[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...

[Rant] Charts & Tables - UGH!

I hate charts & tables, I hate charts & tables, I hate charts & tables, I hate charts & tables, I hate charts & tables, and - just for emphasis - I HATE CHARTS & TABLES! Now that I have that off of my chest it is probably time to explain myself.  It's a fact that most every rpg I have played has some sort of chart(s) in the rules somewhere. 

I have no problem with games using LOTS of charts and tables or very few at all.  I have no problem with games referencing charts or tables during combat or character creation.  Some of the games I have played with charts include AD&D, DC Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, Palladium Fantasy, & Talislanta.  I have no problem coming up with the details of charts or tables that I create. 

So, what is my problem with charts and tables?  It is the physical act of typing in the information and creating the chart or table itself.  It always seems so tedious and I always have bad luck with editing.  In other words, it always winds up being atleast twice as difficult as it should be for me.

Coming Around Full Circle...

Toldara is the name of my campaign world.  It's basically an amalgamation of ideas from all of the years I have spent playing D&D over the various editions.  I never went into any great details about the world or house rules until the last several years.  I think it started with the whole open game movement.  It kind of rekindled the old creative spirit of using a grab bag of rules from various sources to run a game.  Of course, the old grognards never bothered with needing "official" permission to use parts of various game rules in their campaigns.  It just happened during the course of play. 

In the old days, I used to switch between games of D&D and AD&D.  Now that I've started this work on my own campaign world I noticed something somewhat funny.  I am typing up two sets of player documents for this world.  It dawned on me that I am making a "basic version" and an "advanced version" of the players guide for my world.  The advanced version started with 3E, moved to 3.5E, and is in the process of getting updated to Pathfinder.  The basic version will either be based on Microlite20 or the Classic Fantasy Role Playing Game system I am helping to design. 

I just thought it was somewhat funny to notice that old habits never die...

[Grognardia] The Ads of Dragon: Fantasy Games Unlimited

* I can not take credit for coming up with the idea for this entry. I was checking out Grognardia earlier and catching up on earlier posts I had missed.  I ran across the series of posts for the ads of Dragon magazine and browsed through all of them.  The post on 7-28-2011 about FGU caught my eye because I remember it so well from when I had a subscription and it is still one of my favorities.  This is basically a chance for me to say "me too" on the Grognardia post.*

I have no idea how many times I have glanced at this ad while browsing through old issues of Dragon magazine.  I do, however, remember wanting to play every one of these games back in the 80's.  I have only owned or played one of these games.  That in itself is somewhat strange because I would buy just about any RPG I ran across when I was a teenager.  A few thoughts on each of these games is presented below.

 Aftermath: I did want to buy this game to compare it to Gamma World.  I was a huge Gamma World fan but I also was interested in a more serious approach to the same genre.  It looked like Aftermath was more serious and realistic from looking at the box and ads.  I've actually seen this at one of the local gaming stores as recent as 3 years ago.  I never did buy it but maybe I should order it from the FGU website?

Bushido: I tried out Oriental Adventures once or twice back in my AD&D days.  I had mixed feelings about the rules.  I just didn't feel like the setting and AD&D rules were the best match.  I would have like to have had a better set of oriental fantasy rpg rules.  I wonder if Bushido would have satisfied that itch?

Chivalry & Sorcery: I never saw a copy of C&S in the store until 3E was out.  I purchased it because I recognized the game.  I did a little research online and found out it was far removed from the FGU version.  I'm starting to think I should have done more mail order business back in those days.

Space Opera: Another FGU game I never saw in the store back in the day.  I imagine I would have liked it.  I was a big time Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who and still am.  I got Star Frontiers and was pretty disappointed by what I felt was a lack of substance.  I got the impression that it was much more detailed the Star Frontiers and would have gotten a fair amount of play in my group.

Villains & Vigilantes: I still remember buying the boxed set of V&V with the rulebook and the Crisis at Crusader Citadel module included.  Once I made my first character and played V&V, I was hooked from that point on.  I bought several V&V supplements - mainly the bad guy books like Most Wanted - and we even made some ourselves.  It is still my favorite supers RPG and I am definitely going to get the new version from Monkey House Games.  V&V was the only game to be played as much as or more than D&D in my group.  The thing I remember most about V&V is the fact that it seemed to emphasize fun in a way that other games did not.

I think I'm going to take a break and visit the FGU website now... 



An Offer I Could Not Refuse...

When 4E was released I promptly went out & purchased the PHB, MM,  DMG, Character Record Sheets, & the Dungeon Masters Screen.  On a side note, I have purchased the 4E red box out of nostalgia.  I've read through them and feel like it's a fine game BUT it just doesn't feel like D&D to me.  I want to make it clear that I am not saying it's a bad game, or a bad design, or even going to go into the reasons I don't care for it.   The point of my post is that even thought I do not plan on playing any 4E soon, I have continued to purchase the rulebooks.
This may seem contradictory to my opinion of 4E but you will see that it makes sense.  I work with a guy that bought into 4E in a big way.  He was utterly disappointed and has all of these rulebooks laying around gathering dust.  He mentioned them one day and I asked how much he wanted for them.  Believe it or not, he said I could have them for $10 each!  So far I have purchased Manual of the Planes ($29.95), Monster Manual 2 ($34.95), Players Handbook 2 ($29.95), and Players Handbook 3 ($34.95).  The number following each of those books is the MSRP - that means I got $134.80 (pre-tax) for only $40.  With those prices I am going back for the rest of the books.  It would be a shame to have this many books and never play the game...

Getting the Band Back Together?!

If everything goes right - planets aligning, etc. - and we can clear a night on everyone's schedule there's a good chance that two of my buddies from my high school days (1987-1991) will be doing some role-playing with some other guys rounded up by my cousin.  Technically, it's not the whole "band" - it will only be Jamie and Travis - but it should be cool anyway.  We used to play all sorts of rpg's and video games together back in the day.  It would be cool to game again with these guys.

I met Jamie in the second grade - that's a looooonnnnnngggggg time ago - and we discovered D&D together with the Basic Set.  We played as much as possible and missed a lot of sleep growing up...lol.. We moved on to other games including Car Wars, Gamma World, GURPS, Palladium Fantasy, & Talislanta. 

I met Travis through Jamie.  Travis introduced us to RIFTS.  I still remember looking through the rulebook that first time.  I couldn't help but think of Gamma World and all the fun Jamie and I used to have with that game. 

I'm not sure what we are going to play once we do get a game night organized.  Jamie and I have talked of trying out Castles & Crusades because it would be both familiar to AD&D but the rules are streamlined; I'm not saying the rules are better but they are easier to understand. Of course, we might just dust off an old favorite like RIFTS. I have the RIFTS Ultimate Edition that I have yet to run.  I'm also considering really rules-light such as Microlite74 or something similar.  To tell the truth, the game system really isn't that important but getting the chance to game with some old buddies is what's really important.  Regardless of the system used I'm sure we'll have fun.  First, we all just have to get a free night.

Fingers crossed...

[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.

[Rant] My Experience Using D&D Meetup

*Note: this is just my experience with using the local D&D Meetup service one time. I'm sure some others have had similar experiences but I'm also sure that many others have had a good experience using this same service. Put simply, the experience was pretty lame but it was the person encountered that was the source of my disappointment and not the service itself. ****

I used to play a ton of RPG's.  I started with D&D/AD&D back in 1980.  Over the years, I tried many other games from DC Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, Champions, Fantasy Hero, Villains & Vigilantes, Super World, Car Wars, GURPS, RIFTS, Talislanta, Palladium Fantasy, and many other numerous titles.  The old faithful lineup of RPG's that I continuously played through the 1980's until I graduated high school in 1991 consisted of AD&D, RIFTS, Talislanta, Villains & Vigilantes, and Palladium Fantasy.

A month after I graduated from high school I left for the Army.  I didn't play a lot while I was in the military but I did keep up with gaming in general, discovered Magic: The Gathering, and did actually play a few sessions of AD&D.  I left the Army in 2000 and returned home.  Most of my old gaming buddies had either left the hobby or moved out of town.  I had virtually no face to face gaming available.  One bright spot is that I did introduce my cousin, Alex, to 3E and we still hook up to play occasionally. We have also been developing a shared campaign world, Toldara, for several years.

I tried to overcome this absence of face to face role-playing by finding other outlets.  After some internet searches, I ran across some PBP games, message board games, PBEM games, and also heard of MEETUP. I don't know the exact time frame but I registered for the local D&D meetup around the time of 4E's release.  IIRC, the Pathfinder Alpha was out but the completely playtested Pathfinder Core Rulebook was not released yet.

I was on the D&D Meetup site for only a short time before I got contacted.  It sounded pretty good to me because the people were in Tulsa; about 25 miles from my location. We agreed to meeet halfway between our locations at Panera Bread.  We ordered some drinks and discussed our RPG experience and what kind of gaming we enjoyed.  It seemed like a really good match so we decided to meet again and try to gather some more people.

The next meeting took place at their house.  I brought my cousin, Alex, with me as a recruit.  At this point, there were 4 of us - Alex, me, and the two players we met.  The guy - I'll call him "Dick" - was interested in being the DM. He had all sorts of ideas for a campaign world, some adventures, and even some house rules.  Dick mentioned that his girlfriend - I'll call her "Jane" - would be playing her first game with us so it might be slow going at first.  No problem there. Dick also mentioned that he was talking to 2 other players about joining the game.  At the end of that meeting, we had decided on the rules system (3.5E with some early Pathfinder stuff), made characters (Alex, Jane, & me), and decided to meet again in 2 weeks for our first game session.

Two weeks pass and we (Alex & I) show up at Dick & Jane's to play.  The other two players - I'll call them "Will" and "Wendy" - had showed up earlier so they could create characters with the house rules available to them during the process.  I remember that Will and Wendy had printed out some really cool character sheets from some website.  It was nice to see everyone was ready to start playing before the start of the game.  We introduced ourselves, had some idle chit chat, and then got ready to play.

The game session lasted for approximately 4 hours.  The length was just about right. It wasn't too short for the drive involved. It also wasn't too long and drawn out either.  The session was fun with no rules lawyering or any of that silliness.  Everyone appeared to have a great time.  We ended the session and then agreed to have another meeting in two weeks again. 

One week passed and I was looking forward to another game session.  I checked my email and received a message from Dick.  He explained that the group "just wasn't working out for him" and decided to tell Will and Wendy they would not be invited back.  I tried exchanging messages with him and getting a good reason but he wouldn't give one.  Eventually, I got pretty irritated because he didn't give a group of strangers a chance to gel and didn't even give the other 4 of us a chance to continue playing with a new DM or one of us taking over as DM.  I promptly unregistered from the D&D MEETUP group and have yet to take another chance on gaming outside my circle of friends.

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edit - some text got erased when posting - d'oh!
     
 

Testing, testing....1, 2, 3...
Testing, testing....1, 2, 3...

I am posting this from my phone via text to see how it comes out on the other end.