Blown Deadline

I am in the midst of a big downer.

My definition of integrity is: “doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.” Having this type of integrity is something I’ve definitely struggled with over the years, but right now I’m feeling it like a sack of bricks.

It’s June 1st and my B/X Companion is still not ready for sale. I missed my May deadline.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

And I really don’t have anyone to blame but myself. I should have applied for the ISBNs months ago (I would have if I’d known it was going to take so long to get them). I didn’t allow enough time for the completion of the color artwork for the cover…I figured it was something that could be “whipped up” in a few days time (I am extremely ignorant of the painting process). I was feeling very Arien when I posted my May deadline announcement, and I should have remembered that Chiron is in my 5th house in Aries…I tend to hurt myself by acting impulsively like that.

Crap.

Ok. Enough “pity party.” I’m coming up on the 1 year anniversary (June 6th) and there’s a lot I can look back on and be proud of over the last year. I might as well take stock of the ground covered, and congratulate myself for what I HAVE accomplished.

After all, there’s little I can do without a cover and an ISBN. Period.

I apologize to all for not doing what I said I was going to do. I accept full responsibility for blowing my own deadline. I will rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Now…on with the show.
; )

Still No Freaking ISBNs

I've been waiting for weeks and still no ISBNs...damn it, don't they just email 'em to you? Crap almighty!

M. and I stayed up till 3AM last night watching nearly the entire first season of True Blood "On Demand." It did not make me want to play Vampire in any way, shape, or form but its damn addictive television. And here I finally finished with Lost. Ugh...

I'm a little grumpy this morning. I spent yesterday digging through all my dozen or so superhero games to see if there was one that would meet my needs (I do this every time I read a good comic or see a decent superhero film). No dice, figuratively speaking. Even spent more than an hour at Gary's poring through Mutants & Masterminds 2 (the shame!) and Wild Talents (awesome...but $50 and gigante!). Of the two, M&M had the more comic book inspired artwork/concepts, while Wild Talents had the better bang for one's buck (awesome essays and the One Roll System). I purchased neither however. If M&M had been available used I might have been tempted to get it and see if there was a way to kit-bash a B/X version...

All right, I've gotta' hop across the street to the grocer. I was planning on hitting the Seattle Folklife Festival today (as I do every year; we need to support these amazing anachronistic art forms...like RPGs!) but it just started raining and three days of mud being slogged by thousands of people doesn't sound like a whole heaping amount of fun.

Still, I'll probably go anyway...an elephant ear and some fiddle music will take my mind off the damn ISBNs. Shit.

: (

Revised Variant Combat System

Apologies to the seventy folks that already down-loaded this once, I have now REVISED my variant combat system (the "no attack roll" system) based on the continued voiced concerns regarding ranged combat.

Those concerns have now been addressed: here's the download.

To sum up: Subtract 1 point of damage (NOT a "shift" of dice type) from damage for every range increment at which missile fire occurs. So at short range you subtract 1 from the dice roll, 2 points at medium, and 3 points at long. This range penalty can be off-set by the "missile adjustment bonus" for a high dexterity. For example, a character with a Dexterity 13 receives a +1 to missile fire. At short range he will always do at least 1 point of damage (no penalty)...the opponent better be expending energy to dodge (fatigue) or he'll be getting drilled. At medium and long range, the character still has a penalty (-1 and -2 respectively) meaning there's still a chance he might miss from those ranges.

Yes, a dexterity 18 character will always do damage (+3)...they are just too dangerous with a ranged weapon. Take evasive action or you'll be getting at least a decent scratch from a marksman of that caliber.

This bonus ONLY applies to off-setting range penalties; it adds no further bonus to damage. Some DMs may wish to use the halfling's bonus to missile fire to off-set range as well; others may see this bonus as a positive damage "shift" instead. I leave that choice up to the judgment of individual DMs.

All right, try it out folks!

: )

Jon Favreau is Brilliant

So, in part to take a break from all the Auto-Hit Combat Variance of the last couple days (I've been following up with folks to see if anyone's been play-testing), I took some time off from Ye Olde Blog to hit the movie theater and bask in the glory of Iron Man 2.

Yeah. I liked it a lot.

And I had kind of been expecting it to suck after reading the reviews. I mean, kind of X-Men 3 or Spiderman 3.

Now, please, please allow me to clarify. I liked these latter films somewhat...on a certain level (especially with the Spidey film) I understood what the film-makers were going for, and they delivered a certain amount of "good stuff" I was looking for. But the reviewers were right...they just didn't cut it as sequels. And after watching both, I wasn't interested in watching more.

IM2 got some mixed reviews as well...saying it wasn't as good as the first, saying it was a re-hashing of the first film, saying it was just a big ad for the Avengers, saying the "stealing-Stark-Tech-&-using-it-against-Tony" was a tired theme already explored in the first film, etc. And in general, I'm on the same page with the movie critics I follow...if they are disappointed by a film than, by-and-large, I end up being similarly disappointed even when I really, REALLY want to like a film.

Such is not the case with Iron Man 2.

I thought it was great, I thought the pacing was excellent, I thought the story was great, if this type of film could be rolled out of the studio every summer, my ass would be in the seat and my money in their hands every summer.

And here's the kicker: I'm not even an Iron Man fan or anything. I read him in a handful of Avengers comics during the early 80s, had an origin re-cap issue (detailing how he and Rhodey met in the jungles of Vietnam), and had perhaps a second IM issue with a fight against the Living Laser or something...but that's really it. I never followed Stark or his exploits and wasn't all that crazy about his character until I checked out The Ultimates series a couple years back. But even then, Cap America steals the show. I don't know...maybe it's 'cause Stark is a Republican? Nah. But the point is: when reading Aberrant (a supers RPG from White Wolf that I loved) and they said, "No, for better or worse, in Aberrant your character is NOT Iron Man" ('cause basically everyone's a mutant)...well, it wasn't disappointing to me.

The Iron Man films have turned me into a huge fan of the guy.

And it's not Robert Downey Jr. performance that's done it. RDJ is a brilliant actor, has been for years, and one whose work I admire immensely. But just look at the caliber of actors in these films! Jeff Bridges? Gwyneth Paltrow? Mickey Roarke? Sam Jackson? Terrence Howard? Don Cheadle? ALL of these folks have been nominated or have outright won Academy Awards! What the hell are they doing playing bit parts in a blue-screen superhero movie?!

And when I watch the film, I can't help but see these artists (for that's what professional actors who've been around the block really are) pouring their craft into these handful of lines, these slim moments of screen time they get...all of 'em doing their best to do their best for the film...it breaks my heart that there isn't more for 'em. That the movie's not four hours or that an Iron Man 3 isn't being released next week in some sort of throw-back to the days of serial cinema. All of this in aid of an action film centered around...let's face it...a handful of CGI characters and action scenes. And it's still great.

That's on the director, folks. That's Jon Favreau making an excellent movie.

Classic Marvel comics are a mess. Worlds and characters - hero, villain, and bit-part - have been blown up and recycled and re-imaged and re-tread more times than anyONE can probably keep track of...whether you're Stan Lee or some comic buff with a photographic memory that's collected every issue of every series for the last 50 years. Favreau has enough fan-boy (or smarts) in him to keep the story pretty true to its roots, while updating it for today AND making a movie that can be equally enjoyed by kids and adults. And it IS a good film...it's not a totally commercial piece of garbage. It's not a schill for a particular political agenda (not in my opinion, anyway). It's not (I don't think) an action film trying to win any Oscars as I'm pretty sure Scott and Crowe are attempting with Robin Hood.

It's just a damn good translation of comic to film. And while I wince at the prospect of a Thor or Captain America movie...because these characters are soooo non-real life/non-21st century that I can't possibly think how they can be translated to screen...maybe, just maybe there's hope if Favreau can be involved in the Avengers film. Just make sure you get the same writers.

I actually checked the ol' wikipedia on Favreau, as I figured "this guy must be pretty close to my age." Turns out he's actually older...by about 7 years (that's a whole generation removed in RPG terms). However, the article led me to this interesting article in the L.A. Times (from May 2008):

Some filmmakers get their start making shaky home movies, others catch the bug in a high school drama class or maybe through an art institute where they put paint to canvas. Favreau has more of an eight-sided education.

"It was Dungeons & Dragons, but I wouldn't have owned up so quickly a few years ago," Favreau said sheepishly.

"It's rough. It's one of the few groups that even comic-book fans look down on. But it gave me a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance. You're creating this modular, mythic environment where people can play in it."

Nice. See? Role-playing need NOT be simple escapism only for itself. Sometimes it's a gateway to other creative endeavors and "arenas of adventure;" like film-making.

All right, that's enough gushing. I was going to say something about how, once again, Palladium's Heroes Unlimited is a near-perfect vehicle for my taste in superheroes, as everything in that film can be fairly well-mimicked by HU. But perhaps that's a post for another time.

Adios, amigos!

Double Saving Throws

Saving Throws have already come up several times in my new No Attack Roll Combat System. Please everyone check out this link. It is SHORT (compared to my other 3-5 page diatribes), and explains my understanding of what saving throws actually represent.

And IF you buy my ideas, you can see that it's not necessary to have "double saving throws."

What do I mean by a double save? Well, if a monster needs to get a successful attack to cause a "special effect" (like a cockatrice bite, poison spider/snake, whatever), AND the character can still avoid it with a saving throw, you essentially give the character TWO saves...the first not determined by class or level, but rather by AC.

Which is probably why fighters turn out to be biggest tanks in the game...but I digress.

I don't think we need to give everyone a double save, personally. Now, there might need to be some adjustments to the saving throw matrices if you think things should be EASIER for the PCs. But in general, I think they're pretty good. Maybe we need to make poison a little more "slow-acting" (as in real life) to give characters a chance to suck wounds, or induce vomiting, or cast neutralize poison (i.e. "the less gross method of treating poison").

All right, hope that helps!

; )

[By the way, I realize I have a ton of post on this blog (did I mention I just broke 500? Oh, yeah...already bragged about that), but there's a lot of juicy ideas buried in there along with my rants against killing people in the Middle East. Skim 'em when you can...some of 'em are fun!]

Variant Combat Matrices

+++EDIT: This link has been removed. The revised .pdf download can be found on this post. Check it out!+++

Here's the goods...it's a simple .pdf (color coded) that's available for download. I'm going to do a non-colorized version for the folks that are having printer issues (that's you, Kris), but everyone should be able to view this.

[if you didn't read my earlier post, please check it out]

I am actually very please with how this turned out...the more I look at it, the more I like it.

A few notes that didn't make it on the .pdf:

- Regarding: Two-Fisted Fighting -- For B/X, when characters use two weapons at once, I have (in the past) allowed them to make one attack roll, roll damage for both weapons, and take the better result. This works just fine with the new "attack-less variant" except there's no attack roll!

- Regarding: Special Attacks (no save) -- For all special attacks that would normally NOT allow a save (for example, a bear's bearhug, or a wight's energy drain), the only normal "save" allowed is a high armor class. Since monsters auto-hit in this variant system, I think it's appropriate to allow saves for attacks I normally would not (for example, energy drain). Unless a special attack would out-right kill someone, paralysis would be the general save I'd make folks roll against (unless something else seems particularly relevant).

All right...other questions will be entertained and discussed. I need to grab a bite to eat, then I'll read over the comments from the earlier post. Thanks for the feedback, folks!

Radically Faster Combat: Auto-Hits

Ever get tired of misses in combat?

I mean, it’s bad enough when a player FINALLY gets that solid 19 or 20 needed, but rolls a 1 or 2 for damage. What about the out-right “whiffs?” Especially low-level characters against medium to good armor class foes, the swing-and-miss, swing-and-miss can be quite tedious.

Does combat need to be drawn out and tiresome?

Now I’m not talking about post-WotC D&D…we all know that combat is what D20 and its successors are all about (at least rules/mechanics-wise). I’m talking about the antiquated versions of D&D that old geezers like myself play. You know: those editions where combat is fairly abstract, and where DMs are trying to challenge the player not the stat block?

Okay…just so long as we’re on the same page.

; )

SO, let’s talk about combat.

1) What the hell is combat anyway? Welp, it is one method of overcoming obstacles, specifically opponent NPCs or “monsters.” It’s a way to get adrenaline pumping. It’s a way for the fighter class to shine and show off their talents (hitting and taking hits). It’s a time for wizards to use some of their flashier spells (at least once or twice). It is ONE arena that showcases the danger inherent in adventuring, i.e. “mortal combat.” It’s a method by which the DM can test player characters and deplete their resources. It’s also a place for DMs to show-case cool monster bad-assery. It is a way of boosting characters’ XP totals.

Am I leaving anything out here? Probably…but for right now, let’s call this a good enough analysis for my purposes. This is what I use combat for.

2) Can any of these things stated purposes be accomplished without combat? Some of ‘em. DMs can still throw obstacles at players in the form of tricks, traps, sticky situations and moral dilemmas. These can make characters sweat (adrenaline), give wizards a chance to show-case spells, and even provide “mortal danger.” Treasure rewards give more XP than combat and there are other ways for DMs to deplete resources, time and harrying traps being the Big Two. However, monster combat DOES add variety (even the fable Tomb of Horrors had a couple-three monster encounters), and nothing else gives the fighter class their turn in the spotlight.

Unfortunately, the MORE combat you throw into your games, the more the game DOES become about fighters…to the point that thieves are considered “leather-clad swashbucklers” and magic-users nothing more than artillery pieces. So while combat is necessary, I think it may need to be DE-emphasized…by whatever means necessary!

3) Combat: The System. In its most basic form, combat consists of checking initiative, rolling to hit, rolling to damage, and depleting hit points…until one party dies or morale breaks. And yet it still takes a looooong, long time. Add in special attacks requiring saving throws (including spells), and it extends even longer. Sucking more time away from “adventuring.”

4) Combat: The End Result. By the time combat gets resolved, we should have one or more of a few possible results:

- The player characters are all dead or fled.
- The monsters are all dead or fled.
- The surviving PCs have some wounds.
- The surviving monsters (if any) have some wounds.
- XP is gained.
- Players have their hearts pumping due to the highs and lows of combat (oh! I rolled high! No! I rolled low! Yowza! He/she/it missed a saving throw! Etc.).


HERE’S MY PROPOSED “FIX:”

Cut out "to hit" rolls.

I suppose we can cut out rolling for initiative as well (at least between rounds), but I suspect some folks already do that and really, losing one six-sided dice roll per round doesn't speed things up nearly as much as removing a bunch of D20 rolls AND the extending length of combat due to “whiffing.”

Check this out:

What are hit points? An abstract resources that determines whether a character (PC or monster/NPC) can continue to function. In character classes, it is assumed this resource includes luck, stamina, fitness, and agility, as well as resistance to pain, bone and muscle strength, and overall health. In MONSTERS (including the Normal Human of basic play), hit points represent absolute health/damage that can be sustained prior to collapse. A 4th level hero has 20 hit points because you have to tire him out before you run him through. A black bear has 20 hit points ‘cause you stab him A LOT, before he takes the hint and dies.

What is a damage roll? A random depletion of the hit point resource. A high roll indicates a stronger or more precise hit, bringing an enemy closer to death; a lower roll indicates the opposite.

Now let me ask two questions:

Does a bear dodge?

Does a hero NOT expend energy ducking a blow or taking it on his shield?

To both of these questions, I call the answer a resounding NO.

Oh, maybe in your game world an ogre will take the time to block a sword with a tree branch. Not in mine, baby. Sentient creatures that have the same luck, agility, fitness, etc. of a Player Character already have that factored into their hit points…either with a greater hit dice (say a hobgoblin versus an orc), or with a great hit point roll (physically one stone giant may be shrimpier than another, but if he has more hit points then HE IS A BETTER FIGHTER).

So why do we need to roll to hit at all? Why not just roll damage for every attack?

[we’ll get to armor and armor class in a moment]

If I roll a 1 for my damage roll, it means I got a glancing blow (bear) or simply forced my opponent to duck (hero). If I roll a 3 I get a solid laceration (bear) or a deep scratch (hero). If I roll a 6, I score a telling blow against my opponent, a deep thrust to the grizzly or a knock-down blow to the hero…possibly setting up a kill shot with my next attack.

When you remove to hit rolls from combat you remove a HELLUVA’ LOT of frustration. Players don’t miss. They get highs and lows based on good and bad damage rolls (both for and against ‘em). DMs get to describe combat based on damage rolled, rather than based on some weird interpretation of “to hit” roll plus damage roll. Combats go faster as monsters are whittled down every single round. Combat becomes de-emphasized because less encounters will be needed to deplete PC resources, and players will have an even healthier respect for the dangers of mortal combat.

“But wizards will die faster!”

No, wizards will die just about as fast. An AC of 8 or 9 and D4 hit dice for hit points means wizards are kindling for the fire anyway, should they get involved in combat. An ogre throws a spear at a wizard that exposes himself? The wizard’s LEVEL (which equals hit points…from luck, agility, awareness, etc.) will be more of a determining factor of whether or not he gets taken down by the attack, as even high level magic-user’s generally have a poor armor class. Well, level AND the randomness of the damage roll (does the spear scratch by his check or impale him through his skinny chest?).

And speaking of wizards…their spells do damage without attack rolls, why should warriors' weapons be any different?

OKAY, FINE…WHAT ABOUT ARMOR?

Here’s the “what” about armor: You know all those little attack matrices you have in the various Old School D&D rule books (OD&D, B/X, AD&D, BECMI)? Well, you’re still going to have them. However, instead of showing your “chance to hit,” they show the type of dice you roll for damage.

Because after all, in MY game world, all weapons do the same amount of damage.

Now actually, I’m only suggesting this for B/X and possibly OD&D not AD&D with its different damage dice by weapon and different damage dice depending on monster size. But for B/X it’s fairly simple…I already have some mock-up tables that I want to tweak ever-so-slightly to make sure there’s actual value in the different armor types. Once that’s finished, I’ll upload a .pdf for interested folks to download.

+++EDIT: Here it is.+++

Right now, the color coded chart sets up damage in the following increments: D4, D6, or D8 depending on the character’s class/level versus AC. I am considering also adding D10 or D2 at the highest and lowest ends of the spectrum. The damage dice rolled will also SHIFT based on a variety of factors:

- Daggers shift the dice type down one (so D6 will do D4, for example)
- Two-handed weapons wielded by characters with 13+ strength shift the dice type up one (so D6 becomes D8)
- Crossbows shift damage +1 shift up (so D4 becomes D6, and D6 becomes D8, for example)
- Strength shifts Dice type instead of adding bonus damage. Right now, I am considering: 8 or less -1 shift; 13-15 +1 shift; 16-18 +2 shift
- Dexterity bonuses adjust an opponent’s effective AC, possibly shifting damage dice but not always.
- A magic weapon will shift damage dice based on its “+s” (a +2 weapon would shift D6 to D10, for example)
- No damage dice can be adjusted above D12 without magic. Even with magic, no damage dice can be adjusted above D20.
- A girdle of giant strength or thief backstab still doubles the result of the damage dice.


So far, I like how this is looking. The biggest challenge is getting it to work with normal monster combat. Disposing of character attack rolls is easy enough, but many monsters have multiple attacks making them capable of doing terrific damage should they all auto-hit. Likewise, monsters with special attacks are a bit of a mixed bag. Some monsters – say, the pit viper, for example – offers what amounts to TWO saving throws:

- Does the pit viper hit? (save based on character AC)
- Does the poison kill? (save based on character class/level)

Other monsters only offer ONE save versus their special attack:

- Does the vampire hit? (save based on AC or auto-level drain)
- Does the medusa petrify? (no attack, save based on class/level)

I’m a pretty lazy person, so I don’t want to completely re-write every monster in the B/X books, If I can’t figure out a quick and expedited way to do the monsters I’ll either chuck the whole idea, or make the “auto-hit” tables for PCs and NPC weapon-users only.

So whadya’ think? Am I totally crazy?

[for those that are curious, the current PC attack table looks like this: I converted all attack rolls into their % chance to hit based on class/level versus armor class. All % chances of 25% or less convert to D4 for their damage dice. All % chances of 30-70% convert to D6, and all in the 75-95% convert to D8, though I’m strongly considering converting 95s (hit rolls of “2”) to D10. These %s are based on the % chance of acquiring a particular Strength score, and its attendant shift in damage dice. For example, a character has a 26% chance (56 in 214) of rolling 8 or less on 3D6, 48% chance of 9-12, 21% of 13-15, and 5% of 16-18. If all weapons do D6 damage standard than 26% of normal folks would only roll D4, folks in the 27-74 percentile would roll D6, and folks in the 76-100 percentile would roll D8 (or better). Okay, maybe I’m not THAT lazy...]