Sword and Planet Adventure

     I have been playing Destiny 2 a bit and it had me thinking how I would translate it into a sword and planet setting for 5E? Which reminds me of the fantastic work that Tim Callahan and company did on the Crawljammer (old link but has info on the various issues)fanzine for DCC! They started with just enough information on the planets to get you excited and slowly expanded from there with six issues in all and a couple standalone adventures. If this seems up your alley you can purchase them here!

My little zine treasure chest full of Crawljammer goodness

     Of course I want to do my own thing, because why check a copy of something awesome when you can get the amazing original. So if I does this it will be with the intent to bring a different spin to it, while giving credit to all those before me. This includes Edgar Rice Burroughs and Clark Ashton Smith. I am looking into running games using virtual table tops to see if any of this works, which of course I will announce new here. So keep an eye out and hopefully you will be entertained or at least find something useful. Take care, folks!

Finally dipping into 5E

     Finally I have relented and will be purchasing the main three books for D&D 5E. I have several friends who are playing, so I might as well take the plunge. My only hesitation was that i already had access to rules sets that accomplished the same thing, Labyrinth Lord for BX play (actually I also have a copy of Rules Cyclopedia) and Dungeon Crawl Classics if I want to go a bit gonzo with my fantasy.

     The final straw was a friend of mine from back in Ohio thought I was already playing it and he hoped I could direct him to web sites and such. I had to break it to him that I could not help, and then I gave in to temptation. Yeah, it doesn't take much, some days. I started with the DMG and it will be another week before I get the next one (PHB) but I am hoping to start finding some good online resources. Anyone have any tips where to look, good blogs maybe?

     The extra cool thing about this is that I should be able to adapt my old school D&D as well as the more recent retro stuff I have acquired. Maybe Dwimmermount or some stuff from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, perhaps? I could reach back to Veiled Society (B6) or The Lost City (B4), just the notion is getting me ahead of myself.

     So yeah, if anyone out there has anything they would like to share, feel free. Later guys!

RPG a Day #4 and #5

    

     Most recent rpg purchased? Technically it is the D&D starter, but as I have owned some iteration of D&D since I was a kid, so besides that box I recently got a copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics. I was able to run the free rpg day adventure, Elzemon and the Blood Drinking Box. Incidentally, this comes in second to most old school rpg owned

      The top spot, for me, goes to Labyrinth Lord. You can do race as class, or use the advanced edition companion to do simulate AD&D. It feels the same, except that someone polished up the rules a bit. It is compatible with most any D&D module I have and the amount of third party support adding to it is inspiring. The best part of these rules, as with most other retro clones, you can download the rules for free. Anyone get the rules and play, with an easy way to try it.

Happy Birthday USA! Also, I'm sick *bleargh*

     Holiday weekend here in the states, lots of parades, fireworks and cookouts. The annoying part is I started to get sick partway through it all. Saturday I thought it was allergies, now I feel like my head is constantly being squeezed, so it is probably in my sinuses. Enough of that, let's see what is happening in gaming.

     D&D Basic dropped on the third, with the pdf being available here, I downloaded it and skimmed through it a couple of times. Looked good, they give you just enough to whet your appetite, five backgrounds (starting on page 36; acolyte,criminal, folk hero, sage, and soldier) two sub races per non human race (starting on page 11; dwarf-hill and mountain, elf-high and wood, halfling-lightfoot and stout) The cleric starts with the life domain, and the wizard entry has the evocation school of magic. The fighter has six fighting styles (archery, defense, dueling, great-weapon fighting, protection, and two-weapon fighting) and though the rogue only includes one archetype, the thief. I am sure I am missing something here, but that's how it goes when you are ill.

     So, I had not planned to get the starter set, but when I heard that they had been selling out I checked my flgs and they still had two, so of course I snatched one up. As Mike Mearls mentioned, it has no character creation rules, since those are in the basic pdf, but there is plenty of things for running the adventure included. I am currently going through the starter box between bouts of nose-blowing and grumbling/coughing.

     When I am sick, I usually make a nest so things I want to read are within easy reach, when I am not crashed asleep in bed.

     Well, enough of that, anyone out there want to drop a comment, feel free to do so. I am hoping to be back to my old self in a day or so. Take care everyone!
    

Looking forward to 5E

     Well, at least the free pdf. I want to see what people make of it, literally hacking the basic rules to build something new or slightly different. Each update is like a little nugget to parcel away saying "Oh, if I work this, maybe I can run a game in this random exotic locale." I personally have nothing in mind, just feeling the anticipation building behind my eyes. Maybe that's just a sinus issue, who knows.

     Looking forward to July 3rd, hope to hear what you all try out with it! Take care.

D&D coming soon...

     In just over a month we will get our first 5E product in the starter set, well July 15th but still. Though my love for OSR products is boundless, I am looking forward to seeing what they have done this time. At the very least I can use any ideas I like for whatever rules set I choose, which is pretty much how I operate now. I have an abundance of rpg adventures and supplements that I plan to or have already done that very thing. This interview with Wolfgang Baur and Steve Winter (Kobold Press) regarding their upcoming 5E adventure modules is very promising. It sounds like they have packed a lot of action into it, not just fights but exploration, role play opportunities, taking advantage of the flexibility of the new rules. I can only hope it all turns out as cool as it sounds.

     Just wanted to put that out there, felt the need to put my two cents in. Feel free to let me know what you think, leave a comment below. Let yourself be heard! Or not, whatever.

Wednesday, May 21st

     Just some meandering here, today. The news of WotC's release plans and stuff for 5E has lit the interwebs these past few days. I am in the camp of "I'll wait and see." since I am playing Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future and DCC. Their adventures sound cool, at least the Dead in Thay stuff. At the very least I will be paying attention to their adventure releases.

     I keep forgetting to mention, being a part of the order of the 30, when I run a game I will let everyone know that once per person they can substitute a d30 for any one die roll. this will begin with my DCC game this next Monday. Also, I should be submitting games to run at Con on the Cob soon. Really looking forward to all the cons this year, but especially CotC!

     That is all for now, take care folks!