Basic Fantasy RPG - Part VII

Welcome back for some more Basic Fantasy RPG goodness!

Feel free to read through the earlier posts if you want to see how the party got to where they are!

Before we started the session in earnest we went through some of the rules. At the previous session we had rolled in the ability to dual wield weapons. However after discussion on the BFRPG forum I discovered I had misinterpreted the rules. After a discussion with the group we decided not to go for the whole hearted version as the rules described. Rather we decided to bring in a house rule. Dual wield will be classed as a skill that can be selected by the players (I need to think of a downside). The player who dual wields receives +0 to their main hand and -2 to their off hand. I recognise some may feel this is over powered. However I am a great believer in seeing how changes work then re-tweaking as necessary. So for the moment that is how the skill is working. [Update. At the end of the next session the player who was dual wielding decided it was not a good enough boost to warrant and so is swapping back to a mace and 1 attack.]

At the start of our latest session I took a hint from one of my friends, and an excellent GM (Steve), and got the players to recap what had happened during the previous session. This allowed me to see what they were taking in, how they perceived the session, and allowed me to look to tailor the sessions to better fit the players.

Once the recap was complete we jumped back into the dungeon.

The party moved cautiously down the corridor; at the end of the corridor they could just make out a faint waxy light. Using his Elven Slippers (that was a lucky random roll a few sessions back) the Thief crept up to the corner. Peering around he could make out the shadowy forms of two bandits standing either side of the entrance to a rope bridge; a lantern on the ground by their feet casting the waxy light. Creeping back silently to the party the Thief relayed the information. After a quick discussion the Mage crept forwards to the corner. Using Mage Hand he picked up the lantern and waved it in front of the bandits. Turning pale they made to run across the bridge; then suddenly remembering themselves, and the dodgy nature of the bridge, they grasped the rope guide rail and did a panicked power walk across the bridge while casting furtive glances over their shoulders.

Having cleared the way to the bridge entrance the party advanced to see how things stood. The Thief crept out to the middle of the bridge, taking things very steadily as the rotten planks creaked and groaned under his weight. Once halfway across he could make out 4 bandits. One of the original bandits who had power walked to safety was on the ground, being towered over by a burly bandit who had, from the looks of things, struck him on the nose.

The Thief crept cautiously back to the party and relayed what he had seen. Also remembering he had DarkVision and really didn't need to go on the bridge decided to take a shot with his bow. Notching an arrow he drew back, steadied his arm, and released. (Natural 1) The fletching had obviously become loose as the arrow buzzed loudly in the cavern and flew wildly off target. The bandits took this as a clear sign to retreat behind the cave walls out of sight, before calling out, "we only want the cleric... let us have him and the rest of you can go."

The party had another (see previous posts) discussion on whether Gilgan really ought to just be given up to make all their lives easier. However they decided there was definitely something "up" with Gilgan, and they wanted to know exactly what it was. Instead of handing him over they decided they would cross the bridge and clear these bandits out of the caves. The adventurers came up with the excellent idea of tying their rope around each of them. They did debate whether that included Gilgan, but in the end again decided they better try and keep him alive.

[So I had decided to cross the bridge I would make 3 d6 rolls per character. Any rolls of a 1 would not bode well for the player that roll happened to.]

The adventurers tied the rope around themselves so they were stuck into the following marching order:

Fighter
Cleric
Thief
Mage
Gilgan

Holding onto the guide rope with one hand, and their respective weapons with the other, they proceeded to edge out across the bridge. Edging their way across, the rotting planks creaked and groaned; with a sickening soft crunch the Mage disappeared from view, the rope pulling taught caught Gilgan by surprise and pulled him into the hole behind the Mage. The Fighter, Cleric, and Thief slid backwards towards the hole. Digging their heels in and grasping the rope they hauled, their combined strength hauling the Mage back up to the bridge. The party then dug in to pull Gilgan back up. However their plan was foiled by the Mages slippy feet as he slid straight back into the hole. Finding himself dangling above a chasm for the second time in as many minutes was leaving the Mage not in the best of moods! Digging in again the Fighter, Cleric, and Thief managed to pull the Mage up, then before he could fall in, also hoisted Gilgan to safety. It should be noted that while all this was going on there were 2 critical things occurring with NPCs.

Firstly Gilgan was quite enjoying the whole swinging sensation and was not put out in the slightest. Secondly the Bandits, having peeked round the corner and seeing what was happening, could be heard crying laughing from their position of safety. Watching the party they had concluded they posed no threat, and watching them try and cross the bridge was too much fun to interrupt.


As the party gained the far side of the bridge the bandits moved back out into the open blocking their passage.

Bandit 1: "All we want is the cleric ... you lot can go"
Party: "Why do you want him"
Bandit 1: "Our boss wants him. We went to his temple for healing and he made us all get naked. Said it was fer is God. Den wen we stripped e just laughed. Well boss wa'n't 'appy. So we need im"
The party (again) discussed whether they should just hand Gilgan over. The main points were that he was massively irritating, and really had brought this on himself, and the party could more than sympathise with the bandits. However, against their more mercenary feelings, they decided to help him. The Cleric lent in and whispered in Gilgans ear "Trust us".
Party: "Ok fair deal. You can have him."

The Bandits parted, 2 one side, and 2 the other. The party proceeded to walk between them. Just as they came level with the last bandit they span and attacked. The Cleric whirling his hammers, and the Cleric firing off Magic Missiles. The blue energy shot from the Mages fingers and struck the bandits; the first screamed in agony as his skin blistered and burnt under the magical energy; the second Magic Missile wrapped and warped around the bandit, its blue flame flickering and dying before it could do any lasting damage.

The bandit in charge was taken down by the angry Cleric. Swinging his hammers, he struck the bandit a solid blow into the gut, and as he doubled over the second hammer swung up into the bandits face and taking his jaw clean off.

A second bandit took several ringing blows from the Clerics hammers. The blows span him into a huge double handed swing from the Fighter: his sword taking the bandits head clean off.

Watching the pure butchery on their fellow bandits, the remaining two quicky dropped their weapons and surrendered. The Mage decided to strike one of the kneeling captives. Taking a swing, the Cleric pulled him back at the last second his swing going inches wide of the prisoner. Shaking off the Clerics hand the Mage swung again, this time his hand made contact sending the man sprawling to the ground; his temple connected with a rock cracking open his skull. Lying still blood seeped into the cavern floor. (He was on 1HP when the Mage hit him!)

While the party discussed what to do with the remaining prisoner (the Cleric holding back the Mage who was rather slap happy at this point), they noticed movement from the corner of their eyes. Turning to the centre of the room they watched as 5 troglodytes moved clear of the rocks. The party held firm, neither attacking, nor moving. One troglodyte moved to the front and pointed his spear at the kneeling man.

The party entered into a discussion on whether they really should give the bandit up, but in this instance erred on the side of "better him that us" and dragged the man to his feet, before giving him a shove towards the lead troglodyte. They watched in horror as they saw the troglodytes spear emerge from between the mans shoulder blades. Withdrawing his spear, the troglodytes moved off into the tunnels and disappeared.


At this point the party decided a rest was in order. The Mage had burnt out all his spells, and everyone had taken some beating in the fight.

What I am finding interesting, is that the more we play, the more the players are choosing their battles. Knowing when to run and when to fight is key to staying alive, and they are pulling it together really nicely. They are also getting into the spirit of their characters which is great to see.

The next sessions brings this first adventure to a close and prepares the players for being transported to the Midderlands... but more on that next time!

RPG, a nights play, in The Midderlands Setting

Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Midderlands one off game, run by none other than Mr MonkeyBloodDesign, Glynn Seal.

For anyone who isn't aware, MonkeyBloodDesign ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring the world of The Midderlands to the world. The books are in from the printers, and once the custom pledges (special one off covers) are all sorted, they will be shipped. The Midderlands is compatible with the Swords and Wizardry rules, which makes it an easy convert to a huge array of OSR systems. Or you can just take the setting and ideas and maps and use those. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to write a brief introductory adventure that is included in the book, a disclaimer I should make sure is nice and early in this post!

If you read this, and would like more information, please contact MonkeyBloodDesign directly, just google for them, or search on g+ you will find them! My understanding is that once the Kickstarter backers have the book in their hands that there will be copies available to purchase (they come with an awesome map), but you would need to contact MonkeyBloodDesign for more information.

However this isn't a review, I will leave that to others. This is all about our game last night. So without further waffling; at the table we had:

GM: MonkeyBloodDesign - Glynn Seal
Horatio: A Human Magic User played by Lee
Jerry: A human thief played by Pete
Chopper: A human cleric played by Phil
Quinn: A dwarven fighter played by Scott
Kesh: A human ranger played by Dunc
Monkey: A human monk played by me

Before we started there were a few items we needed to cover. The GM gave us an overview of The Midderlands environment. Our cleric selected the God Mephistophael (P.19 in the book) for his deity (lets just say he isn't like on the "nice" side of things). It should be noted that the Gods in the Midderlands are apathetic towards the populace, so don't go expecting large deity interventions. We were all started as level 3 characters which had been pre-rolled. Finally for this adventure were were using the Swords and Wizardry complete rules.

As the sun set, the murky green day, darkened into a murkier greener evening. The party found themselves drinking in The Juicy Carp Inn, in the town of Tamewort. The party settled in to drink as much beer as they could, figuring this was as good a job as any other. Horatio made a bet with Jerry to see if he could steal beer from the bar. Jerry accepted and headed purposefully towards the bar. Kesh went to use the outside shitter and bumped into Donald Fairbairn who exclaimed, "Yowl not b'lieve tis, I foond a Centidemonpede in the shitter". Kesh agreed to meet him inside the inn for a game of Centidemonpede Racing .. a game that is as likely to get you dead as rich.

As Jerry returned to the Inn, bowels evacuated, a skull masked Gloombugger walked past the window. Gloombugs are used in lanterns in the Midderlands to light specific streets during the night. The party decided, after more beers were quaffed, that seeing how many gloombugs it would take (eaten) to make your piss luminescent, may be the way to pass the evening.

At this point Jerry reached the bar, ordered 6 beers, and as Boris the Barkeep's back was turned, put one under his cloak. Horatio yelled, "Yow theivin b'stard, ee swiped a beer" pointing at Jerry. Before Boris could really complain the door opened, allowing a little Midderfog to roll into the inn, followed by a rotund man with a tricorn hat and tarnished bell. His girth stretched his green coat to bursting, patches of shirt visible between the buttons.

Our arrival introduced himself to the inn at large as John Hitchcock, an employee of Lord Ebben, who wished to hire  mercenaries to sort some trouble in the nearby countryside. Speaking to John revealed that cows and people had disappeared, and that a pack of dogs had been seen in the vicinity. Obviously the more worrying was the cows as they are worth a lot more when bartering! The barkeep asked John to make the party take the job just to make sure they wouldn't spend the following day in his establishment. John squeezed one fat hand inside his jacket … not something the party needed to see … and retrieved documents that could be turned in, with proof, to claim the bounty on the work. The job itself was worth 25 gold quids, 2 sheep, and a barrow of turnips. As everyone knows turnips don't grow on trees, so the party accepted.

The following day we departed the town, and following the directions provided by John, made our way slightly North East of the town (to Hex 3111 if you have the map/book). The day was green, damp, dark, and drizzly. Or was Midderlanders would probably describe it "Nowt tay bad".
Eventually after plodding through the damp morning we discovered a cave opening in the side of a mound. Although the entrance looked natural in origin, it had the look of being enlarged by some animal or other.

Game in progress ... just look at that map!

Being a bunch of suspicious buggers, we held back eyeing the cave entrance nervously. Eventually Kesh, who really wanted to tame "the dogs", approached the cave entrance with a rope lasso in hand. As they got closer the ranger could discern animal foot prints in the mud in the cave entrance. Given the size of the prints they drew their sword. Quinn, seeing Kesh draw their sword barrelled forward making a lot of huffing, puffing, jingling, and thudding noises. Kesh turned to make him be quiet, and they spent the next few minutes arguing over why Kesh had drawn their sword when there was no fight to be had!

Further inspection allowed Kesh to identify several sets of what looked like human heavily clad boot marks in the mud. The party decided this was either a sign that someone was in "cahoots" with the dogs, or another adventuring group had gone in, and not returned. There were also a variety of bones littered around; most of the bones were larger than human size so could well have come from cows, however they were all very definitely gnawed.

Only Quinn could really see in the cave, so he headed in first, followed by the rest of us, who as humans were a little poor with bad lighting. Jerry fortunately had a lamp, and after agreeing with the GM, angled it downwards providing light for the humans to see by, but not ruining Quinns dark vision.

Slowly edging into the cave system, Quinn quickly came to a junction, the tunnel branching off to the right, and continuing roughly straight on. Deciding to forge on into the depths of the system, Quinn headed straight on. We hadn't gone much further when a second branch presented itself. After a quick discussion we decided that heading back, and avoiding anyone coming up from behind, was the best course of action.

As we approached the original tunnel, that forked off, a ratdog (P.134 in the book; barrel chested, with horns where ears should be) charged out of the shadows directly at Kesh narrowly missing them with a headbutt. Spinning around the ratdog snapped at Chopper, just missing his leg, but tearing a huge gash in his trousers. Looking in indignation at the gash, Chopper swung round his mace and crushed the ratdogs head against the tunnel floor with one massive blow.

We debated how to prove they had killed the beast when back at town, and decided that taking back paws would suffice, so removed the deceased ratdog's paw.

Moving forwards carefully, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. To the left was some form of bed the ratdog had made from scavenged bits of clothing, hair, and skin. At the back of the room was a large hole. Peering in we could just make out a faint dirty green luminescent glow, somewhere in its depths. Lowering the lantern on a rope still didn't let us see the bottom … that is a very very deep hole!

After finding nothing else of note in the room, we returned to the original corridor and the second junction. Taking the left fork, the tunnel opened up into a second large cavern, with three ratdogs staring straight at us.

Springing to the attack I let fly with two arrows, both spectacularly missing their intended targets. However Horatio wiggled his fingers and all three ratdogs fell to the ground asleep. The party quickly dispatched them, taking a paw off each as evidence. While heartlessly hacking off paws from the beasts three more ratdogs surprised us from behind. Seeming to come from no-where two ratdogs headbutted Jerry and me leaving us both prone on the floor. A third ratdog tried to bite Horatio, but missed flesh, as his billowy robes robbed it of a good solid bit of leg.

The ratdog standing over me bit my leg, infecting it with a nasty disease. Quinn managed to distract the ratdog attacking Jerry and dodged its snapping jaws as it tried to bite him. Horatio was not as lucky, as the ratdog, getting wise to his billowy robes, found a good bit of thigh and bit in, also leaving Horatio with a nasty disease ridden wound.

While his ratdog was distracted with Quinn, Jerry managed to land a good blow on its flank, before Quinn finished it off with a solid strike, leaving several parts of the animal no longer attached.

I struck a ratdog on a nerve bundle and rendered it stunned for 9 rounds, allowing Kesh to move in and finish it off with a deft thrust of their sword.

Chopper swung at the last ratdog, which despite trying to dodge at the last minute, was caught a glancing blow on its shoulder. Spun around from the glancing blow the ratdog leapt forwards biting my throat and leaving me twitching on the floor. While distracted with my jugular Jerry leapt forward and skewered the ratdog on his sword.

Taking in the bloody scene Chopper quickly stabilised me, and muttering words to his god, healed me back to 6HP.

While searching the room we found:
Onions (good for Rat Dog Broth)
9 Brass Tuppences
A hand sized Old Hob Idol carved on bone (Summarily crushed by Chopper)
2 Potions, after a quick sniff, and taste, Chopper declared them Potions of Health (Extra Healing 3d8+3 HP)
Scroll of mirror image
98 gold quids.

We discussed whether we should just cut our losses and run at this point, having found a small fortune in onions! However the adventuring spirit won out, and we returned to the unexplored corridor, which opened up into a cavern with 3 normal rat dogs and a double sized Alpha.

The ratdogs charged the intruders, however in their eagerness to rip them to shreds, the alpha slipped on faeces and bones temporarily losing its footing, however recovering it swiped one large paw, leaving great gashes along Quinns arm.

Up close we could see the Alphas horns were longer than normal and slightly twisted, they also seemed to be twitching and giving off a faint green glow.

Jerry darted in with his thief quick reflexes and skewered a ratdog killing it outright as his sword appeared out the other side of its ribs. Kesh followed up with smashing another ratdog killing it outright, and Quinn, outraged at the Alpha raking him with claws, hit him back, leaving a great cut against the alphas flank. I dove in and totally missed.

Unnoticed by the dogs Horatio stood at the back of the cavern, beads of sweat on his face as he concentrated, his lips moving silently as he repeated an incantation. Successfully casting Phantasmal Force, Horatio created a ratdog bigger and meaner looking than the Alpha. Diving forwards the remaining ratdog sank its teeth into me rendering me unconscious on the floor. As I kindly held the ratdog in place with my throat, Chopper swung his mace in a great arc and smashed the ratdog off my unconscious form, killing it. The Alpha now besieged on all sides, and quite nervous of the Phantom ratdog didn't notice Jerry sneaking around behind it, allowing him a successful backstab. The Phantom dog finally diving in and finishing off the alpha.

Muttering prayers to his God, Chopper healed me (again).

A search of the room revealed:
Armoured boot prints leading into a tunnel leading off from the back of the cavern.
93 gold quids.
A small green glowing stone containing a small gloombug, just visible inside the hard green gem.

We had to call it there due to already being close to midnight.

The game was fantastic fun. We spent a good hour in the inn at the start making general Midderlands comments and really enjoying the scene.

I look forward to more Midderlands adventures in the near future! If you don't have it winging its way to you soon I really would recommend buying a copy of the book, you even get a fantastic map which shows the Midderlands in all its glory.

Basic Fantasy RPG - Part VI

As a summary for anyone catching up, this is the first time my party (including me) have run adventures using the Basic Fantasy RPG rules. As such we opted to use the base rules from the core book. Each session we have reviewed how this is working with a view to tweaking and adding in the extra rules that have been made available on the BRFPG site.

So before starting this session I decided to make a few more tweaks. Note most of the tweaks we add are available on the Downloads page for Basic Fantasy RPG. Where we differ from these I will highlight it specifically.

First off I decided to add in the rules for using multiple weapons. I'm not sure strictly it should be allowed but I let my cleric take two hammers, predominantly because I liked the cinematic style of a Cleric smashing around two hammers :) Our thief was absent (but he normally uses his bow while hiding behind the others ... which I think is a sound Thief tactic!), our Mage uses a staff and the Fighter has his specialisation point in his two handed sword so he wanted to stick with that!

The second rule we added in was the option to go defensive and add +4 to your AC. As it happened we didn't use this, but it is part of our "world" now.

So ... the new rules discussed and agreed we kicked off.

Quick Re-Cap

The Party had descended into the second level of the dungeon only to find Gilgan. A Cleric of questionable morals beaten up and requesting help (feel free to go back and read the other posts for more details :) ) After killing a couple of Bandits and skeletons they made camp at the top of stairs heading down.

The party having rested up checked their gear, and spells, and made sure Gilgan was still breathing ... unfortunately he was ... they cursed their luck and carried on down the stairs. At the bottom they found another corridor hewn roughly out of grey rock heading away from them. Following this down they came to a large body of water. The party used a staff to probe for the bottom of the water and discovered it was deeper than the staff .... no wading going on here! While they were discussing the best way across they noticed ripples in the water.

By this point the party had decided to wrap up all their armour and weapons in bags and attach them to rope. They could then swim throught the water and upon reaching the far bank they could pull their gear after them. Excellent way not to drown!

However being preterbed by the ripples they suddenly remembered that Gilgan must have already come this way when he fled from the bandits, and decided to question him.

Party: "Gilgan, do you know what''s in the water?"
Gilgan: "Well there are the sharks......"
Party: "Why didn't you tell us!!!!!!!"
Gilgan: "You never asked!"

... and yet again the party decided to discuss whether drowing Gilgan or sticking a sword in him would actually be for the greater good.

Finally deciding they best not try and kill him, instead they asked him to swim with the rope to the far bank (braving the sharks).

However before Gilgan could jump in, the party had another brilliant idea. The Cleric ran back up the stairs and retrieved a bandit corpse. The party threw that in for the sharks to feed on, and Gilgan jumped in and swam for it. He made it most of the way getting a little nip from his leg from a shark along the way.

The party deciding not to risk things and shouted out to Gilgan ... the conversation went something like this ...
Party: "Gilgan tie the rope to a rock"
Gilgan: "Ok"
Party: "Is it tied...."
Gilgan: "Yes"
Party: "To a big rock?"
Gilgan: *slight pause* "Yeahhs ......."
Cleric (wise to Gilgans shenanigans): "To a rock that would look big to a human?"
Gilgan: "Um.....no...ok...hang on .... ok re-tied....yes"

The Party are getting wise to what Gilgan thinks is funny!

The party then swam for it, they got just to the edge of the jet black water, and as they were pulling themselves out a shark snapped at their heels just missing the boots of the fighter.

The party grabbed the rope and proceeded to haul their armour and weapons through the water. As they pulled the rope hand over hand the suddenly felt the rope tug back towards the way they had come... a shark had grabbed the bag! The party gave a sharp yank and the bag came free, the shark obviously deciding it wasn't edible. The players quickly hauled the bag the remaining distance and pulled it clear of the water.

Having regained their possessions they followed the tunnel along, as they progressed the ceiling became lower and the the walls closer. Finally it opened up into a larger chamber which appeared to be a dead end. Searching the chamber the party discovered a section of wall where the shadows seemed to be slightly off under their lamplight, not quite moving quickly enough. The fighter took a swing at the section his boot which passed right through and back again! In the ensuing silence they head a voice on the other side of the illusory wall
"shhh they may come through...."
The party decided on their marching orders and advanced into the corridor in a 2 by 2 formation. The Cleric and Fighter in front and the Mage and Thief behind ... they didn't really care where Gilgan was as long as they didn't have to look at him.

Passing through the illusion they found themselves in another grey stone corridor hewn roughly out of the rock, dirt and stones littering the floor. Everything was brightly lit by a medium sized lantern that faced directly towards them leaving several shadows behind the lamp. 3 bandits moved forwards from the shadows, two surly bruisers at the front and a slightly bigger surlier looking bandit just behind them.

The Thief (having readied his bow) let loose with an arrow, which sang between the ears of the Warrior and Cleric hitting the first bandit in the eye and felling him in one go. Caught slightly off guard the bandits failed to make any mark in retaliation; the Fighter keeping them on their toes. Taking advantage of this the Cleric tested his two hammers, swinging one into the second bandits stomach he released a full circular upper cut of a blow with the second hammer into his face as he doubled over from the fist blow. Teeth and blood splattered up the ceiling as the bandits head snapped back his glassy stare testament to his quick demise. The leader of this little group made to step into the fray only to have a blue missile streak from the mages hand, wrapping its energy around him and searing him to the bone and dropping him to one knee. Steadfastly he struggled back to his feet into the incoming mages staff which smashed directly into the bridge of his nose felling him.

This was. To Date. The most impressive the party have been in a fight. They not only made sure their marching order was spot on, but utilised everyone's strengths to minimise damage to the party.

I checked for random encounters and got a 1 ... YES ..... I then rolled on the table and got Skeletons .... double YES! I then rolled for how many ... oooo dear ....

The party continued their advance along the corridor, as they approached the end, the tunnel turned to the right and they could hear a faint rustling like dry paper being scrunched. Peering around the corner they counted 11 skeletons ..... yes 11! At this point the fighter wanted to go a bit Han Solo and charge right in there. However the party discussed it and realised that the corridor was only 2 people wide, so pulling the skeletons to them would allow them to minimise the number that could attack at any one time. The party threw a rock into the room, missing spectacularly and hitting the far wall with a loud crack .. the skeletons began to move in the opposite direction. The Mage then began banging his staff on the floor and managed to draw the attention of the skeletons who upon seeing the party charged! The party, as planned, backed into the corridor to take them on. There were many swords and hammers swung. The mage smashing at the skeletons over the dwarf clerics head. The party made short work of the skeletons, with dust, bone and the occasional skull flying hither and thither. The final round of combat saw The Fighter, Thief and Mage all with the same initiative roll, they all went for the final skeleton doing a combined damage of 13 HP. As the Skeleton only had 8 HP to start with needless to say he exploded on top his colleagues. The skeletons in the entire fray only managed to land one blow on the Fighter, they spent a lot of the fight obviously struggling with their footing as they were trying to keep their balance on the remnants of their colleagues!

The party settled down to rest up before moving on.

Summary

The party are learning and working more as a party. They are playing to their characters strengths and using their wits to stay alive as well as their brawn. I feel the tweaks we have made rolling in some of the extra rules are beginning to make the game feel more balanced. However we will as always continue to review and see how we progress!

I am super happy with the way the party are using the locations to their benefit and to maximise their chances of minimal casualties.

As always I can't wait for the next session!

Basic Fantasy RPG - Part V

You may have noticed a slight stall in the continuing story of my adventurers first foray into Basic Fantasy RPG. Real life unfortunately intervened, but in true gamer fashion we rescheduled and got going again!

At the end of the last session, the players were battered beaten and bruised. You may remember our thief is minus an eye, and generally the party are feeling sorry for themselves. However they have successfully cleared out the first level of the dungeon and collected some suitable loot.

With some feedback from the players they were finding it difficult in some instances to get to grips with hitting things (although a large number of sub 5 rolls on a d20 were not helping). Now this is where Basic Fantasy comes into its own for me (I recognise other systems will have similar offerings however I'm just covering BFRPG here). The core rule book has various options for helping the players. There are also a load of optional rules available for download from the BRFPG website.

After some reading and providing options to the players we decided upon the following.

Firstly we used an optional rule from the core book to allow the players to exchange gold for XP. We played this as they scoured the dungeon of every last hide gold piece and scrap of saleable rubbish and did a few trips back to town to ensure they had flogged everything not nailed down. 

Once they had all their money ..... 

The Thief disappeared into the shadows ... we aren't sure where he went but when he came back he was a little more adept at opening things that didn't belong to him.

Our Fighter blew his money in every tavern he could picking fights with anyone and anything he could find. By the end of this he was a little bit better at hitting things.

The Mage entered a strange building that was on the edge of town that everyone was sure wasn't there before. When he came back out a few days later he had a spring in his step and more thoughtful composed look on his face.

Our Cleric found a suitable temple and prayed. His God was obviously very happy with him as when he left he seemed to be imbued with a little more of his Gods power.

So that found them all at level 2 ... broke .. but at level 2! Still they had a little cured wolf meat left over and another dungeon level to sort!

We then decided to also roll in some other interesting extras that are available for download.

First we gave the Mage and Cleric cantrips. I decided to not extend this to the other players as I wanted to keep it "special" for the magic users.

Our final extra that we added was weapon specialisation for our Fighter. This is a brilliant extra that allows the fighter to put a point against a specific weapon that they specialise in. At 1 point of specialisation this gave our fighter a +1 to hit with their two handed sword, add to this their +4 strength and +2 attack bonus as a level 2 fighter and they were suddenly on +4 to hit!

The final change for this session was the use of tokens to represent each character. This way when we hit an encounter or some other more treacherous part of the adventure we could lay out not only where the players are but also where the monsters/adversaries are. This allowed them to be more strategic on where everyone stood to maximise the armour and protect the more squishy.

So that was the characters all set and ready to hit the second level of the dungeon! Below is the map, not really a spoiler as they had seen it, although I didn't provide a copy. They entered by going down the stairs bringing them out at the bottom of the "A".

After lighting all their lanterns the group proceeded forwards till they came to the first junction. There they saw what appeared to be a mound of rags on the floor. Being suspicious of the bundle on the floor they decided to play it safe. One of the adventurers poked the pile of rags with the Clerics staff, nothing initially happened and the party debated whether they should just torch the lot to be safe (I love paranoia!).

The pile of rags moved and started to make groaning noises; the party decided it may be a little premature to fire them up just yet!

The bundle of rags said "uh oh please can you help me.....", the Thief passed an intelligence test and recognised the voice as none other than Gilgan. Gilgan first met our adventurers when he healed their Clerics blindness .... but not before he persuaded him to get naked ... you know just because he could really.

Gilgan rolled over and sat up, his face all beaten and bruised. The Cleric took his opportunity to offer to heal him if he got naked ... Gilgan laughed so hard he spat out a tooth.

There was then a heated discussion between the group as to whether they should stab him and leave him here, just leave him here, or still set fire to him. Eventually the Cleric decided he should guide the group along a more spiritual path, and as much as he wants to even the score with Gilgan, he felt that killing him was probably too much.

Gilgan proceeded to tell the adventurers how a group of bandits had come to his temple to seek healing. He had, as is is wont, insisted on them stripping naked. However when he laughed and told them it was just his little joke they apparently didn't see the funny side, beating him mercilessly. Gilgan managed to escape but was pursued by them through the cellars of his temple and through winding caverns. After days of running he finally collapsed here where they found him. Gilgan asked the adventurers if they would be prepared to help him get back to his temple, and clear out any of the bandits if they are still around.

At the knowledge he had made the bandits strip the players had a second heated discussion between the group as to whether they should stab him and leave him here, just leave him here, or still set fire to him. Again the Cleric decided that maybe they really should help him.

Before moving off the Cleric, a Dwarf, tried to discern whether either of the two passageways sloped downwards but was unable to discern any real difference. Gilgan laughed (he does this a lot) and got back gingerly to his feet following the party up the corridor towards the top of the A.

The Thief's keen ears picked out some low voices from the gloom ahead (a brilliant listening check) ...

Voice 1: "what was that...."
Voice 2: "I dunno but be quiet.."
Voice 1: "Me....your the one making all the noise...."
**soft thud**

The voices were drifting down from the ledge just in front of the party, a rickety wooden ladder leaning against the wall. After a quick whispered discussion the Fighter created a distraction by throwing a rock up and over the ledge; this made a loud "thunk" noise as it hit the wall at the back of the ledge. The voices again could be heard exclaiming "what was that.."
At the same time as the Fighter threw the rock the Thief crept quietly up the ladder, making excellent use of his Elf slippers granting him a 90% chance to sneak! Gaining the top of the ledge he saw two humans facing away from him. Stealthily moving behind the first he slid his dagger around their throat, in one smooth motion he sliced the throat clean open; blood pumping through his grasping fingers the man fell to the ground, twitched a couple of times then lay still. The second man span around to face the Thief, however his lightening reflexes allowed him to slash out quickly at the bandit. A red streak blossomed on the mans cheek as he leaped back to avoid the full force of the blow, his stumbling in his haste he fell his head smashing on a rock as he hit the ground. A cursory check was all that was needed to confirm the poor bandit had bashed his own brains out.

The Thief rejoined the party and they continued on down the passageway towards the bottom of the "E". The caves seemed relatively quiet in this section of the dungeon, possibly having been cleared out by the bandits as they had searched for Gilgan (no 1's on my d6 rolls there!). As they reached the junction at the bottom of the E the party discovered some blood red lichen on the cave wall.

The Thief was convinced this was blood lichen and extremely dangerous. Wanting to keep some to try and use it to poison a weapon he borrowed a bottle from the Cleric and scraped some off into it. A successful dex test had none fall on him, and the party decided to ask Gilgan if he knew what it was. Holding up the bottle they asked him if he knew what it was to which he replied "Yes...it's moss" ... they asked what sort of moss .. "Red moss...." (Gilgan laughed a little). Gilgan swiped the bottle off the players and emptied the moss into his palm then rubbed it all over his face. Laughing he says "It really is just moss".

There was then a heated discussion between the group as to whether they should stab him and leave him here, just leave him here, or still set fire to him. Eventually the Cleric decided he should guide the group along a more spiritual path, and as much as he wants to even the score with Gilgan, he felt that killing him was probably too much. (Yes I just copied this from above because .. well that's what happened :) )

The group proceeded up the corridor (the top of the "E"), slowly working their way along the Thief held his hand up for everyone to stop. Straining his ears he could just make out the sound of breathing. Scanning the corridor ahead, the thief identified a section along the right hand wall where the shadows appeared deeper. Readying his bow the Thief let loose with an arrow at the shadow. A sharp crack broke the silence as the arrow shattered on the stone wall. A split second if silence followed before a bandit came running out into the corridor from the hidden natural alcove. Swinging his sword wildly the bandit ran straight for the Thief who felled him in one go.

Continuing to the end of the corridor the party could see a tapestry of a golden chalice with light emanating from it. Ripping the tapestry down the party found themselves face to face with 8 skeletons. Acting quickly the Cleric raised his hands into the air and called a blessing to his God. Three of the Skeletons feeling the power of his God burning from within him turned and started trying to claw through the wall behind them. The Cleric was then unceremoniously pushed aside by Gilgan as he said "You do it like this boy...." and with a flowery wave of one hand the remaining 5 skeletons turn around and start trying desperately to escape.

The party then quickly discussed their next move. The Cleric was all for heading elsewhere, but the others were sniffing some XP and wanted a fight. The Mage reminded everyone he had holy water ... Gilgan offered them a bottle of yellow water he swore blind was "holy" but the party declined. Finally they decided to go for it. The Mage pulled back his hand and put everything he had into the throw....unfortunately he forgot to let go until the last minute and smashed the bottle at his feet. However a good dose of it splashed over the skeletons who were in fact quite near, but now also quite annoyed.

The ensuing battle saw the Cleric absorbing damage from the skeletons who were now hacking and slashing for all they were worth.
The Mage threw a magic missile which struck a skeleton soundly, the magic wrapped and warped around his bones, the crackling blue energy dissipating too quickly and not doing any damage (although it did burn off the tattered remains of clothing on the skeleton).
The Mage threw a second Magic missile, this time the blue magic took hold as it wrapped around the bones, catching and feeding off the bone consuming it in blue fire.
The Cleric smashed one with a massive blow reducing the skull and most of the torso to mere dust.
The battle ebbed and flowed, blows from the skeletons bouncing off armour, and strikes from the adventurers toppling skeletons, and knocking them off balance, causing their fellows strikes to just skim wide of their mark. The party had whittled the skeletons down to half strength when 4 magic missiles curved past them, two hitting skeletons, the blue magic writhing and dissipating before it could catch hold, the other two striking and gaining power, consuming the skeletons till not even dust remained.
The party finished off the other two skeletons and paused for breath. Gilgan checked them all and healed the Fighter who had taken the most damage in the fight.

The party, who as we have already ascertained as a suspicious lot,  proceeded to discuss what was actually going on with Gilgan. Firstly how can a Cleric use a Mage spell, and secondly if he did 4 Magic missiles then he must also be quite powerful ... so how come the bandits beat him up. Who is Gilgan really ... apart from a really really annoying git.

The party discussed these issues while they explored the other corridors (Gilgan content to follow them humming tunelessly to himself) finding nothing more exciting than a rock and a dead end. Eventually the party discovered stairs leading down at the bottom of the "E".

The party decided this was a good place to make camp while they recover from their wounds and rest up before descending to the next level.

Summary

The changes have helped, although I do think we may consider looking at dual wielding. I think the big things that changed this session are:

Our fighter now he is on level 2 and with his specialism is hitting more, and has more damage to soak up some hits.
Our mage is now taking offensive spells which really helped.
Our cleric is really guiding the group and between solidly soaking up some damage and also dealing some good blows is a solid backbone.
Our thief is being really thiefy and playing to their strengths. With the added skills boosts from level 2 they are making the most of their abilities.
Using the tokens so we know where everyone is in the scene makes a massive difference and helps protect the squishier party members.

Hopefully it won't be so long till the next session. As always I'll write it up and make it available as soon as possible.

Basic Fantasy RPG - Part IV

This is the continuing instalment of my groups first foray into using Basic Fantasy RPG. The earlier posts in the series covered session 1 where we laid the ground rules and created the characters. Part two went into more detail on the Character creation process and where we deviated from the standard. Part three left the adventurers battered and bruised and hiding out in one of the rooms of the dungeon with a stock of Kobold meat to eat and a firm desire to be left alone while they recuperate!

The following image is the map the players received in session one from the old man in the pub!

Dungeon Level 1

The party left their room (the highest one on the map with a chest in it) and proceeded to follow the passageways round, ensuring they explored all areas. The followed the passageway down past the very rickety looking bridge and straight up. They missed the ambush hole to their right and were surprised by 5 Kobolds leaping out at them. In their surprise round the Kobolds managed to smash the Mage to the ground rendering him unconscious. The rest of the party fought bravely on and managed to kill 3 of the Kobolds in 2 rounds of combat. Feeling the fight was not going their way the Kobolds ran. (failing a morale test). One bolted south (down from the point of view of the map) the Cleric smashing him with his staff killing him as he passed. The other was disoriented and fled north trapping himself in the dead end. The One Eyed thief skewered him soundly with an arrow.

The party took the opportunity to stabilise the mage and drag his unconscious form back to the room they were using as a base of operations. By now they had spent enough time there to start to decorate. Kobold pelts lined the floors making a lovely soft carpet, and Kobold skulls made excellent water containers and bowls.

The party took this opportunity to rest again. They had ample meat and supplies and with me rolling plenty of times they had a very quiet time of it. All the recent monster deaths had obviously dissuaded others from this section of the dungeon.

After some rest and recuperation the party ventured forth to the most right hand room and the door at the top of it. The thief wisely chose to check for traps. As GM I rolled behind my screen (he failed to spot the poison dart trap) but I informed him he didn't find anything. Learning from his previous encounter he retrieved his eye from the fighter (remember he lost his eye to a poison dart trap and the fighter had kept the eye in his pocket) and held it in front of the keyhole. Trying the door he triggered a poison dart trap (one save role later) and the dart narrowly missed his fingers holding the eye and pierced his severed eyeball.

The trap having been triggered they opened the door. A hissing noise came from inside and peering into the room they spied 3 cobras! Hoods open and hissing madly at the light that had just flooded the room from their torches. The cleric leaped forward and slammed the door, but not before one of the snakes let loose with a nasty poisonous spit. One failed Save (with a +4 modifier) and the cleric was blind.

I decided having a blind cleric as well as a one eyed thief may play against the party so did a quick roll. I figured there was a 20% chance the village they had come from had a cleric with sufficient skill to heal him. Picking up my dice I rolled 16! At last some luck! I inform the party there is indeed a cleric in the village they came from that could possibly help. At this stage the party debated whether to send the blind cleric in everywhere first to see what would happen or whether they should head back.

We consulted the core rule book to see just how bad the effect was ... the cleric would be surprised on 1 - 4 on a d6, in addition to this they would suffer -4 to hit, -4 to their AC, and -2 to their initiative.

Upon the balance of this the party decided to head back to the village.

After 2 uneventful nights under the stars (the rolls were going their way!) they reached the village. The party headed straight for the temple, as they approached an old wizened man shuffled out to greet them and introduced himself as Gilgan. The priest ushered them into the temple and listened to their tale of woe, and confirmed he could indeed help. The party, being suspicious, asked what the cost was. Gilgan informed them they could pay 10gp or owe him a favour to be called in at his convenience. The party unanimously agreed paying the money was the better option (it is almost like they don't trust me!). The 10gp disappeared into the priests robes, and he instructed the cleric to strip. The cleric protested vigorously, but Gilgan insisted that his magic and god required him to be naked for the magic to work. Reluctantly the cleric stripped. When he had finished the old priest cackled manically and informed him he just wanted to know if he would do it or not before rubbing a magic ointment on the clerics eyes. As he shuffled off informed the party the clerics sight will return over the next 24 hours.

The cleric being a dwarf made a mental note.

Our intrepid adventurers decided there was little in the village of interest and started the slog back over land to the entrance to the caves. As they strolled steadily along an earthen path a travelling merchant with horse and cart came into view. As he pulled his pony to a stop they could see that he was dressed in a brown tunic, with brown shoes, and a brown hat; the adventurers decided to enquire as to what the merchant sells. He excitedly explained he has silky cloth (brown) rough linen (brown) hard wearing cloth (brown) ... it turns out all the merchants goods are in fact brown. Finally he confides in them that he also has some Magic brown cloth. The cleric is sceptical and rolling a 20 he calls bullshit. The mage however rolls a 1 and summarily buys a length of brown magic cloth for 10gp which he wraps around him as a scarf. The cleric slowly shaking his head as the mage puts his new "magic brown scarf" on.

The players then discussed whether they should kill the merchant. However as GM I put it to them what would their characters do. The fighter decided he probably wouldn't want to kill the merchant in cold blood, however the thief was all ready to slit the mans throat. Deciding they needed more time to decide what to do with him they asked if he would like to camp with them for the night. I rolled for the merchant and got a 3 ... he apparently was oblivious to the thoughts running through the adventurers heads.

The merchant pulled supplies from his wagon and proceeded to cook everyone brown sausages, brown bacon and brown bread toasted brown, all washed down with brown Ale.

<Let me just take a moment to apologise now to you the reader, as well as to my players. Of the whole adventuring world I had to play with I decided to give them a man obsessed with brown ... I don't know what I can say other than I am sorry and the next wandering merchant shall be a far more interesting character ... however it was amusing at the time ... sorry.>

After having their fill the merchant retired to his brown tent and the party decided that killing someone who just fed them would be bad sport. Plus a fully recovered cleric really wasn't happy with cold blooded murder.

The party settled in for the night and first watch was taken by the fighter. They had early on decided between them that whenever they slept they would take turns to take watch through the night. As the first watch progressed a howling rose from the woods surrounding them. The fighter woke the others and I rolled a d6 (they had 2 turns to get ready!).

The cleric threw extra wood onto the fire to build it up and provide better light and to try and scare the wolves off. He then piled all the food scraps to the side of a tree and hid in wait.

The mage cast Shield and hid beside the cleric.

The thief attempted to climb a tree but fumbling his role managed to get up onto a branch before slipping and finding himself hanging upside down by his legs.

The fighter also wanted to climb a tree but after some disastrous roles found himself just standing there while trying to work out how top climb a tree and hold a two handed sword.

Two wolves arrived and started sniffing at the scraps of food. The cleric cleaved ones skull in killing it and the mage hit one for a point of damage. The thief showing presence of mind fired his bow (upside down from a tree) and managed to hit one of the wolves a glancing blow on its shoulder.

The initial surprise round over there were 6 wolves left to deal with and a heavy snoring from the brown tent. The thief used his next turn to pull himself into a tree, the cleric felled another wolf with a huge swing of his staff. A squeal signalled the sound of the mage going down with a wolf gnawing on his jugular (it would appear the "magic" scarf didn't help).

One very low % roll later (this was good) and large brown sparks and bangs sent the wolves scurrying back into the forest their tails between their legs. The party turn to see the merchant in a brown nightgown setting off his own custom fireworks. After double checking that the wolves are gone the merchant stabilises the mage using the brown scarf to stop the bleeding, and then retrieves a brown vial of liquid which he pours down the unconscious mages throat restoring him to consciousness.

The merchant decided it wasn't safe to camp with hungry wolves around and packed up and headed on for the next village. The party also decided that maybe they wouldn't tarry any longer and continued on the road to the caves.

The cleric decided now was the time, and with the assistance of the mage fashioned the beginnings of his own "Book of Grudges" and on the first page at the very top he wrote "Gilgan". Apparently getting naked really had scarred him!

The party entered the caves (top left of the picture) and stopped to light torches and prepare for the next big challenge ... the ladder. Now anyone who has read the previous posts will know the party struggle with ladders ... maybe I should make a dungeon just of ladders :)

The cleric went first, panicking at the same time as before he over balanced the ladder (a really really unlucky Dex roll). He hit the floor with the ladder on top of himself taking 1HP damage. Getting up and dusting himself off the cleric put the ladder back in place and the thief and mage successfully navigated this most dangerous of non-traps. The fighter however had other ideas, he wasn't going to risk that wily ladder, and instead fetched his grappling hook out of his backpack and secured it against some rocks. He then backed away from the hook pulling on the rope to test it was secure. One really bad low roll later .. out fighter not being the smartest stick from the barrel kept walking backwards right off the edge falling and smashing to the ground for 3HP damage.

I should note I avoided the standard falling damage table reducing it from 1d6 to 1d4 as this would avoid death by ladder.

The party decided to press on and moved to the bridge over the ravine, deciding they would leave the cobras for someone else! The cleric trusting to his God went first ... he crept carefully over the bridge measuring each step. I gave the bridge a 10% chance of collapse .. I picked my dice and rolled .. 16 .. the Mage made it over! He then took his rope and threw it back to the next party member who subsequently crossed safely. They repeated this process for each party member making it across the bridge with nothing breaking (with me rolling behind the GM screen for each party member).

A quick check behind my GM screen showed nothing random in the pool (shame!). The mage decided to investigate the pool further and climbed in. His first Dex roll saw him sink like a stone, but passing his next roll he composed himself and got the hang of swimming. Looking around he spied a chest with rocks piled on top of it. Swimming across to the chest he shoved the rocks off it and the chest started to rise to the surface. Grabbing on the chest rose to the surface of the pool and the party pulled the chest and mage clear of the water.

The thief now aware of only having one eye decides he can't risk being too cavalier and checks for traps. (I do a quick roll) Sure enough the chest like the others had been booby trapped with a light flash trap. The party closed their eyes and the thief triggered the trap. Everything flashed bright behind their eyelids then went dark. Opening their eyes the party opened the chest and found a scroll and a ring. The mage identifies the scroll as having the spell "Protection from Undead" written upon it, however he can only ascertain that the ring isn't cursed. Deciding to risk it the mage put the ring on and felt decidedly tougher (I had rolled randomly and generated a ring of +3 protection!).

The party left it there and made camp at the top of the stairs, ready to descend to the next level.

At this point I feel it probably a good time to summarise what we have found so far.

GM Point of View

I find the game easy to run, I need to get more experience/exposure to the rules so I don't have to flick around, but I'm quite comfortable coming up with tests based on the situation, the players skills and any situational bonus or negative. I feel I have to be very ready to ad lib (which is fine as I enjoy that) but a beginner GM may struggle with that. I would recommend that anyone new to being a GM makes notes and even does some pointers for themselves along the lines of ideas of things they can drop in for various situations. Then just amend those are you feel right at the time.

I amended character generation from the base versions and I have to say that the more flexible approach allows people to play the race and class they are wanting to play which to me is part of a game.

With the base stats being set, the average curve (from our rolls) seemed to really be around the +0 level which leaves them being very squishy. Again if we hadn't agreed the custom death rule of 0 then -1 per turn with -10 really being dead, then the party would have been totally wiped out. This also adds to the situation and can help add drama. The party see their comrade in arms go down after a bite from a wolf, blood pumping from their wounds, but slowing with every turn. They need to clear off the monsters fast or come up with a plan of the team member dies.

As a GM I could feel the frustrations of the players growing that they were struggling to achieve any tasks they were going for. This was a combination of average stats and really low/unfortunate rolls on the dice.

I feel there is a balance and as GM I don't think I have got it quite right yet. I want the real prospect of player death to be there as it adds an edge, however the rules as are would have me pretty much creating new characters multiple times a session. I think I need to encourage players to look to take advantage of scenery and other items, and to be fair the party did making use of the trees and fire. I will have to look to give modified rolls when making the most of a situation.

Player Point of View

On one hand the players are enjoying the game, the exploring and the game mechanic. On the other hand they are finding it increasingly frustrating to achieve results. We are going to have discussions on ways we can address this and look to put them into practice next Thursday at the new session.

They are however looking at the situations and learning from the situations and coming up with some brilliant ideas.

Roundup So Far

I love the rules and I must say that anyone playing them "as is" I tip my hat to you because you are really working with a system that is great, but make a mistake (save vs poison) and you really are back to square 1 (I realise you could go get them raised from the dead). I think key to our success using the system will be a combination of adaptation (the rules and our play style). So for example how the players brilliantly stopped the thief dying from poison, and how we amended the "death" mechanic, and how the thief blocked the keyhole with his severed eyeball.

In my next post I'll cover what we have decided as a group to change on how we play and update everyone on how the party fares in the next level of the dungeon!

UK Games Expo

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to get to the UK Games Expo. I have to say it was a fantastic event and certainly something I plan on doing again.

So here are some musings from the event!

Getting their Early(ish) the traffic was ok. I arrived around 10.

I didn't plan what I was going to do! My son some friends and I sort of wandered the stalls, chatted to a few people and generally soaked up the atmosphere and spent money for 5 hours.

There was a lot of Pathfinder stuff there! I have to say I knew Pathfinder is popular but the amount of stuff there for Pathfinder was breathtaking. I've tried reading the Pathfinder rules and I just couldn't get on with them. Maybe I need to give them another read through but to be honest I like the simplicity of Swords and Wizardry. If you haven't checked it out then do, you can get the PDF from Frog God Games for free so worth checking out!

There were a load of new and upcoming board games. I wish we had sat down and played a few!

There were board games... I mean lots and lots of board games. Lots of stalls, and lots of variance in prices which is interesting. I saw the same board game vary from 26 - 35 pounds so it pays to scan around.

Oh and while on the subject of what we saw, there was quite a lot of Cthulu based stuff which all looked pretty fantastic.The Black Hat stand was brilliant, nicely laid out with some great stuff on there. 

There were some good Fate powered products there, but I wish there had been more, they were swamped out by D&D Pathfinder and Cthulu. Oh and Doctor Who .... which did look very tempting!

I may just have missed some of the products though as I know at least one book my mate turned over had a Powered By Fate logo on the back.

So what would I change ... well here goes with the plan for next year!

Plan is the word .. I would aim to plan the visit with more structure. So I want to get round all the stands for sure ... more than once as you always miss stuff! However I want to break it up and play some of the great board games people are demoing!

If I can pre-book then I want to pre-book on some of the RPG stuff, especially anything from from 4 - 6 ish time frame. 

I want more money to spend .... I need to start saving now!

So there you go, in a nutshell. Take cash, plan the trip, have fun!

The Home Straight

Well, as a journey, trying to get my first indie published RPG adventure has taught me a lot so far. So as a quick summary:

• For every note written down there are 20 things I have generated in my head.
• I have to try and get those 20 things out, and in a way that makes sense!
• The first thing I write is likely tosh and will require re-writing.
• Art makes things really look better.
• Layout is really not the easiest thing in the world.
• Layout takes way more time than anyone could imagine if they haven't had to do it.
• When I layout a document, it flows subtly differently to when it is just in a text document. I need to change some of the text to take this into account.

So after those quick lessons learnt I'm heading into what I see as the final stretch! So whats left to do ...

• Lay everything out. (I have a PDF with everything in but the page numbers need sorting, and the formatting is only done for the first 3 chapters)
• Commission the art I want to finish it off. I have 2 pieces in, and 2 out on commission at the moment. My rate of art commissioning is dictated by my available funds :\
• Finish the pre-generated characters (I'm setting myself a goal of 1 per night and I need 8, one for each super power).
• Get the maps and insert them in.
• Get it play tested.
• Make changes from play testing.
• Publish.

Ok so looking at it now that list looks quite daunting, but really compared to getting everything written originally it isn't worrying me :) 

So as I sit here I have a PDF that is starting to look like a finished article. Still a work in progress but the bulk of the content is there. I find myself querying whether I put too much information in, whether it is overkill, this is meant as a one night adventure. I know one of the great things with Fate is that there is so much scope to expand the story and go in any direction, it shouldn't be too constrained. But then I also, and this is just my opinion, think that if I'm asking for someone to pay for something, then I should give them as much information and content as possible. They can use as much or as little as they want, but the seeds should be there for them to build off, or use in their entirety.

Only time will tell. With this being my first piece of work I'm sure there will be things I get wrong, and I will need to work on that and improve what I deliver. But then I think we could use that as a great way of living life. I will try, I may well get things wrong, but I will learn and I will strive to get better.

On that note I'm going to go work on a mechanic for a totally different RPG.

Is simplicity the key?

So. The other day I read a rather well known and popular systems SRD. I didn't get far into it before calling it quits. It looked way too much effort to be fun, and that was just to work out if I hit something. I closed it down and haven't been back.

Fast forward to today. I was playing in a Cthulu Black Hack adventure. Minimalist rules, but enough to really let you do what you want to do. The tension, the atmosphere all really build a fantastic game.

I have also in the meantime read some other OSR rule sets, or rules that people would put inside that sphere, and none of them filled me with the sort of dread the first SRD I read did.

So this evening I got to thinking, is minimalist rules they key. I'm starting notes on my second RPG adventure to publish and I think I want to follow those rules. Keep it small and tight, but let the players and GM expand it where and when necessary.

I'm still keen on the idea of a library of one night adventures. Simple to pickup and play, but with enough to them that they can be played more than once, and they will be intriguing to play through.

So there you have my musings, maybe if the simple systems got more limelight more people would see the beauty of the RPG and fall in love with the game style.

RPG: Head in the world and Immersion

So I recently delivered a bespoke adventure which for want of a better way of putting it was a commission piece. Now I'm moving back from that piece into finishing off the Carnival of Dreams adventure.

What I have found is that transitioning my thinking from someone elses world, back into worlds of my own making is in its own right a process.

My process works as follows.

Step 1
Read the source material. If this is the authors RPG world, or anything else they reference in their material. I read through everything in its entirety and then I leave myself a few days. This lets it start sinking into my head. During this time I won't work on other projects, I'll doodle and make notes but on the whole I stay away from other items.

Step 2
Read the source material... Now you are probably thinking hasn't he already done this! Yes. But with every reading the world they are building strengthens itself in my head. Political intrigue, monster habits, the time of day the local occult hold their ceremonies. It all seeps into the brain. After completing my second reading I ease off again giving it chance to settle in the back of my head.

Step 3
Read the source material .. Ok I realise I sound like a broken record now, but this one is different! Now I start making notes. Predominantly key facts figures and events that I think could be used to create adventures, or be wound into them to support the atmosphere.

Step 4
Using the ideas from step 3 I create what I call pitches. They are shortish phrases or paragraphs that give a feel for what I'm thinking the adventure could be. These then are presented so that the client can select what they are most interested in.

Step 5
If they didn't like any of the ideas, it is back to Step 4 to work up some more pitches. If there were multiple that they liked the idea of I then add a bit more depth to those and re-pitch. I keep following this process until I have what they want.

Obviously Steps 4 and 5 are redundant if the client already has an idea and just needs someone to write it up.

Step 6
Write, investigate, write and re-write. So start putting in the key sections, the key ideas of what happens in each section. Stopping to investigate elements that may be required. So for example checking the speed of horses, or the methods spies use to identify an unknown contact. Each element is written and re-written until I am happy with it.

Step 7
Submit the piece. If they are happy great. If they aren't back to step 6 and a re-write of anything they aren't happy for. The client/customer is king. This is their world and has to represent what they want.


What I'm finding is that after this process my head is still "in" that other world. I'm a strong believer in getting yourself in the right frame of mind. I spent time reading and re-reading source material to help in scene setting. After being really immersed in that I'm now struggling to let that world go, to get back into this piece.

Now there are a lot of differences, different rules system, different backgrounds, history atmosphere etc. I also have loads of other sub ideas, potential adventures and items that are floating around for that world, ones that I hope will be given chance to see the light of day! Only time will tell on that though.

In the meantime I need to settle my mind and re-immerse into my world. Oddly enough I have never had this problem before, possibly because I have always worked on purely worlds of my own creation, and shifting my mind from one of my own worlds to another of my own worlds is a seamless transition.

All told the process was really enjoyable, and if I'm lucky I'll get to build on those.

For now I wait with baited breath to see how the adventure is received (I believe the person it was written for is happy with it). I shall continue to chip away at putting my brain back into gear to get the Carnival of Dreams moving!

Writing Process - Carnival of Dreams

Let me catch you up if you want to skip all those previous posts! I'm on a journey to write and publish my first RPG adventure. I want to go on to publish multiple adventurers, hopefully improving as I go!

The last month or so I got super busy with writing a totally different adventure, but at the moment I'm back onto Carnival of Dreams.

One of the things about Carnival of dreams is super heroes and super powers, but a more tongue in cheek version. So as I write I tend to start with ideas, then I re-write, and I change and I morph what I have. Eventually I settle on something, for better or for worse, hopefully the better of the options.

As an example of this I was working on the farting super power ..... oh come on what non serious super power set would be complete without some form of flatulence! Each power has its cost, what you can do, and a description. The point of this post is to show the different options and the way things change.

Note the items below would potentially need work and rework in their own right. I have put them in with poor grammar and typos as I hammered in the keys, as it is a look into the process.

So my first description was this ....

A look of peace spreads over the heroes face as their inner tension releases into the world around them. Dirty green gaseous tendrils stretch out from the hero seeking their enemies.

Now that just didn't hit the spot for me. Time to try again ....

A look of relief spreads over the heroes face their whole body seeming to deflate, the tension built up in their guts releasing into the world. Dirty green gaseous tendrils thread their way out of the hero, winding and stretching away searching and probing for enemies.

.. ok getting there but still not what I'm looking for ... maybe third re-write is a charm ..

The heroes eye starts to twitch, the corner of their lip twitching in concert with their eye, their brow furrowed as tension builds up in their whole body. As quickly as the twitching starts it ceases, a look of peace spreading across their face, their body slumping as the tension leaves their body. Murky green gaseous tendrils wrap around their torso before spreading out probing for enemies. If the tendrils touch an enemy they speed up expanding around the enemy smothering their face, pushing into their eyes and nostrils and any available orifice.

..too long too much repetition and just not quite right. Feels like a bit more off track ... dive in for number 4 ...

The heroes eye and mouth twitch, their brow furrowing as tension build sin their whole body. As quickly as it starts the process ends, a look of peace washing over their face their body slumping as the tension leaves their body. Murky green gaseous tendrils wrap around the hero before reaching out for enemies. If the tendrils touch an enemy their flowing speeds up as they expand around the enemy smothering their face and pushing into their eyes nostrils and any available orifice.

...ok a bit better but still too long for me and not quite flowing how I would like it to, back to the keyboard ...

The heroes eye twitches, their brow furrowing as tension contorts their whole body. As quickly as it begins the process ends, their whole body sagging with relief as the tension oozes out of them. Murky green tendrils wrap around the hero before reaching outwards. If the tendrils touch an enemy their flow speeds up as they smother their face, pushing into their eyes, nostrils and any available orifice.

.. Right I'm semi happy at this point. It is certainly closer to what I was looking for. But maybe still not quite there. Lets change it a bit ..

The heroes body spasms as it tenses. A look of peace suddenly washes over their face as the tension oozes out of their bum, murky green tendrils wrapping around the hero, before probing outwards. If the tendrils touch an enemy they seek their eyes, mouth or any available orifice.

Ok I like that one. Might needs some polishing but on the whole I'm not upset with it, but I'll give this one more shot to see what I can get ...

The heroes back arches as spasms wrack their body. As quickly as they begin the spasms stop, a look of peace washing over their face as the tension oozes out of their body, pulsing green tendrils wrapping around the hero before probing outwards. If the tendrils touch an enemy they pulse more quickly as if excited, searching out the enemies eyes, mouth or any other available orifice.

Ok so the last one I like as well. I can already see things I would tweak with it. But I guess what I'm trying to get at, is when you see something written down, in print or online, the author probably put a lot of different versions into it. You may like what they put, you may hate it. The thing is they may well have put a lot more time into trying to get it to resonate with what they are looking for than you realise.

So I'm still not sure on which of the last two I like the most. But I do know I will carry on writing.

RPGs - That Player who hates them ....

So you mention playing RPGs and someone will often chime in with "oh I tried that and I didn't like it"..... now at this point I get a little stumped. But then I always loved doing RPGs.

It got me thinking, what could lead someone to not like an RPG!

How Many Times?

Like many things in life our tastes change as we mature. There may be some things that will stick with us all our lives, but there are plenty of things we didn't like when we were younger that we really dig when we get older! Sometimes people gave RPGs 1 shot and declared they didn't' like it and just like that it becomes set in stone. They don't like them and will never try again! Go on .. give it another try but bare in mind the following bits too!

The Genre

There are so many genres out there. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Sch-Fi-Horror etc. that maybe they just played a genre they didn't like. Maybe if they tried with a totally different genre they would enjoy it? Check out all the different genres and see if you can get in on a game that your really intrigued by, or even better gets you really excited or passionate about playing the game!

The System

Just as there are many genres there are many systems. Sure lots of them share similarities in gaming mechanics, but it really is true that some people just can't get on with certain gaming systems. I'm quite agnostic, but I can see I wouldn't like a system that enforced minute detail. I prefer larger scale generic approaches to things. If you don't enjoy an RPG try some different styles of systems, you may find it was just the system holding back your enjoyment!

The Other Players

Lets be brutally honest. The group you game with is key. In a way you bare a little part of your soul to the people in that room. They get to see a part of you that no-one else will ever see. There is an almost sacred element to it. What happens on game night stays in game night! You have to not only be comfortable with the group, but comfortable enough to show elements of yourself and see others. You may not have really gelled or felt comfortable with the players when you first tried an RPG, so give it a go with another gaming group, maybe that will work for you!

The GM

Ok after the players there is also the GM. Are they out to play every little aspect of the system to try and foil you, or kill your character. Are they delaying the inevitable just long enough to really make it smart when the ogre crushes your skull. Different people enjoy different elements. Some people may enjoy an adversarial GM. Me, I like a GM who works with the players to make a fun enjoyable game. Again work out what would be best for you and make sure your getting in on a game with a GM who is going to suit your play style.

The Adventure

Ok we have the genre you like, you have a bunch of people you are cool with and a GM who wants to see you all be fantastic. But what if the adventure itself just sort of falls flat. Maybe it just doesn't capture your imagination. In my mind an average adventure is made or broken by the skills of the GM and the players round the table. They can make an average adventure awesome, and an awesome adventure mundane. But like it or love it, if you don't dig the adventure your on then your just not going to have fun. Discuss with the group what would be interesting to do adventure wise!

They Wore What?

Did everyone else turn up to that session in cloaks, swords belted to their sides and slightly crooked fake elf ears? You didn't feel comfortable with that? That's OK. There are plenty of RPG groups that don't go for the fully immersive style, but then again maybe it was the other way round. You flounced into the room and with a florid bow introduced yourself as Lorell the archer only to realise everyone else was wearing jeans and t-shirts ... that's OK too, there are plenty of groups who dig really getting into the whole scene. It is about what your really going to enjoy, so whichever style suits you, roll with it. But don't discount the game from a single bad experience.

I guess what I'm saying is ... if you had 1 bad RPG experience try and analyse why it wasn't working for you, and see if those elements can be addressed. You know, if you liked the group and GM but didn't really get the Fantasy vibe, maybe they would be happy to play a Sci-Fi campaign. Never hurts to ask, and ultimately RPGs are games, there to play and have fun.

So anyways that's what I think when someone says they don't like RPGs. Maybe next time someone says that we can all encourage them to have another go.

Adventure Creation Things you Never See: Horses

So, I'm currently on a mini break from writing Carnival of Dreams to produce another adventure. One of the things that continues to amaze me is the level of detail people will go into on RPG and adventure creation. Sometimes those little bits of realism are what makes the difference between the adventure world being believed or people struggling to accept it.

So in looking into this I wanted to find out about horses and carts, and travel times, distances and speeds. I came across this resource: http://www.lrgaf.org/guide/writers-guide.htm

What I noticed most was that this seems to be from a fairly reputable source, but also that the speeds the horses travel seem to vary from a lot of the RPG sources I could find. I found the paragraph on endurance interesting as people probably overlook weather conditions etc. as really effecting a horse. There are other items that reference the distance a horse can travel in a day, but often they omit their definition of day. Is it 9 - 5, is it sun up to sun down, all these things matter.

So there you have it, I spent some of today researching horses and some researching international spy techniques for identification of contacts, and all this for potentially a single line in an RPG to add some believably

So next time you play an RPG spare a thought for the poor soul who wrote it. They probably did a lot more research, thinking, and general writing and re-writing, than the finished product will ever let on.

Writing an RPG - That Choke moment

Well here I am again, at the keyboard. I actually got some work done tonight on the RPG! However I have noticed that in the last week or so I have struggled to maintain focus.

I am calling this current phase in the development "Choke Moment". It is that time when I have the bulk of everything written. I'm re-writing bits, tidying up and generally dotting i's and crossing t's.

I have spoken to an excellent cartographer about some work so that I don't have sucky Maps. I have also started talking to an artist who has a style I really dig, and I'm hoping I'll be able to work with over the years on multiple projects.

So there is plenty going on so what do I mean by the "Choke Moment". Well it is that moment when I am dangerously close to having to release my baby into the wild for play testing. That time when I find out all the bits I missed, the holes, the pit falls. I realise this is all a learning experience. This is adventure 1 of many (according to my 5 year plan) and I need to make the most of any and all feedback as I try and grow my online presence. I need to hone my skills, and use any feedback I get to get better. But that doesn't stop the butterflies, it doesn't stop the self doubt and the worrying.

I am quietly confident in my ideas. I think they offer the potential for people to play and explore interesting worlds and themes and adventures. What concerns me is my ability to express that in a way that ensures that others get as much enjoyment out of the adventure as I have when I originally run it .... I never mentioned that did I ... before I commit to turning one of my one night RPGs into a real live online pay something possibly for it book, I play it with people. If it doesn't work, or just sucks, then it will get canned. It will only progress if the players have fun.

So there you have it. I'm guessing that anyone writing an RPG with the intention of releasing it to the world will at some point reach this choke point, where everything else seems far more interesting as they work on ways to procrastinate rather than finish that final 5% of the writing.

However I have a deadline. I need this written to my initial satisfaction for 2 weeks time (that's the plan). Then I will alternate between layout, and writing another RPG for a good friend.

So there you have it. I am going to force through this choke point. I am out tomorrow, but the weekend beckons and some 4 day work weeks. So time enough to get this complete!

RPG Anxiety

Well I guess the title is pretty broad, so I better narrow it down a little. Anyone who has ever been a GM will know that feeling. They have slaved over their adventure, they have put loads of their heart and soul into it, even if they haven't written it all down they have it in their head, ideas and concepts that they can roll in as needed. ... but what if the players don't like it!

I think at some point in their GMing careers everyone has been there, and if you haven't I wouldn't mind knowing the secret of your success!

What I am finding though is that as the first RPG I want to publish edges ever nearer to completion that the level of anxiety over how it will be received is massively greater than anything I have had when building something for my gaming group.

Now in reality, with this being step 1 in my online presence, the chances are that no-one will see it, or they will see it and hate it. Now that might be writing style, play ability, or a million and one things. I plan on trying to minimise those bits by lining up play tests once I have the first draft all worked through. I have 2 different gaming groups lined up, but will start actively looking for some more play tests once I have everything else completed. With a little luck and a fair wind I will get everything ironed out and released in the next 3 months.

In reality I need to take any and all criticism on board and use it to improve the next RPG that I write, but at the same time I want people to enjoy it.

Well as my mum always says, only time will tell!

Easter RPGing

Well so far Easter has been quite good when it comes to RPGs! Earlier today I got to take part in a longer running Cthulhu Hack RPG, and I only lost a single Sanity dice!

I also got the nod to start on a second short adventure project, so that's really exciting too!

I have also started reviewing my first RPG to publish. As it stands there are 10 chapters and an appendix with pre-generated characters.

I'm happy (well as happy as I can be) with the first 8 chapters. I think I'm 90% on Chapter 10. That leaves the bulk of the work I have outstanding on chapter 9. It is forming up to be quite an awkward one to lay out. The scene/area consists of lots of bits that are similar, but potentially slightly different. I don't want to just duplicate lots of text, but at the same time need to make it usable/simple for the GM to navigate.

With some luck and a fair wind I'm hoping to get it cracked before I see the back of Easter! I've also started speaking to some potential artists to look at commissioning some pieces to go into the book. That in its own right is a bit of a mine field, maybe I'll cover that in a post in its own right.

I have to go into this eyes wide open. With this being my first (of hopefully many) projects there is a high likelihood that it will be a hard sell to get anyone to want to try it out.

I'm thinking this first shot is likely to be a steep learning curve, and very possibly will cost me cold hard cash, but I think what I can learn from the experience will be more than worth it. I can then use all that on my next project.

I think when I finally upload this to the real world, I'm going to write a "lessons learned", and then move onto my next project.

As always if anyone is interested, or bored I will be looking for people to play test the adventure for me. It is based off the Fate Core rules and is meant to be able to be run in a single session. So if anyone fancies giving it a shot let me know and all I'll ask is for feedback so I can look to improve.

Creative Dilemma

While working on my first RPG adventure to publish, making notes for my second one, and starting the ideas for a third undisclosed project I'm not at liberty to discuss, I am also thinking about creating an RPG adventure for my kids to play (get them into RPGs young!).

This is where is starts to get a little more complicated. I love the Fate Core rules. The basic rule set which you can use as is, and tweak and tailor to how you want. Now I want to do a fantasy themed RPG for the kids with all the normal things. I have a few ideas already formed, magic, magic items and specialised weapons etc..

However to get this at a working point to play test and run is going to take quite a lot of time. I could alternatively work with the kids to roll up some characters say for Swords and Wizardry and run them adventures through there. I find myself caught not just between systems but between wanting the creative freedom to build what is in my head.

Ultimately I want to write adventures against both systems, and others if people like the adventures that I'm writing! I have several long term goals. Over the next 5 years I want to build a portfolio of adventures across two or three systems. I want to improve my style, my technique and hopefully bring some enjoyment to everyone who takes the time to play anything I write.

I wonder how important the creative control of underlying mechanics is to people, against the speed of development when working against a system where a lot of those are well defined. Ultimately my aim will be for people to enjoy what I write, and I don't want to blind myself to the opportunities that are presented by different pre-built systems.

So there we have it. I'm no closer to resolving my internal dilemma, however I have plenty of pieces to work on already and as this will be predominantly a family friendly piece rather than a to publish piece then maybe I shall just follow my heart.

Back to writing!