Category Archives: Games

AFF: Testing Out Monster Creation

Continuing my excursion into Advanced Fighting Fantasy (the “new” one), I thought I’d try putting together a monster for the system. My copy of Out Of The Pit hasn’t arrived just yet, but the excellent online compilation Beyond The Pit has served as a solid resource to begin my expedition.

You might recognize the following baddie as one of my favorites from a different game.

Throlgh
Skill 8 Stamina 8 Wits 7
Attacks 2 claws or 1 weapon
Damage: Claws (1/1/1/2/2/2/3) or by weapon type
Armor: Varies, usually Studded Leather (0/1/1/1/2/3)
Special Skills/Abilities: Regeneration, Paralyzing Touch (see description)
Habitat: Ruins, Subterranean, Wetlands
Number Encountered: 1d6/2
Type: Humanoid, Monster
Reaction: Hostile
Size: Medium

Throlgh are an unholy combination of Ghoul, Troll, and Hobgoblin (which they superficially resemble). They are fearless fighters who hunger for the flesh of sentient beings. Like Ghouls, their touch can paralyze those wounded by their vicious claws. Those damaged by a Throlgh’s claws must make a Luck check or be rendered completely immobile for 1d6 rounds. Like Trolls, these terrible fiends regenerate, healing 1 Stamina per round (except for damage done by fire or acid). Like Hobgoblins, they are canny warriors who receive a +1 to damage rolls when using weapons. Throlgh are often found in the company of regular Hobgoblins, acting as sergeants or overseers of slaves.

Naming Fictional Chinese Cities

Hey! In case you missed it, a very nice guide to naming fictional Chinese cities has been posted over at The Celestial Empire.

If I’m not mistaken, the blog in question is operated by Gianni Vacca, the author of the book that’s also named The Celestial Empire, which is an awesome resource for (and I quote) “Roleplaying in Imperial China” for Basic RolePlaying. So you can rest assured that the semi-random name generation won’t leave you stuck with names that people who actually speak Mandarin (or maybe it’s Cantonese? I admit to being a clueless gweilo^* here) won’t laugh at or be offended by.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to pay a visit to that noodle house in Ningzhou! The Celestial Empire blog has lots of other neat stuff to look at, too. So stop there along your journey.

^*Why is it that so many derogatory terms for white people start with “G”? Gweilo. Gaijin. Gringo. Gorey. Gurra. It’s odd.

AFF: Thoughts On The Magic Systems

So, Advanced Fighting Fantasy just happens to include four(!) different magic systems. Now, to be honest, two of them – Minor Magic & Wizardry – are essentially the same “system” (roll to cast, burn Magic Points) just with different spells (MM spells are much lower in power). Sorcery is mechanically very similar to MM and Wizardry (roll to cast), but has some flavor differences and, most importantly, is powered by burning actual Stamina (i.e., Hit Point) rather than the substantially less painful expenditure of Magic Points associated with Minor Magic & Wizardry. And then there’s the Priestly approach to magic, which has some mechanical differences (no rolls to cast being the biggest, no MP or Stamina costs being the other) and limits its practitioners to many fewer spells/effect. So these systems aren’t as wildly divergent as, say, BRP’s Magic and Sorcery as presented in the Big Gold Book. But still, the differences are there.

What’s awesome here is that the functional differences between Minor Magic/Wizardry and Sorcery makes for a delightful opportunity to take the game in either a high fantasy or swords & sorcery direction just by which system(s) you choose to use. Minor Magic and Wizardry – either alone or used in conjunction – speak to high fantasy (though MM by itself might be only half high fantasy). Meanwhile, Sorcery, with its high personal cost of burning Stamina to cast, is (no surprise, given its name) perfect for a swords & sorcery feel. If you decide to use all four systems, you’re clearly in over-the-top fantasy land, which can certainly be a fun place to visit. Oh, and I suppose if you went with just Priestly magic, you’d be in a very interesting place as well. I’m not sure what you’d call that place, but it might make for an interesting Ancient World kind of feel, where only the devout were throwing magic around.

So not only is AFF a delightfully simple system to play with, it manages to be highly configurable. Mix & match magic systems to taste and you’re off and running into the fantasy feel you want to explore.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Books

So I’ve ordered vintage copies of the old AFF books Blacksand! and Out Of The Pit, and they’re both on their way. Part of me wanted to get the new printing of Out Of The Pit, but it was much more cost effective to snag an old copy, and since the new book is just a straight reprint. I’ve also read that the content from Blacksand! is due to be released by the new license holder eventually, but I didn’t feel like waiting.

Anyway, I keep having ideas of things to do with the system, but I know that it’s way too simple & light for the folks I play with normally to want to sink their teeth into. But, like Barbarians of Lemuria, I think it’s a system that I can use as an inspirational tool even if I have to then take those inspirations and wrangle them into Basic RolePlaying.

All that aside, I’m still entertaining notions of using AFF for some kind of online play or another. It strikes me as ideal for a good one- or two-player (plus GM) game. That is, having only three truly character-defining stats feels good for quick play with a small group, but even I can admit that for larger groups you’d run into folks feeling like their characters were all too much the same. But if you had one fight-y type and one magic-y type getting into trouble side-by-side, I think it would be aces.

Building Out Advanced Fighting Fantasy

Out Of The Pit In other news, I’m already kicking around some ideas for a few new talents for AFF, including:

Brawler: This talent reduces the combat score penalty for fighting unarmed against an opponent armed with anything more than a dagger from -4 to -2.
Iron Fist: This talent increases the damage table for unarmed attacks to (1/1/1/2/2/3/4)

I’ve also got an idea for implementing a whole bunch of new talents based on the Martial Arts abilities in the old, ill-fated wuxia-meets-D&D game DragonFist to make AFF a solid engine for that kind of fighting. But I’ll save those thoughts for another time.

I think the key thing I’m seeing/feeling here is that AFF is so delightfully light that (like other light games) it’s just begging to have stuff made up for it. Consider these new spells for the Minor Magic system as a great example.

I guess the ultimate point of this post is that, unsurprisingly, I like games that are inspiring and open a hell of a lot more than I like detailed games with detailed rules and answers for everything. Shocking news, I know 🙂

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Rogues Gallery

So I dropped some Winter Solstice Holiday money on the new edition of Advanced Fighting Fantasy. You know, the improved & expanded version of the Fighting Fantasy rules that powered the old “choose your own adventure meets d&d” type books from way back in the day, like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Deathtrap Dungeon.

I actually think I only ever owned Warlock, and I’m not entirely sure I even finished reading/playing it. I was already pretty deep into RPGs by the time these books started hitting the shelves in the States and I was fortunate enough at the time to have plenty of actual people to game with, so the solitaire aspect of the books wasn’t a draw for me. Still, I’ve heard a heck of a lot of stories over the years of the FF books being someone’s gateway into RPGs, so I have a certain sense of collective nostalgia for ’em.

Anyway, why this caused me to burn the cash on the new core rulebook I simply cannot say. Something about simple systems (that still feel like games and not just storytime) and maybe some online play eventually or something. Or maybe it was just a juvenile urge to do some senseless dungeon crawling? Of course, there’s other, easier ways to get that buzz nowadays…

But enough of that. Let’s look at some characters for AFF. These folks were all rolled up randomly (per the optional rules in Chapter 11), and have a bare minimum of equipment. For this initial attempt I shied away from any magic-using characters quite intentionally. Maybe I’ll do up another batch of characters using the four(!) different(ish) magic systems included in the book’s mere 176 pages. Yeah, I bet I will. Meanwhile, let’s get on with the show…

Langsbert Glassjaw / Human / Peasant Warrior
Skill 9 Stamina 5 Luck 11 Magic 0
Talent: Strongarm
Special Skills: Bargain 1, City Lore 1, Climb 1, Common Speech 4, Dodge 2, Fishing 2, Hunting 1, Polearms 2, Religion Lore 1, Ride 1, Sneaking 1, Thrown 2, Traps 1, World Lore 1
Gold 6
Spear (2/2/3/3/3/4/5), Sling (1/1/2/2/2/3/4), Leather Hauberk (0/1/1/1/1/1/2), Small Shield (0/0/0/+1/+1/+1/+2)

Green Droghan / Human / Grizzled Woodsman
Skill 9 Stamina 8 Luck 7 Magic 0
Talent: Crack Shot
Special Skills: Armor 1, Bows 2, Common Speech 4, Forest Lore 2, Healing 1, Hunting 2, Mounted Combat 1, Religion Lore 1, Ride 2, Strength 1, Swords 1, World Lore 1
Gold 9
Short Bow (1/2/2/3/3/3/4), Sword (2/3/3/3/3/4/5), Chainmail Cuirass (0/0/0/1/2/2/3), Small Shield (0/0/0//0/+1/+1/+2)

Weed / Human / Whining Con Artist
Skill 8 Stamina 7 Luck 8 Magic 0
Talent: Swashbuckler
Special Skills: Acrobatics 1, Awareness 2, Brawling 2, City Lore 2, Climb 1, Common Speech 4, Con 2, Dodge 1, Evaluate 1, Locks 2, Religion Lore 1, Secret Signs 1, Sleight of Hand 2, Thrown 1, World Lore 1
Gold 5
Dagger (1/1/2/2/2/2/3), Throwing Dagger (1/1/1/2/2/2/3), Dodge (0/0/0/0/0/1/2)

Joby (Jaliese du Teranquelle) / Human / Noble Runaway
Skill 7 Stamina 8 Luck 12 Magic 0
Talent: Swashbuckler
Special Skills: Bargain 1, City Lore 1, Common Speech 4, Con 1, Disguise 1, Dodge 2, Etiquette 1, Law 1, Religion Lore 1, Swords 2, World Lore 1
Gold 8
Short Sword (1/2/2/3/3/3/4), Dodge (0/0/0/0/1/1/2)

A quick note in case you’re not familiar with the FF/AFF system at all. Those numbers in the parentheses after the weapons and armor are, essentially, a chart on which you roll to determine how much damage is done or stopped by the weapon or armor. You hit? Roll a d6 and find out how much damage you did by looking at the chart. You were hit? Roll a d6 to determine how much damage (if any) your armor stopped. And yes, the charts go to 7, not 6. There are Talents and other ways to wind up adding to your roll (the first character in the list, for example, has “Strongarm” as a talent, which lets him add 1 to his melee weapon damage rolls, while the second character’s “Crackshot” talent does the same for missile weapons).

Oh, and the last two characters who have a Dodge value listed get to make rolls using Dodge as (effectively) armor because of the Swashbuckler talent (adjusted by their skill level in Dodge). This effect goes away if they wear any armor at all. Interesting stuff.

Fight On! #13 Is Out

That’s what I said. Fight On! #13 is now officially available (print, pdf). This issue is dedicated to the mighty Ken St. Andre and has a substantial number of Tunnels & Trolls-related articles. Here’s the full rundown:

Table of Contents
The Swashbuckler (Calithena) 3
Elves as Green Men (Walt Jillson) 4
Variant Kindreds (Age of Fable) 5
Grognard’s Grimoire (Erin “Taichara” Bisson) 6
Cantrips Gone Wild! (John Laviolette) 7
Battle School (Ken St. Andre) 10
Mysterious Laboratory of Xoth-Ragar (Alex Fotinakes) 15
Knights & Knaves (The Venomous Pao) 22
Creepies & Crawlies (garrisonjames) 25
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Hudson Bell & Cal) 27
Slaughter in the Salt Pits (Gabor Lux) 28
The Library of Karvu Naudra (Jason Vasché) 33
An Unfamiliar Encounter (John Larrey) 36
The Goblin Market (Richard Rittenhouse) 40
Bonus Tables (Jeff Rients) 45
What is this Monster Scared Of? (Dustin Brandt) 46
Fruiting Towers (Patrick Wetmore) 47
Tricks & Treats (Andreas Davour & Wayne Cayea) 58
Mythal (Calithena) 61
The Tale of an Egg (Baz Blatt) 69
The Darkness Beneath (Makofan) 78
Champions of ZED (Daniel Boggs) 98
In the Shadow of the Catskills (Michael Curtis) 111
Scramp! (Richard Rittenhouse) 116
Education of a Magic User (Douglas Cox) 120
Top Tips for Tunnels & Trolls (Big Jack Brass) 121
Doxy, Urgent Care Cleric (J. Linneman & K. Green) 122

In addition to all the great art you’ve come to expect, you’ll find a delightful full color front cover by none other than Liz Danforth, the glorious queen of gaming art.

So what are you waiting for? Go throw a little green at those responsible for making this wonderment a reality. You’ll be glad you did.

p.s. The fact that your humble scribe just happens to have an article published in this issue in no way compromises his integrity when recommending that you purchase this fine volume. No, really. Honest!

LL/AEC Rogues Gallery: The Silent Legion Of Valerius Caesar

Wherein your humble scribe presents what might be an Adventuring Party for Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Edition Companion. These characters are all 3rd level, were granted maximum HP (Advanced Style) at first level, and have a bare minimum of equipment, including a few magic items. They were all created with 3d6 for stats, more often than not in order. And, as is now commonplace, they all have some snappy headgear.

After his successful campaign to retake the frontier town of Bergerwald from the Ard barbarians, young noble Tullius Regulus, along with his friend the recently freed gladiator Marius, his maiden aunt, the scholarly Laelia Laurentia, and the gruff priest Cassian are dispatched by the Empire to Anteria, on the coast of Adanthum. There they are informed by Propraetor Justiuso that they must venture deep into the darkest heart of the continent to seek out the fabled City of Scales where the great magus Ciusenius Secanius is said to have secreted away his blasphemous scrolls of prophecy. What adventures will they have as they wind their way through the deserts and jungles of Adanthum? What does Great Caesar need of these legendary writings? Can these four hope to return to Rhodium as champions of the Empire?

Tullius Regulus / Human Fighter 3 LN 
Head Gear: Classic Roman-style helmet 
STR 15 INT 13 WIS 10 DEX 16 CON 9 CHR 14 
HP 21 AC 2 Gold 1000
 Gladius (+1/+2 vs Chaos), Breastplate, Shield

Marius / Human Fighter 3 CG
 Head Gear: Gladiator Helmet 
STR 18 INT 7 WIS 7 DEX 13 CON 13 CHR 9
 HP 32 AC 2 Gold 109
 Trident, Gladius, Scale Mail, Shield (+2)

Laelia Laurentia / Human Magic-User 3 NG
 Head Gear: Uncovered, revealing short & stylish hair
 STR 8 INT 16 WIS 11 DEX 13 CON 10 CHR 13
 HP 10 AC 5 Gold 930 Silver Dagger, 4 Darts, Quarterstaff, Bracers of Armor (AC 6), Spell Book
Magic-User Spells:
1st level: Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Identify, Read Languages, Sleep
2nd level: ESP, Locate Object, Ray of Enfeeblement

Cassian / Human Cleric 3 LN 
Head Gear: Metal skull cap 
STR 10 INT 9 WIS 16 DEX 7 CON 13 CHR 6
 HP 14 AC 4 Gold 450
 Gladius, Breastplate (+1), Shield, Silver Holy Symbol, Scroll (Locate Object, Remove Curse)
Cleric Spells:
1st level: Create Water, Cure Light Wounds, Light, Protection From Evil
2nd level: Augury, Find Traps, Hold Person

November Company D6 Notes

As promised (threatened?), here’s you chance to snag the I put together to run a Mini Six/Open D6 World War II game. They’re what you might call “barebones” if you’re feeling charitable. But if you know the system reasonably well they should make for a decent foundation for your own efforts towards such a game.

Download the November Company Notes (16815 downloads )

November Company, in my conception, is pretty much the A-Team combined with the actual early Army Rangers. The soldiers assigned to November Company are the type of guys who don’t make good soldiers, but who have skills and personalities that lend themselves to, shall we say, different uses in a theater of war.

Anyway, download ’em and do with them as you please. In addition to the very basics of character creation, you’ll find a small selection of US weapons of the period, a 1/2 page character sheet, and a sheet with vehicle information on the trusty “Rat Patrol” style jeep.

As always, I must admit that I am most decidedly not a WWII scholar – in fact, I’m little more than a tourist in the era. The material that comprises the period flavor of these notes is essentially what I was able to glean from Wikipedia, without any concern for accuracy beyond the bare minimum needs for maintaining a reasonable degree of Hollywood verisimilitude for a bunch of players who know even less about the period than I do.

That’s the long way of saying that if you see something that makes you draw your breath sharply through your teeth, blame a lifetime’s viewing of cheesy WWII representations, offer a gentle correction, and move on to something more important 🙂

LL/AEC Rogues Gallery: The Seekers Of Bexia

Wherein your humble scribe presents what might be an Adventuring Party for Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Edition Companion. These characters are all 1st level, were granted maximum HP (Advanced Style), and have a bare minimum of equipment. They were all created with 3d6 for stats, more often than not in order. And, as is now commonplace, they all have some snappy headgear.

On the dark and heavily-forested island called Bexia, small, poorly-fortified human settlements crouch in the shadows, fearful of the malevolent elves of the woods. To one of these, called Eorus by those who lived there, came Destrand, an eerie boy of scant years, bearing tales of silver palaces, lost cities, amber castles, and a mountain of fire – all just beyond the great River Orv. His unearthly words seeped into the consciousness of the town and soon a number of foolhardy souls determined to set out in search of these unimagined sights and the treasures the boy claimed were hidden within. Furthanos, Acolyte of Albinard the True. Savara the Witch, with her toad familiar Uvyn. Ox-like Surt, the blacksmith’s son. And Normac Finwyr, the ninth incarnation of Jagragon’s chosen prophet. These four set out with the strange child on the Eve of Evangeline and were ne’er seen in Eorus again.

Futhanos / Human Cleric 1 LN 
Head Gear: A tall conical hat 
STR 12 INT 9 WIS 13 DEX 13 CON 15 CHR 12 
HP 9 AC 5 Gold 9 
Mace, Studded Leather, Shield, Wooden Holy Symbol, Vial of Holy Water
 Cleric Spells: Create Water, Light

Savara / Human Magic-User 1 NE 
Head Gear: Bare, showing her amazing curly mane 
STR 5 INT 16 WIS 11 DEX 8 CON 11 CHR 9
 HP 4 AC 9 Gold 100 
2 Silver Daggers, Robes, Spell Book, Small Silver Mirror
 Magic-User Spells: Mending, Summon Familiar, Unseen Servant

Surt / Human Fighter 1 NG
Head Gear: A short, plain hood
 STR 16 INT 7 WIS 10 DEX 8 CON 11 CHR 13
 HP 10 AC 4 Gold 28 
Battle Axe, Hand Axe, Banded Mail, Shield

Normac / Human Cleric 1 CG
 Head Gear: A conical helmet with a crimson tassel 
STR 10 INT 11 WIS 13 DEX 10 CON 14 CHR 13 
HP 9 AC 4 Gold 10 
Flail, Sling, 10 Bullets, Chain Mail, Shield, Silver Holy Symbol 
Cleric Spells: Cure Light Wounds, Resist Cold

Destrand / Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 1 NE 
Head Gear: A horned viking-style helmet 
STR 9 INT 13 WIS 8 DEX 15 CON 13 CHR 15
HP 6 AC 7 Gold 56 
Silver-tipped Spear, Silver Dagger, Leather Armor, Thieves’ Tools, 50′ Silk Rope, Grappling Hook 
Magic-User Spells: Charm Person, Dancing Lights, Sleep

(My Dreams Of) Gaming Plans For 2012 (Because You Care)

So the Thanksgiving game happened. It was a WWII commando raid using a Mini Six/D6 Adventure mashup and it was a blast. But I’m not here to talk about it. Not right now, anyway. I’m gunning to do that a little later on, when I’m ready to post the materials I put together for the game. Nope, instead I’m here to talk about what I’m hoping to run next.

First up, sometime during the Winter Solstice Holidays break, I’m hoping to pull off a BASH game for a friend, his 13 year old son, and maybe a few other folks. I’m currently thinking Golden Age/WWII supers kicking fascist ass in Europe. But the ideas are swirling and unformed at this point, so who knows what (if anything) will ultimately come to pass?

After that, I’m pondering a few possibilities:

Some kind of hard(-ish) SciFi using good ol’ Classic Traveller and some Stars Without Number action
Labyrinth Lord/AEC romps through either the Against The Giants series or maybe Castle Amber, The Lost City, or some other classic modules
A BRP– (or possibly BoL-) based, Mythic Russia-fueled, Russian fantasy game
A Mini Six (with add-ons from Open D6) or Mercenaries, Spies, And Private Eyes 80s-style espionage game
A Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands miniseries (probably not until the CoC game I’m playing in wraps up, though)
A BRP/Renaissance (or maybe Tunnels & Trolls or Honor + Intrigue) black powder fantasy adventure
Droids. Seriously. Either with the original rules (unlikely) or with something else (D6, maybe?)

just to name a few (in no particular order). All of this is subject to change (i.e., my whims and interests) and player buy-in, of course.

That’s Great And All, But What About Giving Us Some Sweet Gaming Content, Pao?

Yeah, I know. My content output has absolutely tanked of late (and, honestly, not-so-late). I’m struggling with that, really. Part of me wants to be cranking out stuff like I had been, but another part just isn’t inclined to spend the time on it. So it’s not quite burnout, per se. It’s more a case of conflicting interests and such. So to answer the question that I asked on no one in particular’s behalf, “Reply hazy. Try again later.”

Strange Stones

a nerdy rpg blog