Author Archives: Jeffrey Tadlock

Roll20 Launches ‘Rugged Reroll’

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Roll20 has put out a press release regarding their major overhaul to the popular VTT gaming application. I have not had the chance to take it for a spin since the update – but I look forward to experiencing the updates!

ROLL20 LAUNCHES ITS “RUGGED REROLL”
Largest, most comprehensive update in the platform’s history goes live today.

Roll20 Logo

Wichita, Kansas (December 16th, 2013) The developers of the online virtual tabletop Roll20.net have maintained a rapid update schedule since their successful Kickstarter launched the platform in April of 2012. So rapid, in fact, that the developers found themselves with a unique set of problems.

“We’ve been pushing new content live so fast that we weren’t giving ourselves a chance to see how everything fit together into the bigger picture,” said Roll20 co­creator Riley Dutton. “Our subscribers get really excited about improvements, and we get excited about the challenge. But we had come to a point where we wanted to take our time and do some bigger features, and that’s what the ‘Rugged Reroll’ has been about.”

While Roll20 typically has operated on a three week update schedule, the Rugged Reroll was a planned ten­and­a­half week grouping of large improvements. These included a major overhaul of the system’s rendering engine to better handle sizable maps, the addition of “waypoints” to allow better shared strategizing between players, the often­requested ability to “split” a group of gamers between two locations in a single game, context­specific token actions, the ability for users to access character and journal features outside of the game space, and a massive improvement to voice and video chat powered by TokBox’s new WebRTC platformC. All of the changes were made available to Roll20’s Mentor subscribers to test and provide feedback on throughout the process and were unveiled to the community at large via regular developer blogs.

Co­creator Richard Zayas said, “This update has given us the chance to make substantial changes, in a way that engaged our community while really giving us something to be proud about as an undertaking. And we gave ourselves time to get proper help documentation for once!”

Roll20 began as an effort to keep developers Dutton, Zayas, and Nolan T. Jones in touch via long distance gaming. Since launching via Kickstarter, it has attracted over 345,000 users as a free service. The program continues to be funded by subscribers who receive features that assist advanced gameplay.

Episode 4: Exploring the Shifting Tower

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Exploring the Shifting Tower’ is the fourth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With the smothering paper defeated and the entrapping diamond still tempting, the adventurers continue forward in their investigation of the wizard’s tower. With doorways seemingly leading to random locations within, the crew leave finding the glass sarcophagus in which the wizard sleeps to chance…

 Spoiler Warning: This session plays through part of Emirikol Was Framed by Michael Curtis from Goodman Games. If you do not want to hear potential spoilers for that module, you might want to skip this episode.

Download Link:  http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Episode-4.mp3

Credits
Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Silent Nightfall Available In Print

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silent_nightfall_coverSome folks still want their print product. Whether they prefer reading from real paper (and really, even though I consume a large number of PDFs, paper really is nice) or simply because they are a collector and PDFs don’t look as good on a shelf. Whichever group you fall into, you will be pleased to know Purple Duck Games has made CE5: Silent Nightfall available in print!

I just reviewed Silent Nightfall here at The Iron Tavern at the end of November. You can read the full review here:

Review: CE5 Silent Nightfall

So if you’ve been waiting for the print version of Silent Nightfall – head on over to RPGNow. The Print and PDF Bundle is currently $8.99.

 

Episode 3: Into the Tower

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Into the Tower’ is the third episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

Standing before the ever-changing wizard’s tower in the northern ward of the city, the adventurer’s find gaining entrance to the tower more difficult than anticipated. After trying the front portal and determining it too risky, they turn to the balcony high up on the tower’s side. After much struggle the adventurers gain access and begin their explorations…

Spoiler Warning: This session kicks off the real foray into Emirikol Was Framed by Michael Curtis from Goodman Games. If you do not want to hear potential spoilers for that module, you might want to skip this episode.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Episode-3.mp3

Credits
Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Death in RPGs

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Artwork Copyright William Ausland, used with permission.

Artwork Copyright William Ausland, used with permission.

Late last week I saw a thread on G+ (I have lost track of it now) where the subject of losing levels upon character death came up. A lot of OSR games expect you to roll up a new character at 1st level to replace your fallen character with – or at the very least, bring the new character in a level or two down. The conversation drifted from this being a “punishing” form of gaming by punishing the player for making a sacrifice to this being an entirely reasonable action.

The rules surrounding character death are often house ruled from table to table. One group will play one way, while another will tackle the issue completely differently. Sometimes the rule will vary depending on game system used.

I fall in the camp that I like the replacement character to come in at least a level or two lower than the original character that was lost. There are a couple of key factors that come into play on this decision – whether for or against.

Sacrifice

One popular point of debate is that forcing a character in at a lower level punishes the player for a character action in the game. I see it less as punishment and more a meaningful consequence.

For example, if my 10th level Dwarven Cleric faces the decision of covering the party’s retreat, an action that will certainly put him in a situation of overwhelming odds – the actual level loss that will result from the consequence of that action puts more on the line. Sure, I am attached to that 10th level character and I have investment in it. But having the complementing mechanical downfall to character death is an element I feel should be involved in the decision to make that sacrifice.

I think the loss of a character from the emotional investment in the character concept and mechanical aspect covers the broadest range of players to make the sacrifice just that, a sacrifice. Character death should be meaningful for both types of players.

Player Types

While there are many, many player types – I think you can break them down into two very broad categories for this topic. Players that are more emotionally invested in their characters and players that are more mechanically invested in their characters.

We have all sat at our gaming tables with a mixture of both player types. Some are there for the character concept, their experiences and background. While mechanics play a role, they are not the focus of the character.

For the other player, the build of the character mechanically over time is where they are vested. The power gain from level to level, the meticulous crafting of the character. This mechanical aspect is the valuable part of their character.

The level loss associated with character death helps cover both player types. The concept focused player feels the character loss because their concept has ended. The mechanical because they lost some power, or seen their “build” get reset. These losses for either player type provide a consequence for character death. Without consequence it makes in-game decisions meaningless.

Power Level

The other topic is the disparity of power level. This can be an issue and this is where I understand the different house rules between systems. Losing three levels in Swords & Wizardry is much different than losing three levels in Pathfinder. The power gap that develops in OSR games is less pronounced than what you might see in more modern systems.

I do think it is wise to determine just how significant the level gap will be for newly introduced characters after a character death. In Pathfinder I can see a one or two difference as appropriate. In a retroclone, I might stretch that out to more like three or four levels.

Regardless of choice though, the lower level character will typically catch-up over time as they gain levels faster than the higher leveled party due to experience point boundaries. I see the level disparity as more of short term issue than a debilitating issue.

Meaningful Consequences

Consequences give meaning to character decisions. Level loss upon character death helps give these consequences to help give meaning to decisions. I feel this element helps give RPGs depth that I can’t necessarily get from computer games or other arenas. Level loss is not meant to punish players – but to make their choices meaningful.

Review: Silent Nightfall

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silent_nightfall_coverAuthor:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Art: Michael Scotta, Jacob Blackmon
Price: PDF $2.75 (sale) – RPG Now / d20pfsrd Shop / Paizo
Pages: 24 (incl. cover)

Campaign Elements

Silent Nightfall is the fifth installment in the Campaign Elements series from Purple Duck Games written by Daniel Bishop. The Campaign Elements line is designed to help a DCC RPG judge create a persistent campaign world and provide patron quests, divine quests, or any number of quests to help fill the “quest for it” vibe of DCC RPG.

The Campaign Elements series can also be used to provide a short side quest on nights you are missing a player. Or on an evening you need a short diversion from the main campaign events. The CE series is a very versatile set of adventures that easily drop into any DCC campaign.

Silent Nightfall

Silent Nightfall involves venturing into a nuclear power facility from a long gone era when magic was less prevalent. Since that era a new creature called the grallistrix has taken hold and is one of the creatures calling the facility their home. A mutated wizard also calls the area his home and even the energy of the remaining nuclear power can be used as a demi-patron for your Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign. If all the creatures inhabiting the area are not enough, a particularly sought after artifact is also located within the area.

While the location in this adventures fits in the vein of Appendix N literature, a nuclear power plant may not fit in with your campaign world. Daniel offers a couple of other options for a judge wishing to use this adventure but not use the previous civilization premise.

A background is provided for the judge to give him some information about the area. This is followed by a more in-depth description of the creatures within the remains of the structure, as well as the artifact lost within its depths. Before moving on to the encounter area descriptions a few ideas are presented for working the location into your campaign beyond just killing things and taking their stuff.

The included map covers the three levels of the structure. It is easy follow and for the motivated judge offers some room for expansion through collapsed corridors.

As is typical of the CE series there are several ideas suggested for “squeezing it dry”. These ideas help provide a judge with some suggestion on where the PCs can go from here after running the adventure for them.

Silent Nightfall is also full of several appendices that can be used in conjunction with the adventure or “stolen” for use in other areas of a judge’s campaign. These include a table of aberrations (due to the radiation, but easily adapted to be caused by something else). In addition to the table several specific creatures affected by radiation are included. The adventure also introduces the idea of demi-patrons. Demi-patrons are simply less powerful patrons that offer some assistance to characters but not at the capacity a full patron could. An expansion of the language rules is also included for judges wishing to use them.

And finally, a new lawful organization called the Radiant Brotherhood is introduced. This organization could easily be used as part of this adventure or borrowed for other areas of a judge’s campaign. A level structure within the organization is defined and some stats for each of these ranks.

The Review

I find Silent Nightfall another great release in the Campaign Elements line from Purple Duck Games. The adventure itself is a great option for working into an existing campaign or as a side trek.

The inclusion of multiple new creatures is also sure to add to a judge’s stable of creatures to surprise his players with. They could easily be transplanted to a different scenario with ease if the main encounter area did not grab a judge for some reason.

The concept of a demi-patron is an interesting one. A judge can easily expand this to other niche areas of their own campaign with the framework provided. I am sure I can find use for demi-patrons in my own campaign.

I continue to find the Campaign Elements line an excellent product. They have so many parts that are usable in existing campaigns – either in whole or part. I have always been able to find ways to include parts or sometimes the entire encounter area in my own long running campaign. The ease at which one can drop bits and parts or the whole encounter area into an existing campaign makes the CE line a great resource!

Episode 2: Mission Impossible

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Mission Impossible’ is the second episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

This week the chaotic adventurer’s interrogate the kidnapped wizard Izdrell prior to meeting Captain Rhak from the city watch regarding the winged ape-man attack in the city streets earlier in the day. With a possible deal struck the group makes preparations to assault the everchanging wizard’s tower in the northern ward of the Great City…

Note: As is prone to online play there was a slight technical issues with one player’s audio during the first 20 minutes of the episode.

Download Link:  http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Episode-2.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

A Look at Covert Ops

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Covert Ops Rulebook CoverI recently received a pre-release look at the new Covert Ops game coming from DwD Studios, the same folks who brought us BareBones Fantasy. Covert Ops is a modern genre game covering everything from special agents to suave spies to paramilitary ops. Mechanically it uses the same d00Lite system BareBones Fantasy did, just with modern trappings and roles. If you have played BareBones Fantasy, Covert Ops will come easily to you.

Covert Ops – Core Rulebook

If you have not used the d00Lite system, it is easy to pick up. It uses only d10s. Things like damage rolls and such are notated as 1D, 2D, 4D, etc, etc. In the case of 2D one would roll 2d10 and sum the results. Checks are done by rolling 2 d10s as percentile dice, a successful check being a result lower than a certain percentage. If you roll two of the same number and you were under the percentage you get a critical success. If you roll two of the same and you were over the percentage you get a critical failure.

A character, or operative, has four abilities. Strength, Dexterity, Logic, and Willpower. Each is represented by a percentile score. Over the course of the character’s advancement the score can be raised. If there is not a skill when needing to make a success or failure check then the most relevant ability can be used to make a check against.

Similar to BareBones Fantasy, Covert Ops uses a skill system to represent training an operative has. This helps define the character, yet gives one a lot of flexibility to mold them mechanically the way you want. There are ten skill areas – academic, leader, detective, martial artist, medic, pilot, scout, soldier, technician, and thief.

Covert Ops includes a hero point system referred to as bones. These bones act as a means of allowing a player to shape the game a bit by spending a bone to possibly boost a roll, narratively describe something really cool, etc.

As I noted in my look at BareBones Fantasy, I appreciate that as a GM a Golden Rule is included. “The GM is in charger!” Some of the modern rule systems in a variety of different genres are highly codified and I think it is good to state this Golden Rule up front. It both helps the GM be more comfortable making rulings in the gray areas and helps convey the point the players need to trust the GM.

The Operatives section of the book covers the creation of your character. It is well presented and makes creating an operative very clear. It walks you through the creation process step-by-step, seven in total. Tables are provided if you want to randomly roll or you can choose yourself from the tables. Ability scores can be rolled or chosen from pre-rolled scores.

Origins help determine the character’s background and typically provides some statistical bonus for your character. Skill roles are most akin to a character class in other games. These come with special abilities, areas of focus, and specialization opportunities that also grant bonuses. Each skill gets one page in the rule book – so they are not overwhelming.

There is a section on outfitting your character which includes equipment allowances, equipment tables. The book also includes several methods for handling lifestyles, common items, and expensive items.

Covert Ops uses a moral code for an alignment mechanic. Instead of lawful or evil or good or bad, there is a list of five central aspects or character traits. For each row you decide whether your character is somewhat, very, or totally those traits. For example, ‘somewhat kind’ or ‘totally selfish’

Operatives increase in talent as they earn development points (DP) over the course of play. These can be stockpiled or used right away to advance a character. A list of things that grant a development point are included – things like surviving the mission, using your abilities or skills, or for good role-playing. Earned points can be used to increase ability scores, skills, and other such things.

Rules for a Base of Operations for the operatives are also included. Once characters reach a rank of four they are eligible to receive funds from Command for a headquarters of their own. Establishing a base size, features, upgrades, and more are included in this section. An interesting facet for a modern game of espionage and tactical teams.

The next section goes into the game guidelines. Everything from actions, healing, movement, vehicles, and more. This section covers the specifics of the d00Lite system in each of these topics. One of the features I like about the d00Lite system is how multiple actions work. Essentially even at your first rank you have the option of making multiple actions. The first is made at your normal check level, then the second gets a -20% penalty to the skill check. This makes things progressively harder the more actions you take.

The GM Guidelines section helps assist the GM with several of the subjective areas of the game. Rules of thumb for modifiers to chances of success, other ways to get hurt, breaking things, etc. Subjects that will come up in a modern game that fall out of the normal vein of things.

Security is an area of importance in a modern genre game. After all, what big bad evil guy is not going to protect their hideout with some security system or trap. A stats system has been developed to help a GM write-up a security system and assign a rank to it. The higher the rank the harder it is to both detect it and to disable it. Various components of a security system are also included on a table to help with creating one from scratch.

The GM Guidelines section wraps up with information and tips on creating NPCs, master villains, enemy organizations and even code names for operations! All of the information in this section is sure to get a GM new to Covert Ops or the modern genre in general started with lots of great ideas.

The Covert Ops rulebook ends with a write-up on Sector. Sector is the mysterious international paramilitary and espionage organization that seeks to keep terrorist plots at bay. Its headquarters in various parts of the world are described as well as some of the ranking structure of the organization. This is a ready-made good guy organization that operates in the gray area of other nations military and government powers. This is definitely an asset to the GM getting started with a modern genre game by providing a backdrop for the operatives to work for and with.

That wraps up what is inside the Covert Ops rulebook. The PDF copy I received is well laid out and clearly bookmarked. It has a very clean feel to it. Khairul Hisham did the illustrations for the book and did an excellent job. There are a lot of great illustrations sprinkled throughout the book to keep your creative mind going while you get up to speed on the rules.

Covert Ops Game Master's Operations GuideCovert Ops – Game Master’s Operation Manual

DwD Studios likes to keep their games on the rules-light side and they do a good job of that. Of course sometimes there are more options you want to cover or present as an option. That is where the Game Master’s Operation Manual comes in. This is a supplement for Covert Ops that covers options. These are all optional rules to the Covert Ops game and are not required.

This book is broken up into three main sections – one for operatives, one for game guidelines, and one for game mastery. This additional book is also well laid out and has a variety of illustration sources credited.

This book provides a plethora of optional rules and suggestions to make your Covert Ops game successful. It even includes a ‘Learn the Lingo’ section to help you really get the feel of a modern paramilitary espionage game.

Summary

Covert Ops is a wonderful application of the d00Lite system to a modern paramilitary ops or espionage based game. The system is relatively easy to pickup and get people started playing. It has a tremendous amount of flexibility with its skill-as-role system to help players tailor just the character they want.

In addition to a solid character and action mechanic resolution system, the extras included with the rulebook for handling vehicles, security systems, a myriad of equipment, plus an organization to back all of your characters operations right from the start.

The system complements itself well to BareBones Fantasy in that if you learn the d00Lite system for one genre your players will easily be able to participate in the other. Start playing and BareBones Fantasy and your players can pick right up with Covert Ops or vice versa.

DwD Studios is once again prepared to release a ruleset that covers a complex genre with ease!

Episode 1: ‘Flying What?’

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Flying What?’ is the pilot episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With the Great City’s only accessible crafting wizard’s shop under the chaotic adventurer’s control they seek to decipher the now paralyzed wizard’s ledgers before the poisons fade from his body. In addition they must determine what to do with the two strangers seeking to retrieve a newly enchanted sword from the wizard’s shop. And there is the small matter of the sacrifices needed by the next full moon for Mani’s temple that has come under the adventurer’s control…

 http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Episode-1.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Stonehell: Base of Operations

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Late in October I asked for some megadungeon advice. I’ve dabbled in Barrowmaze and had Stonehell on order when I made that post. I have not read all the way through Stonehell just yet, but from what I have read so far I think it would work quite well for a megadungeon campaign. There is enough going on to keep things interesting and for the GM to play off of.

Now I am down to trying to decide which ruleset to use. I am a big fan of Swords & Wizardry. But if I get this off the ground – this campaign is supposed to be a short term winter time campaign and I am looking for the path of least resistance – which means maybe I should run it in Labyrinth Lord to avoid any conversion whatsoever. I want the time I spend on the campaign to be building threads of intrigue – not conversion, regardless of how easy it is to convert between OSR systems.

Comments are welcomed on the S&W versus LL decision that needs made.

As I write this the first snow of the season is about to be upon Ohio. If I am going to get this winter campaign going I need to get moving! The first thing I needed was a large town to be the base of operations. Feeling a little guilty for running a published adventure instead of writing my own, I attempt to remedy that by creating my own town for the characters to work out of.

I had a rough idea of what I wanted and drew up a map. With map in hand I did a short write-up on the town. I like to have just enough framework that I understand the town, establishment, NPC, etc that I can run with it on the fly. So the write-up briefly touches on the town’s history, what makes it thrive today, and establish a general feel of the place. By putting these thoughts down I am much better prepared to handle things on the fly during a game session.

I present you the Town of Thassel!

Thassel

Town of Thassel

Thassel, a large town, sits south of the Ironcrag mountain range along the Silver River. Thassel’s population numbers around 5,000 residents, though the number fluctuates based on the mining season.

Thassel has existed along the river for centuries. With the downfall of a great kingdom centuries past it struggled as a small mountain town for decade after decade. Ten years ago rich mineral deposits were found in the Ironcrag mountains bringing an influx of people to the town.

Damaged buildings and city walls were repaired as the town was shortly returned to a time of prosperity. The flow of mining revenues and associated services soon had the town bustling with activity as merchants sold their wares and mining companies established bases of operations for their activities in the mountains to the north.

The Mining Companies

Within two years two predominant mining companies had solid footholds for their business in Thassel. Ravenflight Mining maintains the majority of their holdings in an area of mountains northwest of the city. Rusted Hammer Mining maintains their stakes in a northeastern portion of the range.

Ravenflight Mining was one of the early companies to establish claims when richer deposits of silver and iron were discovered. They organized quickly and staked out several mining areas in the easier to reach slopes and canyons of the mountains. Using these as their basis they expanded into harder to reach portions of the mountain range. They protected their claims vigorously, and are not beyond using physical intimidation to keep other miners – both organized and independent away.

Rusted Hammer Mining formed out of a trio of independent mining groups struggling to work their claims as Ravenflight Mining grew in size. With mines northeast of town in the Ironcrags transport of the mined ores was problematic. These three banded together with the idea of combining resources and floating their excavated product doe the Silver River. Met with skepticism the newly formed Rusted Hammer Mining company did just that. Soon the river was busy with their boats working their way up and downstream. So successful were they in this means of moving the ores out of the mountains by water they quickly rose to be the other prominent mining company in town.

While Ravenflight Mining and Rusted Hammer Mining are competitors, the Ironcrag Mountains offer enough ore rich deposits to keep the rivalry between the two from escalating too violently. Both honor each others claims for the most part and save for an occasional brawl breaking out in a tavern between intoxicated workers the relations are peaceable enough.

Government

Thassel is governed by a council of five members. Ravenflight Mining and Rusted Hammer Mining each have a representative on the council. A third spot is held by a merchant guild who oversees many of the market booths. The fourth position on the council is held by one wealth, selected during an annual banquet in the government district of Thassel. The fifth and final position is held by a person selected by the popular community, also during an open meeting once a year. Many suspect the fifth position is simply a facade and pre-selected by the other four council members prior to any open meeting.

Despite a bias towards the mining industry and commerce in general, the council has served the town of Thassel well. The mining companies have kept a steady influx of residents employed and the monies earned typically flow back through town. Thassel is in better shape than just a decade ago and continues to thrive as long as the ores in the Ironcrags continues to be mined in a profitable quantity.

The council maintains a city watch, supplemented by volunteers. At least some loose sense of rule and law is maintained in the town. While tavern fights spilling into the street may go unpunished, murders and anything above petty theft is bound to be met with some form of punishment meted out. Activities that interfere with either mining operation are apt to be dealt with more heavy handedly.

Thassel and Stonehell

Thassel was once a city-state within a kingdom of authoritarian rule over a century ago. The kingdom fell, its people liberated from their ruthless and often sadistic potentate. Thassel struggled in the time that went by, finally beginning rebuilding as ores were found in the Ironcrags north of the town.

As Thassel began to flourish again, the tales of Stonehell, now a crumbling prison, began to spread amongst the townspeople. Stories of the horrors that occurred there over a century ago and the rumored atrocities that still occur at the hands of a myriad of occupants.

The stories of Stonehell spread and with them came an influx of adventurers and risk takers. Many seeking riches, some seeking fame. Some adventurers never return from the prison, some return changed, and others come back through buying drinks for any at their tavern of choice.

Stonehell resides a six hour journey from the town of Thassel, a spur of a worn path turning from the main mining camp route to the west and heading north into the narrow canyons of the Ironcrags.

Bandits are said to live in the forest at the base of the mountains, the same ones that prey on payroll caravans to the mining camps in the mountains. When the problem becomes too bad the Thassel council and mining companies out up an amount of gold and sellswords head that way to deal with the problem. Sometimes they chase the bandits from their hideouts, sometimes the bandits turn the posses back. Other times Stonehell itself claims another set of victims.