[Toldara Tuesday] Quick Outline of the Halberd Fantasy Roleplaying (USR) Adaptation

I planned on getting to this sooner but the action at work really picked up so I was a tad bit too busy to dedicate the time to blogging; it just came down to simple priorities and the blog had to wait.  I am starting off the Toldara conversions with a look at the Halberd Fantasy Roleplaying game of the USR line of products.  I am planning on a document that can be used in tandem with the Halberd rules for play in my campaign world of Toldara.  Of course, there will be some tweaks and customization here and there because I just can not seem to leave any rules system alone.  The following is just a quick outline of subjects to cover and is - as always - subject to change.

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Cover: An illustration showing a combat scene involving a party of adventurers and a squad of orcs.

Credits: Exactly what is says – author, artist, etc.

Forward: Some thoughts on Halberd, USR, and Toldara.

Toldara at a Glance: A general overview of the campaign setting with several of the more well-known locations mentioned.

Character Creation: This section will guide the player through the process of creating a character for play in the world of Toldara.  Any restrictions or additions to the standard list of archetypes and races available in the Halberd rules will be detailed in this section.

Money: Information about the coins of Toldara.

Organizations: Information about groups that take an active role in the world of Toldara.  The PCs may encounter them, join them, or become rivals with them.

Map: a map of the world of Toldara.

Rumors & Legends: Common rumors and legends that will work as adventure seeds.

Adversaries: Several monsters and foes for encounters.

Treasures: Magical Equipment and Artifacts to be discovered. 

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In the next post, I will start crunching some numbers and give some specific details...

Status of Projects

I am going to break up some of the monotony of this D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop Challenge during the month of February by inserting posts every few days, or whenever the mood hits, so readers will have something else to read.  This is the first of such posts.  I could have re-worked some of them into combined posts but I already have them queued up.

I have several projects that I am working on at any given time; some come to the forefront while others fade into the background at different points.  Unlike school, I do not like forcing myself to focus on only one thing.  On my personal projects it helps me to have several going at one time so I can switch gears and refresh.  In no particular order, here are the projects I am working and the current status of each one.

Adventures in Fantasy

I have produced two characters sheets for this old game and I have received some feedback.  I am definitely going to add a block for a Defense rating on the sheet.  I am also working on a Dragon Record Sheet and a Dragon Hoard Sheet.  These may remain separate or be combined.  I am unsure so far.

Back to the Dungeon! RPG

Of course, this is the neo-clone that was primarily designed by Eldrad Wolfsbane from the Back to the Dungeon! blog.  I have provided feedback and helped with some of the design and layout in some versions of the game.  Now, we are discussing ideas for a science fiction game based off of the BttD engine with appropriate modifications.  I am brainstorming ideas on a post-apocalyptic rendition and a zombie apocalypse game as well.  I also have a little solo side project that involves converting my Toldara campaign over to the BttD RPG rules system.

Escape from Camp Blood

I was pretty excited about this because I had never designed a board game.  I began working on it with The Mayfly (Eric Baker) from the Memories of the Mayfly blog.  Although I absolutely love the idea of a board game that plays out an experience similar to the Friday the 13th movies, I have learned one thing real quick - I AM NOT your guy when it comes to board game design.  I thought I could do it with the assistance of Eric but I just do not have the experience or the know how about board games to get it done.  Besides, there is a game, Camp Grizzly, that just had a very successful kickstarter campaign.

Quick note to Eric Baker:  Hey, we gave it our best shot but any shortcomings in getting this project going smoothly should be placed firmly on my shoulders.  Role-playing design and board game design are two different areas and I was not up to par for a board game design.  You provided great feedback, ideas, and links to awesome resources that would surely be of help.  If you want to use the idea then feel free to do so.  Any and all failings are clearly mine and for that I truly apologize.

Perilous Journeys

I have some ideas for new edges and flaws that I am fine-tuning.  I am also in the process of converting the new races over to the Perilous Journeys rules system.  At some point, I will make this available for download from this blog.  Maybe I should dual-stat the campaign document for both PJ & BttD RPG?  Hmm...  

USR

I designed a character sheet that I made available for download.  I also announced a Resident Evil inspired ,USR powered game I was working on that was going to be called Outbreak.  I still have the notes I have been assembling over the months but I also ran into a snag.  I found another game called Outbreak that is already released.  That kind of took the wind out of my sails. I took a step back for a bit and I am reworking some things.  In addition, I wanted to see how USR Cyberpunk handled things before I continued; just to get a feel for further expansion.  I really dig USR but it is different from most anything I have ever played so designing is a little bit of an adjustment for me.  

  

 

  

Behind the Scenes...

I do not have a lot to report but here are the latest things happening in the background that will most assuredly lead to some posts in the future.

 

Escape from Camp Blood: I am still jotting down ideas but would really like to get some serious work done on this board game.  The truth is, I do not have a tremendous amount of serious board game experience so the going has been kind of rough.  Eric at Memories of the Mayfly has been tremendously helpful with providing insight and ideas but I just have not had any solid ideas yet.  It will come along eventually but in the meantime I want to say "Thanks, Eric" and hope that the game starts to take shape soon.  It kind of sucks to be stuck in brainstorm and research mode with no real progress to show.  Soon, I hope to have something for us to make available for download.

 

Swords & Wizardry: After a bit of investigation I believe that I have settled on Swords and Wizardry for my standard retro-clone of choice; as in, games that stick pretty close to the older editions of D&D.  I think S&W does a fabulous job of it and I am working on a project right now with Venger that should be completed later this year.  The DCC RPG is still my all time favorite neo-clone type of game for all of the little changes it makes in the rules.

 

Toldara: I have two ongoing projects for my campaign world.  First, I need to complete the B/X campaign handbook; who knows, maybe I will whip up a S&W version also?  Second, I need to update the map with some geographical changes and additions.

 

USR:  I am still working on the zombie apocalypse adaptation of the USR system.  Most of my work has consisted of background and setting material because USR tends to fade into the background.  The biggest change is in the name of my project.  The name, OUTBREAK, is already taken by a small press rpg and also used for the title of a supplement to another game.  I have decided to either use REMNANTS or REMNANTS OF HUMANITY. 

 

In case you were wondering what has been going on behind the scenes, there it is...     

 

 

 

 

 

 

G is for Game Systems

G is for Game System(s)

There are several game systems that I have debated about using for the campaign world of Toldara.  I discussed some of the original design in the 3E system and the evolution to a Pathfinder based campaign on my About Me Me page.  I discussed the decision to change my Toldara game to the B/X system in my earlier post, Back to the Basics. At other times, I have thought about using other game systems but ultimately decided against doing so.  Maybe one or more of these will happen in the future?

GURPS 3E or Hero 5E

I am fascinated by the amount of detail in both of these systems.  These are two of the games in my collection that I have never gotten to play.  It seems that none of the people I have ever gamed with are interested in that level of detail. 

Palladium Fantasy
I played just as much Palladium Fantasy as I played AD&D back in high school.  I made up some classes for the old first edition rules back then also.  Unfortunately, all I have is the second edition of this game and I have no practical experience playing or designing items for use with this version.  There seem to be enough differences that I would not feel comfortable converting my campaign over to these rules.  Of course, it might be easier to convert the player information over with the inclusion of all of the available OCCs, RCCs, and races.  For instance, the Wolfen could be re-skinned to be the Karnin as one quick example.  Hmmm…. 

Talislanta

I discovered Talislanta with the second edition.  We played quite a few games back in high school.  Future editions added quite a bit of detail.  If I was going to convert to the Talislanta system I would probably use the second edition due to my experience.  At the time of starting the campaign I was concerned with the out of print status of Talislanta so I skipped it; yes, I am aware that a large amount of formerly printed Talislanta products are available for download in free pdf form at the Talislanta Library.  I was the only person with a printed Talislanta rulebook but all of us had a B/X rulebook so Talislanta was eliminated.   

USR

This game system is even more rules-light than the B/X rules and someone else has already started doing a Moldvay Era conversion.  A Toldara campaign using this system is highly likely to happen at some point.

I Got Bit

Some time in the last week or so I got bit by the writing bug.  I remember some random ideas popping in my head during the work day.  I wrote it down so I could add some detail later.  Then another idea came, followed by another, and then even more.  I seem to write better when I have several projects going at one time.  I can jump to another project instead of being stuck on the only one I am working on at the moment.  Yes, focus is a good thing but I need variety in my writing projects or my output starts to dwindle off pretty bad.  The following projects are currently in development as future posts.

Adventures in Fantasy: I am going to either scan the reference sheets or type up new versions; it depends on whether or not the information in the official sheets is all that useful.  There always seems to be a table or two that really should have replaced with something else in these type of resources.  I am also working on a character sheet for this old game.

Back to the Dungeon RPG: I am working on a supplement to BttDRPG that basically serves a similar purpose as Greyhawk back in the OD&D days.  I am shooting for a 32 page document that will show the house rules and custom mods for my campaign world Toldara.  I am also working on a character sheet for this game.

Old Gaming Notebook: I am starting to develop ideas for expanding on the original ideas and move closer to making complete games out of some of these concepts.

SteamCraft RPG: I have a pdf of this game BUT I am waiting on the hardback to arrive in the mail any day.  I definitely will be doing some posts on this game.  I am enjoying the pdf but I work much better with printed product.  Posts are coming soon,

USR: I completed version 1.0 of the generic character sheet.  I am still writing, testing, & revising the Outbreak RPG book.  I need to come up with another name because I found out there is already a zombie type game by the name of Outbreak - d'oh! I am also working on doing some USR to B/X monster conversions. 

WordPress: I have started experimenting with a blog at WordPress just to see if I am missing anything.  I like to try out several options before deciding on a product and in the case of blogs I did not do that.  If anyone is interested you can check it out at The Old Gamers Notebook to see the contents.  There are only two posts so far and - at least in the early stages - there will be some overlap between old posts here and there; there will be new posts there mixed in wit the old.  This is mainly just an experiment to see what all the free version of WordPress has to offer.  If I like it then I will maintain a separate blog there.  Regardless, this blog you are reading right now is staying and will continue to be developed. Basically, I just need to scratch my writing itch.  If I do not write something when I get the urge then it is probably gone or it will block me from writing most anything.  Writing is something I enjoy and would love to do it professionally but it does not come easy for me and I am not very confident in a lot of it.

There is everything I am writing on at the moment.  Some of it will be regular posts while some of it will make it into the A to Z challenge. Stay tuned...





   

USR Character Sheet v1.0

In my fiddlings with USR I have come up with a simple character sheet for anyone that is interested.

 

USR character sheet (pdf)

 

It's nothig special but it may come in handy...

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edit - added a link to the character sheet on the Resources & Links page.

A Few Updates Around Here...

The latest happenings around here include:

 

A - Z: It looks like I am still going to do all of the posts about my campaign world.  If things work out correctly all of these posts should be related to the B/X rules and that is a good thing.  I have not flexed my B/X muscles in a while so I'll do my best.  Fingers crossed...

 

SteamCraft: I ordered the SteamCraft rpg and it should be here soon.  I was impressed with the author's ability to turn Lejendary Adventures into a game I could understand with his Perilous Journeys game so I wanted to support his latest product and I really need to break out of the fantasy genre. 

 

Outbreak RPG: Writing is coming along at a decent pace.  I am adjusting the outline and writing as I go so there will be backtracking and rewriting as I continue.  I am digging the USR rules but I must admit that I am not accustomed to such rules light games so I tend to hit a brick wall at times trying to do it "right".  There doesn't need to be rules that cover many things when these rules can easily handle making judgements on the fly.  The biggest change has to be the name.  When I orderd the SteamCraft game earlier, I noticed that there is already a small press zombie type game out there with the title of Outbreak.  No big deal - this is purely an amateur exercise - but I don't want to step on any toes so a new name will be decided on soon.

 

S.T.A.G.E.: That is the Simple Tabletop Adventure Gaming Engine.  I have had an idea for a rules light game for quite some time.  As I mentioned above the rules light type of games are something I do not have much experience with at all.  I can understand the appeal of such games and with the reduced free time as I grow older the quicker playing games appeal much more to me.  I am still working on it from time to time but it is not top priority at the moment.

 

There's what is going on in the gaming realm of my life.

 

 

[USR] [OUTBREAK RPG] Progress So Far...

I just had some thoughts about the OUTBREAK RPG running through my head so I thought I would post them.  I find that it is often a good idea to clear the thoughts so I can move on to other things.  Without further delay, here is where various parts of the design stand in regards to completion.

 

Rules

I really like the fact that USR is so rules light and should prove to be pretty accommodating to customization.  The two areas that I am focused on are the Attribute Dice and Specialisms.  Once those two sections are completed it should be easier to move on to other sections. 

 

World Fiction

I have started writing several of the fiction pieces that will be scattered throughout the book.  I hope for these fiction pieces to help set the tone and reveal a little bit of the campaign world at the same time.  All of the following pieces have been given a preliminary plot and structure; of course, all is subject to change.

 

News broadcast: I plan on opening the book with a transcript of a news report from a local TV station.  They think it is all a prank gone wrong that resulted in deaths.  During an update later in the news, one of the dead rise and attacks. The news anchors back at the station along with the viewers at home are left wondering what the hell is going on.  This could work well in a movie or television show but I am not sure how well this will work in the written medium.

 

Lab reports: The section on the virus and infected will have a few lab reports that detail the failure of the early designs and then the breakthrough that led to success. 

 

Various:  I also have some personal diary entries and general fiction that I am going to insert at certain points in the rulebook.  As time goes by there may be even more fiction added.

 

In all fairness, I can write a bit but I make no claims of greatness; simply put, I am not a professional writer nor do I claim to be...lol.  If the fiction just does not cut it, then I will most likely drop it.  My plan is to post some of the pieces when they are nearing completion so I can get feedback.  Of course, at that point if anyone is willing to collaborate on the fiction or anything else then I am always open to that.

 

Groups & Factions



There will be several groups for the players to interact with - peacefully or not -  in the campaign world.  Some of the groups will be old while some of them will be new and formed in reaction to the reality of the campaign world.  Some of the groups are detailed below.

 

U.S. Military: The military will still be a strong force but will not necessarily be united.  The forces will be scattered among several strongholds throughout the continent.

 

Militias:  These groups will be formed in reaction to the world as it is now.  Some of them will be helpful to PCs while others will be neutral or even violent.  These militias will most commonly  be made up of former military personnel combined with other citizens. 

 

Gangs:  Some of the gangs will have put aside their differences in this world.  They will change their names along with their ways.  There will still be plenty of  gangs that hold on to their old prejudices and will be enemies.  This will show that humans can be just as dangerous as the infected.

 

CED - Church of the End Days: This is a new movement that will take place among survivors.  Members of this church do not believe any of the scientific rumors but believe that they are living in the biblical end of days. 

 

 

The biggest contribution to the game by these groups and factions will be emphasizing that strength is in numbers and the world is much too dangerous to attempt to go solo.

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I just needed to get all of this out of my head so I could move on to other areas.  Hopefully, progress keeps going steady.              

 

[USR] OUTBREAK RPG - Ideas & an Outline

This post contains my initial ideas about the design and layout of the OUTBREAK RPG.  Of course, all of this stuff is subject to change.

 

Introduction

The rules will open with a transcript from a news report or a 911 call from a hysterical citizen screaming about zombies.  The news anchor/operator will be skeptical but by the end of the conversation it will be clear that something is not right.  This should continue on in other sections or at random spots in the book with a lab report, a police report, a journal entry or whatever else seems appropriate.

 

Included in the introduction will be a subsection on What You Need that will cover the same list in USR and also point people to the USR core.  I am making a supplement to the rules, not replacing them.

 

Character Creation

Players will be free to create a character that is appropriate for the modern world in a zombie apocalypse.  There will be examples of how to assign the Attribute Dice and Specialisms to come up cops, teachers, scientists, detectives, military personnel, and other character types.  There might even be the option to play a character somewhat similar to project Alice from the Resident Evil movies.

 

The Campaign

This section will cover various aspects of the game world.  This section will include a short history and background of the game world, information on weapons, equipment, encounters, the virus, and other information as well.   

 

Weapons & Equipment

A list of weapons and equipment stats will need to be provided.  Of course, the characters will also be scavenging for weapons, ammo, and fuel in many situations so there should be some scavenging tables.

 

Encounters

Not only will the characters have to contend with monsters brought to life but also other survivors.  Some of these other survivors may not be "good guys" so that could lead to conflicts. 

 

Bio-Weapons

This section will give details about the monstrosities the characters will encounter during the game.  What the general populace believes to be zombies are actually the result of an experiment by a weapons manufacturer.  There will be various types of bio-weapons with zombies being the most basic type. 

 

The Virus

This section will explain about the development of the virus and what specifically led to the outbreak.  At this point, I am thinking that there were several weapons manufacturers in a heated competition for government funds.  One of them got a significant advantage which led to one of the others looking for revenge.  It took years but they were able to get an insider into the leading manufacturer and sabotaged one of their plants - instant zombie epidemic.

 

This section will also explain how the virus is spread, how long it takes for the infected to turn, and the probability of a positive outcome from being infected.

 

The Antidote

Is there one?  The rumors of such a substance will definitely be the motivation behind some game sessions.

 

Organizations

There will be several organizations at work behind the scenes in this campaign.  This section will detail the creators of the virus, opposing organizations, militia groups, safe havens, etc.

 

Adventure

The plan here is to have several adventures in this section that will start a campaign shortly after the initial outbreak and progress up to the epidemic over several sessions.  The characters can learn rumors in some of these sessions and may hear about safe zones that they may attempt to reach, antidotes, or some other information that will serve to spark further adventure.

 

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That seems like a good start for now.  I am sure that I forgot something somewhere but I will get more detailed in the coming posts...

 

Coming Back... / A New Project

I have had low output on this blog for the last few weeks and the reason is that I just needed a break from pretty much everything.  I finished the latest semester of school and found out the courses I need for next semester are all full; I am actually pretty glad about that so I can take off the next semester to recharge my batteries.  I have also had the last two weeks off of work due to our Christmas shut down at work.  That has gone a long way to getting caught up on overall rest.  Simply put, I just decided to step back from all of my extra activites for a short time since I was off work and out of school so I could get a few things done that I have been stalling on and just plain relax.  

 

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Now that I am refreshed, I have the itch to get back to posting and developing projects that I have floating around in my head.  I have come to one conclusion about my gaming posts - I am going to take a step back from fantasy for a short period.  I have the itch to look into other genres and I just need to do something new for a bit.  One of the projects I have been thinking of is a zombie game powered by the USR rules.

 

Name

Outbreak (or maybe Contagion).

 

Concept

A role-playing campaign powered by the USR system set in the time of a zombie apocalypse.  I am going with a campaign idea heavily inspired by Resident Evil but not exactly the same.

 

What The Characters Know

Zombies are loose in the world and they have no idea why.  Popular theories include magic, aliens, the end of the world, and experimentation among others. 

 

The Truth

The "zombies" are bio-weapons engineered for use in war.  There is nothing supernatural or otherworldly about them. 

 

Playable Characters

Players will have the choice to play citizens, teachers, cops, and other normal citizens.  There will also be military personnel and special government agents; of course, some of them will have hints about the truth of the outbreak.

 

There it is in a nutshell.  In upcoming posts, I will layout some of the USR rules adaptations for playing in this campaign.  More to come... 

  

Jumping on the USR Bandwagon...

This is just a short post explaining that I am going to dig in to some serious work with the USR rules system.  I have the original version offered on the Trollish Delver site.  The document has been sitting on my hard drive for months and I just now got around to reading through the rules.  I am really impressed with the rules and I have several projects that I would like to use USR as the base rules system.

 

My Toldara campaign was originally developed for 3.x and Pathfinder.  After some time, I became interested in using a simpler rules set for the campaign.  I have dabbled with Castles & Crusades and several other systems.  I finally decided to look into doing a B/X version after recovering some old gaming items from my old room at my parents.  Then I discovered the Moldvay Era Classes in USR download available from Tabletop Diversions.  After I read that information I decided that USR looks like it would work remarkably well.

 

I also have several unfinished game ideas from my Old Gaming Notebook series of posts that I would like to complete.  The most likely are A World in Ruins and To The Stars... after I complete the Toldara conversion. 

 

That is a minimum of three downloads that I am developing.  USR is pretty much exactly the type of game I was attempting to develop with Quick Six and S.T.A.G.E. but I kept hitting stumbling blocks because I just could not seem to "get it right" on either one of these designs.  I am currently putting them both on the back burner and attempting to show some USR support.

 

More later...