#RPGaDAY + Favourite Role Playing Game

The Other White Box.

As I come to the end of the month, it is time to farewell #RPGaDAY. It feels like Deja Vu, due to this Blog Hop from February. After rolling random results with a D30 for the previous two weeks, these are the lucky last questions:

13. Most memorable character death
Covered on the 40th Anniversary of D&D blog hop from earlier this year.

16. Game you wish you owned 

Purely as a fan, the original 7 books of D&D would be great. I've seen them but never owned them. I had the chance to buy the first two boxes of Warhammer Fantasy and decided not to. I now kind of regret it, even though I never played Warhammer 1st edition. I very much doubt I'd have turned down the original white box of D&D though.

Perhaps one day I will find them in a garage sale for a few bucks and grin like a cheshire cat.

Best of British D&D.

19. Favourite Published Adventure 
The Isle of Dread is incredibly versatile. It's my goto module for games on the fly. Like most of the early D&D tournament modules, you can take what you want and run with it. I've always wanted to DM Night's Dark Terror.

27. Game You'd like to see a new/improved version of 

Well, it happened already. A new edition of D&D. Unlike 4th edition, which I didn't buy into, I've been playing D&D 5e over the last month and it really is superb. We're using the adventure from the Starter Set, Lost Mine of Phandelver. The Players Handbook finally arrived in New Zealand last week and I showed it to the group at today's game. Young eyes were wide open with excitement. I think it's flimsy pages are going to take a hammering! I wrote a review on the 5th edition D&D Players Handbook here.

28. Scariest game you've played 

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I don't recall being truly scared playing an RPG but Steve Chadwick ran a spooky Warhammer campaign. Come to think of it, horror was a theme for his Dragon Warriors and GURPS campaigns as well. I played and ran Vampire in the 90s and it wasn't as scary as playing in Steve's games. 

I have scared some players silly running the old school module Tegal Manor (with D&D 3rd edition). It's all about building suspense. The thought of 'what might be about to happen at any moment' is far scarier than 'what's happening right now'. Empty tunnels with distant sounds of scraping, swarms of little furry creatures fleeing something, or the aftermath of a murder are more frightening than a room with five orcs armed with sword and shield.

30. Rarest RPG Owned

I'm not sure. Maelstrom is quite rare and I can't seem to find my copy. I also have MERP, Dragon Warriors, Tunnels and Trolls, (Advanced) Fighting Fantasy, Mordheim... and others that would be classed as rare. The oldest RPG I own is the Holmes edition (1977) of Dungeons and Dragons printed the same year as the 1st edition AD&D Monster Manual, which I also have on the shelf beside it's companions; the Players Handbook (1978) and Dungeon Masters Guide (1979).

31. Favourite RPG of all time
Dungeons and Dragons.

D&D Players Handbook 5th Edition Review

D&D 5e.

I bought the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Players Handbook this week. It took a while to hit the shops here in New Zealand, apparently due to third-party distributors. After shelling out $40 for the Starter Set as a birthday present for a young gamer, $70 (US $59) for the Players Handbook seemed reasonable, even though it's twice the price I would pay online from Barnes Noble or Amazon. Here is my review, which is perhaps the first from my country, where we are known for Rugby, Sheep and the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Movies. Oh, and Lorde, mustn't forget her.

In my hands, the 5th edition of my favourite game, Dungeons and Dragons. A solid looking book, all shiny except for half the back cover, especially designed to collect fingerprints. Curiously, the powers that be decided to use the same pamphlet-grade paper that the starter set consisted of. The pages are super thin and feel fragile compared to the sturdy cover. They are certainly thinner than any other rulebooks on my shelves. I hazard a guess at the page weight, maybe 90GSM? It feels more like 80GSM. These flimsy pages are also suffering from a ripple effect that I suspect will only worsen with time. A shame really because the full colour art and illustrations deserve quality paper.

An unusual practice for me, I started reading from the back of the book. Thus, the first page I read was an advert for the starter set and the books to follow this one. Then some character sheets that purely from a graphic design background, leave me wishing they had allowed for the binding. When photocopying these for a game, you won't get the whole sheet because of the layout. Obviously they are just included to look at, in which case they could have been filled in with an example character. Character sheets should be downloaded from DungeonsandDragons.com if you want the whole sheet.

After the character sheets comes an index in what looks like 6 point text. Tiny! Just looking at the page is a headache. I dare not do it under poor light during an evening roleplaying session. Then comes a familiar page of suggested reading material to inspire your gaming. The fantasy works listed look to be a mix of those from the classic 70s edition list (introduced by Gary Gygax) and the D&D inspired fiction written by various authors during the following decades, with something for every level of reader. I spotted books I read as a kid in the 80s (and may never read again)!

Inspiring artwork by Daren Bader.

Eight pages of creatures follow, with game stats, of pets or companions for players with characters that can call (or even turn into) beasts both mundane and magical. Then it's all about the planes of existence and deities of the multiverse; D&D fiction mixed with historical religions. This section ties in all the editions of D&D rather neatly.

The three pages devoted to conditions of incapacitation that may befall your character are peppered with humorous illustrations. It spells out the penalties of everything from blindness and being charmed to complete unconsciousness.

At this point, leafing through the flimsy pages backwards, I was hit with ninety pages of spells and magic. That's a book in and of itself! Seriously impressive stuff and it continues the D&D legacy of spellcasting with some surprises.

I guess the other chapter that you expect well-detailed in D&D is combat and the Players Handbook explains this in a step by step way that new players can pick up easily. It seems to have a mix of different D&D editions also. I never played 4th edition but I can see some elements from 3rd making it into 5th.

While reading the next section about how to play your character and explore the fantasy world I realised this humble adventurer was only at the halfway mark! I light footed it through the next few chapters and bless my soul, the first half of the book is all about character creation. That's a whopping 160 or so pages! Everything you need and a whole lot you probably won't, to create the character of your dreams and your DM's nightmares.

Smallfoot Halfling Gate.

Do I really need this book to play the game I love? No. I have plenty of rulebooks but it's the players (and dungeon masters) with healthy imaginations and good humour that make this game an enjoyable pastime. However, this book has more resemblance to the role playing games I grew up with than the last edition of D&D. The artwork throughout is superb also. Although the Halflings look like T&T Leprechauns! What happened to their feet? Bring back the hairy, big-footed Hobbits of old!

I see this book as the brave new world that 4th edition promised but didn't deliver and a new hope for the next generation of Dungeons and Dragons players. I expect they will be using iPads or tablets, so the physical quality of the book won't be an issue. May it be the beginning of their golden age of gaming!

After all, that's what it's all about. Getting together with friends and having fun. 

Random #RPGaDAY + Paranoia + Mordheim + FF Titan

As I continue my random version of #RPGaDAY, my 30-sider is rolling hot. Here are todays results:
#RPGaDAY - Day 1: First RPG Played

29, 9, 7, 3, 15, 7, 17, 21, 29, 12, 7, 9, 1, 20, 5, 1, 20, 13, 23

So, out of those die rolls I have the following as yet unanswered questions:

17th - Funniest Game you've played

21st - Favourite Licensed RPG

23rd - Coolest looking RPG product / book

17th - Funniest Game you've played

"Imagine a world designed by Kafka, Stalin, Orwell, Huxley, Sartre and the Marx Brothers..." it says on the back of my second edition Paranoia RPG rulebook. I'm not sure we ever did imagine that. How to describe it? It was an underground, post-apocalyptic, dungeon world called the Alpha Complex, run by a maniacal dungeon master, called the Computer. Games usually involved inventing new and fun ways to die. Because you had another five clones, personal vendetta's with other players provided most of the entertainment. That's if the Computer didn't get you first. Because the Computer is paranoid... and we're all traitors.

21st - Favourite Licensed RPG
Dungeons and Dragons. I'm not going to join the edition war but I will say that this sums it up for me:

"A final word to the Dungeon Master from the authors. These rules are intended as guidelines. No two Dungeon Masters run their dungeons quite the same way, as anyone who has learned the game with one group and then transferred to another can easily attest. You are sure to encounter situations not covered by these rules. Improvise. Agree on a probability that an event will occur and convert it into a die roll — roll the number and see what happens! The game is intended to be fun and the rules modified if the players desire. Do not hesitate to invent, create and experiment with new ideas. Imagination is the key to a good game. Enjoy!" ~ Eric. J. Holmes

23rd - Coolest looking RPG product / book

My early years playing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks make the world of Titan an easy first choice, if only for the feelings of nostalgia. Mordheim is a contender also. 

Random #RPGaDAY + D&D 5th Edition

D&D 5e, yesterday at the neighbors.

Autocratik started this blog hop thing called #RPGaDAY. I am doing my best to finish it. Here is some more D30 randomness.

Today's lucky numbers are 5, 20, 15, 14, 12.†

20th - Will still play in 20 years time…

14th - Best Convention Purchase

12th - Old RPG you still play / read

† 5 & 15 answered in previous posts.

20th - Will still play in 20 years time…

D&D. Which will make it a 50th anniversary of playing RPGs for me. I dare not imagine what edition number D&D will sport then... Hey, I'll probably be playing it with the grandkids!

Yesterday I had my first game of the 5th edition with the neighbor and our kids. It felt very much like old AD&D with a few house rules thrown in from other RPGs I've played over the years. It's a superbly wrought edition in my opinion. You can drop anything you don't like quite easily and although it certainly has enough rules to sink a battleship, most of them are to do with 'character background' and stuff we used to make up ourselves back in the day.

I played a pre-gen Folk Hero, a cross between Aragorn and Robin Hood looking at the basic concept on the character sheet. A great starting point to begin play. I'll add all sorts of quirks as the character grows. I called him Garp the Wolfshead, both as a tribute to Robin Williams and using the old name for an outlaw, inspired by the Robin of Sherwood TV series (1984–1986, starring Michael Praed). 

14th - Best Convention Purchase

Food. It always makes for a better gaming experience. Because I'm mean when I'm hungry!

12th - Old RPG you still play / read

D&D. Well, I guess that's half of the answers thus far relating to D&D in some way. The other RPGs I own tend to be used as ideas for D&D also. Even if I'm not strictly playing D&D, I often refer to gaming night as D&D night. Because if you say you're into role-playing games, people tend to think of kinky stuff involving whips and chains. If you say 'I play D&D', they just think you're a geek.

Random #RPGaDAY

Continuing the Random #RPGaDAY with my triacontagon number generator. Today's lucky numbers are 29, 22, 8, 26, and 18.†

22nd - Best Secondhand RPG Purchase

26th - Coolest Character Sheet

18th - Favourite Game System

†Answered questions are rerolled. My triacontagon is rolling high so far!

D&D World of Greyhawk + RQ Borderlands.

Best Secondhand RPG Purchase

I might be sneaky and offer a tie for 1st place. Both of these are boxed-set campaign supplements and were were bought 2nd hand online. 

Inspired by Dave Arneson's Castle Blackmoor, Gary Gygax created his own home campaign, Castle Greyhawk, which he used to continue developing the Dungeons and Dragons game. Rob Kuntz later helped expand this setting to become the (AD&D) World of Greyhawk. If I were to ever publish my own game setting (The Known World of BlackHawk), this would be the blueprint. The words 'detailed' and 'comprehensive' come to mind as I turn each page.

Borderlands is a boxed-set RuneQuest supplement published by Chaosium for the Gloranthan setting. I could've bought the fabled Trollpak at the same time but passed. An oversight perhaps, because who doesn't want to play a campaign all about Trolls? Anyway, the Borderlands is not the whole world of Glorantha in a box. Rather, it's a seven scenario campaign that introduces the players to a small region of a world just as fantastic as Greyhawk. It's chock full of great ideas and while Greyhawk offers the world, Borderlands gives you a place to start playing. Plus it has loathsome, disease-spewing Broos!

Character Sheet artwork by Zhue Bajie.

Coolest Character Sheet

The Barrowmaze Character Sheet created by Zhue Bajie. I've been doodling on (and making) character sheets for decades and I'm always turned on by artwork that draws you into the game. Barrowmaze is a classic D&D Megadungeon for  Labyrinth Lord™, which is one of the old-school-revival retro-clones of... classic D&D. The art on the character sheet lets you know you're in for an epic dungeon crawl.

Good layout, with everything you need to know about a character's attributes is certainly part of what makes a cool sheet. For me, the design elements on the page that simplify game mechanics certainly catch my eye first. For example, this character sheet for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

The coolest character sheets have more going on though. See what Last Gasp did with LotFP here. I'm not saying I'll be playing that game on the strength of the character sheet but I admire the artistry, even if I don't agree with all of the content.

Favourite Game System

D&D. 

#RPGaDAY - Random D30 Awesome

Rest In Peace.

In memory of comedian Robin Williams. I've laughed so many times at your subtle genius, it feels strange to know you're no longer on this planet. Today I found out you were also a gamer and it makes sense to me. Thank you for the joy you brought me on dark days. God bless you. Na-Nu Na-Nu.

Continuing the #RPGaDAY randomness with D30 awesomeness. 

Today's lucky numbers are 24, 15, 25... bonus number 10.†

24th - Most Complicated RPG Owned

15th - Favourite Convention Game

10th - Favourite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction

† Because 25 was answered in my previous post.

Most Complicated RPG Owned

I don't think I've got a complicated game on my shelf. I sold my D&D 3rd edition books because I grew to understand that the older D&D editions I had were 'better'. I've played complex games over the years but I haven't kept them. I have MERP but I don't own Rolemaster. I have Basic Role-Playing but I don't own RuneQuest. I don't believe complicated rules make for a better game. I do have campaign and 'splat' books for games I don't own though. RuneQuest Borderlands, Dark Ages books for White Wolf's Vampire and Werewolf, GURPS Magic. I really should own Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, although I do have Mordheim.

Favourite Convention Game

In my life thus far, I can count the number of conventions I've attended on two hands. I've blogged about this here. Conventions are a great place to play all manner of games, which I do, though I'll usually go for D&D before anything else. If I'm running something, it's usually D&D with an old school feel. It's quick and easy to get people playing a game of early edition D&D or AD&D 1st edition.

Favourite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction

Well, I can honestly say I've read a lot of fantasy fiction. The good, the bad, and the ugly. One author's works stand above all others as an example of how most roleplaying games end up. 

Terry Pratchett.

Of course I love the characters and worlds of Tolkien, Burroughs, Lieber, Howard, Moorcock, Le Guin, etc. It's the stuff campaigns are born of. However, once players get involved in the game, campaigns tend to move at a startling speed towards events that you'd read about in a Pratchett multiverse. Douglas Adams and Robert Rankin deserve a mention here also. Sure, every DM starts out with the best of intentions... but then things go all Monty Python. Ironically, if you ran a Discworld campaign, it wouldn't be nearly as funny. The humour usually comes from players taking a game about elves too seriously.

I've also had the good fortune of meeting Terry Pratchett a few times (in New Zealand) at book signings. He's just as witty in person and hugely entertaining.

#RPGaDAY - Day 9: Favourite Die

As I initially thought, getting a post out every day for #RPGaDAY has proven challenging. Also, some of these questions are so very similar to a D&D blog hop from earlier this year. So from now on, to keep this interesting, I'm going to roll a die and answer the corresponding question.

Given that I bought my first D30 in March, I'll be using it to generate the numbers. Consider it my new favourite die, which neatly handles question number 9! What's so ubercool about this D30? Well, it's purple and allows me to use this D&D house rule:

The Big Purple D30 Rule
Once per session each player may opt to roll the big purple d30 in lieu of whatever die or dice the situation normally calls for. The choice to roll the big purple D30 must be made before any roll. The D30 cannot be roll for generating character statistics or hit points.

We Fear No Die!

Today's lucky numbers are 8, 29 and 25.*

8th - Favourite character

29th - Most memorable encounter

25th - Favourite RPG no one else wants to play

*Yes, these were rolled in this order. The 8 was an example of the butterfly effect.

Favourite Character

My favourite character would most likely be a half-orc Wizard named Vok Wightkicker. At 2nd level he kicked a wight, in the heat of combat, more out of desperation than anything else. Of course Vok didn't know it was a wight and suffered the loss of a level for his efforts. However, he did enough damage with that kick to kill it, thus earning the title 'Wightkicker'. The DM was surprised to say the least. The character ended up being published in a Swords & Sorcery (Necromancer Games) module, as a proprietor of a Magic Shop, which is kinda cool.

Most Memorable Encounter

I did mention this encounter somewhere online already but hey, here it is again... It was an enormous dungeon, underneath castle ruins, dominated by a family of red dragons. The party opened a door and walked into a classroom where the characters were compelled to sit at a desk and solve the arithmetic equations that the cane-wielding professors (in academic cap and gown), wrote upon the blackboard. Completely incongruous to the dungeon we had explored thus far, suffice to say we were stunned. This was pre-Harry Potter (mid-80's) and none of us expected it. Eventually, to everyone's relief, Steve's character asked about Pi, giving us an opportunity to escape as the professors huddled around the blackboard in debate. 

Favourite RPG No One Else Wants To Play

First thoughts? My favourite RPG is D&D. However, I don't usually have any trouble finding players. So that leaves me with a RPG that the players don't like... I will ask around.

D&D 4th Edition.

Because of my reluctance to buy it and/or believe it was an improvement on 3rd Edition. That doesn't mean it's a bad game. It's just not D&D the way I want to play it.

#RPGaDAY - Day 7: Most Intellectual RPG

The curious beast that is #RPGaDAY continues...

DragonQuest TSR edition.

6th - Favourite RPG Never get to play?

Never is a strong word, considering anything is fair game on Monday nights. I've played all manner of RPGs, beginning in the 1980s. Back then it would probably be quicker to name the popular RPGs I didn't play. Fast forward a few decades and I'm still checking out games I've never played before. If something about a game really rocks my socks off, I add it to the house rules.

However, one of my favourite campaigns was one using DragonQuest (SPI). I should say 'is' not 'was'... as the GM takes long breaks between games, sometimes lasting years. The game system itself had it's kinks but don't they all? On an online forum I found a post about what one of the guys who designed Dragon Quest said about the game. Apparently he described it as, "Our cheap knockoff of AD&D that nobody bought, even though it was much better."*

Even if it's not an accurate quote, it sums up my feelings about RPGs in general. It had similarities to Chivalry and Sorcery and The Fantasy Trip (ancestor of GURPS), in the same way you find echoes of eloquent rules in all role playing games. I have a DragonQuest (3rd edition, though we mainly used 2nd edition) rulebook on my shelf but I doubt I'd run it as written. Some of the ideas are worth borrowing. Anyway, it's the people you play the game with that really matter. So, I wait for another opportunity to play Dragon Quest.

*Ironically perhaps, it was bought by TSR.

Art by William O'Conner

7th - Most “intellectual” RPG owned?

Considering I don't own every RPG I've ever played, this actually becomes an easier question to answer. Although the rules themselves are not overly complex, Ars Magica is certainly aimed at the more intellectual gamer - every player has a mage character of some sort! Well, they actually play a collection of characters, with the magus taking the central role. You want comprehensive rules for magic? This RPG has them in spades. 15 Arts: 5 Techniques and 10 Forms named with Latin verbs and nouns respectively, for both formulaic and spontaneous spell casting. Ars Magica is so much more than it's elegant magic system and a few elements of this RPG have made their way into D&D 5e. I own Ars Magica 3rd edition (published by White Wolf and later purchased briefly by Wizards of the Coast) but you can download the 5th edition (Atlas Games). It's well worth checking it out if you never have.

Thanks to writing this post I now realise the stunning artwork of William O'Conner. I love his illustrations in Ars Magica and have only now recognised he's the guy that has created the dragons (and more besides) all over D&D's latest editions. He's certainly had a great career!

#RPGaDAY - Day 5: Most Old School RPG owned

D&D 5 Starter Sets.

On the #RPGaDAY list of questions, the following are next:

4th - Most recent RPG purchase
5th - Most Old School RPG owned

I'm going to start with number 5. It's a purchase made a few years ago thanks to ebay and owes much to my recent interest in the early editions of the game I love. To get more old school than the Holmes edition? Well, I do have pdfs of the little brown books found in The White Box. Holmes is better in my opinion. Moldvay, Basic and Expert are also on my shelf and are my most used books nowadays. I also own the first edition AD&D books. They are also superb. They are all part of the journey.

Which brings us to my most recent purchase... the latest D&D Starter Set... as yet unwrapped. Almost $40 to buy here in New Zealand. With our current strong New Zealand dollar, that's about twice what you'd pay in the USA. Is it worth it?

I will know when I open it. Who am I kidding? It's worth it for the box alone.

#RPGaDAY - Day 3: First RPG Purchased

The Redbox Dungeon.

#RPGaDAY - Day 3: First RPG Purchased

I covered this yesterday... however, it looks like a few of these questions could be lumped in one post (in no particular order). So maybe I'll just post something interesting each day, instead of answering the questions? 

One of the curious things about Dungeons and Dragons is how it actually took a while before a coherent set of rules came out. A set that didn't require other books or knowledge of other games before beginning play. Part of this could be explained by the rush to get the original game published before other competitors brought out something similar. However, there seems to be a hangover from those first little brown booklets (1974) that took a while to shake. The Holmes edition (1977) did a lot to cure this hangover. This Dungeons & Dragons 'Basic Set' rulebook was edited by J. Eric Holmes, based upon the original work of Gary and Dave.

Deja Vu?

Of course by 1977, quite a few other 'role-playing' games were on the market. D&D was first RPG out of the gate but the other horses were certainly not far behind. In retrospect, the games that resembled D&D, or were 'improved versions' (D&D with better combat rules, D&D without elves, D&D in space, etc.), didn't really seem to be all that different than the official game. In fact, because the original D&D rules stated you should make things up yourself, 'house rules' were abundant and more important than anything written in the poorly indexed official D&D cannon.

I started playing in the 1980s. The list of RPGs published in this decade is huge! When I bought the Redbox, the Mentzer edition of D&D, the game had already undergone many 'changes' (or 'skins'),  'Advanced' Dungeons & Dragons being one of them. The differences between these two versions was barely noted by the gamers I played with. We used what we wanted from either of the two, including the plethora of RPG source books and magazine articles. We also borrowed from other RPGs, or played those games in a similar way to D&D. We played a lot of them. They all had something new to offer: Inspiration for the next game night (or afternoon).

Next... my recent RPG purchase.

#RPGaDAY - Day 1: First RPG Played

Autocratik (David F. Chapman - writer, game designer, editor and publisher) has started one of those blog-post-a-day things, #RPGaDAY, that help share the love of gaming. I'm on board and you're welcome to join. Come one, come all, as they say. Now I have done one of these before, celebrating the 40th birthday of Dungeons and Dragons: D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop Challenge + Day 2

#RPGaDAY - Day 1: First RPG Played

My first encounter with a Role-Playing Game (before playing the iconic D&D) was the Fighting Fantasy book series, beginning with the classic The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (back in 1982!), a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Russ Nicholson.

#RPGaDAY - Day 2: First RPG Gamemastered

A few years later I purchased the legendary Redbox (D&D Mentzer edition) and my group of school friends were always keen for a game. Those years of playing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks would prove invaluable!

1st - First RPG Played
2nd - First RPG Gamemastered
3rd - First RPG Purchased
4th - Most recent RPG purchase
5th - Most Old School RPG owned
6th - Favourite RPG Never get to play
7th - Most “intellectual” RPG owned
8th - Favourite character
9th - Favourite Die / Dice Set
10th - Favourite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction
11th - Weirdest RPG owned
12th - Old RPG you still play / read
13th - Most Memorable Character Death

14th - Best Convention Purchase
15th - Favourite Convention Game
16th - Game you wish you owned
17th - Funniest Game you’ve played

18th - Favourite Game System
19th - Favourite Published Adventure
20th - Will still play in 20 years time…
21st - Favourite Licensed RPG
22nd - Best Secondhand RPG Purchase
23rd - Coolest looking RPG product / book
24th - Most Complicated RPG Owned
25th - Favourite RPG no one else wants to play
26th - Coolest character sheet
27th - Game You’d like to see a new / improved edition of…
28th - Scariest Game you’ve played
29th - Most memorable encounter
30th - Rarest RPG Owned
31st - Favourite RPG of all time