Showing posts with label whfrp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whfrp. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2020

Friday Snark

High Elves: More than any other kind of Elf, the High Elves allow little to interfere with their lives of pleasure. They are the core of their race, living in the cities of the Elven Kingdoms and scorning travel. To these people, working for a living is regarded as a sign of personal failure. Few High Elves ever leave the Elven Kingdoms, though a few younger, more adventurous individuals might do so as a form of vacation, or for the 'experience.' These travelers cannot help but irritate the other races they encounter by their patronizing and overbearing attitude. Lynchings of such individuals are not uncommon.

One might think I'm quoting a passage from Blood Bowl, a game that both satirizes and parodies American football (and fantasy game species) with a snarky...if good spirited...attitude. But I'm not. Instead I'm quoting the "grimdark" RPG known as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, specifically the section of the game's bestiary dealing with elves. 

What I find especially amusing about this passage is setting it down next to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons PHB which states in no uncertain terms that

Elven player characters are always considered to be high elves, the most common sort of elf.

[emphasis added by yours truly]

Typical.

WFRP is a good game, and one that I never got to play enough of "back in the day." But that's (mainly) because I had D&D, as well as DragonQuest and Stormbringer (both of which filled particular needs not met by D&D). And for all its neat ideas, it's not much different from D&D in terms of system. But it's a great read and full of punchy attitude.

ANYway...just a little break from the Blood Bowl talk. Started a post about penalties, but I'll save that for tomorrow or something.

Happy Friday.

: )

Monday, April 1, 2019

A is for Archduke Stefan III

[over the course of the month of April, I shall be posting a topic for each letter of the alphabet, sequentially, for every day of the week except Sunday. Our topic for this year's #AtoZchallenge? Revamping the Grand Duchy of Karameikos in a way that doesn't disregard it's B/X roots]

A is for Archduke Stefan III. Yeah, that guy. Best to start at the top.

The much beloved archduke (later king in the 2nd Edition AD&D setting, following events in the Wrath of the Immortals box set), has his history described in detail beginning with Allston's setting Gazeteer for the Grand Duchy. In brief, Stefan was a Thyatian nobleman who traded his ancestral lands to the Emperor of Thyatis in exchange for independent rulership of the "undeveloped" Traladara territory (Traladara having been conquered and claimed by Thyatis some 70 years before). Taking its main city (Specularum) for his capitol, the 22 year old Stefan renames the land for himself (Karameikos) and puts down the armed insurrection that follows. Over the next 30 years, the now-Archduke parcels out land to his (Thyatian) followers, builds roads and a strong military, and works to establish his Grand Duchy as a maritime power and resource rich exporter, while uniting the mixed Thyatian and Traladaran people in a shared "Karameikan" identity. He does this by using his natural charisma, being an "exemplary leader," recognized throughout the region for his "fairness and honor" and while there is some resentment to his rule (and some outright plotting against him by certain nobles), he is generally considered an "even-handed," "stern but fair ruler" whose main flaw is being "baffled by raw evil" (like his cousin Ludwig von Hendriks). In game terms he is Lawful and good, caring most for his family, his people, and his legacy...in about that order.

Sheesh.

Let's talk a bit about conquered people, shall we? Historically, folks are pretty averse to being conquered and ruled by a foreign power, especially when there's any perceived social injustice like, for example, the invaders being in the nobility and the indigenous folks being stripped of their lands. It's not something that a people with any type of national identity (say, a shared language, religion, and/or cultural values) gets over easily. One might say, well it's been a hundred years since the Thyatian Empire first marched into Marilnev (the regions main community) and renamed it Specularum...that's four or five generations to get used to Thyatian (i.e. fantasy Roman) supremacy, yeah?  Sure...and I can see the Palestinians being okay with this whole Israeli state thing one day, too, huh?

You can see how well that kind of thinking worked in Latin America and Africa and Asia over the centuries. India was effectively ruled by the British from the 18th century until achieving independence in 1947....they never really "got used to it." I'd imagine there are still plenty of "north Irish" who would rather just be Irish, just as there are still Scottish folks who would prefer to be their own country. I have good friends in the Basque region of Spain who absolutely hate being associated in any way with Spain (who they see as attempting cultural genocide) and still hope someday...and work toward...having an independent Basque country. And the Basque region was annexed in the 15th century!

Are folks familiar with Maximillian I of Mexico? He was an Austrian nobleman who gave up his lands and titles in Europe to become Emperor of Mexico. This was with the help of the French (and Napoleon's army) in the 19th century.

["Cinco de Mayo" commemorates the Battle of Puebla (where all Volkswagons in North America are manufactured) when the Mexicans won a small victory against the French forces during this time period]

Historians write that Maximillian genuinely cared for the Mexican people, helped institute reforms to help the people, enacted institutions to help the poor, abolished child labor, broke monopolies held by the wealthy, and worked to make a strong, modern Mexico. He was fought tooth-and-nail by a people who had already thrown off the yoke of Spain in their war of independence, and after "reigning" for about three years, he was overthrown captured, and executed by firing squad. Mexico has only been ruled by Mexicans ever since.

Duke Stefan, per GAZ1, survived a single armed revolt and a single assassination attempt and then...nothing. For thirty years (forty, if you count the 2nd edition material). Just schemers working behind the scenes to undermine Stefan's authority.

Doesn't really wash for me. Even if Stefan was the "bestest ruler in the world" it's hard to see a conquered people (even one that's not particularly "oppressed" - though what constitutes "oppression" is probably a matter of opinion) celebrating Stefan's rule or simply content to go quietly into the night. The Traladarans are supposed to have a proud history, legends of being enslaved by "beast men" and of eventually throwing off that slavery to become free, independent people. And now they're just going to go about their business? With Thyatians in their castles, taking the bounty of the land? It's not like Stefan has been systematically exterminating them and pushing them onto tiny reservations...they should be taking advantage of his (written) naiveté to arm themselves and organize!

[maybe it's just that archduke has the indiginous demihumans on his side...but why? Were there centuries of antagonism between the demihumans and Traladarans before the coming of Thyatis?]

It's important to note that the character of Stefan Karameikos, his personality and background, changed substantially with the advent of 1987's GAZ1 (the Gazeteer detailing the Grand Duchy of Karameikos). Very little, in fact, was said of the archduke (even in B6, the adventure module detailing Specularum); until the publication of GAZ1, he seemed to be nothing more than a high level fighter who had carved out his own dominion. Even Aaron Allston's own adventure module X12: Skarda's Mirror (published just prior to GAZ1), paints a different portrait of the character:

"A distinguished military commander and adventurer by the age of 20, he was offered a baronial title if he settled in and developed the unclaimed wilderness west of Thyatis.

"Stefan Karameikos III built himself a seacoast town, a village which he named Specularum, and began settling his followers all through the region. Eventually the region became the Barony of Karameikos, then the County, and finally the Duchy. Now, 30 years after the initial landfall, the Duchy is flourishing, and the Duke is a powerful and well-liked ruler, the father of strong heirs."

See? That's a perfectly acceptable elaboration on the character's original portrayal in the Cook Expert rulebook. There's no conquered peoples, no political machinations, no Thyatian noble-class ruling over displaced Traladarans. At this point, "Traldarans" were only a primitive, degenerate human subspecies fighting endless battles against the Hutaakan beast-men (to be discussed later) in a lost valley (see B10: Night's Dark Terror). The earlier, pre-GAZ Stefan was just an adventurer made good...just one of us, you know?

Which is how I prefer it, mainly because it's "more B/X." Still, things are not all rosy in Karameikos. There are still ravening hordes of humanoids (goblins, gnolls, frost giants(!), etc.) to contend with throughout the area. And then there's that darn Black Eagle Barony over on the western border about which the Duke seems wholly unconcerned. What's up with that exactly?

Welp, as with the good Baron Ludwig, I can think of a number of different ways to "re-skin" Duke Stefan explaining his lack of progress after a couple-three decades sitting on the throne. Here's a few of them for your enjoyment:

Couldn't find a good
pic of Duke Avan.
Archduke as Absentee Adventurer: Duke Avan Astran of old Hrolmyr is a good example of an adventuring noble of the most doomed sort; of course, most (all) folks who travel with Elric of Melnibone are doomed to a horrible end eventually.

Archduke Stefan as Duke Avan is a fairly easy re-skin: the explorer/adventurer who just can't settle down, even after a life of achievement. He keeps getting on that damn boat and setting sail, looking for lost cities, legendary shorelines. and forbidden knowledge...all when he should be back minding his duchy. Instead, he is gone more often than not on a life of perilous adventure, leaving his dominion to be ruled by henchmen and underlings while his noble wife tries to raise/shape children grown restless with an absentee father. Perhaps, the player characters will end up accompanying him on some random quest or other; more likely he'll disappear and they'll be tasked with finding his remains. Lots of possible adventures in a land left un-ruled by a glory hound and thrill seeker.

"More wine! And where's
my armor stretcher?!"
Archduke as the Life of the Party: who doesn't like a little wining, wenching, and feasting? Robert Baratheon is a great possibility as an archduke resting on his (ever expanding) laurels.

Once a formidable warrior, years of the good life has allowed those muscles to atrophy and those jowls to drop. But it's not a bad life. Who needs to worry when you've got that Black Eagle fellow shoring up your western border? And the elves and gnomes to your north? And that...well, there is a haunted and mysterious forest to the east, but there are hardly ever any monsters popping their ugly mugs out of it. Besides, young adventurers are always happy to go on a quest, and knighthoods are cheap to grant. Maybe they'll take some of my (illegitimate) kids with 'em...show 'em the ropes.

Sure wish the duchy wasn't in so much debt...

"What of it?"
Archduke as the Scheming Legacy Builder: or maybe your debt is just a means to an end. Tywin Lannister is a different kind of warlord: one who is ambitious, ruthless, and utterly dedicated to furthering the fortunes of his family and ensuring its legacy.

Stefan as Tywin would be perfectly happy to allow an equally ruthless warlord to rule the western marches...so long as the tool could be sufficiently controlled. Of more importance would be growing his own family, ensuring his own estates were secure, and building political alliances with other, rival nations. The infrastructure of the interior? Low priority compared to keeping up appearance in duchy's capital. A powerful naval force. Plate armored cavalry and perfectly drilled infantry. Evidence of pacified natives. And an open invitation to extra-nationals seeking to exploit the rich resources of the territory's interior.

No petty baron would do as a marriage partner for the ducal offspring; the archduke's children would be yet another resource to exploit and sell and help build the family's dominion and legacy.

"My followers were chosen as carefully
as the disciples of Christ."
Archduke as Bloody Handed Conquistador: But perhaps we'd like to use the native Traladarans...or some sort of indigenous prior inhabitants. Duke Stefan as Hernan Cortes could still be a B/X style adventurer...just one not conflicted about carving an empire out of an existing civilization.

This could be an archduke motivate by religion (slaying or converting the heathen pagans), riches (harvesting timber, mining precious metals), glory (etching his name on history), or bloody savagery (an excuse to kill). Truth is Cortes was a little bit of all those things, and while I've never met or read anything that ever praised the man or his actions, the fact remains that he made an indelible impression on the history of Mexico...and his descendants survive (comfortably) to this day.

Archduke as Chaos Cultist: AKA "Something Rotten in Specularum." Last one, and then I'll get this posted (man, I'm hopeful the next post in this series will be shorter!). Here's a quote direct from the 1st edition of Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness...though with some [words] replaced:

"[Stefan] was regarded as the finest military commander that the [Empire of Thyatis] had produced. His abilities were faultless, and eventually the Emperor granted him the title of [Archduke]. This was a high honor...

"Before [Stefan] could travel to [the Thyatian capital] to receive [additional reward] he fell ill [in] the [primitive territory] of [Traldara]. This was his undoing. During his convalescence [in Specularum] he was inducted into a secret warrior's lodge, which proved to be little more than a coven. A change of character became evident in the [archduke] - he had been possessed by a Daemon. [Stefan's] membership of the secret lodge was not unusual; Imperial soldiers were often encouraged to join warrior societies of this type..."


Late stage cultist Stefan.
Stefan Karameikos as Warmaster Horus may seem a bit of a stretch, but individuals in the Warhammer Fantasy setting fall prey to Chaos worship for all sorts of reasons (though, sure, it's usually tied to some sort of lust for power). Here's the great thing about it though: Chaos cultists usually strive with all their might to keep their allegiance secret. No one's going to pay taxes or follow the laws of a mutant scion of evil! And in a feudal society with a rigorously enforced social caste system, it's actually fairly easy to hide such worship...at least until your arm turns into a tentacle (then out will come the witch-hunters and the torches). See Shadows over Bogenhafen, etc. Anyway, the point is, an archduke that's fallen to Chaos has a lot more things to worry about then whether or not the roads are getting built...

All right, that's enough. More tomorrow!

[EDIT: I promise I'll come back and polish this post at a future date...when I have more time!]



Friday, March 11, 2016

Comes Chaos

OKAY. I spent a bit of time at lunch today getting a little stinky-drinky and writing more bad JuJu about Paraguayan ignorance (and drawing parallels with certain presidential campaigns in the home country)...but I'm almost 100% certain that no one wants to read more of that kind of nonsense.

So let's talk about B/X-related nonsense. And, no, not superheroes.

Waaaaaay back in January, I mentioned I was going to get in on this whole B/X Campaign Challenge thing, set up by Mr. James V. West. I also said I figured I could knock-out a 64 page supplement in about 64 days, giving myself (approximately) till the end of March to get it done. Seeing as how it's been seven days since the last time I worked on the thing (just checked...March 4th) people may be wondering how is the project progressing?

Pretty good. I'm at 53 pages (formatted)...a bit more than 36,000 words without counting headers and page numbers. Since I'm aiming for about 58-60 (to make room for illustrations, a cover leaf, and table of contents), I'm pretty close to completion.

It's always that last bit that's the bitch, ain't it?

Actually, that's NOT why I've stalled. For a "campaign book," I started to find there was surprisingly little campaign to the thing...mainly a collection of rules and notes about how to inject a little crazy into one's standard B/X game. I started to think maybe I needed a bit more setting, a bit less system. And then, of course, I got distracted with other brainstorms...

But I'm digressing. As I wrote back on the 22nd (when I was first considering the challenge), the idea I had was an incredibly derivative one, and it still is....specifically, I am adapting the old Warhammer Realm of Chaos books (Slaves to Darkness and The Lost and the Damned) to the B/X game system, an idea that I once thought was pretty ridiculous. Also, not a terribly original idea, considering folks like Steven A. Cook have already done similar work (his Hordes of Chaos is a nice little "monster manual" designed for use with Labyrinth Lord).

But whatever...it's only a 64 page book. It's specifically designed for use with B/X (which everyone loves and now has access to, thanks to the release of the PDFs). It files all the serial numbers off anything that might be considered IP by other game companies. And it's written for a B/X system...for a game of exploration and treasure hunting...not a war-game.

And it does have a setting...one that could easily be expanded with additional books, if I was so inclined.

Slaves to Darkness.
So good, I own two copies.
The fact of the matter is Slaves to Darkness and The Lost and the Damned are damn masterworks. They have terrible, disgusting, magnificent, tragic themes. They are well-designed (for their time and their purpose) and are filled with beautiful, terrible, horrible, awesome artwork. They are classics that most buffs of dark fantasy (and dark fantasy games) should have on their shelves. I own physical copies of both, having paid an exorbitant price for one after many years of searching.

They are also fairly unplayable as they are. While the fluff from the books have penetrated the Warhammer universe for nearly three decades (Slaves was written in 1988 and last time I checked a 40K Chaos Codex they were STILL recycling quotes from its most excellent pages), the Warhammer game long ago dropped the systems found within their pages, keeping only the themes. Mordheim's chaos war band was a pretty poor substitute for a champion-led retinue of miscreants and mutants.

SO, because I love these books...their themes (which simply emphasize the dark spaces in the human heart to terrible extremes) and their mutants and their monsters and their madness...because I do love them, I've adapted them to a system that I love (B/X) so that they can see play at the table. They deserve to see play at the table.

And I find the setting I've designed (that I'm thinking I might want to detail in greater depth) so intriguing that I'd really like to run a campaign set in it, despite having voiced (only a few months ago) a longing to try a Holmes-style campaign. B/X...sucking me back in! Seducing me to the darkest of dark sides!

Anyhoo, it's almost done and my intention is to do my own artwork for it (not sure how that's going to go...) and sell it for a pittance in electronic form. That's my intention; we'll see what happens. But regardless, I've got to finish the writing first.

Hopefully by the end of the month.
; )

Monday, February 15, 2016

Channeling My Inner Nurgle

I'm about 30 pages into my 64 page campaign book for B/X which means I'm a bit ahead of schedule, considering my personal deadline of March 29th. Of course, I haven't nearly the talent or confidence in my own artwork as some of the participants, so who knows how long it will take me to get illustrations drawn and scanned...this thing might be one ugly, ugly book when all's said and done.

Which is fine, actually. I need something easy-shmeezy, something I'm not too terribly invested in, to try this whole illustration experiment. Waiting on art (whether paid or volunteer) is probably my least favorite part of self-publishing...it is, in fact, the main reason Cry Dark Future wasn't published upon completion (though I'm somewhat glad in retrospect...waiting gave me time to see I wasn't tremendously pleased with certain aspects of the book. Don't worry...it'll be out there someday).

B/X is very "easy-shmeezy." Especially for doing a knock-off / adaptation fantasy setting, it's incredibly comprehensive in scope. Which is to say: it doesn't need much more than "re-skinning" to make something that feels "new," yet doesn't break the system. The scaling between spell levels is pretty accurate (with the exception of sleep), and pretty easy to follow, for example...you can color hold person into any sort of "non-death-target-elimination" spell, and level it up or down depending on changes in range, save, and number/specificity of creatures affected. That's a real plus, and nice when you're tasked with adding 40-50 setting-specific spells to the game.

Right now, I'm considering how I want to handle a particular magical disease. B/X has four different forms of contagion hardwired into their rules (not counting green slime):

  • "Hideous wasting disease:" Causes -2 penalty to attack rolls, prevents magical curing, and doubles natural healing time. Illness is fatal in 2D12 days. Contracted by cause disease spell and failed saving throw. Treated by cure disease (explicit).
  • Lycanthropy: changes victim into a were-creature after 2D12 days. Contracted via severe HP loss (>half) to wear creature. Treated by "a high-level cleric (11th level or higher...)."
  • Mummy "rot:" prevents magical healing and wounds require 10 times as long to heal. Contracted via damage from mummy. Treated by "magical curing" (though unclear how as rot prevents magical healing).
  • Rats (any size): one-in-four chance of death in D6 days; otherwise, bedridden for one month. Contracted via rat bite (1 in 20 chance per bite) plus failed save versus poison. Treated by cure disease spell or bed rest.

That's not a bad spread, though it's interesting that the spell cure disease is only explicitly useful for half of the system-specified illness. In the campaign setting I'm writing, cure disease should be much more useful (there's more than a few disease spreading monsters and magic items), but I'm wondering if I shouldn't be creating my own form of infection rather than simply "re-skinning" the stuff listed.

Nurgle's Rot is a fairly iconic piece of (dark) fantasy gaming; from the Warhammer universe, you can find its page long description in GW's 1990 book, The Lost and the Damned:
Nurgles Rot, often known simply as the Rot, is a terrible contagious disease which affects the victim's mortal body and his shadow-self or spirit. A person who dies from Nurgles Rot is turned into a Plaguebearer and becomes a servant of Nurgle himself. Nurgles Rot epitomizes the core of Nurgle's ethos: suffering and overcoming suffering by great bravery and resolve. Those who contract the Rot often slay themselves in reckless battle, hoping to die quickly and cleanly and by this means to avoid becoming a Plaguebearer.
A plaguebearer is a lesser, humanoid demon of the Chaos god Nurgle. The text states it takes "several months" for the Rot to kill its victim; mechanically, this is modeled by each battle on the tabletop slightly altering the profile of the victim. After participating in seven battles, the victim dies, birthing a new plaguebearer. Oh, yeah...and the Rot "cannot be cured or its progress halted in any way."

[apologies if the original (1986) WFRPG has a description of Nurgle's Rot; I know there is a sample scenario that includes a champion of Nurgle in the book, as well as a number of descibed illnesses; however, I don't have my copy with me in Paraguay]

Typical plaguebearer. No, I didn't draw this.
Tempting as it is to include an incredibly contagious magical disease that cannot be cured and that gradually transforms its victim into a demon, I don't think that's what I want to do. After all, it's hard to see how such a plague wouldn't wipe out the entirety of the planet's population...imagine a "zombie apocalypse" in which the zombie were immune to non-magical weapons. That's a pretty shitty scenario any way you look at it (and the focus of the campaign is NOT some sort of D&D World War Z).

No, it doesn't really sound fun...though I like the idea of contagion. And I like the idea of gradual decrepitude...of individual's being diminished over time. However, it would have to be pretty fast-acting to have any impact on gameplay, seeing as how PCs have fairly easy access to magical curing (cure disease is available to any cleric beginning at 6th level).

Anyhoo, that's what's on my mind this morning.
: )

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Hunting Witches

This is Tim Brannan's fault.

I love the concept of the witch hunter, of witch hunting, in general. Not in the "red scare" sense of the phrase, nor even the historical Inquisition-mananged mass murder of people-who-don't-think-and-worship-like-us. No, I'm talking about fantasy witch-hunting: the idea that there are dark and sinister supernatural forces out there and some heroic folks have been chosen for the gig of hunting said forces.

Nostalgia of the Nineties
As a premise for an RPG, this isn't a terribly original idea...more than a couple of Pelgrane Press's GUMSHOE games fall into this category, as does Beyond the Supernatural, InSpectres, and (to a lesser degree) Call of Cthulhu. The Mutant Chronicles certainly had a large dose of SciFi flavored witch hunting to it. Heck, there was even a game called Witch Hunters that was published a few years back, though I'd break out the old White Wolf Hunters Hunted supplement (for 1E VtM) long before I'd ever put down money for such a book/system.

[The Hunters Hunted is a truly under appreciated gem of a supplement/mini-game that I should blog about some time.  I realize it led to its own game line eventually ("Hunters Reckoning," I think?) but I got a lot of mileage off that original, slim volume. Very cool and one of the best Vampire products]

And, for more medieval-style games, there are plenty of witch hunters to be found in the Warhammer universe...I'm not sure if the latest version of WHFRP has them, but the first couple editions (through Hogshead) had witch hunters as an advanced career path, and you could play an entire warband of witch hunters in the Mordheim game.

But for old school D&D...the pre-2E editions...the idea of the witch hunter is a bit of a tough sell. After all, old school D&D isn't about hunting anything. Anything besides treasure, that is.

After reading Tim's post this morning, I (momentarily) considered an idea for a new B/X supplement...a campaign setting featuring a world where most of the "fantasy" elements were all (to some degree) aspects or side effects of supernatural evil. Evil of an inhuman, alien nature, filtered in  from other dimensions, through rifts made wide by human sorcerers who were willing to bargain away their souls...hell, their very world...for a taste of power. In such a setting, player characters would have a chance to be real heroes, not just "scurrilous rogues," as they fight against the dark forces threatening their planet. "Orcs" would simply be bestial, mutated humans. "Goblins" would be hellish imps, the lowest demons serving dark masters. All monsters in the B/X game could be re-skinned as devils and demons and twisted pawns of alien intelligences.

But it's a world closer to WHFRP's Enemy Within campaign than Palladium's Wormwood. This campaign setting hasn't yet been overrun, nor even is it on the verge of Armageddon...but without the aid of witch-hunting PCs, it could move to that DEFCON stage. This is a world that calls for hunters to root out the bad juju.

In such a setting, witch-hunters would take the place of the cleric class, as what type of divinely intervening deity would allow the world of Its worshippers to be so mistreated? Undead would certainly play a lesser role in such a campaign, and alternative forms of healing would be needed (perhaps fighters would be able to apply "field dressings" to wounded companions after combat, healing a certain number of HPs based on level). Such a game could be fun, though in a bleak way featuring corruption and cultists and whatnot; maybe something for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Maybe.

Then I took a long nap.

And when I woke up and got my brain to running again, I realized "hey, wait a sec...this has nut-all to do with finding treasure." And that's when the wheels came off the concept. Because the LAZY way of handling such a thing would be to say, hey, it's just B/X with some different house rules...you're still looking to loot the chaotic monsters and evil cultists lairs (in order to earn XP, in order to level up). Because witch hunters need phat loot, too.

Um, no. We are not going to be playing characters interested in making a buck while Rome burns down around their ears.

And since on second (post-nap) pass, I see the concept would need a lot of substantial retooling of the B/X system in order to work to my standards, this is a project that'll have to be shelved for the time being. I'm already in the midst of a retooling/writing project, and I want to get that one knocked out. Too bad, though...I've already got a couple ideas for titles to such a project. And I've got some notes stashed away (somewhere) about retooling Realms of Chaos concepts for B/X that could probably be put to good use on such a project. Yeah, it would be an interesting setting to play/run in...

Shoot, I could probably adapt part of my (reworked) Cry Dark Future advancement system to the thing...

No, no, no...one thing at a time! Maybe if someone wants to collaborate with me on such a project so I don't have to do all the writing myself (ugh, I see why Kevin Siembieda is such a fan o the "cut-and-paste"), I could find some time for it.

Maybe.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

'hammer Musings

Huh. Just discovered Roger's A Life Full of Adventure blog, which is kind of crazy considering he's been around since 2008 and lists a host of shared game interests with Yours Truly, including D&D (B/X and 2E), WFRP (of the oldest variety), Blood Bowl (!), and Shadowrun.

I really need to get together with some of these guys (Steve C. and Mike Davison included) and do some sort of D&D-Warhammer mash-up. I know, I know...I've talked about this in the past and never brought anything to fruition. I'm BUSY, people! Anyway...

Huh. I can't believe I have only a single posting under the topic "Nurgle" (not counting my single post under the topic "Deathguard"). Might have to rectify that.