ODDPOCALYPSE

OH YEAH IT'S INTO THE ODD PLUS MAD MAX LET'S GO ALL CAAAAAAAPS



As Into the Odd Free Edition with the following changes. 

Creating a Character
Roll 3d6 for STR, DEX, MAD, and 1d6hp as a normal Into the Odd character but use the starter packages below. 

MADness is how well they've adapted to life in this new world.

Top axis is your HP. Side is your highest Ability Score. 

	1-2hp	3-4hp	5-6hp
3-9	Axe (d6) Revolver (d6) Hidden Blade (d6) Armour (1) Danger Sense Chopper (d6hp, 1 Seat, Light, Fast)	Hunter Rifle (d8) Machete (d6) Flashbomb Smell Petrol Muscle Car (2d6hp, 4 Seats, Middleweight, Mid-Speed)	Assault Rifle (d8) Club (d6) Immunity to Extreme Weather. Jeep (2d6hp, Armour 1, 5 Seats, Middleweight, Slow)  Sack of dead rats.
10-11	Long Rifle (d8) Kitchen Knife (d6) Pet Panther (5hp, d8 Bite)	Slugger (d6), Wrench (d6)  Bus (3d6hp, 20 Seats, Heavy, Slow)	Baseball bat (d6), 3 Firebombs,  Big Rig (3d6hp, 4 Seats, Super-Heavy, Slow)
12-13	Techno-Eyes, Chainsaw (d10), Sports Armour (1) Dead Snake Scarf Portable Siren	Paired Pistols (d8) Exotic Sword (d6) Sportscar (2d6hp, 2 Seats, Mid-weight, Super-Fast)	Spear (d6), 3 Bombs,  ATV (d6hp, 1 Seat, Light, Mid-Speed) Tame Vulture (2hp) Poncho
14-15	Bike Chain (d6), Hog Trike (d6hp, 2 Seats, Mid-Weight, Mid-Speed)  Road-Mine (d10)	Iron Knuckles (d6) Skull-Mask Pickup (3d6hp, 6 Seats, Mid-weight, Slow)	Crossbow (d6) Fake Map to Paradise Bomb Vest (d12 blast on death) Poisoned Beer
16-17	SMG (d6), Badass Helmet.  Dirtbike (d6hp, 1 Seat, Light, Fast)	Circular Saw (d8) Throwing Knives (d6) Fake Bomb Fake Shotgun	Big Hammer (d8) Filed-Sharp-Teeth Mutt (3hp, d6 Bite) Horns
18	Lizard skin (Armour 1) Bite (d6) Tattered Rags Prehensile Tail	Metal Body (Armour 2), Energy Beam (d8) The only robot in the wastes.	Shotgun (d8), Liqor bottle. No Legs, Power-Wheels (Slow) Warning Flare

If none of you have a ride, you get a Scrub Buggy (Light, Slow, 2 Seats, d4hp) to share. 
All vehicles start with Low Fuel. 

Vehicles
Muscle-powered attacks cannot harm vehicles, unless the attacker is some sort of super-strong monster. 
Firearms and power tools can damage a vehicle, but cannot take it below 1hp.
Explosive and high impact weapons are required to deal a wrecking blow. 

When vehicles run out of HP they're Wrecked. The driver must pass a MAD Save to crash safely, or else it rolls/blows up and all on board take d6 damage. 

Repairing HP requires a Short Rest, but repair from being Wrecked requires a Full Rest. 

Ramming and Overrunning causes damage depending on the vehicle's weight or speed, whichever is better. Light/Slow (d6), Mid-Weight/Speed (d8), Heavy/Fast (d10) or Super-Heavy/Fast (d12). 
If one vehicle is heavier than the other, damage against it is Impaired. Vehicles take no damage for running over soft targets like people. 

Driving uses MAD Saves for risky situations, or may simply incur damage to the vehicle. 

Vehicles list a number of seats. An indefinite number of extra riders can hang on, but whenever the vehicle takes damage, they take the same amount.

Fuel is crucial, so any significant length of travel leaves you on Low Fuel. Another significant length of travel leaves you Empty. 

Upgrades do all sorts of crazy things but generally open up new options rather than simply improving your vehicle. Turbo might let you go fast but use all your fuel in one go. There's no currency so barter or steal.

Unknown!

Searchers of the Unknown boiled D&D down to HD, HP, AC, Damage, Movement.

Clearly a cumbersome bloat of a system.

I mean who even uses Movement? HD and HP? Talk about crunch city. Different ratings for different armour? Variable weapon damage??

I've had it with these simulation-obsessed robots ruining my hobby.

I stripped back Into the Odd for a bit of fun, but it seems my work isn't done. Let's get minimalist on the colossus that is Searchers of the Unknown.

Unknown!
You start at Level 1. At the end of each session you level up, to a maximum Level 9. You start with a weapon, a tool, and an heirloom of your choice.

A Roll is d10 aiming for your Level or Lower.

Attackers Roll to hit the target. When a target has taken hits equal to their Level they are defeated, and must Roll or Die. Defeated beings always get an injury. Hits are recovered with a night's rest.

Armour and Shields can be destroyed to ignore a single hit. Both encumber you.

Traps risk out outright death or dismemberment if not handled well. Anyone who triggers a deathtrap gets a last chance to Roll or Die. In the case of other traps, the consequences are more creative.

Artifacts have function that's powerful, but not universally useful. Some may require a Roll to use without suffering harm. Tomes contain powerful spells that require complex rituals to cast.

Monsters have a level between 1-9 representing their general danger. They have two things that they want, a special power, and may have loot.

Sludge Troll (L6) - Stinky brute with a trunk.
Wants to bully smaller things and grow a disgusting garden.
Regenerates any physical harm at will, except that caused by burning.
Hides disgusting but delicious fungus in his lair.

Death Spider (L8) - Huge white spider.
Wants to catch things in its webs and philosophize with them at length.
Anyone hit takes a second hit from numbing poison.
Has a library of old books stashed deep in the webs.

Scypple (L1) - Little blue imp.
Wants to watch from just outside your field of vision and make you look stupid.
Can turn water it can see to ice.
Has a few pieces of jewelry stolen from the dead.

Glow-Puncher (L3) - Glowing humanoid.
Wants to scare people by smashing their surroundings, and consume sources of light.
Gains a level for each light source it consumes, and can disguise itself as a glowing ball.

Into the Odd: Changes? What changes?

Well, it was inevitable.

Barely hours after I post the changes I'd made to Into the Odd after the first playtest I notice a whole bunch of issues with said changes. Pulling at this thread has the whole knitted jumper unravel and I'm left with a question.

What's a character's Will score for again?

Turns out... not a whole lot. It was a very passive Ability that provided saves quite frequently but having a high Will didn't really let you do anything.

High STR? Grab a Great Weapon and get to power attacking and grappling your opponents to the ground. Throw some rocks around and smash up some doors. Good times.

High DEX? Grab your bow, gun, sword, axe, whatever you like, and get stuck into combat. Disarm that bandit, do a called shot to the mindslug's air-sac. If it all goes wrong then run away or find a good place to hide.

High INT? Be the first to know what's happening and blast away with your Arcanum.

High WIL? Erm... be good at passing some saves? Influence people you talk to? Eh.

So it's gone. Passive fortitude against arcane effects like petrification and psychic shock goes to STR and more active shaking-off of charm effects and illusions goes to INT as well as some of the social stuff.

Is this the last big change to ITO? I'm not even sure if I like the name yet, so no. Maybe something's changed since this post. Looks like the only thing for it is for me to put the info that I want public out there.

Go and see for yourself, journey Into the Odd and enjoy the game before it changes again.

Something More Concrete - Instant RPG

Well you've put up with one rambling, vague and cryptic post after another. It's about time I put my money where my mouth is. Presenting...

Instant RPG - Alpha Edition

Instant RPG can be played in person or using social technology like Facebook, Google+ or Twitter. All you need is a line of communication between the GM and Players and you can have your own adventure.

Player Information

When you play the Instant RPG a situation will be described by your GM, who may also ask you questions. You answer these questions and describe what you want your character to do in response to the situation at hand. You can try and do anything you can imagine, though the GM will roll dice to see if some actions are successful or if you face consequences for failure.

Think about what your character will be like. What are they good at? How do they act? With this in mind start playing and most of all have fun!

GM Information

Only the Gamemaster needs to read any further. If you're a player then start playing!

To run the game the GM remembers the three rules.

The Two, Four, Six, Rule
A Task will fit into one of the following categories.
Simple: Requiring a 2 or more to succeed.
Challenging: Requiring a 4 or more to succeed.
Formidable: Requiring a 6 or more to succeed.

The High, Mid, Low Rule
Whenever a Task is rolled, three six-sided dice are thrown.
A character that is completely unskilled in the Task uses the lowest die.
A character that has basic understanding of the Task uses the middle die.
A character that is skilled in the Task uses the highest die.

Rule X
When all else fails, if you are unsure what to do in a situation, roll a single die. If this is high the situation goes in favour of the character in question. If it is low if goes against them. This could be used to determine anything from whether or not a character makes a good first impression to whether or not they survive a potentially deadly injury. In the case of the latter a roll of 1 would often mean death.

Glossary of Terms

The GM may need some of these terms clarified.

Abilities: These are things the character can do without it being a speciality. Most settings come with certain assumptions, such as a modern setting assuming characters can drive and operate a computer. This lists exceptions that the characters have been given by the GM such as a wizard being able to cast spells or a dragon being able to fly.

Adventure: The setting and situation that the characters are in. The characters explore and interact with the setting and to act out their adventure.

Equipment: A character's equipment affects how they carry out tasks. For example, some tasks simply require a piece of equipment, or else can't be attempted at all. Others will be made easier by posessing a certain piece of equipment. For example, blasting an opponent away at close range would be a Simple task with a shotgun, but Challenging with a weapon more suited to long range, such as a sniper rifle. The GM decides, with player suggestions, what equipment characters have access to.

GM: The Gamemaster. He describes the situation the characters are in and, after hearing what they want to do, describes what happens next. He may use the three rules to determine this.

Module: A pre-written plan that helps the GM run the Adventure. May include maps, non-player characters and an explanation of the current situation before the characters' involvement.

Skills: A list of things the character can do really well, from natural qualities to knowledge and experience. The GM allocates these Skills by asking the players about their characters, typically choosing around four Skills. These should be quite specific. Think duelling or staff-fighting instead of just "armed combat".
Task: A Task is something the characters cannot carry out with certainty. This could be because of opposition, a time limit or high risk in the event of failure. The GM will assign the Task a difficulty using the Two, Four, Six rule based on the character's abilities, equipment and support from their allies. The GM then rolls the Task, using the High, Mid, Low Rule to decide which die to use, describing the result to the players. Tasks could be interrogating a suspect, casting a spell or avoiding incoming bullet fire.

Character Information

The GM will note down a character's Skills and Abilities as well as any Equipment of importance they are carrying. An example might look like this.

Hol Varnoo - Space Knight

Skills: Starfighter Piloting, Intimidation, Leading a Crowd, Beamsword Duels.

Abilities: Use of Spaceknight Technology, Speaks Yarnese.

Equipment: Hyper Armour, Beamsword, Rapiblaster.

The Player will influence this information but does not need to track it themselves.

Example of Play

Mike: I could try and shoot the chain but I think Red will stand a better chance.

GM: Red is in a good position to use his sniper rifle.
Red: Ok, I'll take the shot.
[The GM rolls a Challenging task, which Red is skilled in thanks to his "Sniping" Skill, resulting in a success. Had Mike attempted the shot with their Handgun it would have been Formidable instead]
GM: The chain is shot with a clean break, sending Hannah dropping to the ground, collapsing in a heap but not badly hurt. Murca's henchmen return fire on Red, having given up his position.
Red: I'm out of here. Make a break for the exit.
[The GM rolls a Challenging task for Red to avoid being shot as he flees, which he fails. To see how bad the wound is the GM uses Rule X, rolling a 5. Surely just a flesh wound.]
Mike: I'll follow!
GM: Red is hurt by a glancing shot from Murca's henchmen, but Mike manages to help him to safety. Now that you're out of the base you're faced with countless bloodthirsty henchmen in one direction and a frozen wilderness in the other.
Mike: Can't we call in for the Colonel to come and pick us up? I have that radio.
[The GM rolls a Simple task to call for help, assuming that Mike has an Average skill in using his radio, resulting in a success. He uses Rule X to see how long before support arrives, rolling a 1. Not good for our players.]
GM: You get through to the Colonel, who's already airborn with his helicopter. "I'd pick you up right now, boys, but there's still a SAM site that's making the run less appealling. Take care of that and I'll be right there".
Red: Great, well how do we knock out that SAM site?
GM: Red is bleeding pretty badly. Not life-threatening at the moment but you're not in top shape for much physical activity.
Mike: Listen up, I've got a plan...

Social Assumptions

As well as the three play-rules used in gameplay there are some guidelines that all players and the GM should follow.

1: The players do not need to know any of the rules or how the GM is implementing them.
2: The GM will roll all dice and has the final decision over tasks, their difficulty and the Skills and abilities of each players' character.
3: The GM will choose each character's Skills and Abilities based on the player's description of their character and their background.
4: If a player's character is killed or otherwise removed from a game the GM will soon present an opportunity for that player to rejoin the game as another character.
5: A player can leave the game without any ill feeling. Similarly, new players should always be welcome within limits. The GM will find ways to bring in new players' characters as soon as possible.

Now, imagine an adventure your players would enjoy, using a module if you wish, and start playing!

A Wanderer's Romance now on RPGNow

With help from Mike at Stargazer Games I've finally managed to get a pdf of A Wanderer's Romance onto rpgnow.

I'm really happy with how the pdf looks, and I'd like to credit Pavel Elagin for his beautiful artwork.

Best of all it's still free! Go and grab your copy now. If you're still not sold here's the freshly written blurb.

A Wanderer's Romance

A Wanderer's Romance is a game of martial art duels and tea-making contests set in a world of unnatural islands on an endless sea. It draws on its Wuxia influences but focuses on a character driven game with scope for incredible environments and a true sense of exploration.

Features of the game include:

• A fast, simple and easy to learn system for task resolution that spreads consistently across duels, contests, activities and group tests.
• Dozens of combat styles for characters to learn as well as countless other types of contest they can specialise in.
• A setting outline designed for maximum creative freedom. Every group's world will be different but will share in similar themes.
• Multiple ways to support your allies from teaching them lessons in defeat and envigorating them through activities to training them in combat styles and preparing tea and food that will balance their elemental forces.

Playing Outside the Rules

The following is an excerpt from the GM's section of my work in progress, big-scale, spear-em-up RPG, Thousand Spears. Although it's part of this game I can see it applying to most systems.

Playing Outside the Rules

The most important thing to remember about Thousand Spears is that it is an RPG and not a wargame. You could play it as a wargame, but if you do you’ll be missing out on what makes RPGs so special. In an RPG the GM and players are able to step out of the rules of the game to do, quite literally, anything.

As the GM it's up to you to maintain a balance of playing within the rules and playing outside the rules. This doesn't mean breaking the rules, but is everything the players do that isn't directly linked to a rule. For example, using an individual's Ability to raise some attack dice is playing firmly within the rules, but describing how the archers are pouring arrows onto the enemy is playing outside the rules.

In the majority of games more time will be spent outside the rules than inside them. There are no rules for your Inheritor giving a rousing speech to his men, deciding how to persuade the dock-master to loan him a ship or deciding whether the mysterious Ysorn can be trusted to keep a promise. The temptation may be to play out these situations as Trials or Challenges, but it's important to remember you're not bound to using a rule for everything.

The rules are there for a reason, and there is great fun to be had using them to act out huge battles, dramatic one-on-one duels and life or death journeys across hostile landscapes. Just stop each time you're about to step back into the rules to consider whether you really need to.

Want to be a Fringer?

You are a Fringer. You may not be a bad person but you've most likely seen bad things or done worse to survive. As is often the case you've banded together with a group of like-minded individuals. Perhaps you've worked together on jobs before or feel like you can trust each other after a friendship. You may have an area of expertise but on the Fringe there are few steady jobs, so you will have had something of a patchwork career history.

There is no Universal Empire or Omni-Planetary Federation here. Core Space is far away and they're happy about it. Here anyone can stake their claim, as long as they have the means to back it up. 

Your character's personal kingdom is the shared ownership of a banged up planetary shuttle. This will fly you between nearby planets and can be transported further distances by larger craft for a cost.

Between yourselves you will decide to pursue one of the job opportunities available on the local bulletin service in the hope of making enough credits to stay fed and keep the shuttle running.

I'm finally getting around to running a playtest of Xenofringe, my Sci Fi RPG. As a change of pace I'll be running it play by post on the Penny Arcade forums.

Want to sign up and try it out? Check out the game thread here and post to show your interest.

The fans demanded it...

Remember Skullados?

No?

Well I guess this won't be much use to you then.

Xenofringe Free Preview

THE XENOFRINGE is the loose border that divides the established systems of CORE SPACE from the unknown contents of DARKSPACE. Life on the Fringe is a hazardous affair, where the frontiers of civilization meet vast, mysterious space.

As I mentioned in my last post I've been working on a generic sci-fi RPG loosely based on the core of The Adventurer's Tale. Although it's still in a very work-in-progress state I'm happy to put it out there as a preview.

Presenting Xenofringe.

There are a few parts of the game I'm very happy with and it's a slightly more crunchy affair than I'm used to. Although it's rough around the edges the core is playable, so let me know if you give it a try.

Targets for The Adventurer's Tale

Just some thoughts on things I'd like to achieve with The Adventurer's Tale in the next couple of months.

- Complete the currently-unnamed Starter Adventure Module and find GMs to playtest it without me being present.
- Make use of Otherworlds in the first session of a game.
- Test the Mass Combat and Mounted Combat rules in play.
- Update the One-Sheet Quickstart to include a few minor rule changes.

Anyone volunteering as a GM to help me with my first target can get in touch with me, as I'm eager to see how the game plays without having me as a GM or player.

The Adventurer's Setting Musings

I've been working on a starter module for The Adventurer's Tale in the form of a small sandbox with a few minidungeons for adventurers to brave. The idea of the game was always to encourage GMs to make their own settings or adapt the game to existing ones. However, I can only resist the lure for so long. I'm going to have a short paragraph of setting info at the top of this starter module.

For this I want to start with some key points that people familiar with fantasy settings will want to know. The idea is to stay generic, but do generic as well as I can. Let's do this off the top of my head.

- The World is a mundane place. Magic is uncommon, most people have boring jobs and the novelty of local monster attacks has long since worn off on the average human. Most people have little reason to know about things that aren't happening in their immediate surroundings.

- The Otherworlds are far from mundane. These hidden, unnatural places exist outside of the natural world and range from the the glittering domain of the forest queen, elusive elf cities, weird underworlds filled with wonder and even Hell itself. Crossing points to Otherworlds are difficult to find and could take any form, but the Adventurers will find a way. These places are where the rules are broken and occasional "leaks" from Otherworlds are the source of most of the Fantasy in the otherwise natural world.

- Elves are elusive, immortal and always thinking of the big picture. Dwarfs are focused, obsessive and enjoy routine. Orcs are ugly, amoral and easily led by smarter creatures. Humans are everywhere.

- Wizards can display supernatural abilities but are rare enough that many people go their lives without witnessing it first hand. Wizards rarely gather together in numbers of more than two, a master and his apprentice. Stories of magic are told, but often assumed to be exaggeration. Likewise, stories of Otherworlds are often thought of as children's bedtime stories.

- Adventurers seek to protect their loved ones, gain riches and fame and explore the legendary Otherworlds. They will be given ample opportunity for all three.

Creature Collection Preview

Today's the day I throw out a sneak preview of my tentatively titled Creature Collection for The Adventurer's Tale. I wanted to keep the monster list in the core game quite pure so this is where I've been able to mess around with some more unusual enemies. Here are a pair of new Undead minions. Put them to use in your Adventurer's Tale game!

Bloodling
These creatures resemble bald, bloated dwarfs, usually found waddling around the lairs of their vampire masters. They serve without question, usually carrying out menial tasks, acting as lookouts and being disposable sources of blood when the need arises. Creating a Bloodling is a process that only a vampire can carry out and involves biting a captured victim in a particular way while casting a Command spell. This causes them to swell with blood and become completely at the command of their master.
Body 5
Melee 3, Shooting 3, Craft 2, Grace 2
Crossbow (Damage 3) and Dagger (Damage 2).
Blood Sacrifice: A Bloodling may fly into a combat rage, adding 2 to their Melee score for a single engagement. In doing so they exert themselves so much that they explode in a splatter of blood as soon as the engagement is complete. Usually they only use this technique when their master is in direct danger.
Variety: The blood splatter of some Bloodlings may carry disease or even burn an opponent's skin for a point of damage. Vampires with military backgrounds often train their Bloodlings in the use of a larger variety of weapons and armour.

Floating Corpse
Dark Wizards may create these horrors without the exertion required in creating a mass of zombies or skeletons. These rotting corpses float upright a few inches off the ground, making no sound as they patrol a set area or head towards a given point. If patrolling they will turn and float towards any intruders they notice, unable to attack, but often serving as a deterrent for inexperienced intruders. When they reach their target they do nothing but helplessly bump against them, hoping to provoke enough of a noise to alert the real guards.
Body 6
Lifeless Hang: Floating corpses cannot cause damage. If they hit an opponent they bump into them lightly, perhaps shedding some rotten flesh on them. Note that engagements with a Floating Corpses still count towards Combat Fatigue.
Variety: Some Floating Corpses are able to pass on curses or diseases with a touch, with others bursting into flames upon contact with living flesh.

And perhaps something larger, if that's to your tastes...

Spider Dragon
These towering horrors would seem to be prime examples of a wizard's experiment gone wrong. They are, in fact, natural creatures predating even Dragons, which they are unrelated to. Forced to the surface from their home deep beneath the ground they have developed a taste for cattle and slowly gained tolerance to sunlight. They resemble pale, gigantic six-legged spiders with a hideous head sporting beady eyes and an unfolding jaw bristling with teeth. No one has ever been known to tame one of these beasts or find a nest of young.
Body 20
Melee 12, Grace 2.
Leg Claws (Damage 4), Chitin (count as Heavy Armour).
Burning Spray: Damage 3 and reduces Body by 1 until healed, Hits 1d6-3 targets at the start of the dragon's turn. Targets can dodge this with a DN10 Grace roll. A spider dragon may do this once every hour.
Web Wrap: A Wild Dragon deals 2 extra points of damage on a Critical Hit, rather than 1. If this would cause their opponent to roll on the Death Table the Spider Dragon will (if they are cow-sized or smaller) wrap them in webbing and later devour them.

One Page? I can do that (sort of)

A couple of days ago I was linked to Searchers of the Unknown, which is a one-page trimming-down of classic D&D. Despite being dubious about its limitations and holding on to descending AC at first I soon found both of these were good things.

Firstly the limitations meant you had very little to consider, as a player, mechanically. We encountered a pit very early on and rather than rolling athletics to leap over it we went back and unscrewed a door, using it as a makeshift bridge. This is extremely basic D&D stuff, but it felt so much more encouraged with such a minimal ruleset.

Secondly, descending Armour Class actually made sense for the first time. It was a roll-under target for attacks and was used for things like sneaking in a way that made the smaller=better idea actually fit.

Not to be outdone, I remembered that I had my own very-light system, The Adventurer's Tale. Although this game is very simple in itself the document is still pretty large with the optional rules, monsters and spells. Could I trim the core of it down to one sheet? I could. All the rules for creating an adventurer and playing the game are on the front of the sheet, with the back filled with spells and monsters for characters to encounter.

So here's the Adventurer's Tale One-Sheet Quickstart. Grab a few friends and run a pickup game today!

Fantasy Boyscouts and Resurrecting Old Projects

Been a while since my last post, so time for a quick update on what I've been working on. 

• Working on Lookouts adaptation of The Adventurer's Tale after being truly inspired by one of Penny Arcade's latest projects.
• Being wowed by another awesome map from the Tao of D&D
• Scouring my contacts for someone with good pdf layout skills and a little free time they're willing to offer up to help me finally turn A Wanderer's Romance into a nice pdf
• Realising more and more that Greywulf speaks a lot of sense
• Considering bringing Inheritance back onto a front burner to see if I can improve it significantly and eventually have a completed document for mechanics and fluff

It's the last of these things I want to talk about today.

Back when I spoke about Inheritance in January there were two main areas I felt needed improvement. Firstly the setting needed to be made more accessible and presented alongside the rules in the document rather than seperate in a wiki. I have an idea for how to do this, but it can wait for now while I deal with a more mechanical issue. This second problem was that combat options mostly consisted of "attack" or specialist options like disarm, grapple, charge and so on. I wanted to present more options for character that just wanted to hack away. In addition to this issue there was often a rather high "whiff factor", which I've come to hate in games. Here's how I plan to tackle both of these, without going too far into specific Inheritance mechanics.

Attack Focuses

At the start of a character's turn they may choose an Attack Focus if they wish. This will provide both a bonus and a penalty in combat.

Speed: The character gains a +1PL bonus to their Initiative roll but suffers -1PL to hit on all attacks.

Damage: The character gains a +1PL bonus to Damage rolls but a -1PL penalty to their Initiative roll.

Accuracy: The characters gains a +1PL bonus to hit on all attacks but suffers -1PL to Damage rolls

The desired effect of this is that if a character is whiffing a lot in combat, be it through missing or being unable to hurt a target, they can shift their focus as required. On the other hand, it needn't slow down play as the DM is advised to not use them for NPCs and Monsters and even the players can ignore them if they wish. 

Bring on a playtest!

Skullados, a 30 minute MS Paint RPG

An RPG designed in 30 minutes using only MS Paint. Who'll join in the challenge?

Behold, Skullados. 

Addition: This is too addictive.

A Call to Arms

A quick post to shamelessly push my recruitment drive for playtest groups for The Adventurer's Tale. I've spoken about it in previous posts and it's now at the point where I'm eager to get it tested out by as many GMs as possible. 

Full details are available on two of the forums you're probably familiar with and feedback can be sent by way through either of them.

Give it a try with some friends and let me know!

The Game I Thought I'd Never Write

Well, it was bound to happen. After working on games with relatively original concepts for so long I've finally given in and designed something where your fighter or wizard kills orcs for treasure, under the temporary name Underworld and Overworld. It took a while for me to decide what exactly I wanted out of this project, but I finally found the answer below.

What is this game?

There is nothing new or shocking in this game. It is intended to be a very simple base system for a GM and group of players wanting a game with deadly monsters, huge armies and characters that gain fame and become Kings. It is perfect for a group wanting to quickly have a fantasy adventure as there are very few rules to learn and the document is free.

From this foundation a GM can create their own monsters to break from the classic examples given, using them to populate a world straight out of his imagination. It could be as simple as a one-off dungeon crawl or it could be a full world with empires and warring gods. With this in mind the rules are intended to be as straightforward and open to modification as possible to aid creation of new content and keep the amount of calculating, memorising and paperwork at the game table down to a minimum.

The game is mostly inspired by my happy, younger memories of Fighting Fantasy books, playing Ultima Underworld and enjoying board games like Heroquest and Dungeon. 

You can see the game as it stands here.

Enjoy!

Any excuse for a plug...

Chinese New Year eh? Seems like a good opportunity for everyone to try out a Wuxia game.

*COUGH*

I guess that means my Chinese New Year's Resolution is to be more shameless in promoting my games.

Five Star Chef

There are all sorts of horrors lurking in my Google Docs. Today I feel like unleashing one of them upon the world.

Five Star Chef is the result of a crazy night where I wanted to try and create a completely non-violent game. I'm not sure if the result qualifies as an RPG, particularly. A single game is unlikely to last longer than 20 minutes. However, maybe someone out there will get a laugh out of it, I know I had fun writing it.

Enjoy, free of charge, Five Star Chef.