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So, does anybody here have a copy of Ambition & Avarice? Basically it looks like an old school retroclone, but with some newer-style stuff like Expertise (unique abilities for each class), a create your own spell system, and promises lots of options for non-magical classes which don't pale in comparison to magical classes at higher levels. It sounds interesting, and was wondering if you folks had any experience with it.
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Nov 3, 2013 05:52
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DalaranJ posted:Sounds like the Swords and Wizardry Complete pdf is going to be free because something mythmere games did on kickstarter is succeeding. Someone tell me what's so complete about this compared to the barebones version I got for free years ago? S&W Complete borrows more elements from the supplements published during the 1970s. For example, it separates race and class, adds additional classes such as the Assassin, etc. It does have some 1st Edition AD&D elements, but still keeps a lot of the "Zero Edition" conceits like the three-fold alignment (Law/Neutrality/Chaos). Libertad! fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Nov 7, 2013 |
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Nov 7, 2013 02:51
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Halloween Jack posted:Vornheim is a good example of fantasy that is focused on the fantastical rather than world-building, something that is rarely seen today. For example, the palace shaped like a hand, with tower fingers reaching toward the sky, the gardens of black flowers, and the fact that all snakes are secretly books. Agreed. Additionally, unlike other city setting books, it's not filled to the brim with "Street Name #9" or "Bjorn's Wine Company" details. Zak views such things as unimportant details the DM or PCs can come up with during the game session or for their own games. Instead he relies upon quick and easy table generation for encounters, streets, etc. Otherwise it's just more locations for the DM to remember which might never come into play
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Nov 7, 2013 19:42
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So, does anyone know if someone's tried making good playable monsters for pre-3E Retroclones? I know that there's some out there for Labyrinth Lord by Barrel Rider Games (most notably monster classes for the Dragon and Dark Elf), but I can't speak to their quality because I don't own them and I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the LL ruleset.
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Nov 10, 2013 22:29
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In other news, the creator of Red Tide and Spears of the Dawn is working on Scarlet Heroes, a retroclone designed for play with 1 player and one Dungeon Master. Currently it's a Kickstarter, but if you donate at least $10 you get an art-free beta version of the product for download. Yes, you can play the game before it even comes out! Better yet, there's a preview of the Create a Hero chapter free for download!
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Feb 3, 2014 08:25
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@Evil Mastermind: to clarify for spellcasters, there are 8/10 spells total for spell levels, and not class levels as per Vancian magic. For example, 1st-level Cleric can only prepare one 1st-level spell per day, but has 8 1st-level spells to choose from after daily prayer. I picked up Scarlet Heroes, and I like it a lot. I haven't played it yet, but its rules touch upon a lot of the potential pitfalls of one-on-one gaming. Due to the interchangeability of OSR rulesets, the author designed it so that it can be run with other old-school retroclone adventures with some minor changes (like what Evil Mastermind mentioned about Hit Die). In regards to its setting, Scarlet Heroes makes repeated mentions to Red Tide, a setting sourcebook written by the same author several years back. A lot of the monsters and spells are in line with Red Tide's pseudo-Southeast Asian vibe, although it's not a dealbreaker if you plan on using it for your home setting (the majority of the book is not setting material). Libertad! fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Mar 24, 2014 |
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Mar 24, 2014 04:44
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Unless someone already posted it, here's another useful list of D&D retroclones. It's by far the most comprehensive one I've seen yet.
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Apr 5, 2014 17:21
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Honestly, I could totally get down with Heavy Metal: the Elfgame if it was sufficiently ridiculous. Machinations of the Space Princess was written by James Desborough, actually. He originally intended it to be a LotFP adventure, but turned into its own thing.
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Jun 20, 2014 06:06
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Evil Mastermind posted:I fail to see how that's better. Never said it was, I just felt like pointing that out.
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Jun 20, 2014 21:09
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After many scandals and delays, Dwimmermount's finally out!
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Aug 18, 2014 03:48
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I don't see it in the list, but I'd totally recommend adding the African Fantasy retroclone Spears of the Dawn. It's "close enough to D&D" in that it uses a lot of the familiar tropes (vancian magic, 6 ability scores, etc), but the author really took his time to iron out the system and removed a lot of unnecessary sacred cows which could hold things back. He also extensively researched African legends and folklore beyond the stereotypical "jungle savages" tropes so common in media. I have a fairly detailed write-up of it here. On that note, I should get back to writing that review. I notice that I tend to have a bad habit of reviewing products and then leaving them in the dust.
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Sep 4, 2014 01:11
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moths posted:Is Whitehack available as a PDF? I feel stupid paying $10 for someone to print it for me. (And I own way too many books already.) Not yet. In this thread the author mentioned plans once they optimized it for tablets and various other devices, but it looks like that's still in the works. On a similar note, I've been sort of delving into OSR blogs and message boards. Which ones would you recommend checking out that I haven't covered? SOrry if this has been brought up before elsewhere. I've heard good things about The Piazza and OD&D ProBoards (although registration seems disabled) in regards to community stuff. Grognardia is good from a historical perspective, and Jeff's Gameblog has some cool ideas although he updates very slowly. Bat in the Attic's cool for its sandbox articles, although I haven't looked at the other ones much. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 23:24
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gradenko_2000 posted:2. Saving throws - anyone know how Swords and Wizardry merged them into a single value? Basically Swords & Wizardry has a single "Saving Throw" that you roll whenever something bad is about to happen to your character is threatened with something, and you have a chance to lessen or negate its effect. Magic charm spell, dragon's breath weapon, poison, all those use the single Saving Throw. Naturally, some classes gain a +2 bonus to the Saving Throw target number against certain effects (Magic-Users vs. spells, for example). When you roll a Saving Throw, you roll a D20 and try to get under the listed value. So if your Saving Throw is 10, you must get a 10 or less on the die (or 12 or less if it's something your class is particularly resistant towards).
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Oct 7, 2014 03:43
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Just a request, but can we change/explain Dungeon Crawl Classics in the OP better than "ahahahaha?" Being right above the "nope" entry which contains Carcosa might cause lots of folk to get a negative impression of it. Apologies if this conversation was had before, but as this thread gets new posts from time to time bumping it to the first page, I think that DCC deserves better. It's a gimmicky game with some wonky mechanics, but I wouldn't put it on a similar level as something genuinely offensive like Carcosa.
Libertad! fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Nov 21, 2014 |
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Nov 21, 2014 21:15
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gradenko_2000 posted:Here's a question: in the context of BECMI's roll-under mechanic for skill checks, what's the highest circumstantial bonus and penalty you've ever handed out? -4/+4. For really hard and trivial stuff.
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Jan 20, 2015 20:04
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Arivia posted:I'm sorry are you mad that we're not stuck in the 1970s? Are you mad that black people want equal rights and women don't listen to their husbands, too? How much of your "entirely different line of thinking" is from A Voice For Men and Stormfront? You don't think that's a little far?
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Jan 30, 2015 02:21
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After writing a shitload of blog articles about magic school campaigns by system and setting (found under this keyword), I'm coming to a point where I'm running out of retro-clones to mine for ideas. The cross-compatibility of B/X clones allows me to get the gist of a lot of rules, but there's now more than a few which I don't have much experience with playing. I don't know how many of you are keen on the idea on OSR and magic school mixing together, but I'm interested in hearing outside voices for inspiration; folks who help me will get credited by username in the blog entry if they so desire. After I write up an entry for Beyond the Wall, I'm going to be at a loss for stuff to talk about. For a time I tended to focus on retroclones with new settings/mechanics which differed from the standard norm enough to merit its own write-up. Scarlet Heroes' solo PC format, Spears of the Dawn's fantasy Africa backdrop, etc. I could do an entry for similar retroclones, but due to sameness I want to cover areas which can provide new enough ground. In terms of popular/well-known retroclones I haven't covered, there's Adventurer Conqueror King System (which I do not want to cover due to pro-GamerGate stuff), Dark/er Dungeons, Microlite74, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, Beyond the Wall (my current project in writing), Crypts & Things, and Blood & Treasure. Thoughts on which one might be best to cover next?
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May 10, 2015 20:40
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DalaranJ posted:Dungeon Crawl Classics would be absolutely gonzo for this. Maybe that's too far afield though? Already did. It's one of my most popular posts, if pageviews and Google Plus Fake Internet Points are anything to go by. Oh hey, may as well dump the links while I'm at it for folks perusing this thread. Setting/System Articles: Dungeon Crawl Classics LotFP Pathfinder's Path of War Pathfinder's Variant Adept NPC Class Scarlet Heroes Spears of the Dawn Systemless/Settlingless Articles: Themes and Motivation Party Composition Dungeons 6d10 Tables of Plot Generators Inspirational Material: Harry Potter Series Libertad! fucked around with this message at 02:28 on May 11, 2015 |
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May 11, 2015 02:23
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Covok posted:I really like your idea for a fight academy game for Path of War. I don't know if I'd use Pathfinder for it, but I might run that in the future. It's a fun concept that, for a modern nerd, is probably more culturally relevant than a dungeon crawl. Thank you for the compliment. Enough folk look at Maneuver system as "fighting magic" anyway, so I had some fun with the trope. And yes, I'm keeping tabs on my images in future posts, often sizing them down to fit within the borders. Nihilarian posted:in the Solar Wind section, it refers to Scarlet Throne once. I'm assuming that's a mistake? Yup, mistake corrected! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 07:49 on May 11, 2015 |
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May 11, 2015 07:47
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Evil Mastermind posted:Peril on the Purple Planet is up on DriveThru. It's $30, but there's a ton of content in there. $29.99 for 32 pages, according to the product information page. It's actually 167 pages, but that error attracted my eye before I scrolled down. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 06:17
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gradenko_2000 posted:If you like LOTFP for how simple the rules are, there's also Labyrinth Lord that does it for free minus all the edgy goreporn, or Basic Fantasy so you don't have to deal with descending AC. Also, Swords & Wizardry is quite cool on this count for simplicity as well. Ascending AC, Challenge Levels for monsters, a single saving throw meant to cover all the nasty effects which don't target hit points, and Core and Complete versions separate race from class so you can be a dwarven thief or elven fighter if you want.
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Sep 25, 2015 21:46
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incogneato posted:If recorded play is your thing, Roll20 has a series of Moldvay Basic being DMed by Adam Kobel (co-writer of Dungeon World). It's currently ongoing once a week. Watching it is what got me interested in finding this thread, even though I've never played any older editions of D&D, either. Adam does talk a little bit about the legacy of the game when various rules or quirks come up, but mostly it's just them playing a system that he clearly loves. Thank you for the neat find. Watching it right now.
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Oct 18, 2015 20:01
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Covok posted:I took that as ironic or jokey at first. I'm kind of confused about this. My major experience with 4E book burning was a party by the dude who commands the 10 Foot Pole blog, which to my knowledge is entirely unafiliated with DCC. DCC was designed by Joseph Goodman. Did Goodman or one of his employees comment on 10FootPole's book burning party or something?
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Feb 14, 2016 23:59
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gradenko_2000 posted:I just bought The Front, which is OSR World War 2. Is there an OSR cyberpunk game? I have to believe that there must be. Stark Space is a White Star compatible product detailing new rules and options for cyberpunk future games. It's not a stand-alone game and requires the White Star corebook to use.
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Apr 3, 2016 07:01
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We once played with an all-demihuman party, so we never needed to carry around torches or lanterns just to survive in the dungeon.
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May 2, 2016 23:12
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Guy who made The Front WWIII retroclone is apparently using other people's non-public domain artwork without permission. Also in the comments section of the article, David Black (of The Black Hack retroclone) claims that the initial wording for The Front RPG's product description was a word-for-word copy of his own work, and later requested it be changed. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 20:57 on May 7, 2016 |
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May 7, 2016 20:54
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gradenko_2000 posted:I hold DCC in somewhat higher regard because in that game it actually makes sense for you to be using the D&D framework, and even then DCC is actually a 3.5e "total conversion" rather than the BD&D of many other retroclones. This may just be anecdotal evidence of a few adventures, but DCC's also not averse to extraplanar adventures. A lot of times such things are an afterthought, whether due to an unexplained cosmology in retroclones or the assumption that they need to be high-level because Plane Shift's a 5th-level spell. Two DCC modules, Intrigue at the Courts of Chaos and Playing the Game (third party), are level 1 and 0 adventures where the PCs get swooped up into another dimension. In the former, several scions of Chaos want the party to infiltrate the perfectly-ordered and "so beautiful it's practically sterile" Plane of Law to retrieve an Egg of Creation MacGuffin along with an interesting dungeon with appropriate trials. Like a scale which weighs the morality of a soul, which is used to reach a high-up key. Playing the Game centers around an in-universe board game represented by four rings, each corresponding to an elemental plane. When playing a game with a mysterious stranger, the PCs get sucked into a ring-shaped dungeon. Said dungeon's about trying to find your way through each "ring" of the planes to get to the center which has a great reward from the Elemental Lords. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 19:09 on May 10, 2016 |
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May 10, 2016 19:04
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alg posted:Prominent OSR Blog Bends Knee to Lick Trump's Boot Okay, a few things wrong. I'm going to head up with a preface that I've interacted with Erik Tenkar and follow him on Facebook, so I'm not exactly a neutral party. But this statement's a bit hyperbolic. Tenkar voted for Hillary (said it on social media and not his blog).* Secondly while there are problems inherent with the "can't we just stop talking about it and game?" I can understand how many folk may want to head off election/Trump talk at their gaming table when it's on everyone's minds. Or at least find an escape from reality in some way. Of course, I disagree in parts. For example, one Tavern follower came up with a (very real) hypothetical, for instance of someone making an LGBT PC and is promptly said to be "pushing an agenda" by the other players. Tenkar responded that the people complaining about the PC would be in the wrong and LGBT players and characters wouldn't fall under this rule at the Tavern. Although this is a bit short-sighted in that race/gender/etc are political issues due to the current climate, at least he's aware of how it can be used by bigots to suppress or shut down conversation of that sort and would make an exception in this instance. As for myself, I think a better idea would be to go "I'm not in the mood to talk about Presidential candidates and don't want to lock down flamewars on this blog, so there." A blanket 'no politics' rule in gaming discussions would preclude pretty much most of Shadowrun's setting, being unable to talk about hugely stupid setting choices in alternate history RPGs, not wanting to support an rear end in a top hat game designer who hates a minority group your GM/player(s) belong to, and the like. As well as many other things. *Actually looking back, all he said was that he backed a losing candidate, which can mean several choices actually other than Trump. TL;DR Tenkar's decision is well-intended yet full of holes, but that doesn't mean he's Stumping for Trump. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Nov 18, 2016 |
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Nov 18, 2016 01:36
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Covok posted:What's a good OSR setting? Trying to set up an IRL Darker Dungeons game. Can't think of what setting to use. What do y'all like? Thinking just pretty general fantasy and I'll let skyships let us go to more fun worlds later. Red Tide by Kevin Crawford is a pretty neat pseudo-China with a pastiche of other fantasy counterpart cultures who retreated to an island due to a world-devouring demon-mist which took over much of the rest of the setting. There's also the Northlands Saga, which is an adventure path in a Dark Ages Viking era world. But the book alone has enough material for its own standalone setting. It's pretty good and derives a lot of Scandinavian cultural tropes beyond just Hollywood tropes, like the concept of kennings in poetry, weregilds, the social structures of pseudo-democratic Things, etc. A fair warning is that it is published by Frog God Games, whose CEO was in the middle of that PaizoCon harassment drama. The Nightmares Underneath is a pseudo-Arabian setting in a kingdom which is undergoing an age of innovation and prosperity on the surface. But nightmarish realms from beyond reality are popping up as cancerous dungeons across the land, and the PCs are one of the few souls capable of visiting those realms for extended periods without suffering its taint (that does not make them immune to the myriad other dangers, however). It is higher magic than other settings, in that the scholarly class and many priests possess knowledge of spells, and there's a pseudo pagan/Islam metaphor in that there are many cults who worship forgotten entities who may or may not be connected with the nightmare realms. And although I have not read it much, Dreams of Ruin is less a setting in its own right and more a high-level planes-hopping sapient forest meant as an "end game" scenario.
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Jan 4, 2018 22:58
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Going back to interesting OSR settings, the Midgard Campaign Setting has a Swords & Wizardry conversion planned for its Kickstarter. For those not in the know, Midgard is a bit of a dark fairy tale setting with quite a bit of high power and high magic. For example, the world is flat disc surrounded by the coils of a dragon-god and whose blood flows through the world akin to ley lines. It also has quite a bit of animal people and more fantastic races, like kobolds, minotaurs, centaurs, and ravenfolk among others so I'd be interested in seeing how they translate to the mostly humanocentric aesthetics of OSR D&D; the most powerful empire in the setting is populated by the scaly races who are ruled by dragons. It also had a pretty cool pseudo-Arabia/Africa continent called the Southlands: Midgard's main creator was one of al-Qadim's writers, so there's a bit of influence in that vein, too. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 23:07
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Halloween Jack posted:Hey I just made a Druid for the Rappan Athuk game, purely because it seems kind of neat, but I'm not sure what the niche is for that class. It seems like a less-combat-ready druid with some weird ancillary abilities. I never actually played a druid in a pre-3e edition. What's up with the old-school druid? Is it Swords & Wizardry I presume? Because that's what Rappan Athuk was built for and so I am basing my understanding of the class upon that. Druids are kind of like gimmick Clerics in that they are a sort of part-fighter part-mage. However they have more armor and weapon restrictions so they won't be as tanky. Their powers are a bit more situational, focused on outdoors stuff and animals and plants. As I have not read most of Rappan Athuk I cannot attest to how common thorn-bushes, fey, and the like will be in that. They can cure wounds as a cleric but as a 2nd-level spell rather than first. Produce Flame and Call Lightning are their big offensive powers, but the latter is meant to be used outdoors (which most of Rappan Athuk is not). I don't know if this is a one-off game or a long-term campaign, but as Rappan Athuk goes from levels 1 to 20 you want to check with your GM on if he wants to do the whole "fight the next highest druid tournament-style to gain a level." Their shapechange is slightly different: quote:At fifth level, a Druid can change shape into the form of an animal. The animal’s size can range from that of a crow to that of a black bear (but not a huge bear such as a grizzly or polar bear). The druid can change into as many as three different animal forms per day – one from each category of reptile, mammal, and bird – but only once for each form within a single day. When the Druid shapeshifts, 1d6 x10% of any lost hit points are cured in the transformation. Being rules-lite it does not specify how many special abilities you can use, but it's implied that all of the animal's natural abilities you should be able to use. It also does not have a listed duration, so it may be implied to be indefinite. Given that quite a few animals have small sizes, multiple attacks, and different movement speeds, wild shape is going to be your friend. TL;DR In short I'd recommend a druid unless you have a GM who isn't too restrictive on the wild shape and/or your campaign features a lot of woodsy environments.
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Apr 13, 2018 21:20
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Pollyanna posted:I saw a box set of Dungeonesque in the local game store, but looking around online it's apparently not very good. What's the deal? It's basically 5e Basic Rules with some new art and house rules and is still in need of editing (there's references to a non-existent druid class in a cantrip entry). It also was double-funded via IndieGogo and KickStarter, and all of its products are overpriced. For example, the publisher's selling 1 page adventure PDFs for the ruleset for five dollars. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Apr 28, 2018 |
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Apr 28, 2018 01:48
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