Counter Culture: Wizards of the Coast Can't Seem To Do Anything Right

In running my stores, Wizards of the Coast is a very important partner for me, however I don't mean one iota to them and I get it. I really do.

However, Magic: the Gathering is still our top selling Trading Card Game and Dungeons and Dragons is our top selling Role Playing Game.

Both brands have veteran leads in place, neither is new this year, let alone this decade.

But for some reason each brand keeps having problems in things that should be simple.

Look at DnD, this past thursday, January 9th, WotC was going to reveal the new supplement dropping in late March. But apparently someone realized Nintendo was going to make an announcement on the same day and they decided to move it to Monday the 13th. Except know one counted on Amazon and Barnes and Noble spoiling it.

It's not a killer issue but WotC keeps having troubles like this. They don't seem to quite have their social media presence 100%. Why not just move it to Friday the 10th? This should be old hat to this company by now.

For me, this is a compounded problem because the Magic: the Gathering development team has been having some quality control issues. In the Throne of Eldrane set thye printed a card that broke nearly every format in October. How does that still happen, how are their playtest efforts this lax? The new set dropping next week, Theros Beyond Death, has two cards with infinite combos in certain formats. Further, the Buy It By The Box Promos the've been printing for years are not Foil as they are supposed to be and hopefully we should get replacements about two weeks later than the launch.

For a company this large, these issues shouldn't happen in every set and somehow, their quality control is proving very lax.

Somebody isn't doing their job and that has to stope.

GameStorming: Hacking the D6 Star Wars System

The past week has been a tough one when looking at the U.S. and our role in the world. It got me thinking about a lot about politics...but instead of sharing my opinion on all of that, I'm going to make some stuff for a game of make believe with rules!

And thank you for stopping by :)

I've been working on a Star Wars one-shot and I've been looking at the D6 Star Wars system from West End Games, I think Nocturnal Games owns it now.

However, I have two problems with the system as it exists now.

One, I hate Wound systems, give my Hit Points any day. Thankfully, D6 Space has Body Points so that is fixed. I figure when you are below 1/2 Body Points you will take -2 to dice pools. I'm basically ripping off DnD 4th Edition's Bloodied Condition.

Second, I hate that in D6 Star Wars you roll to hit, then you roll damage, and then your target rolls to soak. 

Here is my solution, You roll to hit as normal, but note any 6s your roll. You look at the damage for your weapon, let's say it's 2d6+1.
You roll 1d6 multiply it by 2 and add 1 to the total, so if I roll a 4 I'd do 8+1 = 9 damage. However, each 6 rolled adds an additional dice to roll and you then choose which you want to choose. 

So let's assume I use my Melee skill of 5d6 to attack my target. I roll a 1, 6, 6, 4, 3 for a total of 20. I hit the target and I note the two 6s.  My melee weapon does Strength of 3d6 + 1d6 for 4d6 damage, so I'm going to roll 1d6 x 4, however with the two 6s from the attack roll, I roll 3d6 and get a 1, 3, and 4, my melee weapon does 4 x 4 for a total of 16 damage to my target.

I like the idea and hope I get to playtest it.

Monstrous Monday: Ovion for White Star

Ovion for White Star

Armor Class: 5 [14]
HDE: 2/30
Total Hit Bonus: +3
Movement: 12
Special: Four arms
Attack: By weapon (+1 damage with melee weapons)
Hit Dice: 2

Saving Throw: 17

"Ovions have four arms and gain a +1 to hit and damage with melee weapons.

They are an insectoid creatures that manage a mysterious gambler's paradise on the planet Carillon. They are one of the members of Cylon Alliance. Their extensive tylium mines are an extremely valuable asset.

The Ovions use Carillon's playground on the surface to attract their prey. The chancery is rigged to let the players always win, and there is grog and entertainment to keep the people occupied. Ovions occasionally prowl discreetly on the entertainment level, but generally remain out of sight. Individual humans are trapped selectively when they enter the elevator, and are taken into the hive-like structures underground instead of their desired destination. They are then placed into chambers which slowly transform them into food."

Counter Culture: BadWrongFun

Earlier today, a mother and daughter came into my store and asked where my Dungeons and Dragons stuff was. I introduced myself and showed them our selection. The mother mentioned that there was a new DnD book coming out in March but couldn't remember what it was. I said, "We don't know yet, we have seen the dice set that goes with it, but we won't know the details on the book until Thursday."

She then asked me what they would need after the Starter Box and Player's Handbook and I showed her the Essentials Box and several of the campaign books.

Then, she said, "We were playing yesterday and then watched some videos on YouTube and I realized we were playing it wrong." She even look embarrassed.

I asked her, "Did you have fun?"

She looked surprised and then said, "Yeah, we did." Her daughter was smiling and shaking her head to agree.

I repied, "Then you weren't playing wrong, most games aren't going to be the same as most of the streamed games because sometimes professional actors are running and playing those games. If everyone at the table is having fun, then you are doing everything right."

She and her daughter really smiled now, it was like a light went on. They started talking about the type of miniatures they were looking for and asked me which campaign I liked the best and even mentioned  Arkan the Terrible.

And let me add, it made me feel good too. Sometimes when you get into a new hobby, at least in my experience, a veteran of the same hobby can be more cynical about it. Sometimes I think the fans of a thing can get grumpy, even hateful. I'm not judging anyone, I've done it too. For whatever reason the only way to show you are a "true fan" is to hate the thing to some degree to prove you love it.

Both ladies spent quite a bit and preordered the new book, sight unseen, from me too.

I hope I might have made a small impact on them, because they made my day better.

Monstrous Monday: Vorvon for White Star

Vorvon for White Star

Armor Class: 8 [11]
HDE: 5/600
Total Hit Bonus: +4
Movement: 12
Special: See below
Attacks: Claws 1d6
Hit Dice: 5

Saving Throw: 14

Vorvons attack creatures for their life force, if they succeed on an attack roll they drain 1 level from their victim by placing the claws of their thumb and pinky finger on any exposed skin. When a victim of a vorvon is reduced to zero levels, they become a subservient zombie.

A vorvon may take the form an orange energy blot that can fly at a speed of 16. Additionally, they may use the charm person meditation 3/day.

Vorvon are usually found hidden on starships or space stations and the environmental systems register as contaminated by the creature's presence and it's victims state among the unliving.

Vorvon Zombie

Armor Class: 89 [10]
HDE: 1/15
Total Hit Bonus: +1
Movement: 6
Special: None
Attacks: Fist 1d4
Hit Dice: 1

Saving Throw: 18

TinyD6: Storm Troopers

Our regular DM, couldn't make it this week because he is moving so I prepped a one-shot (actually I prepped two one-shots, because I had a good idea for TinyD6 and Dungeon Crawl Classics using the 0 level Funnel). 

I was able to work up six Imperial Storm Troopers in less than 20 minutes, which was awesome. I've said this before, but TinyD6 is everything I wanted Savage Worlds to be. No offense to SW, I just really like hit points.

You may be asking, "Why would you make the Player Characters Storm Troopers, they are the bad guys?"

We didn't end up playing because those of us that could make it took the time to catch up and burn off some holiday steam. It was a good time and I'm sure I'll find time later in the year to give it a go.

The answer is, because I wanted to shake things up. I'm not trying to say the Empire are the Good Guys, I just had an idea for the storyline  and it's something different and Storm Troopers worked.

I'm going to post all six of the Troopers right here, if you want a PDF of them e-mail me at mark at crossplanes dot com or even post your e-mail address in the comments, if that suits you.

I used Tiny Pirates as a guideline of Hit Points and number of Traits and each Storm Trooper gets the Armor Master Trait for free. If you REALLY want to bust your Player's chops you can ignore gaining Mastery in any weapon.

Trooper 1

Hit Points: 6 + 3 Armor

Ambush Specialist

Born Fighter

Quick Shot

Trooper 2

Hit Points: 8 + 3 Armor

Heavy Weapons Expert

Strong

Tough

Trooper 3

Hit Points: 6 + 3 Armor

Diehard

Fleet of Foot

Resolute

Trooper 4

Hit Points: 6 + 3 Armor

Quick Gun

Sneaky

Opportunist

Trooper 5

Hit Points: 6 + 3 Armor

Tracker

Sneaky

Opportunist

Trooper 6

Hit Points: 6 + 3 Armor

Perceptive

Marksman

Medical Savant

Resolution for 2020

First, I remember reading reading comics as a teen and thinking how far away 2020 was...well, we made it, but I don't have flying cards gosh darnit.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to achieve in 2020, and since 2018 and 2019 were tough, I'm going set a goal, but realize it might not happen.

What is that goal, you ask?  Simple, I want to focus more on building adventures and integrating any player backstories into a game I run while simultaneously stop worrying so much about a game's system.

I've always been a mechanics guy first and an adventure second. When I was younger I could juggle things better, had more free time, and was just better at improvisation. I've almost moved to strictly running published adventures and I think I want to try one game this year that is at least 50% my stuff.

And further, I'm going to stop worrying about the perfect system. Honestly, I think Shadow of the Demon Lord is the perfect game, but if I want to run a western I'll use Tiny Gunslinger or Dark Trails and not try to frankenstein something together which sucks all my attention away from the adventure.

We will see how it goes, but I'm hopeful. We've had some major hurtles in the last few years and at the moment, I feel like it can help us weather the coming year.