Saturday, June 16, 2012
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Friday, June 15, 2012
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Monday, June 11, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 09, 2012
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Dungeon Crawl Classics
I have to say this game looks really cool. I used to poo-poo retro classics and D&D classic, but I think I am coming around back to the idea of the old systems. I agree with r00d, the art work is great. I really like the 5th to 6th step for the wizard corruption progression. Pretty over the top funny, but I like the pulpy feel.
We should definitely give it a shot.
D>M>
We should definitely give it a shot.
D>M>
Friday, June 08, 2012
Thursday, June 07, 2012
I have Infiltration, but haven't tried it yet -- I'll report back once it's hit the table. I kinda doubt it'll be awesome in the same way as Incan Gold since part of that game's charm is its pure simplicity and high death toll, but it still looks fun.
I'm still pretty fired up about this Dungeon Crawl Classics game! The mechanics just seem fun, with lots of callbacks to the sources that inspired D&D (Vance, Moorcock, Howard, Lovecraft) and the art is goofy and weird. I think one of my favorite illustrations is this one, near the magical corruption tables, showing the possible (perhaps inevitable?) result of a career of magic use:
Even the module maps are sort of bizarre. They all look like maps you would have drawn while bored in Geometry class, if you were totally awesome:
Maybe we could try for an online DCC session the Saturday after the wedding? Character creation is hella quick, and since it's pretty close to Basic D&D/1st ed AD&D, it shouldn't take long to jump right into it.
I'm still pretty fired up about this Dungeon Crawl Classics game! The mechanics just seem fun, with lots of callbacks to the sources that inspired D&D (Vance, Moorcock, Howard, Lovecraft) and the art is goofy and weird. I think one of my favorite illustrations is this one, near the magical corruption tables, showing the possible (perhaps inevitable?) result of a career of magic use:
Even the module maps are sort of bizarre. They all look like maps you would have drawn while bored in Geometry class, if you were totally awesome:
Maybe we could try for an online DCC session the Saturday after the wedding? Character creation is hella quick, and since it's pretty close to Basic D&D/1st ed AD&D, it shouldn't take long to jump right into it.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Did any of you NorCal junkies try out Infiltration yet? A gaming buddy was saying it actually plays similar to Incan Gold! I find that intriguing.
That sounds really great! I still want to run a one-off of D&D Next and continue our Earthdawn game (which has been fantastic so far) but the game you just described sounds amazing too! If it's from Goodman Games, I remember hearing about it. I think they also put out a free module on one of those "free rpg day" events. You guys are welcome to do it during the reception. Hell, do it during the ceremony on that white paper walkway thingy.
Speaking of old-school stuff, I went and bought all 8 of the Gamebook Adventures that are on there (when they've been on sale). So good! I don't think I every played these particular ones as a kid, but I know I played some form of them. These are the choose-your-own-adventure type games where you have stats and items and roll dice for combat. They're really fun! You can't really cheat on the app versions because you're limited in the number of "bookmarks" you get, but there's different difficulty levels so you can have a mostly painless time.
Speaking of old-school stuff, I went and bought all 8 of the Gamebook Adventures that are on there (when they've been on sale). So good! I don't think I every played these particular ones as a kid, but I know I played some form of them. These are the choose-your-own-adventure type games where you have stats and items and roll dice for combat. They're really fun! You can't really cheat on the app versions because you're limited in the number of "bookmarks" you get, but there's different difficulty levels so you can have a mostly painless time.
Monday, June 04, 2012
I picked up this behemoth of a D&D retroclone (this is a thing) called Dungeon Crawl Classics, and it looks awesome! Fuck a D&D, we gotta play this!
It's kind of like Basic D&D + 1st ed AD&D + the smarter design choices of 3rd ed, and then is totally its own thing. Character creation seems pretty great. Each player makes a few 0-level characters with 3d6 for stats (in order), 1d4 hit points, and a random background (which gives you a weapon and a trade good, like a chicken or a pushcart). Everybody runs all their characters at once through a meatgrinder of an adventure. (So there are like 12-15 characters in the adventure.) If any of your characters survive, then you get to promote one to first level and actually give it a class. Huzzah!
The classes on their face are like Basic, where your class choices are Fighter-Mage-Thief-Priest-Elf-Dwarf-Halfling, and fairly static advancement, but they are very interestingly designed and all they all have some really unique mechanic that makes them look really fun to play.
Magic is sort of crazy, with all these interesting variants and effects that can arise from a single spell, and it's not especially safe to use (like corruptive magic in the warhammer games).
Priests have a lot of flexibility to cast multiple spells, but the more they cast, the more they risk getting their gods angry.
Thieves (and halflings) have this luck mechanic they can play with where they have a big pool of modifiers they can spend on their die rolls each day. And halflings even serve as a good luck charm to their whole party and can spend those modifiers on other party members. Finally, a reason to want a halfling around!
One of the things I'm most impressed by is that fighters (and dwarves) get a very freeform combat mechanic called the "deed die." This is a die they roll alongside their d20 that adds to their attack roll. The neat part is before any attack they can declare they're attempting some kind of feat, like, "I'm going to ram the guy behind me in the gut with my elbow, then throw him over the balcony." If the attack hits AND the deed die comes up a 3 or better, then the feat succeeds. So it gets rid of the need for a long list of combat maneuvers and modifiers, and also rewards creativity in fighter players, which is kinda cool.
And the writing and art in the book are very cool and evocative. The art tends towards the simple and old-school, but it's fun and goofy.
Anyway sorry to go on and on, but it just looks like a really fun time. I love old-school D&D/AD&D and this looks like it celebrates it, while also moving on and providing a lot of cool new stuff for it. Maybe we can set up a session some Saturday after the wedding?
(Or perhaps, during the reception?)
It's kind of like Basic D&D + 1st ed AD&D + the smarter design choices of 3rd ed, and then is totally its own thing. Character creation seems pretty great. Each player makes a few 0-level characters with 3d6 for stats (in order), 1d4 hit points, and a random background (which gives you a weapon and a trade good, like a chicken or a pushcart). Everybody runs all their characters at once through a meatgrinder of an adventure. (So there are like 12-15 characters in the adventure.) If any of your characters survive, then you get to promote one to first level and actually give it a class. Huzzah!
The classes on their face are like Basic, where your class choices are Fighter-Mage-Thief-Priest-Elf-Dwarf-Halfling, and fairly static advancement, but they are very interestingly designed and all they all have some really unique mechanic that makes them look really fun to play.
Magic is sort of crazy, with all these interesting variants and effects that can arise from a single spell, and it's not especially safe to use (like corruptive magic in the warhammer games).
Priests have a lot of flexibility to cast multiple spells, but the more they cast, the more they risk getting their gods angry.
Thieves (and halflings) have this luck mechanic they can play with where they have a big pool of modifiers they can spend on their die rolls each day. And halflings even serve as a good luck charm to their whole party and can spend those modifiers on other party members. Finally, a reason to want a halfling around!
One of the things I'm most impressed by is that fighters (and dwarves) get a very freeform combat mechanic called the "deed die." This is a die they roll alongside their d20 that adds to their attack roll. The neat part is before any attack they can declare they're attempting some kind of feat, like, "I'm going to ram the guy behind me in the gut with my elbow, then throw him over the balcony." If the attack hits AND the deed die comes up a 3 or better, then the feat succeeds. So it gets rid of the need for a long list of combat maneuvers and modifiers, and also rewards creativity in fighter players, which is kinda cool.
And the writing and art in the book are very cool and evocative. The art tends towards the simple and old-school, but it's fun and goofy.
Anyway sorry to go on and on, but it just looks like a really fun time. I love old-school D&D/AD&D and this looks like it celebrates it, while also moving on and providing a lot of cool new stuff for it. Maybe we can set up a session some Saturday after the wedding?
(Or perhaps, during the reception?)
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