Porky's Expanse!

For more sting in the tail...

2012-03-07T20:27:00.004Z

Javascript folds. You can see them used to hide spoilers at this post at Book Scorpion's Lair - another fine write-up, on a Cthulhu by Gaslight session - but it could do even more, like break up long posts without forcing a full reload. More reason to join the menagerie.

But be careful if you do try it - better safe than sorry when it comes to template code...

Hex 1: wreck; anomaly

2012-03-06T23:13:00.003Z

The first hex for Sector V3 on Kepler-22B. The idea is to fill a whole planet for gaming - if you want in, read this. The intro text for V3 is here.

Hex 64.112 This shallow stretch of inland sea lies on the southernmost fringe of the algal mat and is spun with a fine preliminary weave only; current is leisurely and even.

Resting on the seabed here, visible from the surface through the tendrils, is the wreck of a small vessel part-buried by sand and well-preserved. It was sail-driven, carved of heartstalk from the southern shoreline, now holed at the prow. The crossbeams appear designed to bear a single near-spherical cargo item; the splintered bows and flakes of glaze suggest this was removed in situ. A load of two dozen fired containers has spilled, around half of which are buried; the lids have slipped and the foodstuffs within decayed.

A short distance to the west lies an anomaly. The density of the seawater here is high, perhaps halfway to solid; while it can be crossed in any direction with effort, the current passes over and round the area, and tendril growth suggests a spherical form measuring around half a dozen of the vessel lengths in diameter. Digging into the drift upstream will reveal an opening upwards into an unlit interior, visible over a narrow arc only. Entry will find the anomaly hollow and lined with a slow-reactive psychelastic material. The space holds a dozen glazed spheres embraced by fibrous extrusions of the lining; cracking any open will reveal a single well-preserved fungoid corpse and a single simply-worked item.

Not tired of fatigue?

2012-03-06T16:13:00.004Z

There's been some discussion of fatigue in old school hit point games. The first recent post seems to have been this one by John Bell at The Retired Adventurer, followed by Aaron's here at A Paladin in Citadel and then this by Stuart over at Strange Magic.

I thought I might propose something, taking a range of ideas into account: it's based mainly on that turn of rest after combat, but with hit die and level thinking added in.

For each full turn of strenuous activity, such as combat, an individual acts as if one hit die or level lower, down to the usual minimum; a full turn of rest restores one level. For example, after two turns of combat a fifth-level character acts as if third-level; if this character rests, but the second turn is interrupted, the character acts as if fourth-level.

If the individual is at the minimum, or HD / levels are irrelevant, a penalty is applied per turn of activity of one part in 20, i.e. -1 on a d20, or -5%, this restored in the same way.

It's simple, especially at higher levels, and should work fairly well across classes. It could even be allowed to affect spell availability and so on, and be expanded to cover expeditions or lack of sleep. The modifier can be recorded on a d20 face up per player.

As usual, any and all thoughts are welcome, but I'm under no illusions it'll be popular...

40K OSR? (17)

2012-03-05T20:13:00.002Z

Yet another batch of 40K OSR? links, because the posts are coming thick and fast. There are some definitions for 'OSR' here, but my current mood has me thinking 'Other School Revelation'.

Colonel Kane's logo is to the right. If you identify with the idea and want to use it, consider giving him the credit and adding the great Tales from the Maelstrom to your blogroll as an inspiration.

The Hogs of War finished the fortress walls and posted 1, 2, 3 scenarios - the first for the table with the walls - and a set of 18 mission cards per player.

Stealthy Stealth posted entries for fire warriors and the devilfish, the second part of the Tau Fandex being developed over at Creative Twilight.

Brian has more Killzone design at A Gentleman's Ones, the themes, and Loquacious at World of Wonder posted the full interview for the ID series.

The current army list challenge at Warpstone Flux uses deep darkness...

... and Odd-Leg played 'Space-Munda' with a new rule for flickering lights.

Curis at Ninjabread looks at costing Squat thunderers in the current Epic.

Gothmog has ideas for moving the history on at Sepulchre of Heroes.

Bryssling has some unfinished fiction not posted at Rules Manufactorum.

The DH campaign at Kenzie's blog reached an agriworld and a starport...

... and Gotthammer has an update on the RT campaign at Collegia Titanica.

Ron over at From the Warp sculpted a Tyranid spore mine in greenstuff, ...

... Spikey Bits showed a screamer-killer conversion from the current kit...

... and LuckyNo.5 at Eye of Error posted a tutorial on sculpting tentacles, with thanks again to Dave G at Wargaming Tradecraft for putting up the link.

For help casting your work, Tallarn at still practicing_ has an introduction.

Krisken has part three on the DIY rhino chassis at Scratchbuild 40K...

... and Redscorps finished work on a modified design for the predator.

One I missed last time is Fire Broadside! on alternative IG vehicles...

... and The March Rider at Codicium Aeternum also reviews a six-wheeler.

Following all of which, I'll give a mention to my own crewbrew expansion.

Brovatar is working on a female C'Tan, with parts here and a video here.

Cameron at Rust and the city converted a plague marine champion, and the trio of WIP marines seen in that post are shown finished in this one.

Warhammer in Progress shows 1, 2 obliterators built from starter set rat ogres, but if you prefer ready-made, The Hogs of War found a fine batch.

Fine Detail Miniature Painting has some finished ash waste nomad conversions for Necromunda, with pics of the basecoated minis here.

Rictus at Recalcitrant Daze posted part eight of the ongoing series on 3D printing defensive walls and 17 and 18 on converting Ork looted wagons.

At Confessions... dwez added a terrain template to the archive page.

At The Dark Workshop Cursed13 is building an spaceship hull turret.

Infamous at Cobblestone Chaos looks at grocery store terrain materials.

Apocalypse 40K has an update on the legal situation re Chapterhouse and Paulson Games and reports Quantum Gothic is back, with plenty of pics.

Colonel Shofer linked to this solid video on the Pig Iron System Troopers.

Steve at Bleaseworld posted 1, 2, 3, 4 batches of newly-painted early IG.

Old School Terminator interviewed Goatboy over at Dark Future Games.

There's an at-a-glance archive for the John Blanche art at gothic punk.

For Old Stuff Day Griffit linked to a tumblr for the Rogue Trader era.

And finally, another 1, 2 images from Space Crusade at All Things Fett.

You know how it works: if I've missed anything, just leave a link, even to your own posts.

On the Dark Frontier...

2012-03-04T22:27:00.000Z

If you've been following the Rogue Space material here, you might like to know Fenway5 has just released the expanded ruleset through Lulu.

There seems to be quite a bit of completely new material mixed in, including artwork, character options and equipment, sector creation, some advice for beginners and a solo adventure, and as far as I know, none of it will invalidate any of the free downloads or the material at the other blogs.

There's a preview at the Lulu page and a discount code here at the Rogue Space blog, and my original review of the one-page system is here, aimed mainly at wargamers.

Old Stuff Day (Circles Turn)

2012-03-02T23:59:00.005Z

It's now clear from the looking back for Old Stuff Day that a review of the year would be missing an important element without mentioning the inspiration from other bloggers. I can't name everyone, but I can choose a champion, maybe a most representative figure.

So I choose Hereticwerks, for a mass of high-quality content, but also the attitude and the occasional collaboration, and the way they're regrowing from all but zero after major technical trouble; they're an ideal, and were even just named a top blog at Stuffer Shack.

The most obvious points of contact with me over the year are the Manitrude guest post and the Worldboats project pdf, due soon, but the key posting here was Circles Turn, a loose creative collaboration that covered gaming materials, traditional fiction and artwork.

* * * * * *

This is the five parts of Circles Turn gathered up, the whole adventure in one location.

The cycle was a write-up of a journey through Zilgor's Repose, a complete adventure location set in the Kalaramar Drifts, one of the weird places created by Hereticwerks.

There's supplementary material at Hereticwerks too, for elements like Lone Survivors and Low-End Loot. Look closely and you can see marks left by the following events...

Part One

Secant

The three of them were jumped within sight of the great rockface by a lone grey worm, either young or sickly, or both, but bold enough. It hauled itself heavily out of the scrub onto the dust of the trail and bore down on their equally lazy line, three men and a mule.

Despite bringing up the rear, the aches in his weak legs and the pain in the arm holding the mule's lead rope, the boy wyrd, the party's nominal leader - or the moneyspender at least - finally sensed something amiss, but not quite with the whole venture, even if the few days since he'd met the warrior had been a real initiation, and an expensive one.

He called out, and the older men further ahead looked alive at last, stopping dead.

Gruff, the tough old robber, was feeling the pinch, having spent almost all he'd stolen for one last shot at notoriety; he wasn't about to fire off any quarrels uncalled for, and held back, crossbow shouldered, motioning for the boy leading the mule to do likewise.

The shrewd, younger warrior, who styled himself the Cleave, saw the obvious chance and made clear with a dismissive look back he was doing the aged rogue a favour. In a measured retreat he arced bow and string and stuck the worm with a pair of arrows, enough that it turned tail and slipped off bloody among the undulations. A third shaft had whistled into the dunes, but maybe the others hadn't noticed; he wasn't going in after it.

The party moved off again, stepping with circumspection over the churned, wet earth.

Grumpily and rather cautiously, however, out in the long grass, the worm turned again, and stayed close, assuming correctly they were headed the same way as all the others.

The group too moved cautiously, ever closer to the rock, dark against a forbidding sky.

Part Two

Arc

Dust whirled in eddies in the hollow of the mighty rockface. The entranceway gaped.

As the flustered boy Wilt hammered in the general direction of a spike and a fissure, striving to fix the mule's lead rope, he wondered how the problem had been resolved in the arcane lore. He had no such magic, but perhaps some master would instruct him, and cheaply; the costs of these expeditions were higher than he'd supposed. But then he hadn't had time to suppose much under the friendly but firm arm of the Cleave.

The Cleave toed the churned sands, following Gruff's lead with discreet glances. He could do anything that worn-out thief could do, and just as well, but if the old man was going to come into his own now that the breaking and entering was getting underway, this could be the last chance to show it. They both kept clear of the discomfiting sights in the shadowed niches - the decomposed body of who knew what beast and some damned, webbed seed - and turned up nothing but detritus. Scraps and splinters.

As the hammering continued weakly under the impassive nose of the mule, the stout robber and the towering warrior moved their heavier tools from the saddle-bags to the backpacks, then doused and lit torches.The spike went in and the boy rose to join them, legs aching the more. But they were gone, the Cleave striding into the lead.

This is it, Gruff thought unheeding - the fortune. And, as he moved between the alcoves where statues once stood, he saw a burst skull and its skeleton lying on the stone. One living man and then the other picked their way over the crumbling plaster rubble of the knocked-in entrance, passing into cooler and more humid air. Flames sputtered and ears popped ever so slightly as the pressure changed. Eyes struggled to see at all.

Bringing up the rear, struggling with the straps of the pack, and not quite sure whether he was in fact supposed to be following, Wilt saw Gruff's gaze wander, and as he drew level shuddered. How must it be to lie for an age and wear down to dust, or be cracked open by wild birds - or worse - for your marrow? Then there were the restless dead...

At that point the warrior let out a cry from just within. His crunching footfall ceased and in the sudden silence he threw his torch to the plaster-strewn floor and pulled for his shield. Gruff almost fell over and the boy saw past him into the gloom. Two pink worms were writhing out from under shards of wax and dust, and they coiled back and sprang.

Part Three

Diameter

The Cleave very nearly dropped his sword on the first swing as the pair of creatures struck. One clung to a leg, wrapping with intent up under the swinging mail skirt in search of flesh, while the other sprang this way and that looking for its own opening.

Gruff inched nearer over the rubble, fixed on the frantic dance of the fighter and hoping he was doing better than he looked to be, that his training might soon flood back in.

It did. The Cleave roared through a grimace as the worm found its mark, and Gruff saw him come over cold and focused fast. With efficient, deliberate moves he retreated into the dark, cutting the first worm off his calf, easing its red mouth out where it fed, then drawing the second on and chopping it in two, kicking the pieces off quick into a corner.

Gruff untensed, lowered his stubby sword and dropped down off the plaster to one side, watching the warrior from a safe distance. The youth was fiery-cheeked and sweating despite the cool, blood running slow from the thigh. He struggled to look relaxed as he examined the wound and mopped the leg with his tunic, then bent low and took up the torch. He nodded triumphantly at Gruff, satisfied he'd earnt whatever right it was.

Wilt at the rear stood watching, amazed by the turn of events and thinking despite the display of vigorous life, or perhaps because of it, of those restless dead. The Cleave would surely be a restless one. And he and Gruff might well be close to seeing it.

What if they lost him? Wilt thought back across the leagues of waste they'd travelled. Of the arrows he'd fired at the beast, the dangers his presence might have warded off. Of that very expensive armour that had come out of the expedition's purse. Wilt's purse.

Perhaps the foreboding place heard. For it's part it wanted no restless living, or so it seemed, for the Cleave's luck only got worse. As his torch and Gruff's - a fair way behind - blazed up on the jagged edges of a second false wall, light leaping into the gloom beyond, he stepped through, stretching for solid ground, but lost balance; weak now maybe, or heavy in the new mail, he stumbled and caught the wall with his shield.

A rush and crash of debris obscured and partially buried him; all vanished in dust.

Part Four

Radius

Spluttering and wheezing as the cloud of plaster dust thinned, Wilt moved towards the incandescence of Gruff's torch, worried less about worms than being left alone. Gruff in turn moved towards the Cleave's torch, but found the warrior well away, his new-found gravitas thrown over with his body, good leg flailing and mail skirt up over his head.

Boy and man hauled him out from the debris, woozy-looking, white under the gritty dust and slurring his words, and having carried him back into the light of his torch, stood watching as he recovered, and brushed himself off, grimacing and badly cut. The ugly wound on his thigh was now one among many, blood and dust mixing in wet pink crusts.

Wilt looked at the rents in the armour and wondered if having those put right was going to be the next big investment the Cleave advised. His thoughts wandered back to their mule - his mule? - tethered outside. He wondered at the resale value of a ten-foot pole.

The Cleave was wheezing too as he stood, and hobbled a little before settling finally for a more comfortable limp. He didn't move back to the front of the party, however, but rather hovered near the boy, and Gruff realised that it would be he who went ahead from this point on. He enjoyed a moment of quiet superiority at winning back from the warrior whatever it was he was competing with him for, and then a hollow feeling struck him as he looked into the darkness ahead. It crept back before them as they crept on inwards.

In the stale air of what was a long entrance hall they were struck by an invisible blow that seemed near as strong as the one that felled the Cleave, for there they found the refuse and graffiti of an impossibly large host who had come before them, and over many ages, and who - as incredible as it seemed - perhaps even slept and ate there.

Had others felt so confident as to even live in such a place? The old footpad was struck by self-doubt and the boy too began to wonder at all the expense. Scrawled messages mocked them in only those languages they understood, for being far too late to claim a prize. Three passages left the space and they opted for that closest the entrance.

The short corridor led to a small square room which the flicker of torch flame revealed to be stripped of its glories, little left but the suggestion of rich decoration; dusty fingers scratched at a faint sheen of precious metal remaining here and there, but no fleck came away. Wilt hurried them on - the dark sand of the floor tickled the back of his mind, was faintly magical, wrong somehow, and somehow deep. He shuddered again at the thought of the restless dead, and that seemed just too close to it; just too close...

To the right the passage continued away from their lights, and after short, measured, tense progress along it the thief came slowly, with torch low, to the gritty threshold of a larger chamber, where the warm glow ran up the step of a raised tomb, perhaps burnt.

He heard nothing - above their breathing at least - and stepped in, onto a loose, uneven gravel. His footing slipped as he placed his second step and he fell, landing heavily and gashing open a leg on his own sword. He swore, and swore again more quietly as he sprawled looking up at the ceiling. Peering down with eyes glittering in the flames of the torch was a spider-like creature, standing upside down among a mass of nodules.

He looked over at the Cleave, but that streaked face was looking further into the room. There within half a dozen of the creatures were emerging from the dark on the walls.

Part Five

Tangent

The creatures crawled over the walls above Gruff and around as he lay up on an elbow, quiet, cold, bleeding on the ravaged floor; they peered, arachnoid centaurs of a kind.

In the corridor behind the Cleave, Wilt forgot all about the rents in the big man's armour and panicked, in low tones with trembling hands tracing a protective skin for himself.

And then they spoke, in the thief's tongue, or as like as. They were matter of fact, as if quite familiar with the idea of visitors, but moved up the walls such that the now quiet wheezing warrior imagined they were preparing a defence. They assumed the party would move on, along the continuation of the way, and did not expect them to return. There was nothing here anyway - and this much was true, for Gruff saw as he moved across that the pitted sarcophagus was empty. They rarely left the chamber themselves, they said, but were beginning to wonder what lay further on that drew and kept so many.

All the while there was a pungent unease, dozens of eyes flitting, fear on both sides; fear of confusion perhaps, misunderstanding. Life was hard enough without that too.

Gruff conveyed the gist to the others. The warrior indicated with the force he had that he and the boy were not leaving the doorway, so as not to have the path back blocked and he bid Gruff move on to investigate alone; Wilt nodded with still more force, until the bit about Gruff going on alone, at which point thoughts of a restless dead Cleave returned.

Gruff stood silent; grim. Thoughtful. His hand went to his empty purse, in not quite full awareness. But there was hope - if true that others had one one and not returned, there might be treasures yet to claim. Money. It could be here, deeper. It was why he'd come.

Sword in one hand, torch in the other, and glancing up and across between creatures and passage, he stepped sideways into the gloom that flowed back ahead of him as the torch entered. Moving close along the walls, detecting no danger, he passed with a steady pace towards a purple glow that came to be framed by the doorway ahead.

As he reached the opening, the light of the now guttering torch flashed over an object spinning in the centre of the room, angular, golden. A soothing spin. Golden. Gold.

He studied the space. Keen. But saw nothing untoward and stepped with care in, onto another black sand, planting his feet firmly now, studying still as he moved. But he felt observed, and each face of the object as it came square had him freeze, muscles tight.

And then a shout from behind - the Cleave's deep voice. Another cry closer, closer still and almost in the room, but no light danced in the passage. For the warrior's torch had all but gone out and as he and the boy had struggled to douse a new, they had heard behind them - back along the passage towards the entrance - a dry clacking, a dull scraping; and they saw a winding serpent of ribbed bone rise out of the falling dark.

Falling over themselves, pack, torch, shield and all, they rushed in over the chamber and up the passage up after Gruff, spilling into the room over him waving them down.

Together they tumbled, moved back deeper along the walls, and the boy and warrior lit another torch with much fumbling on the black sand even as Gruff's faded out. With the golden object now between them and the door, they watched in terrified silence as the pale beast wound its way over the lip, a serpentine skeleton held together by some dark magic. It writhed deliberately across the floor towards their light, raising ripples of sand in its wake, and as it moved left round the spinning mass of angles they retreated right.

And then, truly restless, from far out it lunged, close past a corner of that golden shape; too close the men sensed, as with a hideous SCREECH and a heavy rush of dusty air a thousand points of light swept down on all, quivering shafts, flesh and bone bursting...

... and it could be worse, thinks Wilt, pinned; the Cleave struggles to push his purse towards the boy; Gruff sees hard edges of coins and wonders what all that fuss was...

... and life and hope drain away in the flicker of flames that grow old and die in turn.

* * * * *

Back along the passages and out past the feet of the broken statues, beneath a weak sunlight a grey worm bristling with a brace of arrows feeds on the haunches of the mule.

Old Stuff Day (40K interiors)

2012-03-02T19:16:00.003Z

For the second post for Old Stuff Day I'll mark the year's big events, like the A to Z and Short Adventures, and specifically the Heroes of Armageddon project. Beyond the 31 Days fiction series, there were a few rules posts, and one especially is still topical.

If you don't fancy the Forge World boards, or any of the alternatives, or using 2D board sections, or making your own, here's a homebrew approach for a terrain-free table...

* * * * * *

The second in a series set off by a guest post at davetaylorminatures, by Ron of From the Warp.

It covered the Heroes of Armageddon Project, which will see four Warhammer 40,000 armies painted up and raffled off. Check out the site.

I suggested all interested blogs could run tie-in features themed around the Armageddon setting, maybe fiction, stats or new troop types, even modelling and painting, to draw attention to the project, be useful and hopefully inspire.

My first was a homebrew ash waste events table. Here's my second then, and it's big.

Hive interior battles

The spires of the hives of Armageddon do not dream, but rather sleep restlessly beneath the polluted sky from which their nightmares come. Homes and workplaces to billions, they loom above the haunted jungles and desolate ash wastes, but are barely safer than either, whether in peace or war. In the three great conflagrations to strike the world thus far they were battlefields too, and remain so, infested in their dark spaces by all the vices of humanity, the corruption of both the dark gods of Chaos and the alien Tyranid vanguard, and the ineradicable menace of the ever-flourishing Orkosystem.

The deep domes, halls and corridors, the ducts and access tunnels, the machine rooms and sumps, all are potential havens and potential conflict zones, and what the local security forces of the watchmen and adeptus arbites are unable to quell becomes a task for the elites of the planetary defence force and regiments of Imperial guard garrisoned here from across this region of space; and what they are unable to deal with may require in turn a deployment of the mighty adeptus astartes themselves, striking deep into the cankerous hearts of complexes to break the danger at source.

Conflict in-hive is a challenge even for the greatest professionals of war. Vehicles will only carry an invasion force so far, until the width of the passageways, density of gantries and endless intricacies of device choke off access. Defenders flit from shadow to shadow and launch vicious counterstrikes from the unmapped darkness. Chases end in disorientation, blind alleys, sealings off, and the disappearances of whole squads, platoons, companies. Gunfire and screams echo along metal avenues, and over the spoil heaps and dripping accumulations of the lowest wastes.

The horror of war here is less visible, but no less black.

What follows is an unofficial homebrew system for battles in the hives of Armageddon, but is just as relevant to hives throughout the galaxy, as well as built complexes of all kinds, whether administrative structures, industrial facilities or military outposts.

Concept

It's a reworking of the text in the posts Into the depths! (1) and (2), a system for simulating heavy and tight terrain by doing away with true space and measurements.

Instead, each location is represented by a number, with a lot of the usual control of movement taken away from the players. The idea is to suggest the complexity of the deep, confined spaces, the lower light and lack of lines of sight. The system should get a sense of tense, uncertain progress, and surprise encounters, with units suddenly appearing in the gloom and around corners, and following or avoiding sounds of battle.

Changes

The turn sequence remains the same, but the system replaces all movement, terrain, mission and deployment rules, unless otherwise noted. Shooting, assaults and morale work essentially as they usually do, with some minor changes related to position, although cover saves are not used except in the case of vehicle wrecks.

The deep strike and reserves rules are used in modified form, the random game length rules unmodified, and victory conditions may use either kill points or victory points.

Any deep strike ability representing movement from the sky, e.g. by drop pod, is lost, though tunnelling, teleportation and manifestation are permitted. Barrage weapons and weapons fired from off the table may not be used. Flyers and superheavies are best not used, for obvious reasons, but other vehicles will only add to the fun...

One player is the attacker and one the defender. Once the basics are clear, you might want to allow the sides to take special equipment to represent this, such as drills for the attacker and barricades for the defender.

Deployment

At the start of the game simply set up the armies anyhow on a bare table. Determine initiative by rolling a D6 each, with the highest roller choosing to go first or second. The player going first is Player A for the purpose of this explanation.

Movement

For each unit Player A would like to move, roll a D6 and leave it with the result face up beside that unit. We'll call this a location roll. Group units with the same number.

In Player A's first turn this is all that happens. In Player B's first turn any units moving in the movement phase will also have a location roll made for them. If the result for any of Player B's units is equal to the result rolled for any of Player A's, then both that Player A unit and that Player B unit will be placed together in a free space on the table, with one D6 with the location number. We'll call this group an engagement.

For any unit on either side the location roll may be modified by as much as the turn number, including by Player A in the first turn. This represents movement deeper into the structure, or what is believed to be deeper, as well as a growing knowledge of the layout and distribution of forces. This will mean that as the game progresses a wider spread of locations will be available and possibly occupied - numbers 1 to 12 in a six-turn game without reserves and higher speeds; these are covered below.

To give an example of this, on turn three, the location roll may be modified by up to three points, meaning a natural roll of five will allow a choice of movement to location 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. The modifer is chosen after the roll has been made.

Units with fleet or the ability to move above 6" in the movement phase may modify the location roll by an additional one point, as may infiltrators and scouts when deploying, but these re-roll entry to an enemy-occupied location. Slow and purposeful units may have their location roll modified last by the enemy by one point.

When the attacker's reserves enter play, they do so in the same way, with one die rolled for location, and the attacker choosing whether or not to apply a modifier of up to the turn number. The defender's reserves enter play in the same way, but the may modify the location roll by an additional point, e.g. a natural roll of five will allow a choice of movement to location 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.

Units deep strike by making a location roll as if already on the table, but may re-roll the result. If the re-roll produces the number originally rolled, roll on the mishaps table.

Locations

For each engagement created roll a further D6. This determines the width in models of the spaces being used, and is the maximum number of models able to draw a line of sight to the enemy or fight in an assault.

Cavalry, bikes and jetbikes count two wide, monstrous creatures and vehicles with a highest armour rating of 10 or less count three, vehicles with a highest of 11 or 12 four, and vehicle with a highest above 12 five.

This means a larger model may not be able to join the engagement it rolls, in which case it doesn't move that turn. If it is one of the initial models engaged and the width rolled indicates it foes not fit, it may only defend itself if assaulted and must leave if not in combat next turn; a vehicle is immobilised and unable to use D3 randomly determined weapons.

For each unit joining an existing engagement roll a D6. On a roll of 1-3, the unit appears behind a randomly determined friendly unit and may not shoot or assault until a gap is created. On a 4-5, it appears in the flank of a randomly determined enemy unit. On a 6, it appears behind a randomly determined enemy unit.

Tanks may tank shock an enemy unit and all behind it when leaving a location.

Shooting

In Player B's shooting phase, each of the units in an engagement is assumed to shoot at the closest possible range without being in contact and have the facing to do so. Smoke is assumed to have no effect given the close proximity of the forces.

Blast weapons may be used, but are assumed to be fired at a unit as a whole. Deviation is determined by rolling a D6 only. On a roll of 1-2, the firing unit is affected, on a 3-4 both firing unit and original target unit, and on a 5-6 the original target unit only. A small blast will cause 2D6 hits on each unit affected, a large blast 4D6. Template weapons cause 2D6 hits on the target unit automatically. Exploding vehicles cause 2D6 on units on all sides. Other effects use either the deviation, template or explosion approach, as seems best.

Vehicle facing is assumed always to be towards the position of the enemy when initially encountered. If units later appear to the side of or behind a vehicle, facing may be changed in the vehicle's next movement phase if location width is at least one point higher than vehicle width. Transports have side access points blocked unless location width is one point higher than vehicle. Disembarking via a rear access point may leave a unit unable to pass its transport.

Any unit breaking leaves the engagement by rolling for a new location; if that location has no units present, the fleeing unit is assumed to have left the table and is removed. Units may not attempt to rally while in an engagement, but continue rolling each turn until they either rally or enter an empty space. They are free to roll for movement as normal once rallied.

Units not in an engagement may run in their shooting phase as usual, and another location roll is immediately made.

Assaults

If any of Player B's units assault, every model is assumed to be within range, assuming there is width enough. If there isn't, each player nominates a front rank to fight. Pair models off, with Player B choosing the first match-up, then Player A the next and so on. Excess models can be placed freely by their player. A consolidation move is made as a simple location roll, as is the use of the hit and run rule.

Continuing

In Player A's next turn, movement is conducted as for Player B for any units not involved in an engagement, referring to the results of the dice still face up beside Player B's units. Any units rolling a number already relating to an engagement join it.

The game carries on like this, with roles reversing in turns as usual.

Victory

The attacker wins automatically if one or more attacking units and no defending occupy any location numbered 10 or higher at the end of the game. Otherwise, victory is decided by either kill points or victory points, agreed before the game begins.

- - - - - -

Right then, what loopholes have I left? What glaring errors?

I'll say now in case you haven't guessed - this is really only aimed at friendly games and will likely need a spirit of compromise to overcome some of the more unusual situations. I've playtested this idea, but never with 40K so any feedback will help others trying it.

Old Stuff Day (propluristemics)

2012-03-02T12:04:00.003Z

For Old Stuff Day I'll do maybe three themed posts or reposts like last year. I'm still sifting.

First up is some of the propluristemic content, good for various games with a bit of adaptation.

The selection here is some of the simplest and maybe the most general of the entries from the year, not as fantastical as the ideas could be.

I've added any context needed, in two cases a 140-character story for Flash Fearsday over at Lunching on Lamias. The originals are all here.

But don't hang around too long. Today even more than usual is one for digging through as many blogs as possible, for the gems that might have been missed the first time.

* * * * * *

Higher random (Flash Fearsdelayed & taken over - Higher random, 13 May)

He rolled the die, very well. It skipped, danced. Six. "Four," I said. "Two," came the reply. We settled on one. And thus it became serious.

It's very simple: roll the die; decide you like another result more.

True fog of war (True fog of war, 16 June)

The gaming table is empty. A true fog of war. Disorders are issued and resistance unmet; a non-zero sum game. But - What else do we not see?

You will not need: character sheets, maps, miniatures, counters, terrain or a board. All dice may be used, unless you are taking the optional higher random approach. Play.

Tip: Be sure you're at the right table, and not a piece on any other, in a stranger game.

The Mark of Progress (Lost heart, 17 June)

A lot of passion is going into destruction of ideas, other people, into a downward spiral. We've likely all complained, expressed strong opinions, gone far, but why do knowing hurt? So much for games being the place we let loose those energies.

Play a preferred ruleset. Enhance the experience by tearing up someone else's. None not already torn up? Tear into a playstyle. Or player. Little character and class needed.

The cold sweat (Zombies, Daleks and the triumph of death, 19 June)

In a way we gamers cheat, every time we deploy our army afresh in yet another battle or roll up a new character.

If your army loses the campaign or your character dies, close the ruleset, book or box, put it on the shelf and never open it again. You may hold a ceremony.

The cutting room floor (Blooper reels and bonus features, 19 July)

... inspired by the cinema-themed take on roleplaying in the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system. Given the styling, it's likely not useable as is, but will hopefully trigger one or two ideas that might suit a given gaming group better.

Once per game or session each player or party may choose to either a) exclude at first appearance the use of any one character, unit, vehicle or other protagonist or group of protagonists, b) skip any one encounter, c) resolve any one combat as if the player or party rolled the best possible result on each die or d) remove a number of turns equal to no more than one quarter of the standard or average game or session length.

Any one of these elements may be spliced back once into any future game or session by any other player, or by the GM/DM or equivalent, even in breach of usual restrictions.

Framing (Who framed Conan le Barbare?, 24 August)

Framing ... could be used to set up a stand-alone roleplaying session or wargame, just to play with the usual format or content, or could be part of a less linear campaign, with the outcome affecting the reality doing the framing. Here's a list of possible forms.

dream - the obvious one; you could make the game rulebendingly weird, or add references to the framing reality, maybe as symbols, or foreshadowing events
fantasy - this is more interesting; if it's a simple fantasy of superiority, maybe the fantasising character or a faction gets a reroll per turn, or the GM fudges
flashback - another obvious one, also suitable for those references to the world outside the frame and maybe providing information, although the individual experiencing the flashback would presumably have to survive it; then again, it could be more the Cold Lazarus kind, or the mind could have been uploaded
psychoanalysis - this could be interesting, and could be used to play up an aspect of the game or a character's life, while the free association idea could see the action jumping around, in a wargame maybe as mini scenarios or multiple tables; re the aspect, as a contrast to the fantasy, the game could focus on a failure, or comedy of errors, with the character being forced to reroll, although the need for survival might suit a game less about danger and more about status say
regression - this might work well later in a campaign, to develop a character by revealing early life, maybe a repressed memory, or even a past incarnation...
cross examination - this could work on the subjectivity of truth, by having each player able to rewind or blow-up a detail of the action to show how it really was
interview - it might be best to understand this for practical purposes as some blend of a cross examination, fantasy and psychoanalysis, depending on the self-importance of the subject and the nature of the interviewee and audience
reality media - if this is more The Truman Show, the NPCs or other players could be in on it, actively working with the GM, or able to manipulate events in a wargame (the fundamentals deck could work for this); if it's a Big Brother-style show, the other characters or individual squads in the force could be playing to the audience, represented by something as simple as testing a score to keep order in a wargame, or a set of criteria to meet to make it big in the framing world

The Point Man of No Return, or Who Leads the Leaders? (The Point Man of No Return, 25 October)

The powers have their games. Their plans. 'Play' often concentrates at great existential tipping points, where bold individuals press on into new realms of potential, go out on a limb, take point. Energies flood into the chosen time and place. Vortices of fortune whirl and the avatars are buffeted this way and that until the lips of lofty precipices in fate are passed; cascades of consequence trip and cosmic fabrics fold in squalls of change.

Every time the minimum or maximum is rolled on a die or a set of dice, the next roll on any die or set of dice by any player for any reason is modified by -1 or +1 respectively.

If the modified result of this roll is equal to the usual minimum or maximum, or beyond it, a further modifier is applied to the next roll. The effect is cumulative; the overall modifier continues to change until a result other than a minimum or maximum is rolled. If a large modifier means nothing other than a mimimum or maximum can be rolled, hold tight...

A new Old Stuff Day

2012-03-01T23:45:00.002Z

Don't forget Old Stuff Day tomorrow, a chance for bloggers to rummage in the archives.

I'm not sure what I'll be posting, but the time it frees up should be useful. I'm behind on a lot - the material for the Rogue Space quarterly, the questions for EvilDM, a follow-up to the first look at Devastation Drive-In, and feedback for Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies, not to mention the reviews I want to do. And there are bound to be distractions on the way...

Update: Today if you live where James does; his post at Warp Signal may be the first.

25% off Triffles: Abandoned Space

2012-03-01T19:42:00.002Z

If you haven't already got a copy, Triffles: Abandoned Space is in the GM's Day Sale over at RPGNow, which means for the next six and a bit days it's down to $0.44.

But what is it? Good question. The blurb is here.

Disclaimer: I wrote it.

Table - D30 - Rumour accuracy

2012-03-01T12:16:00.004Z

Another random table for old school roleplaying, partly inspired by the experiences of the GW fanbase in getting info on future releases, especially given the rumoured new policy.

I've aimed to keep the truth of the rumour itself unclear, but suggest the nature of this truth may in fact be more complex. Roll 1D30 as many times as you like per rumour.

The rumour builds on earlier rumours, 1) with / 2) without references.
The rumour has been heard before, but its time is said to have come.
This rumour is a venerable work and its repetition a mysterious ritual.
The source is a known rumourmonger; the first other person asked gives accuracy as 2D12-2x10%, this then 1D3x10 points 1) higher / 2) lower.
The rumour contains one 1) truly astounding claim / 2) patent falsehood.
The rumour is accompanied by an advertisement for a related product.
Local chips in: source recognised as linked to the subject of the rumour.
Guard dropped: source appears to be in the pay of a figure in the rumour.
The source incorporates an angry rant about the subject of the rumour.
The source is 1) reading / 2) being prompted / 3) channelling the rumour.
The source has fingers crossed or 1) known / 2) unknown equivalent.
The source makes mention of a particular quantity of salt, or comparable figurative substance, perhaps repeatedly - is this a code of some kind?
Could the source be trying to communicate something else altogether?
The source appears to be highly intoxicated, possibly on own power.
The rumour of the rumour is drawing a large crowd, many speculating.
A listener-in flashes what may be 1) a knowing look / 2) a secret sign.
Nearby people look nervous and keep their distance from the source.
Abrupt change: 1) a hush falls; 2) lightning strikes; 3) a band strikes up.
Has subject changed policy? Demand for this rumour is 1) high / 2) low.
This rumour has already gone viral and spawned a whole new trope.
This rumour has a peculiar attraction to one or more of those hearing it.
Manner and content suggest this rumour may express a private desire.
The last rumour but one heard by this party is said to have been false.
The next rumour but one heard by this party is prophesied to be true.
This rumour seems to be confirmed by all seen hereafter, if not thus far.
The rumour is so vaguely worded that the party begin to doubt reality.
If attention is paid, or the rumour written down, it is seen to be gibberish.
The source is fictitious, but appears entirely unaware of the fact.
Midflow the source 1) changes narrative point of view / 2) refers to self by surprising name / 3) stops and wonders aloud what the point of it all is.
The source claims to have plenty more where this one came from.

You've got a commerve...

2012-02-29T23:37:00.000Z

I was typing a bit fast today and spelt the word 'commerce' wrong. But 'commerve' has to mean something, right? Somewhere and somewhen...

Not every vessel is commervous, but those that are laugh and cry with local space, trembling around their passengers at almost imperceptible frequencies. The passengers may be troubled by the experience at some deep level, and soak up the horror of it unbeknown for later, but they do gain immediately, and tangibly. For the sensory endings of the commerve are plugged into subrealian tissues, and feel the tension of the traumas flowing from the brutal brood worlds of the hot stars. With the forewarning of a slight twinge, the pangs of those spacetime streams may be avoided.

Crewbrew - crew cohesion, concentration and repair

2012-02-29T14:34:00.003Z

I'm having a go at a ruleset along the lines of one from the 40K uncut? post, for fuller vehicle use.

It could be thought of as homebrew for 40K, but it's not. It's a start on a general system for adaptation to games in which vehicles are more heavily abstracted. The first part is a core mechanism for building on over time.

Crew cohesion

Crew cohesion is a variable for any or all of low visibility, cramped confines, heat, noise, vibration, motion, rushing air, failures, confusion, bickering, incoming attacks and death.

A D6 is placed with each vehicle or vehicle unit at its first appearance, with the 6 face up. At the end of every turn, the number face up on each die is reduced by one point.

For each glancing or penetrating hit on a vehicle, the number on the relevant die rises by one, for the focus it encourages. Each death among the crew reduces it by one, for the shock of the loss and change needed. Cohesion may not rise above 6 or fall below 1.

Any cohesion check required is made for a vehicle or vehicle unit by rolling 1D6. A result equal to or below its current crew cohesion indicates success; above indicates failure.

Concentration

At the beginning of each turn a cohesion check is made for each vehicle or vehicle unit. If the result is a success, the vehicle may be used as normal. If a failure, the crew are distracted, meaning a) the controlling player decides how far each affected vehicle moves this turn, but an opposing player then decides whether and where a 45° turn is made for each, and b) any hits caused by affected vehicle weapons are rerolled this turn.

Running repairs

If a vehicle suffers damage, at the end of any turn, before the number face up on the die is reduced, the crew may attempt to repair this. To do so, a cohesion check is made. If successful, it is repaired. On a natural 6, one crew member chosen by the controlling player is killed. Whatever the result, crew cohesion is then reduced by one point.

For every unit in the controlling player force able to repair a vehicle, a modifier of one point is deducted from the roll for a running repair, regardless of relative unit locations.

The idea then is a quick and simple system adding some options and fun. Hopefully so far it's neutral overall, with the rising chaos as cohesion falls offset by more crew activity.

There's a lot more can be done with this and I'll come back to it. All thoughts, revisions and expansions are welcome - as far as I'm concerned this is a new community project.

What we learnt (9)

2012-02-28T23:52:00.000Z

More from the online game designers' workshop

2012-02-28T14:00:00.003Z

A few quick links on design, following this post.

Loquacious wraps up the Intelligent Design series at House of Paincakes.

Amanda Heitler at Drama, Dice and Damsons has advice for anyone thinking of running play-by-post games.

John Bell at The Retired Adventurer has a good list of links to resources.

And a wild card - the latest post at TalkToYoUniverse covers point of view.

If you're a 40K player, you might want to brew up an idea from the discussion at the last post. And here's a new question to go with it - does anyone run play-by-post wargames?

Update: SandWyrm at The Back 40K talks actor count; there's a useful first comment.

A 40K uncut?

2012-02-27T19:27:00.004Z

An open question for 40K players; it crystallised here at From the Warp. What kinds of interaction in the 41st millennium haven't been seen yet in official or homebrew rules?

It's been 25 years and a lot of editions of a lot of games. We have campaigns, strategy, big battles at two official scales, plenty of skirmishing, miniatures-free, urban ruins and various interiors, aerial and space combat, plus landings. So what's left to be added?

So far I've got vehicle compartments, warp-based interactions and fraught diplomacy.

Corridors of death... and life

2012-02-27T13:44:00.001Z

In the wars, spores, sword; toward doors, far-gates barred.

Are we helping an AI learn its ABCs?

2012-02-26T19:25:00.006Z

Pause for thought re commenting verification. If this new system is getting us to identify hard-to-read words - see here - we may be part of something needing more discussion.

In this article, on a modified history of the computer, Freeman Dyson's son tells us:

In 2005 I visited Google's headquarters, and was utterly floored by what I saw. "We are not scanning all those books to be read by people. We are scanning them to be read by an AI," an engineer whispered to me.

It makes perfect sense, if we want to make the fictions real. But do we? And which AI? How soon? Whose vassal will it be - or is it? What do we all owe to a lifeform like this, and - getting back to the mundane - what does it mean for our use of the verification?

At novums we get a reminder of where this could be going re Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question", but that's one of the more optimistic views, and the literature has others.

40K OSR? (16)

2012-02-25T23:16:00.004Z

So far, so good then - it's been less than two weeks since the last full 40K OSR? update.

Possible definitions for 'OSR' here and Colonel Kane's logo to the right. If you use it, consider giving him the credit and adding Tales from the Maelstrom to your blogroll as an exemplar.

Another PSA to begin: Warhammer 39,999 is back - note the new address.

Stealthy Stealth is working on a Tau Fandex in posts at Creative Twilight.

Plague Marine at A Plague Spreads is after suggestions for a new fandex.

If you missed the mention here, Rended Press found some 40K fanzines.

Big Jim has 1, 2, 3 characters and house rules for the BAO at Adventures in Wargaming, as well as news of Killzone Evolution and more details...

... while Brian at A Gentleman's Ones talks about Killzone team-building.

Neil Gilstrap has a useful approach at The 11th Company BLOG to the discussions of RAI vs. RAW, as does Nurglitch in this post from last month.

John Bell has more material up at The Retired Adventurer for using Stars Without Number to run the 40K universe, Eldar and DE, Orks and Kroot.

Gotthammer has Gazetter #3 up at Collegia Titanica, and advice for GMs.

Kenzie's blog has another 1, 2 more write-ups for the Dark Heresy campaign.

At Warpstone Flux jabberjabber paints a map tile forest and river, and that reminds me Kraggi's brother is doing ME / PE maps on commission.

Nurglitch has more thoughts on a combat card-based Adeptus Titanicus...

... and the first Spikey Bits post has an ad mech force with Epic walkers.

Krisken at Scratchbuild 40K has 1, 2 posts so far on a DIY rhino chassis...

... and again at Spikey Bits, reposted to BoLS, there's a possible driver.

Old School Terminator at Dark Future Games honours the many tervigons.

AJ's gaming world has some converted IG heavy weapon team carriages.

Rictus posted on sculpting various Nurgly textures at Miniature Wargame Conversions and had more on the 3D printed walls at Recalcitrant Daze.

Staying close, Cameron at Rust and the city has more on a Nurgle dread...

... and Bix at The Veil's Edge makes a press mould, with advice from Ron.

A big reveal were Mantic's Veer-myn - possible counts-as Hrud - for the board game Grim Cargo by Jake Thornton; it's like GW alternate history.

Apocalypse 40K has 1, 2 posts on a scratchbuilt Ork thunderhawk, more on the Eldar super-heavy flyer and lots of possible alternatives, including speeders and turrets, a weapons platform and some large resin wings.

... while big_d over at The Hogs of War reports on a true-scale marine kit.

Mad Robot Miniatures updated on the sci-fi greatcoats in development.

Volomir's near-/not-Rogue Trader cover diorama won official recognition.

Noel at TheOrky15mm SciFi reminisces about Gorkamorka and shows a converted Ork bike, and also has a few photos of a range of Ork bits.

CrimsonTurkey at DUKE'S INFERNO builds a bits gang for Necromunda.

For nostalgia and maybe technical interest, Spikey Bits also posted pics of an old blister pack and the contents of the second edition boxed game.

Mike at Santa Cruz Warhammer showed some old GW branded items.

Last time I missed 1, 2 updates at Confessions... on the DoW generator.

Staying with terrain, if the FW interiors set you off, big_d at The Hogs of War also has two alternatives, assuming you won't build like Brian or Hudson.

This time round Hudson has a WIP diorama using new Space Hulk minis.

CounterFett has another 1, 2 pics from Space Crusade at All Things Fett.

As always, feel free to leave links to anything you think I've missed, even your own work.

Update: Look at what Jeff just posted, but only if you're not easily provoked, and don't mind a bit of strong language - it's Lasfodder, an RPG set in the world of Rogue Trader.

Rogue Space - Item availability and pricing

2012-02-25T15:09:00.001Z

Rules for shopping. They're designed as part of the Rogue Space project, but could be adapted.

What's Rogue Space? A free, compact, rules-light, modular RPG from Fenway5, which a few bloggers are expanding with ready-made systems and content. The key links are in the post footer and my original review is here.

Given Rogue Space is rules light, this is simple and fast too. The idea is to allow a GM to draw up a master equipment list for the campaign with just one price listed for each item, but have that price vary according to location, and suggest supply and demand.

Reference cost: Each item introduced to the campaign is given a reference cost by the GM. This should be the average minimum cost in a location where it is very common.

Rarity: The GM gives each item a Rating for its rarity in a given location or region, or the whole campaign. Rarity is measured on the WARE scale, for another RS-style acronym.

W = 1 = Widespread = A large quantity widely used and easily accessible.
A   = 2 = Appropriate = A reasonable quantity used by or accessible to many.
R = 4 = Rare              = A small quantity used by or accessible to specific groups.
E    = 8 = Exceptional = A tiny quantity, or unique item; difficult to acquire and hold.

Example: A keyring reactor may be Appropriate on a technically advanced world, but Rare on the frontier. A fertile soil Widespread there may be Exceptional on an orbital.

Starting equipment: Core starting characters begin with any number of Widespread items, up to 1d3 Appropriate items and up to 1d2-1 Rare, i.e. W / 1d3 A / 1d2-1 R.

Finding supplies: More acronyms - the two basic approaches to finding supplies are What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) and Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO).

Using WYSIWYG, 2D6 is rolled and the Aquiring Attribute added. The GM may wish to apply a modifier based on the nature of the search or centre. The result is compared to the WARE scale. For each Rating equalled or exceeded, one item type of that Rating is available. For each multiple by which a Rating is exceeded, one extra type is found. The number is also the number of each type. Player and GM alternate selecting these types.

Example: A result of 6 exceeds the Widespread Rating (1) by 5, the Appropriate (2) by 4 and the Rare (4) by 2 and so turns up six items of six different Widespread types, three items of three Appropriate types and one item of a Rare, i.e. 46 items of 10 types.

Using GIGO, one item of any type and Rarity may be found by means of a successful Aquiring test. The type sought must be specified in advance of the roll and the target number is the rarity Rating. The GM may wish to apply a modifier based on the nature of the search or centre. For each multiple by which the target number is exceeded, one extra item is found. The GM may allow consolation items to be found using WYSIWYG.

Example: If the target number is 4, a result of 9 exceeds it by 5, turning up two items.

Pricing: To find the price, roll a number of D6s equal to the number of items of that type currently available and discard all but the lowest result; multiply by the reference cost.

Example: A reactor keyring has a reference cost of 50 CR. If three are available, three dice are rolled, for a 5, 4 and 2. The 2 is used: each item costs 2 x 50 CR, i.e. 100 CR.

If Fenway5 is happy, I'll add this to the batch I'm sending for the RS quarterly. I'm now working on some trading rules which build on this framework, also potentially universal.

Rogue Space downloads - Rogue Space news

Rogue Space at Hereticwerks - Rogue Space at Swords & Stitchery - Rogue Space at the Expanse

Goodbye, Mr Blofeld

2012-02-24T21:09:00.002Z

Many of us know space debris exists. There's a lot of it, and even flakes of paint do damage at high speeds. But is this the optimal solution?

Sending up a disposable satellite, with all the cost launching objects involves, to catch it up, grab hold of it and bring it down to burn up? Could there be more efficient options?

I'd bet we could think of a few more to look at. Even if ground-based lasers might have nefarious uses and send pieces further out, why not nudge the junk say, or set it on a downward course using gravity, or attach tiny thrusters, or repel it with the hunter's thrusters and even use the reaction to help the hunter transfer to the next piece?

This gets me tinkering more with micro-G rules, like the Derelict set. Why do so few games use set-ups like this or have even basic rules for playing in these conditions?

And who'll be funding CleanSpaceOne? Taxpayers? If it is poor value for money, would anyone be surprised? If they do, and it does go ahead - and works on that one piece of junk - it could trigger more spending of public money elsewhere on similar solutions.

The thousands of bigger pieces could move a lot of money from many pockets to a few.

But the taxpayers wouldn't just sit around watching this happen, right? They'd be up in arms. Forget traditional world domination - here's a driving force for sci-fi gaming plots.

But what if you don't need money? There could be other motivations, harm to rivals, for example, or depopulation, feeling the world belongs more to the financially successful, a global elite. Could that be easily disguised? Well, Bill Gates and others are known to support research into geoengineering so any supervillians could likely also do it openly.

And there's always incompetence. Do we trust the scientists, engineers and managers to get it right, make it reversible, not say trigger an ice-age, starvation and extinction?

Fallibility? A major news site titles a piece: "... Cloud level has fallen by 1% a year over last decade 'in response to global warming'" Note the phrase "in response to". Do we have facts supporting this? If anything goes, why not 'influencing' or even 'causing'..?

We find out 1% means: "... by around 100 to 130 feet." But then: "Most of the reduction was due to fewer clouds occurring at very high altitudes." At least it gets said. Gamers might know what an average can hide, but others not. How much could we miss?

Here's an explanation: "'We don't know exactly what causes the cloud heights to lower,' says Davies. 'But it must be due to a change in the circulation patterns that give rise to cloud formation at high altitude.'" We don't know, but it must be. Why use that form?

When did 'must' become part of science? It may be unintentional, but it feels almost dystopian. Again, you could use thinking like this in gaming, with one or more trusted experts in the game world actually setting out to make facts fit forecasts or prophecies.

No future today?

2012-02-24T15:29:00.001Z

There's a thought-provoking post on sci-fi, nostalgia and technology at Ambling Along the Aqueduct, which also ties into the recent interest in zines. On the subject, I've linked to that big list below the blogrolls. For more laws, Old School Heretic has a useful list.

Table - Failed dungeons

2012-02-24T01:06:00.005Z

It seems strange the word 'dungeon' is used as often as it is for a roleplaying adventure site, given it's rarely actually a dungeon at all. But that's beyond the scope of this post.

This is a D36 list of reasons for a site not working out or even existing. I'm hoping jasons at the enjoyable The Dungeon Dozen hasn't already written a table on the same theme.

Unbuilt: 1) conceptually unobtainable; 2) just a dream, hallucination or fantasy; 3) successfully foreseen and terminated at source; 4) all supplications rejected; 5) creator suffering self-doubt; 6) sketched on back of envelope, but then sent
Unvisited: 1) wording of rumour alienates most or all adventurers; 2) local NPCs not consulted by creator and withholding recognition; 3) disguised too cunningly; 4) ahead of its time; 5) buried in sandbox; 6) DM has that strange glint in eye...
Inaccessible: 1) non-existent pocket universe; 2) built out from within, entrance never added; 3) arcane means of entry lost or forgotten early on in development; 4) not at scale of landscape; 5) too few dimensions; 6) statted for wrong system
Unbalanced: 1) unexpected evolution of one or more occupants; 2) emptied by surprisingly effective trap; 3) entirely filled by fast-spreading mould; 4) grew to encompass all of reality; 5) trapped in temporal loop; 6) cleared by playtesters
Repurposed: 1) creator rethought alignment; 2) creation not having any of that; 3) revolution launched by occupants; 4) repossessed by backers and put to more profitable use; 5) domineering collaborator, aggressive editor and/or proofreader with ulterior motives; 6) exploited by malwayre infection from external netwyrk
Destroyed: 1) mortar or equivalent lost in unanticipated interaction; 2) collapsed under weight of treasure; 3) consumed by magical chain reaction; 4) demolished by higher authority for breach of terms; 5) killed creator's grandfather; 6) victim of generational change, hoping for old school renaissance with little fresh thinking

Lure of pixel skies

2012-02-23T13:14:00.002Z

Troll and Flame has a link for a deal on D&D-themed video games, and Lasgunpacker mentioned the site has some free games too. It does, including Lure of the Temptress from '92 and Beneath a Steel Sky from '94, two classic adventures with a great mood.

Remembering the impression particular games made graphically, I started thinking how useful screenshots could be in roleplaying, and the variety there is. The trick would be getting to the screens, unless there's a way to technically and legally unpack them.

With enough screens you could even use a tabletop system to play the video game, or explore alternative paths through it, or the wider game world, and bring in extra screens from other games too. It might better reach those inner spaces out among the pixels.

For a sense of the potential then, and the inspiration, and the pleasure of the journey, here are playthroughs for those two, Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky.

At the Sea of Unease...

2012-02-22T15:42:00.001Z

Sector V3 is now up on the local maps page at Strange New World, which is the sector I'll be filling. I'll be posting as I go. Here's a warm-up.

Prospector Report IV/a/i Inland sea, rich in unknown compounds. Initial orbital observations indicated complex organic coverage; ATVs sent. The third crew reported a symbiotic algal mat thick enough over large areas to suspend fully-loaded buggies, and a submerged network of gas pockets, passages and chambers. Extreme climatic dynamism. Still no word from the second crew. The ravings of the first make no sense to any of us...

If you want one of the unused sectors, pretty much everything you need is at this post.
_

The same old different new

2012-02-21T11:36:00.001Z

A quick list of goings-on from the top blogroll themed around renewal and rediscovery.

In an Expanse-friendly double-whammy, the delving mwschmeer at Rended Press has a long list not just of zines, but zines on 40K and Warhammer.

Hopeful Monster Creations have put their first release out, Sean Robson's indie board game Megadungeon!, inspired by the old TSR microgames.

Former GW designer Andy Hoare has been updating the narrative skirmish game Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies and any and all feedback is welcome.

Sidney Roundwood and TOOFatLardies are designing for the Dark Ages - here and here - and going deep, with 1, 2, 3 reports reflecting the histories, and rules for goading; Arlequin has yet more insight for gaming the period.

Stuart at Strange Magic has a simple approach to converting D&D monsters to player characters, Hereticwerks have a set of weird beings for Swords & Wizardry and S. P. at How to Succeed... has more adapted to fourth.

And sad news to finish - Rustfoot has posted its last, but the blog is still up.

They're in our heads

2012-02-21T00:43:00.001Z

Inspired by this post at The Secret Sun and the return to the Empyre, a 140-character horror story for Flash Fearsday. C'nor has a superb tale here which might also tie in.

They. They hide beyond sight, in the dark. They control what I know, control me. They. Violence reveals them, but never their secrets.

My lobes, synapses, neurons. Me?

Rogue Space - Empyric Citiʒant

2012-02-20T15:03:00.007Z

More material for the Rogue Space project. This time it's a new player character for games in the Empyre setting, the everyman Empyric Citiʒant.

The 'ʒ' is pronounced the same way as the 'g' in 'genre', to load the word with more meanings and reflect the ideas in the background.

Empyric Citiʒant

In the deadly war of words known as the Uncivil Discourse, the Interlocutors call upon the Citiʒants of manifold Empyric worlds, for 'ʒantries can be convinced to take up any cause in relevant numbers if the promotional campaign is glitzy enough. On every front the Pleople speak, and do not mince their words; they mince their enemy - themselves.

A Citiʒant may not be the equal of an Innergrounder, or have access to the same level of weaponry, but the individual does have a degree of specialist knowledge or ability either drummed in, programmed or literally embodied from an early age, if not before.

Attributes: To use a point pool, divide 2 points among the Attributes. To determine Attributes randomly, roll 1d6 for each Attribute on the following modified points table.

Roll 1 2 3 4 5 6

ATR # -1 -1 0 +1 +1 +2

Archetype: Any ordinarily available, but with the starting Hit Points total reduced by 1.

Career: A Citiʒant has a socio-economic role represented by one word; this may be two or more words at the discretion of the GM. Each word is created by the player and/or GM, or generated by rolling 3D6 once on each table, combining the two elements.

3) trepi-; 4) Who-; 5) preter-; 6) No-; 7) yoro-; 8) credu-; 9) ricto-; 10) ware-; 11) meteo-;
12) putro-; 13) manu-; 14) loco-; 15) gyro-; 16) munito-; 17) macro-; 18) astro-

3) -nik; 4) -dude; 5) -nut; 6) -dule; 7) -droll; 8) -monger; 9) -node; 10) -klep; 11) -crat;
12) -goon; 13) -lug; 14) -mech; 15) -werk; 16) -path; 17) -list; 18) -lect

Each word is interpreted by the player(s) and/or GM and assigned two areas of ability, one area of ability per element. If one of the areas may be useful when the character takes an action, the player may reroll one die; if both areas, both may be rerolled.

Example: A putrocrat is an administrator in waste disposal. Dealing with red tape or navigating a sewer, one may be rerolled; searching a database for cycler plans, both.

Equipment: Widespread / 1d6 Appropriate / 1 Rare. Starting weapons have a Range and Damage one Rating lower than normal, e.g. Range M, Damage V becomes Range S, Damage L. A Range of S drops to 0, and a Damage of S drops to LOL, i.e. 1D6-1.

I'm planning an Empyric equipment list, which is why there's a division into a range of rarities. As ever, all thoughts are welcome, and for more material follow the links below.

Rogue Space downloads - Rogue Space news

Rogue Space at Hereticwerks - Rogue Space at Swords & Stitchery - Rogue Space at the Expanse

Hi, robots (01001000011010010010000001110010 0110111101100010011011110111010001110011)

2012-02-19T00:02:00.002Z

Lots of discussion of the new verifying system for comments. If it's so bad, maybe it's meant to be, to get us all turning it off and commenting more?

That makes sense, to get discussion, and repeat visits, and more info from us - you can monetise that - and more ad views, with it all encouraging bloggers to post more often, for yet more info.

Canageek has a very persuasive interpretation in the 12th comment here at Tim's. Who knows - maybe someone can earn on the spam itself?

I've heard the case for lowering shields. To some extent I'm with Tim - if you really are a robot, I want you to check in. But why not wait - in case it is what we're meant to do? What's good news for one of the biggest companies isn't necessarily good for us all.

Also, the amount of spam might go up now if so many people are switching it off. Then again, maybe it's time to ask what's so bad about spam anyway - most is obvious, and spotting the rest is good mental exercise. I'd likely go the route here at Rended Press.

GW, big IP, names and myth

2012-02-17T23:57:00.007Z

Four things linked by the theme of IP ownership.

First, BoLS yesterday linked to this discussion at reddit in which apparently verified high-profile ex-GW staff members talk about inner workings; pricing policy, release and retail are all covered.

Second, an earlier discussion on a Chapterhouse jetbike, with some musings of mine:

... the jetbikes we once had as standard GW stopped producing. As a community we have a stake in the game, and no matter what GW may prefer to present in its materials, we still collectively know that jetbikes were once common on tables, ... .

That thing ... had come into being, taken a life of its own, and it should not be possible to remove something that has value for a group and does no harm by its existence.

Chapterhouse continuing to make a jetbike we might feel fits 40K is in that sense a public service.

... If we accept that competition is a good and brings good in turn, and that the greater the degree of monopoly power, the worse off we are overall, balancing mechanisms may be needed to prevent tendencies to domination, or should be protected where they exist naturally. Law can do this by holding that free space open, recognising that with greater reach comes greater adoption and genericisation, and greater scope for public use of what are becoming public resources.

And more, referencing the ideas of interchangeable parts and genericised trademarks.

... recently I've been wondering whether the 28mm space marine form will end up something like a 'genericised interchangeable part', assuming it isn't already.

Third, Jeffs Gameblog has some very BattleTech-y early 40K robots, here then here.

Finally, Reality Refracted looks at using familiar names in your worldbuilding, saying:

After all, a lot of the fiction we have now is basically modern mythology.

Update: Now five - I just saw this at NewPulp on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Dynamite.

The Empyre

2012-02-17T14:32:00.011Z

Some background for the human Empyre. This is the setting I'm using for Rogue Space materials, the naval and space combat game, and one more project that's on the way.

* * * * *

Fine weather! Set out your criteria and let's do this thing.

WHIRR: brief, hysteria, stymies_

Cowabunga>>>

KINDLY NOTE: The history of Whomanity is still mysterious. Stone remembers little, the paper has all now crumbled and the Electrotonic systems were a flicker in the dark. The majority of our Noledge comes from the sole cryogenic burial facility to survive the Meltdown, and the hacked memories of its Generous occupants. That we might No.

WATCH IT: This material is Lobal.

The Great Digression

Having set foot on Luna, Whomanity seemed at last to be seizing its Destiny, but that Destiny was Man-infested. The years that followed saw many Sleights of Hand and Hand Slights. The dealies struck after the Numbered Wars were connivingly reversed by the Big Men, even as Whomees as a whole believed their Lot to be improving. This was the Great Digression and many opportunities were avoided. The Sun reached Midday.

The Age of Contraction

As the shadows lengthened, the Brainstorm failed and the long Slumper of Whomanity began. But the Big Men were snoozing pretty - the systems were complex and enforced remotely. The Drones became Highly Efficient, and in a grating Strokes of Genius were placed under the Control of the Dying, the very Whomees they Unjustified. Survivors squirmed in their Doziness and suffered terrible Nighmurders. The bloodbaths became unnavigable even to those in the Ivory Taurus. Too late. The Drones pulled the Plug.

The Drone Wars

The Reboot had long been gamed by the Workshop and Secret Servers worldwide. It lasted but One Day of three weeks, the Drones victorious. Thus began the Hardwaring Down, which brought the Unexpected Chaos from Somewhere Deep Within and the discovery of the Innerground. The Resistance was led by the Entrepreneurs, the Moms and the Pops, who made School Runs to pass the Noledge down the ages. It worked; prognoses were nailgunned to the Panel. The Drones surrendered to Inferior Reasoning.

The Directorship

The Moms and Pops cleaned up the Mess and Grounded the Drones, but what was Entrepreneurialism became Direction. The Drones were replaced by the Innerground, Who reached back for Pomp and Gladrags to what they saw as the Glory Days, the years of the Midday Sun. The self-appointed Directors looked to the mercantile past, took the Power of Atterboy and propped up Brokers, Raters and Lobbers to keep them Company. They Tightened the Screws, now made Offworld by Profits & Proles.

The Wars of the Rises

The Golden Age saw violent expansions, the creation of the Subjugated Free Trade Area and enforced revolutions in understanding. Of the Breakages of the era, the two most grating are Trickle-Out Economics and Cortical Theology, both inspired by the geopathically recovered history of the Follydom. The concept of Cortices took hold in particular, each being named for a mighty protagonist of Yore, and many sides of the Coin. But the Debasement continued and the Lobes grew out. The Empyre was born.

The Empyre

PERMIT TO IP FREELY: Terribly sorry about that. Really sorry. No, really. Please. The Follies of the Directors are more than architectonic - they allow the figurative edifice of the Empyre to crumble, and draw the rot up from the swampy depths of the Whomee mind. The Dilapidation is elegant, and eloquent, and even when blunt or uncouth. For much store is set by dialogue; the wars of the past saw BILLIONS MURDERED, and it is right now to know all were wrong. Discussion is the new order, and Conflict is Witty, Sparkling, supremely Cultured, until it's Not. This war of words is No war. The Uncivil Discourse. Literal bombshells too. Matches were made, but the Empyre Struck First.

The Uncivil Discourse

TBA

WHIRR:_

It's come over all dark. Got an Auntie Ella? Chortle. (Ö)
_

Amazing Stories still

2012-02-16T17:47:00.003Z

Strange Horizons just posted a link to a link, to which I link, to The Pulp Magazines Project, which has put the first six issues of Amazing Stories online. This is material that shaped our world, and very likely still does, directly or not, for good, ill or indifferent.

Appendix OSR (1)

2012-02-16T00:22:00.001Z

I caught up with the latest articles at Orion's Arm today. There's one on attention economics and another on money in post-scarcity economies.

We're not post scarcity on Earth yet - not all of us anyway - but the tabletop gaming community as represented online, when online at least, does to some degree resemble that kind of society.

So what do we do with all the potential we have?

Even if we don't get a wider discussion going just yet, it can't hurt to build up a useful reading list.

Opening - sound - trail

2012-02-15T13:21:00.000Z

The owl follows you with unblinking eyes as you crunch across the snow away from the oak, into the undergrowth of the space between the trees.

Tearing your gaze away, you scan the treeline for an alternative route, in among the drifts and hollows below the canopy. Pushing through a clump of ferns, you set off a skittering somewhere beneath frosted fronds. You freeze.

It comes again, now off to the left, movement over crusted ice, amid close-woven stems.

Light glitters over the landscape. You stand, listen. And beyond, past the oak, you see another trail. Narrow, but somehow grander, it climbs to a ribbon of sky. The owl stares.

Attempt to find the hidden creature Blog One

Wait, listening and observing Blog One

Take the game trail Blog One

Head down to the clearing Blog One Blog Two

Follow the trail beyond the oak Blog One Blog Two

If you know what's next or have other ideas, write it and I'll link it in. Details here. Start the adventure here.

Not quite not a Valentine's Day gaming post

2012-02-14T20:46:00.002Z

I wasn't going to jump on any kind of Valentine's Day gaming bandwagon, but being as there isn't one, maybe I'll balance things out by posting on the theme anyway, and put forward a idea or two on showing in-game relationships mechanically.

The first is just an adaption of a simple system I posted last year, for identifying acquaintances.

The basic mechanism is a roll using a die with any number of faces. When creating a new character, each player rolls this die. The result represents their nature, interests or needs in a given area, whether they are fully aware of these or not, in interpersonal relationships for the sake of the post. The higher the number, the more specific they are.

You could modify the result by a number based on a relevant characteristic, or even fudge it to suit a particular character concept, or hidden purposes, and in less tactical games a character could have multiple rolls, use a larger die or be given a range.

If you roll a maximum, roll again and add the second result to the first. Keep adding for each extra maximum. To reduce linearity, you could even set up a matrix.

When a character or group meets another person, roll for that person too. If two individuals have matching numbers there's a connection of some kind. If it's not an exact match, the closer the two numbers are, the better the two individuals bond, or the more intimately they understand one another, or are interested one in the other.

A test of some kind could be made to check how reciprocal this is. If the minimum number represents the broadest general nature, and rising numbers ever more specific, it could be a need to roll equal or above, modified by the difference in the numbers of the two individuals. A failed test would be a lack of connection on the part of that individual.

What practical effect this might have on the game can be left to GM and players to decide. As a minimum it could be a non-binding prompt, or add colour to encounters, but it could also manifest mechanically in positive or negative modifiers to rolls, for insight or persuasion maybe, or just when the individuals in question are together.

This won't be everyone's cup of tea, and some of us may even find it uncomfortable, but if we can abstract other physical, mental and spiritual interactions, why not this kind?

The second idea is a bit of a plug. If you have a copy of Triffles: Abandoned Space, you might have seen the suggestion each Strand could be interpreted as an appropriate response in a given context. If you haven't tried this yet, it's no surprise I recommend it.

The complete Fabric in Abandoned Space would work especially well for interactions in this kind of location, but also more generally between world-weary individuals, or those under stress, and the blank Fabric can be used to get new webs of potential behaviour.

You could get a similar effect by mapping out areas of mood or patterns of behaviour in lesser or greater detail for a given character and moving between these in some way in response to events, whether more or less randomly or according to a set of criteria.

All thoughts are welcome, but don't hang around if you have other places be creative.

B's team can't stretch to an A Team, but there's still...

2012-02-14T15:29:00.002Z

MacGyver? He never had this, and not in a place like this.

Keeping track of tracks

2012-02-13T22:59:00.000Z

If you're using those hunting rules I posted last week, you might be finding it difficult to mark the tracks using only dice unless you have a lot of a given colour or size, especially with large forces.

So here are some counters just in case you don't have any that are suitable. I followed the pattern of the earlier sets, but switched the edging colour to one that should look reasonable over various colours of landscape, whether sand, mud, grass or snow. Feel free to download and print them.
_

40K OSR? (15)

2012-02-12T23:26:00.006Z

Another flood of 40K OSR? links. I let them build again, but I'd like to get this weekly to fortnightly.

Various definitions of 'OSR' are here and Colonel Kane's logo is to the right. If you use it, consider giving him the credit and adding Tales from the Maelstrom to your roll as a fine example - since the last time they've posted on Rogue Trooper.

And away we go then - just don't look down...

First a PSA: Inquisitork is moving blog, to The Maddening Words of C M Forde.

A Night Lords playtest codex developed via TCP was announced at Galaxy in Flames, the blog now renamed Big Jim's Hobby Adventures.

Chaos Gerbil released his Codex: Lost and the Damned Fandex v4.

Tabletop Fix announced an Inquisitor sourcebook from Dark Magenta.

Rules Man Bryssling has an unfinished post from Rules Manufactorum on rules design for tournaments and a reworking of Necron flayed ones.

Kraggi at The Varcan Cluster posted the 36-entry events table for the campaign as well as parts 7 and 8 of the rules and pics of 1, 2 maps.

The campaign is underway at Terminus Omega, with 1, 2 parts of an IG v. Harlequin battle report, details of a solo approach and throne agents.

Thor's final versions of the King of the Hill, Search and Destroy and Target Priority missions were posted at Creative Twilight, along with updated versions of The Long Haul and Attack and Defend.

At Warpstone Flux the current army list challenge uses a fiery scenario.

Nurglitch is looking at a card-based approach to Adeptus Titanicus.

Naftka at Faeit 212 reports the sixth edition leak is real and part of a plan.

There's a celebration of 25 years of Rogue Trader at Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, and thanks to Dave G at Wargaming Tradecraft for the link.

Not so far back, Stillfrosty at White Scars has the Movie Marines rules.

Also re old rules, HoP has links for 'flash 40K' via Dracus' Journal.

Gotthammer at Collegia Titanica has the second Koronus Gazetter.

Kenzie's blog has 1, 2, 3 more write-ups for the Dark Heresy campaign.

Miniature-wise the big news was Mantic's human Corporation range, ideal for counts as IG, and the Privateer Press Colossals, possible knights.

Eldar Addict has some dangerous-looking Dark Eldar grotesques in 1, 2 parts so far based on this approach by Lucky No. 5 at Eye of Terror.

Warhammer in Progress has an unusual Ork trukk build, the Grot Rod, and a work in progress on the wider Ork army, with all kinds of conversions.

Unite All Action has an old, bits-heavy feral Ork warboss conversion.

Ron at From the Warp sculpts detail to get a fuller Mk. 6 power armour, and has an Eldar corsair based on Forge World's, modelled and painted.

Hungry Ghosts has the Chaos Squat bikers on parade in 1, 2 parts.

Cameron at Rust and the city is building a spectacular Imperial renegade force and looking for some advice on going with counts as Grey Knights.

Laughing Ferret is working on a scary counts as genestealer cult.

Mordian7th finished a whirlwind built the good old White Dwarf way and now has a Magnus the Red as well, with possible rules in the post.

At Spiky Rat Pack izeColt is part-sculpting a mutie and companion.

Apocalypse 40K linked to work on a scratchbuilt Eldar superheavy flier and a Nightwing and mentions the Necron-like Cyber Bike and Orc Gruberwagen from Puppets War and Chaos pauldrons from Kromlech.

On the subject of alternatives, specifically Ork buggies, Whelp Slayer likes the Mantic Raptor; thanks to Miniature Musings of a Bear for the link.

Old School Terminator at Dark Future Games has some uses for the new Mantis Tank from Blight Wheel Miniatures, with the measurements here.

Imaginary Life shows off some 28mm bits good for cultists and marines.

An alternative to buying new of course is refurbishing old, and Sign of the Aquila is doing that with a marine dreadnought in 1, 1.5 parts so far.

There are sci-fi interiors at Hudson, for a Space Hulk, BFG and 40K mix.

Hogs of War posted a work in progress on a set of large fortress walls.

Vitor at Aurelius Legion finished the ventilator, inspired by Necromundicon.

At Confessions... dwez painted the modular plug and the second man-made hill, and posted 1, 2, 3 updates on the plasma generator.

Goblin Mini-Mart has some work in progress Necromunda scrap wastes.

Redscorps has research station terrain, with a weathered stormraven.

On the 3D printing front, Apocalypse 40K also has a shout-out for a pioneer.

Rictus at Recalcitrant Daze looks at using 3D printing for defensive walls in 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5, 5a, 6 parts, as well as building elements in 1, 2 parts so far.

How 3D printing might change things is suggested by this story at TGN.

CounterFett has 1, 2, 3, 4 more pics from Space Crusade at All Things Fett.

In case you haven't read it yet and you have an interest, I'll also plug my recent post on ownership of IP. It's closely linked to the essence of this and possibly 3D printing most.

As ever, if you think I've missed anything, even your work, drop a link in the comments.

Update: Here's the first, a link to a series of posts at The Retired Adventurer on using Stars Without Number to run games set in the 40K universe; the introduction is here.

An easy, liked Sunday Morning Show

2012-02-12T15:47:00.002Z

This covers a lot of ground. Almost no hobby, but bags of energy. It's another one from Blue Table Painting, and keeping up with them can be a learning experience far beyond the gaming, modelling and painting. For playing in the background on a relaxing Sunday.

Chess scenarios (2) - Viva La

2012-02-11T18:09:00.006Z

Another scenario in the series of alternate chess setups. Like the first, this one is also fairly obvious, but it's worth pointing out that the pawns are played with their colour, so the two sides really are in contact already and the pawns a step away from promotion.

It's a reflection of general understanding of what revolution is, a bloody process unlikely to change the underpinnings of a system. That could mean it's now an unlikely event, and that today's revolutions may be internally transformative, growing out from within.

That could mean many revolutions, some of them more like the one shown in that chess game in the Doctor Who story "The Curse of Fenric", in which the colours work together.

In play then, assuming that the black king isn't in check yet owing to the need to protect the white, tactically white and black each have just a single initial option for survival, and strategically the game quickly becomes one of dynamic reordering. Thoughts welcome.

Steps - lines - structure

2012-02-10T14:28:00.002Z

You start up the trail towards a narrow arc of sky. The winding roots enclose stretches of soft turf, forming a set of natural steps; the spring in the earth makes the going easy.

Emerging above the trees on either side are sets of criss-crossing lines, strung taut high over the path. They sway in the chill breeze, glint in the light, whine in the moving air.

As you crest the last stair, the dome of a bare hilltop spreads before you. At the centre looms a single featureless structure, light in colour, large, perhaps capacious. Its outer surface is sheer, the top curved tighter than the hill. There is an opening at ground level.

Silence but for the wind.

Continue up to investigate the opening Blog One

Circle the hilltop under the treeline Blog One

Pause, observing the clearing Blog One

Study the lines over the trail Blog One
Return down the slope Blog One

... with no letting up

2012-02-10T09:55:00.002Z

Another scene for the blogwalk, now added to the list. I'll have a follow-up ready later.

Light in the labyrinth

2012-02-09T16:29:00.004Z

If you could use a light-based lifeform idea, and especially if you play Labyrinth Lord or a similar system, check out what Hereticwerks have done with the lens flayer concept.

Light also comes up in one of their spaceship-sized monsters for Terminal Space and the adaptation of the Horla. They're part of the Rogue Space project too, and if you're interested in that, articles are needed for an at-cost quarterly Fenway5 is working on.

It's all a pretty good reminder of the potential for development via blogs. Saying that, I'm putting together the next 40K OSR? post and I can't help thinking there's still not much.

Small in-game hunting

2012-02-08T19:42:00.003Z

Here's a possible approach to deal with hunting in open mapcrawls and wargaming. It's modular and hopefully fairly simple. I was wondering how to create a real haze for a game with true line of sight, then tracks for navigation. I got the tracks, but the haze I still haven't worked out.

There are two elements to it, the idea of wandering, given that a player may see a goal but the protagonists the player is guiding may not, and any tracks left in the landscape.

Wandering

If the system you're using doesn't allow for this, here's a simple die-based approach. The larger the range of numbers on the die used, the finer the gradation. If the die has an even range, the midpoint should be known, specifically the mean, e.g. 3.5 with a 1D6.

When moving a character or unit, the player chooses a direction to be taken. If there's a landmark visible in-game that way, including another unit or character, it is taken. If not, a die is rolled. If the result is below the midpoint, movement is off to the left; if above, off to right. If the range on the die is odd and the midpoint is rolled, there's no deviation.

The number of points above or below is the size of the deviation. Depending on the die, each point represents a number of degrees, e.g. with 1D6, 1 point might be 45°. The protagonist may be able to modify the result, by a number based on a characteristic.

Tracks

Each character or unit is assumed potentially to be leaving tracks. In every location in which time is spent, a die or counter is left with a number facing up, this determined by some mix of the following factors: landscape type; protagonist number and skill; activity in the location; length of time present. The higher the number, the more evidence left.

For example: loose sand, 1; up to five protagonists, +1; attacking or being attacked, +1; each extra turn, +1; in the case of melee, scores for the groups involved are combined.

Hunting

Combining the two mechanisms then, whenever a character or unit is forced to roll for wandering, the total of any tracks in a given range may be used to modify the result.

* * * * * *

This all needs adapting of course, but hopefully makes a useful starting point. As ever, I could have missed something so if you can see it, or have any thoughts at all, feel free to say so, and if you have ideas for that haze or other real effects, I'm very interested.

Lists, links and... Talk Tuesday?

2012-02-07T20:22:00.007Z

A quick update, some related shout-outs and a possible return to the once common if irregular Talk Tuesdays.

Here at the Expanse I'm caught up listing recent reference posts down at the bottom of the right sidebar. It's a short, loose index - whether or not it gets used I don't know.

I've also signed up to Matt's Kepler-22b project for sci-fi gaming. Anyone can claim a sector of the planet and give it events and locations. I have V3, an inland sea, and I'm thinking about yesterday's science for the inhabitant(s).

Three things linked with that. If you like intrigue in space, The Secret Sun has a look at Apollo and 2001, and there's another fresh approach at a newish blog, Alternate History of the Space Age, starting here. For gaming, Chris at Hill Cantons is thinking about writing a warfare system for old school roleplaying games.

Also blurring the line between gaming and literature, Hereticwerks put out a stream of posts yesterday for their growing Wermspittle setting, building on Arthur Machen's work, and at Garrisonjames there's another scene for the blogwalk, now in the list.

Finally, HoP has a reminder that 2 March is Old Stuff Day, for revisiting key posts.

For the possible Talk Tuesday, you might want to take a look at these posts, which have recent activity, or are hot topics you could find of interest if you missed them.

Dragon's Lair... - the discussion is now on to terrain and Bluth's films

Deeper dice (1) - ideas for rolling dice, seeing them as particles of fate

Where no, I don't know... - discussion of Star Treks, Data and Worf

Derelict: a naval and space combat idea - a possible open system

How much of that IP could we own? - with more at a later post, here

Feel free to comment here or at the given post - I can do the finding or linking through.

Update: Dylan at Digital Orc has set up an online list for any old school roleplayers planning to go to GenCon. A good idea for events in general, and one to keep in mind.

Symbiogenesis, you and me

2012-02-06T13:39:00.003Z

Over the weekend I worked on a location for the Triffles series, a fallen orbital lodged in bedrock called Shiven, which has a strange ecology, but maybe not such an alien one. Looking at symbiosis in evolution, I found this interview with Lynn Margulis, a critical thinker who died last year, but someone who's still changing minds on what life is.

After Gaia she's most linked with endosymbiosis, the theory that cells fused to make new cells, which is one that made the long journey in from the fringe to the mainstream against the usual resistance. But that's only part of symbiogenesis, the idea symbiotic relationships drive evolution too, with gradual change only part of the truth. She says:

Evolution is no linear family tree, but change in the single multidimensional being that has grown to cover the entire surface of Earth.

That's not core yet, but we're moving that way, even if the vids suggest it will take time.

The first part covers education - needing to see the sources - and Carl Sagan, former husband and father of two of her children. In the second things warm up, and the third gets onto the nature of current science and suggests how much there is to understand.

For a sense of why this approach could be so important even beyond big steps forward, look at the quotes in Science on "the sprawling religious persuasion of Anglo-Saxon Biology" and mainstreamers who "wallow in their zoological, capitalistic, competitive, cost-benefit interpretation of Darwin". More on that here. We could be in the science.

And that's not all - here's one for gamers and game designers to adapt to our kingdom:

Genuine insight into morphogenesis, the emergence of form ... comes not from computer models but from intimacy with the microscopic and submicroscopic behaviours of living beings.

Blogging our adventures (2)

2012-02-03T20:49:00.013Z

A list of the scenes in the blogwalk so far ~~- the current total is 39 across~~ seven blogs.

Update: Garrisonjames is in now too, bumping the totals up ~~to 40 across eight blogs~~.

Update: They keep coming so here's the running total: 43 scenes across eight blogs.

The blogs - with the abbreviations I'll use for them - are Lunching on Lamias (LoL), Nine Worlds, Ten Thousand Things (NW,TTT), ArmChairGeneral (ACG), Warpstone Flux (WF), The World of Damnation (WoD), Hereticwerks (Hw) and the Expanse (P'sE).

Update: ... and of course Garrisonjames (Gj).

It all starts here. Anyone can join in, no need to ask. Just write the scene, post it and drop the URL in a comment at the one before. Multiple scenes per option are welcome.

The clearing and the oak (1, P'sE)

Climbing the oak (38, Hw)

Arriving at the canopy (4, LoL)

Exploring the canopy (12, NW,TTT)
Returning to the rest spot (17, NW,TTT)

Eating the berries (16, P'sE)

Finding a nest (22, P'sE)

Reaching in for an egg (23, NW,TTT)

Breaking the egg (24, P'sE, X)

Returning to the base (39, Hw)
Entering the cold winter's night (40, Gj)
Heading into the woods (41, Hw)
Seeking an alternative path (43, P'sE)

Climbing the trail (42, P'sE)

The voices (5, LoL)

Listening to the voices (8, P'sE)

Refusing them aid (33, P'sE)

Examining the trunk (35, P'sE)

The hollow among the roots (7, NW,TTT)

Looking under the mat (15, P'sE)

Being discovered (18, NW,TTT)

The meadow (3, ACG)

The stream and the oil (6, P'sE)

Tasting the water (9, LoL)

Following the stream having tasted the water (10, ACG)

Following the stream otherwise (32, P'sE)

The hole through the earth (11, P'sE)

Climbing down (21, NW,TTT)

Climbing down (28, WoD)

Calling for help (34, P'sE)

Begging for mercy (36, P'sE, >)

The bridge (37, P'sE)

Approaching the bridge (13, P'sE)

The track down to the water (27, P'sE)

The dry streambed (14, LoL)

Escaping along the bed (19, P'sE)

The metal woods (20, ACG)

Returning to the streambed (21, P'sE)

The rabbit appears (29, P'sE)

The rabbit begins to change (30, LoL)

The rabbit transforms (31, LoL)

The trail out of the meadow (25, WF)

Returning to the meadow (26, P'sE)

I've grouped the scenes by location, theme or activity and used bold to show the start point. The number in brackets should be position in the chronological order of posting, and the italics show those I'm especially unsure about; the abbreviation is used to identify the blog hosting the scene. End scenes are marked 'X' and loop scenes '>'.

The blogwalk goes ever on!

2012-02-03T13:25:00.006Z

Two more scenes for the blogwalk are live at Hereticwerks - here and here. They're both evocative and the second really opens doors. We now have 39 at seven blogs!

If you haven't tried it yet, it's a gamebook-style romp with the reader choosing how to continue from a list at the end of most scenes. Well worth a look, and if you want to jump in and write a scene, no need to ask. Just choose the scene, write it, post and leave the URL in a comment at the scene before it, for adding to the set of options.

I'll aim to get a full list of scenes up today, to help us get a handle on where we are.

For now, you can begin a journey at any time from the first, at the ancient oak...

Today Dagon's Lair..?

2012-02-02T19:40:00.000Z

... outer worlds. No Daphne. Dagon maybe. Mud, tentacles...

Dragon's Lair - alive and kicking the bucket

2012-02-01T19:11:00.003Z

I see a lot of inspiration in old video games, likely for the excitement there was in playing them and the influence they had, even unconsciously in the brief images. Dragon's Lair also has the Don Bluth story attached, a big near-run thing. This is the full laserdisc.

It feels fresher than I'd expect nearly 30 years on, and it's good to see scenes I'd likely never have reached, but the video may need a steel like that for the gameplay given all the repetition. The way Daphne is drawn could also be a surprise. More lower down.

Again, there's a lot of potential inspiration in there. The structure makes me think of the in-game blooper reel concept, the arcade machine vibe itself is a thing Super Dungeon Explore uses, and the nine lives approach could be showing up even in rules protecting big names in wargaming, as well as the zero level and minus level character ideas.

But it's those repeated deaths that really stand out for me, or rather the variety in the deaths. It has me thinking about the death scene as a concept for tabletop gaming.

A mechanical representation is nothing new of course, especially for horrific effects; see here for a 40K rule at Tales from the Maelstrom and here for some counters. Building on that then, below are some starting points for possible adaptation, aimed at wargames.

Horror. Individuals and units within a given distance must take a morale check, possibly modified by the degree of injury caused, and thereafter suffer a penalty to one or more characteristics, most likely a characteristic related to morale; the nearest opposing individual or unit is affected by Resolve below.
Trauma. Individuals and units within a given distance suffer a penalty to one or more characteristics, most likely a characteristic related to morale.
Last words. The deceased is assumed to live on in the form of the nearest individual or unit for the purposes of all actions but personal physical actions.
Burden. One individual or unit within a given distance takes on any mission entrusted to the deceased, or gains one if the option exists, but mission or not, if this individual or unit survives, the deceased is assumed to have survived too.
Honour. Individuals and units within a given distance of the point of death perform one less action this turn, the same type in each case, as they observe a ritual.
Resolve. Individuals and units within a given distance gain a bonus to one or more characteristics, most likely a characteristic related to morale.
Vengeance. Individuals and units within a given distance may perform a single action twice this turn, but suffer a penalty based on degree of injury caused, and thereafter gain a bonus to one or more characteristics, most likely related to morale; the nearest opposing individual or unit is affected by Trauma above.

If it's going to be a table, one or more could be dropped or new added. Any thoughts?
_

At last, enter an Abandoned Space...

2012-01-31T20:04:00.016Z

One of the semi-secret projects I've been working on in the background recently is finished at last, the development of the Triffles concept into a form that shows its real potential.

It's still system-neutral, but rather than just four ideas each, there are now 121, and a batch of other elements aimed at getting a useful tool for working up and growing narratives.

But where?

Here.

After cheering the indie publishers on from the sidelines for so long, I've decided it's time to follow up and get stuck in myself, not only posting up new material rough and ready here at the Expanse, but getting some definitive fuller work out there in other formats.

This particular work might not be everyone's cup of tea, but those whose cup of tea it is should find something to reward the exploration, and maybe whole worlds opening up.

There's a lot more to come, and more than I expected, but not only from me - this is the first step in setting up a platform for more creators to do the same and get their work seen. Because I'm not the only creative influence behind the output of the Expanse.

And this won't be taking over. The links are in the right-hand sidebar, and that's pretty much it for now. I'll be talking about new things and future plans, and ideally ways of using the potential if a chance comes up or I think of more, but it won't be too often.

If you fancy a look, go for it. There's a flash preview available as well. Here's the blurb.

Forgotten, lost or left behind, they are the overgrown structures, lonely backwoods and no-go areas; depths, haunted spaces and futures past, disused, derelict or ruined, hidden by time or design. Do they fade? Fester? Remember, rediscover, return...

Triffles: Abandoned Space is a tool designed to support the development of narratives set in and around this location type.

It is compatible with a variety of fictional genres and game systems, and suitable for use by writers, roleplayers and tabletop gamers in general. It has applications in character creation, for scenario, adventure and campaign design and in the generation of events and interactions in the course of games. The potential may be almost endless.

The compact, 8-page tool is arranged for use on screen or printed and includes:

- a context table able to produce over 19,000 seed sentences

- a complete Fabric for narrative creation, formed of 121 Strands

- instructions for the use of the Fabric, with diagrams and options

- 144 adjectives for further detail, grouped across 12 categories

- a group of 21 adjectives and 11 adverbs for location essence

- 32 proposals for the overarching nature of the abandoned space

- a pair of example narratives, each for a distinct fictional setting

- a compact diceless number generator for the four ranges used

- a table of minimum, average and maximum results for eight ranges

- a full index for the 121 Strands present in the complete Fabric

- a blank Fabric, for remaking the complete Fabric or creating new

- suggestions for other approaches, layering and expansion...

And how much am I daring to charge for the privilege of owning it? Brace yourself...

Rogue Space at the Expanse

2012-01-30T13:18:00.008Z

This is an index of content written or adapted for the Rogue Space system and posted here at the Expanse. I'll add new entries as more material goes up, and the footer will now link to this post.

Possible rules expansions

Ammo, jams, armour and overhauls - failure, shortages, wear and repair

Vehicle construction and use - based on starship construction and use

Item availability and pricing - rarity, starting equipment and resupply

Possible starting characters

Powered encased transhuman trooper - for fans of GW's space marines

Empyric Citiʒant - the roused everyman at the heart of the Uncivil Discourse

Vehicles adapted from the Empyre setting

Nova ATG - a versatile armoured transport gyrocopter for up to 15 humans

Flare ATG - a development of the Nova for deployment of the Storm chassis

Storm APC - an armoured personnel carrier built for deployment by the Flare

Dodeko ISV - an agile 24-wheeled amphibious buggy using inertial storage

Equipment adapted from the Empyre setting

Controverter Field - a robust staple of vehicular and fixed point protection

Light Pulveriser - an automatic weapon firing the horrific implosive round

Background for the Empyre setting is available here, with all of the Empyre posts here.

Rogue Space downloads - Rogue Space news

Rogue Space at Hereticwerks - Rogue Space at Swords & Stitchery - Rogue Space at the Expanse

Creatures - gathering

2012-01-28T19:20:00.000Z

As you head towards the bridge, the creatures begin to move, not obviously in response to your presence. From across the meadow they are gathering off at one edge, braying in the long grass beneath the canopy where the stream pools and staring at the water.

Disperse the creatures to investigate Blog One Blog Two

Approach the gathering with care Blog One Blog Two

Continue to the bridge Blog One Blog Two Blog Three

Return to the oak Blog One Blog Two

Some things - old, new, borrowed and Bujilli

2012-01-28T00:56:00.018Z

Just a mix of quick thoughts on various subjects, some updates and a loose end or two.

First, something I'm wondering. If Wizards of the Coast is now reprinting old AD&D material, and maybe to win back older players, would Games Workshop dare reprint Rogue Trader in the 25th anniversary year? What could it do to 40K 2012?

Next, EvilDM from The DM's Screen has more thoughts on the Derelict space combat project in the comments there. Could we get an open community ruleset developed? If so, any and all ideas are very welcome, whether somewhere here or in a full blog post.

BoLS is hosting a relatively serious discussion of 3D printing and miniatures, and I've managed to summarise my questions on who could own that IP in just a few lines:

I'd say the real point of conflict is not going to be the obvious stuff like this, but how GW responds to things like our actual sanctioned use of their IP in the development of an army over many years.

If we create derivative works by converting and painting an army, writing a background for it and expanding the history through playing games and even whole campaigns, aren't they supposed to stop us? Does the fact they don't stop us mean they aren't fully defending their IP?

If so, and we later sell sculpts, say, for our particular army, and they take us to court because of it, might they have more difficulty making the claim stick, or even lose? Could we effectively own a large part of the hobby?

Old Guy thinks not, but carries on the discussion in fine style here at Old Guy Gaming.

And if you fancy lending the regulars a big hairy hand in a weird dungeon crawl meets 'choose your own adventure'-style play-by-blog, here's the next Bujilli trailer. You can just jump to the comments and check anything you need to on the map or in the text.

Snails dead? Snakes alive? And many planes? Choices...

When dice roll players

2012-01-27T13:04:00.003Z

Here's my Flash Fearsday for this week, following on from the last post on an unusual way to use dice. As ever, it's a 140-character horror story, and anyone can write one.

"Damned dice!"

He rolls. Agitated, they hit the floor, come up a double 1. Dead.

He kicks them, slips, doesn't get up. He never plays again.

Deeper dice (1)

2012-01-26T17:06:00.004Z

The first in what will probably be a very occasional series on result generation - random or not - to get some of the weirder raw ideas out there for delving into in the spirit of the D1 post.

For the first then, what if dice were a kind of particle of fate?

What if when you roll more than one die and two or more of them end up touching, they annihilate each other, meaning the results aren't counted? Or the smaller result is subtracted from the larger? Or they fuse, so you total the two numbers?

Or maybe some pass beyond knowledge, so if one die ends up at least twice as far from the nearest as that one is from any other, it's ignored? Or maybe it can't be used until another one gets closer? If it rolls off the table the effect in-game could take place on another plane, or the result could show how many dice vanish with it, bleeding potential from the tabletop.

It could also work for interactions between the dice being used by different players, and there's real potential here. If dice stop in contact or strike each other and rebound, there could be a connection in-game. Stopping in contact could mean a result for one player affecting another immediately, but a rebound might see the effect offset in time or space, with the distance between the dice on a line drawn to the roller being direction in time. Positions relative to objects like mugs, notes or terrain pieces could be interpreted in terms of events or locations.

The connections could be allowed alter the nature of the game world, changing established facts and keeping reality in flux.

Could colour make a difference, or the energy put into the roll, or a given number being rolled in a matching hour or minute?

What happens if a die manages to get past the GM's screen?
_

Where no, I don't know has gone before

2012-01-26T00:25:00.006Z

As time went by it looked for me like Star Trek: The Next Generation was more a story of Worf and Data than any of the other characters. Geordi and Wesley started strong, but faded - and Geordi especially seems a massive missed opportunity in retrospect. Picard was a relative constant, and had to be as the nominal central figure, but Worf grew a lot and moved the whole revival on, and Data was a focal point for meditation.

If so, these two videos might have something big to say, for collecting up representative moments and driving the points home. They're both clearly distortions, given Worf was right to be worried in many cases, and Data had to be dumbed down to fit, but still.

Looking at it now, Picard seems to me a more military figure than Worf, and maybe even more militaristic, which is a theme I hardly picked up on back then. These scenes give a sense of how subtle a character Worf could be, and how much the character was about energies in dynamic check, as opposed to Data, who was about knowing every drop .

Spock got a line saying Picard was a bit Vulcan, and he is a kind of equilibrium for the series, a reference point for the initial trajectory and a centre of harmony. When he got knocked, it was arguably Worf's overall impact on the series through his character arc and potential that did it, and Data that looked all the more like a hope for the future.

And if that's true, there's a contrast with 2001 and maybe where we are now. For some reason I'm tieing it all in with a look at gaming the dark ages at Lard Island News, and also The Subversive Archeologist, another blog I recommend for a good deep think.

Update: There's a magical write-up for the dark age gaming at Roundwood's World.

Drone on, over

2012-01-25T13:05:00.000Z

A classic wargaming idea with a new spin inspired by the 15-word Expansion Joints.

Every turn the commander has to shout or transmit orders to units: the player writes a 15-word message to each. A die is rolled for level of noise; one opponent can cross out this many words from each message and have the controlling player carry it out literally.

The fun might be less in the missing words than our everyday lapses in fluency and their repercussions. Tied to that, here's my Expansion Joints entry for the latest word, pick.

The orbital AI was cut-price, but accurate:

"Pick us off! Bring down the dropship! Ov-"

Derelict: a naval and space combat idea

2012-01-24T13:09:00.009Z

For a good while now I've been looking for a fresh approach to the basics of naval and space combat. The sea and space monster posts recently got me thinking about it more, and the impressive Laura Dekker making it round the world is the breeze it needs.

If you missed the monster posts, they were the spaceship-sized monsters, Green Star Whales and Lithusian Megashark at Hereticwerks, the later batch of epic-sized monsters at Swords & Stitchery, the look at leviathans at From the Sorcerer's Skull and this post on possible kraken miniatures at 1/72 Multiverse.

I'm calling the approach Derelict for the moment and you should see why as you go. I want it to be simple but finely graded, and scalable and open-ended in how it can be used. Here are the basics I have in mind, the essence and the general thinking.

Representation or recording

Each vessel would be represented or recorded as a cluster of one or more dice placed in contact in an arrangement reflecting the structure of the vessel.

Each die would correspond to one section of hull, with the number face up being current integrity; the die would be turned to a new number as damage was suffered or repaired.

Dice could be stacked to represent extra decks or elements of superstructure and larger clusters could just be placed on a simple tray to make moving them together easier.

Specific functions

Each die could have one or more functions attached. For example, it could be a battery with a number of volleys equal to the current integrity, split between any open faces.

Non-graduated functions could be wrecked or go offline at half-damage. One point of integrity could be repaired by rolling equal to or under the location's current integrity, representing increasing inability to respond as crew are killed and systems ruined.

If a location was reduced to zero, it would be removed and the vessel would split.

Opposed resolution

If integrity represented both the resistance and strength of a location, opposed resolution in interactions between vessels could simply involve rolling a number of dice and aiming to reach or to beat a target number with each, with the number of dice rolled determined by the acting location's integrity, the target number by the integrity of the target location.

In the case of standard attacks, equalling the number could reduce location integrity by one point; beating it could do one point and wreck or knock offline its system. If the roll was double the number, the actor could roll once against each adjacent location.

Movement

If integrity was also assumed to represent mass, it would be possible to see at a glance generally how a variable would move a vessel, and movement could be a composite.

One point of propulsion, or one point of wind on a mast, or one point of current, or one point of impact damage - we'll call it one point of force - could move one point of integrity one unit of distance. Drift would be either constant in space or falling on a surface.

If the force is lateral and not centred, the vessel could rotate first, through 45° per unit of distance normally moved. The location that would function as the centre of rotation could be found by looking at the integrity across the whole vessel and finding the mid-point.

For movement over a surface, overall speed and direction taking into account all forces could shown by a die placed just away from the vessel, the number face up representing speed and a line drawn from the vessel's centre through the die marking direction.

For movement in space, the number on that die could be height, and the die itself could be placed in the position the vessel will occupy next turn. A die midway along the line could show next turn's orientation in three dimensions, the single pip the marker. Two more dice placed beside the vessel could be current height and orientation. Rotation in space could then be altered to 90° for practicality and simplicity with the extra variables.

All of this could be summarised on the movement tray using specific spaces for dice.

Dynamism

There are too many factors not yet quantified to say how it would play, but maneouvring and wearing down and breaking up vessels would likely be a key feature. That could lend a sense of doom to the later stages of a game, a desperate struggling against the odds, and if so, it would make sense to highlight the potential for quick thinking, big pushes and last gasps by having some of the functions given to locations part transferable.

More as I think of it or revise it. Any thoughts?

An online game designers' workshop

2012-01-23T20:11:00.007Z

The blogs are that workshop. If the last post got you feeling creative, here are some recent posts that might help crystallise things. Keep an eye on the blogrolls - good stuff shows up all over.

Loquacious has the next part of her series on game design up at HoP, the second on rules. There's top thinking from a talented line-up. And me again._

One of the interviewees, Brian at A Gentleman's Ones, has 1, 2, 3 posts so far on his love for the blogosphere, showing the potential a community with online platforms has for self-publication, mutual inspiration and support.

Hereticwerks are using their platform to run a play-by-blog adventure, readers guiding Bujilli through a strange world; Episode 9 has couple of days to go.

Juliette Wade at TalkToYoUniverse focuses on language, culture and wider worldbuilding and has a report from the last hangout, on alternate societies.

Writing in Wonderland has a list of free books for writers and self-publishers.

For energy look at Fenway5, who's released four rules documents this past week alone, namely Heroes & Other Worlds Skirmish, Zombies Attack Skirmish, Rogue Space Skirmish and the modern skirmish OPFORS...

... and for ongoing consistency look at A Field Guide To Doomsday and how ArmChairGeneral is steadily building up the options for his games.

Harald at The Book of Worlds is looking for an old school RPG ruleset, and there are some suggestions in the post itself and from the commenters.

For effective introduction to something new, Tim has a first-game write-up at Gothridge Manor that may just demonstrate the power of a good example.

At The Realm of Zhu there's an approach to getting a new game out there.

There's suggestion a boom in RPGs is on the way at Campaign Mastery.

OnFiction looks at electronic interactive fiction, specifically the play Façade.

Trey has an idea at From the Sorcerer's Skull for a possible game genre.

If that's just not radical enough, how about a Dadaist RPG? ADD Grognard mentions Normality, but it's challenging and likely not everyone's cup of tea.

Again, just go explore - at blogs like The Dungeon Dozen, the author of which agrees taking inspiration isn't stealing, the wild Swords & Stitchery, and further afield; here's a look at prions for example, for today's Medical Monday at The Word is My Oyster.

Give a little back to the blogs if you can as well, even if it's only by answering questions, offering opinions and leaving ideas. It can make a day and might even keep a blog going.