Hexfriend

I don't know if I've mentioned Hexfriend yet.  My favorite mapping program at this point is Hex Kit.  It's a downloadable program that is simple to use and has a bunch of tile sets that you can use to make different style maps.

A map made with Hexfriend

However, if you can't afford the price of a paid program or only have access to a computer that won't run downloaded programs there is Hexfriend.  Hexfriend is my favorite online mapping program.  It is simple to use.  It allows you to create classic looking hex maps, download the source file so you can work on it again later and export the final product as a PNG for printing or distributing to your players electronically.

It has several features that somewhat surprised me for an online program.  Besides being able to choose the size of the map, you can choose whether to have a classic rectangular map or a hexflower style map.  You can have the hexes either flat top or pointed.  Coordinates on or off and one of four styles.  The tiles and icons are reminiscent of the classic TSR maps of yore.  And, theoretically, you can import your own tiles and icons.  I know there is at least one set for sale on DriveThru.

One downside to it is that there isn't layering other than the automatic layering between terrain, icons, rivers/roads and text.  Also, the icons are fairly limited.  On the upside, the icons are scalable in size.

But, if you want any easy online mapping program you might like Hexfriend.  You can find it here.

https://hexfriend.net/

Quickstarts I Like: Dungeon Crawl Classics

I think of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Quick Start Rules as the modern day gaming equivalent of the Basic D&D boxed sets of old.  Well almost.

You see, the core rules for Dungeon Crawl Classics are massive.  Over 500 pages!  That can be intimidating!!!  The Quick Start is 52 pages, including the covers.

So, what do you get in these 52 pages?  Well, as I mentioned, it reminds me a bit of on of the Basic boxed sets.  You get the 52 page booklet which covers character generation for your 0 level mooks who will die by the dozens.  (There is also an excellent online generator at Purple Sorcerer Games if you don't want to do it manually.)  It also covers the first two levels of character advancement including how experience points work. A list of appropriate level spell.  A list of weapons, armor and equipment. And two adventures.  A 0-1 level funnel and a 1st level adventure.  (So everything you need to get you up and running and playing for a while without having to invest in the full ruleset.  

So what are the downsides?  Obviously, you do get all of the rules or details you would get with the full ruleset.  One example is supernatural patrons.  Wizards get their magic from supernatural patrons such as demons or elementals.  This isn't covered in the Quick Start.

Another thing to be aware of is that there are a couple of different versions of the Quick Start.  There is a free version on the Goodman Games website.  This version has one adventure though, the funnel, and is 44 pages.  Before I discovered it I had purchased my copy at DriveThru and it is the version that has 52 pages and two adventures.

Whichever version you get I really think it's worth a look if you have even a passing interest in DCC.  Particularly since there is a free version.  I had kind of dismissed DCC until I read the Quick Start.  Reading it prompted me to buy the full rulebook.

Edit:

It turns out Goodman Games has several variations of the Quick Start on sale.  Each has two adventures but the second adventure varies.

A Hobbit Inspired Campaign

I've mentioned before my love of Tolkien's The Hobbit.  I really, really like it.  My fondness for it has only been growing over the years.  On the other hand, I don't much care for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  But that's another story.  (Oddly enough, though, I really like The Lord of the Rings movies but not The Hobbit movies.)

Two of my favorite blog posts out there on the gaming blogs are "The Hobbit 1937" at The Hydra's Grotto and "1937 Hobbit as a Setting" at Rise Up Comus.  Both of these riff on using The Hobbit as it was originally written as a campaign setting.  The current version of The Hobbit was modified when The Lord of the Rings was publish in the 1950s to fit better the series' lore.  So the posts ask, what would a campaign be like with just the information available in The Hobbit, as originally published, but with none of the later lore added by The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other works?

These two blog posts really make me want to play/run a campaign in that world.  It's essentially a points of light campaign, which I find fascinating.  Though it can be a harsh and grim world it also has a touches of fairytale whimsy.  And it shows how a small group of people can have an oversized effect on the world.

While I'm interested in playing in the setting itself or a close analog, I'm not really interested in using any of the of the licensed games.  Except, perhaps, The Lord of the Rings Adventure Game (LOR), a simple game released in the early 90s by Ice Crown Enterprises as an introduction to their Middle Earth Role Playing game.  But I'll talk about this game in another post.

I can think of several rulesets that I could use for this.  TSR D&D and OSR rulesets jump to mind immediately because that is what I'm most familiar with.

The first for me, of course, is B/X.  With the exception of the cleric it fits quite nicely.  The demi-human race-as-class fits the archetypes well in my mind and the other classes are spot on.  As for the cleric, many people online have suggested that the cleric's magic actually fits Tolkien elves better than magic-user spells.  I will take their word for it because as much as I like The Hobbit I am not a Tolkien scholar in any way, shape or form.  I could do away with the cleric altogether and have elves use clerical magic instead.  I just purchased BX Options: Class Builder by Erin Smale (aka The Welsh Piper) so I could just build the class from the ground up so it would be customized to my liking and have different x.p. requirements suitable for their modified powers.

The second to come to mind is The Hero's Journey by James Spahn.  Either the First or Second Edition would work fine.  The First Edition adheres more closely to its White Box roots.  It does add more classes, modifies how attributes are generated and actually adds two attributes, luck and appearance.  It also uses only shields and dexterity to determine armor class and has armor reduce damage.  The Second Edition makes many more changes to better match Mr. Spahn's vision.  I wrote about it in more detail in this post.  I like both editions but the First Edition draws me to it more at this point.  So if I were to go with The Hero's Journey I would use First Edition suitably modified.  I would throw out some classes and a race to make it fit my vision better.  (Buh-bye Bard, buh-bye Jester, etc.)  And the cleric would have to be dealt with again.

I could go with White Box with added classes and options from Mr. Spahn's White Box Omnibus and White Box Compendium.  This would essentially be taking the building blocks that he used to make The Hero's Journey and brew up my own version to try to more exactly meet my vision.  I would certainly add Greenleaf Elves, rangers and druids and perhaps the barbarian.  I would also probably add the druid spell list from White Box Expanded Lore by Simon "Noobirus" Piecha.  A little more time consuming but the process can be fun in and of itself.

Then there are several other noncommercial OSR games that are aimed at a LotRs feel.  There is Drums in the Deep, which is a modification meant for Holmes Basic.  There is also Balrogs & Bagginses.  B&B states you will need a version of Basic or AD&D to use it.  Whereas Drums in the Deep is 11 pages, B&B clocks in at 58.  I haven't read these in quite a while so I'm not going to say much about them at this time.

I think I'll wrap this post up for now and talk about non-OSR options next time.

Christmas Gift

 I realized I haven't mentioned my Christmas gift yet!  I received the newest version of Traveller!  Pretty cool!

World Names for the SV Inspired Setting.

I've been pondering what to name the planets in my Space Viking inspired setting.  In his Terro-Human Future History, Piper leaned heavily on world mythology for the names of planets.  So, I figure I can do one of two things.  

I can embrace this and either recycle the names that Piper used or I can dig up my own mythological names.  On the positive side, reusing Piper's names would give an instant familiarity to anyone who has read the book and people who haven't read the books wouldn't know any different.  On the negative side those who have read the books might have preconceived notions about what the planets are like, even if I don't want the planets to emulate the originals.  

Digging up my own mythological names shouldn't be too hard but many of the figures involved could be very obscure.  It's a distinct possibility that the players would miss the references.  Heck, I would probably miss the references.  It shouldn't be that hard though, with the internet and the books available at the library and such.

The second course of action is to invent new names or draw them from a different source.  Now, I find this a bit daunting.  I would like a unified theme like Piper used but I don't know what that it would be and I don't know where I would get the names if I did come up with a theme that I liked and felt fit the game.

Right now I'm leaning towards scavenging Piper's names in conjunction with coming up with new mythological names.

Here is a list of names from Piper's Terro-Human Future History books.  I found it on one of the sites dedicated to Piper's works, Zaranthi.net. 

Worlds				Sword Worlds.
Abigor	Hoth	Panurge		Colada
Agni	Imhotep	Poictesme		Curtana
Aditya	Irminsul	Quernbiter		Durendal
Amaterasu	Isis	Rimmon		Excalibur
Ashmodai	Ithunn	Seshat		Flamberge
Aton	Janicot	Set		Gram
Audhumla	Jaganath	Shesha		Haulteclere
Baldur	Joyeuse	Svantovit		Joyeuse
Baphomet	Jurgen	Tanith		Morglay
Belphegor	Khepera	Terra		Quernbiter
Beowulf	Koshchei	Tetragrammaton		Tizona
Britomart	Loki	Titan
Calidore	Lugaluru	Tizona
Colada	Luna	Thor
Curtana	Malebolge	Uller
Dagon	Marduk	Venus
Deirdre	Mars	Vishnu
Dremna	Melkarth	Vitharr
Durendal	Mephistopheles	Volund
Excalibur	Mercury	Xerxes
Fenris	Midgard	Xipototec
Flamberge	Mimir	Xochitl
Freya	Morglay	Yggdrasil
Gilgamesh	Nergal	Zarathustra
Gram	Niflheim
Hathor	Obidicut
Haulteclere	Odin
Hertha	Osiris
Hovendile	Pantagruel

The Black Hack

I've had the PDF for the first edition of The Black Hack for quite some time but only recently got around to reading it.  I found that I like it for several reasons.  

First, I can pretty much hold all of the rules in my head.  Since I got back into RPGs about two decades ago I discovered that I prefer rules-lite games.  As a working parent who was perennially tired I just did not have the brain power to expend on complicated games.  Now I'm old and just plain tired and still don't.  And besides, it turns out my favorite games are rules-lite.

Second, it is familiar.  Two of my favorite games are B/X and White Box: FMAG.  The Black Hack is based on the Original Edition and so is very close to these games.  Same attributes, same spells, same monsters and similar adventuring style. So you know what you're going to get and what you're supposed to do.

Third, it is pick up and play.  TBH is excellent for one shots.  Characters can be generated quickly and you can be off and running.  You don't have to spend a lot of time prepping if you don't want too.It's my understanding that it can be used for campaigns also but I haven't played more than a couple of sessions so I don't know this personally.

And fourth, support and adventures.  In the years since the first edition was published many adventures and supplements have been published.  Often these are free or very low priced.  This makes it easy to keep playing if you like the game.  The supplements range from new classes and ways to add in races to full-blown games based on TBH.  What's more, I understand that the modules and adventures from the original games are easily compatible too.  So you can pull out any of the your old TSR modules, or new OSR stuff for that matter, and run it with TBH.

Another thing I like about TBH is what people have done with it.  Not just the adventures and supplements but the full games people have created using it.  TBH has an OGL and is open content, what ever all of that means.  I've never really understood it except that it means people can use it to make other games using the material under certain conditions.  And people have created many, many different variations in many different genres.  Some are a few pages long like TBH's 20 pages to others that are over 200 pages.

For example, I haven't played straight The Black Hack. I have run my son through three or four programmed solo adventures using Bluehack. Bluehack is an expanded (to a whopping 26 pages) version of TBH which fills in some of the gaps in the sparse TBH and is modified to feel more like Holmes Basic, which was the RPG that started it all for me.  In fact it was created by the same person who created Holmes' clone Blueholme.

There are many fantasy hacks that take it in different directions.  There are several D&D versions including Red Hack and Heroes & Monsters.  There are at least three sword & sorcery versions.  I have two, Black Sword Hack and Swords Against the Shroud, and will get the third version, By this Axe I Hack, soon.  There is also a Tolkien version that incorporates some features from The One Ring called There and Hack Again.  

There are also various science fiction versions ranging from spacefaring to post-apocalypse. This includes serious to full on Gamma World gonzo in the form of Barbarians of the Ruined Earth, which is a big, beautiful full color book that I would like to have some day.

I could go on but suffice it to say that the full range is covered.  Anime, cyberpunk, noir, modern, pirates, supers and even dinosaurs.  You name it, it's probably out there.

Now there is one last thing I like about The Black Hack.  It gives me the urge to create.  Not just that.  It actually makes me feel like I could be successful in these creative endeavors.  None of the variations of TBH that I have read are exactly how I want them to be.  I know what I want to change and clarify, add and subtract.  The thing is, the chassis that this game provides is so simple yet so sturdy and I understand it from a lifetime of gaming that I know I could do it.  I just need to sit down and do it.  Write my perfect version of this game to suit my personal tastes and quirks.

I think I've just set myself a goal.  Dammit.

Space Viking World and Subsector Generation Thoughts

Art by Alan Gutierrez

I mentioned in an earlier post that the standard world generation in Traveller wouldn't meet my needs for my SV inspired setting.  There are a few worlds I would want to handcraft.  Those worlds that had a high enough tech level for interstellar flight, particularly the character's base worlds.  And the world(s) that they controlled/dominated.  Essentially whatever pocket empires I want in the setting.  I don't envision them being larger than three or four worlds in size.  Other than that I would want to be able to randomly generate worlds that meet the tech level and other requirement that produce the feeling of the setting.

So, planetary generation would need to be modified in several areas.

• Tech Level Cap (TL 10)
• Starport Type
• Bases
• Planetary Atmospheres
• Government

The first thing that would have to be modified is tech level.  The tech level cap will be TL10.  Though I'm thinking that I will allow Type J maneuver drives, jump drives and power plants because that will allow for 2000 ton ships.  Space Viking had some big ships and this will allow for a bit more emulation in that area.  TL 10, however, limits the setting to computer type 4 which means jumps are limited to 4 parsecs.  So even small ships won't be wildly speeding through the galaxy.  I plan to designate which planets have TL9 or TL10 so the planets that I randomly create need to be capped at TL8.  My solution is to roll on the Tech Level Table as usual but ignore the starport type modifier.  Technically, this can still yield a tech level as high as 11 but I think it is unlikely.  And the GM can just cap it at TL8.  Or, if they want another starfaring planet they can just go with it up to the TL10 max.

Starport type needs to be handled differently too.  Anything below TL7 will not have a spaceport.  Unless it is in ruins or it is mothballed or on a moon or is a satellite.  TL7-8 can have interplanetary ships so can have one and may be in the process of colonizing its solar system.  The GM can either choose a starport type or roll on the table I've devised below.

Bases won't be present on TL6 or below planets.  Unless, of course, they are ruins or abandoned bases off planet.  They can be determined as the GM deems appropriate for TL7 and above systems

I wanted to modify atmosphere for a couple of reasons.  The first of which is that 10 out of the 13 types of atmospheres listed in the book are unbreathable by humans without some sort of breathing equipment.  I figured that with the loss of technology after the Federation fell that this would lead to planets being depopulated as their inhabitants lost the ability to manufacture and repair the equipment.  The second reason is that I can remember the only planet in Piper's Terro-Human Future History that did not have a human breathable atmosphere was Niflheim. It was from another of Piper's books, Uller Uprising, set centuries earlier than SV.  The only reason that people had anything to do with Niflheim and its corrosive atmosphere was its wealth in metals.  The planet is so hellish that its name is actually used as a curse.  So, in order to give planets a higher chance of be habitable I am going to dropped the tainted designation.

Several of the planets mentioned in SV weren't unified, both the primitive ones as well as some of the relatively technologically advanced worlds.  I wanted to have this reflected in the world generation.  I figured that before the government type was rolled the GM would roll 1D6.  On a 1-3 the planet would be balkanized, otherwise the GM would roll normally.  If balkanized, roll 1D3+1 to find the number of major countries/political units.  Then the GM can either roll separately for each country or the GM could choose.

Here is what the World Generation Checklist would look like.

• Determine world occurrence (1D for 4, 5, 6 is standard). 
• Check system contents table for details of world. 
•     Check for gas giant. 
• Name world. 
• Generate universal planetary profile for world. 
• Planetary size: 2D-2. 
• Planetary atmosphere: 2D-7 +size. Ignore Tainted designation (unless GM has special circumstances in mind).  If planetary size is 0, the atmosphere must be 0. 
• Planetary hydrographics: 2D-7 +size. If planetary size is 0, then hydrographics must be 0; if atmosphere is 0. 1, or A+, then apply a DM of -4. 
• Population: 2D-2. No population if atmosphere 0-3, A+
• Government: Roll d6, 1-3 Balkanized. Roll D3+1 for # of major political units.  Governments can be roll for or determined by GM. If not balkanized 2D-7+population as usual.
• Law level : 2D-7+government. 
• Technological Level : 1D+DMs from tech level table. Ignore starport modifiers.  TL8 cap unless referee decides otherwise.
• Determine starport type. See tables below.
• Determine naval base as appropriate. 
• Determine scout base as appropriate.
• Decide if travel zone coded. 
• Establish communications routes.
• Note trade classifications based on universal planetary profile. 
• Note statistics for reference.

Here is the table to generate starport type for TL 7-8  I also included a table for TL 9-10 just for kicks.  In case the GM wanted a little randomness.

Spaceport Type			Spaceport Type
TL 7-8			TL 9-10
2	X		1	X
3	E		2	E
4-8	D		3-4	D
9-10	C		5-7	C
11-12	A/B		8-9	B
			10-12	A

These are just my initial thoughts.  I haven't tested these world generation rules yet.  When I do I will let you know how it went and and changes that I think need to be made.