Holmes Reviewing Moldvay D&D

Just in case you're interested and didn't see it, this is an awesome post of Dr. Holmes' (of the Holmes edition of D&D) review of the "new" Basic D&D set edited by Tom Moldvay.  B/X is still my favorite iteration of the game and it's fascinating to hear a predecessor discuss the changes that distinguish it.  If you love B/X, or just classic D&D in general, check it out.

Holmes Discusses B/X

Oh Snap! It's the new Fight On! Magazine #12

Yes. It is here, and it's got the science with the fantasy.  The following is copied straight from Calithena's post because it's kinda late and I'm pretty buzzed:

Mutants! Androids! Robots! Pure Strain Humans! Fight On! is back, with another 88 pages of gut-wrenching, laser-pulsing, fist-pounding action! Rules variants, tables, adventures large and small, science fiction and fantasy, races, classes, monsters, spells, magic items, NPCs, history, opinion, and lore can be found herein! Featuring art and articles by Mark Allen, Ian Baggley, Lee Barber, Erin "Taichara" Bisson, Daniel Boggs, David Bowman, Simon Bull, David Coleman, Fat Cotton, Michael Curtis, Liz Danforth, Ndege Diamond, Ron Edwards, Kelvin Green, Tim Kask, John Larrey, John Laviolette, Lester, Gabor Lux, Heron Prior, Jeff Rients, Chris Robert, Zak S., Alex Schroeder, Jason Sholtis, Tim "Sniderman" Snider, Jennifer Weigel, and this issue's dedicatee James M. Ward, alongside many others! If want to take your FRP experience to the next level, don't delay - buy this issue and Fight On!

The print version is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/16258333

and the PDF is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/16258563

To encourage you to check us out, we have put two other products on SALE along with the release of Issue 12. These prices won’t last forever! The Fight On! Compiled Compilation +4, combining our first four fabulous issues under one cover, can currently be purchased for $19.99; and Roll the Bones, our well-reviewed collection of fantastic fiction, is available for just $14.99. We’d be honored if you checked one or both out!

The compilation is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/15712103

and Roll the Bones is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/14939306

If you buy by the end of the day TOMORROW (July 15), you can save even more on all of these – lulu is offering a site-wide discount of 20% off everything with the coupon BIG (BIG305AU, BIG305UK for some foreign readers), making this one of the best times to check us out for the first time or check back in if you’ve missed a few issues! While you’re at it, check out some other lulu gaming products – there is a ton of good stuff on there from all kinds of producers.

Thanks for your interest, and whether you pick up an issue or not, keep fighting on!

Table of Contents
Champions of ZED (Daniel Boggs) 3
Fast Company II – Nonhumans (Schroeder & Shieh) 11
It’s All in the Cards (Michael Curtis) 12
The Tomb of Kaman-Doh Rey’d (David Coleman) 17
The Apen (Andrew “The Venomous Pao” Trent) 20
Geologians (Tim “Sniderman” Snider) 22
The Witch Doctor (Scott Moberly) 24
Knights & Knaves (Barber, Green, Rients, & Cal) 25
Grognard’s Grimoire (Erin “Taichara” Bisson) 27
The City State of Dusal Dagodli (Gabor Lux) 28
The Darkness Beneath (Heron Prior & David Bowman) 32
Education of a Magic User (Douglas Cox) 44
Doxy, Urgent Care Cleric (J. Linneman & K. Green) 45
Sir Tendeth (Tim “Sniderman” Snider) 46
Creepies & Crawlies (T. Snider and Jeffrey P. Talanian) 60
Monstrous Ecology (Ron Edwards) 63
Random’s Assortment (Peter Jensen & Random) 64
Curses Gone Wild! (John Laviolette) 65
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Jason Sholtis) 67
Treasure Types (Simon Bull) 68
Dungeon Modules: The Rondo Rooms (Jeff Rients) 69
Pigdivot! (Chris Robert) 72
Where the Action Is (Zak S.) 80
Merlyn’s Mystical Mirror (Gabor Lux & Jo Kreil) 84
Notes from a Master (James M. Ward & Tim Kask) 86

Front cover by Mark Allen (marjasall.com). Back cover by Kevin Mayle. Fight On! logo by Jeff Rients. Jim Ward photos by John Sapienza, Jr. and Breck Ward. Interior art and cartography by Jason Sholtis (4,9,21,67), OSRCon (osrcon.ca: 6), Fat Cotton (7,80), karenswhimsy.com (10), Anthony Stiller (12,64), Black Blade Publishing (blackblade publishing.com: 13), Liz Danforth (15), Hudson Bell (16), David Coleman (17), Netherwerks (netherwerks.blogspot. com: 18,42), Lawrence Raymond (18), Ndege Diamond (19,33,40,47), Lester (22,60,61,86), Centers for Disease Control (24), Kelvin Green (25,45,65), Lee Barber (26,51, Creepies & Crawlies logo, Knights & Knaves logo), Alex Schroeder (27,34), Gabor Lux (28,29,30), Antonio Sant’ Elia (31), Robert S. Conley (batintheattic.com: 32), Heron Prior (37,48,51,52,53,57), Bronze Age Miniatures (bronze agemin.com: 41), Douglas Cox (44), Tim “Sniderman” Snider (46), DEI Games (deigames.com, 46), John Larrey (54,63), Ian Baggley (62), Jennifer Weigel (69,74,79), Matthew Howerter (70), Kevin Mayle (72), Greengoat (75), Peter Schmidt Jensen (83), Henchman Abuse (henchman abuse.blogspot.com: 84), and F. Douglas Wall Publishing (fdouglaswall.blogspot.com: 85).

Xenoscript Transvisualizer

Found within the navigation suite of a spaceship lodged in a dungeon, the Xenoscript Transvisualizer is a piece of Pahreen technology that allows one to read alien text.  To use the XT, one simply mounts it on the noggin, lowers the transvisualizer visor, and examines the text in question.  A turn must be spent on examination, but no roll need be made to decipher the script, the sense simply transfers to the wearer's consciousness via invisible ideation rays (yeah, that's right).

Lost Continent Session 33

(As of late, I've been waffling on whether to post write-ups of our Lost Continent sessions, knowing that I have never really done this before and most anyone reading it would be jumping in mid-story.  Well...I decided to go for it anyway.  Those who find them tedious can easily skip the posts, and it will serve its main purpose well: helping me and my players remember what happened when, and remain recollected when the details of the campaign proliferate.)

Session 33

Bellor Ruthenia, 5th level Moravian Shieldsman
Zoe of Zoe, 5th level Colonist Thief
Tune of Santa Monica, 6th level Stranger Sorcerer
Itchy of the Brotherhood of the Dawn, 7th level Colonist Cleric
Shaan Solo, 7th level Colonist Bounty Hunter

The party has been working out of Pentastadion for the past few months, adventuring professionally as "The Company of the Belching Dragon".  They have taken on odd delving jobs outside of town and under Pentastadion itself, and have attracted the attention of one of the powerful Syndics.  Her attendant, Rolando Blackman, recently negotiated with them, and they contracted to do a practice job: to explore and map a newly discovered underground complex accessible only through the cellar of a brewery in the warehouse district of Pentastadion.

The last session (32) found the Company venturing through the strange hidden door behind the brewery's mash tun again, descending a long stair and exploring what they would discover was the Den of the Thief Kings.  They cautiously moved through several decrepit rooms until they entered a small gallery with portraits hung on all the walls.  Two disparate figures stood on the far side of the room, stock still and unresponsive, staring at a large portrait of a human man.  Upon inspection, the two figures turned out to be a scruffy barbarian type, with pale skin and scant clothing, and a tall, thin, erudite looking man in a robe.  Both appeared alive and well, but completely still.  Tune judged them frozen somehow, perhaps by gazing at the portrait, and had Bellor throw a cloak over the painting.  They examined the rest of the room and found nothing, so as a last measure, Itchy called upon the power of Solus to banish any magical effect in the room.  In a flash of action, both men came to life.  The barbarian spun around and, seeing a sinister figure at his shoulder, stabbed the man in heart.  A tense standoff ensued between barbarian and adventurers while the robed man's life quickly ebbed away.  After attempts at communication proved futile, the party slowly backed out of the room and left the barbarian some space to leave safely.

More exploration of rooms followed, with the discovery of an empty lair and a shadowy altercation with foul humanoids resembling hyenas and covered with coarse bristling fur.  Arrows, plasma blasts and arcane bolts of energy flew back and forth, and several hyena men were slain.  The battle brought on fatigue, however, so the Company retired to a defensible room and locked themselves within for the night.

Session 33 began with the Company rising from a fitful rest in the small room.  Shaan smelled the odor of oil, while Zoe could hear several figures moving in the hallway outside.  Abandoning the better part of valor, Bellor threw open the door and Itchy charged into what he assumed was combat.  He guessed right and was able to engage the last two of the hyena men before they escaped down the hallway.  Itchy slew one, but the other shot a flaming arrow that brought fire licking all about the cleric's divine boots.  Itchy ran to escape the burning oil and Shaan sniped the last of the bestial fiends with a powerful blast of his plasma rifle.

The Company paused to catch its breath, then continued to explore the rest of the Den.  Among other things, they found a prop room used by an ancient thieves' guild.  Costumes and wigs filled numerous chests and wardrobes, but the main attraction was a raised platform set before a mirrored triptych.  A multitude of chains hung down with handles on them.  Itchy was the first to ascend the platform and pull a chain, finding himself immediately 30 lbs. heavier!  Disgusted but undaunted, he pulled again, and was rewarded with a Fu Manchu.

The Company moved on, encountering a shrine to Hermes wherein they gambled with the god, and other less exciting rooms.  (I can't remember anything else, honestly).

When they finished mapping the floor, they ascended the stairs and were immediately intercepted by Rolando Blackman's henchmen, who directed them quickly through panic-stricken streets.  Something was very amiss in the city by the sea.  But that's where we leave our party...

[I've forgotten big chunks of these sessions, apparently, and must set about fixing that by writing notes soon after the next session.]

Next installment: Panic in Pentastadion!

Something is weird on blogger...

The "Stats" section of my dashboard reports that I had 475 pageviews yesterday, and similarly high numbers for the past week or two.  Now, while that would be kind of cool, it's just not realistic.  I mean, very unrealistic.  Is anyone else experiencing this? 

Den of the Thief Kings: Prop Room

Last night we concluded an adventure where the party was tasked with mapping out a newly discovered complex below the city of Pentastadion.  The entryway was through an iron door hidden in the cellar of an abandoned brewery.  After descending a winding stairway, the party found itself exploring the Den of the Thief Kings.

Though not unusually creative in its design, one simple room turned out to be lots of fun (for both Labyrinth Lord and players, I think!):


Prop Room.   A thick burgundy curtain covers the walls of this room, but more importantly it is filled with a multitude of wardrobes and chests.  Each wardrobe and chest contains various costumes and clothing, jewelry and accessories, mostly of low quality but accurate appearance.  They are ratty and moth-eaten, for the most part, and have no value.  At the far end of the room is a large polished metal mirror in triptych, with a platform to stand on and a series of handles hanging by chains from above.  If the handles are pulled while a character is standing on the platform, a random effect is generated:

Roll d6	Effect
1	Skin changes color.
2	Hair style changed.
3	Random facial hair.
4	Gains/loses d4 x 10 pounds.
5	Grows/Shrinks d6 inches.
6	Eyes change color.

The room was used several centuries ago by thieves on the lam.  One quick stop in prop room gave them a disguise with an added twist: a permanent change of appearance.

One of the players tested it out and immediately gained 30 pounds.  He then laughingly tried again--Fu Manchu facial hair! We determined also that one of the NPCs would be goading into trying it also.  An already large warrior, Bellor Ruthenia instantly grew another 4 inches taller.  Russian accented complaints about trying to [Yakov Smirnoff's voice]"fit into peasant bed already big hassle!" ensued.

Good times.

(By the way, there is a hilarious table of Random Facial Hair in one of the issues of Fight On!, written by Jeff Rients, I believe.  I can't remember which, though.  Anyway, this room would put it to excellent use.)

Tattooed, Hairless, Middle-aged Thieves

Under Pentastadion

To Itchy and Tune,

Here's a little map I put together from what I knows and what my buddy Treddo's herd.  I thot you guys could use the help and you've always been big tippers.  Let me know if you guys ever wanna hear some more stories about all those twisty places under Pentastadion.

Thog

 

(Thanks to Dyson for the map making lessons he's posted!)

Robotic Arm and Plexiglass Skull Flap

This is what I randomly rolled when one of the party's NPCs got "repaired" by the little tin men in a recent adventure.  They roam the ancient halls of the underworld picking up and repairing discarded life forms (dead or dying people and monsters).  As they are quite ingenious in their use of the scrap material at their disposal, they often provide extremely unique solutions for replacing the original "equipment".  Often they will drug and pick up an adventurer trying to sleep off his injuries, only to place him back where they found him after they finish their work.  Many a dungeon explorer has found himself thus: awakened as if out of a dream, possessing a slinky-like spring where his mangled foot used to be.

Tin Men
(No. 1-3; AC 6; HD 2; ATT 0; Dmg Nil; AL L.)

These 3' tall tin men are made of hollow pipes and have a hollow, cylindrical torso with a hinged door on the front.  If opened, a small, visible wisp of green or blue mist moves rhythmically within.  Of mysterious origins, they wander the halls of the underworld, seeking "broken" lifeforms to "fix." They will readily help any creature they encounter, regardless of alignment.


Random Repairs (d10)
1. Robotic Arm
2. Clear Fiberglass Breastplate (replaces skin; organs visible)
3. Rubber Tentacle-like Appendage
4. Subcutaneous Metal Plate
5. Wooden Hand (completely wired for movement)
6. Permanent Stone Helment
7. Plexiglass Skull Flap
8. Wooden (workable) Ear
9. Metal/Electronic Forearm that emits Heavy Metal Guitar sound effects once/hour
10. Kaleidascopic Glass Eyeball

The Mysterious Laboratory of the Magi Xoth-ragar

This is coming soon.  We played through it and had a blast, so I'm thinking of posting it up on the blog somehow (this will take some technological fumbling on my part).  Anyone have advice on how to post something that 8 pages or so?

Fight On! #11 Available Now

Another issue of my favorite fanzine just came out: Fight On! #11.  For those of you who haven't seen an issue yet, it always comes through with a tremendous amount of great inspiration.  I read these issues over and over and frequently have a copy on the table while we game.  Below the links is the table of contents for this issue.

You can buy the print version here:
http://www.lulu.com/product/15149828

and the PDF version here:
http://www.lulu.com/product/15150168

Table of Contents
Level Limits & Monstrous Protagonists (John Vogel) 3
Sylvan Elves (Scott Moberly) 4
Vampire: The Delve (Calithena) 5
Sword Priests of Humakt (Baz Blatt) 7
Ducks, Dragonewts, & Draala (Jason Vasché & Cal) 10
The Barbarian King (Gabor Lux) 14
Knights & Knaves (Kristen Lee Knapp) 25
Have Sword – Will Travel! (James A. Smith) 27
Scrolls Gone Wild! (John Laviolette) 28
Grognard’s Grimoire (Baz Blatt) 29
Tables for Fables (Age of Fable) 30
…and three more: (Jeff Rients) 32
Creepies & Crawlies (Erin “Taichara” Bisson) 34
Caverns of the Sea Hag (David Coleman) 37
Education of a Magic-User (Douglas Cox) 44
Doxy, Urgent Care Cleric (J. Linneman & K. Green) 45
Sir Tendeth (Tim “Sniderman” Snider) 46
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Erol Otus, Jason Sholtis, Jennifer Weigel, & John Hitchens) 52
Cavern Adventuring (Calithena) 54
Of Dungeons Dreaming (Sean Wills) 57
Twelve Free-Standing Tombs (Geoffrey O. Dale) 58
Pernicious Undercroft of Dark Matrimonies (L. Barber) 61
Handy Tables for Hexcrawling (Alexey Fotinakes) 63
On Fantasy Chronography (Del Beaudry) 67
Heroquests (Steve Marsh and Calithena) 70
The Darkness Beneath (Matthew Riedel) 72
Bust-up at the Moon and Parrot (Baz Blatt) 81
Doomquest (Scott LeMien) 86

No Labyrinth Lord Tonight

Instead I'm writing up clinical progress notes.  I feel like the kid in front.

Megadungeon Design: Mega-Mini-dungeons

Okay, here's an example of what I was talking about the other day: a megadungeon made up of lots of minidungeons.  The difference, for me, is that my normal megadungeon would have lots of long corridors and generally intersecting areas.  Nasty monsters would lair in a certain area, of course, but there wouldn't be as many areas that were structurally distinct.

On the map below, there are basically three mini-dungeons that articulate at certain points.  This reflects the fact that they are all on the first level below the sewers of an ancient city on the Lost Continent.  Over a couple thousand years (or 10), many cults, government agencies, guilds, etc. have carved out their own areas, often using an abandoned area as an entryway.

In meta-gaming terms, my players can explore a certain area and end with what we have started to consider the perfect mixed emotion: the feeling that you found a new area and explored it's eldritch secrets, while also realizing that the dungeon is far larger and stranger than you could imagine, and that there're still countless hidden hallways and forgotten chambers deep below.

Anywhoo, as I mentioned before, I'm sure this is not new to some.  It represents a nice insight for me, however, in that it's one of the best types of knowledge: those that come from actual play experience and communal realization.

Here's a crappy map:

For those who are wondering...Classic D&D and Labyrinth Lord

I've recently noticed that I get quite a bit more traffic on this page than I would expect.  And I suppose it's because I talk about D&D and lots of people my age are searching the internet to see what's become of their estranged friend, old-school D&D. 

So for those interested in Old School D&D, I recommend a clone that you can download free as a PDF.  It's called Labyrinth Lord and is an excellent emulation of the 1981 version of D&D edited by Tom Moldvay.  The one that looks like this:

You should get back into gaming!  Remember how simple and fun it was?  It still is.
Get Labyrinth Lord free here: 1981 D&D!

Megadungeon Design: Honeycomb Hideouts

I've been fascinated with Megadungeons for a long time, reading all the great blog posts and forum threads on this adventure-site/play-style/philosophy and mulling over all the possibilities.  I have a megadungeon placed on the Lost Continent, in fact.  The party adventured there quite a bit and it was pretty rad, even.  But we've also encountered a sticky issue.

My players are not that excited about exploring just for the sake of exploring.

They like to have particular reasons for going into some deathtrap, for one thing.  They take their roleplaying pretty seriously--not in terms of making weird voices or wearing costumes, but in regards to making decisions in-character rather than as a player.  By that I mean, Brian wants to be able to come up with some reason why Shaan (a deadly, but soft-hearted, bounty hunter) would want to wander down into a dark place where demons eat kittens and wait for larger meals.  He doesn't need much reason, mind you, but something either he creates or I create.

One easy fix for this is the utilitastic Megadungeon Missions Table by Al over on Beyond the Black Gate.  I've used this several times to generate a seed for an adventure.  I'm lucky that my players follow hooks like a googler follows hot elven chicks.

So, partly in response to the style of adventuring we do, and partly because of how I like to draw maps, I'm experimenting with a new type of megadungeon: the honeycomb hideout.  This might not be new to others, but it's different than what I've done before.  Basically, it's a megadungeon made of numerous interconnected mini-dungeons.

Lo, verily I say unto thee...scanned, badly drawn dungeon maps will follow.

Under Qatar: The Eldritch Vault

"You know the door to Hades is in my cellar, right?"

The old man laughed recklessly, wheezing between each breath in a way that made my lungs ache.  He feigned humor, but in his eyes I could read the nervousness.

"Lo, I've been down there but three times.  Once as a child, jess lookin' at the big door.  Agin as a young man, fightin that curiousness until the pee ran down my leg warm and full. Hehehee.  The last time, though, I leaned real close...and damned if that door didn't bulge out, all creakin' and warpin'.  Like it was dying to open for me.  Beggin' to have me come within..."

Qatar, the Whispering City

Just at the edge of the Great Desert squats a strange city built around an oasis.  The water is hardly more than a large mud puddle, and sandstorms turn the sunlight into an odd purplish glow upon the sickly clay dwellings.  But desert dwellers flock there nonetheless, for there is black cacti growing all around the Whispering City.  The visions gained from the powdered cacti's use are very popular among the empty headed as well as the greatest of magi.  In fact, people have flocked to the site for centuries, a fact attested to by the layers of ruins upon which the city is built.

Billy Ocean Pelvic Thrusts into my Gaming Session

So another session of the Lost Continent was kicked off with an amazing video, brought to us by our host Brian (the player behind the bounty hunter Shaan Solo).

You'll love this one from the moment that Billy Ocean turns into a 4-sided die in the first 20 seconds of the video.  For fun, try to count the number of pelvic thrusts he busts out.  I get the distinct impression that somebody just said, "Look Billy, put this vest on and sing the song; we'll take care of the rest."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdXryyFw7No

Blog Update! "Playing D&D with Special Ed Service Providers"

Dang, I got smacked with some creativity today!  Not only did I draw a dungeon, but I also thought up a totally original new "look" for my blog!  (Now I just need actually to write some worthwhile posts...)













No, but seriously...Did you read his post on D&D as an example of the picaresque novel?  The man is like a freaking D&D scientist.  Loved it.

Hall of the Fallen: Arthur the Fighter

And so passes into legend Arthur the Fighter:

Bold and eager for Adventure, Arthur climbed the dizzying heights to the Keep on the Borderlands.  He impressed the Castellan immediately when he interrupted his conversation with the Captain to offer the services of a trained warrior (and rolled a really good reaction roll).  Just at that moment the Castellan had been describing the foul hooligans who had lately been entering the keep, looking only to quaff ale in the tavern and lounge in the common room.  "Where shall I find a man stout of heart and eager to quench his thirst for renown by slaying dark creatures?", he asked.

"I'm down", replied the hero.

The hero thus ventured forth into the black caves of chaos, in search of goblin heads (worth 5 gp a piece) and a lost expedition in need of resupply.  He found them and mounted a successful attack against a group of guards.  But alas, the second contingent they encountered (he and his retinue of uncoordinated torch bearers) was much craftier, summoning forth with a sack of ill-gotten gold the furious Ogre.  Spears flew, goblins screamed, torchbearers cried, and blood flowed.  The dirty goblins died or fled, but still the Ogre pressed on, receiving blows but dropping meatshields, nonetheless.  Finally, when hope seemed to return, the cruel Ogre rolled a natural 20 and his knobby club showed Arthur the way to Valhalla.

May he rest in peace.

Some Awesome in Your Face

Each time we play Labyrinth Lord, our host likes to treat us to a little something to get the flow going (and not just beer).  One night it was the intro to Zombie Land, an exquisite montage of hilarious doom, knit together with the quilt of awesomeness that is "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica.

I thought I'd share the video he used to get us pumped last Thursday.  Plug it into your speakers, for heavens sake!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9mo7rFWLbY

Random Creativity?

I've been trying to harness some awesome inspiration I recently acquired and have come to an interesting observation (at least to me).

Normally, I enjoy rolling on random tables and rolling up stats randomly.  I like this as a first step, because it often fires up my imagination once I start seeing the stats or looking at the raw data.  An excellent example of this is James Raggi's Random Esoteric Creature Generator.  A few rolls on these tables and an awesomely grotesque--and completely unique--creature is staring back at me from inside my mind.  Character creation is much the same way.  Perhaps my only real reason for liking "3d6 in order" is that it instantly throws into my mind at least one image of a character.  It feels like that character already exists, in fact, that the numbers already existed and were somehow channeled onto the character sheet from some PC-Limbo where my new dungeon delver was waiting.

What I find funny, however, is that I'm much less competent at looking at the raw and finding the story in it when it comes to dungeon maps.  Other maps?  No problem.  But for some reason, I've found that drawing the dungeon first doesn't really fire my imagination.  I end up with lame maps full of squares.  On the other hand, coming up with a story, or even just a cool title, almost always helps me make a much cooler dungeon, full of secret passageways, magical portals, pits of ooze, etc.

So how do other people handle this? Which comes first for you, when creating a dungeon or other adventure.

Prototype Model of the Mashup Machine

Roll	Setting 2d6	Weapon/Tech d6	d6	Special Guests
1	***	Lasers and Landspeeders	Drug Running…	Aliens
2	Medieval Europe	Swords and Horses	Rave Organizing…	Zombies
3	Starship	Clubs and Dinosaurs	Alchemically Enhanced…	Vampires
4	Medieval Persia	Sixguns and Wagons	Politically Conservative…	Ninjas
5	Ancient Persia	Steam Engines and Railguns	Regicidal…	Pirates
6	Ancient Mesoamerica	Magical Weapons and Transport	Overly affectionate…	Snorks
7	Planet Zorgon
8	Old West
9	Post-Apocalyptic L.A.
10	1930's Chicago
11	Ancient Greece
12	Deepest Africa 1700

First try: Post-apocalyptic+Swords and Horses+Drug Running+Snorks

“…on horseback, armed only with the swords you found in the mall knife shop, you must stand up to furious drug-running Snorks in Post-apocalyptic Los Angeles.”

Genre Mashing in Labyrinth Lord

I've been encouraging my players to give me some ideas of the types of things they'd like to see on the Lost Continent.  This is not for immediate use, mind you, but rather idea seeds that I can plant in far away places so they'll be nice and grown-in when the characters find them.  The LC is, after all, supposed to be huge and magical--so lots of variation was already on the table.  That's why I didn't bat an eye when Shawn Solo's player asked, "How about an old west town?"  We riffed on that for awhile, thinking of how that could be done cohesively.  We came up with some neat ideas and I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.  He'll be pumped when he finally comes across said town, all filled out and "real" in his character's eyes.

The process of thinking it out was fun, and got me thinking of the different styles of genre mash-up.  When introducing another genre, you really have a whole continuum of cohesion levels, from straight-up "the Enterprise just landed next to your castle" to "Elves are really aliens from another planet who passed magically through portals to this world, bringing higher technology."  In other words, the elements of the new genre can be dumped in without any eye for cohesion, or they can be "translated", so to speak, into your world's style/feel/mood.  Mash-ups on either end could be fun, I'm sure, but I find myself gravitating much more toward the heavily translated end of the continuum.  I want my old west town to seem like an old west town, but also not stick out too much from the other locales.  How is that done?

In the next few days I'll be working on it a bit.  We'll see what comes of it.

Swords and Wizardry: Is this rad?

I must admit, I've been ogling this from afar.  I also downloaded the free rules but haven't been able to read through them all yet.  Part of the appeal, for sure, is the appearance, but part is the promise of, perhaps, even greater simplicity of mechanics.  I have been a huge fan of Labyrinth Lord Core since I found it, and doubt that I will stray from using it.  Moldvay is way too ingrained in my mind to easily shift away.  I almost think that OD&D or one of the close systems like S&W might make that shift harder, because much would be similar and it would be more difficult to remember what exactly IS different.  But what of the one universal saving throw?  And other peculiarities of S&W?  Anyone have an opinion on those?

In actual play, I doubt there would be much difference, really, between S&W and my modified Labyrinth Lord Core.  Perhaps I'm just jonesin' for that boxed set. :) 

Tables for Wilderness Travel (as discussed below)

Wilderness Encounters for 3-mile Hex Travel

Finding the stuff that’s in a hex is based on how fast you are moving through it.  The tables below are based on unencumbered daily travel rates for 3-mile-wide hexes in the Untamed Lands region of the Lost Continent.  (The Untamed Lands have few roads and the wilderness is quite thick, thus full speed travel by foot is approximately 3/4 normal daily movement.)

Full Speed on Horseback – 12 hexes (2d6)

2	Discover landmark, special features of land, and general terrain.
3-6	Discover special features of land and general terrain.
7-12	Discover only the general terrain.

Full Speed Travel on Foot – 6 hexes (1d6)

1	Discover landmark, special features of land, and general terrain.
2-3	Discover special features of land and general terrain.
4-6	Discover only the general terrain.

Half Speed Travel on Foot – 3 hexes (1d6)

1-2	Discover landmark, special features of land, and general terrain.
3-5	Discover special features of land and general terrain.
6	Discover only the general terrain.

Searching on Foot – 1 hex (1d6)

1-4	Discover landmark, special features of land, and general terrain.
5-6	Discover special features of land and general terrain.
-	Discover only the general terrain.

Maps, Overland Travel and Finding the Cool Stuff

I've been fooling around with different ideas on how to run the wilderness parts of my campaign.  I have a pretty big sandbox map (23x28 3-mile hexes) and wanted to add interesting things into each of them, as a 3x3 mile hex is approximately the size of my hometown!  I don’t think I was really wrapping my head around the size of my map until I google mapped an area that is commensurate in size.  Instead of being the size of North Orange County, for instance, one side of the map to the other is the same distance as my workplace to San Diego!  That’s two hours hauling ass in the car!  Then I realized that one hex is approximately the size of my hometown and, as there are at least a couple interesting things in that place, each of my hexes should have at least one cool thing in it. 

So, characteristically, I dove right into filling my hexes with rad things, without taking into account that there are…

…644 hexes on that da** map.

So I pondered this in my tiny brain for a moment, and came up with a plan.  I decided to create a whole bunch of cool things like tribes of intelligent, vampiric rabbits and triceratops birthing grounds and keep them on a list until the PCs find ‘em.  In theory, there’s still 644 awesome things spread out on the map, but I don’t have to come up with them now, nor do I need to write them out.  The characters, after all, are usually burning horseshoes around the map, trying to get to some location ASAP.  So they’re not likely to run straight into the cool thing on a 3-mile hex.  On the other hand, if they want to slow down, they’ll be more likely to find the interesting caves or ancient alien hot-air balloons.

The trick for me will be probability tables used to determine what the characters find as they travel.  I determined three “layers” of discovery: general terrain, special features of the land, and landmarks.  Passing through a 3-mile wide area, you’re bound to get an idea of the general terrain—whether its forest, desert, swamp, or other.  You may also notice some special features—an oddly shaped hill or deep crevasse.  Finally, if you’re lucky (or unlucky), you’ll discover the special feature of the area—the aforementioned bunny encampment, for instance.  Note that this is supposing the hex is not obviously filled with a massive castle or some other easily apparent monstrosity that blind people could see on a foggy night.

I’ve yet to playtest this, but I think it’s going to do the trick for me.  Am I reinventing the wheel, though?  I know I’m not that well read in newer rule books and honestly don’t remember even being in the wilderness much as a player in my youth.  Perhaps tables like this exist already.  I’d like to see how others do it, too.  How do you handle it?

Forestiere Underground Gardens

Here's a bit of that California underground house I mentioned before.

Everybody loves non-variable damage...

...except for the people getting mad in the comments sections, that is.

Apparently there was a massive discussion over at B/X Blackrazor and another has popped up on Beyond the Black Gate.  I really like the way they deal with 2-handed weapons and shields, too.

I'm thinking I might do away with weapon restrictions, too.

Standard Weapon Damage in Labyrinth Lord

As our Labyrinth Lord campaign evolves, I realize that we are really using the "Core" or B/X ruleset much more than the Advanced.  By that, I mean that originally we were going to be playing Advanced with some throwbacks to B/X: Advanced HD for characters, Advanced spell lists, etc.  From the B/X all we were using was race as class, basically.  Now that I look at it, though, we are really playing B/X-Core LL and making up our own additions to it.  The only thing we use from the Advanced companion is the higher HD.

More and more I see myself adding or modifying rules to be closer to OD&D, actually.  Much more is being decided by d6, for example.  Something I've been toying with for a while is switching to Standard Weapon Damage.  Mainly, I must admit, it's because I want some people to use daggers.  Haha.  That sounds stupid when I write it, but it's true.  I think they're cool and I want some dagger-love in my campaign.

Does anyone have experience with Standard Weapon Damage a la OD&D?  Positive experiences?  Negative experiences?