[Adventures in Fantasy] Alternate Character Sheet

I am still working on resources for Adventures in Fantasy among my various projects.  I have come up with an alternate version of my original design; the only difference is the addition of the variable damage table at the bottom of the sheet.  I am not quite happy with the Dragon Record Sheet(s) yet but maybe I will put them up later today...  

Adventures in Fantasy - What I Have Planned Next

Over at the Original D&D Discussion forums it was pointed out that I may be the only person producing stuff for Adventures in Fantasy. I never gave it much thought before he mentioned it but that's cool; maybe it will inspire some others that own the game to put something out there for interested people. I have produced a few resources so far but I have more that I am working on currently.  Consider this a list of what I have planned in the coming weeks.

Revised Character Record Sheet

I have a functional character sheet available for download right now.  There will be adjustments made to that sheet whenever it is deemed necessary through play experience.  I have an alternate sheet I am working on that includes the variable weapon damage table from the reference sheets.  Other than minor tweaks - something like an AiF logo - I suspect there will only be one big update of the character sheet.

Dragon Record Sheet

It is suggested that all Dragons should be generated before play since each one is unique in a range of 13 characteristics. This is simply a form to record all of the generation results and any other important notes for the Dragons used by the Referee.

Dragon Hoard Record Sheet

As each Dragon is unique, so is their hoard.  If there is not enough room for the hoard on the Dragon Record Sheet then I am going to do a separate hoard sheet.

House Rules

I am gathering notes for some proposed house rules as I make my way through the rules again.  I am hoping for a short list that would be easy to maintain.  I am shooting for something similar to "The Perrin Conventions" that was used by some groups for early D&D.

New Game

I have not ruled out the possibility of making a new game that is clearly inspired and influenced by AiF.  This new game would be designed in a similar fashion as comparing T&T to D&D.  Honestly, I feel the same way that Ken St. Andre did when he was reading the early D&D rules.  There is a lot of like about AiF but there is also a lot that makes me scratch my head.  Who knows?  Maybe I will...

[Adventures in Fantasy] Reference Sheets Reproduction

I know from reading a few forums that there are people that have incomplete sets of Adventures in Fantasy role-playing game.  The reference sheets seem to be one of the most commonly missing items.  I decided to scan mine in and make them available for those that needed them.  The results of the scanning were pretty horrid and I have no experience with document cleanup so I decided to make new pdf copies that were as close to the originals as I could make them; these pdf versions are probably somewhere close to a 90% reproduction.  I changed from 3 double-sided pages to 6 single page versions. If you need a replacement copy or want to look at them out of curiosity, there are links to the sheets below. 

AiF Reference 1

AiF Reference 2

AiF Reference 3

AiF Reference 4

AiF Reference 5

AiF Reference 6

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Creatures and Treasure

The final book of the Adventures in Fantasy role-playing game boxed set is Book III: Book of Creatures and Treasures.  This slim, 49 page manual has a Pepto-Bismol colored cover with red letters and the material inside is also presented in red lettering.  I am sure this was done for copy protection back in those days but it can lead to some rough reading.  The cover art depicts a lone dragon sitting with wings spread and one foot on what I can only assume to be a giant’s skull from the size of it.

INTRODUCTION

The words of the introduction take up approximately one-third of the page.  The authors explain their main source for the creatures came from “the myths of Europe and the Mediterranean” while some creatures come “from other sources” but those other sources are not mentioned.  The aim of the creature section was “to provide a mythos composed of those creatures that comprise the major segment of our mythological heritage” and to describe them with “the attributes and background they possessed in the myths of their origin”. There are also a few words about treasure in the introduction.  The random treasure tables have been set up for a large amount of variation while not allowing too much treasure.  The sample artifacts included came about from the research of the author.  These artifacts should be rare and the treasure tables have been designed to reflect that. 

CREATURE DESCRIPTIONS

The creatures section of the rule book contains 31 pages of information.  These 31 pages are split among 29 pages of creature descriptions and a 2 page list of basic creature information at the end. Every entry contains the name of the creature along with average hit points (hit points without rolling), movement (flying also), alignment, body type (for combat purposes), and hit dice (for when you want to roll for hit points). This information is typically followed by a short paragraph or two describing physical appearance, culture, intelligence, weaknesses, and some encounter notes.  The information seems sufficient enough for game use and, most importantly, the reader is not smothered in a mountain of details and statistics that seems to be the norm in many modern game systems.

The largest entry in the creatures section – and the one that most people will probably find the most interesting – is the one detailing Dragons.  The information on Dragons takes up 9 pages of this section because there is no static list of entries to use.  Each Dragon is unique and must be generated before campaign play.  Every Dragon has 13 Characteristics – Form, Age, Size, Sex, Intelligence, Egotism Index, Greed Index, Personality Index, Alignment, Breath Value, Magic Rating, Interests, and Hoard – that are generated by rolling on a series of provided tables.    

The typical length of most of the other creature descriptions is around one-third to one-half of a page.  Of course, there are some descriptions that fall outside of this range. Bits of mythological information can be learned by reading the creature descriptions.  Bugbears are closely related to Goblins and their name was intended to mean “Goblin Bear”, Ogres are the offspring of the Troll and Trow, if Black Elves are exposed to sunlight they will automatically turn to stone without a saving throw, and Vampires can change into 6 different forms.  It is nice to see some actual mythology used for the monsters and also some connection to stuff like Hammer Horror.  Some players will probably dislike the fact that Adventures in Fantasy is very human-centered because many of the monster races have weakness or other disadvantages that will make them highly unattractive for use as player characters.  The only other negative that I can really see is that this is just the basic game and there were many supplements planned that would have expanded Dragons, the Jinns, and others; nothing more was ever published so one can only imagine what might have been. 

TREASURE

The second half of the book uses 18 pages to cover topics such as gemstone values, miscellaneous treasure, magic items, and artifacts.  Following a brief introduction, there are three pages of charts and explanations.  The General Treasure Chart determines if a treasure consists of coins, gem/jewels, miscellaneous treasure, or magic items.  There is also an individual treasure chart with the results affected by activity, location, and social status for solo encounters.

The next nine pages of the manual cover the subject of magic items.  This section begins with some basic information about magic items.  There are two types of magic items:  natural and artifact.  Natural magic items derive most of their power from the material used in construction while artifacts are granted their power mainly from the workings of the maker during construction.  Characters can even begin play with a family heirloom magic item on a successful roll against their age. 

The magic items included in the game are split into five basic groups: swords, armors, amulets, talismans, and miscellaneous. The magic items avoid the straight up “sword +1” and similar labels that seem to plague many games these days.  Swords are very individualized with attributes such as unbreakable, pierce rock, magic dispeller.  Swords may even turn on a character if found instead of inherited.  Armor has an enchantment level expressed as a percentage bonus to defense and only one armor bonus can be used for improving defense.  Amulets function like armor because they are “always on” when worn and Talismans function like swords and have to be put into use.  These items grant the user abilities such as increasing saving throws, increasing strength, warding against magic, granting future knowledge, or an assortment of other benefits.  I did not notice any cursed items but maybe that was planned for a future expansion.   

The final five pages contain details for artifacts in the game.  The largest part of this section is an alphabetical listing of 24 miscellaneous artifacts.  Some examples of the artifacts include The Bow of Locksley, Waters of Life, Flying Carpet, and the Wand of Light.  The descriptions seem pretty clear and easy to comprehend.  I get the impression they would be quite fun in play with sense of discovery and a little bit of unpredictability in some cases.  This section closes with a sample campaign artifact table that one can use to randomly determine which artifact is discovered. 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

This was the easiest book in the Adventures in Fantasy boxed set for me to fully grasp.  I admit that the other two books had me scratching my head in spots.  I do not think it is necessarily because they were difficult reading but because they seemed vague and even contradictory to me at times.  After making it through this manual with relative ease I am really interested in going back through the other books and giving it another shot.  Maybe I will do that sometime in the future…

ADDENDUM

Okay, I am not quite done yet.  I do have some other stuff I would like to do with this game including:

I have searched for a character sheet for Adventures in Fantasy and have had no luck at all.  I have some published stat blocks provided by a fellow blogger that will help me design a character sheet to make available for download.

There were three reference sheets in the boxed set.  I am in the process of cleaning these up and making them available for download.

I am interested in going back through the rules and noting some house rule decisions that will help me understand this game better.  If I am successful at this task then I will make those notes available for download.

If I get really motivated then I would definitely be interested in developing a new game based on my perceptions of Adventures in Fantasy.  This game would be written in the same way that Tunnels & Trolls was written as a reaction to Dungeons & Dragons.  I make no promises…

               

 

Time For Commitment

I started this blog with no other reason than to post primarily on gaming; of course, I make occasional side treks into other topics along the way.  I have been posting as the mood hits up until this point but I think it is time to come up with a set schedule.  I believe I will commit to post once a week for the foreseeable future; Saturdays will most likely be the day.  This will allow me to focus on just one post at a time and improve the quality of the posts.  That does not mean that I will not post more from time to time when the mood fits. 

I know I need to post on the following for the sake of completion:

• Finish the read through of the Adventures in Fantasy rules.
• More information on my Toldara B/X campaign.
• Fleshing out some of my ideas from my old gaming notebook collection. 

Those are just the topics that I am sure about using.  Just out of curiosity, what do my readers think?  Here is your chance to voice your opinion if you have a strong opinion on anything - what would you like to read more of, what would you like to see less of, what fits, what is out of place, or are you perfectly fine with reading whatever happens to catch your attention?

Obscure RPG Appreciation Day: Adventures in Fantasy

When I first read the post over at Mesmerized by Sirens about the first annual Obscure Fantasy RPGs Appreciation Day on May 31st I instantly knew that I wanted to participate.  The only rules for the post is that the subject must be a game from the fantasy genre and it must have been published between 1975 and 1989.  It was not hard for me to come up with a subject for my post.  Adventures in Fantasy has been part of my collection for several years now.  I won it on an eBay auction for the price of $12 if I recall correctly.  It seems I lucked into finding it before the OSR and all of the interest in these older games and the roots of our hobby took hold and caused the price to go up.  I have seen ridiculous prices on Amazon & similar sites - in the neighborhood of $200 or so - but I suggest that you do not pay these outrageous prices and hope that you can find a copy cheap if you are interested. I admit that I feel Adventures in Fantasy is an interesting historical gaming artifact that will provide insights into the early years of the hobby and a look at some of the differences between the game design philosophy of Arneson and Gygax but only if the price is right.  Since that original post the theme has changed to the Obscure RPG Appreciation Day so the subject for my post is still valid.


This is not my first post about Adventures in Fantasy - I started this blog by doing an examination of the game.  My previous posts can be read by following the links below:
Introduction
Book of Adventure Part 1
Book of Adventure Part 2
Book of Adventure Part 3
Book of Adventure Part 4
Book of Faerry and Magic Part 1
Book of Faerry and Magic Part 2
Book of Faerry and Magic Part 3
Book of Faerry and Magic Part 4
Regrettably, I have not completed any  posts for the third book but I will dive back into it at some point in the near future.  I have decided not to rehash the information in the above posts so I am providing an assortment of information related to Adventures in Fantasy within this post. 


It is a fair statement to claim that Adventures in Fantasy was "the other fantasy game" for Dave Arneson and Richard Snider.  Both of them were better known for other games - Arneson for Dungeons & Dragons (specifically the Blackmoor setting) and Snider for Powers & Perils.  Opinions vary but the general consensus seems to be that people feel the game showed more of Arneson instead of Gygax OR that the design showcases more of a Snider slant due to the apparent complexity.  


Adventures in Fantasy comes up on message boards every once in a while.  The site I have found with the most posts or conversation concerning the game is Dave Arneson's Blackmoor section of the OD&D Discussion boards.  I have contributed to some of the conversations myself.


Adventures in Fantasy is an incomplete game; at least, if you consider all of the stuff that was planned but never saw the light of day.  The boxed set does provide the very basic framework but there were several supplements announced in the forward of book one:
Dragon Lore & Legend
Ritual Magic
The Races of the Faerry
World of Fantasy
None of these supplements were ever published to the best of my knowledge.  I can only wonder what the complete game would have looked like or how it would have played. 


I have searched the internet for resources specifically for Adventures in Fantasy but I have had no luck.  I tried scanning the original reference sheets that were included in the box but I was not happy with their appearance.  If anyone else is interested, I will provide a clean pdf version of these reference sheets for download.


The boxed set of Adventures in Fantasy did not include a character sheet.  I have searched around and have been unable to find one.  I was hooked up with some character write-ups to use as a guide so I will be making a character sheet for this game at some point.  An example character I ran across from the OD&D Discussion  board (thanks dwayanu!) is provided below.

from Chaosium's Thieves' World:
SAMLOR hil SAMT
Caravan Master (exp)
Minor Mage (exp. lev 3)
Fighter (exp. lev 12)
AGE: 31 STRENGTH: 85 CONSTITUTION: 90
STATUS: 20 DEXTERITY: 90 STAMINA: 62
EXPERIENCE: 16 INTELLIGENCE: 84 HEALTH: 68
REPUTATION: 100!* CHARISMA: 40 HIT DICE: 18 points

SKILLS:
ONE Read
TWO Figure
THREE Speak two other languages
FIVE, SIX Physical Training I, II
SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE Horsemanship I, II, III
TEN, TWELVE, FOURTEEN, EIGHTEEN Bow, Sword, Lance, Spear, Dagger, Shield
TWENTY-FOUR Husbandry

MAGICAL ABILITIES:
Can cast up to three 1-2 point spells
Knows the following Lawful spells: Light, Protection from Chaos
Knows the following Non-Alignment spells: Gambling, Open Door, Find Gold
Knows the following Neutral spells: Charisma, Rhetoric
80% chance to know any Non-Alignment spell up to six points
Has 24 spell points a day, six points a turn*Get credit for being the champion of one god and cheating another and see what it does for you!

Here are some monster stats from the same user and same source:

GIANT CRABS
Average Hit Points: 1 Body Type: Scaled Movement: 4" (water) 2" (land) Alignment: Chaotic (Hostile) Hit Dice: 1 (1-3)

SIKKINTAIR
Alignment Neutral Av. HP 52 Hit Dice 15 Body Type: Snake / Special SPP: 3" / 30" No. Encounter Clear 1-6


There are only two classes available in Adventures in Fantasy - warrior and mage.  The skill system does provided some customization options. 


Like I previously stated, Adventures in Fantasy is a great historical gaming treasure to examine if you can find it for the right price.  It has provided we with many hours of interesting reading even though I have never played it.  Maybe I should crack open that box again and get a game started?

I would have liked to have posted more for this but I am in the middle of overtime season at work.   







 

 

 

 

I'm Still Around...

Just a quick post to say that posting will resume shortly.  Putting it bluntly, the summer college semester is eating up my time since I also have work and family responsibilities.  Even thought it's been basically two weeks since I last posted, look for posts on the following subjects soon:

1. Adventures in Fantasy: I still have the read through of Book 3 to complete the rules.
2. D.O.T.T.: The Death of the Territories wrestling game by Eric Baker.  I have messed around a little bit with it but I need to investigate further.
3. Quest Card: A neat little card game by Liam Thompson that has a lot of promise and potential.
4. Perilous Journeys: I dig the crap out of this game because it makes the Lejendary Adventure rules a lot more accessible.
5. RIFTS or Palladium Fantasy: I get the itch to run these two games every so often and the itch is coming on strong again.

Basically, I have several plans for new posts BUT real life stuff has just kept me busy.  Posting will resume soon.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 4

Note:  I owe an apology to anyone that has been specifically waiting on me to finish this read through of the Adventures in Fantasy rule books.  I actually began this blog with the intention of completing the read through as my first series of posts.  That did not happen because I got derailed and distracted by other things along the way.  I hope to rectify that soon with a minimal number of posts to do so.  

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Sorcerous Combat

This section of the rules covers combat between opposing magicians and notes that it "is conducted at a mental level" using the system detailed in the rules.  The only other restriction is that "a lawful magician will never attack another lawful magician in this manner".  Of course, there is another formula that determines the amount of damage that a sorcerer can take. 

The traditional method of sorcerous combat described in the rulebook resembles the old gun-slinger face off depicted in the typical Western movies.  There are also two modes - kill and control - described in this section and their relation to the alignment of the sorcerers combating each other. 

Other information in this chapter includes The Magician's Code, magical fatigue, and the effects of fatigue.  It seems interesting and tries to capture a quasi-medieval feel to the magical combat rules used in the game.  I am not sure how practical the magical combat rules would be in play but it would be interesting to test them out in play. 

Faerry Magic
Faerry Magic is not simply spell casting but the magic involved in the art of song and rune.  This magic can be used by Dwarves, Troll Lords, the Faerry, and Elves - with Elves being the most powerful mages of the Faerry races.  Humans may use Faerry Magic but will be severely disadvantaged unless they are Druids or raised by a member of the Faerry race.

This chapter also discusses the determination of magic points, details some restrictions about the songs and runes among the faerry races, and ends with tables listing the songs and runes followed by the description of each one.  There are 20 songs and also 20 runes; due to race restrictions only a portion of the song and runes are available for use.  The songs and runes are described adequately and are, for the most part, pretty easy to understand but there are exceptions.  For example, the Song of the Baleful Omen allows the magician to "lay on an enemy or thief...any curse intended to bring suffering or eventual death".  Descriptions such as that might bother some because there is not a lot of fine details and the outcome is likely to involve a ruling by the DM instead of hard and fast rules but this is an old school design from one of the most old school designers so it fits the period.


The Faerry Races
There are 5 Faerry races: Elves, Trolls/Troll Lords, Dwarves, Goblins, and Faerries. Unlike D&D, it is quite apparent that players are highly discouraged from using the nonhuman races in AiF: all of them are afflicted by sunlight, have a -10% penalty to hit in sunlight, and are incapable of using their Faerry Magic in sunlight.  This quick overview of the Faerry races is followed by a more detailed description of each race.  The information presented includes average hit points, movement, alignment, typical encounters with members of each race, and even details on rolling up player characters of each Faerry race.  I suspect that most players avoided the Faerry races due to the associated disadvantages.


Elementals
The final section of this rulebook covers the conjuring of Elementals.  Some of the information covered includes the alignment of the elemental, a standard elemental of each type, a more powerful elemental of each type, and controlling the Elementals. 


I am running out of steam and the college summer semester started today so I am going to wrap this up.  It seems that Arneson and Snider were aiming for a magic system that had a quasi-medieval feel to it and I think they succeeded.  I think they accomplished their goals with much less attention to detail than other games like Chivalry & Sorcery.  I am not sure that the magic system and the faerry races will appeal to wide range of players.  The spells can be downright boring - one of the spells increases crop output - and the faerry races are not viable play options due to the very tough restrictions placed on them.  Of course, this is all just from reading.  I have never played the game and I am not sure I understand enough of it play.  Maybe I can get to the point of comprehension sometime during my examination of these rules.

Up Next: the Book of Creatures and Treasures

 

      

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 3

In this post I look at the Permanent Magic section of the Book of Faerry and Magic.


Introduction
The short introductory paragraph points out a few facts about the Permanent Magic system presented in this rule book.  First, the system presented in these rules is a simplified version of more advanced rules scheduled for a future supplement; it never saw the light of day.  Second, a magician using this system may turn any spell or Faerry rune that he is capable of casting into a permanent effect.  Third, in the basic game Faerry songs can not be made permanent.

What can a permanent spell be cast on?
A permanent spell can be cast on two things - a permanent edifice (building, statue, etc.) or an artifact (weapon, ring, medallion, etc.).  The magician casting the spell must be intimately associated with the permanent edifice.  For a magician to be intimately associated with an edifice, he must have lived in or near (within 200 feet) for no less than 28 days.  If this is not possible, then the casting magician must successfully perform a ritual of purification.  For an artifact, the casting magician must have made the artifact himself out of virgin material - material that has never been forged into an artifact previously.  In other words, it must start out as raw material and then forged into a sword before being enchanted.

The permanent magic ritual
The ritual for permanent magic continues the medieval flavor set forth earlier in the game.  Put simply, the ritual requires casting of a spell over a week's time and the magician must not be disturbed during this casting.  The permanent magic will be focused on a targeted spot and will trigger when someone other than the magician approaches within 10 feet.

The effect of permanent magic
This part is pretty straightforward.  Unless otherwise noted, the effect of the permanet magic will function exactly as if the caster has cast the spell from the focal point of the permanent magic.

Limits of permanent magic
There are a few limits to the permanent magic ability of a caster. 

• A permanent spell cast on an edifice is limited to a total equalling the caster's Magic Ability.  For instance, if a magician has the ability to cast a total of 20 points of magic spells then the caster can use a total of 20 points in an edifice for his lifetime.  If the magician improves his magic ability to use 24 points he can now cast a 4 point permanent magic spell on an edifice.
• If the permanent magic is put into an item or artifact then the toal is per year instead of over the caster's lifetime.

How to determine permanent magic ability
At this point, the book describes how to determine the magic ability of a magician with a formula that involves the experience level and magic points per level.  This section also covers the limits above but does so in an easier digested manner.

Permanent magic duration
It is generally assumed that permanent magic will last forever; even the death of the caster will not affect the magic.  There are, however, a few ways for it to end. 

• If the magic is dispelled.
• The terms of the spell are broken. (Applicable to artifacts, items, etc.)
• Breaking of the item/focal point of the spell. (There are repercussions.)

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That concludes the Permanent Magic chapter of the AiF rules.  It is interesting to see a magic system inspired by medieval beliefs that is not bogged down by a ton of rules, charts, and cross referencing back and forth between several different locations in the book.  Other systems have gone overboard in trying to replicate the medieval feel by tacking on rule after rule.  While that route may give a much truer and authentic feel, after a certain point it just becomes redundant. 

Taking Care of Business...

In a continued effort to get all of my ducks in a row here is a list of goals that I would like to accomplish with this blog:

Short Term Goals

• Complete my examination of Adventures in Fantasy.
• Complete the entries from my Old Gaming Notebook.
• Make one post every day in a single month.
• Post more of my house rules & ideas for AD&D, 3E, Microlite20, RIFTS, and more.
• Post about my campaign world, Toldara.
• Offer draft 2 of MicroToldara for download.
• Offer draft 1 of Classic Fantasy Role Playing for download.

Long Term Goals

• Post about actual play with Adventures in Fantasy.
• Develop ideas from the Old Gaming Notebook into complete games.
• Decide on a set posting schedule and stick to it.
• Get my Toldara co-author (Alex) to participate in some of the blogging.

That's a good start.  This list will be modified and re-posted when appropriate.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 2

Let's dig into the Basic Magic portion of the Book of Faerry and Magic on this examination of Adventures in Fantasy.


Basic Magic
The introduction to Basic Magic informs the reader that the magic rules are "an effort to recreate, as simply as possible, the actual manner in which Sorcery was thought to be accomplished".  On one hand, this sounds very interesting because the way magic was believed to work in the medieval period of real history.  On the other hand, this sounds burdensome for the very same reason.  Magic in the medieval times was very formulaic and ritualistic.  A spell would probably involve gathering a complex list of ingredients, performing an exacting ritual, and observing a strict timeline of events.  In other words, medieval magic would make a good scary story but it would not be fun to play.

Apprenticeship
There are three conditions of apprenticeship for a player character to be a magic-user.  First, it takes a minimum intelligence score of 43 to use basic magic.  Intelligence determines the number of Magic Points and the possible spells learned during the apprenticeship.  Second, the master that teaches your player character must be higher than level 8.  Third, an apprenticeship requires a full year of study.  This time must be completed in a consecutive block of time.  If it is interrupted then all training is lost.

Spell Alignment
The spells available to magic-user player characters fall into one of three categories: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Each magic-user will also be one of these alignments depending on spell selection.  There are restrictions that come with each alignment; Lawful magic-users are prohibited from learning Chaotic spells and the reverse is also true, Lawful and Chaotic magic-users use Neutral spells with half effectiveness, and   Neutral magic-users can use spells of one of the other alignments at half effectiveness.


Spell List
The list of spells is split into 4 categories: Non-Alignment, Chaotic, Neutral, and Lawful.  There are 28 Non-Alignment spells, 17 Chaotic spells, 25 Neutral spells, and 17 Lawful spells for a grand total of 87 spells.  In all honesty, some of the spell names are "less than inspiring" when you read the list.  They might be accurate in relation to medieval times but this is a heroic fantasy game so is there really a use for spells such as agriculture, create music, curse crops, and gambling?

Spell Descriptions
All of the spells are arranged in alphabetical order and they are not separated by alignment.  The descriptions are pretty straightforward and in addition to the effects also lists the alignment and magic point cost to use the spell.  Some of the spell descriptions need to be fixed.  For example, the agriculture descriptions reads "this spell will increase the yield of one acre of land by 25%" at the beginning of the description but ends with "effect doubles yield of the field".  The spell description for commotion does not list the alignment or the magic point cost so you have to reference the spell list to find the information.  Not a huge deal, just an inconvenience.

That's it for now.  The examination of the Book of Faerry and Magic continues with Permanent Magic.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 1

Next stop on the AiF examination is Book II: Book of Faerry and Magic.  As usual, I begin with a quick flip through of the manual and see what grabs my attention.  I did notice three things about this rule book. First, there is no indication on the cover that this is book 2 but there is on the title page. Second, the ink inside of the book is green like the green cover. Third, the very low amount of art in this book.

The Cover
The cover art depicts a magical duel between two wizards.  One appears to be an elf and the other appears to be something like an orc or hobgoblin.  It's a pretty straightforward piece but it serves to show the magical powers in command by the two wizards in battle.

The Introduction
The authors point out in the introduction that this book covers two systems of magic - one for man and one for faerry.  The magic of man involves rituals and gods while the races of faerry tap into and mold the "essential force that exists in all matter".  This manual is only an introduction and the basics of the magic system.  The introduction also mentions that there will be two expansions to the material presented in this book.  One expansion will cover the magic system of man and the other expansion will cover the races of faerry in great detail.

Table of Contents
A quick glance at the table of contents shows there are various topics besides just magic spells.  In addition to Basic magic and Faerry magic there are also sections on permanent magic, sorcerous combat, restrictions on magicians, magical fatigue, songs of the faerry, runes of the faerry, the faerry races, and elementals.

Artwork
There are only 4 pieces of art in this whole book.  The artwork that is present is appropriate to the subject material but I believe that more artwork would be helpful to set the tone.  Images of some of the spells being used, the faerry races, runes of the faerry, or the elementals would be useful to the players.

That's enough for now since I just wanted to offer a very basic outline of the Book of Faerry and Magic.  I will begin with Basic Magic in my next AiF post.

General Update

The demands of real life - kids, school, and work - have been keeping me pretty busy lately.  It seems things are slowing down somewhat and I am going to start posting more regularly.  With that being said, here's what can be considered the current state of affairs concerning my blog...

Adventures in Fantasy
I am enjoying the close examination of this gaming relic from the co-designer of D&D.  After making it completely through the Book of Adventure I think my opinion of AiF has changed.  I basically began with the opinion that AiF was simply "Arneson's D&D with percentile dice" and in some ways that is true.  It seems to be a game in serious need of a revision.  There are some good ideas sprinkled throughout the rules BUT the rules are also a confusing mess in spots.  I am not even confident that a legally created character can be created with the rules in the question. I am not 100% sure on the characteristic list, even.  I find parts of AiF very frustrating but I also find the subject fascinating because it gives a glimpse into the gaming mind of Arneson.  I will continue to examine AiF in future posts.  I also plan on attempting a few play sessions so I can develop some house rules.

Toldara
That's the name of the campaign world used by my cousin Alex and myself.  Originally designed for D&D 3E then 3.5E and now Pathfinder.  I am leaving further Pathfinder development to Alex and I will focus my efforts on details for Microlite20, CFRPG, or some other less crunchy rules system.  It's not that I dislike Pathfinder.  As a matter of fact I love what Paizo has done with Pathfinder.  I have a decreased desire to handle the rules crunch as I grow older.  I would rather get to rolling the dice and having fun.  The world information for Toldara will be unified but the rules info will definitely be the lighter stuff from my end.  I plan on posting up races and classes in these simpler systems soon.  Maybe I can get my cousin to post up some Pathfinder stuff also?

Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (CFRPG)
I belong to the yahoo group on CFRPG.  We are currently rewriting the rule book.  I will be posting some of my stuff here on this blog.  I plan on putting up a character sheet and a full world book on Toldara also.

Selections from the Old Gaming Notebook
I have located some of my old gaming material from back in the day.  I will put up some of it here just for fun.  Maybe some of it will be expanded upon?  Should be an interesting look at old ideas.

Open Gaming Content
Any open gaming content will be clearly marked and linked to the OGL.

Product Identity
Any product identity will be clearly marked as such.,





  

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Adventure Pt. 4

After a short break from posting about AiF, the madness continues..

My AiF posts have covered only half of the Book of Adventure so far.  This post will cover the remaining chapters of the book.

Underworld Encounters "Beyond the Dragon's Lair"
The title refers to the Dragon's Lair in the Setting up the Campaign chapter covered in my last post.  The Dragon's Lair is used as an example of how to set up an adventure.  This chapter explains how the GM designs additional underground areas for the players to explore after the Dragon's Lair.  There is a chart that will aid the GM by listing some of the more common underground creatures and the chance of the characters encountering them depending on the level of the underground they are typically located on.

Outdoor Encounters
This chapter is basically the outdoor equivalent to the previous chapter.  There are also various charts included in this chapter for the GM to reference.  Some of the charts included are outdoor encounter chance, outdoor evasion, terrain effects of types of soldiers (mounted, foot, mixed), and also a creature by terrain type chart for easy reference.  Some of the rules covered in this chapter include determining hostility of encountered groups, the procedure for asking for assistance or information, searching and foraging, and tactical or strategic movement in the game among others.

Bleakwood
This chapter shows a sample village with nearby possibilities for adventure.  There is some good advice about the rationale of encounters for the GM.  This is one area where I wish the player and GM information was separated into completely separate books but most people can separate player knowledge from character knowledge so it isn't a major deal.

The Combat Matrix in the Basic Game
This chapter explains the combat procedure used in AiF; there is a promise of further details in later supplements that will expand the combat options in the game.  A few points of interest for the combat procedure include comparing body types of combatants (human, snake, lion, bird, reptile, scales), an absolute minimum chance to hit of 2% (regardless of bonuses or penalties), and an absolute maximum chance to hit of 98%.  Optional rules in this section include hit locations, armor saving throw, and hit modifiers due to terrain areas.

How to Gain Experience
This final chapter of the Book of Adventure covers experience gain and how to improve your character.  If  it wasn't clear before, it becomes apparent when reading this chapter that there are only 2 character types or classes in AiF: Warrior and Magic-User.  This is made clear when the method for experience is shown to be different for both of the classes.  A warrior gains experience by defeating opponents in battle and a magic-user gains experience by using spells and defeating other magicians.  Character Levels are part of the game but not in the traditional D&D sense.  Other rules in this area include gaining a reputation, increasing social rank, and hirelings.

That completes my examination of the Book of Adventure and I will continue on my tour of AiF in my next post....

A Short Break...

Taking a short break from posting in the blog.  Work has been pretty hectc with college being extremely busy this week.  I will return shortly and continue with my AiF examination.  I also plan on posting some resources for my campaign world of Toldara; these will be open game content and will be for Pathfinder, Microlite 20, and Classic Fantasy Role Playing Game.  See you soon...

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of House Rules Pt. 1

Some Basic Ideas...
While I am going through the AiF rule books, I have been taking notes on what I would do differently or what I think needs to be clarified.  I plan on assembling these ideas into a fourth rule book for AiF, the Book of House Rules. Yeah, I know it's not the most intriguing of titles but it does fit the naming scheme of the other books and it does get the idea across.  Here are some of the ideas I have so far:

Artwork
I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination.  I do, however, know several guys with extraordinary art skills.  I would like to get a cover image and a few illustrations in a similar manner as the existing AiF artwork.

Player Races
Upon reading the rules, it is apparent that AiF is a humanocentric game.  There's nothing wrong with that but I thought it would be nice to open up some more options.  I am not going to include stats for non-human races but include different varieties of humans.  For instance, maybe one type of human is stronger while another is more agile and so on.  Just providing mor eoptions based on the existing framework.

Basic Characteristics
The goal in this area is simple - clear up any confusion over the number of characteristics and the characteristics themselves.  The existing rules are not clear and need some work.  I would also drop the idea of optional characteristics; use them all because an optional characteristic is used in figuring Hit Points already. 

The Rest
At the end, I will have house rules covering sections of all 3 rule books.  I am attempting to stick to the following guidelines when developing these house rules:

•  No changes just for change's sake - In other words, only change what needs changing.
• Clean up and clarify - most of the house rules will just clarify and reinforce the existing rules.

That should do it for now.  As I stated previously, I believe AiF is a decent enough game but I think it was released before a proper edit was completed.  A cleaned up, consistent, and clarified version of Arneson and Snider's rules should offer plenty of role-playing goodness.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Adventure Pt. 3

After a short detour, I am returning to posts covering AiF. Let's take a look at the remaining chapters of the Book of Adventure.

The first chapter is titled Setting up the Campaign and actually covers quite a bit of information for being only 6 pages long; 2 of those pages are a sample underground map of a dragon's lair and a list of the contents in each room. Obviously, the information contained in this chapter is not as comprehensive as the original AD&D DMG but it will help give structure and reason to the campaign.

The chapter begins with some introductory remarks about a few of the referee's responsibilities before the start of play.  It is pointed out that "there must be a reason for the players to be undertaking the adventure upon which these same players are about to begin". Right off the bat, AiF is concerned with background, motivation, and reasons for adventuring.  I've always heard that the games of this era were pretty weak in this aspect but I am satisfied with what I have read.  The advice is practical and still applies today.

The next part of the chapter deals with the sample fantasy campaign of Bleakwood.  It serves as an example of how to generate some details of the adventuring world.  The example includes a calendar with months named, season, corresponding dates to Julian calendar, weeks, day, and also the names of the years.  With names such as "Valkyrie", "Week of Fire", and "Year of the Dragon" it helps to set the mood and tone. 

The next section of the chapter is Setting up an Adventure.  I am happy to say that the information continues to be very clear and practical.  Instead of just giving instructions on how to draw a map this section details the Dragon's Lair by covering such topics as the eating habits of creatures (how and when), number of creatures, how these creatures avoid disturbing the Dragon, the lairs of the creatures, and the dangers facing the player characters. The referee is then shown how to lay out the underground and how to list the details of the matching descriptions with contents, function, treasure, and guards or creatures. The example is wrapped up by covering tricks and traps such as trap doors, sliding walls, sloping passages, stairways, and chances of getting lost or disoriented.  The next two pages show the map of the Dragon's Lair and the Location list.

That's the details of the Setting up the Campaign chapter and I already have a much better impression of this section of the rulebook in contrast to the player's portion.  I have always heard that Arneson "wasn't a rules guy but was one hell of a referee".  If this chapter is any indication then I would say that's a very fair statement.  The rules are serviceable but lack clarity while the GM advice is clear, practical, and makes me want to grab my graph paper and get to mapping!

Next: I continue to look at the Book of Adventure.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Adventure Pt. 2

Quick Recap
I began exploring the Book of Adventure in my last post.  I didn't make it past the generation of the basic characteristic scores and was already confused. Here's what I know for sure:

1. AiF characters have 7 basic characteristics; 5 standard and 2 optional.
2. The standard characteristics are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma, and Health.
3. Characteristic scores are generated on a 01-100 scale.

No problem with that at all. The confusion over the characteristics come from one simple fact.  The rules only list Stamina as an optional characteristic but states there are 2 optional characteristics.  Even after some more reading and digging around I can not find anything about another optional characteristic.  Hopefully, it will become apparent after reading the rest of the manuals. Now I will continue on with the rest of character creation.

Hit Points
Hit Points are determined by a simple math formula involving all 3 physical characteristics.  Oddly, Stamina is included in this formula even though it is an optional characteristic.  That seems counter intuitive and just bad rules design since an optional characteristic is used in a standard formula.  Adding to the confusion is the fact that Hit Points are not defined.  Sure, anybody with a little role-playing experience will know their purpose but this is supposed to be a beginners set of rules.

Social Status
Social Status is generated by two simple D100 rolls cross-referenced on a result table that determines the yearly income, rank, and position; characters can range from serf and on up to King! There are a few basic guidelines concerning social structure but not much detail.  It is interesting that these rules enable play from the lowest to highest social positions in society.

Starting Age
A chart is rolled against to determine a character's starting age and the effect on the basic characteristics.  The effects of aging, sicknes, and the chances of natural death are also covered in this section. 

Funds & Equipment
At this point, the starting funds are generated for the character.  Each character basically given one year's income according to their social rank plus a little extra.  The rules also state on page 7 that the price list of items is "below" but does not actually start until page 16.

Education
There are 26 skills available for player characters.  The list seems pretty standard and includes language, horsemanship, weapons, crafts, and some trades.  If I recall correctly, most games of this time did not include a skill section so this part of the rules would prove valuable for players that like to "borrow" from other rules for their D&D games. Something that really sticks out to me in this section is learning the skills.  A character can learn them earlier than the required time needed, right at the time needed, or take longer than the time needed.  A nice little touch of realism and variety that does not use a cumbersome set of additional mechanics to simulate.

Impression So Far...
My only previous experience with AiF was just flipping through the rules occasionally.  It seemed like simply "D&D with a D100".  I thought it would be pretty close to D&D.  It is in some respects but it also follows the (O)D&D example of being unclear and disorganized.  AiF could use a good edit and reorganization of some of the sections to help clear up confusion.  I still think there is a "good game" lurking in these rules.

Next: The GM section of the Book of Adventure....

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edit 1 - spelling nazi.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Adventure Pt. 1

Before doing any serious reading on a gaming product I usually flip through the pages to see what stands out and catches my eye.  Three things stood out in the Book of Adventure. First, there is no character sheet included in the book. Second, the ink on the pages is BLUE and can get somewhat irritating to your eyes. Third, this book has the player and game master rules together.

The Cover & Introduction
Both are fairly typical of similar products.  The cover art depicts a dragon resting on a treasure hoard with a spellbook under paw. The creature's attention is focused on four adventurers standing in the cave entrance in the background. It's not quite up to the Holmes Basic D&D cover in quality but it conveys the same type of  imagery.  The introduction has no groundbreaking thoughts included within.

Table of Contents
A glance at the table of contents makes it clear that this book contains information for the player as well as the game master.  It appears that the essential player information is contained on pages 1 to 19 while the remaining 38 pages are probably best suited for the game master.

Forward
The forward contains 3 interesting bits of information. First, the date is listed as "April, 1978"; neat information because it establishes historical context. Second, Arneson (I assume) shows his displeasure with further complexity in D&D by stating that after the release of the original system there was "added dozens of additional rules in a chaoticc jumble that buried the original structure under a garbage heap of contradictions and confusion".  Third, it is made clear that AiF was intended as a introductory set because there is mention of additional rules volumes such as Dragon Lore & Legend, Ritual Magic, The Races of the Faerry, World of Fantasy, and "more". As far as I know, none of these titles ever saw print.  It would be interesting to find out any concrete information about these titles.

The Player Character
The first chapter of the book stands at a sparse 7 pages and covers character generation.  The definition and generation of the basic characteristics are the first two subjects covered. Generation of the characteristic scores is pretty straightforward.  The rules state to roll 2 twenty-sided dice and generate a number from 01-100.  If I remember correctly, the twenty-sided dice available at the time were numbered 0-9 twice instead of 1 - 20. Of course, one could just roll two d10's and do the same thing today. My point is generation of the characteristics is pretty simple and easy to follow.  What isn't so clear to me is the list of characteristics.

Basic Game Player Characteristics
It would seem like a simple thing to list the characteristics that represent the physical and mental attributes of the player character.  It should be and a character sheet would actually solve this issue. I can say after several readings that I am still not sure of the characteristics.  The introductory paragraph in this section mentions "Strength, Intelligence, Charisma, Knowledge, Dexterity, Stamina..." while the list and explanations of the characteristics include Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma, Stamina, and Health. Both lists are very similar but the second list omits Knowledge and adds Health.  No problem, knowledge might just be a reference to the skills a character knows, right? Maybe, but then there is little bit that adds to the confusion. After the generation method of the characteristics is described the next sentence reads "Do this for each of the five basic player characteristics and for the two optional characteristics if they are used".  That makes the total number of characteristics seven.  Neither list has seven characteristics. Plus, the only characteristic I can see that is listed as "optional" is Stamina so what is the other optional one?

Is Knowledge a characteristic?

Was it an editing mistake?

Does Knowledge just refer to a characters skills?

Anybody with any experience with AiF that can answer these questions?

It seems like an odd spot to get confused. I hope the rest of the rules are clearer than this. I'm stopping for the night so I can try to make some sense of this.

Next: character creation continued.

[Adventures in Fantasy] Opening the Box

I have owned a copy of Adventures in Fantasy (AiF) for several years now.  I bought it by placing the high bid on an ebay listing.  Although I have had it for years I have never played it or completely read the rules.  I have pulled it down from the collection several times to flip through and read various sections of the rules.  It has also survived the two times I have drastically reduced the size of my game collection.  It's time to fully investigate the AiF boxed set of rules.

Condition: The box came to me in really good shape. I'm not sure if this is a good sign or a bad sign. The condition could mean the previous owner took exceptional care in handling the box and contents.  On the other hand, the condition could also mean the rules were not used and the previous owner forgot them on a shelf or in a box somewhere. The box now shows wear and is starting to separate.

The Authors: Dave Arneson and Richard Snider are listed as the authors.  I believe both of them are more famous for other works - Snider for Powers & Perils and Arneson for Blackmoor and Dungeons & Dragons.  I am aware of the debate over proper credit between Gygax and Arneson about the creation of D&D. I am a non-participant. I play the games and that is it.

The Box: The cover art depicts two heroes (a male warrior and a female mage) in combat with what appears to be a green-skinned, axe-wielding orc on a black horse.  It reinforces the following description found on the side of the box, "ADVENTURES IN FANTASY is the next generation of FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAMES. YOU are the Knight sent upon a QUEST by the King to battle villains and creatures right out of Mythology.  From Dwarfs to Dragons your wits will be just as useful as your sword.  This game comes complete with separate CHARTS, 20-sided Die, Sample Adventure and complete rules for starting on the road to high Adventure."

The Contents: There are 3 books included in the box: Book of Adventure (character creation and related rules), Book of Faerry and Magic (magic, spells, magical combat, and the faerry races), and the Book of Creatures and Treasure (creatures and treasure).  There are also 3 double-side reference sheets that look like they could be used for a GM screen of some sort.  Everything from the description above seems to be there except for the D20.  I've been playing and collecting dice since 1980 so this is not an issue at all.

First Impression: I like what I see so far.  the The boxed set was an industry standard at one time.  I would like to see more boxed sets now.  The cover art is good at showing what might be a typical scene from a game.  Most important for me, it looks like fantasy instead of dungeonpunk. The combined page count on all 3 rulebooks is only 155 pages; much shorter than the current standard.  I also wonder if there were expansions planned to follow this boxed set since the description stated that the contents were "complete rules for starting on the road to high adventure." As far as I know, this boxed set was the only thing ever published for AiF but maybe there were additional rules to follow in a similar fashion to Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, & Immortal D&D. Who knows? I'll look for mention of it while exploring these rules.

Next: I will begin reading Book I - Book of Adventure.

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edit 1 - added a picture of the AiF box
edit 2 - changed title format of post