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Post by Mike on Aug 18, 2019 5:51:42 GMT -6
Brilliant game. I still play it using the original two-books. That's all I need; the additional rules STEALTH and PERCEPTION were overkill for such a simple system. The additional characters were also overpowered compared to the original four. I created a fifth - the Vagabond, but that was the extent of my rules fiddling. The adventures for Dragon Warriors were/are outstanding; dripping with atmosphere, great characters and challenging, original ideas an environments.
Interesting Rule - this might be of use to anyone using a 3d6 character generation system. The Dragon Warriors rule for just about anything that isn't combat or magic is this: The referee eye-balls the task at hand and sets a Difficulty Factor, 11 being "average" - all the way up to 18 (or even higher). If the character has a score in the relevant characteristic equal to or greater than the Difficulty Factor, no roll is required, the task is completed automatically, if his or her score is less than the DF a roll under the characteristic is required for success - that's under the stat not the stat or less.
Back in the day I often thought this to be too simplistic and used all sorts of convoluted rubbish to slow down my game. Nowadays, I love it. Guesstimate the difficulty roll or auto success and straight back tot he game. If it's breaking down a door I just tell the players what the DF is, if it's something more dangerous like sneaking past a sleeping bear, fast-talking the bailiff or leaping across a gap in a lofty bridge, I don't tell them what's going on and narrate something fitting.
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Post by Mike on Aug 18, 2019 5:37:34 GMT -6
Blimey. Ben Elton...
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Post by Mike on Feb 8, 2017 22:49:34 GMT -6
Beautiful cover!
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Post by Mike on Dec 20, 2016 5:03:44 GMT -6
Awesome artwork as ever!
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Post by Mike on Nov 28, 2016 22:13:16 GMT -6
I'm really looking forward to this one.
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Post by Mike on Nov 23, 2016 2:19:05 GMT -6
I like this because I really don't like thief-classes that have abilities that other classes are barred from using. I'm in a play-by-post game at the moment where a locked door is found; the referee rules that it cannot be opened because our thief is dead.
Whereas I would say, any character can attempt to pick a lock but thieves' are better at it than others.
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Post by Mike on Nov 23, 2016 1:58:23 GMT -6
Nice. Looking forward to that one!
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Post by Mike on Oct 23, 2016 22:35:27 GMT -6
There is a gentleman named Holmes looking at the Journeymanne Rules manuscript and giving me all kinds of interesting ideas. Some I simply can't entertain because, although eminently sensible (to-hit rolls for magic missile? that's crazy!), they would not be in the spirit of a retro clone. Others, however, have me re-organising the spell chapter to list spells by level and class instead of just alphabetically by class. It sounds like you need to add an appendix...
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Post by Mike on Oct 12, 2016 1:24:02 GMT -6
UPDATE: Project's over. I lost 90% of what I'd collected over the last 5 years including my manuscripts in .doc form. I'm just crushed. I can't do this now. Maybe later. What happened? No online storage?
I've got a doc version...
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Post by Mike on Oct 9, 2016 9:41:42 GMT -6
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Post by Mike on Oct 5, 2016 22:56:33 GMT -6
Okay, all types are done and in the correct order. here.This link doesn't seem to go anywhere?
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Post by Mike on Oct 5, 2016 22:52:08 GMT -6
The drive upon which I kept all my RPG stuff got corrupted and I had to eventually re-format it. I lost nearly everything that isn't up on Google Docs already. Bummer! But my own fault for not backing everything up. The good news is, I was able to recover about 10% of the intellectual work on the drive. The bad news is, I lost the .docx files for Books I and II, along with 90% of what I kept on the drive. It's heartbreaking and I'll take a little break from this process before I get back with it. Ugh! I think we all have a story this like this one... thank zod for Google Drive!
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Post by Mike on Sept 28, 2016 8:42:26 GMT -6
Now I am playing around with presenting monsters by taxonomy rather than in alphabetical order. That's how Gary did it and it makes a lot more sense to me than alphabetical. It's not like there's 100 pages of monsters and you need to be able to find them with an index or something. Now, do I present them by type and then by hit dice, or by type and then alphabetically? type then hit dice would be my dream listing.
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Post by Mike on Sept 28, 2016 8:31:42 GMT -6
Hi Simon, I notice the character sheet lists Willpower instead of Charisma. Is this an error or are there some changes afoot? Thanks Mike
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Post by Mike on Sept 12, 2016 5:09:23 GMT -6
Well... surprisingly it lacks the usual 5-star presentation we've seen in Blueholme but the content remains 5-star. It manages to iron out a few of the Black Hack's bumps and is written for accessibility. It may lack the looks but it scores everywhere else. For "A Little Bit of Fun" this is golden.
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Post by Mike on Sept 12, 2016 4:57:31 GMT -6
I has it!
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Post by Mike on Sept 12, 2016 2:43:07 GMT -6
YES!
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Post by Mike on Sept 12, 2016 2:41:08 GMT -6
Wants it I do...
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Post by Mike on Aug 24, 2016 5:10:44 GMT -6
Hmmm... My Moldvay Basic runs -3 to +3?
Curious though, why go d20 for combat when TH (advanced) followed the 2d6 path? If you really want to keep it simple, drop the poly dice.
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Post by Mike on Aug 23, 2016 17:48:59 GMT -6
I can get you the Word doc if you want to re-format it. The A5 size is an experiment. the +1 to -1 is mean to be super-simple. It's really very little difference from B/X, which grants a bonus or penalty of 2 for a score of 18. It's good input though. Thank you for looking. An observation rather than critique sir. B/X has a bonus range of -3 to +3 (as did the original Basic Treasure Hunters). To my mind the original D&D scant modifiers were borne of the 2d6 combat system from Chainmail. Initially, when EGG created the d20 table he (or they) didn't change the statistic modifiers. Later, it was realised that +1 on 2d6 was much more powerful than +1 on d20 and further tweaking was required if ability scores were to remain relevant. Agreed, +1 on 1 six-sided die is a huge boon which leads me to believe that either "d20 combat" is not the way to go or the d6 mechanic should carry a different method of modification (perhaps by class rather than ability)? Just shooting the breeze.
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Post by Mike on Aug 23, 2016 5:11:06 GMT -6
I've only had a very quick look. I have and really enjoyed the original Basic Treasure Hunters with its Lord of the Rings feel. So much of what is here I'm also going to love. Two things irk me at the first hurdle however; firstly is the A5 or booklet style presentation as it's difficult to print, staple and manage in hardcopy format - I haven't advanced to the stage where I'm comfortable with digital rule books at the table. This I guess is a fairly minor quibble but I see it as an unnecessary obstacle to me using the game. Full-size legal or A4 is the way to go. Secondly, I'm surprised to see statistics boiled down to -1, 0 and +1. Fair enough, that was the solid basis of Treasure Hunters and it made perfect sense there since the modifier applied to a throw of 2 six-sided dice. Here the die being modified is twenty-sided making the basic character a magnitude weaker than the advanced counterpart. Not sure why you took that decision? Anyway, lots more reading to do.
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Post by Mike on Aug 22, 2016 23:07:36 GMT -6
The range bands in Starter Traveller are 10,000 km each. What's vague about that? I always user the Start rules for space combat. Speed, detection etc. are all conducted in "bands" in the same way that book 2 uses millimetres. A certain number of millimetres equals a particular range; the distances are exactly the same in Starter.
The original Book 2 space combat rules are a stand-alone game; a good one too but can you imagine incorporating it into a regular gaming session?
You'd move the players to a bigger table - or the floor - where you'd have sheets of butchers papers, rules, and a protractor. Three hours later you'd be ready to get back to the RPG.
Lots of people claim to use book 2 rules in regular play but they usually use hexes instead of millimetres; which is not really using the canon rules.
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Post by Mike on Aug 22, 2016 22:55:02 GMT -6
I can't wait to dip into this. But I'll have to, until I get home. The work servers say "no" to Google docs. d**nit! I will comment as soon as I can sneak a peek.
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Post by Mike on Aug 3, 2016 9:01:56 GMT -6
I confess, I still don't understand and/or like trade-out treasure but that aside, I think this is just about the perfect White Box! Thanks
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Post by Mike on Jul 25, 2016 20:55:36 GMT -6
He's posting regularly on the OSR G+ site.
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Post by Mike on Jul 21, 2016 22:54:23 GMT -6
I've been waiting for this baby for an age. Thank you so much!
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Post by Mike on Jul 5, 2016 1:12:56 GMT -6
Should I include race/class options for Halflings & Half Orcs? Bring it!
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Post by Mike on Jul 5, 2016 1:11:21 GMT -6
I'm really impressed with this game and the way that the author listens and responds to his audience. I mentioned that (like the original White Box), the overland rules were absent; 2 days later, there they are.
The skills are really class abilities that you can mix and match to create what you want - a nice move that makes dual-classes obsolete.
I would happily play this and will grab a hard cover when I'm sure the author has finished tweaking.
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Post by Mike on Jun 14, 2016 2:39:22 GMT -6
Amazing group character and setting generation. Magic is nice and subtle-ish. Everything else is a bit too lite for my liking and the odd mix of roll under for everything except combat tends to jar a little - with my group at least.
Overall I still rate it and wouldn't classify it as a beginners only game.
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Post by Mike on Jun 14, 2016 2:36:55 GMT -6
A little project I've set myself is to answer the question "What if Barbarians of Lemuria were mashed up with (O)D&D?". I'm sticking with BoL stats, careers, Hero Points and a number of other "BoL" things, but from D&D using D20, classes (just two - The Hero and The Magician), levels, Hit Dice and a few other things. I've nearly got there with the project and I have to say it isn't half bad. I'm aiming to have this out before the end of the month. Great news! Let me know if you need a proofer.
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