In my MOG campaign we use a parrying rule as opposed to a fixed AC bonus.
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Parrying
High DEX does not constantly improve AC, a combatant may choose to parry/dodge to gain a benefit of high dexterity but in doing so they loose access to their normal attacks in a round.
Missile weapons may be parried at any range if bearing a shield.
You may only dodge range attacks made from long range or dodge any attack if you have partial cover.
DEX
3...... parry +1 to AC
4-6.... parry +2 to AC
7-14...parry +3 to AC
15-17...parry +4 to AC
18-20...parry +5 to AC
21+.... parry +6 to AC
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I opted against including a modifier to parrying based on initiative or weapon speed factors in interest of simplicity. I'm providing an advantage based on player tactics not a one time lucky roll of the dice alone. Each round a player must wonder... is it worth parrying now and losing my next set of normal attacks?
Not a brand new rule, it has it's roots in the first RPG I ever owned, it just needed a little tweaking.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Initiative and Weapon-Speeds
In my MOG campaign I'm using initiative and weapons speeds to differentiate weapons. Bigger heavier hitting weapons have less beneficial Weapon Speed Factors.
The house rules for initiative as it relates to the Weapon Speed Factor
Each round a d12 is rolled bu one of the players and modified by the character sheet at the top of their roster at the moment (fighting alongside clumsy folks is dangerous).
If the initiative score is under the WSF of the weapon in hand for the round wielded by a PC they are -4 to attack with that weapon. If drawing a weapon during a round the entire WSF is applied as a penalty (if worse then -4).
It's fairly simple and so far it has worked pretty well.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
ARRGGH !!! No Game Tonight
Tonight a veteran player was supposed to come on by and join the MOG campaign but his daughter got in a car accident and he has to go fetch the damaged car (his daughter is doing fine considering).
Two other regulars had to cancel earlier today and a third thought there would be no game becasue they had to cancel, another couldn't make it because he has no gas money and two of the other players who couldn't make it are usually his alternate ride... and so goes the best laid plans of sorcerers, swordsmen, and a guy who sits in a cubicle.
Two other regulars had to cancel earlier today and a third thought there would be no game becasue they had to cancel, another couldn't make it because he has no gas money and two of the other players who couldn't make it are usually his alternate ride... and so goes the best laid plans of sorcerers, swordsmen, and a guy who sits in a cubicle.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Further Adventures On Mog
Playing on Mog is going well. We had a PC death recently and yjr players have moved beyond the initial dungeon they have been raiding.
The party had spent several sessions hunting tangling with twisted vampire and it's medusa courtesan, The players have learned potion of medusa blood and snake hair venom will act to reverse being stoned by a medusa, a life saver for three members of the party. The vampire was a difficult target served by a small cadre of undead and a tribe of boglings but ti was tracked time and again until the party defeated it in combat; alas as the vampire spirit fled it's remains it possessed Beck the Cyclops warrior who was quickly dispatched by his companions before vamping out entirely.
Having successfully pillaged the vampire's dungeon the pygmies in the party successfully petitioned the party to head into the thorn forest on a quest for materials to mix fresh and more effective poisons. A couple day trip found the party in a wood cutters village allowing them to discover a route to a yellow pygmy village.
The party befriended the yellow pygmies who have proven to be friendly and agreeable hosts. One of the party PCs has found himself with company of yellow pygmy women (he doesn't realize one of them will be his future bride at this point). The party is engaging the pygmies to aid them in tracking down giant forest sloths to make sloth hide armor and gear to allow safe exploration of the thorn forest.
One morning heading out on the hunt a great streak in the sky was seen on the sky and a massive explosion was heard in the distance. The party rushed to the impact site hoping to find fragments of meteor metals, they were surprised by what they found buried in an impact crater: a 100' diameter silver shield.
The shield revealed itself to be a massive unusual vessel. The party discovered two grey deformed pygmies in tight silver garments and bulbous heads dead in a chamber surrounded by benches festooned with unusual colored crystals. Fiddling with the crystals caused a hand symbol to appear on a wall; Slendara smashed one in the head to make sure it was dead for sure to use it's hand to open the door. For some odd reason the grey pygmies were stripped of their garments by the party to discover what sex they were (really...go figure), one was redressed to be dragged around to serve as a key to open the hand-print locks.
Odd metal bands were discovered and one of the PC' pygmies put one on his head, knocking him out. He was picked up and carried along until he was woken by the telepathic screams of a pair of living greys. The party tried to make peace with the greys who summoned an silver armored warrior that fought with paralyzing rays. Two party members and a henchman failed to escape the saucer and were subjected to a vast array of graphic and embarrassing test before being ejected with all their equipment except for the armor and clothing they were wearing while captured.
Giant sloth hunting has proven to be difficult. The hides of the giant tree sloth are very tough but if one surprised it they may strike it in a tender hard to reach location in hopes of inflicting a wound in it's most tender of spots. So far one of the beasts has been slain by the party, one got away.
The party had spent several sessions hunting tangling with twisted vampire and it's medusa courtesan, The players have learned potion of medusa blood and snake hair venom will act to reverse being stoned by a medusa, a life saver for three members of the party. The vampire was a difficult target served by a small cadre of undead and a tribe of boglings but ti was tracked time and again until the party defeated it in combat; alas as the vampire spirit fled it's remains it possessed Beck the Cyclops warrior who was quickly dispatched by his companions before vamping out entirely.
Having successfully pillaged the vampire's dungeon the pygmies in the party successfully petitioned the party to head into the thorn forest on a quest for materials to mix fresh and more effective poisons. A couple day trip found the party in a wood cutters village allowing them to discover a route to a yellow pygmy village.
The party befriended the yellow pygmies who have proven to be friendly and agreeable hosts. One of the party PCs has found himself with company of yellow pygmy women (he doesn't realize one of them will be his future bride at this point). The party is engaging the pygmies to aid them in tracking down giant forest sloths to make sloth hide armor and gear to allow safe exploration of the thorn forest.
One morning heading out on the hunt a great streak in the sky was seen on the sky and a massive explosion was heard in the distance. The party rushed to the impact site hoping to find fragments of meteor metals, they were surprised by what they found buried in an impact crater: a 100' diameter silver shield.
The shield revealed itself to be a massive unusual vessel. The party discovered two grey deformed pygmies in tight silver garments and bulbous heads dead in a chamber surrounded by benches festooned with unusual colored crystals. Fiddling with the crystals caused a hand symbol to appear on a wall; Slendara smashed one in the head to make sure it was dead for sure to use it's hand to open the door. For some odd reason the grey pygmies were stripped of their garments by the party to discover what sex they were (really...go figure), one was redressed to be dragged around to serve as a key to open the hand-print locks.
Odd metal bands were discovered and one of the PC' pygmies put one on his head, knocking him out. He was picked up and carried along until he was woken by the telepathic screams of a pair of living greys. The party tried to make peace with the greys who summoned an silver armored warrior that fought with paralyzing rays. Two party members and a henchman failed to escape the saucer and were subjected to a vast array of graphic and embarrassing test before being ejected with all their equipment except for the armor and clothing they were wearing while captured.
Giant sloth hunting has proven to be difficult. The hides of the giant tree sloth are very tough but if one surprised it they may strike it in a tender hard to reach location in hopes of inflicting a wound in it's most tender of spots. So far one of the beasts has been slain by the party, one got away.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Recovering from vacation
recovering from disney vacation. playing on mog tonight after missing two sessions. last session ended on a cliff hanger...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Of Swords & Wizardry
It's Swords & Wizardy Appreciation Day. On this day it's only fair to share one of the best evenings I ever had and Swords and Wizardry was part of it.
My family has always been into playing games, cut throat multi-board games of scrabble have been played into the wee hours, Diplomacy was played way back in the day, and Dungeons and Dragons was a regular part of our household for years. My father had been a regular member of my D&D group for decades.
One day back in December of 2009 my regular D&D game was cancelled becasue of a bout of scheduling-madness but my oldest son was really in the mood to play some fantasy RPG. I broke out my printout of Swords & Wizardry White-Box edition, and a level of the dismal depths and we rolled up characters using my variant races of Pygmy, Amazon and Cyclops.
The most unique part of the night was who the player were: my teen age son, my 14 year old son, my 12 year old daughter, my wife, and 5 month old son. The baby played a Pygmy cleric that could only speak the pygmy language and by convenient coincidence my wife played the only member of the party able to communicate with him. Of course my baby boy couldn't read, write or roll dice at the time but he got involved by the emotion and excitement of the group and was involved. He got into the fights and amusingly enough argued with my wife at one point over the course of action in the game. It was a magical evening for the whole family made possible by Swords & Wizardry.
Lot's of people play games as a means of escape, relaxation, intellectual challenge, but they are also a time to get together with people to build friendship and family. Thanks Swords & Wizardry.
My family has always been into playing games, cut throat multi-board games of scrabble have been played into the wee hours, Diplomacy was played way back in the day, and Dungeons and Dragons was a regular part of our household for years. My father had been a regular member of my D&D group for decades.
One day back in December of 2009 my regular D&D game was cancelled becasue of a bout of scheduling-madness but my oldest son was really in the mood to play some fantasy RPG. I broke out my printout of Swords & Wizardry White-Box edition, and a level of the dismal depths and we rolled up characters using my variant races of Pygmy, Amazon and Cyclops.
The most unique part of the night was who the player were: my teen age son, my 14 year old son, my 12 year old daughter, my wife, and 5 month old son. The baby played a Pygmy cleric that could only speak the pygmy language and by convenient coincidence my wife played the only member of the party able to communicate with him. Of course my baby boy couldn't read, write or roll dice at the time but he got involved by the emotion and excitement of the group and was involved. He got into the fights and amusingly enough argued with my wife at one point over the course of action in the game. It was a magical evening for the whole family made possible by Swords & Wizardry.
Lot's of people play games as a means of escape, relaxation, intellectual challenge, but they are also a time to get together with people to build friendship and family. Thanks Swords & Wizardry.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
My personal gaming history has become a tiny part of other folks games.
Thanks to the SRD and my submitting monsters when folks wanted new monsters for various old school retro games a small piece of my personal gaming history has become a tiny part of other folks games.
The Gump and Leper Zombies were first written up for my D&D campaign played back in 82-83. This was an epic period of D&D youth for me. We played D&D once or twice a month on Sundays and the group included family members, co-workers of my father, and school-mates of mine. The Leper Zombie was a written up to be a considerable undead problem that was still defeat-able at low levels with limited resources. The Gump was inspired by a mutant monster from one of the Hiero's Journey books and served as meant to be a threat between ogre and troll in power. Leper Zombies only have to be hinted at and some of my old timers still shake and groan, and Gumps get a recognition of "oh yeah, these guys".
They live on here in the S&W SRD
Gump
Leper Zombie
they could be in thw Swords & Wizardy Monstrosities book as well, I'm not sure as I haven't seen that work but it's shown as the source on the S&W SRD page.
and here for the Basic Fantasy RPG
The Basic Fantasy Field Guide to Creatures Malevolent and Benign
If anyone has ever earned a few experience points fighting one or lost a loyal henchman of player character to one I'd love to hear about it.
The Gump and Leper Zombies were first written up for my D&D campaign played back in 82-83. This was an epic period of D&D youth for me. We played D&D once or twice a month on Sundays and the group included family members, co-workers of my father, and school-mates of mine. The Leper Zombie was a written up to be a considerable undead problem that was still defeat-able at low levels with limited resources. The Gump was inspired by a mutant monster from one of the Hiero's Journey books and served as meant to be a threat between ogre and troll in power. Leper Zombies only have to be hinted at and some of my old timers still shake and groan, and Gumps get a recognition of "oh yeah, these guys".
They live on here in the S&W SRD
Gump
Leper Zombie
they could be in thw Swords & Wizardy Monstrosities book as well, I'm not sure as I haven't seen that work but it's shown as the source on the S&W SRD page.
and here for the Basic Fantasy RPG
The Basic Fantasy Field Guide to Creatures Malevolent and Benign
If anyone has ever earned a few experience points fighting one or lost a loyal henchman of player character to one I'd love to hear about it.
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