And the ADRD Continues

Added several new games to the list, and when I get get myself to sit down and work at it got some fun (I think) stuff coming up:

Subclasses for White Star
A random Derelict crawl for White Star
A Cypher System hack of a popular setting concerning a nearly burned out sun and evil sorcerous kings...

[IF/OSR] Narrative Dungeoncrawling

So I've been reading up on hexcrawling and pointcrawling and dungeon and adventure design in anticipation of running an Iron Falcon game. I've looked at random generation, including online generators, of which there are many very nice ones. I've looked up the various bloggers out there who are mapping, and even looked at some tutorials about doing my own maps. Sadly I have very little artistic talent, and I can't even begin to compare myself to some of the talent out there. To sum up, I felt defeated.

But then I realized I need to just do what I do best, and write. I don't need a map, and in fact I prefer not to play with miniatures or maps. I don't need a random generator, as I ran most of my games from the seat of my pants up until recently when I started looking at crawls and frameworks and the like. So I'm just going to go with it, and use what I know.

Some folks won't like this, as they are more visual, and that's cool. Some folks won't enjoy it because it might feel like railroading and too predetermined. That's also cool. I'm doing this for me. I hope you enjoy it, and that it sparks some ideas as all the wealth of information out there has for me.

Narrative Dungeoncrawling

The idea is simple. Make up a bunch of cards that are little more than narrative seeds. Some can be specific, some can be general and reusable. When it is time to get out there and adventure, pick a card, randomly or not, and get there. Here is a sample card:

With a stack full of chamber, connection, and encounter cards I would be able to quickly run a game with very little prep, which is my ultimate goal. Of course it will take time to make the cards, but once that is done I can run many games with very little further work.

I'm sure I'm reinventing the wheel here, but I'm going to go ahead with this anyway.

[IF] Starting a house rules document

So, as it says on the can, I have started a house rules document for Iron Falcon, to make an attempt to bring some more materials in. Not that I will use them, but as an exercise. So far all I have is the Half-Orc race, but I plan on adding the Assassin class, and then we'll see what happens. Want to take a look?

[Edit] Rather than doing a separate doc, I'll just post my ideas here and collect them at a later date if anyone wants me to.

Half-Orc

Half-Orcs are those characters having a Human and Orc parent. A Half-Orc may be a Fighter, Cleric, or Thief, or may choose to be a combination of Cleric/Fighter, Cleric/Thief, or Fighter/Thief. Half-Orcs may not be Magic-Users.

Half-Orc Level Limits

Fighters 

Strength up to 16 - 8th Level

Strength 17 - 9th Level

Strength 18 - 10th Level

Cleric - 4th Level

Thief - No Limit

Half-Orcs always gain a bonus of +1 on rolls to hit and damage with melee weapons, and gain an additional +1 Hit Point Bonus per level in addition to any gained from their Constitution. Due to their Orc nature, they suffer a -2 penalty to their Loyalty Base for all but Orc Men-At-Arms.

Half-Orcs speak Common and Orc, as well as the languages of Hobgoblins and Gnolls. They may still learn additional languages in the normal way.

Half-Orcs have Infravision, granting them the ability to see up to 60’ in the dark.

If a Half-Orc is a Thief, they have the have the following adjustments to their Thief Abilities:

Open Locks +5%

Remove Traps +5

Pick Pockets +0%

Move Silently +0%

Hide in Shadows +0%

Hear Noise +1

And another new game enters the list...

Just picked up Iron Falcon, a very concise and well written retroclone. And as always the creative juices are flowing. Such is the curse of ADRD. More to come...

[F/AGE] Cross Class Magic Specializations

I want a little Mage in my Rogue or Warrior, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So here are some possibilities of Cross Class Magic Specializations:

Shadow Walker

Rogue or Warrior Specialization
You have developed a connection to the shadows, and have learned or been gifted with the ability to control them to some extent...
Novice: You gain 7 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spells shadow dagger and shadow's embrace.
Journeyman: You gain 6 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spell veil of darkness.
Master: You gain 8 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spell shadow slip.

The formula is simple. Learn the spells for the appropriate level, gain enough MP to cast them once + Willpower. If a spell has a variable casting cost, go with the lowest cost, so as not to outclass the Mage. Here is another example:

Vessel of Life

Rogue or Warrior Specialization
You are blessed with the ability to heal others, either through some connection to the essence of life or as a gift granted by some deity...
Novice: You gain 6 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spells healing touch and revival.
Journeyman: You gain 3 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spell healing aura.
Master: You gain 15 + Willpower Magic Points and learn the spell restoration.

Fantasy Age is in the House!

Okay folks, I just picked up Fantasy Age, and I gotta say, I've been waiting for this since the first Dragon Age boxed set came out. Yeah you could (and I did) hack DA into your own setting, but I love how they have streamlined and updated an already streamlined system. I can't wait to start using this, and as I do, I'll try to be more active here with my thoughts and ideas.

If you haven't looked at Dragon Age you might want to consider Fantasy Age.

[Exemplars & Eidolons] New Use for the Fray Die

So, I gotta say, I love the Fray die, the idea of heroes lashing out almost casually and smiting foes no matter what their actual action might be. That said, here is an idea about another possible use of the Fray die:

Impenetrable Defense: Commit Effort. While it remains committed you may roll your Fray die once per round to deflect an equal amount of damage you would receive from a successful attack against you. You may not use your Fray die to deal damage in the same round you use it for defense.

[D&D 5e] The Hidden World - Class(es?)

Okay, so +Erik Westmarch questioned why my goal to use one class, and while I responded that it was something I was toying around with, I decided last night that I was not going to attempt that goal. However, I don't want to focus on classes being as different as archetypes, so I think I am going to try and work up the following:

• Hunter
• Ascetic (similar to a Monk)
• Berzerk (similar to a Barbarian)
• Mercenary (similar to a Fighter)
• Witch (similar to a Paladin)
• Occultist
• Accursed (similar to a Warlock)
• Erudite (similar to a Wizard)
• Pious (similar to a Cleric)
• Savant (similar to a Sorcerer)
• Vagabond
• Criminal (similar to a Rogue)
• Folksy (similar to a Bard)
• Rustic (similar to a Ranger)
• Wild (similar to a Druid)

Obviously, when a say similar, I don't mean anywhere near directly. Mainly I am going to try to hit the feel of those classes in a modern sense. It may also just me, but I like this outline as you will them be able to describe your character clearly, as a Witch Hunter for example, or as an Accursed Occultist. Due to the fewer total classes, I think I will have the archetype you choose be active at level 1, instead of later in the core game, and have the traits for the archetype come more quickly, possibly every second or third level...

[D&D 5e] The Hidden World - Introduction

Awaken.
The world is not as you thought it was. Not entirely.
Man thrives, and technology advances apace. But there are still hidden places in the world, hidden peoples. Most will never know, will never see.
But you do.
And they see you...

So, I have been wanting to work on some ideas for running an urban fantasy game using D&D 5e, and there isn't a lot out there, with what is being scattered and disjointed. So I thought I'd start bringing some ideas together for my self. My goals will be thus:

1. Create/adapt at least 5 bloodlines of Awakened.
2. Create a single class with multiple and expandable trees of traits.
3. Create/adapt at least 10 backgrounds with more mechanical weight (to cover for having only one class).
4. Modify the skill list to include more modern skills and/or uses of skills.
5. Create/adapt a modern list of gear and equipment.

I think that is a good starting point, so we'll see how it goes.

[Silent Legions] My first character

Richard Blackheath

The curator of the local historical museum, Richard has manned this post for the past 20 years. Now in his sixties, he continues his personal research into the history of the occult, which remains largely academic, in his off hours when not overseeing the museum. He has heard of the strange goings on in the city, and while his interest is piqued, he remains certain that nothing supernatural in nature currently exists today...

Background - Occultist
Class - Scholar 1
Wealth - Affluent

Expertise 2 | Hit Points 3 | Attack Bonus +0 | Armor Class 9 | Madness 10

Strength 8 | Intelligence 15 (+1) | Wisdom 14 (+1) | Dexterity 12 | Constitution 10 | Charisma 12

Physical Effect 16 | Mental Effect 14 | Evasion 15 | Magic 12 | Luck 13

Abilities - Deep Gnosis

Languages - Egyptian, English, German, Latin

Skills - Culture/Home 0, History 0, Language 1, Occult 1, Religion 0, Research 0

Trappings - Fine clothing, sundry personal effects

Uh oh...paradigm shift engaged...new game acquired...

Just picked up Silent Legions from Kevin Crawford, and I have to say, I was skeptical about putting the Mythos in an OSR game, and while you can certainly use Silent Legions just for the wealth of information in Kevin's always outstanding "sandbox tools," the game looks to be very playable in the appropriate genre as well. I have (and skill do when I can) played Call of Cthulhu for a long time, as well as similar genre games like Trail of Cthulhu, and I have never considered an OSR game due to the focus on combat and killing creatures, which is definitely not a major drive in Mythos based games.

Kevin makes the switch to investigation, the occult, and madness seamlessly in Silent Legions however, and I can't wait to run my first game.

[Exemplars & Eidolons] The Secret World Hack

So I've been playing an MMORPG called The Secret World which has many themes similar to E&E, or as others have also stated, Exalted, though in a modern urban fantasy setting. I love the game, and I was thinking on how I could bring some of the ideas that they use into E&E. Here are a few of the thoughts I have had so far.

1. Builds
One of the nice things, at least for me, about TSW is that as you progress and unlock abilities, you unlock literally all of the abilities in the game. There are no classes, and though you can only have so many active and passive abilities at a time, you can set up builds in order to swap them out quickly. Now, I don't want to change the core of E&E, but I like the idea of changing your character as needed, so here is my thought. What if you were able to change the Gifts you have access to? I would allow players (over an extended game of course) to swap out Gifts. You must replace a Gift with a Gift of the same type (removing the pain of keeping track of what type of Gifts you should have by class and level, and preventing the removal of Gifts that would invalidate other Gifts such as with Adept, Master, and Archmage of an Art). When Gifts can be swapped may vary, such as in between encounters (closest to TSW), after a full nights rest, or even between sessions.

2. Weapons
In TSW, your weapon is merely a tool through which you focus your power. I would say that E&E is already very similar, with the maximum damage based on class. I would use these simple statistics for weapons in a modern setting:

Rogue weapons tend to be light and quick, knives, semi-automatic pistols, etc., and allow you to attack with your Dex bonus dealing 1d8 physical damage

Sorcerer weapons are arcane in nature, fell books and electrostatic charms, allowing you to attack with your Int bonus dealing 1d6 magical damage

Warrior weapons tend to be heavy and powerful, shotguns, mauls and the like, using Str bonus to attack and dealing 1d10 physical damage

Any character may use any weapon type they choose, though they are limited still by their class' maximum damage, so a Sorcerer using a heavy Warrior weapon will only deal 1d6 damage.

Note that there is a difference between physical and magical damage, and some creatures may be resistant (though never fully immune unless they are mythic) to one type or another, making carrying different weapon types a viable idea.

Thats all I have for now. I may think on this some more, as well as trying to stat some of the creatures, and possibly abilities as new Gifts...

[Far Away Land] Basher

Here is my first character for Far Away Land:

Basher
an urchin and small time crook from Londol
Level 1
BRT 3 | DEX 2 | WIT 1
HP 13 | AC 2 | ACT 5 | Luck 2

Boons & Flaws
Alert +1
Athletics +1
Scuffle +1
Subterfuge +1
Ugly -1

Gear
Leather jack (AC 2), 5 throwing knives (1d6), backpack, hooded cloak, patchwork clothes, lock picks, 8 gold

Basher was born in a hovel and raised on the streets of Londol. He grew up fast and big, bigger than the other children, and made a name for himself among the street rats for being a bully. Weren't many who could tell Basher what for by the time he was a tween, save for Ol' Patch, an aging second story man who offered the big child a job as a lookout, and later, as muscle. Turns out Basher wasn't to bad with his hands for fine work either, and Ol' Patch taught him a thing or two about locks, traps, and the like. Now a young adult, and working for himself, Basher longs to get out of Londol, though he still gives some of his take to Ol' Patch, slowly becoming a doddering old layabout. Adventure must be out there, and Basher's gonna find it...

[Exemplars & Eidolons] Aiden Devlin

Threw together a character last night in the Stars Without Number community on Google+, so I thought I'd repost him here:

Aiden Devlin
1st Level Rogue

Effort 2 | Max HP 7 | AC 4 | Attack +0 (1d10) | Fray d6
Toughness 15 | Evasion 19 | Mystic 15

Str 10 (+0) | Dex 18 (+3) | Con 15 (+1)
Int 15 (+1) | Wis 10 (+0) | Cha 12 (+0)

I was abducted by the Rooks, a mythical guild of thieves and assassins, as a child, and trained in their ways.
While in the guild, I formed an alternatively close and adversarial relationship with Jade, a fellow abductee.
The Rooks trained me to be average and unknown, to always fly below the radar.

Gifts: Lethal Weaponry, Master of Locks, Rogue's Luck

Gear: Several knives, shivs, and blades (Light); Reinforced leather jacket and kevlar mesh clothing (Light); Small tools of various types, secreted in clothing

Newly Acquired

So I got some wonderful new toys in the past week, Far Away Land Tome of Awesome and Exemplars & Eidolons. I really hope that I get a chance to play either of these, and I'm sure I'll be making several posts about them in the weeks to come. Also, on a whim since I own the original edition anyway, I ordered The One Ring in the new hardcover edition last night. What are you playing or hoping to play right now?

Introduction

I have a terrible disease. It's called Attention Deficit Roleplaying Disorder, or ADRD, and it prevents me from focusing on one game at a time. It is horrible, and wonderful, and frustrating sometimes, but I will do what I can to struggle on. If you like lots and lots of games like I do, and you don't mind me talking about a wide variety of games and ideas for them, then this is the right place for you. If you don't, then you are welcome also. I hope you find something helpful, or meaningful, or fun here, though I make no promises.