Last week I ordered two sets of Who Knew? dice by Koplow Games, the black with white numbers[Amazon Affiliate link] and the red with white numbers[Amazon Affiliate link]. This is in time to game in the next session of +Roy Snyder’s DCC game.
I also ordered a d12 Body Parts die, officially known as a d12 28mm Critical Hits Location Body Hit Dice[Aff link]. Each right/left body part is not quite on the opposite side of the dice from each other, i.e. Right Arm/Left Arm. The locations are Right Arm, Left Arm, Head, Stomach, Left Leg, Right Leg, Right Hand, Left Hand, Chest, Full Body, Left Foot, and Right Foot. One can easily use a table with a d12, but this dice is the table! I don’t do critical hits in my game, but I am sure I can find a use for it. Some ideas: What part of a statue is the trigger for a trap, or to open a door, or release a treasure? What part is stung by a giant insect? What body part touched the mold/fungus/slime/acid/poison/undead? What body part has the king’s birthmark? I am sure there is probably some place that prints custom dice. One could easily get a set of dice printed with parts of a table for a roll all the dice table without needing a separate table.
The Koplow dice seem rounded, much like Chessex dice. The d30’s rolled like crazy, but not quite as bad as a d20 from back in 1978 that is so chipped it’s almost a sphere. Yes, I’m a Game Science fan.
The Koplow d3, d5 and d7 are actually doulbe the number of sides, just repeating after 1-3, 1-5 and 1-7. The d6’s are numbered 1-3 twice, the d5’s are actually d10’s numbered 1-5 twice, and the d7’s are really d14’s numbered 1-7 twice. There is no d14. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the d7 and d14 are the only dice that can’t be simulated with a combination of other standard RPG dice. So roll a control die with the d7 if you need a d14. I must have mis-read when I ordered, I thought there was a d14 in the package.
I like the black with white numbers. I would use the red ones on my mom’s birthday, since red was her favorite color. I already wear red on her birthday.
I read a review on another dice set a few days after I ordered this shipment from Amazon, so I have another package of dice coming in a few days, so look for a few words and pictures.
Every gamer likes dice pron, right?
OpeningKoplow PackagesKoplow SetsBlackRedd12 Body Parts
Way back in the day we made mix tapes of Science Fiction and Fantasy movies and TV shows themes. Usually the “benign” songs were at the front of the tape, and the more energetic would come on at a tense moment in the game, or when we were in a fight.
Battle of the Mutara Nebula from Wrath of Khan, the “planet eater” theme from Star Trek TOS (That same theme was used in many episodes, I am not sure what its correct name is.), Aliens, Star Wars, classical music such as Mars by Holst. I am not a fan of metal music, so a lot of other players I have read about online, feel that metal is the right kind of mood music. That is true for them, for me, my tastes lies in classical style music. As always, Rule (-1): “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
Recently I ran across Tabletop Audio, he also has a Google Plus page. He has free downloadable audio background sounds and music, that can also be played directly on his site. These would be great for an online game, if you had the bandwidth, or for an in-person game if you had a decent sound system. He also has a Patreon and a PayPal donate button. He also has something called Flattr, that I had never heard of, but is another way to make donations to content creators.
The way I keep buying new dice, books, and so forth, I am not able to add a donation at this time, but soon. I am going to be working from home soon, as they decided to close our office of three employees. Once I start seeing the savings in gasoline, I can afford a bit here and there for content creators I admire and more importantly, for whom I use their stuff.
In my campaign, AD&D, I have made the Player’s Handbook available, but the players don’t read it, except for spells. I don’t make the other manuals available.
They have a lot more fun with the surprise of some strange monster they can’t seem to kill, a troll, and being scared that zombie bites make you a zombie.
For my players, they just have fun exploring the world I created and piecing things together. They make much different decisions than someone who has memorized all the manuals.
Unlike back in the day when RPGs were new and we read everything that got into our hands, I don’t think the younger set like to sit and just read rules.
The assumptions and discussion of plans that my players is funny based on their assumptions and limited knowledge of the world and the rules. As the DM who knows the main points of the rules, at least the ones I use, and has a lot of gaming experience, I get as much entertainment out of watching them decide whether they should panic and run, or fight. I found their reactions to a troll and zombies hilarious.
One does not need to know the rules or have a copy of them to play in an RPG. For example, I played DCC for the first time at Marmalade Dog 20. I relied on others for specific rules, but because it was a fantasy RPG, I had the basic idea of how to run a character.
I have played RPGs from a variety of genres, and once read and knew the rules to most of the ones I player. I never had Traveler, but played it a few times. I think if someone has the basic idea that RPGs is make believe with rules and a referee, one can get by with the minimal understanding of how the stats, any stats checks, and combat works. Some games I have not played are very rules heavy, and without minute knowledge of all the special cases, exceptions, etc. one cannot get the most out of their character. That is why I think rules that don’t require hours to create a character or hours to run a simple combat are best. Get started playing sooner and have more fun.
Board games are the one area where I think players need to read the rules. Back in 9th grade I played a WWII board game that had the Maginot and Siegfried Lines on the map. I don’t recall the name of the game. I had heard of the Maginot Line, but not the Siegfried Line, and my friend who had read and mastered the rules knew about the Siegfried Line. I did not put any troops in the Siegfried Line, in our rush to play. I had not even read the rules. The Germans lost WWII because the French took them out soon after the invasion of Poland. So games where you get your clock cleaned if you haven’t read the rules, yes, you should read the rules. Since most board games don’t have referees, this means each player has to look out for his own interests.
Except for massively complex rules or a poor DM that wants to rack up character deaths, and never says, “Are you sure?” Players don’t need to read the rules.
How many new players would show up if they had to read 100+ pages of rules before they sat down a the table? What if the rules read to them in a way that is so confusing and put them to sleep? Would they still want to come play? I think the best way to introduce someone to the game is to have them jump in feet first like into a cold swimming pool. It may be a shock, but you get to the point, swimming much faster than if you take forever inching your way forward. Make the only boring part the character generation, but even that can be spiced up.
My rule (-1) – “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
This is so true! Other DMs tell me about stuff like this, I have read about it on many RPG blogs and forums, and I have experienced it from play as both a player, and a DM.
In my game with my sons and the girlfriend of my oldest son, they take one thing an NPC they trust says and go with it. It is funny.They make all these big plans, and one little thing turns it on a dime.
I laughed hard when I saw this image because it is so very true!
Back in the mid to late 80’s I bought a quad ruled desk pad from an office supply store. That was back when desk pads and pen and paper were still the mainstay of business. I have only one sheet from that desk pad that holds the map to the town for Griswald, the longest running character I have played, who is now, essentially retired from play.
I don’t know what happened to the rest of the pad. I used it for mapping out a Boot Hill area, and such things. I think that pad may have been one of the things I lost in the water leak incident, but I don’t recall.
I have in the last few years tried to find such a pad in stock at an office supply store, but no go. I would have to special order or order online. If you search for quad ruled desk pad you will find them. They run a little under $20 each.
I like using them to map out large cities. I am a visual person and like to be able to see them. In my campaign, there are ten ancient cities of a fallen empire. I have taped together 8.5 x 11 quad ruled graph paper for a rough map of the one closest to the action of the current group of players. Having a bigger single sheet would simplify things and make it easier to fold up and get out of the way.
I also like he idea of using them for a megadungeon. Who doesn’t want to design a megadungeon? I think I started to do so way back in the day, but it is lost material.
This all comes to mind as I ran across Peter Regan’s most recent Kickstarter for a Dungeon Desk Pad, over at Oublette Magazine. It is an interesting idea. I am trying to avoid new Kickstarters for the financial responsibility end of it, but man is this one hard to resist. Personally, I prefer a full-size desk pad of grids, but this idea is interesting. My desk pad pages are 16 inches by 22 inches, slightly smaller than the A2 standard. The Dungeon Desk Pads are 16.53 inches by 11.69 inches, which is the A3 standard. The other issue is that Peter is UK based so overseas shipping adds to costs, etc. So far, I have only backed US-based Kickstarters, mainly because I have not had interest in others that were not based in the US. I know that Peter has a good track record, thus hitting the funding goal, and stretch goals are reasonable and fit with the base project.
I was also intrigued by an article that Peter shared that of Ian Livingstone of Games Workshop [former link: http://unpluggedgames.co.uk/2015/02/13/games-workshop-the-inside-story-part-one/] still has his first dungeon on a desk pad on his desk. You can save this photo and zoom in to be able to read the room descriptions. It would be easy to use this for a quick dungeon for your next session.
Ian Livingstone Deskpad Dungeon
This motivated me to get the rough map of Helmsdale, Griswald’s town, and share it here. The quick story on this town. My brother, Robert,the DM determined that for Griswald to be a half-elf, it made sense for the human to come from a place near the Elven Kingdom. The hillsmen in his campaign are based on the Scottish clans. They live in a series of hills called Carbaen Moor. Griswald is a Fighter/Cleric/Magic-User and we rolled his age. I believe 45 years old, so the backstory is that the hillsmen had a civil war where the Buchanan Clan Kicked the Stewarts out of their territory and became king. They did not maintain control of the Stewart territory so it became infested with Orcs and worse.
Griswald’s father was a duke, and as far as Griswald knew, he was the true heir to the throne. He later learned that the grandson of the king and the grandsons of the dukes higher in precedence had their own band of outlaws called the Red Arrows. They had red fletchings (feathers) on their arrows. Griswald joined up with them, and through creative use of magic and bluff developed a reputation beyond their actual abilities. Tameus, the true king, decided it was time for war. Through lots of favors owed and other factors and army big enough to challenge the Buchanan’s was raised, and while outnumbered by the Buchanans, magic and Elven cavalry defeated them. After reclaiming the kingdom, there was a massive earthquake that devastated most of the kingdom and the old Stewart lands. Since the orc tribes in the Stewart lands bordering the former Buchanan lands were hurt as bad as the humans, Griswald decided to take back his ancestral lands. With the help of a small force of mercenaries and a PC wizard and his own henchmen – two fighters and three magic users, the orcs where driven out.
The town is in a valley of a ring of hills. It has a ditch 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The earthquake reduced the walls. Griswald rebuilt a smaller town with an Elven temple, the price of the Elven troops. This works for Griswald as he is a cleric of the Elven moon diety, Isil-nar. There is also the ducal palace and homes for troops and workers and farmers. Outside the walls is an inn, The Merchant’s Delight. The merchants like Griswald, since he does not tax them as heavily as the orcs. He also built a gatehouse at the only way across the ditch.
The two biggest orc tribes were not hurt by the earthquake, and were consolidating their control over the remnants of the orc tribes Griswald had not yet eliminated. These tribes did not like this upstart half elf moving in, so they moved to invade and take him out. Griswald has a crystal ball so he looked for the leaders of the invaders and took Alim, his highest level magic user henchman to teleport to these troops on the march to take them out. While the two most powerful magic users in town, Griswald 10th fighter/10th cleric/11th magic user and Alim, 10th level magic user were gone, the other orc tribe got past the wall across the valley to the south and surrounded the town. Griswald and Alim mangled the rear guard of the larger force and were gone until morning. This was put on hold for 15 years, until we made it work to finish the scenario. Robert wanted to resolve it so the other players would know what happened, as they are ten or more game years past this point in time.
The orcs surrounding the town set up a catapult and started battering the walls. They also attacked the gatehouse with 50 men that were the troops of Logan, a PC who was killed, but the men stayed with Griswald. The gatehouse was cut off from the rest of town and the 30 or so cavalry on hand tried to get through, but were routed and nearly all of them were killed. The archers on the walls of town made long range shots at the orcs around the gatehouse, and nearly exhausted all the available arrows. The gatehouse fell. The high priest of the temple cast insect plague in the area around the catapult to delay the battering. By the next morning the high priest rested and relearned insect plague and cast it again. Somewhere in here, we had a two year delay of getting together to wrap it up, but we finally finished it.
Finally when the time line in town caught up to them, Griswald and Alim read teleport from their travelling spell books and returned to the palace. Griswald and Alim had hardly any spells or scrolls left, but as a fighter with protection from normal missiles, Griswald could mount the walls and fight off the invaders. Finally enough orcs were killed that their morale broke. I don’t know if I ever got a full count of the number of dead orcs, but the image in my mind is of The Battle of Roake’s Drift from the movie Zulu. Thankfully, it was not The Battle of Islandawana.
On this map each square = 40 feet. I found that the width of the squares is the same as the distance between the lines on a standard 3 x 5 index card. Index cards were handy for measuring ranges in the battle. We used a few miniatures, but was mostly scribbles on the map.
Every time an orc was killed we yelled, “Oh no! They got Grignak!” The inspiration for Grignak comes from Galaxy Quest.
First the map of the “north” of my brother’s campaign. This is one half of a TSR hex mapping paper, with the Willingham cover. The other half is the “south”. Only one player has been off this map. It is 10 mile hexes. This is a photocopy. I did the coloring. Robert used the photocopier to enlarge and zoom in in the following images. These are pictures and not scans. You still get a hint of my brother’s artistic talent here.
The Stewart Lands shows the fiefs of the various Stewart Dukes.
The North
Carbaen Moor
Stewart Lands
Griswald’s Hex
Below shows the ring of hills with an opening in the hills to the North West and South. The rectangle in the center is where the town goes.
Detail Griswald’s Lands
The post it note was added to complete the circle for the area of effect of insect plague. That spell is one of the ultimate battlefield spells if you can buy a high priest ten minutes (one turn) to cast it.
This is in pencil on 20+ year old paper with poor lighting.
Helmsdale
Inner Town
Insect Plague
I am curious if there are any other desk pad sized maps of towns, dungeons, space ships, etc. That would be an interesting gallery.
Here’s another alliteration post with a specific bent.
Dingoes & Didgeridoos
Ducks & Duckponds (That’s a daffy idea….)
Djinnis & Deserts (I wish there wasn’t so much sand!)
Debutantes & Desserts (Sweet topic, perhaps a bit salacious.)
Dithering & Digressing (This describes most parties trying to make a decision….)
Detectives & Deductions (As opposed to Investigators & Investigations.)
Dynamos & Dynamite (That’s a powerful combination. That’s a bad pun if you know the Greek root word….)
Dead & [Un]Dead (Yes, I cheated, it’s an exercise in creativity. How well can you do without a Thesaurus?)
Death & Damnation (Adventure in the afterlife? Sounds too hot for my taste.)
I got interrupted several times on one more that I thought would be cool, and the interruptions came just as I had the idea and before I could make a note of it. If I can remember what it was, I’ll add it. Since the string of interruptions won’t stop, I’ll call this enough….
I wrote about Jeff Perren’s daughter having a campaign [link broken: http://www.gofundme.com/l5d1qg] for a stair lift to move him out of assisted living and into her home back on January 31st.
In less than a week it met and exceeded the $6,000 goal.
There are still donations trickling in. I am sure with taxes, they will need at least 30% beyond the goal, unless they baked that into their estimate.
Adam goes into details about its origins and how it has worked in actual play from the GM side.
All I can say it, it is a blast and keeps one on their toes and revving up their off the wall ideas. After two sessions at Marmalade Dog, my character still doesn’t have hit points because he was never hit. I can imagine that it will be a nail biter if I play that character again and have to roll HP after being hit in combat.
I think that style of play works well for a con, and for the right group of regulars it could be a lot of fun. In a con game, it allows one to get up and running with a character quickly that one is more invested in than a pre-gen passed out by the GM.
As I mentioned before, Adam and I talked about this, and a GM with mastery of the rules, or a simple set of rules, like Delving Deeper, by +Simon Bull would best facilitate this style of play.
Adam and some of his long time friends and others joined in on my first time as a DM for a con. They were nice and didn’t get too crazy. I am thankful that they restrained themselves, for I think I would have easily been in the deep end of the pool with concrete galoshes if that’s they way they wanted it. That would not have been a bad thing. My reactions to that would have been worth the price of admission to everyone else. I am sure that I would have eventually recovered.
We had a blast in Adam’s DCC sessions, and I was reminded of the no-holds-barred craziness of the way we played in high school, oh so many decades ago. That “What is a box?/We don’t need no stinkin’ boxes.” style of play is an eleven on the dial. It’s on par with firing off a full magazine of a Thompson or a Sten gun; fun, exciting, and over way too soon!
I would gladly play in Adam’s DCC Ur-Hadad and with that crew in any other RPG.
Koplow is a company that only sells to retailers, so you have to order from your FLGS or online.
My FLGS only has Chessex dice, and last time I checked did not have any d30’s, so I won’t go looking for d3, d5, d7, d14, d16 or d24 from them. I did a Google search for “koplow who knew dice” and found some available on Amazon. I prefer to order locally, but I resorted to online for this.
I ordered a black[Amazon Affiliate link] and a red set[Amazon Affiliate link] of the Who Knew Dice and a body parts die to qualify for free shipping. I should get them well in advance of my next time at Roy Snyder’s every other Sunday DCC game.
I would like to see a full set of dice d4 to d30 and d% including 3d6 so they all look like they go together. If there’s anyone in the RPG industry, whether manuals, supplements, or dice – a full set of all such dice would be valuable. I know that I am not the only one who would buy them.
I really like Game Science dice and if they ever have a full set in stock, I would buy it.
Do I need to become an online dice retailer to sell full sets of dice? IF I could make enough to make it worth the hassle, I would consider it. Barring the finances needed up front to make that work, nearly anyone could do it. Perhaps there are others out there already doing that. I would prefer to support gamers serving gamers rather than a faceless corporation.
