Roman "Swiss Army" Knife

Well this is the bee's knees in my opinion:

A Roman "Swiss Army" Knife.

Just too cool.

Give and take combat

Here's a notion to add some more drama and reduce dice rolling for the DM.

Resolve the players attack and the monsters attack with the same die roll.

PC rolls normal to hit chance. If the die roll (no the final score) is equal to or less then their own AC + monsters HD then the monster get's a hit in on the PC. A monster can cause no more hits then normally accounted for in it's abilities, most damaging blow should be rolled first.

A die roll of 20 and the monster doesn't get the hit in regardless of how tough it is.
A die roll of 1 a monster gets a hit in, regardless of the number of attacks the monster has.

Surprised foes don't get a counter attack.

Missile attacks don't auto hit on a 20 and don't get a counter attack on a 1.
Counter attacks against missile fire are only possible if the target has ability to reach or is armed with a missile weapon.

Attackers expose themselves to being hit with every attack they make under such a system. Attackers can also end up absorbing blows their friends may suffer otherwise.

So we have every blow being a chance of getting harmed, a built in critical and fumble result (auto counter, no counter attack) without lot's of extra mechanics and dice rolling.

This idea hasn't been tried by me just yet but it was just cool enough I had to pass it on.

Flatulent Desperadoes, Mutant Future game play

In the last minutes of tonight's Mutant Future game the party gained a new name: The Flatulent Desperadoes.

Starting back at the beginning of the session the party equipped up with the funds gained in earlier play. Most of the party got Jackalopes, Bobo got a War-Jack and a Spidery is now the "loyal" steed of Craniax; the whoel party chipped in funds to get a Bloat to serve as a pack carrier.

Against all odds the party had an uneventful journey from productive Fresh Pond to the den of inequity known as Spillside.

The party found shelter at an inn that to us modern folks would look like a storage bin rental facility. Most of the party set off looking for a gun dealer leaving Bay-Aluminum and Karhoo behind. To their misfortune they ran into a gang of Goliaths and a melee ensued when Enakai leapt up and punched one in the mouth; She and Gevvin lost their lives in the fight. Craniax and Bobo looted the remains of their fallen companions and three fallen Goliaths before acquiring a shotgun at a dealer.

Following this downturn of events Bobo went out to mug a hapless victim while everyone else mourned the loss of their fallen friends. Bobo managed to scare off a pack of pig-men via empathy attack and gave up on his miscreant ways (briefly).

Karhoo figured out a way to mask his negative empathy using his illusion generation power, or so he thought. Trying the stunt out in the bar attached to the inn proved to a failure. Karhoo managed to use his gas attack twice and Bay fire his Radiation and integrated laser pistol to finish off the patrons and staff of the bar in 4 rounds.After waiting for the gas to clear an quickly looting the dead before reclaiming their stabled steeds Craniax jokingly refereed to the gang as "The Flatulent Desperadoes" (unknowingly within ear shot of a hiding stable hand).

Bloat problems

Bloats can and may suffer from a variety of ailments and difficulties that make the steeds a unique experience for adventurers.

There is a 15% chance any new bloat will have a problem. there is a 1% chance per month of developing a problem if a bloat currently has none.

Bloat Problems (roll 1d20)

1. Allergy- the bloat suffers 1 hp of damage per turn when in proximity of allergen
2. Athletes foot- the bloat itches feet all the time, could be contagious
3. Ingrown toe-nail- speed in reduced by 1/5th until treated
4. Sniffles- the bloat seems to always have a head cold, 1 in 10 chance of screwing up an ambush
5. Fear Impulse- one type of creature makes the bloat run in horror, no save
6. Flatulence- the bloat has a 1 in 6 chance of letting rip each encounter
7. Tummy Ache- the bloat is irritable and noisy until cured (or it goes away in 2-7 days)
8. Gout- the Bloat has a 10% chance of being incapacitated for 1-3 days each week.
9. Leprosy 5 save each week or contract disease,
10. Lice - rider must save vs poison each day or suffer 1 hp damage
11. Brittle Bones- any hit has a 1 in 12 chance of crippling the Bloat
12. Contagious Psoriasis- 20% chance the rider catches it each week -1 CHA
13. Irritable Bowel Syndrome- 15% chance of being incapacitated for 1-6 hours after a meal
14. Uncontrollable Urination- 1 in 8 chance per encounter of urinating
15. Hums (Badly)- hums old show tunes now and again, 1 in 12 chance each hour, will not stop for 1-100 turns.
16. Gas Attack (determine intensity randomly)- 1 in 20 chance of letting rip each encounter
17. Blink 1 in 100 chance per encounter up to 500 ft away
18. Drools - unsightly, also makes the Bloat even easier to track
19. Berserk Rage 2 in 100 chance per encounter of going nuts and attacking everyone
20. Random Mutation Bloat Develops a random physical or mental mutation.

Bloat stats are here.

Men-At-Arms ranked flunkies

The Man-at-Arms has been part of old school fantasy gaming since the birth of the game. The man-at-arms is a common man with some training and willingness to enter combat but no real capacity for heroic action or lordship. Here are some proposed 0-level aids for adventurers to hire to fill a wider range of support roles.

Some of these fellows could prove very useful for a low level party and possibly into mid levels but they shouldn't alter the power of PCs too significantly and their low saves and hp certainly limit effectiveness at higher levels where more capable and dedicated henchmen should be employed.

Friar: brothers of an order trained to support their religion and spread the faith. They may use arms and armor allowed to clerics of their faith, they may use magical items allowed to clerics and may turn undead twice per day as if a 1st level cleric.
(4 to 6 hp) morale 9, wages- 25 gp

Initiate: members of a faith schooled in rituals and rites. It is their duty to aid the more powerful clerics. An initiate may pray for 1 st level spell a day that may be cast with the assistance of a cleric. They are not able to cast the spell themselves. They are not trained in the use of weapons and armor but may otherwise use all items allowed to clerics. (2 to 4 hp) morale 7, wages- 50 gp

Scribes: educated individuals able to identify and read scrolls 90% of the time. They may use scrolls written by MUs or Clerics. if they fail to properly use a scroll there is a 10% chance of mishap per spell level. (2 to 4 hp) morale 7,wages- 75 gp

Sapper : locate traps, disarm traps and open locks on a 1-2 on a d6. They can open any \normal sealed portal (unless sealed by magic) after 2 turns of (noisy) labor on a 1-4 in 6 chance. They wear armors lighter then mail. (4 to 6 hp)morale 9, wages- 25 gp

Shield Bearer: specialized men at arms, equipped with a large or tower shield they improve the AC of their master by 2 when adjacent (if they make no attacks). Up to 2 shield bearers may defend a single person. (5 to 8 hp) morale 10, wages- 50 gp

Urchin: may move, hide. locate traps and listen as a 1st level thief. often used as scouts in dungeon environments. no thieves in your rules set: they have a 2 in 6 chance of success per task. (3 to 5 hp)morale 6, wages- 2 gp

Yeoman: men at arms that are trained archers, they attack with bows as well as a 1st level fighter. They have no skill with arms other then the bow and may not use shields against trained foes. (3 to 6 hp) morale 8, wages- 10 gp

AC should be as per armor worn. Wages per month or week depending on campaign, includes upkeep costs.

Does this happen to other gamers?

Over the years I'll walk into my cubicle and there is a print out sitting on my chair. This is standard operating procedure for "I think this is yours but I have no idea where to put ". Now this print out is usually NOT something work related. It's usually something RPG related or much stranger AND it's almost never actually mine.

Somewhere in a company of a couple hundred there is someone who likes War Hammer,Magic the Gathering and Anime girls in underwear. And it's not me.

I've considered staking out the printers, except of course, Magic the Gathering sort of creeps me out.

I also wonder why the heck other employees have figured out that stuff like that could be mine?

A Princess of Mars

A trailer for "Princess of Mars" from Asylum films:



http://www.theasylum.cc/

Gotta admire the chutzpa to get Avatar in there. "Guaranteed to suck less then some Traci Lords films" would look great in the promo as well.