[jvjunk]

A Parliament of Owls

I did the cover and interior art for Andy Solberg's furiously feathered Labyrinth Lord module A Parliament of Owls. The mod will debut at the 33rd annual OwlCon in Houston, Texas. It should be up for download after the con. If you donate money for the mod the cash goes to local charity, which is awesome!

[jvjunk]

Descending...

It is a weird thing, my brain. I am prone to flights of inspiration that are short-lived but passionate. For a time, shortly after getting my head back into D&D, I was all about ascending Armor Class (higher is better). But I spent 26 years with descending AC (lower is better). And all the love I gushed for the shiny new AAC (new to me, mind you) has faded. I love my D&D, with its to-hit charts and everything.

Playing 4th edition has been fun, mind you. And I'll continue to play it. But when it comes to running games and writing OGL gaming material I'll probably stick with what I know and love best.

[jvjunk]

Retro-clones Attack!

Screen grab from dragonsfoot.org showing the various retro-clone RPGs published thanks to the Open Game License and, to the right, the various old games they are meant to emulate. Most of these are free or have a free version available and are quite good. I particularly love OSRIC because I'm a huge geek for 1st edition AD&D. But Labyrinth Lord is also calling my name...

[jvjunk]

OGL/SRD Musings

I've been looking over the various “retro-clone” RPGs that use the Open Game License to re-vision classic versions of D&D. Some of them are pretty darn good. Better than the original in many ways. But none of them, so far, have hit the absolute sweet spot I'm looking for.

Swords & Wizardry looks fantastic. Great layout and art, nice clear writing. Lots of modular options for including or excluding certain rules. It has a good list of classes that includes the monk and assassin. I love the single saving throw rule. Instead of the original list of saving throws or the SRD v3.5's list of three saving throws it just has one. It uses the old descending armor class method by default, but includes the ascending method in parenthesis if you want to use it. So an AC might be listed as 9[10] or 5[14]. I personally can't stand “to hit” tables so I like the ascending method best.

Basic Fantasy RPG also looks great. The layout and font choice is extremely reminiscent of my favorite D&D set: the Moldvay/Cook/Mentzer or “B/X”. If I wasn't such a fan of ascending AC and fewer saving throws I'd still be playing B/X. However, BFRPG really does a bang up job of capturing the old vibe while embracing some of the new. For example, it uses ascending AC without any silly to-hit tables. Characters get an attack bonus as they level up. I can't understand why anybody would cling to the older method using tables to figure out what you need to roll. Just roll, add your bonus, and compare it to the damn AC. Simple.

The only problem I see with BFRPG is the use of the older style of saving throws. But hey, I like that better than to-hit tables. And this is a free game that offers the core content in a very simple, usable format. It would be really easy to create content for this game.

I have not yet examined Labyrinth Lord. This one seems to be the darling of the retro-clones, claiming quite a large fan base. From what I understand, LL is a Moldvay clone...so maybe I will fall in love with it.

OSRIC is another one I haven't really dived into. It is a 1st edition clone all the way. And again, totally free.

Other games are out there too that go down this path to some degree. A game I fell in love with and purchased is Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. The massive 480 page tome is now a prized possession of mine (wicked wizard cover). I've ran the game a few times and I love it's simplicity. The heart of DCC is just a really stripped down D&D with old school vibe and more modern mechanics. No to-hit charts, ascending AC is used, the core mechanic of d20, and it has 3 saving throws (Fort, Ref, Will). It has no Feats or Powers! I do love that about it. The bulk of those 480 pages are taken up by spell charts and killer artwork (Jeff Dee, Roslof, and many more). The magic system is crazy and has a ton of randomness built into it. I'm looking forward to running the game for some players that choose to be wizards...just to see what will happen.

But I'm kinda thinking of writing my own personal version of these beloved old rules. If I do, it will be a 64-page book. No more, no less. It will use ascending AC with no to-hit tables. It will use a simplified saving throw method, possibly the 3 saves from the SRD v3.5. And it will use the core mechanic for almost everything. Hey, I'm a simple kind of guy.

[jvjunk]

The Call of D&D

D&D has changed since I was a teenager rolling dice in the Public Library's basement in 1987. We now have 4 editions, and soon to be 5. We have multiple version of the basic D&D game, though now all terminated. And while I appreciate the DIY nature of early D&D and I sort of hate the more corporate-minded later editions I do have a huge appreciation for what WotC did when they published the Open Gaming License.

The OGL has revived D&D, allowing creators to play in what was once a closed sandbox. I mean, individual game groups have always been able to alter and expand on D&D as they saw fit. But you couldn't publish it. Not in a serious way. But now you can. And people do.

So if you always hated D&D's to-hit tables and descending AC but you loved the basic D&D style of using demi-humans as classes you can publish your own version combining race-as-class with ascending AC...and sell it.

I love that.

And yeah, I know this has been going on for 13 years. I'm late to the party. I was aware of these happenings from the moment they began but at that time I was simply not gaming and any gaming thoughts I had were focused on creating new systems, not tweaking old ones. I had no interest in the OGL. I actually detested things with a “d20” logo on them. Still kinda do, in a way. Maybe it was the d20 Call of Cthulhu that jaded me. I don't know.

Those who know me know that I can't be happy unless I'm creating something. So what does all this have to do with creating? Well, a couple of things. First of all, running RPGs is a creative act. It is the creative side of it that drew me in and hooked me. And currently I am running Star Frontiers and Dungeon Crawl Classics...happily!

But also I've been working on an anthropomorphic fantasy game called Rabbits & Rangers (or Rabbit Raiders depending on when you ask me). I have developed a system for the game and worked hard on it. Did some playtesting. And now, with a powerful re-awakened loved of good old D&D, I kinda want to use the OGL to create an “old school” funny animals RPG. A sort of Moldvay/Cook version of anthropomorphic fantasy gaming. As far as I can tell no one has done that before. I mean, truly, this is is a niche within a niche within a niche so I realize few people will even care.

But I care. This is the kind of thing I would have gushed and geeked and crushed on in my youth. Hell, even today.

So that's what's on my creative brain right now. Walking, talking cartoon animals in a D&D world. That kinda makes me happy.

[jvjunk]

Love letter to 2d6...

The power of rolling 2d6. You get a nice range of 2-12 so there is a little bit of a grip to get hold of. Rolling 1d6 is more limiting. Not enough nuance. Rolling two dice gets you double the range.

There is a strong chance of getting any particular number, such as a 6. You can then attribute special rules to rolling a 6...such as the badass “exploding” die. Roll a 6? Roll it again, add the result. Roll a 6 again? Roll it again. Suddenly your 2-12 turns into a roll of 16, 20, 30 or more. But not frequently...which makes the exploding 6 special.

Yeah, 2d6 is a nice basic tool for a game design. It's not just that six-sided dice are ubiquitous (you can find them in couch cushions)...its that the die has a nice, controlled range. And rolling two of them increases that range just enough to give you more flexibility while not becoming burdensome when adding or subtracting numbers.

And lets face it...six-sided dice roll better. That fat, flat surface is gravity's fool.

In my current project, a funny-animals RPG called “Rabbit Raiders”, I'm using 2d6 for the basic action roll for all the reasons I listed above. I tried 1d6, I tried 1d10, I tried 1d20, I tried multiple incarnations of all these polyhedral increments. I just find that 2d6 gives me exactly what I need.