tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1250374993739693832024-03-04T20:18:20.412-08:001hpNothing to see here. Move along.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-48918201077302679512012-09-23T20:10:00.001-07:002012-09-23T20:10:18.939-07:00TPK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcM6o6HcQPoe6HXVJoOT6-LfAJN_1og8DbGVuz5koSQqjQix7frNsFl30-IqlXLb3EjRFJNhlEoCE3b-g90ha0jZPt58FUzoWhMncO1M-0CwjoH-hUx4TzTOVyWGG1iP648Zwv306vekS/s1600/rotj_han_getting_toasted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcM6o6HcQPoe6HXVJoOT6-LfAJN_1og8DbGVuz5koSQqjQix7frNsFl30-IqlXLb3EjRFJNhlEoCE3b-g90ha0jZPt58FUzoWhMncO1M-0CwjoH-hUx4TzTOVyWGG1iP648Zwv306vekS/s320/rotj_han_getting_toasted.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last night everybody died. First the thief died, and we all felt bad for him because his player was out of town and it seemed so unfair. But thems the breaks. Turned out he was the lucky one: at least he got a decent burial. My character was killed and eaten by a tribe of cannibalistic lizard men. The other two players' characters were captured -- and eaten -- alive. Damn I love this game.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-64970872438283434692012-07-20T01:17:00.000-07:002012-07-20T01:17:20.789-07:00Draft of Some House RulesHere's a draft of the house rules I'm using for the B/X campaign me and my buddies recently started:<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Disarming
an Opponent:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal;">Any
attacker may attempt to disarm an opponent by stating their intention to do so
before initiative is rolled. If the attacker rolls an unmodified 20, the
attempt is automatically successful. If the attacker merely scores a hit, the
defender may chose between taking the damage or being disarmed. <o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Half-Elves:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Either their elven side is dominant, in which case they're
mechanically identical to elves and visually pretty much indistinguishable from
other elves (think Elrond); or their human side is dominant, in which case
they're mechanically identical to humans and resemble humans unless you look
really closely (think Tanis).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Hero’s Luck:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Once per session, each player may use the d30 to reroll any
failed d20 roll. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Hit
Points:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal;">All
characters receive maximum hit points at first level.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Infravision:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Due to their habit of dwelling underground, dwarves have the
ability to see heat signatures in the dark (infravision) up to a distance of
60’. Contrary to popular belief, elves and halflings do not possess any similar
ability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Raise Dead:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">A character may only be raised from the dead a number of times
equal to his or her constitution score.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Rest:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Characters may rest after any combat; those who suffered damage
during the combat gain d3 hit points back, though they may not recover more hit
points than they lost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Ritual Spell Casting:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">A spell caster may choose to channel the spell energy he has
reserved for a memorized spell to cast any unmemorized spell in his or her
spell book. Casting a spell in this fashion takes a full turn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Shields:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">A character with a readied shield may choose to ignore the
damaged caused by any one attack – though doing so destroys the shield. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Swimming
in Armor:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Characters must roll their unmodified ac or less on a d10 each
round or drown. Strong swimmers may add their strength bonus to the target
number.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Fighting with Two Weapons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Fighting with two one-handed weapons at the same time grants a
+1 to hit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.5pt;">Unconsciousness & Death:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Characters reduced to zero hit points are rendered unconscious.
Characters who take damage in excess of their hit points must save versus
death, with success indicating unconsciousness and failure indicating death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;">Yes, I know I haven't posted anything in ages. Me and my wife had a child -- our first -- a girl -- and so I forgot about everything else for a while. Between the joe job and taking care of baby and actually trying to get this game off the ground I don't have much time for the blog anymore but I may update infrequently. Priorities, ya know? </span></div>bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-9921980904245005362012-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:002012-01-24T14:07:44.646-08:00Styrbiorn the Strong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-dBq-0c2a92RlJ6Z5tqvsdWkU7YsVAryNAjWaYFSdfh8FJ2hTC18RGvhXs2rjI4F1-DXH7PWWKpWGjlMnnqyKdwJ8rS9PyhHgDMEXvTpbErwCWmx7LYwP10A5yURLFoFBX2I6wYb7pqxE/s320/styrbiorn.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
By far my favorite fantasy novel of all time is <i>The Worm Ouroboros</i>, by E.R. Eddison. (If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you quit whatever you're doing and remedy that <i>stat.</i> I recommend the 1991 Dell trade paperback if you can find it, because it contains a great many useful explanatory notes, even though the cover is to my mind horrific). So of course I was elated to discover that the University of Minnesota Press has recently reissued <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Styrbiorn-Strong-R-Eddison/dp/0816677557/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327437857&sr=1-1">Styrbiorn the Strong</a></i>, one of Eddison's earlier novels (written after the <i>Worm</i> but before the Zimiamvian Trilogy), which for many years now has been out of print and extremely difficult to get hold of in any kind of decent, affordable print edition. As an added bonus, this new edition includes for the first time the author's original letter of introduction and closing notes. Do yourself a favor and check it out; you shan't be disappointed. bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-56775012494558864502011-11-20T17:18:00.000-08:002011-11-20T17:18:24.745-08:00Twisty Little Passages<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Twisty-Little-Passages-Approach-Interactive/dp/0262134365"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNsk1yrkdsIGeHDaK2ywu_qXUrqdZ1SWTBIDP5qFPvCIweQckAnsGxKqvNx0w1F0T8KBqeBRgEYSe0zJJYJeGCRtsFrrC1wvihIoiL3jSfdeFel7GsU2EUbOYwEoDJBUEIXkZsaG4q89wO/s1600/medium_20234.jpg" /></a></div>My earliest exposure to adventure gaming was not actually D&D but the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction">interactive fiction</a> software produced by companies like<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infocom"> Infocom</a> in the 80s, which I played on my trusty Atari 800. In particular, it would probably be hard for me to overestimate the influence the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zork">Zork</a> games had on my young imagination. So naturally, as soon as I discovered the existence of <i>Twisty Little Passages</i> by Nick Montfort, which purported to be a kind of history of interactive fiction, I had to buy and read it immediately. I was not disappointed.<br />
<br />
According to Montfort, the first work of interactive fiction, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure">Adventure</a></i>, was inspired as much by its author's Dungeons & Dragons campaign as his caving and spelunking activities; and indeed the book contains a lot of material that I think anyone interested in the history of RPGs in general and fantasy adventure gaming in particular would find fascinating. Chapter three even contains a sort of sub-chapter exclusively devoted to Dungeons & Dragons, complete with quotes from Gary Gygax and <i>Dragon</i> magazine. I'm not going to lie: this book is definitely not for everyone; it's a rather dry, academic exploration of a relatively obscure subject. But for the right reader (me), this is gold.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-27886392817243835932011-11-04T13:30:00.000-07:002011-11-04T13:30:10.962-07:00I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkr0aHotJVJA-8PF2muR6FwpYDqSfm_bpmvC2eg5jURqejNhTIF10XVNmoUyfJhXEmlHrmjsnS0dIpMHaRGBPLo055dlO3X_0Bt8nVps-B_jzivc0mXpXV3srDy1FscelzvQ6bZNLlLDjW/s1600/stuart_smalley-300x246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkr0aHotJVJA-8PF2muR6FwpYDqSfm_bpmvC2eg5jURqejNhTIF10XVNmoUyfJhXEmlHrmjsnS0dIpMHaRGBPLo055dlO3X_0Bt8nVps-B_jzivc0mXpXV3srDy1FscelzvQ6bZNLlLDjW/s1600/stuart_smalley-300x246.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>Or my adventure, at least. Some feedback <a href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=744">here</a>, <a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=92617">here</a>, <a href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1009">here</a> and <a href="http://moralecheck.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/group-1-session-3/">here</a>.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-46257442354248961872011-07-15T00:26:00.000-07:002011-07-15T00:26:45.673-07:00Easy Half-Elves for B/XEither their elven side is dominant, in which case they're mechanically identical to elves and visually pretty much indistinguishable from other elves (think Elrond); or their human side is dominant, in which case they're mechanically identical to humans and resemble humans unless you look really closely (think Tanis). Why bother? Because I love half-elves and I hate unnecessary rules.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-21118109887659371302011-07-06T01:38:00.000-07:002011-07-06T08:58:08.294-07:00IngredientsInspired by <a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/2011/07/showing-your-sources.html">this</a> post over at Jeff's Gameblog. I drew inspiration for Shadowbrook Manor from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zork_I">here</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters">here</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Frankenstein">here</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_City_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)"> here</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Ashton_Smith">here</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey">here</a> - and probably some other places but that's all I can think of right now. If I think of more, I'll do another post. Oh, and the books in the library are "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_books">fictional books</a>," with the exception of a few I made up myself and a couple real ones.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-59941183533728647062011-07-02T21:43:00.000-07:002011-07-02T21:43:51.638-07:00Swag!Received my complimentary hard-copy of Shadowbrook today and it is a thousand times more awesome in person than in pdf, if I may say so myself. I am inordinately proud of this thing; even if everyone else in the world decides it sucks I'll still love it. Because they'd be wrong. But seriously, the important thing is this: from tentative emails to free author's copy, Daniel Proctor, founder/owner of <a href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/">Goblinoid Games</a>, has been awesome in every possible way. Patient, honest, professional, accommodating - everything most people hope for in an editor/publisher but seldom find. Here's to you, Dan - may you live for a thousand years! (In like a forever young way that doesn't suck.)<div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-3532050493675641942011-06-29T23:57:00.000-07:002011-06-29T23:57:46.015-07:00Simple Old School House-rule for Swimming in ArmorCharacters in danger of drowning must roll their unmodified ac or less on a d10 each round or drown. Strong swimmers may add their strength bonus to the target number.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125037499373969383.post-89982290954515662032011-06-29T02:17:00.000-07:002011-06-29T02:17:00.289-07:00First PostThis will be a run on sentence: Hello I'm a bookseller and I'm kind of this huge nerd and my hobbies include reading, writing metrical poetry and playing Dungeons & Dragons and I wrote <a href="http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/shadowbrook-manor/16114238">this</a> adventure for a so-called retro-clone of the 1981 rule-set of that game called <a href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> and that's all I have to say at this time and I'm really just trying this blog thing out for a lark and I'll probably never post again thanks for stopping by.bevisiscariothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01851582943627687355noreply@blogger.com1