SAT D&D Lost Mine of Phandelver ptIII

Tonights session went very well, with 3 of the 4 characters leveling.

The Paladin, Cleric and Ranger are trying very hard to convert the Half-Elf (Drow) Rogue to convert, but she seems bound and determined to hone her skills at killing.

The PCs have started the investigation of the Redbrand hideout, funny enough, they are not searching anything yet, lol.

They have missed so much stuff...

The Rogue has her own special move, jump on the opponents head and start stabbing. EVERY time she does this she rolls 18+ to hit on the grapple, then 16+ to attack (those are the actual die rolls...), so now the Ranger is copying her, LOL.

<spoilers here>

The Rogue found the pit trap, the hard way, the Paladin and Ranger both took the side ledges, with the Fighter almost falling into the pit.

The Cleric just jumped it, LOL, seemed like the first roll she made since the beginning that actually succeeded!

As far as investigation is concerned, they cleared the back room by the cistern in room 1, leaving one of the bad guys tied to the bunk, and killed the skeletons.

Next session they should be able to finish the dungeon, or at least face the Nothic and the Goblins.

SAT D&D Lost Mine of Phandelver pt II

Second session of The Lost Mine of Phandelver, still in awe that people are finding this hard, yes, I do provide some insight to my players; this is the first game my wife has played since 2004 or so, and the first game for the 3 younger players (ages 10, 12 and 14).

Having a great amount of fun, I believe I will be picking up Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat also.

Synopsis (with vague spoilers) follows...

Continuing where we left off, the PCs were able to sneak up to the next cave, wherein there were 3 Goblins.

The cave with the twin pools went quickly, Ranger taking down one of the Goblins and the Rogue taking down another, before the 3rd one could run and warn Klarg, he was dead also.

And "Nubs," as he had been named by the party, was dispatched here also.

Charging into the next room, the party finally met Klarg.

The goblins and wolf charged forward attacking the Paladin and Rogue, Klargs javelin barely missing the Paladin.

The Ranger took her first shot at Klarg, who then charged in as one of the Goblins attacking the Rogue fell, Klarg killing the other with a surprising fail.  Through acrobatic skill the Rogue leaped atop his shoulders and plunged her dagger into his neck, ending his reign of banditry, and garnering much respect from her comrades.

The wolf followed quickly, before it had a chance to run.

From there, the group went down to the last cavern, and showing tactical skill beyond their years, sent the rogue up ahead to scout.

After reporting back, it was decided that the two elves would take shots at the goblins and then the Paladin would charge in.

A killing blow to the leader from the rogue, and another to a normal goblin from the ranger, followed by a charge and kill by the Paladin, and finally a Guiding Bolt from the Cleric, left a mere 2 goblin survivors at the end of the first combat round.

They surrendered and were taken prisoner.

At this point, the party freed Sildar, loaded up the crates and treasure, and headed off to Phandalin, delivering their goods, turning in the goblins for a bounty, and returning the missing goods to the other service in town.

They have heard a few rumors regarding the Redbrands and the Black Spider, next week will be the next morning, their first morning in Phandalin.

SAT D&D: Lost Mine of Phandelver pt I

Started running Lost Mine of Phandelver from the D&D Starter Set.

(BEWARE: There will be spoilers)

The group consists of:

• Raven Lawhonor, Human 2nd lvl Cleric (Life) - my wife
• Wolf, Half-Drow 2nd lvl Rogue - my 10yr old daughter
• Laora, Wood Elf 2nd lvl Ranger - my 12yr old daughter
• Aragorn, Human 1st lvl Paladin - my friends 14yr old son

First encounter was pretty easy, as soon as they came upon the dead horses the Rogue slipped into the woods while the Paladin walked forward.

The Rogue was able to sneak attack 1 of the Goblins, the Paladin took out the other two.

(I had lowered the number of Goblins due to number of players and player lack of experience, I will not make that mistake again, LOL)

Seems like the main encounter people talk about online is the 2 Goblin guards outside the cave entrance.  Lots of death and TPK stories in regards to this encounter.

Except for this group.

The Rogue snuck up on them, killed one, and cut off the other one's hand (called shot, nat20, total of 26; Damage of 15).  The party then bandaged up the Goblin to staunch the bleeding, tied his elbows behind his back, and are making him guide them through the caves to find Gundren and Sildar.

The Ranger was able to calm the wolves (big surprise there, lol), and both the Ranger and Rogue spotted the Goblin on the bridge - who was promptly killed by the Rangers arrow as he tried to run in order to sound the alarm and start the flooding.

Had to cut it there due to time constraints, and next week, if everything goes well, they will encounter Klarg and the Goblins in the twin pool cave, as they are making the Goblin take them to the boss...

GM Notes: D&D Encounter Building

Okay, getting very used to the system, running a game on Friday and Saturday nights.

During the last couple of sessions I have come to realize that the Encounter Building system from the basic rules just does not seem right to me.

For the rules, reference the DM basic rules pdf.

According to that document, the 30 Skeletons, 3 Spectres and 2 Wights the Friday night group is up against is going to slaughter them...halfway through the battle and it is a tough fight, but the PCs are holding their own, next session will finish the battle and we will see what happens.

Overall, at this point I see them winning, minimal losses.

Breaking it down, the encounter building XP, according to the above document, would be 14,000, 35 times the deadly encounter XP allotment.  Without the multiplier of x4 (for "horde"), the total XP would only be 3,500; still a "Deadly" encounter.

But if you look at it more in line with the way things were normally done in 1st/2nd edition, we get a little idea.

1st/2nd edition, hereafter AD&D, the method I used was total party level (TPL) = approx total HD of encounter with single creatures no more than 2-3 HD higher than highest level PC.

The TPL of the current group is 17.  When I total up the CR of all the creatures involved in the battle we get 6 (2 Wights, CR3) + 7.5 (30 Skeletons, CR1/4) + 3 (3 Spectres, CR1) = 16.5 Total CR.

That seems about right if you look at the old way of doing things.

For comparison, tonights game had two encounters, the first with TPL of 4 (2nd lvl PC + 2 1st lvl PCs) vs a Carrion Crawler (CR2).  PCs won with a decent battle.

The second encounter was TPL 2 (2 1st level PCs) vs 4 Cockatrice (total CR2), and the battle was perfect challenge for the 1st lvl Rogue and Ranger.

Both encounters tonight were straight up fights, nothing fancy.

The encounter XP for tonight's first battle, according to the DM Basic Rules, would have been 450, a "Deadly" encounter, for the second battle it would have been 400 XP (200 total XP x2 for 4 creatures), still double the "Deadly" level for 2 1st level characters.

I can argue that the Friday night group is way more experienced, used tactical considerations (cover, for example) and had the benefit of 2 Wizards, a Cleric, and some healing potions.

But tonight's group consisted of my wife (who has not played in years), my 12 yr old (2nd time playing an RPG) and my 10 yr old (also 2nd time playing an RPG).  They did not use cover, or disengage options to move to long range, they stood and fought for both encounters; classes being Cleric, Rogue and Ranger; and they were able to mop up pretty well.

For the forseeable future, I will be using the old method of creating encounters, I will share my results here, stay tuned...

Attitudes in Gaming: DM/GM Responsibility

I have noticed an interesting attitude from some gamers, that the GM of the game is there to entertain the players and make sure they have a good time...even if it means the GM does not.

Role-Playing Games are just that, GAMES.

Games are a form of play, and therefore meant to be fun, for everybody involved, the GM included.

If a GM wants to run a horror game, and the players want to play a comedy game, then it should not be up to the GM to change their style of play to fit their players if they will not have fun running a comedy.

This does lead to only a few choices

• The GM can run the comedy game and not have fun
• The GM can run the horror game and not have fun because the players are not having fun
• The GM can find other players
• The players can find another GM

The GM decides the story elements, works constantly on encounters, treasure/loot, NPCs, voices and making sure there is enough paper, books, dice and pencils for the players in case someone forgets something.

From my players I expect them to show up on time, voice any major concerns they may have, and participate in the game.

As a player, I expect the GM to fairly interpret the rules of the game, and not obviously railroad the players into something.

I do not feel it is any single persons job to make sure that everyone at the table is entertained, or that the story is good, I feel it is the responsibility of every person at that table to encourage the fun, in the spirit it is presented in.

As a GM, I spend most of my free time working on encounters that will be challenging, fun and vaguely survivable, researching rules and making sure everything is ready for the next session.

Mapping, writing descriptions, creating NPCs, writing plot points, reviewing previous notes to tie things together, going over character sheets to make sure the PCs have the appropriate skills, changing encounters because PCs do not have the appropriate skills, etc.

On top of that, we are the primary focus of the players.  We are expected to entertain, use funny voices, provide pacing and fair rule judgments as well as not (obviously) railroad our players.

Over the past few years I have seen more and more people state that it is the GMs "job" to provide entertainment.

No.

This is not my "job."  This is my hobby.  This is (supposed to be) my fun time.

GMs are not slaves to the players to accommodate their every whim and fancy.  GMs are players who do not get to kill the big bad.  GMs are players who do not get to grow a personality from a bunch of mere stats on paper.  GMs do not get to tell the glorious tales of how their character, alone and afraid, overcame the odds and became a hero.

No.  GMs get to be beaten down and looted, tricked and insulted, left to die or banished back to the bowels of hell from which they came to destroy the world they created.

I am a GM, a referee, not a player.  Not your personal RPG slave or lackey.

I posit that the players are there to entertain each other, but within the confines of the rules set forth by the GM.

The GM gets to use the information they have been working on, the players get to have fun overcoming challenges, and the game goes on.

If you want someone to entertain you, without doing anything yourself, go to a comedy club, or watch TV...but that is not what RPGs are about.

GM Notes: Checking the Poles in Dungeons & Dragons

Lately there have been many discussions on Alignment in the various groups that I attend, facebook, tabletop and general talk with other gamers.

Hitler, Stalin and Mao

At some point in discussing the Alignment system of D&D (all incarnations) someone pipes in about how <insert Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc> could be viewed as Lawful Good, and then speaks about how they saw themselves and how they thought or felt like they were doing the right thing, etc

This is rubbish.

In D&D, Alignment is more than just how you view what you do.  It is a manifestation of cosmic forces.  Lawful, Chaotic, Good and Evil are present in the universe and represent absolutes.

A Lawful character, or creature, believes in order and fights against the forces of Chaos.  Likewise, a Good character or creature, believes in others over self and fights against the forces of Evil.

Notice the use of capital letters.  There is a difference here between good and Good, lawful and Lawful, they are pronouns, they are named Forces that manifest in the universe at large.

I can go on for lengths of time regarding how the Empire from Star Wars was a Lawful Good society, sometimes it can be fun to argue that, but everytime I do, I have to admit to myself that it is complete and utter balderdash.

Yes, the Empire brought about Order, yes, that makes them Lawful.  But the Emperor, and Vader, were Evil.  They were power hungry despots that had not a care in the world for who they destroyed, as long as they were on top.

The Rebellion, honestly, was also Lawful.  They believed in Order, but they were also founded on principles of Good.  Fair people, and fair laws, must be the rule, and differences should be handled with discussion and compromise.

Again, these are universal, cosmic, definitions.  Not definitions imposed by a single person, their friends/enemies, or society.

At the basic level, a lawful person obeys the laws of the land, a Lawful person instinctively strives towards order and away from Chaos without really understanding, or even caring, why, it is "right" to them while Chaos is just fundamentally "wrong," even alien in their thinking.

Classic Good vs Evil

In the real world, Evil may not realize it is evil, but in the fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons, it knows what it is, it embraces what it is, in order to act good, it has to force itself.  And the same goes for Good, Lawful and Chaotic also.

One of the major aspects that separate Fantasy from other genre is the fact that these cosmic forces are there in the world, tangible, definitive and absolute.  Evil creatures destroy because they are Evil, Good creatures protect others, because they are Good.  There needs to be no other reason.

Science Fiction, and our real world, have come to view good and evil as merely gray areas instead of the black and white that is presented in the Fantasy genre.  Evil is a term used by the other side that believes itself to be Good, and the other side feels exactly the same.  Both sides cannot be Good, one side has to be Evil, or both sides have to be Evil, because if both sides were Good, there would be no conflict.

As someone who goes from game to game, genre to genre, I get where things can become clouded and grey-areas may pop up.  But there is a huge difference in the fantasy genre were "Humans are Evil says the Orc from his perspective" and "Orcs are Evil, because that is their cosmic alignment."

I am speaking in generalizations, not ALL Orcs are Evil, not ALL Dwarves are Lawful, those that stray from their racial alignment are outcasts (like Drizz't from R.A. Salvatore's novels), and will invariably end up killed by their own kind, exiled, or self-outcast from their race.

I feel like I am starting to ramble and type ad nausea at this point, so I will end it here.

For those that skipped to the end for the final statement:  Law, Chaos, Good and Evil are presented as cosmic absolutes in the game Dungeons & Dragons.  They are black and white, there are no "grey areas."

Last thought:  "What about Neutrals?"

They just have not picked a side yet.

RPGaDay 20: RPG Will Still Play in 20 Years Time...

I started with Dungeons and Dragons back in the late 70s/early 80s, and I still play it after approximately 35 years.

SLA Industries I started playing in 1993/1994, and still regularly play after 20 years.

Those two games are obvious.

The only game I have actually stopped playing (as in, I turn down invitations to play) has been the World of Darkness setting from White Wolf.  After 3rd edition was released, I just did not want to play anymore, it bored me.

But I still play Star Frontiers, Talislanta and a host of other games when I get the chance.  Narrowing the selection to just one RPG is an impossibility, and the list of games I have no interest in playing is to long to list.

If you love a game, keep playing it!
If you like a game, play it sometimes.

That is what it boils down to for me, and I have no intention of ever stopping my RPG hobby.

Will have to take a look back on this in 20 years, and see what games I am still playing at that time.

RPGaDay 19: Favorite Published Adventure

Since I do not (normally) use published adventures, I cannot provide a favorite, but I will talk about some of the ones I have read through, or used for inspiration.

• Ilse of Dread - an oldie but goodie.  One of the first modules I owned.  A D&D "Jurrassic Park" style adventure.  If I remember correctly we were halfway across the island before we were killed by Rakshasa.
• Castle Greyhawk - interesting adventure, the party can easily become side-tracked.  There are some serious traps in this one from my recollection.
• Keep on the Borderlands - how can one not list this one?  Most of us older players have been through the goblin caves, maybe even died once or twice on this one.
• Desert of Desolation series - LOVE IT!  Especially the scorpion-man battle!

Most of my module inspiration comes from the news, or a song, something I want to introduce, or something going on that I am thinking of, sometimes it changes mid-story arc in order to fit in with what the PCs are doing.

For example, I started working on a BPN (adventure/mission) for SLA Industries that would have the PCs tracking down a civilian that was taking advantage of the welfare system, essentially tripling his benefits.

During this time there was something in the news regarding people having multiple lifeline cellphones, people taking advantage of disability claims and also people getting more food benefits than they should because they were not declaring their incomes properly.

When the Ravenloft boxed set was released and the Loupe Garou detailed, I took that opportunity to introduce my players to the setting.  It started off simply enough, find out what is killing the local cattle...with fire.

The bad guy was a Loupe Garou/Wizard that was trying to find a way into Ravenloft to become a lord of a domain.  He succeeded in opening the portal and the brave heroes charged in after him.  Was a great amount of fun, and introduced the players to Ravenloft in a "not go against Strahd" way.

Another SLA Industries campaign I based the BPNs and downtime stories on Duran Duran's Greatest Hits album.  That was a super fun campaign, one of the longest I have had the chance to run.

Basically, you can find inspiration for your games anywhere, as long as you keep an eye out.  We spend so much time driving from one place to another, or walking, or taking a bus, whatever, why not use that time to pick out interesting people or situations and turn them into stories for the games we play?

Have fun and game on!

RPGaDay 18: Favorite Game System

There are many answers to this question, depending on what type of game I am running.

Heroic action/adventure or Space Opera/Science Fantasy goes to WEGd6, now freely available online.

Perfect for that Star Wars game you are wanting to run, or that 1920s-1940s against the Nazi's game.  Also works extremely well with a lost world type of setting set in the jungle.

Sword and Sorcery definitely goes to the Talislanta system for its simplicity and magic system.

The ease of creating spells, the elegance of the system...absolutely adore it.  I have been using the Talislanta system for all of my fantasy games since the release of 3rd edition D&D.

SLA Industries has a system that I have always found worked perfectly for the game itself, and I have always felt the same in regards to D&D, AD&D and now D&D 5th edition.

I am of the persuasion that the system has to fit the setting.  SLA Industries and the 3 versions of D&D I like have systems that fit those settings, and no other system is going to work.

RPGaDay 16: Game You Wish You Owned

Interesting question, with different answers depending on context.  Game I wish I owned the rights to, or game I do not have that I wish I did?

Definitely not sure about the first context.  While there are games I am completely inspired to write for, owning the games themselves would be problematic.  For one, I do not have the ability, or time, to devote to owning a games IP and keep it going.  On another note, my biggest gamer love is SLA Industries, and while I have a ton of ideas for it, the game has a particular story, and that story belongs to Dave Allsop, the originator of the setting.

For the second interpretation of the question, there are many games that I have sold or given away that I wish I still had.

7th Sea, Deadlands, Shadowrun, and many others.

At this moment in time, I want the D&D 5th edition books.  I absolutely love what they have done with the system.  The changes bring the game into the current age and at the same time take you back to the Basic through 2nd edition AD&D feel of the game.  Back to the heart of Role-Playing, classes, levels and dungeon delving.

To be completely honest, I am mostly unaware of games on the market outside of the few that I have, and those are mostly out of print.

For the games I am aware of, that I do not have, Iron Kingdoms, Victoriana and Rocket Age all look like something I could sink my teeth into.  Somewhere out there, is a game based off of old 70s movies that I want to get my hands on also.

Feel free to comment with a game I might want to check out.

RPGaDay 13: Most Memorable Character Death

Over the years there have been untold amounts of character deaths, so many that focusing on a single event is hard to do.

There was the Thief in Ravenloft that sacrificed himself for his Paladin friend so the Paladin and his betrothed could escape.

There was the Paladin being killed by his betrothed shortly after because he went berserk when his friend died, killing off the foe in Ravenloft, and then, beset by grief attempted suicide, multiple times.  The Paladin thought he had lost his Paladinhood and was trying to commit suicide (he had not, his powers had faded a bit because he was in Ravenloft, unfortunately, with attempting suicide he did lose his Paladinhood).

There was the 12yr old boy in SLA Industries that sacrificed himself so his friends from the orphanage could live.  (There were other ways out.)

In a D&D game the PCs threw a lavish funeral for Timmy.  An NPC boy of 13 who wanted to be a fighter and protect his village, only to be killed when the village was set upon by a pack of werewolves, leading the party into a revenge-war vs the werewolf pack.

One time, in a Vampire LARP the following conversation took place:
     Me:  Hey man, I am sorry I diablerized your quadriplegic character
     Him:  My character wasn't a quadriplegic...
     Me: He was when I diablerized him.

Over the past 30 years, there have been so many, lol.  No, you do not hear about my characters dying, because I mostly GM.

The first character I ever played, he died, viciously choked to death, by the DM character that was traveling with us, because the DM did not want me playing (I was 9 or 10 IIRC).

There seems to be a point, where if I think hard enough, I can remember each and every death in the games I have run.  I try to make the characters significant enough that if they die, we can remember why they died.

Some were just bad decisions, like trying to cross the street during a firefight.  Some were bad luck, following a van full of terrorists on a hover board.

All were memorable in some way.

RPGaDay12: Old RPG Still Read/Play

Easy question.

Dungeons and Dragons, Talislanta, Star Frontiers, Star Wars (WEGd6), Torg, StarAce, Chill, Dark Conspiracy, Kult, Macho Women With Guns...

Okay, easy question, hard to answer.

I read all of the games I own, they are a constant source of inspiration for me.  Sometimes I will use them as source material for an adventure/session, or at least for the basic plot.

Some of my craziest ideas come from mixing games together.  For example, Keep on the Borderlands from D&D becomes a BPN in SLA Industries to remove gangers from an area of Downtown.  The Keep itself is the local SHIVER waystation.  The same module can be used in Talislanta.  The Keep is one of the outposts in the Wilderlands and you are removing a Raknid infestation.

For me, a RPG book has never been a game, it has been a supplement for whatever game I am running.

RPGaDay10: Favorite Tie-In Novel/Game Fiction

I love the fiction in most games, it seems to add a quick break while reading the rules and at the same time provides a look into the vision that the creators of the game have for it.

Vampire, SLA Industries, Star Wars (WEG) and Talislanta would not be the games they are without the fiction in the pages of the books.

As far as novels go, I did really enjoy the Dark Elf and Icewindale trilogies from RA Salvatore.  Those were, however, the only truly gaming related fiction I ever read.

I read the Xanth books, the Shannara series, the Complete Book of Swords and many other non-game related books that have a distinct effect on the games I run, but they do not qualify for the tie-in.

While I feel that the fiction is important, I do prefer either the flash fiction or the short stories in the gaming books over a full-blown novel.  My attention is on the game, my players and my NPCs and I try to stay focused on that.  Also, I would much rather produce ideas from the books themselves than novels related to the game.

RPGaDay9: Favorite Die/Dice Set

With multiple dice around, and various games requiring different types, I still find myself grabbing d10s and d6s for just about everything.

Goes to figure, my 3 favorite systems are WEGd6, SLA Industries (2d10) and Talislanta (d20).

Different Dice

I used to have a sizable collection of dice, and when Vampire was released I actually bought $10.00 worth of translucent orange d10s.

Over the years they have mostly disappeared, but I still have a few left.

My current favorites are my blue marblized d20, my black/silver marblized d10s and my white/black pip d6s (simple, easy to read, and cheap!).

My all time favorite dice: My Dice.

I cannot stand using other peoples dice.  It has nothing to do with any type of superstition, or germs, or anything like that.  I just like to bring my own dice.  I feel it is my responsibility as a player/GM to come prepared to the game.

This includes: pencil, paper, book (if possible) and, above all, dice.

I also expect the same from my players/GMs.  I hate having to loan out dice, that is why so many of my dice have gone missing over the years.

New players are an exception, I expect to provide them with anything they need to play.  If they decide to continue with RPGs, they can get their own dice at that time.

RPGaDay8: Favorite Character

I do not have one.

I suffer from two major drawbacks in this area: 1) all of my characters are my favorites, 2) I used to move around a lot, and due to the constant relocation I never really had time to develop a character.

When I finally did settle down in one place, I became an almost permanent GM.  There have been a few characters that I enjoyed playing, even just enjoying character creation, but when it comes to blows, my love for the character always stemmed from the quality of my GM.

Now, I have a favorite character for each player I have had.

Bob - Jimmy "The Squid": a grifter in a Noir LARP that I ran for a month or so.  He introduced so many plotlines just by trying to keep the other players from killing him that I made him carry around a piece of paper and a pen.  "What Jimmy the Squid don't know, he makes up!"

PeterAmthor - Hate: Squad leader for a SLA Industries group I ran. Good ideas, kept the group in line and focused at all times.  Great background, always working towards revenge on the Skin Trade for taking his little sister.  Had long term goals, got the job done, and would risk it all to make sure that the right thing was done.

SiokoTi - Don McGuiness: rough and tumble Frother KMS from Hate's squad.  Completely loony.  Never paid attention, like a meth addict with ADHD and a futuristic scythe.

Jason P - Roger "I'm a badass" Halton: throughout the entire time Jason played this character, the character only hit running speed twice.

Those are the big ones off the top of my head.  There are plenty more but I cannot remember the names of the characters.  A half-dragon (basically, he was a human raised by a dragon) who was not only willing to use a scroll that forced the Elven population of the planet to save vs death, including a party member, but he was also the type to cast directly from his spellbook if the situation even slightly warranted.  Blessed dice allowed him to create a similacrum of his father (a blue dragon), which he used as a mount.

I have been routinely blessed with great players, their characters are my real favorites.

RPGaDay6: Favorite RPG I Never Get to Play

Talislanta. Hands down.

My fav Talislanta cover, 3rd edition

Matter of fact, one of my favorite settings, that I have only played one time, ever, since 1989.  With all the books being free online at www.talislanta.com, I would hope that somebody else would throw on the mantle and take us around the continent.

No clue what I would play, would be easier to list off the archetypes I would not want to play.  With over 100 different character archetypes in 4th edition, or the character generation system in 5th edition, I am absolutely sure that I would find something.

I love the system.  It is quick and simple, with plenty of room for gritty, horror, action/adventure or mystery play, but I am the only one to run it.

I have recently reached out to my gaming group to see if anyone else would like to run it, keeping my fingers crossed!

Talislanta, for those unfamiliar, is set in a world that has been ripped asunder (literally) by magical forces.  It has been 600 years since history was starting to be rewritten, and adventure abounds!

The game lends itself well to sword and sorcery, dungeon crawls, exploration, horror, mercantile and even comedy adventures without losing spirit of the game.

Talislanta ad, circa 1990

The tagline is "Still No Elves!"  A 20th anniversary shout out to the old ads in Shadis, White Wolf and Dragon magazines.

Talislanta was definitely a fore-runner in system elegance, with many of the systems mechanics showing directly in the d20 system from Wizards of the Coast.  No surprise when you look at the names that worked on 3rd and 4th edition and the names in Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 books.

System-wise, Talislanta easily ranks in the Top 5 of my Top 10 favorite games of all time.

If you have never checked it out, I highly recommend it.  Even if you decide that Talislanta is not your game, what you do find there is easily converted to other games.

I have used creatures from Talislanta in Star Frontiers, AD&D, Star Wars and SLA Industries, and each time, it was a wonderful experience.

If there is a drawback to the game, it is also its biggest feature: an alien setting without the normal fantasy races and structures that we are accustomed.  Highly detailed, the game itself is presented as both an authoritative work on an alien world, and a game system.

So much to do, it is easy to become lost.

RPGaDay5: Most Old-School RPG owned

That, is a tough question.

Considering the first purchase I have made in approximately a full decade was the D&D 5th edition Starter Set, you could almost consider my entire collection "Old School."

The Bookshelf of Doom

In order to actually answer the question, I took time to sort my bookshelf by game.  Some books are currently missing.  In my car I have the SLA Industries HC MRB, Karma, Mort, Contract Directory and Cannibal Sector 1 books; along with the 4th edition Talislanta MRB.  Also included in the books currently in my car is Asylum, from Clockwork games.

The shelf is also devoid of any World of Darkness books.  First edition Vampire is in a 3 ring binder, along with Werewolf; the Werewolf Players Guide is in a box of stuff to get rid of.

Also missing is my Tales of the Jedi Companion, it was downstairs when the pictures were taken, and my 2nd edition Revised and Expanded Star Wars MRB is missing, that actually worries me.

There is also a box of boxed sets in my closet that I did not take the time to remove, because they will not fit on the shelves.

The oldest bits of my collection include: Space Opera (vol I and II), D&D red boxed set and Star Frontiers; all dated 1980.

A conundrum has produced itself...did I purchase Star Frontiers before James Bond?

The world may never know...

RPGaDay4: Most Recent RPG Purchase

With the release of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, I just could not resist picking up the starter box.  Not sure why, to be honest.

As well done as it is, there is not much in the box for me, except dice, I do like dice.

From the playtest I already have plenty of character sheets, and the basic rules are free for download at Wizards of the Coast.

With the purchase of the Starter Set you receive:

• A rulebook covering character levels 1 through 5
• 5 pregen characters with character sheets and background/role-playing information
• 6 dice - d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20

Fold out maps would have been nice, and it would have been a heck of a shoutout to ages past if the adventure module was done with the stiff cardstock cover, map on the inside.

Alas, that was not the case, but you can download map images here.

The set looks great to me, would have preferred a Greyhawk reboot, but Forgotten Realms is the popular one, and the company is there to make money, not to answer my every whim.

All-in-all, a good RPG purchase.

If you decide not to purchase the starter set, you can download it, minus adventure and dice, from Wizards of the Coast.

RPGaDay1 2014: The First RPG I Played

Like many people, the first RPG I played was Dungeons and Dragons.

My grandmother bought it and sent it to my sister and I as a Christmas present one year.  It was a pretty red box.

1980 Cover

We read it, I barely understood it, but I wanted to play it.  My sister, being five years older than me, was of course, not interested in playing the game with her little brother.

Not too long afterward, we were visiting some friends in Alabama while my dad was going through some training.  These friends had a son close to my sisters age.  I was able to get a chance to play.

I died, horribly, because the DM did not want me playing because of my age.  I was 9 or 10, the DM was 16 or 17 and my sister was 15 or so.

Dirk the Dimwit was no more.

No deterrent for me, I ended up continuing to play when we were stationed in Arizona.  Met a few people at school and I fell in love with the game.

From there, everything snowballed.

Dungeons and Dragons, Twilight 2000, James Bond 007, Star Frontiers, you name it, we played it.  We converted our favorite TV shows and movies to the different game systems we were playing.  We even converted them all over to Dungeons and Dragons.

Then the big "Satanic Panic" happened.

Dungeons and Dragons was satanic, the lead figures had demons in them, you could hear them scream if you melted them, and various other misconceptions were laid upon me.

But James Bond, Star Frontier and Star Ace were absolutely fine.

At one point, I was in a boys home.  Dungeons and Dragons was not allowed, so we made up our own using the rules that I could remember off the top of my head.  I was a full-blown gamer at this point.

From there, things just kept moving.  I traveled further and further down the gaming path.  I have never looked back.

GM Notes: Dragons in the Dome

I was recently exposed to a review of the D&D 5th edition unboxing, and the biggest complaint the person had was in regards to the basic set not having enough monsters to last until the PHB or MM is released.  This triggered an inquiry, how many monsters do you really need?

So I started thinking about the games I usually run:

• Talislanta: tons of beasties, but I mostly use the races as the badguys
• D&D: lots of monsters, but I tend to only use a few
• SLA Industries: Carriens, Carnivorous Pigs, Manchines...the occasional weird thing I make up or convert from somewhere else (occasional meaning approx once in 10 missions)

Then I started looking at games I used to run:

• Vampire: Humans, Werewolves, Mages
• Werewolf: Humans, Vampires, Mages, Werewolves, Spirits
• Mage: Humans, Vampires, Werewolves, Robots, Demons
• Blue Planet: the occasional Aborigine
• Star Frontiers: Sathar, the occasional alien creature

Am I just slacking as a GM?

I remember running a game of D&D where the big bad was a werewolf, and there were a few zombies; in another campaign the baddies were all orcs, a couple of wolves and a bear.

Another campaign I ran took place almost exclusively, around 80% of the campaign, was inside the city walls of Greyhawk, and even outside the city walls I vaguely remember a goblin patrol; and another the only non-PC race badguys were some trolls and deep dwarves.

I guess what I am trying to say here is pretty simple, you do not need a ton of creatures to make a fun campaign.  Having 1000 different monsters available is not going to make a difference if you are only going to use 4 or 5 of them.

Also, it seems it would crowd the world.

Next time you create an adventure for your players, think about this: if the villain, or big bad, is not required to be a different monster, keep to something you already have.  If you really, really want to use a particular monster, think about the ecology of the creature and how it will fit into your world as a whole, if there is one, there are bound to be more.

Looking through various forums and adventure modules it seems to me that people will use what is available without thinking about using what they need.

Do you really need an Illithid at the head of a Saughin cult of the squid god?  Why not just use a regular Saughin, boost its power and give it some minor spell-casting ability?  Otherwise, you are having to not only fit the Saughin into your campaign world, but also the Illithid.

Just some thoughts and rambles, enjoy your game.