I don't talk much about computer gaming stuff. But something came up with the XBox 360 that all of you should be aware of. Especially those of you with kids.
The basic issue is that the Xbox 360 support downloadable content purchased with Points you buy from Microsoft. If you bought an XBox last year you have the option of blocking purchases and still allow access to all other on-line services like Netflix, or multi-player games. This is typically a wise choice with children and teenagers who are still getting a grip that they just can't spend $$$ without earning it.
The problem is that Microsoft recently updated the console with a new operating system that support the Kinectic. In doing so it disabled the ability to block downloadable purchases. The update throws the gate wide open for any Live account to make purchases with the credit card associated with the account. The agents recommend that the only thing you can do is take off the credit card and use prepurchased cards to enable your access.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Warden is declaring a medical emergency!
Jim Ward, the designer of Metamorphosis Alpha and many other early TSR works, is facing huge medical bills. The Greyhawk Grognard has a full report. It would help if you can take a look at his RPGNow store and see if there is anything there you like and buy. I particularly recommend the original Metamorphsis Alpha as a fascinating look at Gamma World's progenitor.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Bat in the Attic Status update.
Time for a quarterly update on what going on with my various project.
I haven't made as much progress as I liked with Scrounge of the Demon Wolf. The problem is mostly in that my hobby time for writing/gaming is limited and I didn't manage it well over the summer.
The product is in two parts, the adventure and a small sourcebook for the surrounding region. Both are not extensive It looking at being 48 pages 8.5 by 11 at most. I consider the sourcebook an esstential part as I think it makes it reusable for more than just adventure. It details a village, a hamlet a conclave of mages, a short gazetteer (1 or 2 page) of a barony, So I am pushing myself now to get it done. The adventure is 90% done and the source book is 75% done.
My thoughts on minimal dungeons have come together. I am thinking of formatting it similarly to how I do a Points of Light style setting. With each level having an overview, a paragraph devoted to a large inter-related area along with wandering monsters, and the dungeon key with a few key rooms detailed. The dungeon map itself would be detailed and labeled descriptively (think Tegal Manor). Along with plenty of referee notes sprinkled throughout.
I feel this will make for a useful product in a minimum amount of pages. Because I am shifting away from putting everything into a numerical list of keyed room, It should be easier to get a feel of how the dungeon works overall. Where the referee can change or insert stuff to make it work better with his campaign. I will be using the Elf Lord's Temple as my first test of the format. You can see the Points of Light format with this free download of Southlands.
I continuing work on the big map of the Main Campaign Area. So far coast lines, hills, mountains, and swamps are done. Now I am placing settlements and roads. After that I will do the settled area/cropland vegetation, then the forest/plains/etc. Finally after that will be the labeling. This map is being done Harn style where a fill texture represent the terrain type (swamp/hill/mountain) and color vegetation.
I am still in the midst of some paid projects that will be done soon. They are fun to do, help others in the OSR, and help fund all the future stuff.
After I get the map done, it will be time to write the gazetteer of the Main Campaign Area. Like the campaign section of the MW Supplement this will contain lots on notes on why various regions work the way they do. This should make the product useful as a source of campaign ideas as well as a traditional setting product. For example the Bernost region will be a good example of a region in rebellion to central authority. You could use it as inspiration or yank out the details for use in your own setting.
Aside from being a minimal dungeon The Elf Lord's Temple will the piece of a series detailing the Dearthwood Forest. I think that big gloomy orc-infested forests haven't been done well in the past.
Hope to see some of you at Erie Days of Gaming.
I haven't made as much progress as I liked with Scrounge of the Demon Wolf. The problem is mostly in that my hobby time for writing/gaming is limited and I didn't manage it well over the summer.
The product is in two parts, the adventure and a small sourcebook for the surrounding region. Both are not extensive It looking at being 48 pages 8.5 by 11 at most. I consider the sourcebook an esstential part as I think it makes it reusable for more than just adventure. It details a village, a hamlet a conclave of mages, a short gazetteer (1 or 2 page) of a barony, So I am pushing myself now to get it done. The adventure is 90% done and the source book is 75% done.
My thoughts on minimal dungeons have come together. I am thinking of formatting it similarly to how I do a Points of Light style setting. With each level having an overview, a paragraph devoted to a large inter-related area along with wandering monsters, and the dungeon key with a few key rooms detailed. The dungeon map itself would be detailed and labeled descriptively (think Tegal Manor). Along with plenty of referee notes sprinkled throughout.
I feel this will make for a useful product in a minimum amount of pages. Because I am shifting away from putting everything into a numerical list of keyed room, It should be easier to get a feel of how the dungeon works overall. Where the referee can change or insert stuff to make it work better with his campaign. I will be using the Elf Lord's Temple as my first test of the format. You can see the Points of Light format with this free download of Southlands.
I continuing work on the big map of the Main Campaign Area. So far coast lines, hills, mountains, and swamps are done. Now I am placing settlements and roads. After that I will do the settled area/cropland vegetation, then the forest/plains/etc. Finally after that will be the labeling. This map is being done Harn style where a fill texture represent the terrain type (swamp/hill/mountain) and color vegetation.
I am still in the midst of some paid projects that will be done soon. They are fun to do, help others in the OSR, and help fund all the future stuff.
After I get the map done, it will be time to write the gazetteer of the Main Campaign Area. Like the campaign section of the MW Supplement this will contain lots on notes on why various regions work the way they do. This should make the product useful as a source of campaign ideas as well as a traditional setting product. For example the Bernost region will be a good example of a region in rebellion to central authority. You could use it as inspiration or yank out the details for use in your own setting.
Aside from being a minimal dungeon The Elf Lord's Temple will the piece of a series detailing the Dearthwood Forest. I think that big gloomy orc-infested forests haven't been done well in the past.
Hope to see some of you at Erie Days of Gaming.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Playing Swords & Wizardry and a special sneak preview!
I am running three sessions at the Erie Days of Gaming, a convention being held in Erie PA from November 12th to 14th.
The first is on Saturday the 13th at 1:00pm and features my upcoming release of Scourge of the Demon Wolf. You get the roll up your own characters and are free to pick from the options from the Majestic Wilderlands as well as Swords & Wizardry. I have loads of aides so you don't need either rulebook to make a character and play. Note this is not a first level adventure I use a random xp chart that could start you out as high as 5th level.
The second was originally going to be the Ruins of Ramat for Swords & Wizardry but I have an opportunity to play the upcoming Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG from Goodman Games. It not a retro-clone although some of D&D is in it's DNA. The aim is to replicate the swords & sorcery fantasy found in Appendix N of the Dungeon Master Guide wrapped in a system that is easy to use as original D&D. I think it worth looking at and I am glad to have the chance to help Joseph playtest this. This will be on Saturday the 13th at 7pm.
The third session is on Sunday the 14th at 12 noon. It features my second run through the Elf Lord's Temple my attempt a creating a minimal dungeon. The first group had a lot of fun with it.
The convention itself is primarily focused on Board Games and they have all the classics and a few new ones. If you look at their website you will see their wall of games that they lend to convention patrons.
The first is on Saturday the 13th at 1:00pm and features my upcoming release of Scourge of the Demon Wolf. You get the roll up your own characters and are free to pick from the options from the Majestic Wilderlands as well as Swords & Wizardry. I have loads of aides so you don't need either rulebook to make a character and play. Note this is not a first level adventure I use a random xp chart that could start you out as high as 5th level.
The second was originally going to be the Ruins of Ramat for Swords & Wizardry but I have an opportunity to play the upcoming Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG from Goodman Games. It not a retro-clone although some of D&D is in it's DNA. The aim is to replicate the swords & sorcery fantasy found in Appendix N of the Dungeon Master Guide wrapped in a system that is easy to use as original D&D. I think it worth looking at and I am glad to have the chance to help Joseph playtest this. This will be on Saturday the 13th at 7pm.
The third session is on Sunday the 14th at 12 noon. It features my second run through the Elf Lord's Temple my attempt a creating a minimal dungeon. The first group had a lot of fun with it.
The convention itself is primarily focused on Board Games and they have all the classics and a few new ones. If you look at their website you will see their wall of games that they lend to convention patrons.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Resource for Refereeing Terrain in your Sandbox
The best supplements I seen for adjudicating terrain in any type of campaign are the three environment books written by J Andrew Keith published by Game Lords in the 1980s. While written for Traveller they are generic enough to be used for any game system. Of the three like the Mountain Environment. It has a simple but effective system for representing the terrain complexity of a mountain peak.
It is easy to get lost in the details and make the experience a grind for the players because of too much detail. The way I learned to handle it is distill the challenge into a couple of key decisions that a player can reasonably make.Most of the time it is time versus difficulty. Do we swing to the north and skirt the Dune Sea or do we try to cut across and risk sunstroke and dehydration? Do we climb the sheer cliff wall or take the exposed ridge line up to the peak? These books help in coming up with some creative choices.
From RPGNow
The Desert EnvironmentThe Undersea Environment
The Mountain Environment
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tabletop RPGs and the Future
James as Grognardia has a good post musing on Tabletop RPGs and whether they are a transitional technology.
I agree with James that hoping that RPGs will be as it was in the 80s is dreaming. There may be some fab waves in the future but they will burn out in a year or two as something else catches on.
But I don't think that RPGs are a transitional technology. Take computers for example. In the late 70s the market in personal computers started flourished. There was an excitement and energy in the air about the technology and hobbyists groups flourished throughout the country and world.
Today you find just about everybody using computers in all kinds of forms. Your phone is a computer, your tv is a computer, and so on. However to many of those active in the later 70s the it doesn't have the same energy and feel. Oh there plenty of groups like the old 70's groups but they are involved with different hardware or technologies.
For that 70's era enthusiast the world has left him behind wistfully thinking of older days. The ironic thing that if you poke around long enough you will find that groups liking older technologies still exists. In some cases even picked up where the original left and and developing for it. But unlike the 70s you have really look for them.
I experienced this somewhat myself as in the late 80s I was involved in the local BBS (Bulletin Board System) scene in Meadville along with a group devoted to learning about the changes in computers with Windows and OS/2 first being widely sold. If you poke around you can still find some of the old BBS system around.
This is what happened to tabletop roleplaying. In the 70s anybody potentially interested in roleplaying only had one source, tabletop. Now in the 2010s we have multiple alternatives to choose from, the original tabletop, MMORPG, live actions, and so on. Each with advantages, disadvantages, and social networks.
As each new form developed the tabletop audience shrunk. Those that remained are those that the specific features of tabletop were appealing despite it's disadvantage.
Every form of entertainment has appealing features and disadvantages. The ones that endure are able to play to their strength, and adapt to using new complimentary technologies. The classic case is movies vs television.
But Radio vs television is a better example. Most of the original programming disappeared or transferred to TV. Only news, sports, and music were retained. Radio found it's strength and began to thrive developing things that worked for it's format like talk radio. The development in electronics may gave rise a small boon with the advent of digital and satellite.
The key for the future for tabletop RPGs is understanding their strengths while minimizing their disadvantages and employing complimentary technologies whenever we can.
I agree with James that hoping that RPGs will be as it was in the 80s is dreaming. There may be some fab waves in the future but they will burn out in a year or two as something else catches on.
But I don't think that RPGs are a transitional technology. Take computers for example. In the late 70s the market in personal computers started flourished. There was an excitement and energy in the air about the technology and hobbyists groups flourished throughout the country and world.
Today you find just about everybody using computers in all kinds of forms. Your phone is a computer, your tv is a computer, and so on. However to many of those active in the later 70s the it doesn't have the same energy and feel. Oh there plenty of groups like the old 70's groups but they are involved with different hardware or technologies.
For that 70's era enthusiast the world has left him behind wistfully thinking of older days. The ironic thing that if you poke around long enough you will find that groups liking older technologies still exists. In some cases even picked up where the original left and and developing for it. But unlike the 70s you have really look for them.
I experienced this somewhat myself as in the late 80s I was involved in the local BBS (Bulletin Board System) scene in Meadville along with a group devoted to learning about the changes in computers with Windows and OS/2 first being widely sold. If you poke around you can still find some of the old BBS system around.
This is what happened to tabletop roleplaying. In the 70s anybody potentially interested in roleplaying only had one source, tabletop. Now in the 2010s we have multiple alternatives to choose from, the original tabletop, MMORPG, live actions, and so on. Each with advantages, disadvantages, and social networks.
As each new form developed the tabletop audience shrunk. Those that remained are those that the specific features of tabletop were appealing despite it's disadvantage.
Every form of entertainment has appealing features and disadvantages. The ones that endure are able to play to their strength, and adapt to using new complimentary technologies. The classic case is movies vs television.
But Radio vs television is a better example. Most of the original programming disappeared or transferred to TV. Only news, sports, and music were retained. Radio found it's strength and began to thrive developing things that worked for it's format like talk radio. The development in electronics may gave rise a small boon with the advent of digital and satellite.
The key for the future for tabletop RPGs is understanding their strengths while minimizing their disadvantages and employing complimentary technologies whenever we can.
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Cape
On NBC a new series the Cape is slated as a midseason replacement. I watch a couple of the preview video on it's website and looks fairly decent. Unlike Heroes it looks like it fully embraces the conventions of superheroes. I like the backstory as well and the motivation it give the main character. The full series works as good as the preview looks.
Also I recommend No Ordinary Family. Potentially it shares some of Heroes problem in that it ditches comic conventions (i.e. no costumes, etc) in favor of personal drama. But there is a tighter cast of characters that are likeable and well acted. I find it interesting they give the dad all the original powers of Superman (1939).
Also I recommend No Ordinary Family. Potentially it shares some of Heroes problem in that it ditches comic conventions (i.e. no costumes, etc) in favor of personal drama. But there is a tighter cast of characters that are likeable and well acted. I find it interesting they give the dad all the original powers of Superman (1939).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)