Halloween Treats at DriveThruStuff

DriveThruRPG has a Halloween themed Trick or Treat scavenger hunt until November 3rd. Click around to find the jack-o-lantern icons to place discounted PDFs into your cart and checkout for free.

It's pumpkin loads of fun. Isn't free stuff always fun?

The DriveThruStuff subsidiaries also have similar scavenger hunts for products of their respective categories.


For the more impatient here's the list for DriveThruRPG:


- Savage Worlds Horror Companion (Pinnacle Entertainment) @ Follow Link for Halloween scavenger hunt (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=200_0_0_0_0)

- Wild Cards SCARE Sheet 1: Bugsy (Green Ronin) @ Troubleshooting, top of page (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/Troubleshooting.php)

- Streets of Bedlam: A Savage World of Crime + Corruption (FunSizedGames) @ About Us, end of text (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/about.php)

- Profane Miracles (Pelgrane Press) @ Our Latest Newsletter, left sidebar (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/newsletter_current.php)

- Kobold Quarterly Magazine 23 (Kobold Press) @ Product Reviews, top of page (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/reviews.php)

- A Guide to Transylvania (2e) (Wizards of the Coast) @ Free Stuff, the very bottom of page (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?keywords=+&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=0&pto=0)

- Promethean: The Created (White Wolf) @ Follow Your Favorites, middle of page under main text (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/account_newsletters.php)


The grand total for these would be $63.45 at listed retail prices. Including the Guide to Transylvania (2e) which isn't even scheduled for release until November 5th (estimated the price to be $9.99 like similar Ravenloft guides for the above total value). 

Thanks to all the companies involved and to DriveThruStuff for making free stuff an activity.

^Torchbearer

Shiny.

Foiled title aside, it has a weave textured cover not unlike the old (read: original) 1E manuals. The paper used is even a non-glossy cream, instead of the slick, stark white of more recent game books. And a Mullen cover, in case the look and feel of the book wasn't enough to invoke the games of old. Nice nods all around.

Received Torchbearer earlier this month, but hadn't the chance to mention it. According to the Kickstarter page, estimated due date was September, received in October. I count that as on time, especially seeing as the PDF was sent out way before that.

I'm willing to given more than a two or three months leeway for Kickstarters and that's not even due to the chronic lateness of projects. I'm used to the pace of patron projects like Open Design where the design and discussion is laid open to participants who are integrated into the process. As long as the communication and interaction is sufficient, I'm even good for time table changes on the scale of months or a year.

It feels good to back a prompt Kickstarter. Good on Luke Crane, Thor Olavsrud and the Burning Wheel team for running an efficient project (and wisely choosing to limit the project scope by eschewing stretch goals). For every project that crashed and burned, I've probably participated in at least two that were good (or made good). We'll do an actual count someday.

Also, huzzah for game designers and game companies in New York.

Thirty Days of D&D, Day 30+: Afterword

So what did I take away from all this?

Based on the views of each post page, the most active topic wasn't even part of the Thirty Days challenge, but a reversal of the favorite gameworld topic. With views of over two or three times above most of the other posts, it seems negativity pulls in eyeballs or at least draws mouse clicks.

Now that the Thirty Days challenge has concluded, I can take a look back to see the entire thing as one activity. As the daily prompts oriented towards the blogger's own thoughts and experience, the topics were easy to tackle even if they offered limited use to any potential reader.

Though I didn't complete the challenge on time, I managed to ramble over 8000 words across 16 posts on the various daily topics and covered all the topics. Long winded, probably, but this was the most I've written about anything in a long time. At an average of 500 words per post and with about a post every other day (despite the front loaded schedule), I've found a scale of what is feasible give my regular routine.

To put those word counts into perspective. When I was a patron of the Midgard Campaign setting, smaller elements submitted for review or voting, like mercenary companies, merchant houses and minor NPCs were about 150 words. Major NPCs and rulers were 300 - 400 words long, deities write-up were about 750, as were small kingdom submissions.

Personally I felt this productivity occured only because there was a list of tasks to complete. Even if real life obligations made the latter part of the month too hectic to complete the blog assignment on time, the loose list of topics were covered. The topics themselves being of questionable interest even to the writer, balanced out with the ease of content flow for the challenge. The next goal is to create ones own prompts to maintain some sort of output, hopefully on topics of more general interest.

Thirty Days of D&D, Day 24 - 30: Other Favorites and Miscellany

A belated conclusion, but a conclusion nonetheless.

Day 24: Favorite Energy Type
Of the standard energy types have to go with electricity. Always been more fond of the direct, right-in-your-face properties of the lightning bolt compared to a fireball, not that I would eschew using the old ball of fire in the right circumstances.

Of the more exotic energies, force is iconic for good reason based on the famous spells based on the type.

Lately, Super Genius Games' The Genius Guide to Hellfire Magic for Pathfinder RPG has tickled my pyromaniac self with their planar-tinged take on a cosmic "Fire Plus" energy type utilizing some properties of Force magic. Contradictory you might say, but the execution works very well with the literary precedents of hellfire.

Day 25: Favorite Magic Item
The simple Sword +1 (or Weapon +1) is worth mentioning because it represents one of the first permanent magical items groups will acquire. It's ubiquity and initiate status often means it's relegated to a backup or sold off eventually, but consider magic is often only laid upon weapons of exceptional or masterwork quality and magic itself preserves an item from wear, these swords and weapons could be centuries old and potential heirlooms. There humble enchanted arms hold untold histories.

Day 26: Favorite Non-magic Item
Flammable oils, if not alchemists fire (does an alchemical good count?). Either way, use oil to light your lantern (much more suitable for an enclosed dungeon than a torch), use it to grease a creaky hinge, use it as an oil slick, use it to light your foes on fire (especially trolls), the list goes on.

Day 27: A Character You Want to Play in the Future
See Day 9 about the archivist, but otherwise I wouldn't mind reactivating some old characters from abruptly halt games (ones due to flaky DMs or groups that just disband after a while).

Day 28: A Character You Will Never Play Again
Can't think of any. Would I play a character that didn't work so well the same as before? Unlikely, but little about characters I've played makes me adverse to give their character sheets a few more notches.

Day 29: What is the number you always seem to roll on a d20?
I roll low when it should be high, such as during attacks (THAC0 or BAB, doesn't matter) and high when it should be low (stat and proficiency checks in 2E). True story.

Day 30: Best DM you've ever had
The one running the good game I'm in right now.

Not a facetious answer, a good DM/group/game combination is harder to come by than one who has a good group would often realize. Glad to be gaming.

Thirty Days of D&D, Day 17 - 23: Favorite Monsters

It's a mash of monsters! Running through all of these in one go.

Animal/Vermin

For animals, wolves tap into the complex relationship humans have with canines. Wolves are a common and significant threat at low levels in many settings/games. They're smart and come in packs, a dangerous foe indeed. The mid-game derivatives (dire wolves, worgs, winterwolves, etc) scales them up for some staying power, even if some of those start to lose their simple animal type. At the same time, they're also the basis for the faithful hounds people can have as pets, or druids and rangers can often pick a wolf as a companion. Stronger alternatives exist, but wolves remain a cool option.

Have to pick rats for vermin. Nuisances unworthy of true adventures you might say, but the most recognizable of rodents advances through bestiaries with advanced forms. The low-level fodder trope has so much purchase it can be subverted for kicks to screw with players, such as the cranium rats in Planescape Torment.

Heck, the rat is so popular several games and settings have ratling/nezumi/ratfolk/skaven races. My anecdotal observation, but the most requested anthropomorphic animal race seems to be cat-people. Yet despite cats and cat-lovers owning the internet, rat-people are more commonly implemented in games. Must be all the Mickey/Mighty/Speedy/Jerry cartoons working their subliminal magic, as well as Redwall and the most excellent Mouse Guard.

Honorable mention: Bugs/Insects in general can always be used to good effect, based on their innate alien-like, exoskeletal forms (like the Mythosic invertebrate creepiness, but on land), and proclivity to swarm or have their size magnified in enormity (worst case scenarios for each extreme) for monstrous uses.

Immortal/Outsider
Let's split this into fiendish and ... less-fiendish outsiders.

For fiend, it's Pit Fiends. They're more low-key than the fiery whip and vorpal sword wielding Balors. Even their name seems a nondescript mundane moniker for a rank-and-file foot soldier of hell. Don't let that fool you, they're top of the non-unique food chain in the diabolical hierarchy.

Within their rank we have some variance. Few exemplify the diabolical twist on lawful duty like the Evil Eight who conduct the Blood War to the exclusion of all else. They've even become fixed identities with newer pit fiends claiming the names of those who have fallen throughout the eons, all for the causes. Even then, despite their position they're are capable schemers, such as Bel who masterminded his superior's fall in order to claim Avernus and the title Lord of the First for himself.

Less-fiendish outsider would be Asura, whether the free-spirited, bringers of divine wrath of the 3E era or Pathfinder's take based more on Vedic mythology. I love the concept being so established in the real world, but possible to interpret so differently that these versions can exist in-game and not conflict. While mirroring the real world at times, Asuras are nebulous enough to implement in-game on either side of the alignment spectrum. Asuras are the true planar mongrels of both myth and gaming.

Elemental/Plant

Can't get more iconic than the fire elemental. The other main elementals are no less powerful or interesting, but they tend to blend into the natural world. Nothing says elemental more than a burning figure walking about setting things on fire, but not screaming with the agony of actually being on fire.

Haven't thought about plant monsters much, they're useful to be sure. Maybe treant, a walking talking tree, not only well established, but undeniably represents plant. Vine and meat-eater plants if we want to up the discomfort level, but getting smacked around by a mobile tree can be horrifying as well.

Humanoid/Natural/Fey
Hobgoblins seem an interesting change of pace from the howling hordes of standard humanoid monsters. Even if their implementation often still lags behind the enhanced fluff of organized and relatively disciplined goblinoids. If there is any threat greater than a chaotic expendable horde with nothing to lose, it's a regimented and capable army with something to gain.

With fey, my pick is not quite of the subtype (I think they're primarily outsiders), but I think one of the most interesting monsters to come out of the Epic Level Handbook were the LeShay. Mechanically they're nothing too remarkable and they have a funny name, but they're interesting based solely on their background. The LeShay are ur-fey from another multiverse before this one. They precipitated a fuck-up so grand they altered existence itself, erasing their own universe and started a new one (ours, well 'ours' to our PCs anyway). Being immortal, the LeShay bore witness to time trickle by in the current multiverse. Some probably attempted to reverse their fortune with catastrophic results no doubt, others whittle away the eons in ennui. They can serve as epic universe-shattering masterminds, cruel decadent villains from beyond time immemorial, or mysterious manipulators behind the scenes, benefactors or not. Any interaction with them can give characters a glimpse of the grandness of the multiverse. The LeShay concept dared to think big and pulled it off, which I feel is more than can be said of most monsters from the Epic Level Handbook.

Dragon Color/Type
Definitely blues. They're an unexpected color and environmental match up. The reds being portrayed as big and fiery is classically befitting of the kings of the chromatic dragons. Likewise, the whites are their literal polar opposites. Blacks paired with swamps and acid also presents a logical grim and gloomy evil dragon motif. Green dragons harken back to the reptilian look and paired with the equally viridian forests.

While electricity is often paired with blue, it could just as easily be linked with yellow or white (the white and blue dragons could easily have their colors interchanged without much disruption to their respective themes). Blue is a striking hue not often found amongst animals (or dragons for that matter, outside of games). Blues are also desert dwelling in some instances of game lore. That takes the game away from the well-tread temperate climate Euro-milieu of the default implied setting. That they're often portrayed as the second most powerful chromatic species also makes them capable menaces. Unless a dragon breathing lightning bolts isn't hint enough of their threat and danger.

The blues for 3E with the big horn and gnarly jaw were certainly distinctive, but Ben Wooten's sleek take on blues for Pathfinder is pure class.

Favorite Overall Monster
Humans!

Who else. For the most part humans are the dark lords, the iron-fisted tyrants, corrupt nobles and vile cultists, deadly assassins and two-bit thugs, or the ever popular mad archmages (with or without lichdom) who threaten the people and places the adventurers love (if not promising harm directly against them). From masterminds to champions to henchmen, the bulk of the villains in games are people just like us.

Least Favorite Overall Monster
None. Simple as that.

Paizo's Misfit Monsters Redeemed has shown even the silliest monsters of D&D-type games can be refreshed into interesting additions to the game. Not that people need any help from a company given the strange following for gonzo monsters like Flumph and Flail Snails.

There is only one constant in regards to monsters, more is better.

Thirty Days of D&D, Day 15 & 16: Favorite Undead & Aberration

The site of mega-geekery had an aptly timed article today on The 10 Most Memorable Dungeons & Dragons Monsters. In summary, their list was: Beholder, Displacer Beast, Mimic, Rust Monster, Gelatinous Cube, Owlbear, Lich, the Drow, Mind Flayer, and the Tarrasque. Check out the article for details.

It's a list of icons to be sure, in fact some are declared product identity of the D&D brand. Each has been established or popularized in the fantasy lexicon because of D&D or for some the D&D interpretation has become the preeminent incarnation over older, perhaps more 'correct', definitions.

Since I fell behind, we're doing a double creature feature today. There are so many choices for monsters, a favorite is only a favorite because one has to choose for the purposes of the blog activity. My cursory list includes:

Undead
Skeletons. Nothing represents death more than an old pile of bones, preferably with skull (pirates know where it's at). Nothing says undead more than those very bones animated into skeletons wielding old arms, articulated at each joint despite the lack of flesh and sinews. Skeletons are classical undead that fire the imagination since before D&D (cue Harryhausen's example in Jason and the Argonauts).

They're of that toughness where many beginning groups have encountered them. They may be the most ubiquitous undead. What ancient elaborate tomb worth it's grave goods doesn't have a few skeleton guardians. Skeletons serves as the motif for stronger and smarter variant such as giant skeletons, the mohrg, dracoliches, and the equally iconic lich.

Aberration
Flumph. Aberrations are often some derivative of the Mythos creatures. Almost to the tentacle and eye-stalk they are inimical to existence itself. They're all doom and despair.

If not, then they're at the least some sort of true neutral beast acting on alien instincts, callous to the consequences of their actions and ignorant of their biological impingement upon our ecology.

The flumph, being generally magnanimous, are a breath of freshness, a spike of plurality amongst an infinite array of cosmic and extraterrestrial horrors.

I'm Lawful Good, fools, not lawful push-me-over.

Thirty Days of D&D, Day 14: Favorite NPC

I haven't run many games and of those most were disjointed episodic adventures. My NPCs are generally ephemeral and disposable. Not that they get sent into the grinder often like fodder, but they don't stick around. The focus is on the PCs and the parties I've run tend to travel a lot. We're into the Final Fantasy "Overworld" travel concept.

About the only ones that end up making more than a cursory impression are DMPCs (oh, "dirty word", you say). Sometimes I feel they're necessary.

In one PBeM game the players were mercenaries in a generic fantasy world but using inspiration from the Vikings Campaign Sourcebook, part of the 2E era Historical References line. I was trying revive a dwindling group with some players I knew from other games, but the originals ended up dropping out and I decided to go ahead with the new recruits. The game was 3E and I had plenty of resources to use for monsters and encounters, but at only two players. I felt the group a bit light, especially in the divine magic area.

In stepped Lothar, an elderly cleric, former campaigner, lean old wolf of a man with scraggly beard and thoroughly grayed hair. What was so special about Lothar? Nothing really. I purposely kept his stats average then applied the age modifiers. I didn't want him to be a combat machine so the party, consisting of a barbarian and a skaldic bard, could take the front lines. He stayed back to heal and boost the player characters and whacked any stray enemies with his club trying to sneak past to flank the party. Even then he mostly held them at bay with his shield until the bard and barbarian could bring arms to bear against their foes. After all the first rule of D&D is to always protect the cleric.

Old Lothar would be winded from battle anyway and couldn't last long facing any opponent meant for the two leads (anything other than a random henchman to pad the opposition with a more imposing number). The party started to interact with Lothar more, seeing him as one of their own rather than just the "healbot" role he was solely designed for. I'm not a great GM, but Lothar was one of the rare moments of running a game where a player complimented me on the character.

Maybe he stuck out in their minds as different from other NPCs or pseudo-party members who were as young and capable as they were. Maybe it was seeing him kiss his wife farewell before departing with the party on "one last mission" to march towards the present doom facing the lands. Maybe it was his expressed worry about his sons serving the jarl, besieged by the very forces they now faced. It could have been his war stories of visiting the players they were traveling in, acting as an impromptu guide. Or it could be seeing an old man struggle with the limitations of his body in a time of conflict where physical might was the currency of the day.

Something clicked about Old Lothar, something more than the sum of the traits I spun into him. That something allowed me to channel Lothar easily as if the Old Wolf actually lived. For the brief time the game lasted, it didn't matter to the characters than one of their party was an NPC or an old man useful for nothing more than providing a second pool of hit points. They were three heroes out to save the kingdom.