Before I talk about the Dungeon Grappling RPG Supplement Kickstarter, let me talk about the man behind the project, +Douglas Cole . I've known Doug for a couple of years. I was one of his earlier Youtube interviews (my God, I actually spoke favorably about Ken Whitman in that piece). Additionally, Doug was one of the key members of my "B-Team" adventuring party, a once a month, more or less, delving of Castle of the Mad Archmage. He is also well known as a bit of a GURPS fanatic (and I can say that as a solid Swords & Wizardry fanatic myself.) Doug is one of the more meticulous gamers I know, and I mean that is a good way. I fully expect any project he is involved in to hit the goal post and the some.
I came into gaming with the AD&D 1e rules. If you care to think back on that edition of Dungeons & Dragons, you will remember that the unarmed combat / grappling rules were an unintelligible mess. We never used them. We couldn't make heads or tails from them. If my players wanted to go weaponless, I used to tell them they should have made a Monk instead.
Doug was kind enough to forward me the current rough of Dungeon Grappling. I haven't had time to give it more than a quick glance, but what I have looked at looks good. He even addresses rulesets with descending AC. I'll give this a closer look over the coming week.
Did I mention the buy in is just 5 bucks? Seriously. Currently PDF only, 5 bucks to solve my RPG grappling issues that have dogged me for the last 33 years or so? Priceless...
Thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteLink to old interview with Erik! --> https://gamingballistic.com/2014/01/17/gaming-ballistics-firing-squad-vlogging/
(has text transcript, MP3, and YouTube file link)
I miss that S&W game - it was beer-and-pretzels at it's finest, and if it weren't for that game, I'd not have been re-introduced to D&D through the S&W gateway drug.
I definitely wanted to talk about Descending AC in the book - not the least reason of which was that if one were to claim "S&W Compatible" then Descending AC has to be dealt with. I've messaged Matt at least once to see if my method of dealing with it is satisfactory enough to allow me to put a logo in the book, or on the cover. Answer may well be "no," because I don't do the descending [ascending] AC format - the Grapple DC makes the most sense as an ascending number, and thus one rule rings them all.
Again: thanks for the kind words. At least one backer has already pledged after your post here!
(as a by-the-by, PDF only is to guarantee that there are no kerfuffles with shipping, especially to overseas backers. Shipping overseas is crazy-town these days, and requires a lot of folks in one area of the world to want something. That allows either local print-and-deliver, or using a freight forwarder to get a box or pallet to a common location, and then shipping internally to the country. I don't want my backers to suffer for that difficulty.
ReplyDeleteI do want to see this in print one day, but I'm approaching that cautiously.)
Thanks to the Tavern for their generosity! You guys have the second-highest number of pledges, and fourth highest dollars per pledge. You have my gratitude, and I hope more find their way to the project in the coming days.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny about the grappling rules in the 1st edition AD&D is how important they were supposed to be. P. 105 of the original Players Handbook - the "example of combat" - is all about grappling, morale checks, spell timing by segment - all rules that most DMs ignored!
ReplyDeleteBut having seen a playtest draft of Doug's rules, I can attest to their utility over What Has Gone Before. It makes me want to do a dungeon with a "monster arena" sub-level (or have the PCs get captured and tossed into it)...
It seems to me wastful spending.
ReplyDeleteCurrently exploring a POD option at the $24 level for a PDF and 8.5x11 premium color softcover. Shipping would be included in the pledge.Level might get adjusted lower as numbers come in, but not by more than a dollar or two. Would ship anywhere RPGNow/DTRPG has "regular" shipping prices (so no Brazil, no Asia, etc.)
ReplyDeleteNo longer exploring. New reward tiers are up with POD
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