KenzerCo Cyber Monday Sale

I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know about the Kenzer & Company Cyber Monday Sale. Until midnight tonight almost everything for sale on the KenzerCo website is going to be listed as half off. So if you've been looking at the gorgeous Hacklopedia of Beasts, currently rated as the third best RPG book of all time over at RPG Geek, until the end of the day you can pick it up for only $30. Interested in trying out Hackmaster Basic? Pick up the book for only $10. And if you've always wanted to try the best Western RPG ever made, you can get the Aces & Eights PDF for only $12.50.

Hacklopedia Flip-Through Video

While my review of KenzerCo's Hacklopedia of Beasts is still forthcoming (two different bouts of sickness and a hurricane have delayed it), I do have something new for those interested. Jolly filmed a flip-though video of the book so you can all get a peek inside!

Attending Starfleet Academy: A Guide to Loving Background Tables

Most people agree that making characters is generally a fun experience.  However, not all systems provide the same type or quality of experience during the character making progress.  Some games like Pathfinder or Savage Worlds take a less is more approach, allowing you to make a character is a very small amount of time and leaving the details (if any) of the character's history to the player.  Other games, like Hackmaster 4th edition and the FASA Startrek game take a very different approach.

Now I'm not going to beat around the bush, I like background tables.  They provide you with guidance, tie your character into the setting, and provide a balanced field on which all characters are created.  Not to mention when they are done well they are just plain fun.  Our first game of Hackmaster one of the most fun nights of gaming was making characters.  That night each of us went through the course of events that had led up to the beginning of the campaign.  The Professor's character, a Mage, was probably the most entertaining.  The tables simulated his character getting into and attending a magical academy.  Everyone was keenly interested in what was going on and each die roll seemed to be more imperative than the last.  Though it wasn't even my character I still had an absolute blast.  

Fast forward to present day.  Our group recently decided to start a Star Trek game using the Savage Worlds system.  Being new to Savage Worlds I got the book and looked over the character creation rules.  It only took a few minutes and I had the basics down.  It only took a couple of more minutes to create a completed character.  The rules are very streamlined, something that the makers of Savage World have clearly strived for.   Those of you who don't know the game, Savage Worlds is made to be played in any setting and in any genre, so it doesn't have much by way of setting specific information on Star Trek.  For that I took a ride on the way back machine to FASA's 1st edition Star Trek Role Playing Game.  

In that game I was met with the polar opposite approach to character creation.  Thinking it would be fun to get the full experience I decided to remake my same character using this different system.  I wanted my character to be a Starfleet Officer so that meant that I had to go through what he did in his early life, go through the long process of attending Starfleet Academy, his cadet cruise, branch school, multiple tours of duty, and command school.   The process took a really long time. 

It was a blast.

Not only that but my character ended up with a rich history tied in closely with the setting.  In addition to being fun the experience wasn't a waste as that background was still perfectly usable for my Savage Worlds character. 

So even in this day in age when rules light games are all the rage and people balk at having even the smallest detail of their character's backstory decided by anyone or anything but themselves, I encourage you to reacquaint yourself with the background table.  You might just find that they prove to be an interesting addition to the character creation process.  Hell, you might even find that you really like them. 

New Preview for KenzerCo's Hacklopedia of Beasts

If you're on the fence about picking up the newest offering from KenzerCo, check out this seven page preview of the Owlbeast that was recently posted on their website. I've already got my copy pre-ordered and will be posting an in-depth review of the book as soon as I get it in (or right after GenCon, depending on when it comes in).

Feel free to sound off in the comments section with your opinions of the preview!

Is Gen Con Becoming a Board Game Convention?

 One really has to wonder if the focus of Gen Con is moving from Roleplaying games to Board Games.  Take a look at the Dealer's Hall map.  Wizards has one a single sizable booth, Paizo also has a single (but smaller) booth.  Yet Mayfair games has an entire section of the dealer room floor and Fantasy Flight has an entire neighborhood. 

Then there is the disparity in events.  This year there are almost nine hundred more board game events than RPG events.  Maybe this has been coming for a while.  Take a look at the number for the last few years..


(Year: RPG - Board Game)

2006: 1453 - 1043
2007: 1738 - 1275
2008: 1781 - 1234
2009: 1614 - 1326
2010: 1809 - 1931
2011: 1940 - 2833

Now I'm not saying that board games are bad.  Hell, I like them as much as the next guy, but I've always seen Gen Con as an RPG first convention and it seems like that might be changing. 

Want to See What a Quality Product Looks Like?

Just in case you wanted to see what a quality print product looks like here are some pictures of the Advanced Hackmaster monster book, The Hacklopedia of Beasts.

Those who are familiar with the Aces & Eights core rulebook will be familiar with the type of quality pictured above, a level which I have never seen replicated in an RPG book.  

Well at least until now. 

Some are saying that this book outstrips even the Aces & Eights book for production value, but I'll need to have the book in my hands to attest to that.  Regardless, this shows that Kenzer & Co are committed to providing the gamer audience the very highest quality product.  Doing so has come with its share of adversity, from delays in publication to complaints about the high cost of the product, but in the end those who love RPGs, love Kenzerco's work, and are willing to pay a premium for a premium product are going to be more than satisfied. 

Hackmaster has come a long way from being a joke system in a comic strip, to a parody of D&D, to a system that stands on its own two feet and puts forth a host of innovations.  Despite the greatness of the new edition there are still those who think of Hackmaster as only a joke name and for that reason the good folks over at Kenzerco made this little poster...

The Hacklopedia is slated for release July 6th, carries a price tag of of $59.99 and can be ordered through Kenzerco's website. 

The 48 Hour Game Or How I Pulled My Shit Together and Got the Job Done

Last week I wrote about some recent adversity that had befallen my gaming group.  Out Call of Cthulhu campaign had suddenly come to a half (at least temporarily) and there was an urgent need to fill the gap.  I had two days to come up with a campaign that needed to last at least two months.  I worked through my options logically, and when I left off last time I thought I had a good idea of what genre and rules system to use.

I was wrong.  

I really tried to come up with something great to put into the fantasy genre that could be played with Hackmaster Basic or Pathfinder, but nothing would come to me.  Every time I thought I had a good idea I always ended up back at one of the other fantasy campaigns I'm currently developing which had already been deemed unsuitable for one reason or another.  I've come to a realization recently that I'm just  not very good at running any campaign but the one I am most passionate about at that time.  I just can't seem to focus and my attention just begins to wander back to the campaign I really wanted to be working on.  

Fortunately it was about this time that I got kicked out of the house.  My wife is the Maid of Honor in an upcoming wedding and bridesmaids were coming over to do bridesmaidish stuff so I had to make myself scarce.  Feeling that what I needed was inspiration I made a beeline for the nearest bookstore.  Now admittedly the store's RPG section (like most these days) was small and modest to (put it kindly) but there were still a couple of books I thought might spark my imagination.  The first book I picked up was one I had wanted to check out for a while now, Mutants & Masterminds.   It may as well have been the only book I picked up because it is the only one I ever looked at.  

It was perfect.  The game looked great, my group had wanted to play a Superhero game at Gen Con but wasn't going to get to, and perhaps most importantly all of the other ideas I had for a fantasy RPG wouldn't distract me because of the leap in genre.  I've never run nor played in a Superhero RPG, but I had a number of ideas.  I have read comic books after all.  Before I had even bought the book and returned home to my Bridesmaid free home, I had selected a simple and straightforward campaign idea that I thought would serve as a great introduction to the rules and Superhero RPGs in general.

Now it was time to buckle down and get to work.  I had already spent  some of what precious little time I had just picking a rules system and coming up with an idea for a campaign.  At this point it was time to do what needed to be done to get the game ready to play.  To do that I employed five strategies to make sure I got to where I needed to be.

#1 - Cutting Corners
Normally I don't advice cutting corners.  It's a shoddy thing to do that can some times ruin a game or a setting, but early on I decided it was a necessary evil.   I cut corners in a number of ways, but the two major ones were with the Pre-Generated characters I made for everyone, and the map I used for the games' setting, Empire City.

Mutants & Masterminds offers a number of templates for characters that serve as a great starting off point and I took advantage of those by giving each of the four PCs one of those templates.  Lowering their power level meant more work than I initially had thought, but in the end cutting this corner took much less time than building the character from scratch.

As for the map of the game, as much as I wanted to build a city map from scatch I just didn't have time.  So I cut a massive corner by taking an old map of Chicago and modifying it.  The map that I came out with looked pretty good, though when it shifted to gray scale to be printed it lost some of its detail.  Color wasn't really an option as the printer allows for massive printing (the map is 3ft by 4ft) but only in black and white.

#2 - Relying on Technology
Unlike Cutting corners I fully advise taking advantage of technology to save time in any game.  The first way that I did this was to purchase Hero Lab.  Now it might not look like much, but believe me this is a pretty cool program.  The one problem I have with it is how expensive it is.  If one were to get all the games offered, and there are several, with the base program then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but that isn't the case.  When you buy the program ($30) you get a single rules system.  Oh well, I needed it.

 
With the help of Hero Lab I was able to make the four pre-gens I needed, and could be sure that each was balanced and within the confines of the rules.  M&M can be very tricky in this last regard so that alone with a huge help.  Hero Lab also creates it's own character sheets for each player which is also cool.
 

Those sheets have a spot for a portrait for each character which was something I really wanted to do.  I once again took advantage to make this happen.  I used HeroMachine 3 to quickly and effectively create character portraits for each of our heroes.  Each had its own unique look which spoke to their powers and personality, and helped to introduce each player to the character that they would be playing. 



#3 - Not Getting Fancy
There were a number of cool ideas that I had or cool things that I wanted to do that just weren't possible in the limited time I had.  For example, normally I favor complex with layers of intrigue, but given the short length of the game, the limited time I had for preparation, and the fact that everyone was was learning a new rules system, I thought it was best not to get too fancy.  I created a fairly basic and straightforward Superhero plot in which the heroes battle a number of Super Villains on their way to the climactic conclusion.  Getting fancy can be a sure road to defeat when you are in a time crunch.  Get the job done simply and effectively and your players will be grateful for the game that you put together; spend all your time on a cool but possibly unnecessary idea and you'll be explaining to a group of angry and disappointed players why you had to cancel the session. 

#4 - Surprise!
I love surprises.  I think they are a fun way to get everyone off balance and excited about what is coming.  To that end I never told the group that we would be playing Mutants & Masterminds.  When they arrived everyone expected the same old thing, and no one was too exited about the game.  When I handed out the folders with their characters and set up my M&M GM screen momentary confusion gave way to excitement.  As I mentioned earlier, we had really wanted to play a Superhero RPG at Gen Con this year, but were unable to get into one.  It was a nice surprise that got everyone into a good mood and ready to have a good time.


#5 - Relax and Have Fun
In the end number five is the simplest and most important one.  You won't have finished everything you wanted to finish.  There will be things that you wish you could have done a better job on.  In the end you have what you have and you have to make the most of it.  When I sat down at the table I wasn't wondering if what I had would be enough, but thinking about how much fun the night was going to be.  As it turned out I was right.  The first night went really well with the PCs defeating the Villain and rescuing the hostages. 

Campaign Design in Two Days

 

Sometimes the best laid plans fall to ruin.  Sometimes the best campaigns fall short.  Sometimes you end up behind the screen under less than ideal circumstances.  But if RPGs teaches us anything it is that the old saying is true, "You roll the dice and take what you get." All you can do under tough circumstances is your best.  Sometimes it isn't as good as you want it to be, but you live with it.

The Professor's Call of Cthulhu game has fallen by the wayside, at least temporarily, and I'm taking up the reigns in the meantime.  This won't be a long campaign, just long enough to take us to Gen Con, so eight weeks exactly.  I have no plan, no plot, not even a rules system I plan on using.  I've been thinking about it since last night when I found out that this might be a possibility, but so far... nothing.  I keep pretty organized notes on games that I'm working on.  I have no fewer than eight in my "Under Construction" folder, but none seem like a good fit.  The problem is that two months is longer than most of my mini-campaign ideas, and shorter than any of my full campaign ideas.  

So it looks like I'm going to be starting from scratch.  No sudden inspiration has hit me as of yet.  Hell I don't even know what system I'm going to use.  Hackmaster and Pathfinder seem like front runners.  Fantasy gaming is our thing and we've been away from it for a while, after-all.  Hackmaster is my preference, the initiative system alone is hard to step away from, but there are at least two members of the group who prefer Pathfinder so it is an option as well.

Since I have a decent idea of genre and system I guess I'll go work on ironing out a plot.  Wish me luck.  

No Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition at Gen Con?

I've really grown to love Call of Cthulhu.  I enjoy the game more than enough to buy the core rulebook from Chaosium.  I held off from buying the 6th edition rulebook because back in February word spread that there would be a 7th Edition which would be available at Gen Con this year. 

According to what I've been reading lately it seems that that will no longer be the case.  Rumors say that 7th Edition will be pushed back to 2012, but that there will be an Anniversary Edition available.  To celebrate 30 years of Call of Cthulhu Chaosium has decided to release a hard cover 320 page leather bound book... but with the 6th edition rules.  

I'm really torn here.  On the one hand I'd like to get the new rules (though with CoC there are very few changes between editions), but on the other hand I really like well made hard cover books and am willing to pay extra for quality.  Those who aren't interested in paying a premium probably won't be interested as this book costs $64.95.

I think this is all going to come down to whether the book is available at Gen Con or not.  I'm going to want to get myself something cool at the Con, and a leather bound Call of Cthulhu book certainly qualifies. 

The Banning of Dungeons & Dragons

I really thought we were far past this crap, but apparently I was wrong.  Taylor High School in Taylor, Texas has a Dungeons & Dragons Club that is now in danger of being abolished because of the School Board feels that the game, "Promites Death and Violence."

Sigh...It's like a time warp back to the 80s.  Fortunately, some more sensible people are stepping forward and attempting to get the school board to see reason.  So it looks at though there is some hope that things will have a happy ending, but it really makes you shake your head.

Thanks go out to WJ Walton of the Escapist for spreading the news about this issue.  He also made a great video (seen below) to present some of the reasons that RPGs are not only fun, but help to better people in several important way. 

Why People Love to Root for the Bad Guy

Darth Vader, the Joker, Sylar, Sephiroth, Magneto, Voldemort, Dr. Doom. 

What do these villains have in common?  People love them. 

Over the last ten years or so I've noticed a big increase the number of people who seem to root for the antagonist over the protagonist. This is really strange because it is contrary to the writers intent. If the antagonist was supposed to be loved, then he would be the protagonist, albeit in antihero form.

Antiheroes are certainly as popular as ever. I myself love Kain, from the video game series, The Legacy of Kain. He isn't a good guy, and he himself is the antagonist in the series' second installment, Soul Reaver, but I found myself rooting for him all the same.

Strangely enough it wasn't Kain that got me thinking about this. I was actually watching a particularly strange (and to be honest pretty bad) cartoon from my childhood called King Arthur and the Knights of Justice.  I had ever seen the end of the show when I was a kid and working on my Caliburn game kind of got King Arthur on my mind so I went back and watched the whole series from start to finish on DVD.   

Just to give you a quick idea of what the show is about, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (Called the Knights of Justice in the show) get trapped by Morgana in a place called the Caves of Glass.  Merlin, knowing that the Kingdom is doomed unless he finds others to fight in their places searches through time for men worthy enough to take the place of the real Arthur and his Knights.  Fortunately for Merlin (though arguably unfortunately for the audience) Merlin finds just such men in the form of a college football team called the Knights led by their noble Quarterback, Arthur King.  

No I didn't make any of that up.

The football takes the place of the Knights and their King with no one except Morgana really noticing, and she only seems to notice because she checked to make sure the real King and his men were still trapped in the Cave of Glass.  Arthur and his team battle Morgana's Warlords, warriors she has crafted from stone using her magic.  The Warlords are led by a man who is unfailingly loyal to Morgana, is a great warrior, and is Arthur's principal rival.  You'd probably say he is Mordred, right?  Wrong.  His name is Lord Viper.  

No I didn't make that up either. 

Anyway the Knights battle the Warlords over the course of two season trying to get the magical Keys of Truth they need to free the true King Arthur and his Knights and return to their own time.  Along the way they learn valuable lessons about teamwork, loyalty, and sacrifice.  This makes it a great kids show, but the terrible two dimensional characters mean that it doesn't hold up when watching it years later.  

King Arthur and his Knights are good people who almost never make a mistake and are never really tempted to.  They have some very predictable flaws, but someone just points it out to them immediately and they get over them without a struggle.  These kinds of character struggles are what make interesting characters and great stories, so as you can imagine all the ones from this show kind of blow. The only ones who were truly flawed in this show were the villain Morgana and Viper. 

Which brings me back to my original point, why people love to root for the bad guy.  After about three episodes I found it hard to root for Arthur and his football team.  Honestly, they were just boring.  You knew all you wanted to know about them from the very first episode (and in some cases more).  The only characters that interested me were Morgana and Viper.  Why were they rebelling against Arthur?  Had he done something?  Was their some sort of legal dispute over succession like in many Arthurian tales?  Morgana just kind of seemed crazy a lot of the time.  It is never stated, not even by Merlin who also sucks as a character, but I got the sense that Morgana's magic had driven her crazy.  She certinaly laughs manically at very inoportune times.  Viper is obviously extremely evil based on his actions throughout the show, though he is unwaveringly loyal to Morgana.  Shouldn't someone so evil be trying to usurp her power as he is trying to usurp Arthur's?  Is he is love with Morgana?  Why did he join her cause?  Sadly none of these questions were ever answered. 

The fact is that the villains in this show were just as bad as the heroes in terms of character depth.  Just as Arthur and his Knights would unfailingly do the right thing Viper and his people would unfailingly do the wrong thing.  Yet the fact that I had so many questions and so much interest in the villains and virtually none in the heroes is an inequity I find very telling. 

As stated above, one problem I have with the heroes is that they are too good.  It just isn't realistic and get's annoying and preachy after a while.  I have no problem with a character struggling through temptation and finally coming to a tough choice that they know to be the right one.  Viper always makes the wrong choice, but at least you can understand why.  The guy seems bitter, constantly get's his ass kicked, is frustrated with how the war is going, and has Morgana yelling and belittling him every time he loses a battle.  The guy clearly has plenty of pent up frustration and anger to take out on anyone he meets.  That I can understand.  He isn't making the right decision, but at least I understand and can sympathize with him making the wrong one.  

Viper also has an air of mystery about him.  As I said, they never answered any of the questions someone might have had about him.  They don't know where he came from or why he is doing what he is doing.  It is easy to imagine that Viper was once one of Arthur's best Knights and was seduced to the cause of Morgana, but this is never stated or hinted at.  Still Viper provokes the imagination partially because, like many villains, their is a shadowy past full of mystery and unanswered questions.  We often fill in those blanks with answers that we think are great and thus make the character out to be better (to us as least) than he really is.  

Finally, Viper and his men, like most bad guys in fiction, get kicked around constantly.  They almost never win even the smallest victory which gives them a real underdog vibe.  People love underdogs.  They love pulling for the "little guy" because that is the role that they are most likely to relate to.  So often in life we face an uphill battle over what seem like overwhelming odds so we like to see someone facing those same kind of odds pull through.  Deep down I think it gives us hope for our own situation. 

There are many lessons to take out of this, both GMs and Players.

For players, your PCs are the main characters of the show that is your campaign.  Remember that, and remember that great characters are not defined only by their strengths but also by their weaknesses.  Give your character a flaw or two, one that will likely create some tension and great story opportunities in the future. 

For GMs, recognize that just because the players will be pitted against your NPCs doesn't mean that can't respect them or even be friends with them.  Look at Professor X and Magneto, they are best friends but constantly find themselves battling against one another because they don't see eye to eye on what is best for their kind.  These kind of enemies can be the most memorable and create a different kind of obstacle than a standard monster in a dungeon.  X never really gives up hope of Magneto seeing the error of his ways and using using his powers for good.  The battle to convince a bitter enemy to stop their dastardly deeds may not require any dice, but it may be the greatest battle any player at your table has ever fought. 

Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

Chaosiums classic Call of Cthulhu is getting another edition.  This latest version, the seventh, won't feature a massive overhaul of the system.  Like its predecessors it will feature only a few select changes ensuring that it is compatible with all previous editions.  Chaosium hopes to have the book ready by Gen Con this summer. 

I'm glad I heard about this before I pulled the trigger on buying the 6th edition rulebook.  With luck I'll be able to pick up my 7th edition rulebook at Gen Con in August. 

Miskatonic Universary Student IDs

I wrote previously about the really cool NPC cards that the Professor is using in our current Call of Cthulhu game set at Miskatonic University.  I've also previously mentioned that we were looking for new players for our table and were having some trouble.

Well the trouble is finally over.  We once again have a full table with six PCs, but our two players (Let's Call them Eberis and Elbereth) are pretty new to table top roleplaying.  Elbris has played a little in the past but nothing recent, and Elbereth has never played at all.  All she knows of gaming is what she saw on the recent (and awesome) AD&D episode of Community. 

For someone new to roleplaying to come into a a game in the middle of a campaign can be a very intimidating experience even if you know what you are an experienced Gamer, but for someone new it can be totally overwhelming.  You have the rules to learn, the setting to get familiar with, the plot to date to review, the NPCs to get to know, oh and the other PCs as well. 

To help with that last bit I created mock Miskatonic Student IDs for each of our characters.  The IDs (Seen above) have a picture of each character (I took a page out of the Professor's book and used old yearbook photos from the 20s and 30s) as well as some important information about each on them, most of which would never be seen on an actual student ID, but that worked well for reference purposes. 

I printed them on card stock so they feel like real IDs minus the lamination. They came out great and worked out well, helping the new guys keep everyone straight.  Everyone's favorite ID was the one of Bear's character, Lagos.

I think it's my favorite too.

Dragon Age Series Starring Felcia Day

Dragon Age was a great game with a great setting.  It produced a couple of great videos that caused us here at the Labyrinth to question why couldn't the D&D movie have been that good? Well now they be showing us once again what they can do on film by creating a web based miniseries written and starring Felicia Day.  Day, known for her work on the amazing web series, The Guild, will be bringing a lot to the table on this project, not the least of which is her passion for video games, and her familiarity with Dragon Age in particular. 

Oh, and she stars as a hot Elven Assassin. 

I'm in! 

The miniseries will be called Dragon Age Redemption and will air sometime later this year.  

This is a great move by Bioware in my opinion.  Felicia Day has a great reputation among games for more than just her good looks.  She brings a very real passion to her projects.  Add to that her web series cred from the Guild and you have a built in winner.  This will really grow Dragon Age's reputation and will certainly bring in new fans to the series.  

Since Dragon Age II is set to be released in March my only guess is that we will see the web series release coincide with the first expansion.

I'm pretty excited, but it also gets me thinking...  With great online series like The Guild, JourneyQuest, Gold, and now Dragon Age Redemption is it just me or are good online shows starting to outnumber good shows on traditional television?

NPC Cards

 I wanted to share something really cool from our currant Call of Cthulhu game.  I'm not running the game, The Professor is.  He, like the rest of us, was new to the system when we began, but that has not impeded his ability to GM.  So far the game is absolutely awesome and part of it is the small things like his NPC Cards.

The concept is simple and certainly not a new one, but there is a reason this has been around for a while... It's a great idea.  The Professor's execution of the concept is flawless.  He lists pertinent information to the character like their name, nickname, and a Fraternity or Sorority if they belong to one.  Then he gives some key biographical notes like where they are from, what their major is, what clubs and/or sports they are involved in, etc.  Finally he lists character traits and events that have become clear as the PCs have interacted with them.  For example, Ruth has proved untrusting of the PCs every time they have met her, Beth has a short temper and constantly yells, and Bobby beat the crap out of Revil's character, Kenneth.  

Perhaps the most important feature of the card is the photo.  Ever one for authenticity, The Professor has gone back into archives of old yearbooks and pulled actual student photos from the late 20s.  It's a great touch that makes each NPC seem that much more real and gives each NPC card a yearbook-ish feel.  That works really well as our characters have gone to old Yearsbooks as important sources of information on various persons around campus.

One person in particular, Reginald St. Birmingham III, has been of particular interest to our characters.  Birmingham is the villain of this chapter of the story and is obviously up to some shenanigans, though our characters aren't sure of exactly what at the present time.  When investigating him we started our research (where else?) in the yearbook.   His entry provided some background information and some important clues on where to look next.    One of the characters, Charles (Doodle's character) is also from Newport and had heard of the affluent St. Birmingham family and knew what kind of business they were in, their general reputation, and where they live.  We proceeded with our investigation by looking into the activities Reggie was involved in, specifically the Bohemian Club and Sigma Phi.  While we haven't cracked the case yet, this information certainly put us on the right track.

NPC cards like this are easy to make and definitely worth the time and effort.  They help yours players connect with the various important NPCs and provide them with a quick reference guide to the pertinent facts about them.  If you are playing a CoC game, particularly one set at Miskatonic University, you will want to also follow the Professor's lead and lean heavily on old yearbooks from the 20s and 30s as a resource of both pictures and great information about the time.

Music to Inspire Your Game

Gamers can find inspiration for adventure or campaign ideas nearly anywhere. But unless you’re careful it can be tough to hide the fact that you just stole the plot of The Wizard of Oz from your players. The main problem with taking inspiration from movies, TV shows, or books is that your players tend to have similar tastes as you do in these areas. Not only that, but there are only a limited number of movies and TV shows released in a year, so the odds of at least one of your players having seen or heard about the movie or show you’re basing your plot on is high. It’s a little easier with books due to the sheer number of books out there, however the “your players tend to have similar tastes” problem is a particularly large one here. It’s compounded because, while there are a lot of books to take inspiration from, not all of them are very good, and when you do find a good book it’s hard not to share it with your friends. But there’s one medium that not only gets overlooked as a source of inspiration, but is also one where tastes very wildly from one person to the next; music.

            Within a single group of gamers the range of musical preference can be staggering. Taking our group for example, we’ve got members that listen to everything from Anime Theme Songs to Viking Metal to Indy Rock to Gangster Rap to American Pop. Not only that, but the sheer amount of music that’s released in a year is so staggering that even two different fans of one genre of music may not listen to the same bands. Plus, interpretation of music tends to vary somewhat from person to person, so if you decide to take inspiration from a song it’s likely that your players may not realize it even if it’s one they love.

            So what kinds of things can music inspire? Well, to be blunt, anything you want. It can be as grandiose as an entire campaign, as specific as an adventure, or as intimate as a PC or NPC. The idea is to take anything that makes you say, “Oh, that’s interesting” and turning it into something that you can use as a GM or a player. The idea of this feature is for one of us here at the Labyrinth to give you a song you may have never heard and then give you some ideas of how to use that to better your game. So, without further ado, please allow me to present to you the first Song to Inspire Your Game: Skeleton’s on Parade by Ludo.

Okay, this one is kind of a gimmie as this song doesn’t so much inspire a game as it does lay out an entire adventure for you, up to and including giving you a solution to the town’s problems. But it's not a song that your players are likely to have heard before, so I think it works well. It’s easy to see the PCs coming across this cursed town, who’s residents are so busy praying and cleaning the local graveyard they pay little to no attention to the PCs. When night starts to fall, all of the residents of the town scurry inside and board up their doors and windows, leaving the bewildered PCs out on the streets if they haven’t found shelter before the sun goes down. No one will answer their door, and before long a horde of skeletons descends on the town, attacking any living person they see and doing as much property damage as possible. The PCs fight them, but find that even when one is struck down, within moments it’s back up and at full strength. The PCs manage to survive the night, only to faintly hear an old woman singing in the direction of the graveyard. “Goodnight all my children now, you must lay down your heads. You wouldn’t want the sun to catch you risen from your beds…” If the PCs are smart they’ll realize that the only way to stop the menace is to somehow keep the skeletons from getting back to their graves before the sun comes up the next morning.

With a little alteration, this adventure can be made to fit almost any Fantasy game. Want to run it as a low-level adventure? Make it so the skeletons only attack town members, and completely ignore the PCs unless they attack first. It’s the townspeople who are cursed after all, not the PCs. Are your PCs too high level for skeletons to pose a challenge? Change them to something stronger like a Ghoul or a Ghast. Or make sure the skeletons break into a few houses, and have protecting the townspeople be the actual challenge, instead of just killing skeletons. There are a ton of ways you can go with this one, but no matter what you do, make sure you comment and let us know how it goes. We always love to hear your stories.

A Window into the Wars of the Roses

Roleplayers and Wargamers spend a lot of time wondering what it must have been like to be on a medieval battlefield.  What would it be like to witness two massive armies clashing on the battlefield with nothing less than life or death stakes.  

Thanks to Cylopeatron for posting a link to this amazing article from the Economist which offers a lot of insight into what these types of battles were like through the window of a single battle during the Wars of the Roses.

The battle in question, perhaps one of the bloodiest battles in English history, took place in a small village named Towton, located between York and Leeds.  There two massive armies clashed on March 29th 1461.  How many men are we talking about?  Well it's a medieval battle so one might think the the conflict would have been small, especially by modern standards.  One would be wrong.  It is estimated that as many as 75,000 men took part in the fighting that day.  An epic clash that rivals even the sprawling battles found in a fantasy series such as George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, itself heavily influenced by the Wars of the Roses.

The Article has a wealth of information that fans of history are sure to enjoy, Including the tale of one casualty of the battle, christened "Towton 25" by researchers,  who met a grisly end.  I highly recommend you go and read the article, it is definitely worth your time, and may make you think differently about how you handle large scale conflict in your games. 

Gary Gygax Wasn't Perfect

My last quote inspired article, "Game Balance and the Conformist Utopia" seemed to be greatly enjoyed by our readers so I decided to follow it up with another one.  


Gary Gygax, often dubbed the father of our hobby, is obviously beloved by nearly everyone.  Why not?  He inspired countless men and women, was friendly and welcoming to those he met, and above all passionate about what he did.  Yet Gary, like all of us, was not perfect.  For proof we need go no further than Gary himself.

"There's a number of things in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that I never should have done. I shouldn't have put Psionics in there, but somebody talked me into it." -Gary Gygax

So as we see, Gary didn't regard himself as perfect, nor did he see his creation as a flawless masterpiece.  As seen above he particularly regretted addition psionics into the game.

Psionics remains something of a hot button issue today.  Most people harbor a strong dislike for them, preferring to leave them out of their own games.  Others harbor a strong and fervent love of them and tend to lash out at those who take pot shots at one of their favorite parts of D&D. 

I gave psionics a go multiple times, but just found that they generally don't fit in games and settings that I play.  They are too close to magic to have each be special and play a vital role in both the setting and the story.  I have played with people who used psionics to replace magic altogether, and in my opinion this would probably work better than having both and creating a big jumbled mess, but would alter the feel to be something other than a typical fantasy setting.  Given the psionic abilities in 3rd edition the game would probably feel more like a sci-fi game than a fantasy one, though it would probably be really cool if you were playing a post-apocalyptic fantasy game.

Giving the Mega-Dungeon a whole new meaning

Got Any Cthulhu Tips?

My group is beginning our long awaited Call of Cthulhu campaign this Thursday. To that end I have decided to elicit any advice those more knowledgeable (just about everyone) might have on the subject.  

I've done some prep to get geared up for said campaign.  I've read a bit of Lovecraft (not my favorite writer to be honest), some Mythos fiction by other writers, got and plan to play Arkham Horror tonight (woot!), and looked over the rulebook (6th edition is what we are playing) for Chaosium's CoC system as well as the Miskatonic University book (we are playing student investigators).

Even with all that though I still don't feel like I know everything I need to know.  That's where you come in!  Here are some questions/issues I have. 

These guys looked screwed.  I'm hoping to avoid this.

1. How to I maximize PC survivability?

I enjoy games where the same cast of characters sticks around for most if not all of the campaign.  The long running bonds between characters and the trails they make it through together is one thing that keeps me coming back week after week in most games.  That having been said, I keep reading that CoC isn't a game with a great survivability rate... so how do I maximize PC survivability? 

2. What type of skills will prove the most useful?

As I stated above, we are playing matriculating freshmen at Miskatonic University so we don't really get a whole lot skill point to work with.  I want to make sure I use mine on skills that I'll actually use, so what are some good useful skills?  

3. What are some common pitfalls for new/inexperienced players?

Obviously I'm not going to take a swim looking for the city of R'lyeh, but what are some common missteps people have encountered?  

Watch out for this guy... check!

4.  What are some good ways of preserving sanity?

I've heard that becoming insane is just as big a danger as dying, so what steps can be taken to help prevent that?  Should ancient tomes be avoided at all cost?  I've heard those can be dangerous.

5.  How much combat can I expect?

There see to be a number of combat related skills in the game, but the game doesn't seem like it focuses on combat.  Are these skills worth investing in, and how much fighting can I really expect in CoC?

6. I rolled some pretty pedestrian stats

Which stats would everyone say is the most important?  My best stat by far is intelligence (14) my worst is Con (8).

7.  Got any other tips I should know?

I'm not sure what else to ask, but I'm sure there is more good advice to be had! 

This will be a first for everyone in the my group. Though I have limited knowledge of the Mythos and the game itself, I would certainly categorize myself as both excited and enthusiastic.  There are high expectation from every member of the group this game is going to be one to remember.  Any help you can offer to ensure that we are right would be much appreciated! 

If you can't beat em, join em?