Friday, April 8, 2016

Jedi Class for White Star

Below is my attempt at a Jedi class for my White Star game that will more closely mimic the Jedi of movies and cartoons than the Star Knights that appear in the game. This is completely untested but I may update this post as the class gets more play.

The force powers are based on those found in the Star Wars game by West End Games, although several have been removed because they were based on mechanics not found in White Star. A few others have been added to replicate exactly what we've seen in movies. 

The powers are based on the Turn Undead table found in Swords & Wizardry Complete. I've chosen this system in order to get a more "cinematic" feel for the force powers rather than snapping to Vancian magic, which simply doesn't fit the setting. Does this mean that the Jedi class is overpowered? We'll see.

Jedi Class

Jedi characters use the same level advancement, hit dice, base hit bonus, saving throw, and equipment proficiency as Star Knights.
Lightsaber duelist: +1 to hit bonus and AC when using lightsaber (re: star swords in White Star).
Force Powers: May know one force power per level. All Jedi Force powers use the Force Power table to determine results. Using a force power in anger, fear, or selfishness will result in an Alignment shift to the Dark Side.
Saving Throws: Jedi receive a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist Meditations, Gifts, and Force Powers.
Redirect Blaster Fire: At fourth level, the jedi can take a turn to redirect blaster fire aimed at the jedi. To do this, the jedi much choose to parry for the entire turn. This adds +2 to their AC for the rest of the turn, as any normal defensive stance, but any failed blaster fire towards the jedi can be redirected to any target of the jedi’s choosing. Damage will be based on the blaster.

Force Power Use Chart

Roll 2d10 to determine the result.

Challenge Level
Force User Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10-13
14-17
18+
1
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
X
X
X
X
3
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
X
X
X
4
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
X
X
5
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
X
6
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
X
7
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
X
8
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
A
9
-
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
A
10
-
-
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
4
11
-
-
-
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
7
12
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
10
13
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
20
19
16
13
  • If the number on the dice is equal to or greater than the number shown on the table, the basic effect of the Force power occurs.
  • If the table indicates “A,” the basic effect of the Force Power occurs automatically.
  • If the table indicates “X,” the extreme effect of the Force Power occurs automatically.

Force Powers

Absorb/Dissipate Energy
Challenge Level: HD of attacker or GM’s discretion.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: Caster becomes immune to negative effects of radiation, heat, blaster bolts, and other energy sources.
Extreme Effect: The field of protection radiates from the caster in a sphere with a radius equal to the caster’s level in feet. Any living creature within this sphere has immunity to energy effects.

Accelerate Healing
Challenge Level: Player’s choice.
Duration: Instant
Basic Effect: Caster regains 1d4 of hit points for point of challenge level. This power can target another character but the caster must be touching the target.
Extreme Effect: Target regains 1d6 of hit points for point of challenge level.

Affect Mind
Challenge Level: HD of target creature.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to implant a memory, command, or even hallucination into the mind of a single target creature. The caster must be able to speak the information to the target.
Extreme Effect: The caster is able to affect a number of targets equal to the caster’s level.

Concentration
Challenge Level: Player’s choice.
Duration: Until next action taken by caster.
Basic Effect: The caster clears their mind and is able to focus completely on a task. The next action performed by the caster receives a bonus equal to the challenge level.
Extreme Effect: The caster has the bonus for an additional round.

Control Disease
Challenge Level: HD of infecting creature or GM’s discretion.
Duration: Instant.
Basic Effect: The effects of a disease are halted for a number of hours equal to the caster’s level. This power can target another character but the caster must be touching the target.
Extreme Effect: The target is cured of the disease.

Detoxify Poison
Challenge Level: HD of poisoning creature or GM’s discretion.
Duration: Instant.
Basic Effect: The effects of a poison are halted for a number of hours equal to the caster’s level. This power can target another character but the caster must be touching the target.
Extreme Effect: The poison is flushed from the target’s system.

Force Choke
Challenge Level: HD of target creature.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to restrict the passage of air into the target’s lungs, causing 1d6 damage per round. The use of this power results in an immediate shift to the dark side.
Extreme Effect: The target creature must make a save or die immediately.

Force Lightning
Challenge Level: HD of target creature.
Duration: Instant
Basic Effect: Lightning leaps from the fingertips of the caster, causing 1d6 of damage to a nearby creature. The use of this power results in an immediate shift to the dark side.
Extreme Effect: The damage is increased to 2d6.

Force of Will
Challenge Level: HD or level of opposing Force User
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: The caster become immune to Force powers that detect the presence or alter the mind of a target.
Extreme Effect: The effect of the force power can be extended to others within the immediate proximity of the caster.

Heightened Instincts
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion
Duration: Instant
Basic Effect: The player is able to ask the GM for a key piece of information not immediately obvious to the characters, such as the direction to the holding cells or the coordinates of a specific planet. The GM must answer truthfully but the amount of information given is up to the GM.
Extreme Effect: The player is able to ask a single follow-up question.

Hibernation Trance
Challenge Level: Player’s choice.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the challenge level.
Basic Effect: The caster enters into a death-like hibernation with signs of life undetectable to the untrained eye. The caster can survive without food, in harsh conditions, and with considerably less air during this hibernation. This hibernation cannot be cut short without outside interference. This power can target another character but the caster must be touching the target.
Extreme Effect: The caster remains conscious of their surroundings during this hibernation and can end the hibernation at will.

Life Detection
Challenge Level: HD of creatures being detected
Duration: Instant.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to discern the number and relative proximity of sentient lifeforms.
Extreme Effect: The caster is also able to discern the disposition of these life forms along with other information based on the GM’s discretion.

Life Sense
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion, based on the familiarity and distance between caster and target.
Duration: Instant.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to discern the proximity of a specific person.
Extreme Effect: The caster is also able to discern the mental and physical state of the target.

Postcognition
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion.
Duration: Instant.
Basic Effect: The player is able to ask the GM for a key piece of information not immediately obvious to the character regarding the history of a touched object. The GM must answer truthfully but the amount of information given is up to the GM.
Extreme Effect: The character has a detailed vision regarding the key events in the item’s history.

Projective Telepathy
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion, based on the familiarity and distance between caster and target.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to speak directly to the mind of a target character.
Extreme Effect: The caster is able to project complex information, such as images and whole memories. The target will know that this information is being projected to them.

Receptive Telepathy
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion, based on the familiarity and distance between caster and target.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: The caster is able to hear the internal monologue of the target.
Extreme Effect: The caster is able to perceive complex information such as images and memories from the target’s mind.

Sense Force
Challenge Level: GM’s discretion.
Duration: Instant
Basic Effect: The caster is able to discern the balance of the force in the immediate area.
Extreme Effect: The caster is able to discern more detailed information on the balance of the force in the immediate area, such as the identity of any nearby force users. They can also glean an impression of the state of the force throughout the galaxy.

Telekinesis
Challenge Level: HD of target creature or GM’s discretion.
Duration: Number of rounds equal to the caster’s level.
Basic Effect: An inanimate object or creature can be moved slowly over the total duration of the power or can be pushed strongly for an instant.

Extreme Effect: A strong push of the force radiates from the caster, driving away all mobile objects.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Reading 'Something Stinks in Stilton'

The year is still young, but I'm confident in saying that Something Stinks in Stilton will be the best dairy-based D&D adventure of 2016. It may also be one of the best adventures for any systems with any subject that I read this year.



Officially published as the eighth issue of The Undercroft, Something Stinks in Stilton is written and illustrated by Oli Palmer with editing and layout by Daniel Sell. Anxious P delivers a cover that perfectly captures the grotesque weirdness of the adventure. Designed for low level player characters and set in the early 18th century, Stilton fits very well into the LotFP family of products, and I would even go as far as to say that it is a quintessential adventure for the game, encapsulating everything that makes LotFP different than other versions of D&D.

Something Stinks in Stilton is an investigative adventure and it excels at guiding the player characters forward without removing any sense of agency. There are many little moving parts and characters for the players to interact with, each gently adding more depth to the mystery. There isn't so much detail that the referee will be overwhelmed or that the players will feel railroaded. I think that this investigative mode is what makes LotFP different than any other D&D clone, and this is something that the game has tried to get right from the beginning with adventures such as No Dignity in Death: The Three Brides, but I haven't seen it so well realized until this publication.

Daniel Sell's layout should be commended for adding a significant degree of functionality to the adventure. He has printed key words and phrases in red and bold text, making it pop from the page. Although this isn't a new practice in the world of RPGs, he did do a remarkable job of picking the perfect words to highlight. They draw the referee's eyes to the specific place on the page to get more key information on the fly, rather than needing to pause to scan the entire page.

The content of the adventure is weird and fucked up and really quite funny. I don't want to spoil anything here but I do think that any player who experiences this adventure will forever be leary of any food or livestock they encounter for then on.

For 2016 one of my resolutions is to not run any published adventures, but rather make them up on my own. Reading Something Stinks in Stilton makes me question this decision because it has all the things I was missing from published adventures: a functional layout, a cast of fun and strange NPCs, and a great plot hook. This will likely be the first game I run in 2017.

You can buy a print copy of Something Stinks in Stilton at Daniel Sell's store. You can also get the PDF at RPGNow.com. I got my copy as part of my subscription to The Undercroft, something I highly recommend getting.





Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Mandela Effect, A Spell for LotFP Modern

MANDELA EFFECT
Magic-User Level 1
Duration: 1 Hour/level
Range: Global
By casting this spell the magic-user is able to change one inconsequential detail about the world. For the duration of the spell this change will have always been true and no evidence to the contrary exists.  The caster will know the truth of the matter, as will any persons aware of the spell being cast and the intended effect. Any other characters will make a saving throw against magic. Success of this throw means that character has retained all memories of the original reality and will not be able to fully accept the new "truth," although they can be convinced of having misremembered the details.

The change in reality must be minuscule and cannot effect any past events although the change will be made throughout time. Once the duration of the spell is over, reality will snap back to its original state, erasing any evidence of the change. Examples of acceptable changes would be altering the spelling of the Berenstain Bears name, removing Curious George's tail, and changing a line in Disney's Cinderella.

See the below video to watch this spell in action.


How Did My 2015 RPG Predictions Pan Out?

- Roleplaying games will become more popular. I've got no real way of knowing this, but it does seem that the hype of D&D 5e has settled down. I haven't seen D&D penetrating other pop culture like movies or TV, but maybe I'm just missing it.

- Wizards of the Coast will announce the sale of 5e PDFs late in the year. There was the free PDF player's guide to Princes of the Apocalypse, but none of the 5e print products have been released in PDF.

- WotC won't release very many new D&D books but there will be a new Forgotten Realms setting book and it will be praised for being the best version of the Realms yet. There were very few releases from WotC this year, but one of them was a Forgotten Realms setting book. However, this book has been panned by anyone I've seen actually read it.

- No official D&D electronic tools. Really? I whole fucking year without a character builder? I wanted to be wrong about this one. They've outsourced the virtual tabletop to Fantasy Grounds, but I don't think that counts.

- Likewise, Project Morningstar will non-existent by the end of the year. The Kickstarter campaign failed and I can't find any actual news about the project, so I think it's safe to call it dead.

- There will be a lot of A Red & Pleasant Land hacks, but the best one will be A Red & Pleasant World. To be honest, I'm a little let down at how little has been done with R&PL. I'm also at fault here, having read only 50 or so pages in before being distracted by something else shiny. I was hoping that I would put together A Red and Perfect World, but I fell out of love with the Apocalypse Engine some time in the spring.

- Lamentations of the Flame Princess will release (almost) all of the many miscellaneous adventures from all those crowd-funding projects. Probably all at once along with the Referee Book. I was very wrong about this. I think there was one or two PDF releases. Here's hoping the best for next year!

- The RPG clique war will be quiet for most of the year. There won't be any major controversies. More and more people learn to co-exist. It really was mostly quiet. Drama would flair up when events provoked the most volatile characters, like Zak laying waste to the Ennie awards, but people didn't just start shit for the sake of being fuckards and I liked that.

- The line between storygames and D&D will blur to the point of irrelevance. Eh. Not really? I was expecting a lot of weird experimental D&D stuff this year and I don't think it really happened.

- Fantasy Flight announces a new Warhammer Fantasy Role Play edition that will marry the older editions with the current 40k RPGs. Nope and now I don't think it will ever happen.

- Troll Lord will run eight different Kickstarter campaigns. Troll Lord had a total of five Kickstarter campaigns launched in 2015, which is way more than I was honestly expecting. I was being sarcastic with this prediction but Troll Lord loved them some crowdfunding. I think it's worth noting that the final campaign was canceled due to slow funding. It seems to me that Troll Lord has been loosing a lot of steam due to their reliance on crowdfunding and the number of projects they promote through it. Kickstarter has basically become their business model. While I think that Troll Lord does a decent enough job with their products, their big Castles and Crusades campaign from 2014 is still not completely fulfilled and in the time from the launch of the campaign until now, C&C has gone from my favorite version of D&D to a game that has completely lost my interest.

- The inevitable Unknown Armies 3e Kickstarter will be a huge success. Things get really crazy while post-modern conspiracy and chaos magick becomes the flavor of the month. No kickstarter and really not much word on this project for a while. I've heard some of names associated with the third edition and now I really could not care less if this ever comes out.

- There will be another huge Reaper Kickstarter. It's a massive success but somehow puts Reaper out of business. No one gets their Bones 2 packages as a result. Reapers Bones III. My sarcastic conditions of Reaper going out of business and people not getting their packages didn't pan out

- DC Heroes will see a resurgence in popularity. Not sure what I was thinking with this one.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Submit your RPG wish to Secret Santicore. I might even fulfill it!

It's that time of year again. Time to beg the malevolent elder god Santicore for your RPG content desires. Want something for your game that doesn't seem to exist yet, ask Santicore! All you have to do is write or draw something someone else in exchange.

I haven't written anything on this blog for months because I've been in a general funk and complete block when it comes to games. I've made my request to Santicore and look forward to whatever terrible task he has in store for me, in hopes that it will kickstart my gamey juices.




You only have until this Friday to submit your request, so do it quick!

Monday, July 6, 2015

The Charm Monster ENnies Voting Guide 2015 Edition

The Judges

For the most part, the voting in of ENnies judges is like a popularity contest, except I'm sure more of us don't know who the fuck most of these people are.  Allow me to help and point out who should be popular and why:
  • Kiel Cheiner runs the awesome blog Dungeons and Donuts and has already proven he's good at reviewing and discerning excellent material. 
  • Harald Wagener is someone I've seen around on G+ and seems like a generally cool guy.
One thing you might want to keep in mind is who the incumbent judges are. This is good in case you want more controversies about unlicensed fan hacks becoming Product of the Year. The incumbents are:
  • Jakub Nowosad
  • Kayra Keri Kupcu
  • Stacy Muth
  • Kurt Wiegel
  • Honorable Mention: Hooper, who had been a judge until 2014. 
Seriously, if you want the ENnies to regain some dignity, don't re-elect these people.

Onto the fun stuff! Here are my picks for products in the various categories. 
  • Best Adventure: Red and Pleasant Land. Hands down the best product to come out this year. It should win every category it was nominated for and also some it wasn't. 
  • Best Aid/Accessory: DungeonMorph Dice: Explorer Set. These dice are a super cool way to make random dungeons.
  • Best Art, Interior: Interface Zero or D&D Monster Manual. 
  • Best Art, Cover: Mutant: Year Zero. Look them all up yourself, but I think that Mutant is a step above the rest. 
  • Best Blog: Contessa. An excellent blog about women in gaming.
  • Best Cartography: Ninth World Guidebook. I'm a bit ignorant on this category, but I have seen samples from Ninth World Guidebook and they were gorgious. 
  • Best Electronic Book: Basic Rules for D&D. Could use some more art, but the content of the text (the best new game for free) makes up for that.
  • Best Family Game: Doctor Who Adventures in Space and Time. This game needs more love. It's a solid game and would be accessible for younger gamers.
  • Best Free Product: Basic Rules for D&D. See above.
  • Best Game: D&D Player's Handbook. It might seem strange voting for the big name over the underdogs, but D&D 5e is a seriously good game. The best I've seen published this year.
  • Best Miniature: Pathfinder Pawns. I like cardboard minis like this. We should encourage their creation.
  • Best Monster/Adversary: D&D Monster Manual. Great art, great selection of monsters and the format of the entries are all excellent. 
  • Best Podcast: Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. It's Kenneth Hite and Robin Laws talking about stuff, usually interesting stuff. Obviously the best podcast possible.
  • Best Production Values: Red and Pleasant Land, but since it wasn't nominated, Horror on the Orient Express is a good alternative. 
  • Best RPG Related Product: Chicks Dig Gaming.
  • Best Rules: D&D Player's Handbook. See above.
  • Best Setting: Red and Pleasant Land. See above.
  • Best Supplement: D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. The best DMG I've seen for D&D yet. 
  • Best Software: Fuck if I know. I live in the distant past. 
  • Best Writing: Red and Pleasant Land. See above.
  • Best Website: Age of Ravens. Lowell's histories of RPGs are the bomb. 
  • Fans’ Choice for Best Publisher: Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Goodman Games both had amazing years.
  • Product of the Year: Red and Pleasant Land. Without a doubt, this is the defining product of 2015. It should become the gold standard of RPG books. 

Monday, June 29, 2015

An Unlicensed Fan-Hack Has Been Nominated for Three ENnies.


The nominees for the 2015 ENnies Awards have been posted and I can't say that I'm surprised by many of the names appearing. D&D 5e appears in several categories and will likely win all of them. Zak Smith's A Red and Pleasant Land has four nominations and should win all of them.

But one very surprising nominee is the Mass Effect FATE game. "What Mass Effect game?" you might ask, not recalling the release of a game using such a hugely popular property. You wouldn't have remembered this huge release because it didn't happen. The Mass Effect game that hold three ENnies nominations is an unlicensed fan hack. 

I have no problems with people taking one cool thing and finding a way to make it work at the game table. I especially like it when they make it nice and polished and then give it away for free. (And of course they have to give it away because they don't own the property.) This DIY spirit is what makes RPGs such a fun hobby. But one of the most prestigious awards in the industry is not the place for fan hacks, even the best of them. 

The Mass Effect FATE RPG has been nominated for Best Free Product, Best Electronic Product, and (in what can only be seen as a slap in the face to anyone working with original IP) Product of the Year. For every one of those nominations, a wholly original or officially licenced game was excluded.

This is a low point for the ENnies. My past gripes with the award have been that the nominated products have been boring or substandard, but this is something else altogether. Nominating the hack for an award legitimizes it as a "real RPG product," which it certainly is not. It should never have been submitted for consideration and the judges should definitely have removed it from the running. But there it is, possibly about to become the defining RPG product of 2015. 

Best case scenario, the hack will go unnoticed by the voting public and the ENnies will enact stricter submission guidelines. Worst case, the creator of the hack will get a C&D letter from Electronic Arts and the ENnies will loose all credibility from here on out.

UPDATE: The ENnies have done the right thing and disqualified the Mass Effect game. The game has also been removed from its own site, which make me think that the author is either having a tantrum or has been contacted by owners of the Mass Effect IP.