Good News!

My character, Arak-Aree, was selected by Simon Washbourne for inclusion in the Mythic Edition of Barbarians of Lemuria!  I'm so excited!

For more info you can see the Kickstarter website.

Updates

So, I have neglected this blog again.  I spend too much time reading G+ apparently.

I haven't been doing much gaming-wise.  I spend a lot of time thinking and pondering game campaigns but other pressing matters and the fact that I have the attention span of a gnat mean I don't actually do much.

My son and I are trying get in a session or two of Weird Wars Rome but haven't managed to so far.  My schedule combined with his consuming love of computer games has made it difficult.

Two bright points.  My wife's laptop crashed and I not only saved all of her data but my meager tech skills managed to resurrect it!  I was surprised!

The second bright point is that my Barbarians of Lemuria character Arak-Aree was selected as one of three finalist for inclusion into the new Mythic Edition.  Simon Washbourne, the games creator, will choose which of the three will be included.  Just being a finalist is exciting.

Last but not least I want to mention one of my favorite blogs.  Tommy Brownell over at The Most Unread Blog on the Internet...Ever produces quality stuff relating to RPGs.  I particularly enjoy his informative reviews.  They have guided several of my RPG purchases and I have never been disappointed with the result.  An example of this is his review of Servants of Gaius.  Having read some Roman history in my time I was very skeptical about the setting of this game.  However, I took the plunge and have been very pleased with the results.  So, if you haven't read Tommy's blog, I recommend that you do.

Elak of Atlantis

Over the last several years, I have been trying to read the key works of sword and sorcery.  I was introduced to this genre as a teen through the Ace paperback version of Robert E. Howard's Conan.  I enjoyed those books immensely, both Howard's stories as well as those written by L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter, et al.  (I really like the non-Howard story "The Thing in the Crypt" for example.)  For quite a while this was the entire sword and sorcery universe for me.  I met Elric during high school but I wasn't overly impressed with the stories.  Then my interest faded for a long time as it did with roleplaying games. 

When my interest in RPGs revived about 14 years ago so did my interest in these type of stories.  (Odd how that worked out, isn't it?)  I began to reread many of the Conan stories and started seeking out other stories, also.  I read the Kull stories and moved on from there.  I've found and read at least some of C. L. Moore, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, Lin Carter, John Jakes, and even Gardner Fox.  Some were easy to find, Leiber for example and surprisingly Clark Ashton Smith.  There is a website dedicated to CAS with many, if not all, of his stories.  (It's at Eldritchdark.com.)  Other's were not so easy.  Gardner Fox published several S&S stories in early issues of Dragon Magazine.

One author I couldn't find in ebook form until recently was Henry Kuttner.  His Elak of Atlantis stories followed the Conan stories and are considered some of the founding stories in the genre.  I recently discovered that an ebook collecting all four Elak stories is available on both Amazon and B&N for a reasonable price.

Happy reading!

Cthulhu Mustache

My 14 year old son's take on Cthulhu:


People don't go insane when they see Cthulhu.  They're just crazy jealous of his stylin' mustache!

Then he makes a Cthulhu mustache with his hands.

Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition Characters

So, I want to join the fun of creating characters for the new edition.  Here are two characters to start with.  The first is one I really like for some reason.  It is a revised version of a character I posted a couple of years ago.  The second is an original creation.

Arak-Aree the Talon of God

"Never again." The vow of Arak-Aree

Arak-Aree saw her parents killed by the flatlanders. The Winged Men could not defend themselves effectively against their nets and bows. The Wingless raided her aerie, killing the adults and taking the children as slaves. Arak-Aree was sold as a novelty to a rich merchant from Oomis who gave her to his spoiled daughter as a pet. A first she was just a pet but soon became the constant companion, then friend of the girl. Arak-Aree found life nearly bearable until she reached her teens and the girl's older brother began showing an "interest" in her. Wanting to protect her friend, the daughter tried to convince her father to free Arak-Aree.  A merchant to his very soul, he refused to give up such a valuable acquisition. The girl would not relent and eventually found a way to smuggle Arak-Aree out of the city. Arak-Aree made her way to the Axos mountains but with her aerie destroyed she was at a loss. But a fire burned in her heart. She made her way to the mountain top temple of Karyzon, "He of the Rending Talons" and dedicated herself to Him. It was then she took her vow, "Never again." She trained in the ways of war and soon like-minded youths began to gather around here. She formed the Aerie of the Talons, a society of warriors dedicated to protecting the Winged Men from the depredations of the Wingless.

Arak-Aree Winged Man

Attributes
Strength 0
Agility 3
Mind 1
Appeal 1

Combat
Initiative 1
Melee 0
Ranged 2
Defense 1

Careers
Slave 1
Priest 1
Warrior 2
Scholar 0

Lifeblood 10
Hero Points 5
Fate Points 1

Weapons
Bow
Sword

Languages
Windsong
Lemurian

Boons
Winged Man Agility

Rialdo the Exile

"Since you don't seem to have a better vintage, bring me another glass of this swill."

Rialdo was born in Tyrus.  A sprig on a branch of the royal family tree, he was raised in the utmost luxury, every whim satisfied, ever wanting more.  Despite his lifestyle, Rialdo did exert himself in one area:  Swordsmanship.  He loved the riddle of steel, the hiss of a sharp blade through the air and the sound it made sliding into a body.  He became a feared swordsman around the city with a reputation as a keen duelist.  But even this wasn't enough for the jaded and debauched teen.  Casting about for new thrills he found a man who was willing to instruct him in the most taboo of topics in Tyrus:  Sorcery.  Rialdo took to it like a fish to water.  It was as if he were born to it.  He soon outstripped his teacher and began seeking a new master to guide him even deeper into the dark arts.

This was his downfall.  His discreet inquiries were not discreet enough and soon his distant cousin, the King, got wind of Rialdo's activities.  Agents of the King caught him in the act of performing a vile ritual and they arrested and imprisoned him.  Though he was condemned to death he managed to escape the royal dungeons and fled Tyrus.  Now he wanders Lemuria spending every coin he acquires on adventures or as a hired blade to increase his arcane knowledge.  The pittance that remains he squanders on wine and the supple flesh of women.

Rialdo
Tyrus

Attributes
Strength 1
Agility 2
Mind 1
Appeal 0

Combat
Initiative 1
Melee 2
Ranged 0
Defense 1

Careers
Noble 1
Champion (Duelist) 2
Rogue 0
Sorceror 1

Lifeblood 11
Hero Points 5
Power Points 11

Weapons
Rapier
Dagger

Languages
Lemurian
Sorceric

Boons
Magic Resistance
Carouser

Flaws
Arrogant

Killer Quote

I've expressed my admiration for Simon Washbourne as a game designer on this blog before.  I have just run across the single best quote about him I have ever heard.  (And perhaps the best quote ever for anything.)  It was made by Vargold (Rob Barrett) in an RPG.net discussion about Supers! Red.

"Simon Washbourne craps better games on a monthly basis than most people who slave over rules for years."

You can find more of Rob's writing at his blog Vargold:  The Wolf Time

Your Inner Character

Your inner character:
Unaligned Dwarf Pit Fighter 

Who'da thunk?

Take the quiz here.

Crimson Blades

Simon Washbourne (yeah, probably my favorite game designer) has created a new sword & sorcery/dark fantasy rpg called Crimson Blades.  It is an old school OGL game based on his Woodland Warriors' ruleset and influenced by Moorcock's Elric and the magic system from Chaosium's Stormbringer.  I had the chance to scan the draft but didn't have the time to read it thoroughly.  And now he's gone and published it.  You can find it on RPGNow here.  For a low price too.  I'm excited and now I'm off to buy it.

Traveller or ....

Is it just me or is Traveller suddenly being discussed more on the blogs and on G+?  I seem to be seeing more posts and such about it.

Which is fine by me.  Between all the posts and showing my oldest son Firefly for the first time, I am really in the mood for some Traveller.  I got Traveller back in '82 I think.  (That picture.  Not my copy.  My books have rusty staples from a stint in storage and have the occasional grease stain from food.  The box top is flat and the box bottom is held together by yellowing masking tape.)  To be truthful, I didn't get to play it with a group that often but I got a lot of entertainment out of it nonetheless.  I spent hours rolling up characters (and watching some of them die [that's die as in death, not die as in dice]), creating subsectors and running a Free Trader between them solo, etc.

So, I reached for Traveller thinking it would be a good match for Firefly.  After all, I read that Jos Whedon had based Firefly on his Traveller campaign.  I fooled around with it a bit and started making a subsector intending to create a setting not connected to Traveller's official Imperial setting.

However, I've also been rereading and pondering Mini Six for the purpose of tweaking it for a sword & sorcery focused game.  (More on that in a later post.)  And what is tucked away in the back of Mini-Six?  A setting called "Perdition".  Firefly with the serial numbers badly filed off.

So, my conundrum is this:  Traveller or Mini-Six?  I think they would both do a fine job with a Firefly game but which should I choose?

I await your words of wisdom....

Sword and Sorcery Gaming Resource

I purchased the PDF of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea awhile back when it was on sale for a good price.  I've only skimmed its 488 pages.  (What a behemoth!  But it claims its a type of S&S so what could I do?  I'm a sucker for S&S.)

Well, as usual when I get a new game, I poked around the publishers website a little.  I found a nifty Random Sword & Sorcery Adventure Generator on their Resources page.  The generator and a little ingenuity will get you an adventure on short notice.  It even helps with the title.  Best of all is that it is not system specific.  I believe I will be testing this with BoL.

You can find it on the North Winds Adventures website here.

Had to Laugh

Saw this on the interwebs somewhere and I had to laugh...

Spring has Sprung

And I realized I haven't posted in a loooong time.

A couple of quick things:

1.  There is going to be another what I guess you could call a retroclone coming out that I'm kinda excited about.  Why would I be excited about another retroclone?  Well this is being put together by Mr. Brandon (aka Fenway5).  I seem to have similar tastes as him and like both Heroes & Other Worlds and Rogue Space.  To make it better, Mr. Brandon's wife will be illustrating it and I like all of her artwork that I've seen.  He is calling it Peril and you can see the projected cover and get more info at his Sword & Shield blog.

2.  Speaking of Heroes & Other Worlds, Mr. Brandon suggested putting together a saltbox setting.  That's like a sandbox but based on islands.  I thought was a cool idea so I submitted something.  Unfortunately the project fell through.  However, it seems he will put my island in the next edition of Cauldron, his periodical dedicated to HOW.  Read about it here.

3.  I think this is a cool picture.

Egyptian Inspiration

Some random images from around the interwebs to inspire a Egyptians sword & sorcery game.

I inserted two photos that my wife took.  Can you tell which are hers?

And, finally, one of the reasons warriors fight.

Champions of Lemuria.

There is a new discussion board for Barbarians of Lemuria, necessitated by Lords of Lemuria being overrun by spam.  It is called Champions of Lemuria and you can find it here.

A Cool Surprise

I have a 16 year old niece who hangs out at our house.  (O.k.  She's my favorite niece.  Don't tell my other nieces.)  She's a few years older than my oldest son but likes to play video games with them and comes to my wife for motherly advice and conversation.  My wife told me other day that my niece had started hanging out at a game store near her place.  (Not knowing about it, I checked it out.  Unfortunately for me it is geared toward Magic and other collectible card games.)  Well, when I came home this evening from work, she's here.  She comes up to me and says, "Uncle!  Can we play D&D?"

Stunned silence and then I reply, "Of course we can!"

So I pull out the Basic D&D rules, borrow a 1st level character from my son and away we go.  I make up a scenario on the spot.  A creature has taken a little girl from a village and dragged her into the woods.  The villagers asked our hero to get the girl back.  She tracked the creature through the forest to a burial mound that had been broken into.  The chamber in the mound smelled horrible but she cautiously went in.  The room was a shambles with broken furniture scattered all over the place, trash strewn about and, apparently, one corner being used as a toilet.  She found the little girl whimpering in a pile of rags.  She grabs the girl and heads for the entrance.  She notices a door in the wall near the rags while she is heading out.  Then, a figure looms in the doorway, growls and attacks.  Our hero sets the girl down and meets the creature with bared blade.  It's an orc!  (She loves the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings so I had to throw one in.)  They battled back and forth and after taking a wound she finally put the brute down.

After returning the child to her parents she went back to the mound to examine the door.  She managed to pick the lock and enter the room beyond.  (The character's a thief.)  In contrast with the first room this one was untouched.  Dust coated the floor.  The tapestries, though rotten, still hung from the walls.  In the middle of the floor was a stone throne with a skeleton sitting on it, sword grasped in its desiccated fingers, gold band encircling its skull.  Of course, as soon a she touched the sword (cautiously, with her sword) the skeleton came to life.  Our hero reacted quickly, swinging her sword savagely and beheading the skeleton with one blow.  Thus, she collected a long sword and a gold head band.  She then heads back to the village to a heroes welcome and needed recovery time.

The whole session took about 45 minutes and she said she had great fun.  I'm a happy man at the moment.

This story also illustrates one of the reasons I love Basic.  I can make up adventures on the spot and have the session be successful.  There is only one other game I can do this with and that is BoL.

Heroes & Other Worlds

I have so many games and so little time that some games are almost criminally neglected.  Heroes & Other Worlds (HOW) is one of them.  I've had these rules for quite a while and haven't done them justice yet.

As I've said before, probably ad nauseam, I loved the original Melee rules and played the programmed adventures to death.  For some reason, lost in the mists of time, I did not get In the Labyrinth, the rule set that expanded Melee into a complete adventuring system (though I really wanted it) .  Well, HOW does just that.  It not only expands the system but it tweaks it also.  HOW adds another attribute to the player character, Endurance.  Endurance makes the player character more durable.  Damage and the cost of casting spells are deducted from Endurance first before reducing Strength.  In the original system damage was deducted directly from Strength.

I'm currently using HOW to run my youngest through the programmed adventure Death Test.  Why Death Test?  I had originally planned to run him through the programmed adventure included in the book but he liked the name Death Test better.  More dangerous sounding.  I sent three "thugs" with him.  He created a wizard so I sent three warriors with him.  One archer and two swordsmen.  So far he's made through the spider room and defeated the bears.  I can't wait til we find time to continue.