The Dying Earth Role Playing Game
Encourages large vocabularies, cheating and verbal dueling. Its like "English Degree: The RPG."
Cthulhu Dice
Dreidel for the dead generation.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Two Castles and Crusades sessions down
I don't update this nearly enough.
I'm still on my Castles and Crusades kick; it really satisfies my need for a Dungeons and Dragons fix. The rules are a welcome relief from the traditional D20 set. The SIEGE Engine is elegant. roll a D20. If the action your character is performing is based on a primary attribute, your target is 12. If the action is based on a secondary attribute, the target is 18. Modify the die roll based on the difficulty of the action, and the level of the character. Bang. Done. Combat: roll higher than the other guy's armor class. There are a few maneuvers that can give bonuses or penalties, but nothing as detailed as combat feats. We take a lot of liberty describing what we want to have happen, and apply bonuses or penalties based on the circumstances. Yes, its what we did we we played 1st edition AD&D in high-school. The inclusion of character special abilities and the removal of feats and special abilities makes the game run faster, with just enough "crunch" to keep the dice rolling interesting.
The campaign is supposed to have a very Arthurian, old-world fantasy feel. Everyone created characters that fit the setting. We have a traditional 4-class model (fighter, cleric, thief, and magic-user). Its a necessity for the setting and the rules. Some people might think of that as a negative point of the setting, but I like having a party with a cleric that uses a mace.
There were goblins and magical knights and cursed swords and a dungeon...they cleared one level of the dungeon already, and are starting work on the second. Its moving very smoothly, and it looks like everyone is enjoying it so far.
I'm still on my Castles and Crusades kick; it really satisfies my need for a Dungeons and Dragons fix. The rules are a welcome relief from the traditional D20 set. The SIEGE Engine is elegant. roll a D20. If the action your character is performing is based on a primary attribute, your target is 12. If the action is based on a secondary attribute, the target is 18. Modify the die roll based on the difficulty of the action, and the level of the character. Bang. Done. Combat: roll higher than the other guy's armor class. There are a few maneuvers that can give bonuses or penalties, but nothing as detailed as combat feats. We take a lot of liberty describing what we want to have happen, and apply bonuses or penalties based on the circumstances. Yes, its what we did we we played 1st edition AD&D in high-school. The inclusion of character special abilities and the removal of feats and special abilities makes the game run faster, with just enough "crunch" to keep the dice rolling interesting.
The campaign is supposed to have a very Arthurian, old-world fantasy feel. Everyone created characters that fit the setting. We have a traditional 4-class model (fighter, cleric, thief, and magic-user). Its a necessity for the setting and the rules. Some people might think of that as a negative point of the setting, but I like having a party with a cleric that uses a mace.
There were goblins and magical knights and cursed swords and a dungeon...they cleared one level of the dungeon already, and are starting work on the second. Its moving very smoothly, and it looks like everyone is enjoying it so far.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Castles and Crusades: Back to the days of hand-drawn maps.
I haven't drawn a map for an RPG in years. I've been so impressed by some maps that my friend Christine has done; the made me want to try making one myself.
When I started making notes for my "Avignus" setting, I had the idea of a very Europe-like environment. I wanted to keep things as familiar as possible. When I started drawing things out, though, I saw how the distances between areas could influence how each kingdom or region would relate with each other. Suddenly I could see who would be the easiest targets for raiding by the Northern Reaches, or how easily the Young Kingdoms could separate themselves from the dying empire of Vitare.
My Castles and Crusades players added more when we sat around the table for the first time, and I got to describe the basic ideas behind each region. "Undead." "Barbarian Kingdoms." "Germany, but with demons and stuff." They added in things they thought would be cool. And now, its developing.
I know there are pieces of software out there to help with mapping. I'm just as comfortable sketching things out.
(Pencil sketch map in the first page of my Moleskine.)
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