Divergent Paths

Apologies. I think I mentioned my busy summer? Welp, I am currently sitting on a couch in Paraguay (yes, that Paraguay), and so "empty of plate" that perhaps I can finally, finally get around to a blog post. It's been a spell.

[I'm only here for a week, so I'd best get to it]

This post is one I've had on my mind for a few weeks now.

I've written in the past (more than once, I'm sure) that "there's more than one way to play D&D." But folks inferring some sort of non-judgmental, egalitarian declaration should note that I'm NOT saying there exists more than one RIGHT way to play D&D. Truth is, I secretly believe that many of the multiple ways in which folks run the game of D&D are wrong, some of them dead wrong.

However, that's not what I want to discuss/debate at the moment. Rather, I wanted to talk about three products I recently acquired that illustrate distinct styles of campaign a DM can run. Yes, the style can inform the manner in which D&D is played, and it often does. But...well, let me just write about it.

*ahem* But in a bit. More apologies: it appears I do not have the time to blog that I thought I did. Sorry. I'm going to post this as a placeholder, because if I don't it will become yet another half-written draft waiting for that magical day I "get around to finishing it." Sorry for the tease.

Cage, Baby

I started writing a very loooong post about superhero media that I've been watching lately: everything from the new Avengers flick (seen Wednesday) to Black Panther (seen a couple months back) to Thor: Ragnarok to Black Lightning. But things were busy today and I haven't got around to finishing or posting the thing. And it's 10 minutes after midnight, the kids are finally asleep (summertime, folks) and the new season of Luke Cage just dropped. And I'm all in.

Bring it on, baby.

I'm sure I'll have a few things to say in the near future, but right now I'm going to bask in the (hopefully) glorious punch-fest that is Luke Cage & Co.

Please, please, PLEASE...let there be appearances from both Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon.

JB out.

[damn...I haven't even bothered to watch the trailer yet and I am sooooo excited]

About to stream on my laptop.

Oh, Boy

Hope everyone had a good (or passable) Father's Day yesterday. Condolences if not. My own was quite nice, and any complaints I might have were overshadowed by the rest of the weekend.

Hell, I even forgot about Free RPG Day on Saturday, being busy with World Cup action, Mariners games, movies, old friends visiting, etc. However, I was kindly reminded about it by the neighborhood bicycle dealer, and managed to make my way down to the Mox in Ballard to grab a handful of swag prior to it all being gone. Some good stuff this year, especially the DCC and T&T quick starts.

Anyway...it is officially summer now, as my kids are out of school, and because I'm the only child care they have, I'm expecting to be pretty busy over the next couple weeks. Lot of soccer going on...not just World Cup, but premier league stuff for my boy and "Lil Kickers" practice for my daughter. Then there's the jamborees and the family travel plans (including a possible trip back to Paraguay). All in all, it's shaping up to be an extremely full schedule.

I will try to keep up with blog, but...well, we'll have to see how it goes.

Advantage-Disadvantage

Hey, people...I have a very, very serious question for y'all.

I'd like some feedback on 5E's advantage-disadvantage game mechanic. Do people like it? Do people hate it? It's easily adaptable to earlier editions of D&D (and the usual bunch of retro-clones). How many folks are using it and loving it? And how many people have tried it and kicked it to the curb?

Here's why I ask: I'm putting the finishing touches on a little B/X supplement of mine, and originally I had included a section that added a straight adaptation of advantage-disadvantage to the rules (though I feel my write-up of the mechanic is a bit more succinct...*ahem*). I did this for a couple reasons:

1. I think it's a neat little system/shortcut.
2. It allowed me to add a bunch of bits and pieces that rely on the mechanic. Examples include: new maneuvers/options in combat, cleaned up B/X mechanics, and certain treasure items and magical/spell effects.

HOWEVER, as said this is going to be a supplement designed for use with B/X...and I have heard from a person or two that they are not fans of advantage/disadvantage. Right now, I'm looking for some feedback, in order to make a product that's more palatable to my readers (i.e. the folks most likely to buy the thing). SO...assuming the supplement ends up sounding like a product you're interested in:

Do you want to see advantage-disadvantage?

Or would you prefer 5E mechanics were left on the cutting room floor?

I realize that, for many folks, it's not a big deal...that people can modify these books as they see fit and that some are more than happy to edit things out that doesn't work for them. I get that. I'm trying to find out what y'all would LIKE to see in the book, AND what you feel about the mechanic in general. Because the fact is, I haven't had much experience with 5E or advantage/disadvantage and maybe I'm throwing a Big Fat Flaw into an otherwise sharp little product.

So PLEASE: any feedback folks can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Cleaned Out

Well, it appears I just sold my last print copy of my B/X Companion over the weekend (I might have another one squirreled away somewhere, but it's a long shot). Rest assured, I'm in the process of ordering a new print run...a bigger one that should (hopefully) last a couple years.

I'm a little surprised that the book continues to sell as well as it does, both in print and electronic form; I'd have figured I'd already reached the point of saturation in our niche-niche market a while back. Apparently not.

What's even more surprising is sales of Five Ancient Kingdoms has picked up recently...I've sold as many copies of it in the last six months as in the twelve months prior. Weird. No idea who's playing it (perhaps folks are just mining it for ideas?)...one of these days I'll have the "Running Beagle Games" web site up-and-working and maybe I'll get some forum discussion going on the game.

Anyway, still recovering a bit from a weekend-long soccer jamboree and finishing up the last week of school. I hope to keep the blog posting going through the summer...we'll see how that goes.
; )

JB Holding Forth

Last month I mentioned Alexis (over at Tao of D&D) is doing a series of podcasts called "Authentic Roleplaying" in which he interviews various Dungeon Masters about their experiences and perspectives on the job. Welp,  my interview is up now for anyone interested in hearing what JB sounds like when given the chance to blather on in the (internet) flesh.

Hint: I tend to be as long-winded in person as I am when it comes to writing Ye Old Blog.

Still, figured I'd mention it. The series as a whole is quite good, and I'm sorry it's only going to be eight episodes (originally, Alexis intended it to be a dozen or so). If you haven't checked it out, there's a lot of insight to take a way from ALL the folks that got interviewed...ideas you can add to your game and/or apply to your campaigns. I recommend it.

Anyway, here's me (podcast #7).

Oh...and here's Fuzzy Skinner (#6) writer of the blog Fuzzy's Dicecapades (just in case you missed that one); Fuzzy's episode hadn't yet been released when I wrote my original blog post.

Have a great weekend, people!
: )

Pendragon Armor in B/X

So I was watching Vikings again last night (and, again, staying up waaaay too late), because of its fascinating portrayal of European cultures in the 8th century. As a product of the History Channel, I expect it to be at least somewhat historically accurate, even if the drama is created for...um...dramatic purposes. But things like the clothes, armor, artwork, village life, religion, politics, law...these are the things I'm interested in and the reason the show draws me.

Well, that and Norsemen hitting people with axes. I love that.

Anyway, the episodes I streamed last night (from the second season) raised some interesting thoughts about the medieval economy...not just monetary economy, but the economy of raiding (ships and men and armies). But in thinking about it, it brought me back to some recent thoughts I'd had...specifically an interest in having a B/X campaign set in the EARLY "middle ages," circa 6th century or 7th century.

[there's a bit more fantasy in this time period (think the film Dragonslayer or the Northern and Southern dynasties of China...the period of the historic Mulan hero), while still having recognizable fighters of the traditional D&D stamp. Hell, even some cities large enough to support thieves of the adventuring type, and characters that would pass for D&D clerics are performing miraculous deeds as well. Even if the setting isn't historic Earth, it's not a bad time period to emulate]

And as those little wheels started turning in my head, including the sticky wicket of economy that I've discussed before (and before that...jeez, another recurring topic), it hit me that I have at least some (again, presumably somewhat researched) economic information from that time period (at least with regard costs): Chaosium's Pendragon, and it's tasty supplement Knights Adventurous.

So it was that between 1ish and 3am last night (well, 2:45, really) I found myself with a bee-in-the-proverbial-bonnet, doing my usual song-and-dance crazy trying to reconcile internet-researched records of historic price lists with game product written by History majors in their spare time.

No need to remind me of the futility in such an exercise; I know the drill. Here's the part that MIGHT interest you: once I eventually circled around to giving up, I spent a good chunk of time converting the 6th century armor types of Pendragon to the B/X system. For your enjoyment (and for future posterity; i.e. so I don't have to do it again), I'll go ahead and post it here. Synchs up pretty well, actually.

[prices will be given as per Pendragon, where one pound (L) = 20 shillings (s) = 240 pennies (d). A campaign set in 6th century Camelot would probably want to change the "gold standard" of B/X to the silver shilling, and so prices will be listed using a shilling base]

Suit of Armor (without padding or helmet)
Leather: 1s, 3d
Cuir bouilli (boiled leather): 5s
"Norman" mail: 15s
Reinforced mail: 80s
Plate and mail: 200s

Helmets
Open helm: 3s, 4d
Great helm: 8s, 4d
Visored helm: 12s, 6d

Padding ("dublet")
Normal: 7d
Fancy: 2s, 1d
Silk, 3 colors: 20s

Armor value (AV) is subtracted from base AC 9 to arrive at the character's armor class.

AV 1: leather, padding, open helm
AV 2: cuir bouilli, closed helm (great or visored)
AV 3: mail with padding
AV 4: plate-and-mail with padding
AV 6: full plate with padding

Typical "Norman" Mail

Norman mail without padding has an AV of 1; both reinforced mail and plate-and-mail have an AV of 2 without padding. Padding is not worn with leather or cuir bouilli. All armors are generally worn with an open helm except reinforced mail and plate-and-mail which are usually worn with a closed (great or visored) helm. Full plate is always worn with a closed helm and padding.

AC Standard Armor Worn 9 None 8 Leather, dublet, or open helm (only) 7 Leather + helm, cuir bouilli 6 Cuir boilli + helm, mail 5 Mail + helm (Norman style), plate-and-mail 4 Mail + closed helm 3 Plate-and-mail + closed helm 2 1 Full plate armor

Plate-and-Mail; AC 3

These would be typical AC values (based on usual type of padding/helmet worn). A shield would, of course, subtract 1 from the listed AC, providing a range of 9 to 0. Please note that no cost is given for "full plate armor" (the typical Milanese variety and similar) because it's not widely available prior to the 15th century; however, in a fantasy world it might be something created by some genius wizard or mad dwarf inventor. As with the author of Pendragon, I provide it here for the sake of "completeness."
: )