Friday, August 31, 2012

Gamebook Peves

Nothing turns me off a Gamebook faster than after the general introduction and how-to-play sections, without so much as description of where you are or what you are doing it, says "Go to 432."

1! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH STARTING AT 1?!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Kids in the Hall Saturday

You don't find many enthusiastic ghosts, but maybe there should be.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Traps give me fits

Ugh, I've got almost everything written for a proper draft of "The Dark Door into Darkness" except the traps. This was never my my forte.

Language Warning

It's My Own Fucking Fault at Kinda Has Cancer.

Really,do I need a reason?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Headlight Glasses

These large lenses sit over the eyes and are activated by today's secret word. Once activated, they allow the user to see in absolute dark conditions for up to eight hours before needing to be turned off for twelve hours to recharge (they will recharge in four hours in direct sunlight). They are not magical and will not be extinguished by anti-magic measures.

The glasses emit a powerful light when active, allowing those around the user to see as if they were holding a powerful lantern. The light also attracts wandering monsters at twice the normal rate.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

10 Things I Knew About the Goonies

 
via TOR.com
 
That being said, I think I now HAVE to set an adventure on the Island of One Eyed Willy.  

12 Questions to Ask About Your Magic System

Wish more fantasy game designers had asked the same questions...
 
 
via. io9

Monday, August 20, 2012

The Dark Door into Darkness

The Dark Door into Darkness is structured for solo play, so there are some Gamebook/ ‘Choose your own Adventure’ style segments where the player’s decisions determine the outcome. Here is a description of what may happen if a player chooses, poorly:

Long after the rock had cooled and the rumblings had stopped, they still tell the story of the night Pargshaft mine exploded. They say a cloud of smoke rose ten miles into the sky and that it rained ash for six days and night. Today, a peaceful crater lake lies in its place, surrounded by light woods and open lands that still bears the scars of that terrible day. Campfire tales tell of a lost cavern deep below the lake, filled with vast treasures and terrible monsters. Few believe the stories, but to this day, the serine lake bears the name of ‘{Hero’s Name}’s Folly”.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Dark Door into Darkness

“Do not panic. Your destruction is imminent.”

Jeesh, not yet another, “I’m not trying to ignore this blog, but” post. Nevertheless, with everyone at work on vacation I’ve been soaking up as much overtime as I can to help pay for some of the bills we ran up when I was sick.

In what little free time I have to write, I’ve been working on an adventure called “The Dark Door into Darkness”. I’ve set it up so that dungeon is randomly generated, with random encounters mixed with an overall plot, which means it can be played solo or in a group. I’ve written it rules free so it will be suitable for any system, but if I can stand to look at it after I’m done, I will include RollCore and Labyrinth Lord conversions as well. I finished the monster section last night, so here is a bit if a preview:

Shadow These strange entities lurk in all the dark places of the world, thirsting for light. Shadows often attack adventuring parties in deep caves, but their main goal is not the party, it is the light sources they carry. Their appearance is malleable, and they often take the form of shadows of the Heroes they are attacking. Other times they take the shape of one of the nightmarish creatures that lurk in the deepest regions of the earth. Shadows cannot manifest in total darkness, and should their attacks result in all available light being extinguished, they will disappear.

Drunken Angel

There is a scene at the end of Drunken Angel an Akira Kurosawa film starring Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune (both later in the Seven Samurai) where two gangsters get into a fight to the death. They’re both scared and desperate, and the fight is an awkward, scrambling affair where both are unwilling to commit too fully to an attack. What struck me was how real it looked.
The film is all overly dramatic really (it is about a drunk doctor trying to save a yakuza with TB), but at the same time I couldn’t help but imagine how Hollywood would have handled that scene and how many people honestly think that fights, especially between 'trained killers' look like this:

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My Excel Map


Playing around with Excel Mapping (with some touch-ups in Paint) and I came up with this. It isn't actually for anything, just an exercise. However, it has got me thinking about what else you could do with a map like this in Excel: Just the random tables alone could be awesome...   

Monday, August 13, 2012

Lord of the Rings Lego Game

My wife works part time at a big-box bookstore and said that the Lord of the Rings sets have been flying off the shelves, and it kills me that I cannot afford them right now. But at least I will be able to get this game!
Though if they come out with a Lego Balrog, I'm selling the car.

Talislanta Blog: Still no elves!

Shark Tooth Swords

Scares the hell out of me.
 

Sea Monsters A to Z

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Map of Eternia

by Reese Hobbins (marginally NSFW)

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Kids in the Hall Saturday

Excel Maps

In the simple, "I wish I'd thought of it" category, there is a fantastic article for doing maps in Excel, from THE LAND OF NOD blog.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Saturday, August 4, 2012

And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!

Anyone looking for ideas to spice up their dungeons could do worse than watching an episode or two of Scooby Doo. There has been a LOT of horrible, HORRIBLE Scooby Doo stuff produced over the years, but some of the modern stuff is very good. I highly recommend Mystery Inc series and one of the newer movies, Legend of the Phantasaur has a butt-load of good ideas, from ghost dinosaurs to a honest to Zod dungeon crawl at the end as the Gang escapes from a mine.

The movie is fun, but not nearly as good as the credits
Just from this I have ideas for a haunted trophy room, a hypno-trap, carnivourous boots (this was actually from a commercial) and the titular Phantasaur which is a cross between Godzilla and a T-Rex (stats forthcoming after the wife goes to work).

Kids in the Hall Saturday

To celebrate the end of Pride Week,
Be Proud!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I could watch this all day...

ROLLCORE: This is what I do instead of being productive

I have been adjusting to going back to work full time, which means I haven't had as much time to <strikeout>fart around</strikeout> blog around as I used to. Nevertheless, last week I gots to thinking if it was possible to build a RPG rules/set based completely on 1D6.

This is what I came up with.
Click for Document
It has already been revised a few times from this incarnation, but the fundamentals are the same. Going in I wanted to incorporate a few specific ideas; no stats, no initiative, no hit points, no experience points and a different method for Damage. I'm pretty happy with it, even if I haven't had a chance to playtest it much. Currently working on Magic rules, where I'm also looking to do something a bit different by putting the onus on the Wizard to cast the spell properly and therefore eliminating Saving Throws.  

Coming soon; Revised Basic, Advanced rules, Magic and general fantasy stuff.