live in deep pockets (underground or in forests).  The landscape of Thunderrift has changed, the towns that exist are more like bordertowns, were free people live and defend their territory.  Warlords have taken over much of the resources, and city's/towns.  They war against each other.  Whole tribes of barbarian clans have risen up in the aftermath, living off the land, and reverting to more barbaric ways.  Necromancers delve in the deep trying to bring back old gods.  The old dwarven cities are now overrun.  

The world is ripe for hero's.  

Alternatively, Allansia.

I'd like to run Port Blacksand again.  Probably by the book.  I remember fondly running it and having such a good time with the city itself.  As well the adventure within the book, if I remember correctly leaves lots of options for more adventures.

Another intriguing section of the map, very close to Port Blacksand is Fire Island.

Fire Island used to be a prison colony, guarded by a tribe of paid Lizard Men.^[1]

On the island there is a volcano, prison colony, a gold mine, jungles, swamps, a gorge and a river, all surrounded by sandy beaches.^[2]

The colony was founded in 192AC as a futile attempt by the good prince, Prince Olaf, to rid his land of undesirables. Fire Island was abandoned, the Lizard Men received no pay and therefore took over. One prison guard proclaimed himself King. This guard was actually a Lizard King anyway and as such well versed in the practice of voodoo and black magic.

Apart from a few escaped prisoners, other inhabitants of the island are Cave Woman, Headhunter (Fire Island)and sometimes a few pirates.^[3]

http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Island

As well Silur Cha - The Lizard men city & the jungles surrounding the southern section of Allansia could make for some interesting adventuring. 

The desert of skulls could be a perfect dark sun type setting, with random barbarian tribes, maybe even the "lost city" adventure module included within it.  Hmmm....

You can get a copy of TITAN here - http://store.arion-games.com/Titan/p2182564_9849040.aspx

OSR GM Resources

Spent a little time on drivethrurpg.com checking out a few GM resources from the OSR section.

Some of these titles are free or pay what you want, others are relatively cheap but good deals nonetheless.

Hexed Places - Fen Fields

Drivethrurpg.com 1.72 pounds

This plains region is divided by a slow river that runs from southeast to northwest . The open plains are covered in tall grasses, while patchy woods and marshy ground flank the river-bottom lowlands. At night a vast croaking chorus fills the air. Rumors claim a giant multi-headed monster stalks the river-side swamps, and a wizard's ghost haunts the nearby tower.

Hexed Places are outdoor locations and encounters based on the classic six-mile hex format and OSR sensibilities. Use these locales as a quick side adventure, to fill out your campaign sandbox, or expand upon them to create a multi-session campaign. Each includes an overview of the region, expanded one-mile per hex maps for players and GMs (PDF and VTT format), encounter and rumor tables, and descriptions of individual locations, encounters, and features within the hex.

*This is kinda a neat idea, its basically a small sandbox with descriptions, monsters, etc.  It leaves enough room for a GM to add their own flavor and background.  

650 Fantasy City Encounter Seeds & Hooks

Drivethrurpg.com - FREE! 

Need inspiration for city encounters? With a whopping 650 entries, this PDF will give you ideas for years of urban adventures and campaigns.

Gathered from entries in the Roleplaying Tips Celebrates 500 contest, this PDF offers you the creative genius and perspectives of dozens of GMs worldwide.
Download this PDF for free today and start using it to flesh out your cities and sessions.

*Seriously 650 seeds! good enough for me, and its free.  get er done. 

The Dragon Horde Zine Issue #1

drivethrurpg - FREE 

Inside this inaugural issue:

• The Monster Roster: the leech-man and the beguine, with Oe/BX/1e stats
• d30 feature: Where Does the Weapon Hit?
• Familiars Found: Guidelines for Spellcaster Familiars  in New Big Dragon's Universal RPG The System

• A Map of Yal Caramon and an overview of Lerdyn Chrisawn's Chronicle
• New NPC Class: Chroniclist
• The Undertemple of Arkon: An Adventure for Characters Levels 1-3
• Seven New Magical Weapons Interestingly looking zine, from the people that brought you the d30 sandbox.   

Treasure Book on Demand

drivethrurpg - pay what you want. 

The Treasure Book on Demand is a supplement of generated treasure covering every Hoard Class in the Labyrinth Lord System.   Additionally, it contains unprotected treasure spanning all five classes defined in the rule system.   One hundred results are given for each treasure type.

The treasure results are divided by section and enumerated providing quick treasure data for ad-hoc encounters or dungeon stocking.  The results are based purely on the random tables.  

PBE Games - One Page Tables 

drivethrurpg - $1.00

These are super cool!  Check em out.  

* Dungeon Junk 

* Fabulous Jewellery 

* Plains Features & Hazards 

* Wetlands Features & Hazards 

* Prisoners & Captives 

Encounter Table 

drivethrurpg - pay what you want.

Handy little encounter table for plotting out random encounters.

A Wretched Catalogue of Gear

drivethrurpg - FREE

A free resource in the style of the Wretched Menagerie series.

Four-cubit pole, 1/2" rope, braziers, concealed vest pockets for a thief, bucket, hourglass, small hatchet . . . bits and bobs of gear useful to dungeoneers (and short wilderness jaunts) of all sorts, and more than you can reasonably carry.

Contains over 100 general types of gear, and lots of sub-types, arranged for ease of discovery and use. Note that most core rule books for OSR games have some portion of this list already (although there are extremely useful items like charcoal, flour, wheelbarrows, stools, umbrellas, and similar that have been foolishly ignored elsewhere). This manuscript is more useful for its brief descriptions and "all in one place" quality than gonzo equipment.

A5 B/X OSR Character Sheet

drivethrurpg - FREE

A compact, simple A5-sized character sheet, featuring Stuart Robertson's superb OSR logo.  Perfect for use with Basic/Expert rules of the World's Most Popular Fantasy Roleplaying Game.  The sheet is also ideal for use with Labyrinth Lord^TM and other b/x retroclones.

Classes of Fantasy

drivethrurpg - pay what you want

this needs a better description than nothing.   Its a bunch of playable races, like centaurs, treants, dryads, gnolls, and some much more!  Seriously cool! 

Why I like playing a PC that has disadvantages

After a brief conversation with my DM yesterday, I decided to write a post about this topic.

My DM was wondering why "With how powerful the monsters are, why do you like giving yourself so many disadvantages as a player?".

Here's the reason why I like to roll up PC's with low stats, because as a player I want to overcome almost impossible odds and succeed and be the hero of the day.  If I start off as a super hero it is less fun to play.  The game then becomes about min/maxing, picking the best options.  For example, "why would I pick a sling and a staff, when I could easily have picked a 2 handed sword".  There is a reason that there are negative numbers in the book associated with stats.

That being said, it was suggested that level one PC's in 5e are far from superheroes, and in all honesty most games level one characters are far from superheroes.

While I understand, from a DM's perspective its much easier to have a bunch of beefy PC's playing, it makes it easier for CR's etc.  The campaign is the DM's, and the players are part of the story.

Eventually whenever my character levels up, I'll probably use the "add to ability stat" rather than pick feats.   As it will show a progression.  Here he is a lowly level one druid, with a shitty dex stat, trying to sling stones at bad guys.  Of course he's going to miss occasionally.  But as time goes on, he's shot off a ton of melee stones, eventually he's going to get better at it right?   It's all about the role playing.

With the disadvantage/advantage mechanic in 5e its makes playing a low stat pc even more hilarious!  For example, I had considered playing a blind PC.  My DM had said that all of my attacks would be at a disadvantage in that case.  I thought the obvious movie thing "Well his other senses are more attuned etc, so maybe he would just have no mechanic issue".  That said, I still may play a PC that is blind, even if I have to roll that adv/dis mechanic, cuz seriously funny.   Obviously he may become a great healer, and be able to help the group that way.

Regardless of what system you use this post is about the idea of getting into the character.  I've written about this before.  I like the idea of playing a PC with low wisdom, who just run's into battle "WATCH THIS GUYS!".  And then maybe he becomes a nice tasty lunch for the dragon.  Ah well, roll 3d6.

For a bit more info on my thoughts on role playing dumb assed characters
http://3toadstools.blogspot.ca/2013/11/minmaxers-be-damned-i-wanna-play.html

as a side note, I think I'll be creating a second blog for 5e related stuff.  As we are currently playing in a 5e campaign, eventually I'll probably be running another one or finishing up the starter set (with major modifications).

I fear for the OSR

Just caught this - http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

Which means WOTC is now going to officially allow third party 5e products.  And not only that, they've created a marketplace for it - http://www.dmsguild.com/

(which also leads me to believe that drivethrurpg, rpgnow, etc may in fact be owned by wotc, take a look at the sites and the dmsguild, pretty similar). EDIT:  They are partnered with them, and do not out right own OBS.  

And technically you will be allowed to write for settings like Forgotten Realms if you are using the DM's Guild.

It appears, though that if you want to be a part of the DM's Guild, and publish product specifically for D&D campaign settings, you are going to have to play by their rules.  Which is fine.  As an example "I want to print and sell my fifth edition product" only OGL, not DM's Guild.  Interesting....  However I want to "design content" is both? What is the difference there? Classes VS Adventures? I suppose.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a game changer.  Do you think it is? What is the future going to hold? Specifically what will happen to the OSR?

I worry that 5e mechanics will inevitably creep into the OSR, actually I believe it already has.  I feel like in the next few months, years, there is going to be a LOAD of 5e material.  Which is both good and bad.

Note:  This is pretty genius on WOTC's end.  Why pay people to create for you, when you can sit back and let them do it. 

Of course this is going to expand the Forgotten Realms to untold heights, and trying to wrap our collective heads around the "canon" is going to be even more difficult with third party writers.

Here's another one - "I want my content considered for inclusion by Wizards marketing".  That opens some doors for the independent publisher doesn't it!

One thing to consider, is that technically we may be able to write for long forgotten settings like Greyhawk?

So here's the question.... What happens to the OSR as it stands now? It's going to change that's for sure.  As I stated certain 5e mechanics are making their way into the OSR.  (good god I've been even talking about 5e more often than not latetly).

Granted last year was a good year for the OSR, Red & Pleasant Land, Yoon-Suin, Whitestar, the list goes on.

Part of the issue I believe, is that because the OSR is basically "Old School", the whole "fear change" thing comes into play.  To be mired in something that is considered old, negates the idea of being "fresh, new, marketable".  The problem becomes how do you make something fresh, new and marketable, yet retain the Old School feel?  It's obviously been done (see above), but to continue to do so.... Well that is another question isn't it?

Obviously the OSR is not going anywhere at this point.  Is it going to change? Probably.  For the better? who knows, time will tell.  I do believe it is more important than ever to "stick to our collective guns" and keep writing and creating for a system that we all fell in love with when we were kids.

Winds Of The Ice Forest - Review

Winds Of The Ice Forest
By Random Order Creations 

Product Description:

The dreaded Ice Forest! Once a safe passage to the north, now the forest's evil magic seeks to trap and confuse travelers with ever-shifting paths full of terrible dangers. New monsters, new magic items, new magics!

This adventure for character levels 1-3 was designed for Labyrinth Lord but can be used with any old school dungeon-crawling RPG. It is a drop-in locale that can be played through in a few hours or in a much longer session...per the needs of your gaming group.  

This module is available as a PDF download for "Pay What You Want" thru rpgnow.com
It clocks in at 24 pages including 1 page OGL, front and back cover.

The adventure is designed for 1st to 3rd level players.

First off I would like to say that this module is incredibly well laid out.  So much so that as far as I'm concerned this module sets a new standard for "Pay What You Want".  The artwork by J.V. West is not only amazing but fits perfectly within the module.  That is to say the subject matter and the art go hand in hand.  It has a bit of a cartooney feel that I absolutely adore, However there are shades of darkness in it as well.

The premise of the adventure is that a very nice forest has become evil, the reason why is unknown.  There is a road thru the forest that is used by the general populace, travelling merchants etc.  Of course it is overrun by bad guys!

"Now the once-safe pathways are peopled with monsters and
perils in an ever-shifting maze of danger. In order to navigate
the Ice Forest a traveler must choose the correct path 13 times.
Choosing correctly is not easy and without magical assistance
a traveler could become lost in the labyrinth!"

Note:  The constantly-changing paths in the Ice Forest make mapping
it impossible.

There are a variety of adventure hooks & rumours to get you started wandering thru the fors

The adventure includes a new class, new monsters, new magic items and new spells! All of which are awesome.  Particularly the "Barbarian" class, which IMHO is done perfect.

The adventure also includes pre generated characters.

This adventure hits everything you need to get up and running quickly.  Not only that but it does things that more modules need to do: Include new things! new monsters, magic, items, and classes.  Just another thing to push myself & other independent publishers to do.

One thing that I've always loved about Basic Fantasy modules, is that all the monsters hit points are pre rolled and there are nice little boxes to check off during combat.  Winds Of The Ice Forest includes this as well.  (THUMBS UP!).

My one and only caveat for this adventure is the following:

This adventure was written to be used with the properly old school retro-clone RPG Labyrinth Lord™ and, with dizzying
selectivity, its advanced companion the Advanced Edition Companion. Both are published by Goblinoid Games
(goblinoidgames.com). However, given the nearly-universal language of all the old school games, you can easily run it with your
game of choice if said game is fluent in old school cant.

While I agree that it is a good thing to promote other OSR systems, and promote OSR in general, I feel that if you are going to put Labyrinth Lord on the cover, that module should be in fact LL only.

I briefly ran into a situation where putting "B/X compatible" and "Lab Lord compatible" on the cover was frowned upon.  That being said, this is only a caveat, and the text above is well written, pointing to the fact that "this module is intended for Labyrinth Lord and can in fact be used with other systems easily enough".

I've decided in my infinite wisdom to create a scoring for reviews.  So from hence forth reviews will be getting "Mugs Of Ale" 

And this one gets 5 Mugs Of Ale! HUZZAH! 

Back to the abyss - Session 2, play report.

SPOILERS - OUT OF THE ABYSS.

On Saturday morning we jumped back into the Abyss.  While it might seem slightly weird to be playing at 10 am, it was actually quite fun!  A little less booze, and a little more awake.  A few of us had a Moose hockey game that evening, so it seemed like the best plan to play earlier.  We had left off deciding on which tunnel to take.  There were 3 tunnels, one of which went to Blindingstone, which I suggested might be the best option since, I am a deep gnome, and most of the party was banged up from our escape.  So without futher ado, we headed off in that direction.  Out of the Abyss, is very much sandboxey, so everything is left to the player's to decide what to do and where to go.  While this is fun as a player, it can be a bit interesting when nobody can decide on which path to take.  Which is what happened the previous session.

We encountered a few goblins (and leveled up).  Beat the snot outta em, and I lit up a pyre afterwards to slightly cover our tracks.  At some point a NPC fish face (Kuo Toa) suggested that we make for his city, and he be returned.  I guess due to the closeness of it.  We encountered a roving band of Kuo-Toa's who promptly beat us up and took us prisoner.  There was no diplomacy really.  So we get hauled into whatever the Kuo Toa's city is named.  There's a brief discussion that we will be used as sacrifices, but its apparently going to be a red herring kind of a thing so we can escape.  There was tensions between the leader, and some of his relatives.

We get hauled out to this large altar, and all the kuo toan's are chanting something that sounds eerily similar to "DEMI GORGON!"  (BTW We are 2nd level, there's 4 of us players and a handful of NPCs).

Next thing we know this gigantic demonic minion of the underworld comes out of a huge pool of water.  Great cheers arise from the crowd of Kuo Toan's, our captors have smiles on their fishy faces, as we are going to be the next great sacrifice.  We are all told to make a saving throw of sorts, I'm the only one that succeeds.  (thank you dice!).  Everyone is basically stuck in fear.  The DM had everyone who failed roll on a sanity chart (I believe), one of which had to scream bloody murder, then cry, then laugh.  The other had to speak incomprehensible, and the third PC, I can't quite remember as I was still recovering from the scream.

My Druid changed into a rat to atleast flee the scene and re group.  I'm still trying to figure out how to save them.  Thankfully I'm not chaotic.

I'm hoping that it will be mass confusion and we can make some kind of a getaway.

Afterwards we went off to watch the Manitoba Moose play the Toronto Marlies, the Moose lost unfortunately, but were playing the hardest team in the league.  The interesting thing was that it was "Jersey Night".  The Moose were raising funds for our "Journey To Churchill" exhibit at the Assiniboine Zoo.  If you are ever in Winnipeg, its a MUST see!  The jeresy's are currently being auctioned off on ebay.

I've come to the obvious conclusion that I need a gaming room

The last bunch of sessions we've had I've went and borrowed a folding table from my work.  Then added our small dining table together for the DM to sit at.  The issue of course is I have to go grab dumb table from work, bring it home.  Then it sits in my back room for a week or 2, in one instance I think I left it here until we met up for D&D again, which was like a month in between.  So after a reasonable discussion with female wife counterpart, we have decided to clean up the basement (which is very dungeon esq) and create a place where we can play.

Our basement is quite dank, luckily we just went and purchased a dehumidifier so I'll actually be able to leave books down there without fear of them getting all moldy and ish.  I am currently in search of either an old assed ping pong table or a old dining table that I can get down the stairs in one more pieces.  The other good thing about this is that we will actually clean up the basement.  Ever since we moved in, it has basically become the "place where things go to die", ie junk.  Now it will be the "Place where PC's go to die".  hahaha.

As well, I'm already excited about decorating it a bit.  I have a bunch of maps of Forgotten Realms from the 2e setting and Menzoberranzan that I can hang on the walls.  A bit poster of a red dragon & a LOTR (movie 1) fellowship poster.  The other thing I was thinking of was going to the dollar store and  getting a few cheap swords possibly to hang on the walls.  As well as my collection of ceramic dragons.

Should be fun.   So as it stands I'm perusing kijiji (Canadian version of Craigslist.... although we have that too, but its used a bit less), in search of the quest for the gaming table!

(Whenever I find said table I will probably get on of those grid maps to put on it as well, I know my DM grabbed a big roll for super cheap).  Maybe even put some plexiglass over top so we can draw on it with markers.

Oh and I'll need a shelf for my D&D books, so there not all over the damn place.

What things would you include in your gaming room?