I have resumed playing Fantasy General as General Marcus.
I think I have two battles left. My current one should put me just outside the Shadowlord's fortress. There is a little side penninsula I ignored, which I'm hoping I can keep on ignoring. In video games, though, one never knows. In WWII the Allies just encircled those "fortress" cities the Nazis set up in France and left them until the war ended. In video games, you might have to clear them before you're allowed to attack the main fortress.
The battle before the last, then, is going on. It's nasty. Rough terrain, spread out objectives, and the enemy has lots of high-experience sky hunters (fighters) and seemingly endless numbers of mechanical infantry units (Mechanus) and cavalry (Rolling Thunder.) They're brutal to take out, and they're backed by Shadow Warriors and Monks of Meo in large numbers. It's been a slog and cost me a lot of pain and I'm not even a quarter done.
I'm enjoying it despite the title - it's a slog, it's a grind. But it's good. It shouldn't be easy. My tactics, though, still work - rush in mobs of Sky Hunters to take out all the units I can easily demolish, hound the wounded, and then let my combined follow-on forces mob the remainder. It's just slow.
I'm interested to see how this wraps up. I enjoy the game in spurts. This is one of those spurts. I hope to finish it this week!
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Monday, April 8, 2024
Discworld RPG Bundle
There is a Bundle of Holding for the GURPS-based Discworld RPG:
It's $14.95 and nets you the Discworld RPG - normally $30 alone - plus Low-Tech and Fantasy Tech 1. I'm not sure why those two, except that they kinda fit. Whatever the reason, it's a good price for either DW or the two accompanying books, so if you're missing DW or missing those two or all three, it's a good way to fill out your collection.
If you're in, click here.
It's $14.95 and nets you the Discworld RPG - normally $30 alone - plus Low-Tech and Fantasy Tech 1. I'm not sure why those two, except that they kinda fit. Whatever the reason, it's a good price for either DW or the two accompanying books, so if you're missing DW or missing those two or all three, it's a good way to fill out your collection.
If you're in, click here.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Minor Felltower Work
Sunday is about Felltower, and I think we're playing next week. So I spent it doing a little maintenance.
- I re-familiarized myself with some of the areas I think the PCs may go to.
- I updated a few modules on the VTT.
- I did a little work on the Felltower file itself, just cleaning up some junk that's crept in. Keeping the whole dungeon as one big file has lots of upsides but also some issues with notes that aren't important anymore. Unless something is blatantly wrong (spelling error, rules page reference error, etc.) I just use strikethrough text to indicate something changed.
That's about it . . . Felltower needs delving to live.
- I re-familiarized myself with some of the areas I think the PCs may go to.
- I updated a few modules on the VTT.
- I did a little work on the Felltower file itself, just cleaning up some junk that's crept in. Keeping the whole dungeon as one big file has lots of upsides but also some issues with notes that aren't important anymore. Unless something is blatantly wrong (spelling error, rules page reference error, etc.) I just use strikethrough text to indicate something changed.
That's about it . . . Felltower needs delving to live.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Random Thoughts and Links for 4/5/2024
- Wayne's Books has a post up about "The Game" - the way the designers at GDW resolved the shift from Twilight:2000 to Traveller: 2300 AD.
The Game
- The Defense Policy wonk-in-training that I was in college looks at this and thinks of the consequences of an invasion of Taiwan. The game in me - who's been around longer - see this and thinks, can I play?
Wargaming an Invasion of Taiwan
(BTW, the Wall Street Journal explainer videos are in general really excellent.)
- This Grognardia post made me realize that while I know a number of gamers at work, they're all female. My client's daughter plays. My department sub-group coordinater plays with (I think GMs for) for husband and son. One of my clients plays and GMs for her daughters and her family members. I'm not actually sure I know any male gamers through my work. The gamers I know outside of work are almost all male, but they're also almost all either my gaming friends, or friends I made through gaming. The people I know who just turned out to play RPGs - almost always D&D5 - are all female.
Just interesting to me, honestly. I don't talk to them about gaming much. I just say I play, it's GURPS not D&D, and that's about it. I just don't like to game with my co-workers . . . I did that once or twice in the past and it didn't work for me. These days I like to firewall my gaming from my work. Still, I enjoy the fact that gaming is just a casual hobby these days that doesn't require instant bonding between fellow outcasts. And all three of the people I mentioned are very cool folks. I just want to hack-and-slash with different folks.
- My spam is getting nasty. Not just spam links but the the occasional hostile attack on me as a person have popped up. But they've been from anonymous folks. In other words, cowards.
- Game day should be next Sunday. I honestly can't wait. I'm rusty as a GM at this point, and if we don't get a game in for April, I'm not sure it's worth trying to keep the campaign going over the slow months of the summer. So fingers crossed!
The Game
- The Defense Policy wonk-in-training that I was in college looks at this and thinks of the consequences of an invasion of Taiwan. The game in me - who's been around longer - see this and thinks, can I play?
Wargaming an Invasion of Taiwan
(BTW, the Wall Street Journal explainer videos are in general really excellent.)
- This Grognardia post made me realize that while I know a number of gamers at work, they're all female. My client's daughter plays. My department sub-group coordinater plays with (I think GMs for) for husband and son. One of my clients plays and GMs for her daughters and her family members. I'm not actually sure I know any male gamers through my work. The gamers I know outside of work are almost all male, but they're also almost all either my gaming friends, or friends I made through gaming. The people I know who just turned out to play RPGs - almost always D&D5 - are all female.
Just interesting to me, honestly. I don't talk to them about gaming much. I just say I play, it's GURPS not D&D, and that's about it. I just don't like to game with my co-workers . . . I did that once or twice in the past and it didn't work for me. These days I like to firewall my gaming from my work. Still, I enjoy the fact that gaming is just a casual hobby these days that doesn't require instant bonding between fellow outcasts. And all three of the people I mentioned are very cool folks. I just want to hack-and-slash with different folks.
- My spam is getting nasty. Not just spam links but the the occasional hostile attack on me as a person have popped up. But they've been from anonymous folks. In other words, cowards.
- Game day should be next Sunday. I honestly can't wait. I'm rusty as a GM at this point, and if we don't get a game in for April, I'm not sure it's worth trying to keep the campaign going over the slow months of the summer. So fingers crossed!
Thursday, April 4, 2024
A few thoughts on PCs Making Magic Items vs. Buying Magic Items
This post is almost entirely in the context of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game. It's influenced by my current game's actual play, but also in light of the way my original game - AD&D - treated acquisition of magic items.
In standard DF and DFRPG, PCs cannot make magic items. That's exclusively something NPCs do. They can buy magic items in town - and quite a broad array of them, even using just DF1 or Adventurers for a list.
What are the implications of PCs being able to buy magic items?
PCs buying magic items:
- has a loot cost, primarily cash but also selling found items that don't match your preferences to fund the creation of one that does.
- no time cost; time to enchant is a delay on receiving but doesn't take the PCs out of play.
- limits on what you can buy can seem arbitrary but can be tied to in-game social abilities (Status, Wealth, Social Stigma, etc.)
- no template limit on purchases.
Cash found in a dungeon, and things exchanged for cash, can be swapped into magic items of whatever sort the PCs need unless the GM puts on specific limits or creates sale item lists. PCs just delve, spend, repeat. Time delays on purchased items can be imposed but the time limits are on the item, not the PC.
What about making items?
PCs making magic items:
- has a loot cost, some cash but also finding the "right" ingredients, if required (either as baseline rules or color.)
- has a time cost, because time spent enchanting is time not spent delving.
- if the loot cost is primarily finding ingredients, this can have a neutral effect on selling found items.
- limits on what you can make can seem arbitrary but are more easily tied to in-game magic/knowledge abilities.
- template limits.
If you take an AD&D-style enchantment approach, you're going to need a lot of monster bits and specific gems to make things go. Even a GURPS Magic approach will have some specific requirements on design and ingredients. Cash alone will usually suffice but may not for all things. There will also likely be time costs - if it takes 100 days to make a magic items, you're out of play for 100 days. What templates and abilities you need to enchant are likely to limit item access. Bards and wizards may be able to make items, clerics some other items, but most other templates might be out of luck. Or maybe not, if you allow shamanistic barbarina practices, fighters to hone steel so well that it becomes enchanted, or thieves to go through certain rituals to make magic keys and dead man's candles and so on.
All of them come with time out of play, definite needs to find ingredients before you can just go get the custom magic widget of your dreams, and in-game advantgae or skill acquisition.
It might be that to make money less of a way to get custom magic items, and make found items more important, you might benefit from letting PCs make the items. It seems a little counterintuitive but the thoughts above point that way.
I need to spend a bit more time noodling this over. Maybe the future of magic items in Felltower is PC made?
In standard DF and DFRPG, PCs cannot make magic items. That's exclusively something NPCs do. They can buy magic items in town - and quite a broad array of them, even using just DF1 or Adventurers for a list.
What are the implications of PCs being able to buy magic items?
PCs buying magic items:
- has a loot cost, primarily cash but also selling found items that don't match your preferences to fund the creation of one that does.
- no time cost; time to enchant is a delay on receiving but doesn't take the PCs out of play.
- limits on what you can buy can seem arbitrary but can be tied to in-game social abilities (Status, Wealth, Social Stigma, etc.)
- no template limit on purchases.
Cash found in a dungeon, and things exchanged for cash, can be swapped into magic items of whatever sort the PCs need unless the GM puts on specific limits or creates sale item lists. PCs just delve, spend, repeat. Time delays on purchased items can be imposed but the time limits are on the item, not the PC.
What about making items?
PCs making magic items:
- has a loot cost, some cash but also finding the "right" ingredients, if required (either as baseline rules or color.)
- has a time cost, because time spent enchanting is time not spent delving.
- if the loot cost is primarily finding ingredients, this can have a neutral effect on selling found items.
- limits on what you can make can seem arbitrary but are more easily tied to in-game magic/knowledge abilities.
- template limits.
If you take an AD&D-style enchantment approach, you're going to need a lot of monster bits and specific gems to make things go. Even a GURPS Magic approach will have some specific requirements on design and ingredients. Cash alone will usually suffice but may not for all things. There will also likely be time costs - if it takes 100 days to make a magic items, you're out of play for 100 days. What templates and abilities you need to enchant are likely to limit item access. Bards and wizards may be able to make items, clerics some other items, but most other templates might be out of luck. Or maybe not, if you allow shamanistic barbarina practices, fighters to hone steel so well that it becomes enchanted, or thieves to go through certain rituals to make magic keys and dead man's candles and so on.
All of them come with time out of play, definite needs to find ingredients before you can just go get the custom magic widget of your dreams, and in-game advantgae or skill acquisition.
It might be that to make money less of a way to get custom magic items, and make found items more important, you might benefit from letting PCs make the items. It seems a little counterintuitive but the thoughts above point that way.
I need to spend a bit more time noodling this over. Maybe the future of magic items in Felltower is PC made?
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Impressive 4th Doctor Who minis range
The weekly sale over at Black Tree Designs has a really impressively complete list of figures for the 4th Doctor Who era.
Ahem:
4TH DOCTOR - 4TH DOCTOR IN SHERLOCK HOLMES HAT - 4TH DOCTOR III
ROMANA - ROMANA II – K-9 – LEELA - HARRY SULLIVAN
DECAYING MASTER – MASTER UNIT SLR - 1975 UNIT SOLDIER W GRENADE - UNIT TROOPER W SMG – ZYGON - ZYGON ADVANCING – DAVROS - MARCUS SCARMAN – NAMIN – NIMON - ROBOT MUMMY - ROBOT MUMMY ATTACKING – ROBOT - ROBOT OF DEATH - ROBOT OF DEATH ATTACKING – SUTEKH - WENG CHI - LIH, SEN CHANG - MR SINN - VICTORIAN POLICEMAN - SUICIDE DALEK - PROFESSOR KETTLEWELL - PROFESSOR CHRONITIS - COMMANDER ANDRED - SCARGOTH THE JAGEROTH - MORBIUS MONSTER – MANDREL - MANDREL ATTACKING - VORUS VOGON LEADER - VOGON WARRIOR - PRESIDENT OF GALLIFREY – KELLMAN – FOAMASI – WIRRN – ELDRAD – MOVELLAN - MOVELLAN WARRIOR - WOOD BEAST OF TARA – CAILLEACH - VIVIAN FAY – SHRIEVENZALE - SWAMPIE WARRIOR – SWAMPIE LEADER – GARRON – THARIL - COUNT GRENDEL - THE CAPTAIN - PIRATE GUARD - THE MARSHALL – MELKUR – FENDHALEEN - ROHM DUTT - SERVANT OF SUTEK – HEIRONYMOUS – NUCLEUS – RUTAN - THE MONITOR - STYGRON THE KREULL - SONTARAN WARRIOR
Well okay then. I'm not seeing a lot of people left out. And as a former subscriber to the newsletter from The Jersey Jagaroth, I like the inclusion of Scaroth!
Ahem:
4TH DOCTOR - 4TH DOCTOR IN SHERLOCK HOLMES HAT - 4TH DOCTOR III
ROMANA - ROMANA II – K-9 – LEELA - HARRY SULLIVAN
DECAYING MASTER – MASTER UNIT SLR - 1975 UNIT SOLDIER W GRENADE - UNIT TROOPER W SMG – ZYGON - ZYGON ADVANCING – DAVROS - MARCUS SCARMAN – NAMIN – NIMON - ROBOT MUMMY - ROBOT MUMMY ATTACKING – ROBOT - ROBOT OF DEATH - ROBOT OF DEATH ATTACKING – SUTEKH - WENG CHI - LIH, SEN CHANG - MR SINN - VICTORIAN POLICEMAN - SUICIDE DALEK - PROFESSOR KETTLEWELL - PROFESSOR CHRONITIS - COMMANDER ANDRED - SCARGOTH THE JAGEROTH - MORBIUS MONSTER – MANDREL - MANDREL ATTACKING - VORUS VOGON LEADER - VOGON WARRIOR - PRESIDENT OF GALLIFREY – KELLMAN – FOAMASI – WIRRN – ELDRAD – MOVELLAN - MOVELLAN WARRIOR - WOOD BEAST OF TARA – CAILLEACH - VIVIAN FAY – SHRIEVENZALE - SWAMPIE WARRIOR – SWAMPIE LEADER – GARRON – THARIL - COUNT GRENDEL - THE CAPTAIN - PIRATE GUARD - THE MARSHALL – MELKUR – FENDHALEEN - ROHM DUTT - SERVANT OF SUTEK – HEIRONYMOUS – NUCLEUS – RUTAN - THE MONITOR - STYGRON THE KREULL - SONTARAN WARRIOR
Well okay then. I'm not seeing a lot of people left out. And as a former subscriber to the newsletter from The Jersey Jagaroth, I like the inclusion of Scaroth!
Monday, April 1, 2024
New Felltower Magic Items
Here are a couple of new magic items for Felltower!
Al-Jaffee's Book of Quips and Comebacks
This convenient pocket-sized book is made with a soft cover, and weighs only 0.5 lbs. Using it requires holding it open with one hand (a Ready maneuver.) Using the Book allows for multiple uses of Rapier Wit on the same foe as long as the user succeeds. If the victim successfully resists, they are no longer vulnerable to Rapier Wit for 24 hours.
Attempts to use Rapier Wit against the holder of this book are risky, too. When held ready, if an opponent tries Rapier Wit on the holder, roll a quick contest of Will - and the loser suffers stunning normally.
Price: $1000
Dwarven Hammer, Loyal Thrower
Power Item: 4 FP
The Dwarven Hammer, Loyal Thrower can be thrown with these stats: Acc 1, ST x 2 / x3, sw+3/crushing. One second after impact, it summons the bearer to wherever the hammer hits, pulling the thrower along at Move 12 as if under Flight spell. The bearer travels by the most direct route possible for the hammer to pass; be careful throwing it through narrow gaps! If the thrower's path intersects a barrier, foe, or ally, treat like a slam at the thrower's ST and Move 12 (so, +5 per die.) The bearer will keep being pulled to the hammer until they meet. When the bearer arrives at the hammer, the thrower immediately falls down and takes damage as if from a fall from the height the hammer hit or 2 yards, whichever is higher.
This can be used to travel. Simply throw it to whereever you'd like to go and brace yourself for impact! The pull of the hammer is equal to the ST of the thrower, if that becomes relevant.
In melee the hammer is sw+3/crushing, Parry 0, Reach 1.
Price: $25000, 5 lbs.
Al-Jaffee's Book of Quips and Comebacks
This convenient pocket-sized book is made with a soft cover, and weighs only 0.5 lbs. Using it requires holding it open with one hand (a Ready maneuver.) Using the Book allows for multiple uses of Rapier Wit on the same foe as long as the user succeeds. If the victim successfully resists, they are no longer vulnerable to Rapier Wit for 24 hours.
Attempts to use Rapier Wit against the holder of this book are risky, too. When held ready, if an opponent tries Rapier Wit on the holder, roll a quick contest of Will - and the loser suffers stunning normally.
Price: $1000
Dwarven Hammer, Loyal Thrower
Power Item: 4 FP
The Dwarven Hammer, Loyal Thrower can be thrown with these stats: Acc 1, ST x 2 / x3, sw+3/crushing. One second after impact, it summons the bearer to wherever the hammer hits, pulling the thrower along at Move 12 as if under Flight spell. The bearer travels by the most direct route possible for the hammer to pass; be careful throwing it through narrow gaps! If the thrower's path intersects a barrier, foe, or ally, treat like a slam at the thrower's ST and Move 12 (so, +5 per die.) The bearer will keep being pulled to the hammer until they meet. When the bearer arrives at the hammer, the thrower immediately falls down and takes damage as if from a fall from the height the hammer hit or 2 yards, whichever is higher.
This can be used to travel. Simply throw it to whereever you'd like to go and brace yourself for impact! The pull of the hammer is equal to the ST of the thrower, if that becomes relevant.
In melee the hammer is sw+3/crushing, Parry 0, Reach 1.
Price: $25000, 5 lbs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
