Does This Come Off As Fun?

Sorry for missing this past weekend's R&R post.  If time permits, I'll try and get something out later in the week and, if not, it will have to wait till the next one.  Despite throwing out my back last Thursday morning, I still had a great weekend (with the assistance of a lot of pain killers) at the Montreal F1 Grand Prix.  Despite being mostly away from the house this past weekend (Friday through Sunday), between the various events, I was still able to keep up to date with the various musings and blogs I follow.  Well, while I was having a blast at the Grand Prix, others were having fun at the North Texas RPG Con.  While it's a bit far for me, it was nice to see some news coming out of the con but one post kind of bothered me -- it was "Matt's First Game".  To quote directly from the blog:

"There's a fish in the wall opening and closing it's mouth" Matt explains.
Johnny says "I stick my pinky in".
Matt exclaims "a dagger shoots out and slices it off".

Now, I'm sure there will be many readers out there that won't see an issue with that.  Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way but, if I was one of those players, I'm not so sure if I'd be very amused.  Granted, I am not the type to just stick a finger, hand, or arm into weird holes and experience and knowledge of a certain Tomb of Horrors reinforces that wisdom and precautions one should take.  Swords & Wizardry is decidedly very old school in terms of play and feel and it is the ref's right to be as arbitrary as he wants to be.  However killing or maiming indiscriminately is nothing to be taken lightly.  That said, I could be taking this out of context -- Matt could have rolled a save for the player and, if so, fine.  I can certainly accept this better if there was the inclusion of the 'luck factor'.  Here's another quote:

A little while later. A player states "I want to try to break the diamond armor"
Matt states "You may try".
"Okay what do I roll" questioned the player.
Matt declares "A million sided dice. what, I said you could try"

This other passage also bothers me a bit if only because Matt seems to come across to be as a bit smug.  Context as always is everything, but if I didn't know the GM and was participating in a game at his table during a con, I'd be annoyed here too.  Not because I couldn't do something in the game but rather how it was handled.  Sure... have him roll a d20 with a near impossible chance of success or even no chance of success but don't toy with the player for the benefit of delivering a cheap joke.  Maybe, in the old school spirit, have the player describe how he will go about to breaking the armor and then decide and describe the results of his attempt.  Who knows?  The player may have come up with an interesting idea if given the chance and been encouraged to do so.

For a game amongst regulars, you can argue that the gloves come off and that's fine.  Everyone has a preferred style of play and I certainly don't want to fault Matt here as those two snippets were the only ones I read and I wasn't there.  Here's the original LINK.  I do think that caution is warranted though.

You see, the hobby in general has its share of challenges if it is to continue to survive and possibly thrive.  We need new players and, for some of those players, they need to learn to approach many of these games like S&W different than how many a third or fourth edition game of D&D was played.  In other words, through interactive description and role playing as opposed to beat a set of numbers with some dice.

Encouragement and positive reinforcement is needed -- especially if you are dealing with some potential new players to the hobby.  I only mention this now because Free RPG day is less than a week away and, hopefully, there will be many game demos being down at local game stores across North American.  No matter if the game is old school or new, the approach you take to run the game may impact possible sales and further interest in the game you're promoting.

So, for those of you who are running a demo this coming weekend or in the near future, happy GMing and be kind but fair as you are the ambassadors for the hobby.

M

For Sale: Dungeon Crawl Classics lot

Before I added this to the regular list of clearance items I have listed on the blog (HERE), I thought I'd highlight this first ... for Sale is pretty much the entirety of the d20 run of Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics modules.  I saw pretty much since it covers all the regular releases but there are a couple of the more elusive 'x.5' modules which are not part of the set.  One that immediately comes to mind is DCC 3.5, "The Haunted Lighthouse".  Here is the list and note that I am trying to sell these as a set *but* am willing to break up the set in a very specific manner (more about this after the list):

DCC 0 - Legends are Made, Not Born
DCC 1 - Idylls of the Rat King
DCC 2 - The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho
DCC 3 - The Mysterious Tower
DCC 4 -  Bloody Jack's Gold
DCC 5 - Aerie of the Crow God
DCC 6 - Temple of the Dragon Cult
DCC 7 - The Secret of Smuggler's Cove
DCC 8 - Mysteries of the Drow
DCC 9 - Dungeon Geomorphs
DCC 10 - The Sunless Garden
DCC 11 - The Dragonfiend Pact
DCC 12 - The Blackguard's Revenge
DCC 12.5 - The Iron Crypt of the Heretics
DCC 13 - Crypt of the Devil Lich
DCC 14 - Dungeon Interludes
DCC 15 - Lost tomb of the Sphinx Queen
DCC 16 - Curse of the Emerald Cobra
DCC 17 - Legacy of the Savage Kings
DCC 18 - Citadel of the Demon Prince
DCC 19 - The Volcano Caves
DCC 20 - Shadows in Freeport
DCC 21 - Assault on Stormbringer Castle
DCC 22 - The Stormbringer Juggernaught
DCC 23 - The Sunken Ziggurat
DCC 24 - Legend of the Ripper
DCC 25 - Dread Crypt of Srihoz
DCC 26 - The Scaly God
DCC 27 - Revenge of the Rat King
DCC 28 - Into the Wilds
DCC 29 - The Adventure Begins
DCC 30 - The Vault of the Dragon Kings
DCC 31 - The Transmuter's Last Touch
DCC 32 - The Golden Palace of Zahadran
DCC 33 - Belly of the Great Beast
DCC 34 - Cage of Delirium
DCC 35 - Gazetteer of the Known Realms
DCC 36 - Talons of the Horned King
DCC 37 - The Slithering Overlord
DCC 38 - Escape from the Forest of Lanterns
DCC 39 - The Ruins of Castle Churo
DCC 40 - Devil in the Mists
DCC 41 - The Lost Arrows of Aristemis
DCC 42 - The Secret of the Stonearm
DCC 43 - Curse of the Barrens
DCC 44 - Dreaming Caverns of the Duergar
DCC 45 - Malice of the Medusa
DCC 46 - The Book of Treasure Maps
DCC 47 - Tears of the Genie
DCC 48 - The Adventure Continues
DCC 49 - Palace in the Wastes
DCC 50 - Vault of the Iron Overlord
DCC 51 - Castle Whiterock
DCC 51.5 - The Sinister Secret of Whiterock
DCC 52 - Chronicle of the Fiend

I should not that 9 of these modules are part of the two box set compilations that Goodman Games released.  These modules were simply repackaged in this manner and there is nothing to distinguish these from those that were sold separately.

Anyway, it's a lot of material ... so much that it would probably HAVE to ship in two boxes.  Shipping in North America for the size and weight of this material is ALSO costly.  Let me clearly state that the cost to ship all of this (in two boxes) will cost me over $100.  So, how much am I asking for?  Originally I priced all of this INCLUDING shipping for a total of $450 (or in other words the value of the books themselves are in the $300-350 range).

That's a huge chunk of change EVEN if it is a fraction of what these originally cost.  DCC 35 alone is sought after and I have seen it sell for $150 (though personally, I find that ridiculous).  Some of you may even have some of these which make the investment less than appealing and I realize that is the big problems with trying to bundle sales.  There are some items that also hold some value to me as well.  With this in mind I offer two options.

Option A) You get the majority of the set.  Excluded are DCC 29, DCC 35, DCC 39, DCC 48, DCC 51 and 51.5.  In other words the two hardbacks, the DCC screen, and the two significant box sets are not part of this option.  The value of this option drops considerably as a result and the total (with shipping) I'm asking for is $225.00.  That's half the price of the complete lot with included shipping.

NOTE: If a buyer accepts this option by midnight on Wednesday (EST), I will let this go for $180.

Option B) DCC 35 added back in for an additional $60 more.  Attempts will be made to ship it in the same box as the rest of the stuff though there is a chance it could ship separately if I can't find something big and sturdy enough.

Option C) The whole lot *but* by committing to buying by midnight on Wednesday (EST), the entire lot can be yours for $350.

Honestly, I think it's a pretty good deal though I will have to restrict this to Canada and the continental USA. If you live abroad and are interested, feel free to contact me and we can look at the possibility.  I will accept Paypal only for this and I can be reached at:

patbellavance (at) sympatico (dot) ca

Feel free to ask any questions or email me to accept any one of these options.  Payment and address confirmation will be handled subsequently.

M

Weekend R&R: The Arcanum

Yesterday, I spent some day contemplating the Cleric and the possibilities and directions one could take it.  I also made a point to re-acquaint myself with a book entitled 'The Monks of War' which details with the various martial/militaristic orders of the church such as the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights for some additional inspiration.  I also decided to look through some of my other gaming material for some inspiration and that's when I spotted my copy of the Arcanum (the first book in the Atlantis Trilogy).  I subsequently thought that the Arcanum would make a great post for this week's Weekend R&R entry.  And so here we are.

The Arcanum system has had an interesting history and it's origins are rooted in supplements for fantasy role-playing games.  These were the Compleat Adventurer, the Compleat Alchemist, and the Compleat Spellcaster and they were often used in conjunction with AD&D.  These supplements were essentially the seeds which eventually grew into the Arcanum RPG -- a game that took many queues from but sought to improve upon what was offered in some of the RPGs of the time.  Particular focus on skills and magical systems helped the game stand out.  The game grew and acquired a following with some fans adopting the rulebook as a comprehensive collection of house rules.  Others accepted the game wholeheartedly and adopting it as their game of choice.

The result of all this was Talislanta.

Looking back at the Arcanum though reveals an interesting shift and desire to clearly define a gaming experience but retain a simplicity and familiarity while providing a more detailed system.  In some ways, the game was ahead of its time and it offered people familiar with D&D options which were otherwise unavailable. As a game system (by today's standpoint), it's far from perfect but there is much still valid today -- especially given the popularity of the OSR.  Marrying some of the rules in here and, say Swords & Wizardry, would be to the delight of many gamers.

The book itself covers many of the things one would expect from a game that is clearly inspired from D&D -- there are over 30 professions (classes) and the character is very much defined by attributes as well.  The difference here is that there are 8 (not 6) but 5 of which will be instantly recognizable.  Characters gain skills based on their class as well as their background.

Combat and Saves are all done with a d20 with appropriate mods from attributes, level, and other modifiers. Many other types of actions are also done in a similar manner which probably makes the Arcanaum the first d20 game.  In relation to combat, there is a chance to defend and any hit that goes through is soaked by the armor with the difference impacting on a characters health.  In other words, wearing armor does not make it harder to hit you.

Of course, many of these concepts have brought brought into the D&D games we know in subsequent years since the Arcanum's release.  The first two editions of the Arcanum were released prior to the arrival of AD&D2E.  I suppose that, to a degree, this does invalidate some of the Arcanum's wonderful charms.  The book is also not that well organized in my opinion.  But it remains an interesting work and -- if nothing else, the section of magic and alchemy helps give a flavor that most of the D&D games sorely lack.

To date, the Arcanum has seen three editions with the third being released by Death's Edge Games.  This third edition is essentially a reprint of second edition with some minor layout changes.  The cover for the third edition does not look anything like the previous editions and, while there is some dislike of the new cover, it is decidedly cheaper and still possible to get a new copy if you look around online.  Older used copies of the first and second editions run easily for $30 to $40 for a copy in fair condition.  Compare this to $20 for a new copy at Noble Knight Games.  Unfortunately, I don't believe a PDF edition is available for purchase.

There are only two additional footnotes I can give for the Arcanum:

1) Some time ago, the IP was secured by Khepera who managed to put out 'Atlantis: The Second Age' game thanks to a successful Kickstarter.  While the system has changed -- it is updated to use the Omni system which is still 'd20-centric' it is very much based on the Arcanum game which was part of the 'Atlantis Trilogy'.

2) It's Priest... in continuation to what I was looking at yesterday, Arcanum presents a priest which has the abilities to convert and to turn undead.  As spellcasters, they do not wear armor and their combat training is considered 'untrained'.  Spells (from memory) are 2 per day plus 1 spell per level and casting level is half their actual level (so a 6th level priest can not cast more higher than 3rd level spells).  This last bit is the same for all spell casters in Arcanum actually.  It should be noted that the spell lists don't really have any offensive spells

M