Even Aliens are Susceptible to a Robopacalypse

I am continually amazed by what 'amateur' filmmakers can accomplish these days.  The dividing line between a studio production and an indie production is growing thinner daily.  And the dividing line between an indie production and a one-man production is likewise growing thinner.

While I typically do not delve into science fiction on this blog, I am making an exception for this post.  Go watch this video.  It think that it proves that even aliens are susceptible to a robopacalypse.

Of course, it could easily serve as inspiration for a fantasy rpg campaign:  What would happen if all the golems, automata, and other "created" magical beings in the world suddenly rebelled from their wizard creators, banded together, and attempted to take it over?

Star Clans - A New Blog Worth Paying Attention To

Here's a new blog that might be interesting to people.  I'm not sure where it is headed, but I know the author really well.  He is a whiz at world creation, and I'm sure that this new project will produce lots of interesting material for use in your own campaign or just to get your creative juices flowing.

Sounds like it might be a science-fantasy setting, but perhaps not.  He's been known to include elements of science fiction into the origin and background of the setting that never actually make their way into the world that that players see.

"Our EPT?"

Interesting post from the Windy City Wiz, but I'm wondering if I agree with him.

I think that there are new and original things being done that haven't been done before.  The Wiz claims that Raggi is an ass but respects him for what he is doing with his products.

How about Al's Warriors of the Red Planet?  (Yes, I know I linked to the blog, but, in case you are not aware, that blog is supporting a game that Al will be releasing (hopefully) this spring.)

I know that there are others out there, and a few are mentioned in the comments following the Wiz's post.

My feeling is that there is a lot of stuff going on that is interesting.

Calific? You better believe it!

This seems like an exciting development.  As a fan of the science-fantasy genre, I am really looking forward to see how all this turns out.  Good luck to them!

And Russ Nicholson is one of my favorite artists from the early days.  He alone is worth whatever price they're going to charge.  (Well, within reason...)

Now THIS is the way to start a campaign!

Go read this.  THAT is the way to start a campaign!!

Don't like science-fantasy?  Who cares?  Take that general mold and fit it into the style of campaign that you want to run.

For instance:

You want to run a modern-day rpg?  Have the characters wake up in an overturned SUV, injured all to hell, not remembering who they are or how they got there.  Have several ambulances arrive to treat them OR have another identical SUV arrive with people in it offering to help them if they move quickly.  (Are the people in the SUV friends, foes, or something else?)

You want to run a superheroes rpg?  Have the characters wake up scattered in the destroyed remains of your campaign's version of the 'Hall of Justice'.  They don't remember what their powers are; they don't remember anything about themselves.  (Are they all good guys or are some of them villains?  Who did this?  Why?)

You want to run a standard fantasy rpg?  Have the characters wake up in a room, each in a bed, with no memories and with various physical injuries.  A man enters the room who seems suspicious.  He tells them that he found them in the (woods, ravine, dungeon corridor, etc) lying amidst a dead group of (pick your monster--but perhaps he doesn't tell them) and that he brought them back to his abode.  (All sorts of good question possibilities.)

You want to run a straight sci-fi rpg?  Frankly, very little to do differently.

You could follow steps 1-3 of that article exactly.  The rest will have to be altered as necessary to match your theme, but you need to use the attribute checks, some major combat encounter, and the clues that point to 'another one'.  Who is that other one and what is the connection to the player's party?  Those questions may never be answered or they might be the point of it all.  But THE POINT of all of this is that the players will start this campaign feeling the way that we all did the first time that we played an rpg.

This was probably the best blog post that I've read in the past week, and I just had to write something to complement it.

...

Although I have to be completely honest: Tonight has been a most fruitful blog reading evening.  Two other posts that I have to highlight are this one and this one.  The first talks a little about the megadungeon in your campaign; the second talks about something that most people who run wilderness campaigns probably never think of.  Both posts are excellent!  Hopefully, when I have time, I'll write a little something to go with each of those as well.

Um, yeah...

What he said.

There's Another One! - And Other Stuff

It's not a particularly great map, not the best that I've seen recently, but there is something very likeable about it--thus I had to post.

I like the light gray pencil work.  I like the fact that he obviously spent a good bit of time on the shading.  I like that there are many different paths though the place.  I like it.

Thanks for sharing, David.

Oh, and David, thanks A LOT of having a link to this place on your blog.  That site is ridiculous!

Um, also thanks for introducing me to this blog.  Maps, and illustrations, and fantasy goodness, oh my!

And here is another post about maps--hex maps no less.  That's some crazy shizz...

Science Fantasy: Character Classes and Races

In the sci-fan supplement that we are working on, we have narrowed the field for character classes to the following:

Tech:  Short for Technician.  Basically the everyman from the sci-fi setting.  What I mean by this is that he is the "average person" who has found himself becoming an adventurer, and because technology is prevalent in the sci-fi setting, the average guy is a tech.  In the same way, in my mind, that the fighter/fighting-man is the average guy in the fantasy setting--let's face it, all he has to do is pick up a sword and go adventuring.  Nothing about the fighter/fighting-man requires special talents or abilities--just a desire to go out and swing a sword.  His primary attribute will be Intelligence.

Psion:  The person gifted with extreme mental abilities, the psion functions in many ways like a typical spellcasters does, except obviously his abilities do not come from an ability to channel arcane energies but from the ability to harness the powers of his mind.  His primary attribute will be Intelligence--I think.  An argument has been made that Wisdom might be appropriate.

Soldier:  Trained in the use of military hardware, the soldier is the professional combatant from the modern (futuristic) world.  He is adept at using hadnguns, lasers, artillery, etc. and gains a slight bonus when doing so.  At the same time, he is physically tough and doesn't shy away from hand-to-hand combat.

While there are ideas for other classes, I think that for the sake of keeping the project short and (relatively) manageable, we'll stop there.  Perhaps future products will include more.

As far as races are concerned, we will definitely include robots at a playable race.  The inclusion of the robot is going to be one of the toughest aspects of the game to get right--both mechanically and stylistically.  The initial conception of the robot is a creature that has a set number of hit points (which do NOT increase with level) and a static set of skills (because earning experience points and 'gaining levels') doesn't work for a mechanical being who is programmed.

Obviously, those two points greatly restrict what a robot character is and can do--especially in a game that is built on the level-up mechanic--but there are many game systems that do not rely on that mechanic which can be just as fun as D&D.  The important question becomes how do we insert a non-leveling race into a game such that it still fits well in that type of game, still provides the player with enjoyment, and is not so overly different that it just doesn't feel right within that context.  I think that this will be the greatest challenge.

One could argue that there isn't any reason that robots couldn't gain experience and level--but for some reason, that I can't put my finger on, I like that limitation on the robots.  Perhaps, in my mind, the static (versus growing) robot just seems more pulpy to me.

Psionics and the Dilemma

I've been working on a Science Fantasy supplement for one of the retro-clone rules.  As I talked a little about here, I'm going to include a psionicist as one of the character classes.

First, a little about what I was planning:

As far as the mechanics are concerned, the psionicist (perhaps just psion) would effectively be another spell casting class.  The psionic abilities (talents) would follow a Vancian system whereby the character can only cast (invoke) a set number of talents per day.  That number, and the relative power of the talents, would increase as the character advances in level.  However, whereas "true" Vancian magic limits spell use based upon the ability of the magic user to memorize those spells, the rationale for the psion is that the character is limited by the mental stamina necessary to cast that number in a given day.

However, if the limit is not based on the ability to memorize specific spells but merely the number of times per day that a talent of a given power level could be invoked, the class becomes much more flexible in how it can expend its adventuring resources in a given day.  [In magic user terms, the 1st level MU would not have to worry about whether he should memorize sleep or magic missile with his one slot, because if he knows both, then he can cast whichever he deems most appropriate at the time.]

The challenge then becomes how to restrict the abilities of the class.  Still working on that.  I have some ideas, but I'm not sure which I like the most.

I think that the talent list would borrow from the other spellcasting classes a fair bit, especially those spells that closely mimic what we would consider psionic-type abilities.  I would then create new talents to fill-in the holes that I see.

Those are just some rough thoughts that are guiding the thought process for the design of the class.  Now on to the dilemma:

So today after reading through My Daily Read, I head on over to RPGNow to take a look at the latest offerings and I see this--a psionics class (and entirely new psionics system) for OSRIC.  What is an aspiring game designer to do?  Did these people read my mind?  So now the conundrum: Do I purchase their product, take the bits that I like, and go on from there?  Do I ignore it and pretend that it didn't come out?  Do I immediately decide that the science fantasy supplement on which I am working absolutely NOT be for OSRIC, so as to not risk being accused of stealing their IP?  [I haven't yet decided which retro-clone the supplement was going to support, but this goes a long way in my mind of ensuring that it won't be OSRIC.]

I need to think about this.  I'm really not sure what to do.

Science Fantasy and Us

So I mentioned here that TFC is working on a Science Fantasy supplement for use with one of the retro-clone rules sets.  While we are still trying to refine exactly what that product will look like, including such basic things as specific content to include, page length, art, etc., we thought that we'd post some of the things that are bubbling in our minds.

The product, initially codenamed Dragons & Deathrays until we realized that "D&D" was already taken, will include material for players to bring sci-fi characters into a fantasy realm and guidance for DMs for including technology and "science" in his or her fantasy setting.  It will include:
- At least three sci-fi themed character classes.  (One will be a Psionicist.)
- At least three new character races.  (One of those races will be robots.)
- A large section detailing weapons and other technology for use by the characters.
- Rules for the inclusion of computers in the game, both as artifacts and as NPCs.
- A large bestiary of sci-fi creatures.
- Ideas for different types of campaigns making use of these new materials and advice for the DM on how to run each.

The science and technology present in the supplement will not match "hard sf" or current sf but will harken back to the pulp sci-fi from the first half of the 20th century.  The supplement will draw from previous greats, such as Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, in formulating some of the material, but a good bit of it will be brand new, pulled from the recesses of our minds.

I think that the general scope of this product bears discussing: The materials will not be such that an entire sci-fi game could be run using the retro-clone rules.  The scope is to support that DM who wants to include elements of science fiction in his own campaign world, from just a few artifacts here or there all the way to having the sci-fi aspects be a major plot element in his game.

I will occasionally post snippets from the writing to gather feedback (should any be forthcoming) and clarify in my own mind where we want the project to go.

Ultimately, we would like to contribute to this small niche in the OSR.

Looking Backward, and Forward

By all accounts, 2009 was the Year of the Megadungeon.
I think that a strong case can be made for 2009 and megadungeons, as evidenced by the existence of Dungeon-a-day (whether or not you agree that it is a true megadungeon), Megadungeon.net, and the numerous blog posts and forum discussions regarding the topic all over the internet.  Being a fairly simple guy, I like things that are big and have always liked megadungeons.  Obviously, many other people do as well.  On the one hand, I am disappointed that I came so late to the OSR party.  By the time I found it, the year was mostly over, and megadungeons seem to have been supplanted somewhat in the online discourse.  I will say, however, that we are working on a megedungeon product: A set of maps (what else?) that presents an ancient dwarven city--a BIG dwarven city.  The intention is for it to be similar to Locales, Volume One in that it will not include fully-detailed, fully-statted descriptions of its contents, but only brief descriptions of the major areas.  The maps themselves will also include a good many notes (in true megadungeon fashion) so that they are useful to the DM.

According to many people in the blogosphere, 2010 is going to be the Year of Science Fantasy.  If that is the case then that is exciting as well, as we are also at work on a product, a supplement as it were, written to expand the horizons of one of the retro-clones toward sci-fi.  More details to follow.