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Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Gamma World 1st Edition Tech Roll Hack

While I quite like the game within a game of figuring out technology in Gamma World 1e.  It does leave something to be desired when playing online.  

Here is an interesting read about using the tables in game 

https://muleabides.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/roleplaying-artifact-use-in-gamma-world/

And here is what one of the charts looked like. 








Here's my hack.  It's a percentile roll to see if you can figure it out.  (roll under).

All characters start off with a base chance of 15% at Level 1 to figure things out.

At 1st level if you have the following intelligence you can gain extra bonus to your base chance.

3 - 5:  -5%

6 - 11:  +0%

12: +5%

13 - 16:  +10%

17 - 18:  +15% 

For every 3 levels gained you receive an extra 5% (Levels 3, 6, 9, 12 etc). 

Best case scenario a level 12 mutant will have 50% chance of figuring out tech.  Which is obviously half.  For the most part this should make it a bit swingy in terms of being able to figure things out. 

Sidenote (Because there always is one). 

Here's a Gamma World Character sheet 

https://polyhedralnonsense.com/2019/09/14/gamma-world-1st-edition-fillable-character-sheets-artifact-sheet/


  


Sunday, September 24, 2023

Fighting fantasy and gaming ramble.

It's time for a change of pace.  I'm going to start working on a small campaign using the original fighting fantasy rules as detailed in Fighting Fantasy the introductory roleplaying game

The rules are a bit broken, and aren't really meant for long term play.  At the very least not longterm play as per D&D anyway.  Somewhere I have a copy of the basic version of these rules in doc format.  It is a very easy to grasp game, and not really far from the original choose your own adventure style books.  I do own AFF 2.0 as well.  I haven't quite decided if I'll use that or the original at this point.  I managed to save a bunch of pdfs from Arion Games site that had pre made characters etc.  

Either which way, I'm going to see if I can get a game going on roll20 or with my buddies online.  I think the original rules would be good for a few one shot style games, longterm the second edition allows for more advancement.  

A few months ago it was decided in the google chat that we would try one one off game a month.  Unfortunately summer got in the way for me and I wasn't able to participate.  The idea however is pretty great in all honesty.  Try all those games we've collected and haven't had a chance to play.  

I was playing in a holmes game with Jeff that was a lot of fun, but has slightly fizzled.  I'm hoping we can get back to it as playing with Jeff and the other guys is a blast!  

The one thing I've found with online games and scheduling is it's almost better to suggest we do a weekly game, rather than a bi-weekly game.  Due to the fact that it inevitably ends up as a bi weekly game haha.

I have to say that I'm not D&D'd out, but It's time to run something different.  At least a different system, not D&D in post apocalyptic land (gamma world).  

Fighting fantasy was my start in role playing, and AD&D2e.  Both of which had a bit of a railroad feel in some of the writing.  FF was more a "director" of a movie kind of thing.  Almost akin to what 5e DMs do nowadays.  I remember reading a good blog about AFF in the gplus days.  The gent took the OSR aesthetic of open sandbox and used FF and it worked wonderfully.   

The last little while at home has been rather difficult.  My dad moved in with us, and I have no time for myself.  (read more here: https://mlife2023.blogspot.com/ )

I've found that the band I'm currently in isn't really doing it for me as far as feeling like I'm "getting a break".   Gaming wise, I haven't been doing anything the last little while.  No world building, or playing or anything.  Most of my time is frustratingly spent worrying about my Dad. 

Since my schedule is slowly opening up, I am really thinking I'll try and get something going on friday evenings.  Wednesday's used to be my day but it's now filled with all the caregiver things. 

I need that 2 hour gaming break where I just forget about the world I'm dealing with. 






Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Cool zine alert

 My buddy Matt Jackson just released sector nine zine episode 0.

Here's the blurb.

White Box...in spaaaace! This is an older document that I created for a project that never really took off (life changes and whatnot) but I just love the campy sci-fi pulpiness of this and I thought others might enjoy reading it. 

The project was a fun, energetic pulpy space zine that would present a setting similar to the '50s radio dramas like Space Patrol or Flash Gordon. Brave heroes, beautiful damsels in distress, clunky robots, vile villains, and strange (sometimes goofy) aliens.

Here's the link

https://mattjackson.itch.io/sector-nine-zine-issue-0

It's pretty awesome.  I'm happy to see a white star and whitebox resurgence.  They are both great games that seem to have been overshadowed with newer clones.

Check it out.


Monday, August 14, 2023

Revised Bard for Labyrinth Lord

A long time ago I wrote up a terrible over powered bard class for ll.  This is the revision.

Bard
:  
A person who composed & recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre or the like. 

Requirements: INT 9, DEX 9, CHA 11
Prime Requisite: DEX
Hit Dice: 1D4
Use dwarf attack matrix.

Bard Level Progression
Experience
Level
Hit Dice (1d4)
0
1
1
1500
2
2
3000
3
3
4500
4
4
9000
5
5
18,000
6
6
36,000
7
7
72,000
8
8
144,000
9
9
288,000
10
+2 hp only
576,000
10+
+4 hp only



Bards will be able to cast spells & perform thieving abilities upon reaching 5th level.  After 10th level they do not receive any more bonus spells, or upgrades to their thieving skills.
When casting spells Bards must be unarmoured.  Bards tend to stick to charm & illusion type spells, normally not offensive destructive spells, they leave those up to the crazy wizards in the pointy hats! 

Spell Progression
Class Level
1
2
3
4
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
5
1
-
-
-
-
6
2
1
-
-
-
7
2
2
-
-
-
8
2
2
1
-
-
9
2
2
2
-
-
       10 
3
2
2
1
-

Thieving Skills Progression
Class Level
Climb Walls
Pick Pockets
Hear Noise
5
87
23
1-2
6
88
27
1-2
7
89
30
1-3
8
90
37
1-3
9
91
40
1-3
10
92
43
1-4
           




Once per day a bard can sing a song that acts as a charm person spell.  

Bards have a 15% chance of knowing the best tavern in a town to find solid rumours.

Bards can only wear leather armour.  They typically have a pair of daggers, and on occasion a small crossbow or sling.

They always add +1 to morale, and encounter checks because of their wonderful smile.


Saturday, July 15, 2023

Turnbuckle

Turnbuckle is a bustling village in the shade of luminescent mushrooms.  The citizenry is made up of dark humanoids who moved to the surface years ago.  These include (dark) elves, gnomes, dwarves, darklings, and a few nastier creatures from the underworld.

Don't get me wrong, for the most part the citizens are pleasant and sort of get along.

As previously discussed this is the underworld above ground after an apocalypse, ruled by the iron hand of a death knight.  

Please throw out whatever you believe about the above creatures, they've come along way from their cruel ness.  Some more than others.

Turnbuckle is ruled by a council of 5, most of them being dwarves.  They are generally concerned for the welfare of the community and others.  Great planners, and politico's.

Darklings have a knack for commerce and own quite a bit of property and business. 

Gnomes as they've always been are inventor's, architects, and engineers.

The few dark elves make up the bulk of the workforce.  

Rope bridges and ladders jump from mushroom to mushroom, some homes are built among them.

The three eyed newt is the place for gossip, a glass of wine and a bards song.

Resting your weary head, look no further than the nestled hen, a nice inn on the edge of town.  A small stable sits outside for riding lizards and the like.

The village has a very small crew of volunteer guards, made up mostly of dwarves.  Most are not seasoned.  Thankfully the raids from undead and others are infrequent.

There are a few market stalls were common goods can be found.  Most goods worth more than 25 gp in your equipment list are 15% more and there is a 45% chance there is only one.

The Mulvey brothers (darklings ) own a small trading company and store.  They tend to only be in town for a few weeks at a time.  There is a 25% chance they are available.

The village does not have a blacksmith proper, however a smart person could speak with a gnome for design, and find a dark elf to do the work perhaps.  

Work wise, there's plenty of farming, a small quarry, fishing and the big job of finishing the wall around the village.

Religion is quite varied among the races.  This however a cult of the moon, that worships when the sun goes down (reminder it's only sunlight four hours a day)

They believe that thru sacrifice they can bring on eternal darkness.  

*Please note: darklings are halfings with dark vision.  They have grey hair on their head and feet.  

Of course this is a starting point.  I obviously need to add some politics, NPC names, all the balancing act goodies.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

I'm addicted to pirate games

 I only just realized this after purchasing "Neverland" that I'm addicted to pirates.  My favourite adventure of all time is isle of dread which I've ran a few times.  I grabbed a copy of saltmarsh as well and enjoyed reading it.   I've had multiple 5e characters with the pirate background including a female dread pirate Roberts I created for my wife to play.

I'm thinking there is probably a way to stitch all of the above adventures together!  I also have the basic fantasy Monkey isle which is awesome.

In other random news.  The grognard google chat has decided to run one game a month online.   Basically a one shot.  I had mentioned it had been awhile since I GMd a game, and I wanted to try out Holmes dnd.

I've got a small dungeon ready to go for it.  Just need to add some bits and bobs to the player drive (including the link to zenopus archives reference sheets).

After my game we are all going to take turns running a game.  I'm sure there will be 5e, shadowdark, and other interesting stuff.

I've spent a lot of time writing adventures, factions and other world building stuff while I've been on vacation.  Doing it old school in a notebook.  Which includes drawing maps on lined paper hahha. 

Unfortunately I have to really keep an eye on my schedule lately as we have some family things we are dealing with and it only leaves so much time.  I'm making the most of what I have available.  

Thursday, June 29, 2023

I'm excited

 I haven't ran a game in a good while.  I had a monthly 5e game going for a bit.  However that was derailed when my Dad moved in with us unexpectedly.

I was chatting with the guys on our Google hangouts thread and I suggested that I really want to run a game for them at some point.

This lead to the idea of each of us taking a turn once a month and running a game.  Rotating GMs!

I've decided to run a Holmes game, as I received a copy from my friend Jeff and have been itching to play it.

I read thru the sample dungeon and I may run that.  Alternatively I'm on vacation and may be able to create something.

Either way it should be fun!

I think this will be a hangouts game, no roll20 or maps.


Sunday, June 25, 2023

Random places on dark world

 1.  An ancient magical portal that transports you to an elegant throne room.

2.  The outskirts of a ruined city, infested with bandits and slimey monsters.

3.  A lookout tower that allows a 360 view of the surrounding countryside.

4.  A marble chess board that is lifesize missing it's pieces.

5.  A small fen filled with greenish glowing water.

6.  A wasteland of rusted metal mounds piled high.

7.  A repository of information.  A small cubicle that will spit out a prophecy on parchment.

8.  A vacant marauders camp, their bones are piled on a former pyre.

9.  A field of low growing mushrooms, guarded by mutant dogs.

10.  Cracked earth, a cliff overlooks a deep hole leading underground.

11.  A small village being rebuilt.

12.   A purple Haze choked grassland.

More to come.  

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Don't suggest it

Too often I here people say they are

Starting a campaign as a player

Or 

Creating a campaign as a DM.

This wording puts a lot of pressure on people.  Especially when you are first starting.  I myself have had this is issue numerous times.  Some anxiety seeps in and I spend way to much time over thinking it.

Your are playing an adventure or running one.  Maybe it will continue... maybe it won't, maybe it will restart.

I think the best thing you can do is play games with friends and see what happens.  Stop worrying about an end goal.

 I'm going to be running "horror on the hill" soon using whitebox fmag with some friends.


Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Why I love rules light games when playing online

I tried Shadowdark RPG for the first time this evening and throughly enjoyed it.  I should likely preface this statement by stating the following: 

  • I had to take a brief break from the ongoing OSE campaign (which ended up at 30+ sessions)
  • It's in the exact same world at the same time as the OSE campaign. 
  • The OSE campaign was wildly fun but also fairly serious at times.  
  • Trying a new game is a great restart for everyone.
  • Hanging out with all my friends is making my heart so happy.  I honestly needed a laugh with everything that has been going on latetly. 

The nice thing about playing easy to run D&D like games online is you get to the meat and potatoes of gaming.  We start laughing and roleplaying and not worrying about any tactical, min maxing silliness.  

When you only have a couple of hours to play (Which BTW I absolutely adore...more on that later) its nice to just be able to jump into a game.  I rolled up my character in all of 5 minutes.

Honestly that's all I got.  Much like whitebox or holmes, I really enjoy just jumping and going and not getting dragged down with any extra sheets on my character sheet.  

I have to say Shadowdark is the best of a lot of the great OSR ideas that have come along over the years.  There's a bit of everything in there.  Definitely try it out. 



Monday, March 13, 2023

Dark world

While I'm still working on my greyhawk saltmarsh campaign, I did have an idea the other night for a different campaign.

I recently got the fifth edition monster manual and as I was flipping through it I found the death knight entry.  That's a monster I've always wanted to use.  More so than a lich, dragon or tarasque.

I really need to create my own setting this time around.  Saltmarsh is cool and all.

During a time of troubles the world started to spin slower.  It came about because of a magical apocalyptic event.  Because of this the world gets 18 hours of darkness.

Flora and Fauna are different than they used to be.  Things grow in the dark and the muck.

The dark races came upon the land from underground as the daylight races subsided into decay and death.  The dark races did not keep to themselves but formed communities.  They are not as evil as they once were.  Unfortunately some of the vile monsters from the underworld followed them.

A long time ago there was a great war.  A Paladin was on one side, but made a deal to save his friends.  When he did he switched sides.  A castle was under siege by the Knights former battalion, which included his sister.  In the chaos he killed her and became a death knight at that instant.

The death knight has been killed and rose many times.

I'm modeling him after cobra commander and skeletor.

Because the world of men fell, there are lots of ruins to explore and magic residing in the world.

An alien race has started to inhabit the planet, they are warlike and hungry for a new world to conquer.

This is what I have so far.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Completed my collection

 Even though I said I wouldn't play 5e I did.  I've enjoyed dming it, I've enjoyed playing basic characters.  I'm currently running a game and plotting a campaign that will require a lot of homebrewing and adventures.

I bought the monster manual today, which completes my collection. I need a shelf for this stuff now.

Don't get me wrong I'm still playing osr games, got one every Tuesday.

I doubt I will purchase anything else from wotc after all the bs.  But stranger things have happened.  

I don't want to play the new edition they are coming out with.  I'm perfectly happy with the books I have.

Next new session I run is going to be advanced fighting Fantasy.


Sunday, January 15, 2023

Working on a campaign and house rules

After my new group finishes up lmop I am going to run saltmarsh.

I've been slowly working on some house rules, a campaign overview document etc.

For the campaign the first thing I'm going to tell the players is it's going to be a slow burn.  The intention will be to retire at level 10.  Alot of newer modules are a race to level 20.  I'm not a fan.  I like getting really good at playing at second level before moving up.

I'm hoping to only use the essentials rules for character creation, leaving out all the phb options that don't belong in greyhawk.

For the actual campaign I'll start with the first adventure and then hopefully pepper in some stuff from iceapire peak and possibly witch light.

Probably going to be the first time I have a real session 0.  Which is exciting.

Today after grocery shopping and skating I have to start going thru the book and making a document for the monsters as there are no stats really in saltmarsh.

Oh and I've got idea for a magic sword, the black crazor, formerly owned by a pirate.


Monday, January 9, 2023

Ogl 1.0 disclaimer

Content on this blog that was created prior to January 9th, 2023 that included mechanics,new classes, Monster, spells and adventures for retro clones and the earlier editions of the"world's most popular roleplaying game" was written for the open game license version 1.0 in mind. 

It was also created in the spirit of fairplay and keeping a great game alive.

https://3toadstools.blogspot.com/p/ogl_17.html?m=1

In the interest of archiving, this work will remain live on the site.


Thursday, January 5, 2023

Pulled it

 Hi Everyone, 

There's been a LOT of discussion regarding the new OGL and what it means for the OSR and indie creators.  I'm not getting into that discussion here.  What I am doing is explaining the reasonings behind pulling all the 3t stuff from drivethrurpg.

It's because it's time.  A lot of it is old stuff, that's not entirely relevant nowadays.   As well I know I can do better.  Part of me is done being a publisher.  I've left up 2 releases, a map one and a book of random tables.  There was a few extra random table releases that were put into that book, and were duplicated.

I'm not doing this because I fear some repercussion from the wizards.  There are a LOT of bigger fish out that than I.  I am pulling the pin, because that was part of an older version of me and I'm not as much that guy anymore.  I put a lot of internal pressure on myself to do things, be better, etc.  And its time to flip that page.  

I have to say, thank you to everyone who purchased, played, downloaded, reviewed and gave me a thumbs up over the years!  I appreciate it.

With that said, I am moving forward.  I'm not sure what I'm doing.  But something different.

Once again thank you.