What to Buy Next

While I wait for my White Box to appear in the mail I've been browsing the virtual shelves for a new target. In my RPGNow cart I have Od&dities 13. At $2 it's definitely worth taking a look at and at 24 pages makes it a printer friendly product. Plus, it looks like RPGNow is having a 25% sale for Game Master's Day starting later on today. So I might find a couple more items in my cart before too long.

Then there is the Advanced Edition Companion for Labyrinth Lord. I downloaded the free PDF, but for this kind of product I like a print copy. I've got no problem with $22.95, but I need to look through the PDF a little more. Anytime I buy from Lulu I feel obligated to buy multiple things to help with the shipping costs. And right now I think I have everything I want from Lulu.

Steve Jackson game has two relatively new releases in their Dungeon Fantasy series. Part 9 is called the Summoners. I doubt I'll get this one. Part 10 is Taverns. I'll be all over that one. The PDF is 33 pages for $7.99. Since I've played GURPS for years and believe they have some of the best resource books I have never had a problem with buying their books even if they are higher in price. And just as a side note, but an important one, any time I've ever had a problem with a book, mainly the binding coming apart, they have always sent me a new one free of charge. But back to the Dungeon Fantasy series, they have been hit and miss for me. Some have been great while some of the entries, while well written, added nothing for me. When in doubt I tell Rob about the new GURPS item and he compulsively buys them then he can tell me if its good or not.

I was looking at a few Castles & Crusades items, but I have to say the last few I bought in the C&C line have been disappointing. I wish C&C would get a bit more support and release things on a regular basis. Maybe they do and I am not following closely, but as I said they last two items I bought, one was just not good at all and the other I thought could have been good, but it missed the mark. They settled for good enough.

Then I think of going back and filling in the gaps of older products I have. Browse eBay and Amazon for possible scores. Rob got one of my dream scores at ErieCon this weekend. He bought a copy the Chaosium's Thieves World for only $20. I was floored.

If anyone has suggestions, even if it's a copy of your own material please let me know. The gaming world is splintered into so many directions these days it's difficult to keep track sometimes.

Yes, Another Blog About Experience Points

For the longest time and the current campaign my group is in is GURPS so experience points for treasure, monsters, gold or exploration isn't really factored it. To tell you the truth there is very little thought put into handing out experience points. For the current campaign four experience points are given at the end of each session. Sometimes a power gained during play can be given shooting up your character point total, but the four xp rate is standard. This fits our group for the time being.

For the past year I have been exploring all the systems and seem to gravitate toward Castles & Crusades and my new fondness for HackMaster. These are level based systems which makes the awarding of experience points more interesting. Now there is a number for magic items found, monsters slain, loot and exploration. Here are some of my theories on how I think experience points should be awarded. Any GM should explain their system of awarding experience points to his players before play begins. We all have our quirks.

1. I don't believe experience points should be given at the end of each session. It should be given at the end of a trip, dungeon delve, or an interesting time in the character's development. These may last one session, but could last several sessions. The GM can award the xp when there is a conclusion to an experience the players are having.

2. Experience points for magic items is awarded only to the character who can use that item and only gets that experience once. Joe Basher get his hands on a +2 Axe of Whoop Ass he will get the 2500xp for it, but Ricky Firehands won't get one drop since he can't use it. If Joe Basher finds another +2 Axe of Whoop Ass he will gain no experience since he already had that experience of using one.

3. I am not a fan of 1gp = 1xp. I never understood that math or the reason. I don't give any experience point for a pile of gold. I see that pile of gold as the funding/opportunity to continue onto other places to gain even more experience.

4. After reading Jeff Rients blog on exploration xp I am completely on board with that. I guess the only adjustment I would make is the players would need to interact with the place. Finding the Mines of Moria is great. Taking pictures of your buddies in front of the door will get you a big goose egg for experience. The players will need to get dirty. Some others who dislike the xp for exploration because they believe their players will go on a grand tour, but I think this is short sighted. If the GM is awarding xp for site seeing then yes this will probably get abused. But make the players interact and this is no longer a problem. Again, like with the magic items, the experience points are given once. This total is not split among the players, but each one is given the entire amount. So when Joe Basher and Ricky Firehands explore the Caves of Chaos they will both be awarded 250xp.

5. Monster experience points are divided among the players that were somehow involved with the interaction. This doesn't have to be the death of the monster. Depending on the situation different levels of experience points could be given. For unique critters, I will award xp just for seeing them. Like if Joe Basher was camping by Loch Ness and Nessie came up and took his bait. I would award xp just for seeing the creature.

6. Experience points for henchmen or followers or lackeys or can't find a job cousins. First off, I don't keep track of their experience points. If the players have a significant follow than they can keep track. When the players defeat a monster and Joe and Rickey have three followers with them I divide the experience in three shares, the followers all share one share. Giving a follower magic items will gain them only 10% of the xp value and this holds true for the exploration xp value. This is due to their secondary nature to the game and interactions. But this does allow a follower to gain in levels and become more useful as the character rises in power.

This is how I plan to award experience points to my players the upcoming campaign early next year. Of course I will discuss my plans with my players and see what input or changes they would like. As a GM I am flexible with my rules and I always like to see what the players want and often they come up with an idea that was so obvious that I whack myself in the head for not thinking of it. The one thing I strive for is being consistent. The same rule/system applies the same one the first adventure as the last.

Review: Engineering Dungeons

Engineering Dungeons is a 28 page supplement published by Troll Lord Games for Castles & Crusades can easily be used for any fantasy system. There are no stat blocks or system specific mechanics that need converting. I originally bought it on Amazon and did not read the description. I bought it for the title alone. From the title I thought it was going to be a philosophical approach towards constructing dungeons. I thought I would get a lecture on different approaches, stereotypes and the various ecologies. Something like a college seminar with a tweed clad professor discussing the historical significance of the construction of dungeons. Nope. It's a tech school. From the first pages they slam a hammer and saw in your hand and tell you to start building. No talk. Just do.

Engineering Dungeons is full of tables. I'm not kidding. Full of them. One of the first tables you will see is why the dungeon was originally constructed and who built it. Then you go from table to table. Roll and roll some more.

Here is an example of what I rolled of the who, the why and the where. I'll highlight the things I rolled. Giants dug out a massive coal mine six centuries ago to forge their massive weapons six centuries ago. Now the massive fortification is ruins. No one is sure where the single entrance of the mine is. Scholars say it is hidden on the outside of the ruins.

The next set of tables let you built your dungeon such as traps, lock difficulty and treasure. There are tables for NPCs and dragons and many other possible inhabitants. The randomness makes some interesting combinations.

There is no substitute for a GMs imagination, but Engineering Dungeons is a helpful addition to any fantasy gamer's bookshelf. If you are GM who builds their own dungeons this supplement is for you. I think the $9.95 price tag for the PDF is too high, but the $9.95 price tag for the printed version is spot on.

Al of the Flying Staff

Yesterday was Erie's Day of Gaming and I had a lot of fun. I got to sit down with Al from Beyond the Black Gate blog and Rob from Bat in Attic and play some OD&D. Rob used the adventure I wrote for Castles and Crusades. It was interesting how he tweaked it to work with OD&D and how another GM would use the adventure.

Not only did I get to meet Al, or Al of the flying staff as he is now known, but a couple of gamers in the area and a possibility of starting a new gaming group. I enjoy Fantasy Ground 2, but nothing replaces rolling real dice.

Day of Gaming

Tomorrow is Erie's 'Day of Gaming'. I'll be heading up there and Rob is planning on running an old school adventure. He asked to use my C&C adventure I wrote and do one more playtest for me. Should be fun.

I don't go to conventions or to game shops as much as I should, but I have a couple of good reasons: 1) The closest gaming store is 45 minutes away and there is no gaming tables there. Closest one with gaming tables is over an hour away. 2) And this is the real reason, by the time I get done with my job dealing with even more people is about as inviting as a porcupine jock strap. Then once I get out there and play I always wonder why I don't do it more.

I'm hoping to get involved in a couple of new games. Try something I've never played before. Also hit up an vendors they have there. Last year they had one guy who was just starting up his gaming store. Hope he is there again with a couple others.

If you live in northwestern PA or northeastern OH stop on by. All the information is on the website I linked above. Have a great Saturday everyone and good gaming.

Castles & Crusades Adventure Playtest Concludes

Last night Dwayne and Rob completed the playtest of the adventure I designed using Castles & Crusades. They died and were turned into zombies. Running and playing in GURPS campaigns for years it was difficult to switch back to a 1st ed. state of mind.

Mistakes I made.
1. I thought I was in charge.
In the village of Aberton I had a handful of skilled NPCs who could assist the players if needed. There was a 1st level mage, 2nd level thief and ranger and a 3rd level barbarian available. Depending on how they interacted with the village they would get certain NPCs to join. The ranger and barbarian went with them. So the players being 1st level and the NPCs being higher made them feel as if they were being led around. I had the players take the lead the entire time and only had the NPCs as combat enforcements, but because the NPCs were higher level Dwayne felt that it took away some of the players' thunder.

The solution for this will be to take the NPCs down one level and make it more of a farming village atmosphere. Also, the players requested I draw a map of the village.

2. Any more people in here we’re gonna need a lubricant.
This mistake came in two parts. I originally made the mine with a scale of 10'/square then reduced it to 5'/square. Wow, did things get crammed. Then to make it worse I applied the number of monsters with a heavy hand. I didn't realize this until I started putting miniature tokens down and thinking, there is no room in here. The players used the small corridors to their advantage. They fell back and funneled the monsters through so only one could attack at a time. But because of the number of monsters they were still getting whittled down at an alarming rate.

The second part of this mistake was I had too many HD worth of monsters in the room considering the level of the players. I designed this adventure to be for 1st through 3rd levels. One or two good cracks from a zombie and all of a sudden Mr. Balls to the Wall fighter is having a very bad day. In one room I had 8 zombies, 16HD worth of critters. The players and I agreed that was too many.

The solution for this is I plan to keep the map at its 5'/square because it is a mine and the crammed spaces was the effect I was looking for, but for each room I am cutting the number of monsters in half. That one room where I described had 8 zombies, it was only a 10' x 15' room. This solves the cramped conditions and the reduction in HD per room.

3. Me and my Shadows.
As above I had some rooms with too many HD worth of creatures and in other rooms the abilities and challenge levels of some of the monsters I included were too high, like a Shadow. I had two Shadows in one area. With two 3HD creatures with an AC of 18 and a strength draining attack can cut the adventure short.

Solution, I think the Shadow is a good challenge so I am keeping one of them. The players will need to learn that sometimes hightailing it out of dodge is the better, wiser part of valor. You can't spend all that gold if you're dead.

4. Huh? How did we get here?
Usually this is something I do well, but for some reason did not bother to include it in this adventure and that is reason why the players would be involved. I like to develop three to five possible scenarios why the players would put themselves into the current situation. I like to have something better than, 'because that's where the action is'. Although I pretty much did that this time.

Solution, write the three to five hooks to get the players involved right away.

This is the first time I've playtested an adventure of mine and I learned a lot. When I finished writing the adventure I thought it was good, but did not see the problems until I played it. So thank you Rob and Dwayne for helping out and your suggestions will definitely make this a better adventure. I hope to have the adventure completed and posted by next week.



Where are you??

Castles & Crusades Adventure Playtest

Monday night Rob and Dwayne started going through my adventure module I'd designed from the C&C rules. I definitely enjoy the 1e feel of the system and the parts they simplify. Still being new to C&C the three of us worked out some combat glitches and I'm still getting a grasp on when you add a character's level to a roll.

The first part was a quick character creation. I let the players choose which of the two ways they would like to roll, 3d6 reroll ones or 4d6 and toss the lowest. Each would get six rolls and they could put them into any stat they chose. I want them to have competent characters and the system works well, a player does not unbalance the game due to great rolls. A quick purchase of items and off they went into wilderness.

There was little to no set up for this adventure. Something I need to add. I had them encounter a group of skeletons right off to have a sample combat and warm up those virtual dice. We use Fantasy Grounds 2 and Skype. Combat went well, but both had piercing weapons so all their damage was halved. During this sample combat Rob rolled a critical and I always like to see what the players want to do, double damage or automatic max damage. They opted for the max damage because some class skills already grant double damage.

The funniest part of the night was when they were fighting a skeleton warrior. Dwayne was firing arrows at it while Rob finished off another skeleton. When Rob was done he ran over to engage the skeleton warrior. Shooting through an occupied space is -4. We made the rule that if a player shot through that space and missed his target within that -4 he possibly hit the other player. Well Dwayne missed in that -4 span. I had him roll to see if he hit Rob. Natural 20! Rob screamed out, "You killed me man!" Automatic max damage put Rob six below zero. I couldn't talk for a minute or so because I was laughing so hard. Favorite part of my night.

After the battle both of them agreed they needed some sort of healer in the group. Rob recovered some of his hit points and we stopped there for the night. We plan on continuing the game on Thursday.

Once I finish running them through the dungeon, see what their suggestions are and what I think needs tweaked I will post it here. I hope everyone has a great gaming night. Laugh a lot and don't eat too many chips.

Henchmen or Pit Detectors

In my early days of D&D henchmen were called followers. For some reason we came up with this rule that you gained the number of followers equal to your Charisma +1d4. Why the additional d4, not clue. We used our followers pretty much as pit detectors. Tied a rope around their waist and had them lead the way. If they disappeared through the floor it was noted. We'd pull them up and hope they could find another pit for us. Not once did these faithful followers ever complain. If one died in a fall we cut the rope and tied it to the next follower in line. Not one peep did he make.

Henchmen don't play a big role in most of the campaigns I have participated in lately. Allies are gained through role-playing and having similar goals. It's all complicated and strategic. But I do miss the old days where having a small legion of no named minions of pit detection. Last night I started play testing Castles & Crusades and the party running through the adventure definitely could benefit from a few worthy red shirts. All DMs, or in this case a Castle Keepers, should practice the death scream of the red shirt. Totally worth it. Good for a laugh and fun to do.

I am considering being more responsible and having the henchmen specialize in jobs that assist the players. I've been reading a lot of rulebooks of late and I would like to bring back the henchmen, a support staff for the players. And for once they will have names. Names they can drink to at the tavern after a good haul. "To Jameson, the best damn pit detector I've ever known. Salute."

I'm interested in how others handle these henchmen in their games. So please let me know.

Random Ramblings #4

I'm excited to announce that Part 1 of an interview with Bob Liddil will be posted tomorrow. His experience with self-publishing 20 years ago is invaluable. So check in tomorrow and see what Bob has to say.

Finally, I completed the first adventure for Castles & Crusades. The overall plan is to make the adventure short enough to complete in a single night. Of course this will depend on the CK's style and how much combat goes on. This will be the first leg of a three part adventure. Rob (Bat in the Attic) and Dwayne (Gamer's Closet) agreed to play test it for me soon. After that I'll be posting it here.

My character, Torrin of the Red Hand, continues to gain a reputation and fame he wishes would fall onto someone else. Torrin is now in charge of protecting Lake Town. Dwayne placed in this world without the craftsmen we would need to make armor or even find the metal to make a weapon or shield. But during one of my adventures I freed a fallen soldier from his undead existence and he told me of the Krill, dwarven equivalent in this land. I finally got around to finding them and was able to strike a deal, Lake Town has pearls they have iron. So now resource trading has begun in earnest and has been fun developing. Here's what we have so far.

-Lake Town trade fish and food in general for protection. The knight and paladins from the castle patrol the area.
-Lake Town has pearls and we are now trading it for iron from the Krill. This is a huge boon. And they sent a long a master anvil banger to train a few of my men in weapon and armor crafting.
-I've made a tentative alliance with a group of griffin riders. I saved a rider's life in an earlier adventure and Rob healed the griffin.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. It's opening weekend for the NFL. My team, the Steelers, already got their win for the week so tomorrow I'll have more time to write instead of shouting at the radio.

Castles & Crusades and the Benefits of One Session Adventures

I finally get a day off to do some writing and I've done nothing. Here I have all this time on my hands and I haven't written except for the few blogs I commented on. I passed the time by listened to the latest RPG Circus, which was pretty good and watched an episode of Big Bang Theory which I'd seen at least three times before. What I should be working on is the Castles & Crusades adventure I've been writing and planning for a month or more now. I'm blogging to get my creative juices flowing and my fingers moving.

The first leg of the adventure is written. Just need to do some edits and waiting for a few art pieces. The second leg is laid out and the writing begun, but this is where I am stalled. The third leg, the climax is outlined just waiting to be written. The goal is to build three connecting adventures where each part can be played in a single session. A single session to me is a three hour time period. That's about what I try to limit my sessions to unless we are in the middle of a grand daddy of a brawl.

There has been a resurgence of 'mega-dungeons'. And I love the thought of a sprawling dungeon that has hundreds of levels and thousands of rooms, but in my game, it's not practical and it gets boring after a while. It's like a movie where every scene there is a fight or some kind of violence going on. It may be powerful and thoughtful in the beginning, but after a while you grow numb. Please don't think I am bashing mega-dungeons because I am not. In my writer's mind's eye, when I imagine the depths and countless passages and rooms and horrible creatures hunting one another it is awesome to think about.

A while back I bought a few books from a d20 game called Dungeon World. It is basically a game that is one entire dungeon. This may not be the greatest example since the game itself is not good. It reminds me of the old TSR modules where rooms and monsters are static, waiting for the players to arrive to activate them. I can't imagine trying to detail the interaction between the rooms and levels of a mega dungeon. I know Fight On! was putting out different levels of a big dungeon, not sure if it qualifies for a mega-dungeon. How big does a dungeon need to be to qualify as a mega dungeon? It all sounds fun, but tedious after a while and then the players start the dreaded grind. Meaning, the players aren't paying attention to details, they just repeat a checklist of actions.

My preference for now, which could change by Thursday, is the smaller scale adventures with a good story line. Or at least I hope a good story line. It allows me as a GM (or CK if you prefer) to develop back stories for the characters and the campaign. To help the players develop their characters with details and choices made early on. It gives the players short term goals to achieve and keeps them engaged. It allows the player's the shape the world in small areas, as simple as saving a village, but no less important for those villagers who are now an ally of the characters which may become important later on.

Hope my rambling made some sort of sense. My fingers are loosened up and I'm ready to get to work on part 2. The first part of the adventure I hope to have up by this weekend.

A New Class of Cleric

For the few of you that follow this blog knows that I've been grooving with Castles & Crusades lately and have been working on an adventure which I promise to have out soon. What I am planning is to create a series of three adventures that are linked. And I am hoping that each adventure can be completed in a single session. That is the intent. Whether the results match is another matter.

So what's the first thing I do, I throw the cleric class out the window for my NPC and make a new one. I created a specialized cleric of an undead god. Most gods have an aspect and it makes sense that their clerics would have specialization in that aspect. I used Castle & Crusades mechanics and rules. I just fiddled with them a bit. I made a sub class I guess you could call it. Here is the Cleric of Be'Ellon with its powers up to 5th level.

Cleric of Be'Ellon
Clerics of Be'Ellon use the same experience table and hit dice as a normal cleric. They do not gain spells, but rather improve their abilities at creating and controlling undead.

Weapons: Any except swords, but they prefer heavy maces. Be'Ellon is often depicted wielding a large mace in the shape of a skull with metal spikes.

Armor: Any.

Alignment: Clerics of Be'Ellon can only be Chaotic Evil aligned. Since the worship of Be'Ellon is outlawed in almost every kingdom his shrines are hidden in the dark places of society and in the wilderness. They have no loyalty to anyone except slightly to those within their sect and even then only a strong leader can keep the clerics from potting against one another.

Abilities:
Immunity to Disease: Working with undead makes the clerics impervious to naturally occurring diseases. If the disease is magical or divine in nature a cleric saves at +2. Be'Ellon's faithful gain this ability at 1st level.

Control Undead: Clerics of Be'Ellon cannot turn undead, but control them. Unlike other clerics who have to be five levels above the undead to control them, a Cleric of Be'Ellon needs only be of equal level. Also other clerics can control five times their level the number of hit dice of the undead. Be'Ellon's faithful can control ten times their level.

Detect Undead: At 1st level a cleric has the ability to detect undead as per the spell. Instead of detecting undead in the direction he is facing he can detect undead in a 150' radius. A cleric can use this ability once per day per level and there is no component cost.

Animate Dead: Clerics of Be'Ellon gain this power at 1st level. They can begin creating zombies and skeletons. To use this ability the cleric must expend 10gp in components.

Skeletal Warriors: At 3rd level a cleric will gain his first skeletal warrior (see New Monsters & Treasure section). And will gain an addition skeletal warrior every other level. These minions do not count toward the number of undead hit dice a cleric can control. It costs 100gp in components to create a skeletal warrior.

Minor Immunity to Undead: This allows a cleric to pass by minor undead creature (skeletons & zombies) without being attacked. This only works if the undead are not controlled by another. This immunity is broken if the cleric attacks the undead. Clerics of Be'Ellon gain this power at 3rd level.

Speak with Dead: Upon reaching 3rd level the cleric will be able to speak with the dead once/day/level. It takes 50gp worth of components to perform this ritual.

Lantern of Darkness: See New Monsters & Treasure section.

Unhallowed Ground: At 5th level the cleric may create a sacred place for Be'Ellon. The place must be underground or in a place where sunlight cannot reach, it must have an altar and 500gp worth of religious trappings. Unhallowed Ground provides several benefits for the cleric:
1) Provides protection from those of good alignment, giving the cleric and his undead a +2 to AC.
2) Undead cannot be turned in this area.
3) Anyone who dies will turn into a zombie 12 hours later.
4) All clerics need to make a save vs. spell to successfully cast a spell.
Successfully casting the spell has a 35% chance of attracting a shadow guardian. The shadow is linked with the sacred area and has no loyalty to the cleric.
If the altar is destroyed then the blessing is broken.

Summon Minor Undead: At 5th level the cleric may summon any zombies and skeletons in a one mile radius that is not under the control of another. Depending on how far away these undead is will determine how long it will take them to reach the cleric. It costs 100gp in components to cast this ritual and can be cast weekly.

Adventure Design

Lately I've been absorbing Castles & Crusades, learning the rules and its subtleties. One of the best ways for me to learn a system is to make characters. I'll create a couple characters for each class then go through a few mock combats. I am lousy at figuring out the initial rules of games so I often ask Rob or Dwayne for clarification. This time around it hasn't been too difficult of a learning process, mainly because C&C is so closely related to 1st edition AD&D. Gaining confidence in my knowledge of the system I thought it would be great to write an adventure.

For the past two, maybe three, weekends I have been dedicating a large chunk of time creating an adventure module for C&C. The premise of the module is it would be the first in a series of short adventures. Each adventure could be completed in a single gaming session. The players would start out as 1st level goobers and by the end of the series should be 5th level or somewhere in that area. The centerpiece of the adventures would be the Village of Aberton, a place where the players can rest, heal and get support from the villagers. Plus, it provides a place for character development and the exploration of the storylines within the village.

I think I have a good background and situation developed for the first adventure. I have interesting characters with histories that color the village. Rob is helping me with maps. It's a good thing to be friends with one of the best cartographers around. But, the one thing Rob, Dwayne and I have absolutely no talent in what so ever is drawing. So art will be minimal to non-existent.

I hope to have it completed before the end of the month. When it's done I'll post it on Gothridge Manor and possibly on RPG Now for a free download. If the response is good then I'll produce the series further and possibly start selling it in which case I could buy a few pictures.

On another note, our gaming night is tomorrow. Rob and I continue on in Dwayne's apocalyptic campaign. Should you have any interest in our game Rob of Bat in the Attic is twittering the session. We start tomorrow at 6:30pm EST, which means we really start between 7pm and 7:30pm.