This tab displays posts, maps and logos for fans of GSIV. They should be considered in-character works and inherently flawed. Please feel free to download and use for artwork on your fan site. Use the comments to make suggestions, I would be happy to convert or map areas as time permits.
If citation is required, you may mark them as the work of "Magarven the Mad", the fictional creator. These maps are based do the style of Dyson Logos, found at Dyson's Dodecahedron.
Monday, August 12, 2019
August 2019 - Miniature Monday
One of my favorite games was Tractics. My dad and I would get some friends together and play on a sandtable in 1:72 scale. It was good fun. Tonight, I came across some of our models.I believe these are all Airfix and ROCO models from when my dad was a teenager. They are painted in simple tan, a few of which have decals applied. I suspect it is merely spray paint. My dad has come a long ways in his modeling skills.
My favorite models, although nearly useless in Tractics, are the Jeeps and such.
My dad has a flair for modeling. Our sandtable was 4 feet by 12 feet. It was impressive until you consider his gaming table was 36 feet long by 16 feet. When I say his gaming table was 36x16, this was his everyday use table. He has been known to go bigger for one off events. (I am working on getting picture of that right now.)
Anyway, there used to be a time when I could name every model and every statistic from the game. No longer. I have these things in my hands, and I do seem to remember that they are light tanks from the North African campaign, but have no idea what they really are. The smaller ones are Sherman obviously, but I am only certain because the label on the bottle. The larger tanks are labeled DBGM Made in Austria, which makes them ROCOs.I have several dozen more, perhaps 70 or 80 in all. Some German, American, British and Italian.
I suppose you're waiting for the sales pitch and there is one coming, but not yet.
These models have been sitting on my shelf for decades and today I decided to pull them out so I can have my children play a game of Tractics with me. As I said, I don't remember much from it, except that it was quality time with my dad.In dusting these off today, I expected to find my set of rules. I still remember all of the charts, the tables and the 3 rule books that came in the box.
Unfortunately, in picking up that box of rules, I realized that I lost my set of Tractics. For all these years, the boxed set that I thought was Tractics is an incredibly dusty set of Striker Rules.
The gamer in me is not disappointed, but the dad in me is.
Now my quest is different. I need to find a set of Tractics, or a close approximation thereof.
Anyone have any suggestions? The models are ready, I have a table and dice. I just need to purchase a set of rules.
Here is my "unreview" from a few months ago.
Author: Philip J. Viverito Publisher: LMW
Rule Set: Tabletop Wargame Rules (Unique)
Year: 2018
Pages: 104
Number of players: 2+
Price: $15.00
Rating: Not yet rated
Tanks & Yanks is the latest offering from LMW. The game covers World War I tank combat. While the title hints that the rules are based on American WWI armor, it includes infantry, armored cars, aircraft and artillery from Germany, the US, France, Britain and Italy.
I was excited to find that the rule set includes dozens of color images and tips for either acquiring models or scratch building models. Personally, I was looking for an excuse to scratch build some tanks.
The rules are heavy, 104 pages with tons of interior art, maps and photos. It looks fascinating and I cannot wait to give this game a play so I can update the rating above.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Stealing Monsters
Some of the best monsters are people. And some of the most intriguing people are villains.
Jon Wilson, of Appendix M put the bug in my head to steal a villain with his post on The Rival Party. These characters are decidedly different, with incredibly cool powers and abilities. I love the idea of a rival party as adversaries.
I immediately thought of a character I want to steal for a campaign. He is the Monomach from Stephen R. Donaldson's Mordant's Need series.
The Monomach is the villain's right-hand man, the most skilled swordsman in the land. As a villain, he is totally one-dimensional. He's given a target and then the target dies. Or at least that is how he should work.
He is actually simple enough to build an AD&D character class with little adaption. First, he is a fighting man so he has all of the abilities of a Fighter. Second, he has the disguise abilities of an Assassin. Third, he has some ability to heal himself like a Paladin. Finally, he will gain the damage bonus of a Monk. His prime requisites are Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence. To get a +5% bonus to exp, he must have at least a 12 in each of those skills. To get a 10% bonus, he must have a 15 in each.
In framing the villain as a character with a class, he can scale with the Player Characters. He can start relatively weak with the PCs and grow from there.
Let's assign those abilities by level.
On creation - +1 to Strength or Constitution regardless of race.
Level 1 - Disguise as an equal-level Assassin.
Level 3 - Laying has as Paladin of equal level.
Level 5 - Damage adjustment as per Monks +1 per 2 levels.
What are the Monomach character's limitations?
They are limited to two magic items plus one magic weapon and one magical piece of armor. They are limited to only equipment they can carry, even at home. They cannot backstab as Assassins do. They do not fight weaponless as Monks do. They do not have the variety of weapons of a fighter, they tend to stick to one main weapon and one backup. They don't often use bows. They can ride horses, but can not care for them. They work alone and are likely to strike at "friendlies" as they get in the way like a berserker. This berserker tendency is not a special skill or ability, it is just a ruthless and bloody methodology. They are relatively poor in day-to-day skills, unable to cook, care for animals or hunt making them reliant on their master's staff for self-care.
This lack of people and daily living skills prevents them from having followers, retainers, or constructing a keep, tower, or another base of operation. When assigned to retainers by their master, they tend to follow the retainer until a target presents itself.
What would make this type of character too overpowered? A crystal ball and a ring of teleportation. Yeah, I would totally give my evil Monomach a ring and crystal ball.
Jon Wilson, of Appendix M put the bug in my head to steal a villain with his post on The Rival Party. These characters are decidedly different, with incredibly cool powers and abilities. I love the idea of a rival party as adversaries.
I immediately thought of a character I want to steal for a campaign. He is the Monomach from Stephen R. Donaldson's Mordant's Need series.
The Monomach is the villain's right-hand man, the most skilled swordsman in the land. As a villain, he is totally one-dimensional. He's given a target and then the target dies. Or at least that is how he should work.
He is actually simple enough to build an AD&D character class with little adaption. First, he is a fighting man so he has all of the abilities of a Fighter. Second, he has the disguise abilities of an Assassin. Third, he has some ability to heal himself like a Paladin. Finally, he will gain the damage bonus of a Monk. His prime requisites are Strength, Constitution, and Intelligence. To get a +5% bonus to exp, he must have at least a 12 in each of those skills. To get a 10% bonus, he must have a 15 in each.
In framing the villain as a character with a class, he can scale with the Player Characters. He can start relatively weak with the PCs and grow from there.
Let's assign those abilities by level.
On creation - +1 to Strength or Constitution regardless of race.
Level 1 - Disguise as an equal-level Assassin.
Level 3 - Laying has as Paladin of equal level.
Level 5 - Damage adjustment as per Monks +1 per 2 levels.
What are the Monomach character's limitations?
They are limited to two magic items plus one magic weapon and one magical piece of armor. They are limited to only equipment they can carry, even at home. They cannot backstab as Assassins do. They do not fight weaponless as Monks do. They do not have the variety of weapons of a fighter, they tend to stick to one main weapon and one backup. They don't often use bows. They can ride horses, but can not care for them. They work alone and are likely to strike at "friendlies" as they get in the way like a berserker. This berserker tendency is not a special skill or ability, it is just a ruthless and bloody methodology. They are relatively poor in day-to-day skills, unable to cook, care for animals or hunt making them reliant on their master's staff for self-care.
This lack of people and daily living skills prevents them from having followers, retainers, or constructing a keep, tower, or another base of operation. When assigned to retainers by their master, they tend to follow the retainer until a target presents itself.
What would make this type of character too overpowered? A crystal ball and a ring of teleportation. Yeah, I would totally give my evil Monomach a ring and crystal ball.
The United States of the 1980s
I'm not going to spoil Stranger Things for you, but American TV used to portray Evil Soviet Citizens in a particularly goofy way.
One of the things that stands out to me is, as the Evil Characters, they always had some tiny amount of easily understood motivation. Usually it was played to show their humanity. And where those motive forces most came into play was a deeply subversive scenario.
Said Soviet Super Citizen was always physically stronger than the American opponent, often smarter in very technical ways, but total out of their element when not dealing with brute force or when the operation deviated from the characters background knowledge.
Where the subversion comes in is not in the fact that once the Super Soviet Citizen is free of home influence do they show some heroic, sane and pure traits, but the fact that nearly every aspect of Western European and American culture is designed to somehow subvert them. They want a hamburger, a Coke, a convertible, a nice house, etc. All the things common people like.
While I am sure that many times the intended message was "America is just better", the actual message was cultural perversion. Basically, the good guys end up bribing the Soviets with good ol' American Scooby Snacks.
"Did you just bribe Cthulhu with ice cream?"
"Not any old ice cream. Häagen-Dazs* is the shit."
Let that one sink in.
While we can't go back to the 80's, I think this is an excellent method of designing better villains. Most of the time villains are rather one dimensional, but being evil, they should succumb to perversion of a bigger evil.
*There is some deep irony that Häagen-Dazs came into being to save an American ice cream company from bad sales and lack luster marketing. Make it look different, and poof!, profit.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Slate Wands
I have a couple of old slate wands in my locker. I wonder if these are rechargeable.
>analyze wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>analyze other wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
(Forcing stance down to guarded)
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at other wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
They don’t play nice with 405 like a Thanot Wand so I don’t know how many charges they have.
>cast at wand
You gesture at a pale thanot wand.
You sense that the wand is a magic item that holds the spell “Limb Disruption” with a fair amount of charges.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>analyze wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>analyze other wand
You analyze your slate wand and sense that the item is free from merchant alteration restrictions.
You get no sense of whether or not the wand may be further lightened.
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
(Forcing stance down to guarded)
>pre 405
You gesture and invoke the powers of the elements for the Elemental Detection spell…
Your spell is ready.
>cast at other wand
You gesture at a slate wand.
The essence swirls as it flows in a fog of chaotic patterns around the wand.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
They don’t play nice with 405 like a Thanot Wand so I don’t know how many charges they have.
>cast at wand
You gesture at a pale thanot wand.
You sense that the wand is a magic item that holds the spell “Limb Disruption” with a fair amount of charges.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
A hit, a palpable hit.
>incant 719
You trace an intricate sign that contorts in the air while
forcefully invoking Dark Catalyst…
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at a putrefied Citadel herald.
CS: +325 – TD: +280 + CvA: +17 + d100: +48 == +110
Warding failed!
… and hits for 11 points of damage!
A putrefied Citadel herald is suddenly engulfed in flames of pure
essence!
… 25 points of damage!
Flames incinerate right leg to the bone. Not a pleasant sight.
It is knocked to the ground!
… 15 points of damage!
The Citadel herald’s left arm trembles with the cold.
… 20 points of damage!
Heavy shock to left leg. Gonna limp for awhile.
… 25 points of damage!
Strong blow to chest!
You feel 5 mana surge into you!
Necrotic energy from your kakore runestaff overflows into you!
You feel energized!
Your kakore runestaff flares with a burst of flame!
… 15 points of damage!
Burst of flames chars neck a crispy black.
You hear a sound like a weeping child as a white glow separates itself
from the Citadel herald’s body as it rises, disappearing into the heavens.
A putrefied Citadel herald writhes on the ground then spits, “This
cannot be defeat…” before lying motionless.
The very powerful look leaves a putrefied Citadel herald.
The white light leaves a putrefied Citadel herald.
The dim aura fades from around a putrefied Citadel herald.
A white glow rushes away from a putrefied Citadel herald.
A putrefied Citadel herald seems slightly different.
A putrefied Citadel herald seems hesitant.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
I tagged him with DC which triggered a flare from my kakore staff and then an ensorcellment flare. I wish someone had been there to applaud.
Runestaff Collection for Gemstone IV
He first is a blackened orase runestaff, which is +20 and ensorcelled.
The second is a deringo runestaff that carries two different enhancements. It adds +2 to my mana and +6 to Dexterity. It has an odd bonus of +14. It is currently fully charged.
The third is a baby blue kakore runestaff, which adds to my mana regeneration. It is also ensorcelled. This one has bonus of +9 and flares with fire.
The last and most recent discovery is a banded faewood runestaff. It does not appear to have any special statistics other than the +20 to defense.
Pretty soon I will need a golf bag for all of my staves.
Tips and Tricks - Enhansive Items in Gemstone IV
River's Rest - Ships and Dust Background Information
I was wondering why there was so much dust in River’s Rest. It turns out that River’s Rest is modeled on Andalusia in Spain.Andalusia is a mediterranean climate and experiences both torrential rains and cool dry spells. This was revealed by Scribes on the forum.
Perhaps the image on the left is the hills where the Kakore was harvested for my runestaff.
I think it is wonderful.
The current descriptions go back to Bradach and Jineer. They gave the town a dry and dusty flavor, with vague hints of Middle Eastern Culture. I would describe it as Moorish, but Middle Eastern fits, too.
Another possible easter egg in the town is the inexplicable model ship available at Bertha’s. It might have been modeled on the ship in MYST, however no clear evidence of this exists. There is a couple of ships in the River’s Rest environ’s, so this could be completely independent of the MYST ship.
Analytics Rots the Soul
 |
| Stepping behind my own curtain |
But what are they reading?
According to the stats, my readers aren't reading much about me. My top 5 posts, in order are:
Google Docs Templates for D&D
Book Review - A Brief Study of TSR Book Design
The 3 Toadstools and #tenmonstersetting
Module Review - BSOLO Ghost of Lion Castle
Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners - Update - We are live!
The first is about Benjamin Connell’s 3.5 Character Sheet, which I love for my D&D campaigns. The second is a review of Kevin Crawford's history of D&D books, the typography, style and page layouts. This was extraordinary helpful for my self-published books. The 3 Toadstool post was about Shane Ward's excellent campaign icebreaker experiment, Chris Hall's expansion. The ideas totally invigorated my creativity to produce new content for my campaign and my books. Ghost of Lion Castle was a solo adventure by TSR, which was a favorite of mine on rainy days. The final post is all about my first book.
So what?
3000 page views a month is not much of a goal. But to get there, I have understand my audience. If my goal was to convert every reader to a book purchaser, I am a total failure.
But was that ever my goal? I've been doing this since 2012 but didn't write my first book until 2018. That book was born out of the frustration of dealing with an accident at work, not any desire to... you know... make money or gain fame.
I've posted links to my books and thrown up some ads to make the website pay for itself, which is working. I have DriveThruRPG hosting files to mostly free titles I have written (I hate file hosting myself) which is also working. But going forward, I mean to be a part of the gaming community. My purpose isn't to make money or gain fame, but to transmit great ideas to the larger community.
In the month of August, I am bring out two new titles, which are totally tangential to the These Old Games. I mean to update and bring back 52 Weeks of Magic, which is a highly enjoyable activity even though it doesn't generate webhits. But most of all, I mean to write about all the things that are happening in this community.
At some point, I became a service provider, a place to read about all of the wonderful ideas from across the web. Its time to fully embrace that.
Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)