well, i've found the mother-load. someone managed to digitize a bunch of old Ravenloft adventures and tossed them out into the internet ether. i think i caught a few of them here and there, so i put some evil into my kindle.
additionally someone put the old school munchkin rpg out there ( the 3.0 edition). hmm. tempting tempting tempting. i wonder what else i can find out there.
the creative juices are flowing again, and i'm wondering what my brain is cooking up right now. i envision something fun, light, and enjoyable without the burden of heavy books and the lost time from looking up obscure rules.
something is coming...and i think its going to be cool. stay tuned!
MK
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Ravenloft: Domain of Dread
today, i want out to my garage where i store most of the games that i have on hand. needless to say, there's a lot of stuff to go through.
anyway, i have an old rubbermaid bin that probably hasn't been open in several years. i know what's in there in great detail: Ravenloft supplemental materials from DND's second edition heyday. several box-sets, numerous modules, and tons of supplements and info.
now, why do this?
well, knowing how well dread intermingled with A Night a Seyvoth Manor. i intend to literally resurrect the dead..these dead modules, and bring them back to life with Dread. i think the synergy between the two will be enough to make this interesting.
Ravenloft via Dread: coming to a convention near you.
time to pick out a few favorite modules, and find some guinea pigs for experimentation.
MK
anyway, i have an old rubbermaid bin that probably hasn't been open in several years. i know what's in there in great detail: Ravenloft supplemental materials from DND's second edition heyday. several box-sets, numerous modules, and tons of supplements and info.
now, why do this?
well, knowing how well dread intermingled with A Night a Seyvoth Manor. i intend to literally resurrect the dead..these dead modules, and bring them back to life with Dread. i think the synergy between the two will be enough to make this interesting.
Ravenloft via Dread: coming to a convention near you.
time to pick out a few favorite modules, and find some guinea pigs for experimentation.
MK
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
ENnies 2013
http://ennie-awards.com/vote/
To my gaming friends; i've been involved in a lot of things, and there are a few products on this list that i have a personal connection to. first, vote for Hobomancer for best E-book, since i know the great people at Hex, and how much work and time went into the making of this book. Secondly, vote for EPOCH for best rules and product of the year, since i wrote a review for the book, and a snippet appears on the back cover of the book. vote if you love games and innovation. that is all.
To my gaming friends; i've been involved in a lot of things, and there are a few products on this list that i have a personal connection to. first, vote for Hobomancer for best E-book, since i know the great people at Hex, and how much work and time went into the making of this book. Secondly, vote for EPOCH for best rules and product of the year, since i wrote a review for the book, and a snippet appears on the back cover of the book. vote if you love games and innovation. that is all.
Dread Cards
sorry, been a while, but i've been working and also manages to misplace a few things that are pertinent to this blog. but i'm back for now.
anyway, i made these cards as a way to put status effects into the game, as an option in case someone wanted to do something, but didn't want to make a pull from the tower. they act as a "Saving throw", like when the monsters of DND put status effects on a player after an attack. i made a rule that you can only have three status effects on you at one time, or you're eliminated from the game. adds another dimension to the game.
the status cards are based off of the heath levels in Vampire, and the types of status effects in DND. there are 13 cards. in no specific order, the cards are:
Bruised: No effect
Mauled: 1/2 movement for one scene unless helped or another character makes 1 pull for you*
Stunned: make next pull with your off hand
Dazed: after next pull, make 1 additional pull with off-hand
Bloodied: Make a complex pull [2] now
Dizzy: Make a pull now
Hurt: very next pull MUST be complex [2]
Wounded: Next pull CANNOT be abandoned
Sickened: next pull becomes complex [2] and pull with off-hand
Crippled: 1/2 movement for 2 scenes unless helped on another character makes 2 pulls for you*
Injured: add 1 additional pull to the next pull
Incapacitated: you CANNOT make or attempt your very next pull
Crossbones: Discard--Draw 2 cards--Stack Effects
some notes:
Off-hand means not with your dominant hand, in case you didn't know. if you're naturally ambidextrous, good for you.
those with the *, when another person pulls for you, both players are at risk for being removed from the game if the tower topples. you just can't throw another player under the bus...at least, for now.
now, i intend to bring back the dead, with these cards, and knowing how well seyvoth manor ran with the dread setting. it's time to go out the garage and open an old box that hasn't seen the light of day in several years. stay tuned friends...
MK
anyway, i made these cards as a way to put status effects into the game, as an option in case someone wanted to do something, but didn't want to make a pull from the tower. they act as a "Saving throw", like when the monsters of DND put status effects on a player after an attack. i made a rule that you can only have three status effects on you at one time, or you're eliminated from the game. adds another dimension to the game.
the status cards are based off of the heath levels in Vampire, and the types of status effects in DND. there are 13 cards. in no specific order, the cards are:
Bruised: No effect
Mauled: 1/2 movement for one scene unless helped or another character makes 1 pull for you*
Stunned: make next pull with your off hand
Dazed: after next pull, make 1 additional pull with off-hand
Bloodied: Make a complex pull [2] now
Dizzy: Make a pull now
Hurt: very next pull MUST be complex [2]
Wounded: Next pull CANNOT be abandoned
Sickened: next pull becomes complex [2] and pull with off-hand
Crippled: 1/2 movement for 2 scenes unless helped on another character makes 2 pulls for you*
Injured: add 1 additional pull to the next pull
Incapacitated: you CANNOT make or attempt your very next pull
Crossbones: Discard--Draw 2 cards--Stack Effects
some notes:
Off-hand means not with your dominant hand, in case you didn't know. if you're naturally ambidextrous, good for you.
those with the *, when another person pulls for you, both players are at risk for being removed from the game if the tower topples. you just can't throw another player under the bus...at least, for now.
now, i intend to bring back the dead, with these cards, and knowing how well seyvoth manor ran with the dread setting. it's time to go out the garage and open an old box that hasn't seen the light of day in several years. stay tuned friends...
MK
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Deeper into Dreadly Distractions
some of the things that i did for this game involved modification that changed some of the basic fundamentals of dread. the key one that changed was that there was another way to die without the tower collapsing. there were moments that this could actually happen, even though those moments were only a select few. there was a possibility of falling off a cliff into the rough waves below.
the second thing that i had to deal with is the fact that the nomenclature of the module was completely different, and the translation of DC (difficulty?) to number of tower pulls. i generally use a system of five, so a DC 15-20 is one pull, with each increment of five increasing the numbers of pulls. seemed to work real well for the most part. i just had to stick to my guns and tell them to make the pulls consistantly.
the hardest hurdle to deal with was the dealing of damage and the lack of any real hit points. so i decided to utilize something that i hadn't been able to in the past. something that i made out of whim more than anything, waiting for the right moment to use them...Dread Cards.
more to come on the dread cards soon.
the second thing that i had to deal with is the fact that the nomenclature of the module was completely different, and the translation of DC (difficulty?) to number of tower pulls. i generally use a system of five, so a DC 15-20 is one pull, with each increment of five increasing the numbers of pulls. seemed to work real well for the most part. i just had to stick to my guns and tell them to make the pulls consistantly.
the hardest hurdle to deal with was the dealing of damage and the lack of any real hit points. so i decided to utilize something that i hadn't been able to in the past. something that i made out of whim more than anything, waiting for the right moment to use them...Dread Cards.
more to come on the dread cards soon.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Dreadful Distractions
over the past weekend, i was finally able to run dread for one of the group that i tend to run with from time to time. it had been something we had been talking about for a while, so with finally having some time off on a weekend, i decided to push it forward and get the thing going .
the scenario that i ran was "A Night at Seyvoth Manor", the DND4E module that sort of reminds me of the old school Ravenloft setting for DND. now i had decided to run this as a dread game for two reasons; 1) the content is wonderful and engaging with some interesting aspects as if it was a video game, and 2) it was more of an experiment to see if it could actually be done.
so we sat at the table, and i had originally designed the questionnaires loosely so that the party could either be fantasy or modern ( see previous dread posts). the group decided to go out in the fantasy world. ok, no problem, easier for me too.
the party consisted of three characters; a mage, a druid, and a ranger. the three set out to find the two daughters of a prominent noble, and the whereabouts of the previous two search parties. they are locked inside the gates of a large mansion, and have about 4 hours to complete their task.
some great highlights:
each character died twice, proving that this module was indeed designed to be extra lethal. as each player died, they returned a little bit later near the front gates, and i added the extra touch of having a jagged hash-mark etched into their foreheads as they returned to the living.
the mage died pretty nicely, as he opened a book about art and music, and the cursed book let loose a blast of violent sound and blew his head apart. we called it " death by dubstep".
more to come on this, more details, more evisceration, and how i did it.
the scenario that i ran was "A Night at Seyvoth Manor", the DND4E module that sort of reminds me of the old school Ravenloft setting for DND. now i had decided to run this as a dread game for two reasons; 1) the content is wonderful and engaging with some interesting aspects as if it was a video game, and 2) it was more of an experiment to see if it could actually be done.
so we sat at the table, and i had originally designed the questionnaires loosely so that the party could either be fantasy or modern ( see previous dread posts). the group decided to go out in the fantasy world. ok, no problem, easier for me too.
the party consisted of three characters; a mage, a druid, and a ranger. the three set out to find the two daughters of a prominent noble, and the whereabouts of the previous two search parties. they are locked inside the gates of a large mansion, and have about 4 hours to complete their task.
some great highlights:
each character died twice, proving that this module was indeed designed to be extra lethal. as each player died, they returned a little bit later near the front gates, and i added the extra touch of having a jagged hash-mark etched into their foreheads as they returned to the living.
the mage died pretty nicely, as he opened a book about art and music, and the cursed book let loose a blast of violent sound and blew his head apart. we called it " death by dubstep".
more to come on this, more details, more evisceration, and how i did it.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Fallout Journal #12: Guns of Effin Anchorage
so i delved into the "Operation: Anchorage" DLC. unfortunately, i have been sidetracked with new work. but i digress.
i jumped into the simulator chair and loaded the simulation of a war long forgotten. instantly, i'm on a cliff-side working with some chap who pretty much spouts off all sorts of pseudo-patriotic drivel like "this one's for uncle sam! and "take that commie!". It's kind of annoying, really
now i thought i was going to get some sweet gear, but so far it doesn't appear to be the case. i have found that this section of the game plays more like a Call of Duty rather than Fallout, with bright red pickups for ammo and weapons, which glow and also make an irritating chime when nearby.
the story so far is this. i've infiltrated a facility high up on the cliff and took out three cannons that were shelling anchorage mercilessly, then i instantly "respawned" in HQ to go over the three-part attack needed to overtake the enemy. it involved disrupting an armored vehicle factory, a large mining facility, and then the final attack on the actual Chinese base.
oh, this sounds fun...
i jumped into the simulator chair and loaded the simulation of a war long forgotten. instantly, i'm on a cliff-side working with some chap who pretty much spouts off all sorts of pseudo-patriotic drivel like "this one's for uncle sam! and "take that commie!". It's kind of annoying, really
now i thought i was going to get some sweet gear, but so far it doesn't appear to be the case. i have found that this section of the game plays more like a Call of Duty rather than Fallout, with bright red pickups for ammo and weapons, which glow and also make an irritating chime when nearby.
the story so far is this. i've infiltrated a facility high up on the cliff and took out three cannons that were shelling anchorage mercilessly, then i instantly "respawned" in HQ to go over the three-part attack needed to overtake the enemy. it involved disrupting an armored vehicle factory, a large mining facility, and then the final attack on the actual Chinese base.
oh, this sounds fun...
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