Free RPG Day...

...and I completely missed it.  Jeez!

I was actually in my local, participating game store Saturday and (in my defense) they never mentioned Free RPG Day, and I completely forgot about it!   Too busy with my new purchase, I guess.

However, I went back to the game store today (told you it was a long weekend), and was able to pick up a little swag: 

• Bonus Bestiary by Pathfinder featuring some old AD&D monsters now written up for D20 (no big whoop, since I no longer play D20, but I may use them as inspiration for B/X monsters).
• Quickstart Rules and Adventure for White Wolf's Geist the Sin-Eaters. What the f---? This is the "7th storyteller game set in the World of Darkness?"  I thought that was the Hunters Hunted? Or Demon? Or the Prometheans? Or something else...by my count there's been at least nine games set in WoD if you count Mummy and Hunter as two separate games and NOT counting Eastern Vamps or the latest Changeling.  Ah, well...I stopped playing WW a loooooong time ago.
• A 24 page quick-start version of Paranoia.  I've never owned any edition of Paranoia, though I've played the original, but I tell you THIS is how they should sell the game...in a quick little pamphlet, easily digested and with plenty of holes for UV gamemasters to fill in the rest.  Paranoia just begs to be "Sweded" in an Old School way.  Who needs all those other rules to blast mutant communists?

In addition to the free stuff, I picked up a used copy of Albedo, Second Edition for $6 and I don't want anyone to give me shit about it.  I got the Platinum Catalyst version six months back, and it has some of the finest rules for modeling straight-up war in an RPG that I've yet seen...only problem is PC Albedo doesn't provide vehicle combat rules (a gross oversight), and the 2nd edition (an actually earlier edition) does.  For $6 I'm willing to check it out and shoehorn old rules.  And, no, I do not have a "fuzzy" fetish...and I don't think fans of Rocket Raccoon, TMNT, or Howard the Duck do either...

All in all, a pretty good haul from "Ye Old Game Shoppe" this weekend.  

Long Weekend...

I know these "where have you been" posts can seem a waste o space on any blog, but I've got a few things coming down the pike for those following my missives.  House parties and general relaxation have taken some priority...and I'm heading off to the movies in a few.   But I WILL be back in the swing by this evening.

The Holy Grail!!!

So anyway...I was wandering around Greenwood (Seattle neighborhood), sipping coffee and contemplating chorizo and eggs for breakfast, when I stopped into my local game store (as I have done on a weekly basis for the last several years) and low-and-behold I found a first run copy of Deities & Demigods for sale in their used book section!  This is a book for which I've been searching...oh, about 25 years or so.  I've only held it in my hands a couple times, once a little more than a year ago when I found it in the same game shop...unfortunately, THAT copy was in terrible condition with black ink and/or crayon scribbled all over the pages.  I refused to pay $25 for it, but have been kicking myself a bit ever since.

Now, I feel completely vindicated.  For $30 I now possess an excellent copy of a piece of AD&D history...and one with my beloved Cthulhu and Melnibonean mythos lovingly detailed!

What a glorious day!

Seriously, I realize I could have bid for a copy of this on eBay and got it much sooner, but I hate doing that...prices get jacked up all out of whack and you never know what you're getting until it actually arrives.  I prefer to peruse books myself before purchase...plus I'm weirdly anachronistic in my tendencies anyway.  AND I like to support local businesses (no, I don't shop at Wal-Mart either).  

As of today, there's very few items of AD&D merchandise I'm still looking for.  A copy of S4 or N2, both of which I owned once upon a time, perhaps N1, or the Slave Lord series (the latter of which just for its historical value...plus I used to own the mega-module, but that vanished with S4 and N2).  But these are all relatively low priority.  I found Q1 at Half Priced Books three months ago, finally completing my G-Q series after many years (that's one I'd tried to purchase more than once on eBay and Amazon). 

Oh, such lovely memories this book brings back...it makes me want to start up an AD&D campaign, just so I can incorporate the Cthulhu mythos. Wow...does every god in that section have -7 Charisma?  No...just 3 out of 5 greater gods.  Ha!

Mmm...you know what?  There are a couple things I'm still missing that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on.  Not OD&D stuff (hey, I've got the monster book that still has the Balrog's stats!), though the supplements I-III would be valuable for the place in D&D history.  No...the Gazetteers from the BECMI days.  I'm missing three or four of them (particularly the Orcs of Thar) that would be good resources for a B/X campaign.

Wow...so cool.  I don't know what the copyright limits are for text that has been recalled, slashed, and burned (and in a book that's out-of-print to boot), but I'm a naturally cautious dude and so will probably not be posting any specific DDG text, much as I'd like to.  However, rest assured I'll be sharing Stormbringer's info in a later post (at the very least).  

To all you collectors out there: happy hunting!  And good luck!

The Limits of Ambition

There are good reasons to limit demi-human level advancement in D&D (and here I am referring to B/X) based on something other than "game balance." Most will agree that while a 12th level Dwarf or 10th level Elf has the approximate “adventuring power” of a 13th or 14th level human, an 8th level Halfling certainly does not. Halflings get the same saves and attack abilities as Dwarves (up till level 8), but have fewer hit points and more weapon restrictions? In exchange for a +1 to hit with missiles and an ability to hide? What the hell? Yeah, nothing says high level play like having the ability to hide from powerful monsters…and with the exact same chance as a 1st level Halfling, may I add. Clearly, game balance is NOT truly a factor in demi-human level restrictions. Dwarves and Elves requiring more XP to advance is a game balance issue; max levels are not. There are two things level limits do (that is, other than causing players to all choose human characters or insist on a different game system like AD&D): 1) It relegates non-human characters to “lesser roles” in the scheme of the game. Humans are the movers and shakers of the campaign world, dwarves and elves are lesser players, and halflings are bit parts (hey! The tavern owner is a Halfling! Or the wagon driver! Or the torchbearer!). 2) It forces demi-human characters into “early retirement” from their adventuring career. #1 is simply a reflection of D&D’s humanistic sensibilities…humans are supposed to be the heroes of the game world, not some elf, no matter how cool he is with his dual wielded scimitars (ugh). To me, #2 contains some interesting ideas based on literary precedent. Certainly none of Tolkien’s hobbits were intent on having adventure after adventure and becoming legends in their own land…the most they aspire to is the comfort of home, a little wealth perhaps, some good yarns to tell, and maybe a mayorship or the title of sheriff. Dwarves, of course, are interested in gold...but the mining and crafting of it more than looting of it. Once they have the wherewithal to carve out a mountain kingdom (around about Name level) they no longer need to “adventure” but are content to settle into their stronghold with their clan of followers, maybe a dwarf-wife or two, and set up shop. Elves face the ennui of immortality, I would guess…the same lassitude that eventually compels Tolkien’s elves to “head west across the sea.” Of course, not all Tolkien elves share this lassitude, and some like Elrond, Glorfindel, Galadriel, or Cirdan the Shipwright (just to name some from the Third Age) hang around Middle-Earth for thousands of years. Damn it…not all elves are pansies (to use my wife’s term)! And certainly, non-Tolkien elves are even less so. Still working this out....

Blood on the Snow

Started reading Elizabeth Boyer’s The Wizard and the Warlord again…haven’t it picked it up more to thumb through the last couple years, but it’s one I keep coming back to. This will be at least the third time I’ve started reading it from the beginning (with the intent to finish). I know some people (like my wife!) think I’m weird to re-read books or re-watch films, but there’s something so enjoyable about a good piece of fiction…I guess it may be the same “escapist gene” in my DNA that keeps me interested in RPGs, even as an adult.

(from an astrological point of view, it’s most likely due to Neptune being conjunct my Ascendant in the First House)

ANYWAY…

I don’t know what it is about Tales of the North, but after the sand and sandal setting, “Viking” is my second favorite flavor of fantasy. Not sure what it is exactly about the Norsemen I love…I have almost as little northlander in my blood as Mediterranean/Middle Eastern (which is to say, NONE). I guess I’m some sort of germanophile or something.

Hell, I even get choked up watching when I see the charge of the Rohirrim (basically Vikings on horses) in those Lord of the Rings films…literally, brings tears to my eyes. Of course, that’s probably as much attributable to Tolkien’s prose as to those gleaming helms and spears.

While Conan the Cimmerian is cool and all, I don’t really consider him a true Norseman, and not just because of how he is artistically depicted (though he’s a pretty swarthy-looking barbarian). Mostly because he spends more time in jungles, deserts, and arid plains then in a longship or on a snow-covered cliff. Plus he just doesn’t wear enough fur and mail. Vikings should wear furs and mail.

You know, part of it has to be the axes. I love the axe. Burton writes that the sword is the “queen of weapons,” but the axe is definitely the king in MY book (yes, both the spear and club are more phallic, but…that’s not the point!). Over the years, I’ve created many fighter-types for various RPGs, and except for a couple rapier-armed exceptions all were axe wielders…one-handed, two-handed, dual-handed, it doesn’t matter. Some of my exploits as a player are still brought up by friends, quoting me by saying “talk to the axe.”

There’s just something so…primal, maybe?...about hitting someone with a sharp, wedge, using mass and leverage to split armor, flesh, and bone. Who the hell’d want to be hit by an axe? Sure, a sword can slice you open, slash through limbs or major arteries. But an axe hit is just severe blunt force trauma behind and edge. You think the chiurgeon’s going to be able to sew that wound closed? You think someone’s going to walk away from that?

Beards are good for warriors, helms (sans horns historically), heavy cloaks, furs, and mail…these things say D&D fighting man to me. Going a-Viking with one’s buddies and coming back in a longship loaded with booty? That says “adventuring party” to me.

Plus you’re encountering fell-beasts, trolls dragons, and sea-serpents? Come on! THIS is D&D, folks!

I also like adventures that take place in any kind of snowy or cold environment. Again, I’m not sure why…personally I much prefer the pouring rain to the snow (I’m a born-and-raised Seattleite). Snow can be miserable stuff. But snowy adventures are great…M1: Blizzard Pass, G2: Against the Giants…heck, I even enjoyed the Mountain of Mirrors endless quest book as a kid. Cold, dark, and dangerous simply by nature of the elements. I almost purchased the D20 supplement Frostburn, but my better judgment prevailed in the end.

More on snow and Vikings later…I’m just setting groundwork, here.

B/X Elf Lords

Trying to rectify my idea of the Elf Lord with the limits set forth in B/X is tricky…I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately (which is patently ridiculous, as I DO have job I should be thinking about instead!). Still, it’s like a thorn in my brain…the proverbial itch that needs scratching.

Thing is, there are games that model the Middle-Earth/Norse closer to my idea: MERPS, of course, and Warhammer Fantasy Role-Playing. But unfortunately, neither o those systems are ones I want to play right now.

Right now, I feel like I’ve got four options:

• House rule a new Elf class (I’d prefer not to do this as I like to stick close to canon whenever possible)
• Use BECMI “fixes” (either the unlimited level variant from the Rules Cyclopedia or the attack ranks from the BECMI Companion, neither of which appeals to my B/X sensibilities)
• Play B/X solo…i.e. stop human classes at level 14, and stick to the main monsters…this keeps the Elf Lord (at 10th level) a powerful, viable class. However, I feel this, too, goes against the spirit of B/X (as well as pinching my own B/X Companion plans).
• Play or adapt a different game system…AD&D, HackMaster, D20, etc. (this is my LEAST favorite option)

I guess there’s another option which would be “quitcherbitchin,” buck up, and play it as written. D&D elves simply aren’t Tolkien elves or Norse alfar. They don’t sport beards. They don’t stand toe-to-toe with Morgoth, nor do they take down Balrogs single-handedly. Or if they DID, they don’t anymore (those were heroes of a latter age).

D&D elves are a different breed. They’re magical (well, they study magic and can read magic books). They’re mean…as in “low” (they delve dungeons, slay mythical beasts, loot tombs of the dead, etc.). Gygax’s elves are not the high-minded Noldor of Gondolin…um, they’re kind of bastards, actually, at least if you judge them by their actions.

On the other hand, I can see a wood elf throwing in his or her lot with a bunch of roguish adventurers… "wood elves like their wine," states Bilbo Baggins, and I’m inclined to take him at his word. And elf-lords certainly rule dominions in the literature: whether hill forts or fairy-land palaces, a Lord is a Lord.

I don’t mind the D6 hit dice (men should be hardier stock than the “fair folk,” even their warriors). But it bothers me that a high level elf doesn’t have the juice to stand up against a high level fighter and give him a run for his money. Here’s how it stands now:

• A 10th level elf has a THAC0 of 13, compared to the fighter’s 7 at 19th level and 2 at 28th+. Assuming comparable equipment, the fighter is just going to hit a lot more.
• AND a lot more often, assuming multiple attacks are given to the fighter. Elves only gain multiple attacks if using the BECMI attack ranks rule…but these attack ranks are only gained from “adventuring alongside humans” and learning their skills. What? A thousand years isn’t enough for an elf to learn a few tricks?
• Elves average max hit points are 33 or thereabouts; an average fighter has twice this many by level 20 and nearly three times this many at level 36 (94 average). This means a human fighter is going to kill an elf lord in one-third the time. Except the fighter will kill him faster than that, what with multiple attacks and a higher chance of hitting.

Basically, no matter how “lordly” the elf, he’s going to be gaffled and quickly by a high level fighter. What fighter is going to fear an elf, once he (or she) has reached level 19 or so? Twice the hit points, twice the attacks, twice the chance to hit…my math tells me the lord goes down in one-eighth the time.

The wizard thing makes up the difference of course…I guess it’s just that I don’t like wizards all that much. I like the idea of elves being magical, but not being magicians…still, this actually goes MORE hand in hand with the Norse tradition (i.e. elves are just like humans and so, while more inherently magical, they still must do the same things as humans…if humans have to study to learn magic, then so do elves). Of course Alfar are as mortal as any other Norse myth.

Maybe a trade-off of some kind is in order…I keep looking back to my Men & Magic book with the illustration of the bearded elf. Here elves were even weaker (4th level fighting ability!). Of course, one has to remember that the Silmarillion was published in 1977, three years after the original publication of D&D. Without the Silmarillion one’s view of the elf lord is rather limited.

But OD&D does offer something on this idea…some way of utilizing a trade-off to get more bang for your buck…more lord for your elf, in other words. Like an elf that exclusively studies fighting (or magic) can get to twice the level…that the 10 level maximum is only present because of a need to split time between fighting and study.

Would a level 20 elf lord be a match for a high level fighter? Well, he’s certainly better than a 10th level elf lord. He’ll average 53 hit points, have a THAC0 of 7 (as good as a 25th level paladin…um, cleric), AND get two attacks per round if allowed to have multiple attacks like a fighter.

Is losing all magical abilities for an extra 10 levels really worth it? Maybe not. He receives neither the D8 hit dice, nor the additional levels (and multiple attacks) possible for a fighter, in exchange for infravision, a heightened chance to detect secret doors, and a few languages. I’m not sure if that’s an effective trade-off for a high-level character…especially when you could be throwing 10 dice fire balls while wearing magical plate armor and carrying a flaming sword you crafted yourself.

How about triple the level? A 30th level elf lord would certainly be closer in stature (fight-wise) to a fighter, with 73 hit points, a THAC0 of 2, and three attacks per round. That guy’s a combat monster! But if you can trade in 5 levels for 15 fighter levels, plus throw fire balls? That’s a little too much.

And this whole trade-off thing is…well, a little too complicated for B/X, truth be told. I don’t want to complicate my game…if I wanted THAT I’d be playing AD&D or D20. D&D elves are like the fae of Three Hearts and Three Lions…they’re basically faerie kin without the weakness to iron. They can fight (though not as good as dedicated humans) and they can cast spells. They’re also basically Chaotic and malicious, but hey, so are a lot of adventurers. Rather than Tolkien’s highly moral elves, these “lords” are more like the nobles of Zelazny’s Courts of Chaos. Hmmm…I can probably work with this.

Basically, they’re all whimsical and malevolent…they’re all Drow! Ha!

TPK - A Way Of Life

It’s interesting how early game experiences shape our expectations of gaming.

You’ll have to forgive me if I ramble a bit (or not…I guess that’s your call). I’ve been reading tearful stories of TPKs lately that fail to resonate quite the same as they seem to for the DMs posting them. To me, TPKs and botched adventures, just seem to be the way Old School D&D plays.

Back in the day, it was very rare for my regular gaming group to ever complete an adventure. Often, the group would consist of only 2-4 players (besides me as the ol’ DM) with 3 being average and 4 being exceptional. Besides being low in party strength, as a young and dumb DM (have I mentioned the pitfalls of being self-taught? Oh, yeah) I completely neglected to re-scale encounters for my players. If an adventure was for 6-8 players of levels 5-10 and they were under-staffed, I might let them carry an extra level or two, or add just enough NPCs to bring the party up to the “minimum required.” But in my naiveté, I figured adventure modules had certainly been scaled correctly and play-tested thoroughly.

In my own adventures, I often included monsters and treasures simply on the basis of “this looks cool” or “they haven’t seen THIS guy before!”

So having parties wiped out, or the majority of players wiped out while the rest run scurrying for the dungeon entrance…well, that was pretty usual. Basically, PCs in my campaigns were the pro-football (NFL) players of their world…they got paid well, they were incredible shape, but they took a tremendous beating every week…and their career (i.e. life expectancy) was often cut short.

Let me give you a fairly common early “adventure.” Three PCs, all in the 4-7 range, are playing X1: The Isle of Dread. If memory serves, this was very soon after actually opening and reading the Cook Expert set…none of us were really “expert” at this point. Quite possibly the characters were created specifically for the adventure or had been “artificially advanced” to the necessary level (i.e. 4) to play the module.

They manage to get a boat, get to the island, meet with the natives…and then just outside the villagers’ giant gate, encounter a wandering Cyclops. Now, here’s what I remember as “facts:”

- I actually rolled a wandering monster encounter
- I love the Cyclops…it was my favorite critter in the Expert set, hands down.

I seem to recall actually rolling the Cyclops, but it is just as likely that I fudged the type of monster once I rolled the encounter (there being no Cyclops “numbered encounter” and my aforementioned love of the monster). Regardless, the players encountered ONE CYCLOPS outside the Gates of Tanroa, and the PCs bravely engaged the monster before the walls with the villagers looking down.

I say “bravely” until the first PC got killed, probably with one shot, maybe two. The Cyclops of D&D is basically a big giant (13HD, equal to a Cloud Giant, and it does 3-30 damage with a blow). I’m pretty sure the thief died first (average hit points for a 6th level thief would be 15…about equal to the damage a Cyclops dishes out every round). After that the fighter and the dwarf ran like hell towards the beach and their boat (anchored just off-shore).

The Cyclops chased ‘em down, and tagged the fighter from behind. Realizing she was probably going to die, she decided to turn and fight to the last. She went down one hit later. The dwarf was still struggling through the shallow water (in armor) trying to get back to the boat when the Cyclops came up and stomped him flat.

Fairly anti-climactic? I don’t know. We all had a blast and the players enjoyed it enough that they wanted to come back and play again (which they did). They didn’t get a chance to encounter some of the cooler encounters of the interior (I think they hit a couple of the coastal ones while circling the island), but X1 doesn’t have any real objective to it…you get a map to a mysterious island. You hear rumors of possible treasure including a giant, black pearl…that’s really all the incentive they needed!

Even with TPKs, we’d often bring all the players back in the next session. If the end of the last session found the characters lost in the cavernous bowels of Tsojcanth, the next session might start, “so having escaped Tsojcanth, you’re on your way to blah-blah-blah.” If everyone’s favorite character had died, we would talk in between sessions about how he (or she) may have been brought back or raised between adventures (“well the clerics of so-and-so owe you this favor, and their agents recovered your bodies…”).

New characters were created and tried out like new outfits. The ones that worked would stick around for multiple adventures; the ones that weren’t were discarded once they’d been used up. At least we did in the early days of my first campaign. Later on, after we’d bothered to study up on the rules, we paid much more attention to “the numbers” (Constitution limits, XP, cash supply, encumbrance, etc.). But our expectations of play had already been set by those early explorations of what the D&D game was all about: kicking ass, and getting your ass handed to you.

Later on, this created tremendous empathy for characters with whom we actually had attachment…because we knew they could die at any time. We were working without a net, so to speak…there would be neither mercy nor quarter given by the DMs, and the scale of the game was haphazard at the best of times. Even though the DMs got better at gauging challenge levels, there was no expectation of character survivability or mission success.

Because of this our games eventually stopped being about “adventures” and became about the characters themselves, their interactions with each other, their dominions, their impact on the game world. In my opinion, this made for a much richer role-playing experience.