JB 3.5

A couple days ago I posted "my" D&D stats based on Easydamus's automated survey. The java program spit out my race, class, alignment, and stats based on the answers I gave to a 129 question quiz. The survey results are based on the 3.5 edition of D&D, but doesn't select feats or skills or equipment for your character...in other words, it ain't complete.

SO...as an exercise in mental masturbation, I went ahead and completed the guy ("me") using the 3.5 SRD and my memory of that particular edition. Here are the results:

JB (3.5)
Lawful Good Human Fighter, 6th Level

Hunting hawk not pictured.

STR 13 (+1)
DEX 16 (+3; advanced +1 at 4th level)
CON 13 (+1)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 15 (+2)
CHA 14 (+2)

Feats (in order selected):
Combat Expertise, Dodge, Weapon Focus (Spear), Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Specialist (Spear), Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack

Skills
Climb 9 (+10), Craft (weapon smith) 9 (+11), Handle Animal 9 (+11), Intimidate 9 (+11), Jump 9 (+10)

Equipment (13,000gp worth for a 6th level character)
Breastplate +2; Frost Spear +1, Masterwork Warhammer, Dagger, Traveller's Outfit, Hunting Hawk*, 9gp

Armor Class: 21 (10 +8 (armor) +2 (enchantment) +3 (DEX) +1 (dodge))
Hit Points: 44 (based on 5.5/level after 1st)
Saves: For +6, Ref, +5, Wil +4

Weapons (BAB +6/+1)
Frost Spear +1: Attack +9/+4 (thrown +11); Damage D8+4+D6 (cold)
Masterwork Warhammer: Attack +8/+3; Damage D8+1
Dagger: +7/+2 (thrown +9); Damage D4+1

*I couldn't find a cost for a hunting hawk, though there are stats for "hawks" in the normal animal section. With a Handle Animal skill of +11, it's an easy matter to train a hawk for the "Hunting" purpose (DC 20; automatic with a take ten over six weeks). So I used the cost for a "guard dog" and figured I'd train the thing myself.

It's not a terrible build, though a fighter with STR 13 is pretty far from "optimal." Still, with the feats I've selected it's not a bad combat build on the old grid mat. Very high maneuverability (thanks to combat expertise and mobility) allows the character to get into optimal position to use his whirlwind attack against multiple opponents, and his high intimidate skill can give him an extra edge. I thought about adding improved initiative at 3rd level, but figured combat reflexes is a tighter fit, especially with the high DEX...the guy should really clean up against mobs of lesser opponents. And by "lesser" I'd probably include ogres in the mix; by fighting defensively, he should be able to hold his own against several of the big guys...especially with a couple party members to back him up.

See? I can do the 3.5 thing.

As you should be able to tell, the character is based largely on the image I pulled off the internet, especially the choice of equipment. However, I chose the image in part because I liked the gear the dude was sporting. That, and he looks badass. Just needs the bird...you have to imagine that part.

I don't have a name for the character. JB is good enough.

Captain America

Two Fridays ago, I had the opportunity to see the new Captain America film.

This is significant for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's the first film I've seen in the theater since before my child was born (that was back in January). Even before my child was born, there weren't a whole lot of films I was going to see...my days as a cinephile went away sometime in my mid-twenties, and these days it's much easier (and cheaper) to rent Blue-Rays for the big screen TV (or stream Netflix or On Demand) than it is to go out to the theater.

But I really wanted to see this one.

That my wife gave me her blessing to take off while she watched the baby (and even set it up with my buddy Steve-O) was weird enough (it's not like I whined about seeing it or something...come on, I have some parental responsibility!). But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I took the opportunity when it presented itself.

Oh yeah.

It may come as a surprise to some that Captain America was probably my favorite comic book superhero growing up. Oh, he didn't have a Saturday morning cartoon or anything and I didn't collect any comics really (I'd just occasionally purchase whatever looked good on the rack, if my parents had recently given me some money). But The Avengers were generally always a good buy (back in the early 1980s), and Captain America was always Mister Avenger.

But there were a ton of good Marvel comics back in those days. Daredevil was fighting ninja with Electra, Spiderman hadn't been saturated with Hobgoblins and black sentient outfits, Thor was still a skinny dude with a walking stick when he wasn't hammering foes with his "naked fist." And Ghost Rider, searing people's souls with hellfire touch? Badass. Much as I liked Green Arrow and Green Lantern (from their cartoon characters) DC could never hold a candle to Marvel characters. Batman...a dude with a utility belt that beat up people...was a total wuss back then.

And of the Marvel characters, time and time again Captain America was the guy that came to the forefront as the leader in every situation.

He was always good, back then. Always did the right thing whenever possible. Always took the high road. And yet he never backed down, never gave up, never surrendered...always gave it 100%.

I can still remember reading the first Secret Wars series (speaking of Spidey's black suit) circa age 12 and wondering how the heck the heroes could to prevail against Doctor Doom when he had the Godlike power of the Beyonder at his beck and call. I mean, he'd just wiped out the entire cadre of good guys at the end of the prior issue, and it was only crazy fortune (or Deus Ex Machina...I was fairly unsophisticated back then) that had allowed them to get back in the game.

And there's Cap, shattered shield in hand, leading the charge against Doom and his legion of monsters...and there's Cap breaking the line and confronting Doom...Cap with no super powers to speak of, just dauntless courage and a high level of fitness.

Never say die, never give up, give it your all, always do what's right...even when it's the hard thing to do. For me, Captain America represented what America the country was supposed to be about.

It might also surprise some people, in light of prior blog posts of condemnation, that I am an American patriot. I've got an American flag hanging outside my house and happily champion the ideals this nation's forefathers set down for us...ideals that to me are much more progressive and leftward-leaning (especially with regard to civic duty) than some folks would have people believe. Just because some people appropriate the idea of "American values" and twist it to their own purposes, leading to death, destruction, and the impoverishment of others doesn't mean we should stop fighting for those ideals.

[*sigh* I'm Roman Catholic, too, and the Catholic church has done terrible, terrible things to many, many people over the centuries of its history. Doesn't mean we shouldn't attempt to "love our neighbors" or use the example of Christ as a model for good living. And, no, Jesus was not a capitalist]

But, back to Captain America, whose Underoos I proudly owned and wore as a child...in recent years, the good Captain has received a bit of a makeover, playing up his wartime (i.e. WWII) background as a soldier. The version of Cap found in the Ultimates imprint (a re-imagining of many Silver Age heroes) is much more martial in tone, combined with a certain...um...simplistic (or perhaps "un-nuanced") morality that has him experience the same anger management mood swings one might find in a steroid abuser. At the same time, the re-imagined character is quite the badass, and in many ways a more believable character (if any such Marvel creation can be described as such) than the wing-headed guy found in the comics the 70s and 80s. For me, reading The Ultimates revived an interest in Cap (and The Avengers) that hadn't been there since before Yellow Jacket was kicked out of the team. And I like the Falcon/Cap team-ups!

So, yeah...what about the movie?

It's great. I've seen pretty much all the Marvel films of the last decade or so (with the exception of the recent Thor film...baby, remember?), and for me, it's high on the list. I think the first Iron Man is probably still the best of the bunch (thanks in large part to Robert Downey Jr.), but it definitely rivals Spider Man 2 (which would have been my shoe-in for second favorite). As a film, I can say that the beginning parts are a little too slow, and the ending/denouement goes a little too fast...but it's always tricky with these "origin stories" to get the pacing right while both a) providing the necessary exposition, and b) providing a fully generated plot.

However, I don't have the same gripes a film critic would...after all, films based on comic books have a different set of grading criteria (for me) than your average film. And what I'M looking for is: how true to the comic book is the portrayal of the character? Certainly, those who've seen the previews will have seen that Cap's costume is much more modeled off the Ultimate Cap imprint than the guy with the red buccaneer boots (though that guy does make an appearance). And the film does mostly take place in the 1940s...would they play him up as a violent, take-no-prisoners killer?

Nope. Asked if he wants to join the army to kill Nazis, he replies:

"I don't want to kill ANYone. I just don't like bullies."

That's a great f'ing line.

This Captain America IS a badass. He's got a totally practical costume, the fancy shield, and a fantastic montage of action sequences to show just why he's the go-to guy when the going gets tough.

But he's still a superhero...that is, someone embodying ideals above and beyond what we might call heroism. Trying to save lives, not take them. Going above and beyond the call of duty. Self-sacrifice. Courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Never say die, never surrender.

Oh, yeah...and he's an artist, too, just like the old Steve Rogers. Not to mention the motorcycle.

I've seen every Captain America movie that's ever been made, and wow are they terrible. But this film, they get so much right, I can totally forgive any oversights and discrepancies that fail to match the comic. Whoever created THIS film knew what they were doing. And knew what Captain America was all about. And they embraced it and ran with it and made a killer movie.

I'd certainly watch it again.

Dwarves

When I was a kid, I didn't think much of dwarves.

Originally, at least. But remember, that for the first 3-5 years of my gaming career, my sole role was as a Dungeon Master. My experience with playing ANY character class was nil.

When I finally did get the chance to play in a game as a PC, we were deep in AD&D territory and any race-class combo that didn't allow unlimited levels (or maximum in the case of assassins, druids, monks, etc.) was pretty much taboo. Our campaigns ran in the upper echelons of game play...and even when we would (occasionally) start over with 1st level characters, it was expected that SOMEday we would reach those lofty heights. Dwarves were limited in every class, with the possible exception of thief...but as they were pretty fumble-fingered compared to the halfling variety who would want to go down that road?

Only an idiot would play a dwarf.

My younger brother was one such idiot...the only one of our regular gaming circle that would ever bother to play a dwarf. Generally a fighter, maybe a fighter-thief...but then, AB started as a B/X player and dwarves were hearty and he was apt to get killed off early anyway. I'm not sure he ever expected to live long enough to get to "lofty levels," though later (when he was of a more "serious" frame of mind) he switched over to playing ONLY human fighters and human barbarians.

Everyone else was a human or a half-elf bard/druid or a halfling thief or a Drow cleric...etc. You get the picture I'm sure. Dwarves as a species were nearly extinct in my D&D games from about, O say, 1986-1999. Or thereabouts.

And yet, even though I didn't play MY first dwarf until D20, I started getting intrigued by dwarves earlier than that. And I can pretty much point to two sources that got me intrigued:

Revolt of the Dwarves

Obmi the Dwarf

Revolt of the Dwarves was a TSR "Endless Quest" book that I never read until long after I'd stopped reading "pick-a-path" books...I believe I picked it up at at an elementary school library one summer when I was acting as a night custodian (maybe...it's possible I thumbed through it earlier). What intrigued me more than the story was the artwork, especially Larry Elmore's cover:

Check out that badass front-and-center, naked blade in hand. No hammer/axe slinger this guy...he's friggin' Russel Crowe as Maximus in Gladiator. Does the image remind you of anything you might have seen recently? It sure does me.

But this is the kind of dwarfs I could get into...dwarves on charging destriers, lances in hand. Where were these guys when I'd been playing D&D before?

Obmi, first found in Gygax's module G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King, is likewise a serious badass, showing just how cool a dwarf in AD&D can be. Of course, I didn't pick up a copy of G1-3 until 1988 or so after I'd lost contact with my original gaming group. But Obmi certainly made an impression on me, as did his detailed characterization in Gygax's own Gord the Rogue novels.

Since becoming intrigued, I've had some experiments of a dwarven nature, myself...for example, I played my own fighter/thief/duelist in D20 (the skinniest dwarf you've ever met) and I picked up a whole box of Warhammer dwarf models to craft an elaborate Mordheim warband based on Thorin and company (even had a halfling sword-for-hire to make Lucky Number 14).

These days, of course, I'm playing B/X (er...running B/X) so all my dwarves are "just dwarves," not dwarven fighter/thieves or Tordek...and certainly they bear little resemblance in my mind to John Rhys-Davies as Gimli. But even though they're "just dwarves" doesn't mean they can't still be badass. The more I consider it, the more I want MY dwarves to look like the dashing cavalry on the cover of Revolt, and LESS like Flint Fireforge. Damn Dragonlance and its clownish demihumans (gully dwarves, gnomes) anyway!

Recently, I've introduced some dwaren-ish plot stuff into my weekly campaign. Even though I want to continue exploring the deserty-Arabic-Egyptian setting in which the characters find themselves, I'm thinking that I'm going to "up the ante" on the dwarf impact. I need to stop thinking Nordic and start thinking "short, burly alien species." I believe I have simply fallen into the same trap many DMs and world-crafters have before me, namely riffing off the traditional Norse mythology on which the dwarf class is based. There's no need to do that...many of the monsters one finds in D&D are of quite different origins (Greek myth and 20th century science fiction, for example). The game is already a damn hodge-podge. At least I can make the dwarves something worth playing!

By the way...our one dwarf player in our Thursday night game? Not one of the guys with a 3 Charisma. Now that's something to riff off.

[and, yes, in case anyone's wondering, this little post has been inspired by the inundation of dwarf pix to the internet from Ye Old Hobbit film. I'll take inspiration where I can find it. Who knows, maybe y'all are in for "dwarf week" here at the ol' Blackrazor...]

Best Basic B/X Monsters (Top Ten)

And by "best" I mean, "best at killing players."

I've read more than a few times that the Holmes basic edition is the most dangerous, mortality producing version of the game ever written. This is due in part to certain "expert level" monsters (like the purple worm, manticore, hydra, and vampire) being included in a game where the characters only go from levels 1-3.

Well, I beg to differ...I mean, dead is dead, right? If you're digested by a purple worm you're not anymore dead than being smacked for max damage by an ogre; there's a point of diminishing returns on that kind of thing (i.e. "death").

[unless, of course, you're killed by a vampire...then I suppose you can be "even more dead."]

But Moldvay's red book has plenty of monsters that will wipe out characters in the 1-3 range...many of whom are listed as standard wandering monsters for those very same levels. The idea that Moldvay's version of Basic D&D is somehow safer or "more balanced" is completely ridiculous. At least in Holmes characters with a high Dexterity will (on average) gain initiative (and thus, the upper hand or opportunity to run) in any encounter. In B/X, initiative is always a crap shoot.

The following list is my Top Ten Most Deadly Monsters from Moldvay's red book. Most of them are also my favorite monsters in the Moldvay set (these I've marked with an "*"). Not surprisingly, they are very real PC killers...only a true asshole of a DM would use these in an adventure for characters under 4th level, at least in the numbers listed in the rules (a singular, lone creature is much easier to deal with than a group, at least for a large adventuring party).

Oh, by the way...dragons (of any color) are NOT on the list. While I will be the first to say there aren't ENOUGH dragons in your average D&D campaign, dragons have such wildly varying ability that one can't really say whether they are consistently deadly (a stupid, sleeping, dragon of young age and no spell-casting ability isn't much of a threat if the party can get the drop on it and reduce its hit points before its first breath attack).

Here's the consistent badasses:

#10 Zombies: If there was any question in my mind whether or not "the damned dead" should be here, it was answered by last Thursday's decimation of adventurers. Unlike every other edition of D&D (including AD&D and Holmes), Moldvay's zombies are CHAOTIC (all undead in B/X are Chaotic), which is to say "unholy" and "evil;" probably the reason holy water is so effective on 'em. I already wrote how nasty these guys are...they beat out other 2HD monsters (like gnolls) due to their fearlessness (no morale checks) and immunity to sleep spells. Used in large numbers they are likely to take apart any 2nd level parties they encounter.

#9 Shadows: Again, a change-up from other editions of the game, B/X shadows are NOT undead, and thus NOT subject to turning...however, they are still immune to charm and sleepspells and being incorporeal, can only be hit by magic weapons. They show up on the 3rd level of a dungeon (1-8 appearing!); how many of your 3rd level character are carrying magic weapons? Strength drain is delicious and even if a party survives the confrontation, will probably be left deep in the dungeon in a weakened condition.

#8 Minotaurs*: I've always loved the minotaur as a monster; dug it in the legend of Theseus, dug it in Saturday morning cartoons (an episode of the old Godzilla, if I'm not mistaken), and loved Willingham's illustration in B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. A 6HD monster that gets a +2 on damage when using a weapon. Being larger than an ogre, it is immune to both charm person, hold person, and sleep, and will probably kill at least one or two PCs before being brought down, even by large parties. Minotaurs are also intelligent, and unlike other monsters "will pursue as long as its prey is in sight" (this one isn't distracted by dropped rations). Vicious...did I mention that the normal number appearing is 1-6? What the hell is this doing in the Basic game?

#7 Harpies*: As with minotaurs, I've always loved the harpy; I've been a fan of Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (both the book and the very faithful film adaptation) for years, and the harpy is an awesome villain...but which is the adventure module where, if PCs fail their save versus the harpy's song it comes and (automatically) "rips their eyes out?" One of the Slavers series maybe? Or the Master of the Desert Nomads? Regardless, that's the kind of encounter I love to see in adventure modules (and that some players...hi, Luke!...absolutely loathe). But if any monster should be a malicious, de-protagonizing bitch, it should be the harpy. Monsters that fly mean monsters that are hard to bring down (and that circle to keep out of range of spells). Three attacks per round (claw-claw-weapon) makes them exceptionally nasty, even without the charming. I used surgically-modified harpies in my Paschendale Necropolis adventure (no singing and no weapon attacks) and they still killed both hirelings and wounded several party members in nothing flat. The fact that they don't rate higher on this list should tell you something about numbers 1 though 6.

#6 Bears*: My love for the bear as a B/X monster is, I think, fairly well known. The only thing that doesn't rate them higher is their low "number appearing" stat (usually only 1, unless in their lair). Often totally underestimated...what? It's just a bear, right?...they will kill party members very quickly before they even know what hit 'em. Except for the black bear, all bears are larger than the ogre and are thus immune to the sleep/charm/hold spells of low level characters, and being animals are fairly immune to reasoning or negotiation (and since you usually only encounter ONE, they're generally NOT subject to morale checks!). Of the bunch, my hands down favorite is the polar bear (even the non-armored variety), because they seem so mundane...right up until they kill you. "Oh...and the bear hits you several times and does [*roll*roll*] ...30 points of damage to you! Holy crap!"

#5 Ghouls*: While these are a personal favorite (nothing says "terror" in the dungeon like a pack of flesh-eating undead) I almost never use them except in high level games or very small moderation. Why? Because they are Total Party Kills waiting to happen. 2HD creatures with claw-claw-bite ability are nasty enough...I've seen a half-dozen troglodytes with the same D4/D4/D4 take down two plate armored fighters and a plate-and-shield cleric without batting an eye. Ghouls do D3/D3/D3 with the same chance to hit, and every attack that hits forces a save versus paralysis (requiring a 12-14 save roll on the D20 for characters under 4th level). Did I mention they travel in packs of 1-6? And being undead they're immune to sleep/charm/hold? That gives 'em a leg up over the tentacled carrion crawler. Did I also mention that per Moldvay they start showing up on level two of the dungeon? Do you know what a 2nd level cleric needs to roll to turn a ghoul at 2nd level? A nine. Fairly long odds...and if you happen upon a lair (treasure type B = 2,000gp average), you'll encounter 2-16. That's a lot of diseased nails raking the flesh from your bones. 'Course it could be worse: in OD&D and AD&D being killed by a ghoul turns you into a ghoul!

#4 Mediums: 1st level magic-users come in packs of 1-4. The only reason they don't rate higher is it's always possible the PCs might get the drop on 'em and take 'em down with a sleep spell of their own. Otherwise, it should be short work for one of the mediums to get off a sleep spell and drop an entire adventuring party. Heck, a magic-missile might well finish off that rival party mage hiding in the back ranks, and if accompanied by their "master" (only a 3rd level magic-user in the B/X monster description!) the party may well find themselves trying to push their way through a web spell to get to said magic-users. In the lair (a school?) mediums are encountered in groups of 1-12...that's a lot of charm spells. Personally, I'm surprised it only rates as a 3rd level encounter.

#3 Lycanthrope: Werewolves*: Although these don't show up in B/X until the 4th level of the dungeon, they are present in the Basic book, and are one of my all-time favorite monsters. I almost never use them. Generally found singularly in old TSR adventure modules (a la the standard horror cinema "wolfman"), when used as written, they can be one hell of an encounter: number appearing 1-6 (2-12 in lair/wilderness). In addition, lycanthropes can each summon 1-2 normal animals to aid them and werewolves "summon normal animals to form large packs with them." On average that's nine monsters (3-4 werewolves and 5-6 normal wolves) or double that (around 18!) in the wilderness or dungeon lair. Any group of five or more has a 5HD, 30 hit point leader that does +2 damage (and is, of course, immune to sleep and charm and hold person spells...at least in wolf form), and all werewolves require silver or magic weapons to injure. Assuming you can tell which wolves are the lycanthropes and which are the normal wolves (how many silver arrows are the low level archers packing?). Wolf packs tend to maul the hell out of characters anyway (I saw three or four normal wolves take down a charmed ogre during a run of M1: Blizzard Pass) and werewolves fight and attack like dire wolves. Such an encounter with "average" numbers will kill several PCs, especially the lighter armored party members. And even should they run, wolves are some of the fastest pursuit critters in the game (180' move compared to the un-armored PC's 120' move). It would be a small matter for such scent hounds to run the PCs down.

#2 Owl Bears*: Probably my all-time, hands down favorite monster of the Moldvay Basic book, they are also probably the baddest of badasses. Cross a grizzly with a griffin and what do you get? A creature that can't be stopped by the spells available to characters level 1st through 4th and that can do up to 40 points of damage in a single round. Claw-claw-bite at D8/D8/D8 plus "bear hug" for 2D8...and did I mention they hunt in packs of 1-4? A normal grizzly is only ever found solo in a dungeon...you can encounter up to 4 times that many owl bears on the 4th level of a dungeon, and they will rip you to shreds. Bears of a feather flock together, I guess. Need it be mentioned that with 5 hit dice they're immune to charm, sleep, hold person, etc.? Oh, yeah...I already said that. When these bad boys come out, even 4th and 5th level fighters tremble in their boots.

#1 Medusa*: Another monster I almost never use. Interesting that the OD&D version had the lower body of a snake, like the classic gorgon of Greek myth...not sure why they changed it in later editions except possibly to not confuse it with the (confusingly-named) bull-like creature. Moldvay's description of the monster constantly refers to it in the singular, which I find strange as the number appearing is 1-3 (1-4 in lair). An average of 2 medusa per encounter, each one of which is 4HD with an auto-death attack (poison) AND and an auto-petrifaction effect (no attack roll necessary). The medusa (in numbers of 1-3) first show up on the 3rd level of the dungeon. What party of 3rd level characters is going to survive a wandering encounter with three medusa? That's just a ridiculously tough encounter...you might as well call 'em half-hit dice mind flayers. I feel mean just putting ONE medusa in an adventure; as I said, most of the time I just leave 'em completely out of the game. Too bad, though, because Perseus and the gorgon is probably my 2nd favorite Greek myth, right after Theseus and the minotaur.

All right, that's the list...and glad I am to get it off my chest. One of the monsters on this list will be featured in blog posts all week long, starting tomorrow, but for right now I'll let you contemplate the sadism of Tom Moldvay's "Basic" set and the death and destruction it is possible to unleash even before opening the "Expert" box. I know I did, back in the day, as I owned the Basic set probably for a whole year prior to getting the Cook/Marsh Expert rules.

Prost!

: )

Bad Ass Space Opera -Nihongo-style

Last night's game went pretty good...I'll post something about it later. However, check THIS shit out: Japan's doing a live-action film of Star Blazers (aka Space Battleship Yamato), one of my favorite, favorite imports from Japan as a kid (maybe even cooler than Shogun Warrior toys...I sure did watch it a lot of week day mornings during breakfast before school).

Sword and Shield posted an abbreviated trailer for the film here. I found a full-length version (about 10 seconds longer) of the trailer here. Yes, it appears to have the "wave motion gun;" totally badass and very, very space opera in scope.

It also seems to have an Aerosmith soundtrack. I don't know what's up with that...wasn't Wolfmother available? Personally, I would have been perfectly happy with the original cartoon theme (it sounds the same in English and Japanese)...also very badass.

Here's the full length trailer:

Holy Toledo!

Yes, I am still in Spain.

For the most part, I am loving it, though I will be back stateside soon enough (i.e. in roughly two to three days). I'm sure you folks can wait THAT long. Jeez!

While I've had internet access for the last couple-couple, I've been mainly too busy sightseeing or too exhausted (from sightseeing) to bother blogging. Also, it sure would have been smart if I'd bothered to bring a cable for uploading photos from the cam to the blog, 'cause I'm sure I'd have plenty to say when one considers the mishmash of cultures and multi-thousand year history of this incredible country. Pretty f'ing fantastic.

Right now, I'm in the city of Toledo, the main city I wanted to see on our trip (though the Basque country was a lot of fun and Granada and Madrid were nice as well...all right, as I said, everything has been cool. Though I would strongly recommend NOT driving in Granada. No! NOOOoooo!!). Toledo, not to be confused with the city in Ohio that bears its name (they even have a street here named after Toledo, Ohio)...TOLEDO, the REAL Toledo is about 2500 years old, and was the capital of Spain until Phillip the Dos (that's "II") decided he'd rather move the political seat of the country to a little village called Madrid in 1561.

I'm not sure what's more impressive...that Madrid will be celebrating its 450th birthday next year (only about twice as old as the United States) or that the original capital has more than 2000 on THAT. Well, actually, that's a lie...I DO know which is more impressive to moi.

Anyway, MY reasons for wanting to go to Toledo were a little more...um..."base" than simply wanting to soak up the beautiful architecture, history, and cultural gumbo (Islam, Catholicism, and Judaism have been peacefully coexisting in Toledo for several centuries). Nope, all that is great, marvelous in fact. But I came here for the swords.

I can remember the first time I handled a replica katana in some Seattle cutlery shop, more than 20 years ago, and naively asking where in Japan it had been made. "Spain," was the reply. I was told there weren't any swords being forged in Japan (at least not for export) and the only real blades still being commercially manufactured THESE days (this would have been the late 80s) were being forged in Spain.

Now, of course, there are plenty of replica artisans all over the world. Ahh, the magic of the internet which allows hack writers like myself to self-publish all over the world...and hobbyist sword-makers to manufacture all sorts of edged goodies for a profit.

But still, there's a difference between buying an "authentic Scottish claymore" hand-forged locally from your neighborhood Renaissance fair, and picking up some real Spanish steel in the world's sword-making capital. Or maybe there ISN'T a difference...except in MY mind.

But you know me...I'm kind of "old school," like that.

So, anyway, Toledo. I heard that swords were big in this town...hell, in the whole country for that matter, and yeah, it appears to be true. Even up North in the Basque region, the wedding we went to featured sword salutes and sword dancing (outside the church) not to mention a big-ass broadsword being used to cut the wedding cake. And yes, there's plenty of sword history in the country (what with the violence of the Reconquista and Crusades). But Toledo?

This town is something else entirely.

Now, of course I should note that Toledo isn't just the "place of swords." It's really the "place of swords and marzipan." You know, that sweet almond-paste candy? Apparently it was invented here. There are nearly as many shops selling marzipan as selling swords...which is a good thing, since my wife is far more interested in the tasty confections than the edged bad-ness. But pretty much EVERY shop, EXCEPT the confectioners sell swords.

Every shop. Like every single window has a prominent rack of blades of all types, styles, designs, and craziness. For a sword enthusiast, this place is hog heaven.

Moreso...I've actually become a bit jaded to the whole experience. The place is also a Mecca (no pun intended) for tourists and history buffs (duh) and the place must sell more swords than...

Well, shit. Than anywhere in the world. I mean supply and demand right? Could these businesses stay in business without moving all this inventory? Come on!

Every time I turn a corner (and like Venice, this place is filled with medieval, winding streets...all old, all stone, though thankfully all marked) I half-expect to see a pair of tourists, duking it out with replica swords like some Highlander-style alley fight. I mean, what else could they be used for? Is there some type of underground, Toledo duelist club (Spain's answer to Fight Club?) that I'm not privy to? If so, they must be doing it somewhere well concealed...the main thing I see cruising the streets at night are young people in tiny cars, blasting loud dance music and looking for a party. That particular scene is no longer my thang, but honest-to-God fencing in the streets of historic Toledo? I have to admit, the idea holds a certain appeal as I find myself approaching middle age.

Too much D&D I suppose.

; )

Anyway, I did buy a sword today...much as I would have liked to forge my own (I've read too many books as well), I did get an excellent piece from a real Toledo sword-smith...a 4th generation hombre who's been forging for 40 years and works out of a shop more than three times that old (we got to tour the shop...it looked like your average extremely crowded garage plus forge, work tables, and stacks upon stacks of half-finished pieces). Much as it would have been nice to pick up a cruciform broad sword or bell-guarded rapier, I settled on a tasty small-sword...all hand-crafted, even the quillons (several of his commercial pieces incorporated molded pieces into the hilt as a means of expedience). It's simple and elegant, and the blade is supple enough the espadero could bend it at a 90 degree angle without snapping it, the whole flexing swiftly back into its original position. Ugh! It's so beautiful and so completely impractical (I certainly hope never to poke someone with it!) that I'm really at a loss for words. As with other parts of this trip, the thought of it just fills me with...well...with a lot of feeling.

Fortunately, it was in my price range (it wasn't made with meteoritic iron after all!), and my wife and I both knew there was a very good chance I'd purchase a sword in Toledo (I never did have much of a poker face). Wow...I can only hope it clears customs so I can unwrap it and revel in its shininess...right now, it is boxed and taped and it ain't coming out till we get back to Sea-town. Hopefully, no fat tourist in the midst of a mid-life crisis slaps me with his glove while I'm prowling the city, looking for a churro (the wife is already stocked-up on the marzipan).

However, if some deathwish-craving Yankee DOES hit me up for a duel, I'm sure I'll be able to pop into whatever shop I happen to be browsing, and nip back out, blade in hand. I mean, really, it is THAT easy in Toledo. I kid thee not...every single block. There are enough armas blancas in this town...replica AND authentic...to arm every single tourist and stage a mass battle scene that would put Nightwatch to shame. Maybe not enough claymores to do Braveheart...but I wasn't a huge fan of that flick anyway.

All right, all right. That's enough for now. I've got another 48 hours or so "in country" and I need to spend some of it sleeping. Adios, amigos! Nos vemos!

: )

“Halfling Week” Continues – The B/X Juggernaut!

Would you sacrifice 9 (average) to 18 (maximum) hit points over the entire length of your fighter’s career in exchange for a +2 bonus to all saving throws across the board EXCEPT Dragon Breath? Absolutely. How about for a +1 bonus instead of +2? Yeah, probably.

How about sacrificing the hit points AND limiting the number of weapons to which you have access AND taking a 5-10% hit on earned experience? Hmm…it might still be worth it, though less so if using the optional Variant Weapon Damage rule from the Basic book. If all weapons do D6 (the standard rule) all you lose is access to a few magic weapons.

Meet MY halfling fighter.

HALFLING JUGGERNAUT

Level.....Title.....Experience Points.....Hit Dice

1.....Stout-Heart.....0.....1D6
2.....Bruiser.....2100.....2D6
3.....Skirmisher.....4200.....3D6
4.....Point Guard.....8400.....4D6
5.....Shield Breaker.....17,000.....5D6
6.....Stalwart.....34,000.....6D6
7.....Elite.....68,000.....7D6
8.....Marshall.....130,000.....8D6
9.....Juggernaut.....260,000.....9D6
10.....10th level Juggernaut.....390,000.....9D6+2*
11.....11th level Juggernaut.....520,000.....9D6+4*
12.....12th level Juggernaut.....650,000.....9D6+6*
13.....13th level Juggernaut.....780,000.....9D6+8*
14.....14th level Juggernaut.....910,000.....9D6+10*

*Constitution bonuses no longer apply.

Halfling juggernauts are aberrations…halfling warriors who train day in and day out for battle, pushing themselves to feats of courage and strength that belie their small stature. Though no taller than other halflings, juggernauts often possess 20-30 pounds of extra muscle, and might even be mistaken for small dwarves save they have no beards. Halfling juggernauts generally live outside and apart from normal halfling society, often seeking glory and renown in human lands. However, in times of war, halfling juggernauts often lead their own people in battle, acting as elite force commanders.

The Prime Requisite of a halfling juggernaut is Strength; a juggernaut with a Strength of 13-15 gains an additional +5% on earned experience points, and one with a 16+ Strength gains a +10% bonus. A character must have a minimum Constitution of 9 to be a halfling juggernaut.

RESTRICTIONS: Juggernauts use six-sided dice (d6) to determine their hit points. They may wear any armor and use shield or weapon, provided it has been cut down to their size (in other words, they face the same restrictions as other halfling characters). Halfling juggernauts may achieve a maximum of 30th level of experience. They use the same attack and saving throw tables as fighters (however, see Special Abilities below). They may use any magic item useable by a fighter or halfling.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Due to the nature of their training and their temperament and love of battle, juggernauts do NOT receive the same special abilities as the halfling class. They have no interest in hiding from their foes, prefer melee to missile combat, and find it dishonorable to use their size to advantage when fighting monsters larger than man-sized. Although juggernauts lose some of the halfling’s natural caution, they are still hardy individuals and receive a +1 bonus to all saving throws except versus dragon breath.

Halfling juggernauts that reach a high level of experience gain the same ability to make multiple melee attacks as a fighter. They may make a total of two attacks at 15th level, three at 23rd, and four attacks at 30th level.

A halfling juggernaut may build a stronghold at any time, provided they can afford it. A juggernaut that has achieved Name (9th) level and built such a structure will attract a cadre of 5-50 (1D10x5) 1st level Stout-Hearts to garrison the fortress, working in exchange for training; juggernauts will otherwise find it difficult to recruit halflings of suitably martial temperament. In general, halfling juggernauts do not establish domains, instead freely offering their services in defense of nearby Halfling communities.

The halfling juggernaut is not suitable for all campaigns.

How B/X Halflings Kick AD&D Fighter-Thieves’ Asses

Let me count the ways.

Look, I’m not denying that AD&D character classes IN GENERAL are “bigger and badder” than their B/X counterparts…that’s just part of the power creep inherent in Gygax’s campaign notes. The AD&D fighter with his D10 hit dice and +3 points per level after 9th, not to mention multiple attacks at 6th level and exceptional strength, make the guy a powerhouse compared to the lowly B/X (or OD&D) fighter.

It’s a different dimension…”Gary’s World” I suppose one could call it. And for the most part, direct comparisons CAN be made between the two game systems, as the systems are pretty much the same (roll initiative, roll attack against armor class, roll damage, deduct hit points).

Of course, you do have to agree on a mutual “time-distortion” otherwise the B/X characters with their 10 second combat rounds WHUP ASS all over the slow-motion AD&D characters. That’s right, jerk-weeds…YOUR 6th level fighter gets three attacks every two minutes and I’m rolling to attack TWELVE TIMES in that same span for my “lowly B/X” warrior.
: )

But as I said…different dimensions. Assuming you reach some happy medium regarding the melee round, you can have direct square offs between AD&D characters and B/X characters. And in such circumstances, the human AD&D fighter will stomp all over the B/X fighter. And so, too, will the cleric and probably the thief (magic-users are much more evenly matched, though B/X might have the leg up at low levels based on the “all weapons do D6 damage” rule).

HOWEVER, as far as the B/X Halfling versus the AD&D Halfling Fighter-Thief? The B/X Halfling kicks the AD&D guy’s ass, all day long.

Pound for pound and point for point, the B/X Halfling is a BADASS compared to the fighter-thief.

Leaving aside my philosophical position on the merit of allowing halflings to work in the thief profession (after all, there were no “hobbit thieves”), let’s get down to brass tacks and explain why the Halfling CLASS guts the sleazy thief hybrid at every level.

Basically, it’s just a matter of numbers. The numbers (and the law of averages) favor the Halfling class as a warrior over the thief-fighter. The Halfling class IS more powerful…as in “potent, effective, able to exert force.” In other words, in a one-on-one fight, the Halfling spanks the F-T’s furry bottom.

Let’s look at the “average” B/X Halfling:

Rolling 3D6 in order we get 11s all the way across the board (well, 10.5 but we’ll round up to 11). Since Strength is a Prime Requisite, we’ll reduce Intelligence and Wisdom to 9 to raise Strength to 13, per the B/X rules. Dexterity is also a Prime Req, but our Halfling character already gets a +1 to missile combat and individual initiative and a +2 to armor class versus larger-than-man-sized creatures…we’ll leave Dex alone for now.

Hit Points for the Halfling go like this:
1st level – 4.5 (re-rolling 1s and 2s at 1st level per the B/X rules)
2nd level – 8
3rd level – 11.5
4th level – 15
5th level – 18.5
6th level – 22
7th level – 25.5
8th level – 29

Our little combat will not feature magical equipment at all (the fight is to be a fair test of their abilities against each other and useable equipment is part of the deal; magical items though are random and vary from character to character and from campaign to campaign…we’re only looking at averages and what you can count on).

The Halfling wears plate mail and shield (AC 2) and carries a sword.

The AD&D fighter thief will roll 4D6 for ability scores with an average of 13 across the board…not enough for a single bonus to anything. In fact, a Halfling that doesn’t have the MAXIMUM strength (17) can’t even get beyond 4th level fighter ability!

What to do, what to do? If we give the AD&D F-T his max strength, shouldn’t we give the B/X Halfling max strength (18)? But if we do that, the fighter-thief will get smoked even faster! Even if we give the B/X Halfling EQUAL strength (17) the B/X bonus is HIGHER than the AD&D strength bonus.

We’ll leave them where they are for now. The outrageous claim made earlier was that “an AD&D fighter-thief is more powerful than the Halfling,” NOT “an AD&D fighter-thief with maximum abilities is more powerful.”

[and just one thing…if I DID gave these characters maximum abilities, the Halfling character would beat the AD&D character into the ground even deeper…averages should be enough]

The AD&D fighter-thief wears leather armor (AC 8) and carries a long sword.

Hit points for fighter-thieves depend on the XP total of the character.

At 0xp (1st/1st) average hit points are 4.5.
At 16,000xp (4th/4th) average hit points are 18.
At 120,000xp (4th/7th) average hit points are 23.25.
At 500,000xp (4th/11th) average hit points are 30.5.
At 1,000,000xp (4th/12th) average hit points are 32.5.

A B/X Halfling with 0xp is 1st level. One with 16,000xp is 5th level. One with 120,000xp is 8th (maximum level). B/X Halflings that use my B/X Companion rules get some bonuses to attacks (and saves) at 500,000xp and 1,000,000xp, but no additional levels or hit points…they also get the ability to attack twice per melee at 1,000,000xp (the Companion is easier to use than BECMI "attack ranks" so I'm going with it).

Hmmmm…tell you what: I’ll give the F-T the 17 Strength just to reach his maximum fighter level of 5th.

At 36,000xp, the 17 strength F-T reaches maximum fighter level (total levels: 5th/5th) and has an average hit points of 22.5. 36,000xp to a B/X Halfling puts him at 6th level with average hit points of 21.

In combat, the 5th/5th Fighter-Thief attacks once per round and with a 17 strength needs a 13 or better to hit AC 2 (40% chance). The average damage with a long sword is 5.5 including strength bonus for an average Damage Per Round (DPR) of 2.2. That takes 10 rounds to kill our 21 HP Halfling Myrmidon.

The 6th level Halfling attacks once per round also. We didn’t up his strength, leaving it at 13 so he needs an 8 or better to hit AC 8 (65% chance…this would increase to 70% if he had the 17 strength). All weapons in B/X do D6 damage, so his sword averages 4.5 damage per round (this increases to 5.5 if we use the optional Variable Weapon Damage and increases to 6.5 if we match the AD&D character’s 17 strength). His average DPR is 2.9 and he finishes the pansy AD&D character in 8 rounds, even with a 13 strength and the generic damage roll (otherwise he would have finished him in 5 rounds).

And that’s as close as it ever gets.

The Halfling character’s “break point” for his next increase in attack percentage is level 7. If we max his level (8th in other words at 120,000xp) and match that with our AD&D doofus (5th/7th) we see a comparative hit point ratio of 28 to 26. The Fighter-Thief continues to average 2.2 points of Damage Per Round, which means 13 rounds to kill our stalwart Sheriff. Meanwhile, the Sheriff (with only a 13 strength) ups his DPR to 3.4, still finishing the AD&D character in 8 rounds.

At 500,000xp the AD&D character’s level is 5th/11th and has 33.25 hit points…but the Sheriff now has a DPR of 3.825 (attacking as a 10th level fighter) and still drops him in 9.

At 1,000,000xp the AD&D character’s level is 5th/12th and hit points increase +2 up to 35.25. But the B/X Halfling’s attack chance has increased yet again AND he now receives 2 attacks per round. His DPR increases to a whopping 8.55 and the fighter-thief is toast in 5 rounds. This is still with a 13 strength and using the “all weapons do D6" basic rule. If we increased his strength to 17 and allowed his sword to do 1D8 damage the AD&D halfling would be dead in less than 3 rounds. And remember that in B/X a halfing can have a natural, rolled strength score of up to 18.

The B/X Halfling kicks the ass of the AD&D fighter-thief. The advantage of armor is the deciding factor…the B/X Halfling is a WARRIOR, whereas the AD&D fighter-thief is a JOKE.

But at least the AD&D Halfling can pick locks...
; )

Every Holy Symbol is Holy to SOMEone

When I was a kid, I loved AD&D, pure and simple.

Really, to deny it would be totally absurd; it was, hands down, my all-time-favorite game, role-playing or otherwise. I would rather play AD&D than pretty much anything else.

Note: I am specifically talking about ADVANCED Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition..not B/X not BECMI, not OD&D, not 2E. And when I say “as a kid,” I mean up until age 13 or 14, although usually when I use the term I mean “under the age of 25.” As in “kids these days wouldn’t know good [insert whatever] from a smack upside the head.”

ANYWAY…when I was a YOUNG kid, AD&D was the Be All and End All of fun things to do. I know that most of my readers have felt this way about SOME edition of D&D in the past, so we’ll just move on to the next part of the post.

One of the Big Main reasons I loved AD&D so much was how DARK and BADASS it was (you can see why 2nd edition and BECMI was fairly antithetical to this love). After all, here was a game in which you could play capital-E EVIL characters. How cool was that?

I mean, right there in the Players Handbook we find the ASSASSIN character class. Wow. Forget the fact that the assassin, AS IS, is a totally awesome archetype. Heck, forget the fact that the assassin is exactly the same as a thief except better (with the addition of poison, disguise, and auto-kill abilities). Forget all that…here is a character with a required “Evil” alignment.

None of this Palladium pussy-footing around, ‘oh, this cool class is recommended as an NPC villain ONLY' bullshit that I hated SO MUCH (back before I was all about mass discarding of intrinsic rule systems).

DM says: Okay, what’s your character?

PLAYER: I’m a half-orc assassin! I’m Chaotic Evil!

DM: Um, you realize that your companions are good, right?

PLAYER: Are you saying I can’t be an assassin? It’s a core class! Gary says it’s cool!

DM: (*sigh*) Yes, you’re right.


Actually, this exchange is more likely to occur with today’s AD&D/OSRIC players than back in MY day. If someone wanted to be an assassin (and evil) more power to him! You don’t have to keep any more of an eye on him than on the party thief, after all. Actually, it’s the PALADIN that seems the “odd-man out” in your normal Old School dungeon crawl…for a guy who says he doesn’t care about treasure, he sure ends up doing a lot of killing and looting of monsters!

I’ve noted before but I’ll mention again, in my old campaigns NONE of the players would have been caught DEAD playing a goody-goody Paladin. Zero. The first time I ever met a guy who played paladins (and that’s ALL he played…hi, Alex!) was in 1997, and while he was only a year younger than me (born 1974), I believe he had been introduced to D&D through the 2nd edition, possibly Mentzer’s BECMI. You know…one of those editions where TSR assumed you wanted to play some sort of “hero.”

As if there was anything heroic about putting humanoid tribes to the sword in pursuit of gold.

ANYWAY, as I said, I used to like AD&D better than anything else, and part of this was the “Evil” option that was included with the game…Chaotic EVIL, Lawful EVIL, UNHolyWord, UNHoly Symbol, UNHoly Water, Detect Evil and Detect GOOD, etc.

Now...well, I tend to think all this is absolute over-kill. And unnecessary. And redundant padding.

After all, isn’t “evil” in the eye of the beholder? Certainly B/X would say that with Detect Evil being more of a “detect danger.” And holy symbols? Well what’s holy to one guy is unholy to another. If I’m a Chaotic cleric that worships satan, my sacred symbol is still “holy” to me…it’s only “unholy” to you goody-good Lawful types out there. And I’m sure my cleric would find your blessed Crucifix to be decidedly “UN-Holy.”

Holy and Unholy are simple matters of semantics and perspectives. Same with an assassin. If my character murders someone, I AM an assassin (that is the definition of “assassination” after all). If I get paid to do so, I’m a paid assassin. If you want to play an assassin with thief abilities, roll up a thief character and kill people for money. Hell…in B/X you can be any alignment you want and still do this (you know that bald Hit Man character from the video game that’s working for the Church? Or “good guy” assassin James Bond? Call ‘em both “Lawful” in alignment).

Now, there are no “half-orcs” (or half-humans at all) in B/X play, which is actually how I prefer things…in my opinion, other humanoids are non-human species, completely alien to humans and should NOT be able to interbreed. ‘Cause if you have some sort of Xanthian Ecosystem (c.f. Piers Anthony) then why no half-dwarves or half-gnomes or (*shudder*) half-trolls? I mean that would just be consistent, right?

All right…don’t want to get too far off topic. The point of the post (as much as I ever have one) is the same as my usual rant: you really don’t need the complication of AD&D to run a cool-ass fantasy game. I think the original LBB rules gave most everyone what was needed to adjudicate a game within a virtual, imaginary fantasy world. B/X simply cleaned-up and straightened out those Little Brown Books. AD&D codified and systematized one man (Gary’s) particular vision on how to run that fantasy world…but I’m not sure I agree anymore that his vision is the best. I like my own vision, thank you very much.

I’ve grown up…and in doing so I’ve grown beyond “Advanced” Dungeons & Dragons.

Badass Mapmakers Wanted

I've been listening to a lot of new music lately.

I know, I know...what the hell does that have to do with ANYthing, JB? Is this going to devolve into another anti-war, anti-4th edition, let's all study astrology and become socialists -type rant?

Bear with me, folks.

I've been listening to a lot of new music lately. Well, new to my IPod anyway. A little Black Sabbath (Mob Rules and Master of Reality...I love you, Sweet Leaf!), a little Merciful Fate (Melissa), a little Metal Church (actually, haven't really found my groove with this one), Ratt (Out of the Cellar), some Def Lepard (Pyromania...that cassette I still have), and a LOT of Wolfmother. Plus an assortment of others including Dio, Zeppelin, and old Crue.

Let me just wax a bit on Wolfmother for the moment. My buddy sent me this CD three or four years back and I promptly lost it (I do that sometimes) before I'd even listened to it. He re-burned it for me after I begged him, having heard good things about the album from a co-worker about the 1st album (prior to the band's line-up change). I have NOT been disappointed...this is the kind of psychedelic weird-ass rock music I need MORE of in my life.

It may be that I'm more of a "hard rock" guy than a metal head...the guitar isn't nearly as important to me as good vocals and a strong drum line. But what the hell do you call a band that includes a jazz flute solo in one of its tracks? And still somehow manages to rock? I don't even know.

This morning I was reading grumpy Ryan talk about what he wants in an RPG. I feel his pain. Sometimes I feel this way about music...I try listening to the local rock station for NEW music that's good, and everything not written by a band that's been around since the 70s or 80s sounds like crap more often than not. Personally, I was starting to worry that I was getting too old. I can remember my father complaining in the 80s how they didn't make good music anymore (regarding the pop music of the time, he probably had a good point...they made "Oldies stations" for guys like my Dad), and thinking he was stuck in the past; maybe I was undergoing this same transformation? That I am just so STUCK, that I am unable to recognize good music when I hear it?

But then I hear an album like Wolfmother that totally kicks ass, and I feel frigging redeemed. It's not ME...there are exceptions playing Grammy-worthy rock music. There just isn't enough of it out there (hmm...come to think of it, I really dug that Avenged Sevenfold track, too, but then I always liked Mike Patton and the singer reminded me of him).

Today, I was down at the local game shop, hawking my wares and is my want, I made a quick perusal of everything on the shelf, new and used. And after looking around I had the realization: I do not want to play ANYthing here. Nothing. At all.

What I WANT to play is my own damn game. But even if my game was available for purchase, it's got no support. I looked through Gary's small retro-clone section, and while there's plenty of adventures for OSRIC and Pathfinder, there was nothing adventure-wise for Labyrinth Lord. Or B/X.

And that's the thing about listening to new music. Good music. Psychedelic music. Inspiring music. It makes me want to write adventures. Not just adventures...adventure modules. I've had three or four new ideas just listening to Wolfmother alone. I've been jotting down notes here and there as they've come up, but what I really want to do is get to writing.

'Cause if WotC/Hasbro is intent on selling the Arneson & Gygax & Moldvay legacy down the river, turning a game of imagination and exploration into a combat board game, a table-top CRPG...well, we've got to fight back. And we've got to have weapons with which to fight back.

I'm not saying I want to have a "living campaign" or return to tournament scoring or anything like that. I don't want to force ANYONE to follow MY campaign world. When I was a kid, my best friend and co-DM Jocelyn owned the Mentzer's BECI (for whatever reason, we never picked up the M) AND the World of Greyhawk. Our (AD&D1E) campaign started in Threshold...even though our characters had relations in Willip or grew up on the streets of the Free City. It was a friggin' mish-mash that would mix in a bunch of our own adventures with classic TSR modules.

That's the thing about modules: they are modular. Or they should be: you should be able to drop them into any campaign with only minor adjustment needed. They should be useful in any person's campaign, whether you prefer Krynn, the Forgotten Realms, or some homebrew-type.

Regardless of the campaign, though, we (we meaning "players of Old School fantasy RPGs") can have a shared experience, despite the fact we are separated by state lines or oceans, without the need to be part of a "living campaign." People who played in the original Tomb of Horrors, can swap war stories with each other based on the shared experience...likewise with those who tried to beard Lolth in her lair or discover the mystery behind the monsters infesting the Barrier Peaks.

Here's my dream: organization is required. Coordination is required. Adventure modules ARE required. But we can start a new wave of gaming, REAL RPG gaming with a little effort.

Right now, though, I don't have the weapons...I don't have the adventure(s). I've got some ideas. I've even got some stuff written up. But this self-publishing thing can be a bitch...trying to put out a quality product all on your lonesome can take a long-ass time. If I'd had to do my own art for the B/X Companion, it would have sat on my computer hard drive for a long, loooooong-ass time.

Visual illustration is NOT my forte. Map-drawing is not my strength. I know there are some folks out there who are great at this...I'm looking for collaborators. I'd like to invite anyone interested in working with me on an adventure module or two to drop me an email of interest.

Once we've got the product, then we can organize the revolution. Let's rock this thing.

; )

Badass Holmes

This post goes out to all those sexy players of “Original Basic.”

Holmes D&D, or “Homes Basic,” or “Blue Book Basic,” whatever you want to call it…is the sole edition of Dungeons & Dragons I haven’t played. Well, except for “4E,” but as I’ve written before, I don’t really consider this an edition of D&D.

Holmes, despite its idiosyncrasies (five point alignment scheme) definitely qualifies as D&D in my book, and not just because it has “fantasy characters fighting fantasy monsters in a fantasy world” (which I don’t think is a proper definition of D&D anyway). And with all respect to those fighters out there, I think most Holmes edition adventurers will be doing what they can to AVOID combat if at all possible.

But we’ll get to that in a second. As I said, this is the one edition of “true” D&D I’ve never played. Heck, I’d never even seen a copy of it till I was able to buy TWO boxed sets from my local game shop last year (and cool beans I did, as I got first printing of B2: Keep on the Borderlands and a sepia cover copy of B1: In Search of the Unknown along with the books). I’ve read the rules a couple times, but as my gaming time is limited these days anyway, I prefer to stick to my beloved B/X when I game D&D. Still, I would LOVE to play (or run) a games of Holmes. Every time I skim the rules, it brings up a particular itch that I just keep wanting to scratch:

The need to be a badass.

That’s right…BAD ASS. Right on the cover of Homes it states, “the original ADULT fantasy RPG.” It might as well have the sub-caption, “Only Badasses Need Apply.” Because I am utterly convinced it takes Big, Brass Balls to play Holmes D&D.

Unless you’re some sort of masochist.

Let’s break it down with the basics:

Presumed Assumption #1: RPG designers know what they’re doing and designers do things for a reason.

Presumed Assumption #2: A game is a game, regardless of how it looks. There is no preconceived notion of how an RPG should appear.

Presumed Assumption#3: While there may be multiple editions of a game system, there are certain recognizable facets of a game that mark it as part of a family, even if it is its own edition.

[just go with me here for a couple minutes]

OKAY…so if you take these three presumptions to be facts, we can define Holmes as a pretty interesting animal.

Exhibit A: Holmes is D&D. Just having the name slapped on the front of the book doesn’t mean it’s D&D, but having those “recognizable facets” does. See my earlier nerd post: Holmes meets the criteria in every regard, and under presumption #3 we can say, “this IS D&D.”

Exhibit B: Holmes is its “own” edition. Holmes has rules that are different from every other edition of D&D. 5-tier alignment, certain combat systems (like initiative), functioning of particular magic effects, etc. If we see a game that doesn’t synchronize with any other game, and we agree with presumption #1, than we must acknowledge Holmes as its own edition…it is neither a precursor to AD&D, nor to the Cook/Marsh Expert set, though it states it is the former and is semi-adopted in the introduction to the latter. Holmes exists outside of the general space-time continuum of D&D, even though it is readily recognizable as D&D (see Exhibit A).

Exhibit C: Holmes the Badass Edition. If we operate under presumption #2 (practice non-attachment to how the game is “supposed” to look); Holmes is a self-contained game. After all, it is designed how it’s designed. It doesn’t go “with” anything (see Exhibit B). It is what it is.

And what is it? A world where your characters go from 1st level to 3rd…and yet the monsters range from goblins and kobolds up to purple worms and vampires. This is a brutal, brutal world…one where poison means instant death for an adventurer and one in which there is no cure for that poison. Fighters never reach “hero” status (per other editions, that would be a 4th level fighter, and Holmes fighters never get there), and magic-users never gain more than a (small) handful of spells. The only wizards with any power are NPCs…and they are probably of the ancient, stooped and wizened variety to have gained so much power.

Now I’m not the first blogger to suggest Holmes be treated as its own game…one crazy, gritty, nose-to-the-ground game that only goes to 3rd level. I’ve read other Holmes enthusiasts who suggested discarding any pre-conceived notions that Holmes players MUST graduate to AD&D or an Expert set or one of those home-made-internet-downloads-that-continue-Holmes. This is an Old Subject in the realm of Old School blogging.

But instead of looking at THAT particular glass as half-empty (“imagine a D&D campaign where your characters are always eating dirt”), I prefer to remember that adventurers in a D&D game are already a cut-above the Normal Man. Holmes adventurers ARE heroes, even if they aren’t capital-H “Heroes” or even superheroes…but they are heroes. The best kind of heroes. The badass kind.

What is a hero? Well, if I skip the historical definition (of the mythological, half-divine individual), the American Heritage Dictionary defines a hero as “any man noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose.”

In general, adventurers in D&D are not marked for their “nobility of purpose” (they are adventuring for money after all; i.e. trying to make a buck). So what exactly is a feat of courage? Well, the AHD defines “courage” as:

“the state of mind or spirit that allows one to face danger with self-possession, confidence, and resolution.”

If I’m an adventurer…whether 1st level or 3rd level…and I’m going up against a 6+ Hit Dice troll, you better believe it takes courage to even step in the room. Sure there’s trepidation and a jack-hammer heart beat, but that’s the game. At least, it’s the Holmes game.

Adventurers in D&D are a cut above the non-adventuring “normal” folk. But Holmes adventurers are certifiable. They had better be smart, tough, and have a large dose of good luck on their side…especially considering “ability bonus inflation” is non-present and magic items found aren’t going to give you much bonus. You better be both resourceful AND on top of your game if you’re going to face down a gorgon or basilisk with your Homes character!

Adventurers in Holmes are a cut above normal folk, NOT just by their class, but by their HEROIC SPIRIT: the confidence and resolve to face immanent, mortal danger every time they step into the cave entrance. No matter how great they grow in power (um…3rd level?) a strong blow from a giant will crush the stoutest fighter like…well like a giant crushing a mortal man. And you’re going to seek out THAT guy’s treasure horde? You better be prepared in every way possible…you’re going to need a healthy helping of brains to go with your Big Balls. If you survive to 3rd level, you should be expecting some pretty epic songs to be sung by the local bards…and even in your old age, you’ll probably be called upon (like Beowulf) to fight some massive (and certain-death-dealing foe).

How creative do you think PLAYERS have to be to survive Holmes Basic? Talk about serious mental boot camp: if you’re tired of getting your characters gaffled by bugbears and ogres (not to mention black puddings and purple worms), don’t you think you’re going to have to learn how to use every possible advantage? Unlike other editions of D&D, Holmes does NOT have raise dead as a readily available spell. Oh, so sorry…you only live once. Just like, say, Stormbringer?

[at least in Holmes you don’t have to worry about getting critted and killed in your first fight. Instead, you just have to worry about getting hit twice and killed!]

This IS gritty fantasy. This is fantasy with balls. This is an RPG that, if the players are COMMITTED to it, will force you to step up your game. And it’s one where retirement should be viewed as a welcome reward from an extremely dangerous lifestyle. Holmes dungeon delvers are coal miners. They should be coming out of those caves covered in dust and blood and cobwebs…and definitely ready to fire up a smoke and pour a drink on the ground for dead companions. Now THAT’s D&D without artificial sweeteners. I love it.

Welcome to Holmes Basic. Only the Truly Badass need apply. For those about to die: we salute you!

; )