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Post by jmccann on Jan 11, 2012 0:42:03 GMT -6
But, hey... I liked Vallejo too! Hmm. Frazetta has reached name level, Vallejo is mid-level. Technically proficient but without the vitality and restraint of Frazetta.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 11, 2012 0:35:40 GMT -6
All right. 2nd edition seems agreeable to everyone. I'll write something up and ask Fin to start a forum in the PBP section, and I'll post some background, maps and what not.
What I'll do for characters is post several characters - if any of them appeal people they can pick one. If you'd prefer to roll up your own characters go ahead.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 10, 2012 1:11:48 GMT -6
I did not realize there was a 3rd edition. I don't think I am interested in it - seems like a big step up in complexity from 2nd.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 9, 2012 22:52:58 GMT -6
If I were to run some simple Boot Hill scenarios like the Christmas one on these boards, would 1st ed. or 2nd be most popular? Would anyone want to play? The scenario that got run was pretty simple, do those who participated think that a more complicated scenario would be feasible? I'd start out simple, but I have some ideas for a simple campaign.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 9, 2012 21:34:37 GMT -6
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Post by jmccann on Jan 9, 2012 20:15:23 GMT -6
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I also recall a post -- unfortunately, I do not recall if it was here or elsewhere -- regarding the demographics of the OS wilderness. I will post more on this tonight.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 9, 2012 20:10:17 GMT -6
For example, the Cleric is sort of a combination of fighter with magic-user, so he gets some cool fighting early on but no spells. If you allow spell casting at first level, you might also tone down his fighting ability a little. (Not saying you must or ought to do it, just saying there may be a reason so think before you tweak too much...) Yes, there is something to that. I'll give it more thought.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 8, 2012 19:43:47 GMT -6
Gary never used CHAINMAIL for D&D. This was neither an accident nor a coincidence. CHAINMAIL is a great tabletop miniatures wargame. IMNSHO, using CHAINMAIL for D&D is like trying to use Spitfire parts in a Mustang. They're both great WW2 fighter aircraft, but the bits are not interchangeable. What about Arneson? Did he fly a Spitfire? Was the Chainmail stuff in OD&D strictly a marketing ploy?
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Post by jmccann on Jan 8, 2012 18:05:09 GMT -6
To expand a little more, I'll just "backport" AD&D rules and pull in any OD&D rules as desired, not to mention stuff from old Dragons, SR and so on.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 8, 2012 18:03:31 GMT -6
Simply get a copy of the Original Edition Characters book and use whatever you'd like from there and/or drop an Advanced Edition Character into the mix as needed to pacify those who would rather play with those options. This may be considered heresy, but I will probably stick w/ basic LL for a couple of reasons: 1. Clerics not getting a spell till level 2 is a problem for me 2. I like HD by class Since LL comes with those I am pretty satisfied with it.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 7, 2012 19:52:32 GMT -6
I have decided that I will use LL for the "official" rules for my planned campaign. I'd rather have it be OD&D, but I am worried that it will put people off. I just got the rules today at Gary's Games in Seattle. After flipping through them in the shop, I could not really see any big differences between LL and the OD&D, but I am sure they are there. What are the differences? I was pretty surprised to see L, N and C for the alignments! I figured it would have at least the 5 from Holmes.
In actual play, house rules will be pretty thick on the ground and I don't think it will really make much difference. Especially if I distribute copies of the ref sheets from OD&D along with a house rules doc!
I'd like to hear people's experiences w/ LL, from both sides of the screen.
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Post by jmccann on Jan 5, 2012 23:34:50 GMT -6
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Post by jmccann on Jan 4, 2012 20:23:19 GMT -6
The only drawback to the troop rules is that they are really lame when a PC only gets to roll 1 six-sided die. But when they get higher level and get to roll bunches of d6's, well, that's awesome and a lot of fun! I agree. We tried a game using Finarvyn's RINGMAIL tables (there are some threads hereabouts somewhere) and had a blast. At high levels you tend to run out of d6's, which is something that I never thought I'd ever do. Here is the solution to that: www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0017LSPZS/ref=mp_s_a_27?qid=1325730040&sr=8-27
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Post by jmccann on Jan 1, 2012 17:57:17 GMT -6
Of course, as much as some folks (including myself) would love the map board thing, it might be more practical to just publish an A5-sized booklet that consists of 2-page OS-style maps. Numbered hexes, terrain features, castles/towns, no place names, explanations for the effects of the terrain features, some example locations on the "main" map (JG/Carcosa/IotU-style), etc. And of course, maybe offer larger maps separately... ;D The maps don't necessarily have to connect. The "main" map would be the "improved" OS map, and the others could be (as you hinted at) a desert map, an ocean/islands map, a jungle map, a swamp map, a mountainous region map, etc. Thanks for the suggestions. I will take these up in a new thread. I have done a little work on this project today, and will post some more about it soon.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 30, 2011 12:40:48 GMT -6
I've been thinking I need to get one. Maybe in this thread, like Alex and the Sensei have already done, we could post some pictures of the ones we think are grooviest? @sensei: I'd wear that shirt in a heartbeat. How could we make it? Alex: I dig the Dungeon Master shirt--understated, says it like it is = awesome. Methinks I could put together a graphic, put it on a tan shirt..... somewhere it needs to say something like, " Certified 1974 Grognard" in the old "D&D lettering style. I know I guy that does sports shirts.... he may be able to do something like this if we give him the graphics. I don't know what the dpi, etc. would need to be for a shirt. but I'm sure it's 300 or less. Less. I have done some silkscreen and fine detail can be problematic (obviously someone more skilled will get better results with less spoilage). 100 or so threads per inch screen is typical at least for me, higher is possible, usually a higher thread count will be used on paper rather than a shirt. I think it makes sense to embrace this, not fight it. Big bold design in 1 or 2 colors.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 30, 2011 1:18:41 GMT -6
I have for years known that I have a problem of starting too many projects and completing too few of them. So I want to go on record with some 2012 New Year's OSR resolutions. 1. Finish and publish or otherwise make widely available the Outdoor Survival map replacement I discussed here: odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=workshop&action=display&thread=31752. Complete the original edition *secret* project 3. Make some serious progress on my new OD&D campaign - as in define the goals and some of the constraints and perhaps start some of the preliminary activities (I should write a post on what I am thinking of soon). I don't want to make it a goal to actually begin play for a few reasons. Well, there is my list - I don't know if anyone else is interested in naming their resolutions here or not but go ahead and chime in if you'd like.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 24, 2011 19:39:47 GMT -6
As long as you don't ingest it or breathe it you will be fine. Wash your hands after handling until they are painted or otherwise sealed. If you want to seal them for safer handling you might try Future Wax or an art sealant like Krystal Klear or similar - that will preserve more of the look than priming. But if you prime them, you may get inspired to paint them.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 24, 2011 10:31:17 GMT -6
Well, I definitely that that it would not work in a lot of campaigns, but I like how disruptive it would be. I mean, you think chaotic characters are going to work together for the benefit of all? I think this is a very nice way to set up a game mechanism to encourage roleplaying and give some meaning to the weird alignment system.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 23, 2011 19:40:57 GMT -6
in actual play it probably doesn't work as chaotic players would end up trying to kill their party members. It's still an interesting idea. You say that like it's a bug but I think that it is a feature. I can see chaotic players trying to crowd others out from getting the spoils of victory.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 20, 2011 20:16:19 GMT -6
The first issue is on track for April 2012. I plan to have high quality pulpish but original sf and fantasy. I hope it will appeal to many of the folks who post here, and I'll update more as the publication date approaches.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 20, 2011 20:08:24 GMT -6
Real dungeons - exalt for that!
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Post by jmccann on Dec 14, 2011 22:08:56 GMT -6
A possible solution would be a armor-variable damage. Roll against AC9, -1 to hit if opponent has a shield, and roll for damage accoridng to his / her AC AC 1 or lower 1d2 AC 2-3 1d4 AC 4-5 1d6 AC 6-7 1d8 AC 8-9 1d10 It shoud be playtested, just an ida I get in the tube I think the problem with this is that it doesn't permit variable damage easily But it does get to the problem of reducing damage as actual armor ususally does.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 14, 2011 22:05:59 GMT -6
Bleah. I hate those still image vids but the studio version of this song is awesome.
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Post by jmccann on Dec 14, 2011 22:03:24 GMT -6
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Post by jmccann on Dec 4, 2011 12:25:59 GMT -6
It hardly seems useful to reply to the letter 33 years after it was published! I think it is pretty interesting to think about this - here we are communicating on a commonplace medium which back then did not exist (although it was in some form perhaps forseen - I recall a column "The Electronic Eye" or something that dealt with computers and gaming) decades after the original publication, arguing over the intent of some abstract gaming stat and trying to establish the author's intent from various writings spread out over many years. Publishing, gaming and communications are so different today yet there is a group of (grumpy, old) gamers which pore over all of this old writing and discuss it. I don't know if that is useful or not and I don't care. It is however totally rad! And for that we should all be grateful to Finarvyn for managing this excellent resource. -- edited to give props to Finarvyn
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Post by jmccann on Nov 24, 2011 12:11:38 GMT -6
I actually think that the original (i.e. before his death) stories of REH are public domain. ... And why limit it to just Conan? I am sure the tales of Kull and Solomon Kane are ripe for the concordancing too. You're right, only the REH stories are public domain in Australia where the influence of the baleful mouse is less dire. I think '23 is the cutoff year in the US - Barsoom is the best OD&D inspiration in PD in the US. Good point about Kull, Solomon not to mention Red Sonja and some other lesser known -- they'd fit right in as well.
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Post by jmccann on Nov 23, 2011 23:35:21 GMT -6
My idea is to write a book which goes through all of REH's Conan stories and pulls out all of the useful bits (from the point of view of RPG players). Probably the arrangement would be alphabetical with a chronological index of some kind. There would be glosses, pictures of weapons, comparison to myths and legends and that sort of thing. It would be sort of a source book, but not an adventure setting.
I have done something like this for a few dozen pages of LOTR, and it actually goes pretty quickly. One thing I am worried about is that it may exceed fair use and therefore require a license from the rights holders which would probably kill the project (unless it were published in Australia where it is public domain... hmmmm...).
Would this be interesting to people?
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Post by jmccann on Nov 23, 2011 0:00:42 GMT -6
foxroe has a good description of grain. As foxroe says, the grain for paper packaged for consumers usually has the grain going the long way - it is easier to feed through printers that way since it is less likely to jam. I use 8 1/2" x 11" sheets cut from 11" x 17" and feed them one at a time.
mgtremaine, if I am understanding your description correctly it sounds like those sheets might work. Does the company sell a lighter brown? Are the sheets 11" or greater in the long dimension?
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Post by jmccann on Nov 20, 2011 23:50:38 GMT -6
I have just been going through old SRs and TDs for other reasons and noticed a GDH ad, so I noted the date and then looked for the first ads for Swords and Spells and Eldritch Wizardry.
* EW is advertised as "Avaliable May 1" in Vol. 2 No. 2 of SR, April 1976.
* GDH was advertised "It's here" in Vol.1 No. 2, August 1976.
* Swords and spells is advertised "NOW AVAILABLE" in Vol. 1 No. 3, October 1976.
So it looks like the EW pub. date is definitely wrong in the registration. I searched the db for several variations of the GDH title and could not find it. S&S could have been published in August and only advertised in October given the long lead times of a print magazine, so it seems likely that that date is not very far wrong if at all.
-- edited to put the date of SR 2 #2
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Post by jmccann on Nov 20, 2011 22:39:53 GMT -6
I recommend against buying this size to cover digest booklets with. The grain will be going the wrong way causing the booklets to not open nicely - the stiffness of the page will hamper opening the booklet and flipping the pages. You need to buy the parent sheets that these are cut down from, and cut 8 1/2" x 11" sheets with the grain going across the short way.
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