Roll a D20 - Magic potion side affects.

Roll a D20. This potion has gone bad what is the side affect?

1. You go blind for one hour
2. Everything you say is amplified three times louder than it should be.
3. Your bowels immediately empty.
4. You suddenly lose all sense of balance and cannot stand upright for twenty minutes.
5. You begin to bleed from your nose, eyes and ears, this lasts for fifteen minutes.
6. Your finger and toe nails suddenly grow two inches longer it the process is very painful.
7. Your spoken language is changed to that of an ancient dead language for two days.
8. Immediate projectile vomiting while screaming uncontrollably.
9. For now on whenever you close your eyes you become invisible.
10. Your skin color changes to that of a bright red.
11. Your body changes to that of the opposite gender, this lasts for a full week.
12. Your knees scream in agony for ten minutes, then stop hurting but now they bend the wrong way.
13. Touching gold now causes second degrees burns to your skin.
14. The skin of your face goes smooth and stretches tightly rendering you unrecognizable.
15. Rashes of blisters now appear all across your body. Goes away after a week or two.
16. Your hair falls out and when it regrows it is thin and transparent.
17. Your strength is doubled for next ten hours.
18. Your hands swell and become to large to use for anything. This lasts for an hour.
19. Any injuries you have heal up a bit, if this was a healing potion to begin with the effect is doubled.
20. You lose all since of touch for the next twenty four hours.

Jaded Gamer Diary - Magic shitheads moaning

Recently there was a big blowout online about some Magic the Gathering players harassing and causing other players to leave.  Typically it was a bunch of guys saying various things about female players.  Evidently it was enough of a blow up that Wizards actually stepped forward and issued some DCI bans on those guys involved. 

Here is some light reading for those interested.

https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2017/12/jeremy-hambly-aka-mtgheadquarters-suspended-dci-mtg/
http://epicstream.com/news/Magic-The-Gathering-Pro-Travis-Woo-Suspended-by-The-DCI-For-1-Year

Now of course those who have been banned have a fan following.  Now those fans are up in arms and bitching about what happened.  I've never seen a bigger bunch of whiny babies in all my life... well except some GamerGate folks when somebody wrote a review they didn't like.  But these folks are really pushing for the number one spot of 'Dumbass of the Internet'.  So many claiming they are leaving Magic as well and have already sold off their stuff. Yeah right.  Those card board crack addicts aren't giving up anything. 

They are even going around spreading lies and bad reviews for game shops who back WotC's decision.

Damn people at least try to act like you have some sort of spine.  Not happy with the rulings, fine, make a well written and straight forward argument for reversal and go out and get support for that.  But they won't they just try to string five words together just long enough to call it a sentence and then gnash and curse all day long.

Not that I have anything against somebody brightening up their fucking dialogue with something colorful.  But damn, these losers come across like grade school kids trying to look cool for somebody who is a few grades above them.

Fuck all.  These guys remind me of some of the reason I stopped playing Magic myself years back.  Now if Wizards is kicking these jackasses to the side and moving on without them... hell I may have to get back into the game beyond the once a month casual level.

Roll a D20 - Magical Masks.

Sometimes a mask is more than a mask.  Roll a twenty sider and give a mask a special ability that is occasionally a bit outside of the norm of most magical items.  Presented system free so charges, uses, etc are not listed.

(picture source)

 

1. Silent and forgotten. Whenever you are wearing the mask and being silent nobody notices or remembers you as you pass through.
2. The Thieves Friend. Anyone who is a trained thief has their ability to detect traps and secret passages increased.
3. Word of God. Any person of strong devotional faith (cleric, priest, etc) who speaks to the flock while wearing this has the ability to sway them to do whatever they say.
4. Relax. While wearing the mask anybody is automatically calmer, doesn't panic and succeeds automatically at any tests of morale, fear, etc.
5. Nightmare Fuel. Those around you that gaze upon the mask are filled with a since of fear and dread. They will avoid you at all costs and have nightmares about you that night.
6. You Again. People see you as someone they saw previously that day
7. Readers Delight. When you view other written common languages they are translated over in to the language you are most fluent in.
8. Golden Voice. You gain the ability to sing extremely well, equal to that of many famous bards. It does not, however, help you remember the lyrics.
9. Listen Well. If you concentrate you can listen in on any conversation within the room you are in.
10. Death Is Among Us. When you look upon something undead you see a black thick smoke pouring from them.
11. Loving Memories. Whenever you talk to somebody they suddenly have memories of you being their long lost lover who they will do nearly anything for.
12. Watch Your Back. You can see as if you have eyes in the back of your head along with your regular vision. Will require some practice to get used to this.
13. Finely Dressed. An illusion is cast and you appear to be dressed in the finest clothing.
14. Steady On. You cannot be disoriented, magically confused, or lose your sense of direction.
15. Easily Rested. Any time you are able to relax or simply not be physically active counts as sleep and helps you feel refreshed.
16. Silence The Lies. When anyone tells a lie all you can hear is muffled noises.
17. Not So Silent. You hear the sound of jingling bells whenever anyone is trying to sneak up on you.
18. Open Mouth. The mouth of the mask can be opened up and acts like a bag of holding. Only works while you are wearing it.
19. Side Stepped. People who look at you actually see you a few inches off from where you really are. Makes it very hard to be hit with missile weapons.
20. Memory Bank. You can focus and store a memory into the mask, the next person who puts it on then gains that memory.

Roll a D20 - Nasty curses nobody wants

Sometimes you just anger the wrong witch or pick up the worst item.  It's time to roll a D20 to see what kind of nasty ass curse you just came down with.  These aren't for the faint of heart.

1. Your excrement comes out alive and squirming like snakes.
2. You sprout another pair of completely useless arms dangling from your back shoulder blades.
3. Your back sprouts large painful puss and maggot filled boils.
4. You suffer blinding headaches whenever you find yourself in a dangerous situation.
5. Your lips and nose slowly dry up and break off in fragments leaving gaping wounds.
6. Your body odor becomes so vile anyone near you is nauseated by the scent.
7. All weapons in your possession become dull and chipped within minutes.
8. Everything tastes horrible, almost vomit inducing, even clean water.
9. Over the period of two weeks your legs shrivel and shrink to half their size.
10. Whenever you injure another creature you feel their pain and fear.
11. You grow several eyes all over your body that look around but you cannot control or see from.
12. You attract insects in swarms that want to crawl all over your body constantly.
13. Dirt and grime clings to you and can't be washed off.
14. Your entire body is wracked with pain as your bones start to grow small thorns all over them.
15. You cannot control your bowel movements and have no warning before you soil yourself.
16. Every injury you sustain becomes infected.
17. You constantly cough up phlegm filled with squirming baby spiders.
18. Your sweat becomes slightly acidic, ruining your clothes after just a few hours of activity.
19. Whenever someone says your name you vomit violently.
20. All of your bodily fluids come out as blood, including your tears, mucus and urine.

Roll a D20 - Resurrection after affects 2

A second table of random after affects of resurrection.  So roll a d20.

Resurrection after affects chart 2

1. Running water against the skin gives a severe burning sensation.
2. All body begins to fall out, within a week they are completely hairless.
3. They lose the feeling of touch but their skin becomes as tough as leather.
4. Suddenly fluent, speaking and writing, in a completely foreign language.
5. Hair growth is sped up, growing a full beard in a day or so.
6. Lose the ability to count, getting splitting headaches when you try.
7. Food loses all taste.
8. Intense, unexplained, hatred for the cleric or priest who brought you back.
9. Can tell when somebody is watching you and can spot them easily.
10. You switch primary hands. If left handed you are now right handed and vice versa.
11. Everything viewed through clear glass becomes dark and shaded.
12. You can feel when you are near anything undead.
13. Whenever you walk through graveyards or other resting places of the dead you feel pain.
14. Domesticated animals really don't like you, some will even attack.
15. Smoke and dust swirls away from you when you walk through.
16. You can suddenly see very well in the dark.
17. Random flashes of memories that are not your own.
18. Anxiety and fear whenever you get around anything resembling what killed you.
19. All light sources dim a bit when you get near them, such as torches and lanterns.
20. You can no longer feel the cold, nor does if physically affect you in any way.

Roll a D20 - Resurrection after affects

Roll a D20.

Random after affects of resurrection.

1. Insects like the character and tend to land and crawl onto them often.
2. Character can now see and converse with spirits.
3. They get a niggling twinge of hunger at the sight of blood.
4. Their skin becomes paler and you can see the veins more clearly now.
5. The eyes become extremely bloodshot and are like this permanently.
6. Hair loss begins immediately, within a week they have no body hair at all.
7. Finger and toe nails take on a dark red color.
8. Teeth begin to decay, within two months they have all rotted away.
9. Gain a perpetual cold blowing their nose results in a handkerchief full of puss.
10. Water no longer quenches their thirst.
11. Can now feel their skin crawl when near anything undead.
12. Suddenly prefers their meat as raw as they can get it.
13. Becomes highly religious and a true believer.
14. Body fat begins to fade away, within two months they are muscle and skin.
15. Your natural body odor becomes that of a slight hint of rot.
16. Whenever you sleep your dreams are always nightmares.
17. Wounds, even slight ones, leave nasty looking dark scars.
18. At completely random times you hear the sound of a woman screaming.
19. Any spells or items that affect the undead, now affect you.
20. Your native language now looks like chicken scratches when you see it.

Jaded Gamer Diary - I can't die!

Of all the 'new generation' or 'indie game design' ideas that really get under my skin this has got to be one of the tops.  The idea that a character can't die unless the player wants them to.  That no matter what, if the player says no then the GM has to bend EVERYTHING into some weird shape to allow them a way to live out of the most unsurvivable situations.

As a GM I can't build tension worth a shit because the players eventually fall into that stage of not caring about how crazy their characters, or their actions, are.  They just go and do dumb ass shit for no good reason just to make the person running the game chase the story through their own assholes to keep them alive.  There is no risk, not a single bit, nothing at stake.  They can't die.  Oh you can bring up all sorts of things like them losing NPCs they care about or failing the mission, but in the end they really don't care.

As a player we all know there is that one jackass at the table who is never EVER going to let his uber annoying piece of wasted sperm and egg die.  That player who makes a character with a really annoying accent that they have to mimic at the table constantly.  The player that will say fuck all and split the party.  The character we all want to see die because he sucks the fun out of the game.  But he won't, he never will.

When you do end up saying I'll let my character die then chances are that will happen.  Because the GM will have already stacked shit up so high to deal with immortal characters that one who is suddenly mortal is going to get squished.

So my 'fix' for this? I don't play in games with the mechanic nor do I run games with this mechanic.  Pretty easy fix.  I sit down at the table and the GM says "Your character can't die unless you want them to" and I say fuck it and get up and leave. 

Simple.

Jaded Gamer - screw the local community

I am completely done with the local gaming community.  It's taken a while to get to the point but I now I'm all the way there.  Now I've been fading out of the community for a few years now, but at first it was mainly due to lack of time to be involved in anything.  Being a single parent taking care of two kids will do that to you.  But then last year it started changing.

The fucking US election and the clusterfuck it was is the reason.  I was friends on facebook with a lot of the local gamers.  Boy was that a mistake.  It didn't take long for them to start showing their political colors and their very unsavory beliefs to make me stand back and say fuck all that.

Now I know people are always saying you don't have to talk about politics, a lot of the time it never comes up, etc.  But the problem it did come up.  They spoke some of their deepest shittiest opinions online and several of the others agreed with them.  People I had been friends with for years were coming out and saying all liberals should be rounded up and shot/deported/locked into mental wards/etc... and I'm a liberal.  Why the ever living fuck would I want to set at the same table with somebody who wishes this kind of shit on me, much less engage in a friendly social activity with them. Got see people supporting the idea of genocide against gay people simply because they wanted equal rights.  Many passed around a meme calling for them to be put into concentration camps.

This went on for months.  I started unfriending a lot of people, probably dumped around thirty in one day.  Family members, friends I've had for decades, you name it I just dumped their asses off my list.  Didn't want to see what they said anymore and I never really want to anymore. 

It continues to this day.  Many of them Trumpstains who think that admitted sex offender/liar/corrupt business man (all of these are proven FACTS) can do no wrong.  Who cheer at the idea of millions being thrown off of health care, who cheer at the idea that my son has a pre existing condition that would make in hard for me to get insurance for him in the private sector.  They call for forced patriotism or be shot/deported/beaten. 

To many in the local community have shown their colors.  To many of them have shown what they really are on the inside.  I'm done with the lot of them.

Jaded Gamer Diary - Damn it Atlas.

Well Atlas just dropped a bit of news on the upcoming Over The Edge reboot. 

You can read what they said here.

Evidently they are doing an all new system for a 'new generation' to go with it as well.  That about sucked all my interest and excitement I had for it right out the window.  New generation systems like FATE and Power By The Apocalypse do absolutely nothing for me.  They actually manage to make me not have fun at the gaming table.  So I'm looking at this news as the new edition being a regular shit show for a fan of the classic like me. 

I used to really like Atlas Games to.  But damned if that's not something really hard to do nowdays.  Especially after they priced Unknown Armies 3rd edition so high that it only looked reasonably priced compared to a full buy in for DnD 5th ed. 

Now they are going to mess with one of the two things that made OtE great.  It was both the setting and the system that worked so good together.  It was different, it was unique.  It spawned imitators and those imitations spawned imitators.  Now Atlas is going to evidently imitate the imitations of the imitations of what they originally made.  Shit sounds like seventies Playboy or something. 

I'll look at the Kickstarter, but I'm damned sure not buying in if it smells like some of the current batch of 'new generation' systems out there.  Damned sure not backing without seeing at least a quickstart.  Also not backing if they price it anywhere near the way they did UA.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trailer (Official)

Asbestos Lurkers - A creature for your horror games

Asbestos Lurkers.

This article is no longer available for free and is part of Clandestine Societies Issue One over on DrivethruRPG. 

Jaded Gamer Diary - Just to bitch a bit more.

Yet more reason I have decided to cut all interest in Sla Industries as it stands now days.  Apparently if you want to RPG material you have to buy the Cannibal Sector One miniature game.  Miniature games are something I have zero interest in at all.  But I have to pay for one in order to get setting and rpg material?

Sorry no thanks.  You could at least cut all the mini game stuff out and just offer up the RPG material as a discounted pdf or something.  But no, you want people to pay for something they don't want in order to get what they do want. 

I'll pass.

By the way I was one of those who bought every RPG release that came along. Hunter Sheets, CS1, the keychains, t-shirts, etc... even the sections of the Hunter Sheets 2 book.  So I'm not just some come along lately fanboy looking for something to bitch about.  I'm a long time fan who is fed up with how the rpg crowd that supported the system the best they could (but you could never do releases in any sort of rational manner).

Skinners - A creature for your horror games.

Skinners

Hiding in the dark of those abandoned places that so few ever venture to explore. Watching and waiting for a lone victim to wander in to close. Razor like claws itch for flesh to sink into while their minds crave the euphoria that your terror provides them. Wanting two things above all else, your skin and your screams.

“I can't even close my eyes at night without seeing them. Those bodies, four or five of them, it was hard to tell. Piled in a corner with their skin gone. Two of them were smaller I remember that, they were probably children. There was blood everywhere. It was all over the room upstairs, practically soaking in it. Then the trails of it where I guess the thing drug them downstairs to the... pile. What? Yeah I saw it. Some kind of dead thing I think, still walking around, God it stank. It had knives or something and it tried cutting me from behind. But I had my vest on and it stopped most of it... still got twenty stitches out of it though. It was on me fast, but then the back up I called came running in the other door and it shrieked and ran off. I'll never forget that night. Or that two of them were children.” Officer Donald Haskins, Chronicle PD.

Appearance

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to humans in both height, proportion and general body movements they are anything but human. Residing a rung above us in the food chain we are what they prey on. The differences in appearance set them apart if seen uncovered. Thinner limbs and center mass they look built like somebody with an eating disorder in that regard. With skin that is almost blood red, with a raw look covered in hundreds of small thorn like extrusions. Possessing no body hair, ears or lips they have a slit for a mouth and a row of jagged sharp teeth behind it. Their fingers end in claws that are flat, almost like double edged razors, and roughly two to three inches long.

However they are rarely seen uncovered except on an autopsy table in some dark back room someplace. Read the section on Physical Feeding to get an idea of how they are usually seen out in the world.

Behavior

Sunlight is a bane to these creatures when they are uncovered. With skin that is easily burned they hide out in abandoned buildings and subterranean locations that still have a chance of humans making their way into (old subway tunnels, large storm drain systems, etc). Hiding in the shadows and watching from a distance when they spot a potential target you rarely see them unless they want to be seen. If there are out numbered they are rarely attacked, but then again they also don't more in groups very often. Most encounters reported are of the one on one type. It is very obvious that they possess an almost human level of intelligence and are capable of using just about any weapon to some degree.

Attack

Even when possessing a strength and speed greater than that of a typical human they still prefer a sneak attack. Everything from a straight forward hit from behind to some sort of trap, anything they can think of. Only one catch, they do not kill outright and intend to make the target suffer as much as possible before ending their life. One of the most reported methods is to immobilize the person through stunning or just by over powering them and then using some sort of restraints on them (ropes, handcuffs from previous victims, etc). Once they are unable to fight back their claws are used to slice open a long stretch of skin, then to work them up under the flesh and slowly skin the victim alive.

Emotional Feeding

The skinners feed off the pain they cause in others. A necessary part of their mental nourishment. Without it they will eventually grow delusional, with emotional out of control fits of anger and an inability to sleep. At some point this will cause them to either grow bolder when searching for victims or, in most cases, to become even more seclusive until they suffer a brain aneurism which will kill them. When receiving the emotional rush of the pain they have created it acts like a drug, euphoric and never enough, leading them to drag out the tortures for as long as possible.

There is, however, one very unique and strange weakness to this. It only works when they are the cause of the pain. If someone or something else that they had nothing to do with causes the pain then there is a severe mental backlash causing a great deal of agony on the Skinner itself. The greater the pain the more it forces them back. This is also the believed reason as to why they are rarely found in groups as the attack of one would drive the others away.

Physical Feeding

This is where the skinning part comes into more importance. Those thorn like things on their skin are actually part of their digestive system. Once a person has expired they finish removing the layers of skin and then cover their body with the pieces. The thorns hold them in place like hundreds of small hooks while they also release a digestive enzyme which breaks the flesh down. This is then absorbed through pores in the skin providing the creature with substance. The process may take weeks to finish leading to encounters where people think they are being attacked by something undead as the layer of skin is rotting on the outside.

Afterward

Once they are finished and their meal is dead they will generally drag it off to some other section of their chosen lair. Usually the furthest point away from where people usually enter from. They are absolutely not interested in doing any other kind of clean up at all. Blood is left where ever it hit the floor and even bits and pieces are left lying about. They simply wait for their next food source as they soak the in warm feeling of their emotional feeding for several days.

Deal of the Day: Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition

Ah Vampire the Masquerade.  What could arguably be considered one of the most influential games outside of Dungeons and Dragons on the RPG hobby and industry.  From helping bring in a flood of fresh blood in during the slump created by the Magic the Gathering explosion to making some think in new directions of how a game could be set up.  While a far step away from the story driven games of today it still set a ball rolling in that direction. 

Around here gaming was at a super low.  Most groups had dried up and vanished, a local game shop was about ready to give up RPGs all together.  Only a few die hard Dungeons and Dragon fans really kept it flowing.  Vampire changed all that.  People I never thought would be interested in gaming were suddenly buying up the books and giving it a try.  It become a common connection between groups besides dungeon crawling.  Plus it was published by a smaller company and made people look towards other small companies to see what they were producing.

It was a win for everyone at that time.

Anyways the latest version of the classic is the 20th Anniversary Edition from Onyx Path.  Today it's the Deal of the Day over on DrivethruRPG and well worth picking up.  Nine bucks for a massive pdf and even the print costs are pretty decent.

PICK IT UP HERE at DrivethruRPG.
or
PICK IT UP HERE at RPGNow.

Also be sure to check out those POD costs for a dead tree edition or some of the other 20th Anniversary Edition material they have released.

Six Pack - Modern magic items.

Modern day magic item six pack.  It's been a while since I've done a six pack so here we go.  What few game mechanics that are given will be for the WaRP (aka Over the Edge) game system from Atlas Games.  Have fun.

Fashionable Tie.

I very nice silk necktie. Usually of whatever particular style is in at the moment. When one puts it on and ties the knot themselves it creates an illusion around the wearer. Everybody else sees them in a very high fashion suit, perfect cut and fit. However only living people see the illusion, cameras and such do not.

The 'Oh Shit' Button.

What appears to be a small two inch by two inch by one inch thick solid box with a single button on it. No other markings, no way to open it and nothing will show up inside using any sort of scan. However if the button is pressed all alarm signals with a 200 foot radius will go off. Some nearby phones will even self dial 911.

 

 

Every Key.

A well worn car key with no specific car manufacturer logo printed on it. It will unlock any vehicle door and work in any key driven ignition.

The Stop Watch

What appears to be a simple non-digital wrist watch with a leather strap. There is an extra button on each side that are unusual and seem to serve no purpose. However when one presses both in at the same time while staring at the watch it will cause time to freeze in the area around them. This will last as long as the wearer is looking at the watch face, one look away and it breaks. So they have to use peripheral vision to move around. The more complicated the movement the harder it is to not break eye contact. Only works once per month. Trying to use this at any other time simply cause no effect what so ever.

Stethoscope of Health.

Looks like a regular Stethoscope but when anyone with a medical trait uses them they can hear a whisper in their ear when checking for a heartbeat. The voice is telling the user of any potential health problems and injuries the person they are examining may have.

The Spinning Signal Soak.

A small wooden top. Much like that a child would play with. The wood is unpainted but worn and a strange unknown writing goes around it's surface in black ink. While spinning the top cancels out every single electronic signal within a 200 foot radius. Cellphones, wifi, laptops, all of it. The devices will still work but cannot connect to any network at all. Each use costs one Psychic Point and it can be used any amount of times per day. Once spun it will stay spinning for a D6 of minutes, for each additional Psychic Point put you add another D6 to the roll.

 

 

For another game of modern day magic mayhem check out Urban Arcana over on DrivethruRPG.

 

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Jaded Gamer Diary - GMS is a dick

I used to be a fan of Gareth Skarka, really I did.  Hong Kong Action Theater was inspired and got me into thinking more towards genre emulation with the game mechanics than just throwing in a generic system for just about everything.  Underworld, while neat, wasn't my thing but it was very well done.  Really enjoyed the MARS stuff he was doing. 

But following him on social media and forums over the years one thing became very clear.  He loathes the people who make up his customer base.  Constantly making fun of nerds and fanboys over and over.  Then his treatment of the backers for his Far West Kickstarter. 

Now he just stepped up a bit more and showed how much he hates the fact that some companies are letting them release material for their systems.

Now besides him trying to wrap it up as 'it hurts you for doing this' it boils down to 'it MAY hurt me making money using your system'.  What is especially ironic is that he seemed to do rather well using the D20 OGL for his stuff for years.  You know that system that anybody could release stuff for.  Which is just like what he is describing as bad.  That movement that helped rejuvenate the hobby that was slumping pretty badly. 

But now, oh no, that is a terrible idea. 

The more I see coming out of him the happier I am that I stopped supporting his products.  Not like it would be hard nowdays looking at how much his company has released lately.  I'm just surprised that more folks aren't throwing up their hands and turning their backs on him.  Especially because no matter how good his stuff is there are others out there releasing material that is just as good AND they aren't being dicks.   


Lost Artifacts of Greyghast A 5e Magic Item Compendium now available in pdf and print at DrivethruRPG.

---------------------------------------------

Pick of the Month - Citybooks from Flying Buffalo.

The Citybooks from Flying Buffalo Games.  These are some of the gems that were released for that company back 'in the day'.  Each one packed with locations, NPCS, adventure hooks and all sorts of goodness.  All set up to be generic and easily dropped into any pre-existing fantasy campaign or system.  I always thought they were well worth it to help add some depth without having to spend a lot of time writing up your own info.

Citybook One

Citybook Two

Citybook Three

Citybook Four

Citybook Five

Citybook Six

Citybook Seven

Also be sure to check out what else Flying Buffalo has to offer.  They put out some really old school greatness... along with some not so great releases.  But one thing is for sure, it was always fun.

Colonial Gothic first thoughts

So recently I've started playing in a game of Colonial Gothic at a local game shop.  The GM is running first edition of the game because that's what he has.  So my thoughts on the system and whatnot may be about things that are fixed in later editions.  Also this is the first time the GM has ever ran it using the system the game shipped with, he's ran the setting before using his own homebrew a while back.  This makes it a case of learning the mechanics with the players.

Anyways, my thoughts on it so far.

Setting wise I love it.  Colonial America with a very nice horror bent to the whole thing.  Cultists, old school vampires, demons, so much goodness.  For anyone that likes a little history with their gaming this should scratch that itch rather nicely. 

Character generation was a bit odd.  The book seemed to need an editor something fierce as there were references back to stats that weren't there or likely renamed at some point.  So we had some "I guess they mean this as its most like that." going on.  Skill purchasing was a little clunky and could have been easily streamlines a bit with less work involved.  However I do like that you end up with a small batch of usually broad skills. 

The Fate cards will prove interesting... or not, once we get into play a bit more.  I like the idea behind them and how they can help steer the game story wise.  Same goes for the Faith points and their ability to edit scenes for the players benefit.  Both could really make the game a lot more fun if utilized correctly and not forgotten about.

Now combat proved to be entertaining.  Especially where the amount you succeed by directly influences the amount of damage you do.  So we had some fights with many misses and tiny hits that suddenly jumped out with a few huge swathes of damage that surprised everyone.  It really helped give it that cinematic feel that I think they were going for. 

Now skills work under the same rough system as the combat.  So you end up with many failures especially with new characters it seems.  But I've seen far worse examples of this from other more popular games. 

So this is my opinion and thoughts so far.  I'll be posting up more about it every two weeks as we get more experience with the game. 

Get Colonial Gothic at DrivethruRPG here.
Get Colonial Gothic at RPGNow here.

Also be sure to check out my other posts on my blog.  Some snark, some randomness, some useful stuff from time to time.

Jaded Gamer Diary - DnD is cool

You've probably seen this statement around on a few articles.

"I played Dungeons and Dragons before it was cool."

Hey guess what, everyone is still playing Dungeons and Dragons before it is cool.

Jaded Gamer Diary - dickheads

Dickheads in the community of this hobby aren't a new thing.  I've known this for year.  So for those who look with rose colored glasses to the past all I can say is you are morons.  Proof to my point are things like this.

So there are dickheads everywhere and through every stretch of time in our hobby.  Just now days they seem to have a lot easier way of reaching more people thanks to this fabulous fuck up and step backwards we call 'social networks'.  But ah well.  As long as we can all agree that there are dickheads and many don't get that they are dickheads then we understand each other.

Jaded Gamer Diary - Maybe

Maybe one day a new edition of Kult will come out with system that isn't dogs vomit like Powered by the Apocalypse.  Maybe one day they'll make an affordable version of Unknown Armies 3rd edition so us not so well off gamers can afford it.  Maybe one day I will crowned king of England.

Maybe it's time I moved on from the hobby.

I mean seriously everything that I have looked forward to for the last four or five years has ended in trash.  To the point I don't even bother to look at what is coming out... ever.  After all it has led to disappointment or excitement followed shortly by disappointment.  Especially since all the rage seems to be 'bigger and more expensive, it's great!' or fueled by a popular system that I can't stand at all. 

The only thing that has kept me here is nostalgia of the way it used to be.  How fun gaming was.  Not like now where it's like pulling fucking teeth to get people to show to play.  Or where I set for hours waiting for a game to start when all anybody ends up doing is sitting and talking the entire time. 

Jaded Gamer Diary - Fuck Sla Industries.

Time to move some shit out.  Shit that I will most likely never play or run again.  Which, hell, I'm not sure if I'll run or play much of anything in the foreseeable future up until the time of my death.  You know what I'm saying?

Hitting that sales block will likely be all my Sla Industries stuff.  Bit done with the game you know.  That and what little I wasn't done with it the owners of the property and Daruma have pretty much ground into the dirt.  I mean they FINALLY do lots of really cool detailed artwork of armor, weapons, gear, creatures, etc.... BUT they are only going to release that art in the miniature game rules not in any sort of RPG release.

I mean really what the fuck?  I've seen a complaint that the RPG wasn't making that much money.  They failed to mention they haven't made any real attempt to support the RPG in near a decade now.  Or that something everybody has been asking for (that cool art work stuff up above) they never attempted to do until the miniature game company came along.

So yeah they have said fuck it to the fans so this fan is saying fuck it to the company. 

My Ingress review.

Ingress.  The first altered reality game put out by Niantic and much of it's development set the stage for the Pokémon game that came later on.  But it's been out for years now and is it worth the time for new players to join in on it?

Well my experience in giving it a try simply comes up to this.  No, it's not.

Quick basics.  Various landmarks and places show up as Portals.  Players drop Resonators on said portals to take control of them.  Then link portals together in triangles to form fields.  Lines cannot cross another line or be set up inside of another field.  There are two sides in the fight each trying to gain more than the opposing factions.  Oh you can also hack a portal to get gear... most of which all leads to getting more portals and created more lines and fields.

New players are ants to the guys who have been around a while.  You can be working along trying to learn you first bits about how the game works, setting up a few portals and making a few links.  Then suddenly somebody will come through and wipe everything out leaving behind their gear that you can't even put a dent into.  That or they will cover huge swathes of area with a field so nobody else inside that field can link create their own fields.  Your own higher level faction members will make these huge fields right over the top of you.  So there really is no 'team' at all.  Thus removing the ability to play what everything in the game leads up to.  So you can easily get screwed over by the people you think are on your side.

So, if you've been playing for years, have lots of time to go hour long treks and the money to pay for gas for those treks.  Then maybe it's the game for you.  Otherwise you could turn the game on and suddenly discover that you will have to hop into your car and travel for a half hour or more JUST to do something more than the basics of taking a portal. 

I've tried it for a week.  People who I am supposed to be on the same side as came through and drowned out many surrounding small towns, including the one I'm in, under one big field.  I don't have the time, money to put in the gas tank or patience for this. 

The sad part it was actually a bit of fun up until this point.  But damned if doesn't suck every drop of enjoyment out when all you can do is hack and drop resonators.  I mean I could attack something, but everything is either on the same 'side' as I am or several levels above me.  That and having people tell me the solution is to just go hack a lot and level up the slow way is laughable.  I mean really they want me to do the MMORPG grind in real life.  Sorry I'll go play a Korean grinder fantasy game at home without spending gas money if I wanted to do that.

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Stones Landing

In my upcoming Advanced Fighting Fantasy game I will not be using the world provided in the book (which is called Titan).  Instead I will be using my own setting which has no title.  Hopefully I will be fleshing it out more with some regular blog posts here.  First up is Stones Landing, the city from which the characters will be embarking from for their adventures.

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Stones Landing is the first, and so far only, established city along the Blighted Coast of the continent of Anmar. A continent that suffered much devastation in the previous sundering that nearly wiped out world clean. After isolation of nearly a hundred years Captain Abigale Stone dropped anchor in the remains of what was once a mighty sea side fortress forty years ago. The first years were fraught with peril from both a harsh environment and the twisted inhabitants what lived in the surrounding areas. The Bane was not kind to those who lived here before.

But with continued support from the Kingdom of Sil-Tarran there has been a slow claiming of the old keep and the surrounding areas. Clusters of houses, shops, stables and others structures have been erected with much haste and little planning. The result is a ramshackle city that resembles more of a township that simply keeps building on top of itself.

Nearby farmland has been replanted and is slowly providing crops once again. Along with a nearby mine that is giving forth ore after more than a century of silence. But the real bounty that is sought is that which is brought back by the brave few who venture forth into the depths of Anmar. Traveling what is left of the old roads and braving the creatures who lurk there. It has become a dream for adventurers seeking fame and, most importantly, fortune. But for every one who achieves this there are easily ten who have perished.

Some points have been mapped out and areas explored. But even those can warrant many hazards as the twisted remains of the Orc tribes regularly move around like blood hungry nomads. Or the occasional monstrosity created by the Nepentheans during the Sundering will make their way towards the new establishments of men. Entire small villages that have attempted to lay root at some distance from Stones Landing have vanished overnight. Leaving only burnt buildings, blood and the dead behind.

Those who seek to travel beyond the safety of the city can find anything they may need before leaving it's protected walls. Rations, arms and armor, information that may be of dubious worth, even some relics that others have brought back. Of course it's all for a price and coin is what the people who live here are after.