It's the end of another week.
- Delta has some Star Frontiers minis he's made from molds. You know how much I love Sathar!
- This is an interesting take on treasure - per hoard, not per gp.
- Marc Miller has plans for Traveller to continue after he dies.
- My playthrough of Persian Gulf continues. Things have gone bad for the US and its allies, despite the Soviet's inability to roll well on the Combat Results Table. There are just too many of them, and some poor choices cost the US some time and space. Turkey is overrun and its last units are getting mauled. Iraq looks to be next. Jordan's force in Iran was expelled from the city they held, and now can't break back through to the mountains. The Kurds are largely eliminated, and the rebellious Iranian army units - that sides with the US - are all destroyed. The US holds the swamps and oil fields around As-Basra and Iraq, and that's about it. Poor rolls on maintenance have meant the US can't keep the B-52s rolling week after week, and through sheer numbers the Soviets are contesting the air a bit now. I'll play it out, but it's looking bad . . . the US has almost nothing else coming (a few reservists in Iraq, that's all) and the Soviets have another 10 divisions coming and some units a week or two later. They're all poor quality units (Mig-19s, for goodness sake, and 3rd-rate reservists) but there are a lot of them. The US needs nuclear escalation to the next level for air-delivered tactical nukes, but unless that comes soon it won't change anything.
Still fun, but man, I forgot how hard it is to stem a wildly aggressive Soviet player with so few units. If you don't get deep into Iran fast enough to sieze the mountain passes, you're toast.
Friday, August 30, 2024
Monday, August 26, 2024
Why so stingy for selling monster bits?
Last session, my players had their characters drag home a dead young chimera/stone bull hybrid to try to sell it in town as a curio. It did not sell, and they were forced to dump it.
In generally, monster bits are a tertiary form of loot in DF, behind actual found money and cashing in empties - selling weapons and armor.
Why is that?
First off, it's in the books that way.
The DF books highlight the valuable monster bits that can be sold. There are not a lot of them, and they rarely sell for much. A few monsters have very valuable bits - dragons, for example - but most have nothing especially valuable and a few have some moderate value.
So suddenly turning every monster into a pile of bits requires either a generic ruling about value, or assigning specific values to each and every monster. Then, logically, I'd have to apply a percentage off of that based on type and amount of damage. If you reduced the Baby Mira to -8xHP (for example), with -5xHP being auto-death and -10xHP being total destruction, that's going to reduce the value. But what about it dying right away at -1xHP due to a failed HT roll, but, say, you killed it with fire? I could just wave that away, sure, or apply broad-strokes rulings, but again, I'd need to generate a value system for monster corpses.
The next bit is that it would change the game. It would go from "Finding the monsters and kill them, and hopefully find loot!" to "Harvest the latest crop of monsters." The goal goes from exploring a huge dungeon at great risk for wealth and to fight evil, to find any monster and kill it in the most corpse-preserving fashion possible and probably leave enough to repop for next time because they're valuable. I know the arguments about how people used all the bits of whatever animal, and animal tails and furs are useful commodities, and so on . . . but this doesn't sound fun.
Additionally, it would result in a lot of mechanical logistical annoyance. Kill the monster, have a specific weight for it, figure out how to carry it out, and repeat. On top of that, people who wanted to maximize the value might just take the valuable bits - surely the meat of an owlbear is not as valuable as its pelt, and does anyone really want the beak? If not, now we're looking at a system for that, too - how much does the skin weigh, how much time to get it off, which bits are worth which amount, etc.
I talk not from some abstract theory of what would happen, but what has happened repeately in my games even in the face of failure. Even knowing - being flat-out told - it's unlikely anyone would want anything that isn't already highlighted in the books as especially valuable, players tend to try to eke out just a bit more loot with dragged home monster bits not known to be valuable.
So, in my experience, allowing monster bits to be sold as a matter of course would add headache to my end as the GM, and change the nature of the game from "Get rich and fight evil!" to "Farm monsters." And I don't want to play the latter, so I skew the rules to the former even if that annoys players who know real-world people buy bits of dead animals all the time.
So for now, and for all time, 95 to 99 times out of 100, dragging whole monsters home isn't going to pan out. The 1-5%? Live ones, intact, and the special bits called out. If the rules - mine or published - don't say it's valauble, it's not, and no Merchant rolls, Charisma levels, or whatever will change that. Leave the dead lie and keep looking for gold.
In generally, monster bits are a tertiary form of loot in DF, behind actual found money and cashing in empties - selling weapons and armor.
Why is that?
First off, it's in the books that way.
The DF books highlight the valuable monster bits that can be sold. There are not a lot of them, and they rarely sell for much. A few monsters have very valuable bits - dragons, for example - but most have nothing especially valuable and a few have some moderate value.
So suddenly turning every monster into a pile of bits requires either a generic ruling about value, or assigning specific values to each and every monster. Then, logically, I'd have to apply a percentage off of that based on type and amount of damage. If you reduced the Baby Mira to -8xHP (for example), with -5xHP being auto-death and -10xHP being total destruction, that's going to reduce the value. But what about it dying right away at -1xHP due to a failed HT roll, but, say, you killed it with fire? I could just wave that away, sure, or apply broad-strokes rulings, but again, I'd need to generate a value system for monster corpses.
The next bit is that it would change the game. It would go from "Finding the monsters and kill them, and hopefully find loot!" to "Harvest the latest crop of monsters." The goal goes from exploring a huge dungeon at great risk for wealth and to fight evil, to find any monster and kill it in the most corpse-preserving fashion possible and probably leave enough to repop for next time because they're valuable. I know the arguments about how people used all the bits of whatever animal, and animal tails and furs are useful commodities, and so on . . . but this doesn't sound fun.
Additionally, it would result in a lot of mechanical logistical annoyance. Kill the monster, have a specific weight for it, figure out how to carry it out, and repeat. On top of that, people who wanted to maximize the value might just take the valuable bits - surely the meat of an owlbear is not as valuable as its pelt, and does anyone really want the beak? If not, now we're looking at a system for that, too - how much does the skin weigh, how much time to get it off, which bits are worth which amount, etc.
I talk not from some abstract theory of what would happen, but what has happened repeately in my games even in the face of failure. Even knowing - being flat-out told - it's unlikely anyone would want anything that isn't already highlighted in the books as especially valuable, players tend to try to eke out just a bit more loot with dragged home monster bits not known to be valuable.
So, in my experience, allowing monster bits to be sold as a matter of course would add headache to my end as the GM, and change the nature of the game from "Get rich and fight evil!" to "Farm monsters." And I don't want to play the latter, so I skew the rules to the former even if that annoys players who know real-world people buy bits of dead animals all the time.
So for now, and for all time, 95 to 99 times out of 100, dragging whole monsters home isn't going to pan out. The 1-5%? Live ones, intact, and the special bits called out. If the rules - mine or published - don't say it's valauble, it's not, and no Merchant rolls, Charisma levels, or whatever will change that. Leave the dead lie and keep looking for gold.
Sunday, August 25, 2024
DF Session 197, Felltower 133 - Chimera, Stone Bulls, and Baby Mira
Date: 8/25/2024
Weather: Sunny, hot.
Characters Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Harold
Samual
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (300 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (300 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (266 points)
We started off in town, gathering rumors, and the PCs found and hired Harold and Samual, two human guards, to join them at double pay.
They headed off to the dungeon, intending to go into the dragon's cave entrance to Felltower and kill off the stone bull and chimera they spotted there with scrying a while back.
Basically, that is what they did. They headed up, sent Vlad in to scout, and snuck in ready for action once he reported sounds that could be inhabiting monsters.
They rushed in and attacked, finding a chimera and a stone bull.
In a close-in brawl, they managed to slay them both, with lightning from Duncan and lots of sword and axe blows plus some arrows and hatchets and kamas from the rest. The PCs got a little too confident in some Vigor spellstones and bunched up to "finish off" the stone bull when it rushed them, and that got Thor, Harold, and Samual turned to stone.
Chop un-petrified Thor in time for them to find three baby chimera/stone bull hybrids. They killed them in short order, despite Vlad wishing to take one captive to sell in town.
Having butchered the lot figuratively, they used Create Earth to wall off the caves deeper, looted a bunch of assorted small coins and junk plus the Helm of the Rat, and used Prepare Game on some of the dead to salvage saleable bits. Sadly, none had any. They did Seek Earth to find gold, silver, and oricalcum, but all three castings came up empty.
In the end they took their coins and the least badly chopped up baby mira to town but found no one wanted to buy it.
Notes:
- quick, good session. Bunching up against the stone bull was the only real mistake they made, and lucky for them Chop wasn't affected and could un-petrify their stoned friends.
- MVP was Duncan for effective Lightning use. 4 xp each.
- And FYI the point totals are way off up there. I have no idea any longer what people's characters are worth.
Weather: Sunny, hot.
Characters Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Harold
Samual
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (300 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (300 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (266 points)
We started off in town, gathering rumors, and the PCs found and hired Harold and Samual, two human guards, to join them at double pay.
They headed off to the dungeon, intending to go into the dragon's cave entrance to Felltower and kill off the stone bull and chimera they spotted there with scrying a while back.
Basically, that is what they did. They headed up, sent Vlad in to scout, and snuck in ready for action once he reported sounds that could be inhabiting monsters.
They rushed in and attacked, finding a chimera and a stone bull.
In a close-in brawl, they managed to slay them both, with lightning from Duncan and lots of sword and axe blows plus some arrows and hatchets and kamas from the rest. The PCs got a little too confident in some Vigor spellstones and bunched up to "finish off" the stone bull when it rushed them, and that got Thor, Harold, and Samual turned to stone.
Chop un-petrified Thor in time for them to find three baby chimera/stone bull hybrids. They killed them in short order, despite Vlad wishing to take one captive to sell in town.
Having butchered the lot figuratively, they used Create Earth to wall off the caves deeper, looted a bunch of assorted small coins and junk plus the Helm of the Rat, and used Prepare Game on some of the dead to salvage saleable bits. Sadly, none had any. They did Seek Earth to find gold, silver, and oricalcum, but all three castings came up empty.
In the end they took their coins and the least badly chopped up baby mira to town but found no one wanted to buy it.
Notes:
- quick, good session. Bunching up against the stone bull was the only real mistake they made, and lucky for them Chop wasn't affected and could un-petrify their stoned friends.
- MVP was Duncan for effective Lightning use. 4 xp each.
- And FYI the point totals are way off up there. I have no idea any longer what people's characters are worth.
Friday, August 23, 2024
Assorted Links and Thoughts for 8/23/2024
A few thoughts and links for today.
- there is still a GURPS sale going on.
- same with that Bundle of Holding for Dying Earth DCC.
- Felltower is on Sunday.
- Matt Riggsby noodles on about historical writing for games.
- My Persian Gulf game stalled a bit from being busy. That said, the Soviets have overrunn most of Iran (their ally), savaged Turkey and took most of it, and are now moving into Iraq. As much as the cards favored the US and its allies well, the rolls for aircraft maintenance have housed them. The B-52s haven't been a factor since that one nasty logistical strike. I'm not sure how the US bails this out; the Soviets have them badly outnumbered and it's just Iraq, a few Kurdish units, Jordan, the Saudis, th Israelis, and the RDF . . . holding Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and a tiny slice of Iran. The Soviets have almost a dozen more units on the way . . . I think the US might be able to salvage a Minor Soviet Victory but it's looking like it'll be worse. We'll see.
- there is still a GURPS sale going on.
- same with that Bundle of Holding for Dying Earth DCC.
- Felltower is on Sunday.
- Matt Riggsby noodles on about historical writing for games.
- My Persian Gulf game stalled a bit from being busy. That said, the Soviets have overrunn most of Iran (their ally), savaged Turkey and took most of it, and are now moving into Iraq. As much as the cards favored the US and its allies well, the rolls for aircraft maintenance have housed them. The B-52s haven't been a factor since that one nasty logistical strike. I'm not sure how the US bails this out; the Soviets have them badly outnumbered and it's just Iraq, a few Kurdish units, Jordan, the Saudis, th Israelis, and the RDF . . . holding Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and a tiny slice of Iran. The Soviets have almost a dozen more units on the way . . . I think the US might be able to salvage a Minor Soviet Victory but it's looking like it'll be worse. We'll see.
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
4th edition GURPS Anniversary Sale
GURPS 4th edition is 20 years old. I got my start as a book author - rather than just an article author - for SJG with GURPS 4th edition. So although I got started with 1st edition and played a lot of 3rd edition, 4th edition has a very special place in my gaming heart. It's also the system that I use and have used for what's my longest running campaign, DF Felltower.
There is a sale going on for it.
Click HERE for the details.
There is a sale going on for it.
Click HERE for the details.
Monday, August 19, 2024
DCC Dying Earth Bundle of Holding
There is a DCC Dying Earth Bundle of Holding for sale. I went in on the basic level of this, because $17.95 (or more if you prefer) is a great deal on a $40 PDF.
Also, I don't play DCC, but the DCC version of Lankhmar is very true to the source material, so I want to see the DCC view of Dying Earth.
Click HERE if you're interested in seeing the offer page.
Also, I don't play DCC, but the DCC version of Lankhmar is very true to the source material, so I want to see the DCC view of Dying Earth.
Click HERE if you're interested in seeing the offer page.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Felltower Updated for 8/18/2024
I had very little free time today, and what little I had I spent on TWW:PG. But I did get some Felltower work done, because I make sure to every Sunday.
- I updated the VTT files - the GURPS module, add-ons, and the basic Foundry build.
- I updated the rumors.
- I did a small bit of stocking of one corner of the dungeon I had been avoiding doing any work on.
- I did a little research for one of the gate destinations.
I've been running silent on the blog because of little to write and a lot of non-blog work to do. But the campaign should kick back up into gear once we're past summer. It usually does.
- I updated the VTT files - the GURPS module, add-ons, and the basic Foundry build.
- I updated the rumors.
- I did a small bit of stocking of one corner of the dungeon I had been avoiding doing any work on.
- I did a little research for one of the gate destinations.
I've been running silent on the blog because of little to write and a lot of non-blog work to do. But the campaign should kick back up into gear once we're past summer. It usually does.
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