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RPGs

Down the Rabbit Hole of UAPs/UFOs

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With the recent buzz over the release of some videos of various sensor data of Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, the new term for UFO, I decided to explore “What if….” and apply it to the realm of RPGs. {Companion podcast episode here:]

For the record, I believe in UNIDENTIFIED flying objects. It means you don’t know what it is. So many have conflated UFO = Aliens that a new term is being used. Of course, if there really are extra-terrestrials flying around, I want to live long enough to know about them and their vehicles.

Research

I watched a lot of videos where the host and guests approach the topic as if it is real. They avoided fantastic claims and come down to whatever these UAPs are, we have nothing like them. The science fiction realm offers many potential explanations. It’s when they mention things written about in Roman times that fit some of these descriptions and it reminds me of the Project UFO TV show when I was a kid, and some of the fantastic “documentaries” of that period like Chariot of the Gods, and the History Channel shows. (I haven’t had cable for nearly a decade, but the History Channel had very little history or focus on fact when last I watched.)

I just started making a list of what could be the source of these UAPs. Such a list is easy to add to. There are enough fringe ideas out there that one can find ample material online. I keep adding to the following list as things occur to me or I stumble across them online.

What Might They Be?

  • Lizard People and other fringe beliefs
    • Did V come before or after this idea took hold?
  • Cryptobiological Lifeforms
    • Bigfoot
    • Yeti
    • Nessie
    • Etc.
  • Mad Scientist or other Driven Individual
  • Lost Civilizations
    • Atlantis
    • Lemuria
  • Natural Phenomenon
    • Lifeforms native to Earth.
      • The vehicles are living creatures.
      • Some unknown branch of life evolved and developed technology long before humanity.
      • The Silurian Hypothesis – Advanced Pre-Human Civilizations
  • Other Dimensions
    • These are not aliens but creatures from the Earths of other dimensions.
  • Time Travelers
    • Not aliens but time travelers.
      • Maybe they are “tweaking” the time line to avoid the end of civilization as we know it, and preserver or improve things in their own time.
  • Aliens
    • Lone aliens observing us.
    • Galactic Committee/Council/Federation/Confederation
      • Observing us to evaluate accepting us into the fold.
    • “Creators”
    • We are an experiment.
  • Masters of the Hologram/Program/Machine
    • Reality is a hologram and these incursions are observers on whatever purpose the hologram has for them.

Different Shapes

The different shapes of these vehicles suggests either different functions/purposes like the difference between a car and a truck or a helicopter and a jet. They also suggest the idea that different “factions” have their own style of vehicle.

The shapes reported are cylinders, spheres, saucers, triangles, octohedrons, cubes, etc. One can easily assign various shapes to the above list to come up with one’s own campaign.

RPG/Campaign/Scenario

These ideas could be used in all kinds of table top RPG situations. One could make a new RPG, or use it as the basis for a campaign, or the scenario for a one shot or convention game.

This could fit into any genre and era. Cowboys and Aliens, Gangbusters & Aliens, WWII and Aliens, Apocalypse and Aliens, Post-Apocalypse and Aliens, Science Fiction, Sword and Planet, etc. Substitute Aliens with anything from the above list of possibilities.

A Changing World

Whatever these real world UAPs are, we may learn more following the Congressional hearings in June, 2021.

As a kid once I understood what was meant by UFO I’ve wanted it to be real, who hasn’t. But all the decades of “there are other explanations that cover everything except a miniscule number of sightings for which more evidence is needed.” It makes sense when new, secret planes are spotted, but to hear that evidence supports that these things are real requires a lot of re-thinking.

First, we have to un-learn what we were trained to believe. Then we have to figure out what it means for us. The not knowing what they are or how they function leaves me with the greatest sense of FOMO. I want to live long enough to know the answer.

I wish I could talk to my Dad about this stuff. He was in the Air Force in the late 1950s and was a radar operator on Okinawa. He said that the Chinese would send jets to test the air defenses. That is how long until jets were scrambled to intercept. Dad said they could see them taking off, but waited to scramble jets so they couldn’t figure out they could be seen taking off. I don’t recall him ever mentioning seeing anything weird, so I messaged my siblings to see if they could recall anything. They didn’t recall him mentioning anything like that either. My brother suggested he may have signed an NDA. I’m sure if he had, he’d be telling us all the weird stuff he saw with all the current revelations by the government.

RPGs

Trying Solo RPG Play

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Listen to the companion podcast here.

I decided to try my hand at solo roleplaying after watching most of the Solo RPG playlist of Geek Gamers: Solo RPG Playlist.

First, I developed a rubric for each day of travel, etc. I am using the AD&D DMG [Affiliate Link], Kelri’s Encounters, Scarlet Heroes [Affiliate Link], & various ideas from different bloggers.

I rolled 4d6 drop lowest, in order and rolled well enough to have an illusionist, Morpheus Phantasos. (I re-used that name from an illusionist character I created in another group a few years ago.)

Morpheus hired a light horse soldier to travel to the dungeon, 5 hexes away.

I did not define the size of the hexes other than it takes 2 days on foot or 1 day mounted to cross.

There were no encounters, but found bad water – the hireling is fine, but my PC got sick. Finally we got to the town near the dungeon, but there was no room in the inn the first night, & second night we slept in the common room. Morpheus needed a few days to recover from drinking bad water.

Wilderness map & travel notes

Morpheus hired 3 more hirelings. They tried to turn on us, but failed save vs. hypnotism.

I suggested that they forget about robbing us since they’ll get more gold in the dungeon. They all failed their saved.

There was a mishap, broken equipment, the saddle strap was cut, but they forgot about it.

We finally found the dungeon and I rolled up the entrance using the DMG. It took 3 days to find it.

We went down the steps, found 7 orcs, they were unsure what to do, Morpheus speaks Orc, and as an illusionist used Hypnotism to convince 6 of them to work together to get loot worthy of the Orc Lord – who didn’t live in this dungeon. The one against it I convinced the others he was plotting something and they took care of him. Thankfully, nothing came to investigate the noise.

We went into another room and fought skeletons. We took them out but they dropped two of the orcs.

That fight attracted 2 zombies who we finally dropped, but they took out several more of the orcs and 2 of the 3 hirelings I picked up in town.

We found loot in urns in the room the orcs were in, loot in chests the skeletons were in, and a chest with coins and an Alchemy Jug in a secret compartment. We heard fighting – another party of adventurers was fighting something. Since we lost so many we left.

The horse soldier hireling was still there, unmolested at the entrance to the dungeon. We loaded up the loot and had a fight with the orcs and managed to win.

We overnighted without incident and made it back to town. I tallied the XP and levelled up so now Morpheus Phantasos is a 2nd level illusionist.

Dungeon map & adventure notes.

I thought about solo roleplay back in the day with the DMG, but didn’t have a solo engine to facilitate play. I didn’t get very far.
However, after spending some time watching a few YT videos and pulling together my resources and settling on mechanics, I can see the appeal.

It gives me lots of ideas for making adventures or new tables to use during adventures.
I need to come up with a better flowchart AI to run monsters & NPCs if there’s a fight.
I’d like it to be more than reaction & morale checks.

I’ve got a couple tables from blogs for monster activity & I watched Runehammers “Monster Mind” video from 2017 again.
I want something more general that can be applied. I can make my own, but would like a peak at something others have done.

I want a general framework for a monster AI and not something that has to be hand-crafted to each monster. I am making notes, but making a brief system that doesn’t require lot’s of oracle if/then checks is the challenge.

I’ll share my framework once I clean it up and have another adventure. I put together a rough draft of a new PDF of my experience with Solo RPG play and shared it on my Patreon. It needs a LOT of cleanup before I share it with the world. I’ve been working on a page of resources.

If you know of a blog that is focused on Solo RPGs or regularly posts about solo RPGS, let me know. I’d also like to know about websites focused on solo RPGs and any sites that have a section for solo RPGs.

I’m also curious to hear about other’s experiences with Solo RPGs. What solo engine/GM emulator did you use? What RPG rule set did you use? Was it a positive, negative, or mixed experience?

RPGs

Emulating Battle in Roll20

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For session 70 of my Sunday AD&D game on Roll20 I decided to do something different.

A former player who had to drop due to personal issues had some unexpected availability due to having COVID. So far, symptoms minor.
The party plans to assault a castle that hobgoblins & goblins took from kobolds.

The kobolds worked for the dragon the party slew. The party is trying to avoid a power vacuum & have made a deal with the kobolds back at the dragon’s lair to take back the castle.

This player is going to run the castle. I have his player set on a copy of the map in Roll20. He offered to run an NPC today due to his unexpected availability. As I was planning the session, I offered him the whole thing, and he gladly took it on. This will make it more challenging for the party, and it’s not all on me.

The regular players will be on the player facing map.
I will switch between Discord calls to interact with them on audio.
If things get to the point that they can both be on the same call, I’ll have him join the main call.

My initial thoughts were that this will either be a lot of fun or a big flop….

I had to plan the fight with those in the castle. I gave the hobgoblins and goblins both shaman and witchdoctors who could have thrown a wrench in the works of the party spellcasters.

I gave the player running the castle the detailed castle map (still very general) and units of each troop type. There were just tokens with the title of what the unit was. We agreed to use the green circle for the unit count. That is number of troops in that unit.

This is the map I gave the player running the castle/NPCs

I gave the party a crude map that their scout the party druid who often scouts ahead in the form of an eagle.

Crude Sketch of Castle

Once the PCs reached the castle, I showed them a copy of the detailed map.

The trick was to show what each side could see.

The party summoned an air elemental who was invulnerable to all attacks the castle inhabitants threw at it. It kept splattering goblins in the towers and the unit in that tower would break and run.

The bulk of the party was out of sight and out of range.

An illusion of two lines of 50 dwarves taunting the castle and firing arrows that didn’t reach the castle forced smaller units outside the castle to flee inside.

The nearly 10th level magic-user flew in invisibly with Protection From Normal Missiles and used his Wand of Fear to clear the towers of the keep.

It was about this point, about 3 or 4 round of combat that we had all players on the same voice chat looking at the same map. The fight was over 2 or 3 rounds after that.

The elf 5th level fighter/5th level magic-user flew in and cast enlarge on himself, becoming hill giant size. He cast fireball and wiped out all but one unit of goblins who kept making their morale check. He then flew in front of the gate and was the only PC to take damage from missile fire, but he got off a lightning bolt that nearly killed the hobgoblin chief and subchief and did kill most of their body guards.

At this point the castle surrendered as there was nothing else they could see to do.

It was a few minutes after the fight that the player running the castle looked at the spells of the casters and realized what he could have done.

One of the players thought that I had been working with the player running the castle for weeks. We only started working on it the night before. I put maybe an hour into it. The other player maybe a couple of hours of planning.

I like how it emulated real fog of war.

I was more in the role of a judge in the wargame sense.

The players thought it was great.

It was a little chaotic switching between Discord calls, but it was a minor inconvenience once we figured it out after the first call.

This is something I can see doing again, but coming up with a better plan on mass combat rules. We didn’t need mass combat rules as the level of magic the party had at their disposal made them and elite strike force who quickly overwhelmed their opponents.

As usual, it came down to which side won initiative and had the better attacks.

The unstoppable air elemental was a great touch. They have a brazier for commanding fire elementals but wanted to preserve the castle. They have plans….

So for Session 71 on Sunday, they begin the process of domain building. They see this as a money maker.

I made a YouTube video showing how I did this.

RPGs

Getting Started With Science Fiction RPGs

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Over on the Trilemma Blog, Michael Prescott has a post about the dearth of science fiction games on Roll20. Yesterday’s Five Minute Friday on the Thoughteater podcast by Frothsof touched on the topic. I also called in, so it might get shared on the next Thougheater episode.

Goblin’s Henchman mentioned on the Audio Dungeon Discord channel that with all the science fiction TV series and movies that he wasn’t sure where to begin a science fiction campaign.

This got me to thinking so naturally, I came up with some ideas.

My Science Fiction Background

First, a bit of my science fiction RPG background. Back in the day, as a teenager and even through my college years, I was more into reading science fiction than fantasy. I even considered Science Fiction my “thing.” However, there was just something about AD&D [Affiliate Link] that captured my imagination and we always gravitated back to D&D after taking a break to play something else.

I started in RPGs back when TSR was putting out all kinds of RPGs. We tended to gravitate to all the TSR RPGs. We tried others, but they were either too complicated, or the person trying to run the game loved it, but didn’t explain things well, so we determined the game wasn’t good. That was my experience with Traveller.

Back in the day, I bought Metamorphosis Alpha [Affiliate Link] and was the GM for that. I was not very good as a GM back then, so we’d never play more than a game or two before the others were ready to try something else or go back to AD&D [Affiliate Link]. I also bought Gamma World [Affiliate Link], and we took turns playing that, but never played a lot. Star Frontiers [Affiliate Link] grabbed our imagination for while.

But what really got us was the science fiction game we made from a mish-mash of rules, ideas, and equipment from all the other science fiction games. We called it “Scout” and I don’t recall there being formal rules. We just sort of knew the rules. I think the biggest reason for the success was my brother Robert. He kept wanting to play other games so he didn’t have to DM. But he was our best DM. He ran the games for Scout. He also wrote short stories in study hall and passed them around. Everyone was like, “This is great! We want more!”

Since then I have played and ran science fiction games at conventions. I was in a couple of playtest games for Mutant Crawl Classics [Affiliate Link] at different conventions. I’ve ran Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World [Affiliate Link], and Stars Without Number [Affiliate Link] at different conventions and always had a full table, sometimes overflowing.

I backed the Stars Without Number 2nd edition [Affiliate Link] and like a lot of the ideas. I played in a Roll20 campaign that lasted a couple of years.

I’ve also run a couple of Metamorphosis Alpha games on Roll20.

Yet, I still go back to D&D. I wonder if it is the magic, yet Arthur C. Clarke said that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

I’ve even played in D&D that had the occasional high tech item. Or in the case of the Wednesday night Roll20 AD&D [Affiliate Link] campaign I’ve often written about, it had evil space dwarves as the main bad guys. We had all kinds of laser weapons and high tech gizmos, until we destroyed the power source….

Ideas For Launching A Science Fiction Campaign

  • Pick a genre – Hard or Soft SF, Post Apocalyptic, Cyberpunk, etc.
  • Pick the tropes or hooks
    • To me Post Apocalyptic like Metamorphosis Alpha or Gamma World [Affiliate Link] evoke a hex crawl and dungeon crawl vibe.
    • Star Trek is a “planet (or problem) of the week” interstellar exploration & combat focus. It leans a bit towards Hard SF.
    • Star Wars is a mish-mash of rescue mission & defeat the evil space NAZIs with magic tossed in. It is definitely Soft SF.
    • Seek out the leftovers and remnants of ancient civilizations.
    • Humanity’s expansion to the rest of the solar system.
    • Only humans, or just a few, or lots of different intelligent species.
  • Use an existing setting or roll your own.
    • Some systems have a backed in setting, like Stars Without Number [Affiliate Link], but one can easily make your own.
    • Some are daunted by creating their own setting.
      • For me, the trick is to create something manageable. There are tools online for creating planets, systems, and sectors. If you are comfortable with a planet of the week style, go for it. If you are more comfortable with a limited amount of places, go that route.
  • What rules to use?

Why Is It So Rare/Difficult To Have A Science Fiction Campaign?

For me it is the scope of Science Fiction. If you are out among the stars you have to come up with a lot more information than a fantasy setting which typically focuses on a continent on one planet.

I do better with bottom-up worldbuilding than top-down. But for some reason, science fiction world building feels like it MUST be done top-down. Top-down is a LOT more work as you have to make EVERYTHING!

The trick is to come up with a scenario, like a one-shot for a convention, then build off of that.

The two Metamorphosis Alpha [Affiliate Link] campaigns I ran were playtesting my first convention game and the players wanted more.

Pick the type of science fiction game you want to run. It can be different from the one you want to play. It has to be something that sparks your interest. It can be a limited campaign of say ten sessions, or it could be open ended and go until you and the players are ready for something else. It can even be set aside while you play instead of run a game.

Finding players is hard. However, Roll20 and other table top programs allow you to find players from all over. I started with Roll20 as I couldn’t find a local group. If I were to advertise that I was starting a new campaign of a certain game, I’m sure I’d get lots of interest. The trick is to find players that are the right match for you.

So Why Don’t I Run More Science Fiction Games?

Time and energy. I have lots of ideas for games I want to run. I want to run a Western campaign, a science fiction campaign . . . . However, I only have time and energy to run one campaign. I play in another. I have plans to start a Friday night AD&D [Affiliate Link] campaign, but I never have time to put the finishing touches on it. Plus, I want to stay regular with my podcast, my PDFs [Affiliate Link], my YouTube, and publish my card game.

Plus, I have this blog. It took an hour to do the first draft and will take another 20-30 minutes to add all the links and indicate that they are Affiliate Links.

I’m not independently wealthy, so I have a day job that eats up most of my waking hours during the week. So all the other things I need to do, like housecleaning, cooking, mowing or snow removal, laundry, exercising, etc. all take away from my time for games and talking about games.

This is the reason I try to run the other game genres at conventions. That seems to feed the itch others have to play something else. The hard part is the initial idea for a one shot. Once I have that, the rest is easy.

What’s The Solution?

As with most things in RPGs if you really want to play a certain RPG or a certain genre, you have to run it. Often showing others how fun it can be encourages them to think outside the box. The RPG one starts with is probably the one you most identify with and will play and run the most. Sort of like the first Doctor Who episode you watch determines the “real” or “only” Doctor to you – Tom Baker.

You run the risk of being THE GM for that RPG.

If you only want to play, then look on the looking for players on Roll20 or other online table top.

Other Ideas?

If anyone has any other ideas to get more science fiction or other genres being actively played, please comment below.

RPGs

Dragon Name Generator

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I just uploaded my twenty-first PDF to DriveThruRPG: Dragon Name Generator [Affiliate Link]. It has been almost exactly a year since I released my last new PDF.

This PDF is $1.00, but the first 100 customers with a prior purchase that allow DriverThruRPG to email them have a 50% discount coupon link.

I created a table that puts together an initial consonant, a middle syllable, and an ending syllable. A roll of d8, d10, and d20 can generate a name. This creates names that to me sounds like the name of a dragon.

In addition, I have links in the PDF to a Google Sheet that will do the random generation, and a link to a zip file for a Windows PowerShell script.

I have ideas of related things to expand this PDF, such as a table of “Why Is the Dragon Out & About?”

What other kinds of things do you want to know about a dragon? I won’t be duplicating treasure generation, since that is covered by most rulesets.

RPGs

Non-Combat Solutions

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I’ve grown tired of combat. I prepare scenarios and some of them beg for combat, such as a hungry animal or ravenous monster. However, others don’t necessarily require combat leading to the wounding or death of an opponent.

The XP for monsters is typically viewed as killing, but can include avoiding a fight, tricking, distraction, etc.

As a GM, I am always open to creative solutions from my players. Quite often, they come up with ideas that never occurred to me. Partly because I don’t memorize all their character’s abilities and especially don’t memorize what spells they have memorized. Players often miss what I think is a good solution, like those I think may be a possible obvious option. But then that is a trap for all GMs since we have all the information.

I let the players dictate what they think a solution is. The more complex their plan, and I don’t have to do anything to make it fail. Simple and straightforward plans may succeed automatically. Some may have a chance of failure, so I may have some sort of dice roll.

I can challenge my players in combat situations with large numbers, giving tough creatures maximum hit points, magic items, environmental settings, and the like. However, no matter how much I challenge players in combat, there has only been one combat that I was rolling high and they were rolling low. That was the closest I’ve come to a TPK in 40 years.

I don’t want to kill the characters, but I want my monsters to last longer and be more feared. But I also don’t want to continue having one or more combats every session. I can control part of that, so as GM I need to both lead by example and present other options to players.

There is a big push in RPGs to get away from race as a trope and some races being all bad or all good. I agree with that and prefer ancestry or kin vs. the term race since the word is loaded with so much historical misuse.

Related to that is combat and killing. I don’t see as big a deal made about combat & killing. There are complaints about trophy hunting in the real world, but many seem to have no issue with it in a game. I’m a long time gamer and don’t have problems knocking down plastic soldiers, defeating cardboard chits in a board game, or killing imaginary beings and creatures in an RPG. I’ve just grown tired of the sameness of it.

One option to dissuade the rush to combat is to make it much more lethal. More likely one shot or one hit death would make players think before risking their character. Removing a growing pool of hit points or re-thinking them is part of that. I shared a bit of how I envision that in this article and a follow up article.

The solution requires both the GM and the players.

I Need A Checklist

What I really want is a general list of ways that players can achieve a goal without ALWAYS fighting.

Some examples of avoiding a fight that are clearly baked into the rules from day one:

  • Reaction Checks
  • Charm Spells
  • Picking Locks & Picking Pockets
  • Evading Pursuit/Fleeing
  • Hiding
  • Sneaking
  • Dropping or Offering Food
  • Trade
  • Bribes/Protection Money
  • Traps
  • Tricks

Usually, a failure on one of these then leads to combat. Those things don’t bother me as much as assume combat.

I need to stop and remind myself to verify whether I am assuming combat and how much encounter distance influences whether there is a fight.

But What About Grappling?

Grappling is still combat.

Same with tranquilizer darts, and the like that require a “combat light” mode.

Other Means:

The prior list includes the below list. In the following, I am trying to distill it down to the major varieties of non-combat options. Specific options should be able to fit in one or more of them.

  • Lures, Diversions, & Tricks
    • This can include food, PCs or NPCs as bait/distraction, shiny baubles, fake larger force or fake bigger monster, etc.
  • Communication, Bargaining, Trade
    • There are many ways to influence a reaction roll, or do better on a second check.
  • Stealth
    • Can be either natural or magical. Be careful & be sneaky.
  • Information
    • Either by recon of the location to learn how to avoid a fight, or seeking a source of information whether a person or book.
  • Traps
    • Can be non-lethal to occupy or divert the monster or force guarding the item. Knock out gas is an option.
  • GMs can devise obstacles that are not NPCs or monsters.
  • What are other non-combat means of overcoming a challenge without combat?

What Is The Item of Value or Importance?

The item can be:

  • A person, such as a prisoner or someone who is lost or disappeared, or some mysterious NPC or group.
  • Information in a book, written on a wall, or in some other item whether magical or technological, clues to a mystery, or a secret.
  • Something valuable, whether gold & gems, or magic & technology, or anything relatively portable with value.
  • What other categories are there for “objects” adventurers might seek?

It’s Probably Been Done Before

I’m sure there are probably one or more RPGs that already have a long history of specific non-combat solutions. I am not aware of them.

I’m interested in the names of any such games and where to find them. If they are out of print and there is no affordable legal PDF available, a non-infringing summary of the mechanics or lists of options would be good. (One cannot copyright a game, but the expression of the rules can be copyrighted.)

I’m also interested in your experience with these rules and if there are mechanics how portable are they across various RPGs. Or are they just lists or tables with options for non-combat encounters and scenarios?

Have you crafted your own mechanics, lists, or tables to help with session prep and worldbuilding? I like to know about them.

RPGs

Magical Protections

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A few weeks ago in my AD&D campaign, an NPC used a scroll of Protection From Magic. This is a very powerful scroll and is easy to mis-adjudicate in play. This was the first time I had encountered this scroll in play either as a player or DM. As usual, one learns best by doing, and I did some follow up research after the session on similar spells and effects to better understand it.

A scroll of Protection From Magic negates all active spells, and has a 50% chance to remove the magic from permanent magic items. This even applies to magic the user of the scroll possesses, with a 5 foot radius.

Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Globe of Invulnerability are one way areas of magical protection. The caster can cast spells and spell effects out of these spheres of protection, but spells of the stated levels cannot affect the caster.

Anti-Magic Shell stops the function of all magic even that of the caster. Breath weapons, gaze and voice attacks, magic items, and spells. Magic weapons still fork as normal weapons within the shell. It is only the bonus to hit and damage and any other magic effect that is blocked. It blocks charmed, conjured, and summoned creatures from entering.

The DMG [Affiliate Link] has a note that creatures on their home plane would be considered normal creatures.

Dispel Magic would be useless against Anti-Magic Shell. Brute force or waiting for the minimum 2 hours for the spell to cease. A 6th level spell requires at least a 12th level magic-user, and this spell lasts 1 turn per level, a turn being 10 minutes.

I supposed the DM can allow Dispel Magic and other spells to counteract the Anti-Magic Shell. What happens when two casters, either friends or foes each have an active Anti-Magic Shell?

I see the options as being:

  • Nothing
  • Cancel each other out while their areas of effect overlap.
  • Double Effect? (Not sure how that’d work.)
  • Reduce effect? (Not sure how that’d work.)
  • Determine difference in caster level and adjudicate similar to Dispel Magic
  • Each caster has to roll a save vs. magic for their Anti-Magic Shell to survive interacting with another Anti-Magic Shell.
  • Something unexpected happens like a rift in space time and all within 30 feet have to make a save or get sucked in.
    • Many variations on the unexpected could require a table to roll on what happens.

Creatures

Beholder’s Central Eye – This creature’s large, central eye has an Anti-Magic Ray. In the first edition Monster Manual [Affiliate Link], it does not specify how this works. In practice, I think all assume it removes the magic from any item in the path of this ray. This is why beholders are so feared.

Beholders first appeared in the OD&D Greyhawk Supplement with the same simple description of what the large, central eye does, but no explanation to help a DM adjudicate it.

The effects logically would be like the spell of the same name, but the duration or a ray is instantaneous. So permanent magic items would be nerfed for the round they were in the ray, is how I would interpret it.

Other Types Of Protection From Magic

My past article, Magical Protections in AD&D, was the third part in a series relating to undead in AD&D, and thus was focused on protections from Undead that included summoned creatures.

RPGs

Helping Others During Isolation & Quarantine

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Last night (March 18, 2020), I mentioned to my patrons on Patreon, that I am not dependent upon their backing. I suggested that they consider backing the Patreons of creatives who rely on their Patreons to pay their bills. I then shared that across my social media.

I also mentioned that I had gotten too wrapped up in trying to keep up with what is going on with COVID-19. It was a huge, distracting time sink. It also fouled my mood. I need to step away from that.

[My prostate cancer diagnosis derailed my focus and I never published this way back in the early weeks of the pandemic. Since the pandemic isn’t over, it isn’t too late to share these thoughts. I’m not sure I’ll do anything with my list unless a lot of people indicate an interest in a certain topic.]

What Can I Do?

As I thought more about it, ideas of what else I can do to help more broadly than boosting my patronage of a few Patreons. I thought of all the things I know how to do that can add some variety to what I can share. As I thought, one other thing that occured to me was that I should challenge others to make their own lists of things they can share.

This is not limited to parlor games, board games, and Table Top RPGs. I’ve seen my YouTube channel have a huge increase in people suddenly searching for help getting started with Roll20 so their in person group can still play. I’ve had people seek assistance getting started so they can prep for their Virtual Gary Con games.

I will still talk about games on the blog, podcast, YouTube & Twitch channels. But I want to do more. So I am sharing my list of things I’ll list to talk about, and will share if there is interest.

There won’t be soup lines in this one, so those who have will need to share.

I encourage all tiny Patreons to encourage their followers to go support the Patreons of creators who rely on their Patreon to pay the bills.

My List

I know how to do a lot of different things and have some skills that some may want to know about.

  • The obvious RPG & Gaming stuff.
  • Sharing how to use Roll20 & other VTTs and resources to game online.
  • Opening up a new online game for new players. By that, I mean new players looking to learn how to play RPGs.
  • I’m leaning towards releasing the card game to both DriveThruCards [Affiliate Link] and GameCrafter with the free art to get it out. I don’t have the mental and emotional bandwidth to run a Kickstarter during a pandemic. I can do a Kickstarter later with the new art. This will give my artist more time to produce it.
  • Suggest little things we can do to assist and encourage one another.
  • Share my knowledge & experience with a world ill prepared for everyone staying home.
    • How to cook. I’ve got a back burner project that was a joke in college, but with serious practicality, The Bachelor’s Guide To Home Cooking. My parents taught me how to cook. I may have some tips others will find helpful.
    • How to clean. It’s amazing how many don’t seem to know how to do this.
    • How to do laundry. Maybe not, but some adults don’t know how to do this.
    • I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT way back when. All my licenses and certifications are long expired. I don’t have many good stories.
    • Life hacks. I don’t have many, but some may find them helpful.
  • Be a listening ear on a live stream. It’s amazing how many need someone to listen. Now more than ever as we are isolated, or confined with family or roommates, we need a variety of others.
  • I have a BA in History. I focused on the ancient near east, the Greco Roman period, middle ages, and Europe up to WWII. I’ve also studied colonial North America, the American Revolution, Civil War, and westward expansion.
  • Genealogy. I find it fascinating to identify when and where my ancestors were in a given time frame and relate that to historic events. I started a genealogy blog several years ago, and did the A to Z blogging challenge on that blog and this blog simultaneously.
  • I have had many comments on the sound of my voice. Many find it soothing. I have ideas to go along with that.
    • Reading a public domain short story or poetry. Maybe even something I’ve written.
    • Hypnosis or a Calming Voice. (No, I’m not starting an ASMR channel.)

What Can All Of Us Do?

-OR-

What can I do to help others in an isolation or quarantine scenario?

  • I suggest we all make a list of what we can do.
  • Order something for your elderly, disabled, or poor neighbors from an online retailer or restaurant, since you can’t go there in person.
  • Leave a note of gratitude for the mail carriers and delivery people.
  • Cheer on the healthcare, janitorial, and sanitation workers you know. Not just the ones among your family and friends.
  • Be kind to those who work in retail. Especially those at grocery stores.
  • Keep your house clean and organized to maximize the living space and minimize the things you have to worry about.
  • The sudden inability to do things is a lesson that we should always do things at the time they are needed. Don’t put off the laundry, if you use a laundry mat. Don’t put off grocery shopping because you hate it. Don’t put off visiting your aging relatives as you never know when you’ll see them again.
  • Take this time to figure out what is truly important to you.
  • If you are out of work and money is tight or non-existent, don’t be too proud to share your need. I’m sure food banks, houses of worship, and other non-profits will soon be out of resources until the supply chain catches up.
  • If you are blessed with a surplus of cash or other resources, share as you are able.
  • If you’re worried about the long-term food situation, now is the perfect time to be planning a garden. You can lay out cardboard in your yard to kill off the grass to make it easier to work it. Research methods that take little water. There’s a lot of good stuff on YouTube.

RPGs

Hopefully Not My Penultimate Post

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This is hilarious. I went to all the trouble to write this post and I managed to not post it before I went in for surgery back in August, 2020. I intended to record a companion podcast episode, but didn’t manage that either. I’m still doing great and slowly improving. I decided to publish this now as these sentiments still hold true. The following is as I should have published it.

Tomorrow I go in for surgery for prostate cancer. My personal plan and desire it to wake up after 4 hours of surgery in discomfort from multiple incisions from laparoscopic robotic surgery. I then plan to take a couple weeks off work and other activities to rest and heal up so I can keep running, playing, and making RPG stuff.

I’m a planner, so I have drafted “My Last Post.” I hope it’s something that will gather dust in my long list of unpublished blog posts and won’t be needed for many years, hopefully decades from now.

I just want you all to know that I have enjoyed the discussions, meeting at conventions, and of course, all the games.

I like being alive and experiencing life, so I will be very disappointed if my run ends so soon. I really want to see how this whole pandemic thing plays out. I also want to get my card game out. I flubbed on the test decks I made. I could have my son make those live, and just live with the results. I failed to overcome the existential and emotional inertia the lock down and news of having cancer hit me with. That’s really my one regret.

I appreciate all of you.

Be nice, love and respect one another, even if you’re different. How boring would RPGs be if there were only one choice for PCs, only one die to roll, only one type of player, and only one RPG.

May the gatekeepers slam their dicks in their gate and lose the key. Remember, their sad rickety gate is easy to just walk around. They are so focused on making you acknowledge their power over this sad gate, that they forget you can just walk around and avoid their nonsense.

Don’t give up the fight for all to have their rights respected and be treated equally. May all those who love to spew hate, choke on it instead and thus fall silent.

I’ll share on social media as soon as I’m able. Until then, no news is good news. Game on!