Lacking Natural Simplicity (Posts about gurps)https://tkurtbond.github.io/categories/gurps.atom2024-01-23T18:49:39ZT. Kurt BondNikolaDelvers to Grow Omnibus Arrived!https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2021/08/09/delvers-to-grow-omnibus-arrived/2021-08-09T22:25:18-04:002021-08-09T22:25:18-04:00T. Kurt Bond<p>My copy of the <cite>Delvers to Grow Omnibus</cite> written by Kevin Smith and
produced by <a class="reference external" href="https://gamingballistic.com/">Gaming Ballistic</a> arrived today. It is a book to help
folks quickly make characters for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/">Steve Jackson Games</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/dungeonfantasy/">Dungeon
Fantasy Roleplaying Game</a>, a “Powered by GURPS” dungeon crawling
fantasy game.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've read it and it looks very useful.</p>
<p>I really want to run a Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaign with this and all
the other stuff that Gaming Ballistic's Douglas H. Cole has produced
for his Nordlond campaign setting.</p>Steve Jackson's Goal with GURPShttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/07/04/steve-jacksons-goal-with-gurps/2020-07-04T20:45:17-04:002020-07-04T20:45:17-04:00T. Kurt Bond<p>From an article originally from <cite>Space Gamer</cite> #76, republished on
<a class="reference external" href="https://medium.com/@SJGames/the-35th-anniversary-of-man-to-man-423d83995ee1">Medium</a> for the 35th Anniversary of Man to Man, the GURPS combat
system:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What am I trying to accomplish with MTM and GURPS? In a nutshell,
I’m trying to establish a game system simple enough for beginners,
detailed enough for experts, flexible enough for everybody — and
infinitely variable to fit the infinite worlds of fact and
fiction. I’m hoping to establish a new tournament standard.</p>
<p>And so far, I’m happy with it. Pick it up, and let me know what
you think.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yeah, I think he pretty much nailed it.</p>GURPS: Generic, Universal, RolePlaying, Systemhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/06/29/gurps-generic-universal-roleplaying-system/2020-06-29T20:58:58-04:002020-06-29T20:58:58-04:00T. Kurt Bond<p><cite>GURPS</cite> (<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GURPS">G1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/">G2</a>) from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/">Steve Jackson Games</a> is a <strong>Generic Universal
RolePlaying System</strong>. The meaning of the separate words, paraphrased
from the introductions of the <cite>GURPS</cite>, 3rd Edition, and <cite>GURPS</cite> 4th
Edition, breaks down the meaning as follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><strong>Generic</strong> — Scaling from quick, fast-moving games with simple
rules to games with lots of detail.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Universal</strong> — a set of rules that's comprehensive enough to let
you use with any background/setting and potentially to combine characters
from different backgrounds/settings and have them be compatible.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>RolePlaying</strong> — designed to encourage true roleplaying</p></li>
<li><p><strong>System</strong> — designed as a unified whole rather than starting out as
a set of simple rules and modified in an ad-hoc manner.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The Wikipedia article <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_role-playing_game_system">Generic role-playing game system</a>'s idea of
a generic <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_system">RPG</a> seems to combine the <cite>GURPS</cite> notions of “Generic” and
“Universal”. Or maybe it means by “Generic” what <cite>GURPS</cite> means by
“Universal”.</p>GURPS vs. D&D vs. Dungeon Fantasy RPGhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/06/03/gurps-vs-dd-vs-dungeon-fantasy-rpg/2020-06-03T13:40:27-04:002020-06-03T13:40:27-04:00T. Kurt Bond<p>After I played <cite>D&D</cite> for a while at the beginning of my RPG career I
found out that I was interested in other games. <cite>T&T</cite>, then
<cite>DragonQuest</cite>, <cite>RuneQuest</cite>, <cite>GURPS</cite>, and <cite>Elric!</cite> and many more since
then. Eventually one of the things I figured out was that I was
looking for the different flavors that different RPG systems give the
games you play with them. <cite>D&D</cite> has a very specific flavor. <cite>Elric!</cite>
has a very specific but different flavor. Some of that flavor comes
from the systems and some of that flavor comes from the setting. But
the <cite>D&D</cite> systems flavor seems to overpower the setting flavor. (You
could say that the “implied setting elements” from the <cite>D&D</cite> core
rules have heavily flavor any <cite>D&D</cite> setting.)</p>
<p>The <cite>Dungeon Fantasy RPG</cite> is <cite>GURPS</cite> specialized for powerful
characters plundering dungeons, and because of that it adopts some
(but not all) of the cliches from <cite>D&D</cite> (druids, monks, clerics, etc),
and puts its own spin on them. But one of the things I liked about
<cite>GURPS</cite> was that it <em>didn't</em> have the same set of cliches as <cite>D&D</cite>.
Oh well.</p>
<p>Despite looking for the different flavors that systems imbue, I still
like generic RPGs like <cite>GURPS</cite> and <cite>Savage Worlds</cite> and <cite>Basic
Roleplaying</cite>. I like the flavor that those systems give, and I like
seeing how that interacts with the flavor of the setting.</p>Playing Classic Traveller in 2020https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/16/playing-classic-traveller-in-2020/2020-03-16T10:11:52-04:002020-03-16T10:11:52-04:00T. Kurt Bond<section id="finally-playing-classic-traveller">
<h2>Finally playing Classic Traveller</h2>
<p>A friend of mine who was in my gaming group back in the 1980s read the
article <a class="reference external" href="https://www.tor.com/2020/01/10/traveller-a-classic-science-fiction-simulator/">Traveller: A Classic Science Fiction Simulator</a> at
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.tor.com">Tor.com</a> and found it interesting. We discussed it, and he
downloaded <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/80190/CTSTStarter-Traveller">Starter Traveller</a> from <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/">Drivethrurpg.com</a> (it is free)
and started reading it. I had the PDF already, and I printed it out
and started reading it as well. I also found a physical copy for sale
on the Internet, so I ordered that as well, and it was much more
convenient to use than my printout in binders.</p>
<aside class="admonition admonition-my-gaming-history">
<p class="admonition-title">My Gaming History</p>
<p>My experience with Traveller back in the 1980s was minimal: another
friend had the little black box with the three little black books
(LBBs), and we rolled up characters (which at the time seemed way
more complicated than <cite>D&D</cite>, which we were used to). Then we tried
to figure out what to do, which was not immediately obvious to us.
<cite>D&D</cite> has the obvious core activity of going down in a dungeon and
killing monsters, but Traveller was a lot more wide-open. My
friend hadn't bought an adventure (which I find very useful for
getting an idea of core activity of a game) and he'd bought the
<cite>Basic Set</cite>, so there wasn't an adventure in the box. We didn't
realize that we could use the various checklists and procedures to
improvise an adventure on the spot. So we didn't get far, alas.</p>
<p>I bought several new editions of Traveller over the years
(<cite>Megatraveller</cite>, <cite>Traveller: The New Era</cite>, <cite>Traveller 4, Traveller
5</cite>) but never found the chance to play them. But my interest in
Classic Traveller grew once I found it being talked about in
Internet forums and blogs. I bought a copy of the original rules
and many other LBBs, and some of the farfuture.net reprints and
CD-ROMs.</p>
</aside>
<p>Anyway, yesterday afternoon I went over to my friend's house with my
<cite>Starter Traveller</cite> box and some other Classic Traveller materials for
show and tell, and then we rolled up three characters each, 2D6 for
attributes in order. I had two survive character generation (because
we were using the hardcore “you can die in character generation” rule
that was the default in Classic Traveller), both had been in the Army,
both having miserable strengths (one of them couldn't carry his rifle
<strong>and</strong> a clip of ammo; don't know how he made it through the Army),
and the weakest only had one term and the other only had two terms,
though he made Lieutenant. My friend had one character survive
character generation, also from the Army, and he had more terms that
either of my characters, though I don't remember how many, and ended
up a Lt. Colonel if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>Then we ran a practice combat between my friend's character and my
better character: Submachine Guns at short range (1–5 meters) in a
forest! Classic Traveller doesn't have initiative, so everything
happens simultaneously, and we both shot the other and each had an
attribute reduced to zero, so we both fell unconscious. After ten
minutes we both woke up, and decided to <strong>not</strong> try to kill each other
again. Since he had Medical-1 he used his medical kit and healed us
both.</p>
<p>Then we tried our hand at what some think is <cite>Traveller</cite>‘s core
activity: shipping cargo to another planet (once we finally figured
out that standard shipping of non-speculative cargo is covered in the
“REVENUE” subsection of “STARSHIP ECONOMICS”, and not near “TRADE AND
COMMERCE” section that we mistakenly thought it would be near). So,
we rolled up some cargoes and High, Middle, and Low passages for our
arbitrarily chosen world. Then we worked out all the expenses for our
ship, the standard Type-A Free Trader, to see if we could keep up with
them. And we could, though there seemed to be little slack. Success!
This lead us back to the “REQUIRED STARSHIP COMPONENTS” subsection of
the “STARSHIPS” section to figure out how much fuel was available for
maneuvering in-system after a jump. (10 tons out of 30 tons of fuel
was available for the maneuver drive and the power plant, if I
remember correctly.) We looked at speculative cargoes a bit, but
didn't actually try them. We weren't sure how you found the selling
price once you were at your destination. (A second roll on the
“Actual Value” table?)</p>
<p>At some point we looked at experience and character development in
Classic Traveller. As far as we can tell, that section is missing
from <cite>Starter Traveller</cite>, though it is in the 1981 LBBs and <cite>The
Traveller Book</cite>. (Is it in the 1977 LBBs? I'll have to
check. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/16/playing-classic-traveller-in-2020/#megatraveller" id="footnote-reference-1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a>) Anyway, basically you do a 4 year
self-improvement program, and if you succeed in staying the program
(Roll your Determination, and you need an 8+ on 2D6), the program
improves a couple of skills temporarily by 1 level of expertise. You
can then do another 4 year program to make those gains permanent.
(There are similar but slightly different procedures for improving
physical attributes, weapons skills, and education.)</p>
<p>Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Next time we get together we're going to
design a starship or two and try space combat!</p>
</section>
<section id="reflections-afterward">
<h2>Reflections Afterward</h2>
<p>The version of <cite>Starter Traveller</cite> available at DrivethruRPG.com seems
to be a better scan than the one off the Classic Traveller CD-Rom at
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.farfuture.net/">farfuture.net</a>, and is arranged in three separate PDF files, one for
each of the three books in the set, which is much more convenient for
printing and for viewing more than one at once on a screen. Alas,
neither of them had select-able text, each page being a scanned image.</p>
<p>I had brought my copy of the 1977 edition of Classic Traveller, 3
digest sized (5½×8½ inches) booklets in the classic box, along with
some of the other books/supplements/adventures in that format, the
Quick Link Interactive reprint of the 1981 LBBs in one volume, and the
hardcover edition of <cite>The Traveller Book</cite>. I find the pamphlet format
of the original Classic Traveller books charming: they're an easy size
for reading away from the table, they seem to have lasted pretty well
over the years, and it is relatively easy to refer to two of them at
once. On the other hand, <cite>Starter Traveller</cite>'s division into a book
of the <cite>Core Rules</cite>, another book of <cite>Charts and Tables</cite>, and a final
book with adventures, is very handy at the table where you have room
enough to have both <cite>Core Rules</cite> open and <cite>Charts and Tables</cite> open to
the the specific pages for the tables matching what you're reading in
<cite>Core Rules</cite>. Also <cite>Starter Traveller</cite> has a “TYPICAL ACTIVITIES”
checklist on p. 9 of <cite>Charts and Tables</cite> (that I can't find in the
3LBBs) that basically outlines how you could improvise a Free
Trader-based adventure at the table. The hardback <cite>The Traveller
Book</cite> is sturdy and easy to use at the table, but not as convenient as
<cite>Starter Traveller</cite>‘s split into <cite>Core Rules</cite> and <cite>Charts and
Tables</cite>. The <cite>Core Rules</cite> booklet had helpful page references to
<cite>Charts and Tables</cite> for each of the major sections, and these were
usually a 2-page spread with all (or nearly all) of the tables for the
subject being discussed. Despite the charming nature of the LBBs, I
think having the separate <cite>Charts and Tables</cite> book from <cite>Starter
Traveller</cite> is so convenient that we'll continue using it at the table.</p>
<p>I found it useful to have multiple versions of Traveller available
while reading <cite>Starter Traveller</cite> to cross-check things: I found an
erratum in <cite>Starter Traveller</cite> this way.</p>
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="megatraveller" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/16/playing-classic-traveller-in-2020/#footnote-reference-1">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>I remembered that <cite>Megatraveller</cite> had a different
method for character advancement/experience, so I looked that up
when I got home.</p>
<p>You can learn a new skill by experience, observing and trying that
skill and gaining 1 Adventure Tally (AT) per session if the referee
it played a significant part in the session. Once you've acquired
enough ATs, you need to roll a 15 or more on 2D6 with a Dice
Modifier (DM) from Intelligence (if it is high enough) and the
number of ATs you've accumulated. Use the same procedure to
improve a skill. There is a similar procedure for improving
characteristics. (This is similar to getting skill “Ticks” in
RuneQuest or other <cite>Basic Roleplaying</cite>-based systems.)</p>
<p>You could also learn a skill by formal training. <strong>(1)</strong> You have
to roll 7+ on 2D6 (having an applicable skill gives you a DM; the
skill depends on what kind of training you're seeking) to find the
training. <strong>(2)</strong> You have to roll 7+ on 2D6 (with a DM from your
Determination characteristic) to stay determined to complete the
training. Finally, <strong>(3)</strong> You have to roll to see if you were
successful by rolling 11+ on 2D6 (with DMs from the skill you are
training if you already have it, or other related skills you
already know, and your instructors Instruction skill). The
training takes on average 200 hours, and costs approximately Cr10
per hour. There is a similar procedure for improving
characteristics, except for Social Standing, which can only be
improved by actually acquiring money and spending it.</p>
<p>Amusingly <cite>Megatraveller</cite>, in contrast to Classic Traveller's
relative lack of character improvement, points out that increasing
skills and characteristics by accumulating ATs encourages
characters' participation, keeps them interested in the game, and
makes them aware of the benefits they can achieve in a session.
I'll note that this is just like leveling in <cite>D&D</cite> or getting
experience points in skill based games like <cite>Hero System</cite> or
<cite>GURPS</cite>.</p>
<p>Finally, my quick look through the <cite>Megatraveller</cite> <cite>Players'
Manual</cite> gave me the impression that <cite>Megatraveller</cite> is just much
more complicated that Classic Traveller in every way, a typical
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-system_effect">second-system effect</a>.</p>
</aside>
</aside>
</section>Miniatures, battlemats, and terrain at my tablehttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/20/miniatures-battlemats-and-terrain-at-my-table/2020-02-20T20:17:47-05:002020-02-20T20:17:47-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>When I started playing with <cite>AD&D</cite> 1E (in 1979 or 1980) we didn't use
miniatures or battle maps, it was all theater of the mind. Since all
the players I knew personally started with <cite>AD&D</cite> none of us had seen
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainmail_(game)">Chainmail</a> or played miniatures games.</p>
<p>When I moved on to <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonQuest">DragonQuest</a>, 2nd edition, (in the mid 1980s) where
a hex grid and miniatures was required, I bought a Chessex hex grid
Megamat and wet erase markers. One of my brothers had bought a box of
miniatures (though for the life of me I cannot remember what company
it was from or what figures it contained). We used those for player
characters. For monsters, I cut out a bunch of ¾ inch square blocks
of wood and numbered them on the top side, put a “D” for Dead on the
bottom side, put an “S” on another smooth side for Stunned, and a “U”
for Unconscious, leaving the rough sides (where the wood was cut
against the grain) blank. I continued to use all these when I moved
over to using <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GURPS">GURPS</a> 3rd edition, which also had specific Stunned and
and Unconscious conditions.</p>
<p>Much, much later I got the Steve Jackson Games Cardboard Heroes but
never could bear to cut them up, since I wasn't actively playing at
the time it came out (1999 or so?)</p>
<p>When I started playing <cite>D&D</cite> again with 3.5E (probably sometime
after 2004) I mostly played and didn't DM. I was fortunate that the
DMs that I played with had good collections of pre-painted plastic
miniatures for both player characters and monsters from the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Miniatures_Game">Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game</a>. I did collect some of the Dungeon Tiles
(see <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Tiles">wikipedia</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://dmdavid.com/tag/a-complete-list-and-gallery-of-dungeon-tiles-sets/">dmdavid</a>) that Wizards of the Coast published
during this time. (I actually used them playing Savage Worlds.)</p>
<p>The one campaign that I DMed with 3.5E I bought an Flip Chart/Easel
Pad printed with a 1 inch grid. I would take several sheets to the
game in a tubular storage container and draw the rooms on the map with
black marker as the players explored. If we ran off the the side of a
sheet or went to a new level I'd get out another sheet and draw on
that. This worked surprisingly well.</p>
<p>One GM had a fair bit of <a class="reference external" href="https://dwarvenforge.com/">Dwarven Forge</a> terrain and that was a lot
of fun to play on.</p>
<p>When I started playing <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Worlds">Savage Worlds</a> (around 2005) I did a lot of
GMing, and was thrilled by the Figure Flats and map tiles that that
Great White Games (now known again as Pinnacle Entertainment Group —
PEG) included in many of their Savage Tales PDF adventures. I had a
printer that could print on card stock, so these were ideal for
me. Later PEG products, such as their Plot Point campaigns, often had
Figure Flats as separate PDF accessories. I found them all very
useful.</p>
<p>I also found the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/51074/eAdventure-Tiles-Introductory-Set">e-Adventure Tiles</a> series from <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/80/SkeletonKey-Games">SkeletonKey Games</a>
very useful. These <a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Geomorphic_Map_Tiles">geomorphic map tiles</a> are 6×6 inch squares, marked
with a 1 inch square grid, and by printing them out and putting them
together you can produce an infinite variety of maps. I found them
most useful when printed on cardstock and labeled on the back with
their id number. I'd make up several maps and then sort out the
printed tiles for that map into a manila envelope for easy
retrieval. There used to be a program that you could use the small
preview images from the tiles (which were considerately set up for
easy Copy and Paste from the PDF) to lay out your map at the small
scale and then print it for reference when later putting together the
large tiles. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/20/miniatures-battlemats-and-terrain-at-my-table/#tiamat" id="footnote-reference-1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a> I'd include those in the manila envelope with
the tiles.</p>
<p>I used paper miniatures from <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/667/Arion-Games">Arion Games</a> and Disposable Heroes
paper miniatures from <a class="reference external" href="https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=27">Precis Intermedia</a>. I also had <a class="reference external" href="https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147348073/Paper-Wars---Dragon-Pass-at-War">Paper Wars -
Dragon Pass at War</a>, a collection of Glorantha paper miniatures
published by <a class="reference external" href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgpublisher/10024/unspoken-word">The Unspoken Word</a>, which seem to have been drawn by
Simon Bray, Dario Corallo, and Sarah Evans.</p>
<p>A lot of the early paper miniatures that I used were tri-fold and were
cut out, folded, and glued (or taped) together. They usually had
front sides in color and a back side in black and white.
Unfortunately, these take up almost as much room as lead or plastic
miniatures, though were much lighter to carry. I stored them in cheap
plastic food containers, which let me easily see what was inside them.
Carrying enough of them to games outside my home was a bulky problem.</p>
<p>Eventually I moved to A-frame paper miniatures, where there are two
sides and they are attached at the top, with tabs that fold out or in
at the bottom for a base. Instead of relying on the tabs to form the
base, I used plastic <a class="reference external" href="https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=27_96">stands</a> from Precis Intermedia, where you'd just
fold the miniature once and stick it in the stand. The stands add a bit
of weight to the miniatures and make them much more stable. If you
cut out a front that is attached to a back, instead of all three
sides, you can just fold them once and stick them in a stand as well,
so I could use all my trifold paper miniatures as well.</p>
<p>(The <a class="reference external" href="http://zenseeker.net/PaperMiniatures/DIY.htm">Zen DIY Paper Miniatures Page</a> has some pictures of A-frame and
trifold paper miniatures.)</p>
<p>Since these paper miniatures are flat when not inserted into stands I
currently organize my paper miniatures into separate small manila
envelopes for each type of creature, labeled with the creature type on
the outside. Occasionally I use small ziplock bags, especially for
the PCs' miniatures.</p>
<p>The paper miniatures described above are all drawn in such a way that
the figure is drawn within a rectangle and you can cut them out with
long straight cuts and cross cuts. There is another style of paper
miniatures drawn in a manner so that you cut out the irregular outline
of the figure itself with many small or curving cuts. These are much
harder to cut out, and are more difficult to store, but are <em>very</em>
impressive to look at. (You can see some examples in the <a class="reference external" href="http://onemonk.com/monsters.html">Monsters</a>
collection at <a class="reference external" href="http://onemonk.com/">One Monk Miniatures</a>) That's too much work for me!</p>
<p>I also got a Steel Sqwire Flip Mat, which uses dry erase pens, and it
is 24×30 inches and folds up into an 8×10 inch package only a ¼ inch
thick or so. Much easier to carry around, since it fits into the same
backpack or messenger bag I use to carry my RPG books and
accessories. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/20/miniatures-battlemats-and-terrain-at-my-table/#accessories" id="footnote-reference-2" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>2<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a> More over, unlike the ones you can find
now published by <a class="reference external" href="https://paizo.com/products/btpy8oto?GameMastery-FlipMat-Basic">Paizo</a>, it had both 1 inch squares and 1 inch hexes,
perfect for DragonQuest, GURPS, or The Fantasy Trip, though I've used
mostly the squared side, for Savage Worlds. The dry erase pens are
much more satisfactory than the wet erase pens. For some time I
haven't had extra time to lay out locations using paper map tiles, and
the Flip Mat lets me quickly draw out locations.</p>
<p>While I usually use miniatures and a battle map for Savage Worlds
there have been several occasions where I've run games in theater of
the mind style, without any miniatures or battle map. It takes a
little adapting, but isn't that difficult.</p>
<p>My current practice is to use paper miniatures in stands for player
characters and numbered blocks for opponents, with a Flip Mat as the
battle map. Some times for opponents that take up more than one
square I'll fold over or cut up a 3×5 or 4×6 card and use that,
writing an arrow to indicate which way is the front.</p>
<p>I've never used <a class="reference external" href="https://thefantasytrip.game/products/core-games/melee/">Melee</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://thefantasytrip.game/products/core-games/wizard/">Wizard</a> style counters, which lie flat on
the table, but I got in on <a class="reference external" href="https://thefantasytrip.game/products/core-games/the-fantasy-trip-legacy-edition/">The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/the-fantasy-trip-old-school-roleplaying">kickstarter</a> and am intending to try them out sometime.</p>
<p>Of course, when running <cite>AD&D</cite> or <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Basic_Set#1981_revision">B/X D&D</a> or <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/pages/rpg-vocabulary/#retro-clone">retro-clones</a> there of
(like <a class="reference external" href="http://goblinoidgames.com/">Goblinoid Games</a>'s <cite>Labyrinth Lord</cite> (<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth_Lord">L1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/2033_6311/Labyrinth-Lord">L2</a>), it's <cite>AD&D</cite>
inspired <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/78523/Advanced-Edition-Companion-Labyrinth-Lord?cPath=2033_6311">Advanced Edition Companion</a>, or the book that squashes them
together: <a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/259983/Advanced-Labyrinth-Lord-Dragon-Cover?cPath=2033_6311">Advanced Labyrinth Lord</a>, or like <a class="reference external" href="https://necroticgnome.com/">Necrotic Gnome</a>'s <a class="reference external" href="https://necroticgnome.com/collections/old-school-essentials">Old
School Essentials</a>, or <a class="reference external" href="https://froggodgames.com/product/swords-wizardry-complete-rulebook/">Swords & Wizardry</a>) it's often theater of the
mind: no miniatures, no battle map.</p>
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="tiamat" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/20/miniatures-battlemats-and-terrain-at-my-table/#footnote-reference-1">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>The program that I used was a desktop application rather
than a web-based application, but <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rpgobjects.com/index.php?c=tiamat">Tiamat the Tile Mapper</a> is a
similar application.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="accessories" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/20/miniatures-battlemats-and-terrain-at-my-table/#footnote-reference-2">2</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Dice of course; usually I carry a couple of extra
sets for when someone forgets their dice. For Savage Worlds I
carry several differently colored sets of glass beads (stored in
small ziplock bags). I use blue beads for bennies, white beads for
GM bennies, red beads for wounds, yellow beads for shaken and white
beads again for fatigue. I've found it helps the players (and
myself) to remember their status if they have physical objects
sitting on their character sheet to remind them. When playing with
numbered blocks for opponents I put the shaken bead on top of the
block; this really helps when I've got 30 opponents on the table.
I carry a couple of decks of playing cards for Savage Worlds
initiative.</p>
</aside>
</aside>Slings in RPGs: Often Nerfedhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/07/slings-in-rpgs-often-nerfed/2020-02-07T14:40:23-05:002020-02-07T14:40:23-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>In response to reading <a class="reference external" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4541318/Roman-sling-bullets-deadly-44-Magnum.html?fbclid=IwAR2IZhVYW4-4_BcuQDOq2yGXwwurzBd3HNSo1BzN7XUwZLKHF4XZ54yy0VU">this</a> article, headlined “Roman sling bullets
used against Scottish tribes 2,000 years ago were as deadly as a .44
Magnum”, I was thinking about slings in RPGs.</p>
<p>I've often thought that sling bullets are woefully nerfed in many
RPGs, especially D&D. In D&D 5E, for instance, they're only 1d4,
while a short bow is 1d6 and a long bow is 1d8. For comparison,
daggers are 1d4 and longswords are 1d8. In OD&D using Greyhawk's
“Damage Done by Weapon Type” table sling <em>stones</em> are 1d4, and the
same in B/X D&D's optional “Variable Weapon Damage” table. However,
in 3-book OD&D and B/X D&D without the “Variable Weapon Damage” table
all weapons did 1d6 damage, so slings weren't nerfed there. AD&D 1E
has sling <em>bullets</em> as 1d4+1 vs. Size Small or Medium and 1d6+1
vs. Size Large. Sling <em>stones</em> are 1d4 vs. Size Small, Medium or
Large. Compare that to arrows at 1d6 vs. Size Small, Medium, or
Large. But all bows fire twice per round, so they can be doing up to
2d6 per round. Interestingly, heavy quarrels are 1d4+1 vs. Size Small
or Medium, and 1d6+1 vs. Size Large with the heavy crossbow firing
once in two rounds, while light quarrels are 1d4 vs. all three sizes
and fire every round. So, nerfed once you take into rates of fire.
D&D 3.5E has sling bullets as 1d4, while longbows are 1d8 and heavy
repeating crossbows are 1d10 and light repeating crossbows are 1d8.
Definitely nerfed. In D&D 4E slings are 1d6, while longbows are 1d10,
shortbows are 1d8, and a crossbow is 1d8. There is even more
variability among editions of D&D than I remembered.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Worlds">Savage Worlds</a> slings are Str+d4, while a bow is 2d6. For
comparison, a dagger is Str+d4 and a long sword is Str+d8. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneQuest">RuneQuest</a> 2E they are 1d8, similar to a Composite bow at 1d8+1
and broadsword at 1d8. In Elric! (a member of the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormbringer_(role-playing_game)">Stormbringer</a> line
of games, appearing between 4th Edition and 5th Edition, but the rules
were substantially equivalent to Stormbringer 5E; It is relative of
RuneQuest mechanically, part of the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Role-Playing">Basic Roleplaying (BRP)</a> family
of games) a sling is 1d8+1, similar to a Desert Recurve Bow at 1d8+2,
and a broadsword at 1d8+1. So in the BRP games they are not nerfed.
In DragonQuest their Damage Modifier is +1, while a dagger is +0, a
long bow is +4 and a broadsword is +4. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talislanta">Talislanta</a> 4E a sling's Damage Rating is 4, as is a dagger, while a
long bow and broadsword are 8. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System">Hero</a> 5E, sling damage is 1d6+1, same as a medium bow or a light
long bow, while a medium long bow is 1½ d6 (that's 1 and ½ d6)
and a heavy long bow is 2d6. A dagger is 1d6-1 and a broadsword is
1d6+1. Note that strong enough characters add damage to this based on
how strong they are. Not nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GURPS#Prior_RPG_history">GURPS</a> 4E, damage is based on your strength, and the only dice used is
d6. We'll use an average Strength 10 character as an example. Their
Thrust damage is 1d-2 and their Swing damage is 1d. An opponent's
Damage Resistance (DR) is subtracted from the rolled damage and any
damage left is multiplied by a modifier for each type of damage.
Piercing damage has a ×1 modifier, cutting has a ×1.5 modifier, and
impaling has a ×2 modifier.</p>
<p>So, sling damage is swing piercing, and the damage for that for our
average character is 1d. A longbow is thrust+2 impaling. and the
damage for that is 1d, and whatever makes it past DR is doubled. A
regular bow is thrust+1 impaling, and the damage for that is 1d+1
(minus DR) ×2. A dagger is thrust-1 impaling, so that is 1d-3 (minus
DR) ×2. A thrusting broadsword is swing+1 cutting (1d+1 (minus DR)
×1.5) or thrust+2 impaling (1d+2 (minus DR) ×2). I <em>think</em> that's
nerfed a little.</p>
<p>(I'd like to note that when actually playing GURPS I think this is
simpler to do at the table than it sounds like. The damage values for
each attack is figured out at character creation :-)</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasy_Trip">The Fantasy Trip</a>, which like GURPS only uses d6, slings do
1d-2, small bows do 1d-1, longbows do 1d+2, daggers do 1d-1, and
broadswords do 2d. A little bit nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eyes,_Small_Mouth">Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM)</a> 2nd Edition Revised, slings are not
listed, but a long bow does 5 damage, a longsword does 10 damage, and
a dagger does 5 damage. In BESM 3rd Edition, an average person has an
Attack Combat Value (ACV) of 4 and a Damage Multiplier of 5. Each weapon has
a Level, which is multiplied by the Damage Multiplier and added to the
ACV for the final damage. Slings are Level 1 (1 × 5 + 4 = 9), as are
daggers. Longbows are Level 3 (3 × 5 + 1 = 16), as are longswords.
Definitely nerfed. (It is the same in <cite>BESM 4E</cite>.)</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A2rnMaster">HarnMaster</a>, weapon impact (damage) for Melee weapons has three
Aspects, Blunt (B), Edge (E), and Point (P). A dagger's impact is B
1, E 2, P 5, while a broadsword is B 3, E 5, and P 3. A Missile
weapon's impact depends on the type of missile weapon and the range:
short, medium, long, and extreme. Slings are Short 4, Medium 3, Long
2, and Extreme 2. Shortbows are Short 6, Medium 5, Long 4, Extreme 3.
Longbows are Short 8, Medium 8, Long 6, Extreme 5. Nerfed. I'll note
that these weapon or missile impacts are added to a Strike Impact is
decided by a table indexed by how well the attacker did on opposed
rolls of attack skill against the defender's skill in Block,
Counterstrike, Dodge, or if the defender ignored the attack. For Melee
attacks this can result in the defender having blocked the attack,
either the attacker or the defender fumbling or stumbling, the
defender gaining a Tactical Advantage (a free action), or either or
both having made a Strike, which generates from 1 to 4 d6s. For
Missle attacks this can result in a Miss (with a chance to hit an
adjacent combatant, a Wild (a fumble roll), a Block, or a Strike,
which generates from 1 to 3 d6s. The Armor Protection value is
subtracked and the result is the total Effective Impact, which is then
referenced on the Injury Table to determine where the on the body the
injury is and how serious it is. There are no Hit Points like D&D or
Wounds like Savage Worlds. Instead the character accumulates injuries
like “1 Minor Slash Left Upper Arm, 1 injury level”. The total injury
level determines the difficulty of the character staying conscious and
penalty to any skill roll. Some of the injuries may immediately kill
the injured character.</p>
<p>There is a good thread by Robert S. Conley (<a class="reference external" href="http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/">1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.batintheattic.com/index.php">2</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/22847/robert-conley">3</a>) on <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rpgpub.com/threads/the-one-where-i-sing-the-praises-of-harnmaster.2363/">RPG PUB</a>
that talks some more about HarnMaster combat.</p>
<p>In West End Games' <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D6_Fantasy">D6 Fantasy</a>, attributes are measured in d6s and 2D
is an average human. Bow and sling damage and melee damage as d6s
added to a number of d6s determined by your Strength Damage, which is
determined by your Physique attribute or Lifting skill (both measured
in d6s), drop any adds, divided by 2. So our average human's Strength
Damage is 2D. Then longbows add +2D+2, shortbows add +1D+2, and
slings add +1D. For comparison, daggers add +1D and broad/long swords
ad +2D+2. So, nerfed, although it is hard to make precise
distinctions at this level of resolution.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_%26_Trolls">Tunnels & Trolls</a> only uses d6s and weapons are measured in “Dice +
Adds”, that is the number of d6s to roll and the number of points to
add to the dice total. The common sling is 2d. A very light self bow
is 2d, a light self bow is 3d, a medium self bow is 4d, a heavy self
bow is 5d, and a extra-heavy self bow is 6d. These all have
increasing Strength Required to use the weapon. For comparison, a
Dirk is 2D+1 and a broadsword is 3d+4. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Warriors">Dragon Warriors</a> weapon damage has two parts: an armor
penetration die (measured in dice: d4, d6, d8, etc.) and damage
points. The armor penetration die is rolled against the Armour Factor
of the defender's armour: a Gambeson has an Armour Factor of 2 while
Plate has an Armor Factor of 5, and the attacker has to roll <em>higher</em>
than the Armour Factor to inflict damage.</p>
<p>A sling has Damage (d6, 3 points) while a Bow has Damage (d6, 4
points). For comparison, a dagger has Damage (d4, 3 points) and a
sword has Damage (d8, 4 points). Slightly nerfed.</p>
<p>When I GM games that I think nerf slings, like D&D, I often use a
house rule that sling bullets are higher damage than sling stones, and
more similar to the damage of a short bow, 1d6, for example. I may
have been underestimating them and should consider them closer to a
long bow, 1d8, as Chaosium's <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Role-Playing">Basic Roleplaying (BRP)</a> variants
(RuneQuest, Elric, Stormbringer) do.</p>
<section id="addendum-classic-traveller-cepheus-engine">
<h2>2020-03-14 Addendum — Classic Traveller & Cepheus Engine</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Classic_Traveller">Classic Traveller</a>'s <cite>Supplement 04 Citizens of the
Imperium</cite> (1979) has a section on bow weapons, on p. 16! A sling does
2D wounds and a long bow does 2D wounds also. For comparison, from
<cite>Book 01 Characters & Combat</cite> (1981) on p. 47 on the “Range Table” (?)
dagger, blade, cutlass, and sword all do 2D wounds. Not nerfed.</p>
<p><cite>Cepheus Engine</cite> (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237247/Cepheus-Engine-RPG">C1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://www.paulelliottbooks.com/what-is-cepheus-engine.html">C2</a>) doesn't have slings, but a bow is 2D6.
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304840/The-Sword-of-Cepheus">Sword of Cepheus</a>, the fantasy variant, has sling as 2D, short bow
as 2D, long bow as 3D, dagger as 2D, and sword as 3D. Maybe a little
nerfed.</p>
</section>
<section id="addendum-advanced-fighting-fantasy-1e-2e">
<span id="aff"></span><h2>2021-07-19 Addendum — Advanced Fighting Fantasy 1E & 2E</h2>
<p>AFF 1E (<a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Dungeoneer_(book)">Dungeoneer</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Blacksand_(AFF)">Blacksand</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Allansia_(book)">Allansia</a>) does not, as far as I can tell,
mention slings at all. Boo, hiss!</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/667/Arion-Games/subcategory/1684_25223/Advanced-Fighting-Fantasy">AFF 2E</a> <em>does</em> have slings. Yay! In AFF you roll a d6 (the Damage
roll) and look up the result on a table for your weapon. You can have
bonuses to the d6 Damage roll that can give a result of 7 or above.
Here is the entry for sling, along with longbow, shortbow and sword
for comparison.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th class="head"><p><strong>Weapon</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>1</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>2</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>3</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>4</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>5</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>6</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>7+</strong></p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td><p>Sling</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Arrow - Longbow</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Arrow - Shortbow</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Sword</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>So, slings are a little nerfed. I think I'll use a house rule that
says the sling damage in the book is for sling stones, and sling
bullets do the same damage as an arrow fired from a shortbow.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p><em>Last edited: 2021-08-09 12:15:25 EDT</em></p>
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</section>Return to the Frontiers of Alusia Uploadedhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2010/09/10/return-to-the-frontiers-of-alusia-uploaded/2010-09-10T00:38:15-05:002010-09-10T00:38:15-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>I had to upload a document to scribd.com the other day to get a
document out of their archive, so I uploaded my notes for my Savage
Worlds adventure “Return to the Frontiers of Alusia”, a revised
version of a GURPS adventure I ran in 1988 in the <cite>DragonQuest</cite>
setting <cite>Frontiers of Alusia</cite>. Anyway, today I <a class="reference external" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/36876162/Return1-All">uploaded</a> a revised
version that has my hand-drawn maps from the original 1988 version.</p>
<section id="section-1">
<h2>2021-08-09</h2>
<p>I found this post today while doing maintenance on my blog, and
realized that I've long since decided I hate scribd.com and think it
should not be used. So I deleted the few documents I'd uploaded
there, including this one, and I'm hosting it <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/return1.pdf">here</a> instead, updated
with some additional comments on where I got my ideas for it.</p>
<p>Later on I started a Savage Worlds campaign set in The Frontiers of
Alusia with some of the same players but with different characters — I
lost the character sheets for the characters that played this
adventure — so now I call that campaign “Return to the Frontiers of
Alusia” and this adventure “Return to the Frontiers of Alusia Precursor”.</p>
</section>Bunnies & Burrowshttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/04/11/new-bunnies-and-burrows/2009-04-11T17:00:00-05:002009-04-11T17:00:00-05:00T. Kurt Bond<aside class="admonition admonition-spoilers">
<p class="admonition-title">Spoilers!</p>
<p><em>GURPS Bunnies & Burrows</em>, “The Herbmaster's Plea”, p. 94.</p>
</aside>
<section id="introduction">
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.fudgerpg.com/">Fudge</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/bunnies/">Bunnies & Burrows</a> is the first RPG that I played with any of
the <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/categories/cat_gaming/actual-play/the-kids/">kids</a>, and was probably the first RPG that I played with most of
them. It's ideal for introducing kids to RPGs: bunnies are familiar
enough for them to grasp the idea quickly, but different enough so
that it's neat.</p>
<p>[This is an <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/05/03/after-the-fact/">after-the-fact</a> post. Again, I could have sworn I'd
written something about this before.]</p>
<p>I found my notes on this, which reminded me of some of the things that
happened.</p>
<p>I ran the first example adventure from <em>GURPS Bunnies & Burrows</em>, “The
Herbmaster's Plea”, p. 94. I used <a class="reference external" href="http://www.panix.com/~sos/rpg/bunny.html">Steffan O'Sullivan's</a> <em>Fudge</em>
Bunnies characters, and let the players pick the ones they liked best.
Several of the players had probably played this scenario before, but
it was enough years ago that they'd forgotten it, and I changed things
around a bit. I still had the map I drew of the barn from the farm
from “The Herbmaster's Plea” for a <em>B&B</em> game on 2003/01/18 with
B.B. & T.A. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/04/11/new-bunnies-and-burrows/#barn-map" id="footnote-reference-1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a>, so I could reuse that.</p>
</section>
<section id="attending">
<h2>Attending</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>M.B. & C.P.B, jointly playing Chamomile, a bunny with healing powers</p></li>
<li><p>L.B., playing Raspbery, a storytelling, risk-taking bunny</p></li>
<li><p>T.A., playing Stripe, a capable young King's Scout bunny</p></li>
<li><p>D.B., playing Oakroot, a solid and reliable, very strong but
somewhat dim member of the Owsla.</p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="actual-play">
<h2>Actual Play</h2>
<p>They went through the forest on the way to the farm, and were attacked
by mongooses. In evading the mongooses they ran off separately and
all of them but Stripe got lost. Oakroot and Raspberry eventually got
back together and were bickering so much (in character) that I figured
their bunnies must be brother and sister. Oakroot and Raspberry made
so much noise that the didn't notice the bear, and almost ran into
him. Oakroot was so confused that he ran into a tree! Raspberry had
dashed ahead and hidden behind another tree, and when she say the bear
approaching Oakroot she used her skill <span class="skill">Throw your Voice</span> to
distract the bear long enough for her and Oakroot to escape. Stripe
had tracked them down and had been watching them from a safe distance,
and soon joined up with them. They found the others at the edge of
the forest, and headed off for the farm. They went into the hedge,
but just managed to stop before one of them got caught in one of the
traps in the hedge. They sneaked along the hedge, and then stuck
across the new-mown hay field to the pig pen, where they spent some
time talking with the pigs, who were very bored. They decided to let
the pigs loose as a distraction, but they needed a lever to open the
gate to the pigpen. They went through the pigpen, through the chicken
house (asking the rooster first), and into the tractor shed, where
they found a screwdriver. They eventually got the gate open, with the
cooperation of the pigs, and in the confusion while the dog was
distracted they dashed across into the barn.</p>
<p>In the barn they eventually found the herbmaster in one of a set of
rabbit hutches in the hayloft of the barn, and they managed to figure
out how to open the hutches and set all the bunnies inside free.
Oakroot and Stripe accidentally scared the hutch rabbits, and one set
didn't want to escape to the warren and were making lots of noise to
alert the cat that something was wrong. Raspberry used her
<span class="skill">Storytelling</span> skill and <span class="power">Enthrallingly Charismatic</span>
supernormal power to calm them down by telling them a story about
.. FIXME: spelling?
Elharairah and convince them to come along quietly.</p>
<p>They eluded the rats and all made it back safe to the warren, which
welcomed the new rabbits joyfully.</p>
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="barn-map" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/04/11/new-bunnies-and-burrows/#footnote-reference-1">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>That earlier session was “The Missing Kit”. It had the
same PC bunnies as an earlier game that used “The Herbmaster's
Plea”, so it was natural for the farm to be an important part of
the scenario again. For “The Missing Kit” I drew a map for the
barn that was very loosely based on a barn that was on my
grandmother's farm that I spent a lot of time in as a child and
teenager, first playing and then working bringing in the hay.</p>
</aside>
</aside>
</section>My Gaming Careerhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/2008-08-02T11:42:50-05:002008-08-02T11:42:50-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>This post is unfinished, alas.</p>
<section id="part-i-origins">
<h2>Part I: Origins</h2>
<p>The first <cite>D&D</cite> game I owned was the Holmes blue-box edition of <cite>Basic
D&D</cite>; the first <cite>D&D</cite> game I played was <cite>AD&D</cite> 1E. I was in junior
high when I got the Holmes box set for Christmas from my parents. (If
I am remembering correctly.) That summer I started playing <cite>AD&D</cite>
with a group of my brother's friends from high school, and I played
with them until that group gradually dispersed, some when they left
the state for college, and some when they left the state after college
for jobs elsewhere. I had long been DMing by then.</p>
<p>I remember seeing <cite>OD&D</cite>'s <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldritch_Wizardry">Eldritch Wizardry</a> in the local
hobby store when I first started playing, but I never saw the original
<cite>OD&D</cite> boxed set.</p>
<p>I don't think I ever looked at the later Moldvay/Cook or Mentzer
<cite>Basic D&D</cite> lines, other than buying <cite>Isle of Dread</cite>, thinking like
many that if I was already playing <cite>Advanced D&D</cite> that <cite>Basic D&D</cite>
wouldn't have much to offer. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/#basic-dnd" id="footnote-reference-1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p>
<p>My younger brother joined the group at some point. He got <cite>Tunnels &
Trolls</cite> as a Christmas present one year, from my uncle Chuckie, if I
remember correctly. We played it several times, but it was a simpler
game than <cite>AD&D</cite> and at the time seemed to offer less, though in an
entertaining way. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/#tnt" id="footnote-reference-2" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>2<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a></p>
<p><cite>Gamma World</cite>, 1st edition, was probably the first RPG I bought, other
than <cite>AD&D</cite>. (How did we buy the <cite>AD&D</cite> books?) We never played
<cite>Gamma World</cite>, for some reason. Probably because I wasn't able to
figure out the rules, or because it was too gonzo.</p>
<p>While still in junior high, or perhaps my first year in high school, I
ran across <cite>DragonQuest</cite>. Although it was written in a “numbered
rules” style that I was unfamiliar with (having never played wargames)
that required me to read it closely several times through before I
understood any of it, I was fascinated by it from the very first read.
<cite>DQ</cite>'s skills gave all characters interesting distinguishing
abilities, where as in <cite>AD&D</cite> only thieves had similar such abilities
(other classes depending on selection of spells to distinguish the
magic using classes and magic items to distinguish the others.) The
D100 based unified mechanic used by <cite>DQ</cite> was also very attractive, as
was the more detailed combat system. The professional skills seemed
less restrictive and therefore less of a mere game construct than the
equivalent <cite>AD&D</cite> classes. The fact that every character could learn
magic also seemed freeing.</p>
<p>The fact that the only <cite>DQ</cite> adventure that I was able to find at the
time was Paul Jaquays' <cite>The Enchanted Wood</cite> was also a plus, because I
found it to be head and shoulders above any other adventure I had seen
at the time.</p>
<p>I can seen now that most of these things I liked about <cite>DQ</cite> were the
things that added to greater detail in distinguishing characters, as
well as what I called realism them, but today might more accurately
call verisimilitude. I think a good part of it was that by this time
<cite>AD&D</cite> had become its own genre and I wanted something less tied to
those particular tropes. <cite>DQ</cite> seemed to simulate a wider variety of
fantasy than <cite>AD&D</cite>.</p>
<p>I think it is safe to say that I was suffering from an anti-D&D
backlash at this point.</p>
<p>At some point I bought a copy of Avalon Hill's <cite>Powers & Perils</cite>. (If
my memory of buying this from the hobby store in downtown Clarksburg
is correct, I must have bought this fairly early on in my gaming
career.) At some other point I bought Iron Crown's <cite>Rolemaster</cite>.
Both of these blew my mind with complexity. <cite>P&P</cite>'s setting, however,
was another glimpse at a non-<cite>AD&D</cite> fantasy universe.</p>
<p>A friend of mine bought <cite>Traveller</cite> early in our gaming careers. We
tried making characters a couple of times, but were never able to
figure out what we should do with them afterwards — I think we could
never bridge the gap between dungeon crawling and monsters killing
characters in <cite>AD&D</cite> and 40– and 50– year old ex military characters
in Traveller. I don't think we had any <cite>Traveller</cite> adventures to
help us along.</p>
<p>I ran a very successful <cite>DragonQuest</cite> campaign in my first year at
college with three of the original group and a couple of other
players, using Paul Jaquays' wonderful <cite>Enchanted Wood</cite> adventure
setting.</p>
<p>Later in college I started a long-running campaign set in SPI's
minimal <cite>Frontiers of Alusia</cite> setting using <cite>DragonQuest</cite> at the
beginning.</p>
<p>My leaning to greater detail and verisimilitude lead me in time to
<cite>GURPS</cite>, with a small detour along the way for 3rd edition
<cite>RuneQuest</cite>.</p>
<!-- Where did I buy RQ? -->
<p>I bought <cite>RuneQuest</cite>, 3rd edition (<cite>RQ3</cite>, the Deluxe Boxed Set) and
<cite>Griffin Island</cite> (also a boxed set) in stores, somewhere. (I think
this must have been near the time they were released.) Like
<cite>DragonQuest</cite>, I found them fascinating. Unlike <cite>DQ</cite> I never got my
group to successfully play <cite>RQ</cite>. The players found <cite>RQ3</cite> character
generation to be too complicated, alas. <cite>RQ3</cite> and <cite>Griffin Island</cite>
were a glimpse into a style of culture-based gaming that I had never
encountered in my <cite>AD&D</cite> experience, but were complicated enough that
my players hated character generation, and we never got much beyond
that. I never saw <em>any</em> of the Glorantha materials until much, much
later, post Internet. <cite>Griffin Island</cite>, though, even with the
occasional incoherence in its Glorantha-less state, resonated with
more depth than anything I had yet seen. (I never realized, until
years later, that the Paul Jaquays whose <cite>DQ</cite> adventure <cite>The Enchanted
Wood</cite> had so opened my eyes was also one of the authors of <cite>Griffin
Island</cite>! I guess at the time I didn't pay much attention to the
authors/designers of games.)</p>
<p><cite>GURPS</cite> for me was about even more finely grained definition of
characters. Learning from problems my players had with <cite>RuneQuest</cite>
character generation, I created <cite>GURPS</cite> versions of all their
<cite>DragonQuest</cite> characters. Since, in the process of simulating all
their <cite>DQ</cite> abilities with <cite>GURPS</cite>, I'd along the way upgraded their
characters somewhat in power, everybody had fun and it all worked out.
Already accustomed to a hex-based tactical combat system and
role-under skills from <cite>DQ</cite>, it was an easy adjustment to <cite>GURPS</cite>, and
the campaign continued successfully for many more sessions.</p>
<p>I think, however, that later I moved away from <cite>GURPS</cite> because
making/updating characters was such a pain, even with the assistance
of Bill Seuer's <cite>GURPS</cite> <a class="reference external" href="http://www.seurer.net/games/utilities/makechar.html">MAKECHAR</a> program. (Let us just say
that the main villain of the campaign, and evil wizard, ended up a
1000 point character, and all the PCs were 300 point characters.)</p>
<p>Chaosium: <cite>Call of Cthulhu</cite>, <cite>Elric!</cite>, <cite>Stormbringer</cite>, <cite>Prince
Valiant</cite>, <cite>Pendragon</cite>, Universal Supplements.</p>
<p>I ran a short <cite>Elric</cite> campaign after my <cite>Frontiers of Alusia</cite>
campaign. This worked better for my players than <cite>RQ3</cite>, as it used
simpler implementation of Chaosium's house system, <cite>BRP</cite>. Despite
the brevity of this campaign I have fond memories of <cite>Elric</cite>.</p>
</section>
<section id="part-ii-hiatus">
<h2>Part II: Hiatus</h2>
<p>After that there was a hiatus in my gaming. I continued to buy and
read RPG material, but didn't have a regular group.</p>
<aside class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>The rest of this is rambling and desperately needs rewritten.</p>
</aside>
<p>WFRP — First encounted in WD? Then bought main rulebook. At
first dismissive of the rules, but again fascinated by the picture
of the old world and the high quality of some of the adventures.
The one time I tried running WFRP things didn't work out with
my gaming group.</p>
<p>Most of my buying WFRP was during my hiatus?</p>
<p>I really only came to understand <cite>RuneQuest</cite> during my hiatus from
gaming, in the 90s, when I started seriously to track down the <cite>RQ3</cite>
material I'd never know about, including the post RQ3 fanzines. I
even found a copy of <cite>RQ2</cite> in a game store in Austin, Texas, while there
on travel for work.</p>
<p><cite>RQ</cite> found … earlier than <cite>GURPS</cite>, later? but only understood much later
in 90s during my serious <cite>RQ</cite> buying days after I ran a long <cite>GURPS</cite> campaign
(<cite>Call of Cthulhu</cite>/<cite>Elric</cite> helped understand/like RQ?) and bought <cite>RQ2</cite>.
Early GURPS gaming at college BAMF?
Compare to dates of Alusia becoming <cite>GURPS</cite>?</p>
<p>Tékumel. Call of Cthulhu. Jorune.</p>
</section>
<section id="part-iii-gaming-again">
<h2>Part III: Gaming Again!</h2>
<p>Hiatus ends. <cite>Fudge</cite> <cite>Bunnies & Burrows</cite>, <cite>BESM</cite>, <cite>Buggin</cite>, Toon,
<cite>Savage Worlds</cite> with kids.</p>
<p>Reading <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eric_Holmes">John Eric Holmes</a>'s <cite>Fantasy Role
Playing Games - Dungeons, Dragons and Adventures in Fantasy Gaming</cite>
(ISBN 0-88254-514-0) at work leads to other gamers, and some
<cite>D&D</cite> 3.5e and <cite>Star Wars D20</cite> gaming, and eventually to <cite>Savage
Worlds</cite>.</p>
<p>After my hiatus from gaming, I was looking for simpler games.
<cite>Fudge</cite>, <cite>BESM</cite>, and finally <cite>Savage Worlds</cite>.</p>
<p>Retro-gaming: interest in early classic <cite>AD&D</cite> modules we missed
(which lead to <cite>Wilderlands</cite> and <cite>Tegel Manor</cite> then <cite>Badabaskor</cite>,
<cite>Caverns of Thracia</cite>, etc. then 3e/3.5e reprints) which lead to
buying lots of PDF games including classic <cite>BD&D</cite> module B10 (superb!)
leading to RC purchases, then other <cite>BD&D</cite> modules and <cite>AD&D</cite> modules,
pondering running <cite>BD&D</cite> for B20, then buying <cite>Thunder Rift</cite>, Mystara
interest online maps, retro clones to original D&D interest, buy PDFs
from rpgnow, pondering running <cite>OD&D</cite>, <cite>Swords & Wizardry</cite>, download
retro modules for <cite>OD&D</cite>, philotomy, other current <cite>OD&D</cite> player/gm
sites/campaigns/blogs, more JG and understanding which JG were <cite>OD&D</cite>,
more pondering <cite>BD&D</cite> for B10 and other B/X modules, and finding the
<cite>OD&D</cite> <cite>Caverns of Thracia</cite>, by Paul Jaquays!</p>
<p>Road building costs in JG Ready-Ref sheets! (PDF just as confusing as
I remember printouts! Did Ray end up with them?) [2019-11-10: I ended
up buying a new copy of the Ready-Ref sheets over the internet several
years later!]</p>
<p>parallel thread: tactile pleasures: card, bennies, status chips,</p>
<p>custom poker chips for wounds, shaken</p>
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="basic-dnd" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/#footnote-reference-1">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>Boy, was I wrong! After the <a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/pages/rpg-vocabulary/#retro-clone">retro-clones</a> started to
appear, especially <cite>Labyrinth Lord</cite>, I bought the Moldvay/Cook
<cite>Basic/Expert</cite> rules, and was pleasantly impressed.</p>
</aside>
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="tnt" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/#footnote-reference-2">2</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>We completely missing out on the flexibility of the T&T
saving roll system — not surprising, since we never saw any of the
T&T solos that used it so extensively — and how that gave T&T gamist
tactical play without complicated rules, unlike D&D 3e and 3.5e. I
think we'd have played T&T more if we'd understood that, but I
only really understood after reading some of comments Ron Edwards
made about T&T in 2003, first in the rpg.net thread <a class="reference external" href="http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46923">Sell me Tunnels & Trolls!</a>
(<a class="reference external" href="http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=858516&postcount=13">his post</a>), and
then in a series of followup threads at
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/">the Forge</a>: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=6272">1</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=6355">2</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=7104">3</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=7863">4</a>).</p>
</aside>
</aside>
<p><em>Last edited: 2021-08-09 11:47:21 EDT</em></p>
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