Sunday, October 12, 2014
Big Hexyland 2 Is On The Way
A followup to my continent of modular hex maps...
This set will include more mind-bending fantasy terrain, some more generic terrain types (alpine, desert, forest), coastlines, and deep sea hexes (with and without islands). Here's the first hex in progress. Give me your wish lists now, and I'll see what I can do.
This set will include more mind-bending fantasy terrain, some more generic terrain types (alpine, desert, forest), coastlines, and deep sea hexes (with and without islands). Here's the first hex in progress. Give me your wish lists now, and I'll see what I can do.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
WInter Eternal Maps Done
The battle maps I drew for Morné Schaap's "Winter Eternal" campaign are now done. I really enjoyed making them.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
HeroForge Elf Spellslinger!
The beta 2 update of the HeroForge character maker lets you mix Western and fantasy elements. Go fer your staff, varmint! And they added a snapshot button.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Dwarf Gadgets (from Dungeonteller rule book)
Dwarf characters in Dungeonteller can place a rune on a gadget they have built or found to power it up, at the cost of lowering their maximum hp (or "Luck" in DT terminology). Everybody wants a clockdog and a gunderbuss.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
[Actual Play] First OD&D/Holmes Campaign in 35 years
"My big brothers told me you used to run a D&D club after school. They won't let me play with them. Can you bring back the club for me and my friends?"
I told her that if she could find three friends who could consistently show up after school on Thursdays, I would run a campaign for them. But which edition? I decided to use my beloved Holmes rule set and set to making a village map and a dungeon in the old mines at the edge of town.
I have not run an OD&D campaign since 1978, when I was exactly the same age as my young players are now.
Opening the dogeared, taped-together booklet and revisiting the character creation rules was like combing through your old camping gear in the basement — this is still good, this is broken, oh wow I forgot about this bit altogether...
Here's a summary of the tweaks I've done to make it work for me.
1. Stat-beefing. What gets me is how little your stats matter unless you're on the extreme ends of the bell curve. Why did my players cry so much back in the day about their stats? Unless you have a 15 or higher or a 7 or lower, it matters not. So I spread the love a little bit so that you get at least some bonus if you've got 12 or higher in a given stat.
2. Saves. I tossed out the standard saves and instead you roll a d20 and have to roll at or under the relevant stat. So roll vs. your CON score for poison, WIS for fear, etc.
3. Weapon damage. I think as written it's totally broken. Even in '77 we had different damage ranges for different weapons in our house rules. My patch:
Daggers do 1–4 damage but you can strike twice each round.
One-handed weapons do 1-6 damage but allow for a shield.
Two-handed weapons do 1-8 damage.
Polearms do 1-12 damage but only once every other round.
4. Spells. Clerics with high WIS get a spell at 1st level.
5. Healing and spell recharge. I use Dungeonteller-style healing, where a brief rest between fights gets you back to full HP and you get a spell back. No 15-minute adventurer work days.
What I didn't compromise on: hit points. I told the players, when you get to zero hp, you are dead. Period.
The party includes an elf fighter/cleric (illegal in Holmes, I know, but I just swapped out her magic user class for cleric, is that so wrong); a human magic-user with and enviable 18 INT and 17 CON; a human thief with no stats higher than 12; and a human fighter who hasn't acquired any weapons or armor yet, but kills stirges by popping them with her bare hands.
Their first fight was against some stirges, and two PCs out of four could have bought the farm if I had rolled differently on the blood loss die.
It was incredibly fast-moving and exciting play. I loved it. Best newbie quote, as I took out the rule book: "Whoa, there's an instruction manual too? No way!"
I told her that if she could find three friends who could consistently show up after school on Thursdays, I would run a campaign for them. But which edition? I decided to use my beloved Holmes rule set and set to making a village map and a dungeon in the old mines at the edge of town.
I have not run an OD&D campaign since 1978, when I was exactly the same age as my young players are now.
Opening the dogeared, taped-together booklet and revisiting the character creation rules was like combing through your old camping gear in the basement — this is still good, this is broken, oh wow I forgot about this bit altogether...
Here's a summary of the tweaks I've done to make it work for me.
1. Stat-beefing. What gets me is how little your stats matter unless you're on the extreme ends of the bell curve. Why did my players cry so much back in the day about their stats? Unless you have a 15 or higher or a 7 or lower, it matters not. So I spread the love a little bit so that you get at least some bonus if you've got 12 or higher in a given stat.
2. Saves. I tossed out the standard saves and instead you roll a d20 and have to roll at or under the relevant stat. So roll vs. your CON score for poison, WIS for fear, etc.
3. Weapon damage. I think as written it's totally broken. Even in '77 we had different damage ranges for different weapons in our house rules. My patch:
Daggers do 1–4 damage but you can strike twice each round.
One-handed weapons do 1-6 damage but allow for a shield.
Two-handed weapons do 1-8 damage.
Polearms do 1-12 damage but only once every other round.
4. Spells. Clerics with high WIS get a spell at 1st level.
5. Healing and spell recharge. I use Dungeonteller-style healing, where a brief rest between fights gets you back to full HP and you get a spell back. No 15-minute adventurer work days.
What I didn't compromise on: hit points. I told the players, when you get to zero hp, you are dead. Period.
The party includes an elf fighter/cleric (illegal in Holmes, I know, but I just swapped out her magic user class for cleric, is that so wrong); a human magic-user with and enviable 18 INT and 17 CON; a human thief with no stats higher than 12; and a human fighter who hasn't acquired any weapons or armor yet, but kills stirges by popping them with her bare hands.
Their first fight was against some stirges, and two PCs out of four could have bought the farm if I had rolled differently on the blood loss die.
It was incredibly fast-moving and exciting play. I loved it. Best newbie quote, as I took out the rule book: "Whoa, there's an instruction manual too? No way!"
Dungeonteller Complete Bundle Now Just $5
Still haven't tried my Dungeonteller fantasy RPG? The easiest to learn and play RPG for mixed-age and mixed-ability game groups? With astonishing full-color handouts and mini-posters that explain the rules in seconds? Then how about picking up ALL THREE Dungeonteller PDFs for just $5? (A savings of $3.50!)
- The core rules.
- The monster book.
- The full-color cut-n-fold monster and hero counter set (which is totally compatible with my hand-drawn iso battle maps).
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