RPG Character A Week

Vehicles

I'm returning to activity with Microlite 20 Vehicles, a very simple addition to my Microlite 20 Modern-Day rules. In the best M20 tradition, it really is a quick-and-dirty rules set, enough to get the Millennium Falcon flying or put the Black Pearl to sea. You could even run a vehicle heavy setting with the rules — Mad Max would work, since the important part of that setting is the characters, not their cars and trucks and bikes.

Going forward this blog will be for two games: Microlite 20 and Unbelievably Simple Roleplaying, my two favorite systems (at least, the "Domino Writing-style" versions of of each). Per the blog name, we will have characters each week, statted up in those systems. Yes, 5e is fun, and Dungeon World, and Risus, and Pathfinder, and... but you have plenty of other places to find rules and adventures for those games. Look for M20 and USR here.

Back again

For a blog called "RPG Character A Week," there's been a lot of weeks without a character! I aim to change that. To begin with, I've revised my website, and I'm posting the games I want to promote there.

My new and improved gaming webpage.

Dozens of systems are released every day, it seems, but I'm only going to concentrate on a few, for the most part: mainly the "Domino Writing-style" versions of USR and Microlite 20 -- both games still have an active following, so I want to contribute to them. I have good ideas, and I can contribute to the conversation.

I'm actively playing D&D 5e right now, so that's another game I'll probably post ideas, and mostly characters, for. If other games catch my attention, and I have an idea for them, that will be in there too.

Overall, though, the goal is to get back to posting more often, with more content.

Campaign Concepts: Little Folk

"Little folk" refers to real little folk from legend and fantasy: not halflings or traditional fantasy gnomes, but folklore gnomes (the ones small enough to find shelter under a toadstool), pixies, and a handful of copyrighted characters: Smurfs, Mogwai and Fraggles, the last being the sad inspiration for this post. 

An issue of scale for our heroes. (image: serienoldies.de)

There have been games for playing little folk before, like Faery's Tale and Mouse Guard. But they're not much different than any other fantasy game, just scaled down. A fairy knight battling a fairy wizard is no different than a human fighter facing a human wizard. The difference in scale is what makes the setting distinct; the challenge of dealing with everyday things that the players, as average-size humans, don't even think about. 

A little folk campaign can make a Game Master's life simpler. Heroes don't have to slay monsters and save kingdoms; instead, they can just get across a yard in one piece, or recruit other creatures with very limited skill-sets to help them. The PCs can be just as talented as any other RPG character, but they're less likely to fight their way through an adventure, as most threats will be too large to take on -- a hawk or a dog would make short work of little folk. The game will be about solving puzzles and looking at everyday objects in a new way. Try a one-shot adventure: a little game with little folk.

USR: Rust Cohle

Well, if USR's Cthulhu Month is going to feature the King in Yellow, we'll need to have "True Detective" in there somehow...

USR

Action D8, Wits D10, Ego D6

Specialisms: "The world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door." +2, "There were times I thought I was main-lining the secret truth of the universe." +2, Played by Matthew McConaughey (because there's more to Rust Cohle than just darkness) +2

Hit Points: 18

Combat Gear: Police-issue Sidearm +1

Narrative Points: 6

"Drinks Lots Of Beer" doesn't really work as a specialism. (image: truedetective.wikia.com)

Game Night

The second session of our 5e game took place tonight:

Malum Vargr (wood elf rogue, noble)

Paelis Liadon (wood elf paladin, alchemist)

Tyndar (lightfoot halfling bard, criminal)

We are using the Encounters version of the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure. In the first session, the party made their way into the town of Greenest and met a woman who worked in the keep. She knew who to talk to get inside, to talk with the mayor.

The big enemy so far. (image: dmwordoftheweek.wordpress.com)

Tonight, the party battled human cultists, kobolds and urds on their way into the keep. They met with the mayor, who immediately sent them out to rescue hostages from a temple under siege, at the same time the front gate of the town is being assaulted by a battering ram.

I'm enjoying the 5e rules (we used advantage and disadvantage for the first time), though years of experience with 3.5e and Pathfinder means I'm still relying on those rules for some combat options, like charge and flanking. The simplicity and openness of 5e means I can use those bonuses (+2 to hit for standing opposite an enemy) without really affecting the game.

Playing With Imagination, and a solo adventure

Every once in a while, fantasy gaming gets to mix with my other passion, journalism. This month's issue of Encore Magazine is no different, with a cover story on the fantasy gaming hobby (mostly D&D and Magic, as they're the big-name games around here, and pretty much everywhere else). I had great help from local game groups and the two FLGS in town, and I hope they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

This is one of the things I've been doing instead of regular blog posts. (image: www.encoremagazine.com)

Yes, that's me as DM on the cover, too, and some of my props from the 3.5 days: Basic Game map tiles (from the version with a black dragon), a DM's screen and D&D miniatures (I don't have the patience or time for minis painting).

I wrote a very small "solo adventure" to get people to try gaming with as little effort as possible, but it didn't make the cut. So here it is:

You can try a Dungeons & Dragons-style role playing game with just this copy of Encore. Imagine you're a powerful wizard, like Gandalf or Merlin, and you've just come face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon. What do you do?

You could run away, but remember that you're playing the role of a mighty wizard. You might be able to stop the monster with a magic spell. Close this issue and open it up again to a random page. Take a look at the last digit of the page number – if it's five or more, you've defeated the dragon. If it's four or less... better luck next time!

Non-Spell Spells

Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is immersed in magic. In the newer editions of the game, all classes have access to spells of one kind or another (fighters have their special maneuvers, the barbarian's Path of the Totem Warrior offers animal spirits). Bards are meant to be jack-of-all-trades: rogue-like melee combat, wizard-like spellcasting, warlord-like leadership ability. Bards can also be diplomats, using their spells to enhance their negotiating abilities.

Bards with non-spell spells. (image: fanpop.com)

Non-spell spells from the 5e bard list:

Cantrips (0-level)

Friends: The spell enchants the target to think the spellcaster is an ally. As a "non-spell," Friends convinces the target using the bard's honeyed words.

Message: This spell works as written. To make it completely a "non-spell" (in other words, following the laws of physics), simply limit it to a range of 10 feet or less.

True Strike: This spell takes a cue from Spider-Man. By keeping up a steady stream of patter, the bard enrages the target, and gets it to lower its guard.

Vicious Mockery: A perfect complement to True Strike, taking an opponent off its guard, all with the power of a bard's dialogue.

First Level spells: Animal Friendship, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Dissonant Whispers, Healing World, Heroism, Speak With Animals

Usagi Yojimbo

Here's a character you may not have thought about for a while, though he's still going strong in the comics. He's not nearly as skillful as he appears in the comics, as characters on this blog are typically at first level. He's also human in all but appearance. He really doesn't have any rabbit-like characteristics, so no need for a special race for him.

A grim Usagi. (image: turtlepedia.wikia.com)

Usagi is also a roleplaying challenge; there's much more to him than just a badass swordsman. To be true to the character, remember his place in samurai-era Japan (he's sometimes rude, to western readers, and doesn't always do what he wants, because it isn't proper).

Usagi Yojimbo

Microlite 20 Fantasy

Race: Rabbit (as Human), Class: Samurai, Level 1

STR 16 (+3), DEX 13 (+1), MIND 11 (+0)

Physical 5, Subterfuge 2, Knowledge 2, Communication 1, Survival 2

Hit Points 20, Armor Class: 11, Speed: 30 ft/ 6 spaces, Initiative +1

Melee/Hand-To-Hand +4, Missile/Ranged +2, Magic/Supernatural +1

Equipment: Katana (1d10 +4), Samurai traveling clothes

Special Abilities: Brute Force, Cleave (Melee/Hand-To-Hand), Medium Armor, Reputation (Honorable)

 

USR

Action D10, Wits D8, Ego D6

Specialisms: Honorable +2, Samurai Class +2, Swordsman +2

Hit Points: 18

Combat Gear: Katana +3

Narrative Points: 4

 

Generic d6 Lite

Strong (strength good), Brash (social poor), Specialization: Samurai

Initiative Tracking

There are dozens of ways to track combat initiative in RPGs. It's simple enough to write down a list of names, or even just trust the players to remember their order (or even, in some games, to have the players decide each round what they're doing). That's why a lot of initiative trackers offer space for other stuff, like hit point amounts and conditions.

Who goes first? (image: frpgames.com)

My one-page sheet offers all that and more. It's designed for D&D, with eight PCs (I have a lot of people who want to roleplay but don't have a group; I hate to turn down a player) and leaves space for three monsters. The greyed-out areas are for information that doesn't change much, like names and AC. Dex score is listed to break ties on initiative rolls. There's even a place to count encounters - both in-combat and "roleplaying" encounters - so you know when to level up without doing the math on XP.

This is slightly revised from my last version, mostly to make it a little easier to use in play; I'll be using it this week for Microlite 20 Star Wars session 2, and later on in my 5e game. If you use it, let me know how it goes!

Microlite 20 Star Wars: Session 1

A Mon Calamari scoundrel, a Wookie scoundrel and an Ewok Jedi (!) walk into a bar on Coruscant...

Getting back into roleplaying for the fall, three players joined me for Microlite 20 Star Wars. 

It was one player's first time roleplaying, so I started with a fairly simple system and Star Wars, of which he's a big fan. We used "Shadows Of A Black Sun," the Free RPG day Edge of the Empire quick start for the adventure.

Years of playing 2nd and 3rd edition D&D has made all of us familiar with character sheets listing specific abilities and using miniatures; the free-form roleplaying you can get from USR and Risus is a little challenging. Everyone settled in a little more once the shooting started, when a bounty hunter's hired gun and his goons opened fire on the party in a nightclub.

A Nikto, the bounty hunter species that is the focus of our adventure. (image: starwars.wikia.com)

After a failed intimidation roll against the bartender (he had a blaster rifle, and the Wookie couldn't get his hands on it quickly enough), the party got the information they needed, and they're on their way to the bounty hunter's hideout.

It didn't take long to create characters (which is good, as I've got to generate stats for the villain this weekend), and as it's still fundamentally the d20 system, we already know the rules. I expect a similar experience when we start 5e in a few weeks.