Tired of trying to say "Kuo-Toa" out loud.
Henceforth, I'm calling them "fishdudes", "deepones", or "Kay-Tees".
2013/07/31
2013/07/28
Top Ten Troll Questions for Your Game: My responses
(1). Race (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) as a class? Yes or no?
Nope. Race as race.
(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
Nope. Just like Don "No Soul" Simmons.
(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
Descending.
(4). Demi-human level limits?
Yup. If yo don't want limits, I think it is just fine to get rid of them, as long as Humans gain a 10% XP bonus or something along those lines.
(5). Should thief be a class?
Yup.
(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
No delineated skills, but they can roll on the Secondary Skills Table on pg. 12 of the DMG if they so choose.
(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Low levels (1-4): no.
Mid levels (5-9): yes.
High levels (10+): no.
By the time characters are 10th level, they should be facing opponents who are: 1) High level NPCs or 2) High-end monsters with MR. Both of these tend to nullify the effectiveness of the the magic-user, unless the DM plays them like patsies.
(8). Do you use alignment languages?
No. This is where I diverge from the book quite a bit.
(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
Both! But the PCs gotta earn 'em.
(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
1e AD&D.
Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
Individual. Unified tables are for "balance" obsessed nerds and videogamers.
Nope. Race as race.
(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
Nope. Just like Don "No Soul" Simmons.
(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
Descending.
(4). Demi-human level limits?
Yup. If yo don't want limits, I think it is just fine to get rid of them, as long as Humans gain a 10% XP bonus or something along those lines.
(5). Should thief be a class?
Yup.
(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
No delineated skills, but they can roll on the Secondary Skills Table on pg. 12 of the DMG if they so choose.
(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Low levels (1-4): no.
Mid levels (5-9): yes.
High levels (10+): no.
By the time characters are 10th level, they should be facing opponents who are: 1) High level NPCs or 2) High-end monsters with MR. Both of these tend to nullify the effectiveness of the the magic-user, unless the DM plays them like patsies.
(8). Do you use alignment languages?
No. This is where I diverge from the book quite a bit.
(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
Both! But the PCs gotta earn 'em.
(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
1e AD&D.
Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
Individual. Unified tables are for "balance" obsessed nerds and videogamers.
2013/04/21
My "Trapped on a Space Station in Deep Space" boardgames....
Usually with lists like these, people talk about being marooned on a desert island. We live in the 21st Century now (well, some of us, anyway...), so lets update the setting:
You're trapped on a space station in deep space. Food, water, and health care are all assured by the on-board systems. You'll not starve or die of anything besides natural causes. However, you won't ever make contact with earth again, nor have any hope of establishing contact outside of the station. However, you're lucky to be marooned with good friends.....so, what boardgames would you stow in you locker? (I'll do RPGs, cardgames, minis, and miscellaneous staff later...
My list:
1) RoboRally - insane factory floor robot war, instigated by a psycotic mainframe
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally
2) Cosmic Encounter - travel the universe, encounter strange beings, stab 'em in the back, and settle their systems! (I'd probably take the Mayfair version, but the link is for the entire family)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/133/cosmic-encounter
3) Fire and Axe - trade, settle, and raid europe!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12495/fire-axe-a-viking-saga
4) Ticket to Ride - hop aboard and become a rail baron (would probably bring the 1910 expansion)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-to-ride
5) Carcassonne - build a city, farm, and be a highwayman!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne
6) Circus Maximus - ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur?
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244/circus-maximus
7) Formula De - Formula One racing
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173/formula-de
8) Close Action - Age of Sail combat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3553/close-action
9) War of the Ring - fight for Middle Earth!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115746/war-of-the-ring-second-edition
10) Blue Max - WWI aircombat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/508/blue-max
Those who know me might be surprised to see Crimson Skies missing......I'm going to include that in my minis post.....
So, what are yours?
You're trapped on a space station in deep space. Food, water, and health care are all assured by the on-board systems. You'll not starve or die of anything besides natural causes. However, you won't ever make contact with earth again, nor have any hope of establishing contact outside of the station. However, you're lucky to be marooned with good friends.....so, what boardgames would you stow in you locker? (I'll do RPGs, cardgames, minis, and miscellaneous staff later...
My list:
1) RoboRally - insane factory floor robot war, instigated by a psycotic mainframe
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally
2) Cosmic Encounter - travel the universe, encounter strange beings, stab 'em in the back, and settle their systems! (I'd probably take the Mayfair version, but the link is for the entire family)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/133/cosmic-encounter
3) Fire and Axe - trade, settle, and raid europe!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12495/fire-axe-a-viking-saga
4) Ticket to Ride - hop aboard and become a rail baron (would probably bring the 1910 expansion)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-to-ride
5) Carcassonne - build a city, farm, and be a highwayman!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne
6) Circus Maximus - ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur?
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244/circus-maximus
7) Formula De - Formula One racing
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173/formula-de
8) Close Action - Age of Sail combat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3553/close-action
9) War of the Ring - fight for Middle Earth!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115746/war-of-the-ring-second-edition
10) Blue Max - WWI aircombat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/508/blue-max
Those who know me might be surprised to see Crimson Skies missing......I'm going to include that in my minis post.....
So, what are yours?
2012/04/26
The Way of the Axe.
This is my obligatory "who I am" and mission statement post. It's dry, boring, and self-aggrandizing. If I have other stuff to read on this site, go read it instead.
My name is Rich. I work for a conservative, mid-western state university. I'm not surprised, but I didn't think this would ever happen to me.
I also have a history of posting as "francisca" at various rpg-centric messageboards around the 'net.
The focus of this board will be tabletop gaming, primarily concerned with old school D&D, which for my purposes, I'm loosely defining as AD&D, OD&D, and Basic/Expert D&D as published by TSR up until the time Gygax left the company. (Gaming material outside of that timeframe is fair game too, but my point of view is from a 70s/80s perspective.) I'll also be blathering about other RPGs, boardgames, and miniatures from time to time, as well.
Topic and content-wise, I intend to provide commentary and reviews of various products which I find interesting. I'll also use this as a sounding board for bits and pieces of homebrew material. In short, this blog will be very much like a multitude of other old-school D&D boards...only far less clever and interesting.
This is also my 3rd, and last attempt to blog.
My background as a gamer:
I grew up in a family of card players, with double-deck pinochle being the game of choice. I had the typical boardgames found in a many North American suburban homes when I was a kid: Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, and Stratego.
I first encountered D&D in the late 70s, witnessing a much older cousin playing it on a ping-pong table in a basement, complete with lava lamps, smoke hanging in the air, and Rush playing on the turntable. My mom would usually usher me out of there in a hurry, so I didn't learn much about it.
In 1981, I noted some guys at school were playing a mish-mash of Moldvay Basic and AD&D, and I soon joined them. Lacking any published material, I created my own game on 3x5 index cards and used dice liberated from the Yahtzee set. I talked my Dad into playing, and a few days later, he came home with the Moldvay D&D Basic boxed set, followed by the Gamma World set a month or so later.
At some point in late middle school, I saved up my allowance and gift money, and bought the core 3 AD&D books, along with A1, G1-2-3, and D1-2 in one big purchase. That, along with the boxed sets my Dad picked up for me, was all I had back in the day. No Dragon subscription (though I mooched a couple issues over the weekend from time to time), and I only knew one kid who had Unearthed Arcana in High School. Pretty spartan compared to the plethora of material many others had.
I played AD&D and Gamma World all but exclusively, almost entirely in home-brew settings, until 1986, when I left the group I was in due to "philosophical differences". That is to say, they were enamored with the new style of AD&D exemplified by DragonLance and the Survival Guide books. I didn't play really much of anything again until 1997.
In '97, a guy I worked with got me into Magic: the Gathering, which I described as "Kinda like D&D without the 6 month commitment." In 1999, I joined his AD&D game, and trekked down to Indy nearly every other saturday for 7 years to play good-old home-brewed AD&D.
In parallel, I also spent 2002-2006 running 3e D&D in a homebrew world along with a B/X game set in Mystara. When my 3e game wound down, I was very dissatisfied with the game as a DM. The B/X game wound down at the same time, and I merged the groups and ran series of 1e AD&D games set in Greyhawk until I handed off the campaign to my buddy Joe in 2009, due to too many demands on my time.
I continued to play in a friends 3.5e game set in DragonLane (ironically! though it was non-canon and very "Sandboxy") from 2005-2010, as well. So, when I complain about 3e, it's from experience, not some irrational, luddite-esque hatred of anything "new". I also gave 4e a try, playing the original gamestore demo, and read the PHB. It isn't for me.
Apart from D&D, I've amassed a bunch of other RPG material and boardgames. Somewhere between 2000 and today I morphed into a more general "gamer guy", though in my heart and mind, I'm a D&D player first, and a generalized tabletop gamer second.
So there you go. That's my general background which forms the lenses through which I view gaming material. There are certainly other influences and experiences which I'll allude to when appropriate, but I think that should be enough to give you a rough idea of my frame of reference.
--Rich
My name is Rich. I work for a conservative, mid-western state university. I'm not surprised, but I didn't think this would ever happen to me.
I also have a history of posting as "francisca" at various rpg-centric messageboards around the 'net.
The focus of this board will be tabletop gaming, primarily concerned with old school D&D, which for my purposes, I'm loosely defining as AD&D, OD&D, and Basic/Expert D&D as published by TSR up until the time Gygax left the company. (Gaming material outside of that timeframe is fair game too, but my point of view is from a 70s/80s perspective.) I'll also be blathering about other RPGs, boardgames, and miniatures from time to time, as well.
Topic and content-wise, I intend to provide commentary and reviews of various products which I find interesting. I'll also use this as a sounding board for bits and pieces of homebrew material. In short, this blog will be very much like a multitude of other old-school D&D boards...only far less clever and interesting.
This is also my 3rd, and last attempt to blog.
My background as a gamer:
I grew up in a family of card players, with double-deck pinochle being the game of choice. I had the typical boardgames found in a many North American suburban homes when I was a kid: Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, and Stratego.
I first encountered D&D in the late 70s, witnessing a much older cousin playing it on a ping-pong table in a basement, complete with lava lamps, smoke hanging in the air, and Rush playing on the turntable. My mom would usually usher me out of there in a hurry, so I didn't learn much about it.
In 1981, I noted some guys at school were playing a mish-mash of Moldvay Basic and AD&D, and I soon joined them. Lacking any published material, I created my own game on 3x5 index cards and used dice liberated from the Yahtzee set. I talked my Dad into playing, and a few days later, he came home with the Moldvay D&D Basic boxed set, followed by the Gamma World set a month or so later.
At some point in late middle school, I saved up my allowance and gift money, and bought the core 3 AD&D books, along with A1, G1-2-3, and D1-2 in one big purchase. That, along with the boxed sets my Dad picked up for me, was all I had back in the day. No Dragon subscription (though I mooched a couple issues over the weekend from time to time), and I only knew one kid who had Unearthed Arcana in High School. Pretty spartan compared to the plethora of material many others had.
I played AD&D and Gamma World all but exclusively, almost entirely in home-brew settings, until 1986, when I left the group I was in due to "philosophical differences". That is to say, they were enamored with the new style of AD&D exemplified by DragonLance and the Survival Guide books. I didn't play really much of anything again until 1997.
In '97, a guy I worked with got me into Magic: the Gathering, which I described as "Kinda like D&D without the 6 month commitment." In 1999, I joined his AD&D game, and trekked down to Indy nearly every other saturday for 7 years to play good-old home-brewed AD&D.
In parallel, I also spent 2002-2006 running 3e D&D in a homebrew world along with a B/X game set in Mystara. When my 3e game wound down, I was very dissatisfied with the game as a DM. The B/X game wound down at the same time, and I merged the groups and ran series of 1e AD&D games set in Greyhawk until I handed off the campaign to my buddy Joe in 2009, due to too many demands on my time.
I continued to play in a friends 3.5e game set in DragonLane (ironically! though it was non-canon and very "Sandboxy") from 2005-2010, as well. So, when I complain about 3e, it's from experience, not some irrational, luddite-esque hatred of anything "new". I also gave 4e a try, playing the original gamestore demo, and read the PHB. It isn't for me.
Apart from D&D, I've amassed a bunch of other RPG material and boardgames. Somewhere between 2000 and today I morphed into a more general "gamer guy", though in my heart and mind, I'm a D&D player first, and a generalized tabletop gamer second.
So there you go. That's my general background which forms the lenses through which I view gaming material. There are certainly other influences and experiences which I'll allude to when appropriate, but I think that should be enough to give you a rough idea of my frame of reference.
--Rich
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