New addtions to my gaming library

I went to the local game shop (I hadn't been in since last year) to look at the used gamebooks, and got some useful books. My haul consisted of an orange spine 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide and a Ready Ref Sheets vol. 1.

The DMG's a little beat up (and bears the name of two previous owners on the inside front cover), but when I flipped through the Ready Ref Sheets, I found a map of Arkham tucked inside that was in really good shape!

It'll take me awhile to go through these books, but it should be interesting.

Rethinking the party

I've been thinking alot about adventuring parties, and how most of the basics have been used since the origins of rpgs in the 70s, with a few set classes, and races such as dwarf, elf, halfling and gnome in addition to humans that make up said parties.

Now, I realise that this is set in stone for many people, and that they tend to rail against any changes to these basics, yet I think it would be fun to mix things up a bit and use some new racial archetypes to have in a party.

My first idea was to have a sort of armored bear, like the panzerbjorn in The Golden Compass, who would fill in the fighter's position, as contrast to the Dwarf. The bears would be black bear-sized, so as to be able to fit into the tunnels and passages that make up dungeon exploration. Since these bears aren't intended to be mounts, I envision them as having forepaws with opposable thumbs that would allow them to not only put on their own armor, but to wield ranged and melee weapons as well.

The idea would be to have a strong, hardy warrior that was versatile enough to switch between natural weapons and 1-2 handed weapons.

Here's a rough draft of an NPC/Monster version that might be met in the wilderness;

Armored Bear

AC: 5 (2 when wearing armor)

Hit Dice: 6

Move: 120' (40')

Attacks: 2 claws or with weapon

Damage: d6/d6 or weapon damage

Number Appearing: d4

Save As: Fighting Man level 3

Morale: 7

These bears, which can be up to 11 feet tall, tend to wear armor made in an unknown process that gives the protection of plate, but weight and mobility or leather. They are highly intelligent and have been known to trade or hire on with groups once reasonable (to them) negotiations have been met. Unless attacked first, their first response is to parlay, and deal with strangers verbally.

The fur color differs upon the terrain where they tend to live, ranging from black to brown to white. However, it is not unusual for Armored Bears to live in areas that starkly contrast their coloration.

Hot Halfling Chicks

I figured, why not?

Unusual Patrons part 1

A lot of adventures start with the party being given a treasure map, or being asked to recover a stolen item or a maguffin of some sort.

"Of course, my clients require the finest ingredients. I trust you will have no problem acquiring them." --Head chef of the 'Exquisite Delights' restaurant.

Decadent tastes call for dangerous ingredients. That's how many parties come to hired to collect such items as gelatin from Gelatinous Cubes and clutches of Griffin Eggs.
Simply put, the best food comes from the most dangerous of places.

This, of course, leads to some interesting logistical problems, like how to collect the gelatin without being burned by its acid, or how to bring back that Carrion Crawler before it starts to rot. But that's part of the fun of a food collection scenario.

Even more exciting is the prospect of having them escort a cook to the creature's lair so that it can be prepared on the journey back. Those groups of bandits, goblins, orcs and kobolds can become major complications that can lead to some interesting plans on the parts of the players.

Where does one find such dens of Iron Cookery? typically in larger cities and royal courts that have sizable amounts of nobles and other eccentric and wealthy types.
Sometimes 'underground' eateries open from time to time, moving from location to location in order to keep the clientele extremely exclusive.

Perhaps there are competitions where great chefs face off to show off their skill in the preparation of the rare shrieking ginger root.

In all of the cases someone has to collect the ingredients, who will it be this time?

I'm not dead yet.

It's come to my attention that I haven't done anything with this blog.
Which is true.

I guess that means I should get back into this once more.

Apparently, I'm a d8

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

You are a d8: You are the true adventurer! Dragons rescued, princesses slayed, and all that business while O Fortuna plays in the background. Your social calender is crammed with heroic deeds, and you've personally saved the world from ultimate destruction at least twice. You are reliable, perhaps a bit predictable, but overall a shining example of what happens when courage meets determination.

Saga Of Crystar issue one

Crystar was a fantasy series created and published by Marvel comics way back in 1983. There was a tie-in line of toys from Remco that I found to be interesting due to the fact that figures (with the exception of the two that molded to be mounted on the dragons that they came with) had bendable knees, adding some extra poesability. Anyway, I had an issue back in the day, and decided to get the whole series off of ebay.

The first issue is unusual for its time. It's a extended length issue that originally sold for $2 in a time when most comics went for 60-75 cents for regular length issues, and $1-$1.25 for longer books. The painted cover is also out of the ordinary, but not too much so.

The series is set in the world of Crystallium, where a lengthy war between Order and Chaos has just ended, through the actions of the wizard Ogeode (names in this series, at least those of many of the major players have some sort of punny connection to rocks and gemstones) and his giant magic crystal that drove away the forces of Chaos.

Crystallium is currently ruled by the two princes Crystar and Moltar, with some advisement from their uncle Feldspar. They are visited one evening by a hooded stranger who tells them that Chaos' curse is about to befall them. The stranger is none other than the aforementioned Ogeode, who promptly tells them that he can't do anything about it right now because winning the war took most of his strength. However, if things do get too hairy, he'll try to pull something off.

Shortly afterward, the princes are visited by another wizard by the name of Zardeth who wants to know if they'll join him and his forces of Chaos in a coming 'struggle'. Having been forewarned by Ogeode, they turn him down saying they just finished with one war, and have no interest in another. Zardeth gives them an ultimatum, and then walks away.

However, one of the guards, a fellow by the name of Warbow, sneaks out after the wizard. Zardeth spots him easily, and this leads to the two of them inflicting eye injuries on each other.

The princes meanwhile are arguing as whether or not to side with Zardeth or not, as he had threatened their subjects. Feldspar tries to calm Moltar down, as he's pretty soused at this point.

Moltar has none of this and knocks out Feldspar and stabs Crystar with a table knife.

Declaring himself King, Moltar, tries to sell the people on this while Crystar's gold-digging fiance Lavour decides to side with him because she wants the power that comes with the throne.

Elsewhere three guards loyal to Crystar-- Stalax, Koth and Kalibar, with the aid of Lavour's servant Ambara have secreted the prince and his uncle away, given them some first aid and wonder what to do next.

Ogeode drops in from out of nowhere, bringing his giant magic crystal with him. He gestures Crystar to his feet, and the prince walks into the crystal.

Meanwhile, Moltar and his followers are driven away by a rain of crystal shards. They flee to where Zardeth said he would meet with the princes and the wizard throws them into a volcano, turning them into magma men.

The newly-minted lava men are given thematic weapons and dragons and are sent off to collect Ogeode's head.

Crystar uses this dramatic moment to walk out of the magic crystal, but as Moltar and his ilk became magma men, Crystar is now a crystal man. The guards three decide that they want to be big damn heroes and promptly walk into the magic crystal.

The Lava Men invade shortly thereafter, Crystar and this trio hold them off for awhile until Stalax falls. Things look bad for our heroes until a well-placed crossbow bolt disarms Moltar, saving Crystar. The tide turns, and the lave men flee.

Feldspar shows up sporting a new body that's half crystal and half magma, saying that it's way to show his neutrality in this war.

Ambara is thanked by Crystar, and she responds by falling into his arms. Nearby, Warbow looks on and since he'd been shown earlier to be sweet on her, is hurt by all this.

There's an ad for the toys, and the back cover is a preview of the next issue, promising the appearance of a new character named Ika.

It's a fairly solid start for the series, and it'll be interesting to see where it leads.