Some Thoughts from a Classic

So yesterday I saw The Dark Crystal at a theater as part of a limited re-release. The last time I watched that flick, it was on a VHS tape my parents rented from Video Station in like 1986.

Since my brain is always converting things I see or read into gaming terms, I've been picking apart The Dark Crystal for what I can put into a game. Or at least, what I can put into a game in the alternate fucking universe where I can have a stable, consistent gaming group. Ahem.

So, some thinking points:

-The OSR is pretty much all about human-centric games. Here, we have a fantasy world that has several sentient species, none of which are human. In fact, in the interviews they showed prior to the movie, they were pretty clear about the fact that humans do not exist in this world.

-'The gentle ways of natural wizards.' This is only mentioned once. I interpret it as magic being part of the natural flow of the universe, and that natural wizards work within that flow, as opposed to disrupting or subverting it.

-"The old, old magic" and "numbly rehearsing the ancient ways in a blur of forgetfulness." Magic has been around longer than the present civilization. At this point, even someone considered a wise and powerful mystic knows only a shadow of what magic once was.

-Good and Evil are intrinsically connected. The best possible world for everyone is a world where these forces are balanced instead of acting like separate entities, only one of which may emerge victorious.

-Keepers of Secrets, prophecies. Nobody really knows what's going on. Not even the one who witnessed the last Conjunction is certain as to what is going to happen. The elder mystic isn't one hundred percent certain what's going on with the shard. Jen finds the ruins left behind by his people and seems to know virtually nothing of their history.

Definitely some appealing ideas for my next game. The world is old, and nobody really knows what's going on. Even the wisest only have a faint grasp on the real nature of things.

AotS: Gallery of Badasses

So, All of Their Strengths is a pretty dope little game. Here are four utterly badass starting characters for it. You should check AotS out. (Disclaimer: I did not write it, nor do I have any skin in that game except as a fan.)

John Doe -  Half-Ghost, Half-Zombie- Double Dead

Built  3

Fast 2

Hot 0

Sharp 1

Scenes: Martial Arts 2, Parkour 1, Biochemistry 2

Strengths: Unkillable (Already Dead), Bond (Horde), Immune (Suffocation, exhaustion, disease, poison, hunger, thirst, age), Morph (Specter), Gift (levitation)

Discord: 2

Weaknesses: Allergy (salt, crossing salt lines, entering or exiting sigils, exorcism), Issue (Rotting)

Gear: Pneumatic punch glove serum injector, embalming serum hypo, thermal sunglasses

Look: John is pale and waxy, like a fresh corpse, with some sickening blue undertones. He has the zombie eyes: milky white surrounded by dark purple flesh. Sometimes he exudes glowing blue ectoplasm, usually when he’s experiencing strong emotions or he needs to look like a badass. He wears all black because of course he does, favoring long coats with hoods. He is never without his wraparound sunglasses, even indoors, even at night, especially indoors at night. He’s bald, but in sort of a Vin Diesel badass way.

Origin: John worked for the Tyrell Corporation, doing research on a new strain of the Z-Virus. During his experiments, he discovered a new type of protein blocker that could potentially vaccinate an individual against the virus. For reasons unknown, Tyrell cut the funding to his project. Out of desperation, he injected himself with the blockers and with the Z-Virus. He did not turn.

While unaware that John had experimented on himself, Tyrell Corporation decided that John knew too much to be left alive. They sabotaged his vehicle, causing him to die in a fiery wreck. Realizing the sabotage moments before being crushed by twisted metal, John’s mind filled with the desire for revenge… enough so that his soul couldn’t rest. He became a ghost… but his body also became a zombie, as his formula only delayed the change in an infected subject until death. John somehow possessed and fused with his zombified body. Now he’s back, and he’s double dead, and Tyrell is going down.

No, John Doe isn’t his real name. You don’t need a name when you’re double dead.

Scarlett – Half-Demon, Half-vampire – a suckubus ?

Built 1

Fast 1

Hot 3

Sharp 0

Scenes: Clubbing 2, Motorcycles 1, Knives 1

Strengths: Gift (Hellfire- Infernal), Power (Punisher), Unkillable (unless horns severed), Immune (fire heat, suffocation, disease, poison, thirst, hunger, age) Gift (Retractable Horns), Gift (Teleportation- Warping, Indirect), Charm (Universal Language), Power (Blood), Gift (Fangs, draining), Charm (Superhuman Hearing, Infravision)

Discord: 3

Weaknesses: Allergy-Peril (Holy Symbols, Holy Places, Holy Water, Holy Weapons), Lose Control-Drain (Blood thirst), Allergy- Drain (Holy Places, Holy Symbols)

Gear: Badass motorcycle, sword-proof trench-coat, pair of silver daggers

Look:.Scarlett looks pretty much like a normal vampire, until she sprouts her horns. The horns themselves are blood red and distinctly reminiscent of fangs. Her wardrobe consists of crimson and black and involves a lot of leather, PVC, and unnecessary buckles. She’s presently rocking the side shave, jet black with a single red stripe. She likes mirrored sunglasses to hide her vampire eyes when she has to.

Origin: Scarlett was already a half-human, half-demon, created by the unholy union of a succubus and a stock broker (two utterly soulless creatures) Scarlett ran away from home and became a stripper. Unfortunately, her club happened to be a freaky vampire feeding spot, like in that one Quentin Tarantino movie*. She ended up being turned into a vampire, only her demon blood got into a fight with her vampire blood and what came out of it was…. well, whatever Scarlett is.

*I know, it’s a Robert Rodriguez movie, but a lot of people don’t seem to know that.

Abbi- Half-witch, half-mummy, dermatologist’s nightmare

Built: 0

Fast: 0

Hot: 0

Sharp: 5

Scenes: Occult Knowledge 2, Herbalism 2, History 1

Strengths: Power (Ritualist),  Bond (Familiar, cat) *

Discord: 2

Weaknesses: Peril (Fire), Issue/Peril (Guardians of the Afterlife)

Gear: tablet loaded with scans of occult ritual books, herbal concoction utility belt, protective scarab amulet

Look: Abbi is definitely not sexy. She’s kind of green and her skin is shrunken, making her look gaunt and perpetually nauseous. Also, she has no eyes. She usually wears sunglasses. She’s considering having some creepy-ass glass eyes made. In terms of wardrobe, she’s your classic goth, but incorporates Egyptian motifs into her jewelry and garments. She also kind of smells like embalming fluid and grave flowers- but that’s actually because she buys a perfume that smells that way. She was totally bummed that it wasn’t part of the mummification process.

Origin: Abbi was a nerdy goth chick who was into magic, history, and magical history. Also, some band called Clan of Xymox. Unfortunately, her dealings on various occult forums caught the eye of a witch and a mummy, both of whom wanted to recruit her. The witch got to her first, and started the initiation process. As it was close to complete, she was abducted by the mummy, who mummified her… only the witch initiation process led to some unexpected results. The witch showed up to rescue Abbi, and she and the mummy pretty much destroyed each other, leaving a confused, kind of dead, very magical Abbi to go out on her own.

*Having a cat as a familiar is sometimes a problem for Abbi, who has to defer to any cat she has angered and becomes imminently killable due to her Guardians of the Afterlife Weakness.

Karl - Half-Werewolf, Half-Frankenstein. Wolfenstein.

Built: 3

Fast: 1

Hot: 1

Sharp: 0

Scenes: Wrestling 1, Stunt Racing 1, Motorcycles 1, Hunting 1, Extreeeeeeeeeme Athletics 1

Strengths: Power (Morph, Direform), Power (Moonchild), Unkillable (beheading), Immune (exhaustion, heat, cold, disease, poison, age), Gift (Claws/slashing, teeth/rending), Charm (Wolf-Like Senses), Power (Unkillable- modular organs), Charm (Modular physiology) , Charm (Large Frame, Muscular Build),

Discord: 2

Weaknesses: Issue (Visible Stitching), Issue (Lose Control- Fire)

Gear: silver brass knuckles, miraculously durable jeans, totally jacked muscle car with flame decals

Look: In human form, Karl is a huge, hulking monster of a man, with a  semi-flat head (shaved around the sides with long hair on top, worn in a ponytail.) He has visible stitching all over his body, though he usually hangs out in dark arenas and bars where people just assume they are tattoos- or are jut afraid to ask. He likes to wear lots of muscle shirts. He only wears one pair of jeans, which somehow seem to survive his transformations. In wolf form, Karl looks like… well, a stitched-together werewolf with mottled fur of different colors.

Origin: A Frankenstein called Dr. Terwing had an idea: if you stitch together a bunch of dead werewolves, could you create a Frankenstein/Werewolf? Turns out you can. Also turns out that when you stitch together a Frankenstein made out of werewolves who were also various sorts of adrenaline junkies, the resultant Hybrid goes apeshit and destroys your entire lab. And you. And your notes. The good Doctor is gone, and his notes lost, perhaps forever, but Karl (he picked his own name) lives, and the entire Frankenstein community would like to erase this embarrassing abomination.

My White Whale

Anyone who has read this blog more than twice probably knows that I have been searching in vain (or maybe in vein, ziiiing) for a replacement for World of Darkness.

I want a modern horror game with vampires and werewolves and witches and things.
I don't like classic WoD anymore. I've just plain lost my taste for it.
I tried to like nWoD, but it just didn't do anything for me. Some of the books had cool ideas.
The new Chronicles of Darkness, particularly Beast: the Primordial, had me until I got to all the business about Tilts and Doors and then I hit the spirit manifestation/possession flow chart and I was solidly in "fuck this" territory.

I tried to use FUDGE to create an urban fantasy/horror game, but I just couldn't seem to make it fit.

I tried making a WoD-type game using B/X D&D rules. Some people liked it (including Matthew Skail, who went on to write The Blood Hack, which is way better than what I wrote) and some people didn't. (JB in particular) In the end, it felt somehow 'off.' The basic idea was there, but something about it...I don't know. Maybe it's worth a redraft.

I tried OneDice Urban Fantasy, but I don't like the system very much. (Though I did run a stellar game with it at KantCon a couple years ago)

The Blood Hack is probably the closest thing I have to a satisfactory replacement, but I found I needed rules for witches and werewolves. I wrote a witch thing, which is in working draft form, but the person I wrote it for is no longer in my life and I find I have little desire to revisit it. I tried to write up some werewolf rules, but couldn't get off the launchpad. (I think Mr. Skail mentioned having similar difficulties.)

I've downloaded Feed and Blood Dark Thirst, and read them a little ,but once again I am looking for a game that has a big ol' supernatural melting pot.

I found Microlight Storyteller, which is a neat idea, but for some reason it doesn't quite do it for me. I think I like light, but not microlight.

I tried to write something up with Fate core, but to be honest I really don't have any fucking idea how Fate works, despite having read it and (tried) to run it. The way I handle Fate, you might as well just toss the books and dice aside and just make a bunch of shit up.

At this point, I'm really not sure what to do. I still have the powerful urge to find or create a game of urban supernatural creatures, but I've been looking for years and I'm just spinning my tires at this point.

And of course, all of this is academic, since I haven't had a gaming group since that steaming pile of a D&D5e game that I was playing in last year, and that situation is unlikely to change. Even if I sat down and pounded out my dream game today, I am writing a game for nobody.

...yet the quest continues. Those windmills aren't going to tilt at themselves, you know.

He's Got a Poisoned Dagger... I've Just Gotta Fight Him

Assassin, as written, is an awful class.

A thief who gets better weapons, worse thief skills, an insta-kill attack that isn't super likely to work, an overly complicated disguise skill, and your very own set of rules for NPCs attacking you. 

...let me expound on that. If you poison your weapon, and someone within 10 feet notices, they will either call the guard, attack you, or both. Ridiculous. "Hey, this guy can kill us in one hit with his poisoned sword...let's get 'em. You have the ability to turn people nearby into instant vigilantes. 

AD&D 1st edition has a lot of rules that leave me scratching my head, or pinching the bridge of my nose (presumably to stop the blood from gushing out) 

OSRIC omitted this from the poison section of the assassin class, but I was disheartened to see it rear its ugly head in BX Advanced, which I recently purchased. Swords & Wizardry Complete throws the rule out entirely. 

If the assassin has the fighter hold his poisoned dagger, do people notice? Could the fighter get attacked? This rule is specifically tucked into the assassin class write-up...but then, 1st edition was always sort of passively-aggressively discouraging you from using poison. Stick a guy with a sword? Sure, that's life in Greyhawk. Stick him with a poisoned sword? You're the absolute scum of the universe. The S&W companion even adds bonus damage to the attacks of the aggrieved witnesses, so enraged are they by the sight of a poisoned weapon. Le sigh.

Of course the rule is easy enough to toss aside, but... I'm trying to wrap my head around the genesis of the rule. Is there some Vance or Howard story where poison just pisses someone off to the point that they're ready to attack an armed assassin? Help me understand. I need to understand.