Random links for 5/17/2024

- I like posts about gladiators.

- Gamma World, baby.

Retrospective: TSR's Gamma World

I really liked 2nd edition when I was a kid, but I started with 1st edition. 2nd edition was a much better toolkit for running the game, but also made the world feel safer, more developed, and tech more like general equipment. 1st edition scared me a bit when I was a kid, and I love it to this day. I'd mine the hell out of 2nd edition if I ran a game there, though. The ruins of Pitz Burke are a great sandbox.

- There is a draft of the newest edition of Labyrinth Lord available.

- We're set to game Sunday, into the Olympus Gate. It's 100% assured to be a multi-session delve.

- Medieval art inspiration for Spelljammer? Apparantly yes.

The Brotherhood Complex, organized opposition, and the DMG

The Brotherhood Complex was the site of a full TPK in my Felltower campaign. Literally no one escaped that fight. The PCs ran into organized foes, beat them up a bit, and then lost against a regrouped foe.

Part of this I can credit to Gary Gygax. I was hugely influenced by the DMG as a young gamer. It's one of the two first books I owned - the Fiend Folio and The Dungeonmasters Guide. One section I read over and over was MONSTERS AND ORGANIZATION, DMG p. 104-105.

That outlines a number of scenarios - PCs versus undead in a dungeon crypt, against giant ants in a lair, against humanoids, against a town, against a bandit camp, and against a fortress.

They're all great stuff. Let me quote extensively to show you what I mean:

SITUATION 1 (Sl) is where encounter occurs for the first time, and while the party inflicts casualties upon the monsters, victory is denied; the party then leaves with its wounded, regroups, and returns one full week later to finish the job. SITUATION 2 (S2) is where the party, rested, healed, and ready for action, has now re-encountered the monsters in question. In both situations the response of the monsters concerned will be detailed so you can use the examples in handling actual play.

(SNIP)

EXAMPLE VI: The party discovers a fortress and attacks.

s1. Guards will instantly sound a warning to alert the place. Alarms will be sounded from several places within the fortress. Leaders will move to hold the place, or expel invaders, with great vigor. Spell casters will be likely to have specific stations and assigned duties - such as casting fireballs, lighting bolts, flame strikes, cloudkills, dispel magics, and like spells. Defenders are out to KILL, not deal stupidly or gently with, attackers, and they will typically ask no quarter, nor give any. In like fashion, traps within the fortress will be lethal. As action continues, commanders will assess the party's strengths, weaknesses, defense, and attack modes and counter appropriately. If the party is within the fortress, possible entry points and escape routes will be sealed off. When the attackers pull back, it is very likely that they will be counterattacked, or at least harassed. Additionally, members of the force of the stronghold will track the party continually as long as they are within striking distance of the fortress.

S2. The fortress will most likely have replaced all losses and have rein- forcements in addition. An ambush might be laid for the attackers when they approach. A sally force will be ready to fall upon the attackers (preferably when engaged in front so as to strike the flank or rear). Siege machinery, oil, missiles, etc. will be ready and in good supply. Repairs to defenses will be made as thoroughly as time and materials permitted. Weak areas will have been blocked off, isolated, and trapped as well as possible under the circumstances. Leaders will be nearby to take immediate charge. Spell casters might be disguised as guards, or hidden near guard posts, in order to surprise attackers. Any retreat by the attackers will be followed up by a hot pursuit.

How to Defend Your Lair is a good, modern version of the same.

I absolutely run my foes this way, with the bit about S2 from the bandit camp as well - sometimes, they're just gone. But if they're there, they act like the above. They are fighting hard and intelligently. They won't sit in clumps and let you clear them room by room. They won't let you just rest, recoup, and attack again without a response.

The Brotherhood Complex is such a place. The deeper levels of Felltower - with the "Gith," are the same. The orcs, same. They want to fight and win, and you can't gobble them up little by little without risk. It might take a decisive win and immediately followup; what makes that win decisive depends on their center of gravity and their interests.

The PCs can absolutely smash the place . . . but it's not a "beginner" dungeon anymore. It's not a quick side trip. If it will be done it will take something more than a series of tentative delves. It's not that kind of place anymore.

Painting glasses?

I'm thinking of getting back into painting minis. I stopped a while back - maybe a couple years ago, maybe longer - whenever my last WIP post was, in all likelihood. I stopped for a few reasons, but a big one is vision. I wear glasses for vision correction, but painted without them. Now, though, my close-in vision is sufficiently poor that holding a 28mm mini in close is still not enough to see details and is very tiring on my eyes, as well.

I cannot paint with an external magnifying glass. I have a rig for such, but I just can't handle the different levels of magification between my hand, the brush, the glass, and what's magnified in the glass. I tried and failed.

So I'm thinking I need something like this:

Painting like Joubert

Or a pair of magnifying glasses I can wear. I don't know if it's possible for me to paint even with such a setup, but I'm going to try.

Does anyone have a recommendation from experience? I've done some random searching, but actual use experience would be helpful so I'm not just guessing and spending.

Brotherhood Complex: Scouting Results

Vladimir Luchnik, dwarf scout, decided to spend his downtime camped out near the so-called Brotherhood Complex where a previous party had died.

Here is what the results of his Observation roll turned up.

Vlad's scouting reveals:

- the Brotherhood Complex near Arras is in active use.

- it's clearly occupied by a fairly sizeable amount of residents. Based on the food going in and direct observation, maybe 20-30 men and 20-30 gnolls.

- they've brought a big shipment of scrap metal and iron ingots in.

- the area outside the complex isn't guarded and they don't seem to pay attention to perimeter security at all.

- one group of down-on-their luck types went in, guarded by cultists, but seemingly willingly entered. There were about 12 of the new guys and six cultists.

The place seems potentially well guarded and has a clearly active population of intelligent residents.




I am not sure what the PCs will do about this - but if the reaction to "let's camp in a dead end in the dungeon" last time wasn't sufficiently clear, this should reinforce that last point. This is an actively held fortress underground, not a clear-as-you-please level of dungeons.

Random Notes & Thoughts for 5/10/2024

End of the weekdays means random stuff!

- So, this comic was exactly how I was running Handsome. Well, except for spending money on bow-related stuff, he literally looted everything else combat-related after character generation.

The Weekly Roll #150

- I like this line of thought - making traps totally obvious and force you to engage with traps. I may need to do more of this.

Don't Hide Traps

I'm not sure how I'd implement it to makes Traps a still-useful skill, but still.

And I do like hidden traps enough to keep them around.

And it does mean it's pitting my knowledge of engineering vs. my players that include folks who are actually engineers, one architect, a guy with a degree in materials science . . . which is extremely challenging vs. just putting a Link spell with an offensive spell on it. Because honestly I suck at the very things they're good at, and pitting my knowledge vs. theirs in a way sure to consume time and then bitching about turning dungeon exploration into physics and engineering problems . . . well, it seems like a poor choice for me.

Still, I like "the more dangerous it is, the more obvious it needs to be." And I do find the hazards I put in the dungeon - and the "trap here, beware!" encounters - generally create the most fun.

- Why the weird wizard garb?

I like this a lot.

Prepping for Olympus

I haven't posted this week because I've been spending all of my gaming-related time working on the Olympus Gate.

I won't lie; I didn't have this one prepped. I knew what I wanted to do for repeat visits, but I didn't write it all out. I had a few sketch notes and a lot going on in my head.

So this week I spent my time combing through my notes and rapidly filling out the framework in my head with more details.

I can promise it is a Danger Pocket. It will be potentially deadly, with foes I'm not sure the PCs can take or not. But it has loot that will significantly improve the PCs who do survive. And like the previous visit, it's all or nothing, one shot. You can't take nibbles of this gate; if you leave and come back, what you find will be different than before. It's a gate to another world, not a door to a mini-dungeon.



I'm excited for this one.

Call off the search - James Bond game found

On Friday I mentioned not being able to locate a box of my game books.

It turns out I did bring them to a relative's house and store them in a closet. Probably I was just clearing space to help the move, as a few other large items ended up all in that one spot.

Now it's back - MSH, Top Secret, T2K, Star Frontiers, Star Ace, Gangbusters, James Bond 007, and a few other things - like my Car Wars sets and Ogre - were there with it.

Hurrah!

The Fates Say Olympus

The PCs have decided - the current core four players have all decided to go for the Olympus Gate.

I will be prepping that for the VTT and getting ready to go. It should be dangerous, but fun . . .

I didn't even know I hit 'em - Situational Awarness rule spinoff

Doug posted a very interesting idea over on Gaming Ballistic.

Randomly Aware – Fast Situational Awareness

It occasioned a thought or two.

What if you needed a Per roll - or perhaps a Per-based weapon roll, even better - to know what you did to the target? It would fit. Only experienced or observant fighters would know how well their blow landed.

You could apply the same to allies and enemies, too. You'd need a roll to spot what happened to a foe. "Thor swung at that guy and then the guy fell" might be "Guy critically failed Dodge and was hit but undamaged" or "was knocked flat" or "did Dodge and Drop" or something in between. You don't really know.

This is especially true in ranged combat, where "I totally hit that guy!" and "He did Dodge and Drop and then tried to Play Dead" should often look very much alike.

You could restrict this to allies and enemies. You know what you did. Your enemy does, too. But everyone else? PER roll. Modify it for distraction (like being enagaged yourself, probably a -5) and distance (S&SRT).

It could be clunky in numbers, but I think the general idea - you don't automatically know what you, the player, can see, given the incredible situational awareness you get from a battle map.

Links & Thoughts for 5/3/2024

Just a little today - my workload increased a lot, so not so much gaming writing/reading/prepping this week.

- Gone?

I moved last year. As far as I know, I unpacked everything. But this week I was reminded about James Bond: 007 by Victory Games, and I wanted to put it on my "re-read" pile. I can't find it. Nor do I see any sign of the things I kept on the same shelf with it - Gangbusters, Top Secret, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Frontiers, Space Opera . . . I'm a little concerned. I am absolutely sure the last place was broom clean empty, and I thought I did a truck walkthrough to make sure nothing was left on the mover's truck . . . but there is no sign of this. Maybe I stuck it in storage at someone's house, so I'll check that. I'll be really bummed if I lost that grab bag of stuff. It was in a different spot than my other gaming gear when I had less room for bookshelves, but the things above and below seem to have made the trip to the new place. It was many months ago I only hope I find it, because if it was forgotten on the truck it's gone now.


- Eight page S&W Light.

- Looks like the Olympus Gate might be the destination next Felltower game.