[Toldara Tuesday] Further Thoughts on Game Systems

I am using one more post to gather my thoughts on the various game systems I am using to play-test Toldara material. In the next post I will start presenting statistics, write ups, and information for the races in these various systems. I am not sure if I will dedicate each post to looking at a single race in all of the game systems - may split that into two posts if it is large enough - or devote each post to just a single game system with all of the Toldara races.  

Back to the Dungeon! RPG

For anyone that does not know, Back to the Dungeon! RPG is a neo-clone game that is based on familiar terms and concepts but introduces alterations and additions to the game system instead of trying to faithfully emulate a certain rules set from the past of the hobby.  This version is the most complete and up to date next to the MicroLite 20 version.  The main parts that are missing include the basic world information along with a race and class or two; some copying and pasting will fix most of the other information that needs updating.

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

My original concept of Toldara actually lines up quite well with the feel and tone of the typical DCC RPG experience.  Toldara was always pictured as fantasy with a little bit of gonzo mixed in.  I have tinkered around with this rules set a little bit but I have very little practical experience using it.  I am highly intrigued by the possibilities and will at least give it an honest shot.  I may have to consult some people with much more experience with the system to assist me in completing the information.
  

Halberd Fantasy Role Playing

This is another rules-lite entry on the list.  I do not have a lot of experience with systems such as this but I am highly interested in applying the fast and loose nature of the game to Toldara.  The older I get, the more I am interested in playing than arguing about the rules so Halberd looks pretty great to me.  The write ups used in this game are easy and simple to use so it should progress pretty quickly in initial development.

MicroLite 20

This will probably be the first handbook released for the Toldara campaign for no other reason than it is the most complete.

I am really considering doing a dual-stat version with another OGL-based system. Maybe a triple-stat presentation could even work if it was done properly.  I will have to double check but I think all of them have no restrictions against using their game statistics with other game statistics statistics in the same product.  It should be relatively easy to present each new race or class with all three sets of statistics on just one page.  I will be investigating this further...    

Perilous Journeys

This version of the campaign material write up will be somewhat more challenging than the others.  Unlike the OGL-based systems, Perilous Journeys is a skill-based percentile system without classes/levels and the list of player character races is quite a bit different from the traditional fantasy offerings; I would also have to look at the races that are not available in Toldara and decide what to do about them.  It will be more work but it will be worth it to see how things convert over.

Swords & Wizardry: Complete
I started the list with an OGL-based game and I am ending the list with an OGL-based game.  Even though I have the B/X rules I really dig the Swords & Wizardry: Complete rules because it feels like a match for the complexity level of the mixed together D&D/AD&D rules we used in our youth in my old gaming group. Using these rules would also allow easier implementation of a dual-stat or triple-stat handbook.

Look for some game statistics and write ups in the next installment.  I am also going to experiment around with the dual or triple-stat format and see how it looks.  More later... 

[Toldara Tuesday] A Fresh Start

This is the first post for the Toldara Tuesday feature I am adding to this blog.  I think you will find the concept easy to follow.  Any post with the "Toldara Tuesday" label will be connected to my home campaign world of Toldara in some way or another.  It could be presenting one of the new character races or monsters in a different rules system, a map related to a specific region, details on some part of the culture, or anything from a host of other options.  I had originally intended the first Toldara Tuesday post to feature some sort of rules information but I decided to start at the beginning.  I am simply going to state my ideas and goals moving forward with this post and then delve into the actual game design or modification beginning with the next post.  

I have been tinkering with the details of my campaign world, Toldara, for several years now.  Things have come and gone with each new update.  I am currently between groups - and I have been for some time - but I think now is the perfect time to do a reboot on the world.  The first thing I am going to do is let Alex handle the Pathfinder version.  He has much more experience with that system than I do.  I still think Pathfinder is great but he has a much better handle on the system.  I am going to focus my efforts toward assembling several less rules heavy versions of the player material.  I believe that three versions of the information will be the best way to go.  I will most likely use U.S.R. for a really quick set up.  I am currently working on a conversion to the Perilous Journeys skill based percentile system and a Back to the Dungeon version.  With just a little effort the MicroLite version could be complete.  Do not be surprised if a Dungeon Crawl Classics or a Swords & Wizardry: Complete version pops up also.  I will discover the two or three systems I prefer to represent Toldara by Tinkering with them.

I have gotten some feedback on my map and will be making some changes.  I will also be using some of the resources pointed out on ars phantasia in various posts.  My plan is simple with all of this.  I am going to keep what I like from the previous version and update everything else to better fit my concept of the campaign world.  It will still be based on my old campaigns with new stuff thrown in also.  All I have to do is find a group to help test out the stuff.  More later....         

More About Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

In my recent post, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG = D&D Perfected, I gave my initial reaction after browsing through the core rule book for the DCC RPG.  I had planned to explain my reasons a bit but life was extremely busy and demanding at that point.  Things have calmed down now so I will present the reasons I always intended to include in my original post. 
 

The Artwork

The cover of the DCC RPG grabbed my attention as soon as I first saw it up close.  I immediately flipped through the book to see how the rest of the art looked.  I was relieved to see a complete lack of the dungeonpunk style of art that bacame dominant during the third edition era.  I do not think that dungeonpunk was bad BUT I never felt like it represented the kind of fantasy I was interested in playing with all of the spikes, pockets, chains, and other unnecessary accessories and trinkets attached to the armor of the people in the illustrations.  I had high hopes after just a quick flip through of the rule book.

 

 

The Back Cover Text

After flipping through the rule book I turned it over to read these words:
 "You’re no hero.  You’re an adventurer: a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets.  You seek gold and glory, winning it with sword and spell, caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished.  There are treasures to be won deep underneath, and you shall have them." 

I immediately started thinking of the day that my uncle David passed down his Holmes Basic Set and all of his AD&D rule books to me.  It was the summer of 1980 and it was quite a bit for an 8 year old kid and his buddies to take in but we did get up and gaming shortly after.

The Funky Dice

In addition to the standard range of polyhedrons, the DCC RPG also uses the d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24, and d30.  It seems that people are divided on these funky dice; some people are dead set against them while others really dig them.  I was a little skeptical of them at first but I really do think the funky dice add an extra dimension to the game.  They are not a gimmick but are actually used in a cool way to assess penalties to tasks.  For instance, your character might suffer a -2 die step penalty under certain circumstances so you would roll a d14 instead of a d20 on the attempt.  The DCC RPG brings back the sense of wonder we all felt when we first learned of the other sizes of dice outside the d6 found in Yahtzee, Monopoly, Risk, or other such games.
 

The Character Creation Funnel
Each player generates as many as four 0-level characters.  The funnel is the process of separating the wheat from the chaff and determining which chbaracters will go on to adventure further.  It is expected that atleast some, if not most, of your 0-level characters will not survive.  I have always wanted to use 0-level play in my games and now I have official rules for it.

My Campaign
I noticed as I was flipping through the rule book that my ideas for my campaign are actually better represented by the DCC RPG system so I am going to use it to power my campaign world of Toldara.  The start was delayed by a bit but it will begin soon.  This post is just the timp of the iceberg and I will put down more thoughts about DCC RPG in future posts.

More later...

[Mobile Post] Funky Dice Arrived in the Mail

The final ingredient for my Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG campaign!


Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG = D&D Perfected!

I actually went to the local game store to look into getting the Shadowrun 20th Anniversary core rulebook.  It was in stock at the store along with several of the supplements.  Before I make a purchase I always like to look around to see what else is available and I decided to do that real quick just to make sure I was not missing anything.  I walked around the display and looked down when my attention was drawn to the cover of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.

I was surprised that it was out but I admit that I had not follwed the development closely.  I knew there was a Beta playtest release done in pdf.  I was under the assumption that Goodman Games was still working out some of the kinds from that.  I also remember reading some of the designer notes that Goodman posted on their website and it made me interested to see the final design .

I picked up the DCC RPG core book and started flipping through it. The thing I noticed first was the small price tage - only $39.99 - for a massive tome that approaches the 500 page mark.  As I held it and started skimming through random sections of the rules I began to be completely captivated by what I read as I slowly made my way from cover to cover.  A few short minutes later I found my way to the counter to make my purchase.

I have had the DCC RPG rulebook for a week now so I have had the opportunity to read through it with a little more attention to detail.  There is a lot to like inside the covers of this game.  I am not devoting this post to a full review because I am still neck deep in my summer college courses but I give this game my highest recommendation.  I have messed around with most of the retroclones but I have never pulled the trigger on buying one; I do own C&C and also Pathfiner.  I believe that DCC RPG is exactly what many old school players have been waiting for because it is not just a retroclone or restatement but a game derived from the same inspirational material but the focus is on recreating the feel and tone of the early days and not just the rules;  that makes a big difference.  I can honestly say that if DCC RPG plays as well as it reads then it will be my new game of choice.