Another busy week is coming to a close, but I did have time to check these out and recommend them:
- Color me interested by Against the Darkmaster, discussed a bit here. Except I never played MERP, I liked Rolemaster.
- I always wonder about the best ways to do this kind of "vastness." How do you give people a chance to fill in a hex map by exploring the nooks and crannies, yet also show them what they can see far away? Give the rough outline, even the terrain, but make sure it's clearly not explored yet. My mapping vocabulary isn't up to that.
- I stumbled upon this in my bookmarks of things to "read later." Well, it sure is later. But it's an article about a private airforce with outdated but still modern and lethal aircraft. It's the kind of thing that reminds me that in a modern game, when the PCs need to go up against UFOs or flying squid monsters or whatever . . . it's quite possible to get military gear into their hands without putting them into the military. My sci fi games PCs always wanted a private arsenal . . . maybe in such games you could do the same.
Showing posts with label Rolemaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rolemaster. Show all posts
Friday, January 17, 2025
Friday, January 29, 2021
Random Links for 1/29/2021
It's Friday, time for my usual list of things I think people might want to take a look at. Or things I want to say things about.
- GURPS Furries came out. I received a complimentary copy. I couldn't imagine why until I checked the credits - Additional Material. Aha, re-use from GURPS Martial Arts. I'm not sure I'll read it . . . I don't generally like "Furry" stuff. There is some anthropomorphic animal stuff I enjoyed, but in general, it's not in my area of interest. Still, if you like furries, odds are Bill did a good job of covering them.
- I'm not sure why I don't have Wargaming Girl on my Blogroll, but I'll fix that after this post:
Dredd vs. Death
- James Mal didn't like Artifact of Evil. Basically, not a hero-centric pulp novel. Me, I liked it a lot. Here is what i said:
"I'll have to agree with some of the other comments on Artifact of Evil - it really reads like our "high" level (8-10th level or so) AD&D play. Powerful characters, magic items all over the place being used to get out of bad situations, some big battles, and dungeons few and far between. I got something out of all of the Gygax Gord books . . . maybe they're not really "pulp" but they were very fantasy game-like when you compare them to how we played."
It's very AD&D, really. I found "Saga of Old City" reminds me more of Rolemaster. The sequel, though, yeah . . . it read like our games and it certainly influenced them subsequently. I think the desire for a more low-magic pulpy game is why people find D&D has a "sweet spot" of 5-7th level (or a little lower.) But coming into it natively, we really got going around 5-7th level and then just kept rolling. Had high school social issues not split the game up I bet we'd have gotten people well past the 9th-12th level they mostly ended up at.
- I like this Guide to the Bodak. I always thought the one in S3 was an excellent placed encounter.
- Does my sort-of by-the-book Segments system for AD&D count as "phased?" I'd say yes. I used to like Rolemaster's point-based system in Rolemaster Companion, and Champions speed-based phased system, too.
- GURPS Furries came out. I received a complimentary copy. I couldn't imagine why until I checked the credits - Additional Material. Aha, re-use from GURPS Martial Arts. I'm not sure I'll read it . . . I don't generally like "Furry" stuff. There is some anthropomorphic animal stuff I enjoyed, but in general, it's not in my area of interest. Still, if you like furries, odds are Bill did a good job of covering them.
- I'm not sure why I don't have Wargaming Girl on my Blogroll, but I'll fix that after this post:
Dredd vs. Death
- James Mal didn't like Artifact of Evil. Basically, not a hero-centric pulp novel. Me, I liked it a lot. Here is what i said:
"I'll have to agree with some of the other comments on Artifact of Evil - it really reads like our "high" level (8-10th level or so) AD&D play. Powerful characters, magic items all over the place being used to get out of bad situations, some big battles, and dungeons few and far between. I got something out of all of the Gygax Gord books . . . maybe they're not really "pulp" but they were very fantasy game-like when you compare them to how we played."
It's very AD&D, really. I found "Saga of Old City" reminds me more of Rolemaster. The sequel, though, yeah . . . it read like our games and it certainly influenced them subsequently. I think the desire for a more low-magic pulpy game is why people find D&D has a "sweet spot" of 5-7th level (or a little lower.) But coming into it natively, we really got going around 5-7th level and then just kept rolling. Had high school social issues not split the game up I bet we'd have gotten people well past the 9th-12th level they mostly ended up at.
- I like this Guide to the Bodak. I always thought the one in S3 was an excellent placed encounter.
- Does my sort-of by-the-book Segments system for AD&D count as "phased?" I'd say yes. I used to like Rolemaster's point-based system in Rolemaster Companion, and Champions speed-based phased system, too.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Old D&D House Rule - Using DEX for offense, levels for defense
I promised the other day I'd show the entire page of house rules my uncle had in his D&D binder - along with Rolemaster critical hit charts, Moldvay Basic, Moldvay Expert, and materials from Holmes D&D (which I remember him using at the table.)
This is something I've never seen elsewhere, and to date I haven't seen anything quite like this elsewhere.
Here is the whole sheet:
Here is the text, retyped (with extraneous spaces removed):
"DEXTERITY IN MELEE
During a round any combatant cane use some or ALL his/her dexterity bonuses for attack or defense. For example: A fighter with a dexterity of 17 can use his 3+ bonus in any combination between Attack and Defense (no fractions). Thus the above fighter can elect to add up to 3+ on his to hit roll for that melee round. Any dexterity used for attack cannot be then used for defense in the same round. ALL decisions of use of dexterity must be stated BEFORE the initiative roll.
Also a combatant may also elect to use some or ALL of his/her experience levels on defense. This subtracts the amount of levels used from an opponents to hit roll. The combatant must then strike at a level he has left. i.e. A 6th level fighter elects to use 3 levels for defense. Any striking at him must subtract 3 levels from their to hit roll. The fighter would then only strike as a 3rd level, however."
I think this is very Rolemaster, actually. In Rolemaster, your attacking ability with a weapon - which used bonuses from STR (Strength) or AGL (Agility) (or optionally both in a weighted average) to split between defense and attack.* The idea that you could split your D&D level is very similar to that.
The Dexterity option is an interesting tradeoff. Instead of being DEX 17 with Chainmail and Shield for AC 1, you could be AC 4 and get a +3 to hit. Or AC 3 and +2, or AC 2 and +1. Against a big bad foe with low AC and a lot of allies around you, you're really not taking too much of an extra chance. Oddly, though, if you choose to use a Missile weapon, you get only a +1 to +3, not a +1 to +4, but you do always get your bonus to AC. Stacking both seems excessive, but I'm not sure it's totally broken. It just means briefer fights as both sides in a missile exchange hit more often. It's very useful coupled with the spell Protection from Normal Missiles.
I can see a few ways to abuse this with, say, AD&D. If your DM uses the attack tables unchanged, and doesn't reward fighters with better to hit rolls every level, you may as well use one level towards defense every time you are even-number-leveled. Magic users with their improve "to hit" every 5 levels means a 5th level magic-user should always be -4 to hit, even in melee. Actually, there is never any reason for a non-melee combatant to use any levels for offense. I'd probably rule that you need to be actively engaging in melee for this to matter, and that you cannot claim this as do any non-melee non-missile attack (in other words, not while casting or turning or using a wand.) It might work better allowing you to trade away ranks on the to hit table. Or with THAC0 rules only allow tradeoffs that raise your THAC0. No tradeoff-free defensive bonuses.
As I've mentioned before, this is material my uncle had in his possession in late 1981 / early 1982 when I started gaming with him. A cousin of mine ended up with it, and I inherited it from him along with some of his other gaming materials when he moved out of state permanently (such as Battledroids.)
The sheet is clearly a photocopy of either another photocopy, or of a typed sheet. My uncle certainly didn't come up with this himself.
I don't recall ever using the top two rules. We did have the critical hits come up at least once playing B1 In Search of the Unknown.
* Not that anyone ever used any levels for defense, and then remarked, loudly and often, about how lethal Rolemaster was. Yeah, GURPS is pretty lethal if you only All-Out Attack. But coming from AD&D, where defense was purely a passive effect of armor and DEX, it was an odd thing to think about, using half of your offense for defense.
This is something I've never seen elsewhere, and to date I haven't seen anything quite like this elsewhere.
Here is the whole sheet:
Here is the text, retyped (with extraneous spaces removed):
"DEXTERITY IN MELEE
During a round any combatant cane use some or ALL his/her dexterity bonuses for attack or defense. For example: A fighter with a dexterity of 17 can use his 3+ bonus in any combination between Attack and Defense (no fractions). Thus the above fighter can elect to add up to 3+ on his to hit roll for that melee round. Any dexterity used for attack cannot be then used for defense in the same round. ALL decisions of use of dexterity must be stated BEFORE the initiative roll.
Also a combatant may also elect to use some or ALL of his/her experience levels on defense. This subtracts the amount of levels used from an opponents to hit roll. The combatant must then strike at a level he has left. i.e. A 6th level fighter elects to use 3 levels for defense. Any striking at him must subtract 3 levels from their to hit roll. The fighter would then only strike as a 3rd level, however."
I think this is very Rolemaster, actually. In Rolemaster, your attacking ability with a weapon - which used bonuses from STR (Strength) or AGL (Agility) (or optionally both in a weighted average) to split between defense and attack.* The idea that you could split your D&D level is very similar to that.
The Dexterity option is an interesting tradeoff. Instead of being DEX 17 with Chainmail and Shield for AC 1, you could be AC 4 and get a +3 to hit. Or AC 3 and +2, or AC 2 and +1. Against a big bad foe with low AC and a lot of allies around you, you're really not taking too much of an extra chance. Oddly, though, if you choose to use a Missile weapon, you get only a +1 to +3, not a +1 to +4, but you do always get your bonus to AC. Stacking both seems excessive, but I'm not sure it's totally broken. It just means briefer fights as both sides in a missile exchange hit more often. It's very useful coupled with the spell Protection from Normal Missiles.
I can see a few ways to abuse this with, say, AD&D. If your DM uses the attack tables unchanged, and doesn't reward fighters with better to hit rolls every level, you may as well use one level towards defense every time you are even-number-leveled. Magic users with their improve "to hit" every 5 levels means a 5th level magic-user should always be -4 to hit, even in melee. Actually, there is never any reason for a non-melee combatant to use any levels for offense. I'd probably rule that you need to be actively engaging in melee for this to matter, and that you cannot claim this as do any non-melee non-missile attack (in other words, not while casting or turning or using a wand.) It might work better allowing you to trade away ranks on the to hit table. Or with THAC0 rules only allow tradeoffs that raise your THAC0. No tradeoff-free defensive bonuses.
As I've mentioned before, this is material my uncle had in his possession in late 1981 / early 1982 when I started gaming with him. A cousin of mine ended up with it, and I inherited it from him along with some of his other gaming materials when he moved out of state permanently (such as Battledroids.)
The sheet is clearly a photocopy of either another photocopy, or of a typed sheet. My uncle certainly didn't come up with this himself.
I don't recall ever using the top two rules. We did have the critical hits come up at least once playing B1 In Search of the Unknown.
* Not that anyone ever used any levels for defense, and then remarked, loudly and often, about how lethal Rolemaster was. Yeah, GURPS is pretty lethal if you only All-Out Attack. But coming from AD&D, where defense was purely a passive effect of armor and DEX, it was an odd thing to think about, using half of your offense for defense.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Critical Hits in AD&D using Arms Law/Claw Law
I have no idea of the provenance of this, but my uncle had this sheet in his binder:
I don't know if this is the original intended use of Arms Law / Claw Law. The version I have is 5th edition, and the charts my uncle had lacked any rules for usage. But these would work pretty smoothly:
So you need to hit by 5+ to get an A critical, and by 13+ for an E critical. This makes high-level fighters absolute murder against lightly armored foes, for sure. A 9th level fighter needs only a 2 to hit AC 10, so any roll of 7+ is a critical and 15+ is an E critical. And that's without bonuses from magic weapons or exceptional strength. They'll be absolute hell on lightly-armored thieves and magic-users, who don't have a lot of HP to absorb the effects, either. Meanwhile a level 1 fighter with no bonuses can only critically hit AC10 - AC5, inclusive, and AC 4 or better is out of their reach. Normal Men are even worse off - don some mail (AC 5) and you'd fine.
If you don't know Rolemaster, the critical levels largely describe their lethality, but even an A can kill you outright and an E can be only a small additional effect.
I'm assuming "Natural 20+1," "Natural 20+2," and "Natural 20+3" are used in a similar manner as they are in the Progression on the Combat Tables rules in the AD&D DUNGEONMASTERS GUIDE page 82. So that would mean a natural 20 and +1, +2, or +3 in additional bonuses. It's interesting that they have no meaning against S-M sized monsters, but against L and "Super Large" (defined in Rolemaster, but not in D&D or AD&D) they are required.
I think it's interesting that a "Natural 20" is meaningless unless it's also 5+ over your "to hit" roll. The idea that a "natural 20" is a critical hit of some kind, or a special roll, is pretty embedded in D&D memes but it's not actually true. Much like how "A vorpal blade cuts off your head on a natural 20!" is embedded, but it's not strictly true, either (see DMG p. 166).
The bonus hits inflicted for a critical, and the special effects, are largely in line with AD&D numbers. Rolemaster hit points - actually Concussion Hits or just Hits on most tables - are higher but if you used the tables for weapons, not just the critical charts, you'd inflict those as well as the bonuses.
The main issue is that some effects are undefined in AD&D, and you'll need to figure out what "foe is at -20%" means. -20% in Rolemaster has a clear effect. In AD&D, it probably means -4 to hit, but it's not clear if that also means worse AC (4 worse is more than 20% against some foes), or worse movement, or what. Or how you'd overcome stunning with AD&D magic, say.
Knowing what critical type is an issue, too. You'd have to say if you were stabbing or swinging your sword, and in Rolemaster at least you could get slashing, puncturing, or crushing criticals from the same weapon depending on the roll and the armor type.
All in all, though, it does answer the fairly basic question of, how do you use Arms Law / Claw Law critical hit tables with AD&D?
Maybe Jon Peterson will know? I'll have to ask.
(Actually, that's the bottom half of the sheet - the top half and its interesting rules I'll discuss another time.)
I don't know if this is the original intended use of Arms Law / Claw Law. The version I have is 5th edition, and the charts my uncle had lacked any rules for usage. But these would work pretty smoothly:
So you need to hit by 5+ to get an A critical, and by 13+ for an E critical. This makes high-level fighters absolute murder against lightly armored foes, for sure. A 9th level fighter needs only a 2 to hit AC 10, so any roll of 7+ is a critical and 15+ is an E critical. And that's without bonuses from magic weapons or exceptional strength. They'll be absolute hell on lightly-armored thieves and magic-users, who don't have a lot of HP to absorb the effects, either. Meanwhile a level 1 fighter with no bonuses can only critically hit AC10 - AC5, inclusive, and AC 4 or better is out of their reach. Normal Men are even worse off - don some mail (AC 5) and you'd fine.
If you don't know Rolemaster, the critical levels largely describe their lethality, but even an A can kill you outright and an E can be only a small additional effect.
I'm assuming "Natural 20+1," "Natural 20+2," and "Natural 20+3" are used in a similar manner as they are in the Progression on the Combat Tables rules in the AD&D DUNGEONMASTERS GUIDE page 82. So that would mean a natural 20 and +1, +2, or +3 in additional bonuses. It's interesting that they have no meaning against S-M sized monsters, but against L and "Super Large" (defined in Rolemaster, but not in D&D or AD&D) they are required.
I think it's interesting that a "Natural 20" is meaningless unless it's also 5+ over your "to hit" roll. The idea that a "natural 20" is a critical hit of some kind, or a special roll, is pretty embedded in D&D memes but it's not actually true. Much like how "A vorpal blade cuts off your head on a natural 20!" is embedded, but it's not strictly true, either (see DMG p. 166).
The bonus hits inflicted for a critical, and the special effects, are largely in line with AD&D numbers. Rolemaster hit points - actually Concussion Hits or just Hits on most tables - are higher but if you used the tables for weapons, not just the critical charts, you'd inflict those as well as the bonuses.
The main issue is that some effects are undefined in AD&D, and you'll need to figure out what "foe is at -20%" means. -20% in Rolemaster has a clear effect. In AD&D, it probably means -4 to hit, but it's not clear if that also means worse AC (4 worse is more than 20% against some foes), or worse movement, or what. Or how you'd overcome stunning with AD&D magic, say.
Knowing what critical type is an issue, too. You'd have to say if you were stabbing or swinging your sword, and in Rolemaster at least you could get slashing, puncturing, or crushing criticals from the same weapon depending on the roll and the armor type.
All in all, though, it does answer the fairly basic question of, how do you use Arms Law / Claw Law critical hit tables with AD&D?
Maybe Jon Peterson will know? I'll have to ask.
(Actually, that's the bottom half of the sheet - the top half and its interesting rules I'll discuss another time.)
Friday, July 24, 2020
Friday Random Stuff 7/24/2020
Some random links for today.
- I guess people have minotaurs on the mind. In older D&D systems and D&D 4e. It's so hard for me to follow 4e descriptions, though.
- I like this post about Luck.
- I'm housecleaning and I'm handing off a bunch of big terrain pieces - a Warhammer Fantasy Battles Fortress and other stuff - to some of my players. I need to eBay the last of my ogre minis, too, since I have some other stuff to sell (a film SLR, a whole collection of official MST3K tapes, etc.) But it's house organizing time and I have to admit that stuff I haven't used in 15-20 years isn't likely to get used in the next 15-20.
- Stocking monsters up for my campaign, I've noticed that I always grab my Rolemaster monster books ahead of my D&D and GURPS ones. I don't know exactly why, but I always feel more inspired by those books. Speaking of which, back to working on my dungeon!
- I guess people have minotaurs on the mind. In older D&D systems and D&D 4e. It's so hard for me to follow 4e descriptions, though.
- I like this post about Luck.
- I'm housecleaning and I'm handing off a bunch of big terrain pieces - a Warhammer Fantasy Battles Fortress and other stuff - to some of my players. I need to eBay the last of my ogre minis, too, since I have some other stuff to sell (a film SLR, a whole collection of official MST3K tapes, etc.) But it's house organizing time and I have to admit that stuff I haven't used in 15-20 years isn't likely to get used in the next 15-20.
- Stocking monsters up for my campaign, I've noticed that I always grab my Rolemaster monster books ahead of my D&D and GURPS ones. I don't know exactly why, but I always feel more inspired by those books. Speaking of which, back to working on my dungeon!
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Rolemaster Fiction?
I'm not sure if this is fiction, or fanfiction. It doesn't mention Rolemaster anywhere in the book description, but as I was searching for a Rolemaster-related item I came up with his:
Yeah. Steardan, Cloudlords, Duranaki, people who speak Yinka . . . weird.
That picture is of the coast of the world of the Loremasters centered on Tanara.
It's like suddenly finding out there is a novelization of The Palace of the Silver Princess.
The Duranaki are from The Cloudlords of Tanara, a Rolemaster supplement.
I'm not forking over a dollar, even, but I just felt like as a Rolemaster fan since my high school days I had to say something about this in writing and not just move on.
Yeah. Steardan, Cloudlords, Duranaki, people who speak Yinka . . . weird.
That picture is of the coast of the world of the Loremasters centered on Tanara.
It's like suddenly finding out there is a novelization of The Palace of the Silver Princess.
The Duranaki are from The Cloudlords of Tanara, a Rolemaster supplement.
I'm not forking over a dollar, even, but I just felt like as a Rolemaster fan since my high school days I had to say something about this in writing and not just move on.
Friday, July 3, 2020
Friday Roundup 7/3/2020
It's a Friday, so I like to link to posts or post random little tidbits. Today is no exception.
- Over at the Nine and Thirty Kingdoms, Talysman has an idea - can you expand the idea, nebulous in OD&D, that margin of success matters on a strike? And then, can you assign special, critical effects on that strike, over and above (but possibly affecting) the damage?
It's a good idea. It's not a new idea, though. That'e the core of Arms Law from Rolemaster. In Rolemaster, you roll a "to hit" roll that is modified by your attack skill and modifiers and the defensive skill and modifiers of the target. The margin is looked up on a table, which tells you the concussion hits (HP loss, basically) and what level of critical to roll. That critical can and does modifier the effects and damage on the target.
I'm not dissing Talysman here. I'm just pointing out that he's on the same logic trip - and roll approach - of another system I really liked. Margin of success modifications to results, or determination of results, has a lot to say for it as a mechanic.
- The GURPS PDF Kickstarter is still going:
DF21 is still locked, and not even displayed, as a stretch goal. I figure it's probably going to unlock at $44K or $45K based on the other jumps between unlocks.
- I'm stalled in War in the East, at least mentally at the moment. I got through the mud but now the Soviets have a solid front in front of me. I need to decide where to put my efforts to break it; I can't just chase everywhere like the heady days of July and August 1941.
I did finally take the rest of Leningrad, stabilized my front and even advanced it by crushing a few Russian salients, and otherwise made good use of the time. Now the snow is here and I'm moving East again. I might be able to take Moscow but I might not be able to keep it. I could move my armor there en masse but it'll take time and the terrain in front of Moscow is a tangle of woods and rivers - places where armor suffers lots of penalties and takes lots of casualties. It's already looking tempting to dig in so I can hold on for dear life in the winter and then transfer my mobile elements from Army Group North to Army Group South and make a big push on Stalingrad and the oil I need in the Caucasus mountains. Yeah, I know, I know. Suddenly the OKH doesn't look like a bunch of idiots doing something obviously wrong. I'll post pictures after a few more turns.
And I should say, all of this is with Panzer IIc, Panzer IIIg, Panzer IVe, and Pz-38t tanks as my primary workhorses . . . by the time you get to Tigers and Panthers and Panzer IVg tanks in any numbers, you better have won the war or you're bound to lose it.
- Dreams in the Lichhouse is revising its blogroll. The comments are full of blog suggestions. If you want to suggest one, or suggest your own, or (like me) browse for more blogs you might like, take a look.
- A rabbit hole of link-following led me back to this post:
Same Description, Same Rules
I feel that's a good rule of thumb. A related idea drives my color scheme.
Speaking of old posts of mine, here is one idea I liked but haven't really implemented. I really should use something like it - not necessarily "first time always works" as I have players that will abuse that, but perhaps "it works this time because of amazing luck and timing and coincidence" to help players get past being stuck. Don't forget to read the followup if you're considering doing the same.
- This blog has some very good advice on painting - she paints well and explains well. That's very, very valuable.
- Over at the Nine and Thirty Kingdoms, Talysman has an idea - can you expand the idea, nebulous in OD&D, that margin of success matters on a strike? And then, can you assign special, critical effects on that strike, over and above (but possibly affecting) the damage?
It's a good idea. It's not a new idea, though. That'e the core of Arms Law from Rolemaster. In Rolemaster, you roll a "to hit" roll that is modified by your attack skill and modifiers and the defensive skill and modifiers of the target. The margin is looked up on a table, which tells you the concussion hits (HP loss, basically) and what level of critical to roll. That critical can and does modifier the effects and damage on the target.
I'm not dissing Talysman here. I'm just pointing out that he's on the same logic trip - and roll approach - of another system I really liked. Margin of success modifications to results, or determination of results, has a lot to say for it as a mechanic.
- The GURPS PDF Kickstarter is still going:
DF21 is still locked, and not even displayed, as a stretch goal. I figure it's probably going to unlock at $44K or $45K based on the other jumps between unlocks.
- I'm stalled in War in the East, at least mentally at the moment. I got through the mud but now the Soviets have a solid front in front of me. I need to decide where to put my efforts to break it; I can't just chase everywhere like the heady days of July and August 1941.
I did finally take the rest of Leningrad, stabilized my front and even advanced it by crushing a few Russian salients, and otherwise made good use of the time. Now the snow is here and I'm moving East again. I might be able to take Moscow but I might not be able to keep it. I could move my armor there en masse but it'll take time and the terrain in front of Moscow is a tangle of woods and rivers - places where armor suffers lots of penalties and takes lots of casualties. It's already looking tempting to dig in so I can hold on for dear life in the winter and then transfer my mobile elements from Army Group North to Army Group South and make a big push on Stalingrad and the oil I need in the Caucasus mountains. Yeah, I know, I know. Suddenly the OKH doesn't look like a bunch of idiots doing something obviously wrong. I'll post pictures after a few more turns.
And I should say, all of this is with Panzer IIc, Panzer IIIg, Panzer IVe, and Pz-38t tanks as my primary workhorses . . . by the time you get to Tigers and Panthers and Panzer IVg tanks in any numbers, you better have won the war or you're bound to lose it.
- Dreams in the Lichhouse is revising its blogroll. The comments are full of blog suggestions. If you want to suggest one, or suggest your own, or (like me) browse for more blogs you might like, take a look.
- A rabbit hole of link-following led me back to this post:
Same Description, Same Rules
I feel that's a good rule of thumb. A related idea drives my color scheme.
Speaking of old posts of mine, here is one idea I liked but haven't really implemented. I really should use something like it - not necessarily "first time always works" as I have players that will abuse that, but perhaps "it works this time because of amazing luck and timing and coincidence" to help players get past being stuck. Don't forget to read the followup if you're considering doing the same.
- This blog has some very good advice on painting - she paints well and explains well. That's very, very valuable.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
The Good God and Saints in Felltower
The main religion in my DF game is superficially Christian, monotheistic, and mostly derived from Catholicism. This because my last name ends in a vowel and I'm from New Jersey. Go with what you know.
I haven't really defined much, but we do have some of the major players in religion getting some in-game references:
The Good God is a masculine-defined god (Always "He") worshiped by pretty much everyone who isn't worshiping The Enemy in some form. Served by a large priesthood capable of spells as well as angels of various levels of power - few, if any, are ever encountered.
Opposing the Good God is . . .
The Enemy, sometimes referred to as the capital-D Devil, is served by cultists and evil folks of all kinds. He/she/it is served by demons of various sorts, mostly, and weird extra-planar beings of chaos and madness. Many evil cultists directly worship those beings. It's not clear if they are just aspects of The Enemy, or not. In any case, they can grant evil spells to evil worshipers.
We haven't defined many saints. So far we have the Seven Saints of Felltower (but no one is clear about who exactly they are), and one more:
Saint Buyya Duad the Thrice-Martyred is the patron saint of Brother Ike's* order. He's best know for his three martyrdoms and his many, many near-martyrdoms. He is the patron saint of matyrdom in general, he protects risk-takers, and he protects fools pretending to wisdom.
***
The overly-broad definition of The Enemy allows me to freely plunder AD&D, D&D5, Pathfinder, Labyrinth Lord, Rolemaster, video games, etc. for demons, devils, daemons, demons from the void and demons from beyond the pale, balrons, etc. to use in the game. It also neatly removes the whole AD&D cosmology which is a) cool but b) not what I want here. Same with having a single Good God instead of dealing with modern misconceptions of pantheistic religions ("I worship Artemis, so I totally hate that guy who worships Zeus!" Wait, what?) brought on by all growing up monotheistic. The saints let me play around with holy beings of all sorts.
Clearly I need to expand my repertoire of saints! (Just saying, not looking for suggestions - they'll occur organically now that I'm thinking about them.)
* Hjalmarr's sidekick cleric. Full name: Brother Iklwa Juma Deswayo N'Zinga.
I haven't really defined much, but we do have some of the major players in religion getting some in-game references:
The Good God is a masculine-defined god (Always "He") worshiped by pretty much everyone who isn't worshiping The Enemy in some form. Served by a large priesthood capable of spells as well as angels of various levels of power - few, if any, are ever encountered.
Opposing the Good God is . . .
The Enemy, sometimes referred to as the capital-D Devil, is served by cultists and evil folks of all kinds. He/she/it is served by demons of various sorts, mostly, and weird extra-planar beings of chaos and madness. Many evil cultists directly worship those beings. It's not clear if they are just aspects of The Enemy, or not. In any case, they can grant evil spells to evil worshipers.
We haven't defined many saints. So far we have the Seven Saints of Felltower (but no one is clear about who exactly they are), and one more:
Saint Buyya Duad the Thrice-Martyred is the patron saint of Brother Ike's* order. He's best know for his three martyrdoms and his many, many near-martyrdoms. He is the patron saint of matyrdom in general, he protects risk-takers, and he protects fools pretending to wisdom.
***
The overly-broad definition of The Enemy allows me to freely plunder AD&D, D&D5, Pathfinder, Labyrinth Lord, Rolemaster, video games, etc. for demons, devils, daemons, demons from the void and demons from beyond the pale, balrons, etc. to use in the game. It also neatly removes the whole AD&D cosmology which is a) cool but b) not what I want here. Same with having a single Good God instead of dealing with modern misconceptions of pantheistic religions ("I worship Artemis, so I totally hate that guy who worships Zeus!" Wait, what?) brought on by all growing up monotheistic. The saints let me play around with holy beings of all sorts.
Clearly I need to expand my repertoire of saints! (Just saying, not looking for suggestions - they'll occur organically now that I'm thinking about them.)
* Hjalmarr's sidekick cleric. Full name: Brother Iklwa Juma Deswayo N'Zinga.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
A Black Reaver in Felltower
In Sunday's game, the PCs encountered a very tough monster. I didn't name it, but I did describe using some exact wording. And I've been dropping blatant hints that there was one in my dungeon. After all, I knew it would be there - I'd planned on this one being in the place since I'd first started mapping it.
It was a Black Reaver, straight out of Rolemaster Companion, one of my favorite RPG supplements.
I don't think any of the players at the table recognized it.
But at least one who missed the session did - he'd encountered one before in a game I'd run.
At least in Rolemaster, and possibly in my DF game, there are two kinds of black reaver - the black reaver, and the lesser black reaver. The first one's description includes the line "There is nothing short of a deity more dangerous than a Black Reaver."
The lesser ones?
The "Lesser Black Reavers are not so over-whelming in their power, though certainly more dangerous than an average large Dragon!"
I'll let the PCs draw their own conclusions about this one. But it's certainly tough. I mentioned them before as trick monsters and when I talked about using your favorite monsters right away. And they came up on the rumor table.
The PCs will be researching them, and I'll share here all that they learn. If you want to know the inspirational material, check out the Rolemaster Companion or Creatures & Monsters.
It was a Black Reaver, straight out of Rolemaster Companion, one of my favorite RPG supplements.
I don't think any of the players at the table recognized it.
But at least one who missed the session did - he'd encountered one before in a game I'd run.
At least in Rolemaster, and possibly in my DF game, there are two kinds of black reaver - the black reaver, and the lesser black reaver. The first one's description includes the line "There is nothing short of a deity more dangerous than a Black Reaver."
The lesser ones?
The "Lesser Black Reavers are not so over-whelming in their power, though certainly more dangerous than an average large Dragon!"
I'll let the PCs draw their own conclusions about this one. But it's certainly tough. I mentioned them before as trick monsters and when I talked about using your favorite monsters right away. And they came up on the rumor table.
The PCs will be researching them, and I'll share here all that they learn. If you want to know the inspirational material, check out the Rolemaster Companion or Creatures & Monsters.
Monday, April 30, 2018
GURPS DF Session 102, Felltower 74 - Black Axeman
Date: 4/29/18
Weather: Clear, warm.
Characters:
Ahenobarbus the Lacerator, human swashbuckler (262 points)
Dave the Crippler, human knight (262 points)
Gerald Tarrant, human wizard (318 points)
5 skeletons (~25 points)
Hayden the Unnamed, human knight (265 points)
Hjalmarr Holgerson, human knight (336 points)
Brother Ike, human initiate (160 points)
Raggi Ragnarsson, human berserker (?? points)
We started in town, with the PCs gathering rumors and stocking up. They also gathered early and took the time to pull out one of the skulls they'd retrieved from looting the crypts under Felltower. They laid out their paut and Ike got ready to Lend Energy, and Gerry cast Summon Spirit - and rolled a 4. He had at least a -10 to cast, and it's resisted by Will, but criticals automatically overcome resistance. They had the energy for 13 questions, and proceeded to interrogate the spirit. First question - name - Brother Drakes. After that, they asked him about the Brotherhood, their religion, the hands, where the six-fingered "Masters" are (down below), the answer to "Who do you serve?" - "the Brotherhood." They also asked about the the the city of D'Abo and were told those people were of the same religion as the Brotherhood.
Equipped that knowledge, they headed out to the dungeon.
They climbed the walls (Dave did so easily this time) and checked the metal trap door. It zapped Hjalmarr - locked from below. They griped about forgetting to smear the locking mechanism with contact poison. So they climbed back down, got the bridge, hauled it up, and brought that with them.
Hjalmarr went ahead, to took arrow fire from the pillboxes. He backed up, but naturally a critical hit randomly to the throat pierced his armor and wounded him seriously - and the poison on it hurt as well (he can't buy a save vs. poison.) He went back up. Ike took out the arrow but it was barbed - the orcs basically fishhook the backs of their arrows. He was able to heal him up.
They went back down again, this time Hjalmarr with Missile Shield and Dark Vision and Levitate and Gerry with the same plus Invisibility. The orcs retreated as it became clear they couldn't hit anyone, and they stood watch as the other PCs came down and laid the bridge down. Gerry stood ready to Stench the pillboxes if anything appeared. Nothing did.
After that, they made their way down to the second level and over the giant circular staircase. They opened up the door and there was a large mantrap with a drying head sitting right on the trigger. They backed off, and Gerry used Apportation to lift the trap. He did, the head fell, and a clink of breaking glass sounded before a cloud of poisonous gas was released. They moved the trap aside and waited for the gas to dissipate. Once it did, they carefully moved down the stairs, Hjalmarr checking for traps the whole way. Hjalmarr had taken a class in Traps during his downtime ("It was a weekend course.")
At the bottom, they checked for traps again - nothing. So Hjalmarr touched the hand print on the door to open it - and was zapped with electricity! He was injured badly and his hand was crippled. Ike swooped in and healed him back to full vitality. He examined the door - and the hand was clearly lower than before. Sigh - it had been painted over. "I hate this gnome!" he said. "We don't know it's the gnome" said Gerry. He tried where the hand should be, and it worked - the door opened. He walked out, followed closely by Dave, who was eager to go kill norkers.
Almost immediately Hjlamarr heard a click and felt something depress under his foot. He immediately stepped back. Oops. That triggered an explosion and a spray of alkahest onto him and Dave. Dave was hurt, Hjlamarr more so. With that BOOOOM, the halls went quiet and then they heard doors banging and footsteps. They backed off and closed the door and waited. They decided the norkers were going to rush them, and they wanted to fight in the staircase.
But after a few minutes, nothing. They opened the door and heard muffled noises for a bit, then silence. They decided the norkers must have set up an ambush. So they sent Hjalmarr forward. He saw a tripline, a waxed thread, clearly in view. He backed off. They set it off with a crowbar moved with Apportation, and a hidden box above dropped caltrops all over the place. Gerry tried to move them aside with the crowbar but made a mess of it. They were clear enough for careful movement to avoid them.
Hjalmarr moved ahead and around the corner. He took prodd fire (but managed to deflect it) and a purplish ray of some kind of paralysis. He resisted. He tossed his lightstone down the hallway and saw two norkers guarding two hobgoblins, one of which had a wand. The wand holder zapped him again but again he resisted. He ducked back and returned to the group.
They decided to send Hjalmarr to guard their flank and the rest would run to the right, headed up by a skeleton to trip traps. They ran. The skeleton tripped a tripwire and it dropped a stone block that narrowly missed the running skeleton. They dodged around that, and naturally there was another with caltrops. They avoided those and kept running until they reached an intersection. Hjalmarr guarded their right - good thing, as arrows flew out after them - and they turned left and moved further away from the norkers. Gerry dropped Darkness to obscure the view from behind.
They reached the mosaic room, and quickly tapped out "the brotherhood" on the single-letter tiles they found. A secret door silently opened. They moved inside and closed the door.
They were in a long corridor with a turn and a dead end. The floor of the dead end showed scraping, as if heavy objects had been shifted around there - although not in any particular direction.
Long story short, they spent more than 90 minutes exploring, tapping walls, checking floors, etc. for something - anything. Then Gerry got the idea of stripping down to clothing and using Ethereal Body. He floated along the walls and ceiling, with his head through the wall with Dark Vision on. In the end, it turned out the dead end had a 6-foot hold in the ceiling to a shaft going roughly 40 feet up concealed behind an illusionary ceiling.
They send up Gerry - Invisible, etc. He saw the shaft ended off-center in a circular room with a domed ceiling about 12' at the top. Against the walls of the room were stone chests, boxes, heaps of clothes, an old urn, and similar items. Opposite the hole was a metal door with a large pull-ring in the center.
But what kept his attention was a figure in front of the door. It was human-shaped, 8' tall, clad in all black - black plate, black gloves, black cape, and the face in the helmet was as black as night, leaning on an oversized greataxe. The only colors were the silver of its downward-pointing horns and its glowing eyes (red, they'd find, once they saw it with light instead of color-blind Dark Vision.
Gerry floated down and reported.
His Hidden Lord (Undead) and (Demons) told him this was a construct of sorts, infused with a major demon and/or a major form of undead, built as a guardian. It would, obviously, be very tough to kill. It could potentially have interesting powers, but likely most of its strength would be physical.
They quickly decided they had to get up there and rush it and try to destroy it ASAP, preferably before it could start attacking them. Then, they could loot the room and whatever it was guarding beyond the door.
They then spend roughly 45-50 minutes in the real world - and equally that time in game - plotting how they'd get everyone up there in case it was activated by light, by contact with the ground, etc. They settled on stacking everyone except Ike, the skeletons, and Raggi (too costly) with Levitation and moving them in. So they did that. The fighter-types crushed Blur spellstones, drank potions (Hayden got +5 ST, Ahenobarbus +6 DX), etc. to get ready.
Once Hjalmarr, Dave, Hayden, and Ahenobarbus were in the room, Hjalmarr advanced. He got within two steps of it when it swiftly as could be it lifted its axe in one smooth motion and struck him - twice! - across the torso. Clearly, it could see him - Hjalmarr was Invisible. He defended and retreated. It followed up on its turn - it had been Waiting - and attacked again. This time it landed one and knocked Hjalmarr flying and down. He landed near the hole. He gasped out, "This thing is too tough for us!" before he passed out, still clutching the healing potion he was going to quaff.
The black figure unhurriedly advanced. Click, click.
The others moved in. Ahenobarbus managed to feint it - a little - and land a blow that bounced harmlessly off of its armor. Dave smacked it twice, but neither blow hurt it at all - and in fact, it simply turned its back on him to deal with Ahenobarbus. It used Beat to knock down Aheno's guard and swung at him, but Aheno acrobatically tumbled back and away and ran for the metal door. He tried yelling his Brotherhood passphrase but the door didn't open or anything.
Dave decided to retreat that way, too, despite the shouts of his party members. It parried attacks with its axe and followed up with Beat and Attack, slicing Hayden up horribly.
The PCs started to retreat - but the hole was too far down to fall without risk of serious injury, and to escape Gerry needed to move each of them one at a time via Levitation! He cancelled it on Ahenobarbus at his request, but otherwise, they needed him to get down.
The black figure just walked after each target, putting them down in a blow or two - it was doing 5d+12 with that axe, and aimed for the torso each time.
What followed was a messy escape. Gerry lowered Hjalmarr. Aheno kicked Shieldslayer down the hole and jumped down while drinking a Walk on Air potion (or crushing a stone, I can't recall which.) Hayden clung to life and consciousness and tried to drag himself down the shaft with his hands. Gerry just moved aside. Dave ran around to the treasure. It turned to stalk him, instead.
Dave tried to run to as chest, open it up, and grab treasure. We reminded him that a) it's a one-second time scale and b) he was at a dead run with a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. He settled for spending the next second smashing open a box and looking inside - robes. Then he ran to the hole to get lowered down.
As they escaped down the shaft, Aheno dragging Hayden (who had passed out), Ike cast Awaken at range and managed to get Hjalmarr awake. The black axeman walked up to the edge and fell face-down the shaft and glided down at the same Move as the PCs.
The black figure actually reached the bottom before some of the PCs - Dave and Gerry specifically. The others had landed and started to run, with the skeletons behind to absorb blows. As the figure landed, Gerry hit it with an 18d Skull Missile and did 60-odd damage to it. That managed to dent its armor and get it to physically react to the force. But it simply started to walk after the fleeing PCs.
It kept after them, and Dave and Gerry went back up the shaft to the door.
The PCs piled out of the secret door, but the thing stopped following them, spun on a heel, and walked back, click, click, click.
Gerry and Dave tried to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge - and zapped Dave with the black energy common to Felltower.
Meanwhile, the thing floated back up and landed and walked toward them. They split up, keeping to the walls. The plan was, Gerry floats down, Dave jumps and hopes to survive the fall. They kept away from it, but then Dave saw it turn to stalk Gerry and took a shorter path. It spun on a heel and swung its axe twice. Dave was sliced badly and knocked back. It turned to keep after him. Gerry reversed paths to keep away. Dave managed to stagger to the hole, but before he could dive down it (he tried and landed too short) it caught up to him and swung twice. The two blows put him well past -5xHP and killed him outright, cutting him in half. Gerry managed to slip by.
It pursued, gliding down after him, and then walking after him. Click, click, click.
Gerry ran out of the secret door -the group had kept it open. It followed. The door closed and he ran with the rest of the group. They made it down the corridor when they heard a clank and bang, and what sounded like breaking stone. Then click, click, click.
They ran straight to the teleporter room and used that to get to the caverns. From there, they navigated home.
Tough trip. Dave died, many resources were expended, the "easy" way in is locked (and they didn't go and unlock it), and the bridge left behind. Not a single copper of treasure was recovered.
***
So what was that thing? I think at least one of my Rolemaster vets can guess. He briefly encountered one in a game I ran in AD&D, in fact. I kept the description and word choice exact. They'll find out for sure through research. (Editing later - my veteran player recognized it - it's a Black Reaver.)
Sadly, that's the first ever character death for the player of Dave the Knight. He was pretty disappointed. He's not sure what he'll run next. His mistake was running a little too close to the enemy, confident it would keep after Gerry. It did not, and opportunistically turned and hacked him up badly. Had he gotten by, he could have reasonably risked a fall to the floor below. Well, maybe - even that was iffy. A high damage roll or an unfortunate location (skull, limb) would have left him dead or crippled and soon dead. In any case, it was a good trio of lessons for a player in my game:
- don't get greedy ("Unless you have Greedy, in which case good roleplaying!" - Hayden's player).
- character death happens.
- keep fighting as hard as you can until you die. Resignation or accepting your fate nets you nothing.
Still, it's tough be be nine and have your character hacked to death at your dad's gaming group's table. He'll get used to it, Felltower is like that.
XP was 1 each (new exploration) and 2 for Gerry for everything from the 4 on the Summon Spirit to everything else.
Weather: Clear, warm.
Characters:
Ahenobarbus the Lacerator, human swashbuckler (262 points)
Dave the Crippler, human knight (262 points)
Gerald Tarrant, human wizard (318 points)
5 skeletons (~25 points)
Hayden the Unnamed, human knight (265 points)
Hjalmarr Holgerson, human knight (336 points)
Brother Ike, human initiate (160 points)
Raggi Ragnarsson, human berserker (?? points)
We started in town, with the PCs gathering rumors and stocking up. They also gathered early and took the time to pull out one of the skulls they'd retrieved from looting the crypts under Felltower. They laid out their paut and Ike got ready to Lend Energy, and Gerry cast Summon Spirit - and rolled a 4. He had at least a -10 to cast, and it's resisted by Will, but criticals automatically overcome resistance. They had the energy for 13 questions, and proceeded to interrogate the spirit. First question - name - Brother Drakes. After that, they asked him about the Brotherhood, their religion, the hands, where the six-fingered "Masters" are (down below), the answer to "Who do you serve?" - "the Brotherhood." They also asked about the the the city of D'Abo and were told those people were of the same religion as the Brotherhood.
Equipped that knowledge, they headed out to the dungeon.
They climbed the walls (Dave did so easily this time) and checked the metal trap door. It zapped Hjalmarr - locked from below. They griped about forgetting to smear the locking mechanism with contact poison. So they climbed back down, got the bridge, hauled it up, and brought that with them.
Hjalmarr went ahead, to took arrow fire from the pillboxes. He backed up, but naturally a critical hit randomly to the throat pierced his armor and wounded him seriously - and the poison on it hurt as well (he can't buy a save vs. poison.) He went back up. Ike took out the arrow but it was barbed - the orcs basically fishhook the backs of their arrows. He was able to heal him up.
They went back down again, this time Hjalmarr with Missile Shield and Dark Vision and Levitate and Gerry with the same plus Invisibility. The orcs retreated as it became clear they couldn't hit anyone, and they stood watch as the other PCs came down and laid the bridge down. Gerry stood ready to Stench the pillboxes if anything appeared. Nothing did.
After that, they made their way down to the second level and over the giant circular staircase. They opened up the door and there was a large mantrap with a drying head sitting right on the trigger. They backed off, and Gerry used Apportation to lift the trap. He did, the head fell, and a clink of breaking glass sounded before a cloud of poisonous gas was released. They moved the trap aside and waited for the gas to dissipate. Once it did, they carefully moved down the stairs, Hjalmarr checking for traps the whole way. Hjalmarr had taken a class in Traps during his downtime ("It was a weekend course.")
At the bottom, they checked for traps again - nothing. So Hjalmarr touched the hand print on the door to open it - and was zapped with electricity! He was injured badly and his hand was crippled. Ike swooped in and healed him back to full vitality. He examined the door - and the hand was clearly lower than before. Sigh - it had been painted over. "I hate this gnome!" he said. "We don't know it's the gnome" said Gerry. He tried where the hand should be, and it worked - the door opened. He walked out, followed closely by Dave, who was eager to go kill norkers.
Almost immediately Hjlamarr heard a click and felt something depress under his foot. He immediately stepped back. Oops. That triggered an explosion and a spray of alkahest onto him and Dave. Dave was hurt, Hjlamarr more so. With that BOOOOM, the halls went quiet and then they heard doors banging and footsteps. They backed off and closed the door and waited. They decided the norkers were going to rush them, and they wanted to fight in the staircase.
But after a few minutes, nothing. They opened the door and heard muffled noises for a bit, then silence. They decided the norkers must have set up an ambush. So they sent Hjalmarr forward. He saw a tripline, a waxed thread, clearly in view. He backed off. They set it off with a crowbar moved with Apportation, and a hidden box above dropped caltrops all over the place. Gerry tried to move them aside with the crowbar but made a mess of it. They were clear enough for careful movement to avoid them.
Hjalmarr moved ahead and around the corner. He took prodd fire (but managed to deflect it) and a purplish ray of some kind of paralysis. He resisted. He tossed his lightstone down the hallway and saw two norkers guarding two hobgoblins, one of which had a wand. The wand holder zapped him again but again he resisted. He ducked back and returned to the group.
They decided to send Hjalmarr to guard their flank and the rest would run to the right, headed up by a skeleton to trip traps. They ran. The skeleton tripped a tripwire and it dropped a stone block that narrowly missed the running skeleton. They dodged around that, and naturally there was another with caltrops. They avoided those and kept running until they reached an intersection. Hjalmarr guarded their right - good thing, as arrows flew out after them - and they turned left and moved further away from the norkers. Gerry dropped Darkness to obscure the view from behind.
They reached the mosaic room, and quickly tapped out "the brotherhood" on the single-letter tiles they found. A secret door silently opened. They moved inside and closed the door.
They were in a long corridor with a turn and a dead end. The floor of the dead end showed scraping, as if heavy objects had been shifted around there - although not in any particular direction.
Long story short, they spent more than 90 minutes exploring, tapping walls, checking floors, etc. for something - anything. Then Gerry got the idea of stripping down to clothing and using Ethereal Body. He floated along the walls and ceiling, with his head through the wall with Dark Vision on. In the end, it turned out the dead end had a 6-foot hold in the ceiling to a shaft going roughly 40 feet up concealed behind an illusionary ceiling.
They send up Gerry - Invisible, etc. He saw the shaft ended off-center in a circular room with a domed ceiling about 12' at the top. Against the walls of the room were stone chests, boxes, heaps of clothes, an old urn, and similar items. Opposite the hole was a metal door with a large pull-ring in the center.
But what kept his attention was a figure in front of the door. It was human-shaped, 8' tall, clad in all black - black plate, black gloves, black cape, and the face in the helmet was as black as night, leaning on an oversized greataxe. The only colors were the silver of its downward-pointing horns and its glowing eyes (red, they'd find, once they saw it with light instead of color-blind Dark Vision.
Gerry floated down and reported.
His Hidden Lord (Undead) and (Demons) told him this was a construct of sorts, infused with a major demon and/or a major form of undead, built as a guardian. It would, obviously, be very tough to kill. It could potentially have interesting powers, but likely most of its strength would be physical.
They quickly decided they had to get up there and rush it and try to destroy it ASAP, preferably before it could start attacking them. Then, they could loot the room and whatever it was guarding beyond the door.
They then spend roughly 45-50 minutes in the real world - and equally that time in game - plotting how they'd get everyone up there in case it was activated by light, by contact with the ground, etc. They settled on stacking everyone except Ike, the skeletons, and Raggi (too costly) with Levitation and moving them in. So they did that. The fighter-types crushed Blur spellstones, drank potions (Hayden got +5 ST, Ahenobarbus +6 DX), etc. to get ready.
Once Hjalmarr, Dave, Hayden, and Ahenobarbus were in the room, Hjalmarr advanced. He got within two steps of it when it swiftly as could be it lifted its axe in one smooth motion and struck him - twice! - across the torso. Clearly, it could see him - Hjalmarr was Invisible. He defended and retreated. It followed up on its turn - it had been Waiting - and attacked again. This time it landed one and knocked Hjalmarr flying and down. He landed near the hole. He gasped out, "This thing is too tough for us!" before he passed out, still clutching the healing potion he was going to quaff.
The black figure unhurriedly advanced. Click, click.
The others moved in. Ahenobarbus managed to feint it - a little - and land a blow that bounced harmlessly off of its armor. Dave smacked it twice, but neither blow hurt it at all - and in fact, it simply turned its back on him to deal with Ahenobarbus. It used Beat to knock down Aheno's guard and swung at him, but Aheno acrobatically tumbled back and away and ran for the metal door. He tried yelling his Brotherhood passphrase but the door didn't open or anything.
Dave decided to retreat that way, too, despite the shouts of his party members. It parried attacks with its axe and followed up with Beat and Attack, slicing Hayden up horribly.
The PCs started to retreat - but the hole was too far down to fall without risk of serious injury, and to escape Gerry needed to move each of them one at a time via Levitation! He cancelled it on Ahenobarbus at his request, but otherwise, they needed him to get down.
The black figure just walked after each target, putting them down in a blow or two - it was doing 5d+12 with that axe, and aimed for the torso each time.
What followed was a messy escape. Gerry lowered Hjalmarr. Aheno kicked Shieldslayer down the hole and jumped down while drinking a Walk on Air potion (or crushing a stone, I can't recall which.) Hayden clung to life and consciousness and tried to drag himself down the shaft with his hands. Gerry just moved aside. Dave ran around to the treasure. It turned to stalk him, instead.
Dave tried to run to as chest, open it up, and grab treasure. We reminded him that a) it's a one-second time scale and b) he was at a dead run with a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. He settled for spending the next second smashing open a box and looking inside - robes. Then he ran to the hole to get lowered down.
As they escaped down the shaft, Aheno dragging Hayden (who had passed out), Ike cast Awaken at range and managed to get Hjalmarr awake. The black axeman walked up to the edge and fell face-down the shaft and glided down at the same Move as the PCs.
The black figure actually reached the bottom before some of the PCs - Dave and Gerry specifically. The others had landed and started to run, with the skeletons behind to absorb blows. As the figure landed, Gerry hit it with an 18d Skull Missile and did 60-odd damage to it. That managed to dent its armor and get it to physically react to the force. But it simply started to walk after the fleeing PCs.
It kept after them, and Dave and Gerry went back up the shaft to the door.
The PCs piled out of the secret door, but the thing stopped following them, spun on a heel, and walked back, click, click, click.
Gerry and Dave tried to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge - and zapped Dave with the black energy common to Felltower.
Meanwhile, the thing floated back up and landed and walked toward them. They split up, keeping to the walls. The plan was, Gerry floats down, Dave jumps and hopes to survive the fall. They kept away from it, but then Dave saw it turn to stalk Gerry and took a shorter path. It spun on a heel and swung its axe twice. Dave was sliced badly and knocked back. It turned to keep after him. Gerry reversed paths to keep away. Dave managed to stagger to the hole, but before he could dive down it (he tried and landed too short) it caught up to him and swung twice. The two blows put him well past -5xHP and killed him outright, cutting him in half. Gerry managed to slip by.
It pursued, gliding down after him, and then walking after him. Click, click, click.
Gerry ran out of the secret door -the group had kept it open. It followed. The door closed and he ran with the rest of the group. They made it down the corridor when they heard a clank and bang, and what sounded like breaking stone. Then click, click, click.
They ran straight to the teleporter room and used that to get to the caverns. From there, they navigated home.
Tough trip. Dave died, many resources were expended, the "easy" way in is locked (and they didn't go and unlock it), and the bridge left behind. Not a single copper of treasure was recovered.
***
So what was that thing? I think at least one of my Rolemaster vets can guess. He briefly encountered one in a game I ran in AD&D, in fact. I kept the description and word choice exact. They'll find out for sure through research. (Editing later - my veteran player recognized it - it's a Black Reaver.)
Sadly, that's the first ever character death for the player of Dave the Knight. He was pretty disappointed. He's not sure what he'll run next. His mistake was running a little too close to the enemy, confident it would keep after Gerry. It did not, and opportunistically turned and hacked him up badly. Had he gotten by, he could have reasonably risked a fall to the floor below. Well, maybe - even that was iffy. A high damage roll or an unfortunate location (skull, limb) would have left him dead or crippled and soon dead. In any case, it was a good trio of lessons for a player in my game:
- don't get greedy ("Unless you have Greedy, in which case good roleplaying!" - Hayden's player).
- character death happens.
- keep fighting as hard as you can until you die. Resignation or accepting your fate nets you nothing.
Still, it's tough be be nine and have your character hacked to death at your dad's gaming group's table. He'll get used to it, Felltower is like that.
XP was 1 each (new exploration) and 2 for Gerry for everything from the 4 on the Summon Spirit to everything else.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Age of Ravens & Rolemaster
This post made me very happy:
Retrocember Rolemaster: Bringing Law to the Ursine Dunes
This is awesome. Especially this:
"ARMING YOURSELF
One of the largest challenges to running Rolemaster comes from the combat charts. Weapons have individual charts. A successful roll usually moves players over to an additional critical table (Slash, Crush, Pierce, Heat, Shock, etc). That’s the cornerstone of the system and why it’s dismissively referred to as Chartmaster.
But that’s also the secret sauce.
Those charts are great, wild, and fun.
Yes, yes, and yes.
And yes.
I totally agree, and I've said that very same thing before.
Fans of Rolemaster might complain about system holes, weirdly distributed secondary skills, Initiative, the disconnect of class/levels/skill points/stat-based point allotments meshing, etc. but play because the crits and weapon effect charts are awesome.
I'm very excited to see how this goes. I love Rolemaster even though I don't play it anymore. I hope game summaries (complete with crit descriptions) follow that post!
Retrocember Rolemaster: Bringing Law to the Ursine Dunes
This is awesome. Especially this:
"ARMING YOURSELF
One of the largest challenges to running Rolemaster comes from the combat charts. Weapons have individual charts. A successful roll usually moves players over to an additional critical table (Slash, Crush, Pierce, Heat, Shock, etc). That’s the cornerstone of the system and why it’s dismissively referred to as Chartmaster.
But that’s also the secret sauce.
Those charts are great, wild, and fun.
Yes, yes, and yes.
And yes.
I totally agree, and I've said that very same thing before.
Fans of Rolemaster might complain about system holes, weirdly distributed secondary skills, Initiative, the disconnect of class/levels/skill points/stat-based point allotments meshing, etc. but play because the crits and weapon effect charts are awesome.
I'm very excited to see how this goes. I love Rolemaster even though I don't play it anymore. I hope game summaries (complete with crit descriptions) follow that post!
Monday, August 7, 2017
Rules Weight & Player Buy-In
I've found that the more rules depth you use, the more your players need to buy into and learn those rules.
It's not the rules system, it's the depth and number of rules. I've played many games, most heavily GURPS, 1st edition AD&D, and Rolemaster. I can't say that any of those is really more rules heavy than the others. GURPS has a lot but they're mechanically more similar to each other and generally are modifiers and special cases. AD&D is a mess of different systems and special cases and a mix of those two. Rolemaster is just heavy on rules lookups, even if the system is remarkably simple (roll high, open-ended, add modifiers, consult a table). Anyway, that is a tangent.
But the more rules we enforced in play, the more players needed to know those rules.
Basically rules have weight, multiplied by the number of players, and that weight is divided amongst the players who know the rules. The fewer that know them, and the more rules, the more the game is slowed by rules adjudication issues.
You could say:
Rules Weight = Rules Used x Number of Players / Players who Know The Rules
A good example of this is my DF game. It's rules-medium.
It's not rules-heavy, as we've tossed many special cases and optional rules out of the window. We only use rules if they fit the specific challenges of the game. Damage to items, special grappling rules, special rules for combat, hundreds of magical spells, etc. are all in. Many other rules are out.
Even so, it requires a lot of player buy-in to learn the rules. We get this to a varying extent, from people relying on memories of previous play to those meticulously looking up the rules. The less people learn the rules, the slower the game plays. People need to deal with combat modifiers, defense and offense rules changes, spell lookups, effects of stats and skill levels on effects of spells and rolls, etc. Since we don't get 100% buy-in on learning everything, it slows things down.*
On the other hand, GURPS Gamma Terra aka 20th Homeland aka Gamma World+ (it's Gamma World, don't doubt that for a second) is rules-light.
Our character sheets, one equipment list, and one handout page covers all of our skills and abilities, stuff we can buy with XP, our campaign details, combat rules from range bands to ROF, etc. Maybe once a session we need to consult rules about setting things on fire or Aim bonuses or shooting from Prone. That's it. This has low player rules knowledge requires. Nothing is really slow, because there isn't anything to look up and very little to consider. Similarity between PCs means we can tell each other the required rolls.
My old GURPS game was more rules-heavy, and needed even more buy-in. You needed to invest more time in learning how the rules worked just to offload the responsibility of knowing them from the GM and other players. Someone had to know the rules if you didn't.
So whenever I think about rules weight and adding or subtracting rules, I do it with this idea that the players need to put some work in. If they're not going to do it, even a mechanically superior and campaign-superior rule is going to subtract more than it adds.
* We're hoping a switch to the DFRPG rules set with a single house rules handout for add-ons will help this. I expect so, but it won't be perfect. Players will still need to read the rules set to make the play speed as fast as it could be!
It's not the rules system, it's the depth and number of rules. I've played many games, most heavily GURPS, 1st edition AD&D, and Rolemaster. I can't say that any of those is really more rules heavy than the others. GURPS has a lot but they're mechanically more similar to each other and generally are modifiers and special cases. AD&D is a mess of different systems and special cases and a mix of those two. Rolemaster is just heavy on rules lookups, even if the system is remarkably simple (roll high, open-ended, add modifiers, consult a table). Anyway, that is a tangent.
But the more rules we enforced in play, the more players needed to know those rules.
Basically rules have weight, multiplied by the number of players, and that weight is divided amongst the players who know the rules. The fewer that know them, and the more rules, the more the game is slowed by rules adjudication issues.
You could say:
Rules Weight = Rules Used x Number of Players / Players who Know The Rules
A good example of this is my DF game. It's rules-medium.
It's not rules-heavy, as we've tossed many special cases and optional rules out of the window. We only use rules if they fit the specific challenges of the game. Damage to items, special grappling rules, special rules for combat, hundreds of magical spells, etc. are all in. Many other rules are out.
Even so, it requires a lot of player buy-in to learn the rules. We get this to a varying extent, from people relying on memories of previous play to those meticulously looking up the rules. The less people learn the rules, the slower the game plays. People need to deal with combat modifiers, defense and offense rules changes, spell lookups, effects of stats and skill levels on effects of spells and rolls, etc. Since we don't get 100% buy-in on learning everything, it slows things down.*
On the other hand, GURPS Gamma Terra aka 20th Homeland aka Gamma World+ (it's Gamma World, don't doubt that for a second) is rules-light.
Our character sheets, one equipment list, and one handout page covers all of our skills and abilities, stuff we can buy with XP, our campaign details, combat rules from range bands to ROF, etc. Maybe once a session we need to consult rules about setting things on fire or Aim bonuses or shooting from Prone. That's it. This has low player rules knowledge requires. Nothing is really slow, because there isn't anything to look up and very little to consider. Similarity between PCs means we can tell each other the required rolls.
My old GURPS game was more rules-heavy, and needed even more buy-in. You needed to invest more time in learning how the rules worked just to offload the responsibility of knowing them from the GM and other players. Someone had to know the rules if you didn't.
So whenever I think about rules weight and adding or subtracting rules, I do it with this idea that the players need to put some work in. If they're not going to do it, even a mechanically superior and campaign-superior rule is going to subtract more than it adds.
* We're hoping a switch to the DFRPG rules set with a single house rules handout for add-ons will help this. I expect so, but it won't be perfect. Players will still need to read the rules set to make the play speed as fast as it could be!
Friday, November 27, 2015
Rolemaster C&T in-joke
I busted out the Rolemaster Creatures & Treasures book this morning because I was reminded of one of their oddball treasures.
I figured I'd look it up and see if I could use it or a variant in my own games. But I stumbled on this:
"Rune of Illiteracy: All within 50' cannot read or write for 1-100 days. (Also known as the Rune of Fluvanna.)"
Pre-internet, that was meaningless to me. No longer. Fluvanna is a county in Virginia . . . and the writers and producers of the book were based in Virginia.
Nice.
(My old home town gets slammed repeatedly in Futurama, so I'm still one up on the Rolemaster guys.)
I figured I'd look it up and see if I could use it or a variant in my own games. But I stumbled on this:
"Rune of Illiteracy: All within 50' cannot read or write for 1-100 days. (Also known as the Rune of Fluvanna.)"
Pre-internet, that was meaningless to me. No longer. Fluvanna is a county in Virginia . . . and the writers and producers of the book were based in Virginia.
Nice.
(My old home town gets slammed repeatedly in Futurama, so I'm still one up on the Rolemaster guys.)
Monday, November 3, 2014
Mad Wizard Did It!
Or a demented godling.
This list, culled from a variety of sources, is pretty freaking awesome reading. The comic linked at the bottom pretty much explains everything.
Mad Wizards and Demented Godlings*
There is a reason why my players - including those who run wizards - claim you can't trust any wizards.
To add a few the author, Max, didn't get to because they're from other, non-D&D and non-Palladium sources:
As-Sharak (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "The as-Sharak are elemental sorcerers who sold their souls for power . . . only to be turned into monsters in Hell and returned to the living world to punish similarly arrogant mortals."
Eye Entity (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "Eye Entities are formed through a magical ritual and a foul alchemical process [. . . ]"
Eye of Death (Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1): "It’s also known that reckless wizards
sometimes summon eyes of death into this world."
Flaming Skull (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "The jury is out on whether they’re necromantic creations or free-willed evil spirits who loathe mortals."
Gladiator Ape (Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1): "Not every mad wizard or strange civilization is satisfied with mere flesh-eating apes (Dungeons, p. 23). These flesheaters have been bred as vicious combatants."
Golem-Armor Swordsman (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "This construct consists of a flesh golem – made from a formerly living swordsman – riveted inside solid metal plates that are also animated, thereby augmenting strength."
Lich (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "When confronted by unavoidable death, most Evil Clerics, Evil Magicians, and Sorcerers depart life with one last, dreadful curse. A few forgo this privilege to become Undead, securing immortality as liches."
Shadows (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "Shadows are the result of a horrible ritual known only to a few Necromancers and recorded in only the most despicable tomes of vile knowledge."
The Rolemaster ones are supported by many more, as are the GURPS ones. I only picked a few examples from DFM1. My examples don't even scratch the surface of the evidence that, basically, wizards are d***s. Mad gods, not much better.
* By the way, I love that he, too, colored in his monster manuals. Here is my Fiend Folio.
This list, culled from a variety of sources, is pretty freaking awesome reading. The comic linked at the bottom pretty much explains everything.
Mad Wizards and Demented Godlings*
There is a reason why my players - including those who run wizards - claim you can't trust any wizards.
To add a few the author, Max, didn't get to because they're from other, non-D&D and non-Palladium sources:
As-Sharak (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "The as-Sharak are elemental sorcerers who sold their souls for power . . . only to be turned into monsters in Hell and returned to the living world to punish similarly arrogant mortals."
Eye Entity (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "Eye Entities are formed through a magical ritual and a foul alchemical process [. . . ]"
Eye of Death (Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1): "It’s also known that reckless wizards
sometimes summon eyes of death into this world."
Flaming Skull (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "The jury is out on whether they’re necromantic creations or free-willed evil spirits who loathe mortals."
Gladiator Ape (Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1): "Not every mad wizard or strange civilization is satisfied with mere flesh-eating apes (Dungeons, p. 23). These flesheaters have been bred as vicious combatants."
Golem-Armor Swordsman (Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons): "This construct consists of a flesh golem – made from a formerly living swordsman – riveted inside solid metal plates that are also animated, thereby augmenting strength."
Lich (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "When confronted by unavoidable death, most Evil Clerics, Evil Magicians, and Sorcerers depart life with one last, dreadful curse. A few forgo this privilege to become Undead, securing immortality as liches."
Shadows (Rolemaster Creature & Monsters): "Shadows are the result of a horrible ritual known only to a few Necromancers and recorded in only the most despicable tomes of vile knowledge."
The Rolemaster ones are supported by many more, as are the GURPS ones. I only picked a few examples from DFM1. My examples don't even scratch the surface of the evidence that, basically, wizards are d***s. Mad gods, not much better.
* By the way, I love that he, too, colored in his monster manuals. Here is my Fiend Folio.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
What do people who love the game, hate about that game?
One thing I find interesting is what people dislike about the games they like.
It's usually very different than the common wisdom of what's wrong with the game.
Rolemaster is my best example of this. One of my friends goofs on it sometimes, knowing I played it. He calls it "chartmaster." "Hold on, there is a table for that." "I could do that, but I need to look it up on a table."
But in my experience people who play Rolemaster don't bitch about rolling on the critical hit tables. They don't groan about how un-fun having a special table for your weapon is. They don't moan about figuring out what -60% and lose both legs means. That's where the fun is. Rolling on the critical hit table was even better than finding out what was in that treasure chest the monster was guarding.
When we bitched about Rolemaster, it was having to do some of the chargen. It was being unable to get healed up after your first fight and then needing a new PC right away. It was about taking a long, long time to generate NPCs level by level. We didn't like the whole "roll to see if you learn spells." As much as the game was fun, the whole class-and-level-and-point-buy aspect was really time consuming. We liked the game, but not that aspect. The few times I attempted to re-start playing the game after we'd quit all halted during the process of trying to re-write chargen so it was a little easier and more balanced . . . not because of the tables.
It's a lot more interesting to me to know what the people who love the game hated about it. Sometimes what looks terrible on paper plays well and is a source of the fun. It's more instructive to know what doesn't work for the people who actually like the rest of the system.
So what game system do you love, and what's the part about it that sucks (contrary to the common wisdom), or what is said to suck about your game system of choice that actually doesn't (contrary to common wisdom)?
It's usually very different than the common wisdom of what's wrong with the game.
Rolemaster is my best example of this. One of my friends goofs on it sometimes, knowing I played it. He calls it "chartmaster." "Hold on, there is a table for that." "I could do that, but I need to look it up on a table."
But in my experience people who play Rolemaster don't bitch about rolling on the critical hit tables. They don't groan about how un-fun having a special table for your weapon is. They don't moan about figuring out what -60% and lose both legs means. That's where the fun is. Rolling on the critical hit table was even better than finding out what was in that treasure chest the monster was guarding.
When we bitched about Rolemaster, it was having to do some of the chargen. It was being unable to get healed up after your first fight and then needing a new PC right away. It was about taking a long, long time to generate NPCs level by level. We didn't like the whole "roll to see if you learn spells." As much as the game was fun, the whole class-and-level-and-point-buy aspect was really time consuming. We liked the game, but not that aspect. The few times I attempted to re-start playing the game after we'd quit all halted during the process of trying to re-write chargen so it was a little easier and more balanced . . . not because of the tables.
It's a lot more interesting to me to know what the people who love the game hated about it. Sometimes what looks terrible on paper plays well and is a source of the fun. It's more instructive to know what doesn't work for the people who actually like the rest of the system.
So what game system do you love, and what's the part about it that sucks (contrary to the common wisdom), or what is said to suck about your game system of choice that actually doesn't (contrary to common wisdom)?
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Review: The Cloudlords of Tanara
One of my favorite supplements is the one that came in my Rolemaster blue box set. It sits on my "places to convert to GURPS and play in" pile, but I never seem to get to it. It's sheer goodness keeps me from abandoning the idea of the project, though, and I'm going to try to explain why here. And why you should track it down.
This isn't a very deep review - for one that covers all the details, check this one on RPG.NET. Nicely, the author/designer/mapmaker/interior artist, Terry K. Amthor, comments on the review.
by Terry K. Amthor
50 pages
Price unknown (out of print, PDF availabilityunknown on Drivethru RPG)
Cloudlords of Tanara is a sandbox setting for Rolemaster in their "Loremaster" setting. The setting basically puts the PCs in any of a few different bounded sandboxes. Tanara is one of those sandboxes.
The setting pits a number of factions against each other, including:
- the titular Cloudlords, who fly around on winged horses wielding throw-and-return axes and hurling bolts of fire. They've set themselves as messengers of gods to local simple folk . . .
- the Myri, who are simple and sturdy and are equally preyed upon by . . .
- the mysterious Duranaki, who use brainwashed Myri in their armed forces and who warily eye . . .
- the Yinka, a religious people who fear they're the target of conquest plans by the Cloudlords.
Throw in some basically neutral parties (the seafaring Sulini, harassed by both Yinka and Cloudlords) and parties hostile to everyone (the dog-men like garks, an evil cult, the cult's former leader now possessed by a magical sword of extreme power) and some meddlers (the Loremasters and the Navigators, who serve as information sources and a way to travel to and from Tanara, respectively) and an overarching evil (the Unlife), and you've got a hot mess waiting to happen.
Even the various factions have conflicts within them, generally, although not always. Nicely there isn't always a Good Guy and Bad Guy in each faction - so it's not a puzzle of allying with Good Underling vs. Evil Overlords in each case.
There is a lot for the PCs to do - pick a side in the conflicts, ignore the sides while they concentrate on looting, try to mediate, go their own way on a quest against the Implementor (possessed sword guy) by finding three magic swords to fight him, whatever. It's an interesting place to visit but could easily be the setting of a whole campaign.
It's a real sandbox in a way that no AD&D adventure of its day and age did, or that most published adventure locales ever really seem to be.
Why?
Because it is a complete sandbox.
Entire military rosters for each faction are provided, with stats. Want to know how many men the Cloudlords or Yinka can muster? Just look it up, along with complete stats for their leaders. Want to raid the headquarters of the Duranaki? All statted up, down to the trap effects, treasure, and magical items.
The various "dungeons" are equally well written up. Want to raid the Duranaki leader's house? Mapped and detailed. The Cult of Ezran? Same. Find the magical blades that can oppose the Implementor? Fully written up and ready. Locations are detailed sufficiently to run straight out of the box, although all could use a bit of expansion of details and loose treasure. But all of the magic items are written up completely, the traps are statted up, the guards located.
You do need to provide some detail - extra cultists stats, wandering monster stats, NPCs between the big names and the faceless ranks - but not a lot of it.
But not only that, there isn't a lot of extraneous detail. You can use everything in the book at some point, and it's really on-topic. The conflicts and alliances and issues and major players are all easily grasped and used. You don't have to sift junk to get there. It's tightly written.
The closest parallel to these I can think of are the 1st edition Twilight: 2000 modules such as The Free City of Krakow. You'd get everything - maps, major NPCs with pertinent information, details on military forces and morale and guns down to the individual gun or mortar. No "The Free City is well protected" but "Here is their TO&E with game stats." Cloudlords of Tanara is like that.
Oh, and did I mention the color-coded maps, so you can see where the guardrooms, vaults, traps, etc. are at a glance, without even referencing the minimally-detailed (but sufficiently detailed) map key?
I also love that while there are elven visitors to Tanara, that's about it for typical fantasy races. No dwarves, halflings, or elven tree cities (although the Duranaki are close there, but more sinister). Monsters? Demons, golems, undead, unique stuff? - sure. Dragons aren't mentioned, and probably aren't there. No orcs. Trolls, yes, but not the usual goblinoids. It's a place where your problems aren't orc invasions and grumpy dwarves and greedy dragons, but unpleasant humans in all stripes.
Rating:
Content: 5 out of 5. You could run a campaign with this right out of the box.
Presentation: 4 out of 5. This book is beautiful and easy to use, but you need a lot of page flipping, the print is often tiny, and the GM reference map shows you the locations of the important locations with tiny little numbers that almost need a magnifying glass to find. That could have been easier to use.
Overall: This is one of those supplements I'd love to set a campaign in. Either by making the PCs natives and let them roll, or stranding them there early and letting them navigate the difficult path of figuring out who is who and what to do about it. I did try to port a lot of it over to my earliest Rolemaster games, but they ended in a pair of unrelated bloodbaths and I didn't play on that world again (we did Greyhawk instead). I'm not running the kind of game now where this kind of setting could really shine, although I'm tempted to put a way to Tanara into my DF game. I'd like the see how my players handle the Cloudlords . . .
This isn't a very deep review - for one that covers all the details, check this one on RPG.NET. Nicely, the author/designer/mapmaker/interior artist, Terry K. Amthor, comments on the review.
by Terry K. Amthor
50 pages
Price unknown (out of print, PDF availability
Cloudlords of Tanara is a sandbox setting for Rolemaster in their "Loremaster" setting. The setting basically puts the PCs in any of a few different bounded sandboxes. Tanara is one of those sandboxes.
The setting pits a number of factions against each other, including:
- the titular Cloudlords, who fly around on winged horses wielding throw-and-return axes and hurling bolts of fire. They've set themselves as messengers of gods to local simple folk . . .
- the Myri, who are simple and sturdy and are equally preyed upon by . . .
- the mysterious Duranaki, who use brainwashed Myri in their armed forces and who warily eye . . .
- the Yinka, a religious people who fear they're the target of conquest plans by the Cloudlords.
Throw in some basically neutral parties (the seafaring Sulini, harassed by both Yinka and Cloudlords) and parties hostile to everyone (the dog-men like garks, an evil cult, the cult's former leader now possessed by a magical sword of extreme power) and some meddlers (the Loremasters and the Navigators, who serve as information sources and a way to travel to and from Tanara, respectively) and an overarching evil (the Unlife), and you've got a hot mess waiting to happen.
Even the various factions have conflicts within them, generally, although not always. Nicely there isn't always a Good Guy and Bad Guy in each faction - so it's not a puzzle of allying with Good Underling vs. Evil Overlords in each case.
There is a lot for the PCs to do - pick a side in the conflicts, ignore the sides while they concentrate on looting, try to mediate, go their own way on a quest against the Implementor (possessed sword guy) by finding three magic swords to fight him, whatever. It's an interesting place to visit but could easily be the setting of a whole campaign.
It's a real sandbox in a way that no AD&D adventure of its day and age did, or that most published adventure locales ever really seem to be.
Why?
Because it is a complete sandbox.
Entire military rosters for each faction are provided, with stats. Want to know how many men the Cloudlords or Yinka can muster? Just look it up, along with complete stats for their leaders. Want to raid the headquarters of the Duranaki? All statted up, down to the trap effects, treasure, and magical items.
The various "dungeons" are equally well written up. Want to raid the Duranaki leader's house? Mapped and detailed. The Cult of Ezran? Same. Find the magical blades that can oppose the Implementor? Fully written up and ready. Locations are detailed sufficiently to run straight out of the box, although all could use a bit of expansion of details and loose treasure. But all of the magic items are written up completely, the traps are statted up, the guards located.
You do need to provide some detail - extra cultists stats, wandering monster stats, NPCs between the big names and the faceless ranks - but not a lot of it.
But not only that, there isn't a lot of extraneous detail. You can use everything in the book at some point, and it's really on-topic. The conflicts and alliances and issues and major players are all easily grasped and used. You don't have to sift junk to get there. It's tightly written.
The closest parallel to these I can think of are the 1st edition Twilight: 2000 modules such as The Free City of Krakow. You'd get everything - maps, major NPCs with pertinent information, details on military forces and morale and guns down to the individual gun or mortar. No "The Free City is well protected" but "Here is their TO&E with game stats." Cloudlords of Tanara is like that.
Oh, and did I mention the color-coded maps, so you can see where the guardrooms, vaults, traps, etc. are at a glance, without even referencing the minimally-detailed (but sufficiently detailed) map key?
I also love that while there are elven visitors to Tanara, that's about it for typical fantasy races. No dwarves, halflings, or elven tree cities (although the Duranaki are close there, but more sinister). Monsters? Demons, golems, undead, unique stuff? - sure. Dragons aren't mentioned, and probably aren't there. No orcs. Trolls, yes, but not the usual goblinoids. It's a place where your problems aren't orc invasions and grumpy dwarves and greedy dragons, but unpleasant humans in all stripes.
Rating:
Content: 5 out of 5. You could run a campaign with this right out of the box.
Presentation: 4 out of 5. This book is beautiful and easy to use, but you need a lot of page flipping, the print is often tiny, and the GM reference map shows you the locations of the important locations with tiny little numbers that almost need a magnifying glass to find. That could have been easier to use.
Overall: This is one of those supplements I'd love to set a campaign in. Either by making the PCs natives and let them roll, or stranding them there early and letting them navigate the difficult path of figuring out who is who and what to do about it. I did try to port a lot of it over to my earliest Rolemaster games, but they ended in a pair of unrelated bloodbaths and I didn't play on that world again (we did Greyhawk instead). I'm not running the kind of game now where this kind of setting could really shine, although I'm tempted to put a way to Tanara into my DF game. I'd like the see how my players handle the Cloudlords . . .
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