Monthly Archives: April 2018

RPGs

Dragon Heresy – A Quick Review

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+Doug Cole is running his long awaited Kickstarter for his 5e based RPG Dragon Heresy. Dragon Heresy is a Norse/Viking themed RPG. The Kickstarter is to get this starter set off the ground. It covers up to 5th level of play. As of this writing, the Kickstarter just hit the basic funding level, and is nearing double the base amount. There are three stretch goals, yet to be reached. More races, classes, and backgrounds; offset printing; and the big one – the production of the Deluxe Edition of Dragon Heresy, which is already written.

The Book of Foes

I received two PDFs of the working draft that is awaiting final edits. First I dug into The Book of Foes. This is basically the monster manual/bestiary. I really like the initial presentation that describes creatures as either obstacles or opposition. The section on How to Use This Book and Creature Behavior are great explanations that both new and experienced GMs can use to help get into the mind/motivation of creatures.

This covers the gamut from normal wildlife, monstrosities, elementals, fae, dragon kind, and undead. Every creature is described through the lenses of a northern/cold environment and a Norse flavor/mythology.  One finds an explanation for why these creatures make sense in this world.

Dragon Heresy Introductory Set

The second PDF is the Dragon Heresy Introductory Set. It goes into some of the same information as I already encountered in The Book of Foes. For example, vigor and wounds. Rather than a standard 5e system, Doug has added some complexity to make hit points more varied. Armor also negates some damage either by the nature of armor, or the ablative nature of wearing down an opponent’s armor. At a certain level of hit point loss, one begins to suffer wounds.

Doug’s last Kickstarter, The Lost Hall of Tyr, is a module in this setting. Some of the creatures and setting text are duplicated, but it just reflects the consistency of Doug’s presentation. Also his grappling rules, as presented in his first Kickstarter, Dungeon Grappling, have a place in this world. Both people and creatures/monsters have ways to grapple foes.

I reviewed his prior Kickstarters and backed both of them. I was going to pass on backing this Kickstarter, but I really like what I’ve seen in the PDFs Doug sent me. I like having the physical book to hold in my hands, so I’m going to chip in at the $50 level. Doug runs a top notch Kiskstarter and will give plenty of updates and deliver on time or early.

One of the tiers is $5 for a PDF of the combat rules for the standard three classes, wizard, cleric, and fighter for levels one and two. This lets you see his take on combat. He’s studied various martial arts, most recently re-constructed Viking fighting styles, which inform his take on grappling and combat in Dragon Heresy. If you are looking for a combined setting and rules for a Norse based RPG based on 5e, this is the one for you.

RPGs

Marmalade Dog 23 – Kalamazoo’s Local Con 2018

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Marmalade Dog 23 was a lot of fun. I signed up to run two games, Metamorphosis Alpha and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Friday afternoon I signed up to play Red Box Basic, our DM didn’t show, so +Adam Muszkiewicz volunteered to run it, since I was scheduled to run Metamorphosis Alpha that evening. Adam looked up the module on his phone and ran it for us. That’s one cool thing about OSR rules, they are simple enough you can do stuff like that.

Adam Muszkiewicz fills in as DM
Adam Muszkiewicz fills in as DM

No one signed up for my Metamorphosis Alpha game, so I joined in a DCC game ran by Joel Davidson. It was his first time running DCC and he did a great job. We had a lot of fun, and only a couple 0 levels died.

Joel Davidson Running DCC
Joel Davidson Running DCC

Saturday morning, I played in +Del Tiegeler’s AS&SH game and had a blast. We made a wrong choice and missed a clue and had a TPK, all trapped in the tomb. I walked away with some art Del drew just for the session!

Del Teigeler's AS&SH Game
Del Teigeler’s AS&SH Game

I then ran AD&D, with a scenario from my Sunday Roll20 game. It was fun seeing how a different group of players approached the scenario and made different choices. I had two first time players and they both did great! One young couple is local, so perhaps we can do some gaming at the FLGS.

Players from my AD&D Game
Players from my AD&D Game

Friday evening, I played my card game with play testers one and two and they really liked the changes that came from play testing at Gary Con. I had a couple things happen that had not yet happened. It was just interesting to see them happen.

I got in another play test with play tester number one on Saturday evening, and had a couple things happen that hadn’t happened. One required a ruling, the other was just interesting.

I’ve now had 17 play tests, 15 with the current rules. I’m debating about some modifications to the rules to add in a bit more variety. I’m wondering if there’s a rule of thumb for the number of play tests a new card game needs. The two play tests at Marmalade Dog are the only ones I forgot to take pictures.

We won’t know when Marmalade Dog 24 will be until the schedule for next yet is set. It is dependent on the sports schedule. If it isn’t the same weekend as Gary Con, I’ll be there running games!

RPGs

Levels For Terrain

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Edward Kann posted a map of an area in his Blueholme game he started with his sons. (Check out his G+ profile, he has some serious talent for maps and adventure design.) He has mapped the contents of a 20 mile hex using graph paper for the scale of 1 square per mile. One can debate the changing of scale for accuracy between hexes and squares ad nauseum. Forget that noise. The cool thing is the map key has a section for a TERRAIN KEY with LEVELS for each type of terrain.

Edward Kann's map of the contents of a 20 mile hex at 1 mile per square.
Edward Kann’s map of the contents of a 20 mile hex at 1 mile per square.

My Plan For This.

I like this idea for levels for terrain. I’ll modify that for my own use with a keep, town, or city within so many miles. Say a keep with a 20 mile radius zone of control would negate bad/evil/monstrous encounters. (This is basically the West Marches approach.)

However, wild animals would always be a possibility. Sick or wounded animals would be more likely to attack. Males of most species in mating season would be more likely to attack. Mothers protecting young would be more likely to attack. So lack of monsters does not mean “no danger.”

The deep forest being 3rd level is cool. I’ll add a dark wood more focused on the bad things in the forest. That is, a dark wood would have an encounter table focused on the bad/evil creatures found in forests.

For my purposes, I want a variation for the farms/structures. Have a special set of tables to determine if it is a farm or other structures, their condition – ruins, burnt out/smoldering, etc. And finally if occupied by farmers or otherwise the “correct” occupants or “something else.” Something else could be a hungry monster, goblin raiding party, house or barn fire, etc.  A large animal in mating season being belligerent, whether a wild animal or the bull got loose.

This is what I love about the OSR and sharing RPG ideas for any game online. All the different people with their unique take on how they do things spark ideas for how I can use and modify their ideas for my own use.