Re: Mishlers ranting about of the state of the gaming industry and my various responses on various blogs and EnWorld have taken time from my own blogging.
Coming up soon: my review of the Quickstart rules for S&W and the latest with iTabletop.
Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum
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Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Hackmaster 5e Basic - First Inpressions
The cover is awesome. Erol Otis did an amazing job.
Build Points are hard to follow. They aren't explained well and the rules for them are spread out.
Hit Points - the kicker is smaller and classes only get a new HD every other level. Constitution no longer adds a HP bonus per level. Combat looks deadlier.
Spells - spread out with spell levels advancing with character level. Need to look closer.
Haven't finished flipping thru it yet. I think it's more likely I'll steal bits and pieces from Hackmaster Basic then run it whole. I'll know more when I read more.
Build Points are hard to follow. They aren't explained well and the rules for them are spread out.
Hit Points - the kicker is smaller and classes only get a new HD every other level. Constitution no longer adds a HP bonus per level. Combat looks deadlier.
Spells - spread out with spell levels advancing with character level. Need to look closer.
Haven't finished flipping thru it yet. I think it's more likely I'll steal bits and pieces from Hackmaster Basic then run it whole. I'll know more when I read more.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
New and Improved - Same Crappy Posts
Looks like I found my template. Cool. Now on to bigger and better things, like reviews, rants, and general mischief... heh.
Wanted - iPhone App to organize my game planning
Is there any such beast? I'm not looking for a Mind Mapping app but something more along the lines of The Keep by NBOS Software. Any ideas just add a comment.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tenkar's Minor Tidbits - Daev's Healing Draught
Daev's Healing Draught has the look and taste of a normal healing potion, although the astute drinker may notice the after taste is reminiscent of cherry wheat.
Game effects are much like the normal healing potion according to your game rules, at least as far as the character is concerned. Wounds are apparently healed, bleeding stops, bruises seem to fade, pain lessens, etc. In truth these are but illusionary gains... the character suffers no ill effects from his current wounds until he takes damage equal to the amount "healed", at which point all damage is again in effect for the character. This could lead to a warrior still fighting when he should be unconscious or dead. The illusionary healing fades in 24 hrs, again returning the character to his correctly wounded state.
Daev's Healing Draught was conceived as a way for unscrupulous mercenary leaders to get the most fight out of their men while at the same time ensuring there will be less survivors left to collect their pay. The cost of Daev's Healing Draught is generally half of that of a normal healing potion, although some charlatans attempt to pass off Daev's Healing Draught as "the real thing".
(Tenkar's Minor Tidbits will be an irregularly recurring topic. Sometimes the thought strikes you, sometimes its as elusive as a vorpal blade)
Game effects are much like the normal healing potion according to your game rules, at least as far as the character is concerned. Wounds are apparently healed, bleeding stops, bruises seem to fade, pain lessens, etc. In truth these are but illusionary gains... the character suffers no ill effects from his current wounds until he takes damage equal to the amount "healed", at which point all damage is again in effect for the character. This could lead to a warrior still fighting when he should be unconscious or dead. The illusionary healing fades in 24 hrs, again returning the character to his correctly wounded state.
Daev's Healing Draught was conceived as a way for unscrupulous mercenary leaders to get the most fight out of their men while at the same time ensuring there will be less survivors left to collect their pay. The cost of Daev's Healing Draught is generally half of that of a normal healing potion, although some charlatans attempt to pass off Daev's Healing Draught as "the real thing".
(Tenkar's Minor Tidbits will be an irregularly recurring topic. Sometimes the thought strikes you, sometimes its as elusive as a vorpal blade)
VTTs and Me - Part 1
The first VTT I played with was klooge. Boy, was I syched. I purchased a full license and 5 floaters for players... and used the program all of once. That one time was to playtest a Rolemaster ruleset for klooge.
Klooge might be one of the first, but it has a steep learning curve and I have yet to find the will and desire to learn how to use it in any serious manner. Damn shame too, it. It has potential but it's community is fairly small.
edit: Hmm, looks like it was updated earlier this year and apparently has 3.5 and 4e settings built in. Alright, I'll have to give it another look. It's a java program, so it doesn't look as pretty as the new kids on the block.
-- Post From My iPhone
Klooge might be one of the first, but it has a steep learning curve and I have yet to find the will and desire to learn how to use it in any serious manner. Damn shame too, it. It has potential but it's community is fairly small.
edit: Hmm, looks like it was updated earlier this year and apparently has 3.5 and 4e settings built in. Alright, I'll have to give it another look. It's a java program, so it doesn't look as pretty as the new kids on the block.
-- Post From My iPhone
Sunday, July 12, 2009
iTabletop - The waiting is the hardest part - Part Two
Silverlight 3 has been officially released by Microsoft. What does this mean for iTabletop?
we've been waiting for this patiently. We did not want to develop against Silverlight 3 during its beta, but rather desired to wait until an official release so that we could be sure 3 was out before SilverTable was ready for prime time.
So now - the project will be updated to Silverlight 3, and we can use some of the great new features.
Silverlight is proving to be a perfect choice for this application and a pleasure to work with.
James
Will iTabletop Silverlight 3 update make a summer 2009 release? I don't know. I do know I am really eager to see what James and the rest of his staff come up with. What little I've seen looks really good, and that is at least a month old in developement.
we've been waiting for this patiently. We did not want to develop against Silverlight 3 during its beta, but rather desired to wait until an official release so that we could be sure 3 was out before SilverTable was ready for prime time.
So now - the project will be updated to Silverlight 3, and we can use some of the great new features.
Silverlight is proving to be a perfect choice for this application and a pleasure to work with.
James
Will iTabletop Silverlight 3 update make a summer 2009 release? I don't know. I do know I am really eager to see what James and the rest of his staff come up with. What little I've seen looks really good, and that is at least a month old in developement.
New Look, Same Old Taste
I've been playing with the settings of this blog over the weekend, hoping to get a look that I like. This one seems to be clean without the waste of space the old template had. Not saying this is my final choice, but for now I'll run with it.
Intro to Dragon Warriors - Capsule Review
First things first, it's available as a free download from RPGNow. I like free. I also like ice cream, but I digress.
What does the reader get for his downloading time?
Two of the seven classes from the full rules. The rules of the game. A section detailing the setting. A sampling of monsters. A short adventure.
You get alot for very little.
I'm gonna give it a 5 for value and a 5 for DX-ability. It looks damn fine on my DX.
(full disclosure - I bought the full rules from RPGNow.com last nite and will be giving them a full read thru)
-- Post From My iPhone
What does the reader get for his downloading time?
Two of the seven classes from the full rules. The rules of the game. A section detailing the setting. A sampling of monsters. A short adventure.
You get alot for very little.
I'm gonna give it a 5 for value and a 5 for DX-ability. It looks damn fine on my DX.
(full disclosure - I bought the full rules from RPGNow.com last nite and will be giving them a full read thru)
-- Post From My iPhone
Nevermet Press - a new way to breath life into the old?
I find this concept very interesting, enough to copy the intro to their site and make it a blog entry. Hell, I might even participate.
Nevermet Press offers system independent content for use with any tabletop roleplaying game. Our content is community driven and supported. Once you find content you want to use, look for links to blogs participating in our Distributed Workshop program for system specific support of your preferred roleplaying game.
Time will tell. I'll be keeping an eye on this.
Nevermet Press offers system independent content for use with any tabletop roleplaying game. Our content is community driven and supported. Once you find content you want to use, look for links to blogs participating in our Distributed Workshop program for system specific support of your preferred roleplaying game.
Time will tell. I'll be keeping an eye on this.