Vikings & Valkyries - Session Eight

Session 8 (March 22, 2014)

(Back to Session 1)

In which our troublemakers found the location of the legendary Sommarsverd, fought undead warriors, had a wedding, and win a spectacular battle against the forces of an unknown wizard. The player of Esya (the Huntress) was still abroad, so the party roster was the following:

• Harald Greentooth (Viking 2), javelin-thrower and spear-wielder with an unlikely high Defense Class
• Jormund (Sorcerer 2), cunning sorcerer
• Möjmöj (Half-Giant 1), amazingly and gamebreakingly powerful warrior
• Gottfried Flogasson (Prince 2), tank of the party and fiancé of Ingrid Olafsdottir
• Freydís (Priestess of Freya 1), plotting archer-priestess

The God-Machine Chronicle - The Rules

The following list summarises the mechanical changes the new half-edition of World of Darkness (that is, The God-Machine Chronicle) has introduced; as such, it assumes familiarity with the game's previous incarnation. Note that it does not list every single rule or change in the rules but rather helps see the main differences; as such, it does not substitute the rule book proper.

Abilities Acquired Diegetically

I have been thinking about character abilities lately; more specifically, about how they are acquired. In OD&D and B/X (and most games derived from them) characters do not gain new abilities as they grow in levels (except for new spells); they only improve their already existing ones. In AD&D (and its derivations) character do gain new abilities, but they are tied to certain levels. In newer editions of the game players may often choose their characters abilities (be they feats or class abilities) off a list.

I myself do not find character building much entertaining, but mostly because it is cumbersome and it is removed from the game world (i.e. my choices as an adventurer have no impact on which abilities I might be able to take). On the other hand, it feels rewarding to being able to pick a new ability and using it as soon as the right circumstances arise.

The solution might be making almost every character ability diegetic regarding their acquirement. That is, classes could be designed with only a few key differences (permitted weapon and armour; advancement of to-hit bonuses; hit dice type; and one or two distinctive feature), and we could provide ways of gaining new abilities tied to the setting. To keep niche protection, abilities could also be tied to certain classes (that is, a character may not acquire every available ability). Also, if abilities are not equal in power, the difficulty of their acquirement can be adjusted properly.

How many hits do I need to kill that thing?

I was trying figure out the minute (or not so minute) differences between various hit point and damage systems. For that I just made a simple spreadsheet (available here) where I calculated a number of things - I thought it may be some help to others.

I provided a minimal amount of notes (how I obtained the average HP and damage at a given level), but the following should be notes, as well. The first and sheet includes how many HP a character (or creature) may have at a given level and how much damage he may deal. Assuming an opponent of equal level or Hit Dice, you can find the number of hits it may take on average; after that, how many attacking attempts are required depending on your chance to hit (25%, 50%, and 75% of success, respectively).

The third and fourth sheets differ: they show you how a character of a pre-defined level (1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th) compares to creatures of various Hit Dice. Therefore, average HP is calculated for the creature and damage for the character, and the number of hits or attacks are calculated from the character's point of view.

2014. 03. 13. edit: Last night I updated the file for there were some incorrect functions. Shouldn't have done it so late, I guess.

Campaign Pitch - Black Metal Marsh

Labelled in my notes as Black Metal Marsh, I present you this short background of the setting. No doubt it was inspired by the pitch of Rafael Chandler's new game (although when I read it first somewhere else only the short version was available). The original idea was to use Robert Conley's Blackmarsh as its basis; now I'm not sure if I will follow through with it (nevertheless, I haven't found a suitable alternate name yet).

It was believed that the world always existed and was never changing, for nothing could ever exist without Law and Order. Angels of the World Above served the incredible power that is the Operator and watched over mankind, inhabitants of the World Below, with ever vigilant eyes. None would have suspected that it be one among them who would betray the very foundation of the known universe.

Ledsabbath, an angel of the highest rank, found the never changing notes of the divine choir boring and the mortal crowds' uniformity pathetic; he wanted something that was never conceived before, something new.

Review: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

This is a review of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (henceforth AS&SH), a game published by North Wind Adventures. AS&SH is a complete game, rules-wise mostly resembling 1st edition AD&D; its official world, Hyperborea, is greatly influenced by the works of R. E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, C. A. Smith, E. R. Burroughs, Fritz Leiber, Abraham Merritt, Michael Moorcock, and Jack Vance (the list is actually from the book), and it has a good deal of sword-and-sorcery and weird fantasy elements.

The game comes in a box with two books (Player's Manual and Referee's Manual) containing three volumes each, a poster map of Hyperborea, six character sheets, and some dice. Unfortunately, I cannot talk about the quality of these as I only bought a pdf copy (honestly, with international shipping costs added, the boxed set was way too expensive for me). Nevertheless, the books are extremely well-written and superbly edited; the reader is oft guided to other sections of the same or of other volumes and is given notes reminding him to important and useful things.

Vikings & Valkyries - Session Seven

Session 7 (February 22, 2014)

(Back to Session 1)

In which the party learnt of a legendary sword, fought some monsters, and negotiated with dwarves. The player of Esya (the Huntress) was abroad, so her place was taken by another player; the party thus consisted of the following characters:

• Harald Greentooth (Viking 2), javelin-thrower and spear-wielder with an unlikely high Defense Class
• Jormund (Sorcerer 2), cunning sorcerer; so far he has kept his powers hidden from his companions
• Gottfried Flogasson (Prince 2), noble tank of the party; fiancé of Ingrid Olafsdottir
• Freydís (Priestess of Freya 1), archer-priestess; eager to learn Jormund's secret identity
• Möjmöj (Half-Giant 1), powerful warrior capable of turning any likely TPK to TMK (Total Monster Kill); at least so far

Vikings & Valkyries - Session Six

Session 6 (January, 2014)

(Back to Session 1)

This year's first face-to-face gaming session, during which we tested the mass combat rules found in the M&M Companion (slightly changed to reflect minute differences between M&M and V&V), some general raiding rules (mostly inspired by Aegir's Fire), and my crudely programmed village-generator; lastly, the party returned to Jarl Olaf Gunnbjörn's court and became involved in the local politics.

The party consisted of the following characters:

• Harald Greentooth (Viking 2), veteran javelin-thrower and spear-wielder
• Jormund (Sorcerer 2), cunning sorcerer
• Gottfried Flogasson (Prince 2), designated tank of the party, also of noble heritage
• Esya Valdensdottir (Huntress 1), a hunter living in the forest
• Freydís (Priestess of Freya 1), a priestess coming from a secluded community of Freya-worshippers

Review: Hulks and Horrors

Hulks and Horrors, written by John S. Berry and released by his very own Bedroom Wall Press, is a neo-retro game, designed specifically to be a game of "dungeon crawling in space". Its mechanics are partly derived from B/X D&D and, as a result, compatible with most D&D-esque games to a great extent. It provides an exploration-based game structure focussing on crawling through abandoned hulks, space stations, and ruins found in uncharted sectors.

Alternate Clerics

When it comes to house rules that signal a particular flavour and reinforce atmosphere and genre conventions true of a setting, Clerics and the workings of divine magic are one of the most often reworked parts of D&D. In most first and second generation OSR rules sets, Clerics work almost exactly like Magic-Users, except they do not need spell books and their spells come from a higher power, which also implies the existence of gods (or at least creatures with godlike capabilities) who are willing to grant power to their followers.

In this post I talk about some alternative ways of handling Clerics and their magic. In no way it is intended to be a detailed analysis or comprehensive list of options; nevertheless, I appreciate links and others ideas posted in the comments, for this post is not about inventing something new but appreciating the richness of house rules people have shared.

Summary of the Year 2013

It has been a good year for me and great first year for my blog. As I now hit the Publish button, I have produced 42 blog posts, and the blog has received more than 12,000 total pageviews. I believe it is worth mentioning that the five most viewed posts were (1) Starting a Megadungeon Campaign, (2) Alternate Rule for Paralysis, (3) Rappan Atuk - Classes, (4) Vikings & Valkyries, Session 1, and (5) Rappan Athuk - Session Zero.

For fun, I did some text analyses. Based on my blog posts, Typealizer, for instance, proposed that I am of the ISTP type. Another analysis by urlai.com resulted in the following: "ynasmidgard.blogspot.com is probably written by a male somewhere between 66-100 years old. The writing style is academic and happy most of the time."; I may not be that old, but it was flattering to read that my blog "is the 326th most manly blog of 17,730 ranked".

What follows is a list of games I played or ran this year, other game-related things I did, some things I wanted to do but did not, and, finally, my game-related plans for the next year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!

Review: Arcana Rising

Now that the final version of this game hit the electronic shelves, it is time I wrote a review of it. To be clear, I was a backer of the Kickstarter project, and I was paying much attention to the development of the game since the first beta; otherwise, I have no affiliations with the author whatsoever.

So, Arcana Rising is an urban fantasy role-playing game; it takes place in a contemporary setting to which magic has been recently brought back by Russian scientists' drilling down into Lake Vostok, apparently breaching the seal that warded the source of magic. From the first two and a half pages we get to know how the Atlanteans ruled thousands of years ago, how their kingdom fell, and how magic was locked away; then a few paragraphs about role-playing games, dice conventions, Rule No. 0, and then we get a summary of character creation.