tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3730123128890512802012-01-28T14:30:28.946-08:00A blog following the development and background for an old-school role-playing game of swords-and-sorcery planetary romance using the Swords and Wizardry Whitebox rules.Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.comBlogger2591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-29880447920828330782011-07-15T21:20:00.000-07:002011-07-15T21:20:00.153-07:00

The Crypt Thing looking crypticAmong my least favorite monsters in all of D&D are the creatures I think of as dungeon features disguised as monsters. Examples in the AD&D include Gelatinous Cubes, trappers, mimics, piercers, and shriekers. They aren't really monsters, they're traps or puzzles disguised as monsters. Which isn't really the heart of the problem -- the problem is that they are

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-83746219987297612152011-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:002011-07-11T08:00:16.427-07:00

Version one of a set of disease rules, if I ever decide to actually have mechanics for this sort of thing. These do take some elements of 4e disease rules as an influence. Diseases are defined by the following five traits: Exposure: how a character is exposed to the disease. Incubation Period: how long it takes for the disease to manifest. Effect: progressive effects of disease on the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-20313266243506410692011-07-09T14:05:00.000-07:002011-07-09T14:05:38.675-07:00

It had been a while since I last saw Labyrinth, probably on VHS. I had forgotten many things about this film: The gratuitous Bowie musical numbers. Not enough to be a musical, just enough to make me wonder why they were there (other than the fact that it seemed a shame to have Bowie there and not have him sing.) The CGI owl. How much did that cost them? Boy, the effect didn't age as well as the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-21497263094131967642011-07-07T10:52:00.000-07:002011-07-07T10:52:47.462-07:00

In the real world, disease is a big deal. In literature, disease is a big deal. Disease is a cool thing to work with -- it has been imbued with supernatural import (the wrath of God, as it were), moral import (a sign of corruption), and horrific value. Whether it's the bubonic plague, the Red Death, or a zombie plague, disease is a trope that seems to have great value. But from the appearance of

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-85848132004199277112011-07-06T07:30:00.000-07:002011-07-06T07:30:00.720-07:00

My wife is again between jobs, so my summer vacation is turning to a staycation... and an opportunity to work on my dissertation a little, too. But for the first of my two weeks off, I will be at the San Diego Comicon International. I'm a local, but I only go to the con these days to see some old friends from Santa Cruz and to help out another pair friends by working in their booth. I will be

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-78988122335185893052011-07-05T19:07:00.001-07:002011-07-05T19:07:42.336-07:00

A while back, I downloaded a pdf from a blog that I have since lost. It was a simple campaign log booklet that could be printed in digest form. Any clues where it could be found?

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-11953919925014366302011-07-05T09:44:00.001-07:002011-07-05T19:14:51.763-07:00

Assassination is permitted under Aquilan law under specific circumstances. The Aquilans refer to legal assassination euphemistically as "a game of darts." Such contests must follow certain rules. First, the games may be between nobles or between commoners (such as merchants), but cannot cross those lines. Second, games of darts must involve guild assassins, not amateurs. Third, games must

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-72521871189460053212011-06-16T09:55:00.000-07:002011-06-16T09:55:06.012-07:00

After much mild moping about hit points, I rediscovered Robert Fisher's old Classic D&D Injury Table, as well as Trollsmyth's revised version, which seems to me a productive way to begin thinking about injury, hit points, and balancing low-level survival with the simplicity of managing hit points as an abstract system. I think it was Roger the GS who noted that the best way to think of hit points

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-68378983154339929742011-06-10T08:39:00.001-07:002011-06-10T08:39:04.540-07:00

I have a love-hate relationship with D&D style hit points. On the one hand, they are ridiculously easy to use and track. Also, the low hit point totals of low-level characters enforce a certain grittiness I like, and hit points are a good implementation of the idea of managing limited resources. On the minus side, high level characters' hit points make them seem invulnerable to normal threats,

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-22380214549300457392011-06-08T20:46:00.001-07:002011-06-08T20:46:40.848-07:00

The "Character Funnel": while this might be entertaining once, it feels forced and gimmicky, just like I felt it did when it showed up with AD&D first edition. And the method of winnowing down a pile of characters to come up with your "real" character seems like a caricature of old-school D&D. And doesn't really feel like the kind of stories that the game tries to emulate. And why start at level

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-8482784500915553502011-06-03T08:00:00.000-07:002011-06-03T08:00:09.052-07:00

Notoriously, the only good monster in the Fiend Folio is the flumph. The flumph is small, weak, and lawful good. It's essentially a flying jellyfish, with a really hard to hit top (AC 0), and a squishy underside (AC 8), and its main defenses are a nasty musk and dropping onto opponents with its stinging underside. Though of average intelligence, it only speaks a smattering of its alignment tongue

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-4806231294478655572011-06-02T07:55:00.001-07:002011-06-02T08:34:02.609-07:00

Who they are: Imperial Eye Judge Litigator Imperial Tax Collector Imperial Tax Assessor Trade Guild Representative Church Official Con Artist Academic Foreign Ambassador Magic User's Agent Thief or Assassins' Guild What they want: To arrest the characters. To hand the characters over to thugs for gentle persuasion. To frame the characters for a crime. To serve legal papers.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-4580035367653883552011-06-01T10:48:00.000-07:002011-06-01T10:48:06.744-07:00

A first stab at some inspirational info about eliminating the mess of humanoids and replacing most with just "goblins." Roll a d10 for appearance. Roll twice for twice the fun. Twisted limbs. Fishy features. Covered with fur. Thin and gangly. Insect features. Pot-bellied and bandy-legged. Giant noggin. Mouth full of fangs. Child-like appearance. Huge ears. Roll a d8 for coloration. Black Green

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-76056599693072177942011-05-31T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-31T08:00:11.209-07:00

Inspired by (and perhaps even stolen from) notes in Vornheim, as I took notes on basic ideas of crime.  Arms and armaments: Armor is illegal except for the Guard, Centurions and licensed bodyguards. The latter can only wear light (leather/studded leather armor). You can also try to conceal light armor. Most weapons are illegal. Daggers are fine, and nobles may carry long swords. Walking sticks (

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-39205178471232574242011-05-31T06:46:00.001-07:002011-05-31T06:46:29.632-07:00

An attempt to look at his blog says it was deleted from blogger. Anyone know the skinny?

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-39673844201531857632011-05-30T13:00:00.000-07:002011-05-30T13:00:03.585-07:00

For those readers not from the U.S., today is Memorial Day, a national holiday. Nominally, it is a day to commemorate those who have fallen in military service. However, its origin in the aftermath of the civil war means that there is a certain quality to this holiday that is tied to understanding sacrifices made in the name of the republic, and the rebirth of a nation because of those sacrifices

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-6369783549915590412011-05-27T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-27T08:00:06.082-07:00

To counterbalance my complaints from last week, here are two examples of humanoids in the FF that I think are workable and introduce something interesting that makes them stand out in play. Meazel What I always liked about meazels is that they were essentially assassins. They hide out, pick of stragglers, and are hated by the dungeon denizens, too. They don't fight stand-up fights, and have the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-51289006883525912932011-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-26T08:00:03.282-07:00

My old copy of City State of the Invincible Overlord and my PDF of the Ready Ref Sheets both have some house rules for healing that I remember having made some inway into my AD&D playing back in the early 1980s even though none of us remembered where the rule came from. The particular rule I'm talking about is the rule on bandaging wounds. The particular rule essentially goes like this: if you

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-79394295325011348992011-05-25T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-25T08:00:06.356-07:00

I used to have a lot of miniatures and years ago, I cleared them all out. Recently, I have returned to the idea, but with less of a desire to spend a lot of money, less concern about cool sculpts, and less concern about having consistent scale models. So after a purchase of a lot of Dungeon Crawl Classics minis from Loot, I decided to get even cheaper and buy some 1/72 scale plastic toy soldiers

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-23261643670662216232011-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-24T08:00:06.000-07:00

Months of the Year Renewal (Spring) Raintide (Spring) Greentide (Spring) Wandering (Summer) Longdays (Summer) Goldentide (Summer) Harvester (Autumn) Plentitude (Autumn) Coldsnap (Autumn) Snowfall (Winter) Longnights (Winter) Coldbreak (Winter) Days of the Week Sunday Moonday Fireday Airday Waterday Earthday Wildday Godsday Phases of the Moon New New New New 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/4 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 3/4 3/4

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-76155892609056846452011-05-23T08:00:00.001-07:002011-05-23T08:00:01.933-07:00

I tossed this together (using Rules Cyclopedia stats) as a sample of a way to put together small dungeons. If you, like me, aren't concerned about exact layout and positioning and care more about relative positioning and movement through an area, it might be easier to remember things with some pictures representing the rooms and a general flow chart. So here is a minimalist, graphical dungeon

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-67736540736565246782011-05-21T08:17:00.000-07:002011-05-21T08:17:10.307-07:00

Harold Camping of Family Radio has calculated by his own statement that the rapture is to start today  at 6pm your local time on a rolling implementation. Since I'm on Pacific Daylight Time, most of the world will be engulfed in the Rapture, and I'm adding this at the tail end of the start of the End of Day. Camping had originally pegged the end times as coming in September, 1994, and I'm

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-38951257769162999322011-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-20T08:00:08.376-07:00

So, despite my big love of the Fiend Folio, I have to say that there are more than a few dull humanoids that don't do much for me. Jermalaine Jermalaine strike me as mechanically seeming more or less like kobolds, only more rat bastards. Well-played, they could be an ongoing pain in the butt in a dungeon. Otherwise, they are mechanically pretty much kobolds, only half the hit points. And they

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-79302104748463028772011-05-19T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-19T08:00:05.967-07:00

These notes take their inspiration from the rules for gladiatorial combat in Empire of the Petal Throne.Gladiatorial combat is legal in the Aquilan Empire and is a common form of public entertainment. The Aquilans built an arena in the Foreign Quarter five years ago to support their interest in the sport. Aquilan gladiator fights involve slaves of free gladiators in established ludi, though some

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-79245793572195033242011-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-18T08:00:00.939-07:00

Theremin Syrne. Old City. Overweight gourmand who loves comfort, decadence, and may have some unspeakable tastes. Specializes in illusions. The Faceless One: The Maze. Hooded, inscrutable, mysterious. Often seeks out adventurers to do unusual missions. Eliandra Sellorin: The Park. Female aesthete, scholar, and historian. Burgyn Bromad: The Foreign Quarter. Collector. Cheap, and will try to screw

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-39419322914367500922011-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-17T08:00:08.448-07:00

Amantha Shara: Old City. Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild. Political schemer. Charming, beautiful, manipulative, cunning, ruthless. Marcus Hawk: The Maze. Head of the Hawkmasks, the enforcers for the Thieves' Guild. Loyal, dedicated, respects power and ruthlessness. Blind Rath: The Maze. Head of the Assassins' Guild. Speaks in riddles, generally unpredictable, tends to ally himself with whomever

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-82355433739260251812011-05-16T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-16T08:00:07.095-07:00

Khadek Khal: Dwarf. Foreign Quarter. Major: demi-humankind (history, legends & folklore, theology and mythology, philosophy). Minor: humanoids and giantkind. Siobhan Lorn: Old City. Major: humankind (history, languages). Minor: demi-humankind, humanoids and giantkind. Timoteo Nexus: Old City. Major: physical universe (chemistry, mathematics). Minor: fauna, flora. Turg the Odd: Half-Orc. The Maze.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-3150689538877719232011-05-13T12:53:00.000-07:002011-05-13T12:53:15.804-07:00

I guess I will have to re-type a few posts I had already put in the queue for next week.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-86494391435804284972011-05-13T08:00:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:54:32.217-07:00

The first edition Oriental Adventures book included the following rule for the Wu Jen class: Since wu jen draw their power from supernatural sources, they must operate under special taboos that do not affect other characters. Indeed, these taboos may seem silly or insignificant to other characters. However, they are vitally important to the wu jen since violating them results in the loss of

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-5982125369509184102011-05-12T17:47:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:54:03.991-07:00

Lykan Thrace: Magic-user, scholar, physician. Conducts illegal magical experiments. Reward: 5,000 gp. Zharkan Zur: Dwarf bandit leader. Ruthless, rumored to be a demon cultist. Reward: 3,000 gp. Moira Connaught: Kemari rebel leader. Reward: 10,000 gp. Jaga Kur: Half-orc renegade assassin. Reward: 1,000 gp from the law, 1,500 from the Assassins' Guild. Sarkut: Mutated human cleric of Juiblex.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-19636101813363915452011-05-10T07:44:00.000-07:002011-05-10T11:37:33.655-07:00

More notes from my DM planning notebook.Quality is denoted by stars. 1 star is a dive, four is a classy establishment. The Dancing Dragon ****Old City. Inn. Good food. Nice, respectable clientele. The Peculiar Pony **Old City. Tavern. Weak drinks, hearty food. Colorful locals. The Three Crowns ***Old City. Public house. Respectable, local haunt. The Temple *Merchant Quarter. Public house. Beer

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-47389199447157290762011-04-29T08:58:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:56:06.141-07:00

I just got my physical copy in the mail yesterday, though I got the PDF file a while back with the pre-order. Initial thoughts: Physically, the book is small, thin, and very portable. The paper, binding, cover, and dustjacket are very nice, premium, even. And a very usable size, to boot. If you read Zak's blog, not much of this will be a surprise. Some portions of the book come straight from his

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-69931526945509505832011-04-29T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-29T08:00:06.112-07:00

Babbler Bonesnapper Even when I was a young gamer I wondered what the point was of having both Babblers and Bonesnappers. Babblers are stealthier, have some flavor text as mutated lizard men, and speak an incomprehensible language; bonesnappers collect bones but are otherwise similar to babblers as far as players can see. Both are drawn like miniature tyrannosaurs. Of the two, it seems clear

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-26864558168251640412011-04-27T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-27T08:00:12.586-07:00

Armor is illegal in the city, but you can conceal leather or studded leather armor under some sorts of heavy clothing. Of course, if your armor is exposed, that will still lead to trouble. Legally, anyone can carry a dagger, walking stick (club), or quarterstaff. Nobles may carry longswords. Short swords, darts, and slings are illegal, but easily concealed. Licensed bodyguards may wear armor

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-40387907182416842542011-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-26T09:30:47.613-07:00

Some very old sewers run under the Old City, while some less ancient sewers run under the Grand Market and the Merchant Quarter. The sewers drain runoff from the cobbled streets in those areas under the city and into the bay. These sewers are often connected to basements, the dungeons under the Fortress, smugglers' pairs, cisterns, and secret caches. The sewers provide enough room to move to be

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-13901003322847123282011-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-25T08:00:00.075-07:00

Common patrol: 1d4+1 normal men. Padded, small shield, club, dagger, whistle. Heavy patrol: 1d3+1 normal men. Studded, small shield, light crossbow, longsword, shield. Centurions: 1d6 normal men, 1 level 2 fighter. Scale, large shield, 2 javelins, spear, short sword. Hawkmasks (Thieves' Guild Enforcers): 1d3 normal men, 1 thief 1. Leather, sling, 2 daggers. Rakes: 1d3 fighters, level 1d4-1,

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-20279300060218778602011-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-22T08:00:11.040-07:00

Reviving an old feature of this blog, I'm going back into the Fiend Folio to wax poetic on its strange and wonderful contents. Personally, despite some glaring problems and general wierdness, I still consider the Fiend Folio my favorite 1st edition monster book. This week, I'm struck by the FF's seeming fascination with human-animal hybrids. It's of a furry convention nightmare of sorts in the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-91923259870384304282011-04-21T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-21T08:00:05.251-07:00

Important Factions Imperials Trade Guilds Thieves' Guild Assassins' Guild Priests Wizards (not an organized guild!) Beggars Kemari elders Elves of The Park Important People Baroness Marketable Lucius, overlord of the city. Charming political schemer. Capt. Antonius Martus, commander of the Baroness' 50 imperial centurions. Stiff, by the book, young, a lot to prove. Itching for a fight

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-18165761795156436272011-04-20T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-20T08:00:00.356-07:00

Another day, another post of stuff from my current DM notebook....      Old City              Great Market         Merchant Quarter  2  Goblin slave          Prostitute           Racketeers  3  Street urchins        Street busker        Exotic foreigners  4  Wizard & apprentices  Pickpocket           Porters  5  Surly young rakes     Racketeers           Thief  6  Pretty maidens        Street

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-15348578195658325982011-04-19T08:00:00.000-07:002011-04-19T08:00:03.950-07:00

Some more notes from my current DM notebook.... Kemari are the indigenous peoples of the region. Start your basic stereotype with pre-Christian Kelts a-la-Robert E. Howard, with a little over-simplified new-age bookstore Kelt stereotype thrown in: earthy, stubborn, women and men largely equal. Men tend to be in charge of warfare, farming and labor; women in charge of scholarship, religion, and

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-38929479948026948912011-04-18T04:59:00.000-07:002011-04-18T04:59:00.527-07:00

Gods of the Aquilan Empire (current rulers of Haven) Tarim (LG): Sun, truth, justice. Lixius (LN): Knowledge, laws, civilization. Martus (LE): Strength, warfare. Hesta (NG): Home, hearth, childbirth, healing. Corbus (N): Agriculture, domestic animals. Nekara (NE): Death, disease, funerary rites, underworld. Bakrun (CG): Wine, drinking, debauchery. Fortuna (CN): Luck (good and ill), hopeless

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-41484178740085644782011-04-17T17:01:00.000-07:002011-04-17T19:59:15.108-07:00

I'm currently in a more Vanilla AD&D mood, though this whole enterprise remains mental masturbation while my work and personal life balance is still out of whack. But my random musings might be of interest to some of you, so here's what I have been noodling about in my notebooks. I have been going back to my old gaming roots and thinking about an urban RPG campaign, partially inspired by

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-68358289228602641732011-03-31T19:09:00.000-07:002011-03-31T19:09:00.191-07:00

Recently, I have been in a bit of a creative rut with my writing, stuck with a general sense of writers' block both for the blog and for my academic writing. Part of this may be the fact that I am really focused on doing a lot of work writing, but part of this is the fact that I'm burned out on writing and pining for running a game. Of course, I'm not sure that I have the time to do much running.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-78633815823043798942011-03-30T00:03:00.000-07:002011-03-30T00:03:17.872-07:00

Getting the PDF working again with Lulu is proving to be a bigger time suck than I thought. So I am going to make Savage Swords of Athanor available for free download for now. Thanks for those who supported it, and thanks to those who will be downloading it in the future!

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-37437274796689763832011-02-12T00:37:00.000-08:002011-02-12T10:08:23.721-08:00

I just managed to disassemble a non-functioning Magic 8-ball just to remove the prophetic icosahedron in its core to use as a gaming tool.I think this is proof that I am far too addicted to having wacky new dice.Edit: here is a picture of the 8-ball die. I tried to make the text more readable with mixed results.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-88485335096108486072011-02-04T14:58:00.000-08:002011-02-04T16:04:44.317-08:00

Despite the fact that I had pretty much resolved to avoid any new RPG purchases this year, the wife had an Amazon credit burning a hole in her virtual pocket and decided to purchase me a copy of the D&D Gamma World box set. While it looks like a potentially fun little beer and pretzels/turn of your brain game set, and while it is definitely NOT like the versions of GW I have played in the past,

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-52759511214428016402011-01-12T22:14:00.001-08:002011-01-12T22:14:22.782-08:00

When I think about making characters, I find myself drawn to particular things now (some of which I have discussed in the past. 1. SpeedWhen given a choice between being able to jump into the action and customizing an exact character, I now prefer the former. I had long term relationships with Hero System in the 80s - 90s and with 3rd edition in the 2000s, so I understand the appeal of custom

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-18514581908274927922011-01-12T12:33:00.001-08:002011-01-12T12:33:46.492-08:00

Looking at EPT makes me think a bit more critically about ability scores. The classic D&D model of 3-18 scores with secondary modifiers means ability scores have limited purpose or value (the old school model in which extremes have a mechanical effect) or that they have a great deal of influence (3.0 edition on), but only because modifiers an the high scores that go with them are essential. There

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-23163781901278320742011-01-11T18:42:00.001-08:002011-01-11T18:43:24.048-08:00

Between my wife's employment benefits running out this month, the looming specter of massive state budget cuts affecting my pay in the next year, and my student loans beginning to come due in March all lead me to the conclusion that I am going to avoid spending on new RPG materials this year. (We'll see how that holds up over time...)This and my general dissatisfaction with gaming rules that goes

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-29646320364490837462011-01-09T22:24:00.000-08:002011-01-09T22:35:20.702-08:00

Seems as if the Lulu printers now are having troubles with my MacOS-generated PDFs after several months of working just fine. I will need to do some renewed outputting from the original source files, and in the process will probably update some errata and finally make a PDF of the cover. However, this is not likely to happen for a few days. The original PDF is still up for download. The book

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-33924380979417279672010-12-02T00:29:00.000-08:002010-12-02T00:29:06.006-08:00

I like bad movies. Mind you, I also like good movies, but a childhood habit of watching low-budget science fiction movies Saturday afternoons left my mind open to some truly low-budget terrible films, and some of that magic still remains. And oddly enough, Netflix has many truly terrible films on instant play, all of which become part of the fodder for my gaming ideas. Planet of the Vampires is

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-41744339861174607712010-11-27T13:56:00.001-08:002010-11-27T19:57:36.565-08:00

Having spent part of last Sunday working on a level 8 character in 4e, I was struck with several of my concerns from my previous post. Forgive me as I rant here.Ability ScoresAbility score assignment provides a limited number of reasonable options. This is reflected in the result that three of four characters at the table Saturday have an INT of 8. Mind you, two are semi-feral nomads of Athas and

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-24480168357915509182010-11-03T12:32:00.001-07:002010-11-03T12:32:37.850-07:00

I have had many about-faces over the years when it comes to character creation. Like many gamers of my age, I began with AD&D 1st Edition, slowly branching out to Gamma World, Traveller, Top Secret, and Star Frontiers as friends bought them, and read but didn't play a lot of Chaosium/BRP games -- though the vast majority of my adolescent gaming through high school was with AD&D. All of these

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-56613274620057830202010-11-02T12:47:00.001-07:002010-11-02T12:47:22.749-07:00

Right now, I find myself thinking of how to run a game inspired by combining sword and sorcery with the style of Jack Kirby. Huge, dynamic, gonzo epics with overly ornate armor, huge helmets, bombastic speeches, and huge doses of creativity. Gratuitous high technology, weird monsters, fight scenes for the pure joy of action, huge villains, and clear good and evil.Part of me thinks that this might

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-58480411506136232522010-10-21T20:06:00.001-07:002010-10-21T20:06:00.573-07:00

As I have noted before, my current comrades in gaming arms are of the 4e persuasion. This is not, however, a major source of woe for me. Rather, I find 4e a fun game. Engaging, even. But in the end it leaves me with the same ambivalence that playing Champions/Hero System left me with back in the early 90s and 3.x left me just a few years ago. Building characters makes for an interesting game

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-70909174633968742102010-10-18T19:05:00.001-07:002010-10-18T19:05:08.897-07:00

I spent this weekend visiting Davis, California with my wife. Davis is her alma mater, which was part of the reason for the visit. Another reason was to watch her nephew Shayne quarterback the homecoming game for the Davis High School Blue Devils. The third was to travel to San Francisco for family business. As I often do on trips out of town, I stumbled upon a game/comic book shop. This one was

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-8102654705133684102010-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:002010-10-11T08:00:02.794-07:00

Matt Slepin posted Thursday about the idea of using subway maps as an inspiration for more abstract dungeon mapping.Well, I thought that was a pretty nifty idea, and tried to do a similar-style map of my own. It's unfinished (level 4 rooms haven't been numbered for instance-- they are all numbered 1...) and may be more trouble than it's worth, but the experiment here was to see what it would look

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-17466943154742375402010-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:002010-10-06T17:20:44.618-07:00

Just got my hands on a pair of d30s and a Rules Cyclopedia. Oh, and a new job with a substantial increase in both pay and responsibilities. And, as a result, a year leave of absence from my doctoral program. I had forgotten just how clean and compact the Cyclopedia rules can be. Where once I thought the weapon mastery rules interesting, I now look at them as adding more complication than fun.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-61083762259938676092010-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:002010-09-23T08:00:04.830-07:00

The last few months have been marked by illness, job stress, the process of applying for a possible new career opportunity, and copious amounts of writer's block. Oddly enough, I have had plenty of opportunity to play, but not to run a game. And am a bit dejected at my current player base only being interested in D&D 4e. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I personally find 4e to be

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-72054182477084649482010-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:002010-05-12T12:24:22.759-07:00

This week I got my Institutional Review Board approval, meaning that I will soon dive into more research for the next year. This is good for me, but will pose an ongoing challenge for blogging. Also, we will soon start the busy season at work. Oh, and there's the 200 pages plus a week I am reading for one of my classes. Which is all to say that I'm sorry for the infrequent updates. However, I am

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-80979724638154794962010-04-29T07:56:00.000-07:002010-04-29T08:10:29.909-07:00

The more recent versions of D&D stress planned combat encounters built to challenge the abilities of the PCs, which is why they seem to focus so much on game balance and character effectiveness in combat. But as I play the latest edition and re-read older editions, I realize how much different that is from the older design of the game.The inevitability of combat is far from guaranteed. Note

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-8332849750476286742010-04-28T08:00:00.000-07:002010-04-28T08:00:06.108-07:00

After my first game of AD&D nearly 30 years ago, the first thing I did was start making character, even though I didn't have a rulebook. When I finally got books Christmas of 1981, I went to town. Character building, equipping, and planning was a mini-game in and of itself. After my return to D&D in 2000, I found that that mini-game had vastly expanded. Designing a character had become central (

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-67199555922164806712010-04-27T08:12:00.000-07:002010-04-27T08:13:15.672-07:00

T. Foster and Philotomy Jurament have presented the use of the turn sequence from Swords & Spells as part of the OD&D initiative sequence. What I like about that idea is that the structure of a turn reduces some of the all-or-nothing arbitrariness of winning initiative. Things feel more simultaneous, and different sides have more room to react. I propose a simpler system: Missiles, Move, Melée,

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-35739974972914463372010-04-20T07:44:00.000-07:002010-04-20T08:17:16.286-07:00

The Duma rely on light infantry in loose formations for much of their military campaigning. Their main troops wear leather armor with shield and spears with long heads capable of cutting or stabbing, with long daggers for close combat. They are supported by charioteers in chariots pulled by deinonychus leads, each chariot holding a driver and a pair of riflemen also armed with spear and dagger.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-33629698131964658302010-04-13T07:36:00.000-07:002010-04-13T07:48:53.450-07:00

While I think Ron Edwards' GNS theory of RPGS is unsound, it doesn't bug me too much. Of course, I would argue that it's a typology rather than a real descriptive theory. Instead, I would propose a different basic description of the traits of RPGs. Mind you, this is loose, sloppy, and probably needs a lot of revision before I would really call it a a proper theory and begin trying to convert

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-31079689964368413802010-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:002010-04-10T09:07:06.036-07:00

> Right now, I'm hip deep in social theory. Frankfurt School, Gramsci, > Foucault, Bourdieu, Habermas. So if I slip into any discussions of > social structure, political economy, or cultural production in > Athanor on the next few weeks, I apologize ahead of time.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-17009999528433862222010-04-09T04:00:00.000-07:002010-04-09T04:00:00.459-07:00

Oh, the bullywugs and kuo-toa. On the surface, the frog-men and the fish-men seem so similar. Underneath, they are oh-so-different. Bullywugs are just brutish frog-dudes (though in Greyhawk, they were transformed into allies of sort of KKK-ish cultists, but that's another story.) They are weird, creepy and animal-like. Ho-hum. The Kuo-toa are more my cup of tea. Sure, they didn't originate in

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-65124998668103917412010-04-06T19:51:00.000-07:002010-04-06T22:23:43.594-07:00

In addition to standing armies, the City State of Zamora is guarded by two powerful forces: the personal forces of the Overlord and Vog Mur. While observers may see them as mere extensions of the national army, they actually report directly to their respective masters.The Overlord has three personal forces: the Iron Legion, his personal guard; the Gold Legion, his elite shock troops; and the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-54559013402108891872010-04-06T07:16:00.000-07:002010-04-06T07:23:59.359-07:00

Continuing in a short set of thoughts on what the armies of Athanor might look like...Alemamia.is notable for its rigid military structure and deeply disciplined soldiers. This includes:Light infantry, wearing cuirboilli over natural chitin. Carry rifles with bayonets and shortswords. Leap into battle to break enemy formations and form mobile groups without clear formations. Their job is to harry

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-78895512780751454202010-04-05T12:46:00.001-07:002010-04-05T12:46:13.513-07:00

Armies of Athanor: ZamoraThe basic troops of Zamora are lightly armored riflemen, using mobility and range to their advantage. Zamoran infantry wear leather armor and carry rifles and bayonets. Officers carry a brace of pistols, a dagger, and a longsword. They are supported by deinonychus riding light infantry, armed with a brace of pistols and longswords. These troops also wear light armor.The

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-74622603719616355312010-04-02T04:00:00.000-07:002010-04-02T04:00:05.300-07:00

Among the amusing bits in the FF is the inclusion of the Booka. Household spirits who can play tricks on you are good for flavor and setting, but even as a young teen I thought that having stats for the things seemed... silly. Equally strange is the Denzelian or, as a long-time watcher of the original Star Trek, the Horta. Like the Star Trek Horta, the Denzelian is primarily a plot device.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-41727689345321042952010-04-01T17:52:00.001-07:002010-04-01T17:52:52.343-07:00

The Trouble with Swashbuckling AdventureSwashbuckling adventure always seems so appealing on paper. Danger, romance, duels, sudden turns of luck and all that acrobatic swinging from chandeliers stuff sounds great. But in practice it's hard to get the buy-in from players. After all, much of the appeal from swashbuckling is constant trouble- and then getting out of it. Problem with that is

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-69823962563714229272010-04-01T05:40:00.000-07:002010-04-01T05:40:24.242-07:00

Enter code 'APRILFOOLS' at checkout. This will give you 10% off for a savings of up to $25. While I mention that for my own book, I would also point out how many other authors have some great product out there. You can pick up a hardcover version of Swords and Wizardry, a one-book edition of Swords and Wizardry White Box, the latest copy of Fight On! or Knockspell, X-plorers, or a pile of other

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-18157125665937604202010-03-31T20:26:00.001-07:002010-03-31T20:26:53.855-07:00

Well, the good news is that I have successfully advanced to candidacy. My committee was enthusiastic and supportive and their suggestions will both force me to rework my methodology chapter and make my study stronger (and more managable. Good news across the board even though that gives me a week to rewrite and resubmit my human subjects research review paperwork.The bad news is that I will

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-86301939023346329502010-03-28T11:47:00.000-07:002010-03-28T11:47:18.348-07:00

A man gets caught up in work and school and next thing you now the OSR has blown up and gone to hell. Go figure. My dissertation proposal presentation will be this Wednesday. After that, life becomes a little less chaotic, but will remain busy up until June 2011. Joy. So I'm still around. The blog, while moribund, is not dead. I need to post some more.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-36673582124810560932010-02-26T08:00:00.000-08:002010-02-26T08:00:00.347-08:00

Just so you know that I don't think the Fiend Folio is full of manna from heaven, I'll address one of my areas of dissatisfaction. I'm not sure what the hell is up with the Flind and the Lizard King. On the one hand, advanced members of humanoid species are a natural expansion of the base rules, and totally reasonable. On the other hand, how the hell do we get from gnolls and lizard men to these

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-47210098418336517062010-02-22T08:52:00.000-08:002010-02-22T08:52:03.265-08:00

Back around 1986-1988, four friends and I were playing in an AD&D campaign using the 1st edition rules (including the Unearthed Arcana). We wandered around in a sort of plot-hook based sandbox run by our pal Geoff, and mostly got caught up in picaresque wandering and trouble-making. One of the things that marked the game for us, though, was our use of pets. Demian ran the party thief, who had a

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-87699258768310006852010-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:002010-02-19T08:00:06.970-08:00

The Elemental Princes of Evil, despite their lackluster illustrations, always impressed me as an interesting variant on the typical evil Ds (demons, devils, daemons, demodands...). Combined with mephits, they provide a backbone for elemental evil... which filled me with some imagined threats back in the days when the Temple of Elemental Evil was just a name mentioned in the Village of Hommlett

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-46613976925467506202010-02-18T13:49:00.000-08:002010-02-18T13:49:36.717-08:00

In the depths of preparing my dissertation proposal, I find myself thinking about the ways in which we conceive of the old-fashioned D&D magic-user. Typically, graduate students in the United States go through initial training, then some sort of qualifying exam (though, thankfully, my program has no qualification exam) with a dissertation proposal which must be defended, then the grad student

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-46450662089074495952010-02-16T11:09:00.000-08:002010-02-16T11:09:25.556-08:00

Lady Serena Amador is known for her unusual and lavish parties. This month's theme is "A Parade of the Unusual," and promises a carnival atmosphere, an eclectic collection of peasants and outcasts, clowns, acrobats, a menagerie of the fantastic (including a caged girallon, trained osquips performing tricks, and fighting velociraptors). But the central piece of her entertainment plans is the

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-54163183558215293422010-02-12T07:19:00.000-08:002010-02-12T07:19:13.302-08:00

Reading Empire of the Petal Throne again has me thinking of slavery in Athanor. Slavery is common in much of Athanor, particularly among the Alemanians Mal'Akkans, and Throon. Among the Duma, slaves are only taken as a result of defeat of an enemy in war, and among the Ghul, slavery is unknown. If you are not a person, you are food. Slavery would be a fate worse than being food. In Zamora,

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-13986546983081600712010-02-11T13:03:00.000-08:002010-02-11T13:03:11.461-08:00

In Glorantha (which I know best from RuneQuest 2 and a little of RQ 3), parts of Peloria and the lunar empire engage in "Dart Wars" -- openly secret assassination to settle disputes between nobles, with strict legal controls. In Empire of the Petal Throne (the original version of the game), wars are settled in the Hirilakte arenas using gladiatorial proxies. Personally, I like these ideas, since

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-34309646375319656812010-01-22T21:32:00.000-08:002010-01-22T21:32:00.264-08:00

For my money, the price of admission to the Fiend Folio is paid with the Slaadi. Primal chaos in the form of frog-demons whose madness and penchant for destruction is an end in and of itself, led by mad god-like creatures of odd form and inscrutable methods. The slaadi provide a strange, unpredictable force in the world, and hell, their chaos frogs, man. What more do you really want?

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-50578563382708550172010-01-20T15:38:00.000-08:002010-01-20T15:38:04.569-08:00

Again, life intrudes. A death in the family, a bit of illness in my sinuses and ears, and the constant grind of graduate school have killed my blogging time, so that only a few art and similar posts have gone up. Frankly, I'm not too inspired to write right now, but I'll be back to regular posting and responding to posts once things settle down more.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-9232656771122055002010-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:002010-01-16T08:00:01.117-08:00

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-16181604803194459722010-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:002010-01-15T08:00:01.337-08:00

The Fiend Folio had some interesting constructs, too. The scarecrow was of minor interest, but my particular loves from the book were the mid-level danger of Caryatid Columns or the  sword and sorcery feel of the Necrophidius and (my personal favorite) the Iron Cobra seemed like perfect elements to throw in as guardians in tombs or servants of evil sorcerers.

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-17400963250610592942010-01-11T12:03:00.001-08:002010-01-11T12:03:07.925-08:00

My old friend Dean used to complain about any setting that required a lot of knowledge of setting. "I don't want to read a novel to have to play." Oddly enough, he loved using Forgotten Realms as a setting, but that may be because it was such a generic D&D setting. While you could read a ton about the setting, you didn't necessarily need to do anything other than roll up a character and start

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-61178821151698449662010-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:002010-01-09T08:00:01.845-08:00

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-32709536233106929222010-01-08T15:15:00.000-08:002010-01-08T15:15:00.120-08:00

Among my favorites in the Fiend Folio were the creepy alien humanoids: the spider-like ettercaps, the two-foot tall, nightmare-sending, body-stealing meenlocks, the astral-hunting berbalang, and the shadow-dwelling (and inexplicably explosive) dark creepers and stalkers. They added a sense of the alien and inscrutable to the campaign, though the meenlock and berbalang both seemed to be a bit of

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-72359825755902545692010-01-05T21:10:00.000-08:002010-01-05T21:10:10.078-08:00

Getting much of anything done on the blog has been hampered by work (the start of a new term is always a bit of a train wreck), school (only managed to write 25 pages of my dissertation proposal over the holiday and need to really get some meat on the bones of my methodology section), illness (a diagnosis of dermagraphia solves a health mystery, but I also have to deal with a very nasty head cold

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-25167489161901267222010-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:002010-01-02T08:00:00.918-08:00

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-28699084068268351902010-01-01T14:32:00.000-08:002010-01-01T14:32:00.249-08:00

My favorite Fiend Folio monsters were probably the undead. The Apparition, Coffer Corpse, Death Knight, Huecuva, Pennangalan, Revenant, Skeleton Warrior, and Sons of Kyuss all shared the evocative art of Russ Nicholson, and all seemed to be rotting, filthy and nasty. The Death Knights made great Big Bads, the Coffer Corpse and the Sons of Kyuss regular monsters of the day, and all the rest except

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-71359289625538265672009-12-28T06:36:00.000-08:002009-12-28T06:36:55.736-08:00

Despite being dead broke, the wife and I are going to San Francisco for a few days.  The blog will lie a little fallow, and I won't respond to anything until the new year. So happy new year to one and all!

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-16900821379786271732009-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:002009-12-27T09:31:05.669-08:00

Hawk the Slayer is a classic of bad 80s fantasy, and is available for rental from Netflix. I recently watched it again for the first time since the 1980s, and found myself remembering just how much this film seemed like most games of D&D I played or DMed in high school (and even into college.) I have to say that Jack Palance's scenery chewing still entertains me, as does Crow the android Elf. And

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-61115594791635544822009-12-25T12:24:00.000-08:002009-12-25T12:25:41.104-08:00

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, either as a religious or secular holiday, merry Christmas. We are having a rather spartan time at the Easterly household, trying to conserve or tiny amount of cash for our brief San Francisco vacation, but we are soon going  to visit the combination of my wife's family and in-laws, which will be about 40 people (and that's only because my wife Sheri's

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-48710474372055835162009-12-25T08:00:00.000-08:002009-12-25T08:00:01.735-08:00

This week's fiends fit into the theme of subterranean bird-men. It was thanks to the Planet Algol blog that I even began thinking of the Dire Corby again. Fearless subterranean pack-hunting bird-men with rock-hard claws and a tendency to shriek "Doom! Doom!", the Dire Corby is a random bit of monstrosity that mechanically looks more or less like any other humanoid. Likewise, the armored

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-51287289877345345852009-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:002009-12-24T08:00:06.617-08:00

Blair at Planet Algol has more than once noted that I should think of putting together an Adventure Path for Savage Swords of Athanor, a thought I have left to stew in the back of my head for a while. Of course, given the general wisdom in the Old School community that upholds the sacred status of sandbox settings, I think that doing something like this will revoke what little OSR cred I might

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-64987356467169530032009-12-23T08:28:00.000-08:002009-12-23T08:28:28.125-08:00

Well, I finally got off my tuchus and put Savage Swords of Athanor up for sale on Lulu. A lavishly un-illustrated 64 pages of A5 saddle-stitched goodness, you can order SSoA as a print item for $8 US or as a PDF for $2. A perfect stocking-stuffer for yourself. While you are on Lulu, you can also look to add the latest issue of Fight On! magazine (I'm still waiting for issue 7 in the mail),  Rob

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-22992157291333224012009-12-19T23:41:00.000-08:002009-12-19T23:41:00.242-08:00

In which I plug some particularly inspiring blogs I think you should be reading. I have two current favorites that have made for regular entertainment: If you enjoy what I do, read Planet Algol. Not only is Planet Algol my top referrer of readers (even above direct links, the RPG Bloggers site, Jim Raggi, and Jeff Rients), but it's a rollicking read that I regularly raid for ideas (and it seems

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373012312889051280.post-64343867241743033192009-12-18T07:40:00.000-08:002009-12-18T07:40:00.134-08:00

Back in 1981, my mother bought me a set of 5 AD&D books: the Players' Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, Deities and Demigods and the Fiend Folio. Despite being very uneven in content, the Fiend Folio left an indelible mark on me, presenting several odd and creepy monsters whose main attraction was their weird "what the hell was that?" factor. One of my personal favorites was

Douglas Easterlynoreply@blogger.com3