Author Archives: the venomous pao

Sidekick, Rival, Or Nemesis?

Hey, it’s that rascally Kor Danys. What’s his relationship with Nyr’n Pharr? No matter what, he’s definitely a better shot with that plasma pistol.

Kor Danys
Little Man With The Gun In His Hand
Might 2D+2 Agility 3D+2
Wit 3D+1 Charm 2D+1
Skills: Knife 4D, Dodge 5D, Streetwise 3D+1, Plasma Pistol 5D, Pick Pockets 4D+1, Pick Locks 3D+2, Brawling 3D, Stamina 3D+1
Perks: None
Complications: None
Gear: Dagger (5D), Plasma Pistol (5D)
Static: Dodge 15, Block 9, Parry 12
Body Points: 28
Armor: Leather (+2)

Update: Just Not Feelin’ It

Well, hell. I’m sorry folks, but what with this new job (at a startup, which means much madness) and all, I’m just not quite feeling the geek blogging spark. The past few nights I’ve sat down at the ol’ writing machine and just kind of started off into space, unable to put any of my thoughts into coherent action. And that’s frustrating. And then that frustration feeds on itself. I’m sure y’all know the feeling.

So what’s a poor pao to do? I figure I’ll just keep on staring at the page until the words come, but in the meantime I thought I should at least say something so y’all don’t think I’ve up and died or somethin’.

My copy of the Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes “bonus pack” arrived over the weekend, and a very quick flip through the main rules confirms my suspicion that it’s probably exactly what I need to supplement my desire to run a psychedelic Science Fiction setting using Tunnels & Trolls – so much so that I might not need T&T at all. So if I can ever get the swirling ideas around that concept to solidify, I’m pretty sure what I’ll be using.

I also finally knuckled under and bought the PDF of BASH Ultimate Edition, the better to scratch my creeping Superhero gaming itch. It’s an interesting game that I think is quite capable of handling a nice & diverse batch of power levels. It seems like a worthy successor to the late & lamented Silver Age Sentinels in the “It’s like Champions, but lighter” category. I think this may prove to be the game system that unlocks the crazy dimension- and world-hopping 60s/70s Marvel-esque superhero/fantasy game that’s also bouncing around in my head.

That’s about all I can actually wring out of my sad little brain at this point, I’m afraid. But the fact that there ideas struggling to be born has to count for something, right? 🙂

Oh, and just so there’s something actually useful in this post, here’s a quick Mini Six character. Why? Because Mini Six is nice and easy to create characters for, don’tchaknow?

Nyr’n Pharr
Science Fantasy Hero Extraordinaire
Might 4D Agility 2D+2
Wit 2D+1 Charm 3D
Skills: Axe/Mace 5D, Dodge 4D, Stealth 3D, Pick Locks 3D, Persuasion 3D+2, Riding 4D, Seduce 4D, Streetwise 4D
Perks: None
Complications: None
Gear: Axe (7D), Dagger (5D), Plasma Pistol (5D)
Static: Dodge 12, Block 12, Parry 15
Body Points: 32
Armor: Chainmail (+6)

Pardon The Interruption

Sorry for the slowness of late, dear readers. The Pao started a new job at an internet startup and hasn’t had the time or energy for much geekery of late. I expect things to settle down and let me get at least some posting in before too much longer.

Meanwhile, guess what lovely purchase I just made…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYAAMih6QvM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ATt3FXAUY

T&T: The Expert Class

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not exactly new to Tunnels & Trolls, but I’m also not well-versed in it. I can probably count the number of games of it I’ve played on one, maybe two hands. But those games stretch back to the early 80s. Regardless of my general lack of grounding in the game, I have often – especially lately – been drawn to its strange combination of depth and simplicity. It seems capable of a wild & woolly richness that I think can be applied to other, less “fighty” genres quite well. So as I try to shake this weird, undefined psychedelic science fiction setting out of my head (where it’s clinging, like water in the ear) I keep finding myself thinking that T&T might be the engine to drive it.

To make T&T work for my (admittedly rough) concepts, which are informed mostly by things like Space: 1999, Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and some of Samuel R. Delany’s books (Nova and Babel-17 especially) I need a class that isn’t really found in T&T: one that represents the highly-trained (or naturally gifted) scholar/scientist/expert/engineer/etc. One could arguably accomplish this with the Citizen class (in 7.x), but as written the Citizen just sucks too much for regular play – especially when compared to the other classes (as it should, since it was intended to).

So what I’m proposing is a class I’ll call the Expert. This class should excel at knowledge-oriented things, so their “special ability” is the rapid acquisition of Talents. For this setting I’m going to likely allow other classes (at least their Human members, if other races crop up) to begin with two Talents. Therefore, in order to make the Expert stand apart, they’ll gain Talents at an accelerated rate early on. Here’s the Talent progression I have in mind:

  • 1st level: 3 Talents
  • 2nd level-5th level: 2 Talents
  • 6th level & beyond: 1 Talent

This means that the Expert will wind up having 5 Talents more than their less-skilled brethren once they reach 5th level, and stay that way thereafter. That seems like enough of an edge without being too fiddly or encumbering. Further, the “bonus talents” (those over and above what other classes would earn at the equal level) can never be “worth” less than a +3 rating. Those talents, however, must represent some kind of non-combat-oriented knowledge or skill.

Where I’m hitting a roadblock is how to have these guys perform in combat. Clearly they’re not Warriors, so they definitely don’t get any kind of armor bonus (or attack bonus, in 7.x). But I also don’t see them as uniformly unfighty as Wizards or, god forbid, Citizens. So I think I’ll just let them have normal Combat Adds (like Rogues and Specialists). Still, I’m not sure that this doesn’t overpower them somehow. So I’m open to suggestions.

Since this is all pretty clearly for T&T 7.x, I should note that the “Level Attributes” for the Expert are: INT, DEX, LK, and CHR. Those seem the most reasonable, but two of those are also Combat Adds stats, so I worry a little about pushing these guys too hard in the combat direction. PSI (which is just Wizardry renamed), STR, CON, and SPD definitely don’t fit the archetype, though. So I guess I’ll run with it.

Anyway, here’s a quick trio of Experts who find themselves in a strange new world. Let’s hope all that fancy book learnin’ helps them survive.

Gauthier M / Expert / Human / 1
STR 12 CON 7 DEX 9 SPD 10
INT 15 PSI 9 LK 9 CHR 9

Height 5′ 11″ Weight 170 lbs.

Adventure Points 0
Combat Adds +0

Talents Linguistics (+6), Poetry (+5), Fencing (+3)
Languages More than a few

ElectroPistol (4+4), Woven Techsuit (6)

Declercq G / Expert / Human / 1
STR 11 CON 6 DEX 14 SPD 14
INT 15 PSI 5 LK 10 CHR 10

Height 5′ 11″ Weight 170 lbs.

Adventure Points +4
Combat Adds

Talents Physics (+4), Archaeology (+3), Stardrive Engineering (+6)
Languages More than a few

ElectroPistol (4+4), Woven Techsuit (6)

Rieux A / Expert / Human / 3
STR 8 CON 14 DEX 8 SPD 8
INT 32 PSI 13 LK 10 CHR 11

Height 5′ 11″ Weight 170 lbs.

Adventure Points 0
Combat Adds −3

Talents Star Piloting (+3), Trick Shooting (+6), History (+6), Literature (+2), Chemistry (+4), Persuasion (+4), Chess (+4)
Languages Freaking All Of Them

ElectroPistol (4+4), Woven Techsuit (6)

The Lost Expedition Of Martin Hidalgo

Wherein your humble scribe presents three characters and a monster for Tunnels & Trolls. I believe tapas is in order…

In the late summer of 1526 the Spanish explorer Martin Hidalgo Guadalupe Ramirez y Sanchez set sail for Hispaniola from Seville with but a single caravel (the Santa Inez) and a small number of men, which was all the dwindling fortunes of his family could afford. The ultimate goal of the Hidalgo expedition was, of course, to discover as much information about (and plunder as much gold from) the New World as possible. The ship and its crew never reached Santo Domingo and was presumed lost at sea. At the time it was theorized that the ship may have encountered Hurricane San Francisco, which later caused significant damage across Hispaniola.

The tragic loss of he expedition would likely have faded into history but for the “reappearances” – three in total, spread out over the course of more than a century – of men who claimed to be survivors of the ill-fated voyage of the Santa Inez. The first of these men, a middle-aged Spaniard who called himself Juan Albano De Urquiza, “reappeared” in Madrid in 1539, telling tales of a terrible storm that “swept the Santa Inez into the skies themselves” and her safe arrival upon shores where “the snakes walked like men and devils mined gold from the earth.” De Urquiza expired from an unknown illness shortly after telling his tale to a number of sailors at a dockside taverna in Málaga.

The second reaparecido surfaced in 1588 in London. Upon his deathbed, Theodorus Van Waerwijk – a wealthy Dutch merchant who had only recently set up shop in England, confessed to an unnamed Anglican priest that his vast fortune came not from hard work but from the hands of snakes and devils he met “after Saint Agnes delivered me to that other world.” So vivid were Van Waerwijk’s descriptions that the priest entered them into the church’s records as proof of the power of Satan over the minds of even the most righteous of men. How it came to be that these words appeared several times within a series of Irish broadside ballads in the 1790s is unknown.

The story of the final person to claim connection to the Hidalgo Expedition is perhaps the unlikeliest of all. In August of 1692, at the height of the Salem Witch Trials, a “deshevel’d and derrang’d man who spoketh both in tonnegues and in the language of the Portugal” appeared out of thin air on the streets of Boston. Jose Marcelo Teixeira, as he was finally identified, was at that time a mere 19 years of age, exhibited innumerable strange behaviors and is reported to have “called upone the names of demons and cast spelles of a magickal nature.” These accusations most certainly led to his inclusion amongst those who were hanged during that dark stretch. Before he was executed, however a sympathetic old sailor who had settled in Salem and spoke a small amount of Portuguese recorded several conversations with Teixeira, the written notes of which were discovered amongst the personal effects of some distant relative only within the past decade. In these notes, the terrified and tormented Teixeira details a land similar to that described by both De Urquiza and Van Waerwijk, including references to walking snakes and devils under the hills.

Juan Albano De Urquiza / Warrior / Human / 1
STR 10 CON 13 DEX 11 SPD 16
INT 13 WIZ 12 LK 11 CHR 12

Height 5′ 11″ Weight 170 lbs.

Adventure Points 0
Combat Adds +3

Talents Navigation (+4)
Languages Spanish, Hissanthi

Cutlass (3+3), Dagg (5+15), Cuirass (10), Open-face Helm (4)

Theodorus Van Waerwijk / Warrior / Human / 1
STR 10 CON 10 DEX 8 SPD 11
INT 17 WIZ 10 LK 14 CHR 8

Height 5′ 1″ Weight 250 lbs.

Adventure Points 0
Combat Adds +2

Talents Trading (+3)
Languages Dutch, Spanish, English, Hissanthi

Gladius (3+2), Arquebus (8+30), Cuirass (10), Open-face Helm (4)

Jose Marcelo Teixeira / Paragon / Human / 2
STR 15 CON 16 DEX 13 SPD 12
INT 21 WIZ 15 LK 15 CHR 14

Height 5′ 8″ Weight 180 lbs.

Adventure Points 0
Combat Adds +7

Magic Will-o-Wisp, Got A Match?, Psychic Compass

Talents Seamanship (+4), Singing (+1)
Languages Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hissanthi

Broadsword (3+4), Buckler (6), Cuirass (10), Open-face Helm (4)

Hissanthi

Monster Rating: 30-130
Combat Dice: 4d6+15 to 14d6+65
Special Damage: 1/2 – Hissanthi are vicious fighters; 4/Poison Bite – Hissanthi possess a caustic venom that does 2d6 damage directly to Strength (no armor) if it is delivered.
Special Abilities: The scaly hide of Hissanthi acts as 5 point armor.

Hissanthi are the snake-men native to that other world where the Lost Expedition of Martin Hidalgo found themselves after the Santa Inez was lost at sea. Some Hissanthi know a few spells, but mostly they are not given to magic use.

Children Of The Void (A BoL Adventure)

Once again the mighty G-Man, the author of the wildly popular dark fantasy Barbarians of Lemuria adventures The Unholy Greyl (40749 downloads ) and The Sea Devil's Debutante (30740 downloads ) , takes us to new levels of Lovecraftian terror with:

Children Of The Void (26117 downloads )

Under bright skies, the silted harbor of Skara-Issk glitters along her rotting wharves and ruined avenues. But the eye is drawn west, upwards, towards the massive tower that served as lighthouse back when ships’ prows cut the waters of the bay. Come nightfall, the tower’s apex flares with a brilliant bluish-white that no hand tends, and no fuel feeds. Who can say what the lighthouse of Skara-Issk guides now . . .

In addition to the adventure itself, G-Man gives us a nifty magic item, a bunch of cool spells, and a terrible new type of foe. And, as before, he’s literally giving it away! That’s right, people. No money down, no money ever! So why not download Children Of The Void (26117 downloads ) ? The 200+ folks who downloaded The Unholy Greyl (40749 downloads ) and The Sea Devil's Debutante (30740 downloads ) (each!) can’t be wrong!

BRP Characters: The Greek Resistance

Wherein your humble scribe presents a small group of lightly-statted NPCs for use with Basic RolePlaying.

Iorgos Vassilides and his compatriots are a group of Greek resistance fighters recruited to help November Company with a series of raids against the occupying Nazi army. Vassilides and company are more than happy to assist, thanks in no small part to the better equipment and food provided by the Allies.

Iorgos Vassilides
STR 18 CON 14 SIZ 15 INT 12 POW 10 DEX 10 APP 12 HP 15
Rifle 45% (1d8), Revolver 40% (1d6), Brawling 55% (1d3+1d6), Knife 35% (1d4+1d6)
Skills: Command 35%, Demolition 15%, Dodge 45%, K: Greek Mountains 85%, L: English 20%

Apollo Papasotiriou
STR 10 CON 16 SIZ 11 INT 15 POW 11 DEX 16 APP 12 HP 14
Rifle 75% (1d8), Revolver 55% (1d6), Brawling 35% (1d3), Knife 35% (1d4)
Skills: Climb 55%, Demolition 15%, Dodge 55%, Hide 35%, L: English 10%, Spot 75%, Tracking 35%

Martinos Papasotiriou
STR 16 CON 13 SIZ 17 INT 11 POW 13 DEX 13 APP 9 HP 15
Rifle 50% (1d8), Revolver 45% (1d6), Brawling 50% (1d3+1d6), Knife 35% (1d4+1d6)
Skills: Bargain 35%, Demolitions 40%, Dodge 35%, Fast Talk 40%, Insight 25%, L: English: 10%, Slight of Hand 45%

Isidoros Cosmatos
STR 16 CON 15 SIZ 9 INT 13 POW 16 DEX 11 APP 16 HP 12
Rifle 40% (1d8), Revolver 35% (1d6), Brawling 45% (1d3+1d4), Knife 65% (1d4+1d4)
Skills: Dodge 40%, First Aid 55%, K: Greek Cities 65%, L: English 55%, L: German 30%, Listen 55%, Medicine 25%

The New Phonebook Is Here!

BRP Hardback Cover
Actually, it’s not the phonebook. It’s the new Basic RolePlaying hardback. But it weighs as much as a phonebook. And it’s yellow, too.

The interior pages are, as has been reported elsewhere, slightly glossy, but not excessively so. The hardback is, indeed, hard and seems like it will hold up well. The binding appears to be aces and should last for quite a long time indeed.

Also, a cursory glance of the book shows that the key errata from the original print run have been included.

All in all, I’m utterly delighted that Chaosium decided to do this print run in hardback and that I was able to put together the scratch to nab a copy. My original run softcover is still in solid shape, but now I can feel free to beat it to a pulp at the table, comforted by the knowledge that come what may, the shiny, sturdy hardcover will be with me for decades.

The key with this print run is, as before, the content. BRP remains my go-to system for actually running games. As much as I love Barbarians of Lemuria and its relatives, my players just prefer a bit more crunch in their gaming. BRP provides that. And fortunately, this flavor of BRP leans towards the lighter implementations as found in Elric!/Stormbringer (i.e., major wounds instead of hit locations, DEX ranks rather than Strike Ranks, etc.), which means I can still get by as a GM with minimal notes and precious little advanced planning. And that suits me just fine.