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Post by Piper on Apr 25, 2020 17:44:03 GMT -6
WRT to video games and D&D? I really like "Neverwinter Nights."
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Post by Piper on Apr 25, 2020 13:27:27 GMT -6
BAHAHAHAHA THAT'S AWESOME. Dude! If you ever publish Night Shift II you must subtitle it Night Nutz!
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Post by Piper on Apr 25, 2020 11:53:26 GMT -6
Is Night Nuts a new, new product? Nuts! 🤣
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Post by Piper on Apr 19, 2020 18:12:30 GMT -6
OD&D of course has the option of using Chainmail or Swords & Spells, though i wonder how many people do this. I think Simon did a fine job of integrating CM combat rules into the Delving Deeper OD&D simulacrum.
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Post by Piper on Apr 19, 2020 17:51:50 GMT -6
"Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!" steenkin' man ... get it correct! LOL!
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Post by Piper on Apr 18, 2020 12:23:37 GMT -6
This reminds me of the anecdote of an early campaign where someone complained to the dm that the monsters in the dungeon had nothing to eat so the dm put a McDonald’s that the monsters would eat at. I think this kind of thing is pretty cool and would err on the side if there’s no such thing as too light. That was old guard notable Michael Mornard.
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Post by Piper on Apr 17, 2020 22:02:30 GMT -6
Another remote gaming session tonight. Quasar the Elf and his mates are staging an incursion into Fortress Badabaskar. My pointy-eared alter-ego contributed some "old school" wisdom to the group and we walked away with the damsel in distress, some phat loot, and a few choice magic items. I hope everyone's Friday night (or weekend) is as fun-filled as mine!
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Post by Piper on Apr 17, 2020 12:47:26 GMT -6
🎶 Half-nude barbarians, Amazons rippling, Ogres attacking, drunken dwarves tippling .. Gelatinous cube with great treasure inside, A magician's cloak made of black dragon hide!
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Post by Piper on Apr 17, 2020 9:43:52 GMT -6
How many people sit down at the table to roll up a character and say, "You know what? I wanna play a feeble, crippled, club-footed hunchback with leprosy, who expectorates blood every few minutes and has pink-eye." (STR 3, CON 3, DEX 3, CHA 3, etc.) I've never rolled a character that bad, but I've rolled some pretty dismal heroes a few times and had a lot of fun playing them. I do believe, however, if I came up all 3's or even all < 5 I'd probably ask for a mulligan from the referee!
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Post by Piper on Apr 17, 2020 6:22:33 GMT -6
🎶 Half-nude barbarians, Amazons rippling, Ogres attacking, drunken dwarves tippling ..
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Post by Piper on Apr 16, 2020 16:18:04 GMT -6
I have a number of things planned for the future, which I hope will really take Elf Lair Games to the next level as a legitimate game publisher. Unlike most companies, we will have not a single house system, but THREE. Love those names!
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Post by Piper on Apr 14, 2020 20:50:24 GMT -6
Ah, we had our first "your game sucks" complainer. I feel like a real publisher now! We have a saying here in Texas ... "some folks would complain if you hung them with a new rope." Don't let people like her discourage you. They'll always be around and nobody who counts listens to them.
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Post by Piper on Apr 13, 2020 17:54:36 GMT -6
Excellent summary , thanks piper! My pleasure! I figured there at least a few us curious about the SoC rules.
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Post by Piper on Apr 13, 2020 14:14:03 GMT -6
Another thought occurs to me on a rereading . . .
Swords & Sorcery and Swords & Planets types of settings have been brought up by the creators of SoC. But the way magic is setup and how it works, along with the ability to customize player-characters and PC races? It seems to me a referee could easily create a Middle Earth setting with these rules. I'm aware Middle Earth has a few published RPGs, but I thought I'd throw that idea out there. To my reading at least, and I'm not JRRT scholar many here are, these rules work very much like I saw magic working in those books.
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Post by Piper on Apr 12, 2020 17:48:33 GMT -6
I've given it a read. My first impressions?
I thought about converting Traveller to a FRPG. I never did because Traveller combat is so deadly vis-a-vis that of OD&D. Sword of Cepheus (SoC) is based on the Cepheus Light version of Cepheus Engine and thus retains much of the deadliness of the 2d6 gaming system. I must say, however, SoC addresses survivability in some rather innovative ways. Make no mistake, however, combat remains deadly though in true swords and sorcery (S&S) fashion is harder on the redshirts than on the main character (the player-characters).
Also preserving the S&S flavour of the rules is dark and mysterious nature of magic. Player-characters have professions and skills, education, social standing; all this enabling a wide variety of customized characters for a wide-ranging fantasy campaign.
The rules themselves are basically a point-by-point translation of a certain mid-1970's rules set we all know and love. Players of 2d6 or d20 games should have little trouble making the switch.
For myself, I'm very much a hardcopy sort of guy. I'll likely head to PrintMe1.com to make a table copy and I'll gladly buy an official hardbound when they become available later this year.
If you like Traveller or its first cousin Cepheus Engine but have been thinking of running a fantasy campaign for your group? This would get you up and running with few problems.
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Post by Piper on Apr 12, 2020 17:25:52 GMT -6
Zoom now has passwords by default. Should help some. We've used it here in Austin several times now with no security issues. I'd encourage everyone to give Zoom a look for their remote gaming needs.
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Post by Piper on Apr 10, 2020 14:14:31 GMT -6
I think that Go Fer Yer Gun might be a better choice, since it was built from the Castles & Crusades game system and I think that's more "traditional" in its style. That one was actually my second choice!
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Post by Piper on Apr 10, 2020 11:41:51 GMT -6
Are there any Boot Hill retro-clones? Talk surfaces every so often, but I've not seen a retro-clone of BH. I've seen a few Olde West style settings based upon OD&D (or its retroclones) that would probably suit your needs. Check out Shotgns & Saddles Old West RPG by Dave Bezio's Grey Area Games. It's own of my faves.
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Post by Piper on Apr 10, 2020 7:54:57 GMT -6
Ah, there you have it. I stand corrected, but would probably still house rule that you start with the average of both class' hit dice, then total hit dice as you climb in levels, for the reason I outlined. That makes sense to me. And, please, don’t think of it as a correction. I just thought an insight into how a co-creator of the game ran it might be helpful. He and Arneson both would be the first to tell you to run it your way.
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Post by Piper on Apr 10, 2020 6:12:30 GMT -6
Of Skulls and Scraf*g**t Green by Bob Blake has a Wilderness section which may qualify and is the right era. It was a nice mini-campaign setting: town, wilderness, dungeon.
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Post by Piper on Apr 10, 2020 6:11:09 GMT -6
Not sure if I understand you correctly, though: With the quoted method, a 2/4 Elf would have had 6 HD, 2 for their FM level and 4 for MU? Wouldn't elves start with 2 HD then?
Gygax would have players halve their rolled hit points before adding them to their PC's total. So the way one of the co-creators ran it? No.
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Post by Piper on Apr 8, 2020 9:36:07 GMT -6
Just for my own reference, but I thought some of you might enjoy this as well.
Dragon #137 (Sept. '88) is dedicated to wilderness building tips, articles, and random tables.
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Post by Piper on Apr 5, 2020 6:56:55 GMT -6
Agreed, strong ideas.
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Post by Piper on Apr 4, 2020 18:35:39 GMT -6
And from there one could add in (or not add in) what they like (or dislike) At the risk of sounding like a schnickelfritz I'd have to say I really like the paper printout (we jokingly called it the Captain's fax machine) on the bridge for Starfleet's orders.
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Post by Piper on Apr 3, 2020 19:52:48 GMT -6
I am curious as to the "Forbidden Planet" addition to some of the lists. Would someone care to fill me in? Thank you. After vociferously denying it for years, Roddenberry finally admitted a few years before his death that "Forbidden Planet" was a big influence on the look and feel of Star Trek (TOS).
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Post by Piper on Apr 1, 2020 15:43:36 GMT -6
That is very sad. I've never read an interview with Brian Blume. I would have liked to know his side of the TSR story. Nobody ever thinks they're "the bad guy". Nor have I. I met him once, long ago, at the last GenCon I attended. He seemed a pretty nice fellow, but that's all the impression I took away from it.
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Post by Piper on Mar 27, 2020 21:08:15 GMT -6
Doing a virtual game right now with tetramorph on Zoom. We're having a blast and it's almost as good as face-to-face gaming.
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Post by Piper on Mar 24, 2020 16:44:00 GMT -6
This is a city-based encounter ... It's evening and a party of adventurers is in a city or town and making their way to the local pub. From out of the shadows, a disheveled fellow staggers in front of the party. Under his arm is a large waterskin with a longish spout. With a loud cry the fellows yells "SURPRISE!" and squeezes the bag, dousing the party in wine. "You've been blessed by the Good King Rolfe!" He announces with great gravity. He then gives the party a courtly bow. "I'd like to give you this Holy Sword." If party accepts the sword, he will ask them to perform a task for him. His Viceroy, has put a curse on him and robbed him of his senses. He wishes for the characters to journey to his castle and forcibly remove the Evil Viceroy from office. Roll d6 or choose: - The sword is fake and the so-called king is a loon.
- The sword is fake but the fellow is in fact the king in exile.
2a: he was an awful king and the viceroy is greatly loved. 2b: he was a beloved king and the viceroy is as evil as they've been told. - The sword is real but the "king" is an adventurer who was cursed by an ill-tempered wizard.
- The sword and the king are the real deal. Slaying or driving off the Viceroy will gain the party great renown and a powerful ally.
"You're my only hope," he concludes his story.
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Post by Piper on Mar 14, 2020 14:39:42 GMT -6
I'm wondering what OSR means to you? To me it means the way I've been playing since 1975 ...
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Post by Piper on Mar 14, 2020 9:55:05 GMT -6
I got together with tetramorph and some other locals and played OD&D last night, as we do every Friday evening. I've been trying to branch out in these games as a player. I often play Fighting-Men, because my work often prevents my attendance and I figure an FM is most easily replaceable with an NPC. Lately, I've been trying to play other types, an Elf in the early level game we played last night, for example. Gaming with OD&D and socializing is my measure of sanity in a world increasingly crowded with noise. How's your gaming these days?
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