Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Last minute locale: Port Ichorr
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Port Ichorr is the place you find yourself when all hope is lost. With the Blacktongue Sea lapping against its shores, the port is not just a haven for scoundrels and scallywags, but all the things that go bump in the night. Take Gideon Foulsnare for example, the lich who runs the port. A former pirate and current cat lover (his undead panther Kanth is his pride and joy), Gideon resides in the twisted flesh tower.
- The only map of the Ribcage Islands can be found placed decoratively above the bar of the Grim Anchor tavern, shielded by a curse. Those who remove it have their eyes fall out. The lost obelisk of Nu'un can be found here, said to be able to bring everlasting life.
- The once submerged temple of Karnatha has risen and has been taken over by fish men who are kidnapping local villagers and dragging them to the temple where they are harvesting their organs to appease their elder god.
- Vampirates have discovered a chest of cursed treasure beneath the port. They have been possessed by the ghosts of feral gnolls.
Sunday, 25 November 2018
Rebellion to open film and TV studio - colour me intrigued
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Well this piqued my eyeballs. Rebellion, the videogame developer/media company who bought 2000 AD back in 2000, has announced the launch of a $100m TV and film studio just outside of Oxford. Well, itsi currently a space that will be a studio, but either way this probably means some hot 2000 AD properties on are on their way in addition to Mega-City One and the recently announced Rogue Trooper movie.
Does this mean more Dredd too?
Some gubbins from the press release:
The new space will house Rebellion’s forthcoming productions of the Judge Dredd TV sci-fi drama Mega-City One and the future-war feature Rogue Trooper, set to be directed by Duncan Jones, who also directed Moon and Source Code. The scale of the new site means Rebellion will also make sound stage and full production/post-production office space available to rent to the UK’s growing production sector. This will help increase the levels of inward investment into UK feature film production, which registered a 162% increase in 2017.
Company founders and owners, CEO Jason Kingsley and CTO Chris Kingsley were producers on the 2012 feature film Dredd and announced the creation of Rebellion Productions in 2017, to develop and produce film and TV based on its comics and games IP.
Jason Kingsley said: “This studio purchase is incredibly exciting, not just for Rebellion but for the global film and television industry that is booming but in desperate need of further infrastructure to cope with the demands for new and engaging content.
“We know first-hand the creativity and talent here in the UK and this new studio will bring in projects from all over the world, offering opportunity and income to many people in the industry, as well as local companies and services. It also means there will be demand for more UK production and we can export more of our work globally.”
Chris Kingsley said: “The levels of growth in television content for streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon, have been astronomical in recent years. The demand for ongoing original content is bigger than ever and we’re seeing more big players wanting to get in on the action. This is very exciting for the domestic and global film industries but it’s also meant that our infrastructure is under increasing pressure.
“The new studios will help relieve some of that pressure whilst also adding to the growing figures of people employed in the UK film and TV industry, which has increased by 20% in the last five years. Our creative industries are appealing to other markets for our talent and generous tax reliefs - and we must ensure we have the studio space and infrastructure to keep furthering this ongoing growth.”
Incidentally, this is an actual hairdresser in my city.
Saturday, 3 November 2018
Review: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (Switch)
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Fighting Fantasy is back in the wider public consciousness, with Scholastic taking over publishing duties for the book series and several video game outfits producing new ways to experience classic gamebooks. Tin Man Games have spearheaded this gamebook revolution, first with their own Gamebook Adventures series and then snagging the Fighting Fantasy license. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is the latest reimagining, taking a leaf out of Inkle's Sorcery adaptation and presenting things from an isometric perspective. It's essentially a tabletop RPG with the paragraphs and choices you'd find in Fighting Fantasy.
The game switches things up when it comes to character creation. Rather than rolling a character, you pick from a series of miniatures, each with its own stats, backstory and attacks. Let's unpack this, because there's some clever stuff happening.
Each character has a reason for heading to Firetop Mountain, whether it's to avenge their brother's death or simply to fleece the old magic-fingered fool out of all his cash. They will also gain a sub quest attached to this. In one, you have to steal a gem from a Cyclops eye to aid your quest, and in another you have to feed blood to a demon statue. In addition, denizens of Firetop Mountain will react to certain characters in different ways and new events can be experienced depending who you're playing as. Similarly, some characters have skills that unlock new options. Those with eagle eyes may be able to spot something to avoid a fight that would be compulsory for others. This means that while Firetop Mountain doesn't change on each playthrough, your experiences will, which is a fantastic way of getting replay value. The Switch version comes with the Goblin Scourge expansion, adding several new characters to the mix.
Combat has been spiced up from the usual FF roll-off. Now you're given a dungeon tabletop complete with miniatures who tactically battle it out. Characters and enemies have chess-like attacks, affecting certain squares around them. Attacking at the right time gets you automatic damage, while if you attack an enemy while they attack you it becomes the classic roll-off, taking Skill into account. It's nice and simple, but adds some depth to combat. It's fun to see how certain enemies will attack and move around the board, but you'll grok things easily after a few rounds. Murdering monsters nets you would, which can be used to buy new, better characters, though nobody seems completely overpowered.
One of the wonderful things about the original book was Russ Nicholson's art. While this still features, they have been coloured, which really detracts from the original detailed line art. It's a bit of a let down - Nicholson's art was created to be black and white and the colour versions simply don't look as good. At least they didn't use the FF art from the Scholastic line.
Due to the blend of interactive fiction and graphical RPG, movement can occasionally be a slog, especially when you're navigating one of the mazes. Still, the idea of presenting it as a tabletop game is a nice one.
Warlock of Firetop Mountain is a splendid reimagining of the classic book. While the game won't take long to complete with a character, there's a tonne of replay value. There's also a gauntlet mode which is just combat to see how long you can last. The souls gained here all count toward unlocking new characters, which is great if you don't feel like running through the story over and over again. I do have issues with the art, but visually the rest of the game is pleasing. In the end, chalk up another triumph for Tin Man Games.
Sunday, 28 October 2018
10 better caravan guard hooks
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Caravans are a boring mainstay, so here are some interesting caravans.
1. The caravan consists of several young yellow dragons, each with a little canvas tent on their backs.
2. The caravan is carting an unstable phase emerald that periodically shifts the entire caravan into a new, increasingly awful dimension.
3. The caravan is transporting a vampire clan who must stop to feed every two days.
4. The caravan shrinks by a meter every three days until it reaches its fairy city destination, 4 inches high. Of course, enemies appear much bigger.
5. The caravan is headed for the realm of the dead. Of course, the adventurers will have to die to get there.
6. The caravan is transporting dungeon sections, but one that has become inhabited by a hitch hiking race of crystalline humanoid. The PCs can communicate with the caravan head to move dungeon sections when they like.
7. The caravan is transporting a dying goddess to her final resting place. She's leaking divine magic, attracting angels like carrion.
8. The caravan is transporting cursed treasure from a shipwreck. The ghosts of pirates follow them. The curse causes random effects daily - d6: 1. Caravan members turn into rat people 2. Caravan members' feet are replaced with sponges 3. Clothing becomes heavier than lead 4. Speaking becomes impossible 5. 1d3 random caravan members' heads melt 6. Caravan members become deathly afraid of their own hair.
9. The caravan is an ancient nomadic frog tribe whose nightmares become reality when there's a full moon.
10. The caravan needs to keep the lamps burning, otherwise the shadowplague will get them. Oil is running low. The oil comes from the livers of fire giants.
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
An old school British roleplaying retrospective
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
I sometimes find the OSR a bit too stars and stripes, which makes sense considering patient zero was D&D. American fantasy has always interested me in its depictions not of sweeping fields of emerald grass, but it's dustbowl aesthetic borrowed from sword and sorcery. Anyway, that's neither here nor there, but I wanted to delve today into the British side of the OSR, since it may be our sole export after Brexit.
We were late to get D&D over here. It wasn't until Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone set up Games Workshop in 1975 that we heard about this weird little game. While the States were pumping out games, we were still pretty much infatuated with wargaming.
Lock up your daughters |
Ok, I could be wrong here but I believe that 1979 saw the release of the first British roleplaying game - Heroes. This was a historical game set in the dark ages with a cover by the venerable John Blanche. From what I can tell, this is a grim and gritty game - a reflection of the state of Britain at the time. You can still buy the game.
When I think British roleplaying, really the first thing that springs to mind is Fighting Fantasy. Despite being solo books (up until Dungeoneer's release) I count these as OSR. Plus the art was so much better than what D&D was doing at the time. What kids were doing around a table on the other side of the Atlantic, we were doing with FF books. Fighting Fantasy spawned a slew of pretenders, but one of the most successful was Joe Dever and Gary Chalk's Lone Wolf series.
In 1984 FF publisher Puffin were keen to capitalise on the series' success with a fully-fledged roleplaying game - Maelstrom, a game I own but have never played. It's basically a d100 historical fantasy game famed for its attention to historical detail. The game has since been re-released by Arion Games, who also brought back Advanced Fighting Fantasy.
Speaking of which, 1989 saw the release of Dungeoneer by Marc Gascoigne and Pete Tamlyn. This was the first book in the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system, introducing the FF world to the tabletop. This was followed the year after by Blacksand! And in 1994 by Allansia (which goes for a pretty penny on eBay). It's basically the same Fighting Fantasy system with, uh, some advancements. It's good. So good that Daniel Sell based the awesome Troika! on it. More of that in a bit.
AFF is still around, updated by Arion Games and still coming out with material, like Stellar Adventures.
If we trot back a few years to 1985 Corgi (who produced the UK edition of T&T 5e) published the first in a series of Dragon Warriors books by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson. I don't know what it was with UK publishers putting out novel sized books, but I dig it (aside from the fact that there were six core books). Again, it's a simple enough game - no universal mechanic but it seems like it plays well (another one I own but have yet to play). Also another one that has been re-released in recent years in a big hardback.
Art from Dragon Warriors |
round the same time Standard Games released Dragonroar, which had an adventure on cassette! That's pretty damned 80s. The game has since been lost to history and was pretty unremarkable aside from it listing a war hedgehog in its bestiary (of 12 creatures). It was more of a minis combat game, with no rules for non-combat abilities.
A year prior to Dragonroar (I know, I'm all over the place), Games Workshop released Golden Heroes, the first British superhero roleplaying game. Originally created as a Marvel property, Golden Heroes allowed players to roll random heroes and retrospectively give them an origin story based on their powers. I don't own this, so I'm unsure of its mechanics, but combat was done in frames, adding to the comic book feel. This had a bit of a re-imagining by Simon Burley in 2015 as Squadron UK.
Add for Dragonroar. That hedgehog is a PC |
It would be remiss of me to forget Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay from 1986, a game that still thrives today under Cubicle 7. It's grim, dark and humorous. You know the drill by now..
So where does the UK OSR stand now? As you can see, there are loads of reprints and new editions of AFF, Maelstrom and Dragon Warriors, which I'd say make up the trifecta of the British old school roleplaying scene. Troika! is a recent piece of hotness inspired by AFF but featuring some gonzo classes and world building - a far cry from the spit and gristle that became the hallmark of British gaming. Warhammer Fantasy has Zweihander, which I don't own but hear good things about.
Friday, 12 October 2018
Farewell to Greg Stafford
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
There are few legends left and now another one has said farewell.
Very sad news today that Pendragon designer and Glorantha creator (among many other achievements) Greg Stafford has passed away at the age of 70.
Chaosium has a full obituary.
Very sad news today that Pendragon designer and Glorantha creator (among many other achievements) Greg Stafford has passed away at the age of 70.
Chaosium has a full obituary.
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
The doom that came to Google Plus
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
In 2011 I became a beta user of a brand new social network called Google Plus. For me, it was a haven from people I knew in real life and a way to meet new people online. As users grew, I found that roleplaying fans were in abundance and the conversation was GREAT.
Plus became not only an amazing place to discover great new things happening in the DIY RPG community, but also a valuable tool for me in my game design. It's where I found playtesters, where people fed back and where communities around my games sprang up. Sure, there was drama, but at the end of the day the quality of conversation outshone the Twitters and Facebooks of the world.
And now as the death knell sounds for Plus, I realize how lucky I've been to be able to be part of that community. While I'm not jumping ship yet - there's 10 months left - I think it's worth saying that the network had value for a lot of us. Sure, people love to mock it. Why? They didn't understand it (and it was a bit clunky too). Those of us who did understand managed to make it worth our while.
A large exodus has happened. We're looking for a new home to accommodate our hobby. Right now a fair few of us have pitched up in MeWe, who have noted the influx of nerd refugees and are speaking to our number about adding features we loved about Plus. Will we stay there? Only time will tell, but as of now this blog will be my main way of communicating to the roleplaying world.
Our community might be fractured for a time, but it will never die.
Sunday, 7 October 2018
Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD quick start first impressions
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Being a 2000 AD and Judge Dredd fan, I've been following the recent Kickstarter by EN Publishing for the (wordy) Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 AD.
Recently they've released their free quick start rules and adventure to help people get a feel for the game, so I wanted to give my first impressions.
The WOIN system is simple enough - it probably translates well across genres, being an easy d6 pool system, which I guess is why it was used. I've not played NEW so I don't know how pared back the quick start is, but there are some stats we have to ignore in the QS that will come into play in the main game. It's certainty not crunchy - rolling a d6 pool of attribute + skill and attempting to meet a target. There are also exploits in the game, offering further abilities, but these aren't detailed here. While this won't be to everyone's taste, I like a lite game so I'd be happy to play this.
It's interesting that you can play as judges, perps or citizens. While the QS doesn't have character creation, I'd be interested to see how much these characters differ. Will there be perp scenarios and judge scenarios when the game releases? This would make sense, it's tough to wrap up two or potentially three play styles in a single scenario.
The QS does include a scenario and, honestly, if this is what they want a Dredd game to be like, then I'm seriously disappointed. The adventure takes place in the Empire State Building, where a crazy perp called Ricki Rocco is holed up with a load of gang members. You're offered hooks for judges, citizens and perps, but the scenario only comes with 4 pre gen judges. I suppose it could be played when the full rules are released, but that defeats the point, right?
The scenario has some weird errors. Some of the section sub heads dealing with intros for perps and citizens are inconsistent. At the beginning, it says the perp section is titled In and Out, but the actual section is called Criminal Empire. The citizen section is referred to as Lost and Found, but later it's called Little Lost Ray Fey. Also, the citizen hook is baffling, mentioning that they could be after the cursed treasure of skull island. Where the hell did that come from? Maybe I missed something, but it doesn't seem like a thing.
The scenario is fairly rudimentary, but suffers from wall of text syndrome. There are very few bullets, no key info bolded, so it's not super useful at the table. There are also some really boring rooms containing nothing. You can search an empty office for an hour and surprise, surprise, you won't find anything. There are restrooms, explaining that the juves keep clean. I don't think this needed spelling out. The third floor is a series of empty offices, but it also says it's full of booby traps - yet it goes into no detail about what and where those traps are. So lots of fun to be had in rooms where nothing is happening! I do like that there's a room full of helpful robots who will do whatever you want, which could lead to some interesting situations, but these little nuggets are few and far between.
I really think an intro scenario should help the GM and players get to grips with the rules by offering ways to use attributes and skills. Not so much in this scenario. I counted a total of two checks and one instance of using tactical cover. While I don't think this would be so bad as a scenario for experienced players, this is not that.
When we reach the basement, we again find another glaring error. From what I can tell, there's supposed to be a giant toad in its lair, but the lair text doesn't actually say this. Instead it just says 'suddenly an immense form comes barreling out of the refuse...' and that's it. No mention of a giant toad, but in a later room it refers to the toad's lair. Then under the city, it says that you can add in another toad, blind crocodiles or troggies. But it doesn't give stats for these other two creatures, so why include them?
Honestly, this adventure is a bit poor. Clearly rushed out of the gate, it definitely needed another editing pass. They were clearly going for a Dredd movie vibe so that people only familiar with that would grok it but dear lord is this stale. You have the entirety of the Judge Dredd legacy to build on, a comic noted for its larger than life characters and insane situations. I get they wanted a scenario that could be used by all character types without having to change much, but I really hope this isn't the norm for adventures.
I'm cool with the system. It's basic, but that's my jam. The scenario, however, really could have been better.
Friday, 5 October 2018
D12 magic items of little consequence
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Roll that d12.
1. A stone snail garden ornament. At dusk it mimics the call of a red stoat.
2. A black ring made of warg tongue. Emits a hum when bread is near.
3. A wooden doll shaped like a fairy. At night it polishes your boots.
4. A deerstalker hat that never gets wet.
5. A goat horn containing a powder. When huffed your eyes turn purple.
6. A scabbard of cloud. Anything inside it falls through.
7. An amulet of dinosaur tears that wards off blacksmiths
8. An eyeball on a chain. Wherever it swings there is butter.
9. A lantern of demon skin that casts shadow.
10. A hand harp that automatically plays the queen's second favourite childhood song.
11. A croquet ball made of glass. Smashing it releases a dancing mouse.
12. A compass that points towards your heart.
Monday, 24 September 2018
Dragons as spirits of place
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
What if dragons are just manifestations of place? They're born from the very essence of the location - the genius loci, appearing from the fog, the rock, the sand or the snow.
Manifestations of place aren't readily 'beatable'. You can't defeat the ground you walk on or the air you breathe. Dragonslayers are puffed up braggards attempting to attain legendary status through tall tales.
Ancient dragons take on the form of their place - red dragons become crusty with igneous rock, black grow willows from their necks. Eventually the oldest become the place itself, yet remaining sentient and all-knowing.
Friday, 21 September 2018
Forests in roleplaying games
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Aside from the dungeon, the forest is potentially the most ubiquitous environment in fantasy roleplaying. Chances are you've passed through, delved into and become lost in a woodland on many occasions. We love forests because they're liminal places. When you enter one you're in essence transported from one world to another - one where things might work a little differently.
Folklore has a lot to answer for here. Back when common fairy tales would have been told, the woods were a real risk. Bandits would waylay travellers, while some held the danger of wolf packs on the prowl. So tales were populated by witches, fairies and goblins. The forest became its own character - dark, gnarled, enchanted, forbidding, mysterious. One sure thing is that you'd never be the same person coming out as you were going in.
I don't believe in 'passing through a forest uneventfully'. For me that's like taking a quick detour through a dungeon where nothing happens. This is a place where you can let your imagination run riot. Start by thinking about the character of your forest. What's its essence? Is it filled with dread? Is it a confusing place where paths shift? Is it a tease to lure in strangers before showing its true colours? Is it playful and enchanted? Then think about how its character affects the forest physically. A forest of the undead would probably be blackened, rotten, replete with fungi. An enchanted forest will be brighter, with flowers, birdsong and little calm pools.
Every forest needs a guardian - a creature that could be good or evil (or neutral). This is the being that, above all else, locals are aware of. They tell tales of the guardian in taverns, they have folk songs about it. You might decide on creating some rumours - some true, others false and it's up to the players to discover which is which. Guardians aren't necessarily the most powerful beings in the forest, but they should be the catalyst for how the PCs are altered. Witches are common forest guardians, like Baba Yaga in her chicken-leg hut or the witch in the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel. These are the essence of the forest personified, usually found at the heart of the wood.
Aside from the guardian, you've got the flora and fauna of the forest, some of which will be working with the guardian (whether they're conscious of it or not), while others will be neutral or perhaps antagonistic to the guardian. I like to have at least one helper in the forest - a wise old hermit, a dark elk queen, a happy Muppet - whatever it is, it's going to act as a guide through the forest, perhaps giving them a clue as to how to defeat the guardian. They can also equip the PCs with something to aid their quest (think the Phial of Galdriel). At least two warring parties in the forest can allow the players to pick a side (and face the consequences of picking a side).
I love the forest. It's an organic funky dungeon where you can pretty much do anything you want. The above is just a template I like to use when designing them, but don't let that hold you back from adding and removing elements.
Saturday, 15 September 2018
T&T character type: Botanist
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Botanists in Trollworld aren't really related to the real world profession. Sure, they still work with plants and they know all the Latin (well, not Latin per se - Troll, actually) names for them. Botanists tend to raise plants to help them hunt for treasure in the depths of the world. They use plants as ropes, lights, lockpicks and even weapons.
Prime attributes: INT/CHA/LK/DEX
Prerequisites: Must have 13+ INT
Recommended talents: Botany (duh) (INT), Thievery (DEX), Nature (INT), Inventor (INT), Poisons (INT)
Plant armour
Botanists can choose to have plant armour covering their body. When they wear no armour, the plant armour wraps around them giving 6 armour. Increase this armour by 1 every two levels.
Clever vines
Botanists train sentient vines called Velluns to help them in treacherous locations. These vines can do the following:
- Become a grappling hook to save you from falling. Roll a SR-CHA with a level equivalent to the number of feet you will fall divided by 10- if successful you are saved and lowered harmlessly.
- Become a 3d6 melee weapon.
- Become a 2d6 ranged weapon with a range of 15ft
- Create a flower that glows up to 50ft.
Wednesday, 12 September 2018
D20 strange dungeon doors
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
1. A swirling yellow portal taking you to the next room, but all you armour is removed, becomes sentient and attacks.
2. A face on the door that must be kissed by good aligned PCs to open.
3. A door of rancid ogre flesh with a bone handle.
4. A sentient door that must be put to sleep to relax its lock and open.
5. A door with a mouth that must be fed fresh meat every hour otherwise it calls an alarm in another room/level.
6. A door you must make laugh to open (in reality, make the GM laugh).
7. A furry door that if stroked lets off a pheromone that attracts cat people in all adjacent rooms
8. A mirror that you walk inside to find yourself in a backwards version of the previous dungeon (and everything happens backwards - alignments swap)
9. A huge dead toad that contains a staircase beneath it's tongue.
10. A door with six knockers that must be 'played' in order to perform the wizard's favourite song.
11. A door that was once a witch. Entering through it curses the first person to vomit for 1d4 hours.
12. The word DOOR written vertically in chalk sure enough opens somehow.
13. A door of suspended acid that must be neutralised with alkali.
14. A sentient door that must reveal a PC secret in order to unlock.
15. A door that if opened outside reduces Dex to 2. If opened inside Dex is boosted by 5 for an hour.
16. A door with a shaggy dog's head that must be fussed and called a good boy to open (its tail initially bars the other side until it wags)
17. A door formed of 10,000 mouse skulls
18. A demon door that tells a truth and a lie about the next room
19. A clockwork door that unlocks for a minute at the chime of midnight
20. A door that eats the three most valuable items in the party
Monday, 10 September 2018
Game this: dancing plagues
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Many hundreds in Strassburg began
To dance and hop, women and men,
In the public market, in alleys and streets,
Day and night; and many of them ate nothing
Until at last the sickness left them.
This affliction was called St Vitus’ dance.
Often a dancing plague begins in the throes of jubilant celebration. Groups of revellers dance, music plays and jesters slake their thirst with warm ale. But the dance takes a hold - the kinetic energy increases and refuses to let up. Soon spectators are joining in, a crowd of gyrating peasants writhe, hop and clap their way around town. They can go on for days with no food, finally collapsing due to exhaustion. The clerics blame it on overheated blood. Some chime in, offering a cure - to dance the plague away. Soon halls are cleared out and makeshift dancefloors created to lure in the revellers. Musicians are paid to keep playing. Don't stop - the demons will remain of you stop.
Of course, the dancing plague continues. Only a blessing from a divine fountain can cure it, showered on the crowd. Those who contract the plague will dance for 1d6+1 days and nights, with a 10% cumulative chance of death for every day danced.
Sunday, 9 September 2018
Let's take a look at T&T Adventures Japan
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Despite Tunnels and Trolls being the second roleplaying game ever, the majority of material created for the system is made by small press publishers like my own. In fact, in the scheme of RPGs T&T is one of the more obscure (criminally so). Despite this, the game has enjoyed great support over in Japan where it was actually released before D&D (I believe the same goes for the UK through Corgi publishing).
The most prominent publisher of T&T material in the land of the rising sun is SNE, who produced the localised Deluxe T&T, a series of adventures and T&T Adventures Magazine, which includes solos, GM adventures and manga. This is all genuinely high quality stuff with its own art, including Kiyoshi Arai (Final Fantasy VII). Earlier this year T&T Adventures was released for the first time in English, complete with original manga plus some Steve Crompton illustrations.
T&T Adventures is an introduction to the game with examples told through some light-hearted manga antics starring a dwarf warrior, human rogue, elf wizard and fairy wizard. It's a nice little explainer that leads into a few pages of mini rules and a short spell list. Rather than using the classic racial multipliers, the mini rules give you bonuses to add. It's not a bad idea actually, though it means you're less likely to get the swingy attributes we all know and love. That said, it gives you everything you need to get started and I kind of love it.
After the rules we get into the adventures. First up we have Kitten-napped, where the PCs have to become tiny animals to save a little girl from a troll. Yeah, it's manga-licious and beginner friendly. The Secret Order of the Eye is the solo adventure, which has a pretty cool innovation where NPCs will change their reactions towards you as the adventure goes on. It's something I've not seen in a solo before. Journey to the Black wall Street is the final GM adventure in the book, which is followed by some more manga to close everything out.
If you want to introduce a newbie to T&T, give them this. It really is everything they need and more, complete with manga that both brings the rules to life and provides veterans with a fresh perspective on the game.
Images: Group SNE/ Flying Buffalo Inc.
Saturday, 8 September 2018
Thief of Kasar now available
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
I've just released my new mini solo for Deluxe T&T - Thief of Kasar, which you can download as a pay what you want PDF.
Kasar is a city of corruption and riches, and a place a thief for hire can make a pretty penny if they know who to seek out. Fortunately for you the job has found you, but it'll take all you skills to steal back a magical talisman.
What I learned about Pathfinder second edition after playing it
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
As can be expected at the release of a new playtest, there's a tonne of theorising on the internet about how Pathfinder 2nd edition plays but far fewer people actually playing the game. My group took a weekend in the first week of release to launch our first foray into the ruleset and we've continued the Doomsday Dawn adventure over Roll20, so we have a pretty good grasp of how the game actually plays.
As a bit of background, I've been kicking it in Golarion for around five years now so I'm more than familiar with Pathfinder and what constitutes the game. That said, what follows isn't just a comparison to that game. I want to treat the new edition on its own merits. That said, there is clear inspiration found here from other games, so I'm going to talk about that.
The Main Changes
As you'd expect in a brand spanking new edition, there are changes (though no 4e paradigm shifts) - for better and worse, but that's the entire point of a playtest, right?
Take resonance for example. Charisma has become magic item fuel (why? Not sure) in the form of resonance points. You need these to use magic items, which includes swigging a potion. This rule obviously limits the number of magic trinkets, weapons and whatnot you can use at a time - perhaps inspired by 5e's attunement rules. So far in our games, this hasn't presented an issue and it's probably a fair limitation.
A rule, however, that will crop up time and again for obvious reasons is initiative. This is now based on what you're doing at the time that the encounter starts. Are you sneaking? Roll stealth for initiative. Tracking? Roll survival. Most of the time you'll be rolling perception, which is fine. In our games this has generally been fine and it's a nice way of getting players to think about what they're doing during exploration (which is now he highlighted as a distinct 'mode'). It caused a few issues with stealth (they had a glowing bear at one point, which kind of detracts from the stealth angle). Overall, fine.
I'll tell you what's a real improvement, though. The action economy. You get three actions - any action. Want three attacks? Have them, but with penalties to each subsequent attach. Move twice, raise your shield. Attack, move, grapple. For our group the action economy is by far the best element of the game so far as we're finding it keeps combat fluid. Not having attacks of opportunity being a universal rule (it's now a fighter thing) makes combat a bit less of a chore. But, with a wider variety of bespoke monster reactions, you still have to second guess whether an enemy you're pulling away from might smack you good with something.
And believe me, if you have a magic weapon you'll be smacking real good. A +1 weapon now adds an extra damage die, meaning a +1 greataxe is 2d12, critting with 4d12. In Doomsday Dawn it's possible to have this very early on. What's more is that crits now happen by getting 10+ over your target, so low AC is punishing. I should know - I played a barbarian at one point and I got utterly decimated a lot, but I also dealt crazy damage (magic greataxe and rage). Speaking of AC, the new design makes everyone pretty much end up with the same.
You could take a swingy-as-hell system as a positive or negative (I quite like swingy), but something I've found to be a real positive is the proficiency system, which allows you to become trained, expert, master etc in skills, weapons and armour. There are no skill points - you can upgrade from trained to expert in a skill for a set bonus. Clean and simple.
Something that seems clean and simple, but I've not really made up my mind about yet is the ability score creation. Rolling isn't the default anymore - instead every ability starts at 10 and you get bonuses from your class, background and ancestry (race), plus some free ones. You basically end up with an array, which is fine but we found that the order to do this presented in the book was a little confusing.
Future Fixes
Let's get one thing straight. Magic items as presented in the playtest are pretty humdrum. There's nothing weird or particularly interesting, but I do give them kudos for not making everything about combat. I'd love to see items that are a bit more imaginative.
Right now there's a clear imbalance in classes, with rogues getting a lot of love and rangers being just plain dull. The problem with the ranger is that they will generally have one class feat from the selection that far outshines the others, so that's what people will go with. Barbarians are still pretty cool, but as I said before the new crit system is not kind to them. I know, I know, I'm not actually a fan of game balance (T&T fan over here), but since Pathfinder is more combat oriented, it's needed moreso.
Main takeaways
Ultimately, we're enjoying the playtest. While we recognise classes aren't yet up to snuff and perhaps the feats are a little bit on the game side, the action economy and streamlined skills system do make things cleaner. Pathfinder will never be my favourite system, but cutting back on the bloat of the first edition can only be a good thing.
Images: Paizo Publishing
Tuesday, 4 September 2018
Toxic fiends of Zzozz swamp
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
The swamp of Zzozz is the eventual dumping ground for spend potions used by Vincher's College of Wizarding in nearby T'wux. As a result, the swamp water is not only fetid - it's seeped in all kinds of magical garbage, which has somewhat of an adverse effect on local flora and fauna. Here are their stories. Chung chung.
Mutant Skeleton
MR 56
Spite: 2/ Toxic Vom: The skeleton vomits luminous green bile into the eyes of the nearest opponent. The target must succeed a L2SR-DEX or LK or become blinded for 1d3 rounds. While blinded they do not include their adds in attacks.
With its flesh sloughing off its bones, this reanimated body of a lost adventurer loves to chuck up on the things it attacks while screaming in agony.
Ray Bat
MR 68
Spite: 3/ Ultra ray: The bat rears up and fires a red ray from its eyes at a random opponent. They must succeed a L2SR-DEX or LK or be fried for a further 2d6 damage and temporary reduce STR by 2.
These giant yellow bats have rayguns for eyes and mouth full of razor teeth. Their eyes make an authentic 'pew pew' sound.
Rat Mamba
MR 120
Spite: 4/ Heat coil: the rat mamba wraps around a random opponent. They must succeed a L4SR-STR or become squeezed and burnt, taking 4d6 damage and being unable to move for 1d6 rounds.
Created as a large mamba snake was eating it's rodent prey, the rat mamba is everything awful about both creatures plus the ability to increase its body temperature to ridiculous levels. The rat mamba is also a popular dance on the planes of Whelp, but that's a different thing entirely.
Reaping Willow
MR 80
Spite 3/ Terror: The reaping Willow changes its form into that which the observer is most terrified. All who are looking at it must make a successful L3SR-INT or break down into gibbering wrecks for 1d4 rounds. During this time they can only cry and rock back and forth.
Seasons don't fear the reaper, but pretty much every poor sod who comes across one does. The Reaping Willow looks like an ordinary willow, aside from its hidden red eyes on its trunk. It can transform into someone's worst fears - like ogres or taxes.
Sunday, 2 September 2018
My five favourite roleplaying games of all time
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Before I begin, I'm obviously not including any of my own games in here. That would be super un-British of me. Also, I've been informed that there are quite a few games out there, some say there could be more than eleven games! I've not played them all. These are just the favourite of those that I've played, obviously.
So what do I love about a game? My preference is rules lite to middling, where combat isn't too complex and minis aren't a necessity. These are my five favourites (in no particular order):
Tunnels and Trolls
If you've been following Trollish Delver over the past nine years, you'll know how much I love T&T. In fact my last few posts have been all about it. For those who don't know, T&T is the second roleplaying game and a response to the percieved complexity of the original D&D rules. Created by Trollgod Ken St. Andre, T&T eschewed the wargame-derived combat for something more abstract and simple. It also introduced a ridiculous slew of weapon types to choose from and peppered the game with humour where D&D may have been a bit more po-faced. For me, the best part is the proliferation of solo adventures for the system, meaning you can take a character on a solitary campaign, from the crucible of Buffalo Castle, through the Arena of Khazan and beneath Blue Frog Tavern. To T&T enthusiasts, places like Gull, Kasar and Khosht are as iconic as Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate or Blackmoor. My personal favourite is 5th edition, with house rules inspired by 7e and Deluxe - but most editions are compatible.
Call of Cthulhu
Cosmic horror is my literary jam and Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu is, for me, the definitive Lovecraftian game. The BRP system is simple to grasp but robust, leading to a great roleplaying experience. Some of the best games I've run have been CoC, with a slow-burning horror, cosmic horrors that can't be defeated and the players' spiral into insanity. Don't expect to survive an adventure - most PCs end up either dead or in an institution.
Swords and Wizardry White Box
This is my favourite flavour of D&D. Simple, race-as-class, roll-under, deadly. I think the OSR lives in the imagination and White Box really encourages creative thinking because turns are quick and efficient. PCs don't have a slew of powers at their disposal and they're not superheroes. It's simply a game you can read in an afternoon and get down to playing at the table. That said, I also love games like The Black Hack and Lamentations of the Flame Princess for these reasons.
Tales from the Wood
Despite never really being a fan of things like Watership Down and Animals of Farthing Wood, Tales from the Wood by Simon Washbourne (Barbarians of Lemuria) captivated me and was an inspiration for my own games. Tales from the Wood is about woodland animals of the British countryside essentially trying to survive this tooth and claw world. The rules are simple and there's a cool mythology woven into the game. Oh, and you're not anthropomorphic animals - you're real animals - no weird clothing needed.
D&D 5th edition
Oh, Scott, what a boring pick. Yeah, sure, it might be, but in my eyes 5e is the most recent version of the rules I can really get behind. After 4e, which I thought was great at what it did, but broke at higher levels, 5e took a step back to assess the philosophy of what D&D truly was, even bringing along OSR-famed consultants to advise. What we got at the end was a great, pared back rules set that pushed roleplaying more to the forefront than the last few editions. Is this one for crunchy powergamers? No, not at all. The crazy amount of character options you get with the likes of Pathfinder aren't there, but the trade-off is an elegant set of mechanics and a nod to old school gaming. For me, it's everything I want from a new D&D game.
Saturday, 1 September 2018
Barsoomian archetypes for USR
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
I love the Barsoom books, so here's some archetypes for your USR game:
Earth Soldier
Earth people are unlike anything else on Mars. Their strength is heightened by the Martian gravity, allowing them to take on a Warhoon in single combat and leap 30ft in the air with ease.
Ability
Mighty leap: You can leap huge distances. Make an action test (easy). For every 1 you roll over the target, you can leap 10ft.
Specialisms
Firearms (Action), Battle Cunning (Wits), Acrobatics (Action)
Red Martian Aristocrat
The predominant Martian race, the 'reds' have coppery skin and wear little attire save for jewels and some silks. Aristocrats are close to the ruling Jed of Helium, rich and usually powerful.
Ability
Ruling Class: You hold sway due to your status. When attempting to persuade a fellow red martian, you may re-roll and take the highest.
Specialisms
Barsoom cultures (Wits), Persuasive (Ego), Science (Wits)
Thark Warrior
The green-skinned tharks are one of the mighty warrior races on Mars. Their four arms and facial tusks make them an imposing people, but in combat they are a force to be reckoned with.
Ability
Deadly Force: You do +1 damage in melee combat.
Specialisms
Thark culture (Wits), War savvy (Wits), Brute strength (Action)
Black Martian Pirate
The Black Martians were the first born on Barsoom, with narrow eyes and polished ebony skin. The pirates pilot great ships, capturing There's and red Martians before enslaving them in the name of their goddess Issus.
Ability
Dervish: When using a bladed weapon, you can make a secondary attack at -2.
Specialisms
Piloting (Action), Climbing (Action), Barsoomian knowledge (Wits)
Thursday, 30 August 2018
T&T micro-solo: Shadow of the Wytch
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
The Golden Barrow Inn is one of the most pleasant places you've rested at since leaving Gull three weeks ago. A cosy hearth roars under the stuffed head of a silver stag, a known rarity in the region of Devil's Mound where you have spent the last two nights. A timid elf call Quallex who you have exchanged several words with pulls up a seat as you tuck into your roast lamb and mint sauce.
"Sorry to disturb you, but I need your help," he says quietly. Your ears prick up. "It's my homestead, you see. There's a witch abroad." You take a swig of Gruglik's ale and raise an eyebrow. Quallex continues, "I'm looking to move out and unfortunately this magical hag is bringing down the value of my property just by existing. I need her gone." The elf slides a cloth pouch over to you. You too it out onto the table and count 50 gold pieces. "Fifty now and two hundred when you get rid of her." You can't say no to a deal like that. After all, it's just a crone with a newt eye fetish. Go to 1.
1. You're up first thing in the morning with a spring in your step. Quallex's home lies on the border of the Ravenblood Forest, named after famed hobb philanthropist Tuck Ravenblood. It's but an hour's walk away, but your elf friend warned that the local goblin family has been up to their old tricks again, so you should take care. Go to 5.
2. Just as you're about to put your foot down, you notice a crude rusted animal trap on the ground. Quickly pulling your foot away you realise the field is full of them. Upon closer inspection, the traps appear to be goblin made, as the words "hooman trappy" are scrawled onto the side in what appears to be mucus. Go to 6.
3. You seem to half remember overhearing that witches live in damp caves, so you set out in search of one. Soon you find just what you're after and enter. Unfortunately for you, you've just stumbled into a red ogre's den. You must fight it. It has MR26. If you survive, you discover an amulet of khaala, which offers an armour bonus of 2. Go to 4.
4. Soon you find a rickety hovel that reeks of gingerbread. Mustering your courage you kick down the door and enter. A wrinkled crone is bent over a bubbling cauldron. She looks at you and cackles. "Seems I have a visitor. Won't you stay for supper?" She suddenly launches at you. She is MR36 and when she rolls 2 sixes your next attack is reduced by 1 die due to a curse she weaves. If you win, you find a potion that raises your STR by 5 for 24 hours and a bottle of liquid that recovers 2d6 CON. Go to 11.
5. It's a pleasant day as you make your way over the Doomjaw Fields, named after legendary beauty queen Esmeralda Doomjaw. Make a level 1 DEX saving roll. If you succeed, go to 2. If you fail, go to 7.
6. You reach an inviting copse of trees whose serenity is marred by three goblins chucking rocks at each other. One is wearing a pan on its head while the other throw stones at it, making a 'ding' sound. Fight them - go to 10. Ignore them and continue - go to 8.
7. SNAP. A crude, rusted trap closes around your ankle. Take 3 CON damage. You should be more careful next time. Upon closer inspection, the trap appears to be goblin made, as the words "hooman trappy" are scrawled onto the side in what appears to be mucus. Go to 6.
8. These goblins aren't worth your time, so you decide to continue your journey. Go to 12.
9. Fortunately you have had some experience in tracking witches and know that the smell of gingerbread is always nearby. You begin to pick up a hint of gingerbread as you pass further into the forest. Go to 4.
10. Disgusting creatures. You charge them and show them what for. You are fighting three MR9 goblins. If you win you find 20gp and a 2d dagger, go to 12.
11. You return to the inn where you meet the elf. Handing over the witch's head, he smiles and gives you 250gp. Gain 300ap for completing this adventure.
12. Finally you reach the quaint elven homestead nestled near the forest. Now to look for signs of witches. Make a level 1 INT saving roll. If you are successful, go to 9. If you aren't, go to 3.
Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Piss up in a brewery - a little T&T adventure
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
This short Tunnels and Trolls adventure is suitable for Delvers with no more than 30 personal adds.
Fornigan's Pale - the gold standard of ales on the Dragon Continent. Nothing else comes close, though Fornigan's recipe has always remained a tightly guarded secret that only himself and his dwarf business party Grummp know. The brewery stands in the middle of nowhere, with high stone walls to prevent urook raids and private guards posted along the wall as lookout.
Rumour has it that Fornigan is set to unveil a brand new ale - the likes of which have never been seen before. Unfortunately he seems to have disappeared and Grummp is nowhere to be found either. The PCs have been hired to investigate the disappearances.
So what's happened?
Fornigan is dead. The new hope he imported from the Blasted Land were actually hatchlings of a creature called the Skrith - a large, deadly mantis the size of a goblin. Once the fermentation process began, the eggs hatched and the Skrith began their killing spree. Grummp is currently holes up eating rats and pretty much anything he can get his hands on. But now some of the Skrith are mutating - becoming larger and more vicious. Of course, without shipments of this amazing brew, the surrounding cities are becoming restless.
The outer walls
The 100ft stone walls are silent. A L1-SR on IQ reveals there should be at least four guards on patrol at this time. A thick iron gate is open, leading to the entrance.
The atrium
A wide, marble room with a semicircular reception desk. A statue of Fornigan stands in the middle holding a beer aloft. His other arm has broken off. Closer inspection reveals deep gouges in the stone created from the Skrith claws. A door leads to the mill room.
Mill room
There is a distinct malty smell here. Three green orbs are stuck to the ceiling. These are eggs, which will hatch when the PCs enter reveling three Skrith larvae (MR8, 1/screech - emits a high-pitched screech alerting others of an intruder). If any have the chance to use it's screech ability, the Skrith Stalker from the fermentation room comes barrelling in from the north door.
Two guard bodies are here, their bodies half eaten and faces deformed. A L2-SR IQ reveals it was acid that caused this. Each guard has a shortsword and helmet.
Fermentation room
Three large copper silos fill the room. A scream echoed out as the PCs see a hulking Skrith Stalker (MR 40, 2/Acid Spit - fires 40ft, doing 3 Con damage. L1-SR on DX negates) dangling a brewery worker over its clacking maw. Another watches as if amused. A body with no head lies on the ground.
An eastern door leads to a small office. Papers on the desk indicate a recent shipment of hops from the Blasted Lands. A golden tankard with Fornigan's name engraved on it sits here, worth 300gp.
Barreling room
Hundreds of wooden barrels are stacked around this room. A two-headed Skrith with blades for arms screams and charges at the PCs. MR54, 3/ Decapitation - Slices a head clean off. L1-SR on DX or LK negates. It's blades can be used as 4d6 melee weapons with a STR 16 requirenent.
Whimpering comes from one of the barrels. It's Grummp crying his eyes out. He explains what has happened and that his partner was eaten by one of the creatures. He warns that they are mutating into even more terrible things.
Escaping
When the PCs try to escape they are blocked by a 15ft five-headed Skrith Emperor (MR70, 3/Acid Bath - 1d6 targets are bathed in acid, taking 6d6 Con damage. L3-SR on DX or LK halves damage. If they escape and Grummp survives, he gives them 500gp for saving him. The city mayor gives 2000gp for investigatoin.
Thursday, 16 August 2018
Elves of Scourgeworld - the Burnt Ones
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Alabaster of flesh, warpaint streaked faces and teeth filed to points, the elves of the Scourgeworld are known in the common tongue as the burnt ones. Their skin is tattooed with the blood of the last goliath god, giving them enhanced strength.
Droog riders have tamed the red desert worm, forming a bond in their dreams. The lugsnapped are former droog riders whose minds became one with the droog, who imitate the slithering worm in all they do.
Elf speech is moontongue. It can be understood by all in the moonlight, aside from dwarves who cannot hear elf speech (they are deaf to it).
Elves do not get on with the Leth scarabmen. Chieftains often wear Leth carapace armour embroidered with desert jewels.
They worship the ever rotting hand of the last goliath, which is wrapped in carpet and pulled in a cart by two camels. The Hand Speaker delivers decrees from the scabby appendage. These are often of war and pillagery. They wear the veil of a thousand eyes and eat sand. There's a 70% chance the hand will heal all wounds.
Burnt One warrior
MR 24 (3+12)
Special damage: 2/Inked might - the burnt one rolls and extra 2d6 this combat.
Special abilities: Cateyes - can see in low light conditions.
Burnt One, Hand Speaker
MR 20 (3+10)
Special damage: 1/1 normal spite
Special abilities: If holding the hand of the last goliath, the Hand Speaker may heal 2d6 Con.
Burn One Warchief
MR 40 (5+20)
Special damage: 3/ Spear gore - the Warchief deals 1d6 spite damage and the opponent is thrown to the ground.
Special abilities: Cateyes - can see in low light conditions.
Droog
MR 62 (7+31)
Special damage: 3/ Swallow - the droog swallows whole a creature unless they succeed SR-30 on DX. Once inside, the victim is dissolved by its stomach acid, taking 2d6 Con damage every combat round. They may attempt to escape with a SR-30 STR or LK roll.
Special abilities: Bury - the droog can bury deep into the sand and move underground.
Friday, 10 August 2018
D6 addictive things
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Let's get addicted to:
1. Felger - this thin viscous coating remains on the target of a spell. It smells vaguely of popcorn. Snuffers visit wizard mausoleums to scrape the residue off dead sorcerors where they smear the stuff in their nasal cavities. After ingesting the user sees the laquered purple eyes of the Indecent God. This is not a vision. There is a 5% chance the user gains the spell that killed the corpse.
2. Altosh, the Dreamer's Tongue - Altosh is an addictive language spoken by the wormkin of Gulath. The sounds are potent, pulling those who hear it into a dreamlike state. The wormkin enjoy feasting on dreamers (they, of course, are immune to Altosh). There's a 10% chance the dreamer gains telepathy for 1d10 days.
3. Bugbug mushroom - a particular favourite of mud goblins. Bugbug is first chewed by the gorberry caterpillar (deadly to the touch) before being harvested from bark. The mushroom is then made into a tea. The effects give the user a sprouting of translucent wings. Overdosing gives a 30% chance the user will turn into a giant fly.
4. Porting - stepping through a portal offers a very quick rush, but stepping through a series multiplies it exponentially. Porters line up a series of portals, dozens at a time and fall through them. There's a 5% chance a user's skin is ripped off. This goes up by 5% for every portal after the 7th.
5. Elfsleep - most elves don't actually sleep, instead going into a trance. Elfsleep was a potion created for other races to experience this trance. It's highly addictive and incredibly blissful. There's a 10% chance a user will remain in elfsleep indefinitely.
6. Vlute music - the vlute is an instrument native to the tok tok orc tribe of the Fell Hills. It's a cross between a guitar and a bassoon, made of wood and cartilage. The sound it emits causes non orcs to mindlessly do art. They will pick up whatever is near them and produce drawings, paintings, sculptures. The brain-dead creativity and outcome is so addictive that people travel thousands of miles to visit the tok tok. The tok tok mostly eat their heads.
Thursday, 2 August 2018
Rotgobs for Tunnels and Trolls
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Rotgobs are essentially undead goblins, returned to life by a nekromancer or a particularly goth goblin teenager. They share the same mind - the mind of the conjurer (the nekrobrain) and do her wishes. If the nekrobrain dies, the rotgobs go completely insane and even more murderous.
Rotgob
MR 24 (3+12)
Spite 2/ brain munch - do an extra d6 damage if the target fails a L1SR-DX. Ignores armour. Also reduce IQ by 1.
Special: For every other Rotgobs attacking the same target, increase the number of dice you roll in combat by one.
Some rotgobs are raised with innate magic still festering in their veins.
Rotgob magician
MR 28 (3+14)
Spite 2/ cast TTYF or Freeze Please
Spite 3/ cast Protective Pentagram
Special: the nekrobrain may optionally siphon the magic from the rotgob. If so, they gain 2d6 spell points on their turn, but the Rotgob cannot act on its next turn. After 20 total points have been taken, no more can be spared.
The most common method of creating a rotgob is through enchanted jewelry - talismans, rings, bracelets etc. The nekrobrain must have a matching piece of control jewelry to command their minions. If someone else tries to wear it, they may spend 10 spell points to become the new nekrobrain.
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
The Three Witches of the Dreadoak
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
In the times before the wizard wars, when magic was raw and untamed, the Hidden God created the Weavespider who spun together the first milky strands of fate between the two quartz trees. His web sang a hymn to the breeze, a melody that attracted the attention of three witches who lived in the branches of the towering dreadoak where they had existed since the second sun was ignited by Hod.
The most courageous of the witches, whose name causes men to suffocate, plucked one of the strands and heard the Harmony of the Web and at once was captivated. After years of strumming, the three realised the song was directly tied to the machinations of the young beings who walked the land - the Eck Dwarves, whose lamps would burn long after the suns faded; the Shade Elves, whose gods crawled in the earth; and the realm of man, who had mastered the skies with Smoothdrakes.
The witches played the symphony of the threads, watching savage queens perish and titan wretches spawn as the notes of fate sang in the hills of Ormun. The Hidden God was displeased - the witches had become as gods. In a dream he visited the warrior Aleena, who had slaughtered the host of the Everskull just the previous month and bore the axe legend calls Direwatch. Aleena was instructed to destroy the web.
She travelled to Ormun, having fought the greybeard ghasts and scarlet seraphim along the way. When she reached the witches, they saw what she wanted to do and intervened, promising to play a melody that would give her great power and riches. Aleena agreed and true to their word, the witches strummed a sweet tune. Aleena would become the high empress of men and all would bow to her. She declared war on the Hidden God who would have the web destroyed. The god became mortal to face her in battle, but was slain and his Godhead taken. After drinking his blood, Aleena ascended to brcobethe new Hidden God.
The song of the weave continues to ring out to this day while the spiders dance.
Friday, 13 July 2018
Quill paperback available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
Quill is finally out there in the wild in paperback form. Yay!
Barnes & Noble
Amazon US
Amazon UK (currently out of stock)
Lulu
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Vote Trollish Delver Games for fan favourite publisher at the ENnies
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
It's ENnies season and once again I humbly request your vote in the fan favourite publisher category. Please take 10 seconds to give Trollish Delver Games a 1 ranking http://ennie-awards.com/vote/2018/ballot.php?category_id=24
Sunday, 24 June 2018
Some things you can do with SHATTER6
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
SHATTER6 is designed to be flexible so I wanted to talk a little about some things you can do with it.
Imbue items with shatterdice
Shatterdice help you achieve the impossible, but your pool is limited. So why not have magic weapons with shatterdice? These could be refreshable daily, or one-use only. For example, a sorcerer uses starlight to forge the Celestial Hammer. The GM says that the hammer is so awesome that it has 5 shatterdice assigned to it, but once the dice are used they don't replenish for another week as it recharges.
Include hordes as single enemies
SHATTER6 is all about cinematic coolness, so having a warrior cut through hundreds of demonspawn is just the type of thing it should be enabling. Create a horde as a single enemy, like:
300 demons
TR: 18
Damage: 4
A horde of 300 slavering winged demons weilding sickles.
Make cutting through them a real challenge - it may take a few really good successes to destroy them all.
Escape from the otherworld
Losing all wounds doesn't necessarily mean death. In fact, death should only come if the player is cool with it being an integral part of the story. But what if you do die? Maybe the GM decrees that your soul is trapped in the otherworld and it must fight its way out. Failure means it's gone forever, but therest a chance you could cheat death in am awesome way.
Go big or go home
Bigger is better in SHATTER6. The GM has license to go completely epic to challenge the players to come up with novel and exciting ways to tackle them. They should battle giant gods, ride city-sized dragons and attempt to cut planets in two.
Make magic volatile
Having a freeform magic system means players can pretty much do anything they dream of with it. But don't be afraid to make it backfire if the player is unsuccessful in casting. Come up with novel ways of making things go wrong.
SHATTER6 available to download
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
SHATTER6 is a new system I cooked up early one morning after my cat woke me up by jumping on my back. I've been thinking recently about creating a new open system that encourages players to do really awesome things. SHATTER6 is now live on Drivethurpg as a PWYW PDF.
What is SHATTER6?
SHATTER6 is a totally open roleplaying system, free for anyone and everyone to use. The mechanics are lite and designed for collaborative roleplaying where the golden rule is the Rule of Cool.
How does it differ from other systems?
SHATTER6 isn't about book-keeping and the minutiae of combat. Rather, the game is about telling mind-blowing stories and empowering players to do really awesome things. Enemies don't have hit points, whether they perish or not is up to how much effort players put into their actions. There are no classes, so players are free to concoct wild characters with few restraints. NPCs are easy to create on the fly, meaning those who value less prep time will get to the table quicker. The shatterdice let players attempt the impossible to create memorable gaming moments that you will be able to talk about for years to come.
The tag system
In SHATTER6 the players are encouraged to build their own classes by mixing and matching tags, skills that provide broad bonuses to their actions. For example, mixing the charming, crafting and streetwise tags might give you a Forge Thief who specialises in crafting thieves tools and sweet talking their way into the houses of the rich and famous before stealing their stuff. Invent your own tags for truly infinite possibilities.
Flexible combat that puts awesomeness first
If you want to fire off three burning arrows into the eyes of the demonlord while backflipping out of danger, you're free to do it with a roll. Using abilities, tags and shatterdice, SHATTER6 empowers players to dream up awesome actions and carry them out. This isn't about how many hits an enemy can take - the greater the challenge, the greater the reward.
A system that begs to be hacked
As an open system, anyone is free to take SHATTER6 and do what they like with it. Create new settings or alter the rules and publish for others to play.
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
Quill has been updated
Posted by
Scott Malthouse
I've never really been happy with the layout of Quill, so yesterday I fixed this by uploading a new file on Drivethrurpg. If you already have Quill, you can go and download the fresh new look right now. I've also taken this opportunity to make some rules clarifications I get frequently and add some bits and bobs.
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