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Post by Scott Anderson on Aug 4, 2020 20:04:51 GMT -6
NoNoWriMo helped me get over the hump. Maybe it will help you too! nanowrimo.org/
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Post by Scott Anderson on Aug 4, 2020 12:29:26 GMT -6
Hi folks, I haven't been around for ages but I asked Marv and he said I could let you guys know that I just published an historical fiction novel which you should see. It's called Lions Red and Gold and its set on the eve of Hastings in 1066. I'm really excited to tell you all about it. I just know you're gonna love it. It's available only on Amazon in dead tree and digital. Of note is that several of the old hands here get an acknowledgement in the front space, so even if you don't want to buy one, take a look at the free preview pages. Lions Red and Gold by Scott AndersonAnd my other novel, Western Terminus, a modern day thriller set in the American southwest. (Go ahead and move this if it's in the wrong section.)
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Post by Scott Anderson on Mar 2, 2020 7:59:55 GMT -6
I'm looking for high-quality images of the Bayeux tapestry suitable for printing or using as a digital resource. So far I can only find tiny images, hardly big enough for old duffers to see.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 19, 2020 11:16:09 GMT -6
Would paladins (the Greyhawk Supplement version, not the AD&D version) work for a (semi-) historical campaign? Sure why not? I tend to think of the Cleric as the prototypical paladin type even though there are myth-based and history-based examples of a sword wielding holy man. But that’s my own conceit and not something from the rules.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 17, 2020 8:59:49 GMT -6
LONDON (AP) – Christopher Tolkien, who played a major role protecting the legacy of his father’s The Lord of the Rings series, has died. He was 95.
The Tolkien Society and HarperCollins UK confirmed his death but no details were provided.
Tolkien’s life work was closely identified with that of his father, J.R.R. Tolkien. He helped edit and publish much of his father’s writings after the science fiction and fantasy master died in 1973.
Among the books he worked on were The Silmarillion, The Children Of Hurin, and other texts that flesh out the complex world his father created.
He also drew the original maps that adorned the trilogy of books released in the 1950s.
Tolkien Society chairman Shaun Gunner said “millions of people around the world will be forever grateful to Christopher for bringing us” so many of his father’s literary works.
“Christopher’s commitment to his father’s works have seen dozens of publications released, and his own work as an academic in Oxford demonstrates his ability and skill as a scholar,” he said. “We have lost a titan and he will be sorely missed.”
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 9, 2020 12:50:41 GMT -6
I never try to trick the mapper. Players are bad enough as it is!
To me the key feature of a dungeon is that it limits choices to a small concrete number to facilitate encounter sequence. It’s a flowchart for adventure. To then mess up the flowchart ruins one of its best features.
They do sometimes miss an important secret door (or something) so I have to figure out how to give them another option so that’s something that would happen on the fly. But when that happens it’s a result of my poor design rather than them messing up.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 7, 2020 23:45:06 GMT -6
This seems like a slide away from hardcore simulation/survival/horror toward a more fun and fantastic adventure. The PCs are less hamburger waiting to be eaten and more Heroes.
So it has always been thus but I find regular wandering checks to make the dungeon better - even if more dangerous.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 7, 2020 13:16:20 GMT -6
Interesting question. What inspired it?
(Btw 1-in-6 chance every ten minutes and every time the PCs stop and make a racket)
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 5, 2020 14:04:15 GMT -6
I make main PCs full sized sheets because they have a lot of notes to take.
Henchmen and retainers get 3x5 double sided, and those have all the same info but much less space.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Jan 4, 2020 16:58:42 GMT -6
Congratulations. It’s such a marvelous product.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 30, 2019 18:34:11 GMT -6
Check my sidebar. My own blog is only intermittently interesting but the sidebar is always good: treasurehuntershq.blogspot.com
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 26, 2019 13:41:39 GMT -6
That’s interesting. My players in my current campaign have advanced more through various hijinks and mercantile expeditions than through dungeoneering - quite against their own stated natures
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 24, 2019 10:25:46 GMT -6
I generally use 6 mile hexes. Doesn’t that make it hard to fold? I use hexographer. You can add in numbers.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 23, 2019 19:58:40 GMT -6
This has gone a bit far afield, as discussions here do.
I have a procedural way to run domains from month to month. It draws a lot on ACKs but also some on Mentzer. It’s definitely an away from the table exercise. But for players into game mechanics, it’s easy to teach and repeat and they can do it themselves.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 23, 2019 1:27:59 GMT -6
Another topic: it would be OK to have mythical creatures and monsters on the periphery of the world of Men. Maybe there is just one specimen of certain monsters: The Vampire; The Lich; The Gorgon; The Dragon; The Purple Wurm; The Stone Giant. Whatever.
Each of them would be hidden and have a special lair of its own.
This would make an expedition to slay one of these and bring back proof into a much better adventure than just getting one on the wandering monster table.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 23, 2019 1:24:50 GMT -6
Clerics in the OD&D sense are not the village priest. People aren’t busting out miracles all over the place! They are special people; not necessarily from within the Church.
I would even say that in a historical medieval game, Clerics should only be able to perform miracles when on adventures, and not during their downtime.
Likewise a wizard will be very wary of casting real spells in public for fear of drawing the wrong kind of attention; not just some superstition but powerful people trying to make his life interesting and/or short.
Fighting men are likely to dominate because they can use the best magic weapons and because they don’t ever suffer from power loss like our magical friends.
I have a class I call the “Holmes Monk” that is inferior to a Cleric but has a far more medieval feel to it. With the proper XP table it is quite playable even if it lacks raw power.
I would probably steer clear of the Greyhawk thief. If you want something like that let me suggest the Rat-Catcher.
As far as Demi-men go, consider making different human ancestries to reflect the cultures of the dwarfs and elfs. Hobbits are easy enough to RP because they are basically country folk.
If you are looking for a character class that can emulate the special talents of the Demi-men, I have one I can share that’s called the Treasure Hunter (rename it how you like) which combines many of the Demi-men’s special abilities and a few Thief abilities.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 20, 2019 23:36:25 GMT -6
Take a look at Lion & Dragon.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 16, 2019 17:26:21 GMT -6
I'll say that in our games, everyone always casts it 4 people instead of 1 (the save modifier being basically negligible for expected-value purposes). Random thought assuming the caster can hit 4 people at will: For wizards it's a 3rd level spell and in competition with things like fireball. For clerics it's only a 2nd level spell and relatively a lot more punishing. Esp. granted wizard access at 5th level (20K XP) vs. clerics at 4th (6K XP). Right, this is almost always a Cleric spell for the reason you state
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 13, 2019 23:14:09 GMT -6
In 1e it seemed clear to us it meant any number up to 3.
Super useful spell, especially if you want to talk instead of fight.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 11, 2019 10:21:41 GMT -6
I don’t use thieves because if you don’t have a dedicated guy then everyone tries thief stuff and that’s more fun. But it’s okay to use one.
Here is a perspective on thief abilities that we have talked about before but it’s worth bringing up again.
Anyone, given time and tools, can defeat a medieval lock. A thief can try to do it silently in a few seconds.
Anyone can find and spring a trap. A thief can bypass the trap, disarm it, and even beat magic traps.
Anyone can cut a purse or even kick the front pocket. A thief can steal the crown off the King’s head.
Anyone can climb a wall with the right tools. A thief does parkour in his sleep.
Anyone can hide and sneak. The thief can be invisible and silent.
Etc.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 11, 2019 5:45:43 GMT -6
This sounds wonderful. It is good to have a setting that you have a handle on. It helps to inform you and inform your players to some extent.
Have you tried your unusual races out in games yet?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Dec 9, 2019 9:04:01 GMT -6
How about more details about your game?
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 17, 2019 18:19:27 GMT -6
Ya gotta pay up front! And then compensate the family. I say you gotta pay 25gp per dead guy.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 17, 2019 16:55:23 GMT -6
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 15, 2019 22:27:14 GMT -6
You should have a stupid war every summer. Some big, some small. But every summer. The knights need practice.
You should have some monster menacing the peasants every couple of months.
Add in bands of adventuring sods who need turning out and you should be good.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 11, 2019 0:21:14 GMT -6
Pre-greyhawk magical leather has just as much use as nonmagical leather, except with the added bonus.
In a game without the thief the other types will often do thief things. Right now in my BX era rules game I have a gnome (Dwarf class) who functions as a thief. He wears leather (but carries a shield) so he can sneak around better.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 4, 2019 14:19:44 GMT -6
Split-move-fire is a nice ability. +1 at range but -1 in melee is a good trade off.
I would go with your original gut feeling though. The fighting man is already the best bowman among the Man types.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 4, 2019 14:12:41 GMT -6
You can do both adventuring and wargames with the same characters too. Sometimes politics will dictate little skirmishes against each other whether over insult, material gain, or just practice. Other times it will make sense for the several PCs to band together for some reason including treasure hunting.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 1, 2019 17:59:02 GMT -6
They all do it in different ways. They have different abilities - they just not codified.
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Post by Scott Anderson on Nov 1, 2019 17:18:43 GMT -6
The thing is this -- if you use the LBB "all weapons do 1d6 damage" rule then restrictions for regular weapons becomes unimportant. I like the fact that only certain classes can use certain magic items. Magic-users are the only ones that can use certain wands and such, and fighters are the only ones that can use certain kickass swords. Works for me. That doesn’t make sense. Is not a mace different from a sword? Different from a dagger or a flail? They have fundamentally different properties and even though they are not modeled by game mechanics, you can’t chop a door down with a dagger or hide a flail under your cloak.
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