Back This: Breachworld

Breachworld is a new RPG on Kickstarter that seems to be inspired to some degree by Rifts (that's not a knock, if its as imaginative and gonzo, I'll be very happy) but using the excellent Mini Six system from AntiPaladin Games.

I've backed it and think you should take a look.

The preview of artwork and write-ups for some of the player races sold me.

Check them out here.

March Madness OSR Challenge Day 11

What post-apocalyptic RPG have you enjoyed most? Hmm...I'll go with Rifts.  But this is a hard one, since I like Gamma World--in particular the most recent addition based on DnD 4E, Mutant Future, Omega World, and Waste World.

Why?  It's gonzo, it takes everything, the kitchen sink and Atlantis and throws it all at you.  It's the epitome of what Cross Planes means to me.  A dragon, a 'borg, a cowboy, a ninja, and a Dog Boy go into a bar--it's no joke, that's how the first session starts!

Playing Catch Up to the March Madness OSR Challenge

It can be found here.

A big thank you to Tedankhamen for hosting it and The Other Side Blog for letting me know about it.

1) What was the first roleplaying game other than DnD you played?  Champions 4th Edition from Hero Games.

Was it before or after you had played DnD? It was before ADnD 2E.

2) What was the first character you played in an RPG other than DnD?  Captain Midnight, he was patterned strongly after Martian Manhunter but was neither Martian nor a telepath.

How was playing it different from playing a DnD character? I hadn't played a DnD character yet, but Champions was all about how to do things and giving you the tools to do them where, ADnD was all about making up the tools as you need them and at the time seemed to have very limited characters, I didn't understand DnD's reliance on niche protection yet.


3) Which game had the least or most enjoyable character generation?  I really enjoyed making characters for Heroes Unlimited Revised.


4) What other roleplaying author besides Gygax impressed you with their writing?  John Wick. I really enjoyed the work he did on Legend of the Five Rings. It left an impression on me.

5) What other old school game should have become as big as DnD but didn’t? RuneQuest.

Why do you think so? Because Glorantha isn't for everyone and Avalon Hill couldn't make it work without Glorantha.


6) What non-DnD monster do you think is as iconic as DnD ones like hook horrors or flumphs, and why do you think so? Klingons. They're space orcs.


7) What fantasy RPG other than DnD have you enjoyed most? Does 13th Age count? It's an OGL variant of DnD.  Otherwise, I'd go with RuneQuest.

Why? Because it let you make the character you wanted to make and it did it in the late '70's.

8) What spy RPG have you enjoyed most? Spycraft 1E.

Give details. I got to playtest it and I enjoyed it, it felt like a strong mix of G.I. Joe and James Bond.


9) What superhero RPG have you enjoyed most? Champions/HERO System.

Why? I cut my teeth on it. I learned its language and can still bust out a character in under 15 minutes. It gives you tools, though increasingly complex ones, to make whatever you can imagine.


10) What science fiction RPG have you enjoyed most? D6 Star Wars.

Give details. I love Star Wars and I think the d6 system captured quite a bit of the setting's charm.  While it may not have worked great for full Jedi, it captured Episodes 4, 5, and 6 perfectly.

OSR: Using the Turn Undead Table for Skill Resoultion

I apologize if this has been talked about or proposed before (I assume it has, but don't recall it).

I think the Turn Undead Table in Labyrinth Lord (or any early version of DnD or it's retroclones) would make an excellent skeleton for Skill Resolution.

Assuming we used Backgrounds and not Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

A Background has the chance to either permit an automatic success or increase your level by 1.

If an appropriate Ability Score is 12 or better, increase your level 1.

Then find your level + modifiers, cross reference by the Threat Level of the Task and look for auto success, a target number on a d20 or automatic failure.

Pretty straightforward if you ask me.

Thieves would get to first roll their Thief Skill Percentage, if they fail they may still try to roll on the Skill Resolution Table.  Essentially, Thief Skills can be thought of as an extra chance at success or a chance to critically succeed.

Playing D&D Next

I finally got a chance to play the current beta rules for DnD Next.  There was an Elven Wizard, Dwarven Monk, Elven Ranger, Dwarven priest and myself, a Human Fighter.

We didn't have any combat, so I didn't get to use my maul, but I enjoyed the game immensely.  While Tony W.'s excellent game is technically DnD Next, it's as much a home-brew as anything else.

This was cool and I hope to play again soon.

I've been leary of the umbrella Proficiency bonus (even though I've argued for it for years), but like how it works.  Next seems to make Ability Scores useful and I found that it was easier to choose a class, because combat ability hinged on weapons, not on class.

It still takes about 15 minutes longer than I think it should to make a character though.

All in all, I am pleased with the current product.

Numenera House Rules

When I next run the Cipher system, I have some wrinkles I'm adding:

When spending points from Attribute Pools, each 2 points spent lowers the Difficulty by 1.  This is pretty minor as the rules state it is 3 points for the first reduction and 2 points for each further reduction.

To give the player's a bit more room to show off, I am setting Effort to Tier + 2.

I have trouble explaining Difficulty and Target Number, so I've worked up a character sheet that shows that information, so I can simply say "It's Difficuly 5", the player can then look to see that the Target Number is 15.  Then I can ask if they want to lower the Difficulty by spending Pool points.

In the back of my head, I keep working on mixing the Cipher system with Earthdawn's Step System.  If I work it out, I'll post it.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

So Tony W.'s DnD game continues to remain on hold as work has him pretty tied up and we have come to the end of my fill in adventure.  I'm going to take a break from the Adventure Game Engine (to work up another adventure) and the players have asked me to run Numenera for the next fill-in game.

While I dig what I worked up with 9th World, I have the opportunity to run a short adventure with a small group and am going  back to the Cipher System.

We have a Stealthy Jack who Exists Partially Out of Phase; a Charming Nano who Wears a Veil of Water; a Mad Nano who Controls Beasts; a Cybernetic Jack who Manipulates Life and Death (pretty much a house ruled version of Mechanical and Works Miracles).

I'm assuming I'll get my chance to try it out in the week or two, unless Tony's schedule clears up.

I'll keep you posted.