Fight On! tables compilation

I was wondering what is, or is not, happening with the Fight On! book of random madness that we all submitted our blood, sweat and tears to a few months ago. I looked at the ODnD forum and found the answer. Calithena says, "I am planning on getting to the limited release hardcovers and the second softcover (issues 5-8) as soon as issue 13 is out. Then the tables book."

So, I'll save my tables for the publication and get back to writing up those magic items I had started based on the short stories of Saki.

House Rules or what we can learn from The Hobbit.

"There's been a lot of talk about this next song..."

Yeah, there has been a lot of talk about frpg rules; what rules do we use, how do we use them, how do they apply, what rules do we add? I have, of course, mentioned that I'm from the rules lite school. I consider ODnD, Holmes Basic and Encounter Critical to be good examples of light rule systems. E.C.s status as a light rule system could certainly be debated. But , for one, there's no d20 in E.C. Conversely, there are all those percentile tables to create fun and confusion.

So, we worry about System X does it this way and System Y does it that way but I say pick a system and stick with it. If you have a problem with a rule or two use the time honored House Rules baby! There have been plenty of blogs written about House Rules too and many suggest that the House Rules should be printed and presented to the players as soon as the use of a new game system, or new campaign is started.

I have said it before and many, many other writers and bloggers point out that a game exists for fun, don't let the rules drag you down. Don't let the rules conflict with your idea for your game and prevent you, as a DM or gaming group, from having fun.

The best example I can provide for altering game rules to your setting would be a save vs. death by poisoning situation. Specifically, poisoning by spiders like in The Hobbit. Bilbo and the dwarfs get lost in the woods and are over whelmed by giant spiders. This would mean almost certain death to any low level characters if most frpg rules were applied as written. 'Cause giant spiders have poison which requires a saving throw thus causing the death of the low level p.c.

What happens in The Hobbit? The spider poison paralyzed the dwarfs who were wrapped in webs for later consumption allowing Bilbo to save them all.

Honestly, I guess the save vs. death aspect of low level encounters had been on my mind for the last two years and I have finally come to terms with my attitude toward this part of the game. I'll use the rules as they practically apply to my adventures and allow those low levels p.c.s to survive. I suggest, when applicable, we all use the rules as you like and fudge if and when needed.

Really, I just wanted to write a blog post that used the above photo.

Phasic issue 4

I finally finished issue 4 of phasic, the Encounter Critical fanzine. This issue is short and sweet, just big enough to enjoy during a lunch hour. I think I've mentioned, this issue you may be small but I hope it packs a might punch of fun.

I posted it over at Scribed so we'll see when it works through the backlog over there.

Low budget rpg rule books

I had a bit of spare time and finally got around to a long over due project, printing a new copy of the Encounter Critical rules and a copy of the Opponent Opuscule which is the monster manual of E.C.



My old copy of the E.C. rules was a print of the scanned rule book from the E.C. hoax days which can be downloaded here.



The third booklet uses a cover created by John who writes the blog Embrace the Dungeon! His blog seems to be m.i.a. at the moment and I'm sorry to see this. (Heck, my blog is m.i.a. half the time.) John had put a lot of the periphery material from Encounter Critical in his version of the Phasic Arcanium, I just used it as a cover for a notebook I made with paper from an old spiral bound notebook.


I was going to print out a copy of the Refuge in Audacity rules too but the pdf presents all the pages in landscape format which does not a booklet create. You all will be the first to know if I reformat the rule set. As work slows down for the year at my job I hope to dust off more of my rpg projects and present them to the blog-o-sphere.

A New Piece for the Encounter Critical Archives

This piece sort of speaks for itself, but for the uninitiated, Thrazar is the model hero of E.C. and Darth Viraxis is the model evil overlord.



Looks like I need to load this image on to the internet somewhere so everyone can see a lager image, let me work on that a sec. Google Docs didn't want to co-operate and the pdf made it sideways but I posted this image to Scribd, for the fun of it if no other reason.

I got mine,

did you get yours?



This is a great publication with great art, it just isn't long enough. But, this is only issue one and there is an eleven page bonus comic, a preview of a new Chris Roberson comic titled Memorial that looks very interesting.

I also picked the Deadpool, Fear Itself three part mini series. Deadpool has become my new favorite comic book character 'cause I have no idea who he is or why his suit looks like Spiderman. He seems to be Marvel's version of Booster Gold, except B.G. is a would-be superhero and D.P. is a super criminal.

Brak the Barbarian by John Jakes

I recently read the pistachio joy that is Brak the Barbarian. I didn’t know John Jakes had written these novels of adventure until I read The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories vol. 2 as edited by Lin Carter. I was familiar with Mr. Jakes for his novel North & South which appeared as television mini-series when I was an adolescent. I have probably mentioned, a time or two, I love the old Swords and Sorcery tales because they are just plain, fun reading. So, I found a copy of Brak the Barbarian through Paperback Swap to study this earlier work of Mr. Jakes.

This first volume of the adventures of Brak is dedicated to Mr. Jakes’ son;
"for my son Michael, who has yet to make the acquaintance of Conan,
The Mouser and Fafhrd, Cugel, or the rest of that splendid company
that Sprague de Camp has so aptly named The Brotherhood of the Sword."

During the entirety of this book Brak has one garment of clothing, a lion skin girded about his loins, and one weapon, a broad sword. While I find it hard to believe, I got the impression he wore the same lion skin through the entire tale. I know the broad sword had to be replaced after he threw the original sword into the eye a T’muk, a giant spider-like beast of the desert which bleeds acid.

Brak is no magician, diplomat or politician. He is just a simple barbarian who wants to journey to the southern extreme of known civilization, to Khurdisan the Golden. Brak’s knowledge of Khurdisan is limited to the rumors of the splendor and glory, beauty and treasures to be found there. As an outside observer of Brak’s world, I have to question why he’d believe the Khurdisan would be any better then the perilous lands which precede it. Perhaps I want to route for the underdog and I just can’t admit that Brak is witless as well as a barbarian.

One of the most memorable passages from the novel is, appropriately, Jakes’ description of one of many of the vile beasts which Brak is forced to face in combat;
"Arrowing towards him came a thing of great slimness but immense length. It had a flat, milky-blind eye in either side of its head. The head looked malformed because it widened out twenty times the thickness of the creature’s body and fanned, flicking tail. Gillslits as tall as Brak himself throbbed open and shut just above the water."
...
"Brak realized dimly that the monster must be some vile crossbreeding of life forms older than time. It was able to lift its long fish’s body half out of the pool by means of a series of froglike webbed appendages down either side of its shimmering scaled body. Brak counted eight, ten, twelve of those webbed half-legs on one side. They churned in a rhythm like galley oars as the Fangfish bore down."

In each chapter Brak faces a unique monster, each a new and deadly opponent from the imagination of Mr. Jakes. These creatures would be right at home in a fantasy role playing adventure If you’re looking for some new plot hooks, Brak the Barbarian could be research material for you.