@Stuffed Crocodile
A blog (mostly) about tabletop roleplaying games
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Recent Notes
My Dungeon Game: Skills and Languages
I have been tinkering with my own rules for a while now. And while it still isn’t finished (will it ever be?) I am getting to the point where I could see it being used in a game.
Now mind you, I didn’t really come up with this on my own, I just took ideas from other places and added my own spin to it. The very core of the game used to be the Labyrinth Lord SRD, but I drew in parts from other places over time so I don’t know if much of that is left (the skills as d6 values idea definitely came from Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Anyway, here is my take on a 1d6 based skill system. This replaces the thieves’ skills and adds further skills from various places (e.g. the Search Roll has become a Perception skill, and the Dwarves’ Architecture ability has become a skill). Languages also are now treated as separate skills. The main idea is that these skills are in fact all available to all characters, but some might have more skill in them than others. Every character gains 1 skill point at every level increase, but Thieves/Specialists/Rogues gain them quicker (at 2SP per level)
All of this is of course very broad, as it’s just taking the vestiges of the B/X skill system and expanding on that. But there’s the question if one actually needs a skill system in a B/X-based game at all, and I would say… well, there’s the Thief already. And you got all those other weird special cases. Why not make this easier to handle?
Skills and Languages
Skills
Skills are additional abilities that characters possess.
Skills are presented in a number of X out of 6. They are checked by rolling a d6. If the number of the die is in the value for the skill this check was successful. The referee might check the skill concealed if the outcome might not be immediately obvious to the character.
If a character has an unmodified 6 in 6 in a skill two die are rolled, and the check only fails if both come up as 6s.
All skills start with a value of 1 of 6, except when modified by other circumstances.
All physical abilities have to be attempted unencumbered, or the character suffers -1 per encumbrance level.
Every character gains 1 skill point per level, to be spent on any skill. Specialists gain additional skill points when they start and level up.
List of skills
Acumen: understanding of value and business, business practices and procedures. With a successful skill check the nature, history and value of non-magical treasure and artifacts can be determined and fakes revealed. Any Charisma check or reaction roll resulting from negotiations dependent on trust, trade or protocol gain a +1 from a successful Acumen check.
Architecture: character can look for things out of place, or in place, according to their knowledge of architecture and building. E.g. finding unsafe parts, determining culture of origin, finding hidden parts, etc. The character has to be looking for it specifically
Athletics: more involved exertions of the body, notably the chance to climb a wall or sheer surface without obvious handholds, but also jumping a great distance, etc. Characters must be unencumbered to use this. Failure means fall from random point in climb.
Carouse: the ability to drink and/or party with no or just minor ill effects. In a wider sense, the ability to function while under the influence of intoxicating agemts. (in general modified by Con)
Herbalism: the ability to identify, find, and safely use herbs, spices, and fungi.
Husbandry: management of plants and animals, agriculture and households, in adventuring terms largely the management of horses, donkeys, dogs, and other animals, although the basic skill should be applicable to other situations.
Legerdemain: Hiding small objects, pickpocketing, swapping out objects with no one noticing, and other trick actions are governed by this. Also the skill of grafting, entertaining, and courting. Legerdemain consists of all deception skills, and successful use will give a +1 to any reaction roll resulting from a successful Legerdemain roll.
Lore: can be used to recall information about places, people, and artifacts from legends, songs, and poems. This can be used to identify artifacts and places with legendary significance.
Perception: the skill of perceiving and interpreting information about the environment. This is also used to hear noises behind doors, search areas, and any other task that depends on trained senses. Searching takes one turn per 10′ area searched. Note: Finding something does not automatically give mastery of it, a secret door still has to be opened.
Performance: if a person can entertain an audience for at least half an hour the performer can use his/her performance skill as a modifier for any reaction roll of an audience member for a day after the performance.
Medicine: Knowledge of health, disease, and injury. Can be used to assess medical conditions. Can also be used for first aid to heal 1d3 of hp directly after damage occurs. Can also be used to prevent death for someone with a mortal wound: after successful check person is allowed a Fortitude Save. Stabilizing the wounded takes all the time of the medic for the rest of the combat. .
Sailing: The handling and steering of boats, and basic navigation. Certain larger ships might need a certain amount of points in this skill to become useable.
Stealth: How well a character can sneak around and hide. To use this those that the character wants to hide from have to be unaware of the character’s presence. This doesn’t make invisible. If there is no way to hide, or if people search the place the character is hiding he/she still is found. If a character attacks after successful use of hiding this is considered a Surprise attack, even if the enemy is already in a fight.
Scholarship: general and specific knowledge about history, dead languages, and other esoteric fields of study. Scholarship might be used to identify artifacts and decipher ancient messages.
Sneak Attack: Sneak Attacks are attacks made by surprise. A character can multiply the damage done by a Sneak Attack by allocating points to this skill. Assume that the damage multiplier is × 1 for all characters, but for every additional point allocated to the skill the damage multiplier is increased by one.
Swimming: the skill of how to swim. In general everyone should at least have some basic knowledge of this. Skill checks become important when situations are dangerous (e.g. traversing a strong current) or under averse conditions (heavily encumbered)
Tinker: manipulating mechanical objects and contraptions is called Tinkering. Most often used to open locks or disengage traps. The character has to have open access to the mechanical parts of the contraption, and might have to have tools fit for the purpose.
Wilderness: Characters can find food and water during journeys overland, and can find the right direction.
Languages
All characters begin with the local common tongue and one additional language, generally the local trade tongue and something culturally related (e.g. dwarvish). Additional languages can be chosen at the DM’s discretion. A character with Intelligence 13 gains one more, one with 16 two more, and one with Intelligence 18 three more languages.
All characters with Intelligence scores of 9 or more can read and write any language they know that has a written form. At Intelligence 9 literacy is basic, reading is slow and difficult; spelling and grammar are optional; quality improves with Intelligence.
Additional languages can be learned by using skill points.
Note: For simplicity’s sake languages are binary, i.e. they only have one point for fluency, no matter how unrealistic that is.
Additional Fediverse Tags:
@nprofile1q... nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq73leug0k9jxy0zfnggdjl2dv0znxwcag9f54x62lzn9lyv2qtjgqst0528Rate this:
#osr #skills #ttrpg
I have been tinkering with my own rules for a while now. And while it still isn’t finished (will it ever be?) I am getting to the point where I could see it being used in a game.
Now mind you, I didn’t really come up with this on my own, I just took ideas from other places and added my own spin to it. The very core of the game used to be the Labyrinth Lord SRD, but I drew in parts from other places over time so I don’t know if much of that is left (the skills as d6 values idea definitely came from Lamentations of the Flame Princess)
Anyway, here is my take on a 1d6 based skill system. This replaces the thieves’ skills and adds further skills from various places (e.g. the Search Roll has become a Perception skill, and the Dwarves’ Architecture ability has become a skill). Languages also are now treated as separate skills. The main idea is that these skills are in fact all available to all characters, but some might have more skill in them than others. Every character gains 1 skill point at every level increase, but Thieves/Specialists/Rogues gain them quicker (at 2SP per level)
All of this is of course very broad, as it’s just taking the vestiges of the B/X skill system and expanding on that. But there’s the question if one actually needs a skill system in a B/X-based game at all, and I would say… well, there’s the Thief already. And you got all those other weird special cases. Why not make this easier to handle?
Skills and Languages
Skills
Skills are additional abilities that characters possess.
Skills are presented in a number of X out of 6. They are checked by rolling a d6. If the number of the die is in the value for the skill this check was successful. The referee might check the skill concealed if the outcome might not be immediately obvious to the character.
If a character has an unmodified 6 in 6 in a skill two die are rolled, and the check only fails if both come up as 6s.
All skills start with a value of 1 of 6, except when modified by other circumstances.
All physical abilities have to be attempted unencumbered, or the character suffers -1 per encumbrance level.
Every character gains 1 skill point per level, to be spent on any skill. Specialists gain additional skill points when they start and level up.
List of skills
Acumen: understanding of value and business, business practices and procedures. With a successful skill check the nature, history and value of non-magical treasure and artifacts can be determined and fakes revealed. Any Charisma check or reaction roll resulting from negotiations dependent on trust, trade or protocol gain a +1 from a successful Acumen check.
Architecture: character can look for things out of place, or in place, according to their knowledge of architecture and building. E.g. finding unsafe parts, determining culture of origin, finding hidden parts, etc. The character has to be looking for it specifically
Athletics: more involved exertions of the body, notably the chance to climb a wall or sheer surface without obvious handholds, but also jumping a great distance, etc. Characters must be unencumbered to use this. Failure means fall from random point in climb.
Carouse: the ability to drink and/or party with no or just minor ill effects. In a wider sense, the ability to function while under the influence of intoxicating agemts. (in general modified by Con)
Herbalism: the ability to identify, find, and safely use herbs, spices, and fungi.
Husbandry: management of plants and animals, agriculture and households, in adventuring terms largely the management of horses, donkeys, dogs, and other animals, although the basic skill should be applicable to other situations.
Legerdemain: Hiding small objects, pickpocketing, swapping out objects with no one noticing, and other trick actions are governed by this. Also the skill of grafting, entertaining, and courting. Legerdemain consists of all deception skills, and successful use will give a +1 to any reaction roll resulting from a successful Legerdemain roll.
Lore: can be used to recall information about places, people, and artifacts from legends, songs, and poems. This can be used to identify artifacts and places with legendary significance.
Perception: the skill of perceiving and interpreting information about the environment. This is also used to hear noises behind doors, search areas, and any other task that depends on trained senses. Searching takes one turn per 10′ area searched. Note: Finding something does not automatically give mastery of it, a secret door still has to be opened.
Performance: if a person can entertain an audience for at least half an hour the performer can use his/her performance skill as a modifier for any reaction roll of an audience member for a day after the performance.
Medicine: Knowledge of health, disease, and injury. Can be used to assess medical conditions. Can also be used for first aid to heal 1d3 of hp directly after damage occurs. Can also be used to prevent death for someone with a mortal wound: after successful check person is allowed a Fortitude Save. Stabilizing the wounded takes all the time of the medic for the rest of the combat. .
Sailing: The handling and steering of boats, and basic navigation. Certain larger ships might need a certain amount of points in this skill to become useable.
Stealth: How well a character can sneak around and hide. To use this those that the character wants to hide from have to be unaware of the character’s presence. This doesn’t make invisible. If there is no way to hide, or if people search the place the character is hiding he/she still is found. If a character attacks after successful use of hiding this is considered a Surprise attack, even if the enemy is already in a fight.
Scholarship: general and specific knowledge about history, dead languages, and other esoteric fields of study. Scholarship might be used to identify artifacts and decipher ancient messages.
Sneak Attack: Sneak Attacks are attacks made by surprise. A character can multiply the damage done by a Sneak Attack by allocating points to this skill. Assume that the damage multiplier is × 1 for all characters, but for every additional point allocated to the skill the damage multiplier is increased by one.
Swimming: the skill of how to swim. In general everyone should at least have some basic knowledge of this. Skill checks become important when situations are dangerous (e.g. traversing a strong current) or under averse conditions (heavily encumbered)
Tinker: manipulating mechanical objects and contraptions is called Tinkering. Most often used to open locks or disengage traps. The character has to have open access to the mechanical parts of the contraption, and might have to have tools fit for the purpose.
Wilderness: Characters can find food and water during journeys overland, and can find the right direction.
Languages
All characters begin with the local common tongue and one additional language, generally the local trade tongue and something culturally related (e.g. dwarvish). Additional languages can be chosen at the DM’s discretion. A character with Intelligence 13 gains one more, one with 16 two more, and one with Intelligence 18 three more languages.
All characters with Intelligence scores of 9 or more can read and write any language they know that has a written form. At Intelligence 9 literacy is basic, reading is slow and difficult; spelling and grammar are optional; quality improves with Intelligence.
Additional languages can be learned by using skill points.
Note: For simplicity’s sake languages are binary, i.e. they only have one point for fluency, no matter how unrealistic that is.
Additional Fediverse Tags:
@nprofile1q... nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq73leug0k9jxy0zfnggdjl2dv0znxwcag9f54x62lzn9lyv2qtjgqst0528Rate this:
#osr #skills #ttrpg
1
Bless you!Small houserule I came up with while redoing the my xp awards for my campaign:Attending a church service/religious ceremony of a friendly faith and tithing appropriately to their stature (at least 50gp) gives 50 xp.It also has a chance of bestowing a blessing. The character tithing needs to roll Save vs. Spell to gain the effects of a Bless spell until the next combat or rest period (whatever happens first).A critical failure on this roll (1 in 20) instead gains them the effect of a Quest. The PC in question now is taken with the unbearable need to do something specific (ideally something related to the saint/deity worshipped in the temple).Mind you, you might think this is just a boon for player characters, but the effect of this can also affect opponents, be they clerics, cultists, or members of various tribes. There is a chance any particular group is under the influence of a Bless spell, as long as there is a cleric or shaman attending their spiritual needs.This also means the local tribes might send out representatives on Quests themselves. An orcish tribe might get the quest to locate a legendary weapon of their tribe now in the hands of the local baron.Rate this:
#TtrpgRpgRoleplaying #dnd #osr
#TtrpgRpgRoleplaying #dnd #osr
[zine] Grenzland No. 6 – Domain Games II
Grenzland no. 6 appeared in my mailbox last week, and now can also be downloaded from archive.org. A harcopy can be purchased for 5 Euros from Wanderer Bill (as long as copies last that is). It features a mix of mostly English and partially German articles concerning OSR topics, including an expanded article on Campaign Events.
Information and Reconaissance in Domain Games by lkh is a meditation on information gathering in domain games, based on the experience in the Grenzland diplomacy game (see below).
Campaign Events by me (kyonshi): a longer article regarding Campaign Events, very much inspired by the tables from Oriental Adventures, but reworked for my own purposes.
Notes on a ShipCrawl Game by RThom: ideas on creating a ship-based campaign.
Bericht über die letzten Ereignisse in und um Akan-Lai by Mellen Darg by kiki: a game report about a more or less regular Worlds Without Number game (article in German)
The Grenzland Diplomacy Game by lkh: the rules and faction sheets for the concluded Grenzland Diplomacy Game (faction sheets are a mix of German and English)
Recently on Discord by cidney: struggling with the machineRate this:
#dnd #osr #pnpde #rpg #ttrpg #zine
Grenzland no. 6 appeared in my mailbox last week, and now can also be downloaded from archive.org. A harcopy can be purchased for 5 Euros from Wanderer Bill (as long as copies last that is). It features a mix of mostly English and partially German articles concerning OSR topics, including an expanded article on Campaign Events.
Information and Reconaissance in Domain Games by lkh is a meditation on information gathering in domain games, based on the experience in the Grenzland diplomacy game (see below).
Campaign Events by me (kyonshi): a longer article regarding Campaign Events, very much inspired by the tables from Oriental Adventures, but reworked for my own purposes.
Notes on a ShipCrawl Game by RThom: ideas on creating a ship-based campaign.
Bericht über die letzten Ereignisse in und um Akan-Lai by Mellen Darg by kiki: a game report about a more or less regular Worlds Without Number game (article in German)
The Grenzland Diplomacy Game by lkh: the rules and faction sheets for the concluded Grenzland Diplomacy Game (faction sheets are a mix of German and English)
Recently on Discord by cidney: struggling with the machineRate this:
#dnd #osr #pnpde #rpg #ttrpg #zine
[Boot Hill] The Lost County of El Dorado
I have been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 the last few weeks, which spurred me on (see what I did there!) to give Boot Hill a look again, especially as RDR2, like other Rockstar Games titles, is using alternate American states instead of actual places. Instead of any actual American state this game starts in the mountain state of Amberino, then proceeds to the midwestern state of New Hanover, and then the Southern state of Lemoyne (and then further on). No actual states were harmed in the production of this game… Although one of course can see what they’re meant to be. The largest city might be called St. Denis, but it’s New Orleans in all but name, size, and actual historicity. In fact the geography doesn’t make any sense at all the more you think about it, but it’s fine for a video game.
This made me think about the setting for Boot Hill, which I remembered had a made up area as a campaign base as well.
Well, sort of.
For one, neither the 1st edition (which barely was more than a wargame) nor the 3rd edition (which went more into skills and messed up the combat system) actually seem to have had a given setting besides “the old west”.
2nd edition, the one that most people are interested in, and which basically was the main edition, that one did have… something.
This edition also was also the only that had a line of supporting books, in the form of 5 scenarios (the BH–series). Now the Boxed set of the game had a map of Promise City, and on the reverse side a map of El Dorado County.* And at least some of the scenarios were set in El Dorado county as well. The problem being: not necessarily the same El Dorado county.
Boot Hill went with the toolbox approach of building a campaign so much that the maps that were included and the few scant descriptions of what might be in El Dorado county, were in fact entirely optional. The wilderness map was unmarked, and the rules even gave instructions how to orient it for specific settings. Want El Dorado County to be in Texas? Then the bendy river goes to the south. Want it to be in Colorado? Then the river goes North-South instead and ignore the Mexican-influenced parts we just mentioned.
The scenarios are also written with that assumption. Sure, they fit on the same wilderness map, but exactly how they fit is another question. Both BH3 Burned Bush Wells and the BH5 Promise City from Range War! are supposed to be on the same map, but North is different in each. and the Promise City, AZ of BH3 Ballots and Bullets, is not the Promise City, OR from Range War! even if the name’s the same and, in fact, the same map (the one in the boxed set that is).
El Dorado and Promise, it seems, are everywhere and nowhere.
The idea is of course that you can just place it wherever it suits your campaign, I guess as long as you don’t want to move between locations too much, you always start with Promise City in El Dorado County.
I have to wonder if this was one of the reasons for the lackluster reception of the game. Sure, you can make this game your own, by just adapting the maps to your own campaign, but at the same time there is no actual sense of place. It all depends on the GM to make a campaign that their players feel is interesting. Unlike the experiences in, lets say, Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, there was not really any shared experiences between players.
On the other hand, it did manage three editions, so some people were actually buying it. If for the quality of the game, or because they were buying everything from TSR is another question.
Addendum: A few years ago Kellri made a campaign map that includes all the El Dorado locations referenced in Boot Hill products on one map, and while that one is quite the feat the map as a few glaring problems: The places with Spanish names and presumably Mexican origin are in the North, places with colder climate are in the South, and it doesn’t actually follow some of the locations as established in the modules.
*Note: I might have to mention that none of the variations of El Dorado County in Boot Hill is anything like the actually existent El Dorado county in CaliforniaRate this:
#BootHill #rpg #ttrpg #wildwest
I have been playing Red Dead Redemption 2 the last few weeks, which spurred me on (see what I did there!) to give Boot Hill a look again, especially as RDR2, like other Rockstar Games titles, is using alternate American states instead of actual places. Instead of any actual American state this game starts in the mountain state of Amberino, then proceeds to the midwestern state of New Hanover, and then the Southern state of Lemoyne (and then further on). No actual states were harmed in the production of this game… Although one of course can see what they’re meant to be. The largest city might be called St. Denis, but it’s New Orleans in all but name, size, and actual historicity. In fact the geography doesn’t make any sense at all the more you think about it, but it’s fine for a video game.
This made me think about the setting for Boot Hill, which I remembered had a made up area as a campaign base as well.
Well, sort of.
For one, neither the 1st edition (which barely was more than a wargame) nor the 3rd edition (which went more into skills and messed up the combat system) actually seem to have had a given setting besides “the old west”.
2nd edition, the one that most people are interested in, and which basically was the main edition, that one did have… something.
This edition also was also the only that had a line of supporting books, in the form of 5 scenarios (the BH–series). Now the Boxed set of the game had a map of Promise City, and on the reverse side a map of El Dorado County.* And at least some of the scenarios were set in El Dorado county as well. The problem being: not necessarily the same El Dorado county.
Boot Hill went with the toolbox approach of building a campaign so much that the maps that were included and the few scant descriptions of what might be in El Dorado county, were in fact entirely optional. The wilderness map was unmarked, and the rules even gave instructions how to orient it for specific settings. Want El Dorado County to be in Texas? Then the bendy river goes to the south. Want it to be in Colorado? Then the river goes North-South instead and ignore the Mexican-influenced parts we just mentioned.
The scenarios are also written with that assumption. Sure, they fit on the same wilderness map, but exactly how they fit is another question. Both BH3 Burned Bush Wells and the BH5 Promise City from Range War! are supposed to be on the same map, but North is different in each. and the Promise City, AZ of BH3 Ballots and Bullets, is not the Promise City, OR from Range War! even if the name’s the same and, in fact, the same map (the one in the boxed set that is).
El Dorado and Promise, it seems, are everywhere and nowhere.
The idea is of course that you can just place it wherever it suits your campaign, I guess as long as you don’t want to move between locations too much, you always start with Promise City in El Dorado County.
I have to wonder if this was one of the reasons for the lackluster reception of the game. Sure, you can make this game your own, by just adapting the maps to your own campaign, but at the same time there is no actual sense of place. It all depends on the GM to make a campaign that their players feel is interesting. Unlike the experiences in, lets say, Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, there was not really any shared experiences between players.
On the other hand, it did manage three editions, so some people were actually buying it. If for the quality of the game, or because they were buying everything from TSR is another question.
Addendum: A few years ago Kellri made a campaign map that includes all the El Dorado locations referenced in Boot Hill products on one map, and while that one is quite the feat the map as a few glaring problems: The places with Spanish names and presumably Mexican origin are in the North, places with colder climate are in the South, and it doesn’t actually follow some of the locations as established in the modules.
*Note: I might have to mention that none of the variations of El Dorado County in Boot Hill is anything like the actually existent El Dorado county in CaliforniaRate this:
#BootHill #rpg #ttrpg #wildwest
Throwback: On the Edge
Remember those heady days just after Magic: The Gathering came out, when all of a sudden any TTRPG related publisher decided to push out their own trading card game?
Well, so does Atlas Games it seems, who have been sitting on unopened “On the Edge” boxes for the last 30 years and are still selling them, for pennies on the dollar by this point.
I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to order them, but now I would have enough to I don’t know, run a draft tourney or build a cube or something.
On the Edge is the trading card game for Over the Edge, a rather surreal conspiracy RPG set on an island somewhere in the Med. It’s basically X-files crossed with Burroughs’ Interzone.
Now Over the Edge was a popular but definitely niche RPG in the 90s, but it hardly was what I would have called ripe material for a trading card game. Back in the days it had 2 editions, and a few years ago they published and updated version for the 21st century. But back then was a weird time, and so trading card games popped out from everywhere. There was a Deadlands TCG after all, there even was a Das Schwarze Auge one which seemed to miss the whole point of what made Magic work so well.
Still, the On the Edge game managed to get a main set and 4 expansions. Unfortunately it never seems to have sold all that much, but unlike other companies Atlas Games seems to be unwilling to let go of a good idea that easy (and I didn’t say the game wasn’t good, just that the property wasn’t all that ready for a TCG and it definitely got lost in the shuffle). So they are still selling it. In 2025!
Quick calculation: I bought the big packages for 20 bucks each. They sold in 1995 for $117, which equals about $247 in 2025 money. Which means they were basically marked down to $10 in ’95 money.
At one point you have to wonder if AG isn’t losing money storing these things for three decades.
“The object of the game is now to arrange 6 or more cards in a row so that the first letters of their first names spell out an English word. First player to do so wins, […]”
This is from the The Cut-Ups Project expansion, which tries to gamify surrealism.
Now of course the issue is that I might need someone to actually play this game with me. At least thanks to the low price I have enough cards to actually do that, something I can’t say for my unsuccessful ventures into the Star Trek: TNG and Babylon 5 Trading Card Games. Rate this:
#ontheedge #overtheedge #tcg #ttrpg
Remember those heady days just after Magic: The Gathering came out, when all of a sudden any TTRPG related publisher decided to push out their own trading card game?
Well, so does Atlas Games it seems, who have been sitting on unopened “On the Edge” boxes for the last 30 years and are still selling them, for pennies on the dollar by this point.
I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to order them, but now I would have enough to I don’t know, run a draft tourney or build a cube or something.
On the Edge is the trading card game for Over the Edge, a rather surreal conspiracy RPG set on an island somewhere in the Med. It’s basically X-files crossed with Burroughs’ Interzone.
Now Over the Edge was a popular but definitely niche RPG in the 90s, but it hardly was what I would have called ripe material for a trading card game. Back in the days it had 2 editions, and a few years ago they published and updated version for the 21st century. But back then was a weird time, and so trading card games popped out from everywhere. There was a Deadlands TCG after all, there even was a Das Schwarze Auge one which seemed to miss the whole point of what made Magic work so well.
Still, the On the Edge game managed to get a main set and 4 expansions. Unfortunately it never seems to have sold all that much, but unlike other companies Atlas Games seems to be unwilling to let go of a good idea that easy (and I didn’t say the game wasn’t good, just that the property wasn’t all that ready for a TCG and it definitely got lost in the shuffle). So they are still selling it. In 2025!
Quick calculation: I bought the big packages for 20 bucks each. They sold in 1995 for $117, which equals about $247 in 2025 money. Which means they were basically marked down to $10 in ’95 money.
At one point you have to wonder if AG isn’t losing money storing these things for three decades.
“The object of the game is now to arrange 6 or more cards in a row so that the first letters of their first names spell out an English word. First player to do so wins, […]”
This is from the The Cut-Ups Project expansion, which tries to gamify surrealism.
Now of course the issue is that I might need someone to actually play this game with me. At least thanks to the low price I have enough cards to actually do that, something I can’t say for my unsuccessful ventures into the Star Trek: TNG and Babylon 5 Trading Card Games. Rate this:
#ontheedge #overtheedge #tcg #ttrpg
Campaign Events: Meandering about Maidens
It might have been visible in my post from yesterday, but I don’t actually like Oriental Adventures. The original ’85 AD&D book that is. The book purports to give rules for an “oriental” setting that wildly and inappropriately mixes together East Asian cultures and doesn’t even have the decency to genericize the concepts used like it did in the main books. Being Oriental, it seems to say, is all the same anyway.
But even mechanically none of the rules really feel necessary. Why play any of the new classes, when any role imaginable really could be filled with a class from the main book? Sure there’s small differences between Assassin’s and Ninjas, between Magic-users and Wujen, etc. But are those classes REALLY needed? Are those Martial Arts rules necessary? Every time I read it I come away disappointed.
But as I mentioned there was one section I felt was useful, that being the Campaign event tables.
Mind you, not even all of those. The Daily Events feel quite superfluous, and even the yearly and monthly events are sometimes written in a way too geared toward the implied “oriental” setting where the characters are supposedly established retainers of a lord.
Oh there’s a conspiracy at court? Well, there’s a chance the PCs get implicated, which makes sense when they actually have connections there, but not if they are just murderhoboing their way through Jianghu.
But what takes the cake is the monthly event “Maiden of Virtue”. This shows up in the Other table, meaning at any time that’s not in times of political strife or during a natural disaster there’s a chance people in the region start talking what a great catch that one girl is.
And… I hate to say it, but for the implied setting of the book it makes sense. If your character is in fact the retainer of a noble lord, then they might in fact be looking for a suitable partner to wed. And that’s what that entry is for. Mind you it also tells you that this Maiden of Virtue has standards. You gotta show you can do some art. Also no ugly guys need apply, if you don’t have the Comeliness (another odd bird of a rule) she won’t spare you a second glance. Comeliness by the way is AD&D’s stat to quantify actual physical attractiveness, as opposed to Charisma. which always was defined more as the raw magnetism as person can have.
The way it’s written of course betrays the author: what if the players had chosen female characters? Doesn’t matter, I guess, because despite written for a game where you can be anything, why would you want to be a… girl?!
Sigh.
Now it would be interesting to just switch this to allow for… I guess Grooms of Virtue? But the question is if this makes any sense at all for a more genericised campaign event table as the one I am working on right now. The whole entry mostly makes sense as a way to introduce romanceable characters into the setting, but where building your family might be a campaign goal for a retainer, the usual murderhobo might have different ideas.
The same table also has Birth as an entry, which indicates that a married character is to have a child. This time at least it takes into account there might even be female characters.
(Unless nobody’s married, in which case some noble just got another kid). Mind you, this result is only for married characters. No children out of wedlock here, which feels like it squanders some opportunities for drama here.
The question if you want to deal with the implications of forcing a pregnancy on a player character by roll of a die is also interesting and might lead to some bad blood in a group.
Anyway: Maidens of Virtue. I guess they make sense as tropes. The young lady with accomplishments is a trope not only in East Asian media, but could easily work in a European milieu. In fact if there was a similar campaign structure with the players being retainers to a lord, this still might work (think Pendragon). Even the gender should not be an issue. It easily might be the Maiden in question is in fact a groom. A scholar in his own right, or a successful knight. But that’s not the point. The point is that this would need a campaign where romancing that person can result in codified game outcomes, and do I want to introduce that in my campaign event tables? Also I feel like matters of the heart are not something that should be done in game rules, but I also don’t want to spend a large part of game time playing out the courtship between a PC and an NPC.Rate this:
#dnd #osr #rpg #ttrpg
It might have been visible in my post from yesterday, but I don’t actually like Oriental Adventures. The original ’85 AD&D book that is. The book purports to give rules for an “oriental” setting that wildly and inappropriately mixes together East Asian cultures and doesn’t even have the decency to genericize the concepts used like it did in the main books. Being Oriental, it seems to say, is all the same anyway.
But even mechanically none of the rules really feel necessary. Why play any of the new classes, when any role imaginable really could be filled with a class from the main book? Sure there’s small differences between Assassin’s and Ninjas, between Magic-users and Wujen, etc. But are those classes REALLY needed? Are those Martial Arts rules necessary? Every time I read it I come away disappointed.
But as I mentioned there was one section I felt was useful, that being the Campaign event tables.
Mind you, not even all of those. The Daily Events feel quite superfluous, and even the yearly and monthly events are sometimes written in a way too geared toward the implied “oriental” setting where the characters are supposedly established retainers of a lord.
Oh there’s a conspiracy at court? Well, there’s a chance the PCs get implicated, which makes sense when they actually have connections there, but not if they are just murderhoboing their way through Jianghu.
But what takes the cake is the monthly event “Maiden of Virtue”. This shows up in the Other table, meaning at any time that’s not in times of political strife or during a natural disaster there’s a chance people in the region start talking what a great catch that one girl is.
And… I hate to say it, but for the implied setting of the book it makes sense. If your character is in fact the retainer of a noble lord, then they might in fact be looking for a suitable partner to wed. And that’s what that entry is for. Mind you it also tells you that this Maiden of Virtue has standards. You gotta show you can do some art. Also no ugly guys need apply, if you don’t have the Comeliness (another odd bird of a rule) she won’t spare you a second glance. Comeliness by the way is AD&D’s stat to quantify actual physical attractiveness, as opposed to Charisma. which always was defined more as the raw magnetism as person can have.
The way it’s written of course betrays the author: what if the players had chosen female characters? Doesn’t matter, I guess, because despite written for a game where you can be anything, why would you want to be a… girl?!
Sigh.
Now it would be interesting to just switch this to allow for… I guess Grooms of Virtue? But the question is if this makes any sense at all for a more genericised campaign event table as the one I am working on right now. The whole entry mostly makes sense as a way to introduce romanceable characters into the setting, but where building your family might be a campaign goal for a retainer, the usual murderhobo might have different ideas.
The same table also has Birth as an entry, which indicates that a married character is to have a child. This time at least it takes into account there might even be female characters.
(Unless nobody’s married, in which case some noble just got another kid). Mind you, this result is only for married characters. No children out of wedlock here, which feels like it squanders some opportunities for drama here.
The question if you want to deal with the implications of forcing a pregnancy on a player character by roll of a die is also interesting and might lead to some bad blood in a group.
Anyway: Maidens of Virtue. I guess they make sense as tropes. The young lady with accomplishments is a trope not only in East Asian media, but could easily work in a European milieu. In fact if there was a similar campaign structure with the players being retainers to a lord, this still might work (think Pendragon). Even the gender should not be an issue. It easily might be the Maiden in question is in fact a groom. A scholar in his own right, or a successful knight. But that’s not the point. The point is that this would need a campaign where romancing that person can result in codified game outcomes, and do I want to introduce that in my campaign event tables? Also I feel like matters of the heart are not something that should be done in game rules, but I also don’t want to spend a large part of game time playing out the courtship between a PC and an NPC.Rate this:
#dnd #osr #rpg #ttrpg
WIP: Yearly Campaign Events
I have been thinking of making this table for a while, and right now am working on it for the Grenzland zine. The inspiration for this is of course the Campaign Event table in Oriental Adventures, which I have to say is one of the few parts of that book that can stand on it’s own. Nevertheless, while it is in general the most useful part of the book, it also is too long, too wordy, and slightly too focused on the “oriental” setting presented in that book. This is a table more geared towards a generic fantasy setting (yes, even though I added Kaiju). The table in the book also had a monthly chart, which I am still working on, and a Daily chart, which I found a bit superfluous. The results of the monthly table are nested in the yearly one, and both can interact with one another.
This table is meant to create a sort of background chatter for a campaign. No, in a lot of places player characters might not have to actually deal with what’s happening, but the rest of the region is dealing with it and talking about it.
As always, don’t see the results of this table as holy writ, but use it to flesh out the background of your campaign with events, stories, and rumors. In my experience you get the best results if you trust your dice, but if something just does not fit, don’t make it fit by force.
Procedure
1. Roll 2d6 to determine yearly event
2. Roll 1d12 (or an appropriate other die, depending on how many months are in your campaign to determine when in the year this takes place.
3. Some events take longer, roll how many months this event takes. This influences which table to roll on to determine monthly events.
2d6 Yearly Campaign Event Table
Good Omen
Birth
Envoy
Death
Marriage
Religion
Disaster (roll Disaster Subtable)
War
Rebellion
Political Plot
Other (Roll Other Subtable)
1d8 Disaster Subtable
Volcano
Undead
Inferno
Famine
Flood
Earthquake
Kaiju
1d6 Other Subtable
Visitation
Incursion
Comet
Miracle
Strange Phenomenon
Dungeon!
Explanations:
Birth: a high-ranking person in the region or beyond (in a larger realm) has a child, this is cause for public celebrations and feasting (1d6 days)
Comet: a comet apears in the sky, roll again. New yearly event will happen within 1d6 months.
Death: a high-ranking person in the region dies, either naturally (1-4/6) or by assassination (5-6/6). This involves kings, dukes, high-priests, and other personages of at least regional importance. This causes disorder in the court for 1d6 months, or with 20% likelhood a violent struggle due to an unclear inheritance situation (treat like result for War/Rebellion)
Dungeon!: The location of a heretofore unknown dungeon full of treasure, traps, and dangerous monsters becomes known.
Earthquake: takes only a few hours, but causes destruction in 50 mile radius. 70% causes Fire, Major. 40% causes plague. (compare Earthquake spell)
Envoy: an envoy is sent to another country (1-3/6) or received in the local country (4-6/6). This can be an ambassador or an important other figure that will stay in the host country for 1d10 months to talk about matters. There is a 1/10 chance the envoy is from a very exotic location and a 1/20 chance the envoy is in fact a conman.
Famine: Famine due to drought, war, or other reasons. Lasts 1d6+1 months, food prices double each passing month and will take the same amount to recover (Plague and Rebellion extend this). Marauders raid for food. 60% chance of Rebellion (see result Conflict, Internal), 20% chance of Plague following Famine. Every month of famine reduces population by 5%.
Flood: major flooding hits region, population reduced by 1-10%, 40% of famine at harvest season, 20% of plague
Good Omen: an omen generally seen as a good one appears, a new star in the sky, a dead tree lives again, etc. The harvest is bountiful. Population in the area grows by 5% over the next year.
Incursion: A large number of creatures enters the region from outside, driven to migrate either peacefully or aggressively.
Inferno: a major city is partially destroyed 2d4x10% by a huge fire. This can cause famine (20%) and plague (10%). Prices are doubled for a month, building material is 10x as expensive for 1d6 months.
Kaiju: a giant monster (e.g. the Tarrasque) or multiple ravage the land for 1d3 months. Effect like Earthquake, but repeat each month.
Marriage: the ruler of the land or his children are married in a political alliance. This is cause for public celebrations and feasting (1d6 days)
Miracle: if a disaster was ongoing it is either completely undone (1/6) or significantly reduced in results. If completetly undone treat results like Visitation
Political intrigue (5-6/6) causes tumult for 1d6 months, or assassionation (5-6/6), see entry for Death. There is a 20% chance an intrigue will develop into a rebellion per month which adds to the time it takes.
Rebellion: A rebellion (1-4/6) or political intrigue (5-6/6) causes tumult for 1d6 months. There is a 20% chance an intrigue will develop into a rebellion per month which adds to the time it takes. There is a 5% chance per month it causes a Civil War. Treat like Conflict (external) except without foreign enemy.
Religion: A new religion appears, or a notably different sect of an established one shows itself. There is a 75% chance this causes strife with established cults/religions. Establishment of the new faith takes 1d6 months. 50% chance they convert the local ruler.
Plague: a deadly disease scours the land for 2d6 months. Population of region decreases by 5% each month of plague. Prices of goods quadruple.
Strange Phenomenon: Something very notable but otherwise hard to categorize happens
Undead: The dead rise again, either by the hand of necromancy or just due to ill fate (50% chance of each)
Visitation: A god, angel, demon, or other being of considerable power is encountered at a location in the region. If seen as positive this causes a new place of worship to come in existence (20% of new religion/sect), if seen as negative this causes everyone to move away and the whole surrounding hex becomes a place of bad reputation.
Volcano: dormant (1-3/4) or new (4/4) volcano erupts, destroying everything in 5 mile radius. Volcano stays active for 1d12 months. Every month 10% chance of new eruption.
War!: War erupts for reasons to be determined. Either local country against other country/tribe/polity, or the other way around (50% chance). If affected causes famine in 1/3rd of cases. The war lasts 1d8 months. A war that lasts more than 4 months will not end this year, but will flame up again during the next spring.Rate this:
#dnd #osr #randomtable #ttrpg
I have been thinking of making this table for a while, and right now am working on it for the Grenzland zine. The inspiration for this is of course the Campaign Event table in Oriental Adventures, which I have to say is one of the few parts of that book that can stand on it’s own. Nevertheless, while it is in general the most useful part of the book, it also is too long, too wordy, and slightly too focused on the “oriental” setting presented in that book. This is a table more geared towards a generic fantasy setting (yes, even though I added Kaiju). The table in the book also had a monthly chart, which I am still working on, and a Daily chart, which I found a bit superfluous. The results of the monthly table are nested in the yearly one, and both can interact with one another.
This table is meant to create a sort of background chatter for a campaign. No, in a lot of places player characters might not have to actually deal with what’s happening, but the rest of the region is dealing with it and talking about it.
As always, don’t see the results of this table as holy writ, but use it to flesh out the background of your campaign with events, stories, and rumors. In my experience you get the best results if you trust your dice, but if something just does not fit, don’t make it fit by force.
Procedure
1. Roll 2d6 to determine yearly event
2. Roll 1d12 (or an appropriate other die, depending on how many months are in your campaign to determine when in the year this takes place.
3. Some events take longer, roll how many months this event takes. This influences which table to roll on to determine monthly events.
2d6 Yearly Campaign Event Table
Good Omen
Birth
Envoy
Death
Marriage
Religion
Disaster (roll Disaster Subtable)
War
Rebellion
Political Plot
Other (Roll Other Subtable)
1d8 Disaster Subtable
Volcano
Undead
Inferno
Famine
Flood
Earthquake
Kaiju
1d6 Other Subtable
Visitation
Incursion
Comet
Miracle
Strange Phenomenon
Dungeon!
Explanations:
Birth: a high-ranking person in the region or beyond (in a larger realm) has a child, this is cause for public celebrations and feasting (1d6 days)
Comet: a comet apears in the sky, roll again. New yearly event will happen within 1d6 months.
Death: a high-ranking person in the region dies, either naturally (1-4/6) or by assassination (5-6/6). This involves kings, dukes, high-priests, and other personages of at least regional importance. This causes disorder in the court for 1d6 months, or with 20% likelhood a violent struggle due to an unclear inheritance situation (treat like result for War/Rebellion)
Dungeon!: The location of a heretofore unknown dungeon full of treasure, traps, and dangerous monsters becomes known.
Earthquake: takes only a few hours, but causes destruction in 50 mile radius. 70% causes Fire, Major. 40% causes plague. (compare Earthquake spell)
Envoy: an envoy is sent to another country (1-3/6) or received in the local country (4-6/6). This can be an ambassador or an important other figure that will stay in the host country for 1d10 months to talk about matters. There is a 1/10 chance the envoy is from a very exotic location and a 1/20 chance the envoy is in fact a conman.
Famine: Famine due to drought, war, or other reasons. Lasts 1d6+1 months, food prices double each passing month and will take the same amount to recover (Plague and Rebellion extend this). Marauders raid for food. 60% chance of Rebellion (see result Conflict, Internal), 20% chance of Plague following Famine. Every month of famine reduces population by 5%.
Flood: major flooding hits region, population reduced by 1-10%, 40% of famine at harvest season, 20% of plague
Good Omen: an omen generally seen as a good one appears, a new star in the sky, a dead tree lives again, etc. The harvest is bountiful. Population in the area grows by 5% over the next year.
Incursion: A large number of creatures enters the region from outside, driven to migrate either peacefully or aggressively.
Inferno: a major city is partially destroyed 2d4x10% by a huge fire. This can cause famine (20%) and plague (10%). Prices are doubled for a month, building material is 10x as expensive for 1d6 months.
Kaiju: a giant monster (e.g. the Tarrasque) or multiple ravage the land for 1d3 months. Effect like Earthquake, but repeat each month.
Marriage: the ruler of the land or his children are married in a political alliance. This is cause for public celebrations and feasting (1d6 days)
Miracle: if a disaster was ongoing it is either completely undone (1/6) or significantly reduced in results. If completetly undone treat results like Visitation
Political intrigue (5-6/6) causes tumult for 1d6 months, or assassionation (5-6/6), see entry for Death. There is a 20% chance an intrigue will develop into a rebellion per month which adds to the time it takes.
Rebellion: A rebellion (1-4/6) or political intrigue (5-6/6) causes tumult for 1d6 months. There is a 20% chance an intrigue will develop into a rebellion per month which adds to the time it takes. There is a 5% chance per month it causes a Civil War. Treat like Conflict (external) except without foreign enemy.
Religion: A new religion appears, or a notably different sect of an established one shows itself. There is a 75% chance this causes strife with established cults/religions. Establishment of the new faith takes 1d6 months. 50% chance they convert the local ruler.
Plague: a deadly disease scours the land for 2d6 months. Population of region decreases by 5% each month of plague. Prices of goods quadruple.
Strange Phenomenon: Something very notable but otherwise hard to categorize happens
Undead: The dead rise again, either by the hand of necromancy or just due to ill fate (50% chance of each)
Visitation: A god, angel, demon, or other being of considerable power is encountered at a location in the region. If seen as positive this causes a new place of worship to come in existence (20% of new religion/sect), if seen as negative this causes everyone to move away and the whole surrounding hex becomes a place of bad reputation.
Volcano: dormant (1-3/4) or new (4/4) volcano erupts, destroying everything in 5 mile radius. Volcano stays active for 1d12 months. Every month 10% chance of new eruption.
War!: War erupts for reasons to be determined. Either local country against other country/tribe/polity, or the other way around (50% chance). If affected causes famine in 1/3rd of cases. The war lasts 1d8 months. A war that lasts more than 4 months will not end this year, but will flame up again during the next spring.Rate this:
#dnd #osr #randomtable #ttrpg
[Shadowrun] Retrospective: Dreamchipper (1989)
Y…eah. I mean, I have been doing these things for old DSA scenarios already, so now I get to do them for old Shadowrun ones as well. And Dreamchipper definitely is one of the oldest ones on the block, technically the second of independent scenarios after DNA/DOA (and the fourth after the venerated Food Fight in the rulebook and Silver Angel which was a pack in with the GM screen).
And it’s not even such a bad start. Unlike the previous scenarios this one is the first REAL Shadowrun scenario. Meaning: this is the first one that has all the common tropes that would become the stock in trade for future Shadowrun scenarios. Silver Angel already had part of this, but was organized differently, while DNA/DOA was very railroady in some parts, more so than a lot of later scenarios. It also tried too hard. Not that Dreamchipper…
But no, lets go through other parts first.
The main topic in Dreamchipper are dreamchips, or what later would be mostly known as BTLs (Better-Than-Life SimSense chips) in the setting. The chips in this case are a specific prototype of chips for military use that override the user’s personality with another, i.e. they are what later canon would come to know as persona-fix chips.
Here we have this part of Shadowrun canon in it’s infancy, these chips are meant to be some of the first ones in the setting, and to show off the possibilities of the technology they have been fixed with three very distinctive personalities: Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, and Jack the Ripper. I think it makes sense if you just assume these never were intended to be actually used and only there to show prospective buyers how and how well the technology works.
In any case the chips have been stolen as part of some internal power struggle, and the runners are hired to retrieve them. We get some basic information about where to start investigating, and then we are let loose at the world. Of course the chips are currently in use. While they were stolen, the reason for the theft was to give bad press for the CEO of the company, so the chips stayed with the thieves.
There are a lot of interesting things in this scenario that have not been kept for later scenarios. Some of this makes for intriguing design, some of it just comes across as annoying.
There are “random” encounters/rumors which we can encounter when traveling from location to location. There is a very interesting story progression happening where the different story lines are slowly revealed in small encounters. Early on one might find a guy spraying over a gang tag with a new one, while later a whole bunch of gangers from different gangs might pass by together without fighting. Both indicate how the guy with the Genghis personafix slowly is uniting the biker gangs of Seattle.
There are some real possibilities for giving the world additional texture. Unfortunately the way it is presented (every journey outside gets a random encounter) doesn’t feel very natural. Not to speak about the way the encounters tend to take away player agency. An encounter might tell you what happens, but also how the player character reacts. In game I also simply didn’t get around presenting them as they were intended.
Obviously outside a dungeon, descriptions of actions have a tendency to assume too much. You are given some leeway in how players might want to approach the scenario, i.e. there’s no actual fixed order how to get back the chips from the people that have them, but once you get into the details I found I got tripped up by descriptions that simply assumed too much. The PCs enter an apartment, and the descriptions tell you exactly how the characters are doing it. You enter a party and the text will tell you how the characters feel and behave. That’s… not good. This also shows up with the encounters mentioned above. Your character meets a ganger doing something illegal. You just watch. Then you walk on.
I mean, yes, most likely a runner would do that to keep out of trouble, but what if they don’t want to keep out of trouble?
The descriptions also don’t fit some of the maps we get in my opinion. The later section with the party for example shows a flat that is at odds with what is written in the text. Here we have the feeling of a big crowded place with hundreds of people milling about, with distinct types clustering in certain places, and the flat… is a flat. Just a normal flat. In no way is there space enough for what is described in the text unless everybody is really, really cuddly or there’s way less people at the party than what the text claims.
The mystery part is all a bit thin, and most of it is cleared up in the middle when the person you thought was the big bad tries to kill you in a meeting with your Johnson, and his personal pocket secretary contains evidence for someone behind the scenes. There is a good story in there, but the way it was presented just wasn’t it.
Altogether a valiant attempt for such an early adventure, but it really could have been better. I think this needs someone putting a lot of cuts in before it really is usable.
Random Notes:
This module has what might be a very early gay couple. Tee Hee is hiding away… in a small apartment with only one bed. In the apartment of the only person he seems to have had a positive connection with in university. It’s never mentioned, but that’s what I got out of it.
That scene on the cover with the Cleo being surrounded by two orc guards? Striking, and totally doesn’t happen in the scenario.
unlike what might be assumed in the scenario my players took a dislike to Cleo from the beginning and ended executing her and her paramour on the quay. Interestingly they took pains to keep her bodyguard out of trouble. Players sometimes are weird.
The Jack the Ripper part was maybe the blandest of the three scenarios. Once the players figure out what persona-fix is in play it becomes a chore to improvise anything that keeps them from rolling over the guy.Rate this:
#rpg #Shadowrun #ttrpg
Y…eah. I mean, I have been doing these things for old DSA scenarios already, so now I get to do them for old Shadowrun ones as well. And Dreamchipper definitely is one of the oldest ones on the block, technically the second of independent scenarios after DNA/DOA (and the fourth after the venerated Food Fight in the rulebook and Silver Angel which was a pack in with the GM screen).
And it’s not even such a bad start. Unlike the previous scenarios this one is the first REAL Shadowrun scenario. Meaning: this is the first one that has all the common tropes that would become the stock in trade for future Shadowrun scenarios. Silver Angel already had part of this, but was organized differently, while DNA/DOA was very railroady in some parts, more so than a lot of later scenarios. It also tried too hard. Not that Dreamchipper…
But no, lets go through other parts first.
The main topic in Dreamchipper are dreamchips, or what later would be mostly known as BTLs (Better-Than-Life SimSense chips) in the setting. The chips in this case are a specific prototype of chips for military use that override the user’s personality with another, i.e. they are what later canon would come to know as persona-fix chips.
Here we have this part of Shadowrun canon in it’s infancy, these chips are meant to be some of the first ones in the setting, and to show off the possibilities of the technology they have been fixed with three very distinctive personalities: Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, and Jack the Ripper. I think it makes sense if you just assume these never were intended to be actually used and only there to show prospective buyers how and how well the technology works.
In any case the chips have been stolen as part of some internal power struggle, and the runners are hired to retrieve them. We get some basic information about where to start investigating, and then we are let loose at the world. Of course the chips are currently in use. While they were stolen, the reason for the theft was to give bad press for the CEO of the company, so the chips stayed with the thieves.
There are a lot of interesting things in this scenario that have not been kept for later scenarios. Some of this makes for intriguing design, some of it just comes across as annoying.
There are “random” encounters/rumors which we can encounter when traveling from location to location. There is a very interesting story progression happening where the different story lines are slowly revealed in small encounters. Early on one might find a guy spraying over a gang tag with a new one, while later a whole bunch of gangers from different gangs might pass by together without fighting. Both indicate how the guy with the Genghis personafix slowly is uniting the biker gangs of Seattle.
There are some real possibilities for giving the world additional texture. Unfortunately the way it is presented (every journey outside gets a random encounter) doesn’t feel very natural. Not to speak about the way the encounters tend to take away player agency. An encounter might tell you what happens, but also how the player character reacts. In game I also simply didn’t get around presenting them as they were intended.
Obviously outside a dungeon, descriptions of actions have a tendency to assume too much. You are given some leeway in how players might want to approach the scenario, i.e. there’s no actual fixed order how to get back the chips from the people that have them, but once you get into the details I found I got tripped up by descriptions that simply assumed too much. The PCs enter an apartment, and the descriptions tell you exactly how the characters are doing it. You enter a party and the text will tell you how the characters feel and behave. That’s… not good. This also shows up with the encounters mentioned above. Your character meets a ganger doing something illegal. You just watch. Then you walk on.
I mean, yes, most likely a runner would do that to keep out of trouble, but what if they don’t want to keep out of trouble?
The descriptions also don’t fit some of the maps we get in my opinion. The later section with the party for example shows a flat that is at odds with what is written in the text. Here we have the feeling of a big crowded place with hundreds of people milling about, with distinct types clustering in certain places, and the flat… is a flat. Just a normal flat. In no way is there space enough for what is described in the text unless everybody is really, really cuddly or there’s way less people at the party than what the text claims.
The mystery part is all a bit thin, and most of it is cleared up in the middle when the person you thought was the big bad tries to kill you in a meeting with your Johnson, and his personal pocket secretary contains evidence for someone behind the scenes. There is a good story in there, but the way it was presented just wasn’t it.
Altogether a valiant attempt for such an early adventure, but it really could have been better. I think this needs someone putting a lot of cuts in before it really is usable.
Random Notes:
This module has what might be a very early gay couple. Tee Hee is hiding away… in a small apartment with only one bed. In the apartment of the only person he seems to have had a positive connection with in university. It’s never mentioned, but that’s what I got out of it.
That scene on the cover with the Cleo being surrounded by two orc guards? Striking, and totally doesn’t happen in the scenario.
unlike what might be assumed in the scenario my players took a dislike to Cleo from the beginning and ended executing her and her paramour on the quay. Interestingly they took pains to keep her bodyguard out of trouble. Players sometimes are weird.
The Jack the Ripper part was maybe the blandest of the three scenarios. Once the players figure out what persona-fix is in play it becomes a chore to improvise anything that keeps them from rolling over the guy.Rate this:
#rpg #Shadowrun #ttrpg
Glimmermark, the first year
Last week we had the 26th session of my Glimmermark Labyrinth Lord game, which makes for a game about every 2 weeks on average since I started in July 2024.
Unfortunately sometimes it’s just not possible to find enough people to play, even if I offered the game as an open table game. We decided early on that we play with at least 2 players around, although we had a few times when we decided to just go ahead with just one. Unfortunately it can be quite frustrating to me as the DM to carve out one evening a week for the game, and then it turns out nobody shows up. On the other hand the last few months I have been feeling under the weather, so I wasn’t all too broken up when we cancelled the last few sessions. Only these last two weeks I am getting back into the grove I had before.
Unlike other games I run (Shadowrun…) this particular game does not demand too much work week to week, and it wasn’t intended to. This is a simple dungeon and wilderness crawl game with no larger story threads… that is, the players have yet to pick up on some threads that I laid out… based on the Keep in the Borderlands, with additional dungeons scattered all around.
For what it’s worth my experience in here is informing my house rules, which I want to roll out at one point soon, to use in my game. Still, these are mechanically so close to house-ruled Labyrinth Lord that the switch should be easy.
Here’s a few developments from the campaign.
the players are in general experienced dungeon crawlers, even if their characters aren’t, which means some of the encounters turn out to be much less deadly than I expected them to be. If you have experience with LL or at least other DnD retroclones you tend to expect certain things, like monster behavior. This is ok, but I do wonder what a group of complete neophytes would make of the same environment
In particular the use of the Splintering Shield rules makes for some markedly less deadly game than what I expected in the beginning. So far no player character and only 4 NPC retainers have died during the ventures into the dungeons. Management of the shields as basically extra lives has become an essential part of the resource management in the game.
I planned to have multiple groups have adventure in the same region and have their exploits influence what the others encountered. I didn’t yet branch out though. I think maybe I should run some con games with people to get into that.
Goblins have turned out to be more important than I thought, slowly establishing themselves as a faction in charge of the ruins of Castle Dyson (that is, the top levels of Dyson’s Delve). So far there was a single additional character class which was, appropriately, the goblin. Not that the PCs aren’t ready to kill any goblins that aren’t directly involved with them.
The Caves of Cha… ehm, The Stygian Caves have been taken over mostly by hobgoblins who now have basically driven out the orcs (with the help of the PCs) and kobolds (despite help from the PCs). The goblins in the caves were previously killed by the PCs or migrated to Castle Dyson, where they then were killed by the PCs. The goblins now in charge of Castle Dyson do not know this, they were originally cut off from the goblins on the upper levels.
Encounter tables and reaction checks make for interesting worldbuilding. Sometimes stuff becomes important to the game that you didn’t even think about before. I think it’s really these unexpected developments that make the game for me as a DM, this moment when the campaign world takes on a life of its own and goes in a way I didn’t even expectRate this:
#dnd #labyrinthlord #osr #ttrpg
Last week we had the 26th session of my Glimmermark Labyrinth Lord game, which makes for a game about every 2 weeks on average since I started in July 2024.
Unfortunately sometimes it’s just not possible to find enough people to play, even if I offered the game as an open table game. We decided early on that we play with at least 2 players around, although we had a few times when we decided to just go ahead with just one. Unfortunately it can be quite frustrating to me as the DM to carve out one evening a week for the game, and then it turns out nobody shows up. On the other hand the last few months I have been feeling under the weather, so I wasn’t all too broken up when we cancelled the last few sessions. Only these last two weeks I am getting back into the grove I had before.
Unlike other games I run (Shadowrun…) this particular game does not demand too much work week to week, and it wasn’t intended to. This is a simple dungeon and wilderness crawl game with no larger story threads… that is, the players have yet to pick up on some threads that I laid out… based on the Keep in the Borderlands, with additional dungeons scattered all around.
For what it’s worth my experience in here is informing my house rules, which I want to roll out at one point soon, to use in my game. Still, these are mechanically so close to house-ruled Labyrinth Lord that the switch should be easy.
Here’s a few developments from the campaign.
the players are in general experienced dungeon crawlers, even if their characters aren’t, which means some of the encounters turn out to be much less deadly than I expected them to be. If you have experience with LL or at least other DnD retroclones you tend to expect certain things, like monster behavior. This is ok, but I do wonder what a group of complete neophytes would make of the same environment
In particular the use of the Splintering Shield rules makes for some markedly less deadly game than what I expected in the beginning. So far no player character and only 4 NPC retainers have died during the ventures into the dungeons. Management of the shields as basically extra lives has become an essential part of the resource management in the game.
I planned to have multiple groups have adventure in the same region and have their exploits influence what the others encountered. I didn’t yet branch out though. I think maybe I should run some con games with people to get into that.
Goblins have turned out to be more important than I thought, slowly establishing themselves as a faction in charge of the ruins of Castle Dyson (that is, the top levels of Dyson’s Delve). So far there was a single additional character class which was, appropriately, the goblin. Not that the PCs aren’t ready to kill any goblins that aren’t directly involved with them.
The Caves of Cha… ehm, The Stygian Caves have been taken over mostly by hobgoblins who now have basically driven out the orcs (with the help of the PCs) and kobolds (despite help from the PCs). The goblins in the caves were previously killed by the PCs or migrated to Castle Dyson, where they then were killed by the PCs. The goblins now in charge of Castle Dyson do not know this, they were originally cut off from the goblins on the upper levels.
Encounter tables and reaction checks make for interesting worldbuilding. Sometimes stuff becomes important to the game that you didn’t even think about before. I think it’s really these unexpected developments that make the game for me as a DM, this moment when the campaign world takes on a life of its own and goes in a way I didn’t even expectRate this:
#dnd #labyrinthlord #osr #ttrpg
Polish D&D
Ok, this is only connected with role-playing games in the most tenuous way possible, but there was a Polish chain of gas stations called D&D which even had a logo that reminded me of old Basic D&D logos.
I think they were mostly around Lodz, and even when they were around it never was all that big a chain. They often were in awkward places that you’d not expect a gas station to be in in the first place. One was just two blocks from my apartment and it took me years to notice it was in that particular corner.
I mostly remember passing them by in the distance and thinking to myself I really should take a picture for a quick joke on the ‘net, but I never actually did. And then recently I realized that all the D&D stations disappeared to the vagaries of urban renewal, and even on Google barely any trace remains.
There is this one promo which I think their advertising company put on YouTube at one point though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLI8CLXIzQMRate this:
#advertisement #dnd #gasStation #Poland
Ok, this is only connected with role-playing games in the most tenuous way possible, but there was a Polish chain of gas stations called D&D which even had a logo that reminded me of old Basic D&D logos.
I think they were mostly around Lodz, and even when they were around it never was all that big a chain. They often were in awkward places that you’d not expect a gas station to be in in the first place. One was just two blocks from my apartment and it took me years to notice it was in that particular corner.
I mostly remember passing them by in the distance and thinking to myself I really should take a picture for a quick joke on the ‘net, but I never actually did. And then recently I realized that all the D&D stations disappeared to the vagaries of urban renewal, and even on Google barely any trace remains.
There is this one promo which I think their advertising company put on YouTube at one point though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLI8CLXIzQMRate this:
#advertisement #dnd #gasStation #Poland
[OSR] Chicken Stinger
A recent episode of Retronauts reminded me about the Chicken Stinger (or Chicken Leg, or even Cockatrice although that name sounds wrong), the monster used in both Golden Axe and Altered Beast.
Well, mostly Golden Axe I would say, as the first time I came across it was in the Master System port of that game. And Altered Beast never was that fun.
If you’ve ever played the Golden Axe games you know the creature: it’s that first riding beast you can commandeer, the one with the beak and the ability to kick over enemies with a tail. It’s a derpy, bizarre design, but one that stays in your mind.
Chicken StingerNo. Enc.:1d6 (3d6)Alignment:NeutralMovement:180’ (60’)Armor Class:6Hit Dice:2Attacks:1Damage:1d4 (beak or charge) or special (tail sweep)Save:F2Morale:8Hoard Class:NoneXP:120
The chicken stinger is a two-legged and beaked, lizard-like creature with a long and strong tail. They normally live in small herds in subtropical forests, but have found use as a mount by some tribes who take the sturdiest of the creatures as beasts of burden or war. While aggressive in the wild, chicken stingers trained as mounts are notably easy to handle, if notably slower than horses.
Charge: The chicken stinger charges an enemy and headbutts it, the opponent is knocked down on failed safe. (see below). Some riders use horned helmets for their mounts to increase the damage done with a charge.
Tail Sweep: the chicken stinger attacks all opponents currently in melee range by doing a tail sweep. On a failed save the opponents are knocked down and lose their next turn. An opponent who saved gains a +1 for the next attack on the chicken stinger. A mounted rider can trigger the tail sweep as well.Rate this:
#dnd #labryrinthlord #monster #ose #osr #sega #ttrpg
A recent episode of Retronauts reminded me about the Chicken Stinger (or Chicken Leg, or even Cockatrice although that name sounds wrong), the monster used in both Golden Axe and Altered Beast.
Well, mostly Golden Axe I would say, as the first time I came across it was in the Master System port of that game. And Altered Beast never was that fun.
If you’ve ever played the Golden Axe games you know the creature: it’s that first riding beast you can commandeer, the one with the beak and the ability to kick over enemies with a tail. It’s a derpy, bizarre design, but one that stays in your mind.
Chicken StingerNo. Enc.:1d6 (3d6)Alignment:NeutralMovement:180’ (60’)Armor Class:6Hit Dice:2Attacks:1Damage:1d4 (beak or charge) or special (tail sweep)Save:F2Morale:8Hoard Class:NoneXP:120
The chicken stinger is a two-legged and beaked, lizard-like creature with a long and strong tail. They normally live in small herds in subtropical forests, but have found use as a mount by some tribes who take the sturdiest of the creatures as beasts of burden or war. While aggressive in the wild, chicken stingers trained as mounts are notably easy to handle, if notably slower than horses.
Charge: The chicken stinger charges an enemy and headbutts it, the opponent is knocked down on failed safe. (see below). Some riders use horned helmets for their mounts to increase the damage done with a charge.
Tail Sweep: the chicken stinger attacks all opponents currently in melee range by doing a tail sweep. On a failed save the opponents are knocked down and lose their next turn. An opponent who saved gains a +1 for the next attack on the chicken stinger. A mounted rider can trigger the tail sweep as well.Rate this:
#dnd #labryrinthlord #monster #ose #osr #sega #ttrpg
A Miscellany of Links pt. XXIII
Random Tables
d72 Squires (Bastionland)
D6 Social Media Services of the Near-Future (Archons March On)
D6x6 Sanguine Sirens (Archons March On)
d100 – Wilderness Woes & Hinterland Hazards (d4 Caltrops)
Chagrinspire Roadside Rubbish (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Hexcrawling for Ethyria pt 4 – d100 Islands (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Resources
The Great List of OD&D Games (The Fantastic is Fact)
The best adventures from Footprints — seven free old-school modules! (Eldritch Fields)
How I prep my games (Gorgon Bones)
5 Real Ancient Rituals to Add to Your D&D Games (Dump Stat Adventures)
Player Aid
The Familiar Unfamiliar: Playing Historical Characters in Weirder Settings (Silverarm)
Encounters
Friday Encounter: The Clueless Ghost (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Friday Encounter: The Sacrifice (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Friday Encounter: Tournament at the Bridge (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Thought
The Languages of D&D Imply a Specific Setting (Prismatic Wasteland)
Dungeon Design Note: Defining Interactivity (All Dead Generations)
Sharing the Cognitive Load (Alles ist Zahl)
Perspective Shift: From Lore Dump to Lore Confetti (Githyanki Diaspora)
Dungeon Replayability (Behind the Helm)
DM Aid
The Labyrinths of the Ancients (Elfmaids & Octopi)
The Village of Hommlet is Too Much: Minimalist Location Sketches for Sandbox Prep (Blog of Forlorn Encystment)
Campaign Status Documents (The Alexandrian)
How the local church became evil (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Traveller
Time and Traveller (Ancient Faith in the Far Future)
Traveller Distinctives: Speculative Trade (Grognardia)
Paper Models
A Medieval Stone Bridge Papercraft For Dioramas And Wargames (papermau)Rate this:
#blogospherefinds #dnd #osr #traveller #ttrpg
Random Tables
d72 Squires (Bastionland)
D6 Social Media Services of the Near-Future (Archons March On)
D6x6 Sanguine Sirens (Archons March On)
d100 – Wilderness Woes & Hinterland Hazards (d4 Caltrops)
Chagrinspire Roadside Rubbish (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Hexcrawling for Ethyria pt 4 – d100 Islands (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Resources
The Great List of OD&D Games (The Fantastic is Fact)
The best adventures from Footprints — seven free old-school modules! (Eldritch Fields)
How I prep my games (Gorgon Bones)
5 Real Ancient Rituals to Add to Your D&D Games (Dump Stat Adventures)
Player Aid
The Familiar Unfamiliar: Playing Historical Characters in Weirder Settings (Silverarm)
Encounters
Friday Encounter: The Clueless Ghost (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Friday Encounter: The Sacrifice (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Friday Encounter: Tournament at the Bridge (Tales of the Lunar Lands)
Thought
The Languages of D&D Imply a Specific Setting (Prismatic Wasteland)
Dungeon Design Note: Defining Interactivity (All Dead Generations)
Sharing the Cognitive Load (Alles ist Zahl)
Perspective Shift: From Lore Dump to Lore Confetti (Githyanki Diaspora)
Dungeon Replayability (Behind the Helm)
DM Aid
The Labyrinths of the Ancients (Elfmaids & Octopi)
The Village of Hommlet is Too Much: Minimalist Location Sketches for Sandbox Prep (Blog of Forlorn Encystment)
Campaign Status Documents (The Alexandrian)
How the local church became evil (Elfmaids & Octopi)
Traveller
Time and Traveller (Ancient Faith in the Far Future)
Traveller Distinctives: Speculative Trade (Grognardia)
Paper Models
A Medieval Stone Bridge Papercraft For Dioramas And Wargames (papermau)Rate this:
#blogospherefinds #dnd #osr #traveller #ttrpg