Kickstarter: The Majestic Fantasy RPG

 

So there is this guy, let's call him Rob, because that's his name. He's got this Kickstarter. It's called the Majestic Fantasy RPG. It's a standalone RPG & supplement for Swords & Wizardry. It covers 1st thru 5th levels. 

Rob and I have been friends for more years than I can count. I've played in all his variations of his campaign through the years. Basic, AD&D, GURPS, a brief stint of 3.0, Runequest, and most recently 5th edition D&D. I'm sure he snuck in Harn for a few weeks. 

This version however is his own creation. One where he's taken his decades of experience of running his campaign and solidifying it into a system that uses Swords & Wizardry as the chassis. I've  had the pleasure of seeing his system develop and play in games to try out the different rules and they work. They work fantastically well. Many of his ideas I've adapted for my own game. 

He's got 5 days left as of this writing. I hope if you haven't you consider joining his campaign. The buy in price is low at $8 for the PDF and $12 for the print. In addition you get a coupon to get a print version of Blackmarch which is the BEST hex crawl product out there. I'm bias, but I know my hex crawls also. 

The Majestic Fantasy RPG Basic Rules is waiting for you.  

Con Report: Huge Fun

Thursday the 16th
I arrive at the Con at the Cob hotel without a mishap like last year when my Google maps sent me to the wrong exit.  My roomie for the con, +Ken H pulled into the hotel at the exact same time.  Which made coordinating things easier.  I showed him the layout of the con since it was pretty much set up the same as last year.  When we checked in I got to meet +Tim Snider who greeted me with a The Savage Afterworld d6.  He was running the Pacesetter booth and was running the game later that day, a Cryptworld adventure.  It was great to final meet Tim, I've known his blog for years and he assisted me with one of my projects.

1st Game Session: Dwimmermount

Like all the mega-dungeons I get, as soon as I get them I can't read them because I'm going to be playing in them.  +Jim Yoder ran us through as much Dwimmermount as we could get through in a 4-hour period.  I played a fighter with a 5 intelligence, Ken played another 5 intelligence guy and the third member of out party was Dave (or better known as imredave (Forgotten Runes is his blog), his guy had a 15 intelligence.  I became the door open upper.  From my memory fog banks I think we got through most of the rooms without too much of a problem except the one with the iron masks.  Dave wanted to go back and grab the one off the floor and another one off the wall.  The second one cost him his character's life.  The great thing about playing con games is there is no tomorrow either way.

Interlude
Ken and I checked into our room and chilled out for a bit.  He had come in from a 7 hour drive and right into the Dwimmermount game.  We got something to eat, walked around the vendors and bought stuff.

A pair of Ravenloft boxsets.  A little worn, but the boxes were in good shape and everything was inside (I think).  I've been grooving on Ravenloft lately so I had to grab these two.  I found these and the following at the Goodman Games booth manned by +Roy Snyder.  He was to run our Saturday DCC game.  I was hoping to meet +Doug Kovacs, but I think he was 'sleeping it off'.

More Ravenloft, the 3rd Monstrous Companion.  I was a little dismayed when discovered that stain to the right was no part of the cover design.  That unidentified stain will hopefully wash off.  Then I bought Dungeon Builders because it was buy 3 get 1 free.  The verdict is still out on this one.  What little I did see was a bit of a disappointment.

I already shared this picture, but I'm doing it again.  I went over to Tim Snider's booth he was manning for Pacesetter and purchased Cryptworld and Rotworld.  How could I not?  In addition I received copies of the colored action card and a couple of Pacesetter d10s.  Tim was running our next game so I headed back to the room before and read through some of the stuff I bought.

2nd Game Session: Cryptworld
+Tim Snider, a 30+ year veteran of running Pacesetter games, was the best person to have running a game to introduce you to Cryptworld (or any of them).  His name is on the inside as one of the writers.  He went through a quick intro into the system.  Gave out pre-gens and I think within 15-minutes we began our investigation.  Also, what was fun, was the party fell in together quickly.  We started exploring the haunted mine park and having a ton of fun.  The highlight of the session was this overly complicated way to deal with a pair of rattlesnakes.  It involved a metal desk and an air conditioner.  But who am I to judge?  The plan worked!

After the session I met up with +Rob Conley and +Daniel McEntee.  We sorta, kinda made some tentative plans.

Friday the 17th
We had a light schedule for today.  One game, but before I left it had been cancelled.  So that mean I had no game scheduled.  Ken went on a scavenger hunt to find a not so little red wagon.  I joke you not.  I wandered a bit with Rob and Dan and we found a DCC game.

3rd Game Session: DCC
The adventure we went through was Frozen in Time.  This was a 0-level funnel and we were playing cave men.  Surprisingly, most of our plans worked.  Sure, we fell ass backwards into some solutions, but they worked.  I think I only lost one of my four guys. 

Ken came back successful with his not so little red wagon.  And I planned to run my Esoterrorists game later.  +Chris C. showed up in the evening and after a horrible pizza and some Pop Tarts we found a table.

4th Game Session: Esoterrorists
I haven't GMed much lately so it was fantastic to be able to do it in person with the group.  I had some handouts for the players that they all seemed to appreciate.  I built the adventure around my local area using a lot of real information.  Rob was Googling some of the stuff I was saying and got a little freaked out when he found out they were true.  I think the players had fun, I know I did.  But time caught up with us and we all agreed to call it a day.  Chris wrote a telling post, on his blog The Clash of Spear on Shield that is horribly true.  We are getting old and just don't have the stamina or ability to bounce back after a late night like we used to. 

Saturday the 18th
We met for breakfast and figured out the day's schedule.  We had a early afternoon DCC game and then to finish out the con we would be playing in Rob's last adventure of the con.  Ken and I discussed this even before the con, we had schedule to play in a game on Sunday, but both of us wanted to get an early start home.  So we both passed on Sunday's game.  

5th Game Session: DCC
This adventure was called Tower Out of Time.  Roy ran us through this one.  We had the chance to play 2nd level characters.  I felt like a god in DCC terms.  I've only ever played 0-level dudes.  If you are squeamish about trembling membranes fill with goo, slimy excretions or bulging zits, do not play this adventure.  You'll vomit on your character sheet and your neighbor's.  Again, the party did surprisingly well except for Chris, whose character died and somehow merged with a monkey spirit.

Here's what my badge looked like after the con.  I dig those pins.

I also scored to envelopes of DCC swag. 

And while I was wandering around the vendors I'd been eyeballing this one picture I really liked and wanted to get a copy.  I was finally able to connect with artist, Eric Kempher and grab a copy.  Ken and Dan also bought a piece or two from him.  Dan got one of his originals.

I had to get the zombie emerging from the black mist.  Got it in two sizes and then bought the skeleton warrior crawling out from beneath some rocks.  Need to find more frames!

I also met with +Jolly Blackburn and talked about the upcoming Hackmast DMG.  What he said sounds promising.  I wish I had thought of asking for a postcard sketch of the KotDT.  Doh, maybe next time.

6th and Final Game Session: OD&D Majestic Wilderlands
Mr. Conley has written another very cool adventure.  We rolled up our own characters in the beginning and I chose to be a paladin.  I couldn't tell you how long ago it was since I played one.  And if I do say so myself, I played him very well.  Instead of a paladin who tore the party apart with idealistic rants, I was able to keep the party together.  Again, the Monday night group got to sit around and play face-to-face which can never be duplicated on-line.  It was a lot of fun.  Rob was superb GM as always and I recommend anyone to play in one of his games.

Sunday the 19th
Ken left early, he had a 7-hour drive in front of him.  I met Chris, Dan and Rob for a quick breakfast.  It was great to have had the chance to play with all of them face-to-face.  The con was a lot of fun, but I was tired and was looking forward to getting home to the wife and pups.  If that was incentive enough, Ivy had been baking all the time I was gone.

I came home, petting wife and kissed the pups...reverse that.  Ate a couple of bake goods and immediately took a nap with the pups drape over me.  It was good to be home.

Con on the Cob 2014 was fantastic.    

The FATE of FUDGE

Last night our Monday Night group did a playtest in +Rob Conley's Majestic Wilderlands using the FUDGE system.  I have only played in one other session using the FUDGE system, so my experience is limited.  At the Con on the Cob last year I bought a pack of FATE dice.  I'm not sure what the differences are between the two systems.

I'm not sure I like the system all that much.  There is a different feel to it to say the least.  Could be it just felt awkward because I wasn't used to the system.  The after game discussion included some of the tropes of the system.  Minions and bosses.  It's all sort of patched together in my head.  I have the ruleset, but haven't read it.

But the adventure itself was interesting.  I played Maximellius, an eccentric mage who made monkeys out of pipe cleaners.  I used to work the craft shows for years with my wife so I brought the desperate realism to the game, "BUY MY MONKEYS!"

Some Quick Shots

• Rob used a tavern map from Harn.  After last night's session, while I love the details in the maps, with all the numbers and symbols, Harn maps are too cluttered for my taste.  
•  Anyway, the other players were +Ken H  playing cleric of Dannu which he played to the hilt.  I give him honors with his roleplaying.  "Dannu, forgive me for soiling my pants."  
• +Chris C. was the glue gun for the party and gave the adventure motion.  He played an honest, hard working bouncer that seemed to always be on the verge of being over his head at any given moment.
• And +Daniel McEntee played...I think an alchemist.  He kept making tea.  
• Skill resolution was interesting and fun.  I thought the skills worked very well in this system, but I am far from sold on how combat works.

The adventure was a very slice of life type, in a tavern, things happened and then the main hook is set.  We set off to save a noble gone missing.  We track him through a gambling house where Ken spent most of his allotted mana to talk with dogs during a dog fight and pissing the patrons off.  I continued to do odd things that were in my pockets.  While we questioned a street urchin about what he saw, we felt he was not being honest, so I pulled out a piece of chalk from my soggy pocket and began writing around the boy.  This made him nervous and when I was done, I had completed a potato stew recipe.  It was excellent.

We finally tracked the noble to a tenement.  After a short attack and a little hand waving of minions due to the time crunch, we met the big boss suckling herself to the noble's neck.  This is where I wasn't sure how well the system worked.  My mage was completely useless against the boss.  I'm not sure if it was because of good rolls by the GM, which I didn't notice them being all that great, or my inept rolls...I had a bunch of those.

I'm not sure I liked that fact that my guys and I think most of our guys were unable to effect the boss.  Again, this may be the standard for this kind of system.  I don't have enough experience to know.  While the adventure was a blast, I need to read up on the system. 

Gaming History in a Campaign

I've run a couple of handfuls of campaigns in my time.  Most of the them were short runs.  Only once did I have a long run.  But in all of them there was never a true 'gaming' history to my worlds.  I'd make up something new each time I ran a game.  So that sense of history isn't there.

Rob Conley over at Bat in the Attic has been running his Majestic Wilderlands campaign over thirty years now.  When you start playing in City-State you know you are walking into a place neck deep in history and he knows it all.  Rob doesn't hit you with exposition of info dumps, he lets you experience it.  When you go into the tavern it bears the scars from the previous adventurers that have come through.  When you are dealing with a guild master you know their is a organization behind him based on guild laws pasted on for ages.  Walking across the landscape you can feel the ghosts of the soldiers who fought on this land.  This is not hyperbole.  This is what I experience when I game with Rob. 

Many campaigns, including my own, lack this depth, lack the character only age can bring.  Only playing it year after year with different people at different times can it be developed.  I know my Monday night campaign will be coming to a close soon and Rob will start a new Majestic Wilderlands game.  I'm looking forward to skulking through the streets again.  I'm probably one of the people who has played through it the most and each time I play I still find something new.  I still find things that surprise me.  How many campaigns can say that after 30 years?

Reflections on an Old School Campgain

We've been playing in Rob's S&W Wilderlands campaign for a good while now. I can't even remember when we started. My character Ashling is 10th level Mountebank. Which means I'm part thief, part magic-user. A fun combination.

Our group is using  Rob's Supplement VI: The Majestic Wilderlands. This is my first old school campaign in many years. I believe that last 'D&D' campaign I played in must have been in '86. I'm guessing. Might have been later, but not much.

I do not hide the fact that I like options and flexibility in the games I play. When I read old school clones and especially the original it seems very confined and strict. Three classes and race classes (which I cannot tell you how much I loathe). But with Rob's addition there are sub-types of classes that provide specialized options. I'm not one who needs to know the science of the damage differential between falling 20' on stone or 20' on grass. I like to know when I reach 5th level in any class that I am just not a carbon copy of every other person who is 5th level in that class.  

Rob balances it well and his campaign world is as rich as ever. There is a ton of places to explore and always something new to discover. I think S&W has suited this campaign and made it easy to run without too many runs to the rule book.

And I think that's what makes it a success striking a balance between exploration, gaining power, and conflict both socially and physically.  The depth of the history of the land is evident at every turn.  When you walk into a town or dungeon there is a history there.  Footsteps of contemporaries and ancients are before you.    There is a sort of poetry to it.  A balance.  Something you can appreciate during your first campaign or the twentieth. 

How Important is Artwork?

While I am working on my next project, a short adventure, I am wondering how important art is to those of you out in gaming land. I know it is important to the more professional companies, but what about the little guy starting out. Since my war chest is nearly empty (because I am addicted to RPGNow, love that site) I don't have the money to buy original drawings. Sure I could fish around on the net and find common domain medieval woodcuttings that we have all seen a hundred times, but is it that important that I fill space with reruns. To me it's like watching the same episode of Frazier for the umpteenth time. I appreciate the woodcuttings and the episode where Frazier and Niles attempt to write a book, but my time and your time could definitely be used better.

This is not a shot at art not being important. Rob is currently working on his Scourge of the Demon Wolf Adventure and he contracted a couple of local guys to his art. They've done an incredible job. Their visuals have really enhanced the adventure. Rob earned enough from his Majestic Wilderlands sales to contract them. In the Majestic Wilderlands Supplement Rob used the medieval woodcuttings, Renaissance paintings and some of his homemade sketches. I think artwork was needed for his book because of the length and that is was jam packed with information. But for the short adventure I am developing I don't think it's needed.

I considered my hand at a few of my own sketches, but here is why I won't. I've never bought a product because of the art, but I have not bought a product because of the art. In other words I don't want it to look cheap and amateurish. I'd rather have a clean look. Another reason I prefer this is it is more printer friendly. Printing out pictures you have seen a ton of times and probably has nothing to do with the adventure is a waste of money.

But...here I am blogging away to ask a question as I often do. To me it makes complete sense to approach the creation of my adventure this way, but as being one of the lousiest business men in the world I do like to hear opinions of others. In cases like this I am well aware I am too focused and close to see other possibilities so I ask to those out there that are in the business or interested in buying one of my adventures how important is the artwork?

Allowing Class Abilities to Leak into Other Classes

Last night was our usual game night and Rusty's character went through trails so he could finally reach 5th level. Which is good because now I don't have to carry his slacker ass any longer. Anyways, his class of mage has this ability to deflect magic. Being a different class of mage I want to learn that ability.

The discussion that followed was that I would need to switch classes and become a dual class character. Or they would put my character on the higher xp chart. Or as I suggested allow me to learn this ability at a lower level.

I'm not interested in switching classes. If this is the price I would chose not to learn the ability. Being placed on a higher xp chart would be doable, but I would want to learn the ability at the same level then. Or if the Gm decided to allow me to learn this magic shield at a lesser ability then I would be cool with that also. Anything Rob decided will be fine by me. We will discuss it later on this week on how to approach this.

This is some of the things I like to do to push the class abilities a little and in turn it helps Rob develop his campaign world. He always listens to suggestions. I don't want to do anything that will screw up the balance of his world. I just like to see what areas I can expand my character into.

Curious to hear what others have done in this situation.

No Way Out?

Some players just don't learn. I'm one of them. At times. Recently we had our first character death after charging into battle against two black dragons. In one way we were lucky they were not too old. We were able to buy some time by Rob, the GM. allowed us to use our web spells to engulf the dragon's head. This bought us one round both time we did it. Rusty's guy failed his saving throw and was reduced to a pile of ash. At the end we did get a nice sum of loot, but wondered how we could have handled it differently.

First off, Rob's Wilderlands is a brutal place. Battle is often the solution especially dealing with critters. The original intent of our journey was to trade a rock for books so we could trade the books for a few magic items. As we approached the gnome home we were goblin charged. Sleep spells made short work of them and another group of goblins were scorched by an awesome fireball from yours truely. When we got inside the gnomes were a bit miffed that we killed our their goblins. Who knew. Once we flashed them our rock they didn't think much of it.

After the trade we went outside and that's when we encountered the dragons. They wanted to know who killed the dragons and Dwayne admitted we had. Well that made them mad. That's when the fight started and this is where I was thinking if there could have been any other choice. The gnomes had locked the door behind us. The dragons were infront of us and didn't see anyway we could have avoided the fight.

I took the approach of hit it first and hard. We were able to defeat the dragons, but that could have been three pile of ashes instead of one. I don't think the dragons were in much of a mood for talking. It was just one of those situations where I would have liked to have avoided, but I don't believe there was any other way. In the end we were able to bring Rusty back to the land of the living, a bit more wiser.

Fresh Blood

The kick off session for Rob Conley's Majestic Wilderlands was a smashing success. Unfortunately it was me who got smashed. Not drink smashed. Beat in the head smashed. Dwayne for Gamer's Closet and our newbie in the group Ken for the Rusty Battle Axe fame got chased out of town at the conclusion of our first session. Outstanding. Sometimes I wonder if a gaming session goes by where someone isn't thrown out of a tavern, brothel, town or kingdom was it right. Being chased out of somewhere is a standard in gaming. And let me tell you my guy ran like hell.

I'm playing an elf Monteblank. It's a cool combo. I get a few points of social graces because I'm an elf. I'm playing him as a con man. Complimentary, respectful, but still has the aloofness of an elf. But I want it to come off as being cultured and not arrogant. So I had this plan. It was a good plan. It really was. But I overestimated the forethought of a group of thugs. I stole this book, a valuable book with lots of good info. Thought the thugs wanted it for the treasure possibilities. Nope. They took the book by mistake. I spent a good part of the session making a copy of the book so I could sell the original back to the owner and sell a fake copy to the thugs. I didn't want them to know where the magic items were. I wanted them. Dwayne made a butt load of coin from the owner. I got a butt load of whoop ass from the thugs. My Chariots of Fire like pursuit led me through some fabulous parts of the city as I headed for the gates at top speed.

I think I need my own theme music when I run. I'll discuss that with Rob.

It was great to have Ken in the group. Every group needs an infusion of new blood every once in a while to freshen things up and to add a new dynamic. Ken adding a great deal from the start. I know he was fretting about fitting in or knowing Rob's extensive history. But hell I don't know half of what's going on at the time either. Rob starts talking about the two thousand year history of the acorns the elves used to worship, I glaze over. I can't help it. I just tell him to send me the write up, and he has billions of those, and I'll read it.

Our next leg of the journey will take us through some hostile territory. Not sure I need to add the word hostile since it seems we made the last place we were at hostile. I'm hoping they didn't see who we were so I can go back and get a good night's sleep and maybe get a small amount of revenge. Just a little.

Character Creation Part 2

So far this is what I have. I have decided to play an elven monteblack. This should be an interesting combination.
With the racial stats added gives me some great stats. Because all my stats are over 13, I get +1 to rolls on all of them. And Rob said because my dexterity is so high I get +2.

Strength: 13
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 19 Rob said my dex could go this high. Rah!
Constitution: 16
Charisma: 13

I've had to tweak my equipment list because Rob had his own price chart and items. It's pretty much the same just a nudge here and there. Rob uses his own monetary system which I think is a good one, but does not match with other price lists.

I only need one hand to cast, but I still bought a buckler. I have one spell for the next couple of levels so something tells me that buckler is going to get used more than my spell. The other reason I like having some type of shield is Rob allows you to use your shield to ward off one attack even if it hit, but it destroys the shield. I think I'm going to need that advantage.

I got to select three spells from the first level and Read Magic. Of course you have to select Sleep, it's a no brainer. I also selected Charm Person because I think that will definitely come in handy since a lot of Rob's adventures are within the city and dealing with mean people. The cool thing is I don't have to preselect which spell I am going to choose that day. I can just cast once. That flexibility will be nice.

Included below is a copy of my character sheet. One that Rob created. A nice simple layout for a nice simple game.



Part 3 will consist of developing a background for my character. Rob and spoke briefly about this and he is intrigued of having an elf monteblank. I always like nudging his boundries a bit by creating something a bit out of the ordinary.

Character Creation Part 1

So tonight I am rolling up my Character for Rob Conley's Swords & Wizardry campaign. First off the dice selection is vital. Since our group has mainly played GURPS d6s are all you need. BUT, you want to roll different groups of d6s because in GURPS you want to roll low to hit and high on damage. It's bad voodoo to use the same set of dice for both tasks. So you need damage dice and to hit dice. Since I am rolling stats for my character then I am rolling the damage dice. So I got 4d6 rolling for stats taking out the lowest. Here goes!

Strength: 13
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 13
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 15
Charisma: 12

Wow, killer rolls. This was done straight through no adjustments of any kind. That 17 dexterity is looking shiny for a thief class, but I am going to pursue Supplement VI to check out my possibilities. With stats like this I can make almost anything. I think I'll pick my class before my race. Then I can use the racial attribute boosts to enhance the class I want.

Yesterday I wrote about being a Monteblank or a magic wielding thief and I think my guy is set up pretty good for it so Monteblank it is. Now I have to select a race. I am usually just a vanilla human, but I definitely want to mix it up a bit this time. Being an elf is an obvious choice because with the +2 dexterity, +1 constitution and +1 charisma it's hard not to love all those bonuses and racial perks. Hmm a halfling...still can't bring myself to play a furry foot. A half-elves is a definite possibility. I'm not seeing playing a dwarf or gnome. I know Rob's campaigns and playing a serpent man, orc, goblin, reptile or lizard man will just complicate the party dynamics. But playing a Viridian, a half demon that gets extra spells per day, is tempting as hell. No pun intended. Well looking at all the benefits of being an elf I can't pass up. Elf it is. I'll have to contact to see if my dexterity can go to 19.

I have my stats, class, and race figured out. I'll roll for starting gold. Getting those damage dice out again. I get 3d6 multiply by 10 starting gold. Excellent, 140gp. Time to shop. Now the thing I have to remember that Rob plans to do in this campaign is use components for his ritual system, where it costs the level of the spell squared and ten in components. So a 3rd level spell would cost me 90gp in components to cast. But since I can't cast any at first level I'm going to worry about it, but keep a stash as I go for when I can. Time to go shopping.

First thing I buy is armor and weapons. Since I can wear leather armor I'm getting a suit and a shield. I'll have to ask Rob about when I cast if I will need both hands free or just one. But since I am only going to have one spell in the beginning that shield will come in handy. That's 20gp for the two. For weapons I am getting a light crossbow for distant enemies and for melee I'm going for the short sword. And I am going to pick up a dagger just because it seems like any adventurer should not leave home without one. That's 22gp for weapons.

Time for regular equipment. Getting a backpack, 50ft of rope, grappling hook, 8 iron spikes and a mallet, two water skins, flint & steel, bedroll, piece of chalk (to mark those pesky dungeon walls), two 15lb capacity sacks and one 30lb capacity sack then finish it out with a four torches. I am skipping the flasks of oil right now which I am sure I will regret, but I would rather not make myself more flammable than normal. Crap forgot food. I'll go for a week's worth of trail rations for now. Total bill rings up as 23gp, 2 sp and 9cp. That leaves me with a total of 94gp, 3sp and 41cp. I like to have extra copper so I am not flaunting my wealth when I go places.

For now my equipment is done. It's always good to keep a stash because those damn GMs always decide to start playing a rule they never did before so you need to be prepared. Plus I may be able to go to a few shops before adventuring and pick up some nice items that will be useful.

The last two things I need to select now are an alignment and a name. Rob usually doesn't play with alignments, but I believe he is using them for this campaign. Being an on the run magic-user who is associated with thieves and being an elf I am thinking of being Lawful Neutral it seems to make the most sense. And now for the name. I went to the Irish name and Ashling stood out. And I always like to add a secondary name. Anubus, a play on the Irish word for death and the Egyptian god of the dead.

Say hello to Ashling Anubus.

The Process of Character Selection

Our group will be starting a new Swords & Wizardry Campaign in less than two weeks. We will be using Rob's Supplement VI: The Majestic Wilderlands and Rob will be GMing. Before each campaign I always ask Rob if there is a certain area in his campaign he wants fleshed out. What class he may want me to take and explore in his game. This is how we playtested most of the stuff in his book. This time Rob wants to run a good old fashion basic campaign. A band of adventurers exploring god knows what looking for a treasure hoard.

So I will let the dice tell me what do play. Usually we roll 4d6 six times and then arrange them in the stats you want. This time it will be a straight roll, no changing the stats around. Currently I am favoring a Montebank, or a Fogger to all you street people. I think one of the most crucial things with me when developing a character is the name. The name should definitely be a part of the personality. Usually I think of a name then develop a background. Because of my familiarity with Rob's setting he trusts me to do this on my own. Not once have I made myself the Rule of Gods and all the Lands beneath them. Except for one guy and his closest friend was Meryl, the cart he pulled around.

Tonight I plan on rolling him up and giving him a name. And if work does not suck all my mental energy out of me then I may start developing a background. I thought it might be interesting to go through the whole character process on the blog.

Rob Conley Interview on RPG Circus

My good friend Rob Conley, author of the Points of Light and Point of Light II by Goodman Games and his own self-published baby Suppliment VI The Majestic Wilderlands, was interviewed on RPG Circus. Please check it out. I think Rob and the RPG Circus crew did a great job.

A Vote for the Ritual System

James M. recently did a review on Rob Conley's Majestic Wilderlands. I read his review and a couple of his negative statements on the Ritual System got me to thinking why it's a good addition to a campaign.

The comments that caught my attention were "I don't much care for the concept of rituals, precisely because it changes the complexion of spellcasting character classes in a profound way. Without the so-called "utility spells" taking up spell slots, spellcasters no longer have to weigh combat effectiveness against the unpredictable needs of adventuring. Should I memorize find traps or hold person is a significant decision..." then finishes with "...I think it (the Ritual System) does serious violence to the class structure of D&D and would never allow the rules to be used in my campaign."

I completely agreed with James when Rob first wanted to introduce the Ritual System. Then we did a few playtests that included the Ritual System and I was shocked by how much it made sense. The effectiveness of the spellcasters increased and it made playing them at low level more enjoyable. In addition almost every historical tome on magic includes the components and specific time or situation needed to complete a ritual. Rob has simplified this into a gold piece cost per ritual. So it makes sense historically and it's very playable.

The other way I think it makes sense is that intelligent races innovate. Intelligent races find ways to make things better in a shorter time. So why would a magic be any different. After years of practicing magic, especially in an adventurer profession world, they would find ways to give them the best chance possible to survive and to thrive. I think a ritual system is a natural progression in what the next step a magic system would take.

Do I think the ritual system is right for every campaign or every GM? Absolutely not. But it's a viable option a GM should consider when developing their world. Options are good. Really.