Free Goodness from Lamentations of the Flame Princess

There are a couple of new things available for LotFP. The first is a pay-what-you-want pdf of the Free RPG Day adventure, Better Than Any Man. I haven't printed/read it yet. It looks completely awesome. There isn't a FLGS near me, so I'm not familiar with actual Free RPG Day offerings. I rarely even try to get in on them post-Day. My general feeling is that they are mostly introductory in nature, intended for either completely new players, or trying to get established players to try a certain rules set. Maybe I'm wrong about that and doing myself a disservice. I'm certainly glad I stumbled across this one. It is 180 pages(!) with a slew of advanced features in the pdf, including color maps that are printer-friendly. My impression of it is that is almost a mini-campaign, an impression which may, or may not, bear out. It is set against real-world history and seems to be intended to showcase LotFP's particular gaming proclivities.

The second link is to a new, no-art version of the Rules & Magic book. I'm not sure what has changed, content-wise, and of course I can't comment on the art in the for-pay version, but overall I think it looks much better. There is a new font that doesn't do that weird curlicue thing with the "s".

Better Than Any Man

Free No-Art Rules & Magic

Step Right Up, Dungeonslayer!

Awesome news. The English translation of Dungeonslayers 4E is finally available. It is 172 pages(!) of booklet formatted goodness. Oh, and did I mention it is free? Well, it is. Hopefully, I'll be posting more about it this week as I read through it. I really liked 3.0/3.5, I was always concerned with its ability to handle long-term character development. It seemed that after a while characters would start looking too similar as remaining development options dwindled. That is something I'll be looking at in this edition. I am confident that with 172 pages to work with, the one-off nature of the previous editions has "grown up".

So, go on, grab a copy, and if you haven't ever rummaged around their site, check it out. There's a lot there, all of it free, as far as I know.

Dungeonslayers 4.0

Microlite Free Goodness

Randall has released a beta of his Microlite74 Swords & Sorcery hack. It looks like a lot of fun, and he has incorporated some changes to Microlite 74 that highlight the swords-and-sorcery style of play.

The first thing that caught my attention is the rolling method for character creation. It is the same as Microlite 74, it just didn't catch my attention in that. The player rolls 3d6, and assigns the roll to the desired stat. Then, he rolls again, assigns that roll, and so on. I find this very intriguing. It gives the player a hint of the "arrange to taste" method, but not without a dose of choice-and-consequence. It impresses me as having a subtle, yet important, impact on rolling characters.

There is only one race, human, and two classes. We have the catch-all Adventurer, and the dark and mysterious Sorcerer. The Sorcerer is able to use any armor/shield and any weapon. However, the use of shields or heavy weapons can interfere with spellcasting.

Each class has an advancement table, listing two new things: Physical Combat Bonus (PCB)/Magical Combat Bonus (MCB), and experience points. There is no "experience multiple". The PCB is added to a d20 roll + STR bonus in combat. It can also be used for other overtly physical activities, such as bashing down doors. I would hazard to say it would make a nice addition to things like intimidation, as well, since a character with a high PCB would have an air of menace about him. I didn't see any reference to the use of the MCB, however. This is the first beta release, though, so I am sure it will turn up.

There is a listing of class-specific special abilities to choose from. Players select one at 1st level, then additional abilities at levels 2, 4, and 6.

Magic is a blend of the standard Microlite take on magic (casting costs HP) with the Colours of Magic house rule from Akrasia (man, that dude's house rules are getting some press lately, and deservedly so). In true S&S form, it is also noted that "Sorcery takes a toll on the caster's body". At 2nd and 5th levels the sorcerer suffers a handicap. It is either selected, by referee or player, or determined randomly. Interestingly, there is no chance to avoid said handicap, but there is also no chance of "extra ones", such as from botched casting rolls or whatever. I don't see that as a problem, it's merely an observation.

Magic Users Sorcerers are only able to cast 1st level spells until 4th level, when they gain access to 2nd level spells. This is the highest level they may cast from memory. Spells of 3rd level or higher are only cast through Ritual. Generally speaking, any sorcerer can ritually cast spells of any level, provided he has access to the ritual. Rituals take longer, and in some cases, require more HPs to cast. There is an optional section covering sacrifices, which if allowed, will help mitigate ritual casting costs.

The idea of Talents is introduced. It is essentially the "good at" house rule. I've seen it before and thought it looked good, but now for the life of me I can not find it again. So, I can't properly attribute it to its author. I apologize for this. My google-fu has deserted me this morning. Anyway, having a particular Talent means that your character is "good at" something. There is no set list of Talents. It is understood that the player will devise whatever seems appropriate to the character's concept. They are narrowly defined, however, basically representing an area of singular knowledge and/or ability. The player selects one at each level, beginning with 2nd level. It is possible to select the same Talent more than once, representing further mastery in the talent at hand.

There are rules for Spirits, and the summoning and binding thereof. Definitely cool, and definitely S&S.

The last thing I want to say about this S&S edition concerns character levels. They are capped at level 6. Hallelujah! This puppy is E6 right from the box. I love it. Low, gentle power curve, superheroes need not apply. This should keep things nice and gritty. Once characters hit 6th, they can still advance, through the acquisition of "Epic Points". These can be accumulated or used immediately. They have a variety of uses, from a measure of narrative control (surviving an otherwise fatal situation) to adding more talents or special abilities.

All in all, this is a very well thought out selection of changes that brings Microlite in line with gritty S&S play, especially considering it is the first beta. There's a couple of rough spots that need sanded down, such as a use for the MCB, and a somewhat convoluted system for tactics points. But, to borrow a phrase, those are minor quibbles. This is a great first beta, and it's free, so give it a look.

More Swords & Shield Goodness

Whew! This guy works fast! Follow the link previously provided to find an updated Pocketmod, and the sample adventure brought up to speed with the updated rules. Also therein you will find the aptly named Longsword & Shield. L&S is the full version of the rules from the Pocketmod. Weighing in at a svelt 6 pages, it is still light. Pound for pound, though, this little gem packs a punch. All that's missing is a more developed spell list, monster "book", and magic items. But, hey, we're OSR folks around here. We live to make that shit up ourselves, right?

My original assessment of this being a good beer-and-pretzels game hold true in Longsword, but it is definitely suited to more campaign play. A little setting-specific fleshing out and this game will do swords-and-sorcery with a bloody vengeance.

More Free Goodness

Do not let my interest in PFBB mislead you, my friends. I remain fully devoted to light-weight, old school rules. It is with that feeling that I direct your attention to Sword & Shield. This one hits me with a real one-two punch. It's rules-light old-school AND it's a Pocketmod. Take little folded pad of gaming goodness and a few dice along with you and a game can break out anywhere, anytime. Give it a look, it is a pretty neat little system for quick pick-ups, beer-and-pretzel, or intro to rpgs duty.

Searchers of the Unknown, Impressions

Ok, how many of you have checked this out? I think I'm in love. I pulled out pages 5, 8, 9, and 13, and combined them into a new pdf. That is my basic fantasy SotU, and it fits on both sides of a single sheet (printed in booklet).

See, I often jump the fence that separates rules-lite from rules-medium (I rarely dabble in anything heavier than medium anymore). They each scratch a particular itch for me. Lite demands more system work, things like monsters, spells, etc. Medium leaves me more free to do campaign work, settings, etc. But, Lite doesn't place its own demands on setting work. And so it goes.

For now, though, I'm really digging this little game. It's not simply a distillation. The author seems to have said "If a stat line is good enough for monsters and NPCs, why can't it work for PCs, too?" This required some changes to mechanics and subsystems. These changes are simple, and dare I say it, elegant. That is a word that is currently much overused, but in this case deserved.

I love what I've seen here. It makes me want to extract the stat line from every OD&D monster I can get my hands on. It makes me want to create books of spells, waiting to be found. It makes me want to create rare and mysterious NPC classes to tease players with. It makes me want to create. It makes me want to imagine the hell out of things. And that, my friends, that inspiration, is a rare and marvelous gift.

Searchers of the Unknown

From the Introduction

Searchers of the Unknown is a one-page roleplaying game where player characters are entirely defined by a minimalist old school Dungeons & Dragons one line stat block (e.g. "AC 7, MV 9, HD 2, hp 9, #AT 1, D 1d8 mace") something like monster stat blocks in early editions of D&D. All actions are based on those stats. Armor class is the old school “lower is better,” but the way armor class is used in  SotU it makes sense with armor class generally helping against attacks but  hindering initiative and attempts to be stealthy. The basic SotU generally uses a level plus AC roll under mechanic, using an opponent's AC when attacking or the character's own AC when trying to be stealthy. Saves require a roll under level plus 4. Variants versions of SotU use D20 or Target20 rolls. In the basic game, all characters are human adventurers. Supplements add demi-humans and spell-casting classes.

Like Microlite20, the original Searchers of the Unknown rules inspired a large number of similar games based on the same principles, ranging from simple variants like SotU Refired to modern day games, science fiction games, after the holocaust games, etc. Most of these games are complete in one or two pages. A few have additional supplements of their own.

This is a 56 page compilation of SotU based games. It is well worth the time it takes to download. It actually looks playable, as well as fun. The basic rules take up the front of one page. (This would be an excellent candidate for a pocketmod . . . ) The stat line format for characters makes it instantly compatible with virtually everything pre-AD&D right out of the box, including clones thereof. AD&D wouldn't be a hassle, either, just not quite as automatic. 

So, download it and give the basic rules a read. It will be 10 minutes well spent. Many thanks to Randall over at RetroRoleplaying: the Blog for putting it all together. Be sure and go by his blog, he has a ton of great stuff on offer, not to mention insightful commentary on gaming and the OSR.

Searchers of the Unknown

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Initial Impressions

I just downloaded the Beta Rules (available here). I haven't had time to do more than skim through it, but I did want to post my early impressions.

I sincerely hope this game is as much fun as it looks. This is possibly the most evocative art I have ever seen. Almost every single piece makes me want to grab a sword, staff, holy symbol, lockpick set, or bag of dice. Or maybe all of the above. Reading this I feel almost like I'm in high school again and can't wait to get together with John, my gamer buddy, and play all night long.

The interior art is provided by no less than the  luminaries from the glory days, such as:

Jeff Easley,  Jim Holloway, Diesel Laforce, Erol
Otus, and Jim Roslof. Even the "whippersnappers" possess the old school aesthetic.

Finally (for this initial impression), I want to mention pg 4. In the ToC it is listed as "Proclamations". It is a really cool manifesto, which opens with the following:

So, I deeply hope this game lives up to the initial impression it has made on me. If so, it could be my holy grail, the Way-back Machine that will take me back to the halcyon days of the beginning of this hobby for me. A time of wonder and mystery, discovery and exploration unequalled in the many years since.

Microlite20 RPG Collection

For the Microlite20 fans, this little piece of magnificence dropped today. It is almost 1400 pages of M20 goodness, including the excellent M74 Extended and M20 Purest Essence. This is the first update of the massive M20 Tome in 2 years. Do yourself a favor and give it a look.

The Microlite20 Rpg Collection - 2012 Edition

More to love about OSH

I'm trying not to turn into a raving fanboy, but posts like this make it difficult. For a few months it has been nagging at my mind that to-hit bonuses are not the carrot I always thought they were. I love playing fighters, so to-hit bonuses were the bread-and-butter to my character growth (along with hit points, those being the only things a fighter gets for leveling, oh, and better saves).

A lot of digital ink has been spilt over lengthy D&D combats and that is, in fact, a major selling point for any game comparing itself to D&D, including inter-edition in-fighting. At some point it started dawning on me that combats take so long because to-hit numbers don't really change. Creature AC gets more challenging almost in lock-step with the character's ability to successfully engage more powerful creatures. The thing that doesn't scale, especially from the character perspective, is damage output. HP go thru the roof, eventually, for characters and creatures. So, when the chance to hit remains fairly constant, damage output remains fairly constant, and HP scale upward with level, combats will get longer and longer. It's simple math.

Old School Hack breaks that paradigm. Hit Points not only start stressfully low, they stay there. The chance of hitting an opponent does not scale with level. Fighters get a one-time +1 to hit, by virtue of being fighters. Fighters also have the intrinsic ability to cause an extra point of damage. To someone who is more familiar with later editions of the game I'm sure those "bonuses" aren't worth the graphite it would take to write them on your character sheet. To old school gamers and devotees of a more reasonable power curve, those bonuses are sweet indeed.

This does raise a question, though. Once the characters pass into the 5-8th level tier, and 9-12th beyond that, I wonder if there will be Talents introduced to increase survivability. Personally, I would like to see some that affect an enemy's hit chance, without having crazy AC numbers. I know shields soak damage, so maybe enchanted shields that can soak more than normal. There is also the use of APs to soak damage, but that is "expensive". Some sort of Dodge talent or the like would be good. Just something to get the fighter more comfortable with being on-point heading into the dragon's lair.

Old School Hack Further Thoughts

There were a few things I didn't get into my review, and a few things that a re-read and further thought have brought to mind.

• Movement Between Arenas

     I wasn't exactly accurate about moving between Arenas. It is as simple as taking a Move action on your turn. I also want to note that Arenas can be vertical relative to each other. For me as a DM, this is significant. I can't think of ever designing an encounter with real vertical options. My abilities were already strained in two dimensions, three was out of the question. Pit traps notwithstanding. I never felt comfortable mapping things of that nature, let alone having players all over the place like that during a fight. With Arenas that isn't a concern. A simple schematic showing the Arenas relative to each other is all that's needed to have some high-flying fight scenes, literally.

• Arena Talents are more useful than Encounter Powers

     I had said that Talents are similar to Powers, just with better execution. I overlooked one very important, but subtle difference. Arena Talents are roughly similar to Encounter Powers. However, Arena Talents refresh upon entry to a new Arena. Upon my first read, I had mistakenly thought they were essentially usable once per battle, a misconception that was tied to my lack of understanding of movement between Arenas. An immediately obvious benefactor to this is the Magic User, who can blast away in one Arena, relocate, and fire away again. I like this, because it helps keep magic users from using their useful spells, then cowering behind something, hoping they don't have to actually come out and fight.

• Niche Protection in a game where any class can select any Talent

     In my review I made a cryptic reference to something I would house rule out. I was referring to a rule that there can be only one of any particular class in an adventuring party. I tend to read new rules in a very insular fashion. On my first read-through I don't always recognize the synergy between systems, thus some features don't always make sense to me until I go back and re-read. This is one of those times. D&D, and by extension, anything based on it, relies on niche protection because the character classes are based on archetypes. When a game, like OSH, opens the door to classes possessing one another's abilities, the niches can slowly erode. In that character development environment, I can see the need to maintain niche protection. The rules present the naked mechanics for such protection, which was one of my initial put-offs, but with a little "window dressing" it all makes sense and plays just fine. There are a lot of rules in a lot of games that don't look that good in a vacuum, but with a little context they can be seen for the useful additions they are. This is one of those.

• Tone and Layout

     The tone of writing in these rules walks a fine line. On the one hand it is familiar and conversational (one of my favorite lines is "Every player picks one of the seven Class Sheets. Once you’ve picked a class, that class belongs to you, and no one else can play it, so don’t be a dick about it.") On the other hand, it is authoritative where it needs to be. Too many games coming out of the OSR go too far with portraying themselves as "just guidelines, not rules, play however you want to".
     The layout and graphics are superb. Each page covers one or two topics. No topic spans more than one page. The rules are presented in a very visual fashion, which appeals to my short attention span. The fonts really add to the presentation, and though I'm no authority, strike me as being quite print-friendly. There is virtually no art, aside from the cover, but between the fonts, layout, and iconography, these rules do not suffer for the lack.

• Cover is minimalist awesome

     OK, so this has nothing to do with the game as a game. It has a lot to do with the evocation of the mood of the game. It is minimal, yet it speaks volumes. The image is a village (at least that's how I see it), on an island in the sky. There is something hanging off the side. At first glance, it looks like some sort of lantern or street light, but that isn't right. It's a tower or other dwelling. The Lord of the village? Maybe the local wizard? Who knows? The whole thing looks magical to me, without the artist feeling like he needs to beat me about the head and shoulders to make that point. In short, it is a cover that makes me want to see what's inside. I am very glad I accepted that invitation.

Old School Hack Review and Thoughts

I just finished a read-thru of this free game (link to the lower right, under Free Swag). I am impressed.

I avoided this download for a little while, because I had mistakenly linked it with Red Box Hack. I have no interest in RBH, mainly because I can't get my head around anthropomorphic animals as PCs. As it turns out, OSH is a hack of the Red Box hack. As far as I know, it uses the underlying systems of RBH and makes it a little more "normal". I can not attest to the actual veracity of those statements, as I've never read RBH, but it is what I gather from reviews and forum posts and the like.

Like I said, I am impressed by this game. It takes some old, and not-so-old, ideas and puts a refreshing spin on them. I'll lay out some of the things I like, bullet-style.

• Attributes Rather than "stats" representing intrinsic qualities of the character, OSH uses "Attributes", which seem to be an indication of the raw, inherent quality in the character, combined with the character's ability to actually use that quality to best effect. Thus, Brawn isn't just raw strength and size, it is the character's ability to use that strength and size effectively. It covers obvious things such as weight allowance, but also provides a bonus to things like intimidation. So, attributes provide not only "stat checks", they also become a broadly applied sort of skill system.
• Attributes are rated by their bonus/penalty only. So, rather than having a STR 15, granting a +1 bonus, you would have Brawn +1. The bonuses are randomly determined using 2d10 rolls for each attribute.
• Talents Each class has a list of Talents associated with it. Each class receives one talent per level, including first. Talents are very similar to Powers in 4E in principle. In execution, however, they are vastly improved. They are generally quite simple, and where ambiguities do exist, it is almost expected. This is an old school game in spirit, after all. Talents are rated by their usage, much like Powers. Some are Constant meaning they are either always on or may be used as desired. Some are per Arena, basically meaning per combat. Some are Rested, being usable once per rest period. The chief difference, aside from simplicity of the individual talents, is that they don't define the character as much as Powers do. This game has a definite old school vibe, and in the old school role play defines the character. Talents just add a little spice.
• Spells are Talents, pretty much like 4E. But wait til I get to Awesome Points and you'll see the difference.
• In OSH any character can take any Talent, regardless of class. When the character gains a level and is able to select a new talent, he can select from any class. The only real restriction is that a character must have more class talents than cross-class talents. There's another restriction, but it is related to something I'd house rule out. I'll get to that later.
• Weapons and Armor These are rated by categories, such as Light, Reach, Ranged, Heavy, etc, for weapons. Unarmored, Light, Heavy, etc, for armor. The weapon categories are based more on usage than anything else, and armor is based on material/coverage, yielding an Armor Class. There are examples given within each category, but the details are essentially a matter of role playing. As long as the mechanical aspects of the category your character is using are adhered to, it's all good. A Heavy Weapon could be a shiny bastard sword or an old tree limb covered in broken glass and rusty nails. Mechanically if they're both listed as Heavy Weapons, it all comes down to the same thing. Most weapons do a flat 1 point of damage on a successful hit. The main thing that differentiates them in game terms is the type of combat they are designed for, which brings us to . . .
• Arenas I'll admit, I'm going to have to see an example of this in action. It is a pretty abstract concept, but I have a hunch it plays very well. I can't put my finger on it, because I don't fully understand it in practice, but I get a good vibe from it. As far I do understand it, Arenas are areas where combat occurs. It could be a narrow bridge, a tight tunnel, or across steeply pitched roof tops. They're abstract in that there is no specific map and movement between them is more than just an expenditure of movement points. I don't really want to say more because I don't want my limited understanding lead to misunderstandings.
• Awesome Points I'm not crazy about the name, but that's just a personal thing. It's easy enough to call them whatever I want. It's not hard to imagine what they are, so I'll just gloss that over. One thing I find interesting about them is that advancement is entirely dependent on using them. The adventuring party advances as a group once all members have used 12 AP. Since AP will only be earned for doing awesome stuff, it means the characters will, by extension, advance by doing awesome stuff. It's an interesting mechanic and its effect on the game is much more nuanced than its brief write-up in the rules suggests.
• Awesome Points can also be used to refresh Talents, so Magic Users will likely be hoarding them until a big fight, then spending them like water to keep those spells coming.
• Task Resolution I had to read this one a couple of times to make sure I wasn't missing something. To resolve a task, the character rolls (the much underused) d12, adds relevant Attribute/Talent bonuses/penalties and must meet or exceed the target number. In a contested task check, that target number is d12 plus the opponent's bonuses/penalties. Here's the wonky portion: In a non-contested check, the target number is simply the d12. That's right, the target number is totally random. The DM can assign a modifier to it, if the situation warrants, but it is still random. From the perspective of a guy sitting at a table having fun, I like that. Nothing generates dramatic tension like a little uncertainty. On the other hand, from the point of view of a guy weighing the risk to the character I've been playing the last 10 months, I'd like something solid to base my decisions on.
• Power Curve This game has a very modest power curve. Characters rarely have more than 8 HP. Almost all weapons and creatures deal 1 point per successful hit. The Talents, while not particularly balanced against each other mechanically, are pretty understated and no particular one should ever come to dominate play.

I really like this game. It isn't perfect, but none are. I may do another post with some quibbles, but quibbles are really all I have. No heavy criticisms, and even the quibbles I have are easily house ruled. Anyway, like I said, this is free and there is a link in my Free Swag thing at lower right. Go check it out.

Free Goodness

Allow me to direct your attention to the bottom of the right column, below the counter. There I will be maintaining a list of links to some free games. The list will be mainly non "mainstream" free games, to hopefully get them some more exposure. I hope you see somethings you like.