15ThingsStockItContestEnds5:45pmEasternTomorrowYouAreOnlyAllowedToWorkForTwoMinutesIWon'tKnowIfYouCheatedBut
SantaWillClickToEnLargeGO!!!!!
______
hint: Type the key numbers after you stock the rooms. It'll save time.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
2MinuteDungeonContestGO!!!!!
15ThingsStockItContestEnds5:45pmEasternTomorrowYouAreOnlyAllowedToWorkForTwoMinutesIWon'tKnowIfYouCheatedBut
SantaWillClickToEnLargeGO!!!!!
______
hint: Type the key numbers after you stock the rooms. It'll save time.
Fast Tables & Slow Tables
Since I'm working on a book chock-full of random tables I've been thinking about which ones to include and why and blahhhhhhh...
Alright. Basically there are 3 kinds of tables:
1) Tables designed to use randomness to create dramatic tension (Slow Tables) These operate by purposefully going slower than the speed of thought. They give the roller less information than s/he needs to figure out all of what's going on. Roll initiative. Tension mounts. Roll to hit. Tension mounts. Roll damage. Tension mounts. Roll to see if you save vs, poison. Tension mounts... aaaaaand you took 3 points of damage and are paralyzed on account of the Toadweasel's poison dagger.
It took 4 rolls to figure that out & it was worth every second. (In theory.) You could, in fact, see the whole game as basically rolling on a series of tables that slow the story down and build tension. "Do you, Vrothgrontnar, want to take the Chalice of Especial Destiny across the Plain of Choogle to the Fire Queens of Northern Sucktania?" "Yes, yes I do." And you could just end it there. He did it. But instead, you roll on some tables and do some other things to slow the whole thing down and break it into parts with details.
If, instead of actually playing, you just did all the math on Vrothgrontnar's chances and built a d1000 chart and had him roll on it and then read off a result which included a rich, novel-length description of a whole adventure he just had: "Well, first you woke up and brushed your teeth, then you went and got some henchfolk, then...fire pits...gargoyle feast...three wicked sailors...Gates of Skrowwbe..."etc. could possibly provide exactly the same amount of information as the chronicle of the game. But it would have no dramatic tension as a game (and no place for choices, but that's another post).
Anyway, point is, in this case, the table--or, usually, "series of tables"--is used to provide small details which, in themselves, mean little, but which slowly accrete into a story.
2) Tables designed to use randomness to quickly choose between a very large number of plausible options so that the game can continue smoothly (Fast Tables) These operate by purposefully going faster than the speed of thought. They give the roller more information than s/he could have invented spontaneously at that speed or if not that, then at least they allow the roller to have options presented to them with a level of regularity matching reality, genre expectations, etc. that would require a lot of thought s/he couldn't have put in that fast (i.e. I don't roll up "Polar Bear" on the wilderness encounter chart because I couldn't have thought of a polar bear that fast, I do it because I trust the table to be balanced to provide me with polar bears about as often as I or the game designer think polar bears should turn up on the pitiless tundra of Harshlandica.)
These charts should provide the roller with the most information s/he could possibly assimilate at a glance and are mostly useful for things that the game feels should/could be randomized but aren't all that dramatic ("What's the layout of this building?") or for DMs in the middle of a game.
3) Tables designed to handle extremely large numbers of options during DM prep. An example of this would be the Random Magic Item tables from the DMG. The emphasis in these tables is, theoretically, providing a statistical balance of whatever element the DM's trying to roll up. These are the easiest to design since they don't have to weigh statistical accuracy or regularity or verisimilitude or whatever they're going for against anything else. People who use them are usually doing it because they like to and have free time on their hands.
Making them faster is possible, and occasionally desirable for a busy DM about to run something. When trying to design faster tables of this sort you can pretty much follow the same rules as Fast Tables above.
_____________
Ok, so a series of Slow Tables should provide a stream of details at a rate that keeps the tension high. A single Fast Table should provide a ton of information all at once so that situations can be nailed down quickly and everybody can move on to the fun stuff.
_____________
Designing a good series of Slow Tables usually means that each roll provides some concrete & identifiable detail about where the situation is going which means something to the PCs in terms of good or bad. "Initiative" can go well or poorly, "to hit" can go well or poorly & "damage" can go well or poorly, for instance. A Slow Table which just goes "Ok, roll to see who notices...ok, it's someone lower class...ok, roll again...ok, its someone in the service industry...ok, roll again...it's a charwoman!" is, most of the time, not going to increase tension, it's just slowing shit down. Might as well roll your random innocent bystander on a Fast Table.
Probably the classic example is the hit location table--the problem is not that it's a whole extra die to roll, the problem is working it into the "story" of the combat system tells in such a way that you don't hear "upper arm" and just go "Ok, and...?".
Whatever version of Rolemaster I just played handled that pretty well by folding hit location into a system of high, medium, & low crits, so you hear about what you hit and what that did at the same time.
In other words, don't design a Slow Table to slowly narrow down categories unless those categories mean something to the PCs in terms of what they're trying to accomplish.
_____________
Designing a good Fast Table means extracting the maximum information from each die roll. This usually means that you put tons of effort into creating unique results for the table when you're not playing so that all that creativity pops up instantly when you are playing. A d100 chart with 100 results and 1-2 line descriptions of each result is a typical good example, but there are other ways to do it.
For example: Factoring in even one of these other conditions in addition to what's on the die can allow you to parse between far more than 100 options on a single roll:
-what PC rolled the die (race, class, male, female)
-who rolled the die (player position-1 to the left of the DM, 2 to the left, 3 to the left, etc.)
-where the die lands
-color of the die
-size of the die
etc.
For example, you could stock a hexmap in a second by assigning different dice (different color, different size) to various monsters likely to show up in a certain biome. D20s would be the weakest monsters and d4s would be the toughest. Then just drop all the dice onto the map (behind the screen). Wherever a die lands, that many monsters of that type are there. Any dice that don't land on the map aren't there. When the PCs approach a hex, you can look it up.
_____________
Combat is usually a Slow Table thing. However, there are times a Fast Table could come in handy: mass combat, naturally, and in situations where the DM is rolling several enemies attacking simultaneously & the combat hasn't progressed to the point where PCs are scared that every time a die hits the table they might die.
Character generation is usually in the game-as-written as a Slow Table thing (with options between rolls) but there are lots of times when a player or DM would want it to get done as a Fast Table thing. Games can have both--a slow system for excited newbies & character builders, & a fast system for replacing dead PCs midgame and generating NPCs on the fly.
Here's one for D&D if you have lots of dice: assign each color of die an ability (dex, con, etc.) and roll them. If you're real lazy you can roll 6d20 and just re-roll or rationalize anything outside 3-18.
A common annoying thing in Slow Table character generation is later results which repeatedly void the results of previous rolls. Like I notice in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that half your ability scores don't mean anything when you first roll them since you renovate them constantly at every stage of the process (you're a raccoon? +5 pp, -3 ps. What size are you? Oh, that's a +4 ps) so it's hard to get a sense of the PC taking shape in your mind. (In Paranoia they do this on purpose, but that game's really more like a bunch of Fast Tables stuck together in order to disorient the PCs.) I'd suggest that if you're designing a game where the physical form of the PC is wildly in doubt that you get most the powers and ability-altering weirdness in first so that when you do get the ability scores then they actually feel like you're deciding something.
Treasure is usually a Fast Table, but you could build Slow Tables for treasure (or just about anything) if you want to use the tables to narrate the process of finding the treasure. The trick is the table reveals things from the PC's point of view. Like: "We search the body"(roll, roll)"Ok, the 'What's does it have in its pockets? table' says a cursory pocket search reveals nothing. Do you want to roll on the 'What happens if I take off its clothes?' table?""Ok" (roll) "There's nothing but a dagger and a crude tattoo of a dancing hog under the clothes, but there appears to be an unnatural lump in the creature's throat, do you want to roll on the 'What's in it's throat?' table?'" etc.
Or: "It's...(roll roll)...shiny," "YAY!" "and...(roll roll) about 3 feet tall""YAY!""...and...(roll roll) it's a giant slug and it's alive!""Fuck.".
If you build Slow Tables you might end up spending a lot of time not using them. The best Slow Tables are specific to a certain narrow situation but also re-usable, which is a pretty tough bill to fill. Attaching them to a thing the PCs end up bringing around with them (like a car or a horse or a spell) is usually not a waste of effort.
Aaaaand...that's it for now.
Alright. Basically there are 3 kinds of tables:
1) Tables designed to use randomness to create dramatic tension (Slow Tables) These operate by purposefully going slower than the speed of thought. They give the roller less information than s/he needs to figure out all of what's going on. Roll initiative. Tension mounts. Roll to hit. Tension mounts. Roll damage. Tension mounts. Roll to see if you save vs, poison. Tension mounts... aaaaaand you took 3 points of damage and are paralyzed on account of the Toadweasel's poison dagger.
It took 4 rolls to figure that out & it was worth every second. (In theory.) You could, in fact, see the whole game as basically rolling on a series of tables that slow the story down and build tension. "Do you, Vrothgrontnar, want to take the Chalice of Especial Destiny across the Plain of Choogle to the Fire Queens of Northern Sucktania?" "Yes, yes I do." And you could just end it there. He did it. But instead, you roll on some tables and do some other things to slow the whole thing down and break it into parts with details.
If, instead of actually playing, you just did all the math on Vrothgrontnar's chances and built a d1000 chart and had him roll on it and then read off a result which included a rich, novel-length description of a whole adventure he just had: "Well, first you woke up and brushed your teeth, then you went and got some henchfolk, then...fire pits...gargoyle feast...three wicked sailors...Gates of Skrowwbe..."etc. could possibly provide exactly the same amount of information as the chronicle of the game. But it would have no dramatic tension as a game (and no place for choices, but that's another post).
Anyway, point is, in this case, the table--or, usually, "series of tables"--is used to provide small details which, in themselves, mean little, but which slowly accrete into a story.
2) Tables designed to use randomness to quickly choose between a very large number of plausible options so that the game can continue smoothly (Fast Tables) These operate by purposefully going faster than the speed of thought. They give the roller more information than s/he could have invented spontaneously at that speed or if not that, then at least they allow the roller to have options presented to them with a level of regularity matching reality, genre expectations, etc. that would require a lot of thought s/he couldn't have put in that fast (i.e. I don't roll up "Polar Bear" on the wilderness encounter chart because I couldn't have thought of a polar bear that fast, I do it because I trust the table to be balanced to provide me with polar bears about as often as I or the game designer think polar bears should turn up on the pitiless tundra of Harshlandica.)
These charts should provide the roller with the most information s/he could possibly assimilate at a glance and are mostly useful for things that the game feels should/could be randomized but aren't all that dramatic ("What's the layout of this building?") or for DMs in the middle of a game.
3) Tables designed to handle extremely large numbers of options during DM prep. An example of this would be the Random Magic Item tables from the DMG. The emphasis in these tables is, theoretically, providing a statistical balance of whatever element the DM's trying to roll up. These are the easiest to design since they don't have to weigh statistical accuracy or regularity or verisimilitude or whatever they're going for against anything else. People who use them are usually doing it because they like to and have free time on their hands.
Making them faster is possible, and occasionally desirable for a busy DM about to run something. When trying to design faster tables of this sort you can pretty much follow the same rules as Fast Tables above.
_____________
Ok, so a series of Slow Tables should provide a stream of details at a rate that keeps the tension high. A single Fast Table should provide a ton of information all at once so that situations can be nailed down quickly and everybody can move on to the fun stuff.
_____________
Designing a good series of Slow Tables usually means that each roll provides some concrete & identifiable detail about where the situation is going which means something to the PCs in terms of good or bad. "Initiative" can go well or poorly, "to hit" can go well or poorly & "damage" can go well or poorly, for instance. A Slow Table which just goes "Ok, roll to see who notices...ok, it's someone lower class...ok, roll again...ok, its someone in the service industry...ok, roll again...it's a charwoman!" is, most of the time, not going to increase tension, it's just slowing shit down. Might as well roll your random innocent bystander on a Fast Table.
Probably the classic example is the hit location table--the problem is not that it's a whole extra die to roll, the problem is working it into the "story" of the combat system tells in such a way that you don't hear "upper arm" and just go "Ok, and...?".
Whatever version of Rolemaster I just played handled that pretty well by folding hit location into a system of high, medium, & low crits, so you hear about what you hit and what that did at the same time.
In other words, don't design a Slow Table to slowly narrow down categories unless those categories mean something to the PCs in terms of what they're trying to accomplish.
_____________
Designing a good Fast Table means extracting the maximum information from each die roll. This usually means that you put tons of effort into creating unique results for the table when you're not playing so that all that creativity pops up instantly when you are playing. A d100 chart with 100 results and 1-2 line descriptions of each result is a typical good example, but there are other ways to do it.
For example: Factoring in even one of these other conditions in addition to what's on the die can allow you to parse between far more than 100 options on a single roll:
-what PC rolled the die (race, class, male, female)
-who rolled the die (player position-1 to the left of the DM, 2 to the left, 3 to the left, etc.)
-where the die lands
-color of the die
-size of the die
etc.
For example, you could stock a hexmap in a second by assigning different dice (different color, different size) to various monsters likely to show up in a certain biome. D20s would be the weakest monsters and d4s would be the toughest. Then just drop all the dice onto the map (behind the screen). Wherever a die lands, that many monsters of that type are there. Any dice that don't land on the map aren't there. When the PCs approach a hex, you can look it up.
_____________
Combat is usually a Slow Table thing. However, there are times a Fast Table could come in handy: mass combat, naturally, and in situations where the DM is rolling several enemies attacking simultaneously & the combat hasn't progressed to the point where PCs are scared that every time a die hits the table they might die.
Character generation is usually in the game-as-written as a Slow Table thing (with options between rolls) but there are lots of times when a player or DM would want it to get done as a Fast Table thing. Games can have both--a slow system for excited newbies & character builders, & a fast system for replacing dead PCs midgame and generating NPCs on the fly.
Here's one for D&D if you have lots of dice: assign each color of die an ability (dex, con, etc.) and roll them. If you're real lazy you can roll 6d20 and just re-roll or rationalize anything outside 3-18.
A common annoying thing in Slow Table character generation is later results which repeatedly void the results of previous rolls. Like I notice in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that half your ability scores don't mean anything when you first roll them since you renovate them constantly at every stage of the process (you're a raccoon? +5 pp, -3 ps. What size are you? Oh, that's a +4 ps) so it's hard to get a sense of the PC taking shape in your mind. (In Paranoia they do this on purpose, but that game's really more like a bunch of Fast Tables stuck together in order to disorient the PCs.) I'd suggest that if you're designing a game where the physical form of the PC is wildly in doubt that you get most the powers and ability-altering weirdness in first so that when you do get the ability scores then they actually feel like you're deciding something.
Treasure is usually a Fast Table, but you could build Slow Tables for treasure (or just about anything) if you want to use the tables to narrate the process of finding the treasure. The trick is the table reveals things from the PC's point of view. Like: "We search the body"(roll, roll)"Ok, the 'What's does it have in its pockets? table' says a cursory pocket search reveals nothing. Do you want to roll on the 'What happens if I take off its clothes?' table?""Ok" (roll) "There's nothing but a dagger and a crude tattoo of a dancing hog under the clothes, but there appears to be an unnatural lump in the creature's throat, do you want to roll on the 'What's in it's throat?' table?'" etc.
Or: "It's...(roll roll)...shiny," "YAY!" "and...(roll roll) about 3 feet tall""YAY!""...and...(roll roll) it's a giant slug and it's alive!""Fuck.".
If you build Slow Tables you might end up spending a lot of time not using them. The best Slow Tables are specific to a certain narrow situation but also re-usable, which is a pretty tough bill to fill. Attaching them to a thing the PCs end up bringing around with them (like a car or a horse or a spell) is usually not a waste of effort.
Aaaaand...that's it for now.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Caveats
M. John Harrison is allowed to DM or play.
JRR Tolkien is allowed to play, but not DM, ever. Unless it's a module.
Fritz Leiber is allowed to play or DM, but he's not allowed to sit near any girl I'm sleeping with.
Michael Moorcock is allowed to play, but may only DM if he agrees not to re-use any NPCs.
China Mieville is allowed to DM but not play, and he can only DM if he doesn't do any of his own dialogue. He may write modules.
J.L. Borges is allowed to DM or play, but is reminded that monsters with infinite hit points are not allowed.
Patton Oswalt is allowed to DM or play.
Neil Gaiman is allowed to DM only if he can manage to get all the way through a session without having a monster tell you something that his therapist once told him. Which I'm guessing he's not. Plus see also Fritz Leiber, above.
Ozzy is allowed to play, but only if he agrees to DM at least once.
Thomas Pynchon is allowed to DM or play, but not tell jokes after the first drink.
The authors of the Elder & Younger Eddas are allowed to DM or play, but if they DM, they are only allowed a maximum of 30 NPCs at a time.
If Dorothy Parker is DMing, she will be held to a 2-drink maximum. If she's playing, she will be held to a 2-drink minimum.
All women are allowed to DM or play, except: Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton & Lady Gaga.
Joan Rivers must play, but is not allowed to DM unless Oscar Wilde helps.
James Cameron is not allowed to play, but may be allowed to DM if we get to kill him.
Walt Simonson from 1983 is allowed to play or DM, if he wants to play now, we'll talk.
Franz Kafka is allowed to play, and will be allowed to DM if everyone at the table has had at least one drink.
Oscar Wilde is allowed to DM or play. He must play if Jack Vance or Michael Moorcock are playing.
Anyone who is both involved in the field of animation & Japanese may play or DM, but may not include romantic subplots or philosophical quandaries.
If Franz Kafka DMs & Oscar Wilde plays then...ok my mind was just blown, moving on....
If David Foster Wallace plays, no rules-lawyering & if he DMs, he is reminded that no-one cares about his goddamn potion-miscibility chart.
The authors of the Bible are allowed to play or DM, but are reminded that alignment restrictions will be enforced.
HG Wells is allowed to DM but not play.
Edward Gorey is allowed to play, but is only allowed to DM one-shots.
Jack Vance is allowed to play or DM.
JRR Tolkien is allowed to play, but not DM, ever. Unless it's a module.
Fritz Leiber is allowed to play or DM, but he's not allowed to sit near any girl I'm sleeping with.
Michael Moorcock is allowed to play, but may only DM if he agrees not to re-use any NPCs.
China Mieville is allowed to DM but not play, and he can only DM if he doesn't do any of his own dialogue. He may write modules.
J.L. Borges is allowed to DM or play, but is reminded that monsters with infinite hit points are not allowed.
Patton Oswalt is allowed to DM or play.
Neil Gaiman is allowed to DM only if he can manage to get all the way through a session without having a monster tell you something that his therapist once told him. Which I'm guessing he's not. Plus see also Fritz Leiber, above.
Ozzy is allowed to play, but only if he agrees to DM at least once.
Thomas Pynchon is allowed to DM or play, but not tell jokes after the first drink.
The authors of the Elder & Younger Eddas are allowed to DM or play, but if they DM, they are only allowed a maximum of 30 NPCs at a time.
If Dorothy Parker is DMing, she will be held to a 2-drink maximum. If she's playing, she will be held to a 2-drink minimum.
All women are allowed to DM or play, except: Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton & Lady Gaga.
Joan Rivers must play, but is not allowed to DM unless Oscar Wilde helps.
James Cameron is not allowed to play, but may be allowed to DM if we get to kill him.
Walt Simonson from 1983 is allowed to play or DM, if he wants to play now, we'll talk.
Franz Kafka is allowed to play, and will be allowed to DM if everyone at the table has had at least one drink.
Oscar Wilde is allowed to DM or play. He must play if Jack Vance or Michael Moorcock are playing.
Anyone who is both involved in the field of animation & Japanese may play or DM, but may not include romantic subplots or philosophical quandaries.
If Franz Kafka DMs & Oscar Wilde plays then...ok my mind was just blown, moving on....
If David Foster Wallace plays, no rules-lawyering & if he DMs, he is reminded that no-one cares about his goddamn potion-miscibility chart.
The authors of the Bible are allowed to play or DM, but are reminded that alignment restrictions will be enforced.
HG Wells is allowed to DM but not play.
Edward Gorey is allowed to play, but is only allowed to DM one-shots.
Jack Vance is allowed to play or DM.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Force Me To Read Something
There's a lot of gameblogs. A lot of them are good. I don't have time to read all of them. That's good, I guess.
I will be away from this machine for a few days, enjoying non-elf-related activities.
Here's the thing for today: Recommend me a gameblog. Only 2 rules!:
1-Do NOT just post the web address. Link to a specific post that is like the best post on that blog & an example of how excellent it is.
2-Not yours. Get a friend to do it if you must.
Failure to comply with these directions will lead me to think of you as someone too stupid to follow 2 simple directions. That's not much of a threat, I know, but hey, it's the internet, it's this or have 300 pizzas delivered to your house & option 2 is just too much work.
I will be away from this machine for a few days, enjoying non-elf-related activities.
Here's the thing for today: Recommend me a gameblog. Only 2 rules!:
1-Do NOT just post the web address. Link to a specific post that is like the best post on that blog & an example of how excellent it is.
2-Not yours. Get a friend to do it if you must.
Failure to comply with these directions will lead me to think of you as someone too stupid to follow 2 simple directions. That's not much of a threat, I know, but hey, it's the internet, it's this or have 300 pizzas delivered to your house & option 2 is just too much work.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Look at that...
I promise this blog will not turn into "enigmatic product-in-progress update of the day" (one reason being said product is almost done & another being I am not a professional RPG writer so when it is done I won't have another product) but I figured I'd share this, 'cause it made me laugh:
James Edward Raggi The Fourth just e-mailed me his playtest results and told me that my adventure was too hard.
James Edward Raggi The Fourth just e-mailed me his playtest results and told me that my adventure was too hard.
Monday, November 29, 2010
NPC Reaction to Player Making Actually Funny Joke In-Character
roll d20
1-does not understand joke due to cultural differences. Wants it explained in detail. Will nod and smile generously when it's all over.
2-does not realize joke is joke, takes it literally. May, therefore, take action, like asking for wherabouts of man from Natucket or organizing hirelings to seek out Interrupting Cow.
3-kinda amused but is competitive jackass, tries to tell funnier joke (DM, you're on!), probably fails. Is now bitter.
4-as 3 but NPC is so pretentious/ignorant that joke fails to register as joke with anyone who has Wis above 5.
5-offended that the PC is taking situations so lightly, roll initiative.
6-finds PC's sense of humor strangely attractive.
7-laughter triggers an ancient curse. NPC has been trying not to laugh since 799AD. Demon manifests itself through NPC's body.
8-laughs, buys PC a drink.
9-laughs, buys self a drink.
10-laughs, is already drunk, buys drink a drink.
11-thinks joke is so funny that NPC agrees to pretty much whatever.
12-laughs laughs laughs, then cries. Investigation reveals joke reminds NPC of traumatic parental situation.
13-laughs laugh laughs, then says "Oh, thank Or-Hossk! I needed that. It's been so long since I had a good laugh"--reveals secret mystery difficulty plaguing peeps hereabouts.
14-vomits with laughter. 1-3 embarassed 4-6 crazy viking type who just does that.
15-laughs, claps PC on back with unexpected strength. d4 minus 1 damage.
16-laughs, introduces PC to younger family member of opposite sex.
17-puritanical local value system. Accuses PC of being witch.
18-laughs, laughs, laughs hysterically, orders first available pie & begins smearing it all over body.
19-laughs, goes around to other nearby characters and begins saying "This guy! Oh, jeezus, this guy," and continually insists PC repeat joke to all of NPC's friends.
20-offers PC contract as personal entertainer. Pays 8 gp per laugh.
Once a result has been used, cross it out and write your own.
1-does not understand joke due to cultural differences. Wants it explained in detail. Will nod and smile generously when it's all over.
2-does not realize joke is joke, takes it literally. May, therefore, take action, like asking for wherabouts of man from Natucket or organizing hirelings to seek out Interrupting Cow.
3-kinda amused but is competitive jackass, tries to tell funnier joke (DM, you're on!), probably fails. Is now bitter.
4-as 3 but NPC is so pretentious/ignorant that joke fails to register as joke with anyone who has Wis above 5.
5-offended that the PC is taking situations so lightly, roll initiative.
6-finds PC's sense of humor strangely attractive.
7-laughter triggers an ancient curse. NPC has been trying not to laugh since 799AD. Demon manifests itself through NPC's body.
8-laughs, buys PC a drink.
9-laughs, buys self a drink.
10-laughs, is already drunk, buys drink a drink.
11-thinks joke is so funny that NPC agrees to pretty much whatever.
12-laughs laughs laughs, then cries. Investigation reveals joke reminds NPC of traumatic parental situation.
13-laughs laugh laughs, then says "Oh, thank Or-Hossk! I needed that. It's been so long since I had a good laugh"--reveals secret mystery difficulty plaguing peeps hereabouts.
14-vomits with laughter. 1-3 embarassed 4-6 crazy viking type who just does that.
15-laughs, claps PC on back with unexpected strength. d4 minus 1 damage.
16-laughs, introduces PC to younger family member of opposite sex.
17-puritanical local value system. Accuses PC of being witch.
18-laughs, laughs, laughs hysterically, orders first available pie & begins smearing it all over body.
19-laughs, goes around to other nearby characters and begins saying "This guy! Oh, jeezus, this guy," and continually insists PC repeat joke to all of NPC's friends.
20-offers PC contract as personal entertainer. Pays 8 gp per laugh.
Once a result has been used, cross it out and write your own.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
This Is Totally Not The Cover Of the Book or The Title
This is not going to be the cover of the upcoming book--
(click to biggerify--it is entirely worth it)
It's classy as all fuck, but I decided I want something with a little more color...
Nor is it the official title--which is, as of now, "Vornheim: The Complete City Kit".
But, hey, I went to all the trouble to mock it up, so I figured I'd let you see it.
Meanhwile, the book is pretty much done. I just have to edit it and dot the I's and cross the T's and all that.
I'm also getting playtest reports back, which is more fun than I expected.
Oh, here's a request for y'all:
The book will include, among many other things, a somewhat improved, streamlined & DeLuxified version of the Urbancrawl Rules I posted a while back, so if anybody reading this has used those and has ideas about how they could be improved or any suggestions about parts of them that worked extremely well for you, please do let me know.
(click to biggerify--it is entirely worth it)It's classy as all fuck, but I decided I want something with a little more color...
Nor is it the official title--which is, as of now, "Vornheim: The Complete City Kit".
But, hey, I went to all the trouble to mock it up, so I figured I'd let you see it.
Meanhwile, the book is pretty much done. I just have to edit it and dot the I's and cross the T's and all that.
I'm also getting playtest reports back, which is more fun than I expected.
Oh, here's a request for y'all:
The book will include, among many other things, a somewhat improved, streamlined & DeLuxified version of the Urbancrawl Rules I posted a while back, so if anybody reading this has used those and has ideas about how they could be improved or any suggestions about parts of them that worked extremely well for you, please do let me know.
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