I met Chris Perrin at this year’s Gen Con Media Meet & Greet event. Alas the location was far to dark and too loud for my tastes. I felt tired and exhausted and the location didn’t really improve things. So there I was chatting to some bloggers and podcasters when Chris came in. And of course I didn’t even recognize him, even though we have been in contact over the internet for some time. Eventually we had a short chat, but as I mentioned before, the location was not really the perfect place for long conversations.

So when I returned home from Gen Con I apologized and asked him for an interview. Since he’s a very nice guy, he didn’t use his creepy looking kitchen knives on me, but agreed to answer a few questions for me.

Stargazer
Thanks for answering a few questions for us. Can you please start by telling a bit about yourself? What do you do for a living? How long are you part of the RPG industry? What has been the first roleplaying game you ever played?

Chris
Of course!  Let’s see for a living, I am a Solutions Architect for a Marketing Database company.  I design and implement technology to run marketing campaigns and I work a lot with databases: Oracle, SQL Server, etc.  I am also a food writer with several credits to my name.  It’s hard for me to say when I became part of the industry, because that can mean different things to different people.  I tend to say I started in the industry when I made my podcasting debut on the Diana Jones Award nominated podcast, The Canon Puncture Show that was basically four years ago.  The first RPG I ever played was, I think, Marvel Superheroes when I was in the third grade.  If it was Marvel, it was Palladium Book’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Basically, there were four games that I played all about the same time, Marvel, TMNT, Robotech and BattleTech, but I think Marvel came first.

Stargazer
Today we want to talk about your Mecha roleplaying game. When did you have the idea to create a mecha game and what made you choose that genre?

Chris
The thought of creating a mecha game started when I wrote my first BattleTech clone called LaserTech when I was in the fourth grade.  My friend Jeff has used the 4C system to do a BattleTech clone and I wasn’t about to let him beat me.  I don’t remember much about that game except that it sucked and I think was basically an exactly copy of BattleTech with the names changed.

Really, though, I have Robotech to blame for my fascination with big robots.  I saw one episode and it blew my mind.  After that I was hooked.

Stargazer
Has Mecha changed a lot during the design process? How close is it to your first ideas and what did you leave on the cutting floor?

Chris
The original draft of Mecha is maybe 10% similar.  Heck, originally Mecha was called Neoborn Genesis Honor Blade and was a narrative game without dueling rules.  That draft that is recognizable as Mecha was {{{{THIS BIG}}}} and was fairly crunchy, poorly defined, and generally not much fun to play.

The process of playtesting, which took almost 18 months, was very much a subtractitive (instead of an additive) process whereby we took every mechanic and ran it through a filter.  That filter was simple: “Name me a time when X happened in giant robot anime.”  If the mechanic passed that filter, it was run through a second filter: “Okay, name me another time…”  We kept mechanics that stayed true to the feel of the game and those that didn’t went away.  A good example of this was the skill list.  Pilots used to have a fairly in-depth skill list ranging from stealth to rifles to pistols to tactics to strategy to cooking, etc.  Then we ran a playtest outside on our mecha (based on a suggestion from another designer, Matt Gandy) and found that the skill list didn’t work.  It was possible for the PCs (who were playing spec ops commandos) to be awesome at prowling and shooting, but get pwned in hand-to-hand combat and couldn’t operate a computer terminal, let alone access data.  Ugh.  That’s not fun and it wasn’t really true to form.  Anime main characters (which the PCs are) don’t get pwned by anything except enemy aces, but we didn’t want to just have a huge skill list and a bunch of skill points.  So we tried simplifying the skills down to the bare minimum (shoot, sneak, repair, heal, etc.) and realized that all we needed were the ones we had and that was that.

Then there were other things like Initiative, which was additive.  One of my playtesters came up with that.  Initiative used to be one of two rolls that didn’t follow the standard D6 die pool.  It used to be Engineering + 1d6.  Well, one of the playtesters came up with the idea that it should be a standard roll with the change for a Cutscene, etc.  And it worked.

Come to think of it, I didn’t add one meaningful thing to the book.  (Kidding.)  I do say that without the patience of my playtesters, Mecha wouldn’t have been what it is today and sometimes the best thing I could do was not get in their way.

Stargazer
In the book you mention that you had to be convinced by your players to include the scene structure. Could you elaborate on that?

Chris

Before writing that part of Mecha, my experience with set scene structure was limited to two games: Primetime Adventures and Burning Empires.  I love them both, but I felt (and still do feel) that their turn sequence produces a particular type of play which you could call regimented or structured.  As a player, there were times when I felt constrained and that I was forced to act creatively to have the scene I wanted.

My fear was that switching from open to regimented roleplaying would be too much.  I already had a game with a die pool, that was science fiction, and was played on a circular battlemap.  With each decision I made, I felt like we were falling away from what everyone was used to and into those other thing that was different and, my fear at the time, was that it would be so different people wouldn’t like it.

Fortunately, I am a sneaky dude and in an interview with Luke Crane, disguised a few questions about Mecha in an interview about Burning Empires mechanics.  He said something fairly profound: (and I am both paraphrasing and recounting an interview from several years ago) that scenes in BE were resources to be juggled like hit points and it was no less immersion breaking than checking your hit point total.  So, with my fears calmed by the master, we revamped the skill system to work with the scene structure and played it.  And we loved it.

Today, I can’t see the game working any other way.  Having that scene structures ensures that everyone gets their spotlight, can contribute meaningfully every turn, and has a guide for how to be pilots outside of mecha.  It also gives the GMs ways to give the players (not just the PCs) more challenges.  Believe me, as the GM I want the player to be thinking “Do I go for a Social Scene and get a point of Overdrive or do I Repair my mecha” just as much as I DON’T want to have to face that challenge as a player.

Stargazer
What tips do you have for someone who wants to play (or run) Mecha for the first time?

Chris

1s explode.  You reroll them and total your successes.

Even more than Link Stats, that is the mechanic people seem to get tripped up on!

More seriously, I would remind players that Mecha works on mecha anime physics, not real world physics.  It is perfectly fine in mecha anime combat to have a Range 6 (longest range in the game) jump kick, fight on a bullseye, and have Range 1 switchblades (and Range 2 atomic spitwad throwers and Range whatever atomic pom poms.)  While Mecha is not a silly game, there is a certain suspension of disbelief that is required as players ride their mecha across the school yard to the Hypersonic Drive-In where they can eat chili cheese hot dogs on their mechas’ shoulders before going to the sock hop.  In 1960s Japan.

See, that’s perfectly anime.  It’s just not very realistic!

To GMs, play hard.  Mecha has included a fairly lengthy GM’s section, but really it’s just advice on how to play the game.  As the GM, you are at a disadvantage because all you really control is the aftermath of the scene rolls and your side in combat.  But the players are spending their turns gaining every advantage to use against you and normally, you are out numbered 3 or 4 to one.  If you don’t play to win, the players will walk all over you and that gets boring.

Stargazer
As far as I know your second passion besides roleplaying is cooking. Have you ever considered writing a cook book for gamers?

Chris
Many times.  In fact, if your readers would like to share stories of how food has affected their gaming lives, I would like to collect them for a book I’d like to write.

Stargazer
What are your next plans? Will you use Mecha’s system for other games or do you think it works best in that genre?

Chris
Ah, the future.  Right now I am working on the Mecha combiner rules.  Combiners are things like Voltron where many PC mecha form a super robot.  I am set to playtest those rules and if things go like I think they will, that supplement should pretty much write itself.

The funny thing is, thoughm I have this feeling those rules are going to be received with mixed results.  I could be wrong on this one, but the Combiner rules are really, really simple and probably not what fans of the game are expecting.  However, fans should rest assured that we tried a number of different plans, including taking averages of all the mecha’s stats, building a prorated scale based on number of mecha in the combination, and none of it worked.  Then we changed on an idea and it seems to just fit.

The fun of that book will be explaining the choice we made, not to apologize for it, but because it’s important for GMs to understand the logic behind the rules so they can best apply them to their campaign.  Of course, GMs of the game are free to tell me I’m nuts, write their own rules, and post them on srssource.mecharpg.com.  I welcome the sanity check.

After that, we’ve been asked to do a Kaiju supplement (think Godzilla).  Also, I am writing a setting for an I-20 (another HJP system) supplement, a 4th Ed supplement, and starting what I hope will be a line of Savage Worlds sci fi games.  Oh, and I am writing a Facebook RPG app as well.

Also, my publisher is really keen on doing a fantasy game using OCF! and he almost has me convinced.  Plus, in the back of my head I have ideas for two more games: Mana and another one that will start with M and end with an uh sound.  (Not Messiah, that game is behind me.)  Mana will be a sort of pre-apocalyptic future where magic and technology coexist and the pro-magic forces have decided that all technology is evil.  You play peacekeepers whose job it is to sniff out technology and eradicate it.  However, it will be a sandbox game so there is only a set amount of Mana left before the world ends.

And all of your magic uses Mana.  So does your robotic partner whose brain is basically a magic fueled computer.

Stargazer
You have been attending Gen Con this year. How did you like it? How was it compared to the Gen Con in the years before?

Chris
My first Gen Con was 2007 and nothing will every top it.  Because it was my first.

Still, this year was awesome and made me really happy for the hobby.  My fear was that with the economy in a recession that in any other time period would be called a Depression, that it would be underattended by patrons and game companies alike.  Nothing could be farther from the truth. I hope that translates into industrywide sales and that we finished 2010 strong and go into 2011.

Oh, and Chris Parmas was very gracious when I told him about my Vampire character.

Stargazer
What was your favorite product at this year’s Gen Con?

Chris
Um…Mecha?  In all seriousness, I still get a kick out of playing it every year.

I think the thing that would have been my favorite would have been the Adventure Burner, but Luke sold out (I yelled at him.)  With that said, it would have to be Freemarket.  Jared and Luke made a great game there.  Colonial Gothic was also sweet.

Stargazer
Is there anything you want to share with my readers that I haven’t asked you yet?

Chris
Every hour some one doesn’t buy a copy of Mecha, a star blows up.  I don’t know why and you can’t see any other them, but I’m pretty sure that is happening.  Yep, one just blew up.

Okay, threats aside, I would just ask that everyone who thinks Mecha sounds cool can download the Quickstart on RPGNow or buy the full version for $12.00?  Either way, everyone is welcome to join a fairly vibrant Mecha community.  Right now, we have some good threads on RPG.NET, we have srssource.mecharpg.com where people have uploaded their own SRSes (settings.)  Plus, you can always send us questions and suggestions on myheroicjourney.com (just don’t send us Viagra ads.)  We’re all about fan service (kidding.)  We’re here because we love to play good RPGs and we want to support everyone who loves to play good RPGs.  For instance, it was because people asked for it that we’re doing the Kaiju and Combiner supplements.  I had another supplement I was working on, but that’s been backburnered because we want to be as accommodating as we can.

Stargazer
Thanks for taking your time to answer our questions! Have a great day!

Chris
Thanks.  I appreciate it!

I love the mecha genre! I remember back in the 80s when we got cable TV I watched Robotech on some British TV station, although I couldn’t understand most of it. It has been many years later when I finally had the chance to rewatch the series. And this time I could finally understand what’s going on. But even though the language barrier kept me from fully enjoying the series, I was intrigued. So it’s no surprise that I played a lot of Battletech back in the day. In the mid-nineties I finally got my hands on the Robotech roleplaying game, and while I will probably never play it, it’s still one of my most prized possessions. Over the years I have watched a lot of mecha anime and bought quite a few games which featured giant robots.

But alas most of the games don’t get what the mecha anime genre is REALLY about. While giant anthropomorphic robots are cool, it’s not really the focus of the shows. It’s the characters. That’s probably a reason why I enjoyed Michael Stackpole’s Battletech novels so much. They were not endless descriptions of battles but filled with politics and intrigue.  The characters were believable and the pilots were more important than the ‘mechs they were piloting.

Chris Perrin’s Mecha is a mecha roleplaying game that gets it right. The focus of the game is definitely on the characters, roleplaying and story. If you are looking for a super-crunchy game where you can build and pilot super-complex mecha, you probably should look elsewhere, but if you enjoy the genre for its characters and stories, Mecha might be the game for you.

Mecha is a 168-paged book containing all the rules you need to play plus three sample campaign settings. As I mentioned before, the system used in Mecha is pretty rules-light. Each character is described by four stats (Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Will) plus six skills. Mecha use the stats Weapons, Armor, Technology and Speed. After generating stats for your pilot (all characters in Mecha are pilots) you have to decide how you want to link your stats to your mecha’s. That’s where the fun starts! It should be immediately obvious that a character who links his Agility to the mecha’s Weapons is quite different from someone who links Strength to Weapons.

Linking Armor and Strength. In this case, the pilot and his mecha are tough. The pilot is not going to run or even do very much to dodge, choosing instead to take the hit so they he can hit right back. Linking Armor and Agility is just the opposite, where the mecha relies on dodging and not being where the enemy is attack to avoid damage.

The so-called link array is determined at character creation and will not change during play. Another important aspect of character creation is picking a mecha configuration. Each configuration grants certain bonuses and also determined which traits the pilot can pick. A pilot of a mecha with “Defender” configuration is either “Foolhardy” or “Protective”. When the character switches configurations, the traits change as well. This simulates the common trope of the anime mecha genre, that the character of a protagonist changes with the mecha he pilots. This might be a bit weird at first, but it fits the genre very well and creates a lot of roleplaying opportunities.

The dice mechanic is a simple dice pool system. Whenever you make a roll the GM decide which attribute and skill are relevant. You then take as many dice as the attribute’s rank and each die result equal or less than the skill tested is a success. Usually one success is sufficient. In the case of opposed checks the character with more successes prevails. The system doesn’t get much more complicated than this.

Instead of what you might suspect, Mecha uses an abstract combat system. Core of the combat system is the Bullseye Battlemap which is used as an abstract measure of the relative positions of mecha, infantry or buildings on the battlefield. As I haven’t run or played the game yet I can not judge on how good this works at the game table, but on paper the concept looks intriguing. I also like that the game encourages players and GMs to use narration to make combats more exciting:

As such, it is highly encouraged that instead of just rolling dice and comparing numbers, players narrate how their mecha is moving. Is the mecha crashing into buildings, leaving a trail of destruction behind it or is slowly advancing, using the surrounding buildings as cover? Either way, the mecha will still move the same number of Movement Points, it should still help create a more enjoyable mecha story if the whole table gets a visual of how the mecha operates.

I don’t want into too much more detail when it comes to the rules here. There’s a quickstart PDF of the game available for free, that should give you a good overview of the system. If you are into rules-light systems, you should feel at home with Mecha. Ok, there are two things I should probably mention: Overdrive and Cut Scenes.

Overdrive is the most important resource available to players and special NPCs in the game. It can be used to power certain special abilities (as gained by the Mecha configurations) and they can be spent any time to gain a success on a role. Overdrive is gained by making a successful Social roll during a Social scene or rolling 5 or more successes in any roll. Overdrive definitely adds to the cinematic feel of the rules.

Cut Scenes occur whenever a player rolls 8 or more successes. He then may describe his character doing something really spectacular, which may even defy physics. Mechanically you don’t get anything special (aside the 8+ successes you already rolled) but it’s a nice opportunity for the character to shine!

There’s currently only one thing that bothers me about Mecha. It has a scene structure much like you would expect it from a Luke Crane game like Burning Wheel or Mouse Guard. Each session consists of the player’s scenes, the GM’s scene and one combat scene. While this structure helps to get every player a spotlight scene at least once per session, it also adds some meta-game element to the game I feel a bit uncomfortable with. I think I will have to give it a try to find out how it works out at the game table. If it doesn’t it should be easy enough to run it the traditional way.

The gamemastering section of the book has a lot of good advice on how to run a game based on the mecha genre. Most of the common tropes are mentioned and there are good tips on how to balance fights or how to establish a story.

The first setting included with the book is “Revolution Deity Godblind: The Living City”. The Living City is a Utopian/Dystopian city ruled by six gods. Life is reduced to a harshly regulated existence, human lifespan has been severly reduced and freedom is almost non-existent. The second setting is called “Steel Gunner Destiny Tomorrow”, which is set into a solar system with eight inhabited planets. The Arbor Defense Force fights against The Separatist Guard. While “Revolution Deity Godblind” had elements of magic, “Steel Gunner” is strictly military SF. The last but not least setting is “Special Research School” which combines the mecha and highschool drama genres. The players are students at this very school in an alternative 1966 where mecha technology is commonplace. If you ever wanted to play a geek at a high school where mecha football is on the curriculum, look no further.

All three settings come with some background information, tips on how to run them, detailed story arcs, NPCs, mecha stats and some special rules. But it should be easy enough to adapt Mecha to run a campaign based on your favorite mecha anime series.

The book concludes with some interesting designer’s notes.

The PDF version of Mecha is just $12 and if you are even remotely interested in the mecha genre, you should give it a chance. It has pretty easy-to-learn rules, three campaign settings and it shows a lot of love for the genre.

Please note that this review is based on a read-through of the PDF version of the book, which has been provided by the publisher.

In the coming days there will be some great news regarding an old-fashioned roleplaying game. I can’t give you any details right now, but you won’t be disappointed!

Stay tuned! And how do you like my new t-shirt?

This video is not really RPG-related but too awesome not to be shared!

Enjoy!

So you’ve thought about it for ages, you have this great idea to turn the game world that you have been lovingly creating with your pen and paper group for the past several years and into a product for people to buy, but how do you go about designing an actually package for people?

Sound familiar? This was the early and initial thoughts for me as well, for twelve years we’d been playing in a game world that we had created and during that time we’d always said to each other just that, “wouldn’t it be wicked to write all this stuff down and create products for people.” For me the opportunity came along and I have not only done just that I have started to make some success as well, so I thought I’d share my approach to design for getting what’s in my mind out to the fantasy fans and maybe encourage a few others of us in the community to do the same in this two part blog post.

Now my approach certainly won’t be for everyone but I found it a good and practical approach. It starts with initial concepts being driven by my own opinion, thus I wrote down the main areas that as a playing group my friends and I found the most fun, what was most detailed and also brainstormed where I can go with each option. This gave me a list of world areas that I could start in and possible product lines. The next step was to do some market research, this included looking at current product lines of existing companies, both major and indie, running stats on what people were searching for in search engines, reading forums and community sites and defining my target audience. This gave me an idea of what people are talking about and what they need but don’t have and this breeds an opportunity.

Next is tying in what I have with what people are looking for and match that with my skill sets, for example one of the things that I identified was that heaps of people were looking for free online browser based RPG games, which would be wicked as I have a love of pc games and have a detailed world in which I could use. The issue there was that I had no scripting ability, bummer! But other opportunities abound.

So once I had done my market research and decided what I can produce that people are wanting and that will have longevity, as remember people out there are looking for solutions to their problems, so as nice as it is to create something that you want to just because you like it, it doesn’t mean that its commercially viable I matched it all together and started furiously writing, planning and creating my first product. But midway through I thought “how’s it going to look?”

To find out you’ll have to wait for part 2 …

On September 1st I announced a Fantasy Craft giveaway contest in order to celebrate Crafty Games latest release: “Time of High Adventure”. There have been 30 eligible comments and two late entries which couldn’t be considered. Instead of rolling my trusty d30, I used random.org to generate a truly random number between 1 and 30. The lucky number was 29 this time and so, Typhon won!

I already sent him an email and when he accepts his prize, he’ll be reading Fantasy Craft in no time. In the unlikely case he doesn’t accept, I’ll do a second drawing. Typhon, if you read this and you haven’t got an email yet, please contact me using email (my email address is shown under that post).

It’s Friday and it’s time to give you some more free stuff!

This week’s Free Stuff is: Synapse

Synapse is a new RPG written by Greg Christopher. It was just made available last week as a Public Beta, to be improved over the course of the next few months into a final release. The PDF is nearly 300 pages long and in full color with stunning art donated by artists from around the world.

The game is a completely open-ended universal system with strong emphasis on character depth and personality. The primary elements of a character are seven mental attributes, including the namesake Synapse. In addition to these, your character chooses from 21 talents to customize precisely what their brain is good (and bad) at. This brain is then placed in a physical body. Build a race using a point-buy system from nearly a hundred biological characteristics; ranging from mandibles to turtle shells to wings to echolocation. This is followed by a similar system for culture where you define the society from which your character springs. Build any culture from Ancient Egypt to the Galactic Empire. Your character is the given life experiences using another point-buy system, where you make choices about your education, siblings, parentage, and more. All of these systems feed into a personality model to build a unique personality from 22 different motivation values. You define what exactly drives your character in their daily life. Choose from six morality models that go far beyond good and evil. On top of this, you build a network of NPCs which your character has met over the years. These NPCs integrate you into the social fabric of the game world, providing resources, contacts, allies, and more. Finally, choose from a long list of skills for any setting you need and buy your starting equipment (or property, if you are rich enough). As you can see, this game generates characters of stunning complexity.

The game uses a d6 success-based mechanic to determine success/failure at tasks. The combat system involves a bullet-time model that resolves quickly and decisively. The game also includes a conversational mechanic where you can pick and choose motivational appeals to make in your adversaries to influence their decisions. Even if you choose poorly, you get a few chances to attempt to get the conversation back on track. It also has a standard roll-vs-difficulty and a manuever mechanic that works for chase scenes; from horses to starfighters. Your body is represented by three values; strength, endurance, and resilience (resistance to toxin/disease). You can take damage to these values independently as if they were different kinds of hit points. You also track mental stress to determine how well your mind is able to keep it together under adverse circumstances. As you take stress, you start to get shaky and make mistakes. If you reach a critical stage, your brain shuts down and you withdraw into a catatonic state and cower on the floor.

Since the game emphasizes the brain and not the physical form, it easily supports any setting. Your mental skills are used to run all the mechanics, not your body. Instead of drawing upon your physical body, simply replace your body with the values of a giant Mech and take to the field as if you were merely a giant armored combatant. Build a new body as a vampire, choosing from dozens of vampiric powers. Or teach yourself magic and choose from dozens of magical abilities.

Synapse is a powerful character development engine that can be used to play any setting, any genre, any game that you desire. You owe it to yourself to check it out. And give Greg some comments on his forum so that he can make the final build the best that it can be.

So take a moment and check out Synapse. Download the pdf, and check out the blog. Maybe even give Greg some feedback to make Synapse even better then it is! As always be sure to thank Greg for the free stuff!

Despite all the love Warrior, Rogue & Mage has received, here in the blog and the web in general, and loving the game myself, I have not written anything for it. Let me correct that mistake with this post!

I’m planning a demo game of Warrior, Rogue & Mage at a local convention in Puerto Rico. For that purpose I’ve created some characters for the players so we can get to the game right away. This is my first attempt at creating WR&M characters and the game will be my first experience with the system. So I’ll appreciate any advice and feedback on the character themselves, from the write ups, to the descriptions. I hope you enjoy them.

Read on…

“Only well guarded caravans, or the bravest travelers, dare to travel the road leading to and from the village of Hougstran. Located on an old trade route the village sits on the southern end of fertile vale and despite hardships it has prospered over the past thirty years under the leadership of Mayor Johann. With some caravans regularly visiting the village in spring and autumn and traveling minstrels spreading the word of the town’s growth, a new generation comes of age with dreams of a better future for themselves and their loved ones. These are some of those who dream in Hougstran…”

Josephus Whitemane

Josephus is Hougstran’s most famous orphan. Unlike other children who may have lost their parents due to accident or famine, Josephus was found on the doorsteps of the town’s only Inn, the Golden Rooster. The owner Karl was awoken by the cries of the infant late one spring during a thunderstorm. When he came to the door he found the baby wrapped in blankets. The widow Kiotir who had no children of her own adopted the boy and brought him up. Teased since childhood for his wild mane of snow white hair, Josephus grew up healthy and strong and was apprenticed to the Blacksmith, Master Birbin.

As part of the village’s voluntary militia he has excelled at the lessons thought by old Sergeant Gour. Despite his strength and martial ability Josephus has never stopped wondering where he comes from and together with his friend Enris has studied the dusty old tomes her master keeps hidden away in his study. No one except Enris knows he has managed to cause frost to appear on his palms during summer.

Appearance: Tall muscular youth of 19, his skin is pale and tans easily. His strong jaw barely has stubble, but his hair is long and white as fresh snow. Despite his easy laugh and boisterous voice, his light blue eyes seem perpetually sad.

Attributes: Warrior 5, Rogue 2, Mage 3

HP: 11 Mana: 6 Fate: 2

Defense: 11 (+ 3 for scale armor, +1 for small shield)

Skills: Athletics, Swords, Riding

Talent: Massive Attack – Add Warrior attribute to melee attack once per combat

Spells: Frostburn

Trappings: Scale Armor, Small Shield, Sword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-2), Backpack, Adventurer’s Kit, Spellbook (leather bound), Rope, Rations (1 week), 3 Torches, Riding Horse (saddle bag, saddle and bridle), 62 sp

Enris Dawnsong

Enris’ always dreamt of singing. Her mother was a minstrel of some renown in Hougstran and nearby farmsteads. When she returned home with child and no husband the people of town disapproved but she was never one to care. She settled in her family’s house and earned a living for her and her daughter as a seamstress, often singing in the Golden Rooster for some coin. When Enris was old enough to talk her mother began to teach her how to sing. Those who heard them often said mother and daughter sang more beautifully than any choir of the Imperial Church.

One winter when she was but a young maiden Enris disobeyed her mother and journeyed to Darklin Bogs with her friends and local troublemakers Marcellus and Gellina. Running over a fallen log to cross a stream Enris fell into the water hitting her head and loosing consciousness. When her friends rescued Enris she could barely speak. She eventually recovered her voice but was never able to sing again. Believing she was a disappointment to her mother Enris arranged her apprenticeship to Master Thorvad the local herbalist and hedge wizard and moved to his house. She barely sees her mother anymore.

Appearance: Short and thin young woman of 20, she still looks like a teenager and has not developed like the other girls in town. When younger she wore her curly red air long, but since her apprenticeship she keeps it short. This coupled with her frame means she was often teased and called names when younger, something that no longer happens since she has demonstrated her mastery of magic.

Attributes: Warrior 1, Rogue 3, Mage 6

HP: 7 Mana: 12 Fate: 3

Defense: 6

Skills: Herbalism, Lore, Thaumaturgy

Talent: Familiar (Cat) – Shadowstep

Spells: Frostburn, Magic Light, Sense Magic, Telekinesis, Lightning Bolt

Trappings: Spellbook (metal plated), Crossbow, (1d3+3), Dagger, Travel Clothing, Adventurers Kit, Lantern, Backpack, Rations (1 week), 24 sp

Gellina the Pious

As a child Gellina was known as a troublemaker. Any prank carried out in Hougstran was immediately blamed on her and her brother Marcellus. The children of the grave digger lived in abject poverty in the shack behind the local temple of the Imperial Church. Neither child ever met their mother as their father buried her after their birth. Gellina’s father took care of the cemetery and church grounds and taught to his children the traditions of the Imperial Church. Neither child took to the lessons; they grew up wild an unruly about town.

When her childhood friend Enris fell on a stream during an outing with them, hurting herself, young Marcellus urged Gellina to leave the girl and sneak back to town. Gellina refused and prayed like she had never prayed before until her friend awoke. Convinced his daughter was touched by the divine her father begged the young priest in town to take Gellina under his wing. Instead Brother Humdros arranged for Gellina to join the Sisters of the Dawn in their temple on Crag Mountain. After ten years in the temple Gellina has returned to town, she has told her father this is a pilgrimage undertaken before taking her final vows. What she has told no one is that she is unsure if she wants to take the vows at all.

Appearance: Gellina takes after her father; she is tall with broad shoulders.  But this does not take away from her beauty. She wears her raven black hair braided and oiled a sharp contrast to her cream colored skin. Her body speaks of one accustomed to the martial traditions of the Sisters of Dawn, but her manners and gentle voice show the kindness of this 18 years old woman.

Attributes: Warrior 3, Rogue 2, Mage 4

HP: 9 Mana: 8 Fate: 2

Defense: 8 (+2 for leather armor)

Skills: Alchemy, Blunt, Thaumaturgy

Talent: Channeler – Add Mage attribute to magic attack once per combat

Spells: Healing Hand, Sense Magic, Create Food and Water, Healing Light,

Trappings: Leather Armor, Two Handed Warhammer (2d6), Mace (1d6), Spellbook (leather bound), Adventurer’s Kit. Backpack, Iron rations (1 week), Travel Clothing, Lantern, 7 sp

Marcellus the Mongrell

Marcellus was trouble in his youth, but grew up to become a liar, swindler and drunk. The son of the local gravedigger, Marcellus and his sister were in serious trouble for the first time after Enris, a childhood friend, almost died on one of their misadventures. Gellina his sister was sent to a monastery, but Marcelus was punished in the stocks, a place he would visit many times during his short life. Unwilling to follow in his father’s footsteps, and unable to find an apprenticeship, Marcellus survived by taking odd jobs and living of his elderly father’s work.

Quick witted and charming Marcellus managed to swindle more than one townsfolk in some harebrained scheme or seduced lonely housewives for more than a kiss. Still in the end all his grand plans come to naught, often ending with a stint at the stocks. Despite Marcellus’ initial dislike of Josephus, Whitemane has covered for him on more than one occasion in the voluntary militia. The two share a strange and silent respect for each other. Many believe Marcellus friendship with Ox is another example of the young man taking advantage of others, but Marcellus has taken a genuine liking to the slow witted giant. Marcellus acts indifferent towards his recently returned sister but still harbors some anger at her for leaving him to take the fall for the accident long ago.

Appearance: A young man of 20 with a slight but sinewy build and swarthy complexion that reveals his southerner ancestry. He spends whatever little coin he can scrounge up to dress in the latest fashions, with whatever paltry jewelry he can get his hands on. He can be charming and debonair but cruel and savage in at a moments notice, like a rabid dog, earning him the nickname mongrel.

Attributes: Warrior 3, Rogue 5, Mage 2

HP: 9 Mana: 4 Fate: 5

Defense: 13 (+5 for chain mail)

Skills: Acrobatics, Daggers, Thievery

Talent: Lucky Devil – You may reroll any roll once per scene or combat

Spells: None

Trappings: Chain Mail, 3 Dagger (1d6-2), Dragon Pistol (1d4+4), Noble Clothing, Backpack, Lockpick, Rope (10 yards), Adventure’s Kit, Lantern, Iron Rations (1 week), Riding Horse (saddle bag, saddle and bridle), 29 sp

Koltren the Ox

Koltren’s parents lived in one of the outlaying farms in Hougstran. During the floods of the high spring 14 years ago, their farm was under water for four days before help could reach them. When the townsfolk arrived only the boy had survived. Unnaturally big for his age, Koltren was soon known by his nickname, the Ox. Raised by various families in town, the boy was slow to learn any trade and did not know his own strength, often leading to accidents or dangerous situations. When he turned fourteen he was apprenticed to Sergeant Gour, leader of the local voluntary militia.

Despite trying his best and the encouragement of Josephus, fellow orphan and one of the few people who treats him nicely in town, Ox could not live up to Gour’s strict standards. Marcellus, the local ne’er-do-well, has taken Ox under his wing telling him they will leave town together, and fancies him his bodyguard. Ox realizes that Marcellus may be using him but for the first time in his short life the gentle giant feels he has a purpose.

Appearance: Unnaturally tall and strong for his age, the giant is only 15. His brow juts over his small beady eyes; his lopsided smile is often ridiculed by the crueler children in town. Marcellus had convinced him to shave his head, insisting he looks more menacing. Despite his strength he learned since youth that his hands, the size of small hammers, could cause great damage and avoids fights until provoked. When he does fight, those who have heard him, say he howls like some sort of animal.

Attributes: Warrior 6, Rogue 3, Mage 1

HP: 12 Mana: 2 Fate: 3

Defense: 15 (+7 from heavy plate armor)

Skills: Athletics, Axes, Unarmed

Talent: Tough as Nails – Damage you take from an individual attack is reduced by 2

Spells: None

Trappings: Light Plate Amor, Two Handed Axe (2d6), Adventurers Kit, Travel clothing, Backpack, Rope (10 yards), Cask of Beer, 4 torches, Iron rations (1 week), 80 sp

I am so excited to be attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this year! I have never been to a gaming convention before and I am looking forward to this epic adventure! I hope to come back with inspiration for new posts and maybe even a write up of my experiences at PAX.

I will be traveling to Seattle with my fiancé for this event. PAX is from September 3rd – 5th. We are both excited to see as many games and talks as possible. We are both interested in checking out what Wizards of the Coast has going on for Dungeons & Dragons related events. I am hoping to find a Green Ronin booth and maybe talk with someone about the new DC Adventures RPG.

My fiancé and I will be treating this trip like a vacation for us. After PAX I will be spending a week in Washington State visiting family before returning to Juneau Alaska. I am not planning on doing much writing while I am on vacation, but please feel free to follow me on twitter (@nicap) as I am sure I will be posting updates and pictures from PAX.

For some reason Fudge, the roleplaying game by Steffan O’Sullivan back in the nineties, is something like the unloved uncle to the popular FATE system. A lot of gamers have heard about FATE, especially after Evil Hat released the Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, which uses the latest version of the FATE rules, but only a few people have an idea what Fudge is. Recently I got the “Fudge 10th Anniversary” hardcover book and I am totally loving it. So I decided to give my readers a few reasons why they should check out Fudge, too.

1. It’s free
   The 1995 version of Fudge is available as free PDF download on the Grey Ghost Press website. And there’s even a System Reference Document in the RTF format because Fudge has been released under the Open Game License a few years back. So, it’s not only free to download, you can even create your own Fudge stuff under a relatively open license!
2. It’s a toolbox
   Fudge is not a simple game but a roleplaying game toolbox. Attributes and skills are not pre-set and the GM can choose from a lot of options to tweak the game to perfectly suit his style. The game comes even with several alternative combat systems to choose from. Especially the hardcover version comes with more optional rules you ever could use in a lifetime. It’s a GM’s dream!
3. It’s multi-genre
   If you wish you could play games in pretty much every genre with Fudge. The “10th anniversary” book contains examples for Fudge in the Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Wuxia and SF genres. Adapting it to a genre basically means to pick and choose which skills, gifts and talents are eligible for the campaign.
4. It’s very easy to learn
   While Fudge can be as complex as you wish it to be, it can also be one of the easiest games to teach to new players. Attributes and skills are ranked with descriptive adjectives like Terrible, Poor, Mediocre, Fair, Good, etc. and the dice mechanic is very easy. Some people might not like that you need custom dice to play Fudge, but even that’s not true. If you don’t have any Fudge dice, you can easily use one of the alternative dice mechanics or play totally diceless!
5. It promotes roleplaying
   Yes, it’s true, Fudge is a roleplayer’s roleplaying game. The way Fudge works it encourages a narrative play style. Fudge point mechanic allows players to take over some narrative control over the story. And since the system is pretty rules-lite, the rules rarely get in the way of the roleplaying.

Although I love Fudge very much, there are some drawbacks. Alas the organization of the book is not as good as it could be, which makes things a bit hard to follow when you read it for the first time. But once you got it, it’s pretty easy to teach to your players. The toolbox nature of Fudge also means that the GM has more work than in most games. But if you can look beyond this, you’ll probably love Fudge as much as I do.

I recently announced that I was writing a Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition adventure. Progress on this project has been steady. Anytime I have a free block of time to myself I am working on it. I have already learned a lot and am excited to learn more as I continue working on this project.

I thought It would be interesting to talk a little bit about where my motivation for such a project is coming from and what keeps me working on it. The short answer is that I need a creative outlet. I have Dungeons & Dragons night with my friends and I have my personal blog, but I still feel like I have a void to fill. That is why I started writing my own adventure.

Growing up I had music. At an early age I picked up playing the drums and through my life I have been the drummer for a hand full of local bands in Washington State. That was a huge outlet for me and something I enjoyed very much. When I made the move with my fiancé to Juneau Alaska I tried for 4 years to get a band together. Eventually I I gave up on trying to put a band together in Juneau.

I guess that is where Dungeons & Dragons came into play. It helped fill in the void of needing to do something creative and fun. As time has gone on I have gotten better at planning adventures for my group and needing less prep time to do it. So now I have been left with another void to fill with something creative.

Reading books like The 4 Hour Work Week and blogs like Wil Wheaton’s, I have been inspired to create something with my creative energy. Something I hope other people will enjoy. That something is a Dungeons & Dragons 4 Edition Adventure. Wish me luck!

To celebrate yesterdays’ release of the PDF version of “Time of High Adventure” by Crafty Games, we give away one copy of the Fantasy Craft 2nd printing PDF today! As with all our PDF giveaways in the past, you need to have an account at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow in order to participate. But this should be a minor hurdle, if you ask me.

So, what do you have to do to get your hands on a copy of Fantasy Craft? That’s extremely easy this time. Just leave a comment under this post. That’s all. I will randomly pick a winner tomorrow at noon GMT+2 (German time). It would be nice if you write about why you’re interested in Fantasy Craft in the first place.

P.S.: To avoid possible confusion, please note that the prize for the giveaway contest is Fantasy Craft, not Time of High Adventure!

As in the last months we can provide our readers with a 20% discount coupon code for DriveThruRPG. The coupon code is good from now till October 5th and can be used with purchases from the following publishers:

• Cubicle 7
• Dream Pod 9
• Fabled Environments
• Fat Dragon Games
• Goodman Games
• Erisian Entertainment
• Generic Universe Publishing
• Holistic Designs
• Kallisti Press
• Louis Porter Jr. Design
• OtherWorld Creations
• Palladium Books
• Rogue Games
• RPG Objects
• Savage Mojo

The code is HotAugustGames2010! Enjoy!

And while you’re there, why don’t you get Warrior, Rogue & Mage and the supplement From the Imperial Forges as well? They are both free and if you like rules-light fantasy games you’re in for a treat!

Recent events in my life have me thinking about pets. Be they familiars, animal companions or summoned animals, whatever way your system of choice calls them, why do we feel the urge to have pets in our games? I can see why… The joy and happiness they bring into our real lives is one we want to recreate in the game as well. Or maybe we are just looking for a way to inflict more damage during combat. It’s a toss up, I’ll admit it.

Looking back I don’t think I’ve ever run a game where there was not at least one animal, either a pet, familiar, or simply a beloved steed or pack animal. In AD&D 1^st edition at one point my players all decided to get pets, I remember the ranger with his pet iguana the most. In AD&D 2^nd edition I had a player who loved wolves and always wanted his characters to have a trained wolf no matter which character he played. In D&D 3^rd edition where the rules for the animal companions and familiars were codified with grater detail, characters enjoyed the mechanical benefits of said companions in the game. I fondly recall the Dwarf Druid with his wolf animal companion and all the command words he made up. It was an integral part of his role playing.

Animals in my campaigns have also met with some terrible fates. There is a running joke among my players that no horse survives long in my table. Although I’ve broken the tradition, for the longest time horses died like flies in my games. One time players spent a whole session acquiring horses with special qualities, named them, equipped them, only to tie them to a tree outside the dungeon and go in! Needless to say when they came back there was no sign of the horses.

Currently in our Pathfinder game a player created a Summoner from the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Players Guide. This class has a special companion called an Eidolon and the player has gone into great detail about the creature, its personality, making sure it is an integral part of just who his character is, a detail I am not soon to forget.

Of course, for every memorable animal in a campaign, there have been familiars that seem to be forgotten until needed, like Vaarsuvius’ familiar in the Order of the Stick. They are there, in the periphery, and only come into play when the player or game master remembers them. Systems that mechanize the rules for animals as allies for players add an incentive for the player to handle and remember the rules for their pets. In the instances of memorable animals in my campaigns the players have been critical in making sure the animal just doesn’t fade into obscurity.

But as a Game Master it is also my responsibility to maintain a sense of realism, to present to the players a believable world that contains all elements, including their pets. Here are some tips to help you achieve this:

• I keep NPC lists to make sure I don’t forget anyone. Especially lists of recurring NPCs or NPCs that travel with the group. Always make sure to write down the name, species and a short description of pets there as well, that way when you review the NPCs for the next session you don’t forget them.
• If you don’t like to keep lists of NPCs, I’m pretty sure you at least keep notes about the player characters. If so make sure you write the name of the pet along with the name of the character that way you’ll associate one with the other, eventually the pairing will become second nature.
• If you are more visual, consider giving the player a visual cue that will remind you of the animal. A picture he or she needs to keep close, a plush version of the animal or even a toy. That way you’ll both be constantly reminded of the pet.
• Make sure you include the animal in your descriptions, cement its existence in the player’s minds. Describe the smell, the behavior, real animals are easy to portray if you watch Animal Planet or after a quick search online. Fantastic animals are even better, you can make up details such as diet and behaviors, making it seem real! Remember an animal needs care; be sure to mention to the player the time spent doing this. Try to include the animal in at least one description during every game.

These are all simple solutions that when used can make that animal accompanying your player’s character that much more real. I hope they are useful and help keep those poor animals from vanishing into thin air!

PS – This last bit is purely personal so feel free to skip it and move on to the next post, I assure you it will be more interesting that this!

Allow me to take a moment to dedicate this post to Akira, my faithful animal companion for 17 years. She recently failed her saving throw and is no longer with me. I’ll miss her immensely, but it was her time. She left me with two other pets, Lula the dog and Morphy the cat, which also miss her. She can’t be replaced but she’ll always be remembered!

PS 2 – In case you didn’t get it, the title for the post and accompanying image, come from that unforgettable movie classic Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

I still have very fond memories of the Lone Wolf game books I lent from my friend Sven back when we were still in school. The Lone Wolf books focus on the world of Magnamund, where  the forces of good and evil fighting over control. The protagonist is Lone Wolf, the last member of the Kai Lords, a caste of warrior monks. Since it’s a game book the player is in control of Lone Wolf’s actions. That is you can regularly make decisions on what to do, which changes the story and the outcome of the book.

The system (if you would call it such) was extremely easy and involved rolls with a d10 to determine if certain actions were successful or not. Most players probably used the Random Number Table provided in the book to generate random number, but you could also easily use a ten-sided die to do the same.

Recently Mongoose Publishing has released a game that surprised me a lot. It’s called “Lone Wolf Multiplayer Game Book” and is written by Matthew Sprange and Joe Dever, author of the original game books. The 114-paged book is a true pen & paper roleplaying game using the simple rules from the game book for tabletop gaming. Although this sounds like a crackpot idea at first, especially new players and fans of rules-lite systems will love it.

As in the original game book series, you play one of the Kai Lords. Each character has a Combat Skill and Endurance value which are used in combat, a couple of Kai Disciplines (like “Mind over Matter”, “Animal Kinship”, or Weaponskill), up to two weapons and up to eight miscellaneous items and that’s it. As I mentioned before, the system is as barebones as it gets.

In combat the combat skills of your character and your opponent are compared and you roll on the Combat Ratio chart to determine how many Endurance you and your opponent lose. Doing other tests usually involves rolling a d10, is your roll result higher than a set Difficulty by the GM you succeed.

The Gamemaster section of the book does a good job explaining what a GM does and also contains a list of monsters for the players to fight. The book also contains a quite detailed description of the history of Magnamund, and some details about the world including a map. The background definitely isn’t as deep and complex as many other campaign settings, but especially if you loved the game books back in the day, you probably won’t mind. I have to admit I picked up that game mainly because I had nostalgic feelings toward the series.

The layout is clean although I would have preferred a more classic two-columned layout. Both cover artwork and the interior illustrations are of a good quality although not really overwhelming. The look reminded me a lot of the game books itself and I am sure this was intended.

All in all the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Game Book is an interesting game which should appeal to most fans of the original series and people who want to give roleplaying a try without having to bother with complex rules. The book contains everything players and GMs need to run a game set into the world of Magnamund although only Kai Lord characters are playable using the core book.

Here’s where the supplement “Heroes of Magnamund” comes into play. The 148-paged book introduces a couple of new character classes including the Border Ranger of the North, the Dwarven Gunner of Bor or the Knight of the White Mountain.

Every class has a list of special abilities much like the Kai Disciplines, get’s to choose from several sets of starting equipment and comes with several pages of description of the class. The book also provides a character sheet for every class. The new classes add a lot of depth to the game and the world without adding too many new rules. The list of classes is also varied enough, so that everyone should find a character he wants to play.

Heroes of Magnamund also provides new weapons, armor and equipment. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone to pick up Heroes of Magnamund if he already enjoys the core game because it adds a whole plethora of new options for players.

Even if you are not interested in using the rules provided in the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Game Book you can easily use the information in those two books to run a Magnamund campaign in the game of your choice. I am sure a Savage Worlds conversion for example should be very easy to do.

Together with the supplement Heroes of Magnamund, the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Game Book is a valid alternative to other rules-lite fantasy games. Especially if you’re a fan of the original game book series, you should give this game a chance. You won’t be disappointed. Both books are available in print and as digital downloads. The PDFs set you back $11.99 each and are available from DriveThruRPG.

Please note that this review is based on reading through the PDF versions of the both books. My copy of Heroes of Magnamund has been provided by the publisher.

Back in the day, when we were still young and had too much time on our hands, we played in long campaigns, sometimes even spanning years. But in recent years I haven’t finished any campaign properly. Either we lost interest in the game or the group dissolved before the campaign has reached a satisfactory conclusion.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have a lot of fun, but as a GM I still feel I should try to bring a campaign to a proper end. But I am actually my own worst enemy here, because I love to try out new things. One of the reasons why we haven’t finished any campaign properly was because of me convincing my players to try something new while we haven’t finished the old campaign first.

So I finally sat down and pondered the whole situation. After some consideration, I think the best is to just quit all half-finished campaigns for good. After that I want to start something new. Instead of starting an epic campaign or just another one-shot, I’ll prepare a mini-campaign that should last for a couple of sessions. I am not sure how many sessions are actually needed, but perhaps some of you has some sound advice. This way, we can relatively easy try out new things but still get to finish a story arc.

I really hope this might be a way to make things even more enjoyable for me and my roleplaying buddies, but I am not sure if this really works. I think I’ll just have to give it a try.

I received and early copy of the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Red Box Fantasy Roleplaying Game Starter Set last week. It’s the first product to be released from the 4th edition Essentials product line. I have already posted an unboxing video, but now that I have spent a couple of days with the Red Box it’s time to let you know what I think.

First off I want to talk a moment about the Essentials product line. Dungeons & Dragons essentials products are people new to role playing games and new to D&D. With simplified Character creation that works with all aspects of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons its the right choice. I also feel it’s a great choice for people like me. People who DM more games than they play and struggle over character creation as a result. Being able to quickly build a character and join a game is worth it’s weight in gold to me.

THE RED BOX
The Red Box is beautiful to look at. The pictures I have seen on-line do not do it justice. The front of the box features art work by Larry Elmore that first appeared on the 1983 version of the Red Box and the Dungeons & Dragons Logo uses the same retro font as well. It’s very inviting and just begs to be open when you’re looking at it. As your eye wonders down from the art you read ‘The Ultimate game of your imagination, complete with monsters, magic, and treasure. For 1 or more beginning to intermediate players”.

The sides of the box all say ‘Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game’ in the retro font. The back of the box shows a picture of what is inside. A quick glance and you can see that the Character Sheet has been changed and the monster tokens have different monsters on them than the tokens that came with the original 4th Edition starter set. “Your First Step on the Road to Adventure” is written in big red font on the back followed by:

This game box contains everything you need to start playing the Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game. You can play an adventurous hero exploring a world of monsters and magic, or you can be the Dungeon Master who presents heroic quests, builds dungeons, and runs the monsters, In this game, anything is possible-the only limit is your imagination!

Game Components:
Dungeon Master’s Book, With Game rules and adventure content for heroes of levels 1-2
Player’s Book, with hero creation rules and a solo-play adventure
1 double-sided sheet of die-cut hero and monster tokens
Character sheets and power cards
Double-sided battle map
6 game dice

The back of the box also mentions other 4th edition essentials products that will be coming out in the months to come.

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials
Check out these 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game products:

For Players and Dungeon Masters
Dungeons & Dragons Rules Compendium
Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Dice Set

For Players
Heroes of the Fallen Lands
Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms

For Dungeon Masters
Dungeon Master’s Kit
Monster Vault
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Dungeon
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The City
Dungeon Tiles Master Set: The Wilderness

DICE
After opening up the Red Box the first thing I pulled out was a bagged set of opaque, white-inked black polyhedral dice. Unlike the multi colored dice that came in the original 4th edition starter set these dice are all the same color. The numbers are well inked and the two contrasting colors make the numbers very easy to read. Having dice that are easy to read will make the game move along faster. I think these dice where a good call by Wizards of the Coast.

YOUR NEXT QUEST AWAITS
Under the dice was a ‘Your Next Quest Awaits” card. It contains a link with a redemption code to download your next adventure for free. I have tried the link but it currently does not work. The card does say that the link will be active from September 7, 2010 until December 31, 2011.

PLAYER’S BOOK
Next in the box is the Dungeons & Dragons Player Book declaring “Read This First!”. The red stabled 32 page paper back book feels sturdy in your hands. This thing is not going to fall apart anytime soon. The art on the Player’s Book is also wonderful. It’s an updated version of Larry Elmore peace on the box.

The art and writing inside the Players Book has been done extremely well. It’s all sharp and clear. Pictures of your possible character and monsters along with images showing you how to fill in the new Character sheet are throughout the whole book.

This book wastes no time in getting you started playing a game. It’s setup a lot like a Choose Your Own Adventure. You’re building your character out on your character sheet while fighting goblins. Your standard races of Elf, Dwarf, Human, Halfling and your standard classes of Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, and Cleric are all options to choose from. By the end of the solo adventure you have a flushed out level 1 character. Building my Character took less than 30 minutes.

DUNGEON MASTER’S BOOK
Featuring the same cover art as the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s book is 64 pages long. It feels just as strong as the Players Handbook and the art work throughout is just as impressive. The Dungeon Master’s book explains more of the rules and continues on with the adventure started from the player’s book and assumes at this point you have other adventures with you.

There are several quests in the Dungeon Master’s book that will take characters just shy of level 3. The book also contains the stats of several additional monsters and helps  walks the dungeon master though creating his or her own adventure. But level 2 is as high as you can go. You will need to purchase the other Players Essential books to level up past level 2.

POWER CARDS
After the DM book you will find 7 sheets of power cards. Each sheet has 9 cards that can be easily popped out. At-Will, Encounter and Daily power cards are all here. The cards look great.

This is however is where my enthusiasm for the Red Box dipped a bit. The power cards are printed on very thin card stock as you can see from my unboxing video. Wizards of the Coast makes the Magic the Gathering card game. This company knows how to make playing cards right, but the card stock they used for the power cards are just a let down. Worse yet, the power cards are not repeated anywhere else in the Red Box. So if you lose your power cards that’s it. I had read that the Red Box contained power cards before, but I just expected the powers to also be listed in the player’s book so people would be able to write them down on index cards.

CHARACTER SHEET
The Red Box contains 4 copies of a new simplified character sheet. This I was happy to see. I don’t play Dungeons & Dragons anywhere near to how much I DM it. When I do play it I dread creating my player character. For me it is the most difficult part of playing Dungeons & Dragons. All my friends tell me this is just because I don’t play as much as I DM. If I played as much as everyone else I would have the player creation process down.

The Character sheet is a one page, one side sheet and is very simple. I had no trouble creating a character at all. It took me less than 30 minutes to do it. Throughout the Players Handbook the reader is encouraged to use a a sheet of paper to build out their character if they are out of character sheets or have been unable to photo copy off any extras. (Why don’t they encourage this with the power cards?) I am hoping that they will have a downloadable PDF of the new character sheet on the Dungeons & Dragons website soon.

HERO AND MONSTER TOKENS
Here is an upgrade from the original 4E Starter Set. These die-cut tokens are on nice thick stalk. Almost cardboard stock (maybe it is cardboard) and they are glossy. With new monsters and in some cases what looks like updated art, these are impressive. I always thought Wizards of the Coast should sell Monster tokens alongside their miniatures. I would buy them.

BATTLE MAP
The double-sided battle map that is included inside the Red Box is printed on what appears to be thicker paper then some of the battle maps I have gotten in the past that from D&D adventures. One side is a dungeon map and the other side is an outside map.

PROS:

• Well printed full color Players and Dungeon Master Books
• Simplified character creation
• The characters you build can be used in a normal 4th Edition D&D game
• Great looking Character and Monster Tokens
• Easy to read dice
• It’s everything you need to get started

CONS:

• Power Cards are printed on flimsy stock and not documented in any of the included books.
• No PDF Download for the new Character Sheet.

Recently a few more reviews of WR&M have been released. The first has been written by Ina Vegt of the “Tales of the Swampwitch’s Adventures” blog. Some while ago she already reviewed the 4-paged version of the game and now she picked up the revised version to give it another look. Here’s an excerpt from her review:

All in all, this is an improvement over the old version of WR&M, but the new things aren’t really ground shaking, and the differences are minor. It’s free, so if you enjoy WR&M, or think you might enjoy it, you should pick it up.

The second one has been written by Will Hopkins of Creatively Anomalous. His support and comments to WR&M actually helped me a lot when I was working on the revised edition. He also included “From the Imperial Forges” in his review. Here’s what he has to say about the game:

At the astonishing price of $0, you can’t afford not to pick up both WR&M and From the Imperial Forges.  WR&M makes a great game for experienced and new roleplayers alike, and there is something attractive about the DIY nature of the game.  It’s certainly a polished product, but it still feels like something a bunch of friends cooked up together.  I can’t give a much higher recommendation than that.

Thanks for the reviews, Ina and Will!

I am probably not as familiar with the exploits of John Madden as some of my American readers, but I found this video funny nevertheless. Please enjoy!

By the way, have you ever had to deal with a “replacement dungeon master” and things got wrong? If so, please tell us about it in the comments below!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to prove that there’s no renewed interest in older editions of D&D and other games, but I want to share my thoughts on the perception of that phenomenon.

Recently there was some more discussion about the OSR on Twitter and on various blogs. The whole drama was started when someone discovered a quite unfortunate blurb on the Frog God Games site.

I don’t want to repeat what the whole hubbub’s about, you’ll easily find out when using Google or checking your favorite old-school blogs. But again people started to muse about the state the “OSR” is in, as if it were a single entity – which it isn’t. There are a lot of people interested in old-school gaming (whatever this may be for each of these persons) and some of them think of themselves as members of the Old-School Revivial (or Revolution) movement. But there’s no single organization uniting all these gamers. Basically everyone fends for himself.

There probably still is TARGA, which tried to be an umbrella organization for all things old-school, but it’s definitely not speaking for all old-school advocates, not even the majority. And they had a fair amount of drama on their own turf as well. Go figure…

When fans of D&D 4th Edition praise their own community for its unity they forget that a) that there is no single “OSR” community and b) the old-school movement is about a lot of different D&D editions and even other games as well, not just one. It’s much easier to be a united group if you can decide on just one game to venerate.

My advice is to remember that when you deal with something old-school you’re not facing a tight-knit community but a bunch of individuals who merely like older editions of D&D. It’s not an OSR scandal or something, it’s just the opinion of individuals.

Now let’s move on, there’s nothing more to see here.

Youseph got his review copy of the new D&D Red Box today and recorded a short unboxing video.  He told me that there will be a review coming soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, enjoy the video!

I have to admit the box looks like a really good starter set for D&D. As I posted about before, I already preordered the box some time ago to give it a chance. Let’s see how this turns out.

In my case it’s Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds is a generic roleplaying game that allows you to run games in any genre, the rules are easy to learn but have a certain complexity that will not disappoint more tactically-minded players. In fact Savage Worlds can easily be used as miniature strategy game, or you can play it without any miniatures at all.

The latest version of the rules is the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition, a 160-paged digest-sized book which contains everything you need to run a game in almost any genre. Everything else is just optional. Basically you can run endless campaigns using just this book.

And what amazes me the most is that this great game sets you back mere $10 for a full-color paperback book! That’s another reason why anyone should give it a chance.

What is the game you would recommend to your fellow gamers? As always I am very interested in your thoughts, so please post your comments below!

I’ll admit it, naming non-player characters and places in role playing game is HARD! If you are not careful you’ll end up with names your players will make fun of for years to come. The noble and serious NPCs that will be the key to the plot will not be remembered for his generosity or secret knowledge, but for being called Uacs Oftin.

Ok that may be a little exaggerated, but I’ve had real experiences. When naming settlements in a map, never do it late at night, you’ll end up with a town called Unoc. Whenever my players saw the name on the map they asked “Where are Doc, Trec and Cuatroc?” (That’s pretty basic Spanish but just in case, that’s a play on the numbers uno=one, dos=two, tres=three, and so on… Hilarious I know). Sadly that same map had a nearby town called Scret, dangerously close to escreta. Having a town name shit, well that pretty much sets an expectation right there. And well the list of NPCs with funny names is long…

I can hear the advice “Well Roberto, don’t name places or NPCs on the spot, do it ahead of time…”To what I say, that’s all well and good but I like a little improvisation, I like to keep things fluid and sometimes you must name an NPC on the spot and you better be ready for it. So here are a few tools and short cuts I use…

The Everchanging Book of Names, this is a handy dandy name generator that allows you to generate one name, or lists of names, from real world cultures to popular campaign worlds and fiction. You can print out lists ahead of time to use while you play or, if you use your computer while gaming just keep the program running and open it up when you need a new name. The names it generates are all fantasy names so you need other tools for different genres.

To create consistency and plausibility I try to select names of certain cultures or places in my campaign world from specific real world cultures, so baby names websites are very useful, like Baby Names and Baby Hold, which allow you to search by letter and cultures.

If you play sci-fi games there are sci-fi name generators on the Internet, but many generate funny versions of your name for specific settings, which sorts of defeats the purpose. There is a Star Wars Galaxies name generator for the races available in that MMO. This sci-fi name generator allows you to generate names for Star Trek, Star Wars, and Firefly, or generic names for aliens, locations, and planets. All in all a great resource!

For modern games naming should be easy, just look at the TV, pick up a newspaper or simply look online. Wikipedia’s list of most common names by region is useful when you need that foreign spy to have the right sounding name.

I’m not a fan of random superhero names; to me it seems their names convey so much of what they are, that leaving it to chance is just wrong. But when you absolutely must name a hero or villain on the spot, well there is Seventh Sanctum. That website has all sorts of generator, from the names of Mecha, Organizations, to Anime Powers.

Those are just a few of the tools available out there, this barely scratches the surface. I’d love to know, what tools, generators or lists do you use for your games?

Some time ago, Martin Ralya of GnomeStew.com and Engine Publishing asked me if I was interested in reviewing Eureka. I’ve read about Eureka before and since I am chronically under-prepared for my games, it looked like the perfect book for me. So he send me a copy and I was immediately blown away!

So what’s Eureka about? Eureka is a 314-paged book containing 501 unique adventure plots that are meant to inspire game masters and help them preparing their own games. And I can assure you, that the authors of Eureka didn’t promise too much! After a foreword written by industry veteran Monte Cook and a chapter on how to use this book in your game, you get almost 300 pages of adventure plots for Fantasy, Horror and SF roleplaying games. Of course every plot not only lists other genres it’s easily adapted to, but also is tagged to help GMs to fit the plots into their own campaigns. That are much more potential adventures than anyone can run in a  lifetime, considering you can probably use a plot several times.

Eureka has been inspired by Georges Polti’s 1921 book “The thirty-six dramatic situations”. He theorized that all books, plays, movies etc. are based on just 36 basic plots. The authors of Eureka didn’t slavishly follow that theory, but used it as an inspiration to come up with a list of standard situations of their own. And then they wrote a couple of adventure plots for each of those standard situations.

Each Adventure Plot is not just a simple plot hook but a fully-fledged out plot that can be easily turned into  a proper adventure by any GM with only a few minutes to an hour of preparation. I have to admit I haven’t read all of the adventure plots yet, but from what I’ve read so far, they are pretty unique and very creative. I would love to give some examples, but that would probably spoil too much, but you can trust me, that I was blown away by the sheer creativity in that book.

Another noteable feature of Eureka are the four indices. There you can find plots by genre, tag, title and author. The PDF version’s table of content is also fully linked, so getting to a certain section in the book is just a click away. Perhaps I should also mention the artwork of the book. The full-color cover by Andrew McIntosh gives you a good hint of what to expect from the book and is beautifully done. The interior artwork was done by various artists in various styles but is always of pretty high quality. But in my opinion the book would have been as good even without any interior art. But that’s just me.

So why should any GM get Eureka? In my humble opinion it’s the most useful tool a gamemaster could probably have. We all know that sometimes coming up with a unique adventure can be very hard. Especially when you get older and you don’t have that much time to prepare your games, you’re happy for any help you can get. I am pretty sure I could open Eureka at any page, read the adventure plot I find there and run an adventure after only 15 minutes of prep, probably less. That’s the power of this book, and that’s why I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Alas I forgot to pick up the print version of the book when I was at Gen Con, but I will definitely order a copy in the next few days!

Please note that this review is based on a read-through of the PDF copy of the book I got provided by the publisher. I haven’t playtested all the 501 adventures nor have any animals been harmed during the course of that review.

The print+PDF bundle available at the Engine Publishing online store sets you back $34.95 and you can get the PDF version for mere $16.95, which is a great price for this book. The PDF version is also available at DriveThruRPG for the same price.

I’ve never been particularly handy. I’ll write, talk in public, and I can tell a pretty good yarn (or so I’ve been told), but I’m not great with cars or home repair. I’ll hook up your computer or your home theater, but don’t ask me to fix the plumbing; I just don’t have the skill ranks!

Likewise my relation with the more “arts and crafts” aspects of our hobby has been more as an observer than a participant. I have friends who paint miniatures and do so with great skill, customize their creations and produce some beautiful work. I’ve been bitten by the bug before. In high school I ordered some plastic Warhammer Fantasy minis (can’t remember the set but I know it had dwarves and skavens) and some paints and tried my hand at it for the first time. I had no notion on how this was done and even though I understood the idea of priming the miniatures I overeager to paint and did not allow the primer to dry properly. Let’s just say that attempt was less than successful.

Later, in college, I tried my hand at it again and with some coaching from those aforementioned friends.  I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say when I showed the final product to a friend he asked me if I had just dunked the miniature in paint and set it out to dry. End of try two!

For years I did not play with miniatures so this was no big deal, but when D&D 3^rd edition came around I realized I needed some miniatures to get the most out of the combat system. I first I used my old HeroQuest board game minis, some other unpainted minis I had purchased thought a life of gaming, even some Mage Knight miniatures. My prayers were answered when the D&D miniatures came out and I was bit by the “plastic crack” bug (that’s what my friends and I used to call it). By now I have enough miniatures to play for a long, long while.

I am happy to move around the miniatures in a hand drawn map, or some of the tiles or maps made by Paizo and Wizards of the Coast. I’ve spoken about this in previous posts, but as I’ve met more fellow gamers over this past year through the Puerto Rico Role Players Group I’ve been amazed at some of the wonderful dioramas and models they create. These are labors of love that greatly enhance the feel of a game. When we had a table at a local convention promoting the group the reaction to the models being displayed was awesome.

So with another convention coming up we wanted to display some of those wonderful creations. Sadly both of the talented artists will not be able to attend the con, but both agreed to send some of their work and one of them actually offered to help us make some new terrain to display. I was reluctant at first. I’ve never been particularly handy and I saw little possibility I might actually be good at it, but never one to shy away from a challenge I said, “Why not!” What’s the worse that could happen? I end up with an ugly looking piece of cardboard that’s supposed to be a fort!

Last Saturday my friend Sara and I met with Jaime and Mario. Both make excellent models and terrains. Mario makes incredible pieces using everything from printed out models, to household items and even animal carcasses (I kid you not! You should see his dragon skeleton made from a rat’s skeleton…). Jaime, well Jaime is in a league of his own, he is a model maker, make up artist and all around great guy (Mario is a great guy too, I just don’t like to tell him too often or he’ll get too full of himself).

Jaime was an excellent teacher, providing materials, sound advice and patience, sharing his craft with us and actually getting me to do what I considered impossible, work on terrain for a role-playing game that actually LOOKS like what it’s supposed to represent.

We decided to work on a river bed and Sara, Mario and I each worked on a piece of the river. We carved the riverbed in Foamular and then used the same material to create promontories, boulders and rocks. We used a heat gun to give the terrain some features. Sadly I had to leave early but Mario and Jaime put the base coat of paint on the pieces and we’ll get back together next week to finish the river using some silicone.

I am so thrilled about the experience. I actually managed to make some terrain and at the stage I left it, it didn’t look half bad. You can look at the picture here in the post. I also know it had a lot to do with the teacher. Jaime is incredibly talented and patient; communicates effortlessly and gives good solid advice and encouragement. Best of all I felt this was something I could do. I am psyched about finishing this project, displaying it at the convention and maybe tackling some other projects.

I feel like I gained a geek level over the weekend!