Contact Information:

jay@vanishingtowerpress.com

Tuesday, April 5

So I used tMfBSaT for my first time playing Traveller

and I pretty much killed all the Player Characters. One survived.

I've always wanted to play Traveller, but never got the chance. Never really had a good idea to hang a starting Traveller game around it either.

That changed when I purchased Lamentations of the Flame Princess' The Monolith from Beyond Space and Time. I was like three page in and was sold on running this as straight sci-fi. Reading blog posts about playing Traveller straight out of the box got me really excited about doing this as well.

So I set up a Classic Traveller community stating I wanted to run a game of Classic Traveller based on the movie Alien and see what would happen.

It works. It works really well. Now the players may disagree. I probably could have done a better job, but I think the LBB's and this module are made to go together like Gieger and heroin.

Friday, April 1

USR Sword & Sorcery Rules

[06/21/16] Edit: All my USR products are now only available on RPGNow for sale. Look for future announcements on this blog for new rule books and adventures using the USR game mechanics.

With the addition of magic and magical research rules I have finally completed my USR Sword & Sorcery rpg based on Scott Malthouse's (U)nbelievably (S)imple (R)oleplaying system.

I've also added wilderness and city encounter tables, and a table to see if the city burns down when the PC's (and they will) start lighting things on fire when causing trouble in the more civilized parts of your game world.



Don't forget to download your Crypt Keeper ref sheets at RPGNow as well! Found in the introductory adventure Shrine of the Keepers, it also includes a USR character sheet.

Saturday, March 12

USR World of Xoth Ref Sheet

Working on some referee sheets for my USR Sword & Sorcery game set in the World of Xoth. The untold misery I have caused my players flipping through my homebrew notes for the necessary game materials may now come to an end...

This document is now available on RPGNow. I've added Wilderness and Sea Travel information as well as a Wilderness and Civilized Encounter checks, not to mention a USR Sword & Sorcery Character Sheet!



The full random tables have Wilderness and City encounters, Magical Research Encounter table, and a table to see what happens when your PC's start fires within a city!

Friday, March 4

OD&D for BRP

Here is my suggested hack of Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system for original Dungeons & Dragons.



Roll 3d6 in order for your PC's attributes, except Intelligence (2d6+6). These are the eight basic attributes to be rolled; Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, Appearance, and Education.

Additional attributes are Sanity, Effort, Stamina, and Hit Points. These are figured per the normal rules found in the Basic Roleplaying book.

Skill Category bonuses are assigned the full value of your PC's attribute. For example; Intelligence is the Primary characteristic for Mental Skills. A PC with an Intelligence of 13 would add +13% to all the skills base values. Whether or not a PC can use a particular skill is entirely at the discretion of the the referee.

After your PC's attributes are written down you can chose your character's class. They are Fighting Man, Magic User, Cleric and Thief.

The Fighting Man adds +25% to any one of the four Combat skills. The Martial Arts skill starts at (STR+INT+DEX)% base value for the Fighting Man

The Magic User has the ability to read magic, and this is reflected with a +25% to Knowledge (Magical) skill. This skill begins at (POW+(INT or EDU))%.

Clerics have the power to turn undead at 25% plus POW. They also receive the ability to cast divine spells when their Knowledge (Divine Magic) reaches 51%. This skill begins at (POW+(INT or EDU))%.

Choosing the Thief class grants the PC +25% to the Climb skill.

That's it. The details of a magical character's spells and capabilities will need to be hashed out with the referee.

If a player wants his new PC to be a race other than human consult with your referee to establish racial abilities and restrictions.

"Leveling" is handled via standard BRP rules. To improve your character's skills you need to use them during the game, learn them during the game, and find ways to get trained in them during the game, etc.

Thursday, December 24

Classic Traveller Campaign Note Paper

I like to cobble together custom notepaper for my campaigns to record what happens during any particular game session. I'm really bad at keeping track of all the activities the PC's get themselves up to, and this helps make it more enjoyable.

This is the one I've created for my upcoming homebrew Traveller game; Traveller Session Notepaper

This link is on my Summonings page on the blog. I've added additional Traveller pages and I do tweak the format from time to time.

Tuesday, December 15

Burning Sword & Sorcery Cities

How do you determine the results of arson in an ancient city? Here is a table I created to figure this out in my World of Xoth campaign.


For fire damage the most important factor will be time. Given that the structure, and possibly the surrounding structures are flammable, once a fire starts it is only a matter of time before it burns everything around it. The following table uses an ascending order of magnitude (from sputtering out to reducing the city proper to ash) to try and model this.

1d12 City Fire Table (numbered result also reflects the number of hours the blaze burns):

Negative modifiers from -1 to -6 are applied to the initial fire roll to reflect any number of factors the Crypt Keeper deems appropriate for the current game situation, such as weather, available fuel, citizen response, etc. This modified result becomes your initial fire roll. This initial roll establishes the ferocity of the fire within the first hour. Any result of 6 and over requires an additional roll at the end of the first hour. If this second, unmodified roll is greater than the initial fire roll # than roll the 1d12 again. Either way, you finally end up on the final degree of damage caused by the fire at the conclusion of the number of hours the fire burned for.

Any result of 1 or less obviously means the fire didn't get very far and may certainly cause more problems for the PC than it was intended to solve. Then again, the same can be said for the other end of the table too.

01. Put out quickly by the city watch and concerned citizens. The evidence of arson is plain to see.

02. A small portion of the structure is damaged before the fire is quenched. Evidence of arson can be deduced by the wise and the experienced.

03. At least half of the structure is damaged, with some of this resulting in a total loss to items within the building. If the building was occupied there is an excellent chance there was loss of life. It will take some investigation to uncover arson as the reason for the blaze.

04. While the structure is still standing, there isn't a part of it which has not been ruined by fire or smoke damage. The locals may have their suspicions, but the damage makes it difficult to discern if the fire was deliberately set. Unless inhabitants of the structure were awake, or extremely lucky, many inside will have died in the blaze.

05. The structure is a complete loss, dangerous even to walk through after the fire is doused. Nothing of value would have survived and those who were unable to exit quickly will have perished in the flames. Only those who have had their suspicions aroused would be able to discern a deliberate act of arson is the cause.

06. The initial structure has become completely consumed and nearby structures have been damaged. At some point during the conflaguration the locals have given up on saving the original building and put all their efforts into stopping the fire from spreading further. Occupants of the neighboring buildings would have had time to escape harm.

07. Residents and shop owners near the blaze will begin to move valuables away, emptying out the silver cabinet and grabbing the livestock. The streets are clogged with frightened people and animals. Half the city will be aware of the fire at this point.

08. The initial fire has burned hot and bright enough to start multiple buildings on fire. Entire neighborhoods will be alarmed and these residents will rush to extinguish the fire. Who knows if their efforts will be successful?

09. The neighborhood watch appears in force. They will order citizens to risk their lives in putting out the fire if they half to, turning out common houses and gambling halls. People caught near the fire will be hard pressed to reach safety. Large numbers of people will start to move out of the neighborhood.

10. The city will muster all its resources in a final attempt to save the city. Property damage is now severe and countless lives are certainly lost. At this point the fire can be easily seen from a distance from the city.

11. Most people try to abandon the city. The fire has burned large enough that the inhabitants of the city have lost all ability to contain it. Whole neighborhoods are burning at the whim of the gods and the terrorized screams of man and beast ring out.

12. City engulfed. At least 60% of the urban landscape has been destroyed or effected by the raging inferno. The death toll is staggering. Many surviving citizens have been displaced by the fire.

.

Saturday, November 28

Rolling Dice Twice

no, three times. I DM'ed another session of my Mystara campaign and while the PC's where in a decidedly deadly environment I only rolled a d20 for attack in only three instants. Granted one attack was a multiple, but the the PC's (and NPC's) rolled high saving rolls when it mattered.
In between the PC's seemed vexed, confounded, and felt railroaded. But they have patience. The proper response when confronted with the inexplicable and decidedly deadly. I found it a good session because the PC's felt unsure and nervous while I don't think I abused their fantasy sensabilaties. 



I did throw many rolls on them, in the form of saving throws. I like it better than rolling against ability scores because it rewards levels. Maybe the PC's would argue the case, but lifting a portcullis together and then one bolts, roll against Save vs. Paralysis. Didn't make it, ouch. Forget the strange serpent with the pig face snorting through the underbrush where the heck did the dwarf run off to?