Play Test Rules 1

As I have stated I wanted to open up my game creation process to you folks.  What I am hoping to accomplish is a series of scenarios can be run completely with the information provided.  At first these will be simple situations that try to verify my basic rules for combat are functional.  I will be running these with my group and reporting on the results but you are also welcome to try them out.  If you would like to leave comments I would be grateful, but nothing is required.

Our first scenario is going to be an armed fire fight with modern weapons. The assumption is a team of four players will be facing waves of four man teams controlled by the game master.  The players squad will be in control of a variety of equipment and character statistics.  The enemy gm squad will be average troops equiped with a unitform arms.  In this first attempt at verifying rules ammuntion will not be tracked.  Rules will include two versions of the initiative system for testing.  Additional rules will be add through additional posts.

Attributes:
Let us begin with attributes.  Attributes generally speaking provide modifiers to rules but in this rules lite test we are going to include the most applicable attribute directly into the skills section for ease of use.  Attributes will be provided for direct attribute rolls.  Since we are setting out a situation that inplies combat drones only physical statistics will be provided in this initial run.  This attributes are Strength, Resistance, Manipulation, and Observation.  The rating system currently is configured to handle attributes of 1 to 7.  The assumption is there is room at the top and bottom ends for alien and fantasy creations.  Attributes are always listed as a singlue numerical value and never include automatic success or failure.

A second component of attributes is the attribute is the attribute modifier which is a value which can be applied to a skill roll. Any time you make a skill roll an attribute modifier should be applied but it is not always the same attribute that provides the modifier. In some cases your climb skill could be modified by physical strength for holding on with a load. But this skill could also be modified by physical resistance for holding onto a rope above shark infested waters. Very often it will be modified by physical manipulation should be applied too. Though you will find a particular skill and attribute are very often used together it is up to the game master.

This chart is displaying the value that modifies your skill value so -1 to +3. The next value presented is +s1 to +s2, seems odd to you I am sure. This is an optional rule that accounts for pushing the skill to the next success value. It means you can use that much of the +1 to +3 to cape a skill to the next success value. In this first play test attribute modifiers are added directly into the values and the follow chart can be ignored. Assume any skill role is already modified with the most applicable attribute.


Skills:
I am going to figure you all are game players so lets not talk like we are five, you know what skills are.  Skills in this game are presented by two values.  The first part is the die roll modifier and the second is a number of additional successes that you automatically have. So a number off 3s2 means your skill roll will add 3 to it and even if you roll poorly you have 2 successes.  I will get into some extra additions and subtractions in the Skill roll / Check section next.

Skill Checks:
Our Skill checks start with a dice roll of a D10 and a D4, Why I dont know I am weird. Also I like the probabily of these two dice combined.  These dice are open ended or exploding or whatever you want to call them.  This means if you roll max on either dice, roll it again and add that number to the result.  If you max out again keep on going until you don't roll max.

The result is your actual roll which is a numeric value.  This is compared to a target number to determine success.  If you roll equal to or higher than the target number you have a success.  If you roll higher than the target number you may generate more successes.  For every seven points beyond your target you generate an additional success.

• Example 1: A roll of 34 against a target number of 15 would generate one success for equaling 15 and additional success at 22 and 29.  For a total of 3 successes plus any automatic successes the characters skill may provide and any success stones the player throws with the roll.

The addition to this on both the player and Game Master sides is the use of success stones.  This can be added to any roll for an additional success. Players will start the scenario with three. The GM also has a pool of their own stones.  The GM's success stones count as a negative success.  Their pool starts at zero but one is added every time the players use a stone.

Target Numbers:
The target number charts are included below both a base line for the Game Master to set the difficulty of general tasks and a set of charts for combat based shooting.  These two ideas are different.  Generally speaking in combat the basic idea is size and distance for determining ranged combat target number.  With Melee combat being an opposed roll of some weapons skill vs a parry or dodge skill.  Melee combat will be covered in breif here and in depth later.

• Trivial: This is a task nearly anyone could do, a modicum of skill or aptitude might be needed but most people can figure it out.
• Easy: This is anything a novice can do without much effort.  
• Average: These skill checks are something where the results become unsure.  In the below two cases the dice average almost covers the difficulty.  Here you are getting to the base line of difficulty required to make a skill check.  This might be something beyond the beginner but no problem for the semi experience.  Clearing a jammed gun perhaps.
• Tricky: Anything beyond the norm.  This becomes is where the person of average skill busts out the book and watches a couple youtube videos before trying.
• Hard:  This is going to be a days work and mistakes are expected.  Anything requiring technique and knowledge to accomplish is hard.  This would usually take some explanation from an expert or some hours put in to get the feel for the task.
• Expert:  These tasks you know you should hand off to someone else.  Usually people are walked through these tasks on the first attempt or have hand very extensive schooling or training.
• Grand Challenge:  This level has sort of two elements.  For task this is meant to be one of those tasks that hang around for years.  Fermat's last theorem being solved, or shooting an arrow through a thrown wedding ring.  Mechanically though this level has a weird effect.  Since the bonus numbers don't often go past 7 for skills and 3 for stats this becomes a difficult roll to make.  But as some characters have successes even before the roll this level often will mean success are the only thing measured. 

Contested Skill Checks:
 Any time one person is attempting a task that another is trying to prevent or avoid a contested skill check is made.  This seems like it would be rare but in the "Crescent Star Games System" (yes lame i know) it seems to happen all the time.  Any time the Game master uses a success the role is being contested.  These are a little convoluted but please bear with me.

When you have a contested roll look at the lower actual role, this becomes the target number for the higher actual roll.  Determine the number of success returned by the roll.   Add those to the automatic skill successes and the success stones.  Cancel out the successes generated by each player.  Generally this will result with one party at zero successes. but Game Master success tokens can take a play to negative.


Whats up with all these successes:

I have described a situation where players are left with a handful of successes above, I am going to guess your are saying well what do I do with them.  This is not a game of game master arbitration of success.  If you have a single success you have succeeded at the task from the Game Masters side.  The rest of the successes are yours to spend on additional effects.  

Many times what you can spend the successes on is dependent on the task performed.  There are a few general purchases that are common though. Most of the time you can use extra successes to make an element of your job harder to deal with for the guy trying to undo it.  The person trying to free himself after being tied up may need to achieve more successes or the person looking to see if a lock had been picked may have a more difficult job.  The time of a task can be halved with an additional success.

There is another concept of chaining actions that allows players to rapidly perform a series of actions.  This is meant to simulate two things.  The first of is the character being in the flow making every shot and move is complete precision.  The second is timing where a series of events must be completed quickly and accurately.  This actually is meant to simulate elements of the prince of persia game where the player must move through a series of obstacles under a time constraint.  The Game Master can work out with the character the types of role that are needed before the roll.  Every link of the chain costs one plus the number of previous actions.  So 2 successes are required to add a link to your first action, then three are required to add to your second action.  There is not limit other than the rolls.

• Example 2a: Razgum smashes a giant spider with two extra successes and decides to use them for another attack on another arachnid.   His second attack roll comes up with three additional successes which he again uses to smash a third spider.  Razgum is in a spider smashing frenzy.
• Example 2b: Presented with a quickly raising draw bridge Rocky asks is Game Master how can he jump up the water and get up the backside of the drawbridge before it closes.  They agree he needs to chain a jump roll, an acrobatics roll and finally a climb roll. Rocky jumps the water chaining the second action.  His acrobatics roll is successful but not enough to link.  He makes some distance running up the now vertical bridge but is unable to grab a hold and pushes off into the water.

 
Nuts, battle and bolts:
Ok, I have started with two systems for initiative, that sounds like a ton of work but one is throwing out the initiative system for simultaneous actions and the other is a  blatant rip off of something from the advanced rules of Phoenix Command.

Lets start with the no initiative system.  Initiative is simultaneous so all actions happen and then are resolved.  So dont even roll it, its 2 second rounds or something.  My idea is that in all the games with initiative systems you are taking turns with the bad guys and it ends up working the same anyway.  Only the round you kill someone, if you act before them, are you getting an extra turn over an enemy NPC.  That is a lot of time rolling and counting down actions for something that is meaningless. 

There is one rule I do use for organizing the round, bad guys go first.  This is actually go allow players the benefit of seeing the bad guys action and reacting to it.  There is the added benefit of the players not getting hung up on a dead enemy shooting them.  Let me explain that as it happens, everyone gets their full action for that round in simultaneous action, so they get off their last shot.  Even when they die that turn.

Chained actions are resolved within the same round but not all at once.  Everyone goes then resolution occurs.  Then the next link of the chain goes and is resolved, and so on.  You may in fact die before getting to your linked action in which case it is lost.  That sounds weird doesn't it? It sort of contradicts the paragraph above, but that is ok.  Think of the above round lasting until resolution occurs then the next link happening in a sub round they are effectively extra rounds involving only the parties with linked actions.

I will talk about the counting clock initiative system later but, it is intended for use with firefights.  The idea is to have an ever incrementing clock and a number of phases that character and npcs must wait for actions.  This would be different dependent on the combat effectiveness of the character.  Also fear effects would be factored in as delays in actions.  This is to factor in speed of combatants and coolness under fire.  Chained actions cut your delay down significantly allowing for a deadly flurry of action.

Ballistics:
The first consideration for ranged fire is the size of the target.  Below is a chart with the target number for a particular size.  Keep in mind this is not always the full size of an object, but rather what is presented.  Hitting a prone target may be shooting at a target the size of a cat in many situations.

After you have decided on the size of the target you will then be looking at the range distance.  These will be measured in hexes on a grid for this beta phase of the rules.  After you have the distance apply and addition two points of difficulty to the shot for every range increment of distant.  Note there is a max range increment any weapon can reliably fire, sniper weapons can shoot well over 1,000 yards in the hands of an expert.  A thrown knife can not fly that far no matter what you roll.

After you have added the size value with the value for the range you will have your target number.  There are going to be modifying factors to this but they are not included in this initial phase of the play test.  This target number is what the characters ballistic skill check is made against.   As with anything you roll  D10+D4 and in the value listed on the character sheet for your roll.  That number is compared against the target number and successes are determined.   If a single success is returned move on to damage, if more are returned consult the success chart below.  Not some characters may have other options specific to themselves.

Damage and Death:
After you have successfully hit an opponent you can move on to the damage roll.  Damage values for weapons are represented as a dice roll and a number of automatic successes, which can be 0.  These values could appear as 3d4s1 or 2d10s0 for example.  Melee weapons are most often as physical strength +X value.  In these cases you would roll the dice indicated per the weapon or make a D10+D4 roll with strength modifier and the +X value.

When you do roll the number is added to the characters existing damage total.  After the new damage total is added up you are done if there is not wound check.  If a wound check is forced the characters current total wounds are used as the target number for the wound save.  Next we cancel out successes, should the character end up with any successes they have avoided taking a wound.  If they have no successes a wound is added to the character, per attacker success added to the wound save.  This acts as a longstanding disability presenting a negative success on all rolls.  Any time the character has a number of wounds equal four modified by his physical resistance attribute modifier he is dead.

UPDATE:  this is a first draft and is i complete.  I need to get movement rules settled, a list of gun stats and a dozen other things.  I am already unhappy with the way every roll seems to have its own set of purchase options.  That just seems mess and to complicated.  I think I will be creating general rules that encompass these charts as general things all skills roles can purchase.  Their will be specific options for purchase associated with each skill but these will probably be purchase and not automatic. 

for now assume 6 hexes of movement if performing other actions and 24 if only running.

Restaurant Review: Sonic Drive In

I have tried the Gilroy Sonic a couple of times and have not been impressed.  This is not going to be a rant but instead more of a lament.  Sonic per the menu and website is awesome.  Seriously it is great all the drinks, I love drinks!  They have hot dogs and tater tots, crap they have sweet potato tater tots, amazing!  And the this is a nostalgic drive in with an awesome you do it yourself  credit card machine.  I love all that this place seems made for me.  And then you get the food.

That is the thing the idea of Sonic is wonderful, the reality leaves something to be desired.  It's almost heart breaking how close it comes to perfection and how far it falls.  The food is just bad, like it sort of makes me sick bad.  And I am a human garbage can.   The tots should be crispier the hot dog a better sausage or link.  The condiments are thrown on garishly.   The flavors are just a tough to much. 

Then the food hits you like a brick, some miles down the road as you leave.  It just doesn't site well.  The dirty little secret to white food is there is a low end that is just bad.  Think Hometown buffet or Disneyland food.  Those awful seven eleven hot dogs don't even compare as you know those are going to be terrible, this stuff looks all on the up and up.  That's sort of like Sonic, looks fine tastes Ok if a little over done then you are doubled over the toilet drizzling vanilla ice cream over your bung in hopes of relief from the burning pain even Paul Atriedes couldn't handle.

If you are in the bay are go to Clark's or Kal's they both have good dogs.  So does Ben's Franks.  I have yet to try Mark's the orange shaped building back in Berryessa but I hear good things.  Hell even a stand is the way to go.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Analysis

Many folks have talked about the lamb as if it is denser than concrete laced oatmeal.  It took some work but I think I have an understand or at least my own understanding.  The general idea behind the work as stated by Gabriel is "Something like El Topo."  Which puts us on the track we should be looking, as El Topo is a Masculine spiritual tale.  I think its pretty safe to assume this is also true for The Lamb and should be our focus.  Rael being a street thug as our subject and the record being a journey of spiritual change.

My interpretation of the record is that of Death and the assimilation of  two or more aspects of  personality.  Specifically one aspect, Rael, appears to not accept death while Brother John appears to be embracing of it.  I tend to look at the first five songs relating to actual life and some event that takes Rael's life or leaves him comatose.  The Lamb being a picture of his life, with Fly being the seeing of the white light.  Broadway Melody is some sort of picture of his life or the wants in his life.  Finally Cocoon and Cage talking of the divide between the physical and spiritual.

The Grand Parade is strange but seems to be taking place in a spiritual limbo that is not life or death.  He is walking past the ready bodies of the unborn which seem to be awaiting spirits and sees that they are sometimes people he knows, as if there is a limited supply of variation.  That may also be a reference to reincarnation but I have not though long enough on that issue to come to any conclusion.  Back in New York City is Rael trying to live struggling to hang onto the life, as I see it.

Hairless Heart has seems to have two currents going through it.  The connections of his life holding him and sexuality.  The shaving part seems to refer to cutting the connections to his heart and moving on a bit.   The sexuality comes back with the next song Counting out time.  It seems to be almost a lament of death as he never got this part right in life.  This subject comes back later.

Carpet Crawlers and Chamber are hard to dig through but I feel they are talking about his confusion of spirit and not understanding.  There are aspects of life and its confusion here too, who you take advice from and how you life.  Lily white Lilith appears to be part of this spiritual second as well, she may represent some aspect of Rael as well a stunted intuition or spiritual aspect he finds that guides him to the next part. 

Anyway and Anaesthetist pretty clearly have to deal with Death.  I think this is death finally taking him from his physical death that happened in Fly.  That is why the "Sorry to keep you waiting" line seems to be there.  This meeting with Death dives him onto the next section the afterlife it appears as he starts resolving aspects of himself in the last few sections.

In Lamia and Slippermen the concept of sexuality returns.  It seems to be some sort of negative and destroying force within Rael his sexuality and youthful drives.  The Slippermen shows the negativity of it and he removes or resolves it.  You will note John is there in this part seeming to be something that is shared across both of the two aspects of Rael/John.  But later you see Rael trying to reclaim this component of himself chasing after the tube.  John is uninterested in this idea and moves on.

We finally are left with the Rapids and It.  Water is often linked with emotion in dreams, the water seems to be emotion of death and want fighting with Rael he finally catches John and the two are joined in It.  With Johns face being his own.  It finally tells of the movement of spirit between the two and the final assimilation and ascension of spirit to the greater states.  I personally would say moving on to heaven but I am unsure of Gabriele's relationship with Christianity.

One last area of debate is the narrator.  In my opinion there are three narrators, at least, who lend their voices to the story.  Those are Rael, Brother John, and a omnipresent third who I assume is God.  The Lamb Lies down and It both appear to have this third voice.

Free Plot Seed: The Hollow reeds

This draws a bit from a penny-arcade.com strip and Crastor in A song of Fire and Ice.  Just so I am not taking credit from another person's work.  But an secret band of rangers who have are considered the broken and evil makes for interesting side quests. 

I suggest something like a band of rangers and barbarians who have revenge as their organizational goal.  For most people they are viewed as evil or dangerous at the least.  In the strip a young boy blows a horn to summon one who battles a beast that killed his friends.  That is interesting, but it stops too short of resolution.  Maybe blowing the horn has a price of entry into the organization and the horns are placed in every town or holdfast.  Everyone warning  against using the horn but keeping them as the Hollow Reeds kill off a number of monsters and animals.

The big thing is they become lame if they are misunderstood good guys.  We have to make them complicated and dark in nature.  Perhaps they are willing to do whatever is needed without concern for hurting people when they are pursuing their goals.  Also they are a secret society that does not allow others to see their members, killing off those who stumble on their camps and taking children for work.   Girls could be carted off as wives for the leaders or leader they may be Mormon.

The plot hook could be something like parents trying to get back their children that have been taken and paying the party to save them.  The party then deals with an enemy that may not be as evil as they thought but still has fangs and is unwilling to let the children go as they know the members of the Hollow Reeds.  Some members could be members of the town whom wish to remain unknown members of the Hollow Reeds.

Blogger Help Request

Hey is there anything I can do about blogger tossing its auto formatting after I inserted a table via HTML.  Do I have to be come HTML guy to start doing advanced stuff?  Sigh I just want tables and crap.  Also is there a way left align a full able and have text flow around it like the blogger pictures do?

Internet Sales Tax vs. Internet Sovereignty

I am not one to talk politics much but I guess this is putting my cars on the table.  This recent development of the Senate moving to pass a bill allowing the taxation of internet sales is upsetting me.  This isn't actually about taxation though, I don't want to pay more tax no.  But for me the internet must always exist not as a component of any particular nation. 

In my high minded ideals the internet would always exist as a sovereign nation of thought.  I believe no government should have the right of regulation as it is not within any country but a non material nation of thought.  Someone will perhaps talk about the products being shipped but from one physical place to another or how the laws state something different.

I am not speaking about laws, I am speaking about justice.  The two are opposites.  I am speaking about a philosophy of the being present mind.  My work in this medium is a non physical expression of my philosophy of self and otherness, or more correctly my disregard for otherness.  I do not feel in this place of mind there is a body right and just to regulate.

I am calling for a person of better words to frame a document that declares the internet sovereign, and states a set of rights all individuals must hold within this small world of pure mind.   All individuals whom have created the smallest footprint within the online space must be considered dual citizens of both their physical and this non material nation.

Kickstarter: Cartoon Action Hour Season 3

Well Cartoon Action Hour is making a return via KickStarter and I wanted to point this out as something you may be interested in.  This system has been around for some time but now is coming back for a third revision.   I know I have thought about picking it up from time to time as I just think it sounds fun.

If you haven't checked it out it is the game of Saturday morning cartoons.  The primary focus is American cartoons in the 80's but it has been known to hit some of the 80's import japanime cartoons.  Here is a link to the Kickstarter to get a better feel for the project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800609645/cartoon-action-hour-season-3?ref=live

In looking over the stretch goals it looks like the Avid View $10 pledge level will get you everything that comes out of the project.  That is a pretty fair price for a PDF and a ton of extras.  Their is potential for about ten or so mini series books depending on how far the kickstarter goes.  It has already hit the production of the main book and a couple of stretch goals.

The biggest goal for me is the $17,000 target that unlocks other decades of cartoons of the game.  All Venture brothers fans are going to like something about 60's era cartoons.  Shoot if they hit the modern adult swim comedy block that would be perfect.

I am pretty broke right now and I just bought Phoenix Command/Living Steel books so I am not jumping on this yet.  If I see the stretch goals being unlocked I probably will go in for the Avid Viewer level.

A side note, my favorite shows of this era were the filmation Blackstar show, which was the precursor to HeMan.  Man I loved me some Trobbits as a kid.  I was also down with Thundarr the Barbarian and Dungeons and Dragons.  We also got a couple of Japanese shows here in the Bay Area on the Captain Cosmic show.  Battle of the Planets and the Star Blazers show.  What were your favorite Saturday morning shows?

I need to go for a drive

I hear the words
there's a trill in the blood
and its everything
I can feel. 

A long lost wonder
never forgotten
or put down.

Grabbing me
through the distance
time changes within myself
and again I'm young

Novice and naivety
wonder washing away
wisdom of the years

Game plot seed: For Iron Kingdoms or any steam punk / fantasy setting

I saw this picture from adepticon and was immediately intrigued.  Even when Iron Kingdoms was D20 based I thought it was a great setting for a gaslight train game like something out of Sherlock Holmes or Stewie's Houndslowe train fantasy at least. 

Taking several clues from GDW's Please Cruise module I would set this game in train that is traveling great distances and making few stops.  The player would be armed to the teeth transporting equipment.  At least two other armies would also be on the train and armed to the teeth as well. Maybe Khador and a large Rhulic mercenary team.

Now have a Cryx or elven mage hunter assassin take out some key players in each camp.  Just have the players try to get to the next few stops with all hell breaking loose between the two camps.  Everything should escalate on a timer so players taking to long are faced with worse and worse shit going down.  When stuff is going nuts have everything stop for tea, which is very civilized and friendly.  This scene is out of the Polar Express related to hot chocolate, I just think it would be funny for everyone to stop for tea, or Christmas day or something.  Then at the end of the tea or the clock striking midnight the commanders should be talking to another peacefully.  Seconds later the commander kills the other and everything goes crazy gain.

jeff hanneman RIP

I wanted to do a quick comment on the death of metal legend Jeff Hanneman.  This blog has a fair connection to organ failure, myself having a kidney transplant.  Any sort of organ failure is bullshit in my book.  Jeff's liver failure is suspected to be related to an untreated spider bite.  My sympathies go out to Mr. Hanneman's family and friends.

I don't want to sound like a brown noser but Hanneman was the element of slayer I always linked most.  All my favorite Slayer songs were written by Jeff.  He just had a sound I like.  The riffs were the thing and regardless of being at blazing speed or not, the remained the focus.  Tension and release are what I think of with Slayer and I think Jeff was the king of that.   He just had a great since of tone and mode in his music.  The groove that came to dominate metal in later years is nowhere taking over the riff and mood with Jeff.  Even Shredding takes a back seat to great riffs.

In Empty Boats

you run me ragged
I'm even starting to    
worry your worry

you are nervous
and wonderful with
lists and fury

You're the goal
In this game
I have been playing

A Reason to tend
chores when my show
is going on the tv

Work I would rather
wait on started anyway
not some other day

a nagging need when
my snoring drives you
to the couch

Happy to find you
sleeping nights I'm out
Glad for you
when I'm falling apart

cloth turned in shreds and synchronicity

across the sepulcher fields south; cloth turned in shreds and synchronicity with the wind.  I could not travel these lands fearing the Leviathan among the sand.  I walk far wide, the crumbling east hunting the memories of haunted lands.  Vathek or Brigadoon or just a hope for something better beyond the barriers of sight.  The blind drunk or even self lost in a crowd scream for blood; any would do. 

Adventure Plot Seed: The Bear King

I am often reading books like Barbie A Mermaid's Tale 2 or Brave to my daughter at night.   I am trying to reach adequate level as a parent, its a far off but attainable goal. For those unfamiliar a spell turns the queen and three princes into bears.  The brave princess must undo the spell or they will be bears forever.  The king almost kills the queen thinking she is a bear , things are restored , Disney ending.

The consequences of failure where what interested me.  Perhaps the King killed the queen and made the spell permanent.  Damning the princes to a life as bears and a whole lot of grief.  That is what interests me for a plot hook or seed.

Start with a kingdom in ruin and the king overcome with grief.  The hunting of bears forbidden as his sons are now bears, the lands are over populated with the animals.  Perhaps they party is attacked by a bear and they slay it and are imprisoned by the king and his small group of guards that have remained.  Perhaps  higher level players have some magic to undo the curse. 

I could see something like a den of the brother with three paragon bears in pathfinder terms.  Maybe a crumbling castle of the mad bear king. 

Roleplaying Campaign idea for free. After Death

So this is a game idea think is neat but not really my style.  It may even exist out there somewhere but why not take the zombie horror game and flip it over, starting after death.  basically allowing the character to dictate how they survive being dead.

I see this as a bit of a once and done campaign as you would need to have the character in the dark about their actions. The whole character would need to be reinvented through the process of death, which makes this perhaps just an add on to an existing campaign.

I am thinking that the players would not just be zombies but allow their actions to move the character in a direction.  Perhaps what they consume changes their undeath a bit for the good and bad.  Maybe drinking live blood allows you to be more like the living, but with a price.  Maybe consuming animal flesh makes you more like an animal and less thinking.  I guess you get into the World of darkness area with humanity points a bit with negative consequences.  But my focus is to end this where a World of Darkness game begins. you are not a vampire or ghost but you could become one.

You could even have actions drive your outcome , with stuff like hiding yourself away allowing you to become more and more able to hide until finally crossing over to being a poltergeist. The point is the confusion of not knowing what is happening and how the characters are being changed through their actions.

A Fathers Regret

I believed the loading towers in the truck yard were the two towers from the book and that truckers didn't mind a kid motioning for them to honk their horns.  I thought the graffiti for The Who on the far side of the overpass would last forever. I hoped for toys and thought my parents were made of money and did see it as a bad part of town.  I had friends and fun and youth that only seems shining upon reflection.  Golden falls and warm springs all wrapped in the freedom of long bike rides that never concerned my parents.  My journeys were never spoken but would have shocked them in distance and determination. I even jumped in the pool with my clothes on and they were none the wiser.  It was glorious and gone in the wink of an eye and now I can't seem to pass it along to my child. 

Kickstarter Review: Transhuman the eclipse phase players guide

I am a fan of the Ellipse Phase line of products despite finding some of the political aspects of the game annoying.  Its just a bit too liberal / socialist for my tastes.  Though I generally agree on demand creation of material goods will perhaps derail capitalism, their reputation based societies seem equality unsustainable.  Working in the business world you see people who's only value is some schmoozing reputation, that just isn't going to work.  The artistic social paradise has the social parasitism of communism on the other side of the coin.  But that is whatever.

The rest of eclipse phase is a really heady game, that makes you think.  It has the feel of potential near future that Shadowrun or Cyberpunk did in the 80's.  The rules are fast and easy.  The setting is now really getting fleshed out with gatecrashing, rimward and sunward. 

The kick starter gives you a great opportunity to get into the game without a big initial cost.  If you look at the $60 and $30 backer level you are getting a bunch of pdf's for a low entry fee.  I have the hardcovers for all the books except rimward, they are not cheap.  They are nice quality books but cost a fair amount.  If you go with these PDF options you can get into the game easily and cheaply.

Go with the $60 investment if you are new to the system as it gives you the core rules in pdf form along with other books.  I think the $30 is great if you already have the core rules.  You change check it out here

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/507486226/transhuman-the-eclipse-phase-players-guide?ref=category

Kickstarter Review: Really Rolly 4 sided dice

This is sort of a cool one that is going to only hit a particular audience, gamers.  I think they would perhaps do better with lower cost plastic but one or two fancy chrome or anodized metal versions of the dice would be cool.  I hope the guy gets his target. Give it a look here. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/263612668/really-rolly-4-sided-dice?ref=recently_launched

A few movies I would like to see remade

Hollywood has gone through it's big remake phase and is slowing down on the craze a bit now.  But I wanted to comment on three movies I would like to see remade.  It's a pretty cheap thing to post about but you know I am always looking for an easy post.

Sergent York: I liked watching this in school and think it could be turned into a a pretty slick modern WWI movie.  I would love to see some of the intense action of something like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan.  That is the first and last positive thing i will say about Speilberg I hate his work.  That beginning was good the rest of the film sucked hard.  If you feel differently you are very very wrong.  Just go watch full metal jacket and you will understand.

The Seventh Seal: I don't really think they are going to do better by remaking Bergman I just think people would watch it not being in a foreign language.  Its a good existential film that probably wouldn't carry over.  I am guessing it may get people to check out the original.  Though I would like to see John Cusack in the Jons role.

Metropolis: This is probably going against the grain but I feel Thea von Harbou altered Lang's original vision to the point the movie must be reconstructed to replace the elements of magic and spirituality versus technology.  In many ways that idea has been addressed by Blade runner which is why I would like to see Ridley Scott behind this work.  Along with enough people concerned with the film to get it right.

El Miedo no ando en Burro: I saw some of this movie while eating at one of my favorite local hole in the wall Mexican restaurants.  I don't speak Spanish but I laughed at it.  I bet i would have laughed more if it was in English.

All nagging and everywhere like damp in sea spray

In the wake of failure Aloysius retreated to the grey lands of the sea.  Content in the ever endless shore and sky that wallowed together in the sea.  Some darks we always with him like a fluid his innards could not filter free.  All nagging and everywhere like damp in sea spray the water was like his emotion.  Ephemeral and untrustworthy he couldn't hold it or move it.  It was anger that one was easy, depression was a friend.  No this was worry the sickly one that ruined even the moments you know were OK. Doubt the wriggling squirm of chaos in order well set forth.

De Profundis: A Seaside artist colony

My Fellow Gentlemen

I ramble far and wide, desirous of some release from this encompassing predicament.  Oft I travel the hills alone hoping for moments free from Mathers and Crowley haunting my mind.  I have nearly abandoned my home these past months, which can be attested to by my lack of correspondence.

Some weeks past my attention was drawn to a seaside artists community, south of my estate.  The mounts that lie coastal are a home for a great many religious and artistic sects.  Many driven by some hair brained guru or pastor.  This appeared to be established to ingratiate artists to well held patrons. Most works featuring the sea or the golden hills which are locally prominent.

It has been work of aquatic nature that has my attention wrapped of late.  Many works of dolphins and seals can be had for a paltry sum.  Nearly every studio has depictions of the animals in some medium.  These were banal, it was the cuddle fish which drew my eye.  In the dark corners of a shop I came upon a trio of odd work.  Inquiry told they were the work of the attending artists colleague, who worked in heavy seclusion and sold piece through a select group of friends. The piece was rare and elemental, I thought some ceramic or even jade at times but it was another mineral unknown.

Negotiation was intractable and the purchase was with some financial burden, but it was mine.  My return home has not been without efforts.  The estate was well secured in my absence and well in need of a mustering out.  I was only in spare moment that I placed the sculpture upon my mantle when the bell would return me attentions to the matters I had longed to escape.

Only a calling card but a meeting is expected, one I wish to postpone indefinitely.

Yours very truly
J.L. Reich

Music Review: Tytan, Rough Justice

I found a song called the watcher on youtube a couple of days ago.  I have since become totally raving mad for this long dead new wave of british heavy metal band.  These guys are great!  Very D&D metal just the way I like it.

Ok lets be straight up this is going to be a touch lighter than most of the other bands of the era.  Sort of like Def Leppard there is a glam element hidden down in the rifts.  But that is small, coming out as being a more slick than some of the other recorded of the early 80's.  I think this was put down in 83 and finally released in 85.  It does not have the gritty sound of something like Burning the Cross. 

Many of the other songs have the similar fantasy feel you hear in The watcher.  Blindmen and fools has a pretty quiet beginning and then gets chugging along finally.   I think you are going to enjoy this if you are a Maiden fan, Saxon Fan or Manowar fan.  It has the high clean vocal of all of those, mildly aggressive riff based guitars and a driven but by no means speed metal rhythm section.

Opening up my game design to you.

Hi folks, I am going to make a request for a particular type of comment.  What I am looking for are thinks you feel a good pen and paper roleplaying game should be able to do.  I am going to use them like a set of user requirements and respond back with documentation of the rules I create for them.  Or perhaps even a battle report if it is something that needs such a break down.

To start you out here are a few of my own.  I will talk about them more later but there will be at least a basic response now.

• The rules should allow for scaling levels of detail mid game. I plan to have rules that can allow the game to be dialed into a spy, magic heavy or combat heavy setting with a few hours of work.  Once this is done you can scale in and out of level of detail within minutes.  This is mainly having a board skill at the zoomed out level and more detailed skills that are derived from that broad skill when zoomed in.
• Rules should support Fantasy, Modern and Sci Fi settings. I am hoping to do this we will see, I have plans for guns and ballistic weapons.
• Video Game style combat should be supported. I am wanted to create cards that represent move that the characters can execute.  These would be something like the feats of D&D but more mapped to the Hex Grid and more over the top.
• Magic system that unified but complex enough to have varied schools and feels:  So I don't want a bunch of little magic systems that all feel slightly different.  What I do want is one wizard to have taken a path that is vastly different than another.  Perhaps even the two having an in ability to cast each others spell.  This might be something like the difference between a vivimancer and elemental mage in HARP or the modes of Talislanta.  

From you I just want ideas and I will do my best to address them in the rules.  They will talked about here on the site and  go into the game credits.

Game Review 7 Wonders Cities and Wonder Pack

We game 7 wonders another try last night.  This time with the wonder pack and Cities expansion going.  We pulled out all the leader related cards and ran the game without that expansion.   I am sort of feeling brain dead can could not remember how to play with that expansion. 

Most of this will be focused on cities as that seemed to change the game the most.  There are a lot of debt cards in the cities expansion.  These are effects that can for players to pay cash or accept debt which are negative victory point markers.  People were going nuts for those, often playing them just so they were not the victim.  I think that was a bit goofy on their part, a negative victory point or two may be bad but it is still less than the positive you will get by playing and even middle range victory card.  Don't get me wrong it certainly added fun to the game which is normally very low interaction.  I just think the players over valued those cards.

On aspects of cities that I didn't car for was the diplomacy token and cards targeting military victories.   Those seemed to address the wrong problem, sure you can get 18 points out of military victories, but that is nothing compared to scientific guilds.  Those are the problem!  I almost wish they came up with an age 4 expansion that focused on disasters to combat scientific victory.  There is a critical mass there that is hard to challenge once it occurs.

The wonder pack is nice as it adds more variety.  Don't think any of us felt over powered with the new wonders.  I had Manneken Pis, my friends had Stonehenge and The great wall.   I will say the Great wall has a pretty crazy ability with the side that allows for getting the diplomacy token.  Since you can build any stage you like in any order with the wall it is easy to hold that diplomacy until when you need it.

Kickstarter: Robotech RPG Tactics

This is one I am not sure about.  It made its funding goal in three hours and is going insane still.  I don't think they actually expected the interest as they didn't have a funding goal at first.  They added one and almost instantly hit it, with a second added that is going to be achieved any minute.  Here is the URL for you to check it out

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rrpgt/robotech-rpg-tacticstm?ref=live

I am just not sure about it as it seems like it needs more to it,  I guess the stretch funding goals will allow them to get the other Robotech related destroids and whatever through.  I just don't like something that has stretch funding goals that give you more stuff to buy.  Warzone seemed to go down that route but at least gave you some savings as the goals were hit. 

I am going to watch this one and see if its something that becomes more enticing.  Though it should be right up my alley I think the Mospedia cyclone bikes in a squad level game would be where my interest is. 

I guess to sum it up show me the super veritech and Mac Monster and then we will talk.

Kickstarter Review: Chasm

I loved Simon's Quest, that is one of my favorite games on the NES.  Metroid was great too but the RPG aspects took  Castlevania over the top for me. 

I wanted to point you folks to another Kickstarter that needs some love.  Its a metroidvania type game called Chasm.

You can go to the URL and check it out here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/discordgames/chasm?ref=live

Gamepad support and low system requirements make this pretty enticing and the $15 DRM free version of the game makes it a total easy purchase.  I don't they they are going for stretch goals so we just need them to hit the $150,000 funding goal.  We can do it folks!

For the Block house on Mount Umanhum

The last drape of beauty
entombed atop the hill
stares down on learning
calling forth us the ill.

Sleep Chernobog
Some sup upon thy dreams.
I need another world
not as certain as this seem.

Pipe upon the dawn
For them of tempers same
lost or forgotten seekers
Calling out in their pain

in the memory of bonfires on the hill

Aloysius was in the memory of bonfires on the hill and wonders of youth.  I have called him a dreamed self but no he wasn't me, rather vital side of myself I could no longer see.  Struggled for words left quiet in the need of security.  Anger left muffled and finally ground to cold.  Aloysius was someone I could only seldom find.  Only coming to full on long rides with friends, on the roads rural and sincere.  I piece together these tales to remember what I once was.

Svegrund the barbarian burned to the ground

Well I decided to move on with my TRing of Svegrund last night.  I was thinking of sticking it out to max out my Legendary Dreadnought epic destiny but it seemed like a good time to move on.  I was back up to 200 epic to, err tokens of the twelve and had finished a lit2 bow.

My new version of the Sveg was back to bard to start and then two levels of ranger were tacked on.  I have some weird plan of Spellsinger 1 with Arcane Archer 1.  I am really not sure how to go about doing that.  My plan is 7 Bard and 13 ranger so I can get displacement too.  I can tell you my stats were as follows.

Strength 12
Con       16
Dex       18
int          8
wis         8
Chr        14

My feat choices were force of personality and toughness.  Not sure if those were a mistake, because i am a bit behind on my Bow-ness.  I grabbed weapon focus at third level.  I think my next will be Point Black Shot at 6th, and Maximize at 9th or 12th.  I guess from there I need some sort of Shot on the Run feat.  I am really not sure about that one as it takes dodge and mobility and most archers seem to just stand in epic quest.  Let me know if I need it, ok!

I am trying to keep my perform and search skills up in my ranger levels, while keeping UMD and Diplomacy up in my bard levels.  I may be missing some jump which sucks and sneak will suffer. 

November was a time of gales across the forgotten southern highway

November was a time of gales across the forgotten southern highway; the dreamed road of decay.  There dark land mixed in painted sky all overturned.  The season itself was the plow, grinding all our lives new.  Aloysius wanted the old ways most left here, needed them to mend himself.  He was broken or antiquated like some rusted implement forgot in the rain; and needed someone to remember.  He was like a spirit bound up with a stretch of road.  Nothing material save for a few tall tales a meme or monad spiritual.

Kickstarter Review: Myth

Hey I wanted to point you folks to this kick starter as it looks cool and is really picking up steam.  The games is called Myth and appears to be something of a HeroQuest or Descent style game.  You can check out the thing at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1700755582/myth-0?ref=live

It seems to either be random or with each character having their own deck that allows you to upgrade.  There is a picture of a dagger, sword to magic sword upgrade path.  I am really not sure what it is.  I am not going to say this is better or worse than what is out there.  I have not looked into the rules enough to make any sort of judgement.  If you have Super Dungeon Explore you may like that better and do better just getting an expansion.  I am not sure so please do your own research into the rules.

I am not going to say this is a cheap investment as the stretch goals all depend on a $100+ investment.  The thing is when you do that you are getting tons of extra minis.  From an extra skeleton expansion to more of the basic and captain level troops.  But it just keeps going with new adventures and bosses coming on too.  The thing is they still have 8 days to go and will probably get a few more of these delivering a game and enough extra material to keep you going for a long time.

Personally adding the Skald and the basic $100 investment would give my group enough game play to get sick of the game.  That is a good thing!

Update: here is a great little visual to see what you get , still thinking about this one ugh, need a new vid card too.

http://www.keithloweart.com/pledge_level_tally_04.12.jpg

Microsoft Tech Support gave me a call over the weekend.

Over the weekend , Alex , from Microsoft gave me a call.  I guess my machine has been sending out numerous error messages and he was kind enough to give me a call.  Al had a thick accent so I assumed he was from offshore; wanting to make him feel comfortable I took the liberty to call him Alejandro for the rest of the call.

I asked what was up and he said my machine had been sending out error messages and that malware had been installed on my machine.  This is obviously a big concern, no one wants their security compromised.  There is an entire sector of the software industry devoted to malware and security.  In fact if you look over at the resume section of this blog you will see I work for Symantec.  This dude has my fucking attention!

He said he could show me the problem on my machine.  This was some lucky shit because I hadn't see any sort of warning of my box acting up.  Now I have to confess i am a little forgetful since I have been on Prograf for my kidney transplant, sometimes things sit on the tip of my tongue, I often type the opposite homonym even if I know the correct one.  This happened again over the call, which sucks.  When asked for my operating system, instead of saying Windows 7, I said Amiga os 4.1 update 5.  My bad eh!

I guess this threw Alejandro for a bit of a loop, he said "Amigos?" It was cool though I said " Yeah bro you are totally helping me out we are Amigos."  I guess he was actually confused by Amiga Os and had me spell it out.  Next I heard some language I didn't understand and "Amiga OS 4.1?"  I was feeling pretty shitty now, Alejandro wasn't speaking Spanish.  I guess I was being a bit of a dick assuming he was.   Maybe he was from Brazil like the guys from Seplatura or something.

Al was still having problems, so I did my best to explain the nature of the Amiga OS project.  He really could have just looked it up on wiki, that is where I was reading from.  I guess our call got cut short or something because the connection ended some point after my confused explanation that nothing on my machine was actually a Microsoft product.  Actually though it totally is I use Windows and MS Office a bunch.  I really hope I can get back in touch with him as this could be a big problem.  If anyone has his number please pass it along.

DDO Tokens of the Twelve rewards are insulting

I have been running around for a week or so in my post 20 barbarian life and am oft getting screwed on Tokens of the twelve.  This is a bit of a worrying development as I am not sure if they are driving me to run the House Cannith Challenges or there is some sort of bug.

Two nights ago I ran with Poppy Cleric, not sure of name, and some other folks the Black Loch quest on Epic Elite.  We died and were at least somewhat challenged and in my mind I was think, ok this will be worth a full token.  Nope it was worth none, well 8 fragments that were rewarded during the quest.  I didn't know what to think of that but moved on disappointed but not angry.

Then last night occurs I am running with Toafet and a few folks of his friends and head into the sands.  We do The chamber of Raiyum on Epic Hard and actually I am rewarded a full token and 38 fragments.  It ended up being 51 with the fragments awarded during the quest.  All is good I am happy.  We move on and run Offering of Blood on Epic Hard.  I am excited as I actually needed this for flagging but then we see the Epic chest.  We each go A token of the twelve, I have never even seen that load of fuck before, A token.  That was just telling us to fuck off.

Dude Turbine I have been on your side playing telling folks about the game I love in the face of them playing other games.  Fighting the fight of True metal and DDO on two fronts.  You could have my back.  You could not care.  But don't tell me to fuck off!  I am playing monthly doing the right stuff for you!

Ok how do you make amends here?  Well fix tokens for one.  I am not asking for more, I will get my 20 on my own and TR.  Really that's it, just don't be insulting dicks to your players, with A Bull Shit Token.

Feeling more remorse put old Svegrund in the game.  I propose Svegrunds Axe: +1 great axe, songblade.

Experiment with personal openness at work.

Howdy folks

I am starting an experiment today at work.  My idea is that if people had more of a connection then communication is going to be easier.  For now I am starting with a series of objects on my desk positioned in a pretty visible location that are a short hand for my personal interests.  I am going to leave them set out for now and see if they generate acknowledgement from my co workers.  If I do not get interest I will add further items are more reflective of my interests until my cube is full of gaming and metal and I become that guy.

So far I am starting small, my short hand objects are the following:

• Tempest Pint Glass:  to reflect my love of old video games.
• 20 Sided dice: for my table top roleplaying game fanaticism
• Name Tag written in Maiden font: For my love of Metal!!!

I am going to keep this updated and I invite you to try it out too.  Please comment your experiences as I think this could be of use to people who are severely introverted such as myself.

Thanks
;

Notes from the Playtest of my RPG last night

well we did some rolls and combat and it just was not very deadly.  I need to do a rework of the weapons to get them up to speed with actually making combat scary.  We are using a setting that is something of a serious red dwarf game.  I have the characters using what amount to airsoft pistols , figuring they would not use firearms on a space ship.  This needs to be changed as the combat just wasn't right last night.

I have melee weapons doing variations of a physical strength roll plus some number of points. That seems ok and makes players nervous, but the guns just don't.  A D4 damage pistol is nothing.  Numerically that may be right for the airsoft but not for a game.

I am currently reworking the equipment with a mind for creating something that is useful for combat.  I am taking the SCRUM ideas from work an setting up a series of use cases that need to be reflected in the rules.  Thinks like a sniper killing a person in one shot or the grenade / baby  thought experiment from Shadowrun.

Game Mechanics: Ranged attacks and Damage

So ok I worked on my game stuff for a few minutes in the car after lunch.  It's not like I just put thought into it then , I have actually been thinking about this for some time.  I am not sure about the death rules and still am missing recovery completely but here goes.

Ranged combat is going to be entirely target size vs distance for target number.  I don't know what this is going to mean for a moving target yet. I am starting with a man sized target at short range as my base line on this.  The target number is going to be something easy for this, I am proposing 11 and will see how that goes tonight.

From here size will add or detract from target number.

Broad side of Barn               = -6
Car                                      = -4
Horse                                   = -2
Man                                      = 0
Dog                                      = +2
Bowling Ball                         = +4
Squirrel                                = +6

Distance will add +2 to the target number for every range increment.  So a head shot at two steps beyond short will be 19.  I am tracking target number, number rolled and success in game.  So hopefully if this is too easy , 19 seems too eazy, I will change it.


Doing damage is going to have a lot of carry over from the actual shot.  So you are going to be able to increase your damage for every success on the to hit roll.   Each one will give and extra open ended D4.  for two successes you can buy an armor defeating hit.  For three you can force a wound check after damage hast been dealt.  Additional successes can be directly applied to make the wound check more difficult

The damage roll itself generated direct damage that sort of works like hit points. If the weapon give extra success they can be used to also add damage at 1 per D4.  But the cost of forcing a wound check is only two successes here. Also if the to hit roll forced a wound check you can add successes from the damage too.

So what is the Wound check?  This is a "Saving Throw" against serious hurts.  The target number is.your total current damage.  Should you fail you take a wound, which will count as a negative success to all rolls, until it is resolved.  If you fail with negative successes those are applied as additional wounds.  Should you fail by a number of successes equal to your physical resistant you have died.  This number will be treated as a max of two on head shots.

I have no idea about recovery.  Vaguely i have though about scenes being tied to healing.  If the scene ends the play heals some small amount if nothing was done.  More with basic aid and a scene dedicated to major medical care completely heals the character.  Not sure though

Pre made Scrum tasks for QA

I saw someone here at work printed out a list of tasks directly from the electronic version of the scrum board and just taped them to the board.  That got me thinking of what I could do to make my life easier in terms of scrum. 

I have long wanted a stamp that was basically the information here that i could stamp my post it notes with.  I have no idea how much that would be and it wouldn't save me much time as I would need to write down the task department and time.  So I worked out a set of pre made tasks for quality assurance.  These tasks are almost always the same for me so I can use this 90% of the time and not have any problems.  I even left and empty one just in case.

If this helps you in any way that is great.  I know I need help dealing with electronic and physical scrum boards what a pain in the ass. 

Game Review: The Red Star

To follow up on the review I just did for Guardian Legend, I am giving you The Red Star.  This game kicks all sort of ass and In retro fashion.  The game has a number of levels that jump between styles of old shoot games that is just a freaking love fest for old games. 

Much of the game is a beater style with a feel of something like Captain Commando or Knights of the Round.  Then something happens and it changes in an instant.  A giant aircraft busts thought the roof and you are doing one of those dogging a thousand bullet Raiden things.  You fight the end boss as something out of street fighter.   The was a level that was like carrier airwing that went left.  It went fucking left!  somethings felt like the commando/MERCs games.  It just constantly hit me with something that felt like a blast from the past. 

I can't tell you how pissed i was that this didn't come out on xbox, I pretty much bought the ps2 for this thing.  A used on sure but that is how much i was into this game, well and I wanted to check out God of War.  This one was a bit more fun than the god of war thing.  I see its available for the Ios so I may have to pick it up again, having given my ps2 away.

Game Review: Guardian Legend

This was another of the cheap game purchases I made back in the day.  I sort of wished i would have saved up and got something more worth my time but this was ok.  I remember thinking it was some sort of Robotech like transformer thing.  I guess it was intended to be robot girl that turns into a jet.  I was a little disappointed by the game play here as I am not much into the Raiden style vertical shooter.  I prefer horizontal if I am going to do that sort of thing, like Carrier Air Wing or Aerobusters.  I imagined transforming mid game and switching in between guardian and battloid mode or whatever.

This worked out ok i guess, though i liked the parts with the giant robot more.  Sorry i guess robot girl I should say.  they were sort of like a legend of Zelda dungeon with the flying bits being what is pictured above.  You had a lot of upgrades to get in the dungeon parts which I needed as I sucked at flying. 

All in all not a favorite of mine, I wish i would have bought the willow game instead.  That was one i rented but couldn't finish in a weekend so was left with gaming blue balls.  Maybe i should try it with an emulator!  On this one like Side Arms or the Macross video game, the good Robotech adaption remains elusive.

Kickstarter review: Shovel Knight

In keeping with my classic gaming theme of the last couple of days I wanted to show you folks a kickstarter for a game that looks pretty cool.  Its called Shovel Knight by the folks at Yacht Club games. Its seems to be an rpg style platformer sort of like Faxanadu or Simon's Quest.

It looks pretty fun i like the shovel down bound move the little blue guy does in the video, it sort of reminds me of Rygar a bit.

You can pick up a digital copy of the game at the 10 or 15 dollar price point, which seems pretty fair for a fun little game.  They are not funded to the point were they will port to Mac yet but lets hope they get there.  I think it would work out great with my USD SNES controller.  I am really thinking about jumping on this one but not sure yet.  We will see after H&R Block tells me how much the government is looking to take. 

Honestly some days I wonder why I pillage at all

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight?ref=category

Updated for transparency: I just backed this project so you are now helping to deliver a video game to me and yourself should you back the project. 

Game Review: 8 Eyes

This was one of the games I picked up for cheap, I sort of always was going for the cheap games as I didn't have big cash in those days.  Well that is still the same today really but whatever.  I think I grabbed it at the game place in Eastridge mall.  It was downstairs by the JC Penny's.  Sort of a counter with games that they let you play for a few minutes, but only if the game was popular or they wanted to open it already.

I picked this one up after borrowing my cousins copy of Simon's quest and thinking this seems pretty much the same but cheaper.  I was very very right!  You are supposed to be a fencer with a sword that strangely looks like Simon's extended whip.    You are going from castle to castle battling through the mission with your bird friend and then doing a boss battle.  Each boss or zone has a particular weapon that everything is weak against.  I guess that gives it a bit of a megaman influence but it seemed to be pretty light.  The first boss you use your bird to take out in the most boring fashion possible.

After each villain you get a new weapon and a jewel for the end of the game.  This was were the game got weird, it threw a logic puzzle at you.  Honestly that was just strange, the only other game I have ever encountered a logic puzzle in was Centauri Alliance.  Its just an odd thing to get in a video game, Stop now work this out!  Ok i am actually very good at them and it was not problem but just odd!

Kickstarter review: Legendary Monster

I wanted to point you two a new kick starter project called Legendary Monsters .   All are based off of  classic creatures of crytozoology.  So if you loved In Search of  or MonsterQuest this may be of interest.  I guess it is actually more than a set of action figures but a full battling gaming!

As some of you know I am all about the suburban legends and have documented many of the tales surrounding Hick's Road here in my home town of San Jose.  This figures are a bit over the top but still you are not going to find an action figure of the Jersey Devil or Mothman.  You sure wont find a game with them battling it out in arena combat.  

The stretch goals are a bit weak on this one is my only complaint.  They basically give you more combat cards.  This will allow you to play other monsters but you don't get action figures.  Also no satanically robed pale folks from New Almaden, but what are you going to do.  Still cool for a very particular group of weirdos such as myself.

Game Review: Faxanadu

Over the weekend I picked up a copy of Faxanadu for my Nes Clone.  This was one of the first games I got with my original NES.  I really loved it for some reason.  It was sort of a side scrolling RPG, I guess.  You had weapons that increased and new spells to learn. 

I remember the story being the elves were worried about the dwarves who had been corrupted by some evil force.  It was a bit weird but it facilitated the game that was basically climb up a giant tree and then go underground.  I liked it except in the little bit that is shown where you only have a knife and you have to duck down to attack small enemies. 

I hope its something that plays like I remember and not something that makes me doubt my childhood self.

Mark Kozelek

got mad and cracks show
cards out windows
rain on roofs below
from there I don't know

give in, waste first days
dust dark sleep stays
blowing beyond within
only left is to end

Board up the old house
West men and mouse
Timber tones fall forlorn
our meanings without form

I'm still in the dream
not what it seems


This as nothing to do with the man.  i just use his songs as a metronome here.

Graham Crackers only Joy!

Hi folks,

I have been sick so no messages.  I also wanted to say i am on an upped dosage of my crazy med called Celexa.  Wow it is a very odd thing.  I feel better and less angry, nervous, activated but I also feel less motivated to use this outlet of blogging.  Perhaps my neuroses drive me here.

The odd thing and what I would like to mention is I have lost weight.  I am stress eater and being less stressed is less food for me.  But also there is something weird i have noticed.  I am going to talk about where food gets weird here, addictive and crazy.  I am not really comfortable discussing it but if it helps anyone good.

If you ever go to an AA meeting they will talk about a drug of choice.  That is not just saying liquor or drugs but a very specific question.  If I said food, that isn't it there are many but Graham crackers, they are my drug of choice.  I can eat any amount of them!  Skinny people challenge me on that, because they don't know shit about food.  If you are skinny you have never ate, not like I have.  When I eat graham crackers there is only joy, I dunk those fuckers in milk and eat em.  A full wrapped package is one atomic unit of graham crackers.  You think I cant finish a box, screw that three is a start bitch!  I'm crazy! 

And when i finish there is about thirty seconds until I feel like I am going to die!  But while eating only joy!

That is the thing you are going to be able to point out when you have a problem with food.  Well along with an externalized voice telling you to get up and eat at night, when nobodies looking; hidden eating is so fucking good!  That one thing that is your drug of choice.   It's almost calming to understand your food of choice because you know you have a problem there. 

With this extra celexa dose something weird has opened up to me though.  I understand my food addiction is caused by a messed up brain feeding me dopamine because I gave it graham crackers.  But with the serotonin uptake inhibitors running in my blood, I am less rewarded by food.  This has had the odd effect of strange effect of opening up my eyes to how systemically my brain is rewarding me.  Nearly everything I want to eat has some sort of reward effect going on. Even the feeling of hunger is not the awful feeling to always be avoided.  The full stomach thing isn't rewarded with the good eating dopamine so its sort of a negative now. 

Why am I sharing this with you?  I want to hide and eat my midnight snack in delicious aloneness!  Don't get me wrong I am still fat, I am down from my massive three eighty nine but still at fat fuck levels.  Most don't even see it.  I want that to be part of it, I am not some person who once was a little think a long time ago I have almost always been a lard ass.  I use these words than are hurtful to me to hide my feelings a bit.  But I want anyone feeling like this to not feel like its coming from outside.  Some bullshit skinny person talking out there ass.  Saying crap like no excuses, they aren't living my life or yours.  That gets old some person wanting you to wake up and see you are living your life wrong.  Fuck that! 

There was no disguise to Aloysius

There was no disguise to Aloysius.  Even to throw away the extraneous was out of his realm.  Some minimalist and machined reinvention would not fit. He was himself for ill or not.  Dull eyed at times be-gazing an inner land, as all else missed his eye. Here he was the hero or at least didn't feel villain through his bones.  What was broken he broke in intention; he acted not reacted.  He was principal and some of the story his own.

Kickstarter :Torment - Tides of Numenera

Well here is a great computer rpg or rather 2 great games for only 45$ of investment in the Kickstarter.  Looks like they are working and working at adding to the game with every stretch goal they meet.  I know i was interested in Wasteland 2 and I am also into this Torment world change sequel.  Both for 45$ sounds like a steel.  Torment was probably the last great D&D game, and here you have a chance to relive it.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera?ref=home_popular 

Update: this is one that I actually did jump on so i guess i should disclose that I am now invested in telling you to put money in.  I am benefiting with more game content if you invest

And at even that he would fail

The stream of lies trickles at the feet of Nicene's ascent.  A polluted drain clogged with the words and wonders Aloysius gave away.  Rainbow hued oils that choked the fish, his grief.  The ragged plastic on the rocks his potential left to sloth.  No king or hero for his Tuvstarr, Aloysius was a wanderer.  And at even that he would fail.

God's elastic acer

I suppose I should work
through these dark skies.
and find some sort of chord
that rings with my own wonder. 

But that isn't today,
nor for a long while yet. 
Now is aching worry like lava on the floor,
 and no safe couch in sight. 

The empty boats of adulthood
when you steer the ship
and have no idea where to go. 

Where the safe illusion of parents
is yours to maintain,
we only whisper of our fear.
and pretend no one sees.

Roleplaying Mechanics: Combat

Sorry i have been so busy lately.  I have work going and I have been a bit sick of the computer.  I have been just trying to do and learn other stuff that is either productive or at least new.  I will post a write up on the catapult i built via a kit latter on.

This post is related to the oft mentioned and never finished roleplaying game project I have been working on.  I don't think I ever got around to doing a real combat system so I have been working on it.  I still don't have a healing and recovery set of mechanics but I guess that will have to be next.

I am going to come up with a label so it's easier for everyone to find stuff, game mechanics or something goofy like that.  But  the general dice used in my system are D10 +D4 which are exploding or open ended.  These are added to an attribute modifier which is 1-3 and you skill value which is 0-7.  This is compared vs. task difficulty.  The real heart of my system is that for every 7 points above the task difficulty you gain an extra success. These extra successes can be used to buy effects.  As character improve their skills actually include a number of automatic success in addition to the skill value.

That is all fine and seems to work in basic task resolution, but combat is always more complicated in any gaming system.  Taking what I like and dislike in games I have come up with something, I am not sure if it works , i guess we will see Thursday night.

Ignoring Initiative, which is my goal, I am just worrying about hitting and inflicting damage here.   The two hit role is going to be either a contested roll for melee or a straight target number for ranged combat.  Specifics may crop up for parrying thrown weapons but this is very high level sketch of the rules.

Taking the melee situation first.  Any Dodge, parry or unskilled person can attempt to get way from an attack.  This will probably focus on physical manipulation but a shield parry may come down to physical strength.  The attacker makes an attack roll while the defender rolls his skill or attribute.  Once successes and roles are determined we nullify the success across the attacker and defender.  If this ends with no one having success, we are done. Attack Failed.  If the defender ends up with successes and they have a special maneuver perhaps they can spend their successes to riposte or bind the attacker.  Should the attacker end up with one or more successes the attack hits.  If there are no extra successes just move on to damage.

If you have extra successes you can do more with your attack.  Using the successes to purchase effects. Here are a few I am working with in my playtest.

• Armor Defeating: 2 success over allows you to ignore armor
• Extra Die:  1 success ads an extra d4 to damage.
• Wound Check: 2 Successes forces the defender to save vs. taking a wound.  The target number is their current damage.  Extra successes can be added one for one to increase the difficulty of this save. 

Character sheet for my little game experiement

I am not character sheet designer.  If i could have it as I liked there would be two columns with lines and such or a table with a big name cell and a smaller number cell but for me this is pretty good.  I know there are some folks who love to do character sheets its almost your art.  I will stick to the games and stories myself.  Sometimes there are subjects you suck at that you are completely ok with sucking at.  Most repair and craftsman type skills are far beyond me.  Art crap and thinking are my only real forte, well that and noticing crap, I notice tons of junk.

Gosh what crap, I didn't even add the hits and wounds section. I sucketh at this.

Scifi Story characters RPGized part 3

Here is my final set of character notes for the game inspired by my sci fi story

Naeliim:

1. Melee: this relates to any fighting with a weapon
2. Physical Resistance (Environments):  This more specialized version of the skill covers dealing and moving in harsh environments.  This includes movement in zero gravity.
3. Ballistics: this relates to any time a small arm that launches a projectile is used
4. Bargaining: You are a trader and good at selling and buying for price that benefits you.
5. Navigation (Formorian): This characters knows the lay out of the ship and how structures are placed to maintain the life systems for the crew.
6. Pilot (tenders): Character knows how to pilot tender vehicles located on ship.
7. Food:  The character can scavenge food, determine food safety and prepare meals
8. Three other skills of players choice

 Roche: 

1. Biology Knowledge and manipulation of biological cultures.  Laboratory skills and usage of tools related to industrial uses.
2. Infectious Resistance:  This skill comes at resisting the effects of dangerous viruses and disease.  Also represents drug regimen.
3. Observation (Medical): character has keen eyes for disease even when it is hidden.  He can often observer others will working on a patient.
4. Interrogation: Character can work information free from unwilling particpants.
5. Medical: Character can take care of wounds and aid in recovery.  knows basic application of medical patches.
6. writing and communication:  Character is literate with ship board communications systems.
7. Call for Back Up: Character has authority to call for back up if need is dire.  Can order in help or serialization teams
8. House Viri Staff:  This allows for all combat attacks and sweeps made with this weapon.   If the blunderbuss is fired directly it is considered a ballistics attack

DDO: Monster Manual Farming note on Crystal Cove

Hi Folks.  I know most of you will already have a handle on this but if you are trying to finish up your Monster manual for Minotaur and Bugbear go to the crystal cove event.  I was sitting forever at 29 bugbears being pissed off that the bugbear in Redfens does not count as he initially appears on a panther.  But after a kill on the island I finally had my bugbear goal completed.  They have about four different bugbear you are not going to get else where so make sure to stop in and kill kill kill.

You don't even need to get into the actual quest chain just fight on the island.  So you will get a large number of kills just waiting for the treasure map piece to be rounded up.  It's also a good way for reaching your slayer goals for the bugbears as there are large numbers too kill spawning all the time.  The minotaurs were fewer but I got a couple. All and all worth my time.  One thing I was not sure I saw my counters going up for kills while inside the cave itself.  Sort of bugged me I could have used gregory or the wraith with the sword stabbed through.

Scifi Story characters RPGized part 2

Well here is my second set of character for my stab at and rpg version of my little sci fi story.  These are both going to be the men at arms of the game.  You will see some special effect worked into the skills hear.  There are combat options.  Most are sort of effect that can be decided on after a role is made.  One is a maneuver that is all or nothing.   You need to state the maneuver then role it, there will be multiple success  required and it would have a hex diagram as to how the attack if performed.

Alas I don't know how to do an easy mock up of a hex grid with text and shading.  If you have any hint please comment so I can better document the game.

Bendix:

1. Melee: this relates to any fighting with a weapon
2. Fighting: this relates to any hand to hand fighting 
3. Ballistics: this relates to any time a small arm that launches a projectile is used
4. Watch Out: This skill is used anytime perception is used and represents awareness not of just threats and movement but noticing the odd and out of place in familiar environments
5. Physical Resistance:  This skill is used to resist falling unconscious and all wounded effects that could harm the character.
6. Parry:  This is everything related to blocking an attack with a weapon or improvised weapon.  Often this is the only means of not getting hit in tight situations or advancing into combat.

• Bind:  This is a parry based maneuver requiring an additional success.  A bind controls the opponents weapon or arm.  A contents physical strength or maneuver role is made in subsequent rounds to break free of a bind.  Attacks can freely be made with an off hand weapon if all of opponents weapons are bound.
• Step Through: Is a parry based maneuver that requires a bind be in place and an additional success.  The binder repositions and drives the opponents weapon to a noncombat position.  A physical strength contests is made.   This allows the binder to advance to close range should the opponent have reach.  Also the bind is broken allowing the binder to again attack with their weapon.
• Follow through: Is a parry based maneuver that requires a bind be in place or immediately follow a step through, for an additional success a melee attack can be performed with no chance of parry.

Makaber:

1. Fighting: this relates to any hand to hand fighting 
2. Ballistics: this relates to any time a small arm that launches a projectile is used
3. Physical Resistance:  This skill is used to resist falling unconscious and all wounded effects that could harm the character.  
4. Chemical Weapons and Handling:  This relates to the use of chemical weapons and applications as well as protecting ones self from them.  Storage is also covered by this skill
5. Read People:  This skill allows the character to gain insight into NPC's and other characters motives.  While discerning truth and lies is possible, perhaps more basically allows the character to understand where they are coming from.
6. Watch out (for weapons): Similar to the watch out skill Bendix possesses Makaber has narrowed the scope of his skill to just spotting weapons.  This gives him an increase to the skill but severely limits is application.
7. House Viri Staff:  This allows for all combat attacks and sweeps made with this weapon.   If the blunderbuss is fired directly it is considered a ballistics attack.  Should the discharge be made in combination with a staff attack the entire attack would be considered a staff maneuver.

• Executioner Maneuver:  Requires House Viri Staff, loaded.  3 success required.  hexes immediately forward , right and left receive a trip attack.  hexes immediately forward takes extra success damage attack.  hexes immediately back take standard damage attack.  

A Look at the Zombicide: Season 2 kickstarter project

Well the folks at Coolminiornot are back at it with a second season of the hugely successful kick start for Zombicide.  They are calling it Zombicide: Season 2 .    They have become pretty much the gorilla in the room with sedition wars and Zombicide going crazy on kickstarter.  This new expansion of zombicide offers a lot of extras for the price but with anything with a large amount of physical pieces it can get expensive.

This project is looking to create more than just one product it appears.  They are offering Toxic City Maul, Prison Break and Zombie dogs as part of this package.  This will set you back 150 and says you can get playing with just this.  If you are going to want the original Zombicide that will bump up the price to 220.  It looks like all the stretch goals are met so you get a bunch of extra.  I see three new heroes along with their zombie versions, a bunch of extra zombies and some special colored dice.   A hero called Brad is thrown in for every purchase too.

One thing that i don't really care for is the weird limited pricing offers they give.  The 220 package was offered at 205 to a limited set of 50 backers.  If that was a special offer as part of their previous kickstarter then i am almost ok with that.  If they just offer the fist 50 guys a cheaper price that seems sort of lame.  Like they are priming the funding pump with a lower investment price and quickly getting up to funding.  that would fine on a first time kickstarter but Zombicide has proven itself and was always going to hit its number.

Update: Looks like they continue to destroy goals and put up new ones.  Now the inmate level is giving you a ton of extras.  If you are thinking about giving the game a go round this kickstarter seems to be hitting the moon.  I would keep an eye on it may just be too good to pass up.

Update:  I did this more for me but this seems to be what you are currently getting if you do the 100 dollar pledge. Extra i mean

12 trad walkser
6 trad runners
3 trad fatty
2 trad abomination
4 toxic walkers
4 berserker walkers
2 berserker runners
2 toxic runners
1 toxic fatty
1 berserker fatty
1 toxic abomination
1 berserker abomination

dog companiones
updated cars

Thaissa
thaissa zombi
Kirk
Kirk zombi
Aunt rose
Aunt rose zombi
Ralph
Ralph zombi


orange dice
red dice
new skull tracker
TCM and PO campaign
berserker spwan cards
toxic spawn cards

Scifi story character in RPG form

Well some you may have seen my little Sci Fi story that has been going for a month or so.  The plan is to do a roleplaying adventure set in that word using the rule set I have hinted at over the years.  Originally I sat down and talked with players to get an idea of what they wanted to play.  After the interviews they arrived at a party that was eerily similar to the characters of my story.  I am not sure if they had been reading it or not but I have decided to shoe horn their character into the roles described within my story.

One of the elements of the tale I have been telling is a decrease in scientific knowledge so that technicians are sort of the wizards of the game.  In my story i have divided tasks between two characters giving one a very physical set of skills that is more like that of a traditional craftsman.  The other character Parc has skills similar to a scientist with a working knowledge of  cobol and familiarity with circuits.

My first stab at the game will be writing out some skills and description for these two technical characters.  The players will probably also be given a few points for other skills.

Parc's Skills

• Power: This is everything related to getting power from and two something.  Patching into a power line and stepping it down to not fry your razor.  Reworking something from AC to DC batteries and everything else.
• Wires:  This is understanding wires jumbled into a hyrda on the floor to rewiring buttons.  Basic understanding of a machine can come from minor examination of the wiring harness.
• Circuit boards:  Soldering, components,  trouble shooting, repair and beard boarding.   If it needs a circuit this is the skill you need.
• Computers:  This is going to be use, navigating a network and even programming.  I would make separate skills but a design mandate is to have skills scale up and down as needed.  Computers are a minor part of the game so only one skill is needed.  I would have several if this character were some sort of net running.
• Engineering:  Understanding and design of machines and systems.  Properties of industrial materials including strong and weak points.
• Physics: Understanding of the principles of forces and objects they have acted upon.  This game assumes a grand theory of everything has been solved and that the laws of physics change with relation to gravity.
• Chemistry: Knowledge and manipulation of chemicals.  Laboratory skills and usage of tools related to industrial uses.
• Astronomy: This is very specific to the path of the Formorian (Ship).  players have knowledge of the circuit it makes and little else.  They do understand astronomical principles and phenomena.

Klein's Skills 

• Craftsman: Building of anything from wood to metal fabrication.  Half Norm Abrams and Half Jesse James, this is the skill for building tables, cabinets, housings and what not.  This is more art than science.
• Motor:  Fixing and modifying any sort of gas powered motor.  Electrics are going to be more of Parc's domain knowledge.
• Hydrological: Any machine needing fluid driven movement.  There will be may doors and hatches on the ship that need this sort of skill to open if there is no power running to them.
• Scavenger: Finding some useful part in a pile of junk.
• Bargaining: You are a trader and good at selling and buying for price that benefits you.
• Chemical Resistance:  This skill comes at resisting the effects of dangerous chemicals, keeping your head while drinking and fighting off the effects of drug addiction.
• Recovery : This skill comes into play when your character has had his ass handed to him.  This speeds getting on your feat and allows the character to overcome some life threatening wounds.
• Charm: For Klein this is being generally likable and unassuming.  for others this may be more animal magnetism.

A Look at a kickstarter for Loka: The world of fantasy chess

I was recently checking out a kickstarter poject for the Loka chess game.  It looks pretty cool for the 50$ Bishop level you get a copy of the game and a couple of extra pieces. This wouldn't be very exciting on its own but should they reach their stretch goal an alternate set of pieces is added to the game.  Rather than having two sets of white and place pieces you end up with two entirely differently functioning sides.

The game seems to have rules beyond the standard chess board.  Allowing for you to play three queens or several pawns, or so says the kickstarter page.  I am guessing the armies will probably have their own rules as well.  The two mentioned are fire and earth, but as stated above earth only gets unlocked if they reach a stretch goal.

That is sort of a funny way to do the project as I wonder if they create an artificial speed bump for themselves.  They are at 45,000 of the 50,000 they need to hit that stretch goal so should make it in the time they have left.  But for me I feel my self less inclined to fund until after I see that goal met.  I wonder if they are creating a rollercoaster of funding.  When they finally hit that stretch goal having a bunch of folks jump in now that the pot has been sweetened.   I wonder if that is for the best?

And if anyone can answer this it would be great.  Can you alter stretch goals after a kickstarter has begun.  So say in the case of Loka , deciding their product is better with the fire and earth sets.  Could they just roll the stretch goal into the product offering?  basically allowing the kickstarter to eliminate the speed bump they created?  I am asking more for personal knowledge of how kickstarter works.

UPDATE:  It looks like the earth set is unlocked and they have set fairly easy stretch goals for an air set which will more than likely unlock.  There is some way to go for an Ice set but looks very reachable.  These make the hundred dollar pledge level very attractive.  I am not sure if you get to pick what you get on the 50$ pledge level.  There is another goal point for an upgraded board which should kick in for the 50$ level.  Looks like this kickstarter has hit its stride now and is giving a nice set of rewards. 

It does make me wonder can you add to your funding and go from one level to another?  Does Kickstarter keep track.  Here if I had kicked in 50 I would really consider kicking in another 50 for the 100 dollar level.

Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist

I'm full of wise words
crumbling before I speak.
Needing to understand
but its simplicity.

I know and hate it!
Coming upon us more,
faster day by day.
faster than we feared!

Little pauses to long
worn out criminal ease
eyes beginning to see
thats what breaks me.

and the dark alone
granted as they flea