Sharky Dangerthorn

Awhile back, I posted an adventure called "The Evil Temple of Fraz-Urb'luu".  You can see all those posts by clicking on the "Q1" tag.

One of the protagonists was the ranger, Sharky Dangerthorn; played by my good friend JD.

JD kept his copies of Sharky all these years and he gave them to me to scan.

I present to you "Page 1" of a multi-page document.  It's intended to be a bit of an appetizer.  I hope you enjoy it.  Sharky was a great character and we played for many years in person and via the US Postal Service (when we lived in different states).

My Queston campaign was a bit eclectic.  PCs had magical items as well as technological ones.  Sharky had the granddaddy of them all, "Dave" the Dvarik Mk. IX trans-dimensional battle tank.  :)

You'll get to look at Dave sometime very soon!

Player vs. DM -- What I Want from the Dice

My friends sometimes tell me that I'm a philosopher.  Sometimes I fancy myself one, but I'm not a philosopher that plumbs the great depths of the human soul.  I tend to believe that most philosophical issues (that I'm interested in) have a relatively straightforward resolution/analysis/system/etc.

What am I babbling about?  Well, when I philosophize, I tend to want to simplify as well.

One page of paper is my mantra (preferably one side of the sheet).  So here's a simple epiphany that I had today:

Although we are playing the same game, players and DMs want very different things from the random elements in the game.

It occurred to me today that when I DM a game, I want one particular thing from the dice --

RANDOMNESS.  Fickle, unpredictable, unexpected random results.  Let the dice fall where they may.  Chance is so much better than pre-planning.  With chance, I get to explore my world with the players.  If I write it all up in advance, its a re-hash for me, no matter how exciting I think it is.

When I'm a player in a game, I want something a bit different.  I want SOME PREDICTABILITY or at least some measure of control.  When I really, really want to do something really, really bad, I'd like to take a little bit of the randomness away.   I mean, it sucks when you roleplay a scene, you belt out a grand soliloquy to your deity and then you roll a "1" on your attack/save/damage/whatever.  That sucks.  Totally takes the wind out of your sails.  :(

I don't think that any rational player wants everything to be a "sure thing".  That would be BORING.  Its just at those critical moments, those moments that you are really hoping for, you'd like a little more "destiny" built into the roll.  Guaranteed?  Not for me.  The scales tipped a bit?  Yep.

It seems to me that these two ideas are not incompatible.  I don't want the players to become co-DM with me.  I don't really want them having too much narrative control, but when they are roleplaying and when they are really committed to a particular action -- what's wrong with giving them a bit of a bonus?

I'm thinking I might implement something like Eberron's Hero Points or FATE 2.0's Aspects -- something that allows players to tone down the fickle swings of fate every once in awhile.  I don't want them tampering with my villains/monsters directly, but I think bonuses that apply to their character would be an OK thing.

Stay tuned...

Caves - Virtual Flythrough

Found this virtual flythrough of a place called, "Mortimer's Hole, Castle Rock."  There's a website with other cave links too!

It's just crying out to be mapped as part of something like Tegel Manor or the Keep on the Borderlands.  I can see the tunnels leading away down the hill or cliff...  Very cool!

Historic Judges Guild Documents for Sale on eBay

I discovered this morning (after a Judges Guild search) that there are some unique documents up for sale on eBay -- Legal agreements, etc.

Bill Owen, co-founder of JG is selling them.

You can go here to have a look.

My Gelatinous Cube - Redux

I was at the Dollar Store the other day looking for odds and ends when I came across these glass "cups".

I don't think they are for beverages -- rather I think you are supposed to put candles or table arrangements in them.  At the very least, they should be filled with those glass gemstones that are all the rage...

Anyway, here are a couple of pics.  I think it makes a fine gelatinous cube AND it has the upside of being able to engulf targets.  Delicious!

Poor Sven has been engulfed by the 'cube!

Gargulash the Troll

Here's an old school Citadel mini that I got a long, long time ago in a giant figure lot off eBay...  I paid about $40 for a big box of minis -- mostly MageKnight stuff -- but in the bottom of the box were some old lead minis and a bunch of newer Citadel plastics (probably from a GW boardgame of some stripe).

Anyway, I saw him and I knew that I needed to give him a good paint job.  He's gonna be a big-bad in the current CotMA game.  I don't know if there are trolls in there somewhere; but there's at least one now!  :)

The plastic base is kinda melted -- I think its from the previous owner's use of model cement...

Gargulash the Troll: HD 7 (50 hp), AC 17*, STR 20 (+3/+8) Mv 12", #AT 3 or 1 (claw/claw/bite or weapon), Dam 9-12(d4+8)/9-12(d4+8)/2-12 or 10-21 (d12+1+8), Regeneration 3 hp/rnd, *Amulet of Protection +2, Missile Shielding, and a Maul +1 (d12+1)

Time Marches On... Or Does It?

Here's wishing a happy and productive 2011 to everyone!

Rather than just post my wishes for the new year, I thought I'd post a little bit of historical trivia that amused me.  As a preview -- it's interesting how the past can interact and impact the future in strange and unexpected ways!

My sister sells books as a side-job.  She combs garage sales, book sales, library sales, etc. looking for just the right books to sell online and make a buck or two per book.  From time to time, she finds books that she thinks will be of interest to me for a few pennies, so she buys them.  They stack up in her garage and eventually they make their way to my house.

One such book, Strange Universe by Bob Berman (2003), has proven to be a goldmine of interesting, accessible scientific facts.  The one I'm presenting below made me laugh out loud.  I hope you enjoy it!

"(T)he (Space) shuttle's booster rockets were designed to fit on railroad cars so that they could be transported from their manufacturer in Utah.  The rockets' width was therefore constrained by America's railroad gauge of four feet, eight and a half inches.  This odd measurement arose simply because it exactly duplicated the British rail gauge, which originated with English streetcars - employed because existing roads had ruts that far apart, made by horse-drawn carriages.  The roads had all been constructed with that axle-width so that the carriage wheels would fit within the ruts, which in turn traced their origins to the Romans, who built the first English roads.  Purportedly, the Romans had standardized this breadth for their chariots because the rumps of two horses could fit into it without their hooves kicking the wheels.  The point is that even our high-tech rocket designs are dictated by such ancient measurements, revolving around such basics as horse derrieres.