It’s approaching 200 years since the founding of three communities in Missouri, since it is also 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo, on June 18. I assume these three towns were founded or named not long after the battle. I wonder if any other groupings of 3 communities happened after that battle.
One time, my mom related how she was talking with her father’s aunt Elsie, and were talking about Wellington, MO. When my mom asked where it was, Elsie replied, “Between Napoleon and Waterloo.” My mom broke out laughing to an unamused blank stare.
Napoleon and 600 troops escaped Elba on February 26, 1815, and landed on the south coast of France on March 1, 1815. Napoleon entered Paris on March 20, 1815, which marked the beginning of the Hundred Days, which were actually 111 days, that ended July 8, 1815.
I want to break out my Avalon Hill board game, Waterloo. I haven’t played it in decades. My brother, Robert, and I played somewhat frequently, back in the 80’s, and took turns as the French or the Allies, and were tied at who won as each side.
The movie, Waterloo, with Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, and Orson Welles is an interesting look and details many of the major events of the battle. I’m in the mood to watch it again. I haven’t tried very hard, but I’m not finding this movie online in one complete piece that I can watch in one go. I am considering buying a copy on DVD, if they are available. {Yikes! $52.00 on Amazon, or $21.00 for a used one! I’m not sure I want to watch it that badly! ]
Here is an interesting article on a diorama built in the 1970’s and restored in time for the 200th anniversary.
I was 11, almost 12 on July 4th, 1976. The Bicentennial was a big deal, and in 5th grade we had a unit on the American Revolution. I’ll be a few months shy of 51 in June. Thinking about the 39 years since 1976 and how much has happened, helps put in perspective how much happened between 1776 and 1815. February marked the 200th anniversary of the end of the War of 1812. Some have argued that if not for the British being tied up with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, that the young American Republic would have once again been a colony of Britain. Speculative fiction and setting an RPG in such a situation could be interesting.
Way back in college, I wrote a paper about how Europe would be much different had Napoleon not risen to power. Napoleon’s actions led to the end of the Holy Roman Empire and the rise of Austria-Hungary. The rest of the German states were consolidated into far fewer separate countries, which simplified the rise of Prussian power and influence, and German unification in the 1870’s. The list of such things is a long one. One can easily see how the actions of The Congress of Vienna helped set the stage for events that would lead to WWI, and 100 years later the incomplete resolution of WWI leading to WWII. The Cold War after WWII has lead to the current problems in Europe, and the potential powder keg of Ukraine, which is 100 years after WWI. Three, four, or five generations is all it takes for major events to seem to “repeat” themselves.
In any RPG setting, one can see how the short-lived humans can muck things up by not remembering lessons from the past. In the lead up to WWI they had telegraph, telephone, trans Atlantic cables, and early radio for communication; and the lag time of getting news out was hours or less, and still things escalated. In a fantasy setting, there might be long lived gnomes, dwarves, and elves, but humans are wont to ignore the wisdom of elders.
If the races that were involved in issues 100 years ago are still represented by living eyewitnesses, it does not stop us from ignoring it. Some groups led by wise rulers, might listen, but there could be all sorts of reasons to ignore such advice. While real history has lots of complex issues involved, there is still a tendency to forget or ignore similar issues in the past, and familiar patterns emerge. One need not detail lots of historical events, but develop a general series of wars, invasions, and other disagreements that ebb and flow in similar patterns over the ages. Mix in how humanoids and demi-humans affect the mix, and you can come up with your own interesting blend that explains why your world is the way it is.
Other posts touching on my use of the board game Waterloo: No.1, No. 2.
I had a package in the mail on Friday, May 8th. I had forgotten that I ordered the April Mythoard. However, I had a feeling that there was something that should be coming in.
April 2015 Mythoard
I had not planned to get it, but when I saw that it contained the latest edition of Oubliette #9, I was curious. I had read other positive comments about it, and knew that I would get some other cool goodies along with it, so I took the plunge.
Squarehex Products
Along with Oubliette #9 are several other goodies from Squarehex. There is a book mark with large squares on one side and the other side contains large squares with dungeon map symbols. There are two business card sized items. One is blank on one side, and the other side had hexes with outdoor map symbols. The other small card has dungeon map symbols that are black and the other side has the same symbols in gray with labels to explain them. I am not sure if the purpose of these symbols is to give you an example of what such symbols “should” or might look like, or if you are supposed to put them under your hex paper to help you draw a very neat map.
There is a folded piece of graph paper the same size as the Oubliette issue with the grid on the outside. The inside of the graph paper has the OGL license. I wonder if it it the innermost page of the zine, and did not get stapled. Finally, there is a small pad of 7 mm hex paper. The pad it not as wide as a business card, and it is about as tall as two business cards top to bottom. It is so small that it is for a very small area and it well suited to a micro map.
I expected the Oubliette zine to be a full page folded over, instead it is about a half page folded over. The introduction indicates that this is not the usual size. It is a slick card stock cover with click heavy weight interior pages. It is 20 pages counting the back cover, which is a table for generating hit points of creatures from 1/2 HD to 2 HD using a roll of one or more d20’s. Six pages are a mini adventure, two pages with four new spells. two pages on a variation on familiars, four new magic boots, a new monster, and second mini adventure of three pages. While not every idea will be used by everyone, there is a lot in these few pages.
Awful Good Games has a booklet that is zine sized, i.e. half a page folded over. It is a module of 31 pages. It has a slick card stock cover and slick heavy paper for the pages. The text is black over light grey. It is legible as long as the slick paper does not have any glare. Older eyes with bifocals can have trouble with this. If you avoid glare on the page, unless your eyes are worse than mine, you will be able to read it.
Lichfield – by Awful Good Games
Next is a mini setting, a half page top to bottom ready for a standard three ring binder on slick card stock. It is black ink on a lightly colored background. It looks great, and as long as there is no glare, it too is easy to read. It continues adding to the Mythoard setting. I like that they keep adding things to the existing setting. If you want to use this setting in whole or in part, it is easy to do with this. I was glad to see that past month’s offerings are available. I would like to have the complete series of materials, if I can.
Tower of the Everflame
Next is a Pathfinder compatible supplement from AAW Games. It is For Rent, Lease or Conquest. It is a module about obtaining a home base for the party. It is a 42 page adventure. It is in a slick cover and the pages give one the visual impression of newsprint, but are slick and heavier than newsprint. The print is black ink on a multi-colored background. Most of each page has a light background, and thankfully the slick pages are not shiny. However, lighting and the angle the page is held can make words over darker ink harder to read for older eyes with bifocals. In addition, the layout has the text on some pages running into the border decoration. I think the intent is to look cool, but since it is hard for me to make out the text in some areas, and not every page is crowded, I think it is a layout issue. When the young eyes of the layout people read this stuff in 20 or 30 years, they will curse their younger selves. It is worst in sections of the page where the background color transitions from lighter to darker. Some letters disappear. In the corners of some pages is a leaf motif that goes light, dark, light and the odd color transition takes more concentration to read. I find that prolonged reading of this starts the feelings of a headache. It reminds me of the original PDF of D&D 5 where it had a colored background and was very hard to read. It seems like the intent is to go after the younger crowd at the expense of the older crowd.
For Rent, Lease or Conquest
The premise of the module is buying/occupying a building for home base and the villain is the realtor. I do not find that entertaining. As a homeowner who got screwed in the housing collapse, it is too much like papers and paychecks. That plus the difficulty in reading it, I don’t know if there are any useful nuggets in here.
Finally, there are two Dragon’s Quest adventures from Judge’s Guild: Starsilver Trek, and Heroes and Villains. They are in clear sealed plastic. If this is the original plastic and still sealed, do I want to open them? While these were from Bad Mike’s Books and Games, are they worth more sealed? There are definitely from back in the day and the art is of the sort that did not draw me in back then. Some of the JG stuff is really good and I wish I had delved into it back then.
Starsilver TrekHeroes and Villains
So there is a lot of stuff in here. Some of it is for younger/better eyes than mine. As with “grab bags” one cannot expect everything to hit the sweet spot.
I found some things to interest me, and some ideas for later.
This supplement is 18 pages, including cover and OGL on the last page. There are several illustrations, charts, and tables. It deals with various aspects of combat, with suggested house rule changes to craft combat to your liking.
It begins with the combat round and moves on to mounted combat, unmounting a rider, fisticuffs, grappling, called shots, disarming opponents, permanent damage and maiming, parting shots, shield wall, ranged combat, critical hits, death and dying, weapon proficiencies, specialization, fighting styles, running competitive combats, such as jousts, tournaments, and archery,
Most of these rules are a paragraph or two. They can be used whole cloth, or a piece here and there, or server for ideas for your own rules.
The majority of these rules are more fiddly than I prefer in the combat system. The last section on jousts, tournaments, and archery would get the most use in my campaign.
If you are looking for house rules that are balanced and fit in with OD&D clones, such as Swords & Wizardry, this booklet will give you lots of ideas.
I planned to write a follow up on my A to Z experience this year, and a survey that arrive just before midnight alerted me to a Reflections Post, that needed to be done by May 8th. I am doing catch up on articles and clearing a backlog of things to review, on this rainy, thunderstorm laden weekend.
This was the second year that I participated in the A to Z Blogging Challenge to write a post every day, except Sundays, in April. As with last year, 26 blog posts is not difficult for me. I had most of them done and scheduled before April. Also, like last year, I only had time to keep up with the blogs in the (GA) category. This year, I read most of the posts.
For me, the hardest part of the challenge is a theme that I feel good about. This year, I wrote about different aspects of planning a city, whether it is a living city or an abandoned/lost city. Once I had a topic, I came up with 26 topics. I then scheduled each topic for the appropriate day and wrote on the topics that interested me.
I had most of my topics written with at least a few paragraphs or notes of things to be sure to mention. I dug in and wrote several posts in a marathon session, so that I only had to let them sit to do cleanup before they posted. A few topics seemed a bit harder to write, and I got a bit repetitive when some topics had overlap.
I did not come up with as many tables and generators as I had hoped. I did get some ideas for building them. Once those ideas have sat for awhile, I will gather them and see about making a more coherent PDF to share.
My goal of a system to randomly generate parts of a city did not materialize. I think because of the all the dice table in Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad #1, that +Adam Muszkiewicz showed me. It touched on most of what I was after. I don’t really need all the details I think I do, I just WANT them.
Since I scheduled each post, I had no problem posting on the correct day.
I am currently on the fence as to whether or not I will participate next year. I like that I used it to help me clarify and flesh out ideas for my own use. If I participate again, I will have to use it to do something helpful to my own needs and desires as a GM; whether it be a module, series of new creatures, a collection of maps, or NPC’s, it will have to be something that serves a dual purpose.
This year, there were twelve blogs with the (GA) tag for games. Of those, one was geared towards game books and not directly RPG related, that I could tell. Perhaps it was just not my thing.
Nemo’s Lounge gave up doing custom NPCs with a drawing after 16 posts. Both the drawings and NPC’s were great!
Wampus Country was doing a town a day and got up to E when it stopped. He had some interesting ideas, that I enjoyed while it lasted.
Others missed a beat here and there, but most of us managed all 26 postings for the month.
Tower of the Archmage had a great series of vignettes of a party of adventurers. He often included a map. He hiked the Appalachian trail and was gone for the whole challenge, so he wrote and scheduled all of his postings before he left. This series would make a neat short story and/or a module/dungeon.
Tim Brannon at The Other Side did vampires, as he promised he would last year, after doing witches. Who knew there were so many vampires in different cultures. He began with A for Aswang, which I not too long before learned about from watching Grimm. When White Star came out, he even did an A to Z special with a Space Vampire, modeled on the one from the 80’s Buck Rogers TV Show.
Mark Craddock of Cross Plains reviewed his favorite things about D&D.
Keith Davies of In My Campaign built several mythologies/pantheons and had a system to help him build them.
Spes Magna Games did a series on the “Boogie Knights Of the Round Table”. I have not seen the movie, Boogie Nights, but I got the reference. What if King Arthur and his knights where in the age of disco? He kept it going until the last few days, but did all 26 posts.
Take up blogging for your own reasons. Whether you think it sounds like fun, or just to help you get your ideas for running your own games, or creating your own games or game materials.
Not all of your ideas are good ones. It is OK to write a crappy article -and just save it as a draft for later. That way, you have it and can go back to it later. Some partial and half-formed ideas are OK to publish without being fully formed. Sometimes this sparks a creative moment for someone else that is then shared with the community. You can also revisit the idea later in a follow up post to flesh it out.
Be gracious and thank those who share and give back. Share your own efforts and give back. Be inviting and encouraging.
Limit your non-RPG postings to non-RPG circles. I prefer to separate my politics, religion, and other activities from my RPG activities. Be who you are and do your own thing, but I blog about RPG things from my perspective, and don’t use it as a soapbox to convert others to my views on other things, or rant about how I can’t believe someone else believes or does X.
As Wil Wheaton has said, “Don’t be a dick.”
Be careful with the written word. Without the face to face interaction to gauge tone and body language, it is easy to miss sarcasm, hyperbole, satire, etc; or to read into it something other than what was intended. Don’t assume that something someone else has written in a blog post says what you think it says. Some may not spell check their work or have good grammar usage, or just messed up and left out a key word or phrase. See above where I said be gracious. Before flying off the handle and flaming or trolling someone, take a deep breath. Is it really necessary that you respond to everything you read online? If you really have to, write your blasting comment off line, and then set it aside. This gets it out of your system and allows you to move on.
When others leave comments on your blog, wall, or page and it feels like an attack. Stop, take a deep breath and look to see if they are just seeing a poor word choice in a quick blog post. Do you see how someone could come up with something totally different than your intended meaning? Is it something you can let roll off, or would you sleep better if you made a clarification? Don’t let it ruin your day. Mean people suck. Don’t be a mean people back.
Learn the capabilities of your chosen platform and use their strengths to help you.
Build up a buffer of posts. If you want to be a daily blogger, don’t immediately publish every idea that comes to mind. If you have ten ideas today and publish all of them today, what about tomorrow? Publish the first idea today and schedule the others to post over the next nine days. That gives you nine days until you have to think of something else to write about. As you think of ideas, schedule them to post the day after your last scheduled item. It is also OK to post on topics of the moment when they come up. Posts and ideas for posts that are not fully formed can be saved as drafts to craft them until they are ready. I find it useful to get all my ideas on various scraps of paper, or electronic notes into an appropriate article in draft form, so it is already in the process of being published on my blog.
Share your blog to the appropriate G+ communities. Note to self: Remember to use the LINK option instead of just copying the link into the text field….
Have a variety of types of things you blog about. Play reports, game ideas, tables, current events in the RPG world, maps, art, etc. If you have something that is your trademark, or your own way of presenting something, keep at that thing until you hit your stride.
Use your blogging to help you build a campaign, module, setting, table or other idea that you can use at the table. Collect those ideas that you know can be something, but that you just need to flesh out. Sometimes others have similar ideas that are close to what you want or need and can help you craft something for your needs.
Make it fun and make it interesting.
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Review your articles before they post. After an article sits for a few days, when you re-read it, you find spelling and grammar mistakes that can make it hard to understand or follow, or you may think of something to add to it. I find typos of words that are spelled correctly, but are homonyms, so thus the wrong word, or other words that are spelled right, but don’t make sense.
I made sure to enable spell checking in my browser, so that anything I post online is spelled correctly.
Use tags and/or categories to tie together similar topics. If you write on something more than once, or have a prior related topic, use the search feature of your blog and link back to that topic. Periodically review your blog for new tags and categories that might be needed or go back and add them to older posts.
If you have a certain type of post that build up to a substantial amount of writing on a particular topic, make a PDF of it and make it available as a download on your blog. For example, a collection of tables, or an adventure you built over time on your blog. If it is particularly well done, you could put it up for sale on DriveThruRPG or RPGNow as a pay what you want or for a small amount. Be sure to acknowledge those who gave you ideas and suggestions. See above about being gracious.
Announce your blog posts on relevant pages. I prefer Google Communities, those seem to be easier to review over time than Facebook. Don’t overdo it. Some people post everything to dozens of communities.
Read and make helpful comments on other’s blogs and pages.
Constructive comments or constructive criticism are good things. Give and receive them graciously. If you tell someone what is weak, lacking, or needs improvement in what they write, be sure to point out what they did right. Don’t assume that they understand that you are only pointing out the problems, and if you don’t mention other things that they are perfect. Most people don’t see it that way. If it is important enough to point out the bad stuff, it is also required that you point out the good stuff. If you receive only indications of your failings, be sure to ask what you did right. If the person is a jerk and can’t find anything constructive to say, then don’t take their input too seriously. You might point out to them, with grace, that they are really good at pointing out other’s failings, but they need to work on pointing out what others do well. Model the behavior you expect from others.
Just because you don’t get a certain specific RPG or genre or setting, or don’t like certain things in RPGs does not mean that you need to mention it. Or if you do mention it, does it need mentioning every posting or every time that topic comes up anywhere? Speak to what you know or want to know more about. If you have to mention something you don’t like, do it in such a way that it is clearly your take and experience, and not a condemnation of everyone who enjoys that particular aspect of RPGs.
Remember that RPGs are _GAMES_ and that games are supposed to be FUN! If you are blogging about games, it should be fun! If you lose the fun, then it is hard to make it enjoyable for you or others. Remember my rule [-1], if you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong.
This volume is well put together and the black ink on white paper is easily legible for older eyes. It is 134 pages including three intitial blank pages, cover page, table of contents, Swords & Wizardry license, OGL, and index. There are an additional six pages of supporters, I am guessing from a Kickstarter, These are followed by a full page illustration advertizing a game I have not heard of, a page mentioning the S&W SRD, two pages with a heading of “Notes”, and two final blank pages.
What It Is/Isn’t:
Inside you will find almost AD&D/OSRIC. It has all of the classes from AD&D, except for the illusionist and the bard. There is no mention of psionics. The hit dice are different than OD&D, but not quite AD&D. Magic users and monks have d4, clerics, druids, assassins, and thieves have d6, and the fighter types have d8. As in AD&D, the ranger starts with 2d8. Monsters are d8 as in AD&D.
Armor Class:
Armor class has the two options of ascending, AAC, or descending AC, with descending starting at 9. There is a single saving throw, with a mechanic for the saving throws for each type of peril. I am drawn to the simplicity of AAC and knowing what you need to hit based on the AAC number.
Spells:
The spells described go up to 7th level for clerics and druids, and 9th level for magic users. There is, as with other sections, a house rules section, where Matt Finch describes how he handles spells above 6th level. The spells are presented in alphabetical order for all spells. For old grognards, like me, who like the spells arranged by level within each class, as in AD&D, this takes getting used to. Page 73 marks that last page of spells and the end of the player’s section.
GM Section:
The “Referee” section has an introduction emphasizing the need for Rule 0 [Is there a better link for this?]. It then moves on to how to design an adventure with a basic dungeon map with key and a wilderness map with a key. The discussion then moved on to discussing monsters in the dungeon and challenge levels/ratings. There is just over one page listing all the following monsters by challenge level up to 13.
Monsters:
Before it gets to the monsters, it discusses wilderness encounters and has encounter tables. It then discusses mass combat, siege combat, aerial combat, and ship combat. The monsters presented are most of what I consider the most common/favorite of the genre. The monsters are followed with a page and a half listing of challenge levels up to 17. Finally, there is a concluding page to this section on creating your own monsters.
Treasure:
The treasure section has ten pages of the various types of magic items. It begins with one page on generating a random treasure hoard. Other than the index, the last game worthy page is the sample character sheet. It is only one side of the page, the other side holds the S&W license and the OGL statement. Since this is not the pre-internet age, and the PDF is free, you can print this from the PDF. As always, you can just write your information on a piece of paper, making your own as you go, or find one of the many available online. If not for the internet and the availability of the PDF, this page should be perforated for easy removal, and the licenses would need to be on a different page.
Packaging:
Unlike other resources I have ordered online, the packing job did not cover the entire back of the book with bubble wrap. There was a small area about two or three inches square that was not covered in the center of the book. The cardboard did cover the entire book. I did not have any damage to my order, but this was the only weakness in the packing job. I only noticed this based on the packing jobs of all the other OSR products I have received. This is minor enough that it may just be one of those things that happens when there is a flood of orders. I didn’t get a good picture to illustrate it, like I thought I did. In the grand scheme of things, since the order arrived in perfect condition, not a problem.
Content Of The Book:
In addition to being easy to read and having a solid layout, there are many illustrations of various sizes, including full pages. There are a few corners, or nearly half the side of a couple of pages that were empty. Because the majority of all of the other pages filled the page to all the corners, the white space stood out. Some seemed to call for an illustration, or an illustration to fill the entire space available. There were only 5 or 6 pages in the whole book like this, again a minor issue.
There are suggested house rules and rules variants. As with S&W Core and White Box, there is lots of room to house rule to make it your own. I especially like the forward by Tim Kask, that the rules are only a framework and are not meant to bog the flow of play down into paper shuffling and arguments, and the GM has the final word. The main thing is to have fun! See Rule [-1].
Since the PDF is freely available, one can modify the PDF to include only the player information for use at the table or in online games. Be sure to include the S&W and OGL if you do so in a product you plan to market.
The GM Screen:
The GM screen has the usual charts for attack matrices for characters and monsters, turning undead, indoor and outdoor movement, saving throws, and information on melee and missile weapons. This is on four pages on the GM side of the screen. The player side of the screen are covers of the various iterations of the printed rules. This accordion folder screen is one piece. It is laminated to protect it from wear and tear and spills. It is a light card stock, so not as thick as my AD&D DM screens.
If you use AAC, then nearly two pages of the screen are not needed. You could easily use a binder clip to place information over that portion that you need such as the map or note on the current adventure, or other rules needed frequently during play.
The accordion fold is determined to make the screen look like an ‘M’ when viewed from the GM side. I supposed with use, or a strategically placed small binder clip, one could get a shape that is more suited to use at the table.
Takeaway:
Since we are encouraged to make the game our own, we can hack it to make it closer to AD&D if we choose, to make the character class hit dice the same, and if one has the AD&D manuals or OSRIC, one can easily have all the creatures, spells, and items that are there.
Whether you are old, like me, or just like to have a physical book, it is well worth your while. You could just get the free PDF and print your own, but the issue of binding a hardback is a challenge few wish to face.
I like the simplicity and brevity of Swords & Wizardry Complete. It has enough to do more than get you started. A creative GM can make the creatures in this single volume cover years of play. I have played for over 35 years and have not encountered all the creatures in the AD&D Monster Manual either as a player or a DM.
I am also very into the AAC and how easy it is to calculate without needing a chart. The single saving throw may be tough for some, but it does bring simplicity.
I like the simplicity and don’t like when play bogs down to look up a rule. I mind it more as a player than as a referee, but as a DM it does not take long to feel all eyes upon me, and get frustrated. That long pause of a grinding halt interrupts the momentum. Either mark every page you need for rapid access, make detailed notes, or memorize it, if you don’t want to make it up on the fly. Keep the game flowing. Play should only stop when there is a natural break in the action for a bathroom break or it is the end of the agreed upon ending time, after the last extension runs out.
The GM screen is not a must have for play. One can easily make their own by printing the necessary information from the free PDF, if you even use a screen. I tend to use a screen when I run AD&D for two reasons, tradition and the need to look up combat and other tables. The AD&D screens would be better served to have other information on them than the psionics table, unless there is a lot of psionic activity in a game. I find that distance and a book or clipboard or sheet of paper is enough to cover maps and notes from prying eyes. Unless your game space puts players right next to the DM, I don’t see much use in a screen. I do still like them for the mystery it conveys by hiding something “secret” and “mysterious” from the players. I think the decision to use a GM screen is up to the individual GM. If you are comfortable with the rules, and don’t need it to add to the aura of mystery to game play, then you probably don’t use one.
I tend to be a quiet person most of the time. I am the type of introvert that can seem very extroverted. I tend to be quiet around new people or in new situations, but once I get my bearings, or in the right circumstances, I can be very energetic. RPG’s tend to pull introverts out of their shell, and can help “over the top” extroverts to reign it in.
RPG’s are great at helping people explore different aspects of their personality while making new friends and deepening relationships with existing friends and family.
Being able to do things in make believe that I could never do in reality is the appeal.
Magic, monster-slaying, being fantastically wealthy, exploring other planets, traveling in space.
The guy from my high school who said he’d open his own game store and did, says that he tells parents who are concerned about RPG’s that the biggest problems are that their kids will read more and do more math.
I get just as vivid images in my mind with RPG’s as I do reading a book. It transports one out of their current circumstance to another world, so to speak.
RPG’s require participation and cooperation. Problem solving and listening skills are improved.
There is a lot of good to be found in playing RPG’s.
There are downsides to RPG’s. They can be a time sink. One can find total refuge from the real world and ignore dealing with real world needs and situations. We all need to step away from our issues periodically to “catch our breath”, or re-charge so we can deal with the trials and tribulations of real life. Seeking only refuge and escape, as with drugs, alcohol, or whatever your method of hiding from reality is, can be a problem.
Where an RPG blogger draws the line is interesting. I suppose if you make your living in the world of designing and playing, or making accessories of one kind or another, RPG’s can make them like any other job, where one finds their fill a bit quicker than one would like.
What is too much time lost in the realms of RPG’s for me is not too much for you, and vice versa. Unique individuals each have different tolerances, and we should know those limits and not cross them. For GM’s too much time preparing can lead to burnout, so that is bad.
As with any activity too much is not good, and we can all agree that not enough is a tragedy! Find the balance in your life, make the RPG part of your life a way to build relationships with others. Perhaps you will find the right people you need in your life for other situations.
I saw this article online about a 3000 room labyrinth in Egypt and the claim in the video is that they supposedly found it basically intact. If that were true, you’d think one could find an article about it on a major news site, and not just websites the specialize in outrageous claims.
I’d like it to be true.
Writers of the ancient world described it, so the question is, how much of what the ancients wrote about it is accurate? The size of the site seems to be accurate, but if the canal cut through it revealed the labyrinth, why don’t we know about it?
Still it is an interesting idea. It would be a pain to do a map with 3,000 rooms. Then you have to figure out how to populate them with information, decoration, emptiness, treasure, monsters, etc. Even if only a single level, 3,000 rooms is a megadungeon. How many rooms do the recently published megadungeons of he OSR have?
Robert Schoch the geologist who claims the Sphinx is 10,000 years old, or some such, has weighed in on it. The episode on the History Channel about a decade ago on this idea seemed somewhat reasonable that the Sphynx was a natural stone outcropping that had perhaps been worked prior to the rise of Egypt. (As I recall, that was the gist of his argument.) I don’t see why prehistoric humans couldn’t have done that.
Things have kept me busy since then. After White Star came out and I reviewed it, I figured I better hurry up and read through the Omnibus and do my promised review.
James’ own introduction to the text explains it well:
White Box Omnibus is a compilation of six previously published products: White Box Companion, White Box Bestiary, White Box Treasures, White Box Adventures: The Wererat’s Well, White Box Adventures: The Wizard’s Tower and White Box Adventures: The Dragon’s Hoard. But a few extras have been added. In addition to cleaning things up a bit, there are a few new things you’ll find.
The Monk has been added as a player character class. It is written in the spirit of Arneson’s Supplement II, but streamlined to fit WhiteBox. You’ll find simple, easy to implement rules for introducing powerful magical artifacts into your campaign along with new monsters in the bestiary.
The three adventures featured in White Box Omnibus have now been augmented by an appendix – The Willow Valley Gazetteer. It’s a mini-campaign setting which can be used to tie the three adventures together, or even continue having adventures in that region.
Section 1 – Class options– Contains variations on standard classes that give bonuses in one area, but limitations in another. Such as the “sub-class” of cleric, the healer, who can use a healing touch once per day but has a -1 on to hit rolls.
Bard Class – This is a simple class designed to work within Swords & Wizardry and other D&D clones, instead of the kludge of AD&D.
Druid Class – A version of a cleric with a Forestry ability that allows tracking, passing without trace, or dealing with wild animals.
Monk Class – Similar to the class in AD&D, with house rules suggestions to make it more like the AD&D monk.
Paladin Class – With the exception of leaving out the warhorse, this is the paladin we recognize.
Ranger Class – With the Forestry ability, like the Druid.
Thief Class – Single skill called Thievery using a 1d6 mechanic based on level. This covers all the thief skills in a big separate table in AD&D. There is a house rule for climbing that add a bonus to the roll.
Section 2 Magic Items – A list of very interesting armor and shields. potions, scrolls, rings, staves, wands, weapons, and three pages dedicated to miscellaneous magic items. The miscellaneous items has a house rule about “purposed magic items”, i.e. Artifacts.
Section 3 – Bestiary – This includes many creatures that are well-known from other versions of OD&D & AD&D.
For example, Brain Lord – Squid headed humanoids p. 39-40.
Section 4 – Adventure – Wererat’s Well 15 pages including the introductory illustration and map by Matt Jackson [G+ account deleted before archived.].
Section 5 – Adventure – The Wizard’s Tower – 20 pages including the introductory illustration and map by Dyson Logos.
Section 6 – Adventure – The Dragon’s Hoard – 18 pages including the introductory illustration and map by Matt Jackson [G+ account deleted before archived.] .
Appendix – The Willow Valley Gazetteer – 22 pages including the village map by Matt Jackson [G+ account deleted before archived.] , and an area map done in Hexographer. There is a d20 rumor table for the village and a couple of pages on communities of halflings, dwarves, and elves. This mini-campaign setting has a detailed village, and the area map ties it all together into the three adventures and several of the new creatures and items.
I am a big fan of AD&D. Mostly because it is what I knew and played for so long. I am growing to be a major fan of simple. Less rules and less “fiddly bits” that get in the way.
This large collection of material that supplements Swords & Wizardry White Box to give it many of the things I like about AD&D, or supplemental material from the later LBB’s. It also streamlines them and makes them easy to use, like the bard. In AD&D, the bard class is a mess. I don’t know anyone who started as a fighter, changed to a thief prior to getting the benefits of a 9th level fighter, etc.
The simple bard class presented here, plus the simplified single skill abilities for druids, rangers, and thieves make it easy to avoid paper shuffling and digging through the manual.
The magic items are new and interesting. They have given me many ideas.
I also like how James separates out ideas for house rules in grey highlighted text.
The simplicity of what is presented here is also modular, so that one can pick and choose what you want to use, and easily house rule things that you feel are missing or “not your way of doing things.”
I only skimmed the three adventures. They are clearly presented and to the point. There is enough detail to help out the DM and enough openness to easily supplement the material or drop it in to an existing campaign.
The gazetteer is a village with a map of the village and an area map that ties the three adventures together with the setting. This could easily be the start of one’s own sandbox campaign, or be dropped in as a new area to explore. It is a good model of one way to build a sandbox.
The layout is well done and the whole thing is easy on the eyes and easy to read on a screen.
I can see despots and those who don’t truly believe in freedom of speech using this.
It would be great if during a true debate that the moderator could silence one party while the other party completed their statement, to enforce civility, but that’s a whole can of worms right there. We only seem to have true debates in structured settings that will never fly in the world of politics.
There’s a few people I know that won’t let you get a word in edgewise. This would be good for the DM to keep each player quiet while the one who had the turn to speak had their say.
However, this is yet another invention that excuses bad behavior, and instead of teaching people to share the floor and let others have their say, someone will get to decide who gets to have their say. Who gets to decide who can or can’t use this device?
While I think the world would run smoother if everyone else did certain things my way, I am smart enough to know that that would not be a viable solution. There are certain things on which I disagree with others, and definitely things I don’t want to hear from others, but that is a selfish and isolating way to live. Many things that I like, I can’t do or create on my own, so I need people who are different from me.
If no one had the chance to say, ‘No.’; or to point out problems, or make suggestions, how soon might we regret that?
If you really don’t want to deal with the rest of the world, move to the wilderness, and unplug from all media.
Personally, I think this technology should only be used in the realm of science fiction and RPG’s. People should be held accountable for their words and actions, not denied the freedom to use their words and actions as they see fit. People will find a way to be a jerk, if that’s what they really want to do.
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