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Post by cadriel on Feb 19, 2015 6:26:07 GMT -6
Noble Knight is charging fairly big bucks for the early Lamentations of the Flame Princess modules - The Grinding Gear is currently listed for $85, and a second print of Death Frost Doom at $75. A print of Dragons at Dawn is also going for $75. ( aldarron could be sitting on a gold mine here!) And he's asking $695 for Rob Kuntz's Bottle City from Pied Piper. I really think somebody should talk to the folks running that store, the pricing there is entirely out of whack.
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Post by cadriel on Feb 17, 2015 7:55:26 GMT -6
The reason I asked is because the question posed had to do with S&W, not any WotC IP. (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.) The OGL does two things, basically. First, it lets you use Open Game Content, up to and including reprinting the OGC verbatim, but also covers any derivative works. (It's not really clear in RPGs what constitutes "derivative work," but the OGL makes sure it's definitely covered, since you have full reprint permissions.) Second, it forbids you from indicating compatibility with any other product licensed under the OGL. The only way you can indicate compatibility is by using a trademark license. The intent of this was to get publishers to use WotC's d20 System Trademark License, which has been revoked. (All the mounds of 3e product with the "d20 System" logo were released under the d20 STL.) If you look at the back of any Swords & Wizardry rulebook, there is a "Swords & Wizardry Compatibility Statement License" that explicitly allows products to state compatibility with S&W; there are similar licenses for OSRIC, Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, and probably numerous other similar clones, though S&W is the only one that forbids you from using the license to commit fraud in the state of Texas. There are just some things you shouldn't mess with. But Chris Gonnerman takes the "agree not to indicate compatibility" to mean that he can't do so when discussing the game. Which is probably not a bad idea, although I very much doubt that Matt Finch would ever sue him for indicating that Iron Falcon and Swords & Wizardry are compatible.
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Post by cadriel on Feb 17, 2015 4:34:13 GMT -6
The tricky thing is that hardly anything of the OD&D game/supplements is represented verbatim in the SRD. Everything else is legally WotC's IP. So there's a very fine line for the retro-OGL-publisher to tread between being all legal and OGL-complaint, and not. How "close" can an OGL-publication be to WotC's IP and still be legal? That one's with the lawyers... It's specific expression, not game mechanics, that can be copyrighted. That much is well known. Since Iron Falcon's expression in the charts is not identical to that of OD&D or Greyhawk, it is copyrightable and therefore can be brought under the OGL. (This is something of a slippery issue, since if they were found to violate copyright the OGL on those products would be invalid, and invalidate the OGL on products that reference them, but OSRIC and BFRPG have been out for almost 9 years now with no major lawsuits, and are much closer to their respective source games than 7VoZ - so I'd think that it is not necessary to make wholesale changes for legality's sake.)
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Post by cadriel on Feb 16, 2015 18:53:27 GMT -6
I'm pretty sure Seven Voyages of Z includes Greyhawk too. Certainly not in the sense that Iron Falcon does. For instance, Iron Falcon has attribute charts very close to the ones found in Greyhawk, while Seven Voyages of Zylarthen has completely sui generis attribute bonuses listed. And of course, Zylarthen uses 1d6 damage, while Iron Falcon has variable weapon damage.
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Post by cadriel on Feb 16, 2015 17:22:21 GMT -6
I actually agree with Gonnerman that this is filling a gap. Swords & Wizardry Core is the only thing in the same space; the other OD&D clones all exclude more Greyhawk material than Iron Falcon is adding in. Now, we're in fine grained differences between them, but from what I've seen so far this may be the first clone that I can just hand to players and have the OD&D game as I'd like it.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 29, 2015 14:28:20 GMT -6
I don't let the players know what to roll. OD&D, after all, dictates that there are "leader" types among groups of enemies, and the PCs shouldn't know which, if any, is going to have a lower AC than the next. So I'd rather keep the targets known only to me.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 29, 2015 10:03:00 GMT -6
Smith's Wikipedia article shows that life in the mid-'30s was not kind to him. Consider: Given all of that, I don't think anyone can really blame CAS for not wanting to write any more. That's a span of just over two years that would try the soul of any man. The year after, Weird Tales was sold to William J. Delaney, and Dorothy McIlwraith was brought in to assist and eventually take over the magazine from its longtime editor Farnsworth Wright - a relationship that was rocky and hardly an ideal environment to come back to as a writer. So it's really unsurprising that Smith stopped writing pretty much exactly when he did.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 27, 2015 19:58:40 GMT -6
There is a clear original that can be mined pretty simply: the material from before "The Man Trap" ever aired. First, you've got The Cage, the episode starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike of the Enterprise. (The footage for "The Cage" was reused in "The Menagerie"). It's 63 minutes of black & white pilot, and it establishes a different overall continuity. Spock, for instance, is not nearly as cold and emotionless, and Pike is far more deliberative than Kirk. Then you use Roddenberry's written pitch, "Star Trek Is ...", to fill things out. There's a summary at Memory Alpha, and you can read the full text in a PDF scan. It contains enough rough detail to run a very full campaign; turn each paragraph-long snippet into a planet and stick them on a hex map, and then have the players choose which they will go to next. This is the utterly original Trek, after all, and since it lacks any of the official original series continuity, it gives a much greater degree of freedom. And it's all very digestible, one long episode and the original treatment. (And yes, in the 1990s when "The Cage" was on home video and I watched Next Generation in syndication every evening, Hunter's Captain Pike seemed like a refreshing switch from Shatner's hammy Captain Kirk. I didn't appreciate Kirk until I was in college. But I always thought exploring that proto-Trek would be cool, but I never got into Star Trek fanfic or anything like that.)
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Post by cadriel on Jan 27, 2015 6:16:00 GMT -6
I have to agree with @hedgehobbit on this. It seems like a nice bit of stunt work if you can wrangle it, but all the rather silly jumping about stuff probably had nothing to do with mass combat archery. Neither did speed firing, as most speed firing techniques (his included) don't involve a full draw of the bow that you would require if you're trying to penetrate armor. In battle, power matters more than speed. Shooting three arrows that bounce off mail is nothing compared to one that gets through it. Note in the shot on mail that he wasn't firing from any significant distance, and he wasn't speed-shooting at it; that's probably indicative of the relative utility of the rest of his shooting.
As far as draw strength goes, I'm not sure about ancient Egyptian bows, but certainly most people on this board couldn't have pulled the longbows used at Agincourt. Probably not a Persian or later composite bow, either.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 22, 2015 7:36:15 GMT -6
Spikes and hammer just feel more versatile than the rest. The spikes and hammer used together can make handholds or break through things, or they can be used separately for making small holes (spikes) and hitting things (hammer).
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Post by cadriel on Jan 18, 2015 14:34:55 GMT -6
On the art - clearly Joseph Goodman's forte is finding artists who are able to evoke the feeling of old TSR art, but don't appear to be imitating it. Obviously the huge Warden cutaway is simply a masterpiece - a full game captured in a single picture - but the interior art is also great for the expansion books. I think Death Ziggurat had some of my favorites.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 17, 2015 16:20:24 GMT -6
Very cool! Are those Kickstarter exclusives, or will they eventually go up for sale to the general public? I'd really like to pick up those source books. All of them have cover prices and are advertised as coming products on the Goodman site. Also, Noble Knight should have them in stock soon, they were a significant backer of the Kickstarter.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 17, 2015 13:44:24 GMT -6
I just got my collection of add-ons and stretch goals for the Metamorphosis Alpha Kickstarter by Goodman Games: You can find details of all these products at the Goodman Games site here. Here's what they sent: The Android Underlords, an Adventure, by Michael Curtis Book of Handouts, 16 Scenes to Show Players, by James M. Ward and Jim Holloway The Captain's Table, an Adventure, by Jim Wampler Creatures & Gadgets, a Sourcebook, by James M. Ward Death Ziggurat in Zero-G, an Adventure, by Jobe Bittman The Level of the Lost, an Adventure, by Michael Curtis The Long, Hard Mile, a Solo Adventure by James M. Ward The Mutation Manual, a Character Sourcebook, by James M. Ward, Marv Breig, Jon Hershberger, Craig J. Brain, Michael Curtis, Jim Wampler, Jon Hook, & Jobe Bittman Warden Adventures, a Series of Encounters, by James M. Ward The Warden Armory, a Sourcebook, by James M. Ward What Are the Prisoners of REC-LOC-119?, an Adventure, by Jon Hook There's also a Referee's Screen and a huge print of the Starship Warden drawing by Doug Kovacs. This is really exciting for MA fans! A game that has gone for almost 40 years with very little support is, suddenly, a well-supported game. The Mutation Manual is the most essential, followed closely by Creatures & Gadgets and the Warden Armory. The Manual offers dozens of new physical, mental and plant mutations! Creatures & Gadgets is what it says; there are a dozen new mutations, and several dozen new gadgets for PCs to find among tech items. And the Warden Armory offers new guns, bombs, grenades, drones, droids, bots, armor, force walls, and other fun things for a referee populating the areas. Jim's Warden Adventures is neat, it's basically a series of 8 small encounters, each with its own internal logic and tricks, that the referee can place when creating a level. The Android Underlords features the "metal caverns," a sort of dungeon-like environment between levels of the Warden. The Level of the Lost is almost impossibly cool, as it features the idea of a dinosaur preserve on board the Warden, and therefore is a level full of mutant dinosaurs. Including raptoids (like wolfoids or cougaroids, but for utahraptors). Death Ziggurat is actually a neat little introductory module that MA has never had, including both a sandbox area and a keyed adventure location (the eponymous ziggurat). It has the neat conceit that the PCs' home village is in the Super Shop Mart. The Captain's Table is actually a really neat adventure that gets the PCs to the cargo level, which of course is infested with space weevils that can chew through duralloy, and contains some other nasty surprises. There is also a whole set of tables to determine what's in a cargo bay that can be used quite separately from the module. REC-LOC-119 has some nice things, like a quick Generic Mutant table, and is a location-based adventure with a crazed robot that is nice, if not quite at the same speed as the other modules. I haven't given them in-depth reads, but of the modules I really like Level of the Lost and Captain's Table for what they do. Death Ziggurat is the only one that is really suitable for beginning PCs, but between this and the Deluxe book I dare say you could easily put together a very full MA campaign. And the sourcebooks, together with the additional material in the Deluxe book, give a plethora of options for home-brewed adventures. So if you missed the Kickstarter, pick up whatever you can from this batch. Metamorphosis Alpha is no longer that one-off RPG from '76; it's now a fully supported game line.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 10, 2015 21:07:15 GMT -6
cadriel, please write that document up and I will be the first to buy it. I'm sure all the illustrators on this board could provide you ample and diverse images! I'm Not kidding! It just sounds amazing. To wrap up the tangent, I wrote about this in more detail on my blog: Nuking the Monster Manual.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 10, 2015 18:00:38 GMT -6
Details, please! How would you have changed the Monster Manual? Well, I would do a lot differently. My Monster Manual would have had short Holmes-style stat blocks to allow for more monsters. A lot of the things where Gygax made "systematic" entries would have been replaced with "generator with example" type entries; for instance, the whole hierarchy of demons would be pulled out and replaced by a few exemplar demons and a demon generator. Likewise with humanoids and dragons. Orcs and goblins would just be examples of how to make humanoids, and the whole color-coding of dragons would be gone. I would have human enemies with unique powers, like witches, Evil High Priests, and so on. There would also be ample science fantasy stuff in my MM - robots, androids, and alien creatures (probably adaptations of white apes, banths, and other Barsoom creatures), as were hinted at in volumes 2 and 3 of D&D. I actually think the standardization of creatures and the expurgation of science fantasy elements from AD&D had a narrowing effect on fantasy as a genre. But that deserves its own thread and discussion.
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Post by cadriel on Jan 10, 2015 9:11:03 GMT -6
One thing I've gotten from reading Alarums & Excursions is the sense that the Evil High Priest was one of the really classic D&D enemies, on the level of the Balrog. Losing this designation is one of the things that made later editions a lot less flavorful. (If I could go back in time and change D&D, the Monster Manual would've been a different than it ended up.)
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Post by cadriel on Jan 9, 2015 15:30:48 GMT -6
The idea that anti-clerics are a different class from clerics is only partially supported in the text of OD&D. It does say that clerics must choose Law or Chaos, unless you have a later printing in which the text is emended to move this choice to 7th level. Then in the spells section it introduces the Anti-Cleric, who casts the reverse of clerical spells (i.e. Cause Light Wounds instead of Cure Light Wounds). They also have unique access to the Finger of Death spell, which turns characters into anti-clerics, but no turning undead.
Also, anti-cleric level titles are just the cleric titles with "evil" stuck in front of them, except for Shaman (Village Priest), Evil Priest (Vicar) and Evil High Priest (Patriarch). It's one of the great missed opportunities in OD&D that "Shaman" is not used as a type for either enemy humans or for humanoids.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 18, 2014 13:55:44 GMT -6
Given the market, $60 for the FFC is not bad (it's a bit less what I paid for a near mint copy with the map) but the $25 for shipping is pretty brutal. The $175 Noble Knight is asking is through the roof. Tony Bath, fortunately, is actually in reprints available on Amazon. Tony Bath's page on Amazon
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Post by cadriel on Dec 17, 2014 12:48:44 GMT -6
There are two copies on eBay right now, one of a 3rd printing from Noble Knight for $175, and one from an Italian seller for €49.99 - which right now comes out to $61.30, plus almost $25 shipping. I've always found that a saved eBay search will get you much better prices on collectible D&D books than a store like Noble Knight.
There is no PDF for sale, but if you wanted to find one, you could definitely do a Google search: "first fantasy campaign" pdf.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 14, 2014 19:12:20 GMT -6
I'm intrigued but know nothing of Adventure Time. Also is the base system OD&D (such as it is in Carcosa)?
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Post by cadriel on Dec 9, 2014 19:16:42 GMT -6
I read your blog post, and I notice you didn't include a higher ground bonus, although you mentioned that Chainmail had this. It's not a bad point, although in dungeons it would pretty much require being on stairs - I could see that adding +1, like having a long weapon. I just left it out because it has almost never come up in my running D&D, while it's a common thing in battles to be attacking or defending a hill.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 9, 2014 13:56:23 GMT -6
I created a pretty straightforward variant initiative system on my blog, here: Initiative, Dexterity and Ready Ref Sheets. Basically it's trying to square the circle of weapon length from Chainmail, Dexterity from Men & Magic, and keeping life simple. Basically a simplified version of the Ready Ref Sheets table. Without needing to go to the blog, here's the table (as modifiers on 1d6 initiative roll). Factor | Round 1 | Round 2+ | Long Weapon* | +1 | n/a | Short Weapon** | -1 | n/a | Dexterity/Move 8 or less | -1 | -1 | Dexterity/Move 13 or higher | +1 | +1 | Encumbered (Moving at 1/2 speed) | -1 | -1 |
* Morning Star, Flail, Spear, Pole Arm, Halberd, 2-handed Sword, Lance, Pike ** Dagger, Hand Axe, Mace I'd appreciate thoughts on this from the OD&D perspective.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 6, 2014 17:06:38 GMT -6
I just heard back from Lee. He has graciously consented to allow the scanning any of his back issues of A&E, including #'s 17 and 19, for free if he is provided a copy. Unfortunately he is located in LA. I'm there 2 or 3 times a year but won't be there any time soon. Does any "true fan" want to step up to the plate? You'll have to provide your own scanner and both issues are ~150 pages each. I'd bet a bag of GP the folks here would chip in to you'uns if you'd do us a solid and scan those bad boys. Gene, FYI, Lee is a woman. She very graciously did me a favor (at my expense) and photocopied issues #1-20 of A&E for me a number of years back, so i do have the source material in my office, but with the understanding that I was not to disseminate copies. The thing is, I believe the rights for submissions to A&E remained with the authors, so copyright would go to the good doctor's estate. I have typed up one submission, Bill Paley's account of gaming with Dave Arneson in 1975, that I put up in my blog. If Dr. Holmes's estate were okay with it, I could do the same with his stories.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 6, 2014 10:13:57 GMT -6
Great post! Bitd once the thief came out, we always had hobbit thieves and our thieves were used extensively for scouting on a constant ongoing basis. The hobbit was by far the most popular for the task. Also just to note from your post about the PCs not having infravision that was one of our first(founding) house rules. In our games humans were the only ones that did not have infravision. Thanks. I actually sort of prefer the idea Aaron and I discuss in the comments below of having at least some monsters also lacking infravision. Uneven access to infravision in the party is always a little odd in practice, as characters are constantly moving back and forth between light and darkness.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 6, 2014 7:19:01 GMT -6
I wrote a blog post about hobbits as scouts, based on some passages from Chainmail, The Hobbit and observations of actual play. I'm interested in feedback from the folks here, both what you think and what role hobbits have played in your OD&D games. OD&D Hobbits, Scouting and Light
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Post by cadriel on Dec 3, 2014 6:31:48 GMT -6
Speaking of 10' poles, the way we've always played was that probing ahead with your pole completely negates any pits and trip wire traps you might run into. That's just what it did. However, I've recently played with new people on G+ and noticed that some DMs roll to determine if the pole-wielder notices the trap, often giving ridiculously low chances such as 1 in 3 or less. What say you? Really it should depend upon the trap. If a pit trap triggers on any weight, then tapping with a pole should always reveal it; if it's hollow beneath there should be a noticeable sound and a chance to detect it. But a floor that crumbles when there are over 400 lbs of weight should have zero chance to be detected with a pole. Similarly with trip wires. It depends on what happens when you hit the trip wire. If an arrow fires from dead ahead, the character with the pole should have some good chance of being hit by it anyway. But a stone block falling from overhead will land harmlessly. I'd say a pole should trigger most trip wires, but not necessarily all pressure plates, since the latter may have higher weight required to trigger them. Context is everything with traps. A 10' pole should certainly not mean trap invincibility, and 1 in 3 may be quite appropriate for a given trap.
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Post by cadriel on Nov 30, 2014 18:22:15 GMT -6
I have a question. Let's say I want to set up a 'pay what you want' deal on an adventure I'm writing (just for the pdf, obviously). What's the best way to set that up? OneBookShelf (DriveThruRPG/RPGNow) offers PWYW as an option on any PDF.
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Post by cadriel on Nov 26, 2014 8:29:30 GMT -6
Anymore recommendations until December 2? Mainly interested in modules & supplements preferably with an OD&D feel The Nameless CityTomb of the Sea KingsTomb of the Iron GodStonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted HallsShadowbrook ManorASE1: Anomalous Subsurface EnvironmentASE2-3: Anomalous Subsurface EnvironmentScourge of the Demon WolfVoyage to Plague IslandThere's a whole range in that. Stonehell and ASE are megadungeons, as different from each other as possible. Stonehell is a good, solid, square-shaped megadungeon that does most of the classic D&D-isms in a big box. The Anomalous Subsurface Environment is a weird, sprawling, gonzo science fantasy environment with huge features. Both are excellent, neither is complete yet. Tomb of the Iron God is a solid OD&D style dungeon, two levels, good work with factions and multiple routes etc. Shadowbrook Manor is a contrast to it, a sort of Tegel-style funhouse manor. Scourge of the Demon Wolf is a good sandbox-ish adventure module, and Voyage to Plague Island is a small island exploration. The Nameless City is a Lovecraft-inspired dungeon. Tomb of the Sea Kings is a classic convention module. Between those, I think you'll be able to find something to your taste. My strongest recommendations are for Stonehell, ASE, Tomb of the Iron God and Shadowbrook Manor.
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Post by cadriel on Nov 23, 2014 16:46:43 GMT -6
There are two gaming stores near me. One is five minutes from my house in the next town over, mostly makes it's living as a Magic the Gathering shop. I play 5e there and will be picking up my DMG there this coming Friday. They have a good board game stock and some interesting older RPG stuff, although a friend and I have largely cleaned out the good old D&D materials.
The other one, just over a half hour away, has a wider RPG selection, as well as comics, and my friend who once ran a game store says it's larger than their sales numbers recommend. They do Free RPG Day and some other good stuff so I support them when I can. A lot of the time I pick up something like a Knights of the Dinner Table collection.
Both of them are very much driven by card games, and have lots of gaming space. I've used a Meetup group to get players out, and stores are important for that. But it's not like these are huge RPG stores like the one my friend used to run.
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Post by cadriel on Nov 23, 2014 16:34:03 GMT -6
There's loads of evidence, most of which I've gone through before so I won't write a treatise again here. The lair treasure tables, as made clear in Holmes and B1 were created with the intention of being used, for lairs. Any lair, any where, dungeons included. The vol III treasure tables were created for non-lair treasures, which might or might not be guarded or trapped. Historically, the game rather quickly got away from this idea and moved toward the DM fiat method of dungeon stocking. If you use the tables together, you can be sure you will get a "proper" mix of magic items. If you don't, you won't. <shrug> When you say dungeon lairs, do you mean things like in the First Fantasy Campaign dungeon levels? There were rooms in there with fantastical numbers of goblins or skeletons, matching the Volume II number appearing. And then non-lair chambers would use the treasure from the Volume III tables?
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