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Post by clownboss on May 1, 2020 12:48:03 GMT -6
On and off I'm revisiting FFVII on my Playstation since I can't get the remake. It's my most favourite game ever and I really consider it the peak of video games.
More directly I'm playing some Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. SMAC's such a beautiful game, and it appeals to the hard sci-fi nerd in me.
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Post by clownboss on Apr 24, 2020 4:47:55 GMT -6
That's terrible, aren't there any grants out there?
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Post by clownboss on Mar 31, 2020 8:34:38 GMT -6
There's the three Wee Warriors modules, who are all within the Greyhawk-era OD&D. "Dwarven Glory", "The Palace of the Vampire Queen", and "Misty Isles". They're amazingly comprehensive for the time they were made, but also they are so incredibly and unfairly brutal.
Would really like to try out an approximation of Gary's Greyhawk from 1973, though.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 20, 2020 8:20:02 GMT -6
Best wishes out to everyone! I'm fine in Serbia since I work at home anyway and the country has a tight grip on the crisis. We really just have to sit and wait it out. If anything, from my personal angle I love that this crisis has demonstrated an apt opportunity for people and countries all over the world to truly cooperate. And as a neat side bonus it will probably forever normalise working from home.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 6, 2020 11:22:16 GMT -6
Talysman completely echoes my sentiments. The party will always be aware, consciously or not, where East and West are when they're walking outdoors. They will probably have a grasp of where the North is when they enter a dungeon, at least on an intuitive level.
Besides, a compass isn't expensive either and it weighs basically nothing.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 6, 2020 11:01:03 GMT -6
Gold. Eyes on the prize.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 2, 2020 11:57:42 GMT -6
^ Oh yes, that Holmes book captured my sentiments word-for-word. That's how I understood them the first time I read "Greyhawk".
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Post by clownboss on Mar 2, 2020 11:42:33 GMT -6
I don't really see the mirror of trapping as being "functionally" like a mirror. I doubt that what you gaze into it would be the bouncing light and your own reflection.
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Post by clownboss on Jan 26, 2020 15:37:13 GMT -6
Goblins. I make them drug dealers.
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Post by clownboss on Dec 20, 2019 8:22:34 GMT -6
Oh man, no, that sucks, now what about that game-over-mic-chat that Mike proposed so long ago? It'd be nice to have the posts placed somewhere within the forum anyway, there's a lot of history and insight from Mike's stories. At the very least I did write down all the important takeaways I've had, which helped me understand a lot of things about OD&D.
I am quite saddened that Mike's rough behaviour persisted through these many months, and if he still can not learn to mingle with the crowd, then I'm afraid he really can not stay here even in spite of his privileged position. He has probably hurt some people, but the Mike I'll remember has been a cool old uncle that helped me relish in the knowledge of history, fantasy, and this unique hobby, and has helped me grow and develop in that field. I was always waiting for that day he would hold his campaign over Skype and we could talk face-to-face to each other. For my money I can say that he has never attacked me and that I have not once felt insulted by him, and that all the quips he has ever given were zingers to laugh with and provide knowledge, not to target someone. But these experiences are mine only and not someone else's, and it's not to say that this in any way invalidates what someone else might have gone through.
If Mike's reading this, I just hope he'll realise that being worried of keeping your right to be rude is just very petty, and that being nice to people is easy and effortless. You can be just as insightful, helpful, humorous, and keep your own kind of identity without ever targeting people. It's the kind of behaviour that people associate with old RPG players and is the reason why they tend to steer away from it. Come on Mike, the kids need you.
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Post by clownboss on Dec 13, 2019 10:03:28 GMT -6
d**n, you make it look so easy.
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Post by clownboss on Dec 9, 2019 16:19:05 GMT -6
It was never explained, and even Gary himself was very fluid in how he interpreted his own rules. But personally for me, treating "more mundane" troops such as orcs and elves count within the 1:20 ratio(because they can be substituted by the regular LF, HF etc.), while large and powerful creatures like Ogres and Heroes are singular figures with special rules. But a Hero is still worth four figures, meaning they are as worth as 80 regulars.
When you get down to it, thinking of a ratio is just an aesthetic choice. The game is still functional, whether the regulars are 1:20 or 1:1. It's just within your imagination whether Aragorn is as powerful as four orcs or 80 orcs, and I like to keep it that way. But if you're making a Chainmail game to tie-in to your OD&D campaign, it might be better to keep the ratio as 1:1, to keep a level of consistency with the PC's levels, and to add to the sense of exposure to danger and frailty that your PCs have. That's how I'd do it if it were tied to OD&D.
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Post by clownboss on Dec 9, 2019 16:07:22 GMT -6
Ah, I've seen both of those now, those were lovely. Brought my nostalgia back for when I was making my Chainmail matches with my own cardboard chits I designed, although I never played a fantasy battle and only settled on historical ones. That's wonderful Harland, I know these must have been years in the making.
How far do you intend to make these? Do you intend to cover all the rules on the pathway to OD&D? Would you like any help from me in adding video or graphical work on any future videos?
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Post by clownboss on Nov 15, 2019 10:36:38 GMT -6
Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of the Civilization games. It's basically like a typical hexagonal Outdoor Survival map but with scattered castles and towns which roughly define a nation. There are no set borders, but they're just approximate. Usually every state either has already interlocking conflicts with someone else, or is undergoing a personal crisis, some are peaceful, and some(basically Mordor) want to conquer the world and the players need to stop them. The "Mordor" faction will basically win and spread bit by bit if the players don't do something. Every faction is already scripted in my head rather than keep them in a document/roll dice, so there's not much I can reveal about that. Here's just a small chunk of a pretty huge map I was making, before my campaign dissolved. It pissed people off that it was too big, so don't make the same mistake as I have.
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Post by clownboss on Nov 15, 2019 10:16:13 GMT -6
In my game I just make a wider political chart that the other players don't know of, where every faction has an agenda. If one of the factions has a reason to become an invading force they will do so, but otherwise any gallery of rogues I might have would probably not appear around the stronghold anyway, unless it's an emmisary or someone important to a storyline.
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Post by clownboss on Nov 8, 2019 9:50:03 GMT -6
Belgrade, Serbia
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Post by clownboss on Oct 21, 2019 10:02:35 GMT -6
Yeah I never truly understood how that table works. I wish a tl;dr of the explanation(if there is a consensus) would be given to me. Or just hear what Gronan has to say.
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Post by clownboss on Oct 21, 2019 9:36:41 GMT -6
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Post by clownboss on Aug 30, 2019 6:10:36 GMT -6
Yeah 3x5'' is so tiny there was absolutely no way in thinking these weren't fit for index cards. Anything else could've been used to randomly decide on terrain, like poker cards or dice or tea leaves. I always draw eight, corresponding to the eight 2x2' sections of the table.
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Post by clownboss on Aug 23, 2019 10:02:04 GMT -6
No such thing as a good player. Anything can be good in D&D. Or rather, a good player in D&D is one that is not a disruptive player.
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Post by clownboss on Jul 27, 2019 14:38:09 GMT -6
In my game, they really do take a whole minute to shoot an arrow - or two if they stand in place. Hey, they're just trying to focus really really hard, okay?
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Post by clownboss on Jun 30, 2019 6:25:07 GMT -6
I've been lurkin' on these forums for a long time and occasionally posting and yet I never took the time to post in here. So hello, I'm Clownboss, although people in life usually call me Nik. I live in Belgrade, Serbia, and I'm a comic artist, illustrator, designer and video editor. My claim to fame in these forums was asking things about the way Chainmail and OD&D function, making an extensive, unmoderated(and as of yet unfinished) series of Chainmail troop tilesets, and annoying tons of people in the process. I was born in 1992 and my first exposure to D&D other than it being mentioned in media is a 3.5E basic set that my mother so dearly got me for my birthday. I was so excited and glad to have finally gotten the means to play this game, the cool funky dice, the cool miniatures, and for as long as I've known I've always prefered to DM rather than lead a player character. I enjoyed leading 3.5 and had many laughs and good times with my friends, and later I have become interested in the history of development of D&D so I wanted to go back and read the old rulebooks and study the roots. That's how I ended up here and finding a newly-affirmed fascination with the game and having a blast with 0E, though I still love 3.5E dearly. I want to try to read or play all of the D&D versions at some point. I want to try to finish the Chainmail tilesets someday, but I need to find time for it and I also need to be a bit more in line with historical facts after being scolded by Gronan. In this process I found a love for medieval history I never knew I had, and this in itself has become a passtime of mine, other than the D&D I originally wanted to learn about. My other hobbies include music, film and games. A number of people have asked me if I could provide services as illustrator and I can inform that I have a website: nikgothic.com/ It should demonstrate all of my drawing inclinations and has ways of contacting should you require my services at any point. You can also add me on Discord as Clownboss#2605 and we can chat about whatever. I'm nice and friendly!
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Post by clownboss on Jun 9, 2019 13:25:19 GMT -6
Holy crap yes "Once Upon a Time in the West" is his best. The perfect film to end the Western with.
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Post by clownboss on May 31, 2019 7:47:45 GMT -6
It's not literally Middle Earth, just very very disguised so the players aren't on it.
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Post by clownboss on May 31, 2019 3:01:48 GMT -6
It's basically just analogous to LOTR. You're a lowly peasant and in several years somehow have to get the power and influence to command kingdoms and politics. The twist is that once you beat Sauron though, the Elves will wage war against you and demand they take the Silmarils! You're gonna have to pass through Valinor in order to throw the Silmarils into the Void.
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Post by clownboss on May 31, 2019 2:55:29 GMT -6
Everybody here picks action or fantasy or sci-fi films, but I have a girl's brain and I love sappy mellodrama and character stories. Although I would agree there is a big difference between films you'd carry for a desert island and all-time favourites, there are a lot of films that are purely eye candy for me. So I'd go with the following:
1. The Knack and How to Get It 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey 3. A Hard Day's Night 4. A bout de souffle 5. Metropolis 6. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans 7. Andrei Rublev 8. The Fifth Element 9. Interstella 5555 10. Star Wars Episode IV
So somehow we ended up with 5 films that can be classified as sci-fi.
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Post by clownboss on Apr 5, 2019 1:03:48 GMT -6
If players need help with motivation in OD&D, I just reiterate the point of the game (in a simplistic way): You're goal is to become rich and famous enough to acquire your own land, upon which to build a stronghold of your own design, for you to retire to. The quickest, easiest way to do this, will be to journey to the Underworld and make off with as much gold as possible, while avoiding as many conflicts as possible. Safety in numbers "Omens say that a Great Evil will envelop the world with his army in 5 years, and it will require a coordinated effort of great forces to thwart it. You are a lowly freeman, and the kings who govern over the lands are corrupt and pay no heed to this threat. Do something."
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Post by clownboss on Mar 17, 2019 8:31:34 GMT -6
Let's see my hand-notes...
oh dear, lol, even I didn't put anything in.
I think by comparison with the logic above, lance is probably 150. Spears might be as light as 50 if they're primitive and wooden, or can vary anywhere any up to 100 and even 150 depending on the material they're made of, although it certainly helps them to be light if you want them to be thrown. So I guess throwing spears by design have to be 50. Could you imagine yourself throwing a two-handed axe?
But it's probably best to think of their weights in abstract terms. When my players draw their equipment weights, I tended to notice that we're very prone to rounding things up and merely approximate weight, rather than doing detailed math-crunching.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 17, 2019 8:15:09 GMT -6
I similarly held an OD&D campaign for several friends who grew on 5E, but I don't think they managed to connect with it fully. They were constantly underpowered and I kept providing them with common sense and logistical advices their characters would think of just to keep the engines running, and I would spark and boast them in those rare occasions when they did use their wits and tools in creative ways rather than in brute fights. In the end we just sort of drifted away one by one, but I'm surprised they stuck with me for as long as they had, and it was very fun getting to see them map layouts and considering the directions they would take.
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Post by clownboss on Mar 8, 2019 10:54:38 GMT -6
Oh, how I wish I wasn't stuck in Europe!
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