Long Break, but I'm back

Not only have I not been blogging, I have even slipped from reading blogs. It's odd how a few days break turns into months.

Now I hear rumblings of a D&D 5 that is a possible return to old-school. Very interesting. I am in anticipation of what WotC will bring out this time.

In the mean time, I am slowly getting back to this blog, but first I need to catch up on the blogosphere and I look forward to doing so.

I am happy to say that I am gaming again. I've been doing numerous board games (Mrs. Santa was very generous this year); and as of yesterday, I have joined a Legends game (Runequest II). I have never played Runequest before, so this will be entertaining for me.

My Own Sword and Sorcery Game

In a recent post, I spoke of my wish to design my own version of D&D; however, not for general consumption, but only for my own use. I now realize that what I really want is my own Sword and Sorcery game.

I make this distinction because while a quick look at the Appendix N (from the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide) will show that D&D is strongly rooted in the traditional roots of Sword and Sorcery (i.e. Robert E. Howard, Fritz Lieber), it also tries to be rooted in the genre of High Fantasy (J.R.R Tolkien being the most obvious example listed in Appendix N). In fact, I believe this is D&D's greatest appeal; however, it is also it's greatest limitation.

While it is cool that players can "make their own game" by simply omitting aspects of the game they do not wish to include; I suspect that the willingness to do so is more apt to be found amongst those that enjoy the OSR. Furthermore, I believe, and this is merely opinion, I believe that with the publication of AD&D, TSR began moving its fan base away from the idea of "it's your game, do what you want", and more towards, "this is the official way you should play". This is, as I said opinion only, but consider the old house organ magazine of Dragon back in the day and the regular feature "Sage Advice" in which any questions of "what's the official rule here?" were answered. I don't mean to be repetitive, but there was a definite drive towards making things "official".

It is damn hard to be "official" and all encompassing with a game like D&D, for it involves the tropes of Sword and Sorcery, High Fantasy and at times even a splash of Historical Fantasy and Sword and Planet. I believe as the game progressed towards the late 80's there was a drive to be more High Fantasy then anything else.

All of this is fine, but it's not the game I want. So fine, I'm a firm believer in the OSR (even if I don't solidly play in the OSR sandbox), so I am free to do what I want. Don't like the Cleric class? Nix it. Don't want Players running magic-users? Don't let them. Don't want hordes of cannon fodder monsters running around? Fine, then throw out the Monster Manual and make your own creepy-crawlers. All of those decisions are easy.

It is even easy enough to make crunchy rules decisions. Don't like alignment? Don't use it. Think Wisdom is a silly attribute? Don't use it. etc. etc. etc..

It comes to a point though when you have to ask yourself: am I still playing D&D? It's okay if the answer is no. My answer is No. I find it liberating. I am now free to do whatever I want.

In another recent post, I listed my ten favorite rpg products.
Now that I am free to do whatever I want, why not combine all of the elements I like from those products and make my own game? The first non game changing rule I would make is my game will be grounded in Sword and Sorcery, minus all the high fantasy. It will be markedly low fantasy. I'm simply going to mash together everything I like and make it work.

This will be fun. Now if I only actually had time to game. *Sigh*

My Own Dungeons & Dragons

Gaming is keeping me awake tonight. Not the actual playing of a game; unfortunately, but the wishing that I were and more to the point, the idea of what my personal D&D game would be like.

One thing I appreciate about the OSR and the OGL is the opportunity that both grant fans to design and use their very own personal "perfect" version of the world's most popular role playing game.

I'm not planning on pushing forward yet another clone. There is nothing wrong with the substantial number of clones out there that are available to fans; however, I don't feel the need to offer up what would be my personal "perfect" game.

The "what" that game would be is keeping me awake. First, I would pair down the races to one: human. I think having so many, and in some case too many race options eliminates the weirdness of the alien or the other.

Second, I would restrict the classes available to Fighter and Thief. Magic-user would be a class reserved for NPC's, most often the villains. This would give it more of a traditional sword & sorcery flavor. Magic would be less common, and when encountered, it would most often be feared. Magic items would always be suspect.

Clerics have just never jived with me as a class. I'm not down playing the importance of religion in the game, but too often clerics are just a convenient traveling medic/turner of undead. Some clerical magic I would keep, but I would convert it as magic-user spells.

Having only two class options, I would adapt the concept of Character Kits from 2nd edition AD&D. I would use a simple skill system that allows each character to be different.

Third, I would not have a monster manual. Monsters would not be as common as they are in the typical D&D game and when they were encountered, they would be truly monstrous. I would not have too many repeat appearances of monsters. I would strive to make each monster unique. Alien. Other.

I have many more specific rules changes, but those are for another time. Now, I'm off to sleep.

Re-Imagining the Iconic D&D Monster: the Kobold

Here's my short jump onto the James Maliszewski band wagon.

Kobolds in my D&D campaigns were created as the result of a magical mishap. No one remembers the specifics, but at least two were made: one male, one female.

I rarely use them as encounter fodder; instead, they serve as a poor man's henchmen, most often in the form of slavery. They can be bought cheaply, and will eat just about anything and seem to have "cast-iron" stomachs. Thus they are often fed rotten foods and spoiled meats. They don't seem to mind.

The good thing about kobolds is that they make for cheap slave labor. Their nature leans towards followership to the point that it is odd to find a kobold with an idea of his/her own. They do not however make perfect slaves as their loyalty only lasts until someone else comes along to bully them into betraying whomever they were serving. They also have the attention span of the average gold fish. Most often they are used for menial labor that doesn't take much thought. They are remarkable in one aspect. Despite their seemingly inane stupidity, they learn simple tasks quickly and never seem to forget how to do something. So while it is doubtful that a kobold would be able to master the craftsmanship to become a leather worker, if shown how to properly cure and clean a hide a kobold put to task doing so would do so with no supervision. A typical kobold is able to master one task. So continuing the same example, while the Master Leather worker may have a kobold slave he has trained to cure hides, he would be pushing it to expect that same kobold to learn how to tan, or for that matter, sweep the floor.

While kobolds are sometimes used in combat as canon fodder, it really isn't their best use, as kobolds are cowardly by nature. Most kobolds live amongst others. In every human centric city, kobolds are found. Typically, they do not live in a "wild" state. Occasionally roaming packs of kobolds are found, these are usually the result of their masters having met a short end, but they are easily defeated, or captured. The greatest threat kobolds offer is that they have short pregnancy periods, and mature quickly. A typical female kobold can spawn two litters averaging three pups each, twice a year. Pups reach maturity in two years. For this reason, kobolds are often eunuchs. Those that are not too often cause a population problem that must be dealt with by the city watch, or a band of adventurers looking to make some easy coin.

Hot Elf Chick Summons the Ghost of Gary Gygax

Yup, I'm doing it too, and it is all this guy's fault. even though technically Zooey Deschanel is not an elf in the movie Elf, but is just dating one, and no, she isn't summoning the ghost of Gary Gygax. Hey, I don't care. I've been in love with her since I first laid eyes on her. Since you're here, and on the off chance that you are here because you know who Gary Gygax was, check out these ultra cool links to free geek swag:

A Quick Primer to Old School Gaming by Matthew Finch

Swords & Wizardry, a 0E Retro-Clone

Or my personal favorite, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing

Is WFRP OId School?

In this post, I am referring to WFRP 1st/2nd edition. 3rd might be a different animal all together.


Is or can Warhammer Fantasy Role Play be considered "old-school"? That is the question going through my mind. Keep in mind, the answer does not change the fact that I am a huge fan of the game regardless. For myself, I feel the rule system should be dictated by the setting. For instance, for high-fantasy sword & sorcery with lots of dungeon crawls and hidden chests full of hard won treasure, well Sir, for that I want some form of Dungeons & Dragons. I say "some form" because, again, which version (OD&D or retro-clone, Cyclopedia Rules, AD&D/OSRIC or 3/3.5 edition) is dependent upon what I want to do with the game.





Then again, if I'm in the mood for something quick and easy that I know I can make up on the fly, well then Sir, give me a helping of Tunnels & Trolls please.





If I want low-fantasy, served grim and perilous with lots of secret cults and plots within plots, well Sir, please serve me up some WFRP.





WFRP works well with some old-school styles, particularly a sand-box campaign. I guarantee, from experience, that a healthy knowledge of the Old World will enable you to set your players free and say "go where thou wouldst" and you will have several evenings of entertainment. Then again, while you could use WFRP for a Dungeon Crawl, or even a mega-dungeon crawl, you would be missing a lot of flavorful opportunities. While dungeons do serve a purpose in my WFRP games, they are not a prominent feature. I would assert that this is the case with most WFRP games.





This is one aspect of the game that makes it decidedly anti-old-school for me: it often seems there is a "wrong" way to present the world of WFRP. If you are running a dungeon based campaign where treasures are won along with magical weapons from defeating monsters guarding said treasures, well...while I wouldn't do so far as to stop you from doing so, I would claim that you are missing the point of WFRP and I would do so with the chance of seeming like a snob.





I'm not claiming that all dungeon based games are as I described them above, but I would say that mine are.





My WFRP games have decidedly few "dungeons". When running adventures in the Old World, I prefer investigation scenarios built around event based encounters. Think Call of Cthulhu with swords and you have the basic idea of what I like to throw at my players. If not that, then I like location based adventures that allow my players to interact with the world at large (or in a micro-cosom); combine a healthy dose of both, and you have in my opinion the perfect WFRP game.





There are several other factors that make me wonder, "is this beloved game of mine not old-school"? For instance, I feel a skills system is necessary for WFRP. While at the same time, for most high fantasy adventures, I prefer no skill system be implemented as this allows me to decide on the fly if the characters can figure out that trap, or better yet, let them figure it out on their own logic, not dictated by a dice roll. Skills are ingrained into the WFRP system. Without the need to gain experience points and buy skills, changing careers and/or upgrading from a basic to an advanced career becomes meaningless. Therefore, to run an WFRP campaign effectively, you must use a skills system.





While combat is brutal in WFRP, the use of Fate and Fortune points gives a WFRP character an advantage that is not present in the typical old-school OD&D game (or equivalent). When I run an old-school high fantasy game (regardless of what rules system I use) my players expect that "0" hit points equals death. Not so in WFRP. In this game, if death is certain, a player can spend a Fate point and avoid it. Granted, Fate points are a finite number rarely bolstered beyond the beginning amount (at least in my games). Fortune points work the same way. Make a bad roll that is going to cost you? Spend a fortune point and re-roll. This can be done a set number of times per session, or game day, depending upon GM preference. In my high fantasy games, all rolls stick.





So in the end, I don't have an answer, other then, the WFRP rules system just feels right for the Old World. For me, it's old-school enough.