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The theme of 2017

I have been looking back at a few posts from this year. One of the recurring themes seems to be that none of us are in love with Channelling magic. I have stated that you could do away with it and roll the spell lists into mentalism and essaence very easily. The very core concept that Channelling magic is an act of god makes no sense at all when you take Shadow Worlds gods into account as they are not divine beings, just very powerful mundane ones.

Brian’s rewrite of the respective clerical base lists really shows what Channelling could have been but isn’t.

Does channelling magic need more love?

I think the problem with the Channelling realm is twofold. The first is Life Giving. If it is in your campaigns and generally available then it takes a major element of threat out of your games. If you don’t allow it then you have taken the one thing that Channelling can do that no one else can out of the game.

The other problem is the Paladin. This the ultimate icon of the Channelling realm. The pin up boy of heroines everywhere. To make the Paladin work in off the shelf Rolemaster required all sorts of patches and fixes. The RoCo1 profession is generally considered overpowered and without the ‘transcend armour’ skill potentially non functioning. If you play with fully featured encumbrance rules then the Paladin is in trouble again.

On the other hand a Mentalism Paladin works just fine and there is already a profession. I mean of course the Noble Warrior, that is a Paladin without gods.

The Forgotten Realms is the setting for my campaign. In this setting the idea of clerics Raising Dead is not a problem. It cuts both ways in that dead characters can be brought back but so can evil villains and an arch Nemesis. (Do you reckon the plural of Nemesis is Nemesi? Spell Check doesn’t like it!)

I have a game running right now that is RMC pretty much Rules As Written (RAW). That game has professions and all three realms. I am hoping to start a game later this year with my profession-less, level-less, Realm-less and with emphasised Stats. If that test game works as well as I had hoped and the players have fun then that could be the death of the Channelling Realm for me!

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Amazing Treasure Hoards!

Do long-time rpg’ers get desensitized to treasure? I think I was 11 or 12 when I first saw the Basic box cover and was fascinated by the treasure and items in those colorful illustrations. I was equally fascinated by Mel Fishers treasure hunting and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist or treasure hunter myself.

My first D&D adventure was just me and my friend and he ran me through a very simple layout: stairs, corridor, pit trap, slime, metal bars, and a treasure chest. Like you, that simple format hooked me into D&D and roleplaying from then until now. I wonder if it was the inevitable monty-haul, or just the sheer amount of treasure needed to level up when 1gp = 1 exp. Over at RM Forums there was a short discussion of generic treasure (for instance 2000 gp, 5000 sp, 10000 cp and a gold sceptre) but that feels more like an accounting tally than an awe-inspiring treasure hoard. After playing for 30+ years, can you recover that sense of wonder and delight? I think part of OSR is due to older gamers wanting to recapture those golden days when roleplaying was “an elegant weapon for a more civilized age”.

I’m not sure we can ever relive those heady days, I tried re-playing Basic, Expert and AD&D and it sucked! However gaze in wonder at real life treasures for inspiration in your own adventures and campaigns.

Bronze Age microscopic gold work from around Stonehenge.

The Malagna Treasure.

The Eberswalde Hoard.

The Treasures of Troy.

The Staffordshire Gold Hoard.

Varna Man.

Scythian Treasure 

Intricate worked gold, delicate jewelry, master crafted vessels. Treasure can be more than gold coins, they can be works of art.

 

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Monumental Sculptures. Fantasy & Reality.

I found this shot, from the TV show Lost to be evocative. Perhaps more so because it’s just a remnant of a much larger construct. The mind fills in the blanks–envisioning the size and appearance of the “original” construct. There is something awe inspiring in monumental architecture and sculpture and it’s often featured in fantasy illustrations and images.  I’m reminded of this powerful shot from Jackson’s Fellowship of the Rings.

But massive statues are not just found in the realm of fantasy.  Our own world is scattered with ancient and contemporary works of similar magnitude. A few of my favorites:

Like the foot from LOST, this is The Hand of Hercules, the remnant of what is believed to be a massive statue. The only other part found is from the elbow, but based on the size of these parts the statue would have been 13m in height (43′)–making it one of the largest known marble sculptures.

One of the great wonders of the ancient world was the Colossus of Rhodes. Few believe that the statue actually straddled the entrance to the harbor, but it was huge and real–the pieces of the statue were recorded by later travelers.

Other famous statues are the Colossi of Memmon. Each is almost 18m (60′).

Did you know that many of the maoi statues on Easter Island only have their heads exposed? The bulk of these statures are buried under ground. (an interesting note is that they have the “hand/navel” found found on other ancient statues throughout the world and cultures)

For modern sculptures few can beat the towering “Motherland Calls“.  At 285′ it’s almost twice the height of the statue of liberty.

How about Genghis Khan in Mongolia!

Finally, one of my favorite. Unfortunately, this one was apparently destroyed by rebels and might have been a contemporary construction. But still cool.

Megalthic architecture, massive statues and awe inspiring structures can add flavor to your RPG game–but you don’t have delve into a fantasy realm to find them!

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Rolemaster Blog Crowdsource Challenge: 50 RM adventures in 50 weeks.

So, let me start with this–I’m not a believer in decision by committee, so when I say “crowdsource” what I really mean is a tight group of competent people with differing skill sets.

There was an attempt at crowdsourcing an adventure module on the Forums. I have no idea how far it got, but apparently it’s stalled?

I’m thinking something different–a quick and dirty production of easy to adopt adventures, scenarios, layouts or campaign seeds via the RolemasterBlog.com. After Peter’s recent blog post, “An Explosive Situation”, it’s clear to me at least that a small, flexible group of experienced GM’s/players could publish frequent and interesting material–lower in scope than a sanctioned or published product. Peters blog and few comments generated a small conflict drop in adventure. Random encounter tables can generate a whole slew of random adventure hooks…etc.

Yes, there is already many small “one-off” products online. I’m suggesting a Rolemasterblog.com specific product line using the talents already associated with, connected to, or participating in the community. We would need a few content writers, a map/battle map/layout person and a pagemaker/publisher type. This would be a d100 system or agnostic product.

Wow, this seems like a small game company startup. Not really. This is a crazy challenge of 50 adventure vignettes in 50 weeks. Is this possible? I think so just based on the word count of RM Forum participants.. Let’s start in September 17 to September 18.

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Rules or Setting?

My somewhat recent post about time in campaigns got me thinking about another of my favorite topics (aside from modern gaming): the relationship of a rules system to its setting. In my view, the best rules systems are always strongly tied to a specific setting. This isn’t so much about stats or combat mechanics, but rather classes/professions, races, and cultures.

Continue reading “Rules or Setting?”

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Shadow World: Master Encounter Table

One of the earlier files I posted on the Shadow World thread was a master encounter table. I put a lot of work into it, included every creature, plant, herb, profession, race or group found in SW Canon products.  These encounter categories include: weather, accidents, essence, flora, herbs, creatures, creature (unusual), humanoids, groups, sub groups, vehicles, professions, objects, structures, events, special.

It starts with an encounter category table divided into simplified environmental zones with sub tables depending on the result. It also has two aux charts for distance to encounter and attitude/behavior of encounter if applicable. With just these tables it is easy to randomly generate SW encounters on the fly, generate a quick NPC group or other random event or encounter.

But oddly, I got fewer messages or feedback on the encounter chart than I did with many of the other uploads. I’ve included it below in Excel format so it’s easy to change, adapt or expand as needed.

SW Encounter Charts

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Project BASiL: Channeling & Essence

I’m starting the process of consolidating all of my uploaded files on the RM Forums over here to the Rolemasterblog.com. I’ve uploaded over 200 docs scattered throughout the Rolemaster and Shadow World threads, but to see them or download them requires a user account.

These are just the lists and not the associated notes that accompany each. For info on our Channeling mechanics, I blogged about it HERE and for Essence mechanics HERE.

Channeling pt 1

Channeling pt 2

and an extra Channeling List “Channeling”

Channeling

Essence pt1

Essence pt2

Essence pt3

And Cantrips we use is our SW campaign.

Cantrips

 

 

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An explosive situation…

Imagine this set up.

It is a small walled town or more accurately a settlement. To the east of the market square is the manor house, to north at ground level are a few shops to cater for trade caravans and above them a hostel or flop house for itinerants. The west has the gate house and the south facing on to the market place is a taverna with seats spilling out into the square.

Our characters should ideally be sat at the taverna, outside. Maybe they are waiting to meet a patron or even waiting to get paid? We will come back to the characters later.

The sun is just coming up over the town walls and it is going to be a fine day.

Let us take a look behind the closed doors and behind the shutters.

In the manor house we find a home is shock and disarray. During the night the master of the house has been assassinated and the only living heir is missing. Guards were killed at their posts and often without any sign of struggle. The women folk are in shock and the men are split between the hawks who want to turn the town upside down to find and kill the assassins and the doves who are only concerned with the safe return of the missing heir. A runner was sent to the gate house before dawn to tell them there were assassins in the town and to not let anyone in or out.

Across the square the gatehouse is filled with pent up energy. The gate will not open today. Eyes are scanning the horizon outside the town looking for any trace that armed men and a hostage may have escaped during the night while others scan the town looking for suspicious foreigners.

At the flop house on the top floor we find a group of eastern looking assassins. Maybe they are of some ancient holy order dedicated to refining death to an art maybe they are masters of infiltration.  right now they have look outs watching the market place looking for the first signs that their work has been discovered and of the heir who is still to die. Three storeys below them one of the shops is that of a weaponsmith and pawnbroker. The owner was wakened not too long ago by the missing heir who was looking for a safe place to hide. The last thing his dying father had said was run and protect yourself, you must survive. Our young heir has no experience of weapons, more adept with a pen than with a sword. As it is easy to use the young heir is shown how to load a heavy crossbow. The weapon is heavy and awkward for the young man and whoops! A loosed bolt shatters a pane of glass in the shop front and flies across the empty square towards the taverna.

So our characters are sitting their minding their own business, just waiting to get paid when the crack of breaking glass grabs their attention. Does the bolt hit anyone? Who knows?

So what happens next? The party draw weapons and head across the square? Do the assassins see the heavily armed players charging their hiding place? I have the assassins suddenly rappelling down to the square on silken ropes, a blur of scimitars and curved daggers.

What do the guards do when they are suddenly faced with a market square filled and erupting battle? Out into it all rushes an embarrassed and somewhat ashamed young heir who can only stammer “I am so terribly sorry, it was an accident…” knowing he may have hurt someone with his errant crossbow bolt.

All of this attracts the attention of those in the manor and the first sight of the young heir is enough to bring the remaining household guards from the manor charging out to save the son.

So how do your players react to this? Obviously the entire powder keg situation here is contrived and the trigger is applied by you the GM.

Even if the party does not charge into the attack the second the young heir steps out into the square to apologise the assassins are going to leap into the attack.

So can the party work out who are the good guys, who are the bad guys and who is completely innocent? Can they resist letting off fireballs in a now rather crowded market square?

Will the heir survive?

There is no real point to this post other than that I was reminded this week that the original reason for starting this blog was to provide playable material so there you go, a little town encounter for you.

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I’m curious. Magic item ubiquity in your Rolemaster or Shadow World game.

 

I’ve followed several forum threads on the “commonness” of magic and magic items and thought I would ask people what they would consider as an average magic item kit for various professions at 5th lvl.

In general, in your game, what would the following have for magic or bonus items (but be specific on item and bonus, power or ability):

5th lvl Fighter

5th lvl Magician

I’m on the rarity end of the spectrum, plus I use a lot of single use magic items and roll for breakage on items. If I were starting players at 5th lvl I would do something like this:

Fighter. +10 non magic superior armor. +15 weapon. 2-5 single charge items (a mixture of protection or healing). maybe a Daily II item (offensive spell) if the group is small or it needs some skill diversity.

Magician: x2 PP multiplier. 2-4 Daily I-IV items (around 5th level spells for protection and attack). 2 Charged Items. 50 pp’s in storage (essence crystal)

My spell users have far fewer spells than traditional RM, so I add basic capabilities through daily items and charges. I generally provide a good level of PP’s, but I use unpredictable Essaence effects  (in our encounter tables) so casters face gain/loss of PP’s or increase in casting failure.

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