Be A Good Dog - Pugmire RPG Kickstarter

A new fantasy experience is well on its way. Brought to us by Eddy Webb and the crew at Onyx Path, "Pugmire" presents a fantasy world where uplifted canines live in the shadow of a now long-gone Man.

Valderia Ho! - Myrmos

Throughout the Valderian Empire there is a great diversity of soldiers and warriors ranging from simple militia and professional soldiers, but few evoke the cold, brutal spirit of war as the Myrmo. These professional soldiers make a living for themselves as heavy fighting line breakers, the sort of fighter that brings fear to their enemies.

Wrapped in thick plated armor and wielding mighty weapons or fighting with two weapons at once, the Myrmo are at home wading through the carnage of battle as they free once soul after the next from the shackles of their flesh. These mythic warriors have a reputation for being un-killable, shielded from death by their legendary armor and even said to lack compassion or even any soul at all. The mythology surrounding the Myrmo is enhanced by the lengths to which individual Myrmo go to build their image and reputation.

Myrmo helmets and armor often make a point to remove all humanity from their visage. Empty sockets, featureless face shields, monstrous visages and even entirely themed suits of armor make these very flesh and blood combatants seem to be otherworldly and inhuman. One popular trend, among the seafaring people of the Valderia, is to adopt maritime themes in armor decorations. Fish, sea shells, sea monsters and other beings of the see are often emblazoned on these Myrmo, only adding to their fearful appearance. 

Valderian lords often boast and draw status from how many Myrmo they employ, taking the killer reputations of their hired brutes as their own.  A house with many Myrmo in its employ is a force to be reckoned with and sends a message to those who would oppose it that to do so militarily would be a costly endeavor. 

Design Notes: The concept of the Myrmo was not built into the story of Valderia from the beginning. Rather, it developed from the design sketches of trying to come up with fantastic armor that looked to be drawn from a combination of Earth's Renaissance period and other terrestrial armors from other parts of history. As I conceptualized heavily armored warriors from the Empire, themes and ideas formed until i had this odd blend of Roman gladiator and armored knight. 

Valderia Ho! - Thinking More on Fantasy Armor

For the Valderia project, the continent of Moran is pretty well fleshed out both in style and content. The central Empire of the setting, Valderia, is decidedly inspired by Renaissance Europe with elements of Spanish, Italian and even a little Swiss and French influence in there in terms of clothing style and arms and armor. It's northern neighboring "cold war" enemy, The Lyndermarke, are not quite as well developed stylistically.

My original thought for the Lyndermarkes were a stalwart, stern race of northmen, but not Vikings. I wanted them to wear plated armor, wield long swords and heavy axes into battle. I wanted them to feel a bit less refined than the dueling, militaristic Valderians and provide a cultural counterpoint that seemed a bit more early Renaissance. I once described them as...

They are broad men, standing a head taller than those of the seven realms of Valderia. They have fair skin, wear the skins of beasts over their plated mail. Long stout blades are their weapon of choice and thick-hafted spears.

This evolved into a concept of armored coats being worn over their legs rather than fitted mail under which they would wear warm breaches to stave off the cold of their home. Drawing on their tradition of proving their warrior prowess by hunting monsters and great beasts, I thought horns and antler adornments might also fit well with the concept. Two-handed swords and solidly made bardich type axes seemed appropriate for their heavy warriors. I also decided to go with crossbowmen and half-armored spear men for their medium troops. The illustrations below show some of the brainstorming I have been doing.

New Sculpt Released by 15mm.co.uk

A while back I sculpted this little beasty in an attemt to see if I could sculpt something like the creature from The Thing. The sculpt isn't quite that gruesome, but it does have a certain "yuck appeal" about it. This miniature was just released by 15mm.co.uk under their SHM miniatures line.

Sculpted with 15mm in mind, there is no reason this creature couldn't appear on 28mm tables as well. It doesn't even need to be scifi or horror as this creature is in line with all manner of slimes and other dungeon nasties found in fantasy settings. 

Snake Cults, River Barges and Giant Voles

The family D&D game has now gone into it's fourth session and coming up on the fifth and so far it's been great fun. We are playing just a couple of hours each Sunday nights, with the occasional bonus session as the mood strikes us. The girls are doing great in the game and I've already handed out some role-playing X.P. to reward their good character play and creative thinking.

The first adventure centers around the trio of characters trying to locate a merchant's daughter kidnapped by a local snake cult (a classic staple of fantasy). So far the players have located the lair of the local cult - a low level temple in a cave. They got a feel for the place but felt ill-prepared and out-numbered so they decided to seek the merchant and ask him for assistance. 

In our campaign setting, one of the primary modes of transit is via river barges and ferries. The party opted to utilize this method of travel and had an interesting encounter with some of the local NPCs. I used this transit time to establish some of the character of the setting by introducing the players to colorful NPCs and describing the local scenery.

While they were in transit down the river, they were set upon by a trio of snake cult assassins that had secreted themselves among the commoner passengers on the barge. The party managed to fight them off, though Halfa (dwarf fighter) found herself close to death thanks to an assassin's blade in her back. The encounter ended with the helps of some of the more capable NPCs, a grizzled fighter named and roving magistrate. After this encounter, the party related their tale to the magistrate and he offered to see them to their destination.

Once the party arrived in the coastal trade city of Fordenharn, they parted ways with the magistrate (known as a Warden) and were met by the merchant, Bald, and his men. They were taken to his manse in the city and the players marveled at a detailed description of the sprawling city that crawling up from the bay to a rocker peak overlooking the sea.

When we had to end our last session, the players had discussed a plan of action that set us up for tonight's session. their intent is to seek help in making the final raid on the snake cult's lair. They have already wasted so many days and there is a frantic concern that they may be too late and that the girl might be either sacrificed or even brainwashed into another follower of the snake god. They want to locate and enlist the aid of the Warden and are hoping to take some of Bald's men with them. We'll see how things go tonight.

More soon,

-Eli

P.S. The giant vole in the titles is a reference to a re-skinned bear that the party encountered. this "new" creature was called a Vole Bear and was essentially a black bear-sized water rat with burrowing claws and gnashing incisors. 

Back in The DM's Seat Again

It's been a while but I finally have a regular RPG session again. Surprisingly, this one is with my own family.

With my daughters now 13 and 9 and still interested in gaming, and with a gamer wife it's too good an opportunity to pass up.

I have been trying to get such a game going for a while now, but with the end of summer, the beginning of school and life in general it's been hard to pin everyone down. In fact, it was so hectic a start, that I even hesitated to blog about it until I could see that it really was happening. In the end, I was finally able to get characters made and the game going.

My wife and youngest daughter both made dwarfs, Gerta and Halfa. My wife is playing a fighter and my 9yr old is playing a cleric. She wanted a spell-caster but I was afraid a magic-user would be a little too stand around for her to keep her interested. Clerics are bashy and have magic and so it was the obvious choice without the fiddly neutrality of Druids or the wait for it nature of Ranger or Paladin magic. Don't get me started on Bards.

My oldest wanted to play something different and asked if she could play a "kitty person". I took this as a challenge and created an exotic race of cat-folk that live on an island in the remnants of their once mighty civilization - the Shathra. I worked out a culture, back story and even dredged up some cool art online to illustrate them. I wrote them up from scratch, no re-skinning and ultimately....

They were kitty-people...

Such is the world of RPGs with teenage girls, I suppose. She made the character a fighter as well and so we set out with two fighters and a cleric, none of which are humans.

So far the sessions, of which there have been three, are going really well. We have integrated them as the climax of our regular "Screen-Free Sundays" as a reward for surviving all day without TVs, video games, or even computers. The girls have a knack for gaming which is mostly my oldest girl's doing as she has been running her own light weight D&D/Labyrinth Lord games for over a year now. For both of them, this is their first time playing in a "serious" campaign.

They are still in the middle of the first adventure but have already had a few surprising role-plays and some good ideas come out of it. I have even had to edit the original adventure concept to go along with a few good ideas, the girls had, that I felt deserved capitalizing on. This has lengthened the adventure beyond where I had originally written it but will also allow them to gather some more X.P. before adventure number two.

-Eli

"F" is for...

FIRBOLG

Ever since I read their stats in the Monster Manual 2, I have loved these giant, good-aligned, Celtic-styled giants. In a game full of evil, malign, savage and otherwise out to get you monsters, especially among the giants, these beardy goliaths are a nice break from the norm.

Pic from CoolMiniOrNot.com

Although they can still pose a threat to adventuring parties, they often have more detailed motives for being so. Instead of hurling boulders at you simply for the sheer sport of it or because they want to grind their bones to make their bread. A Firbolg is more likely to attack a party because they are invading his lands, have taken some of his stock or wronged his reputation or kinfolk somehow.

As much as they can be foe, Firbolg also offer a good chance for something special in a fantasy game - a giant on your side. Being good-aligned, they can just as easily be allies to a party as they can be enemies. In my own games, I have had a Firbolg seek aid from the party, serve as a guide and in one game there was even a Firbolg PC (I was pandering to a player, I'll admit it).

Valderia Ho! - Building a Humanocentric Fantasy Setting

While Moran exists in a pretty typical fantasy world with all the trappings, Valderia itself is a place that is very humanocentric. The empire was forged by humans who settled on the content from across the seas and who carved out first a niche and then a domain for themselves over thousands of years. To this end, both the Valderian and Lynderman humans of the continent of Moran see their hard-earned lands as theirs and give little consideration to other species who would take it.

Moran has even greater reason for it's very human habitation than most of the campaign world as its earlier elven inhabitants abandoned it unknown eons ago and the dwarves seem content to remain nestled in the under realms. Sure, orcs, bugbears, goblins and hobs all litter the landscape, but you will rarely find pointed ears or a beard among the human populations and there is not a fuzzy foot to be found anywhere. But where does this leave players?

Sure part of the appeal of playing in a fantasy setting is the unique opportunity to play something other than man, so when most of the options are removed, what is left. the answer in the Valderian campaign is greater detail of human culture and an accentuation of stereotype and national flare. This is to say that a human from he continent of Moran is more defined by where he is from than what he is. While Valderians are arrogant blue blooded and aloof, Caravossans are boisterous, rowdy and tough. the rustic folk of Tortionne are a stark contrast to the bravos of Capron.

In the Valderian campaign, human region will be given attribute modifiers, bonus languages, and skills as well as possible special abilities based on its national character, effectively making each a distinct "race" in the setting. These, along with the orcs (discussed another time), allow for a mostly human setting with enough non-human spice to punctuate that thematic point nicely.

Here is what I have so far. This is by no means final, but shows you the direction I'm headed.

Valderia

Reputation: Nobles

+1 INT, +2 CHA, -1 STR, -1 CON, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Valderian, Spesian

Bonus Languages: Lynderthal, Dwarvish, Orc, Hobgoblin, Cantolli, Laventine, Elvish, Trade Tongue

Bonus Skills: diplomacy, horsemanship

Tortionne

Reputation: Rubes

+1 STR, +1 CON, -1 INT, -1 DEX

Automatic Languages: Spesian

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Orc, Laventine

Capron

Reputation: Bravos

+1 STR, +2 DEX, -2 WIS, -1 INT

Automatic Languages:  Spesian

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Laventine

Bonus Skills: weapon finesse, con

Ilsetres

Reputation: Artistes

+1 DEX, +2 CHA, -1 STR, -1 CON, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Laventine

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Spesian, Cantolli, Trade Tongue

Bonus Skills: weapon finesse, etiquette

Carvossa

Reputation: Pirates

+2 DEX, +2 CON, -2 WIS, -2 CHA

Automatic Languages: Spesian

Bonus Languages: Laventine, Trade Tongue, Sea Cant

Bonus Skills: wailing, navigation

Vospesia

+1 CHA, +2 WIS, -2 STR, -1 DEX

Reputation: Traders

Automatic Languages: Spesian, Trade Tongue

Bonus Languages: Cantolli, Valderian, Laventine, Lynderthal

Bonus Skills: negotiate, appraise

Lotressa

Reputation: Fighters

+2 STR, +1 CON, +1 DEX -2 INT, -1 CHA, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Cantolli

Bonus Languages: Spesian, Lynderthal

Valderia Ho! - Getting to Know Moran

In the last post regarding my possible Valderian campaig, I showed off the map (above) and provided a few general notes on the continent. I'd like to now start a small mini-series within the main series filling in the specifics of the Valderian Empire as well as a bit of info on the continent of Moran.

Overview

The Empire of Valderia is an imperialistic nation that occupies the vast majority of the continent Moran on which it is found. Born from the wealthy merchant state of the same name, The Kingdom of Valderia now controls either directly, or through treaty, all of the neighboring human states. These states comprise the Seven Baronies, the three Markes of the Lyndemarke, as well as the settlement frontier of Westholde. Though not an official state, there is also a region of military holdings, mercenary camps and warlords known as The Marchlands.

All the people of the baronies, with the exception of those from Karmarke, share a common ethnic heritage though there are four distinct sub-groups: Valdar, Spesian, Laventine and Cantolli. These four “tribal” groups are distinguished by linguistic character and minor cultural differences determined by their region. Nearly all folk of the baronies speak their own regional dialect as well as that of neighboring regions. The Laventine people of the Barony of Isletres are the most distinct of the peoples, having a refined culture of grace and gentility that exceeds the pomp and courtly corpulence of Valderia. All nobles of the baronies speak Valdar as a requirement of courtly manner.

Westholde and The Marchlands are a hodgepodge of languages, dialects and jargon. The islands of Carascossa are technically part of the Barony of Carvossa and therefore Spesian even though their population is a rough mix of all peoples.

Lyndermanne or “Markers”, as they are often referred to with some disdain, are a distinct group of hearty men hailing from the north. They speak a different family of languages than those from the Baronies. Even the men of Karmarke still speak Lynderthal even though most of the nobility of that barony now speaks Cantolli and Valdar. It should be noted that Lynderthal varies little from group to group due to strict social and religious strictures on language and its use.

To the west of these lands is a region populated by various humanoid tribes, clans and even kingdoms. Orcs, bugbears, hobgoblins and goblins all have their regional territories though there are few formal borders or recognized boundaries other than traditional territorial considerations.

Hope you enjoyed this first peak at the makeup of the Valderian Empire and its neighbors.

Take care,

-Eli

Valderia Ho! - A Good Places To Start

The map below shows a brief and simple map of the continent of Moran where can be found the Valderian Empire, or Valderia as it's more commonly called, and it's immediate neighbors. This map really only exists for background purposes, providing a map of possible places from which the player's characters might hail from.

I assume that most of the players will be playing Valderian humans from either Valderia itself of one of the seven baronies that fill out the empire. Alternately, they might choose to be of The Lyndemarkes as a foreign fortune-seeker or perhaps one of the simpler folk of the Westholde seeking a fortune he did not find in that land of promise. I hope at least one of the players will decide to make an orc character.

Most orcs on Moran are found outside the empire. in Winterskarre, Blackholde, and in the uncivilized Westholde. They live as savage tribesmen and small nations of unified tribes and clans but there are still tens of thousands of them living within Valderian society. Most of the latter are the descendants of those clans and tribes that were conquered, destroyed or who capitulated to human expansion and consolidation.

There are also dwarves in Moran, but they are content to remain in their underground kingdoms for the most part and only really deal with the surface world for trade and occasionally politics. Still it is possible that a rare dwarf might set out for adventure alongside humans. Half-orcs do not exist. Neither orcs, nor humans will have them.

Moran has no native elves, halflings, or gnomes. These races do not even visit Moran in any measurable numbers as any of their population centers are far across the sea with much nearer trade ports available to them.

Hope you enjoyed this peak at the world from when the players shall come. I will share more of my plans in some future posts, including some information on the state of those usual of fantasy RPG suspects, the humanoids.

Take care,

-Eli

Valderia Ho! - Possible New D&D Campaign

Well, it's time again. Once more into the breach my friends!

Yes, after some time away from the shuffling of character sheets I have decided to give running a D&D campaign another try. I am revisiting the world of my Homeland campaign setting but setting this tales in another continent an ocean away from the first Homeland campaign.

Enter Valderia!

Originally conceived of as the background behind a colony on the original Homeland continent, Valderia is a human empire roughly analogous to southern Europe during the Renaissance. I say roughly because it's really a mish-mash of images and constructs from that time blended with some fantasy. Valderia is an empire that has pretty much reached the limits of its conquest and consolidation on the continent it occupies. Now the Kingdom of Valderia and the seven baronies that make up the Empire must find new sources of trade and plunder the fuel their imperialist manifest destiny.

The campaign takes the form of the players embarking on one of the masses of expeditions across the sea in search of far-off lands known only in legend and rumor. The players will take on the roles of whatever dregs, villains, thugs, dreamers, and jingoistic adventurers seeking fortune in the name of the Empire and their own purse.

Here is a poster I did to introduce the campaign to my players...

He's Got a Gun!Firearms in Fantasy Settings

Okay, so I know it's been talked about before, but I was thinking about this on the drive home the other day and figured it might be worth blogging about.

There seems to be an overwhelming feeling among fantasy RPGers that if you bring a gun to a sword fight you will somehow ruin the game. Various reasons are given ranging everything from "realism", through period accuracy, and on through game balance and cross-genre pollution. While it is understandable that folks may not want guns in their games, there is nothing mechanically to fear from them and even the various thematic arguments do have a few valid arguments against them.

Mechanically speaking, a gun is just a weapon. Setting aside auto-loading guns and sticking with more archaic firearms, there is little that makes an arquiebus or musket any more useful to an adventurer than a crossbow. Though the damage output is likely to be higher, most RPG weapons still inflict proportionately low damage in their respective systems than they would in real life. In many ways a firearm could almost be seen as the two-handed sword of the missile weapons set, inflicting a higher level of damage in its role.

The high damage output of a firearm is balanced out by the slow and fiddly reloading method. Unless you fantasy firearms wielder is blessed with the early invention of all-in-one ammunition, he'll have to spend a good bit of time between shots. This may not be much longer than a heavy crossbow, but there are many more components to this that all must be coordinated in a veritable ballet of finesse and efficiency. While the archer needs only pull an arrow from his quiver, nock, and draw it back, the musketeer must maneuver his weapon, shot, wadding, powder and primer this way and that, all the while removing his weapon from an aiming position. Even the crossbowman, who must also take his weapon out of an aiming position need only get his bow cocked and then grab his next bolt.

In pure mechanical terms, this all sounds like a matter of degrees but if you consider that weapons in RPGs are intended for adventurers, operating in small groups and fighting in skirmish type engagements, thee practicality of a musket suffers greatly. While their are historical precedents for the use of archaic firearms in skirmish engagements, these were still with groups of like armed men fighting in some form of drill and supported by other men fighting in a similar style.

A warrior, armed with a musket in a dungeon delve is unlikely to benefit from other firearm equipped adventurers. In addition, the smoke and noise of his shots is likely to prove distracting and hindering to others in his party. With their visibility obscured and the roar of a boom stick in their ears, a party may find spells difficult to use, and a lacking in the coordination and communication that the close quarters of dungeon combat would require. One or two shots and the already claustrophobic passage will now be choked with smoke as the orcs close range.

But Eli, what about pistols?

Pistols seem like the adventurer's best firearm. Lighter, more compact, and able to be carried in braces of multiple pistols, the pistol really is the choice firearm for the dungeon dweller. Sure the smoke and noise will still be a problem, but at least the reloading issues are minimized by the ability fothe warrior to carry a couple of pistols that he can fire early in the fight and then either fight with them as clubs or put them aside to fight with melee weapons, saving reload time for after and between fights. While the wizard is memorizing, the cleric is busy healing the fighter and the thief is distracted trying to steal gold from the party, the pistolier can be busy cleaning and reloading his braces of pistols.

Next time I'll look at the thematic, role-playing, and setting aspects of firearms as I see them.

Thanks for reading,

-Eli

CROM - First Playtest

I finally got a chance to run a non-solo game of CROM. Thanks to my buddy Derek I was able to get a quick game in with the intention of giving the stock CROM rules, as published by Paul over at Matakishi's Tea House, a good play before continuing to modify the rules with additional house rules.

The set-up was really simple. A woodland on the edge of a river. In the woods, a bestial warrior and his six warriors (in two minion groups) vs. a 12 Dice hero and a 10 Dice hero. The heroes managed to divide and conquer the minions pretty easily and unfortunately didn't take all that much damage in the process. By the time the villain, who has 10 Dice made it into combat with the heroes, he wasn't much of a match for them.

One observation that was made early in reading the rules was that minions seem to have the potential to really beat the crap out of heroes. Successfully maneuvered minions can force a hero to spend all of his allocated Combat dice on defense and end up left with none for attacking OR even worse leave him so short on dice that he ends up without any Combat dice left for even a defense roll, meaning in any combat he will automatically take at least 2 Dice of damage.

We decided to play test a combat engagement after the game to test this and in our dice off, a 12 Dice hero was dispatched in one turn by a group of three minions. Further testing may be needed to see if this is as easy to do as the test would indicate. I am also going to go over the rules and Paul's first play test scenario again to make sure that I'm not missing anything on how Minions operate.

Still have a lot of love for this system so far.

Take care,

-Eli

CROM - Heroic Abilities

As I mentioned in a previous post, my gaming group found that CROM needed a bit more for us, especially if it was going to get some replay. The core mechanics of the game are solid enough, but the trouble we had was that other than a character's dice pool and miniature, there wasn't much to set one apart from the other. All 12 Dice characters would essentially be the same figure. To combat this we started looking into alternatives.

One thought I had was for a collection of Heroic Abilities that would be put on cards and selected by players when creating their heroes. These could be used for long-term play or for one-offs or ignored for simpler games. I am still working out how to allocate cards but the working formula is something along the lines of 1 card for every 4 dice in the character's pool, rounded down. Using this formula, more powerful characters will get more abilities to distinguish them. For example - Conan has 12 dice in his pool, allowing him a selection of three Heroic Ability cards while Red Sonja (10 Dice) and Subotai (10 Dice) would each receive only two cards (10/4 = 2.5. rounded down to 2).

As I am working on the Heroic Abilities, the majority of them fall into the combat categories. Mostly, this is because the majority of the game comes down to either Attack or Defense rolls. There are some movement abilities in the works, but movement is pretty straight forward with modifications for climbing, jumping and terrain. What there are very few of are cards that tap into the use of Special dice. This is very much due to the near total absence of good examples of Special actions in CROM. Magic falls under this category, but so far that is touched on only briefly concerning summoning and controlling creatures.

I've included a brief list of some of the Heroic Abilities I am considering for the game. Some of the modifiers tap into rules created either by myself or borrowed from Spacejacker's ground work which I happily borrowed (Thanks for the good work dude!). These may change as I play test them and in some cases there may seem to be similarities between abilities that are not so clear unless you have read the dice mechanics of this game.

MIGHTY FOE (Attack) +1d6 to attack rolls in melee

FOE CLEAVER (Attack) +1 automatic 6 to attack rolls in melee
CLEVER FIGHTER (Defense) +1d6 to defense rolls in melee
STALWART (Defense) +1 automatic 6 to defense rolls in melee
SWEEPING ATTACK (Attack) Attack two adjacent opponents in melee with one attack roll
FISTS OF STEEL (Attack) Unarmed attacks are made at no penalty
KEEN EYED (Attack) +1d6 to attack ranged attack rolls
DEAD SHOT (Attack) +1 automatic 6 to ranged attacks
TRICK SHOOTING (Attack) The hero does not require line of site to shoot at target. Cannot shoot through solid walls or obstacles but can shoot around corners and over linear obstacles.
BATTLE RAGER (Attack) If the hero slays an opponent in melee combat, he may do an automatic follow-up attack on a second opponent within 4 inches.
QUICK DEFENSE (Defense) Attackers do not get bonuses for multiple attackers
SHIELD BASHER (Attack) Can use shield as a second weapon for dual wielding bonus.
MISSILE DEFLECTION (Defense) +1d6 when defending against missile attacks.
HEROIC LEAP (Movement) +1d6 when rolling for jump moves
UNTOUCHABLE (Defense) +1d6 to all defense rolls
BATTLE CRY (Attack) -1d6 to opponent’s defense roll
UNFLINCHING (Defense) Attacks against this hero inflict 1 less hit.

In the above examples, you will notice each Heroic Ability name is followed by a parenthetical notation. This is not just an organizational notation, but I plan to use it to limit Heroic Abilities. I haven't decided how exactly, but it seemed a good up front measure to categorize the abilities by what dice pool they are designed to modify. One possible way to limit the use of these cards will be to place a cap on how many of one type of card a hero may have.

Lastly, I have also worked on a card layout for these cards. I picked a new piece of artwork to go on the card backs to set them apart from the existing cards which are used in the iinitiative deck. These cards will be held by the player using them.

Keep it Under Wraps - D30 Mummies

Mummies. Classically depicted as foot dragging, dry-throated mutes with a grudge against the living, these creatures have undergone some very interesting changed in the last couple of decades. Where as a quick step and a sharp eyes would have been enough to escape the mummy of the past, today's mummy is fast, dynamic and often not just a guy in bandages with a serious mobility impairment. In movies and TV, the mummy has become a force to be reckoned with. Possessed of immense power of magic, items of power or even innate natural abilities, the modern mummy sometimes bears little resemblance to his silver screen ancestors.

As a solute to this new breed of mummy, I thought it would be fun to do a D30 chart for it. This chart is designed to provide various abilities and modifiers that can be overlayed onto the classic mummy write-up found in most D&D and similar systems from the OSR era.

1. Bestial. The mummy possesses physical characteristics of some sort of animal giving it appropriate natural attacks for that type of animal.
2. Humanoid. The mummy is not human or demi-human but some form of humanoid (orc, bugbear, goblin).
3. Giant. This mummy was created from some sort of giant humanoid and had physical modifiers and abilities consistent with that sort of creature. Regardless of special abilities, all giant mummies are +3 damage to all physical attacks.
4. Multi-limbed. Possessing an additional set of limbs, this mummy gains +1 attack.
5. Tauric. The lower body of this mummy is that of some sort of animal giving it appropriate abilities and movement for that that animal (burrowing, flying, swimming) as well as +1 attack.
6. Internal swarm. Nestled within the body of the mummy is a swarm of insects, arachnids, worms or other vermin. These creatures can be controlled by the mummy over great distances, functioning as spies and messengers as well as being used to attack opponents.
7. Built-in weapons. Those who made the mummy intended it as a guardian and as such bestowed upon it weapons made part of its body. All attacks made by the mummy now count as weapon attacks doing damage appropriate for the type of weapon.
8. Independent body parts. This mummy can detach its body parts and still use them.
9. Shapechanger. The mummy has the ability to change its shape at will as per the polymorph self spell.
10. Warrior. The mummy was a warrior in life and counts as a fighter of a level equal to his hit dice.
11. Wizard. The mummy is possessed of arcane skills giving him magic-user levels equal to his hit dice.
12. Demonic/Diabolic. The mummy's body is also a prison for a creature from the lower planes. In addition to the mummy's normal powers, it also possesses the powers and spell-like abilities of the demonic/diabolic creature trapped within.
13. Visage of vitality. Despite being a mummified corpse, the mummy has the appearance of life. This appearance is only skin deep however and wounds inflicted upon the mummy will reveal it's true nature.
14. Hypnotic effect. Something about the mummy has a hypnotic effect. Whether it is its gaze, voice, perhaps the sparkle of a jewel in its attire it can mesmerize those it comes in close contact with.
15. Animal control. The mummy has the natural ability to control the animals found in its environment.
16. Weather control. The power of the elements is are at the command of the mummy. Wind, rain, freezing cold, roasting heat, etc all may be summoned up in the home region of the mummy.
17. Life drain. This mummy possesses the same life level drain ability as a Wight.
18. Shadow walk. The mummy may move between any two shadows as if using a dimension door spell.
19. Mirror walk. The mummy may use mirrors and reflective surfaces to travel as if using a dimension door spell.
20. Dust form. The mummy can change to dust and fly through the air at will.
21. Arcane prison. The mummy's powers come from a supernatural being trapped within it. When the mummy is destroyed, the being is released.
22. Slime or fungus infested. In addition to the mummy's usual abilities, it's physical form has also become home to some form of slime, jelly, ooze, or other form of dungeon fungus.
23. Soul devourer. The mummy has the ability to pull the very soul from another being, trapping it within itself. This power works similar to a magic jar spell but the victim has no control over the fate of their soul. Destroying the mummy frees any trapped souls.
24. Elemental. The mummy possess natural control over a particular element with spell-like abilities to match.
25. Tomb control. The very walls and passages that entomb the mummy are at its command. The mummy may freely manipulate the structure that confines it, shifting passages, opening and closing doors, etc..
26. Regeneration. The curse that binds the mummy is so powerful that it will not even allow the physical form to be destroyed. The mummy heals 1d6 hit points of damage every round.
27. Toxic breath. The mummy may belch forth a cloud of poisonous gases that are lethal to the living.
28. Warded mummification. Those who mummified the creature imbued its wrappings, body markings or other mummification treatments with spell wards and protections. 
29. Eldritch ally. The mummy is the thrall of some ancient, otherworldly, cthonic force and may manifest powers appropriate for that alien intelligence. 
30. God corpse. This mummy is no mere mummy. It is the entombed avatar of a god.

CROM - A Fun Conan Skirmish Game From Matakishi

I recently stumbled onto a new skirmish level miniatures game in development by the talented Paul Ward of Matakishi's Tea House fame. With the working title of CROM, the system provides a fast, simple play system using dice pools and the allocation of those dice for specific actions. Created for use in the fantasy world of Conan, the system is basic enough to be adapted to a number of settings and has already been morphed into Greek myth and pirate settings by Paul and other players.

Though the system is still in development, with rules for magic and scenario design, it is very much playable right now and I'm sure that Paul wouldn't mind folks putting it through its paces. One thing I noticed is that the game is definitely for those with  love of the setting and the genre. Those who look to min/max systems or break them will likely find it easy to do so in this game that uses a very simple, flexible, and abstracted system.

Upon initial read we, myself and another guy from my gaming group, felt that the system was basic enough that it could even have a few more layers of detail added without overpowering the core mechanics or ruining play. For example, the game as written seems to use a WYSIWYG approach to the minis being played and does not have any specific rules for weapons or equipment. Also, there is little to set characters apart save their dice pools, something we felt might be remedied by a system of character traits providing modifiers to the basic game play. There is a distinct possibility that such things are already in the works, but as Paul has yet to release the finished product, that remains to be seen. Besides, I love tinkering with systems.

Check it out and give it a try, but make sure if you do to let Paul know how it went.

-Eli

Give Some Kids Some Minis And...

...they'll game with them!

I pawned most of a collection of Mage Knight plastics off on my two girls last weekend. Most of them went to my youngest who hasn't really had a chance to have her own minis, but some went to Anna, my older girl. Naturally she decided to game with them and got together with her buddy to play  small skirmish on this homemade battle board. Note the bridge in the center made from stripped corrugated cardboard.

-Eli

Conan The Barbarian (2011)

So much has been said about this movie leading up to its release and since that I absolutely had to make sure I saw it before it left the theatres. I figured, with no real attachment to the literary version of the character and having grown up on a healthy diet of Arnie the Barbarian and "Savage Sword of Conan", that I might actually be able to enjoy it for what it was and not find myself jaded by prior expectations.

I did.

When it comes down to it, this movie really had a lot to like. Though it jazzed me as a kid, as I grew older I found the origin story portrayed in the movie much more entertaining and believable than the original Arnie film. It never quite sat right with me that "The Riddle of Steel" was so elusive as to drive a man to conquest. The overall visual of the movie is epic and both fanciful and familiar.

What it really comes down to for me is a basic check list of what this kind of movie should include -

• Muscle bound noble barbarian
• Pretty girls
• Exotic places
• Derring-do
• A little magic
• A big monster
• Cool bad guys
• Lots of sword fighting

All of the above are a big check if you ask me. When it comes to Conan plots you generally have the big guy racing around trying to stop some wicked person from unleashing some sort of unspeakable horror on Hyboria and we see that in this movie. Along the way, he makes some friends and falls for a girl. We also have that. In the end, the evil plot is undone, Conan is victorious but is in the end left where he began - alone and driven. Once again, we have that in this movie.

Couldn't find a lot wrong with the movie from where I was sitting even though I did let the mostly empty theatre open up the MS3TK spigot that can be let loose on any movie.

-Eli

[Edit: It was pointed out that I mistakenly used the incorrect "daring-do" instead of "derring-do". Well, to the anonymous poster who pointed that out, you are correct but I'll hardly be damned for writing it how it should have been. It is only because the originally incorrect spelling has become the correct spellingthat it is correct at all.]

D30 Lizardman Variants

When orcs, goblin, bugbears and ogres are old or the weather is a bit too warm for hairy brutes, A DM can always count on a little help from his cold-blooded friends the Lizardmen. Lizardmen are an exotic addition to any adventure and can add a little bit of spice to the humdrum. But do all lizardmen need to be alike?

There have been some variations on lizardmen that have been done over the years, but many of them are total rewrites of the the creature. But a few simple tweaks here and there can certainly add a little variety. Presented here are some quick tweaks to the basic lizardman that a DM can use on the fly.

1. Horned: +1 additional gore attack for 1d6 damage.
2. Light Absorbing Scales: Hide in Shadows as a 4th level thief.
3. Horny Hide: +1 AC bonus
4. Acid Spit: Spit acid up to 10' inflictig 1d4 acid damage per turn.
5. Blinding Spit: Critical hit with this attack causes blindess for 1d4 turns
6. Leaping: Pounce attack has a 3 in 6 chance of knock opponent down.
7. Venom: Poison bite attack.
8. Carrion Eaters: Attacks cause disease on a 3 in 6.
9. Savage: Berserk in combat.
10. Agile: +1 AC vs missile attacks
11. Chameleonic: Limited invisibility
12. Poisonous Skin: Physical contact inflicts poison.
13. Stink: Horrible odor causes nausea. All opponents -2 to hit.
14. Prehensile Tail: +1 weapon attack
15. Arboreal: Move through trees at normal movement rate.
16. Regenerating: Heal 1d4 HP per round.
17. Weapon Tail: +1 attack; 1d6 damage
18. Large: +1 HD; +2 damage
19. Huge: +2 HD; +4 damage
20. Armored: +3 AC Bonus
21. Independent Eyes: May see in two directions at once. Never surprised.
22. Sticky Tongue: Grab attack up to 5' away.
23. Spiky Hide: Grappling attacks against the creature inflict 1d4 damage.
24. Climatic Adaptation: The lizardmen are adapted for a climate that is not suitable for them.
25. Enhanced Natural Weapons: Possessed of more effective natural weapons. +2 damage to non-weapon attacks.
26. Natural Spell Like Ability: Pick a spell of level three or less. Can be cast 2/day.
27. Sonic Bellow: Special attack causes confusion.
28. Gaping Maw: Special attack swallows on a 1 in 6.
29. Roll twice.
30. Roll thrice.

Classic Figs To Good Home

A while back I discovered this pack of Citadel miniatures in my garage. I have no use for them, but seeing as they have some value, I thought I might post these up in hopes of finding a nice trade. 

The pack is 1105 BARBARIANS and features two wonderful barbarian figures in a solid 28mm scale. One is advancing with a two-handed axe while the other, a good likeness of Conan, is posturing with his sword. Both are in classic loin cloth and muscles Frank Frazetta barbarian style. The figures are in splendid condition with nothing in the way of corrosion or erosion of the details.

Being OOP and from a kinder, gentler time in Citadel's history before it was simply the miniatures arm of Games Workshop's in-house games, these figures have a lot of character that we really don't seem to see much of in the newer, more cookie cutter figures from Games Workshop.

 

What am I looking for? Well I'll start with best offer and go from there. I am not looking to make a ton, and can certainly provide a list of minis that I am looking for.

Mainly I am looking for -

28mm Hundred Years War (Old Glory, Perry, Front Rank)

28mm War of the Roses (Old Glory Perry, Front Rank)

28mm Vikings

28mm Dark Ages Peasants

28mm Wild West

I'm also willing to entertain other offers on a case by case basis. As a miniatures gamer, my interests are far-ranging and you may have something that I could use that escapes me at the time of this writing.

Anyhow,

If you want 'em, let's talk trade!

-Eli