Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Primeval Thule Has Funded!


I'm very excited about the Primeval Thule Kickstarter, all most as much as for the 13th Age rules as the setting itself.

I'm glad to see it's funded, but there is still nearly a full day left.  Back this project!

Just Got My 13th Age Limited Edition Book!

I'm too busy to post pics or even do more than gawk at it, but it's in my hands!

Strangely, it beat my regular edition here!

High praise to Fire Opal, Pelgrane Press, and Hero Games (it shipped from them--SPECTACULAR packaging, btw).

#13thage

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Sunday's Quest Went Well

So both birthday parties came and went and they were extremely successful!  I helped my daughter run a game for the her friends where a hydra needed help defending it's hoard from some giants.  And my son ran his buddies through a zombie survival game.

Both groups want to play again.  I think that's high praise indeed.

It was awesome watching 15 kids just relax and role play and I hope we get a chance to repeat that before next year.


Saturday, July 27, 2013

Quest: A D20 game for kids

So both kids will be Game Mastering for their Birthday parties this sunday (their birthdays are only 12 days apart and they're still willing to share celebrations).

I've been working on a streamlined ruleset inspired by DnD for them to work with.

Essentially the Abilities are:

Muscle
Quickness
Sneaking
Brains
Cool
Notice
Judgement


The basic mechanic will be to roll a D20 equal to above your Ability score.  I don't think I'm going to work with skills.

I've run games for kids many times, I'm not trying to dumb the system down, just make it easier for both of my kids to run, since they'll be sharing me as a resource.

Right now the Classes are:


Weapon Master - Always does 12 (using flat damage) damage, no matter what weapon.

Martial Artist - If their successful attack roll is even, they Punch for 6 damage; if it's odd, they Kick for 8 damage.

Barbarian - Normal damage is 8. Can get Angry 3 x Day and Roll D20 + D6 when attacking and do 10 damage.

Knight - Fighting Damage is 6; Takes half damage from any successful attack roll.

Archer - Bow Damage is 10, Crit on an 18-20; all other weapons do 4 damage.

Thief - Weapon damage is 5, Crit on 15-20 for 15 damage.

Holy Warrior - Weapon damage is 6; Can Turn Undead by rolling an Even number, if the number rolled is also higher than Judgement the Undead is destroyed;  Healing Aura of 3 points for any ally who is less than 1/2 Hit Points.

Witch - Magic Damage of 8; Cast spell by rolling higher than Brains; weapon damage is 3.

Druid - Weapon Damage is 5; can take an animal form where  damage is 9; Cast spell by rolling higher than Judgement.

Bard - Spell Song hits 1d6 enemies for 6; Weapon damage is 4;  Can cast 1 x  Battle by rolling higher than Cool.

That's the breakdown, right now.






Thursday, July 25, 2013

Spreading the Word about the Primeval Thule Kickstarter

While I've grown pretty particular about Kickstarters lately, I'm still pretty psyched about Primeval Thule.  So far the setting will be compatible with Pathfinder, DnD 4E, 13th Age (yay!) and Call of Cthulhu 7E.  And you will get all rules iterations at the Digital Thule Level!

Give it a look, it just got some coverage on io9.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

A Proud Father

So my two youngest children, M (12 year old boy) and E (9 year old girl) want to run DnD for their friends at their birthday parties this year.  Not as one big group, but two groups with each of them being Gamemaster!

I'm a pretty proud dad right now and have begun putting things in motion to make it work out.  I'll probably used a very simplified version of DnD Next, but I might go all the way back to the Holmes Basic DnD.

I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

13th Age Limited Edition

I just ordered my copy of the 13th Age Limited Edition Hardcover and Icon Ring.  I'm super psyched to receive this and the regular edition!





Mountain Monsters

I ran across this show, Mountain Monsters, while flipping through channels late friday night and after watching the Devil Dog episode, promptly recorded all the the other shows being aired that night.

It's on Destination America and its like some crazy mix of Duck Dynasty, Finding Bigfoot and Haunted Collector.

Here's the thing, I don't care if it's fake or not; it falls into a category of TV I love watching.  Shows like Haunted Collector, Dead Files, Ghost Adventures and Finding Bigfoot (although this last season lost me).

If you like shows about cryptids or ghosts and some whacky characters (longbearded rednecks who are pretty smart) out in the woods with thermals viewers and guns, building traps, then this is the show for you.


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

13th Age: Planescape Icons

While I've been focused on numerous things away from the gaming table, I've had lots of inspiration (figures, right?).

My inspiration for Planescape came from thinking about Rob Heinsoo's Icons in Shadowrun (and the idea of using 13th Age to run Shadowrun) and thinking about Cynosure from the Grimjack comics book series.  Basically, I had the idea of mixing multiple settings using the Archmage Engine.

In researching Cynosure, Sigil popped into my head and the idea of using the Factions as Icons just seemed natural.

Before the Faction War there were 15 Factions, and after their were only 11, so I needed to make some adjustments.  The Believers of the Source and the Sign of One eventually became the Mind's Eye, so now we're at 14.  I decide since the Free League doesn't have a factol I'd cut them out, as well.

So here are my 13 Factions as Icons for Planescape for 13th Age:

Athar

Mind's Eye

Bleack Cabal

Doomguard

Dustmen

Fated

Fraternity of Order

Harmonium

Mercykillers

Revolutionary League

Society of Sensation

Transcendant Order

Xaositects

This is still a fairly rough outline, but I'm working it out slowly.  I will say Sigil would have areas of different tech levels (as inspired by Cynosure) but a sword will always work, where magic or tech might not.

Hopefully I flesh it out and even run it.

Galaxy Truckers

John W. introduced me to this game and we've played it twice in the last several days.

It's a amazing board game and I don't know that I've ever played anything like it.

Phase one has you building a spaceship, in the same vein as Tetris, in a certain amount of time.

Phase two has you mocking said spaceships (it's in the rules)!

Phase three has your spaceship enduring a hazardous journey through space facing meteors, alien predators, slavers, planets and who knows what else, just trying to survive the trip and hopefully make a profit.



I can't say enough positive about the game.  It does have a learning curve, or rather an "unlearning" curve as you have to forget nearly every other board game you've ever played.

Give it a try.
I've never seen a ship this well constructed!


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hasbro adds Dungeons & Dragons to their Kre-O (think Lego) Toyline in January!

I'm a huge Lego fan and so are my two youngest.  We've been using Lego minifigs and playsets in our games for months.  Now Hasbro is adding Dungeons and Dragons to Kre-O (joining the ranks of Transformers and Star Trek).

And apparently there is a collectable poster at ComicCon!

Wouldn't it be cool to get a Warduke?  Or Mercion?


Battle Beasts Tuesday: Romain Buffalo for D&D Next





Romain Buffalo


Large Humanoid

Armor Class 19

Hit Points 49 (6d10+18) 

Speed 40 ft.

Str 15 (+2)    Dex   10 (+0)    Con 16 (+3)
Int  9 (-1)      Wis    10 (+0)    Cha 8  (-1)

Alignment lawful
Languages common, plains
TRAITS______________________________________
Gore:  Romain Buffalo deals triple damage with his horns on a hit when taking the charge action.

Shaman: Romain Buffalo gains advantage on all Wisdom checks.


(Optional) Heart of Wood: Romain Buffalo is vulnerable to fire damage.

(Optional) Mighty Oak: Romain Buffalo is resistant to water damage.

ACTIONS_____________________________________
Melee Attack—Horn +4 to hit (reach 5 ft.; one creature). 
Hit: 8 (1d10+2) wood damage.

Melee AttackClaw +4 to hit (reach 10 ft.; one creature) 
Hit: 7 (1d8+2) wood damage.


Melee AttackRazor Wedge +4 to hit (10 ft. aura) 
Hit: 6 (1d6+2) wood damage.

ENCOUNTER BUILDING 

Level 4                      XP 250




Monday, July 15, 2013

Pacific Rim

Just about a year ago, I saw the first teaser art for Pacific Rim and I knew I had to see it.  On opening night.  In fact, it would turn out to be the only film I HAD to see this year.

So on thursday night at 10:15pm EST, my WHOLE family and some GREAT friends, went to it's opening.

Man, it did not disappoint.

Scratch that, there is my life before and after Star Wars: A New Hope and there is my life before and after Pacific Rim.  If you've ever wanted to see a Robotech on the big screen, you need to see this movie.  You have to experience an mecha punch a kaiju in the face.  With a rocket propelled fist.

I'm not going to say the story is either original or a classic, but neither is Star Wars.  Both were just fun films.

I cared about the characters, I laughed at the appropriate times and I watched monsters, man-maded and alien fight to the death.  Does it get better than that?

And even though some of the coolest scenes were in the ads, they were just as cool.

I'm going to go so far to say that if your a geek and you don't want to see this film, your a poser.  You hide amongst the Big Bang Theory fans digging on Will Wheaton, pretending to be a geek.

So go out there and watch Pacific Rim.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Time Flies

Sorry for the lack of updates, the online store I launched is doing so well I don't have any time to post.

Not a terrible problem to have, but its a problem nonetheless.

I did get some more playtesting material that I'm VERY excited about.

Hopefully, it won't be too long for the next update.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Clown Prince for D&D Next

For nearly three hundred years, the Master of Shadows headed an elite organization of hired killers culled from the noble families of the whole world.  He sought out those sons and daughters, so far removed from the throne, that their longing for power could be forged into a weapon wielded by the highest bidder.

The Shadow Princes earned a dreadful reputation as preeminent assassins and bodyguards.  After all, who better to protect a powerful target, then the best killers money could buy?

However, after fulfilling a contract for Iggwilv, the Princes refused a boon the witch offered in lieu of the gold they were promised.  Iggwilv, incensed, paid the fee but cursed them by transforming all current and future member to literally become the "short sighted clowns" who refused a favor from the Mother of Witches.

The Princes have chosen to embrace their curse and use it to instill even more terror on their targets than before.


Clown Prince

Medium Humanoid

Armor Class 15

Hit Points 33 (6d10) 

Speed 30 ft.

Str 12 (+1)     Dex   14 (+2)    Con 11 (+0)
Int  12 (+1)    Wis    13 (+1)    Cha 15  (+2)

Alignment neutral evil
Languages common, elven

TRAITS______________________________________
Clown!:  Clown Princes have Advantage on all Charisma checks.

Royal Assassin:  Clown Princes score a Critical on an attack roll of 18-20.

ACTIONS_____________________________________
Melee Attack—Blade +6 to hit (reach 5 ft.; one creature). 
Hit: 12 (3d6+1) slashing damage.

ENCOUNTER BUILDING 

Level 6                      XP 450

Friday, July 5, 2013

Antediluvian

I'm very intrigued by Kickstarter for Primeval Thule and have begun brainstorming for a setting, deeply inspired by it (if it's funded it's not due until sometime in 2014).  The setting mines Scottish folklore for inspiration.

Here are some of the denizens of the setting:

Hill Clans of the Hielands.

Islanders of Crannog on Loch Nis (Think Laketown).

Cave People (Dwarves, still working on how to make them distinct).

Moon Folk of Elphame (Drow, who have defiled their lands with Sorcery and now fearing Nyarlathotep's wrath have become nocturnal and live underground where they worship their Spider Goddess, Atlach-Nacha and serve their Queen.  Not going for the traditional pure evil dark elves here, but corruption plagues the males and that is why they are a matriarchal society).

Barbarians of the Wraithneach Moors.

Astromancers of Pnom whose tower is located near Cairn (A place where ancient and alien knowledge is whispered to the faithful by beings who wait beyond the stars).

The Elgr (Druids of the Elk-Goddess, Yhoundeh.  Her husband, Nyarlathotep has taught humanity Sorcery).




Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Jarlsburg: The Egg of Coot Part 1

The Egg of Coot recently was found in a Skaven Bedlam Pod by members of the Ironcloaks in the ruins of the Black Dogg Inn.  However, before it could be processed for evidence it was "misplaced".

It's currently unknown if the Egg has invaded this plane or was a product of the the Bedlam Pod.

It seems too coincidental that the Egg arrived mere days before Essex College performed the King in Yellow.  Further, the Egg has been linked with some of the survivors of said performance.

The Egg is nearly as large as a halfling in covered in scales.  It seems to possess telepathy and refers to those under it's control as Thralls.  A Thrall, thus far, is easy to detect due to their scleras and corneas taking on the same scaly texture as the Egg.

Battle Beasts Tuesday: Rocky Rhino for D&D Next




Rocky Rhino

Large Humanoid

Armor Class 19

Hit Points 55 (6d10+24) 

Speed 20 ft.

Str 14 (+2)     Dex   8 (-1)    Con 19 (+4)
Int  11 (+0)    Wis    7 (-2)    Cha 10  (+0)

Alignment lawful
Languages common, rhiknow

TRAITS______________________________________
Assault:  Rocky Rhino has advantage when charging and has a speed of 60 ft.

(Optional) Heart of Fire: Rocky Rhino is vulnerable to water damage.

(Optional) Slash and Burn: Rocky Rhino is resistant to wood damage.
ACTIONS_____________________________________
Melee Attack—Hammer Mace +4 to hit (reach 5 ft.; one creature). 
Hit: 8 (1d8+4) fire damage.

Melee AttackWedge Axe +4 to hit (reach 5 ft.; one creature) 
Hit: 9 (1d10+4) fire damage.

ENCOUNTER BUILDING 

Level 4                      XP 250

Back This: Primeval Thule

Sasquatch Games' Kickstarter for Primeval Thule has launched.  Their aiming for a setting influenced by Howard, Burroughs, and Lovecraft and it sounds awesome.

Their setting will come in your choice of DnD 4, Pathfinder, or wait for it...13th Age!

Back this right now, I already have!

Monster Monday: Ork City's Chupacabra for Shadowdark

Welcome to Ork City! In the middle of Ork City's Hatt Island is the Park, a wild and dangerous forest filled with all manner of nightmar...