tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29361623836515950462024-03-19T04:07:43.370-04:00Fear No DarknessRPG gaming, comics and other geekeryxwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-63978925387567588912014-03-21T16:49:00.000-04:002014-03-21T16:56:05.845-04:00Game of Thrones: The Epic Fan Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKKdyljOPOCH-4L6w_-TQHZgucDPdU_VhFkOmfDIwjIA-sDK4bOPTfacLZv6V3oXvXB1jjzy3u65dpqGZWpIthTeMnGjTBXHKjbX-ZiGflA3asxHvgFSOg8j8MSj9iNAorKKXJoyfT6Q/s1600/GOT4-barclays-barclaysWebsite-532x290-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKKdyljOPOCH-4L6w_-TQHZgucDPdU_VhFkOmfDIwjIA-sDK4bOPTfacLZv6V3oXvXB1jjzy3u65dpqGZWpIthTeMnGjTBXHKjbX-ZiGflA3asxHvgFSOg8j8MSj9iNAorKKXJoyfT6Q/s1600/GOT4-barclays-barclaysWebsite-532x290-8.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></div>
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My girlfriend is awesome. Why? Well, for starters, she grabbed up some tickets for this event! We're both huge (nerds) fans of the books and the show - so we were beyond excited to go to this. I have to say - HBO and company did not let us down.<br />
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First off, they had all the costumes and stuff on display in the lobby (sorry - the GEICO ATRIUM). They also had a few Iron Throne replicas that you could sit on and have your picture taken. Since no recording devices were allowed inside, they just gave you a hard copy of the picture. You could also head over to one of their iPad kiosks and email/text the picture to yourself. So, that was cool. They also gave everyone a t-shirt - that was unexpected, but again - very cool.<br />
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While we were on line for the Throne pictures I started talking to one of the ushers. He gave us the heads up to be inside around 7:15, as that's when all the "cool stuff" was going to start to happen. The actual airing of episode 1 was at 8:30. I figured GRRM was going to come out on stage, but my girlfriend and the people on line around us doubted me. FOOLS! I knew the premiere had happened in Manhattan the night before so I figured some of the cast might still be around.<br />
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Anyway, we got to our seats right around 7:15. I noticed a drum set on the stage, which I thought was weird. Then the lights went off and the latest trailer played on the screen. When it finished, a spotlight shone down on the stage to reveal the Iron Throne - with Common sitting in it! He got up and ripped through a few songs that I guess are on that "Catch the Throne" LP they just put out. I'm not a huge Common fan, but he got the crowd excited and the people around us were into it. I do love this song, though:<br />
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Then, out came HODOR (aka Kristian Nairn)!!! He was going to be our MC for the evening - and yes, he said more than just "Hodor". Then he introduced a few more guests - Jon Bradley (Sam Tarley), Sibel Kikelli (Shae), Maisie Williams (Arya) aaaaaaaaand George R.R. Martin himself! A pretty lively and funny Q&A followed - Jon Bradley is a very funny dude. People from the crowd were yelling things, they were responding, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sibel Kikelli and Kristain Nairn in particular seemed very psyched to be sitting in front of 7,000 fans.<br />
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Funny moment - when Mr. Nairn was like "Ok, the first question is for George..." - GRRM immediately yelled out "I'M WORKING ON IT!!! I'M WORKING ON IT!!!". Good stuff. They also gave the replica Iron Throne away to some guy in the crowd. He came up on stage and apparently encouraged GRRM to write faster. Again, good stuff. Not sure how that dude got the Throne home, though.<br />
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Then - the moment we were all waiting for: EPISODE 1. Dude...sooooooooooooooooo good. I read an article in the New York Daily News the other day that said something like "The episode moves at a snail's pace" or whatever. That dude is tripping balls - this was the best season opener since season 1.<br />
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I'm not going to spoil anything - but I'll give you a few small notes.<br />
<ul>
<li>Pedro Pascal is AMAZING as Oberyn Martell. I mean...DAMN. He gives us one of the most badass lines in the series to date when he tells Tyrion - "Tell your father I'm here...and tell him that the Lannisters are not the only ones who pay their debts". Hell yes.</li>
<li>A surprising amount of people cheered when Ser Duncan the Tall was mentioned. It warmed my heart.</li>
<li>The opening scene - damn. I mean, I hate the guy - but this scene was pretty moving...and I mean moving in a way where I wanted to punch his face in and just scream something like "You're not going to win, you motherf%$#er!!!"</li>
<li>When Arya and the Hound appear - IT'S ON. Seriously - strap yourself in for one of the more satisfying scenes on the show to date.</li>
<li>The Magnar of Thenn looks insanely awesome - like, if you saw this dude coming at you, you'd want to move the hell out of the way and just pray he didn't see you.</li>
</ul>
So, that's it. All in all a great night! xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-15110299462614918502014-02-19T23:56:00.002-05:002014-02-20T00:00:58.279-05:00Messing Around...So, we're making t-shirts for the store. I was thinking about the design today when I sat in front of my computer and just started messing around with some other ideas. Basically, I was wondering what the shirts would look like if I based them on the band shirts I wore growing up (ok, who are we fooling - the band shirts I STILL wear) but with a gaming twist.<br />
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I like the way they came out so I figured I'd share them with you. We're not going to make these, but I may make some of them into stickers or something. Who knows.<br />
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The actual shirt design we're looking to run with:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntIIpZfAahV9vSMCW-gxOr-BZo5IZCYWwP382Ee0SHOnaPIQ-B7Y8rNAhT9jfOoZZ4wIZ5uRTqBwGUNi5oc8iDkY1zdPclUk6TJxHPySqKA5hcNlxWn7Rlm9LWeAI8wscTqPKWmke770/s1600/real+t+shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntIIpZfAahV9vSMCW-gxOr-BZo5IZCYWwP382Ee0SHOnaPIQ-B7Y8rNAhT9jfOoZZ4wIZ5uRTqBwGUNi5oc8iDkY1zdPclUk6TJxHPySqKA5hcNlxWn7Rlm9LWeAI8wscTqPKWmke770/s1600/real+t+shirt.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lettering here was done by Kelvin Green; design idea was mine; it was drawn up and brought together by my friend Chris Conklin.</td></tr>
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This is a design based on an IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE shirt and the whole DEFEND _______ that was popular in the early/mid 2000s:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKX4RxbS7MdXDyp1E7-T_iII7dTYxvUK1e2PXmqEmDI2W1wvWN-yJk7f6ShrH8BMVRoouqF88igtCwrarJ34-7ncrmkRdKFAkTaceqjdU0VvSxA2BYjkMEjTgMHevKIlMkiBScAXYqFM/s1600/shirt+hip+hop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKX4RxbS7MdXDyp1E7-T_iII7dTYxvUK1e2PXmqEmDI2W1wvWN-yJk7f6ShrH8BMVRoouqF88igtCwrarJ34-7ncrmkRdKFAkTaceqjdU0VvSxA2BYjkMEjTgMHevKIlMkiBScAXYqFM/s1600/shirt+hip+hop.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really like this one.</td></tr>
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This is based on the shirts of the many and various youth crew/straight edge bands I grew up stage-diving and singing along to - Gorilla Biscuits,
Youth of Today, Chain of Strength, Judge, Mouthpiece, Undertow,
Indecision, Cornerstone, Unbroken, One King Down, In My Eyes, Fastbreak, etc. Most of their shirts and records looked something like this.: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9G77X_CZiT-b60spH-TsiM22qDncw452owWmJPGe3i66I6Qkkv0bLcsIdXzNEp7sJE3D0F4RHt0WnVgR2jg_WuXQn7z32pdB0OdTPnoKGvt4rPV5srfoFP-bKm9koZcH4fWNpVNa2KiQ/s1600/shirt+hardcore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9G77X_CZiT-b60spH-TsiM22qDncw452owWmJPGe3i66I6Qkkv0bLcsIdXzNEp7sJE3D0F4RHt0WnVgR2jg_WuXQn7z32pdB0OdTPnoKGvt4rPV5srfoFP-bKm9koZcH4fWNpVNa2KiQ/s1600/shirt+hardcore.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not sure what band this is.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I used to see this back-patch all the time when I was in 7th/8th grade. It was almost like every kid in my town had it sewn on the back of their denim jacket. The slogan "death to false metal" was coined by MANOWAR, I believe. In the mid-nineties, a hardcore band named DEADGUY had shirts with that slogan on it, but they added some Satanic imagery. I decided to nix Satan and just run with Metallica + that old slogan:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXg3r2g40-Q4miQkiFQnmGKpQLD6WTArjg8hd32JfbqLkGK-XZE25Fc4Enapf7-ebC9Q6Ycic8_NJIUZpi2dJpkUwTbAp61lPYw3jtf8iEyYRVmjFVfo4_1KCH1F8H9ONR3ArUwj276M/s1600/shirt+metallica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXg3r2g40-Q4miQkiFQnmGKpQLD6WTArjg8hd32JfbqLkGK-XZE25Fc4Enapf7-ebC9Q6Ycic8_NJIUZpi2dJpkUwTbAp61lPYw3jtf8iEyYRVmjFVfo4_1KCH1F8H9ONR3ArUwj276M/s1600/shirt+metallica.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoping that Lars doesn't see this and sue me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Finally - IRON MAIDEN. I think everyone likes them: <br />
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Anyway. Thought some of you out there might get a kick out of some of these.<br />
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<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-9661428495266061192014-02-18T16:54:00.000-05:002014-02-18T16:54:10.939-05:00Original Dungeons & DragonsYeah, this blog has been silent for a bit. Sorry about that. Things have been busy over here - working in and co-owning a game store has been an interesting life experience over the past 9 months. I know a lot of you are probably interested in how that's going - and I plan on writing about it soon enough. I'm assuming that most people reading this are of the OSR type...and I can assure you that OLD SCHOOL GOODNESS is alive and well in our store! We have a biweekly SWORDS & WIZARDRY campaign happening, two weekly D&D 2E campaigns, weekly CALL OF CTHULU games, and some interest in TOP SECRET, LAMENTATIONS OF THE FLAME PRINCESS, and original TRAVELLER brewing. Not to mention the X-PLORERS campaign I mean to get off the ground.<br />
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I also ran a 3 session SWORDS & WIZARDRY WHITE BOX adventure that seemed to grip the attention of the whole store - and literally has some of the players begging to continue. That was the adventure where I used the BEYOND THE WALL chargen/towngen system which i detailed on here to some extent. I ran the players through Kelvin Green's excellent ROUGH NIGHT AT THE DOG AND BASTARD. Sadly, Balotelli wound up assassinating Genevieve, Parletothraxus manifested and began tearing people apart, party members sold each other out, and a damaged Ring of Wishes (taken from an old issue of WHITE DWARF) was used to summon a halfling sized suit of demonic plate mail. Good times. Here's <a href="http://content40.wuala.com/rawcontent/o6ETbd5a7z_ALEJPPS5cKxSurjp2iUMeonZWOwtTadmK6RSsdcJiNcVZjHi1pf6t16RGTbBqLuFDSFjO-Ol1SVCp8CrSeYsNh07zjnQf7hPpOS0_lVjt0ltJqHq0YQvWChLQjK1nowRG_lsvDCEwhO0JpZFuNOzj5ZbvRlDnhLDezk8rkwGWvdeEPvD6B7GGI9i1GTBnBEwfpwKcI008NXkwLoVJjjLAI7wt8k9p8neXonlowQR8tzHWWABIWNHhEok8g5j8h6JW01MqtbkxfQ/Kelvin%2520Green%2520%E2%80%93%2520A%2520Rough%2520Night%2520at%2520the%2520Dog%2520%26%2520Bastard.pdf" target="_blank">the adventure</a> if you want to use it - it can be played with any edition of the game.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbruYvaR118Kh-dB8R9hA09r0chbmLQ37LXrhuZ2hjxMgnZ6e3A1EvhL3tYZZ-zej08GgwLsbDB_9y5hoz39ybDhMT8nA-zIsOMxn-knRfacDQ1Bt2qEfnq4S33C1z4VCbJlIbScDe_g/s1600/DOG+AND+BASTARD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbruYvaR118Kh-dB8R9hA09r0chbmLQ37LXrhuZ2hjxMgnZ6e3A1EvhL3tYZZ-zej08GgwLsbDB_9y5hoz39ybDhMT8nA-zIsOMxn-knRfacDQ1Bt2qEfnq4S33C1z4VCbJlIbScDe_g/s1600/DOG+AND+BASTARD.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All Parletothraxus wanted was a saucy evening...</td></tr>
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Of course, I've also crossed over to the dark side and have begun to enjoy certain card games like ASCENSION, THE AGENTS, THUNDERSTONE, LOVE LETTER & THE RESISTANCE...as well as various board games like FANTASTIQA, TROLLHALLA, KING OF TOKYO, CASTLE PANIC and the like.<br />
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Anyway - I want to focus on OD&D. That's the one version of D&D that I never thought I'd be interested in - until I came across a version of 3 LBB OD&D that had been re-edited into an organized book. It incorporates various "fixes" from early issues of STRATEGIC REVIEW and removes mention of CHAINMAIL and OUTDOOR SURVIVAL. The result?<br />
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A game that I instantly wanted to play.<br />
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Now, I know that many of you are probably going to want to know where you can find this spectacular document. Well, I'm not going to tell you. Not to be a jerk or anything - but as you probably know, OD&D has recently come back into print. I don't want to get anyone in trouble - but if your Internet search skills are up to par you should be able to come across it somewhere, as there are a few versions of it floating around.<br />
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Anyway, after reading that document i was very interested in the reprints of OD&D, which I finally obtained due to my awesome girlfriend. She had ordered it for me on Amazon as a Christmas gift...and, as you may know, Amazon had some trouble meeting the demand. I finally got a copy a few weeks ago via the Barnes and Noble website. Of course, me being me, I had to make a few modifications to the box. Check it out:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvra-lhx8hYjlikXcOZUEzzUC6YK0QEIdHlTcZvdWnK0S1SdgJ4ELz3VWNTxV_QAPbwNv3AYgxM8gPh2pdJHDh5ISJiDoKyFJmAHhHeapswr1MKzJTqKoTOdadtH5p5I_5Webm4FiAn9E/s1600/OD%2526D+BOX.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvra-lhx8hYjlikXcOZUEzzUC6YK0QEIdHlTcZvdWnK0S1SdgJ4ELz3VWNTxV_QAPbwNv3AYgxM8gPh2pdJHDh5ISJiDoKyFJmAHhHeapswr1MKzJTqKoTOdadtH5p5I_5Webm4FiAn9E/s1600/OD%2526D+BOX.jpeg" height="266" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I pulled out the picture in the lid and laid down some felt for some dice rollin'. I also ripped out the dividers to make more room for my stuff (old articles from Dragon and White Dwarf, Dyson Logo's awesome book of dungeons, etc.</td></tr>
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So what is it about this game that made me want to play it so badly? Well, for one is that it seems (to me, at least) to be the most "fantastic" of all the early versions of the game. You're expected to gain powerful magic items. You're expected to run into powerful creatures right off the bat. Example: you can be wandering around the wilderness and just stumble across a castle inhabited by an Evil High Priest who will seek to cast Quest on the party. Oh, and he has 1d4 Rocs ridden by 4th level Fighting Men, along with some assistants and 60 1st level Fighting Men. Or maybe he has d10 trolls serving him. This can happen to your party any time and at any level. You can also just randomly encounter dragons at first level. You're not going to be able to fight your way out of all that - so what next? The game just seems so open - I guess this is kind of hard to explain. <br />
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It was also refreshing to not have Thieves. Three classes, four races and go! One of the common questions i see on message boards is how you resolve "thief stuff" without a thief. To resolve that whole issue I turned to the excellent ASTONISHING SWORDSMAN & SORCERERS OF HYPERBORIA. They have a neat little d6 system for resolving checks based on your attributes and a % system to accomplish heroic feats also based on attributes. That's what that little index card in the picture is.<br />
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I've already run a few of my friends through a small OD&D adventure and they really liked it, so I hope to continue doing it more regularly. Oh, and I made a <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/6k6qh8a41go79qi/ODD_REF_SHEETS.pdf" target="_blank">GM screen</a> and I have decided to share it with you. Enjoy, brochachos.<br />
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xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-31391039366126500822013-09-09T23:32:00.000-04:002013-09-09T23:32:13.363-04:00ALIENS & ROBOTS for X-PLORERSit's no secret that i love the X-PLORERS RPG. so, i'm happy to announce that some stuff i designed for the game has been published by BRAVE HALFLING! john took the ALIEN and ROBOT generators i made, spruced up the layout and added some awesome artwork from steve zeiser. seriously - check out this badass cover:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAifnrIqH_SjrqC0HuoIawAXHzQTzrBSu1_KpkTvB_4eCOjqV01qLa9ANcmHR2gtji0ugxQDwLEBVzqSaceHAbqCi-eWHVrze748POtrq6AwZY2EOWO2uWJUstfwFCWgRRQ1uz1cKlYw/s1600/robot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAifnrIqH_SjrqC0HuoIawAXHzQTzrBSu1_KpkTvB_4eCOjqV01qLa9ANcmHR2gtji0ugxQDwLEBVzqSaceHAbqCi-eWHVrze748POtrq6AwZY2EOWO2uWJUstfwFCWgRRQ1uz1cKlYw/s400/robot.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
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anyways - if you want to grab this puppy it's up on RPG NOW for less than $2. Click <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/118926/Alien-&-Robot-Class-Design?src=social_media_link#.Ui3zFC9ef-4.blogger" target="_blank">here</a> to start making robots and aliens! if you've never played X-PLORERS you can check out the free (sans art) version <a href="http://www.rpgnow.com/product/93797/X-plorers-RPG-%28FREE-No-Art-Version%29" target="_blank">here</a>.xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-22517777955929618142013-08-29T16:58:00.001-04:002013-09-01T13:30:35.309-04:00HOMEMADE S&W BOXi found myself in michael's the other day. i had gotten an idea for making a dice tray. after some inspiration from dave bezio via an old rpg.net thread i went hunting for some wooden bowls/trays and some adhesive felt. during my search through the aisles of michael's i came upon some of those "faux book boxes". basically, a box in the shape of an old hardcover.<br />
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well, i made the dice trays. when i was done i painted the "book box" black (there were birds on the cover) and...well, this happened:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqii7UrsvK-8B5woUxc_lWAwMYehnzqgY0pTY15Sg7BChIhGIJmK4MLH-6UXe85dKjURU4ZCiC9JJF-POZHC_LGU3LYCeFuvNf5XgtG_WeU8nsX66tsTmVaqxYoxed3N1vSTWC9dBV7E/s1600/sw+box.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqii7UrsvK-8B5woUxc_lWAwMYehnzqgY0pTY15Sg7BChIhGIJmK4MLH-6UXe85dKjURU4ZCiC9JJF-POZHC_LGU3LYCeFuvNf5XgtG_WeU8nsX66tsTmVaqxYoxed3N1vSTWC9dBV7E/s320/sw+box.jpeg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the front - i love the cover to CORE</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1ChqMbiV21A2f4f5O9va1DLhw6DpKDFpX69WivGpw7FBvRzYURxyW5nWcm51ZY9TB_CSh9VT28m6lQVR1kIc_WGALrC-y_592Je6yjhDn5fyFFHCd46E3USaVhGlSuLVrDgBgmwCOkY/s1600/sw+box+open.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1ChqMbiV21A2f4f5O9va1DLhw6DpKDFpX69WivGpw7FBvRzYURxyW5nWcm51ZY9TB_CSh9VT28m6lQVR1kIc_WGALrC-y_592Je6yjhDn5fyFFHCd46E3USaVhGlSuLVrDgBgmwCOkY/s320/sw+box+open.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my white box books fit perfectly inside. the front cover has a reference sheet for NPC reactions, attack bonuses by level, my house rules for races and the armor picture from CORE</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTU0rVibBd1EtO3c3tzHEj_KlirY2LFILg9pGiLoIviDPF2zwITRd1vAoAz-3OiRgYex1bqKuSABFCD8zYwBu1SNHdczJrWXGCsoHI0HoDVrMS-P6yu9iyHXM1ateoudPk6rsqG4aZLo/s1600/sw+box+back.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTU0rVibBd1EtO3c3tzHEj_KlirY2LFILg9pGiLoIviDPF2zwITRd1vAoAz-3OiRgYex1bqKuSABFCD8zYwBu1SNHdczJrWXGCsoHI0HoDVrMS-P6yu9iyHXM1ateoudPk6rsqG4aZLo/s320/sw+box+back.jpeg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the back - i turned this DCC pic into a S&W one. why not, right?</td></tr>
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cool, huh? oh, and these are the dice trays:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZzsdks2hMQyQudsdc5idv1VOJrZQyLLqhx4HEAQleS5X0dkJFAe7uDPs9yC895MA97ERZ_7114e1bX7_uHD-7YknOkptAW9Rrm0k2LJARod-KM9Ff4kmkLBEjo9508rdd6wMXT0zSPc/s1600/dice+trays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZzsdks2hMQyQudsdc5idv1VOJrZQyLLqhx4HEAQleS5X0dkJFAe7uDPs9yC895MA97ERZ_7114e1bX7_uHD-7YknOkptAW9Rrm0k2LJARod-KM9Ff4kmkLBEjo9508rdd6wMXT0zSPc/s320/dice+trays.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i made these for our store - i hate when people roll dice on top of cards or through minis. yes, that is a VHS copy of STAR WARS on my floor.</td></tr>
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<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-70099242293618438872013-08-26T15:17:00.003-04:002013-08-26T15:17:56.638-04:00WHITE BOX CAMPAIGN KICK OFF (with an assist from BTW)so, i started to run my WHITE BOX campaign yesterday. sadly, there was no adventuring - but we did get a heck of a lot accomplished. as i touched on in my last post, we've started running S&W in our store for our PATHFINDER leaning customers. we used the BEYOND THE WALL chargen system (just the flavor - most mechanics were thrown out with these exceptions: the "player to your right gains +1", weapon specialization acts as a +1 hit/damage with the specified weapon and you gain your special item) and it was a huge hit with everyone. so much so that people wanted to buy the S&W COMPLETE book just to get the chargen tables (which i had to explain to them weren't in there)! <br />
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so, we used the BTW system again for my campaign and AGAIN it was a huge hit. the four characters generated:<br />
<ul>
<li>Cornelius - halfling fighter (used the outrider playbook)</li>
<li>Armond - human thief (used the untested thief playbook)</li>
<li>Gideon - halfling thief (used the halfling vagabond playbook)</li>
<li>Garrock - dwarf fighter (used the dwarf adventurer playbook)</li>
</ul>
they were all happily scribbling notes on their (awesome looking) WB character sheets (*AHEM*) and coming up with ways that they knew each other - including one character who's already at odds with another. this was discussed while the one player was in the bathroom - so he's not even aware of it.<br />
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the standout hook that the BTW tables generated: one of the characters (gideon) discovered a moving dragon skeleton UNDER the town - the entrance was discovered under the basement of a burned down house...so he's now using that secret place as a hideout to start a thieves guild. <br />
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next weekend we'll start playing. i kind of feel bad, since the adventure i have planned will almost immediately take them out of the town they've made. it's not a dungeon crawl though, so they *should* make it back alive.<br />
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i scanned our notes from the session since i know more than a few people are interested in how the BEYOND THE WALL system plays out.<br />
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out town is called OXLEY...you can see a quick map of it and some of the key NPCs on the images below. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_4qUBgtgd9Ncz7C7FZqevjSAhetyIBIqRBGLhS8mzOFLfx8-J8i66arGUBGDH1JJg-hk3DtGXvvYzxk-KWwRSratKNncrZVjWWMlVFcoA5mEB5Zo7-uqMFTZA0iuFeL_Ex8YwQDLOFk/s1600/OXLEY+NPCs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_4qUBgtgd9Ncz7C7FZqevjSAhetyIBIqRBGLhS8mzOFLfx8-J8i66arGUBGDH1JJg-hk3DtGXvvYzxk-KWwRSratKNncrZVjWWMlVFcoA5mEB5Zo7-uqMFTZA0iuFeL_Ex8YwQDLOFk/s320/OXLEY+NPCs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-60709218953111521422013-08-24T14:47:00.001-04:002013-08-25T22:32:49.218-04:00SWORDS & WIZARDRY WHITE BOX CHARACTER SHEETi mentioned in my previous post that my friends and i have recently purchased one of our favorite local gaming stores. we took control in may - and we're still open - so i guess that means we're doing something right.<br />
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it's been interesting talking to all of our customers about games and all other things related to this hobby of ours...but the one thing that has taken us by surprise is the general attitude of gamers towards the current rules-heavy games. as you can imagine, the most heavily played rpg in the store is PATHFINDER - but here's the kicker - many, many of the players are tired of it. most of them play it because it's the only fantasy rpg they've ever played - counting of course, 3.X. we've overheard the players complaining about the rules, the constant focus on combat and all that - so we decided to take a gamble and start running all the rules-lite games that we like.<br />
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guess what? SUCCESS. they love it. and they BUY IT. the runaway hit has been SWORDS AND WIZARDRY COMPLETE. we've sold through 3 orders from frog god and just placed another one due to the demand. crazy, right? it's funny watching these players (who are all used to min-maxing and "building" characters) be told to roll 3d6 in order...and when they get a 17 or 18 they're like "what do you mean it's just a +1 bonus?". but they're having fun and most of them see these easier games as a breath of fresh air.<br />
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speaking of SWORDS AND WIZARDRY - as much as i like COMPLETE...i'd like to profess my love for the BRAVE HALFLING version of WHITE BOX. it's just awesome and simple and allows me to do whatever i want.<br />
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is there still love out there for WHITE BOX? i hope so - i just made a character sheet for it. it's in the same "style" of my previous <a href="http://xfearnodarknessx.blogspot.com/2013/04/swords-and-wizardry-appreciation.html" target="_blank">effort for S&W COMPLETE</a>...but this one can be printed on both sides, cut, and placed in your WHITE BOX. check it out...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YWLEHNpNw1fRqCR6s3XHK2vKwxtldbLYIbP0Z9sPzjJT8XT7ODis9so91kB0MFzwyKEr8CE1q1q86CHisaC2FH171DZiGzfgdJB5W1DFfvb9NamCWSLMWg4iWt8akpw_TuLb5pZ4Ms4/s1600/SW+WB+CS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YWLEHNpNw1fRqCR6s3XHK2vKwxtldbLYIbP0Z9sPzjJT8XT7ODis9so91kB0MFzwyKEr8CE1q1q86CHisaC2FH171DZiGzfgdJB5W1DFfvb9NamCWSLMWg4iWt8akpw_TuLb5pZ4Ms4/s400/SW+WB+CS.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
download it <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/ss9knk7lngsa688/WB_CS_better.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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EDIT: the pdf was printing weird and when i tried printing on both sides it cut into the character sheet. i fixed the pdf and it should cut cleaner now. sorry about that.<br />
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EDIT: i noticed that i messed up the modifiers for XP bonuses. there is no general INT bonus - there's a general CHA bonus. the sheet is now correct. boom. xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-39752190011338194082013-07-23T17:25:00.001-04:002013-07-23T17:25:05.166-04:00MINOTAURS as a BX or LL classsorry for the lack of updates lately...things here have been busy.<br />
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first off, my friends and i pooled our resources and actually bought a gaming store here on long island. one of the local game stores out here was going to close its doors as the (former) owner is planning a move to texas. so, yeah - we took it over. it's been an interesting 2 months to say the least. i'll post more about the store in the days (or weeks) to come.<br />
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anyway - minotaurs. a few months ago i worked up a minotaur class and posted it on the LABYRINTH LORD boards...i did a layout for it last month and included an illustration that kelvin greene did for DUNGEON STRIKE. <br />
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my take on them was a bit more from the 4E/WOW side of things. i figured minotaurs that were PCs wouldn't be so darn evil, you know? their spell-like abilities are pulled from the LABYRINTH LORD cleric and druid list...so you'll need those to use this class.<br />
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so, here it is: let me know what you think. <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/k6v174lopcqaa78/MINOTAUR_AS_CLASS.pdf" target="_blank">DOWNLOAD THE MINOTAUR. </a>xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-88170554208999117762013-07-12T04:42:00.001-04:002013-07-12T16:15:34.902-04:00PACIFIC RIM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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i just got home from seeing PACIFIC RIM. i don't really know what to say other than it was incredible. if you grew up watching old godzilla movies, shogun warriors, voltron, robotech and other stuff like that than you NEED to see this movie. seriously. <br />
<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-68317688257673716262013-06-04T21:17:00.000-04:002013-06-04T21:28:27.066-04:00BEYOND THE WALL - THE HALFLING OUTRIDER<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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ok, so i agreed to give the BEYOND THE WALL RPG a spin with a few other bloggers. basically, we've all agreed to make characters at a virtual table with certain blogs being "to the right" of other blogs for the purposes of character generation. i've chosen to use the HALFLING OUTRIDER playbook. the mastermind behind all this is rob barrett from the blog VARGOLD: THE WOLF TIME. check out the original blog post <a href="http://vargold.blogspot.com/2013/05/beyond-wall-it-takes-crowd-to-source.html" target="_blank">here</a>. i'm to the right of <a href="http://unto-the-breach.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">anthony</a> and rob is to my right. </div>
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basically, if you use the playbooks to generate a character you begin with base set of attributes and through character generation you gain points. i'm not sure that you can lose points in anything. part of the fun of making a character this way is that you also generate your starting village during the process - certain tables allow you to add NPCs and locations to the village. this way, when everyone has made a character they have a shared history and fleshed out starting base of operations (and some adventure hooks for the GM, to boot). it's my understanding that we'll add all that stuff after our characters are fleshed out a bit.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OZc8r4nzXLjyrmo2hcFPc3J3Cd1gH5Yy0U86b4BOUbvu2rbqv3JaqhLf5TFuOni1re7hVQW5OuBi3Kw3bvMNJIW5OwtooPz0jLIqDeGLjbQuem0Wsf9jUdZX0J6cpdBtFAvrQacSVs8/s1600/HalflingPaladin_zps1916e4cd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OZc8r4nzXLjyrmo2hcFPc3J3Cd1gH5Yy0U86b4BOUbvu2rbqv3JaqhLf5TFuOni1re7hVQW5OuBi3Kw3bvMNJIW5OwtooPz0jLIqDeGLjbQuem0Wsf9jUdZX0J6cpdBtFAvrQacSVs8/s320/HalflingPaladin_zps1916e4cd.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">probably not what he looks like - but hey, this is a cool pic.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
here is the intro flavor text for the HALFLING OUTRIDER (a fighter/thief, basically): "back in the halfling lands you were one of the warriors of
your people. you patrolled the borders of your homeland on your trusty pony,
watching for bands of barbarians, goblins, and meddling big folk. now, you have
journeyed far from home on adventures of your own.</div>
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you were the strongest and most athletic of your people. your CON begins at 12, your DEX begins at 10, your STR begins at 6 and all your
other stats begin at 8".</div>
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the first few tables detail how i came to the land of men, and the first table is titled WHAT DID YOUR OLD GAFFER DO? well, i rolled a 5...so my gaffer tended the fields around my ancestral home – we
grew the finest smoking leaf for miles and miles around. (+2 CON/DEX; +1 CHA)
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ADD
LOCATION TO VILLAGE</div>
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the next table asks me WHY I LEFT MY COMFORTABLE HOME...a 2 reveals that i left my comfortable home with a small band of dwarves. they had pressing business far from my home and i decided to help them out. (+2
CHA; +1 CON)</div>
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ok, so next up is a table that proclaims AFTER LEAVING YOUR PEOPLE YOU HAD A DIFFICULT TIME ADJUSTING TO LIVING WITH HUMANS. THE OTHER CHARACTERS BECAME YOUR FRIENDS - WHO ELSE BECAME YOUR FRIEND? so, i guess that after helping the dwarves with their mission i settled in
a local human village and I met the other player characters. a roll of 8 tells me that the local
humans found me a fair sort, and enough of a stranger to be impartial – hence, i was elected to be their judge. yikes. i’ve seen all the villagers on their
worst days. (+2 WIS; +1 INT)</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ADD NPC TO
VILLAGE</div>
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now, more flavor text: "you rode far from home and left behind the life you knew. you become a level 1 warrior-rogue. you gain the class abilities <i>weapon specialization</i> and <i>fortune’s favor</i>, and the skill <i>direction</i> <i>sense</i>. the tables below will give you all your bonus skills and further define your class abilities. what have you and your pony been through?" </div>
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this table asks WHAT DID YOU LEARN BEST ON THE ROAD? i rolled a 5 and so i've learned that my long traveling with the dwarves taught me the ins and
outs of hard riding and long roads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(+3
CON; gain RIDING skill)</div>
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WHAT DO YOUR ENEMIES FEAR MOST ABOUT YOU? a 3 tells me that they fear a silent death from a knife in the back. dang - that's pretty hardcore. that'll keep a halfling safe on the road, i suppose. </div>
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(+2 DEX; weapon specialization –
DAGGER; shift to left)</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ADD
LOCATION TO VILLAGE</div>
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now we get to the part where one of my previous adventures helps out the character to my right. the table reads: WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU SINCE YOU SETTLED WITH THESE STRANGE HUMANS? THE PLAYER ON THE RIGHT WAS THERE WITH YOU. i rolled a 2, so: not too long ago, the ghost of a long forgotten murder
victim began haunting the village. i guess since i had access to various court records,
some furious research and some assistance from the friend to my right (rob's <a href="http://vargold.blogspot.com/2013/06/beyond-wall-blogtest-my-dwarven.html" target="_blank">dwarven adventurer</a>) allowed
me to crack the case and lure the ghost to rest in the graveyard. (+2 INT;
friend to right gains +1 INT)</div>
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this is the last table. what's a halfling outrider without his trusty steed? the table asks me WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT MY PONY? my dice (with a result of 1) tell me that my pony is special because i can communicate with him as
well as i can with any person. (+2 CHA; pony ally)</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ADD NPC TO
VILLAGE</div>
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after that, i learn that the halfling outrider begins with the following equipment: dagger, your pony (counts as an ally), a very fine saddle, bags filled with food and rations, leather armor (+2 AC), a wooden shield (+1 AC), your favored weapon (which is a dagger, so i guess i have 2), and 4d6 silvers. i also have a +1 BAB.<br />
<br />
my final stats are:<br />
STR - 6<br />
DEX - 14<br />
CON - 18<br />
INT - 11<br />
WIS - 10<br />
CHA - 13 </div>
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cool! i have some ideas brewing about this guy - and i'm excited what else he's done. we'll learn that when anthony rolls up his YOUNG WOODSMAN.</div>
xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-86939986974569339002013-05-08T21:26:00.000-04:002013-05-08T21:26:01.612-04:00B/X Character Sheet hey dudes. a year or two ago i was perusing the internet and i stumbled across a blog that used the old DUNGEONS & DRAGONS coloring book border for something. i can't remember which blog it was or what they made with it...so that sucks. i did manage to track down this <a href="http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2011/10/greg-irons-advanced-dungeons-and.html" target="_blank">here</a> blog which has scans of the coloring book (my original one has been lost to time) and i made a character sheet for B/X D&D. as you can see, it's mostly just a reconfiguring of the sheet that shipped with the game. it's usable for LABYRINTH LORD also if that's your thing. <br />
<br />
this is the sheet that we use for our B/X (supplemented by LL) game on sundays. download <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?hwd73hmhzw9836z" target="_blank">here</a> and enjoy! here's a preview...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz8zdGAE2_b6_dI_rYa7PAYZGLgzdDOD8QSi7DjVinsOoqQWQNdqk2gE62mRpIxm7FkDQxWQrJPfMt3Ig4EIiGkNd70Nk9M2UA-8f4joAeO5L4nktwrGEesgC54FGLzGtZHr8aGnV7rU/s1600/BX+CS+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz8zdGAE2_b6_dI_rYa7PAYZGLgzdDOD8QSi7DjVinsOoqQWQNdqk2gE62mRpIxm7FkDQxWQrJPfMt3Ig4EIiGkNd70Nk9M2UA-8f4joAeO5L4nktwrGEesgC54FGLzGtZHr8aGnV7rU/s320/BX+CS+1.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-58839148474030272552013-04-24T16:45:00.002-04:002013-04-24T16:47:22.000-04:00D&D NEXT and the "maths" (ugh).so, i've sort of been keeping an eye on the development of D&D NEXT. i know it's probably going to suck, but i can't help myself. my friend chris has really been keeping an eye on it, however. this has led us to exchange emails every monday or tuesday after mearls updates his LEGENDS & LORE column. <br />
<br />
today, this was in an email he sent me: "it seems to me that they're looking at D&D as a big math equation and not a role-playing game".<br />
<br />
boom. dead on. <br />
<br />
so yeah, my hopes for NEXT aren't all that high. chris runs a D&D club at his school twice a week. the kids have abandoned 4E for 1E and LABYRINTH LORD. they also just voted to give up on the NEXT playtest that chris had been running for them.<br />
<br />
what does all this tell you?xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-52554944794939337292013-04-19T20:28:00.001-04:002013-04-19T20:28:08.456-04:00BEYOND THE WALL - more coolnessso, i had to give a presentation to the school board in my district on S&W AD...i'm only now beginning to wade into all the awesome that was created. i'll post up some links later in the weekend as i begin to explore stuff. <br />
<br />
anyway, i had mentioned the BEYOND THE WALL RPG the other day. they have some FREE playbooks posted up on drive-thru (they're the ones i mentioned i grabbed during the playtest, but now they're all laid out and stuff.). take a look at them <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113634/Beyond-the-Wall---The-Nobility?src=s_pi" target="_blank">here</a> and see if you want to use them in your game - you'll get a sense as to how the village generator and all that jazz works. i figure that's better than paying 8 bucks for something you won't use.xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-44061826196612590522013-04-17T00:02:00.000-04:002013-05-08T21:26:38.965-04:00SWORDS AND WIZARDRY APPRECIATION!!!so, today is SWORDS AND WIZARDRY APPRECIATION DAY. i'm posting this now (at midnight) because i have a long day of work tomorrow and i'm not sure how often i'll be able to get online. so, rather than wait until tomorrow night to post all this stuff i figure i'll just do it now. better early than late, i suppose. anyway, i've created a few things in honor of today...<br />
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first up is a CHARACTER SHEET for SWORDS AND WIZARDRY COMPLETE. it's based off the sheet in the back of the new COMPLETE book. now that i'm almost done with DUNGEON STRIKE i had ton of stock artwork laying around - so i applied it to the sheet. here's the result:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42ynLQJcby9BrOJ_Jh6iUEdsazeQ7OcfGlPAfXyRasF7zZIVbyv-lWyNxPhgV0lxPwl05iY6Z8u1G_T7RidPit7JGP21Ib_Cwizd1CzoE6FuBEZTNdTX43B7s16LhItWjGQCemTDqhA0/s1600/SWORDS+WIZ+CS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42ynLQJcby9BrOJ_Jh6iUEdsazeQ7OcfGlPAfXyRasF7zZIVbyv-lWyNxPhgV0lxPwl05iY6Z8u1G_T7RidPit7JGP21Ib_Cwizd1CzoE6FuBEZTNdTX43B7s16LhItWjGQCemTDqhA0/s400/SWORDS+WIZ+CS.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zipMC2R17E4GACV9EqRjiJ8Zhl7tUCGvlhqPA8k8keLTuDf4f3WElRzrGkXAcm8zHEefXJLgsseVIG_Rv6z99XM6s3eaTSmKFh9nxsDMkRu1Jm1DHmxfMoS6-uzbYkNogOz2riTwwmk/s1600/SWORDS+WIZ+CS+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zipMC2R17E4GACV9EqRjiJ8Zhl7tUCGvlhqPA8k8keLTuDf4f3WElRzrGkXAcm8zHEefXJLgsseVIG_Rv6z99XM6s3eaTSmKFh9nxsDMkRu1Jm1DHmxfMoS6-uzbYkNogOz2riTwwmk/s400/SWORDS+WIZ+CS+back.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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if you like it you can grab a pdf right <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?h1yzx9y31hls1xa" target="_blank">here</a>! now, as much as i like the COMPLETE rules, i've always been sort of partial to the ol' WHITE BOX. if you read this blog at all, you know my love for the X-PLORERS RPG. the rules for that game were greatly inspired by the original SWORDS AND WIZARDRY WHITE BOX, and as i have recently gotten my hands on one of the og BRAVE HALFLING boxed sets, my GM juices have been flowing. partly inspired by the BEYOND THE WALL RPG i mentioned the other day and partly inspired by the HOLMES basic set (where he mentions parties comprised of dragons, werebears, humans, centaurs and elves) - i've begun work on a little homebrew for my players. i have 2 things for you to check out - 1 is the house-ruled THIEF class. no matter what edition my friends and i play we always wind up tweaking the thief slightly. WHITE BOX doesn't include the thief at all...so, based on the thief in the COMPLETE rules, i give you our houseruled SWORDS AND WIZARDRY THIEF. the class features a simplified skill system based on X-PLORERS. i also folded a few skills into "delicate tasks". check it out:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWLNj4YqKhynsuECfBwq5EanuhzBzXJl12rlQDI0t-rGNVl7KN99wFZ1OHcSsIOhJ4YRny8xjEPZ6wmdqbNsYI2_wPHTyQGe_YURktEPgLHvoIHIxzUwLg225JBu-6NmIuCfEM886HTU/s1600/SW+THIEF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWLNj4YqKhynsuECfBwq5EanuhzBzXJl12rlQDI0t-rGNVl7KN99wFZ1OHcSsIOhJ4YRny8xjEPZ6wmdqbNsYI2_wPHTyQGe_YURktEPgLHvoIHIxzUwLg225JBu-6NmIuCfEM886HTU/s400/SW+THIEF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
you can grab the pdf <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?e4b0ey1ddorhsj7" target="_blank">here</a>. print on both sides and cut down the middle and you'll have 2 copies - one for your players and one for your WHITE BOX.<br />
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last but not least...i made a werebear. some of you older folk may remember the werebear class that was presented in WHITE DWARF #17 (along with the stone giant, lammasu, and blink dog pack!). the pdfs of all those old magazines are floating around the interwebz, so if your google-fu is sharp you should be able to find 'em. anyway, based on that old article i created a werebear class (and i borrowed a pic from the article/1e MM) for my upcoming campaign:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsQHxwl3ahtD_NMIYQZ0Q1kmEmDmq-wLt0n8LoJttPyr6MPWKtpP9_zmopg8WQAP6cU6FEg9UYKz01rqegksGLox8oroE3CWF1yMZYOryUwG6C79hA2Ug3tuBVpC3BaX1Iy7JTc0SexM/s1600/WEREBEAR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsQHxwl3ahtD_NMIYQZ0Q1kmEmDmq-wLt0n8LoJttPyr6MPWKtpP9_zmopg8WQAP6cU6FEg9UYKz01rqegksGLox8oroE3CWF1yMZYOryUwG6C79hA2Ug3tuBVpC3BaX1Iy7JTc0SexM/s400/WEREBEAR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
the pdf for this is available right <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?g67iyid220u2zoo" target="_blank">here</a>. and that's it, folks! i may remake some of the other classes in the WHITE DWARF article. if i do i'll post them here. i'm also working on a dragon PC. yeah. we'll see how that goes. enjoy! xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-45763903215521007172013-04-15T16:26:00.001-04:002013-05-17T20:30:57.006-04:00Beyond The Wall (and other adventures) RPG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_CyCpG6Hz0pdyrYpJFwKT1FbxlvHcWCl4h4NY12XqAUKW_XjwZhDJVOCeH-gqBTxQimx7rKbntqfGpGlsPT78s0Il6zfLQIFaS0fXrlBP-lQQioYG-QD3XkOOtScWbkWwTM3a3qgkVs/s1600/beyond_the_wall_rpg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_CyCpG6Hz0pdyrYpJFwKT1FbxlvHcWCl4h4NY12XqAUKW_XjwZhDJVOCeH-gqBTxQimx7rKbntqfGpGlsPT78s0Il6zfLQIFaS0fXrlBP-lQQioYG-QD3XkOOtScWbkWwTM3a3qgkVs/s320/beyond_the_wall_rpg.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
have you guys discovered this little nugget of an rpg? no? well, it's available <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113405/Beyond-the-Wall-and-Other-Adventures?term=beyond+the+wall+and" target="_blank">here</a> for only 8 bucks! i don't really know much about the creators - but they have created a nice little OSR game here. it's a le guin/alexander inspired version of D&D and it is currently tickling my fancy. i fully intend on pillaging some of it for my upcoming SWORDS & WIZARDRY WHITEBOX campaign. the stuff in here can also be used with minimum effort for basically any OSR game.<br />
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so what has me so excited? why should you really care about yet another clone-esque OSR offering? well, for one - the playbooks.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoZGzLSZ9xtbzNlqYlsE-HLW3Ddnc2u7wi5KKKBQ72vXJ0jXLlmzP0DbVIkgDIRJgqHYfN4iogFLVElmh9EbGllHlMhUIJCq4n606deQumZiY4hUHKAYXiYHbSvM3hLZ-THUzmZfYPV0/s1600/playbook.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnoZGzLSZ9xtbzNlqYlsE-HLW3Ddnc2u7wi5KKKBQ72vXJ0jXLlmzP0DbVIkgDIRJgqHYfN4iogFLVElmh9EbGllHlMhUIJCq4n606deQumZiY4hUHKAYXiYHbSvM3hLZ-THUzmZfYPV0/s320/playbook.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i plan on ignoring the stat bonuses.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
the classes have a few playbooks each; think of them as templates or background generators for each character. included with the core bundle we have: the untested thief, the young woodsman, the would-be knight, the self-taught mage, the village hero, and the witch's apprentice. each playbook has a bunch of random background tables that players can roll on after they make their characters. these background tables help you create the town/village the PCs come from, they help explain how all the PCs know each other, and they drop in a bunch of adventure hooks for the GM.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago i snagged a ton of the playtest drafts off their website(click <a href="http://www.flatlandgames.com/btw/" target="_blank">here</a> for the site), and there were a ton of other playbooks - the halfling vagabond, elven highborn, and a bunch of noble-born human types. all the playtest drafts are down now, but supposedly once those playbooks are laid out and the whatnot they'll be posted as freebies. <br />
<br />
the game bills itself as being "low prep"; just pick up the books, roll on a few tables and you should have a fully fleshed out base of operations, a few sandboxy hooks, and an overall mission.<br />
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i'll be keeping an eye on this game. i'd also love to have some of these playbooks in dead tree form. maybe soon? who knows. xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-50608330294558092192013-04-12T17:42:00.001-04:002013-04-12T17:42:49.214-04:00Random Robot Characters for X-PLORERS!after all the positive feedback i received for my random alien class generator for the X-PLORERS rpg, i decided to sit down and try my hand at another class for the game. so, i took aim at robots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhrXPtfV1xBscUWFTBoCLGFBLBZMFRJCrvKBN5ABLtNKwrrPsmb-XeVfwSmlbnu6ss_307Cb-LmQIBg-bNVVpiJiuFDukmWhKFEXWQCOjL8JgCJrQiDBi2WSdj-Kq5gybjM4ZLVo3rSo/s1600/VINCENT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhrXPtfV1xBscUWFTBoCLGFBLBZMFRJCrvKBN5ABLtNKwrrPsmb-XeVfwSmlbnu6ss_307Cb-LmQIBg-bNVVpiJiuFDukmWhKFEXWQCOjL8JgCJrQiDBi2WSdj-Kq5gybjM4ZLVo3rSo/s320/VINCENT.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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robot characters are a staple of the old sci fi/pulp stories that influenced X-PLORERS. i figured it would only be fair to let my players control one. obviously, these robot characters are NOT subject to the FIRST DIRECTIVE (for the good or ill of all involved). the robot abilities are basically re-skinned spells from the SWORDS AND WIZARDRY WB and the LABYRINTH LORD core book. have a look at the rough draft and let me know what you think - you can download the pdf <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?f5x2vkxxwf51cat" target="_blank">here</a>.xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-69444700052651388532013-04-08T23:41:00.001-04:002013-04-08T23:43:36.334-04:00Old School Marvel Super Heroes RPG<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzh1L9RuvBU_q5VqQ5s6USgB9o-e18a4GUcLMQeZ0MBbh5B9Hk5RyZX2HYt7ebcc4NY_sss4Qy9Bsr0Oc3soB5YddPnAV7qSx8kkjFO2f2X6yvgqlVzOcwAPqU3fD3CMDthn_lp4fdBI/s1600/logo-msh.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzh1L9RuvBU_q5VqQ5s6USgB9o-e18a4GUcLMQeZ0MBbh5B9Hk5RyZX2HYt7ebcc4NY_sss4Qy9Bsr0Oc3soB5YddPnAV7qSx8kkjFO2f2X6yvgqlVzOcwAPqU3fD3CMDthn_lp4fdBI/s400/logo-msh.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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so, we were scheduled to continue a pretty awesome LAMENTATIONS OF THE FLAME PRINCESS campaign yesterday, but our friend who's running it had to drop out at the last minute. i volunteered to run a few games on super-short notice - i offered up X-PLORERS and the old school TSR MSH RPG. we've played a bunch of XP lately so the vote was in for MSH.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qWy5hYG4Q-gIL0zPfmTDoccBpIr6adpPtOziXH5J304-hauUnecgpZ7FNvkZTtXlM5TvfWltdrnL-lfa_-vTUK7nwbOh6SgRsFoBDWkFC7UjesouH-0EpkpNhA-nkhLia85ORmMQ3CY/s1600/MSH+og.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qWy5hYG4Q-gIL0zPfmTDoccBpIr6adpPtOziXH5J304-hauUnecgpZ7FNvkZTtXlM5TvfWltdrnL-lfa_-vTUK7nwbOh6SgRsFoBDWkFC7UjesouH-0EpkpNhA-nkhLia85ORmMQ3CY/s200/MSH+og.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">original basic set</td></tr>
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i've been re-reading the old rulebooks for this game off and on for the past year or so. i've looked at ICONS, BASH!, and the new MARVEL RPG (which almost made my head explode), but i always fall back on the ol' OG MSH RPG when i need my super hero fix. i think it's a great generic hero system...but the stuff i like about it is spread across 3 compatible systems.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoy0ogs_jsKGXNE_k0Vk0qehDFUSnweuZ292v56yF3MGTTTCj8E46wToler0kDbQaW6QKLVMLJYNVEkAAIS7h9GcW2wBO2yv-lAgn1YMowkgPJWohUDMPDWexKL4ZJERLkwwN9kuo2_JA/s1600/MSH+ADV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoy0ogs_jsKGXNE_k0Vk0qehDFUSnweuZ292v56yF3MGTTTCj8E46wToler0kDbQaW6QKLVMLJYNVEkAAIS7h9GcW2wBO2yv-lAgn1YMowkgPJWohUDMPDWexKL4ZJERLkwwN9kuo2_JA/s200/MSH+ADV.jpg" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">advanced set</td></tr>
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the original boxed set is my favorite. i'd be happy playing and running this version - and i pretty much am using the original BASIC BATTLE BOOK as my base. i like the chargen from the advanced rules, however - it's the most complete. i'm not talking power generation - i'm talking what type of hero you are, the attribute generation tables and the way it fills in some blanks from the basic book (like contacts). for actual power/talent generation i like the REVISED BASIC SET that came out in 1991 or so.<br />
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i simplified the heck out of everything else. for example: you do something heroic and you gain 30 karma. you do something unheroic and you lose 30 karma. your hero kills someone and you lose all your karma. to raise a stat or a power up a rank it costs the rank's value times 100 in karma. stuff like that. <br />
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i also want to revise some of the weapon damage. a handgun does 6 points of damage? that means that a bullet won't drop someone who has all FEEBLE physical stats...so that needs to change.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5LpxRSW8lFZB_O8yxR3zB0siPSqCCvH1uV7vZKOpCgYjrh9BikZEvSYX2yjEGgrgzjnMuhWlYNcvK1x8EtpzNOBQHLrh6y9dxUpdpJHiP7iEafmkdG6SBCU6zo7rBaPs38T3FkgQNzY/s1600/mshbasicr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5LpxRSW8lFZB_O8yxR3zB0siPSqCCvH1uV7vZKOpCgYjrh9BikZEvSYX2yjEGgrgzjnMuhWlYNcvK1x8EtpzNOBQHLrh6y9dxUpdpJHiP7iEafmkdG6SBCU6zo7rBaPs38T3FkgQNzY/s200/mshbasicr.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">revised basic set</td></tr>
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anyway, i ran a session of my totally kit-bashed MSH RPG yesterday and it went over pretty well. i think i want to create a rules document that collects all the stuff i like about the game into one easy to use source - and then share it with the internet. i can't get in trouble for this, can i? the game is FREE over <a href="http://www.classicmarvelforever.com/cms/" target="_blank">here</a> so i'm guessing both marvel and wotc gave up claims to it...? i'm pretty sure there's also a clone of this system floating around somewhere. after i finish DUNGEON STRIKE (and my other "top secret" *HINT HINT* project) maybe i'll take a crack at typing this bad boy up. xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-91820177584772151972013-03-26T19:55:00.001-04:002013-03-26T19:55:33.080-04:00COUNTER MANIAi went to michael's today and walked out with some wooden discs and an idea. when i got home i pulled a bunch of counters out of my STAR FRONTIERS boxes. i also took some from my old REVOLT ON ANTARES game. lastly, i broke out the starship battle card that came with my X-PLORERS boxed set. i threw all that stuff under my scanner and this was the result. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBV0K5HL7rTIlsV2nRnfiLnA5q7Nkr6WBoVsYNm_06dbuZuSx34CWBlMIPT5Q11qGtP7dgJq1XwUk-Dxz00WrslPTRyP-rkKLQfFaXsA_DKjTF0JJtrXVg4OUTcyCojv4B7kHYzMe5lYE/s1600/space+battle.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBV0K5HL7rTIlsV2nRnfiLnA5q7Nkr6WBoVsYNm_06dbuZuSx34CWBlMIPT5Q11qGtP7dgJq1XwUk-Dxz00WrslPTRyP-rkKLQfFaXsA_DKjTF0JJtrXVg4OUTcyCojv4B7kHYzMe5lYE/s400/space+battle.jpeg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fighters! COMING IN!!! POINT 3!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThvAeSyqXPVmPzYT57zUUxdqFU7FKd7mgUtP5vKn56nUTg_vpK8xzr9950hr6INKDwp82qrC321ZGsoODMR2u58XrS-fRa7okjuvrMMlYpqFQB4oA76OvLnAyq7A_KBi7hqNN3mHzN64/s1600/counter+pics.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThvAeSyqXPVmPzYT57zUUxdqFU7FKd7mgUtP5vKn56nUTg_vpK8xzr9950hr6INKDwp82qrC321ZGsoODMR2u58XrS-fRa7okjuvrMMlYpqFQB4oA76OvLnAyq7A_KBi7hqNN3mHzN64/s400/counter+pics.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yes, that's the lid from KNIGHT HAWKS.</td></tr>
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as you may have surmised, my X-PLORERS game is based on STAR FRONTIERS...which is cool, because that's one of the things bezio had in mind when he designed it. <br />
<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-64052327235082136522013-03-25T17:41:00.000-04:002013-03-25T17:44:29.939-04:00SPACE BATTLE SHEET FOR X-PLORERS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMhVggWBQa_DaY84ZdQIwydHppQJf9QHiT-9NzfD_mMJfZvxzTjAnz4sUT_d6l_8RG-h73pdVD59QNxhmr7fRNS4180sZBuJxM-ciBTcw4PScaBC_xPep78QJu5h1xMa4s5Vp6a3qwBg/s1600/XPLORERS+SPACE+BATTLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMhVggWBQa_DaY84ZdQIwydHppQJf9QHiT-9NzfD_mMJfZvxzTjAnz4sUT_d6l_8RG-h73pdVD59QNxhmr7fRNS4180sZBuJxM-ciBTcw4PScaBC_xPep78QJu5h1xMa4s5Vp6a3qwBg/s400/XPLORERS+SPACE+BATTLE.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
i've run a few X-PLORERS sessions for my group so far and they seem to like it. now i think it's time to take them into space since they "acquired" a scout ship on their last mission. so, to that end, i made this nifty little battle map that should work well with the spaceship rules. you can download the sheet <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?44hobd1ppita972" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-34519406936193114302013-03-14T21:48:00.000-04:002013-03-14T21:48:18.612-04:00Homemade Traveller Box Setover the summer i made myself a TRAVELLER box for the LBB's. since i have the bottom half of the original box i decided to take matters into my own hands. i grabbed some black contact paper from kohl's (actually FINDING black contact paper was more difficult than i thought it would be) and then got some blank shipping labels from staples. for the box itself i used one of the LAST NIGHT ON EARTH expansion boxes. any MUNCHKIN box would have done also, but i actually use the MUNCHKIN boxes and i don't use the LNoE boxes. <br />
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here's the result:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaCSK4Lpp-oTeLt5yvR1fAAXzCmVMRfa6BJywPyWldKOcITIxfN6BCFjBNTrhAE2nLgzGSGs-dj7KxW0EvkAoaKTTdwJmuovd8urqspM6GC1UQHt5LWBtPj4x3m8K5Easr5MYeMya4P4/s1600/trav3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaCSK4Lpp-oTeLt5yvR1fAAXzCmVMRfa6BJywPyWldKOcITIxfN6BCFjBNTrhAE2nLgzGSGs-dj7KxW0EvkAoaKTTdwJmuovd8urqspM6GC1UQHt5LWBtPj4x3m8K5Easr5MYeMya4P4/s320/trav3.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-78132787810149629992013-03-11T22:34:00.001-04:002013-03-11T22:34:22.367-04:00What's worse than getting hit with a mace?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWVRjA69O0fTAPDGJKqfYnc-OSg2zwQ0mVkeubhSEWswy3SNMCPrambwPbQ9xzhUqCJuxiviMcsx0VAXAhtLcw9skAe8kGvBImYY-ftPIrwiIbca7xIrqEGiJobwJZLULtNkRTXM7VYQ/s1600/skull_mace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWVRjA69O0fTAPDGJKqfYnc-OSg2zwQ0mVkeubhSEWswy3SNMCPrambwPbQ9xzhUqCJuxiviMcsx0VAXAhtLcw9skAe8kGvBImYY-ftPIrwiIbca7xIrqEGiJobwJZLULtNkRTXM7VYQ/s320/skull_mace.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
well, getting hit with a mace that looks like this. is this a flail? the difference always eluded me. either way - the reverend christopher r. conklin just placed this in my inbox. should i be worried?xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-39561274650757216132013-03-11T19:10:00.004-04:002013-03-11T19:45:47.176-04:00DUNGEON STRIKE - ART UPDATEwell, i've been hard at work for the last few days laying the game out. so far, so good. i've shown a few people what i've done and the response has been positive.<br />
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like i said the other day - the success of our kickstarter granted me a slight art budget. i put out some feelers towards some artists whose work i enjoy - and what do you know, they got back to me and HEY NOW - i'm suddenly assembling a real game. who are these artists, you ask...?<br />
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one is SATINE PHOENIX - i first saw her artwork when i stumbled across the indiegogo for MACHINATIONS OF THE SPACE PRINCESS. check out her site <a href="http://satinephoenix.net/" target="_blank">here</a>. i just got her pieces today and they're awesome. these are my two favorites:<br />
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apparently all the pictures she made for us are based on real people (except for the female minotaur warrior). the lady here is based on ULORIN VEX. the wizard is apparently based on ALLAN AMATO...? i could be wrong on that one. <br />
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next up we have KELVIN GREEN. i first came across his stuff over on the <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">GROGNARDIA</a> blog. this is the picture that got me searching him out:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTk-hKj4IZGFBEpa-0M08Ch-FpDoVD4t7VgbLvqzJUziyy2bt7El3R4IPIylgdZXObhaVEX1ljO_2dXI9iRGwcxw3NlsmTaUpH3Z8-3tjSJjuem3v6wkkn_LEyhFr_1wjdTAt7imfirE/s1600/cultists_greys_cropped_300dpi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTk-hKj4IZGFBEpa-0M08Ch-FpDoVD4t7VgbLvqzJUziyy2bt7El3R4IPIylgdZXObhaVEX1ljO_2dXI9iRGwcxw3NlsmTaUpH3Z8-3tjSJjuem3v6wkkn_LEyhFr_1wjdTAt7imfirE/s400/cultists_greys_cropped_300dpi.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUt0zEJQYmMfuZCJ5CUH8cbUix_8dpssUGQ4mRt1P2PD8YjFL9hvR5R-6YSlTJxv5iZH1HpkPdYjgM_P6w9Rnp3AK8LzleovkE488kkdkoDBT_prwn4YvR2f0u6avikShle5feGjEDgY/s1600/finished-carcosa-bonesorcerer_800x561.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUt0zEJQYmMfuZCJ5CUH8cbUix_8dpssUGQ4mRt1P2PD8YjFL9hvR5R-6YSlTJxv5iZH1HpkPdYjgM_P6w9Rnp3AK8LzleovkE488kkdkoDBT_prwn4YvR2f0u6avikShle5feGjEDgY/s400/finished-carcosa-bonesorcerer_800x561.png" width="400" /></a></div>
when i found his website (click <a href="http://junkopia.net/kelvinsdirtybits/main.html" target="_blank">here</a> to see it) i saw this picture - the lich with the laser pistol - and it stuck with me. a few months later i got in touch with him and asked him to design the logo for our company (LEGENDARY REALMS TERRAIN). when i sat down to start designing DUNGEON STRIKE i wanted him on board - he got back to me today and it seems like he's in...so i'm stoked on that. i'm also dying to run his LAMENTATIONS OF THE FLAME PRINCESS one page adventure...so good. it's called "A ROUGH NIGHT AT THE DOG AND BASTARD". you should look it up. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYglRa2Fc_myav55ouGeXsZNwTmvYxCQxT-WzVoYAlUZAc-vd3JQI6EERtXdccDQB5Z9JwaaiiCuIaddJJLhygfw-HIfAqpu3RBdqunvE2BYdBNEJu6TA45hyphenhyphen0INaKt6Ml48wSeuMn078/s1600/LR+CHRIS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYglRa2Fc_myav55ouGeXsZNwTmvYxCQxT-WzVoYAlUZAc-vd3JQI6EERtXdccDQB5Z9JwaaiiCuIaddJJLhygfw-HIfAqpu3RBdqunvE2BYdBNEJu6TA45hyphenhyphen0INaKt6Ml48wSeuMn078/s320/LR+CHRIS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
that brings us to the shadowy underworld figure known as christopher conklin. i've been gaming with this dude since 1981 or 1982. we were in the same kindergarten class and all that jazz. whenever i fell out of roleplaying he was there to pull me back in. chris drew up our other logo - seen here (the lettering was designed by kelvin). this is the logo we've been using on the back of our t-shirts (which, by the way - if you backed the kickstarter you're getting - even if you only pledged a dollar. we're cool like that). chris also just won the online voting aspect of that contest WoTC was running - so expect to see some of his work in the upcoming reprinting of the AGAINST THE SLAVE LORDS modules.<br />
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now, while i await all the incoming artwork i've been messing around with the layout of the game and the whatnot. there's a surprising amount of stock artwork floating around out there that's pretty good...so i've been using some of that to play around. this is my current cover idea:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiGVn1WWEuWEkgZGBPLwOMMfDBBkYWUuSMMxDrG9kW9C8nHGk4KnNwCE2n9MNVG-CEw0U6RSqmHG4YxETNM22wsr0UEcL0cq8zFT6WSUoPvgRMXWUUPyP19g9TK247ov9NTizHfH5jyU/s1600/FND+TITLE+PAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiGVn1WWEuWEkgZGBPLwOMMfDBBkYWUuSMMxDrG9kW9C8nHGk4KnNwCE2n9MNVG-CEw0U6RSqmHG4YxETNM22wsr0UEcL0cq8zFT6WSUoPvgRMXWUUPyP19g9TK247ov9NTizHfH5jyU/s400/FND+TITLE+PAGE.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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these are the current mock-ups for the monster cards, treasure cards and character cards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyHlsBVTWbISwsOMb75L3Fr43i6cQ3fpPfTHua106qTIzr_RCdxBicTmVZkAA224Gvqi6ipBQfu6HUl-Qqi-qgzCvOpAeRkpyVDVOFngwcHeUghhtVA4IQGzgUP-1SNJNfmBDm2Ordsg/s1600/troll.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyHlsBVTWbISwsOMb75L3Fr43i6cQ3fpPfTHua106qTIzr_RCdxBicTmVZkAA224Gvqi6ipBQfu6HUl-Qqi-qgzCvOpAeRkpyVDVOFngwcHeUghhtVA4IQGzgUP-1SNJNfmBDm2Ordsg/s400/troll.JPG" width="315" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfaIbRwf4wf-BZM0xNrsGUxtquIwNYseh4RWtmI2xZJcQvhQVOPECYe7ybp7uPlIgRJ033GOCdQ5yMUWJc1VcxSF6GDxXWYDHRLwuQ_LijvFYcuNWfRkasPHHSkJOeryohCTGrykSJSc/s1600/potion+of+healing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfaIbRwf4wf-BZM0xNrsGUxtquIwNYseh4RWtmI2xZJcQvhQVOPECYe7ybp7uPlIgRJ033GOCdQ5yMUWJc1VcxSF6GDxXWYDHRLwuQ_LijvFYcuNWfRkasPHHSkJOeryohCTGrykSJSc/s400/potion+of+healing.JPG" width="313" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8twbqTLIIj3atjwPUW7F2O2pNmGboAG1NSSZu5G_MVmDv48dH4n6Y-anPRmNlStM6IydgCp7yXK6fbd3efKrNYC964JMyBHOHRowKAGXyZcQr71e7UYeKhFEUZo4xiLIHnfr7Y0lwM0/s1600/priest.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8twbqTLIIj3atjwPUW7F2O2pNmGboAG1NSSZu5G_MVmDv48dH4n6Y-anPRmNlStM6IydgCp7yXK6fbd3efKrNYC964JMyBHOHRowKAGXyZcQr71e7UYeKhFEUZo4xiLIHnfr7Y0lwM0/s400/priest.JPG" width="307" /></a></div>
ok dudes...that's it. let me know what you think. <br />
<br />xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-31620047086089764062013-03-06T16:59:00.000-05:002013-03-06T17:00:11.454-05:00DUNGEON STRIKE - UPDATE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_96dnao_LHP58DGvl9v-YKhrFKG8uJObdkyVMW0A7TbqdG8KPlIFX2dnYCdqU15mWUIg7BZkejrdNQggm4BuTDrmbhXaElrCN-u6l0XXDFbGKW1STUQOtCDJz7rVejI14uBBYYKLs-Zc/s1600/LR+KELVIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_96dnao_LHP58DGvl9v-YKhrFKG8uJObdkyVMW0A7TbqdG8KPlIFX2dnYCdqU15mWUIg7BZkejrdNQggm4BuTDrmbhXaElrCN-u6l0XXDFbGKW1STUQOtCDJz7rVejI14uBBYYKLs-Zc/s400/LR+KELVIN.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
as you may or may not know, the company that i co-own with my gaming friends (LEGENDARY REALMS TERRAIN) just finished up a successful kickstarter. you can check it out <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brianberg/legendary-realms-terrain-themed-dungeon-rooms" target="_blank">here</a>. this thing was way more successful than any of us thought - and for that i'd be remiss if i didn't acknowledge <a href="http://tpkgames.com/" target="_blank">brian berg and TPK games</a>, who ran this thing for us. well done, dudes.<br />
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now, one of the stretch goals was that every person who pledged would get a brand spanking new copy of the FEAR NO DARKNESS: DUNGEON STRIKE miniature skirmish game i wrote over the summer. so...let's talk about that for a bit.<br />
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the <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?aqgop7y3c91ujuv" target="_blank">playtest pdf</a> has been online since august and its been downloaded a few hundred times - whether anyone has actually played it...? that i can't know unless you sound off. we've played it a bunch of times at some conventions and everyone has always had a good time - lots of laughing and cheering and the whatnot as their characters fall victim to traps, trigger monster encounters, get cut down and (sometimes...though rarely) get all the way to the end. that's what games are all about, right? having fun? ok...so from what i've seen it seems to be working in that regard. this is the first game i've ever made, so i was nervous about the first people who played just going "wow, this sucks".<br />
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michael curtis (of dungeon alphabet/OSR fame) and george strayton (of the secret fire/star wars d6/countless other rpg related things) played it with us over the summer and they had a blast - mike even <a href="http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2012/10/take-part-in-dungeon-strike.html" target="_blank">blogged about it</a> - and they're dudes who know something or two about game design. that gave me some hope that i had made something fun that people could/would enjoy. my initial goal in making the game was to basically have something quick and fun that could be played on our terrain at conventions. then people started asking when the game was "coming out" and that they'd want a copy, so i decided to just give away the rules for free. it's not something that's super-serious - i wanted it to be the opposite of 4E (short and fun with character death likely) while allowing people to basically accomplish the same thing they would in 4E (killing monsters and taking their stuff). it's also an homage to the 1E megadungeon crawls i enjoyed as a kid. as of right now, it doesn't support sustained campaign play, although that may change in the near future (more on that at a later date, though).<br />
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anyway - we hit the stretch goal for DUNGEON STRIKE and now everyone who pledged support will be getting the full on "published" pdf version of the game. what does that mean? well, i'd like to tighten the rules up a bit if possible - so if anyone has played it and has a suggestion now would be the time to let me know in the comments. i'm also going to spruce up the rules sheet and make it more interesting to look at. finally, i'm going to include some printable cards with the game - the monster cards will (obviously) have the monster information for the referee, while the treasure cards and the character cards will have information for the players. last thing - all the cards will be fully illustrated - yep, our successful kickstarter left me with an art budget. i've reached out to a few artists already and two of them are on board...i'm just waiting to hear back from a third and i'll make the final announcements as to who they are - but don't worry - they ain't no slouches. <br />
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now, when this bad boy is finished it'll go out to our kickstarter backers first...i'm not sure exactly how we'll handle distributing it afterwards. <br />
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ok - opinions welcome below: xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-48046302215275363822013-03-03T13:55:00.000-05:002013-03-03T13:59:43.794-05:00RUNNERS, X-PLORERS & YOU<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YoFaP4sb2v8mx87TTyjx1RxqvmwPa3npE2rZHFmz0eyM8GDpbslrYXs-QFixBkx0Q02JkdvcD13z6kiNwJ4TPsMLUXwAL4jthUW58zVjOJRqs3AcTR_M_UqwSaQEgm1W52_l4oX1bFM/s1600/runners+wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YoFaP4sb2v8mx87TTyjx1RxqvmwPa3npE2rZHFmz0eyM8GDpbslrYXs-QFixBkx0Q02JkdvcD13z6kiNwJ4TPsMLUXwAL4jthUW58zVjOJRqs3AcTR_M_UqwSaQEgm1W52_l4oX1bFM/s400/runners+wide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
one wednesday back in '06 i was in my local comics shop - heavily engaged in a STAR WARS conversation/argument. i had just read the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Trial-Science-Fiction/dp/193210089X" target="_blank">STAR WARS ON TRIAL</a> so of course we were discussing the prequels. i'll spare you what was said - if you're reading this you've heard variations of this conversation more times than you probably care to admit. the kid working the counter asked us if we'd ever heard of a comic called RUNNERS. none of us had. he brought a few copies up to the register and said that this was the best STAR WARS type story he had seen in a long time. anyways, i wound up buying the book (titled BAD GOODS) and loved every page of it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bjM7sSfTYxv67YCfCP4pEstN86LZ5jcKFMRczECKpDfQ5QaAjflvVooe82riTRuHrHxiLqycl2dtYsiGdq0yYQDVd56zLlgXxBcbYFQmPla1NOyyW9V47DTEkyYji5YuOk1_F2nPNFA/s1600/runners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bjM7sSfTYxv67YCfCP4pEstN86LZ5jcKFMRczECKpDfQ5QaAjflvVooe82riTRuHrHxiLqycl2dtYsiGdq0yYQDVd56zLlgXxBcbYFQmPla1NOyyW9V47DTEkyYji5YuOk1_F2nPNFA/s200/runners.jpg" width="131" /></a>i started following sean wang (the artist/writer) over on his <a href="http://runnersuniverse.com/" target="_blank">page</a>...and i was excited when he began posting the follow-up to BAD GOODS (called THE BIG SNOW JOB) on his site for free (and in color). i was bummed, though, about the lack of a physical graphic novel. <br />
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two summers ago i wound up re-reading BAD GOODS so i could dive into the completed (but web only) BIG SNOW JOB...which is what triggered my search for a RPG that sort of mirrored the action seen in the series. that led me to X-PLORERS.<br />
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anyway, sean wang has recently launched a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/621975803/runners-the-big-snow-job-graphic-novel" target="_blank">kickstarter</a> to fund a printing of THE BIG SNOW JOB (and it funded inside of 24 hours!). still, if you want a great space-opera story with some awesome artwork (and perhaps some inspiration for your sci-fi gaming) i can't recommend these books enough. and it's totally DIY, so RESPECT. the kickstarter has all kinds of cool rewards - so c'mon - support the man! xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2936162383651595046.post-40056767428297279112013-02-18T21:02:00.001-05:002013-02-18T21:02:26.888-05:00OD&D MAKES ITS SYSTEM SHOCK SURVIVAL CHECK so, apparently <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/45390000" target="_blank">this</a> is happening.<br />
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new cover art...same insides. OD&D is a disaster in terms of organization, but this just looks awesome. $150 grabs you all of this in november. hey WoTC...PLEASE REPRINT THE B/X BOOKS!!!! that's all for now.xwardukexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16018316067699487098noreply@blogger.com0