Revelation of Mulmo reviewed at the Iron Tavern

http://irontavern.com/2013/06/25/review-the-revelation-of-mulmo/

In All Fairness

Here is a post by -C wherein I agree completely:  http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.ca/2013/06/on-fiat-failure-fallacy.html.  This should be mandatory reading for some players trolling around on the InterWebs.  -C could not be more right here if he were hit with a right-hammer.

Way to go, -C.

In other news, the discussion of Quantum Ogres going on at Random Wizard is worth a look:
http://randomwizard.blogspot.ca/2013/06/two-headed-quantum-ogre.html

Conversions to DCC

Translating anything into Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG is a pretty easy task, overall, with a few caveats.

(1) Watch Spellcasters:  Remember the core rulebook says that NPCs need not play by the same rules as PCs.  Even with that in mind, though, you will probably want to re-imagine any spellcasters in the original work.  

(2) Watch Tropes:  The "weird fantasy" mindset of Appendix N literature, and hence DCC, is very different from the "Mos Eisley Cantina" mindset of WotC D&D and Pathfinder.  You will run into ideas in 3.x and later modules, such as armies of dwarven cavalry, elf paladins, gnome clerics, etc., that simply do not fit with DCC (unless you decide that they do, of course).  You might need to get imaginative with these, and think about what Appendix N authors would have done instead.  In general, you will find far, far fewer of these problems with TSR D&D modules, and the earlier ones cleave closest to the source.

The dwarven cavalry, therefore, may become barbarian tribes, the gnome cleric might become a unique monster or a human, etc.

Watch Treasure:  A good standard rule is:  Change platinum to gold, change gold to silver, change silver to copper, and reduce any copper to 10% of listed value.  You might want to do further reductions.  Make most magic into fine items instead, and make most of whatever magic is left unique.  Magic items with drawbacks are cooler than ones without (i.e., if the players have to decide whether or not benefit X is worth drawback Y, and they are not always certain, you are offering them an interesting decision, and that is great!).

Add Some Weird:  Throw in a couple of things that would not have occurred in a 3.x, 4.x, or Pathfinder module if you can.  Give your DCC conversion its own special brand of weirdness....be it due to unique monsters, unique treasures, or unique opportunities (ex. a chance to learn spells, gain a patron, or improve a character in some way).  

The really cool thing about DCC is that most of this can be done on the fly.  Crawl! has some rules in its magic issue (#3) for easy conversion of OSR spells/casters, that you could probably use as a guideline for later editions as well.  The DCC core rulebook has tables to help make humanoids and un-dead unique....use them!  For the most part, with a few minor modifications (and most of them descriptive) you can convert any D&D/Pathfinder to DCC.  I can do this with a few notes, and standard modifications applied on the fly.

If you have DCC 29: The Adventure Begins, you can pick up DCC 76.5: Well of the Worm while it is possible and you can see directly how I applied these principles to create an official conversion of a Harley Stroh masterpiece.  If enough people purchase it, and enough people ask, perhaps Joseph Goodman will commission other conversions............I know I would be happy to do more.

But I also know that, if you give it a shot, you will soon find that it is pretty easy to do yourself.

Give it a try.


(Cross-posted with slight modifications.)

Pulp Weird Action

Pulp Weird Encounters #1 is now available from Mystic Bull Games.  

The Pulp Weird Encounter Series comprises DCC RPG Adventures inspired by the weird pulp fantasy of the 60's and 70's. 

Issue #1 introduces you to the Tomb of the Squonk and The Silent Army. 

Tomb of the Squonk: A hideous creature pleads for you to restore his human form in a weird twist on a fairy tale conceit.  (Author:  Daniel J. Bishop)

The Silent Army: Something in the woods has ensorcelled the men of a woodcutters village. They stand silent and foreboding, watching and waiting for something. What did they see, and can you avoid the same fate?  (Author:  Charlie Scott)

I am surprised and pleased by how well the name "Pulp Weird" so fully encapsulates an underlying tone to the DCC RPG - kudos to the fine folks at Mystic Bull who thought that one up!  (I think it was Paul Wolfe?)

New Review & Time Is Running Out & In Other News

New Review:  http://endzeitgeist.com/ezg-reviews-al-5-stars-darkness/

As per, time is running out to extend the range of free stuff as per this post, although you still have a good chunk of time left to qualify to get the free stuff.

In other news, it has occurred to me that a series of one-shots in a public space isn't really what Toronto needs....perhaps what it needs is an ongoing campaign in a public space wherein you can drop in and drop out as you are able to play, centering around a megadungeon, as was the case in Gary's day?  That wouldn't preclude one-shots, but it means that characters would become a greater investment for their players.

Any thoughts?

The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected

A Tale of the Road Crew

So, as of today I have been prepared for three outings to play in local game stores in the Toronto Area. 

Last weekend, I ran Harley Stroh’s excellent Sailors on the Starless Sea at Wizard’s Cache.  The venue was loud, as there were three Pathfinder Society games going on in the same space, and the tables were not overlarge.  But six of us crowded around the table, I leaned in to be heard, and we had a blast.  One of the players I had met on Free RPG Day last year, and another I had met online on Dragonsfoot.  It’s always nice to greet people we know, and to be able to put a face to an online persona.

Today, I was at Duelling Grounds at 11 am sharp, to run The Arwich Grinder, a Lovecraft-inspired 0-level funnel that I had written for Crawl! Fanzine.  I waited an hour, but as no one showed up, I called the event and headed home.

At 4:30 pm, I was at 200 King Street East for The Imperishable Sorceress, at an event hosted by Hairy Tarantula, which was supposed to begin at 5 pm.  Because HT had a large turnout for Magic, they moved the rpg events to the basement cafeteria.  If anyone went to the 6^th floor looking for the game, I apologize.  As the elevator to 6 was not in service due to construction, you might have felt a little like Arthur Dent looking for the zoning commission plans.  I know I did.

In any event, D&D Next took up the space until 5:30, so there was no event, and if anyone had come looking for it, they went away disappointed.  Again, I apologize if this was the case.  I must admit that, at this moment, my momentum tracker was showing that I was losing the spell duel.

I did use the extra time constructively, and drafted a new wizard spell for a project I am working on.

Yet, as there were still some gamers hanging around talking, and as I’d schlepped my materials all that way…I decided to take the opportunity to proselytize DCC.  I mean, why not?  And, as it turned out, we ended up playing a bit of The Arwich Grinder before George Brown College Security kicked us out of the building (apparently, HT didn’t bother to notify security that there was an event scheduled there after D&D Next.

So, what did I learn?

(1) Never schedule a game on Free RPG Game Day at a store that is not participating in Free RPG Day.

(2) Try to partner with stores that will at least take some action to talk to customers about your event.  If you notice that they didn’t bother to put it up on their calendar board (Duelling Grounds) or discover that they didn’t even notify security that you would be there (Hairy Tarantula), consider a more proactive venue.  Wizard’s Cache was much better in this regard.

(3) Pay attention to what you schedule against.  I received emails from some of the Wizard’s Cache participants about scheduling conflicts, although they were interested in the other events.

(4) Never give up.  Unless you are completely alone in the store, strike up a conversation and try to strike up a game.  You never know where that might lead you.

Through no fault of anyone (except, I suspect, Canada Customs) no swag was available at any of the three events that I set up.  Well, except for some dice that went AWOL at Wizard’s Cache.  However, swag has been mailed, and additional swag has been ordered, so it is to be hoped that the next event will be both more successful and more swag-laden.

So, here is my question for you, Toronto area gamers:  Where would you be most likely to attend an event, and when?  I am thinking that the next events should be Well of the Worm (lvl 1) Tower Out of Time (lvl 2), and Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror (lvl 2), because, presumably, the same characters can be reused, so that the loot you get from one goes on to the others. 

Thoughts?  Interest?  Other suggestions?

A Game of Dungeon Crawl Classics

Saturday June 15th (Free RPG Day) at 11 am, I will be at Duelling Grounds (1193 Bloor Street West) running a playtest of The Arwich Grinder, a 0-level funnel written by myself, and slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Crawl! Fanzine.  All necessary materials will be provided.  

The Curwen Family have lived up among the pine woods on the outskirts of Arwich Village for as long as the oldest village gaffers can remember.   Talk in the village is that they are quiet and clannish – perhaps something odd in their makeup – but when famine hit Arwich hard two winters ago, it was they who  kept many of the villagers alive.  The village owes much to their reclusive neighbours. And now, at last, a chance has come to repay that debt.

At 5 pm, I will be at George Brown College (200 King Street East; 6th floor gym) running The Imperishable Sorceress.  This event is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula North!  Again, all necessary materials will be provided. 

Hope to see you there!

Please be advised that Duelling Grounds is NOT participating in Free RPG Day this year, so if you wish to play in The Arwich Grinder, you may first wish to stop at 401 Games on Yonge Street, which opens early, and is participating.

Games Schedule Update

This Sunday, at 1 pm, I will be running Sailors on the Starless Sea (author Harley Stroh) at The Wizards’s Cache, 333 Bloor Street West in Toronto, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the St. George subway station.  

Find out why villagers are disappearing!  Explore the keep!  Die in droves!  And some of you will become heroes!  All necessary materials supplied.

Saturday June 15^th (Free RPG Day) at 11 am, meet me at Duelling Grounds (1193 Bloor Street West) for an opportunity to playtest The Arwich Grinder, a 0-level funnel written by myself, and slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Crawl! Fanzine.  All necessary materials will be provided.

The Curwen Family have lived up among the pine woods on the outskirts of Arwich Village for as long as the oldest village gaffers can remember.   Talk in the village is that they are quiet and clannish – perhaps something odd in their makeup – but when famine hit Arwich hard two winters ago, it was they who  kept many of the villagers alive.  The village owes much to their reclusive neighbours. And now, at last, a chance has come to repay that debt.

Finally, come with me at 5 pm, or meet me, at George Brown College (200 King Street East) 6th floor gym to experience The Imperishable Sorceress, using either your surviving funnel characters or pregenerated 1^st level characters.  This event is sponsored by Hairy Tarantula North!  Again, all necessary materials will be provided. 

These events are the first of a series.  Surviving characters can and will be used again!  Come try this great game if you are not already a player.  And, if you are already a player, come and play!

Hope to see you there!

TalkingClix & Social Interaction

Reading Black Vulmea’s excellent post on social interaction in role-playing games makes me somewhat concerned that my repudiation of –C’s “On the Immersive Lie” and “On the Fiction First Failure” posts make me sound as though I am averse to rolling dice at all where social interaction is involved.

As Black Vulmea rightly points out, there is a similarity between “I roll Diplomacy!” when involved in a social setting and “I roll Tactics!” when involved in a combat.  Just as we expect the player to determine his character’s own tactics, we expect the player to determine how he approaches a given social interaction.  And, in both cases, dice or other widgets may come into play to resolve what then occurs.

The problem with –C’s posts is the idea that deciding what you do before determining how to resolve the outcome is stopping the play of the game in one post, and damaging to (the non-existent, according to –C) immersion in the other.

Let’s imagine that you have an actual altercation, in real life.  The “tactics” of “rolling Diplomacy” include understanding the opposing point of view as well as ordering your own priorities.  Ordering your own priorities is important because negotiation usually requires compromise, and you may have to cede something you would like to keep in order to gain something you need or just want more.

“TalkingClix” occurs when the GM believes it is just too hard to understand the NPCs’ motivations, and/or the player wants to gain the benefits of negotiation without having the inconvenience of giving anything up.  In some cases, this just means giving up the degree of pride necessary to ask forgiveness or for a favour.  It occurs when you begin to argue that knowing what is happening in the fictive milieu isn’t necessary to resolve what occurs (or even damages resolution), and that, since the fictive milieu isn’t real, immersion doesn’t matter/doesn’t exist/is harmed by seeking to understand what occurs in the fictive milieu prior to applying results.

Effectively, this is an argument that dissociated mechanics are better for resolving action within a role-playing game than associated mechanics.

Whether a character is walking across the floor, riding a horse, climbing a rope, or trying to convince a goblin to let her pass, the dice are rolled if (1) the outcome is in doubt and (2) the outcome matters, typically due to a time limit or some danger involved with failure.  For example, no roll is likely required to kill a sleeping goblin, but a goblin who is armed and aware offers the potential consequence of being attacked in return (with related issues of hit point loss and possible death).

Abstract hit point loss works because it leads to a far less abstract potential outcome:  character death.  I do not think that many players would enjoy a game in which they had no say about what their characters offer in order to “roll Diplomacy” with a kobold.  The consequences are made concrete in a fiction-first system by having the players set them (i.e., “IF you let us cross the river here, THEN my brother will marry one of your daughters.”)  The outcome, if in doubt, may then be rolled for, or engaged through a series of mechanical widgets, based upon the game rules and the desires of the participants.

Mechanics for social interaction are not the problem.  Mechanics that subvert fiction-first, immersive social interaction (i.e., dissociative social interaction mechanics) are.  That is when you find yourself playing TalkingClix instead of a role-playing game.