Lacking Natural Simplicity (Posts about traveller)
https://tkurtbond.github.io/categories/traveller.atom
2024-01-23T18:49:40Z
T. Kurt Bond
Nikola
The "Typical Activities" checklist from The Traveller Book and Starter Traveller
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/17/the-typical-activities-checklist-from-the-traveller-book-and-starter-traveller/
2020-03-17T15:23:13-04:00
2020-03-17T15:23:13-04:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>I've been looking at Cepheus Engine and I've noticed that there is
nothing like the “Typical Activities” checklist that first appeared in
<cite>The Traveller Book</cite>, but which I first encountered in play recently
with <cite>Starter Traveller</cite>. It made a definite impression on me — with
this one could improvise a trading session from start to end. I'm not
sure yet whether Cepheus Engine supports the completely improvised
Traveller adventure <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/traveller-out-of-the-box-the-casual-and-improvisatory-nature-of-early-traveller-play/">talked about</a> on the <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/">Tales to Astound</a> blog,
but using this with Cepheus Engine would certainly make it easier.</p>
<hr class="docutils">
<section id="typical-activities">
<h2>Typical Activities</h2>
<ol class="upperroman simple">
<li><p>Arrive in star system.</p>
<ol class="upperalpha simple">
<li><p>Scan area for potential danger, problems, and other data.</p></li>
<li><p>Set course insystem.</p></li>
<li><p>Possible ship encounter.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Local gas giant.</p>
<ol class="upperalpha simple">
<li><p>Achieve orbit.</p></li>
<li><p>Refuel.</p></li>
<li><p>Set course to major world or outsystem.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Local major world.</p>
<ol class="upperalpha simple">
<li><p>Achieve orbit.</p></li>
<li><p>Proceed to orbital starport (unstreamlined ships) or surface
starport (streamlined ships).</p></li>
<li><p>Arrival onplanet.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Unload high passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Unload mail.</p></li>
<li><p>Unload middle passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Unload cargo.</p></li>
<li><p>Unload low passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Conclude low lottery.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Refit and maintenance.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Refuel from starport.</p></li>
<li><p>Renew ship life support.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Commodity activity.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Sell speculative cargo.</p></li>
<li><p>Buy speculative cargo.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Ship business.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Pay berthing costs.</p></li>
<li><p>Pay bank payment.</p></li>
<li><p>Pay maintenance fund.</p></li>
<li><p>Pay crew salaries.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Miscellaneous activity.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Patron encounters.</p></li>
<li><p>Planetary exploration.</p></li>
<li><p>Local areas of interest.</p></li>
<li><p>Hire new crew members.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Prepare for departure.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>Load cargo.</p></li>
<li><p>Load low passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Load middle passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Load high passengers.</p></li>
<li><p>Load mail.</p></li>
<li><p>Collect income for all aspects of current trip.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><p>Departure.</p>
<ol class="upperalpha simple">
<li><p>Lift-off.</p></li>
<li><p>Achieve orbit.</p></li>
<li><p>Set course outsystem.</p></li>
<li><p>Possible ship encounter.</p></li>
<li><p>Jump.</p></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Note: This list is primarily of interest to merchants. Not all events
on this list are explained in this chapter on travelling. Other
relevant chapters include Worlds, Encounters, and Trade and Commerce.</p>
</section>
TAS Form 2 Revised at Tales To Astonish
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/15/tas-form-2-revised-at-tales-to-astonish/
2020-03-15T23:22:43-04:00
2020-03-15T23:22:43-04:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>The Tales to Astonish blog has an <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/modified-character-sheet-for-classic-traveller/">article</a> with a revised version of
TAS Form 2, the character sheet for Traveller. The article
includes a direct link to a fairly large JPG (in height and width, not
data size) that thus can be printed. <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/15/tas-form-2-revised-at-tales-to-astonish/#seann" id="footnote-reference-1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a> It has places for each weapon to
write the modifiers for each type of armor, each range, the required
attribute and the Dice Modifier (DM) for if you are under the required
level, the advantageous attribute and the DM for if you meet or are
over the advantageous level, where it delivers a blow, a swing, or a
shot, the weakened blow or swing DM, and the hits of damage a
successful blow does. Having this information for each weapon on the
character sheet so you don't have to look it up each combat is very
useful.</p>
<aside class="footnote-list brackets">
<aside class="footnote brackets" id="seann" role="doc-footnote">
<span class="label"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span><a role="doc-backlink" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/15/tas-form-2-revised-at-tales-to-astonish/#footnote-reference-1">1</a><span class="fn-bracket">]</span></span>
<p>He links to a blog <a class="reference external" href="http://seann-mcanally.blogspot.com/2010/07/tas-form-2-revised.html">post</a> that seems to be the original
source of that character sheet, which is on a blog only open to
invited readers now, but the Internet Archive has the blog page
<a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180910140807/http://seann-mcanally.blogspot.com/2010/07/tas-form-2-revised.html">saved</a>, and on it there is a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gonensworld.com/seann/tas-form2-revised.pdf">link</a> to the PDF. The Internet
Archive didn't have the PDF saved, but the original link itself
still worked. I also added <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200316034554/http://www.gonensworld.com/seann/tas-form2-revised.pdf">it</a> to the Internet Archive, so
hopefully it is saved forever.</p>
</aside>
</aside>
Weapon Cards for Classic Traveller (1981 and 1977 editions)
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/07/weapon-cards-for-classic-traveller-1981-and-1977-editions/
2020-03-07T19:08:06-05:00
2020-03-07T19:08:06-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>Chris Kubasik of <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/">Tales to Astound</a> has two sets of Weapon Cards for
Classic Traveller (for the <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/prepping-for-my-classic-traveller-convention-game-weapon-cards/">1981</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/traveller-out-of-the-box-weapon-cards-1977-edition/">1977</a> editions) that simplifies
Classic Traveller combat by consolidating the information needed
for each weapon.</p>
<p>There is also a <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/prepping-for-my-classic-traveller-convention-game-a-character-sheet-and-24-pregen-characters/">page</a> with a PDF of pre-generated characters and a
blank character sheet.</p>
Traveller at Sandbox of Doom
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/03/03/traveller-at-sandbox-of-doom/
2020-03-03T11:44:38-05:00
2020-03-03T11:44:38-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>There are some good <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)">Traveller</a> articles at <a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/">The Sandbox of Doom</a>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2009/03/other-three-little-booklets.html">The other "three little booklets”</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2009/03/traveller-tuesday-influence-of-d.html">The influence of OD&D</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2009/03/traveller-tuesday-our-original.html">Our original inspiration</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/01/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition.html">1977 Edition Characters</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/01/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition-combat.html">1977 Edition Combat</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/02/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition.html">1977 Edition Starships</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/02/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition_09.html">1977 Edition Experience</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/02/traveller-tuesday-worlds.html">1977 Edition Worlds, Part One</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/02/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition-worlds.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Worlds, Part Two</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/03/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition-tech.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Tech levels</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/03/traveller-tuesday-1977-tech-levels-part.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Tech Levels, Part 2</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/03/traveller-tuesday-1977-tech-levels-part_17.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Tech Levels, Part 3 of 3</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/03/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Encounters</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/04/5-classic-traveller-links.html">5 Classic Traveller links</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2010/04/traveller-tuesday-1977-edition-animal.html">Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Animal Encounters</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/2013/01/traveller-tuesday-reboot.html">Traveller Tuesday Reboot</a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Pity the series was never finished.</p>
Traveller Articles
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/22/traveller-articles/
2020-02-22T21:56:04-05:00
2020-02-22T21:56:04-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>There is an interesting <a class="reference external" href="http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10119">article</a> (or at the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170222035638/http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10119">Internet Archive</a>) on
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)">Traveller</a>, linked here for later reference.</p>
<p>Christopher Kubasik's <a class="reference external" href="https://talestoastound.wordpress.com/tag/traveller-out-of-the-box/">Traveller Out of the Box</a> series and the
rpg.net thread (<a class="reference external" href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/traveller-out-of-the-box-only-using-books-1-3.769219/">R1</a>) that talks about it, and the <cite>Citizens of the
Imperium</cite> thread or three (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?s=f6580820d04fdcca8d9f852002a83ea4&t=35235">C1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=37380">C2</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=40558">C3</a>), and a Classic Traveller thread
(<a class="reference external" href="https://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?41450-Why-I-love-Classic-Traveller-old-school-in-general/page5&highlight=traveller+box">P1</a>).</p>
<p>And there is Robert Conley's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.batintheattic.com/traveller/">Classic Traveller Character Generator</a>.</p>
<p>And another article at <a class="reference external" href="https://www.tor.com/2020/01/10/traveller-a-classic-science-fiction-simulator/">Tor.com</a>.</p>
<p>And the <a class="reference external" href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jsH-EgKvaR0mdbtJMj_Xj7X3TcYyZTqQGf-Gwu58PX0/edit">Traveller Section by Section Comparison</a>.</p>
Slings in RPGs: Often Nerfed
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/07/slings-in-rpgs-often-nerfed/
2020-02-07T14:40:23-05:00
2020-02-07T14:40:23-05:00
T. 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>
Recent Reading: Marc W. Miller
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/05/02/marc-w-miller-gdw/
2009-05-02T15:00:00-05:00
2009-05-02T15:00:00-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<ul>
<li><p><cite>Double Adventure 1: Shadows & Annic Nova</cite>, by Marc W. Miller;
copyright © 1980 by Game Designers' Workshop; 7th printing;
Product #312. Art on page 19 by Liz Danforth.</p>
<p>It is interesting to see how these adventures differ from current
adventure design. Both of these adventures present a location with
details about its contents, and give a way that a group of player
characters might get involved. One of the adventures gives a page
of historical background of the location for the GM, although the
background doesn't directly affect play. The other gives no history
at all, other than what can be gleaned from observing the location.</p>
<p>The trend in commercial RPG adventure design has been to deliver
more and more detail for the GM, culminating in the current D&D
adventure format that attempts to provide, on a two-page spread,
absolutely everything that a DM has to have to run a tactical
encounter, from the tactical map to the exact details of each and
every NPC involved, so that the DM doesn't have to look anything up.
Moreover, in many modules, perhaps starting with the <cite>Dragonlance</cite>
modules in the 1980s, there is a story supplied, which the player
characters are expected, more or less, to follow and figure out, and
some more-or-less obvious goal.</p>
<p><cite>Shadows</cite> & <cite>Annic Nova</cite> certainly don't supply a pre-built story —
any story will be generated by the referee and players at the gaming
table, with possibly some pre-game activity by the referee while
reading the adventure beforehand. And there are no obvious goals,
just situations to explore.</p>
<p>I actually find this rather liberating, compared to the more
detailed adventures that are more common today. There is something
about the things that aren't there in <cite>Shadows</cite> & <cite>Annic Nova</cite> that
fires up my imagination and draws me into the situation. It's
probably the same sort of thing that makes me see the original
<cite>Greyhawk</cite> folio as more interesting that the later <cite>Living Greyhawk
Gazetteer</cite>.</p>
<p>I mention Liz Danforth in the info about the book above because ever
since I ran across her art in 5th edition <cite>Tunnels & Trolls</cite> I've
enjoyed it immensely.</p>
</li>
</ul>
Classic Traveller: just the right size
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/05/02/classic-traveller-just-the-right-size/
2009-05-02T11:30:16-05:00
2009-05-02T11:30:16-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<p>I like the physical design of the Classic Traveller books. The 8½×5½
stapled booklet is just the right size, physically, to read easily and
carry around, and it opens and lays flat, for easy reference. As far
as the information content, the physical constraints of the format
provides enough physical space to present a comprehensible amount of
information, without enough the temptation to pad the content with
irrelevancies.</p>
<p>I also like visual appearance of these books: the black covers of the
original books — with white text for the book title and subtitle, and red
text and a thick red line for the game title and publisher — were
stark, attractive, and stand out even today.</p>
<p>I gather, from comments from Steve Jackson Games, on the comic-book
sized booklets they printed for the <em>GURPS Traveller</em> line in the
early 2000s, that books of these form factors aren't cost effective
for traditional RPG publishers any more. That's a pity.</p>
Recent Reading: Marc Miller and Game Designers' Workshop
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2009/04/28/marc-miller-and-game-designers-workshop/
2009-04-28T21:41:27-05:00
2009-04-28T21:41:27-05:00
T. Kurt Bond
<ul>
<li><p><cite>Traveller</cite>, by Marc Miller & Game Designers' Workshop, copyright
1977, 1981 by Game Designer's Workshop. <cite class="subtitle">Books 1–3</cite>,
<cite class="subtitle">The Basic Books</cite>, Classic <strong>Traveller</strong> Reprint Series,
copyright 2001 by Far Future Enterprises; a joint publication of Far
Future Enterprises and QuikLink Interactive, ISBN 1-55878-218-4.
“The Olympia Incident” by Martin J. Dougherty.</p>
<p>This is a reprint of the 1981 second edition of <cite>Traveller</cite>, along
with a little bit about the publishing history of <cite>Traveller</cite>, and a
short story, “The Olympia Incident”, set in the <cite>Traveller</cite>
universe.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>When I was first getting into gaming, I remember going on a trip to
Morgantown, WV with my brother and some of his friends from high
school who were in the gaming group that I'd recently joined. We
visited a couple of places that sold gaming materials, and one of the
group, R.S. if I remember correctly, bought a copy of <cite>Traveller</cite>. I
remember reading the books in his basement rec room and trying to make
characters. Unfortunately, at that point the only RPGs that our group
had seen were variants of D&D (T&T and DQ were still a couple years
away), and I, at least, never really figured out <cite>Traveller</cite> and what
you could do with it, and, again if I remember correctly, our group
never did much with <cite>Traveller</cite>.</p>
<p>Something must have struck a cord, however, because over the years I
bought several editions of the game, from <cite>Megatraveller</cite> to
<cite>Traveller: the New Era</cite> (also known as <cite>T:NE</cite>), to <cite>GURPS Traveller</cite>,
to <cite>Marc Miller's Traveller</cite> (also known as <cite>T4</cite>), and even including
<cite>2300AD</cite>, which was originally published as <cite>Traveller: 2300</cite>, even
though the mechanics and setting were in no way related to the
<cite>Traveller</cite> mechanics or setting. Many of this I probably picked up
during a long period where I wasn't doing any gaming, and just reading
game books. (This would almost certainly have been before the
explosion of RPG stores on the net.) I probably picked
<cite>Megatraveller</cite> up after it was out of print; my copy seems to have
the (infamous) errata fixed. I may have picked up <cite>T:NE</cite> when it
first came out. I know I picked up almost all of the <cite>GURPS
Traveller</cite> books as they came out. I'm sure I picked up <cite>2300AD</cite> off
the discount rack. I remember being saddened when GDW closed their
doors, although that was in part due to really enjoying their <cite>Space:
1889</cite> line and Frank Chadwick's <cite>Cadillacs & Dinosaurs</cite> RPG, based on
Mark Schultz's comic books, which I had read and enjoyed. I never got
a chance to play any of GDW's games while they were still in
operation, but have always wanted to play a game with <cite>Space: 1889</cite>'s
background. I never figured out what to do with <cite>Traveller</cite>,
though. I came closest with <cite>GURPS Traveller</cite>, having enjoyed playing
<cite>GURPS</cite> before my gaming hiatus. I enjoyed reading all the <cite>GURPS
Traveller</cite> books, but I had no gaming group at that time.</p>
<p>Anyway, years later, after I'd gotten back to gaming regularly, in
2007, I had been reading about a number of people who had been playing
Classic <cite>Traveller</cite>, which is what folks called the original system,
with or without the Traveller Universe. They praised the game for its
simplicity and completeness and for its relatively small size. I had
know about the Far Future Enterprises Classic <cite>Traveller</cite> reprint
line, but couldn't afford them when they first came out. I did,
however, find a an inexpensive reprint of just Books 1–3, published
jointly by Far Future Enterprises and QuikLink Interactive (also know
as QLI/RPGRealms), and I ordered it in October 2007. After some
problems with QLI's order system, I finally received my copy in
November, 2007. It was a reprint of the 1981 2nd edition of
<cite>Traveller</cite>, which apparently cleaned up the rules a little bit. I
read it quickly, and my reaction was: “Huh. Why didn't we play the
heck out of this back in high school? I could see playing this
<em>today</em> and having a blast!” I liked the basic simplicity of the
system, having moved away from complex systems like <cite>GURPS</cite> to systems
that were much simpler, like <cite>Savage Worlds</cite>.</p>
<p>Sometime later I got Mongoose Publishing's new edition of
<cite>Traveller</cite>,and though it was a reasonable version. Certainly it was
closest of any system to the original, definitely since
<cite>Megatraveller</cite>, and possibly since the original itself. And the fact
Mongoose released it with several licenses that allowed free use of
the system, and some use of the background made it more attractive.
It prompted me to go back and read most of my other versions of
<cite>Traveller</cite>, including the FFE/QLI reprint of Books 1–3. After
looking at them all, it was Classic <cite>Traveller</cite> I wanted to play. Since
then I've gathered some of the original <cite>Traveller</cite> publications, and
a couple volumes of the FFE reprint volumes. (I wish they were all
still in print.)</p>
<p>I'm going to have to run a Classic <cite>Traveller</cite> game sometime soon.</p>
My Gaming Career
https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2008/08/02/gaming-career/
2008-08-02T11:42:50-05:00
2008-08-02T11:42:50-05:00
T. 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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