On the last day of 2009 a warm welcome to The Rusty Battle Axe!!
I hope you find a small amount of interest in my humble blog....which I've made a resolution to update a tad more frequently than I have been...B-)
Thursday 31 December 2009
House Rules
Further to my intro post and before I start posting the game logs of Daddy Grognards Training Dungeon I thought I really ought to post on the House Rules I'm using - some long standing - some not so.....
The rules set I'm using is Castles and Crusades with bits bolted on from the Rules Cyclopedia with AD&D 1e spell lists which I like and which C&C is a bit sparse on in some areas....
1) The Sacred d30 may be rolled once per session for a to hit,save or damage roll (this is devastating on a critical hit!)
2) A roll of natural 20 is always a critical hit - this gets double damage dice by weapon. Maximum damage is always unpleasant for the person/creature on the receiving end.
3) Clerics can use weapons associated with their deity and to a lesser extent cultural pantheon....my take on the blunt weapons for clerics rule is as written it was intended to represent Crusader clerics which has never sat well with me at any rate...
4) Shields can be shattered as per Carters house rule blog - this is a new one for me and reminds me of a scene in 13th Warrior......
5) PCs and NPCs can go to -10 hit points before final messy expiration in a gouting mangled heap........if they can manage a Con. save they are conscious and can carry out actions at a penalty to the dice roll of however many minus hp they are on. This gets worse while active until they die or stay still to be stabilised.
6) Character start play with weapon proficiencies/skill slots as per the Rules Cyclopedia (4/4 for fighters and 2/4 for non fighter classes) These can be swapped around.
7) Female character at the players OPTION make a 1:1 attribute swap between Str and Dex and 1:1 swap between Con and Chr (one point only!)
8) Training on level gains is silliness - adventurers have enough cr*p to put up with when a character gains a level he gains a level...end of.
The rules set I'm using is Castles and Crusades with bits bolted on from the Rules Cyclopedia with AD&D 1e spell lists which I like and which C&C is a bit sparse on in some areas....
1) The Sacred d30 may be rolled once per session for a to hit,save or damage roll (this is devastating on a critical hit!)
2) A roll of natural 20 is always a critical hit - this gets double damage dice by weapon. Maximum damage is always unpleasant for the person/creature on the receiving end.
3) Clerics can use weapons associated with their deity and to a lesser extent cultural pantheon....my take on the blunt weapons for clerics rule is as written it was intended to represent Crusader clerics which has never sat well with me at any rate...
4) Shields can be shattered as per Carters house rule blog - this is a new one for me and reminds me of a scene in 13th Warrior......
5) PCs and NPCs can go to -10 hit points before final messy expiration in a gouting mangled heap........if they can manage a Con. save they are conscious and can carry out actions at a penalty to the dice roll of however many minus hp they are on. This gets worse while active until they die or stay still to be stabilised.
6) Character start play with weapon proficiencies/skill slots as per the Rules Cyclopedia (4/4 for fighters and 2/4 for non fighter classes) These can be swapped around.
7) Female character at the players OPTION make a 1:1 attribute swap between Str and Dex and 1:1 swap between Con and Chr (one point only!)
8) Training on level gains is silliness - adventurers have enough cr*p to put up with when a character gains a level he gains a level...end of.
Welcome Ragnorakk
Welcome to Ragnorakk (whats not to like in a name like that!) - who presumably stumbled into my poor excuse for a blog from my good pal Daddy Grognard's.
First New Years resolution is to post more - wishing all of you good people on the Blogscape a Happy New Year!
First New Years resolution is to post more - wishing all of you good people on the Blogscape a Happy New Year!
Wednesday 23 December 2009
Team Thud and Blunder - Intro
As my pal Daddy Grognard posted here I managed to persuade the resident 9 1/2 year old boy that a whole world of gaming existed outside a 2in screen one pokes with a plastic stick.........(Nintendo BS)
So one wet and rainy teacher shopping day .....oops....inset day just before Christmas we rolled some characters.....using Castles and Crusades....
The party -
Lukas 1st lvl Fighter - above mentioned medium sized persons character
Ashnut - Forest Gnome Thief 1st lvl
Fergus - Half Elf Fighter/Cleric (of the Green Man)
Rowenta Human female 1st Cleric of St Cuthbert of the Cudgel (Priestess of the Source in a nod towards David Gemmell)
Elyra - 1st lvl MU - think Hermione!
Mach(arius) the Millers son - 1st lvl fighter - meatshield...um doughty fighter
The other five NPCs I intend to keep him busy with running when he fully gets the hang of it.
I then had to come up with a point of reference a nearly 10 year old might identify with.....apparently they dont do the Brave and Bold books as part of the National Curriculum nowadays which by both our admission is how me and my mate with whom I've played D&D for years got into the whole idea at the age of nine - ish
I therefore had to settle on something similar to Merlin, the unfortunate "Kung Fu" BBC Robin Hood and Raven the childrens game show.......pretty much Dark Ages Britain....toss in a few ideas from Bernard Cornwell, traditional Fantasy RPGs and the "proper" Robin Hood with Ray Winstone as Will Scarlett and there we go....
Thus was the land of Albion born - with some input and ideas from my pal Daddy Grognard since we bounce gaming ideas off each other
This has also given me a chance to limit the armour and weapon technology.....so no +3 Plate of Waterwalking and Teleportation or anything of that ilk
Only the Dwarves manufacture crossbows which are horrendously expensive...
Longswords are solely the province of the elves......
Half Plate armour is the cutting edge in technology (AC4)
But first the first session in the Training Dungeon - more to follow....B-)
So one wet and rainy teacher shopping day .....oops....inset day just before Christmas we rolled some characters.....using Castles and Crusades....
The party -
Lukas 1st lvl Fighter - above mentioned medium sized persons character
Ashnut - Forest Gnome Thief 1st lvl
Fergus - Half Elf Fighter/Cleric (of the Green Man)
Rowenta Human female 1st Cleric of St Cuthbert of the Cudgel (Priestess of the Source in a nod towards David Gemmell)
Elyra - 1st lvl MU - think Hermione!
Mach(arius) the Millers son - 1st lvl fighter - meatshield...um doughty fighter
The other five NPCs I intend to keep him busy with running when he fully gets the hang of it.
I then had to come up with a point of reference a nearly 10 year old might identify with.....apparently they dont do the Brave and Bold books as part of the National Curriculum nowadays which by both our admission is how me and my mate with whom I've played D&D for years got into the whole idea at the age of nine - ish
I therefore had to settle on something similar to Merlin, the unfortunate "Kung Fu" BBC Robin Hood and Raven the childrens game show.......pretty much Dark Ages Britain....toss in a few ideas from Bernard Cornwell, traditional Fantasy RPGs and the "proper" Robin Hood with Ray Winstone as Will Scarlett and there we go....
Thus was the land of Albion born - with some input and ideas from my pal Daddy Grognard since we bounce gaming ideas off each other
This has also given me a chance to limit the armour and weapon technology.....so no +3 Plate of Waterwalking and Teleportation or anything of that ilk
Only the Dwarves manufacture crossbows which are horrendously expensive...
Longswords are solely the province of the elves......
Half Plate armour is the cutting edge in technology (AC4)
But first the first session in the Training Dungeon - more to follow....B-)
Friday 11 December 2009
Training Dungeon lift off
As my pal Daddy Grognard says here I'm planning on doing his Training Dungeon with the resident Pokemon and DS obsessed medium sized boy....in the probably misguided hope of converting him to proper RPGs.
I have a horrible feeling it might be like trying to shovel water uphill with a sieve, but we shall see.
Positive points so far -
1) He rolled a character and wanted to start now, right this instant, preferably thirty seconds ago....
2) He talked about it all the way back from school the other afternoon - trust me this is a good sign!
3) He thought the assorted dice were "cool" and grasped the idea different shaped ones were rolled in different situations and weapons did different damage...
Negatives: -
1) He couldnt think of a name for his character unless it was Pokemon related - I really didnt realise how insidious Pokemon is!
2) Armour choices was shoulder and knee pads - like they wear on Pokemon.........................
To remedy this and to be fair he hasnt heard of or read The Hobbit - after DG's excellent training dungeon which I'm proud to have been party to since he first had the idea - I'm hoping to do a Castles and Crusades campaign (with bits bolted on from the Tome of Ancient Lore aka The Rules Cyclopedia) based around Dark Age Britain -inspired by Merlin, the unfortunate BBC Kung Fu version of Robin Hood and the childrens Gameshow - Raven- all of the cited examples being things this particular small person can identify with.
Obviously I've drawn my inspiration from other non televisual sources, but at least we have a starting point.
Daddy Grognard has offered useful advice and input on running a game and the first outing of Team Plunder is booked for Sunday afternoon .......this is definitely the youngest player I've DM'd for .....more to follow
I think The Hobbit might be finding its way into someones Christmas stocking this year.....B-)
I have a horrible feeling it might be like trying to shovel water uphill with a sieve, but we shall see.
Positive points so far -
1) He rolled a character and wanted to start now, right this instant, preferably thirty seconds ago....
2) He talked about it all the way back from school the other afternoon - trust me this is a good sign!
3) He thought the assorted dice were "cool" and grasped the idea different shaped ones were rolled in different situations and weapons did different damage...
Negatives: -
1) He couldnt think of a name for his character unless it was Pokemon related - I really didnt realise how insidious Pokemon is!
2) Armour choices was shoulder and knee pads - like they wear on Pokemon.........................
To remedy this and to be fair he hasnt heard of or read The Hobbit - after DG's excellent training dungeon which I'm proud to have been party to since he first had the idea - I'm hoping to do a Castles and Crusades campaign (with bits bolted on from the Tome of Ancient Lore aka The Rules Cyclopedia) based around Dark Age Britain -inspired by Merlin, the unfortunate BBC Kung Fu version of Robin Hood and the childrens Gameshow - Raven- all of the cited examples being things this particular small person can identify with.
Obviously I've drawn my inspiration from other non televisual sources, but at least we have a starting point.
Daddy Grognard has offered useful advice and input on running a game and the first outing of Team Plunder is booked for Sunday afternoon .......this is definitely the youngest player I've DM'd for .....more to follow
I think The Hobbit might be finding its way into someones Christmas stocking this year.....B-)
Thursday 10 December 2009
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