Celebrate Indpepndence!

1 : not dependent: as a (1) : not subject to control by others : self-governing (2) : not affiliated with a larger controlling unit b (1) : not requiring or relying on something else : not contingent (2) : not looking to others for one's opinions or for guidance in conduct (3) : not bound by or committed to a political party c (1) : not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood) parents> (2) : being enough to free one from the necessity of working for a living d : showing a desire for freedom

Inspirations

One of my favorite poems is Ozymandias.  Not just the more well known Shelley version, but I'd say even more so the competing version by Horace Smith.  Both are below as inspiration and you can decide which version speaks to you more.

As a historian the rise, fall, and rise again of man over and over throughout history is intriguing.  Most notable is that at man's zenith in any particular civilization, he becomes arrogant and assumes his sliver of time on the top in a given age is the pinnacle of human existence and that it shall never end.  History shows time and again that is not the case, as a collapse inevitably comes, and man must find his way again through the wilderness.

In both versions of Ozymandias each poet deals with this arrogance of man and civilization in a different tone, yet both are evocative and powerful for different reasons.  It's the individual poets focus that creates a different sense and emotion for the reader.

So how does this apply to gaming?  Consider the lowly dungeon.  Though not always the case, in general it is a ruin from a past time being explored.  The Referee should consider if those who came before were at the height of their civilization?  In an ascendancy cut short?  Were the builders the result of a race in hiding or survival mode during their decline?  When you decide at what point the builders constructed their dungeon, then that will influence what is found by the new age explorers as well as color how you present the dungeon and how the builders present themselves to the players exploring.  Without further rambling-the poems:

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
    Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
    The only shadow that the Desart knows: --
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
    "The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand." -- The City's gone, --
    Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon. We wonder, -- and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
    Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragments huge, and stops to guess
    What powerful but unrecorded race
    Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

--Horace Smith 1818

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

--Percy Bysshe Shelley 1818

Additional Note:
There was a solo adventure The Security Station from Metagaming for TFT that dealt with this idea quite well.  Sort of an S3 for the Fantasy Trip...

Monday Maiden

IRON MAIDEN that is!  New feature, every Monday I am tossing up a favorite Maiden tune because damn those guys still rock! UP THE IRONS!

Another Strategy Card game to consider: SUMMONER WARS

So here is another cool strategy card game we have started playing frequently.  A two player starter deck can be had relatively cheaply!  Good mix of strategy and fantasy gaming.  I'd review it for you but it's Sunday night, we finished playing it twice, and frankly I need a lot beauty sleep because brother I am not getting any prettier.

So here is a video review of it that breaks it all down.  Note This cat's voice (to my ear) is pretty annoying, but he does review it quite well.

ICONICA Update

Just a quick note to say 3 brand new cards for Iconica are for sale!

The Brew Master looks like a new favorite card for me!

Not playing Iconica yet? A complete set of all 22 cards from the first release (including extra pieces so you can play 4 player) is NOW available.  $50 for the complete set of cards + extra bits. Crap I wish this was available when I purchased originally!


Iconica is definitely worth  a look! You can scroll down my blog and see my quick review below.  Only 4 complete sets show available right now in Eric's store...

The COLLAPSE is coming

What a busy week!  Monday was crazy busy at work, Tuesday I lost my hearing watching Dream Theater and IRON MAIDEN blow the doors off the joint.  My ears were ringing for 2 days straight!  Wednesday was a 12 hour day in the office (after 4 hours sleep), and then dinner with the boss after work that night.  Thursday was BASEBALL: 13 innings in the sunshine of Safeco field.  Whew I was spent and passed out at 8pm last night.  Fortunately I had Friday off, and managed to knock out some more good work on my Apocalypse RPG: COLLAPSE.

Unlike Aftermath! or Gamma World, COLLAPSE concerns itself with  starting during a Collapse, then playing it out .  It will be very open ended as to why or how a COLLAPSE occurs so an Administrator (GM) can do whatever they like.  It is a very simple system so the game play and mechanics do not get in the way of creativity or game play.  Old school style w/o being a D&D derivative.  Actually I'd say its more a mashup of Car Wars, Traveler, and Barbarians of Lemuria.  Note I am not claiming its anywhere near as good as those games-but it is inspired by bibs & bobs of those fine games.

The image to the left is the Character sheet.  Simple and clean plus I think the pictograms are a neat hook.  Anyway, the player sections are done.  There are 3 chapters: Basics, Character Creation, Combat.  Toss in a table of contents and a character sheet and its about 44 pages.

I'm unsure if there should be an equipment section really as it is modern times and since the game starts (ideally) in medias res, its not like you have a back pack full of stuff handy.

Example: One COLLAPSE scenario kicked off with everyone working in the same office.  You hear a strange sizzling noise then the power goes out, you see the sky turn a strange reddish orange outside and everyone grows quiet.  You rush to the window to look out and you see every car has stopped and is slowly rolling to a halt below you.  Six planes drop out of the sky slowly spinning towards the ground.  A few hit the water and a few hit portions of the city. Each crashes with a fiery boom which shakes the office tower you are standing in...what do you do?

The World of Rynaga: Iconica

I picked up a new game about 2 weeks ago and finally had the chance to play it last night.  It's called Iconica and it is set in the World of Rynaga.  Rynaga is a very stylized and interesting world that seems to be developing into a full blown fantasy world. Iconica is the first game set in this world. The world, game, and art are designed by Eric Torres, and all aspects are brilliant.  I'd really like to see a great company like LPG work with Torres and develop a generic OSR RPG world book using Torres art and setting.  Torres has created a world book which tells a story in almost postcard style snapshots and is filled with his glorious art.  Back to the game though.

Iconica is a sort of RPG card based strategy game...but each player only uses three cards.  From the Website:

Set in the fictional World of Rynaga, Iconica blends turn-based strategy with a twist of chance for a unique card game experience that's easy to learn, but a challenge to master.

Start by choosing your cards. Choose wisely, as each character comes with it's own set of strengths and weaknesses. There are several card types such as Defensive, Offensive, Adaptive, Disruptive and Supportive.

Once you've chosen the cards that will make up your hand, it's time to face off against your opponent. Dice rolls may add an element of chance, but each turn presents you with strategic options that represent the core of Iconica's gameplay. Other elements such as Final Acts, make for exciting game events and can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Iconica features:

• Turn-based strategy and RPG elements
• An iconic design aesthetic
• 5x7 cards full of flavor and personality
• High production values
• Diverse card types
• Layers of complexity
• Expandable gameplay
• Clear and understandable rules
• 2-player and team play variations
• It's Indie-Made

I can vouch safe, the game play is strategic, intriguing, and fun.  Each character has 6 different abilities on its card. You roll a d6, then whatever number is rolled you may select that matching numbered action from one of your three cards.   Your goal of course is to slay your opponents 3 characters.

As your character suffers damage it unlocks various new abilities these abilities change as more damage is suffered thus creating another level of strategy and chaos.  The variety of powers and abilities is remarkable considering the base set comes with 6 cards, dice, rules and markers.

I originally thought the limited card selection (3 per side) would lead to a lack of variety, but even using just the base 6 cards, an amazing amount of strategy is possible.  Adding in the additional characters only increases the team building possibilities and strategies.  At the same time, the limited card set one must manage keeps the game approachable and teachable.  My wife an I played 3 games last night and each game was quite different using just the base 6 cards.  While common TCG's are of no interest to her due to their complexity of interaction, Iconica allowed these same kinds of strategy in a more palatable bite size portion.  The initial game took about 75 minutes as we learned the rules and she analyzed her options.  The next two games came in a bit under an hour each.  I think 2 experienced gamers could knock out a game in 45 minutes easy.

The cards are gorgeous and evocative as you can see in the image.  They are 5x7 in size and of very good quality. 

While it is a type of collectible card game, it is not a blind purchase model.  Instead you can purchase just the cards you want.  Additional cards are available now and can be purchased for $2 and up. 

I highly recommend this game if you like strategy games, TCG style games, or the idea of Collectible Card games but without needing a suitcase to compete.  A solid 8 out of 10.

The Summer MUST READ

The Passage by Justin Cronin

I spent most of this week in Vegas for the licensing show.  While I do enjoy Vegas when I go for a weekend with my wife, when its on business, its could be anywhere on the planet...with 40% more T&A and drunk people.

Anyway, besides the good business meetings, I starting reading The Passage.  I hate air travel, and frankly it's pretty sad that various airports and even gates in airports are now as familiar as the grocery store to me.  blah.  So I started reading The Passage and quickly became absorbed enough to pass 1.5 hours waiting for a flight and 2+ hours in flights both ways completely engrossed.


It is a "world collapse" novel...and the best description I have seen is its like "The Stand" by Stephen King mashed up with "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.  Frankly, I have not ever (and am unsure I ever want to) read a novel as grim as "The Road" again, but damn it is one terrible and beautiful work of art.  I am unsure I want to see the movie because as much as the novel still haunts me, I just don't want the movie to ruin or take away from the broken jaw feeling the book left me with.

So The Passage, well, I am not quite sure it is as good as the "mash up" description, but I am 33% through it and can't put it down.  It's more like "The Stand" than "The Road", but I don't see that as a negative at all.

So what's the story all about? How does the world end and why?  Brother I'd be doing you a dis-service if I told you.  If you like The Stand, The Road, Day by Day Armageddon, or The Walking Dead...do yourself a favor and pick this new novel up!

The COLLAPSE continues...

I have continued work on my COLLAPSE rpg.  Like most games I enjoy it is gritty and not fantastic. COLLAPSE concerns itself with the breakdown of modern society based upon whatever scenario the Administrator chooses.  It could be financial collapse, zombies, pandemic, EMP, war, etc.  Rather than 100 years in the future, its more about the here and now, everyday people dealing with a world turned upside down. 

One could conceivably add tentacled, eight eyed, crab clawed mutants to it, but frankly there are other games, Mutant Future comes to mind, that already do this and better.  Although there are section on Zombies or Aliens causing a COLLAPSE event, they tend to be more gritty.  So in COLLAPSE a zombie scenario is inspired by the novel Day by Day Armageddon and the Walking Dead comic.  Alien invasion is akin to War of the Worlds or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and military invasion scenarios inspired by Red Dawn.

One area I am having difficulty with is whether or not to add secondary ratings dealing with character psychological make up.  Rating things like empathy, ambition, integrity, charisma, and stability.  The psychological components are critical in surviving and interacting with others.   Yet creating stats to handle them seems like both a blessing an a curse.  It creates a touchstone for both player and administrator for figuring out character interactions and reactions, as well as their personality. Yet it also pigeonholes player flexibility and limits a character to certain actions or reactions.

I really dislike alignment systems, yet this seems to be what I am creating just with a different coat of paint more reflective of the style of game I like.  I have two different versions written, and can;t really say I like either.

So should I: Abandon it?  Make it optional in an appendix? Or leave it in?

HOLY DIVER, R.I.P.

Damn, Ronnie James Dio passed away today. Still blows me away how much influence RPG's had on the culture for such a brief window of time.

Magical Thoughts

Originally as I worked on my fantasy RPG (Rougish) I had wanted magic tied to race.  Then as I tried to make it simpler and class based, I went to breaking magic down by school: healing, nature, etc.   Honestly I do not like it and it is part of what's made the game drag on in development.  So while I was mowing the lawn yesterday I thought a lot about the magic system...and I think I am going to back to each race having a spell book of sorts.

Culturally it makes sense.  There are many things known by locals that an outsider will have no knowledge of, and I like thinking that knowledge of magic would be an extremely guarded secret by the various races.  So an elf able to bring vines and branches to life would be quite magical to a dwarf...and an application that your average dwarf would have no use for.  Stone skin makes a lot of sense as a learned magic for a dwarf battling goblins in the tunnels of its home, but that kind of spell knowledge would not be developed or handy for a human who sails amongst the islands kingdoms of Harkuun.    One might say, throw them all up and let the player sort it out as part of their background, and clearly, players could do just that.  I think it gives the game a bit more flavor, almost in the B/X race as class manner.  The work continues...

BARBARIC YAWP

Before I knew who Frazetta was, in fact before I knew who Conan was, I knew I had to read a book with a cover like this. I bought my first Conan book, at a 7-11 in Lacey, Washington while our family was on vacation.  I did it based on the cover alone.

Never judge a book by its cover? Not a strictly true maxim when Frank Frazetta was the cover artist. Thanks Frank, because of your art, an entire world opened up to me.

Starting point

My younger brothers, me, and my cousin all rode our bikes up to the shopping center. My step-mom gave us each five dollars. It was summer, and the black bike seats were hot. The shopping center was a mile up the road, but on a bike you could get there pretty quick. We'd take short cuts and then only have to be on the busy main road for about the last 6oo yards.

My dad bought and built a model rocket and the weekend before we launched it. I couldn't believe how high up it went. It made me think about missiles, and nuclear war, and the Russians. Nuclear war was bad because everyone said so, but the missiles seemed pretty cool to me. At the shopping center was a hobby shop where dad bought his model rocket. It was next to the arcade.

We went into the arcade first and parked our bikes out front. Dad loved Centipede and always played it, his machine was right up front in the arcade. I liked Star Castle and Battlezone. I liked the graphics how they were line drawn. I liked trying to dodge the big cannon from the Star Castle. It was like beating the Death Star every time I could destroy the castle. Then I'd make my little ship do figure eights in celebration.

My brothers, my cousin, and I played in the arcade for awhile. We had to wait for my cousin to finish his game. We were told to stick together, so we waited. He finished, then we walked over to the hobby store to look at the rockets.

We walked in and a bell rang on the door. This old lady behind the counter looked up and said. "hello boys."

We all said "hi" and then we split up like marbles let loose into the store. I looked to my left and saw these books and boxes. "ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK" was on the top shelf and that looked cool. This mean guy with a gun and one eye was dragging this other guy behind him. I knew it was from a movie, but I could not see the movie. Man that game looked better than Bonkers. It was on the top shelf and I could not reach it. There was a pinkish box though right in front of me. It had this wizard lady and a guy with a spear on it. This huge dragon was attacking them. It kind of looked like the guy on the side of the Centipede video game cabinet. He was shooting arrows at the giant bug. That's why the Centipede game sucked. You didn't have a guy with a bow shooting, you had a snake head spitting stuff at the centipede. They lied about it with the art on the cabinet, and that sucked.

I picked up the dragon box. It was $10 dollars, and I only had $3 left after the arcade. I flipped the box over. What kind of game is this? No board, no pieces, just some books, a crayon, and some weird dice? I read the back of the box. You slay a dragon, find piles of treasure and then a black knight comes out and challenges you, what do you do? Oh man, I kill him! This looks cool, and there are over 100 monsters to fight? I thought of dracula, the wolfman, godzilla, dragons, maybe centipedes like the video game, unicorns, mutants, giants, the fish guy from the lagoon, heck I couldn't even come up with 100 monsters.

I had to play this. I took the box over to my brothers and my cousin. They looked at it and my cousin said that it sounded cool, but he did not want to read the book. I said I would read it. I'd learn how to play it, and then I'd teach it to everyone. We could all play together. With Atari you could only have two people play, and that meant two of us had to watch. Monopoly was dumb, Risk took too long, Bonkers was boring, the Slime monster game didn't have any slime left in it, and Boggle was dad's game. This was a new game we could play together.

Everyone walked back over to the game shelf. There was another book called "Sword of Hope" and these thin books called modules with giants on the cover and knights fighting them. These were cheaper than the box set. The old lady said you have to buy the box first before you can use the other books.

I put my three dollars in and my cousin put in seven. The lady put the box in a plastic bag. I slipped the bag handle through my handle bars. It was so hot out we were sweating when we left the shopping center, and the box banged against my knee while I peddled home. I hadn't slain a dragon yet, and I did not get stopped by the black knight riding my bike home either. I did discover a treasure though, a wealth that would last me all that summer and continues to reward me now.

Unintended Consequences

Hello my friends and mysterious acquaintances, and a tip of the hat to lurkers everywhere. Sorry I've not had the time I have hoped recently to write. I am still here, still nerdy, and still working away, just not on my own projects as I had hoped.

As I've made mention before, I happen to work for a game company. Technically I have a specific title and role. My own out pouring of new ideas and past experiences in retail often tap me to do not only my job, but additional projects. Recently a new project was launched and the time line for completion is...well to put it mildly "nuttier than squirrel shit."

The project is the sort of thing most companies would spend about a year putting together, we've had a little under 3 months. My own part in this is as "rented mule." Here is how it works: Super important #2 guy in the company has crazy idea and creates a time line not tethered to reality. Yours truly gets the unenviable task of trying to give shape to said wild ass vision, with my time line being, "this should have been done yesterday. Oh, and don't quit your day job, as your titular function is critical to our continued success." So myself, another hard charger in the same department, and 2 outside consultants (who are paid double the company wage) are putting this little dream together. For the visionary it is a dream, for the cat building it, its a nightmare.

I can hear you now gentle reader, "Waaaaaah, boo-hoo, you have a job so why are you complaining? it is called work for a reason, man up and shut up about it, who cares? Will you ever finish just ONE rpg you are working on? Damn what a cry baby!" All true to a certain extent.

Who cares? Well my wife and I do, and I am sure that is the extent of it. In the end having worked absurd hours daily and weekends to meet a deadline while still having to fulfill my normal work responsibilities has left me bereft of time to write or to attend to my blogs. My part in this project should be over soon, and after a vacation I hope to have the COLLAPSE rule book up.

Thanks for your patience and I hope not to have a lapse like this again. As Winston Churchill said, "If you are going through hell, keep going." That is precisely what I intend to do.