Category Archives: Games

WNMHGB Character: Ensign Max Cevallos

Wherein your humble scribe knocks out a lifepath generator produced character for the Trek-themed, Microlite20-powered, Where No Man Has Gone Before. Because he wanted to, that’s why.

Born aboard the USS Hura, en route to Bregus V, Maximilian Cevallos y Ruiz was raised on that frontier world by his parents, the famous infectious disease researchers Martin Cevallos and Beatriz Ruiz. His parents’ work occupied much of their time, leaving Max to wander and explore.

Despite their encouragement to pursue his own interests, Max felt compelled to try to live up to his parent’s legacy and endeavored to focus on the biosciences in school. Unfortunately, as his parents had already surmised, Max simply wasn’t of a scientific bent.

Several years of frustration later, Max opted to join Starfleet to try to find where his talents truly lay. While at Starfleet Academy Max’s innate skills at oratory began to show, and he quickly rose to prominence as a masterful debater.

After graduating near the top of his class, Max was assigned to the USS Constellation, and on his first tour of duty the ship and its crew were party to the discovery of Wengstromm’s Anomaly. Max showed great creativity and inventiveness in his approach to his post as junior navigator aboard the Constellation.

Remaining aboard the Constellation for his second tour of duty, Max continued to prove himself a capable navigator as well as a keen judge of character. While on a mission to Saraya II, Max played a key role in uncovering a plot being hatched by the Constellation‘s Chief Security Officer, Commander Sarah Jane Coleman, to use a weapon of mass destruction against that planet in an effort to touch off hostilities between the Federation and the nearby Gorn Empire. Through Max’s efforts, the lives of countless civilians were spared.

Ensign Cevallos now finds himself assigned to the USS Daedalus, under the command of Captain Hal MacMillan. Despite his relative youth, Max is expected to serve as senior navigator aboard this Miranda class cruiser as it patrols the area the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Looking back on his life as he begins this new chapter, Max still feels regret that he failed in his efforts to be a doctor like his parents. He does hold a certain sense of pride in having saved the vast majority of an entire planet’s population, though – a feat which his father and mother frequently bring up as an example of their son’s unique place in the universe.

Name: Maximilian “Max” Cevallos y Ruiz
Species: Human

Class: Yellow Shirt
Ship Position: Navigation
Rank: Ensign

Level: 4
XP: 0
HP: 31
AC: 13

Action Points: 3

Str: 13 (+1)
Dex: 12 (+1)
Int: 13 (+1)
Cha: 14 (+2)

Skills:
Communication +7 (Trained)
Engineering +3
Knowledge +7 (Trained)
Medicine +3
Physical +3
Subterfuge +3

Talents:
Measure of a Man
Inspirational Speech
Life of Riley
Trained Skill (Knowledge)

Melee Attack Bonus: +5
Ranged Attack Bonus: +5

Quick & Dirty BoL To BRP Conversion

Right, so I love Barbarians of Lemuria. The game feels right to me – I like thinking in the terms and structures laid out by it. But it’s pretty rules light – too light for most of my players, sadly. So what I’ve been doing as I’ve been working on my BRP Arabian Nights game (and planning for other eventual things like a BRP Mythic Russia game) is to think of things in BoL terms and then convert them to Basic RolePlaying, since that system seems to be about right for my players (and, to be honest, I love it too). To date I’ve just been doing this “on the fly” in my big ol’ head. And that’s cool. But I thought I’d go ahead and write down the concepts so that they’re saved somewhere other than said noggin.

Attributes

This one is pretty simple. Just take the BoL attribute value and multiply it by 2, and then add/subtract that to/from 10. So a 0 in BoL is a 10 in BRP, and a 3 in BoL is a 16 in BRP. Seems close enough.

Oh, and we need to map those Attributes, don’t we? It’s pretty obvious, but just in case:

BoL Strength = BRP Strength, Constitution, and Size
BoL Agility = BRP Dexterity
BoL Mind = BRP Intelligence and Power (and Education, if used)
BoL Appeal = BRP Appearance

One could, of course, come up with more complicated formulas. Or one might be concerned that doing it this way loses some detail. Dowhutchalike. If you need that strong guy to be sickly, adjust as needed. In fact, that kind of adjusting is probably a good way to take Boons & Flaws into account.

You should calculate the necessary derived stats (Hit Points, Stamina Rolls, etc) from the BRP attributes.

Careers

Each level of a Career, beginning at zero, is equivalent to 20% in the appropriate skills for that career in BRP. So our pal Andrei Ivanovich Denisov has 20% in Sailor skills, 40% in Merchant and Soldier Skills, and 60% in Minstrel skills.

You can comb through and cross-reference the skill and profession lists in BRP to figure out what those skills actually are, or you can just run with it BoL style and view them as overall categories. I’d likely to the former for PCs and the latter for NPCs. But that’s just me. Actually, I probably wouldn’t do any of this for PCs, since they’re probably going to want to build their characters in BRP in the first place.

Oh, and if it turns out there’s some crossover between skills you think two different careers have, and the character in question has different levels, just average them. So in the case of Andrei Ivanovich Denisov, where BRP’s Persuade skill falls under both Performer (a good match for Minstrel) and Merchant (the 1:1 mapping for Merchant) you could decide that his skill level Persuade is 50%.

Combat Abilities

The same concept for Careers applies to Combat Abilities. And that works nicely for BRP since it, too, doesn’t tie your profession to your martial prowess (like, say, D&D does). In general, consider BoL’s Combat Abilities to map to BRP as follows:

BoL Brawl = BRP Brawl & Grapple skills
BoL Melee = Two or three of the BRP melee weapon skills (the broad kind, like Sword & Axe)
BoL Ranged = Two or three of the BRP missile weapon skills (again, go broad here)
BoL Defense = BRP Dodge skill & Parry skills (if you want to separate Attacks & Parries from each other, otherwise just use this for Dodge)

And again, each level (starting at zero) is worth 20% here. So the aforementioned Andrei Ivanovich Denisov brawls & grapples at 40%, swings a sword or axe at 60%, fires bows or slings at 20%, and dodges at 40%. I’d probably let him keep his parries equal to his attacks, but I could very easily see not doing so.

BRP Professions sometimes include access to combat skills, but I’d just ignore those in favor of the above, based on the way BoL handles such things.

Boons & Flaws

Boons and Flaws really call for eyeballing. As noted above, they can easily affect Attribute scores. They could also provide a boost or penalty to certain skill rolls. Or they could even go so far as to automatically make certain skill rolls Easy (double skill) or Difficult (half skill). It all depends on how much power you want these aspects to have. Personally, for elegance’s sake, I’d opt for the Easy/Difficult effect on non-combat Boons & Flaws and go for a 15% bonus/penalty on the combat-related Boons & Flaws. Actually, if one really wanted to make this a serious, well-thought-out conversion system, there’d need to be some significant work done here. But that’s not what I’m after here. If you are, well, you’re on your own, kid 🙂

Magic

Oh lord. The bane of all conversion attempts: magic. For a straight BoL to BRP magic conversion I think I’d use the BRP Magic power system, with the Magician’s career level setting the skill level for the spells known. And for spells known I’d opt for six or eight (Heroic or Epic power level). I could also see using BRP’s Sorcery system (but that’s mostly because of the two, I prefer it). Again, this one’s a judgement call.

For Alchemy you’re on your own. But mapping Alchemist career levels to skills is probably a good place to start.

For the Priest/Druid “magic” as seen in BoL Legendary Edition I’d give the character an equivalent number of opportunities to invoke their deity’s power in the form of making an appropriate skill roll Easy or Difficult. Since these are much more one-off and hard to come by than actual Boons & Flaws, I’m ok with these having such a dramatic effect in combat. You could also require a POW vs POW contest for the Priest/Druid to be able to affect the target with this ability.

A Final Note

I haven’t put this process through any rigorous testing, so I don’t know how the final products work out in terms of point levels and such. They might be wildly overpowered or wildly underpowered. Adjust as you need to and it won’t really matter if the NPCs you characters face are “Normal” while the PCs are “Epic” (or whatever). Actually, it quite possibly shades the other way, but that entirely depends on how many skills you assume apply to each BoL Career (and that, of course, will vary by career). This is really just a slightly more advanced version of eyeballing a BoL character into a BRP character, after all 🙂

BoL Character: Andrei Ivanovich Denisov

Wherein your humble scribe presents a Barbarians of Lemuria system character inspired by the “rebirth” of Mythic Russia. Perhaps we should call this hybrid Bogatyrs of Russia? 🙂

When he had passed his 16th year, Andrei Ivanovich Denisov left his family’s home in the Podol quarter of Kiev for the melodies of the wider world. Though his father was a good man, and successful in his own right, Andrei was simply not prepared to carry on in the family business, selling implements and equipment to the farmers of the region.

After passing three years as a mercenary in the service of a Muscovite prince, Andrei has finally arrived in Novgorod, where he seeks to find his fortune as a performer or, failing that, as a sea captain.

Though Andrei is not a true practitioner of dvoeverie, he calls on the wisdom of Perun the Prince and Veles the Merchant almost as often as he does that of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Nicholas the Wet.

Essences
Lifeblood 12
Hero Points 6

Attributes
Strength 2
Agility 1 (0)
Mind 0
Appeal 1

Combat
Brawl 1
Melee 2
Ranged 0
Defense 1

Careers
Merchant 1
Soldier 1
Minstrel 2
Sailor 0

Boons
Attractive
Marked By The Gods

Flaws
Greed

Languages
Russian

Equipment
Saber 1d6 (+2)
Dagger 1d3 (+2)
Medium armor (mail shirt) & Shield, 1d6

S&W Bestiary: Pyroceros

Wherein your humble scribe presents a new monster for Swords & Wizardry (Core Rules), the Pyroceros.

A Pyroceros looks much like a normal rhinoceros, except that its horn is composed of a powerful, ever-burning magical blue flame. Strikes by this horn have a 50% chance of igniting any flammable material worn by the unlucky victim. Characters wearing or holding an ignited item will suffer an additional 1d6 damage from the burning for 1d4 rounds or until they rid themselves of the burning material.

Pyroceros: HD 9; AC 4 [15]; Atk 1 flame horn (3d6) or 2 trample (2d4/2d4); Move 12; Save 6; CL/XP 11/1700; Special: only take half damage from fire-based attacks, burning damage continues after successful horn attack.

Mythic Russia Is Back

Mythic Russia, an outstanding game that everyone should know about, is back in print thanks to Lulu! If you’re not familiar with the game, here’s the official description:

Mythic Russia is a game of roleplaying with the HeroQuest game system in the ancient Russia of legend and folktale, a land of glittering onion-domed churches and dark, dangerous forests, home to heroes, fiends – and the flame-feathered firebird.

Now I’m not actually a big fan of HeroQuest as a system, but damn if this isn’t one fine game that’s well worth owning. If you’ve ever wanted to run a game that draws on Russian fairytales you must get a copy of this game. And at $9.99 for the PDF, you now have no reason not to.

After the great Arabian Nights BRP game is done a mythic russia game (lowercase because I’m talking setting, not rules) is something I hope to con my players into. Wish me luck 🙂

It’s My (S&W WhiteBox) Party

Wherein your humble scribe presents a by-the-book adventuring party for Swords & Wizardry (WhiteBox). Pretty much just for the hell of it.

Sister Magda / Cleric 2 / Lawful
STR 8 INT 11 WIS 15 DEX 12 CON 6 CHR 9
HP 7 AC 4 [15] Save 13
Spells: Cure Light Wounds
Items: 7 gp, Morning Star (1d6), Sling (1d6), Pouch w/ 20 stones, Holy Symbol (Silver), Chain Mail, Shield

Reldon Mald / Fighter 2 / Neutral
STR 16 INT 10 WIS 9 DEX 11 CON 13 CHR 6
HP 9 AC 6 [13] Save 14
Items: 19 gp, Spear (1d6), Hand Axe (1d6), Short Bow (1d6-1), Quiver w/ 20 arrows, Leather, Shield

Ardiel Ghostmoon / Elf (Variant) 2 / Neutral
STR 14 INT 16 WIS 7 DEX 13 CON 11 CHR 16
HP 7 AC 4 [15] Save 13
Spells: Sleep
Items: 11 gp, Long Sword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), Long Bow (1d6), Quiver w/ 20 arrows, Chain Mail, Shield

Jaeg Lurnal / Magic-User 2 / Chaotic
STR 8 INT 15 WIS 9 DEX 14 CON 12 CHR 10
HP 4 AC 9 [10] Save 13
Spells: Light, Read Magic
Items: 39 gp, Staff (1d6), 3 Daggers (1d6-1)

This, my friends, was difficult for me. Rolling up a straight, by-the-book, Swords & Wizardry (WhiteBox) party when you come from a heavily AD&D background is hard on the brain. The power level is so, so low. I can understand why some folks prefer this, but as much as I love my WhiteBox box (and my OCE box before it) I don’t think I could actually play this way. I’ve just got too much of the supplements (and later versions of the rules) in my blood.

Still, it was edifying and under the right circumstances I’d happily give this kind of game a try as a player. I’d try it as a GM, too, but I’d never in a million years get my normal player group to go along with it. They’re too enamored of the power levels associated with later iterations of old school play.

For the record, what I think I miss the most is the broader range of attribute modifiers. And the beauty of S&W is that I could easily add those in if I wanted to. Still, if I’m going to do that, and then start adding in spells (hey there, Magic MIssile) and other things that I’m also missing I’m reaching a point where I might as well be playing a different game. One that has what I’m looking for already in it (LL/AEC comes to mind).

In any case, though it may not be what I’m likely to play, I’m damn glad S&W exists. So please don’t take my personal observations as anything negative about the game itself. I’m just realizing how it relates to what I’m looking for.

And, of course, I do like designing for S&W (Core more than WB, though) – in no small part because it is so very small and free in scope.

S&W Bestiary: Kuk Bhan Naong

Wherein your humble scribe presents a new monster for Swords & Wizardry (Core Rules), the Kuk Bhan Naong.

Found near rivers and coasts in tropical climates, Kuk Bhan Naong are incredibly large amphibious snails with brightly-colored shells that are as hard as steel. These bizarre creatures attack by launching a single harpoon-like tooth from their mouths, delivering a paralyzing poison to their victims (save at -2). The paralysis caused by Kuk Bhan Naong poison lasts for 3d6 turns and they may launch this attack to a distance of 30′.

Kuk Bhan Naong: HD 9; AC -1 [20]; Atk 1 sting or 1 bite (1d6 + paralysis or 1d8); Move 6; Save 6; CL/XP 12/2000; Special: paralyzing poison, half-damage from piercing weapons.

Traveller: The Crew Of The Free Trader Peak Eight

Wherein your humble scribe presents a group of three characters for (classic) Traveller. All of these were rolled up by-the-book from Book 1: Characters and Combat.

Struggling to make ends meet in the heartless Claybourne Subsector, the crew of the Free Trader Peak Eight, finds they are in need of a Steward for their operation. The pay is good, and everything seems on the up-and-up. Yet for some reason they don’t seem to be keen on discussing what happened to the last person who held that position…

Theodore “Cap” Oyola
AB9644 Age 38 5 Terms (Service: Merchants, Final Rank: Captain)
SMG-1, AutoPistol-1, Electronics-1, Streetwise-1, Navigation-2, Pilot-1, Medical-1, Jack of All Trades-1, Bribery-1, Steward-1
Free Trader (10 years owned/paid), Auto Pistol
Cr35,000

Jude “Doc” Hartjen
787AC3 Age 34 4 Terms (Service: Merchants, Final Rank: 1st officer)
Dagger-1, Medical-3, Navigation-2, Auto Pistol-2, Bribery-1, Pilot-1
Auto Pistol
Cr60,000

Samantha “Sparks” Mihalik
47A982 Age 34 4 Terms (Service: Merchants, Final Rank: 2nd officer)
Electronics-1, SMG-2, Mechanical-1, AutoPistol-1, Engineering-2
SMG
Cr30,000

The Demons Of Adad Untash: Standard Order Summary

In case it somehow slipped by you over the weekend, the writeups for all six of the standard order Demons of Adad Untash are now complete!

Below is a summary of these nasties with links to the full write-up for each.

8 Hit Die

Harra Lal
Wicked swords and fiery breath wrapped up in an 8′ tall nightmare package!
AL C(E), MV 90′, AC -2, HD 8 + 4, #AT 4, DG 1d10, SV F9, ML 12
Ghudhu Naab
Man-sized owls with an insatiable thirst for potions!
AL C(E), MV 60′, Fly 180′, AC 0, HD 8, #AT 3, DG 1d8/1d8/1d6, SV F8, ML 10

7 Hit Die

Badag Gul
Giant vermin-ridden, rat-headed, masters of despair! With big flails, too!
AL C(E), MV 150′, AC 0, HD 7 + 3, #AT 1, DG 2d12, SV F8, ML 11
Agara Muun
Shield-crushing crab-demons with dark powers!
AL C(E), MV 90′, AC -2, HD 7, #AT 2, DG 3d6/3d6, SV F7, ML 12

6 Hit Die

Turul Dgag
Giant 4-headed snakes with human faces that spit poison!
AL C(E), MV 90′, AC 1, HD 6 + 6, #AT 5, DG 2d4 or poison and 1d6, SV F7, ML 9
Banzu Mugaam
Hairy human females with rotting camel heads and terrible talons!
AL C(E), MV 60′, AC 0, HD 6, #AT 3, DG 1d6+1/1d6+1/1d4+2, SV F6, ML 10

The higher order demons are next. And after that, some demon lords. Real life is getting complicated, it’s going to take a while before I get them all done. But I’d like to think they’ll be worth the wait.

The Demons Of Adad Untash: Harra Lal

Far beyond the great desert, one will find the troubled land of Umaab. The people of this once proud kingdom are oft beset by demons who serve the dark god Nergal. The characteristics of these demons are described in the holy Tablets of Adad Untash.

As the terrible blade tore at his flesh, its rotten steel teeth dragging agonizingly across his bones, Agaal Atar’s vision blurred from the pain. Even as he fought to retain his focus, he saw three of his best soldiers cut down by other, similar weapons the creature held in its chitinous hands.

The sight of the carnage brought bile to his mouth, and he knew he should sound the retreat. Against such a foe as this defeat was nothing less than imminent. Yet King Asirsz had ordered him here to clear the Fields of Gaal’aab of this demon so that a temple might be erected in honor of those noble souls who perished here long centuries past. And he would not dishonor his king with retreat.

As he continued to swing his hammer, nearly blind from the agony delivered by the demon’s blade, he began to feel an intense heat, as though the fires of hell themselves were being gouted upon him. And then, in an instant, Agaal Atar was no more.

*********

“Who led you to this certain doom?” the champion demanded of the handful of soldiers whose lives had been spared only because he and his companions had arrived in time to turn the tide of the battle.

“Atar,” a wounded lieutenant gasped. “It was General Atar, on the order of the king.”

“Has King Asirsz gone mad? Or was it this Atar whose faculties were failing?” Giszeah asked of the two men she rode with. “To send even an army against such a powerful demon, with scant magic to serve them! Whoever is responsible may as well have condemned them to the gallows.”

“If that is indeed the case, then our victory over the servant of Nergal is hollow,” Lugul replied. “The Tablets reveal a very specific fate for generals who lead their soldiers into death’s arms.”

Wiping the last of the demon’s ichor away from his grandfather’s axe, Dusz laughed wryly.

Harra Lal (Standard Order Demon)
No. Enc.: 1d6 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic (evil)
Movement: 90’ (30’)
Armor Class: -2
Hit Dice: 8+4
Attacks: 4 (weapons)
Damage: 1d10
Save: F9
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: XVII
XP: 3,020

Appearing as 8’ tall humanoid ants with fiery goat-like heads, Harra Lal are loathsome demons that blast the sanity of all who are unlucky enough to gaze upon them. In addition to their horrific appearance, Harra lal constantly bleat and moan like livestock in terror or great pain.

Harra Lal attack their enemies with four viciously-serrated great swords, wielding one in each limb not used for locomotion. Anyone wounded by one of these blades must make a saving throw vs. Death or suffer a -2 to hit and a corresponding penalty to armor class for the duration of the encounter with the Harra Lal due to the intense pain inflicted by these weapons. Further, damage delivered by these weapons will not heal naturally and magical healing of potency less than Cure Serious Wounds only heals 1 hp of this damage per application.

Harra Lal also posses a limited ability to breathe fire. This breath attack does damage equal to the current hit points of the Harra Lal. This attack may only be used twice per day.

In addition to the above features, Harra Lal have the following spell-like abilities, useable at will: Animate Objects, Cause Serious Wounds, Detect Invisibility, Fear, Gaseous Form, Invisibility, Shield, Silence 15’ Radius, Suggestion. Further, twice per day these demons may cast Haste or Slow.

Additionally, they possess all of the abilities of a typical Standard Order Demon:

Infravision (90’)
Half damage from cold-based attacks
Half damage from electrical-based attacks
Half damage from fire-based attacks (all)
Half damage from gas-type attacks
Telepathy (allows all languages to be understood)
Teleport without error

Harra Lal can only be damaged by +1 or better weapons, though they are susceptible to damage from non-magical weapons made of pure iron. Harra Lal may Gate (25% probability of success) 1d6 Lum Anang Kul (25%) or 3d4 Bazu Tum Laag (75%).

Harra Lal are seldom encountered in the wild – they are far more often sent by the Demon Lords of Adad Untash to lead armies of lesser demons in their unholy wars of conquest. On occasion, though, a single Harra Lal may be found brooding at the site of an ancient battlefield where a particularly terrible defeat occurred.

The Tablets of Adad Untash tell the faithful that Harra Lal are the souls of generals who knowingly lead their soldiers to certain death.

Strange Stones

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