Knives and Swords: A Visual History

I was in Barnes and Noble last week waiting for the girlfriend to get off work. In the bargain book section, I happen to see this puppy. It's a little over priced I felt but what the hell. Looking up the picture online, I see it's 10% off the price I paid in the store. That pretty much insures I'll never buy another book in the store without doing a look up online first and getting the better price. Gee, I wonder why B&N could be having problems? Could it be selling products through your own damn store online cheaper than in the store? Nah.

Anyway, the book doesn't really start off with knives and swords, but talks about things in historic context. One of the things it shows are some of the weapons the royalty of Egypt might have used, like a dagger with a gold blade and scabbard with a hilt made of blue lapis lazuli. More impressive than that though, was as axe with the center part semi-hollow depicting a warrior on horseback design. It mentioned that axes were often the weapons of the nobility and the richer the person, the more decorative, more design oriented, more lavish, the weapons.

The fact that we're talking about axes here, as opposed to swords, reminded me of an anime I had seen a while ago in that the main character there was a wielder of a spear. In her country, the spear was the top weapon while in the country she was travelling in, it might not necessarily have been a peasant weapon but close enough.

When looking at the different parts of your campaign world, what does the weapon of choice say about the culture? What does it say about the metallurgy skills present? What does it say about the quality of the iron and steel?

While I haven't gone into detail in Knives and Swords, the visuals are nice and the writing, while I'm not sure of it's accuracy, did get me thinking of the value of weapons to culture in terms of status symbols again so that was well worth looking into.

Black Company Sale that's not really a sale

Tor does some great books.

Recently they put on "sale" the first volume of the Black Company for $2.99.

Okay...

Chronicles of the Black Company is $7.99 It contains the first three books.

There are no other volumes of the Black Company available in their individual format.

I believe the term "horseshit" can be applied to the term "sale" or "special" in regards to selling one volume of the Black Company at that price.

I get that on one hand if you're never heard of the Black Company spending the $2.99 isn't necessarily that bad a deal but then what? You can't buy the other volumes in individual format. You have to buy the big book and unless I'm mistaken, they aren't going to comp you that costs.

A real sale would be putting the Chronicles on sale itself and letting people get a better taste of it that way.

Dreadd

I am not the huge Judge Dread fan many people I know are. It's not that he's not an impressive character. It's not that he hasn't been around for years. It's not that he doesn't even have a song about him. I've enjoyed the comics where he's run into Batman say but for the most part, I haven't seen much about the character. Mind you Mongoose has tried to change that on many levels with role playing games and miniatures. Heck, before this, there was rumored to even be another movie.

I'll be discussing some specifics of the movie below but for those who want a snapshot yea or nay? Its worth at least a rental. The movie is very action packed but doesn't feel like one long action sequence. Its broken down into digestible chunks and Dredd comes off as a tough mentor without the story being vast and overpowering but rather just another day in Mega City One.

In terms of Dredd for inspiration as a RPG thought? Well, as I mentioned, there's already a RPG or has been. There's also the miniature line.

The movie brings out many good bits.

First off, gangs and judges are both small groups. Both empowered past that of normal people. Sound like adventurers to me. While it's easy to see this scenario in some post apocalyptic world, such as Game's Workshop skirmish level game, it's also easy to see something like this for say, a fantasy setting where the outside territories are dangerous. Imagine if the Spellplague did REAL damage to the Forgotten Realms and most of the setting was plague land? Imagine if Greyhawk was mostly lifeless outside of the city proper. Imagine it all being in a drow city with mind flayers and other powerful entities to contend with as all surface life has been destroyed. (Say the hated second adventure path by Paizo actually succeeded.)

Another bit that fits most adventurers is Judge Dredd wields the Lawgiver. A unique weapon that has unique abilities, ammunition and well, can only be used by him. Sounds like a powerful magic item eh?

In this film, the individual he tutors is Anderson, a psychic. So Dredd is the ultimate bad ass while Anderson doesn't do bad, but also has psychic powers. Sounds like an adventuring group where each character has some specialty but they overlap a little eh?

The movie does have a few interesting twists though. For example, corrupt judges. In a setting as harsh as this one, such corruption probably isn't out of place. Indeed, neither Dredd nor Anderson seem too surprised by it and make relatively short work of the corrupt judges. In a long term campaign setting though, such incidents may have a long term effect.

For example, one of the character themes of Spears of the Dawn, is that the characters are a social class, a special caste of individual that is there to help the common people. If too many of their fellow Spears turn out to be nothing more than bandits, rogues or scoundrels, what type of reception can the players expect from those they work for, with, or around?

The setting as shown here, is ripe for adventurer. It would actually make a great television show except for one part. Eventually, some one some where would decide to 'humanize' Dredd which would be the mistake. If they did a show, they should only have him show up in 'guest' capacity. Dredd is the ultimate law man but people may feel him boring after a while. Not me mind you. He's like the ultimate player character given flesh. "Choke on this." and other one liners fly from his lips quickly and his ability to pass punishment due to his status makes him a powerful figure.

In terms of setting up a dungeon crawl, you could do worse than steal a few bits from Dredd.

Elric: The Balance Lost

Over at Comixology right now, 5/1/2013, they are having a sale on some Elric comics. I already have these in trade form but bought the electronic editions anyway. I figure I'm more likely to be by my tablet then by my collection anyway.

Reading them over again, I'm struck by how good the variant cover artist, Francesco Mattina is. The strength of his painting alone could make me want to run a Dungeon Crawl Classic or even support the new Luke Crane game on Kickstarter.

When looking for inspiration, don't forget the material you may already have read. Don't forget the images that inspired you. We live in a near golden age of visual medium that hosts images from modern art to those done hundreds of years ago. Don't allow inspiration to pass you by because you need those old styling again.

Another nice thing is how the writer is able to take different parts of the whole Million Spheres and other bits that Moorcock has woven about in numerous previous books and make them, if not into one seamless whole, into something that is passable. If you're a fan of the old Elric mythos and want to see The Three Who Are One again, this is a good sale for you.

May 2013 Kickstarter Updates

Yeah, I'm a few days early but its the weekend. There are still some Kickstarters I want to back. There are a ton I haven't backed. There is a lot of doubt in my mind, as to how useful Kickstarters are to the end user. There are some where the freebies can be tempting enough to make one have an impulse buy, such as the Dwarven Forge terrain one going on now. There are others that appeal to me due to their unique nature like the Kensai one or the East Asian Village one. Funds being what they are though...

I've only supported two since my last report. I received my tax refund from the state. Last year I didn't as it went straight to parking tickets. They also charged me to use my money in that manner. Thank you Chicago! And then people wonder why the city population is shrinking eh? I went in for Drake and Dungeon Crawler.  My love of monstrous miniatures will be my downfall. Especially as I'm still waiting on so many to hit the shore.

28mm Demons & Devils: Late. Communication has been good. Turns out one of the perks, King of Dragons, aka Tiamat, was well underpriced and is one of the pieces that's going to cause this to be even later. Ah well.

1650s Rulebook:  Due last October. Communication has been terrible. I know I'd never back anything these guys do again even though the figures are awesome. I'd just order them after they were cast from some third party website or live without them.

Assimilation Alien Host: Not late yet but man, with all the drama going on involving Trollcast, Red Box Games and other bits, like Ed moving, I would be very surprised if this came in May.

Imbrian Arts: Remember when I mentioned drama with the above kickstarter? Imbrian was part of it. They were supposed to have several figures already sent out to certain level backers and well, that hasn't happened due to the Trollcast issue. We've seen some of the metals coming out and they do look fantastic so I'm hopeful with this one.

Reaper Bones: I signed up for a higher custom level pledge and Reaper responded by putting the complex orders at the end of the list because, you know, complex! In addition, I also signed up for a year of metal and Reaper hasn't actually put out any figures in months. Curious to see where that one winds up. You know, for example, an extension of the 'Year of Metal'. I suspect we'll get an 'official' answer on that one soon as the Reaper folks were busy with their convention.

Red Box Games: Tre is a fantastic sculptor. I'm glad he tried out a new method of delivering the goods. This one though is pretty much a disaster. Going on... seven months late.

Relic Knights: They already got ahead of this one and announced... yeah, late. Massively late. If I didn't back for some exclusives I'd have asked for a refund right away. I am weary of incompetence at these higher levels. This wasn't some small job, it pulled in $900,000+.

Tectonic Craft Studios: Dan is a nice guy. I met him at Adepticon. This is still a disaster. It will be almost one year late. I'd buy stuff from him again that was fitting a need or purpose, but man, actually funding another Kickstarter or anything like that? Not going to happen.   

Dwimmermount: Does anything need to be said about this one? Mind you, the communication has been great. Tavis has been in front of this one the whole time. While I probably won't back anymore Kickstarters, I will continue to watch and buy items that meet my interest.

It Came From The Stars: The book is on the way. I count no chickens before they are hatched as we still haven't got the final PDF. Another one that's going on a year late. Another one I put in for stuff for a year and well, they really haven't done much in that time period so a wasted perk even with the extension.

Midgard Tales: Something like vie months late going on probably six or seven? M'eh. I never liked the patron angle from Open Design because your paying a little premium to be part of the design process and really, I just want the goods so I'll always weight in the future unless it's some fantastic deal.

Pathfinder Online: So in January they met their funding goals and they still haven't been able to get people the freeibes even? You know, the PDF of already existing material? This one will be interesting to watch as it moves on.

Steampunk Musha: Wow. Failure all over this one.  I understand people get sick. I understand people have real life issues. But this is another one that's supposed to be from a game company. A game company that's allowed their 'official' website to go black.  One that mind you, has been putting out other material. This one went without an 'official' update for three months and we've head some improbably things like, "I thought the site was being updated!" even as they talk about how its an important project and will see the light of day! I gotta tell you, if it's an important project, you wouldn't "think" it's being updated because you would keep yourself in the loop in an actual professional manner and not have to have people bothering you on different social sites. Ugh. I have a lot of doubts about this one due to the unprofessional manner in which the game company has kept up to date on things. While Dwimmermount has its numerous issues, Tavis kept everyone in the loop. In the age of instant communications, a three month black out is unacceptable. These guys and my money? Never again.

So to me, it doesn't appear there is a huge difference if you're doing miniatures or role playing books. Running a successful on time Kickstarter appears to be something very difficult and something only a handful of companies have done in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing how Kickstarter continues to evolve as a means of funding as well as taking responsibility for the different aspects of a Kickstarter.

Prince of Ravens by Richard Baker

I mentioned, some time ago, Amazon having a few Forgotten Realms novels for sale for $2.99. Prince of Ravens by Richard Baker was one of them. The same book in the same format is now $6.15. I wonder where Amazon comes up with these prices eh?

I finally managed to get around to reading it. It's not a bad yarn but I have some 'issues' with it if you will. Let me say that there will be spoilers.

In designing your campaign, there are many options. In resuming a campaign, there are many options. Prince of Ravens takes one of the heroes of the Forgotten Realms and puts him in the 'new' setting of the Forgotten Realms some one hundred years after his own timeline. The immense problems in terms of suspension of disbelief hit hard and fast for me.

For one thing, if I read a book by say Mark Twain or Harold Lamb, or something from an even older time, the language is different. Oh sure, it's still English but the way words are used, indeed, the very words used, are massively different in style and tone.

If I go to an old neighborhood, the buildings are different. The very designs are different. In some areas, the buildings may be so worn down and dilapidated that its a safety hazard even to be near them.

Food changes. The types of food popular now are not in any way, shape or form the foods that people even fifty years ago were eating.

Jack, the main hero who is time lost, basically comes into Ravensbluff going, "Man, it sucks that everything and everyone I ever loved is dead, but hey, some style changes to clothing and I'm good to go again man. Awesome."

The problem with a generic setting like the Forgotten Realms is fully showcased here in that it remains a generic setting for this tale as Jack is able to easily fit into the modern world with such little difficulty that its evident the more things change, the more they stay the same.

So what's my point? In a fantasy setting, all of this can be explained with a wave of the hand. Yeah, pretty much. But I guess my point is, in designing your campaign, you still wind up using all the static elements that were used so predominatnly before without bringing in the things that were supposed to make the setting what it is now, like Swordmages, like Dragonborn, like Spellplague, and other bits, that Richard has used in other novels, don't change the setting.  It may be strange to think it, but companies can still write stories about their characters in those 'olden' times. How many Batman, Spiderman, and even Conan origins have we been subject to? Learn from the properties some of your more fantastic elements seek to emulate.

One thing that Richard does well here, which is a tremendous paint in many role playing games that are detail intensive, is multiple parties of adventurers with the unexpected popping up. For example, Jack is looking for a book. They encounter some villains and battle. As they move forward, they encounter another group of adventurers. Plus some more villains and their leader! While not breaking out into a three way brawl, the battle in a role playing game, like Rolemaster or 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, could be a huge time sink as you now have multiple groups of characters to run as the GM and interact with the players.

There are also cases of characters 'breaking' the rules. One of the characters is the 'warlord' who is immune to all magic, both good and bad. At the end of the novel, Jack loses his own spellcasting ability and the 'warlord' gains access to magic. In a point based game like Hero or GURPS, that might be considered a 'radiation' accident via the old Marvel Super Heroes where there were in game reasons for why your character changed.

If players want to change their characters, see if you can build it into the game itself as opposed to bringing in a whole new character but only do so if it fits the feel and mood of the campaign proper. You don't want Spellplagues and Wildmagic and other nonsense popping up every other session because someone wants to play the latest and greatest class race combo.

Prince of Ravens is a very character driven story and provides a quick look as to how an out of time character might interact with the new setting and finds it same as it ever was.

Spears of the Dawn

Spears of the Dawn is a game with a bit of history to it.

First, it's funded through the Kickstarter process. This in and of itself might be enough to make some people shield their eyes and turn their heads. The thing about Spears of the Dawn though, is that it actually game out a little ahead of time.

Second, it challenges the reader to do better by the gaming community. The author talks about using Scribus, OneBookShelf, OGL material and asks that if you don't like the game, make something better. I don't get the vibe of "You ain't got no game" or nothing hostile like that. I get the vibe that the author is endorsing people to be creative and put their efforts out for the masses in a good way. Probably why he's released the art for the game as public use for gaming too eh?

In between different bits, like looking at apartments and waiting to see what's going on with where I currently live, I've been pinging between Spears and other PDFs. On my computer, the file comes across fine. On my Toshiba Android Thrive tablet, using something like ezPDF, the heading files lose almost all of the detail, leaving only the capital of each word.

While I haven't read the whole book yet, and will hopefully come back to it soon, I wanted to point out the in game mechanic of having the characters be Spears of the Dawn. In games where the culture doesn't default to noble knight, shifty rogue, enigmatic wizard and pious cleric in a pseudo Middle Age Europe, it can be difficult to get a group together. It can be difficult to have a starting point for the game. It can be difficult to know what the players are supposed to do.

Another game, long ago mind you, Legend of the Five Rings, saw this potential problem in its first edition and recommended that the players be Magistrates who must uphold the law, work together, solve problems, and do right not only by their clan but by the Emperor!

Spears of the Dawn is a calling, a caste, a title, but from what I've seen this far, it's not a game mechanic. The people of the Three Lands have come out of war only recently against a dark and evil force that has many pockets of malice behind them and it is up to the Spears of the Dawn to battle against those monsters.

It's a great plot device that allows a diverse group of characters to get together and take to the dungeons with a bit of a background. It's one that can be used for multiple characters. It can be as deep or as shallow as the game master wants to make it. For those who might not be interested in that venue though, there's a sourcebook/adventure out by Sine Nomine Publishing already, House of Bone and Amber.

I haven't read through enough of the game rules to determine what is new and what is old school in game mechanics. In many ways it seems at first glance to be lot of old school including some of the old stand by for gaming stats: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, rolled 3d6 straight in line.  Bonuses are relatively small starting at +1 from 14-17 and +2 for 18. One of the nods to old school, or at least I consider it a nod, is the use of a silver standard. Many times one of the cries against the old Dungeons and Dragons is the sheer amount of wealth characters can accumulate.

In a non-campaign moment, one of the things I was looking at in terms of the stat generation, was either a nod to the old Rolemaster game system, or a case of parallel development. Many moons ago, in Rolemaster, if you didn't have at least a 90 in your prime stats, you could swap out your stat for a 90. Here, in your class, while you do roll 3d6 in order, you can put in a 14 for your prime score. While it's not going to be as awesome as an 18 in say, 3rd or 4th edition, or anything, especially in an OSR style game, it does provide some options for those players who have to have some better stats then the minimum eh?

Another non-standard bit, is rolling hit points. While it's a random roll, it's a random roll every level. It uses the lower end hit dice types, so fighters using d8 for example. The 'thing' though is that say at 3rd level, you can roll 3d8 for your hit points and take the better of the two, the new ones or your original ones. That's a bit of a strange system for me as it can have some flux in lower level characters who roll poorly but doesn't seem too useful as advancement happens and dice start to 'average' out on weight.

I hope to get back to Spears of the Dawn soon. It looks like a nice campaign setting that could easily be yanked out of the OSR system for exploration by characters from other systems or settings.