D&D 4e Countdown

Posted on January 25, 2021 by First Age

With less than a week to go before we start our D&D4e game set in the Nentir Vale, the Discord chat channel is now full of posts about characters and forging a team of heroes to right the wrongs and turn the tide of this tucked away northerly province.

The players have used a mix of tools to get the characters created, including the offline Character Builder, now maintained by the community. It’s a Windows app, a snap to load, and contains much of the 4e corpus, providing a rich array of options to create your character and to maintain through the levels.

Character Builder Splash Screen

Creating a character

I’m excited by the characters. An elf wizard with something of a past that makes her nervous of other elves, a half-elf hexblade who works power through his blade, a dragonborn warlord who has seen and knows much of battle, and a rarely seen goliath, down from the Dragonforge Mountains, to help keep everything in order.

Four heroes are ready with a possible fifth on the way

For online play I am preparing to use the Role VTT for some light touch tools, mostly a dice roller, but with the option of using the 4e character sheet that I have created. Part of me would very much like to go with a VTT that is more feature heavy, providing integrated 4e rules, token management, Fog of War, music, integrated chat, etc, but for now I’m happy to try a light VTT and see how we go. Many of the features mentioned will come to the VTT over the course of this year.

D&D 4e on Role VTT

To keep me busy between now and Saturday I am researching the fan compiled history and gazetteer of Nentir Vale and, you know, actually learning the rules of the game! I have three old hand players who are happy to help with the rules lawyering, and I’m happy to let them. 😊

I have the scenario path prepared in that I’m running a blend of two official, pre-generated, scenarios to get us going and take us towards about 4th level. I really don’t know if we are going to be able to keep the sessions running, but I am fully committed to do so if there is interest and it is fun.

Ah well, back to my research and preparation.

Posted in D&D4e, Games, VTT | Leave a comment

Preparing for my first 4e Game

Posted on January 17, 2021 by First Age

 I’m new to 4e and thought I’d share the things I’m doing to get started with a 4e game, inhabiting as I do, a 2021 time-frame, rather than late 2000s. This grants me some hindsight advantages and gives me some tools that weren’t available ‘back in the day’. Mostly, I’d just like to give it a go!

Books

I’ve gone a bit mad and got a lot on eBay and raided Drivethru/DMs Guild. Many of the Core rulebooks and Essential titles. I have been reading and enjoying hte physical books, the top quality DM advice and the general feel of the game.

POD is a viable alternative too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buC6v_lcouE

Research

I’ve bought quite a few more titles than i have any need to do to get a game going. Here’s hoping it is not a huge and wasteful extravagance. My research has got me following the praise amongst the shouty discord. I’m unaffected by the tumult of the time and interested in what people have found to work and any pitfalls.

I was momentarily a bit confused by the history and the relationship of Core to Essentials. That is now passed and I’m just opening the door to everything and seeing how it all plays out. It’s all 4e, just with different emphasis. Predominantly it will be a Core game and set in the Nentir Vale, as i’d like to explore 4e in home situe. Research has also ‘solved’ the retrospective maths conundrum. I’ll be applying MM3 adjustments to monsters, or at least double checking them and applying any HP or damage variations to maximise the fun stuff.

Tools

Offline Character Builder – what a great tool this is and makes creating and maintaining a character an absolute breeze. It also gives you pretty much all the options, so you have lots to go at in a pick and mix style. Reminds me of the pathbuilder2 app for Pathfinder2e. Quick and easy to create characters.

Instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iDN … GGYZo/edit

Monster Manual 3 stat adjustments – there are lots of things out there to help you get the maths right. There is all the errata collated in one PDF. That helps for any cross checking of later wisdom. The ‘MM3 on a Card’ gives all the logic to apply if you want to. I also have a spreadsheet to do calculations depening on level and role, provided by great people on the 4e discord. Sly Flourish also has a useful table to cross reference against.

The card: http://blogofholding.com/?p=512

Power Cards – someone has created lots of power cards. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll use them, but if someone is juggling powers as a player then I can always create custom decks for them. Most of htis is available on the Character Builder outputs, which also export to MS OneNote as images so that I can copy them into a Google Doc and share with players from there.

The 4e Database – a quick look up of, well, just about everything. So you always have the rules to hand.

The database: http://iws.mx/dnd/?list

A VTT – Currently I plan to use the Role VTT and ignore deep integration. The Audio Visual experience is most important for RPGs whether you are 4e or Fate. I’m tempted to go with something inegration heavier. If Foundry had a 4e module then I’d get Jitsi integrated and go all in. D20Pro is tempting, not least because it imports PCs from the character builder and Hero Lab. Roll20 is the obvious one, but I’m holding off. I’ve created a 4e character sheet on Role, though I expect its use will be optional. Not very sure how it will work with a real character with lots of powers. Only one way to find out. I also have a flexible die roller ready to go.

The Role VTT: https://www.playrole.com/

Maps, Tokens and Handouts – Tokentool gives me a free means to create as many tokens as I like. I use Affinity suite, Wonderdraft and Dungeondraft for maps and handouts. Deciding to have a go with reavers of Harkenwold persuaded me to purchse Mike Schley’s lovely set of maps.

Campaign Setting and Adventure

I’m going to go with a pre-published and will explore the Nentir Vale. I have bought some PDFs that give me some adventure in the Dawnforge Mountains and then down to Harkenwold for the Reavers mini campaign. Looks to be good fun and brimming with potential.

There is a lot of fan work, much I have found through this inestimable forum. A full history of the Vale and a gazeteer! I’ve also done some research on broader Nerath, which I shall also have fun with through the boardgame that i found cheap in the UK. If I feel like spending the time I may create a bigger map of Nerath with my take on the Western lands. For now, no need at all.

Now trying to recruit some players. I’m going for occasional Saturdays at about 19:00 GMT (as I have a PST zoned player).

The process of discovery has been such fun. Hope the game gets close to that… 😀

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My Look Ahead for Gaming in 2021

Posted on January 1, 2021 by First Age

 We are all probably looking forward to something that looks a little bit like old normal for 2021. With a fair wind and a strong dose of ingenious science, perhaps we will as the year continues. Most markedly, I would like conventions to be face to face at some point during the year. Of those that I am most heavily involved in, I remain hopeful that Furnace 2021, scheduled for October, will see us meeting each other at The Garrison Hotel once again. How lovely that will be, with the added opportunity to actually roll some physical dice, something that I have only really managed with the occasional family games. I expect that North Star, slated for May, will be online.

For my regular gaming though, I think the patterns set in 2020 will now become a fixture, whatever happens in the life of the pandemic. Online gaming suits me very well, and in a silver lining of an awful year has set me on a course for my future regular gaming. The advantages of the format outweigh the pitfalls to such a great extent that my regular weekly gaming will continue on a Virtual Tabletop. The convenience of signing in and out from your own home, the broader range of people you can connect with, and some of the inherent advantages of online play will ensure that is where the majority of my games will take place.

I have already noted how much more gaming I have had in 2020 compared to pretty much any year except perhaps my undergraduate times. The quality of the games have also been very high. The sessions are typically shorter, but I have found more focused on the actual game, which is a slight surprise given the Internet distractions that are in everyone’s faces. I’ve noted a few players that have regularly zoned out, in game, to other online windows, but they have been a minority. Or, at least, for some, the distractions haven’t influenced the quality of their play, so I haven’t really noticed. The use of the online resources for maps, tokens, dice rollers, information sharing all add to the experience, without being necessary for a great game. So, online is where I will be.

More games than ever before

The virtual tabletops themselves are continually improving. At present I don’t think there is one that does everything the best. As such it is more a case of choosing the right tool for the job. Having said that, I am not wanting to spread myself too much beyond a couple of online offerings. The obvious choice is Roll20, which currently is predominant, but I don’t really like it enough, despite very strong integration with a large number of systems. I will say more below, but I am keen to get D&D 4th edition to the roster of games this year, a game built with a VTT in mind. The obvious thing to do here is use Roll20, as it has a character sheet ready to go for it. Even then, I find that I hold back.

I backed Role, a new contender, because it looked at the VTT experience differently. The audio visuals are much more video conference, and the best I have seen, providing simple tools for non-coders to add character sheets. However, it lacks basic features I could do with, including: fog of war, persisting attributes for tokens, chat window,  dice log and music integration. Many of these are slated for release during 2021. I’m looking forward to see how it will improve during the year and will subscribe when the time comes for me to be asked.

The Role VTT with some 4e prep

My other is Lets Role, which I have supported through play and advertising, but without any money for well over a year. This one ignores any audio or visuals for players and focuses on an attractive maps and tokens experience with tools for people to write their own sheets. I have found the first steps to do this a bit too steep, so have used the generic sheet instead, which can be customised, to an extent, to suit. Lets Role is about to go into Kickstarter for their next phase. Even for no other reason than a thank you for providing me with such a nice home for my gaming throughout 2020, I will say that ‘thank you’ by backing them.

I’m not saying ‘never’ to Roll20, but I expect that if I decide to back and use one of the mainstream VTTs, I’d end up using Foundry, which looks excellent.

For regular campaigns that I will GM, these are currently in the plan:

  • Pathfinder 2e – continuing our weekly adventures in Varisia as expressed in the Shattered Star AP. If interest and enthusiasm continues, we will get to quite high level play, which I have wanted to explore with Pathfinder since getting into it.
  • True20 – continuing our West Marches influenced Greyhawk game. True20 has been a real find, and possibly, on the quiet, my favourite d20 game so far. Greyhawk is a great place to run games, as its philosophy of open play, but now backed with lore if you want to use it, lends to the more sandboxy style I’m going for with this game. Although I don’t have the volume of players to create a broader West Marches mix and match approach, I shall leave it as player led and not force it. If people coalesce around an expedition out into the wilds, then I would be delighted to guide them there.
  • D&D 4th Edition – I would like to run a Points of Lght campaign set in Nentir Vale. I have some great material, maps and excited ambition to try out this version of D&D. I’ve taken some askance and good natured flak for my pre-try enthusiasm, but hey, that’s me, so phooey! I think I’ve found a great version that really appeals. Maybe I’ll slope back to 13th Age, after I work out what slightly dissatisfies me about it.
A mad eBay Christmas spending spree
Those three could well be significant time sinks and are more firmly in my planning. However there are others that I think are likely:
  • Coriolis – a continuation of the Mercy of the Icons game, that alternates with Dom’s excellent Curse of Strahd.  This is currently on Roll20, but I’d ideally like to get it off there.
  • Traveller – located either in the near future Hostile, or out in the Gateway Domain
  • Heroic Fantasy – some quick playtest games prior to releasing the update onto Drivethru
Others will doubtless jostle for position, and I could find I take a different turn or two, but as I look above, I think I’ll be doing really well to squeeze them in. Will I beat my mid-80s number of sessions in 2020? I’ll go for a quantity target of 100+ sessions for 2021. Let’s see.
For RPG play, I can think less and hope more. Dom’s game is a certainty, and assume we will get through much of Strahd during the year, especially if we are happy to play through on a fortnightly basis. I would like to play in Pete’s kind offering of 4th edition Eberron, if he gets that off the ground, and we can find a slot. The other Wednesday would be good for me, but Pete has lots of other commitments. I’d love to get in on a game with the Dungeon Muser, but their roster is quite full and busy, so I will probably just continue to enjoy watching some of their play on his channel. Maybe another Atlantis game with Jerry? As ever, there are so many fabulous games and so little time.
Publishing wise, well, maybe, the following:
  • TRIPOD Essence – ‘in layout’ so will happen in year and when possible.
  • TRIPOD Dramaguhl: City on the edge of Nowhere – I really hope this progresses. Writing is at about 70% complete. Either we self publish, or we try for a Kickstarter for a professional book.
  • TRIPOD Fantasy – a theme book to run high fantasy using the new Wordplay. It’s already 50 pages, but it needs some substantial work.
  • Heroic Fantasy 2 – Almost complete in writing. A few new Kin, new armour rules, cantrips, new Class (Druid). Bit of playtest and me having a go at a cover using Publisher.
  • Ten Step Campaign – highly aspirational and thus probably 2022. Write a building, 10 adventure, campaign framework. Possibly stat free, but more likely embed some examples using Heroic Fantasy or TRIPOD and guidance on adapting to others.
If I can get through the top four, then I would be super happy.
I’ll start to draw a veil there. I hope to continue blogging and contributing to online spaces. Regular podcasts and some more streaming to Twitch and YouTube. It’s all very exciting, and I will find this personally enriching and sustaining as we head into a transitional year as vaccines start to become available to the broader population.
Good day, and good gaming!

Posted in Games, Pathfinder, Publishing | Leave a comment

A Review of my Gaming in 2020

Posted on December 21, 2020 by First Age

 2020 Gaming Year in Review

It is safe to say that 2020 will live long in the memory, if not for a lot of good reasons. The World has changed and we will take some time to bring ourselves back to where we were. The Covid-19 vaccines that are coming on stream offer a prospect of a more normal future,  but I expect that we won’t get back to 2019 in 2021, though big strides will be made.

It seems trivial providing a gaming review of 2020, with all that is going on, but my gaming year has been good, and definitely a silver lining. For others in the hobby, or indeed with your own interests, I hope they have provided something to keep you going through this tumultuous year.

Games Played

The games I have played this year tell a story..

80 or so games this year

This year has seen the dominance of Fantasy D20 games, particularly Pathfinder 2e, both in some actual play, and dominating my GMing too with a full on Paizo Adventure Path, ‘The Shattered Star’, bringing regular gonzo fun with this great version of D&D. I’m running this on the Lets Role VTT and with Discord for AV. Both have served me well, dealing with the tactical maps and our communication, helping to deliver a smooth game. This is a remarkable return to a full on campaign, with 20 sessions down, and the prospect of the same or more in 2021. 

If you then add in my play of D&D 5e via Dom’s fun Curse of Strahd game, and the discovery of Green Ronin’s superb True20, then D20 fantasy has an almost complete victory. 

True20 could prove to be a continuing quiet hit for me. The change in focus with the removal of Hit Points and the different feel to the Powers system, creates a slightly different flavoured game. I’m probably going to leave it RAW, but have already come up with some minor tweaks that will give it a bit of a spring clean. The Greyhawk ‘West Marches’ style setting has got a lot going for it, and I hope it might continue to thrive. Player interest will dictate.

In a final roll of the d20, I have discovered that the polarising 4th Edition is an excellent version of D&D too, and have gone on a late year Christmas eBay spending spree. Oh dear. There won’t be time to get 4e to the VTT this year, but I’m already building some encounters in the Role VTT, along with Mike Schley’s great Harkenwold map set. I contacted Mike to check about using his maps whilst streaming, and he generously replied, giving his blessing. As such, I expect to see the Reavers of Harkenwold feature, somehow, in 2021.

With all this excitement I haven’t forgotten about 13th Age either, which appears to be 4th edition’s Indie makeover lovechild. In some ways it was the 13th Age RPG that took me on this journey and I have this nagging suspicion that I will return full circle to it before that long.

I’m starting to look increasingly contrary by not picking up the current 5th Edition of D&D. Possibly just too obvious; I’m enjoying the play of it, and I will focus on others for my GMing. 

Other notables include a short campaign of Qin, which I was very glad to play. We had to wrestle the rules to the floor, and made some tactical adjustments to them to get them flowing better. I’m glad to have played it, and I remain enamoured with the game part after our ‘legal adjustments’. I think other players probably wanted to move to some other ruleset towards the end, but I was inspired by Tom’s nicely put together game to perhaps look at it again, perhaps at a convention.

Online and New Endeavours

The necessary transfer to online conventions has ensured that I still get to play with a wider variety of great folk and some fine games. I like the format quite a bit, though hope to mix it up with a physical Furnace in October 2021.

Find me on Anchor FM

I launched a gaming podcast during 2020, inspired by some of the good folk over at the Dungeon Musing Discord. It’s been a lot of fun to pull that together and work out how to technically get the recording and editing to a reasonable position. It’s another string to the bow, and will enjoy putting out episodes in the future. I’m also enjoying a range of Podcasts as company on my lockdown walks round the local woods. Grognard Files, Dungeon Musings, Live from Pellam’s Wasteland, Smart Party, Rollistes, Mud & Blood all feature amongst others.

Acquisitions

The games library has, inevitably, grown during 2020. The games that I have run have been supported with some purchases, scoring some rare True20 rulebooks for a great price. Coriolis and Alien saw some Free League additions; such fine games. Kickstarters continued to flow in. Several years on, more Modiphius Kickstarter content wanders to me lethargically, for Conan and Infinity. Mythic D6 and some PbtA Joshiness round out the year. D&D4e is coming in waves as the year comes to a final end. A new shelf unit may need to be an early 2021 acquisition.

A rapid acquisition for 2021 4e gaming

The Role VTT was another Kickstart this year. The early access shows a lot of promise, accepting it has some way to go. A bit of fog of war and some light token editing and I think I will have much of what I need on there. Role’s interface focuses on the audio visuals, and once people work out how to get on it I have to say it is much more robust than many. It is also pretty much ‘streaming ready’, so I had some fun working out how to do that with OBS, pretending to be a hip twenty something and dragging some lovely gaming buddies onto the Twitch and YouTube silver screen. I’ll stream some more next year. 

My book writing has been at a very slow pace. Tripod Essence is now with Dom for layout. Hope that can be done before the end of March. Tripod Daramaguhl is next and I hope to get that done with Paul over 2021. Will consider trying a Kickstarter with it. 

Looking Ahead to 2021

I’m expecting that any return to near normal will take some considerable time. A similar pattern to 2020 seems likely and, in any case, I expect to continue with the online games now regardless. Here’s what’s on the stack as I look forward:

  • Pathfinder 2e. Book 2 and 3 of the Shattered Star Adventure Path. There’s a decent chance that we should run through those in the weekly game. PF2e will therefore dominate again with increased numbers.
  • True20 in Greyhawk will be available throughout the year for those who want to go on a quest. So, possibly some more streaming too.
  • D&D4e. A mini campaign of Reavers of Harkenwold. Exactly how I get to fit this in without a Dungeon Muser style focus I really don’t know!
  • Coriolis. I may get back to running some of this for the gang taking us further along the Mercy of the Icons campaign.
  • Curse of Strahd. More glass cannon fun with my sorcerer in Dom’s excellent D&D game.
  • I hope to get either StarForged or Hostile to virtual North Star convention
  • Can I squeeze in some Traveller set in Gateway Sector?
  • I hope to play in @pedr D&D4e Eberon. Exciting!
  • Plus all the surprises as my gaming buddies put together some fun games that I can join in with.
  • I’m enjoying being part of the Role VTT development and seeing where it goes in 2021
  • I’ll be backing the Let’s Role VTT on Kickstarter in January 2021

I can’t speak to the rest of 2021, but I think the gaming year ahead is going to be really very good indeed. Lots of great people and good times. D&D4e too? Blimey!

Posted in Games, VTT | Leave a comment

Noughty but Nice

Posted on October 31, 2020 by First Age

 I have a reputation as one who chases the shiny, the new hotness, an ever revolving swirl of Kickstarters and spanking new tabletop roleplaying game lovelies. A recent example would be the new Warpstar from Fire Ruby Design. Dom’s provided a great review of this excellent fastplay space opera right over here. 

Of late though, I have been obsessed with abandoned and forgotten games of the 2000s in Omni and True20. Though slightly different games, they are close kin, utilising a single d20, bonus driven to get high numbers. One uses a universal outcome table, the other cleaves closer to the D20 OGL from back in the day. Both are generic systems for play across types of settings.

It’s been interesting gathering resources and thoughts on these systems from the wild Internet. Whereas both  may have some adherrents, they seem to be semi-abandoned by the game playing population. “I had a lot of fun with that game back in the day” whilst swerving around 404 dead Yahoo websites. The search has me pattern matching old memories and their footprint on the Web. Physical copies are hard to come by at decent prices without American shipping.

In a way it is a bit embarrassing to say, “hey, I’m really getting into True20”. People will look at you, furrow their brows and think “yeah done that, moved on”. It’s like turning up to a party that is long finished, only to find the traces of empty bottles and some discarded food packaging. The energy has departed.

I’m not bothered. True20 is currently front and centre of my interest, presenting a nice implementation of the d20 SRD, factoring in powers, modular class and levels and, critically, a damage system that throws out hit points, presents some wound conditions and a ‘not increasing by much’ toughness save to resist incoming damage. This seems to me to completely alter the feel of the game. Whereas characters become harder to hit, they remain vulnerable to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

But a game read and liked isn’t as much fun as a game liked and played. So, I am blending a whole range of things.

  • True20 game system
  • Greyhawk game setting – yes another even more oldie
  • Borrowing from a Westmarch style of play, with a community of players, tempting maps, rumours and scenario possibilities but formation is player led.
  • A wiki to provide some lore history: http://greyhawk.ttrpg.uk
  • Utilise the brand new Role VTT.
Role VTT – just me on it…

I’m loving this combination of crinkly, sagging and virile. The wiki has been great fun to setup and tweak to make it look a bit prettier. It’s nice to have my own hosting again, with a really good company; it just means I can do projects like this whenever I feel like it and have fun.
So, welcome to the abandoned. Maybe roleplaying games are like the gods, in that they gain power from active worship or play? In which case I call on all fellow initiates of the True20 path! Unite and lets play some games together?

Posted in Games, tech, VTT | Leave a comment

Blade and Spell

Posted on October 9, 2020 by First Age

 In the background I’m writing a new fantasy RPG using the underlying Omni engine, with dollops of ideas from Talislanta 5th, Omega, and the new draft of Godsend Agenda. It’s presently just jottings of ideas and systems to create a blend that I’d like to play and run at my table.

The core of the Omni system is largely intact, it’s very recognisably part of the Talislanta lineage, with a preservation of the ‘Effect Based’ magic system with the numerous Modes and Traditions coming across with only a surface editing for legibility and consistency. I’ve made a change to the way Attack magic works, but otherwise it’s untouched as I love it.

Dice are likely to move to the Godsend Agenda system from 1d20 to 2d10, with doubles kept and rolled again, unless 00, which is always a zero result. It ups the average slightly and always gives a character a chance to go off the charts and be awesome.

The action economy is quite important to get right. There is the mildest of Pathfinder 2 influence here, but otherwise it is ‘you can do three things’, encouraging movement and action. Another minor change is to recognise that all ‘attacks’ in the game are in fact simultaneous exchanges between two opponents. The character with the initiative gets to decide if they want to initiate the exchange, ‘attacks’ and has control of the dice roll and the likelihood of winning and inflicting damage. On a ‘Failure’ result for the exchange initiator they have to take half damage from their opponent and a Mishap result inflicts full damage to the initiator. As initiative moves from one protagonist to another, each gets to move or decide to initiate an exchange. Stamina and the expenditure of Hero Points may also play a part. 

An exchange reflects a number of blows and attempts to parry. As per Talislanta 5th, you can choose to attack multiple opponents with a cumulative -5 to your skill rating per additional opponent, or flurry multiple blows at an individual, giving the potential for more damage. This can be partially offset by expending ‘Stamina’ a new secondary attribute for characters, or by spending a Hero Point for an additional free action at no penalty. Defending multiple opponents simply uses your core skill as a ‘Degree of Difficulty’ to the attacking opponent, though I think you could dial this down by applying a penalty to defending multiple foes. We have actions and resources interplaying here, and I think playtest will help to hone and balance the numbers to get a system where tactical choices matter, but play is fast. I’m also going for the ‘you can take three to four good hits before going down’ rule, Critical hits excepting.

There are, already, some nuances to the exchange system. You can choose not to actively oppose in an exchange, because you are trying to preserve your actions, or think you can ‘take the hit’. I’m as yet undecided how to default the applicable ‘Degree of Difficulty’ for that and for other unopposed rolls.

Here are some secondary attribute tracks that I’m messing about with.
Health Ancestry Base + CON
Recover Health  at a rate of 1+CON (minimum of 1) every day of full rest.
When at half Health your character is Bloodied and all physical actions are at -1.
When at a quarter Health your character is Wounded and all physical actions are at -3.
When at zero Health or less your character is Dying and cannot undertake any actions. Every 1+CON rounds make a Death Save with a penalty = to negative Health Points 
Resolve Ancestry Base + WIL
Recover Resolve at a rate of 1+WIL (minimum of 1) every day of full rest.
When at half Resolve your character is Wavering and all Mental actions are at -1.
When at a quarter Resolve your character is Faltering and all Mental actions are at -3.
When at zero Resolve or less your character is Broken and cannot undertake any actions. Every 1+WIL rounds make a Madness Save with a penalty = to negative Resolve Points 
Stamina Ancestry Base + CON
Recover Stamina at a rate of 1+CON (minimum of 1) every 10 minutes of full rest.
When at half Stamina your character is Fatigued and all physical actions are at -1.
When at a quarter Stamina your character is Exhausted and all physical actions are at -3.
When at zero Stamina the character is Collapsed and can take no action. The character must rest for 8 hours to recover to half original Stamina.

Anyway, I’m messing about with this at a game for Furnace convention this weekend, and running Tripod too, which means it’s a full on playtest masquerading as games weekend!

Hope nothing breaks…

Posted in Conventions, Games | Leave a comment

Scheherazade

Posted on September 20, 2020 by First Age

 I ran Scheherazade, the One Thousand and One Nights RPG at The Owlbear and Wizard’s Staff #OBaWS3 online convention last night. Much fun was had with a great team of players who threw themselves into the magical setting with great gusto.

With thanks to https://twitter.com/OldScouserRPing for capturing a moment in time in the session.

The system is a clever and simple d6 dice pool, with a fate die to nuance, and sixes that trigger equipment keywords. Some light complexities are packed into the game design and, as a system, it has a lot of utility beyond my slightly Disney take on ancient Persia.

The startup was complicated as half the players had either not signed up to the lets-role.com VTT or had struggled to do so, requiring us to play with dice rolls half on the VTT and half on Discord. I tried to front load all this by getting character selections sorted in advance of the session, but we got there in the end. In part, due to this, I also overran, which I really don’t like to do. There is probably about 3 online sessions worth of adventure there and though I knowingly streamlined, it proved a bit too much for the sub three hours I had left after the setup shenanigans.

A nice session, enjoyed by all, with the cutest of game engines in a setting full of magic and delight. I shall do more.

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Time with Dad

Posted on August 31, 2020 by First Age

 It’s been a real priviledge to spend some dedicated time with my Dad. Nearly 88, he’s doing really well, and still has his warm charm and gentle humour that makes people around him laugh and smile. Special moments to be treasured.

Here we are all masked up exploring Bristol’s Aeronautic Museum, a place that we have both been to seperately, but now together.

We got to spend some time with my sister Ruth, and Ross too, as we visitied Clevedon and their beautiful victorian pier.

Long journeys back to Leeds together today. We still have lots of Jelly Babies and Pastels left, so all good. 😆 

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Gaming Bonanza

Posted on August 2, 2020 by First Age

It’s all going on and it is all good.

The lock-down gaming bonanza continues with a whole host of things happening at about the same time. The volume of games continues to astound me, and I’m tame compared to some of my yet harder core gaming buddies.
Being in the midst of Gencon online has boosted my play by another three games, with the regular campaigns continuing thick and fast.
I’ve launched a Discord server to talk about the Omni system, one of my favourites. Come along and join in if you like? Here’s a  limited use link to get in on the action: https://discord.gg/G5QJVWF
As another string to my bow, I’ve started a podcast to keep me talking, called ‘Gaming From the First Age’. I’m now three episodes in and enjoying the monologues and reflections. Half an hour tops, upbeat burbling about what I’m enjoying in tabletop RPGs. I’m using Anchor as the place to create it, and leave it to syndicate to a lot of the big platforms. Have a listen here: https://anchor.fm/first-age
Gencon Online, The Owlbear and the Wizards Staff and Furnace are all on the horizon. At OBaWS I’m running Scheherazade: The Thousand and One Nights RPG, an absolute whimsical delight of classic Arabian adventure using a player facing simple D6 dice pool engine. I’m enjoying preparing the game in Lets-role.com VTT, doing the bare minimum of dice automation and putting up some images and music ready for the game
With the Pathfinder forging forward and the Coriolis spluttering on slightly, I’m starting to plan for a Thursday regular game. I have a few options, including Artesia, more Pathfinder, or a freewheeling game of Omni, which all appeal. I’ve found a campaign art book and light framework – ‘Keys to the Kingdom‘ by Chris Walton. It looks like a great place to do some open gaming.
Do I go Omni, or bring out some more Pathfinder 2e, now augmented by the Advanced Players Guide? Or, indeed, do I simply apply Tripod, which is with Dom for layout?
Options, creativity and excitement abound at the moment. Good stuff.
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Omni – rediscovering a classic

Posted on July 4, 2020 by First Age

The short TRIPOD Essence book is done. Dom is sorting out layout by discovering the capabilities of Affinity Publisher and getting us to a neat little 6×9 book on Drivethru that has pretty much the same aesthetic as the original Wordplay game. That’s exciting!

This has got me thinking about systems and my perennial and pointless quest for the perfect system for me. It doesn’t exist, at least not for all things, but there are many good ones out there. Whilst doing a Drivethru and disk archive trawl I stumbled upon an old favourite that I only managed to get to the table in a minor way. This game is the Omni system that powered a range of Morrigan Press titles, most notably Atlantis: The Second Age and Talislanta.

I had kind of forgotten that I was head over heels in love with Omni and have spent a good chunk of the afternoon rediscovering my enthusiasm for this simple and flexible generic system, reminding myself why I am so very enamoured with it. So much so that me and Tom ran a little homage website for the system back in the day.

The system is a simple 1d20 roll high mechanic, where you add bonuses for attribute, skill and circumstantials and remove the ‘degree of difficulty’, which could be an opponents ability or a set difficulty for a task. Roll the 1d20 and apply the final modifier against a standard and consistent table of results, which allow for fumbles, failure, partial success, success and critical results. Flexible, point buy, character generation, with characteristics, skills, talents, ancestries, callings all in the mix. Jerry D. Grayson’s development of the system in the newer edition of the game adds some well conceived ideas on top, including hero points, renown, indulgences and other sword and sorcery goodness. Jerry’s lifepath character generation really fleshes out the heroes and embeds them in the antideluvian world.
You only need the 1d20 in play. Weapon damage is based on a set amount modified by the quality of your success.
The magic system is freeform, but built around a fantastic core that lets you build effects up from scratch. In fact everything builds around some common core principles, giving the game a really solid feel.
The system has been used to power a number of other genres, including steampunk and ancient Greece space opera. It is very flexible and I’m pretty sure it sits alongside your Cypher and Savage Worlds niche of multi genre action games.
With an Artesia game beckoning for later in the year, I really shouldn’t be diverted, but it is Omni, my old favourite, back to show that it hasn’t lost any of its lustre. At least for me, when I ran the game it foundered slightly on my ‘Thursday group rocks’ as the system didn’t ignite one or two of the group. In a way I can see why. It goes about its business in a no nonesense, workman like way. Perhaps even ‘bland’ and simplisticly. Maybe that’s partly why I like it. It underpins and enables without showing off too much.
I shall yet dally some more. Sunday beckons and a chance to tinker. Perhaps I have found my long desired game engine for Tekumel?
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