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Links of Interest After a Long Workday

May 9, 2012 /

There's not a lot of continuity to these links. I just really enjoyed them for one reason or another. After a very long day, these got the imagination going even after the craziest day at work.

Making a Zine

Fall of Autumn is a site with resources, links and locations about zines. One of the links that got my attention pertained to making a zine. I keep thinking in terms of folded 8.5 by 11 paper held together with staples. Here is a link on how to make a perfect bound book of cards. The idea I had was a book of NPCs for Adventurer Conqueror King. Each NPC fits on an index card and would be readily available. I could even add index tabs to mark the level of the NPC.

New Games to Play

Want some martial arts action? Try Flying Swordsmen. Want  a fast and free d20 fantasy game? Try Heroes Against the Darkness.

Flying Swordsmen has only four classes, but all of them can use martial arts. It feel like many of the older clones, but has a fun system for the crazy moves straight out of the old kung-fu movies I watched as a kid.

Heroes against the Darkness has 11 classes. It is well-written and has great art. I appreciated the example character creations. It looks like once you have created a character, then it is a fast-playing game. I've not read all of it yet, but it is fun.

Something for the Game You Already Have

With the One Page Dungeon Contest, you'll always have more than enough adventures for you and your friends. Alex Schroeder talks about what he likes in a one-pager along with his favorites so far. I agree that I also like adventures that allow sneaky characters to be sneaky.

Solo Play that Is Not T&T

Nothing against Tunnels & Trolls at all. It's great. This is about a solo adventure for USR. Locket Away is an adventure in a non-traditional fantasy setting. This says it better:

You play as a hard-boiled detective in a fantasy realm on a hunt for a mysterious locket that belongs to the beautiful mistress of Prince Talos. Thrilling brawls, seedy locales and strange denizens await you on this investigation into the heart of Jailton.

I'll let you know how it plays after this weekend. Woot!

Speaking of New Places

Just read about The Ruins of Char'realra - A Failed Dwarven Colony on Mars!

Any Port in a Storm

Bruce Heard unearths an old document talking about the ports of Mystara. It deals with size and capacity, but also provides a ranking system. I'd like to see this adapted to ACKS. You can download the pdf here.

I hope to have more meaningful content sometime soon. Until then, happy reading!

Psionicists and a Trip to Half Price Books

May 5, 2012 /

Work on the ACKS Psionicist is on task for the end of May. Last night I managed to get the Proficiencies written thanks to a ninth evening of insomnia. The Wild Talents and Stronghold rules are next. It's all coming together.

The proficiencies may change, but here are the ones I have so far. These are all in ACKS already:

Acrobatics, Battle Magic, Beast Friendship, Command, Contemplation, Craft, Diplomacy, Healing, Illusion Resistance, Leadership, Magical Music, Mystic Aura, Performance, Quiet Magic, Sensing Power, Unflappable Casting, Weapon Focus

The others so far are reworked feats from the SRDs:

Delay Power, Psionic Armor, Psionic Body, Psionic Fist, Psionic Shot, Psionic Weapon, Speed of Thought, Up the Walls.

Yes, I will be changing the names. I don't like everything having the word psionic in it. A few more proficiencies are on the way as well.

Adventures in Book Buying

Today I was at Half-Price books pondering another RPG purchase. I don't get a bit of allowance often, but I was eager to see what deals I could get. Last time I found a TORG book for about four dollars. That was a few months ago, so I figured the stock had changed...

Someone at this branch of Half Price apparently checks eBay for price comparisons. The Birthright box set without War Cards was $30. The 2nd Edition Tome of Magic was way high as well. About the best deal I found was a Metabarrons hardback for $15. I wasn't able to get it.

What I did find, however, was a book about Southeast Asian history. Specifically, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450 - 1680 by Anthony Reid for about $6. Tanah-Con-Rahn is inspired by Southeast Asia and this is the perfect sourcebook. Not only does it detail daily life, but warfare, urban culture and pastimes. One of the aspects I liked is the discussion about mass conflict. The prevailing mood in conflict was that land was forever, but human capital was limited. Apparently, battles weren't fought to the last man or anything like that. In fact, cities didn't have walls. An army would invade, and the citizens would wait in the woods until the invaders left.

The goal of mass conflict was to actually capture people. The measure of power was in the number of slaves and people under a ruler's control. People were a limited resource, so you didn't waste them in war. In fact, if you completely wiped out your opposition, you lost the opportunity to capture their forces. Not only did you want to avoid losing lots of your troops, but avoiding lots of theirs.

How was mass combat handled? Many times it was either handled through one-on-one combat (champion to champion) or through scaring the other force. The reason a ruler would amass a huge army was to lower the morale of his opponent. One way of lowering morale was to prove that your force had superior magic, defensive or offensive. In fact, when firearms arrived in the area, shots were more often fired into the air rather than at the enemy.

From a game standpoint, mass combat is basically a reaction roll. Before the reaction roll, though, each side could wheel out their crossbreed or extraplanar champion to fight it out. As the fight progresses, each side makes reaction rolls based on how the fight is going. When one fails, the battle is over. If the champion route doesn't work, it could be a mega-powerful weapon, or mutant elephants. One of the more powerful effects could even be the sudden transformation of the front line into rakshasas.

As an aside, this also addresses another issue, why are the endless forests filled with weird monsters? It's filled with the losers (or permanently transformed troops) from the many wars and skirmishes throughout the land.

As far as diversions, it seems that gambling on animal fights was quite popular. However, it doesn't have to be magical creations. It can be roosters (for the lower classes), tigers, even elephants. The big battle might be the weird and bizarre, but it doesn't have to be.

By the way, stronghold rules would be the same for every class...

Okay, okay, okay. What does this have to do with the ACKS Psionicist?

The Tanah-Con-Rahn setting features variations of the ACKS Psionicist. I want to make certain that the ideas I have for Tanah-Con-Rahn are possible in the rules I present. For that matter, there are a class of people in the space fantasy setting based on the Psionicist. (They are called the Pythagoreans.)

More to come. I hope to finish more tonight and enjoy a good book tomorrow.

RPG Class Generator

May 1, 2012 /

Chaoticshiny has two new generators out. A Rune Generator and an RPG Class Generator.

I love the idea of a Rune generator, even though I do not draw very well. I may use it to inspire the psionic combat chart...

Of great interest, though is the RPG Class Generator. In a sense, it reminds me of the Pars Fortuna rules. I don't know how flexible the ACKS system would be to this kind of treatment, but it makes some great results. Here's the first generated results I got. (Yes, I chose 4 classes.)

This class predominantly features exploring skills, aiding allies, offensive fighting and rituals. They are poor at cultural skills, crafting skills and agility. This class is associated with those from a specific background.

This class is best at speedy movement, cultural skills, battlefield control and a specific nature skill and is also capable with heavy weapons. They have no talent for magical melee combat, healing, physical ranged combat and wisdom. They draw power from the elements. They have one of several signature weapons.

This class is best at cultural skills, defensive fighting, charisma and exploring skills. They are especially bad at stealth, magical melee combat and physical strength. The class is restricted by philosophy.

This class is best at stealth. They are weak at a specific physical skill and cultural skills. They are better known for their non-combat skills.

Nothing hits me strongly about these first four. The first one makes me think of a spell-wielding Ranger. The third makes me think of a cross between a warlord and an invoker and thus more interesting. Let's try another roll:

This class is good at healing. They are weak at rituals, magical area effects, battlefield control and physical strength. They are best known for a specific skill. Certain subclasses are associated with certain philosophies.

A healer class. I guess you could say that this would be the exact opposite of a necromancer. (Vivamancer?)

This class is good at dealing with metaphysical entities. They are especially bad at mechanical skills, exploring skills and heavy weapons. They have a signature weapon. The class is associated with a particular race.

Metaphysical entities, eh? I think of metaphysical entities as things like Entropy, Chaos, Order, Life, Death, etc. It could be a specific type of mage or a meta-cleric. Meta-cleric meaning that no specific gods are invoked, but more of a metaphysical reality. Very Hindi in flavor...

This class is best at cultural skills. They are especially bad at a specific social skill, exotic weapons and rituals. The class has subclasses which can vary widely in their abilities based on region of origin.

Cultural skills. I have to figure out what that would mean.

This class is good at a specific nature skill, a specific physical skill and defensive fighting and is also capable with speedy movement and physical skills. They are not very capable with fighting multiple opponents, battlefield control and intelligence. Progression beyond a certain point requires an ordeal. They have a signature fighting style.

I don't know why this makes me think of a monk, but with an animal companion or totem of some sort.

Happy rolling!

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